Tinkerer's Delight

I am a confessed tinkerer.  I think it's genetic. My brain as a child was warped by reading those books about famous inventors and scientists. I believed that I could build anything.  I did have may famous follies.  Most notable was a rocket. In the 1950's space travel was depicted in Life Magazine as rocket and satellite whizzing through the universe.  Why should I not build my own model rocket from scratch.  I had built model planes and cars.  My first plane was a Piper Cub, built it before I could read, just followed the step-by-step pictures.  When I was about  and my interest in rockets peaked I would build a gunpowder powered rocket.   Around the house I found everything I needed: gunpowder from Dad's shotgun shells, an empty toilet paper tube for the body of the rocket, and a nosecone I whittled from the wood of a packing crate.  After assembly, needed a way to ignite the powder remotely.  I didn't want to use a traditional fuse. (That would put me too close to the rocket.  I scrounged a bit of with from a discarded hot plate and wrapped between two nails and inserted it into the tail of the rocket.  I had an old piece of two-conductor wire with a plug on it and attached one wire to each nail.  Time for the countdown.  3-2-1-(plug it in)-Blast-off!

Smoke and fire were forthcoming, but it did not move.

My family was upset about the loss of electricity.  I was severely admonished for another one of my "scientific" projects.

I can't help but wonder what I could have done with the shop below.

Fairey Tale Redux

I like the movie, Hanna.  It's the story of a genetically altered teenage girl, Saoirse Ronan, trained by her father, Eric Bana, to be a fighting machine. An innocent sought to be destroyed by the resident evil, Cate Blanchette. It has nuances of fantasy with the chill  of a good thriller and a story line that is vaguely familiar. I particularly like the visual effects of the film. It appeared to be shot in the post apocalypic light of the future. The action scenes, and there are many, are well done but not quite overdone and the CGI work blends effortlessly. But the fight scenes, as in most current films, seem to be video game recreations. One note on lack of detail: The warm breath of the dying caribou in the opening scene does not fog the cold northern  air. All actors offer good performances, but I feel that Blanchette underplayed her role a bit. The bloody tooth brushing scene is a plus. The film exhibits good direction by Joe Wright, the London trained director, known for his direction of Atonement. 



It's a good thriller and I would watch it again.

Linx:

• Roger Ebert's Review
• Director
• Rotten Tomatoes

Travel Bits

As you know from previous posts, we love to travel. We prefer journeys of  roughly three weeks in duration and we don't like organized tours although sometimes that is the only way to see what we wish in the allotted amount of time.  We prefer to experience the maximum at the minimum of financial expenditure. Another preference is to take the Robert Frost road which is to say the road less traveled. One way is which we plan and execute is with our travel folder and a good guidebook.

The travel folder is a simple manila folder with the spring clips to hold the pages in.  On the left side is our itinerary in chronological order. It contains in a table  from left to right:

• Date and  day of journey (i. e. Day 25)  and location of that day
• what we wish to see that day
• the nights lodging ( inn, B & B,etc.)
• Daily mileage (we prefer to drive)
• Total mileage

As a sheet is completed it is moved to the back.

On the right side of the folder is the documentation to support what is on the left side.  Here would be car rental agreements, lodging confirmations, and/or maps from Google or Yahoo maps. (Navigation is crucial when driving in a foreign country, particularly one with a different language. In our case the non-driver reads directions to the driver.) These pages are moved to the back also as they are used.  There is also an additional manila envelope attached to the inside of the right side which keeps small  items such as tickets or brochures where needed.

This folder has the culmination of about nine months of planning. The bulk of the reservations are made on line as well as the details of attractions to see. Details of attractions are very important when visiting popular sites.  In France there are days when there is no admission charge to national attractions.  That is when crowds are at their greatest. To be confronted with the least crowd we try to visit in early morning or late afternoon and pay admission.  Also be aware that some attractions close during lunch.  We missed the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum in Albi, France, because we were there during lunchtime.  Lunchtime was two hours long!

