Paris Archives - Traveling Archive

My Place at the Table: A Recipe for a Delicious Life in Paris

Stephen Brewer — Sun, 27 Mar 2022 22:09:00 +0000

My Place at the Table

Book written by Alec Lobrano

As Audrey Hepburn once famously said “Paris is always a good idea,” and among those who have taken this advice to heart is the American food writer Alec Lobrano. In his delightful, witty, and at times moving memoir he recounts his 35 years in Paris, where “food would become my muse, my metaphor, and my map for making a place for myself in the world.”

Photograph of Alex Lobrano (circa 2014) courtesy REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

The author arrived in the city as a fashion reporter, though he knew and cared little about the subject and as a colleague pointed out, his French was a “train wreck.” This rebuke comes after he talks his bosses into letting him do a story on the legendary cheesemonger Henri Androuët, whom he tells that his cheeses should be nailed to the walls of the Louvre. He nonetheless writes a compelling piece about Monsieur Androuët and his wares, then one about oysters, and he earnestly sets out to learn more about the food around him. His landlady, a countess, wisely advises him, The first thing you’ll have to learn is how to decipher a cook’s intentions.” A clerk at his local post office tips him off to exciting new restaurants opening around the city.

Mr. Lobrano soon makes a name for himself as a food critic, with a knack for sniffing out Parisian chefs who in the 1990s were ushering in something of a revolution by combining French haute cuisine, bistro dishes, and rustic regional cooking. At the same time, he learns the ropes of Parisian life, including the obligatory payoff to a crabby concierge, who remains undeterred in her disdain for him. He holds his own during a soulless meal with Giorgio Armani and defies him by asking the waiter to spoon garlic sauce onto his mushrooms, despite the designer’s protestation that “garlic is so vulgar.” At a dinner party in the hotel particulier of Madame la Baronne Marie-Hélène de Rothschild he overcomes his native shyness and makes small talk with Princess Caroline and Yves Saint-Laurent. As he good-naturedly recounts, he also offends one of the guests by referring to her handsome young husband as her son, and his hostess reprimands him for cutting the head off a camembert, a faux-pas at a Parisian dinner table.

With Bruno, his partner of many years, Mr. Lobrano shares the meal he ranks as the best he’s ever had in Paris, at the Michelin three-starred Restaurant Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenée. Reading his astute perceptions of this meal and many others he’s enjoyed over the decades, it’s easy to appreciate why he’s such a respected critic. We are quite willing to indulge him with a few excesses. His description of “a soft, creamy chicken-liver terrine that was as earthy and satisfying as sex in a barn” makes us more curious about the encounter that inspired this simile than about the food, and a “dessert with the soft skin of an elderly man” just does not seem very appetizing.

He soars when he describes a meal of apple soup and roast chicken in a farmhouse kitchen in Normandy, or recalls sitting around a bistro after hours to drink Riesling with an Alsatian chef, “the first real friend I’d had with whom I could talk about food.” Their talk of choucroute garnie, with sausages from a butcher near Colmar, homemade foie gras, and flammekueche makes us want to linger over a meal in Paris, and instilling such longings, of course, is Mr. Lobrano’s stock in trade. Should we wish to partake, he includes a list of his 30 favorite Paris restaurants at the end of the book.

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Celebrity Suites Part 5

Stephen Brewer — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 22:50:06 +0000

Italy has been the backdrop for some of our favorite films, and the beguiling scenery often upstages the acting. Don’t Look Now (1973), Room with A View (1985), Cinema Paradiso (1988), Il Postino (1994), Call Me By Your Name (2017) . . . well, we could go on and on. The stars, too, have often been smitten with the settings and la dolce vita, and they’ve added an allure all their own to the legendary hotels where they’ve stayed while filming.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton

Albergo Regina Isabella, Ischia, Italy, The Liz Taylor Suite

“Our love is so furious that we will burn each other out.” — Richard Burton

The Liz Taylor Suite at the Albergo Regina Isabella. Courtesy Albergo Regina Isabella.

