Michael Colvin's Blog

2011-12-23T10:03:00.001-08:00

Doctor Who

2011-08-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

DMB in Concord

2010-08-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

Amazing show! Some great slow jams. Sadly, no Everyday/#36 or Ants, but great. I hadn't heard Black Jack before so that was a real treat...

Proudest Monkey
Satellite
Stay or Leave
Seven
Crush
Lying in the Hands of God
Gravedigger
Sweet Up and Down
Funny the Way It Is
Write a Song
You & Me
Stay (Wasting Time)
Shake Me Like a Monkey
Black Jack
Lie in Our Graves
Grey Street
Encore:
Baby Blue
#40
Time Bomb
Stefan solo
All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan cover)

Should out of state companies be able to bank-roll in-state initiatives?

2010-03-05T09:21:00.001-08:00

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/2010/03/the-war-to-dera.html

So I was reading about the movement to repeal AB 32 from today's SacBee (see the link above), and while the article semi-asks the question, it led me to more openly wonder: should out of state funds be used to bank-roll an in-state initiative?

Why should any other state have a say in how CA regulates its environment (or anything else for that matter?) This isn't the only instance - Prop 8 received significant funding from non-CA citizens... isn't the point of the initiative system to have a vehicle for CA residents to embody in law something that the legislature can't or won't do because it is not in the legislature's best interests? I think of campaign finance reform or term limits or gerrymandering - we the people might want this but the lawmakers won't act on it because it limits their own power. So we have a way to do it - the ballot initiative system.

But is our vehicle being driven by someone else? And why should we let Texas or Utah or any other state have a major say in how we run our state?

The Developer Guide to Home Energy Management Apps

2010-03-05T09:17:00.000-08:00

What happens when the bright minds that make up Google’s and Microsoft’s developer communities get their hands on open software tools focused on energy?: the hope, by many, is some much-needed innovation in the energy industry. This week Google officially opened up the API (application programming interface) of its web energy tool PowerMeter, and Microsoft recently told us it has just released a software developer kit for its energy tool Hohm to a select number of gadget makers.

These moves by the web giants show that the era of open energy information is slowing coming. But will that lead to innovation, which can deliver applications and hardware that can convince consumers to curb their energy consumption? One crucial aspect will be how the developer community responds — on GigaOM Pro I looked at some of the important aspects that developers need to consider when looking to create applications and gadgets based on home energy management platforms (subscription required).
At the top of the list are: how to get the energy information to input into your application (with patience and creativity), how to deal with privacy and security concerns, and how to deal with standards issues.

Clearly it’s still very early days for energy information and the consumer. Mainstream consumers are largely not yet interested in buying home energy management gadgets, and PowerMeter has only signed up a couple thousand users.

And the landscape is also changing for energy information. The California Public Utilities Commission has said that it wants California’s investor-owned utilities to give their customers and approved third parties — which could include Google, Microsoft or other makers of energy data portals — access to the smart meter data collected in utilities’ back office servers by the end of 2010. By the end of 2011, the CPUC wants the utilities to provide customers and approved third parties with “near real-time” data from smart meters. This is still under development and the CPUC is holding a workshop later this month.

MusicForRelief.org // Download to Donate for Haiti

2010-02-15T21:20:00.000-08:00

MusicForRelief.org // Download to Donate for Haiti

Capitol Alert: Chiang provides dose of good news on state revenues

2010-02-11T07:29:00.001-08:00

Capitol Alert: Chiang provides dose of good news on state revenues

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LA Times article on suspending AB 32

2010-02-08T17:04:00.001-08:00

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ballot-warming6-2010feb06,0,5959308.story

Judge rules it was legal for Schwarzenegger to drop two state holidays - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

2010-02-04T12:42:00.001-08:00

Judge rules it was legal for Schwarzenegger to drop two state holidays - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

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Schwarzenegger declares budget emergency, proposes deep cuts - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

2010-01-08T13:11:00.001-08:00

Schwarzenegger declares budget emergency, proposes deep cuts - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

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State Energy Commission to vote on TV power standards - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

2009-11-04T06:30:00.001-08:00

State Energy Commission to vote on TV power standards - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

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Editorial: Monday no-show? It may backfire on SEIU - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

2009-10-08T09:58:00.001-07:00

Editorial: Monday no-show? It may backfire on SEIU - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

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Video of Baby Shai at 9 Weeks

2009-08-31T09:08:00.000-07:00

Tracy Chapman at The Fillmore

2009-08-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

Tracy Chapman at The Fillmore was just incredible. Highlights of the night were a great version of "Fast Car" and for her encore, she came out rockin with "Proud Mary". She also did a solid cover of "Solsbury Hill" and "Talking About a Revolution" put a huge smile on my face.

Watson/BP Tour 2

2008-12-12T09:40:00.001-08:00

I'm wearing a NoMEX suit! And steel toed boots!

Photos from the Watson/BP tour

2008-12-12T09:35:00.000-08:00

Amy, Melissa, Nat and I went to Santa Monica to get coffee...it's sunny and warm - in December!

LOST

2008-12-03T14:13:00.001-08:00

Lost Season 5

2008-11-20T06:46:00.000-08:00

Daddy & Dinosaur

2008-11-02T21:03:00.001-08:00

Daddy & Dinosaur
Originally uploaded by jbscolvin

Too Cute!

Awesome SNL

2008-11-02T17:00:00.001-08:00

Groovy

2008-10-30T10:45:00.001-07:00

http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcolvin

No On Prop 8!

2008-10-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

I know her!

2008-10-29T07:25:00.001-07:00

No You Da Man!

2008-10-23T07:12:00.001-07:00

DSC_0071
Originally uploaded by jbscolvin

Little Lev would continuously be too cute this weekend. We'd say to him "you the man" and he'd shout back, "No you da man!"

No on Prop 7!

2008-09-19T10:40:00.001-07:00

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-ed-endorsements19-2008sep19,0,3251655.story

Set List, Night 3

2008-09-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

Ants was amazing. During the encore of Thank You Dave did these crazy ass dance moves. Duc was amazing and got great seats and even though I got there super late, it was all okay. What a great way to spend the weekend!

Bartender
Everyday
Old Dirt Hill
#27
Drive In Drive Out
Crash Into Me
Corn Bread
Loving Wings
What Would You Say
The Song Jane Likes
Crush
When The World Ends
The Maker
So Much To Say
Anyone Seen the Bridge >
Too Much Intro >
Ants Marching
----------------------------------------
You Might Die Trying
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

More Dave Photos

2008-09-08T09:07:00.001-07:00

Not great picture quality, but taken with my iPhone. Sunday might have been the best night of the 3. Happy Birthday LeRoi.

Set List, Night 2

2008-09-07T08:48:00.001-07:00

Seek Up
Proudest Monkey
Satellite
Pantala Naga Pampa >
Rapunzel
Louisiana Bayou
Out of My Hands
Fuzzy Wuzzy (Imrpov)
Sledgehammer
Lover Lay Down
Rhyme and Reason
Jimi Thing
Where Are You Going
Money
Warehouse
Stay (Wasting Time)
------------------------------------------
Anyone Seen the Bridge >
Too Much
All Along the Watchtower

Michael Colvin's Blog: DMB at the Greek - Friday Night

2008-09-06T08:15:00.000-07:00

Michael Colvin's Blog: DMB at the Greek - Friday Night

DMB at the Greek - Friday Night

2008-09-06T08:10:00.001-07:00

A couple of photos above from "Don't Drink the Water".

