Closing the Curtain on China '08

Some parting shots from the LATimes and a bit of a counter point from a Denver Post columnist (in the Seattle Post Intelligencer)

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-olympics26-2008aug26,0,4466878.story

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/olympics/376460_voices26.html

...and an interesting "people in glass houses"+"we're in the same boat" (the one Bush built for us) viewpoint

http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=332686

...and reflections of a Boston Globe reporter...

http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/olympics/extras/olympics_blog/2008/08/one_last_lap_ar.html

OK enough is enough. I'm just going to have to muscle through until football starts. It's going to be a long week!
R

Correction

It's been brought to my attention by certain parties (Ryan) that I ought to mention that we ate our omelets around noon, thus making his consumption of beer less odd.

The Triumphant Return of the Sunday Morning Omelet

Once upon a time, in jolly old England, there was a tradition of Sunday morning omelets. These omelets were accompanied by pastries and breads (from the Belgian bakery I wanted to move into) and mimosas. The tradition continued in the U.S. when we were both in it and began to occasionally see some of the best French toast on the planet (if I do say so myself...and I do). It even happened shortly after we moved in to the new apartment. We were the largest consumers of chicken sausage in Erie county (I can't actually substantiate that particular statement...).

It fell apart after I got pregnant. Apparently, my inability to tolerate the smell of cooking chicken extended to cooking eggs. We hadn't had Sunday morning omelets in a very long time until last weekend.

The magic has returned.

My omelet in progress. Yes, I see the shmootz on the stove. Yes, I cleaned it up. I'm great, but I'm not particularly neat...what do you want?


Ryan accused me of loading his omelet with vegetables so that I could put all the sausage and cheese in mine. He seems to forget that he ASKS for jalapeños and onions and such in his omelets.


Ok. Maybe there is a lot of sausage and cheese in mine. Baby wanted chorizo.


Wow. That looks good enough to eat...oh, wait...that's right...we did.


Ryan tears into his omelet like a ravening beast.


Gracie chews on something a little less delicious...her leg.


For those of you who were keen enough to spot it in the above picture of Ryan devouring his omelet...ten points. That is a can of lager from "America's Oldest Brewery." Yes, nothing tops off breakfast like a fine can of Yuengling, brewed right here in beautiful nearby Pottsville, PA (ok, it's not really "nearby," but it's way closer than the Guinness brewery).


So, the Sunday morning omelets have found their way back into the Sitter household...at least as long as I get relatively long periods of uninterrupted sleep, that is. Somehow I think a screaming baby will make the preparation of omelets much less appealing.

Milli Vanilli & the Potemkin Olympics

Lynnsey is handling my addiction with remarkable fortitude. Most of you may not know I've been addicted to the Olypmics since I was a wee lad. I've been glued to NBC since last Friday's opening ceremonies the way I was glued to the Tour de France through most of July (sorry babe :-). Phelps & Co. are amazing and the US mens gymnastics guys rose to the occasion admirably a couple of nights back. I can't get enough!!

When I think of the Olympics the picture in my mind's eye is the ideal of the olympic movement - the expression of humanity that radiates from fair and sportsmanlike competition between the best athletes in the world. The Olympic charter says it best: "The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."

The embrace of the beach volleyball players from Georgia and Russia before they did battle on the sand court in Beijing yesterday is the latest example of how the Olympics embodies that ideal.

There is, unfortunately, a commercial parasite - also called the Olympics - that feeds on this positive energy. Big Business and Big Government see Big Bucks when they think of the Olympics. That vibe is decidely phony and the synicism it promotes poisons the true Olympic spirit. Yuck!!

Maybe I'm biased (by my naive idealistic tendencies :-)) but it seems like this time around the negative vibe has been even worse than in the past due to the selection of China as the host country. Don't get me wrong, I've got no beef with the Chinese masses but I do with their apparatchik overloards.

The Chinese government has turned Beijing into an enormous Potemkin Village, a sad display of life behind the curtain. I can understand playing good hosts to the world but I think it stinks when you go so far as to pull a Milli Vanilli with an 8-year-old little girl because she is "too ugly" to represent the country. Does that demonstrate China is a "society concerned with the preservation of human dignity"? Do they play the rest of the world for fools? Too bad they couldn't find the courage to respect the diginity of this girl by celebrating her genuine beauty and her wonderful voice...

...and that is just the most emblematic example of countless other phony, oft-publicized measures the government has taken including the attempt to hide China's atrociously polluted air.

The funny thing and one of the unitended consequences - both at home in China and around the world - may be that people see the true face of China. This article in the Washington Post this morning was pretty interesting: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/12/AR2008081203262.html?hpid=topnews... I hope that people celebrate the good vibe of the Olympics - it would be a shame for them not to enjoy the spirit of the games - but I also hope they see the Olympic parasite and its Chinese host for what they really are - a sham. I shudder to imagine these guys as a superpower at the help of world politics.

-R

Little Eagle

While we were in DC, Ryan showed me where he spent a lot of time partying...whoops! I mean, learning (come on, have you met him?...which do you think he did more of?). We visited the campus of AU. I got to see the location of so many of the stories I've heard about. It was pretty cool. I like the "flaming cupcake" the best!