I really don’t remember much about Cleopatra. There were a lot of other things going on.— Elizabeth Taylor

The seaside charms and bubbling thermal baths of the island of Ischia have long been a draw for literary types (Henrik Ibsen, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams), movie stars (Marlon Brando, Brigitte Bardot, Charlie Chaplin, Jennifer Lopez, Leonardo DiCaprio), and other glitterati (Soren Kierkegaard and Prince Charles). None of these visitors, though, has made as big of a splash as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton did when they sailed over to Ischia to film the barge scenes for the 1963 blockbuster Cleopatra. Both were married to other people (she for the fourth time, to Eddie Fisher, who had left Debbie Reynolds for her) and their much-photographed affair was a salacious scandal of which a rapt public could not get enough. The Vatican cited Taylor for “erotic vagrancy” and there was talk that the United States was going to ban entry to the pair. Photos of the lovers sunning on a yacht and swimming in Ischia’s clear blue waters pushed the Space Race and other headlines off the front pages.

Liz Taylor and Richard Burton at Schiphol Airport (1965). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Taylor and Burton escaped the prying eyes and lenses of the paparazzi in a seaside suite at the Regina Isabella, in the seaside village of Lacco Ameno. The glamorous resort was already on the jet-set map as a retreat for the likes of Clark Gable and Maria Callas, and the power couple enjoyed royal treatment in what is now known as the Liz Taylor Suite, a sprawling, sun-filled spread with a regal salon and bedroom, huge terrace, and two marble-clad bathrooms fit for Cleopatra herself. No doubt the lapping waters of the Bay of San Montano and scent of pines was a soothing antidote to the stars’ rigorous filming schedule and tumultuous personal lives.

Cleopatra, meanwhile, became the most expensive film ever made (more than $300 million in today’s dollars). For all the expense, fanfare, reasonable box office success, and four Academy Awards, many critics found the epic to be mundane and lumbering. Even Liz, who made $7 million off the film, said she found the three-hour-long version released in theaters to be “vulgar.”

The living room at the Liz Taylor Suite at the Albergo Regina Isabella. Courtesy Albergo Regina Isabella.

The couple’s allure began to ebb as they became notorious for their boozing and fighting and married and divorced each other twice. Most of the star vehicles the pair made after Cleopatra were disappointing, with the exception of the brilliant Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). For many viewers, the story of a volatile, alcohol-soaked marriage mirrors the lives of the stars, and Taylor won her second Academy Award for best actress.

Just around the coast from the Regina Isabella is a tribute to another well-known, much more subdued couple, the British composer Sir William Walton and his Argentine wife, Lady Susana Walton. The pair created a stir when the 46-year-old year old Walton wooed and won Susana, 24 years his junior, annoying her father so much that he spent her entire dowry on Champagne for their wedding reception in Buenos Aires. They settled on Ischia in 1949 and created one of the world’s great gardens, Villa La Mortella, filled with exotic plantings and splashing fountains, a perfect getaway from worldly affairs.

For more information, visit Regina Isabella.

Ava Gardner

Hotel Splendido, Portofino, Italy, The Ava Gardner Suite

I was born with good health and a strong body and spent years abusing them. — Ava Gardner

The balcony at the Ava Gardner Suite at Portofino’s Hotel Splendido. Photograph courtesy of Hotel Splendido.

By the early 1950s, residents of picturesque Portofino on the Ligurian Coast had figured out that there was a lot more money to be made from landing movie stars and other beautiful people than from hauling in fish. The man about town in those days was Rex Harrison. He had fashioned a luxurious villa on the remnants of a World War II era bunker high above the Bay of Portofino, where he entertained the likes of Clarke Gable and the duke and duchess of Windsor. So, it wasn’t too surprising to see Ava Gardner sail into the harbor and settle into the Splendido, a former monastery turned lavish hotel. Gardner was at the height of her stardom, having won acclaim for her roles in such hits as Show Boat (1951), The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952), and Mogambo (1953). The high-living, hard-drinking, chain-smoking star came to Portofino to shoot scenes for The Barefoot Contessa (1954), with the pretty little town serving as a backdrop for her escapades with a Latin American playboy. With Gardner came costar Humphrey Bogart and his wife, Lauren Bacall. Not accompanying her was her husband, Frank Sinatra, from whom the star was increasingly estranged, nor her lover, the Spanish bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin.