I also got an awesome poster. It's a bird made of puzzle pieces flying over the greek, with one piece missing say "Berkeley, CA".

You can see from the Set List that it was a show for the fans - a lot of great jam songs that are not big hits. Seriously - corn bread, dreaming tree, so damm lucky, water into wine - these are not the songs that you think of when you think of Classic Dave but the fans went nuts. I have to admit that I didn't recognized Stay or Leave (bad fan, bad fan!)

Tim Reynolds was in the house!

Rashwan led a crazy cover of Burning Down the House. It was so jarring *and AWESOME*.

Set list:
The Stone
One Sweet World
Don't Drink the Water
So Damm Lucky
Dancing Nancies
Eh Hee
Water Into Wine
Gravedigger
Grey Street
Dreaming Tree
Stay or Leave
Corn Bread
Burning Down the House
#41
Anyone Seen The Bridge >
Too Much Intro >
Tripping Billies
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sister
Two Step

Siduri and I about 5 min before the wedding...

2008-08-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

Rehersal Dinner

2008-08-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

McCall ID Rehersal Dinner - me, Sara the bride and Siduri the bridesmaid. So much fun!

Chihuly

2008-07-26T21:39:00.001-07:00

I went and saw the Chihuly exhibit at the De Young. AMAZING.

Bye-Bye West Wing Website

2008-07-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

So after many years of teaching the class, and after several years of not doing anything more with the class, I had to pull down the West Wing and Public Policy DeCal website. I'm not renewing my "michael@colvin.com" email address or my http://michael.colvin.com website, since I really hate the expensive hosting company, and so I pulled it down this morning. Part of me is very sad. End of an era...

Great America

2008-07-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

Photo of Me at Debbie's party at Great America. Life was great and certainly it was american...

Dr. Horrible!

2008-07-16T13:07:00.001-07:00

Lev from the 4th of July

2008-07-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Zoo weekend

2008-05-19T06:30:00.000-07:00

I got to take little Lev to the Zoo over the weekend. I don't think that he'll be moving to a farm anytime soon.
But we still had fun!

Off to Sacramento today...

Me in a tux

2008-04-01T16:08:00.000-07:00

GHG Case and Legal News

2008-03-25T10:30:00.001-07:00

The case that I'm working on at the CPUC was written up on Climate Wire. It's an interesting story.

Workplace Bullies

2008-03-25T09:37:00.000-07:00

Interesting NY Times Article on the workplace bully. So far I haven't met one - let's see how long that lasts!

Random musings about the weekend

2008-03-24T10:48:00.001-07:00

So Aud and I walked all around in Golden Gate Park yesterday. it was one of those picture-esque days in the city. Not a cloud in the sky, super saturated colors everywhere. Aud was wondering around like she was on shrooms because of how she was flipping out over all of the pretty colors. She also rolled down a hill with a 4 year-old in a cast, so she's also a child at heart.

We also ran into two vans of girls from Lewis and Clark College, and I was hoping that I could see Amber or see if any of them knew her. Alas, nope.

Audrey and I also burst out into song at several points in the day. Blackbird, Eleanor Rigby and So Happy Together were also sung off key. We both could never be on Idol.

I also did laundry and have clean undergarments again! Score!

Drea and I get to go out to dinner tonight to celebrate our birthdays belatedly, only a month off in her case, so not soo bad.

I also got to buy two posters for my cubicle over the weekend. The thumbtacks tried to attack me several times as I was putting them up, but with some charm and a lot of brute force, the posters are up. I got the fab Satellite Poster of the city:

On Sat when my mom and I were doing errands and buying the poster, we also saw that the De Young Museum the following super cool vases. I got the white/gray one, which has a cool off angle curve to it that you can't really tell that's there from this picture, but they're super cool.

All in all, a really great weekend.

AT&T Park

2008-03-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

So I also did this really fun tour with my friend Lisa W (hi Lisa!) where we went and did a tour of the Giants Stadium at AT&T Park. We got to see the visiting locker room, see the batting cages, step out on home field, have lunch in a luxury box, see the press box and a bunch of other cool things.

I took some photos and posted them here.

Apartment Photos

2008-03-21T09:29:00.001-07:00

So I haven't posted in a really long time to this blog, but I took a bunch of photos of my new apartment (anyone who wants to send me a housewarming gift is more than welcome to!) I put the photos on my Dot Mac account for all to see.

I moved in at the start of the month so I've been there just shy of three weeks. It's super cute, and I finally am starting to feel settled in. I need to do a massive grocery shopping. But I also have an 'apartment' size fridge, so I don't want to buy too much at once. But right now, I have next to nothing, so I need to find the happy balance. Stupid need to make a shopping list. What I really should do is map out my meals for the week, figure out which dinners will yield left overs to take to work the next day, and then do a weekly shopping trip one night after work. Last night I made tomato soup and spiral pasta and combined the two. YUM but no protein. BOO. So I brought the left over pasta and soup for lunch today. We'll see how this goes. I wonder where the CPUC microwave is hiding?

Winery Weekend

2008-01-28T22:58:00.001-08:00

Portland Photos

2007-08-18T23:01:00.000-07:00

iTunes

2007-08-11T10:37:00.001-07:00

iTunes

2007-08-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

Tel Aviv

2007-07-22T08:38:00.001-07:00

Finally made it to Tel Aviv. We were delayed in Rome for a while. And I wonder why Alitalia is losing $2 million/day!

Sad that I have to leave tomorrow but am thrilled that I get to be home.

List of things that I am looking forward to seeing/have been missing for a while:

1) Little Lev (and of course the rest of my family and friends...)
2) Peanut Butter (chunky not creamy)
3) Kung Pao Chicken/Chinese Food
4) TiVO/DVR/Television in general
5) Different set of clothes. SERIOUSLY.
6) Fog
7) My jeep
8) New music for the iPod
9) Washing machines
10) Lake Tahoe. Boat. Beach.

Retro Photos: Pompeii

2007-07-20T23:44:00.000-07:00

Photos from Pompeii.

Photos from Rome

2007-07-20T23:29:00.002-07:00

Photo of the largest temple in Italy. I did a whole walking tour around the Jewish Ghetto area. Very cool to see this.

Me having my Roman Holiday Moment.

The Vatican

Jews in Rome

2007-07-20T12:47:00.000-07:00

So this morning I went to the Jewish Ghetto area in Rome. Explored all around the small area, did a tour of the largest temple in Italy. There are approximately 15,000 Jews in Rome and 30K total in Italy. And the chief rabbi only allows orthodox Jews, so my guess is that the number would be larger if they included reform and conservative.

I was amazed and how dense the area of the Jewish ghetto was, and how the politics impacted this group.

In the afternoon, I went to the Vatican. I again felt very small, and it was very intersting. I took this AMAZING photo of the light streaming in through the dome in St. Peters.

