The NY Times has a very cool "what if" calculator for the US election. Now you too can watch Kerry sweep Bush off the map! NYTimes.com 2004 Election Guide
posted by Tom at 9:29 AM | link | (0) comments

A weekend of great entertainment!

On Saturday we went up with Molly to the Tennis Masters Canada in the new tennis facility at York University. The new centre court is very nice, with great sightlines from everywhere. We had great seats for an excellent match, and we're thinking of trying to get tickets for the semifinals or finals next weekend.

Afterwards, we rented and watched the original Manchurian Candidate, and Hitchcock's North by Northwest, both great movies which I hadn't seen. The new Manchurian Candidate comes out on Friday and might be worth the time... for some Bush-bashing if nothing else.

Sunday, after a late start and the cryptic crossword, we gardened for a goodly chunk of the day -- must go home and see how the grass seed is doing -- and then pottered around the house for the remainder before going out for pho (Vietnamese soup). In the evening we watched a West Wing episode and then conked out.

I *love* summer!
posted by Tom at 6:36 PM | link | (0) comments

Coolest pictures ever.
posted by Tom at 4:05 PM | link | (0) comments

Strange, fractious weather in Toronto at the moment -- warm, smoggy, with a dull ugly sky, rain overnight and, yesterday, a short thunderstorm during the day. We stayed inside on Sunday in consequence and played the Civilization board game, which is fun though somewhat random when there are only two players. I'm hoping to have friends around next week for a 3- or 4-person game.

Work is busy intermittently -- several part-time tasks on the go at the moment, which aren't quite adding up to fulltime business right now but will probably result in overtime in a week or so. For now, I'm enjoying leaving work on time and meeting Anne three times a week at our club, where we work out together -- very companionable, and as hardly anyone else uses the facility it's very nice indeed. Though today I won't be joining Anne on the weight machines -- instead I'm meeting Sean Morley for a game of squash.

Today I picked up a whole lot of pictures back from the disposable cameras at the wedding reception. There are some quite good ones... I'll try and post them later this evening.
posted by Tom at 5:11 PM | link | (0) comments

We bought a new toy on the weekend, and I've become a barista overnight. So much fun! Fully-automated espresso and cafe crema production -- plus hot steam for heating and frothing milk for cappucinos and lattes. It takes me back to Italia, so it does...

posted by Tom at 3:13 PM | link | (0) comments

We watched Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World last night, and enjoyed it a lot. I read the two books -- Master and Commander, and The Far Side of the World -- while we were on our honeymoon. (I'd taken the first one over with me and couldn't find books 2-9 in the series in any of the bookstores we checked.) Excellent books, rather too full of rich detail to be condensed in a truly satisfying way into a feature movie. I've been catching up on book 2, Post Captain, since I got back. Truly excellent books.
posted by Tom at 11:01 AM | link | (0) comments

I've posted a whole lot of honeymoon pictures, mostly taken by Anne. These came off the digital camera -- there's a couple of rolls of film that needs to be processed, too. Only a couple of wedding pictures available so far, but the photographer thinks the proofs will be ready by the end of the week.
posted by Tom at 9:15 AM | link | (0) comments

Home!

Our last day of non-travel in Europe was a long, rather packed day in Munich. We spent most of the day in the wonderful Deutsches Museum, a terrific science museum that could have swallowed two whole days without any trouble at all. I particularly enjoyed the boats, trains and planes -- and they have a fantastic model train set! -- but also got a whole new appreciation for metallurgy and forging, of all things. Anyway, time well spent.

After the Deutsches Museum we walked down the river to the Englisher Garten, a "Central Park"-style mid-town green space laced with bicycle and footpaths as well as horse riding trails. We stopped for a pick-me-up beer & pretzl at the Chinese pagoda and continued on to the small lake in the centre of the park where we had ribs and salad for dinner. (The salad cost way more than the HUGE serving of ribs that we split between us.)