Ava Gardner with second husband Frank Sinatra. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Gardner’s role in The Barefoot Contessa, as a beautiful girl who rises from obscurity to become a famous star, was not far from her own life story. In fact, like her character, Gardner preferred to go barefoot, and she could comfortably do so on the huge terrace of the top-floor suite named after her. The views across the water to the pastel-hued houses hugging a snug harbor are unchanged from Gardner’s day. You can just about make out the spot in front of La Gritta bar where Harrison staggered onto the wharf after a night of celebrating his best-actor win for My Fair Lady in 1964 and threw his Oscar into the harbor.

The Ava Gardner living room at the Hotel Splendido in Portofino. Photograph Courtesy Hotel Splendido.

Gardner went on to make several other well-received films, including The Sun Also Rises (1957) and On the Beach (1959). In 1963, she traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to film Night of the Iguana. Her costar, Richard Burton, arrived with Elizabeth Taylor, and the trio’s off-screen antics inspired a parody by comedian Allan Sherman, sung to the tune of The Streets of Laredo: “They did things at night midst the flora and fauna that no self-respecting iguana would do.” Gardner, Burton, and Taylor had more than their film careers and fondness for alcohol in common—of all the places the stars touched down on their international travels, the Splendido in little Portofino remained a preferred hideaway for the three of them, as it still is for the rich and famous.

For more information, visit the Hotel Splendido.

Audrey Hepburn

Hotel Hassler, Rome, The San Pietro Suite

The most important thing is to enjoy your life, to be happy. It’s all that matters. — Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn’s San Pietro Suite at the Hotel Hassler, Rome. Courtesy Hotel Hasler.

Filmgoers will forever associate Rome with Audrey Hepburn, who buzzed around the Eternal City on the back of a Vespa in the 1953 classic Roman Holiday. Almost 70 years later, it’s still difficult to put your hand into the Bocca della Verità without thinking of Gregory Peck (Joe Bradley) screaming in mock pain as a terrified Hepburn (Princess Ann) looks on.

For Hepburn, Rome was synonymous not with ruins and fountains but with the Hotel Hassler, as it has been with generations of discerning travelers. The star stayed at this hostelry at the top of the Spanish Steps while filming the story of a princess who enjoys a footloose romp with a dashing journalist, and she returned many times until her death in 1993. Managing Director Roberto Wirth, as much of a legend as many of his distinguished guests, says, “Her grace and elegance fascinated me … I remember her as a fairytale princess when she came down the Hassler’s stairs.”

Audrey Hepburn in her Oscar winning performance in Roman Holiday, with Gregory Peck. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Judging by her films, Hepburn might have seemed most at home in France (Charade, Funny Face, How to Steal A Million, Sabrina, Two for the Road), and she once famously said, “Paris is always a good idea.” But for much of the Belgian-born star’s life, Rome was where her heart was. Soon after the end of Hepburn’s14-year-long marriage to fellow actor Mel Ferrer, she married psychiatrist Andrea Dotti in 1969 and retreated from films and the limelight for a new role as a Roman housewife and mother. That marriage dissolved in 1982 and Hepburn took up residence in Switzerland, where she happily grew roses when she was not traveling the world on behalf of UNICEF.

Audrey Hepburn’s bedroom at the Hotel Hassler in Rome. Courtesy Hotel Hasler.

Hepburn frequently returned to Rome to visit her son, Lucca Andrea Dotti, often settling into the Hassler’s San Pietro Suite. The rich paneling, Old World paintings, priceless antiques, and acres of marble might have been handpicked for the classy and elegant icon. Anyone, star or not, who stands on the airy terrace and looks across the rooftops toward the dome of St. Peter’s might be tempted to quote one of Audrey’s lines from Roman Holiday, “I will cherish my visit here in memory as long as I live.”

For more information, visit Hotel Hassler.