Very glad that I went.

Tomorrow I think that I am going to go around the catacombs in Rome and also to the modern art museum in the Villa Borghese.

Winding down...

Retro Photos: Positano

2007-07-20T01:04:00.000-07:00

So when I got to Hotel Vittoria in Positano they said that someone who was going to stay in my room decided to stay longer, so they upgraded my room to this GORGEOUS double room with a sundeck and a panoramic terrace. The room itself was simple, had a TV on which I watched a LOT of CNN international (the only thing in English) and the town was simply picture-esque beautiful.

Retro Photos: Corsica

2007-07-20T00:56:00.000-07:00

So I took the Ferry from Livorno to Bastilla, Corsica, and then took this BEAUTIFUL train ride through the mountains to get from Bastilla to Ajaccio. Ajaccio is where Napoleon was born, and had a beautiful sense to it. Then the next day after the Bastille Day delay I made it down to Bonifacio. The last sunset picture was from the ferry ride from Corsica (still bitter) to Sardinia.

Retro Photos: Cinque Terre

2007-07-20T00:38:00.000-07:00

Updating with some photos. Here are some great shots from Cinque Terre.

Just simply beautiful there. When I was there, I did this great hike from the 5th town to the 4th. And then I took the train from 4 to 3, 3 to 2, and then hiked on "lovers lane" (via dell'amore) from 2 to 1. It was just so much fun to see at the end of the day.

Damien Rice in Rome!

2007-07-20T00:17:00.000-07:00

A nice treat to come back to Rome. Seeing Damien Rice was great! He has a really wonderful voice. It was a very simple forum, maybe less than 1,000 people. This girl asked if I could switch seats with her so she could sit next to her boyfriend and I totally traded up on seats. Was able to take some good photos. I also tried recording a video on my camera. Will try to post the YouTube video below.

I think that my favorite was when he sang Delicate, mainly because that is my favorite song. But he did a great live jam a couple of times. For his last song, he stepped infront of all of the equipment and unplugged and just sang Cannonball with just his voice. The audience started to sing along about half way through. It was great just hearing him raw. For the encore, he did an hysterical acting mime thing with his thick Irish accent and set up a song as if he were in a pub.

Sadly I wasn't able to get a poster saying Damien Rice Rome, but I did get a tshirt after much haggling.

YouTube Video. No idea how good of quality or if the sound came out...

Back in Rome

2007-07-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

Positano was simply amazing. Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful. Have lots of photos to post.

Damien Rice Concert tonight in Rome. Make up for the Sardinia part...

Off to go get dinner.

Positano

2007-07-17T02:07:00.000-07:00

Made it to Positano last night. Made a friend on the bus ride here, Carissa. She is from Sydney and we both bonded over how horrible getting around Sardinia was for us.

The view from my panoramic terrace here in Positano is simply breathtaking. Jaw on the floor beautiful. Feels very grown up.

Plan on spending the day today on the beach and tomorrow going up to Pompeii.

Then off to Rome. Sighs.

Made it to the t hotel

2007-07-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

only took all day, but I made it. Got to Cagliari about two hours after the bus people said I would get here. par for the course of the day, I suppose. The hotel is modern, swank and oh so fantastic. I only have a classic room and it is glorious.

My plane tomorrow is at two which means I have all morning to hang out in the city (read the hotel spa).

sighs...

At least something cute to look at...

2007-07-15T02:54:00.001-07:00

After my rant in the previous post, I felt the need to share something positive. So here is something at least cute to look at...

Jess sent me this from the 4th of July weekend up at Tahoe.

Stuck in the wrong places

2007-07-15T02:15:00.001-07:00

I swear that the world is out to get me. So for this leg of the trip I had booked this really nice hotel that I paid for in advance that looked amazing on Expedia. It is in Cagliari. So the idea was to spend a night in Ajaccio, Corsica and then the next morning travel to the tip of Corsica, hop on the ferry to Sardinia and then take the bus to the nearest train station to get me to Cagliari. Seems simple enough, right? Well, here's where things begin to fall off the rails. Yesterday was 14 July. Which means it was Bastille Day. Which means it was a holiday. So the bus from Ajaccio to Bastillo, which normally leaves at 8, 10, 12, 2 and 4 was on a different schedule. I had gotten to the bus station at 9am to let me have plenty of time for the 10. Except there was no 10am. Or 12. Or 2. The 4PM was still running, which meant that I got to chill in Ajaccio all day. Not a terrible place to hang out mind you. Beautiful port town, warm beach, saw Maison Bonaparte and where Napoleon was baptized. But still, the original intention was for me to be at the nice hotel in Cagliari that afternoon. So I take the 4PM bus to Bastillo. The last ferry from Bastillo to Sardinia was at 8:30. Plenty of time for me to see a few sties in Bastillo and grab some dinner. Since I was in France, I decided to go with a crepe. Which was a good idea in theory, and I found a cute crepe place with a nice view that wasn't too expensive. Except for the face that these two islands mainly use fish in EVERYTHING. and the non fish options are "jambon" (ham!). So I order the quatro fromagi (4 cheeses). Well, I am pretty certain that one of the four cheeses was fish cheese, because I felt so queasy on the ferry ride on over. The fresh air and the beautiful sunset helped quite a bit, but I normally have an iron stomach and it was rough going for me. Luckily the ferry boat was the size of a house (and also had tweenty bird painted on the side for some random reason) and there was not too much rocking back and forth. So I land in Santa Teresa Gallura, Sardinia at 9:30. And I think, well at least I can catch a late bus and it will get me there to the hotel late, but I can sleep in and enjoy myself once I am there. WRONG.

Apparently, the last bus out of this hellhole is at 8:45PM. So, just brilliant of the ferry line to have a ferry land at 9:30. So, no worries, I thought, I will just rent a car and drive to the nearest town with a train station. WRONG. There are only two rental car places in this place, one with no cars to rent (so why are you open then???) and then the other won't rent to non Italians for a one-way trip without a reservation. Can I make a reservation tonight and come back? Nope. So meanwhile, it's now an hour later, and everyone is like "you're sleeping here tonight". So I start going to the closest hotel. A two star. No rooms. Same with the next 6 I try. So now it is 11:30 at night, I'm still sick to my stomach, sweating like crazy because hellhole town is made up of nothing but hills. Which would be fine to walk if I didn't have a 50 lbs bag on my back. I finally find a 3 star hotel that had a room and check in and collapse.

