REALITY HITS!!

So things have been a bit hectic lately, hence the lack of updates. The main thing being that on November 1 we welcomed Floppy Headed Night Owl into the family.

Señor Frog was thrilled on the first day but REALITY HIT on day two as he sat in Grandma’s arms beside his new brother.

EASTERN EUROPEAN VACATION

Peaches and I went on vacation last week to Croatia. Yes, Croatia was part of the Balkan War about a decade ago. And yes, it was wonderful. It is a beautiful country that possesses one of the last remaining unspoilt sections of Mediterranean coastline. We had a blast.

That being said, however, there were a few subtle reminders that we were on a trip to former Soviet Bloc Europe.

For instance, as we got in line at the airport in London a ruddy lumberjackish man approached with his bags. ‘Is Rijeka.’ He leered at me.

It took me a moment to realize that his statement needed a question mark. ‘Oh. Yeah, Rijeka. This is the line for the flight to Rijeka.’ I responded.

‘Good.’

When we became the next ones to be served, we stopped at the STOP HERE mark on the floor.

‘Go!’ He pointed to the people standing in front of us at the counter.

‘No, I think it’s okay.’

‘Why.’

‘Well, because I know we’re next after those people right there and if someone tries to cut in front of us, I’ll say something.’

He tilted his head and I could see the Eastern Bloc crank turning. I was grateful that we were not in South Asia where they don’t even form lines. They just horde the desk in the shape of a large semicircle. Civilization… gotta love it.

The hotel we stayed at was wonderful. I would certainly recommend it. It was 2004 redo by an Austrian company of an 1880s Adriatic Villa. We had a large 45 square meter sea-view room with a separate seating area. Five-star bathroom with both bath and shower and a separate water closet. Balcony overlooking the sea. Generally a great physical set up although there were few items for the hyper-critical hotel professional to wail on.

The hotel was well constructed using expensive materials, but missed the mark on décor by about 10 years. In the lobby everything felt brand spankin’ new and had been well maintained over the past two years. But I was disappointed with the color scheme. The tiles were good quality but of a dated look (too many pastels). It felt a bit ‘1992’. And either there is a ridiculous infatuation with Austro-Hungarian heyday when Opatija was THE holiday area for the Habsburg era elite, or a local artist is an excellent promoter of his work. I know this because in a couple of hotels (one of which was ours) there were blue and white papier mâché people in Habsburg period dress. Someone should accidentally knock them over.

In our five-star bathroom with quality marble-looking vanity, someone had installed a lightweight cheap plastic insert for the separate corner shower. It unnecessarily cheapened the whole feel of an otherwise luxury bath.

The hotel staff were wonderful at rectifying earlier mistakes. Like having at least implied, if not outright confirmed via email that there was broadband Internet in our room. There was not.

I asked to speak with the general manager and explained that this had been one of our key criteria for any vacation hotel because Peaches had never before spent a single night away from Señor Frog since his birth. Persuading Peaches to take this holiday with me required abundant assurance that we would videoconference daily with him and his grandparents. The hotel general manager read my printout of my correspondence with her salesperson about this very item. After looking at it very carefully she made a phone call and had broadband internet access installed in our room! What a hero. THAT doesn't happen everyday in the hotel world. Peaches and I used SightSpeed every day to see our growing little boy, Señor Frog. Good thing, too, given that he really took to walking while we were away. We didn’t have to feel too guilty about being apart from him as he took this important step.

The food was great. However, our breakfast table looked different from the rest with a big jar of JIFF peanut butter. Señor Frog’s severe nut allergy prevents us from having any nut products in the house. I made sure that peanut butter was as much a part of our vacation as sleep. We went through two jars. Ugly Americans. I don’t care.

All in all, I have to say that I am a huge fan of Croatia, and I now understand why so much European capital is trying to find ways to invest in Croatian tourism. Opatija was wonderful. Next time we look forward to trying something further south near Dubrovnik, and I may even venture further south than Croatia into Montenegro.

WHAT'S ON HER HEAD?

A group of teenage girls passed us in the park today. They were laughing and carrying on like any such group would do anywhere in the world. But one of them was wearing a black Muslim head scarf. At first I thought, “It must be hard for her to wear that here in this Western culture.” But on second thought I realized that here in London, she is certainly not the only one at her school or among her friends that wear distinctively Muslim clothing. Some boroughs of London are over 30 percent Muslim. The London Central Mosque is located just down the road from us, as is one of the major London synagogues, and the American School. Our neighborhood is cosmopolitan.

I love this. I love the fact that this young woman in Primrose Hill on a lovely Saturday afternoon has the courage, the community and the faith to wear clothes that say to me, “I love Allah and I love Mohammed enough to do this. Or at least I love my family enough to do this. I am a part of my family. I am willing to look different from others. I am willing to make a small sacrifice.”

In London today, where would a young agnostic head if she thought there might be more than this life? If she thought to herself, when I look into someone’s eyes I am certain I see more than just light sensory mechanisms. In London, practicing Muslims are the most obvious example of people living for a higher purpose – not Christians. Wearing modest Islamic dress or not drinking alcohol says “There is more to life than just this life.”