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Barcelona, Paris & London: A Remarkable Artistic Journey

Brom Wikstrom — Sun, 02 May 2021 09:18:00 +0000

An extraordinary chain of events came together for a most amazing journey to Barcelona, Paris and London. The 60th Anniversary of an art organization that has been my sponsor for over 30 years determined that Barcelona would be the site for our celebration. We would mark the occasion by inviting our niece who had recently graduated from nursing school to join us in Spain and travel afterwards to Paris and London for her first time ever abroad.

My wife Anne and I had been in Barcelona many years ago and knew even then that we had only scratched the surface of the available cultural richness offered in the Catalan capital. We had leisurely strolled the famous Ramblas, a pedestrian area that links the waterfront with the city center where itinerant Tango dancers twirl, tarot readers ply their craft and innumerable vendors offer traditional merchandise.

Adjacent to the Ramblas is La Boqueria, the public market that is a riot of colors, smells and energy. Yes, it can be crowded and a challenge for someone in a wheelchair at times, but to tour a site that has been in operation since 1217 and offers such an extraordinary range of goods it is well worth the effort.

During our previous time here we had explored what we could of Antonio Gaudi’s crowning achievement, the Sagrada Familia. As impressive as it was then, we were astonished to see that so much progress has since been made and though wheelchairs still face some obstacles we were able to enter the sacred confines and appreciate the noble space. Note: It is advisable to visit closer to sunset to fully appreciate the sun’s rays through the magnificent windows.

Our exhibition was held at the Museu Maritim, a marvelous museum on Barcelona’s vibrant waterfront that details the rich maritime history that signaled Spain’s early contributions to navigation, exploration and shipbuilding. Also along the waterfront is a vast promenade that people using wheelchairs can easily maneuver to soak up the Mediterranean atmosphere and marvel at the private yachts in the harbor.

Our hosts offered excursions and we gladly boarded sightseeing buses to explore the ancient areas of the city. It was wise to start our wheeling tour at the top of the pedestrian areas and save us the trouble of struggling uphill. A very exciting outing was to the Penedes wine region and we were delighted to take in the countryside and tour an historic winery and savor the fruits of their efforts.

Enormous paper mache puppets of historic Spanish figures and families of acrobats who constructed human towers six people high also royally entertained us.

Public transportation appeared to be readily available and had we extra time we would most assuredly have visited the Picasso Museum and the Miro Foundation as well as the esteemed cathedral among other sites.

Alas, we did not have that luxury but were excited to take the early train to Paris the following day. As train stations go Barcelona’s can be as confusing and stressful as any and we were relieved to attract the attention of a station assistant who ushered us to the proper queue and made sure we got on board. Some minor confusion required me to temporarily occupy a space between cars until a following stop where I could be resituated into a proper space. We had purchased our train tickets well in advance for a reasonable sum but required a last minute ticket for our companion and were fairly aghast at the price hike for late tickets. The 5-hour trip traversed scenic fields and factory installations, small, rural towns and distant horizons. By the time we arrived at the Paris station we were rested and eager to begin the next phase of our journey.

We would only have a few days to take in what we could and thankfully we had been here many years before and had already ascended the Eiffel Tower and strolled the Champs Elysees. Anne would make sure her niece experienced those landmarks and I made sure that I would see every treasure within the Louvre and nearby Musee D’Orsay. And here I am very pleased to report that consideration to those in wheelchairs has been maintained at a high level. There is no waiting in line, admission is complimentary and even the Mona Lisa has a rope line that wheelchairs have special privilege of accessing. Other portions of the Louvre are difficult to access on account of retrofitting lifts but the staff is available and the map of the galleries is probably necessary to avoid getting lost among the treasures.

A very wise piece of advice that we had learned earlier was again in effect. Knowing that wheelchairs are first allowed into the Musee d’Orsay, we arrived before opening and were inside before anyone else. We immediately ascended to the top floor where we enjoyed breathtaking work by the Impressionists, Symbolists and Post Impressionists before the crowds of the day appeared. The museum café offered delicious meals and a welcome break from studying the masterpieces and we were fortified to see the remaining works before exiting to a drizzly and traffic congested city. Being April, we had expected as much and exercised patience as we maneuvered curb cuts and waited patiently at crosswalks.