Get a good guidebook.  We prefer Rick Steves'.  We have long been fans of his travel shows on PBS and have used his books and travel products successfully.  But we investigate other books as well.  Lonely Planet and Frommers' have good books too.

Planning pays off when you're traveling and a travel folder is a big part of planning.

Sources:

Travel stuff

Travel books         

I bet there's rich folks eatin'

The lines from that Johnny Cash song, Folsom Prison Blues, tells the story of social disparity oh so well.

I bet there's rich folks eatin',

In a fancy dining car,

They're probably drinkin' coffee,

And smokin' big cigars,

But I'm stuck in Folsom Prison,

And time keeps draggin' on

Recently I watched a film by filmmaker Jamie Johnson which the trailer describes. It was interesting and enlightening and with blatant editorial bias. Mr. Johnson believes that the rich in this country have too much money and that is not good. It's the classic "haves" versus "have nots" argument. Interestingly enough  Mr. Johnson is a member of the social class he vilifies. His income is derived from the family fortunes of Johnson & Johnson. He does not have to work for a living. While I must agree that perhaps the third or later generation removed from the creator of the family wealth may become isolated from actual work, initially someone had work to create the family wealth. Mr. Johnson advocates that the rich should share their wealth. What would this accomplish? Perhaps the rich would not provide the investment to create new business ventures that would create jobs? And what about the taxes and fees business pays to government? Could they be taxed into losing their profit incentive? And would we not continue our downward spiral into a  entitlement society?

Recently in Monaco I saw some of the most ostentacious trappings of wealth, huge yachts and expensive motorcars. But with all their wealth and misuse of power, we need the rich.

Has a poor man ever given you a job?

Cote d' Azure

"It may get stuck between floors," he said. Maurice, the desk clerk at the Riviera Hotel, 2 Avenue Albert, Villefranche-sur-Mer, told us as we inquired about the elevator. His seven-year-old daughter didn't notice us as she was deeply involved playing with an imaginary friend.  I took the elevator on Marrices's insistance that he would get meout in case tthe elevator got stuck. Our room was small but neat and tidy, and we immediately opened the floor length windows to the balcony. The view of the harbor was stunning. The Mediterranean Sea was its customary brilliant blue.  Luxury yachts the size of small ocean liners were taut on their mooring lines. This was the French Riviera.

Our drive from Vaison la Romaine  had been exhausting.  After all, we did make a few wrong turns in downtown Nice, but that did not curb our inquisitive spirit.  Maurice gave us a map of the town and pointed out a few places to eat. (Desk clerks can always do this for they have friends at restaurants.)  They know what the prices are, also. He reminded us that the closer the eatery was to the water the more expensive it would be.

There were a limited number of hours of sunlight left, and we had to get started. Down the stone streets and alleys of the medieval town we went.  First, we passed Saint Michael's church, built in the 18th century, that is in the "Old Town". We continue our downward walk toward the sea, since all towns on the Cote de Azur are on hillsides by the sea.  Our quest, or I should say, hunger for food led us to an oriental restaurant. (The restaurants suggested by the desk clerk were closed.)  The food and service were good,  but they wouldn't take our credit cards.  We prefer to carry very little cash, just a  hundred euros or so from the ATMs. The lengthy time for service is the norm in France, but is difficult for we Americans to adjust to it. We pass shops on the narrow streets as we continue.   But, the walk to the shoreline is worth the effort. If you are young, or just feel that way, there is nothing like the walk by the waterfront cafes as patrons from the yachts at anchorage come ashore.  The lights of the city beckon you as the music drifts across the water, with wafts of the odors of exotic foods and the stars above twinkle. And you wonder, "Can life be any better than this?"

We stop and look for creatures in the stars and talk in those hushed tones that lovers use before the walk through darkened streets to our hotel room many feet above sea level.