Hmmm. A new set from Aiki. She's one of my faves. I'll be sure to see if it's any good.
So, how was everyone's 4th? I went to my friend Brynn's house, as per every year lately. She and her boyfriend, Jared, are nice enough to have me and my husband over for some Johnsonville brats (that's a type of sausage -- not annoying children from Johnsonville), some beer, and to watch the Macy's annual fireworks spectacle. The fireworks this year seemed lame, and lasted shorter than last year. We couldn't tell that the finale was indeed a finale. I think last year's were a lot more...in your face, and that they were seriously trying to pump up the whole war in Iraq business in spite of the increasing public "scrutiny" (outrage does not apply to many Americans when it comes to GWB and his wrongdoings). Maybe it's my imagination, but all the songs that were chosen last year to sync up with the display had lyrics like "we are the champions/we'll keep on fighting", that "you raise me up" crap -- I hate that song!, "proud to be an American", "God bless America" (two versions of that!), etc. Yeah, that seems like the typical thing to play on such a night, but there wasn't nearly as much of that schmaltz this year. It was almost like there was an air of apology in the lack of ultra-fervent Americana with regards to the musical accompaniment. Long story short, it was a fun night in spite of the unimpressive fireworks.
I watched the match between Germany and Italy yesterday that took place in Dortmund. Univision (the Spanish channel) is the only channel I can get that carries all the games. Yesterday's semi-finals match was only the third match I had seen from the entire World Cup roster. I tend to have feelings of ambivalence toward sports (read: I think they're stupid) but I realize now it's because I hate how Americans like their sports. I hate baseball and American football most especially. But I do love me some World Cup. I've been watching it since I was obsessed with the Italian team of super-hotties in 1990. That's also when I started watching the World Cup with my family in Beirut. We used to sew our own flags and really get into the spirit of the games. I sometimes think they should abolish the Olympics because they ruin cities by putting them in astronomical debt. New York lost the bid to host the Olympics in 2012 -- thank goodness! Can you imagine New York City being able to take in that many tourists as residents try to get into work every day? Fuck that! Anyhoo, in the match last night, Italy scored two beautiful goals against Germany just one minute before the end of the second overtime. I was jumpin' and screamin' my head off. I hope the Portugal v. France match is on today because I took today off from work in case I felt crappy after last night's celebrating. I am also going to try to take Friday off so I can watch the finals. I can't believe I am actually trying to take a day off from work to watch sports!
On a sadder note: this is from The Irish Independent this morning. It interests me mainly because I often wonder as I ride the subways why some drivers make the train go so fast you feel like you're going to derail. I would hope there are limits as to how fast a train can go, as in the design of the train simply does not allow for speeds that are dangerous. It's a sad article, so if you don't feel up to it, skip it.
Spanish Death Train Driver May Have Passed Out
SPAIN'S worst ever underground train crash in which 41 people were killed was caused by the engine going at twice the normal speed and the possibility the driver passed out, officials said yesterday.
Black box data showed the train in Valencia on Spain's east coast was doing 80kph on a curve through a tunnel - twice the normal speed - when it derailed on Monday, the city's transport chief Jose Ramon Garcia said in a statement.
Officials were waiting for the result of an autopsy on the still unnamed driver to see if it would provide further information on how the crash occurred.
"The train accident was caused by excess speed," said Garcia.
"There's no explanation, so we suspect the train driver might have passed out or suffered some sort of illness which stopped him reacting."
Valencia's train drivers' union, which said earlier it suspected poor maintenance caused the accident, accepted yesterday that the train had been going too fast on a dangerous curve.
Cesar Hernandez, echoing other survivors of the crash, told Spanish media on Monday the train had accelerated then braked suddenly before the crash.
Another, unnamed survivor told local media that terrified passengers had shouted "An attack, an attack," recalling the Islamist militant bombings of four trains in Madrid in 2004 in which 191 people were killed and hundreds more injured.
The government has ruled out a terrorist attack as the cause of Monday's Valencia crash.
The dead included an Argentine, a Paraguayan, a Colombian, a Venezuelan and a Bulgarian, officials said. King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero attended a funeral mass for the dead in the city's cathedral on Tuesday.
Zapatero cut short a trip to India to fly to Valencia, which is preparing for a visit by Pope Benedict on Saturday.
Valencia's authorities announced compensation of 30,000-60,000 for each of the dead. They said all safety procedures had been in place on the underground line, which was opened in 1988. The train was inspected on June 27. Survivors described smashing windows to stagger out into a tunnel littered with the dead and injured.
"I closed my eyes. I didn't want to see what was happening," said 65-year-old Arturo Terol.
Forty-seven people were injured in the crash and two remained in a critical condition yesterday.