We happened to be in Paris for Easter Sunday and took the opportunity to be in attendance at a service at Notre Dame Cathedral. We were ushered in privately and allowed to come forward to take part in the sacrament. The very moving ritual was heightened by the magnificent interior and the notes of the choir seemed to echo the angels. Afterward, I had enough time to roll to the newly refurbished Picasso Museum and was very pleased to see that extra care has been taken to assure access and again received complimentary admission.

Our apartment was only a few blocks from the Louvre but not nearly as accessible as advertised. We managed to traverse a steep threshold and narrow doorway but I was still obligated to sleep on the fold out couch since I couldn’t wedge through the bedroom door. We will take extra care in the future to measure my chair’s dimensions and recommend a portable ramp be on site.

My first time on the Chunnel to London went smoothly enough and we were glad to have purchased these tickets well in advance also as the sticker-shock for our companion was even more severe than the ride up from Barcelona. I was surprised to be served lunch with beverages and offered amenities usually reserved for first class and we arrived in London in good cheer indeed. The London cabs are some of the most accessible in the world with a short ramp that makes loading a snap and so abundant that we never failed to acquire one when needed.

Since our niece only had one precious day before her return to work, I laid back at our hotel, the Doubletree in Chelsea while they got tickets for the hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus and saw as much of the city as possible. The ticket also included a cruise on the Thames that Anne took the following day while I was immersed in the study of artworks at the National Gallery. The overground station was barely a half block from our hotel and was easy enough to access. We purchased Oyster Cards to facilitate entry and made good time getting to the sites we had planned. After visits to both the Tate Britain and Tate Modern and the wonderful artworks at the Courtauld Institute we were about as saturated with culture as we could be.

Anne had heard that a rooftop garden in one of the newer skyscrapers offered free admittance and spectacular views from the observation deck. Well, not exactly. 20 Fenchurch Street is referred to as the Walkie Talkie on account of its curious shape and does indeed have a marvelous view from a large 2-story lounge with abundant plantings and a fine dining area. Admission is free but advance tickets are required and only available online. We were able to charm the attendant to allow us admittance and would’ve been sorely disappointed had they a strict policy since Anne had pushed my chair a few miles along the Strand by then.

It was a fitting conclusion to a remarkable journey. Feeling on top of the world and relishing the combined memories of magnificent artwork and architecture, engaging with colorful and helpful people, sampling regional cuisine and being entertained by traditional performers. I am deeply grateful to my wife Anne, whose unending patience and good humor made the journey a delight and we were pleased to offer one another a special toast in celebration of our very good fortune.

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Top Bucket List Destinations: T-Boy Society of Film and Music

T-Boy Society of Film & Music — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 16:30:49 +0000

Curated by Ed Boitano

Welcome to the T-Boy Society of Film and Music’s latest poll, devoted to members’ top Bucket List destinations. To be honest, I thought our well-traveled group had been everywhere, and was delighted to read their informative selections, many of which I will add to my own list. Their selections were akin to Willie Mays naming his favorite baseball teams, Aristotle’s selection of most esteemed philosophers, and Frank Lloyd Wright choosing his top (non-Frank Lloyd Wright, that is) architectural wonders. As always, it was great fun, plus I learned a lot. I hope you feel the same way. So, here it is: the T-Boy Society of Film and Music’s most sought after Bucket List destinations. — EB

The colors and light of Provence have been seducing artists since the beginning of time. Its museums celebrate the visions of Cézanne, Renoir, van Gogh, Picasso, and others. PHOTO COURTESY OF HANS BRAXMEIER FROM PIXABAY.