So I figure that this morning, no worrries, I can wake up early, get to Cagliari Sardinia by noon and have the afternoon at the swank hotel to relax. WRONG. Because it is Sunday. And apparently G-d doesn't like foreigners enough to let them leave the hellhole. Nor does the mean lady at the hotel who gives me the most bizarre directions to the bus station ever. LITERALLY, she had me going 10 blocks out of the way. Because this hellhole town is filled with a lot of one-way streets. So she gave me directions as if I were driving and not walking. But I get to the bus station, and I can grab a bus at 10. Still WRONG! Because first you need to buy a bus ticket. And it is not a bus station, it's just an empty lot with a sign with the bus times on it. To buy a bus ticket, you have to go to a bar across the street and down a block. At a bar called, I swear to G-d, called BABY BAR. Who the hell in their right mind would name an Italian bar BABY BAR. And have it be open at 9:45 am. And the kicker is, they wouldn't sell me a ticket. "In the bus" is all the english I could get out of them, and my Italian phrase book is completely worthless beyond that. So I go back to the hellhole's empty lot, and find a bus driver who's smoking something definately stronger than a cigarette, and asked him which bus do I get on for the 10. He looks at me funny, and says Sunday, and then blows smoke in my face and walks away. So I go across the street back to a different hotel and ask for help. Meanwhile, as I walk across the street, I am cursing like a sailor in heat and shouting at the top of my lungs and of course, everyone is in church and no one is there to notice...

After I calm down, I go into the hotel and tell the receptionist lady (who thank the lord speaks broken english) my situation. She is nice and helps me out. So apparently, all of the morning buses do not run. Because it's Sunday and therefore blah blah blah. The JOYS! So I am left with two options: one take a bus to Olbia, then take a train to somewhere else and then take a train from somewhere else to Cagliari, and get in at 6:20PM. SO I can take a direct bus from hellhole to Cagliari that gets in at 6:40 PM.

So I now maybe will get a night at the hotel that I paid for in advance that was supposed to be this nice treat to myself. I'm now hangning out at the hotel's internet point that is across the street from the bus station. I have no intention of exploring this hellhole anymore. I have already seen every inch of it walking around looking for a hotel and trying to find BABY BAR.

Luckily, after Sardinia, I have a flight to Naples and then a train to Positano, on the Amalfi coast, where I can chill there.

Every vacation has to have a hiccup somewhere, right? Let's hope that this is done now...

This is a trail?

2007-07-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

Jack: "we seem to be on some kind of trail"
Joan: "this is a trail?!?"
- Romancing the stone

yesterday was cinque terre. did some hiking and swimming - very beautiful and worth the detour:

today in corsica, to go from Bastilla to Ajaccio i decided to take the train - AMAZING!! most of the ride was through the ,ountains and would not have been visable from a bus: there were several switchback turns that were very close to the edge:

similar to the hiking yesterday: on both occasions i thought of the above quote. so i thought i would share:

tomorrow i will explore Corsica a bit more and then try to get to Sardinia: but it is a treat to be so,ewhere where i sort of speak the language: too bqd that the keyboard is french (not QWERTY) and i have to touch type:

Ajaccio is a beautiful port town and is very fun to explore

made it to France

2007-07-13T04:44:00.000-07:00

well, sort of... i got to Bastia, Corsica. I am supposed to stay in Ajaccio but the train does not leave for a little while: i had to go to the tourist office to ask questions and the women there was impressed with how much french i spoke: The french keyboard is very strange and i have to touch type:::

i had a yummy crepe for lunch - c'est bien

yesterday was an AMAZING day at cinque terre. took lots of photos: will try to post at some later point

Milan

2007-07-11T22:53:00.000-07:00

Milan has been great. Lots of fun to stay in a nice hotel, but the city itself was really lovely. I only needed to do the full day here. I wasn't able to get a ticket to La Scala, but I looked around.

Took some great pictures from the roof of the Duomo. Will try to post them later.

Milan felt like a very nice city, but it wasn't a vital as Rome or as old feeling as Florence. A lot of it has to do with how much was destroyed during WWII.

Did a little bit of shopping. Backpack is getting a wee bit full. Will have to bust out the duffel at some point. Sad part is that most of it was gifts for others, but I did manage to sneak a small something in there for me.

Today I am off to Cinque Terre. Will be a lot of train rides but should be well worth it.

I finished all of the books that I brought with me, and the only books in stores here in English are the "classics". So far I have read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and am halfway through Pride and Prejudice. I also got a couple of other classics for the trains today and the ferry ride tomorrow. Not to mention the beach time.

The next few days should be exciting!

Retro Photos from Florence

2007-07-10T15:20:00.001-07:00

Retro-Photos from Venice

2007-07-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

More retro-photos from Venice

2007-07-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

The Calder statue is at the Peggy Gugenheim museum, what was amazing. How cool that there is a modern sculpture on the banks of the city of Venice!

Lake Como

2007-07-10T14:47:00.000-07:00

Made it to Milan safe and sound today. Checked in to the gorgeous 3 star hotel. It's very near a subway metro line, so even though I can't walk back to it from the Duomo, it's about a 3 min. ride on the train. Easy trade off in my humble opinion.

After checking-in and getting some lunch (yummy pizza!) I went back to the train station and took an hour long train up to Lake Como.

Photos from Venice

2007-07-09T11:49:00.001-07:00

Made it to Venice

2007-07-08T03:15:00.000-07:00

The first hotel was just gross, so I checked out this morning and now am staying somewhere that at least has a working lock and clean floors. Minimum requirements.

Can't wait to go see St. Mark's Square.

Gabe and David

2007-07-06T14:27:00.000-07:00

Met up with Gabe today. Great to see him looking so good. We went to see the "real" David by Michaelangelo. just simply incredible. The rest of the museum is frankly underwhelming. But I thought that I should see some art today in honor of Grandma Shirley. I know that she was smiling down with me there.

Get to shop tomorrow and then off to Venice!

Retro Photo

2007-07-05T23:46:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Rachel K. for sending me this photo...

Siena

2007-07-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

Went to Siena today. Very cute sleepy town. They just had the palio horse race there a few days ago and the town seemed to still be in recovery. I got some AMAZING shots from the top of this arc panorama (which to get to the top of, had the most treacherous spiral stair case I've seen yet...)
The cathedral/duomo was lovely, but the cool thing was the crypt below it. Art students were restoring some of the frescos and it was very very cool.

The main town square was lovely and I couldn't figure out why until it dawned on me that there were no cars. Very quiet, and it almost felt like a park, but with brick everywhere.

The train ride to/fro was lovely, and got to see a lot of the Tuscany area.

I also got a call while I was in the square from Gabe. Hopefully we shall see each other tomorrow.

Signed up to do a "tour" bus ride coordinated thing on Sat. to the Prada outlet and to "the mall" with Gucci and some of the other big name discounts. I think that I might need some things. Don't know how much I can fit in my bag. Might be time to whip out the emergency duffel.

Sat after the tour I am off to Venice.

Such a horrible life.

Photos from Florence and Pisa

2007-07-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

Outside of the Duomo. Duomo is Italian for house of god, and generally signifies the largest in the town. So each town can have a duomo. This is the Duomo in Florence. It is beautiful. The dome is so extremely large. There is both an inner dome and an outer dome, and you can crawl in the space in between.
Next to the Duomo is a bell tower *campanile!* which i hiked up to the top of. I got some great shots of the city from there. Here's me with the dome of the Duomo in the background.
Here's an inside shot of the dome. Beautiful.
I went to the leaning tower of Pisa. Proof.
Me at the bottom of the tower in Pisa .

Today I went on a ramble (aka a walkabout, aka meandered) through Florence in the morning, and then went to the Ufitzi on a tour this afternoon. Spotted Connan O'Brien looking at the the birth of Venus.