It is not unheard of these days to see Western women who have converted to Islam. The ones interviewed on TV have shared that Islamic culture does not assign a value to women based on appearances. Islamic culture asks modesty of its women in order to protect them and shield them from a society that says your worth depends on how attractive you are and how much skin you are willing to show.

Most Christians in the Western world do not believe in standing out, in looking different or making sacrifices. The particular vein of American Christianity in which I grew up almost pretended that no sacrifices were needed. For all intents and purposes you could be just like everyone else. Big car, successful business, good looking, large home, eat whatever you want. Sexual restraint and swearing less were probably the two areas where we were not to live secularly. But statistics show that evangelical Christians are equally likely if not more likely to get up to sexual no good and to divorce than non-Christians. Practically, there is no distinction between Christian culture and American culture at large. Good Christians strive to do basically the same things that any good person would do.

Many Churches these days are obsessed with being culturally relevant. They may decry immorality at large but they are torn between being culturally relevant and culturally critical. They want it both ways. Some of them are guilty of peddling a form of Christianity that is more akin to mass entertainment than communal worship.

The early church was not like this. Classic Christianity encouraged Christians to make little sacrifices all the time. This led us to be different from the world around us. It encouraged us to fast, not individualistically, but in accordance with the recommended fasts of the Church calendar. It asked us to mark ourselves and creation with the ultimate sign of Christ – the sign of the Cross. It asked us to physically demonstrate our love of Christ by kissing His image and that of His mother. Doing these things as the church has suggested excercises our ascetic muscles. It trains us little by little to carry our Cross and to do the right thing in all areas of life. Holy means “set apart”. The Ancient Church asked us to set ourselves apart. Maybe we should try to live more this way today.

NEED I SAY MORE?!?!?

FROGMAN

So the guy sitting on my shoulders is Señor Frog. When he was born, based on the length of his bones and the size of skull, etc. the doctors predicted he would be over 9lbs.

Nope. 6lb 5oz.

He had the bones of a 9 pounder and the SKIN of 9 pounder. But not the fat. So he came out with these long skinny legs and droopy rough skin. Next to Peaches he was the most beautiful thing I'd ever laid eyes on. Funny thing is he just gets more and more beautiful every day.

He has spent way too much time with Pug and has picked up a fair number of flat-faced canine habits. When he is delighted with something he often scrunches up his face, wrinkles his nose and pants or snorts. To carry toys or socks while crawling he often places them in his mouth. He likes to plunge his face into Pug's water bowl. One could argue he is the victim of a misnomer and should be called Señor Dog.

On the 19th of last month I could see Bunboy moving for the first time. He is slowly getting more active there in Peaches belly. I am tempted to go ahead and make a call on Bunboy's temperament as a bit more laid back than Señor Frog. Señor Frog could have auditioned for lead role in Ricochet Rabbit Returns. Bunboy takes it easy. I can't wait to chill with him in November.

ENGLISH MADNESS and the WORLD CUP

So here's the thing: The English have not won the World Cup since 1966. But the English don't know that.

At least not from the sound of the BBC commentators on Saturday during the match against Paraguay. The first half was an unadulterated exercise in English pride.

First, they slagged off the German field. "Viewers, if you're finding it hard to follow the ball, so are we! The shadows on that pitch are just awful."

Then they slagged off the injured Paraguayan goalkeeper describing him as a player with "a lack of heart....Every World Cup has it's tragic stories and this is one." They accused another injured Paraguayan of "faking it".

During the halftime show the team of former footballers cum commentators, used the word "Perfect" to describe the play and participants of the English team at least SIX times.
But get this: England were leading 1-0 after an own-side goal headed in by a Paraguayan player off a corner by Beckham. I'm no soccer expert.... "Perfect"?????

Note also that the commentators reminded us repeatedly that Gamarra, responsible for the own-side error, was "the most experienced on the Paraguayan side".

The half-time commentary slagged off the Mexican Ref, clearly wrong in his yellow card on Gerrard. They described the Ref as "all over the place". They had evidence he was "clearly against England" - a clip from a dubious angle that supposedly showed him stepping on an English player's hand. Hmmm...looked like he was just standing on the field to me.

Yes, I know. We Americans shouldn't point any fingers. Our newscasters and commentators still pay homage to the pretense of neutrality. Very silly. The English are candid about viewpoint. Every English newspaper has a clearly stated perspective from which they analyze the events of the world: left, centre left, right, business, organized labor, the city, etc. No silly preoccupation with fair and unbiased!

Because Americans only play sports with other Americans any game that achieves national coverage is supposed to receive a certain degree of unbiased reporting. Americans have gone to great lengths to only play sports with fellow Americans. Even if it meant inventing new sports: baseball, basketball, football. Why would we want to participate in international sports when our world domination might be called into question?

I mean the Czech Republic!?!?! They are literally half the country they used to be and they still beat us. That's just humiliating.

Anyhow, after the second half of the England Paraguay game, with England having failed to score its own goals throughout the match, just when I thought English commentary might turn a bit self-critical I realized that SWEDE Sven Goran Eriksson was going to bear the brunt of any English shame.

Poor guy....

Test

First of all, let's make sure one thing is clear: This is a test.

I have never blogged before but this weekend's events on BBC1 put me over the edge. It takes the World Cup to make a writer out of this American. Let's see how we're getting along here so far with this stuff by publishing this post....