Ed Boitano – T-Boy editor:

Provence, France – To walk the trails of Cézanne, Renoir, van Gogh and experience the intoxicating light and colors where they, along with an array of other legendary Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, found inspiration.
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Montana & Idaho – To give thanks to Scotsman, John Muir, “Father of the National Parks.”
Iceland – Thingvellir is the home of Iceland’s annual parliament, dating back to the time of the Vikings, from 930 AD to 1798 AD. Now a National Park, the site marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Thingvellir represents the founding of Iceland as a nation, where its first parliamentary proceedings laid the groundwork for a common cultural heritage and national identity.
Hadrian’s Wall, Northern England – The largest Roman archaeological feature in Britain, where you can walk along the adjoining 73 miles of Hadrian’s Wall Path.
Calais, France – During the Hundred Years’ War, an eleven-month English siege trapped Calais’ starving citizens behind its fortified walls. A deal was struck where Calais’ most prominent six nobles would offer their lives to save those of the city. In 1889 Auguste Rodin created a bronze cast entitled The Burghers of Calais to commemorate the heroic event, emphasizing the pained expressions, anguish and fatalism of the six men about to be executed. There are eleven other casts and endless copies, but to see the first one among the people of Calais, with possibly the White Cliffs of Dover in the distance, must be something to behold.

Tel Aviv is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. PHOTO COURTESY OF NOAMARMONN FROM PIXABAY.

Richard Carroll – T-Boy writer:

Tel Aviv – A dynamic city with incredible dining opportunities, award-winning chef’s, and noted as the World’s Vegan Capital, has a growing wine industry, and a vital nightlife, Tel Aviv is a top destination on my Bucket List with the other four a close second.
Buenos Aires – Passionate and alive and where border-to-border tango rules, the city sits on a tango C chord creating a feel-good destination where dancing lifts the spirits, and a guitar riff brings smiles all around.
French canals and rivers – A barge cruise on French canals is the glorious opportunity to experience the beauty, history and antiquity of France via historic waterways that Napoleon constructed. Barging is an inside look at a country with beauty to share.
Porto – A view city overlooking the Douro River with the historic center a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a Portuguese National Monument, is a step back to another era. The Douro Valley is brimming with wineries and wine tasting opportunities. I’ve also found that the Portuguese are among the world’s friendliest people along with Fiji, Ireland and Mexico.
Santiago de Compostela – The northern Spanish city is the final destination of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage or the Way of St. James, dating to Medieval Times. Zona Vella or Old Town highlighted by the Cathedral which dates to the ninth century, is considered among the most beautiful buildings in Europe.

The longest of the three trans-Siberian routes, between Moscow and Vladivostok, covers 6,152 miles and takes seven days. PHOTO COURTESY OF SERGEY KRYLOV.

Brent Campbell – Musician and composer:

Trans-Siberian Railway, Russia – Moscow to Vladivostok.
Vietnam
Former Soviet Republics – A driving trip through Eastern Europe, maybe start by taking overseas delivery of a new Audi in Germany.
Remote South Pacific Islands – Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Cook Islands.
Mozambique

A marae is a sacred Tahitian temple where priests would honor their multiple gods. PHOTO COURTESY OF DEB ROSKAMP.

Richard Frisbie – T-Boy writer:

Tahiti

As a voracious reader in my boyhood I consumed everything I could on the South Pacific, from Thor Heyerdahl to Robert Louis Stevenson. As a young teen I was hooked on the prurience of Gauguin’s voluptuous South Sea paintings. Later in life I found a new author that pinpointed Tahiti for me as my ultimate destination – Robert Dean Frisbie – my distant cousin. He was gassed in WWI. After the war ended, for medical reasons he decided to live, love, and write in the South Pacific. After moving to Tahiti in 1920 he established the South Seas News and Pictorial Syndicate and began sending stories back to the U.S. for publication. He sailed throughout Polynesia and sired many children, supplementing his disability pension with jobs for trading companies where he was sometimes the only white person on the island. He died the month after I was born. I’ve always wanted to go to Tahiti to see how much it has changed over the years, and look up some long lost Tahitian cousins.