Would like to do two more day trips (Siena and San G.) but also want to see Gabe. Haven't heard from him yet, so don't know when/how that will happen.

More photos to come.

Pisa

2007-07-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

went to the leaning tower of Pisa today (and the actual city of Pisa in addition) It was very cool. The square it was in was lovely and green grass (the first grass spotting in Italy!). The cathedral-duomo was beautiful and the baptistry was amazingly cool. Very echoy. The guard at one point started singing in the middle and it just had perfect reverbiration.

I was glad to have gone, but it was definately a day trip.

Ufitzi on Wed

2007-07-02T16:13:00.000-07:00

I get to celebrate July 4th by going to the Ufitzi that afternoon. Should be great! I have to figure out what to do tomorrow now. Maybe go to Pisa?

Florence...

2007-07-02T08:43:00.000-07:00

Florence is great so far. Today I did a walking tour of the city. It is amazing hwo you can "read" the buildings and get a sense of the history. The guilds, the families, the horses that could be tied to the buildings. I had no idea that Florence was a large shipping and trade city becuase of its location to ROME and to Venice.

I hiked up to the top of the dome in the Duomo today and took about a zillion pictures. Will try to post later. I also went to the top of the Campanile last night.

I met a nice group of people from the west coast staying at the Hostel and we went out to dinner and then to a bar and then did Karoke. I sang with some others Twist and Shout (yay for the beatles!!!!) sadly didn't get a picture of the performance. Unlikely to repeat anytime soon...

Will be able to get to the Ufitzi gallery on Wed. I have to figure out what days I am going to Sienna, Pisa and San Gi.

Sistine Chapel

2007-06-30T23:50:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I went to the Vatican Museums. It is the site of the Sistine Chapel, amongst many other things. I had to wait in line forEVER but it was absolutely worth it. (apparently since the day before was a holiday, they had a longer queue than normal). BOO! I got in, and they had an English guided tour starting in about 30 min, and the guy took pity on me and since I was solo, added me to the group. At the student rate, it was actually the same money as the entrance fee and an audio guide. The woman was hysterical, very informative, and it made going a treat. AS a side note, they said that they have approximately 25,000 visitors per day. jaw on floor.

The Vatican Museums itself has collections of art, scultpures, etc. from all of the popes. The Rafael rooms were amazing. I think that my favorite non SC room was the "map" room, which was this huge room that was a long cooridor that had paintings on the sides that were maps of various different places in Italy. It was what was used to be consulted during military times 500 years ago. They were beautiful, and I felt very small being in the room.

Later on in the day, I went and got me a pair of pants and the Merrell sandles I was eyeing, and went to the Parthenon (which was every bit as cool as I thought it would be).

Today I am off to Florence.

Damien Rice in Rome

2007-06-30T00:03:00.000-07:00

So the day that I get back to Rome, when I wasn't quite sure what to do, one of my favorite artists Damien Rice will be playing! Live! In Rome!

I am trying to figure out how to order a ticket online at the site.

What's Italian "will call"?

Very exciting, if I can figure out how to translate the text enough to place the order.

Photos from today

2007-06-29T13:21:00.001-07:00

So I made it to the Colosseum today. I had this wonderful buzz and flood of memories today from back in 7th grade in Ms. Ward's Latin class. I got so excited. I also walked to the Pantheon to realize that it was a Saint holiday and therefore closed. Get to go back tomorrow.

When I was waiting in line at the Palentine, I met a couple on their honeymoon. I explained to them that the Palentine is where Rome was founded (where he killed Remus) and they got a huge kick out of it. THey then bought me a bottle of water as a thank you.

I walked around the Travestre this evening, got a great dinner, and then saw a bunch of street performances. Just made it back and will go and chill for the rest of the night. The hope is to do the Vatican tomorrow.

I also went to the Quadrigas roof and got some great aerial shots.

Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps Photos

2007-06-28T23:26:00.001-07:00

I made a wish! Lets see if it comes true.

Good bye Tel Aviv, Rome, Night 1 and then Day 1

2007-06-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

When I think of Israel before getting here, I think of the desert. Or of hot. I do not think of this. Tel Aviv was amazing and it was so great to rest up for my Roman adventures. Speaking of which...

So I arrived in rome on the evening of the 27th. My flight from Tel Aviv was delayed (boo!) so I got here a bit later than I would have liked, but I checked in safe and sound. There was a direct train going from the airport to the main train station, which is only a few blocks away from The Yellow Hostel that I am staying at. Picture of me super excited about the train going to the Termini.

After getting a big plate of gnocchi, I just wandered around the city taking some night shots.
I found (quite by accident) the corner with four fountains, which were very cool. I thought that I had found Trevi fountain, and was like "this is it"?? Of course, I have now since checked the Lonely Planet book and realized that I was being an idiot. Picture of the "trevi fountain" IMPOSTER

The next morning, I had a bit of an adventure. I could not find for the life of me my iPod headphones and the iPod itself was acting a bit wonky. So I checked, and sure enough there was an Apple Store in Rome. I thought "perfect". It was located in Roma EST, in the "centro commerciale". well, there was not anything "centro" about it. I had envisioned like downtown SF. This was more like Emeryville. On public transportation. In 80 degree weather. In a language I do not speak. TO make a long story short, a bunch of people took pity on me and helped me get there. When I arrived, the guy fixed the iPod, gave me a free pair of headphones (sweet!) and let me upload/backup my photos so far onto my iDisk. But the little 30 min. detour took like 4 hours. oops. I did get to see some beautiful Rome countryside...with hay on it.

On my way back, I was able to talk to my Mom to wish her a happy birthday. I think that the phone works great. That picked me up a bunch!

When I got back to civilization, er I mean, the city, I decided I needed to see something fantastic and easy to get to. I decided I wanted to see the Spanish steps. They were beautiful, super crowded and very neat to see. Right off of the Spanish Steps is via dei Condotti, which apparently is like the Melrose of Rome. I decided I needed some retail therapy, and I got a new pair of sunglasses. I found a cool store that had a bunch of different brands, and then the guy (Luca) and I tried on about 20 pairs. I got it narrowed down to two, when an american family of a mom and her two daughters came in. Teenage daughters. Perfect critics. We held a vote, and everyone agreed on pair #2. So I am now the proud owner of a new set of Prada sunglasses. I had told the guy that my last pair was stolen in Israel and about my morning, and he took pity on me and gave me a nice discount (25 euros) and then gave me the tax form to get back the tax. I also found a Merrell store that had a very cool pair of sandles that I ended up not getting, mostly because my feet were so tired that nothing would have felt good. I might have to go back...

I also picked up an Italian phrase book. I need to learn a few more basics. I can read things so-so but speaking not so much. I am trying to get the pronounciation down. I am getting closer.
The last thing that I realized walking around is that shorts in Rome will not cut it. It is not in style at all. So I might have to get one more pair of linen/lightweight pants to go with the new Merell sandles.

I also did find the real Trevi fountain and got a picture of me throwing a coin in over my shoulder. Had a great dinner and walked around a bit more.

Today I am off to the Borghise, and have a few other things up my sleeve. Will post more later...