While we were there Ryan got a new t-shirt (that has already been claimed for the next quilt...I don't know if he realizes that or not) and a hat (see above). He looks hot.

We also bought young Mr. Sitter a little something...


Even better...After we got back, I found a baby Prep shirt, too!

More than Just Crabcakes

Our first night in Annapolis we headed to the Middleton Tavern. I think pretty much every restaurant in the city (even the Starbucks we popped into a few days later) is in a building that's at least 200 years old. The Middleton was pretty good and we got to watch the people next to us have their dinner prepared tableside by what I'm pretty sure was the owner.



The next day, during our walking tour (yes, with the wands) around town we stopped for lunch at Galway Bay. Ryan had mussels and I had what might be the second best burger ever (after Clifton Manor and neck and neck with J. Paul's).

That night we had dinner at O'Leary's Seafood. Ryan had some kind of scallops for an appetizer and some kind of tuna something as an entree. You can see I'm really concerned with seafood. I suppose if I liked seafood, I would have been happier. You see, the filet I ordered medium came out pretty much seared on each side and was so raw I was afraid to eat it (pregnancy has it price). They did give us dessert for free because of the problem, chocolate cake-the kind with the molten middle, so I couldn't complain too much.

Next day for lunch we hit the jackpot at O'Brien's Oyster Bar. Ryan had noticed the pizza on a table outside the previous day. So, when we were looking for lunch we stopped in and had what I think might be the best pizza I've had in quite a while. Crust was great...not too doughy, not too chewy. Sauce was spicy and thick. Pepperoni was greasy and delicious, like it was meant to be. We considered ordering a second one.


That night we went to Lewnes' Steakhouse at the recommendation of a former citizen of fair Annapolis. It was fantastic. The only drawback was my window seat overlooking the enormous collection of wine that I couldn't drink. We both had great steaks (although the delmonico at Calao's still holds the number one spot) and they actually managed to cook my steak thoroughly enough that I could eat it without fear of foodborne illness.

Lewnes' has among their fine collection a bottle of $1050 wine. I believe that you get what you pay for...to an extent. I know that a $60 bottle tastes better than a $6 bottle, but can a wine really be good enough to warrant dropping a grand on it? I'm not convinced.



I can't forget to mention Ann's breakfasts at Georgian House. They were great...fresh fruit, puffy pancakes and French toast, bacon, muffins...yum!

DC was a little less interesting on the food front. Of course, we went to J. Paul's. We ended up at an Italian place called Bertucci's for dinner that night. We ended up at an Elephant and Castle for lunch. We tried to hit Lauriol Plaza, but the wait was too long for a preggo with a headache, so we went to Circa instead. Had some ice cream at Kramer Books that was ridiculously good.

Before we headed out, we had breakfast at the Beacon Hotel's bar and grill-type place. Mine was good...bacon, eggs, potatoes, toast, juice, milk...you can't go wrong there. Ryan had oatmeal with golden raisins. He said he liked it, but I don't know how good it could have possibly been...it was oatmeal.

Jeez! You'd think all we did was eat...

Annapolis

We finally decided to take a little honeymoon. Our first stop was Annapolis, Maryland...home of the...


We did the requisite walking tour of the historic sites, complete with dorky wands.


We also stood in the middle of Main Street to try to get this picture. I like Main Street. There's a store called "Alpaca International."



Annapolis is quite the sailing town. I'm really surprised that I didn't get more of "Would you be mad if I bought a boat?"


Annapolis is a great example of what Erie could be, but isn't. Historic waterfront district, free music, great little shops, amazing restaurants. We could learn a thing or two.

Order of the Garter

One of our goals is to educate here at Bob's My Uncle...so without further ado.

As far as I can gather, the tradition of the garter toss comes from the ancient belief that it was lucky to have a piece of the bride's wedding attire. As you can imagine, this easily got out of hand...people ripping apart the bridal gown. Even though you aren't going to wear it again, the destruction of the gown is still tragic.

There are other explanations, but they're not as sweet as that one. I'll let you look that one up yourself!

The DJ explains the process to Ryan.



"Hey! How many layers does this thing have? Do you think we could insulate the apartment with it?"


"Why does your mom have that baseball bat?"


"Hey, they did a great job on your pedicure."



"Woo-hooo!"


"I am the man!"


I made all of that up, by the way. I don't really remember what he said. It was still pretty funny and the pictures did come out great. I like it.

Let Them Eat Cake

All Occasions Goodies is responsible for our beautiful cake. It tasted at least as good as it looks.


We had some cutlery issues when it came time to cut the cake. Apparently, the only thing they could find was this machete.


You'd think Ryan would trust me with a knife...I AM a trained professional.

Ryan was very good about not smushing me in the face with cake. I think it's because I told him that I would probably cry if he did...hormones, you know.



I returned the favor. I smushed a little, but it was mostly because the piece I cut was a little too big.


Sweet!

Abbey Road

It's very possible that I'm crazy...but I think this picture looks familiar somehow.


They're going the wrong direction...and Kayla's a little short, but I think there's a hint of similarity.


Is it just me?