His titles include:

The Book of Puka-Puka (A Lone Trader on a South Sea Atoll) (1929)
My Tahiti (1937)
Mr. Moonlight’s Island (1939)
The Island of Desire (The Story of a South Sea Trader) (1944)
Amaru: A Romance of the South Seas (1945)
Dawn Sails North (published posthumously in 1949)

PHOTO COURTESY OF DANILO ALVESD FROM UNSPLASH

Rourke – Musician & composer:

Destinations inspired by these movies:

Champs-Élysées, Paris (Breathless)
Havana, Cuba (Godfather 2)
Ischia, Italy (Talented Mr. Ripley)
Tokyo (Lost in Translation)
Salzburg, Austria (Sound of Music)

Greenland is the world’s largest island, located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. PHOTO COURTESY OF THOMAS RITTER FROM PIXABAY.

James Boitano – T-Boy writer:

Greenland
French Polynesia
Portugal
Newfoundland, Canada
Cabo Verde, central Atlantic Ocean, Republic of Cabo Verde

The Temple Mount Sifting Project is dedicated to the recovery of archaeological artifacts contained within debris, removed from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. LEFT PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDREW SHIVA VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/ CC BY-SA 4.0; RIGHT PHOTO COURTESY OF GILABRAND VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Ringo Boitano – T-Boy Writer:

Temple Mount Sifting Project, Old City of Jerusalem – An ancient guarded complex, venerated as a holy site for the monotheistic religions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. My dream: to participate in the Temple Mount Sifting Project where one collects buckets of earth, rinses with water and then hopefully discovers an artifact that might have important religious and archaeological significance.
Montmartre, Paris – A return for a third visit, but this time to explore its rich history of struggling painters & writers, little working-class homes & windmills, cafes & cabarets, and Montmartre Cemetery & Musée de Montmartre.
Mississippi Delta – Robert Johnson and where it all began.
The Philippines – To understand its culture and see the beauty of its 7,100 islands.
New Zealand – Often on a group press trip, civilians will address our team with, What is your favorite place to travel? It is a question that I would ask. Many fellow journalist would enthusiastically reply, New Zealand! Then followed by descriptions of its diversity: rolling green hills, breathtaking fjords, temperate rainforests and an unique Māori culture all packed into an accessible 103,798 square miles. And that is why this small island nation of 4.84 million people is on my Bucket List. Plus, I’d like to shake hands with PM Jacinda Ardern.

The Amazon River is the second-longest river in the world, made up of over 1,100 tributaries. PHOTO COURTESY OF NEIL PALMER/CIAT, via WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Greg Aragon – T-Boy writer:

A cruise down the Amazon River – The mighty Amazon is the largest river in the world by the amount of water discharged and the second longest river in the world. Since boyhood I have dreamed about taking a boat down this legendary waterway to explore and experience lush jungles and forests, fascinating local peoples, exotic animals such as piranha, pink dolphins, sloths, monkeys and giant snakes, and more.
The Great Pyramid of Giza – As the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex in Cairo, Egypt, the The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World. The incredible structure, built more than 4,500 years ago, stands nearly 500 ft tall. While here I can also get a glimpse of the Sphynx!
The Summit of Mt. Kilaminjaro – It might be a pipe dream, but I’ve always wanted to climb to the 19,341-foot summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. I know it would take an incredible amount of determination, preparation and training, but the long 9-day journey up to the very top of Africa is on my travel bucket list.
An African Safari – Another African dream of mine is to take a real-life safari. I want to ride in a rugged four-wheeler and get up-close to elephants, lions, gorillas, rhinos, hippos and more. I want to sleep in a modern, mobile tent beneath the stars.
A Cruise to Antarctica – A cruise to the ice-capped bottom of the world has always been a dream of mine. Here, in one of the most remote places on earth, I would love to cruise across the Drake Passage from the tip of South America to see penguins, killer whales and elephant seals in their natural, freezing habitat. I would love to sit aboard a ship and watch immense glaciers drift past in icy waters.

Located on the original settlement of Berlin, Museum Island consists of five epic museums which collectively are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. © VISITBERLIN. PHOTO BY GÜNTER STEFFEN.