Retro Photo

2007-06-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

Photo of me, Emma and Rachel K. on Masada.

In Italy

2007-06-27T11:32:00.000-07:00

Made it to Rome safe and sound. The Yellow Hostel seems very cool and vibrant. Nice way to start out the trip. I am very excited to start exploring Italy and sad to have left Israel.

I was reading through my guidebook and there is a hot air balloon tour of Rome for £15 euros. I might just need some aerial shots...

I am very excited to go get a big bowl of Pasta.
But not as excited by the fact that my brother sent me a picture of Lev! Missing that child like crazy. I decided to share with all of you guys so you can see why.

After Pasta, think that I will Rome around Rome. Pardon the pun. Perhaps the Trevi fountain.

Also need to stop by the Apple Store to figure out the best way to store and post new photos and also get some new iPod headphones. That might be a tonight adventure...

Tel Aviv

2007-06-27T00:07:00.000-07:00

Emma and I arrived in Tel Aviv yesterday. It wasn't as hot as we thought it would be, and the hostel we stayed in worked out great. We spent all afternoon (12-6) on the beach, swimming and reading. Very stressful. But it's a beautiful city and we had a great time.

We went out to this awesome dinner on Shinzon street last night. Super yummy.

Off to Rome today.

More later...

Retro Photos

2007-06-25T14:10:00.000-07:00

Photos from Rosa from Arizona. Hope to see her when I go and visit Sara and Josh this summer or Sept. Thanks Rosa for the pics!

Security Fence that has dramatically helped to improve the safety in Israel. Taken from the bus.

We went on a camel ride. My camel as soon as I got off, rolled onto its side and started to make really funny noises. All of the camels were female, so I nicknammed mine Joesphine the Camel.

Photographic evidence that I was on a camel. In a Beatles T-Shirt no less. But it was very cool.

At the Holocaust museum, they are creating a repository of names of the victims of the holocaust. There was this huge room filled with binders that were filled with names. They only know the names of about 3 million of the victims, and they show the empty space for the rest.

Me on the last night in the closing circle. We had just done Bar and Bat Mitzvah's. We are on the roof deck at sunset in Jerusalem looking out at the amazing city.

Our outrageously beautiful hotel that we got to spend like zero time at in the Sea of Gailiee. Me at Masada at sunrise.
From left to right:

Moar and Avner, the trip leaders, Rosa, me, Stephanie, Rachael. We're all standing in ice cold water and loving every minute of it.
Me, Rosa, Phil, and Liz after visiting the Western Wall and overlooking the old city of Jerusalem.
In Tel Aviv, the memorial and the candle vigil that we held for Yitzack Rabin. We said a group prayer, raid the Kaddish and then sang this song that Rabin had quoted in a speech the night he was assinated. A nearby street sax player came over and played for the group. It was a goosebump worthy moment.

They had these little markers around showing where everyone was standing, including the killer and the victims.
On our first night there, we did a large circle with Champgane, watermelon, and then did a group circle hug and shouted "Acheem, Acheem, Acheem, Simcha, Simcha, Simcha!" (brother, brother, brother! Joy, Joy, JOY!)
View of Haifa
View of Tel Aviv.

Retro-Post: Cool Photos

2007-06-25T13:53:00.000-07:00

These photos are courtesy of Stephanie L.

This image comes from out first full day when we went to Caserea. First big group shot. They used to run horses around and around, and the group is on a bronze horse sculpture.

Bah'ai Gardens in Haifa.

Group hanging out. Remember the 3 climates in 10 minutes post? This is the one where it felt like Yosemite to me. I'm in the upper right hand corner.

Solo Jerusalem, Day 2

2007-06-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

Emma and I walked over (in like 90 degree weather) to the Israel museum. We saw the Dead Sea Scrolls. THEY WERE INCREDIBLE. It was amazing to see these things that were over 2,000 years old. The building that they were stored in were a big white dome (which was a fountain on the outside). The fountain was supposed to represent the lid of the jar that the scrolls were found in. The shrine of the book was beautiful to see, and a refreshing change of pace after all of the stone buildings we've seen lately.

We also walked around and saw the DADA/surrealism exhibit. It was very cool and I confirmed that surrealism is so not my thing.

The we walked all throughout the Old City. I took some amazing photos that I hope to be able to post soon. The Muslim quarter was crazy busy - and the Christian Quarter had this hidden famous church. We walked forever and a day, but saw and ooh and ahhed all over.

We then had an awesome falafel dinner and a really good dessert chocolate cake. About half way through, Rachael G. from Taglit came in with her cousin and joined us. If we had tried to plan it, it wouldn't have worked.

Very sore legs and lots of bottles of water later, we had an awesome day.

Probably off to Tel Aviv tomorrow morning.

Retro Photos

2007-06-24T21:33:00.001-07:00

Annie posted her photos last night, so i stole a few for me to post and blog about. Shout out to Annie for letting me use some of her pictures. Retro-post.

View from Madada.

Look, I'm on the left of the cliff!

These three photos are from when we did this awesome hike down this huge cliff. We also ran into live Goats on the trip.

We were at this old synagogue in Tsfat, where they had these amazing piles of old books. You're not allowed to throw out anything that has G-d's name on it, so they were stored here at the temple.

These two photos were taken during our second Oneg shabbat. We had played this very fun group game and then everyone was cracking up for a while The second photo was very very late that night, and we were mock sleeping before going out and having more fun.

This was the pools that we hiked to at the Ein Gedi.

Solo in Jerusalem, Day 1

2007-06-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

Emma and I had a great day in Jerusalem today. We had a big heat wave here today, but we walked a bunch (and drank an absurd amount of water). We had originally planned and walked to the Israel museum. We had a great walk around the city, and managed to not get too lost. Of course when we got there, the museum was closed. GRR! We're going back tomorrow.

On our way to the museum, we spent some time around the Monastery of the Cross. It was founded in the 4th Century. It was destroyed and eventually rebuilt in 1038 and the Greek Orthodox in the 1600s. It was beautiful.

We then went to the other side of town via cab and went to the synagogue in the Hadassah Medical Centre to see the Marc Chagall windows. They were breath-taking. He created 12 windows, one for each tribe of Israel. They were one of the first things that Chagall did in Israel.

After Chagall, we went to the Mahane Yehuda market. It's not like anything we have in the states. It's sort of like a farmer's market, but with spices and fish, and fruit and other small things. We then walked to Ben Yehuda street and did some lite shopping. Mainly Emma - except I got one thing for Mattie that he'll just love. I hope.

On the way back home we saw the Yemin Moshe and the Montefiore Windmill. The wind mill was created in the late 1800s and now serves as a landmark. We took some beautiful shots - and then the camera battery died. So can't post the photos yet.

The goal for tomorrow is to go to the Israel museum in the morning and then to the Old City to explore the Cardo and the Arab quarter. Not certain when we'll go to Tel Aviv - it might be tomorrow night or first thing Tues morning.

More later.