Ana Perez
So, how was everyone's 4th? I went to my friend Brynn's house, as per every year lately. She and her boyfriend, Jared, are nice enough to have me and my husband over for some Johnsonville brats (that's a type of sausage -- not annoying children from Johnsonville), some beer, and to watch the Macy's annual fireworks spectacle. The fireworks this year seemed lame, and lasted shorter than last year. We couldn't tell that the finale was indeed a finale. I think last year's were a lot more...in your face, and that they were seriously trying to pump up the whole war in Iraq business in spite of the increasing public "scrutiny" (outrage does not apply to many Americans when it comes to GWB and his wrongdoings). Maybe it's my imagination, but all the songs that were chosen last year to sync up with the display had lyrics like "we are the champions/we'll keep on fighting", that "you raise me up" crap -- I hate that song!, "proud to be an American", "God bless America" (two versions of that!), etc. Yeah, that seems like the typical thing to play on such a night, but there wasn't nearly as much of that schmaltz this year. It was almost like there was an air of apology in the lack of ultra-fervent Americana with regards to the musical accompaniment. Long story short, it was a fun night in spite of the unimpressive fireworks.
I watched the match between Germany and Italy yesterday that took place in Dortmund. Univision (the Spanish channel) is the only channel I can get that carries all the games. Yesterday's semi-finals match was only the third match I had seen from the entire World Cup roster. I tend to have feelings of ambivalence toward sports (read: I think they're stupid) but I realize now it's because I hate how Americans like their sports. I hate baseball and American football most especially. But I do love me some World Cup. I've been watching it since I was obsessed with the Italian team of super-hotties in 1990. That's also when I started watching the World Cup with my family in Beirut. We used to sew our own flags and really get into the spirit of the games. I sometimes think they should abolish the Olympics because they ruin cities by putting them in astronomical debt. New York lost the bid to host the Olympics in 2012 -- thank goodness! Can you imagine New York City being able to take in that many tourists as residents try to get into work every day? Fuck that! Anyhoo, in the match last night, Italy scored two beautiful goals against Germany just one minute before the end of the second overtime. I was jumpin' and screamin' my head off. I hope the Portugal v. France match is on today because I took today off from work in case I felt crappy after last night's celebrating. I am also going to try to take Friday off so I can watch the finals. I can't believe I am actually trying to take a day off from work to watch sports!
On a sadder note: this is from The Irish Independent this morning. It interests me mainly because I often wonder as I ride the subways why some drivers make the train go so fast you feel like you're going to derail. I would hope there are limits as to how fast a train can go, as in the design of the train simply does not allow for speeds that are dangerous. It's a sad article, so if you don't feel up to it, skip it.
Spanish Death Train Driver May Have Passed Out
SPAIN'S worst ever underground train crash in which 41 people were killed was caused by the engine going at twice the normal speed and the possibility the driver passed out, officials said yesterday.
Black box data showed the train in Valencia on Spain's east coast was doing 80kph on a curve through a tunnel - twice the normal speed - when it derailed on Monday, the city's transport chief Jose Ramon Garcia said in a statement.
Officials were waiting for the result of an autopsy on the still unnamed driver to see if it would provide further information on how the crash occurred.
"The train accident was caused by excess speed," said Garcia.
"There's no explanation, so we suspect the train driver might have passed out or suffered some sort of illness which stopped him reacting."
Valencia's train drivers' union, which said earlier it suspected poor maintenance caused the accident, accepted yesterday that the train had been going too fast on a dangerous curve.
Cesar Hernandez, echoing other survivors of the crash, told Spanish media on Monday the train had accelerated then braked suddenly before the crash.
Another, unnamed survivor told local media that terrified passengers had shouted "An attack, an attack," recalling the Islamist militant bombings of four trains in Madrid in 2004 in which 191 people were killed and hundreds more injured.
The government has ruled out a terrorist attack as the cause of Monday's Valencia crash.
The dead included an Argentine, a Paraguayan, a Colombian, a Venezuelan and a Bulgarian, officials said. King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero attended a funeral mass for the dead in the city's cathedral on Tuesday.
Zapatero cut short a trip to India to fly to Valencia, which is preparing for a visit by Pope Benedict on Saturday.
Valencia's authorities announced compensation of 30,000-60,000 for each of the dead. They said all safety procedures had been in place on the underground line, which was opened in 1988. The train was inspected on June 27. Survivors described smashing windows to stagger out into a tunnel littered with the dead and injured.
"I closed my eyes. I didn't want to see what was happening," said 65-year-old Arturo Terol.
Forty-seven people were injured in the crash and two remained in a critical condition yesterday.
Ana Perez
VIEW 5 of 5 COMMENTS
i love the smell of roasted coffee too, especially just walking into
the door at Starbucks.
for some reason, it smells better to me if someone else is brewing it.
i once thought i was in love with a man out in n.y.c, but it was pretty much
obsessive infatuation and codependancy....
thank the gods i grew out of it.
I didn't want to end up like Glen Close in Fatal attraction