As we were finishing the food and getting started on the beers it very suddenly got darker and colder and we set off towards the road to find a taxi home when I happened to look south across the lake, to see birds exploding off the island in the middle. The reason soon became clear and we started running -- a hailstorm caught up with us within feet, and torrential rain followed soon after! Drenched, we took refuge in the fancy restaurant by the lake. Once the rain had died down a bit -- about 15 minutes later, maybe -- they called us a cab and we went back to the hotel to change, and pack to come home!

The flight was straightforward and we made it home to house and cats. Everything seems fine here, thanks to our friends Meredith & Bernard and Eric who house-sat for us for the last three weeks. About half an hour after we got home, a delivery man brought us flowers from my parents to welcome us back!

It's almost 6pm EST now, which feels like midnight for us, so I don't know how much longer we will be able to stay up, though we'll try and get as much of the jet lag out of the way today. I hope we'll hear from everyone soon and see everyone as soon as possible. We have a lot of wine left over from the wedding to drink!
posted by Tom at 5:44 PM | link | (0) comments

3:35pm, Venizia. Sunny and 28°C.

We've been truly blessed with the weather on this trip -- with a couple of slightly hazy days and a cloudy morning exception, it has been sunny throughout. Indeed, in Florence it was slightly too hot -- but here in Venice it's been delightful.

As indeed has been the city. I expected Venice to be full of tourists and of course it is -- but I had no idea how refreshing it would be to be in an entirely pedestrian town full of winding little alleyways which are often the main streets. It's easy enough to leave the main tourist traps behind and strike out into the less busy side streets -- though equally easy to run into dead ends and blind alleys on those side streets -- and every corner seems to lead to a new and lovely sight.

There are no lawns and few plants of any kind, but there are occasional courtyards with garden plants. This means everyone's house and palazzo alike open directly onto the street (though often the main front door opens onto a canal, and the street is the back door)! While there are many buildings in advanced disrepair, especially at ground floor level (where they are subject to occasional floods) there are equally often lovely upper stories whose frescoes and chandeliers can be glimpsed through open windows and curtains.

We've had a lovely few days and finished our museum tours this morning with a visit to the Doge's palace. We booked early and were able to go on the Secret Itinerary tour which led through the secret chambers of the famous "Council of 10", the top administrators (and chieftains of the secret police) who had hidden offices, complete with prisons and an interrogation chamber, concealed near the Doge's apartments.

Tomorrow we leave Venice on our way back to Munich, and return from there to Toronto on Friday. It will be sad to leave all this behind, but great to see everybody, settle back into our house, and see the cats again!

Speaking of cats, I don't recall if I'd posted an update on Hoover... It turns out she has a nasty form of cancer and will probably succumb within the next couple of years, but for now, she's recovering nicely from her operation and putting on weight again. She's going to get a round of chemo-therapy, which apparently is unusually effective on cats. Looking forward to seeing her again!
posted by Tom at 9:34 AM | link | (0) comments

11:50, Siena.

We had a lovely day driving through Tuscany in our little Smart car which we have named "Principessa". After heading out of Florence (a very lengthy procedure involving many wrong turns) we headed south through increasingly interesting terrain towards Montalcino. We stopped for a picnic lunch with a bottle of Rosso in the small garden of the 14th century fortezza, which is at the top of two valleys. Extremely pleasant!

After lunch we had a lovely scenic drive over to Montepulciano. We didn't stop for long but had a walk around the town including a stop in a wine store where the storeowner sucked us in with a couple of free samples. So in summary we bought some great wines and will be bringing a couple home to add to our ridiculously full cellar (recently filled with the leftovers from the wedding party).

We found our way back to Siena without trouble but had some difficulty finding anywhere to park. The town is packed for the Palio (tomorrow). After a hot and bothered long walk with all our luggage to our hotel (which is a bit of a disappointment in location, noise, and heat) we went for a nice walk downtown. The whole centre of the town is a massive medeval maze spread out on the top of a couple of connected hills -- completely gorgeous. The Campo, the town square, is a wonderful sight with the old town hall and its towering tower lit up across from the banked semicircle of spectator seats (the race is held held in the square). The square was full of interesting looking restaurants and we're planning on heading back this evening to eat and hopefully catch the last of the race trials.
posted by Tom at 5:52 AM | link | (0) comments