Photos and stories

2007-06-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

I don't think that this first photo requires much explanation. Needless to say, it's not a backdrop, but that's me in front of the Masada sunrise. Thanks to Kate for uploading her photos at the hotel, which let me browse them now. The view was just incredible. It was amazing to see that here in the middle of this desert, some King 2,000 years ago had built this place as a winter vacation spot. He had baths, and pools, and storage rooms. One of the storage rooms they found containers that had labels on it from Roman times, with some seeds still intact. And this is all in the middle of the frakking desert! We went up the very easy way called "the ramp" and went down "the snake" and we had read this passage from one of King Harrod's diaries describing what the snake path was like.

The climb to Masada was after a night of Bedouin style dinner. The food was amazing, the tea super sweet. This photo is of me and one of our Israeli soldiers. The Bedouin's are all muslim, nomadic traditionally, and are all considered to be Israeli citizens. They descrbied how they were between a rock and a hard place, because they were both Muslim and Israeli, and not really fully a part of either world. The man talked about the tradition of serving coffee, of how important being nomadic was to them, and several other little tid bits.

This next photo was the whole group overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem from this very cool plaza area. We had all said the Shechianu (which I had led for the 3 buses) and then did the Hora and some other dances. This was the night after the mega event and we were already danced out, but the joy of being there wiped it all away. They also had arranged for a man to sound the shofar, which was a kick.

When we were in the Old City, as I described previously, it was amazing to see how many people were there. It still was very powerful. Kate was sweet enough to snap off a photo for me from a distance. As we were walking away, we saw a bride getting ready to walk towards the wall. We both got instant goose bumps, and all we could say was "mozel tov". she had such joy in her face, that this is where her wedding was going to be. I felt very honored to have been witness to that.

Bye Bye group

2007-06-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

So the group left back to LAX tonight. Emma and I are going to be travelling a little bit together for the next few days. We both had the same number of days until we had to be at the Tel Aviv airport, and it worked out. It looks like I'll to two days here in Jeruselem and two more days in Tel Aviv. Right now we're staying at her friend Jessica's dorm room while Jessica is away at a wedding in NYC. People are nice and friendly, and it is in a cool part of town (the equivalent of SoHO) called the German Colony. We went out to a late dinner tonight and were talking and then the couple next to us gave us a half of bottle of wine (and some travel tips) when they found out it was our first time here in the city.

Saying good bye to the group was hard. Lots of AMAZING people (and a few that I could care less about...) but it was a wonderful trip. At the end of the day today about 12 did a Bar/Bat Mitzvah - which was wonderufl to hear their thoughts and have it be special. I had thought about doing it, but in the end had decided not to. I had such a wonderful Bar Mitzvah experience the first time, that I didn't want to replace it. The people who did it just had to do the blessings and not actually read the torah itself, and it just felt off to me. But it was the right decision, and hearing everyone's little sermons was very powerful.

Yesterday we went to Mt. Hertzel which is the military cemetary in Jeruselem. It was amazing and sobering to see how many tombs there were and how almost all of the soliders were younger than I am. The Israeli's in our group all had very powerful stories about people that they knew who were killed, or friends/family, etc. We then went to Yitzak Rabin's tomb and to Golda Meir's as well, which was very bittersweet. We also went to Hertzel's tomb itelf; Hertzel is credited as being the man who is the father of the organized Zionist movement, that there should be a Jewish state. Being in Jeruselem, seeing all of the solider's tombs who fight for the Jewish state and seeing the idea realized was truly remarkable. I may or may not be a professional cheerleader when it comes to the Israeli political situaiton, but the idea that this one man inspired a part of where I was standing - it gave me chills. As was pointed out, Hertzel's grave just had his nmae in Hebrew in gold letters on a black stone. No explanation of who he was was needed. That was so indicative of how important the man was.

Later on yesterday, after some shopping (I got the cutest gift EVER for Lev's birthday) we also went to Jeruselem Open House, which is an LGBT community center in the city. There was a large gay pride parade here on Thursday, which they helped to organize. What struck me was that they were the only place in the middle east that service the gay arab community. Avner, one of our group leaders, said that gay rights=human rights which was the only way to tell the Israeli story. He had a very strong point of view, some of which I could agree with. But talking with our Israeli soliders who laughed about Don't Ask Don't Tell and some other ideas, made me very glad to see what kind of work that they do.

On a side note, they're having record breaking heat in Israel right now. The day we went to Masada it was supposed to get to be 50 degrees celsius there. That's just shy of 120F. It was definately above 100 F. Today for Shabbat there was originally going to be a walking trip to the Kotel but it got canceled because of the heat. Which meant I spent the day sleeping and being by the pool. Very hard life. Tomorrow is supposed to be warm. I think that we're going to go to a few Art Museums with the AC in it. On Monday, I know that we both would love to go see parts of the Old City including the Arab quarter that we didn't have time for the first go around.

I also bought a new digital camera. They Birthright people gave me some insurance $$$ to replace the old one (in $US dollars - yikes!) and I love my new camera. It's a Nikon Coolpix, in blue.

Masada, Wall, Etc.

2007-06-21T07:38:00.000-07:00

Some of the highlights of the last few days:

Went to the old city of Jerusalem. \Went to the Wall. Amazingly powerful. i stood there and just was amazed at how many people had inserted notes and had stood in the spot that I was in.

Mega-Event. lame.

Camel ride in the Negev. Bedouin style dinner and sleeping in a tent.

Woke up this morning at 3am to get ready to climb masada. hiked masada. saw the sunrise. amazingly beautiful and very HOT today. went to the Ein Gedi. and then went to the dead sea. floated. and the mud. so much fun!it's the lowest place on earth. now back in Jersualem

Three climates within 10 min

2007-06-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning we were at the Golan Heights. We had a really good explanation of the war/occupation (if you want to call it that. It was amazing to see that *this* is what all of the fighting was about. Later we saw this 30 min. film talking about one soldier's story during the Yom Kippur war. The land itself is nothing special other than strategic. But we could see the Syrian border with the naked eye, which was incredible. The joke that came out of the day was that Israel had to fight a war on 3 fronts in order to avoid fighting on two frotns, because they only wanted to fight on one front. I know nothing about the military, which became painfully obvious during the entire day yesterday, but it was very informative.

Later, we did this wonderful hike near the Sea of Galilee. We were hiking, and were at Hula Valley. Within a few minutes, there was a luciuos green area, and wading pool (ice cold) that felt like it was straight out of Yosemite, a red and brown dry alter (Dan) and a Eucalyptus Grove of trees. Craziness.

After that we went kyaking on the River Jordan (fun) and then went Rock Wall climbing and there was a ropes course and zip line. It was fun to do some physical activity after all that time on the bus. I went up the climbing wall (barefoot) and made good time. One person said I was like a spider, which means I was like a spaz.

Awesome corn pizza afterwards.

Today we get to go to the Old City of Jerusalem and we pick up our Israeli Soliders to tour with us (called the Mifgash).

Retro Post

2007-06-17T21:12:00.001-07:00

Sicne I now have internet access I thought that I would blog a little about some of the past few days here in amazing Israel.

But before I do that, I wanted to write a brief disclaimer. You may have seen in the News something about Lebannon launching a missle into Israel. This happened yesterday afternoon. It was no where near where we were (in Tsfat at the time) and it was an hour plus away. They immediately re-routed us, canceled some alone time in Tiberius, and re-arranged our scheduled today a bit in the Golan Heights to ensure that we would be absolutely fine. I feel perfectly safe, but didn't want anyone to worry.

Now onto some random tidbits from a past day.

On our second full day, we went to Tel Aviv. We started out by doing a mini-tour of the old city of Jaffa, and then went to Independence Hall. Independence Hall had a lot of history (and a very cheesy movie to go with it) but was very inspiring and interesting. I was also amazed that in the population of ~600,000, about 10% of them are not Jewish (we've now visited the Druze and the Bahai, and certainly have talked about the Arab population). After I. Hall, we went to the Flea Market (where I could ahve bought absolutely nothing) and then an Artist's fair at Nachalat Binyamin. I really wanted to buy (and still do) a set of Shabbat Candlestick holders, but alas, they had about 100+ different menorahs, but not one decent set of shabbat candlestick holders. Sad. (same thing Tsfat, but that's a different story) I did pick up a few things, and found out how good Passionfruit ice cream is on a warm day. That night we had Shabbat with service on the Beach followed by a fairly decent meal. The Kibbutz we were at (Nachsholim) had a bar where the three GAP groups hung out at afterwards, and i think that I was up til 3am hanging out (including an hour on the beach listening to music on the iPod.)

Overall a fun but fairly chill day in comparison to some of the others. More retro posts when I have time.

Tsfat

2007-06-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

Right now I am standing here with our security guard/medic/friend, named "GUY". He's AKA "the guy" who is very funny and charming and indicative of the entire Israeli experience so far. Lots of jokes and lots of fun with a wonderful serious side as well.

Today we went to Tsfat (which is the birthplace of Kabbalah) and had an amazing hike Mt. Arbel and our hotel tonight is right on the Sea of Galliee. It's beautiful. TOmorrow we hike along the Golan Hights.

The people on the trip so far are amazing. There's 36 in total, and I'd say I'm friendly with 30 of them and good friends with about 20. Very chill, lots of laughts, and lots of jews. It's been a great few days, and our group clicked very well. We are travelling with two other GAP trips (Philadelphia and Seattle) and they don't seem nearly as fun or into the trip.

Tonight was dancing in this restaurant along the Sea of Galliee. YMCA never gets old in any language.

Warner, George

2007-06-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a super fun day. I went to Burbank to the Warner Bros. "VIP tour" which was over two hours, but lots of fun. The tour guide "James" was a writer's assistant on Mad TV and was doing this as a summer job, but it was clear that he had a passion for film. It's crazy to me how the backlot worked with all trying to look good on camera, not necessarily work well in life. They had a small stop at the Warner Bros. "museum" where they had an ENTIRE floor devoted to Harry Potter (SNOOZE) AND they had lots of other random things. Including the season 1 outfits of the cast from Veronica Mars. It was a kick to see. I mean it was Lily's bloody cheerleading uniform - how does that NOT rock?

But none of that compares to the fact that I got to go to the backlot where they shoot ER. I got to touch the basketball hoop, and walk in the little hallway behind it. The glass squares in the ambulance bay are totally made of plastic, and they even had some fake snow hanging out for demo purposes.

After the Warner Bros. tour, I did the NBC tour (also in Burbank) where they film the Tonight Show. John Mayer was the musical guest and he was doing a rehersal, so I get to see him play a song. From about 30 feet away. With only like 20 other people. It was CRAZY. The rest of the tour sucked; I think that I can critique any guide now. Yikes.

Later on, I went to go see Ocean's 13. Jordan suggested going to the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater. I got to see the some of the "stars" again, and the foot prints were a kick. They had just laid down George Clooney, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt's . Since I saw the ER set earlier that day, I thought it appropriate to take a picture of George's footprints.

After the movie, I got ABSURDLY lost driving around LA (who knew that San Vicente and Wilshire intersect at multiple different places - grr....) and found my way back to Beverly Hills, where I picked up Jordan from work and we went to a SUPER fun dinner with Sarah and Scott. (who I didn't really know before, but I think he rocks.) We had a really fun time - so great to see them.

Today I'm off to LAX. Cross fingers that the cab comes when it is supposed to.

Learn how to Parallel Park

2007-06-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

J and I had a blast yesterday. We went around doing a bunch of errands for his "Palace" of his apartment. We then cooked up some Cerf Burgers (YUM) and watched "The Sopranos" finale. I loved and hated the cut to black. Tim Goodman said everything I thought about it better than I could have. Except this. MEADOW NEEDS TO LEARN HOW TO PARALLEL PARK. Seriously. SERIOUSLY.

When we turned off The Sopranos, about two minutes of The Tonys were on. And in those two minutes, I saw Zach Braff (with not straight up hair! weird!) introduce "Spring Awakening". It looked amazing, and kind of reminded me of the next RENT. I am kind of curious to see how I could add it to my iPod before I leave, but I think that I'll have to wait until I get back.

Today I get to do a tour at Warner Bros studio and maybe I'll get to see Nick P. I really hope that I get to see the set of "ER". My day would be complete.

Jordan's Place is a Palace

2007-06-10T16:57:00.000-07:00

So I'm at Jordan's condo (read=PALACE) and it's phenomenal. He's got awesome furniture, great stuff and it looks fantastic. Makes me miss "Benvenue" but it's also a great way to start off the trip.

We're thinking about making Italian tonight in honor of The Sopranos finale. Maybe some Chicken Parm?

Getting Ready

2007-06-10T06:15:00.000-07:00

So the joys of packing. Since I am going to be gone for so long, I decided that 1) I wanted to wear the clothes that I like 2) I wanted to take what I wanted 3) I wanted portability in travel. So about a thousand trips to REI later, I had the backpack that I wanted all picked out. And then I realized that I couldn't travel with both my new fancy backpack that I love and with my favorite TimBuk2 bag - mainly because if I were wearing a backapck, I couldn't also be wearing a TimBuk2.

Matt and Jess had the AWESOME suggestion of getting this thing called a Mountain Smith pack. It's like a fanny pack on steroids. I went over to Matties mostly needing advise of how to get it all in, really not wanting them to take things out. We went through the bag, and realized that I was taking a bit too much. Some a few pairs of shorts later, and with the wonderful Mountain Smith, I think that I can now be off. I now feel super mobile. Look, I can carry a child too if I needed to.

Dinner at Matt and Jess' house (with Mom, Dad and Susan Stien!) was so much fun and a great San Francisco send-off.

So today I am off to LA. If you're going to be in the LA AREA, give my cell phone a call. It'll be the last time it gets used for a long while. I get to stay with Jordan (SO EXCITED TO SEE HIM) and get to see maybe see cousin Kasey, Nick P and definately get to see Sarah H. and Scott for dinner. YAY! I also think that I'm going to go stalk Nick P. at his new work place because I am going to do a Warner Bros Studio Tour on Mon. that will help kill some free time (it's 2.25 hours!) and also let me have my last mega dose of TV for six weeks. I swear I'll go through withdrawl.

Tonight in LA will be The Sopranos finale. I have my own predictions. We'll see if I am right...

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