Jim Gordon – Co-host & co-producer Travel Guys TV:

Berlin, Germany (must film there one day)
Lake Como/Lombardy Region of Italy (you’ve got us there, Ed)
Stockholm, Sweden (Copenhagen, Denmark would also be included on that trip)
Warsaw, Poland
Lake District of England/Wales (been near and at times all around these ones)

With a population of 2.1 million, Havana (La Habana) is the capital of Cuba. Due to a ban on the import of foreign cars, it is famously replete with vintage American cars. PHOTO COURTESY OF SWEETMELLOWCHILL FROM PIXABAY.

Tom Weber – T-Boy writer:

Havana, Cuba
Taj Mahal, Agra, India
Petra, Jordan
Etosha and Skeleton Coast, Namibia
Okavango Delta, Botswana

Norway’s Geirangerfjord and her Seven Sisters is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. PHOTO COURTESY OF XIMONIC (SIMO RÄSÄNEN) via WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / CC BY-SA 3.0 .

Fyllis Hockman – T-Boy writer:

Scandinavia – because I’ve never been and the fjords are calling to me.
Another Safari – because I have been and it wasn’t enough.
China – because my husband, after 10 trips (I’ve only been 4), wants to go back just one more time (but probably not now…).
Wyoming – because it’s Wyoming.
Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks – because everyone should at least once – and I haven’t.

The Eastern Townships (Cantons de l’Est) is a region in southeastern Quebec, Canada, situated between the former seigneuries south of the Saint Lawrence River and the U.S. border. PHOTO COURTESY OF QUEBEC TOURISM.

Weave Cleveland – Cinematographer Travel Guys TV:

A one week drive through Quebec’s Eastern Townships – In the ’80’s I spent a few days in a place called North Hatley, Quebec and I thought I was in the most enchanted place ever. There has to be more to experience there. It’s a must to explore further.
Suriname – I was invited to come here and never embraced it. Now I am curious.
Savannah, Georgia – Friends have told me to go to Charleston, SC, but after seeing Clint Eastwood’s Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil, I have never stopped thinking about this destination. The architecture , the cuisine, I must go visit this town.
Uruguay – I have learned that it has one the best standards of living on the planet. A very low unemployment rate. Plus I like soccer and they like soccer.
Erie, Pennsylvania – Because I secretly have a crush on a girl there.

Machu Picchu is an ancient Inca city in the Andes, northwest of Cuzco, Peru. PHOTO COURTESY OF CHELSEA COOK FROM PEXELS.

T. E. Mattox – T-Boy music critic:

Machu Picchu – I have always been fascinated by the Incas and would love to make this trek. The mountain panoramas around these ruins are breathtaking.
Aurora Borealis – The thought of exploring the Northern-most realms and experiencing the ‘lights’ has been a life-long desire since I learned of them. One day.
Mississippi Blues Highway – This is my most personal destination. I’ve done it once, but traveling down Highway 61 from Memphis to New Orleans, there are so many back roads to take, juke joints and roadhouses to explore that it will require a much longer vacation next time. And there will be a next time!
Yellowstone National Park – I want to see more of our country’s beauty before it disappears. At the rate protections are dissolving I’m afraid I may not have that chance.
French Polynesia – Have you seen the photos? Snow white sandy beaches, palm trees forever and clear, sky blue water. Who doesn’t want to experience that?

More than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones were erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany, and form the largest such collection in the world. PHOTO COURTESY OF DEBORAH BATES FROM PIXABAY.

Allan Smith – Artist & T-Boy writer:

All the Standing Stones in Brittany (Bretagne) and Great Britain
Loire River, on a luxury cruise ship, (if Covid ever disappears)
Paris, again. (first visited in 1972)
And, last, but not least, if I ever go to China again, the Karst formations in Guilin

The Great Migration is a year-round event, but the river crossings only occur as the herds head north through the Serengeti from around June through September. PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVE ROSENFIELD.

Deb Roskamp – T-Boy photographer & writer:

Tanzania – Mt. Kilimanjaro, Lake Victoria, the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Zanzibar island, Swahili culture, the Maasai tribe… the names alone conjure up such vivid imagery! Definitely at the top of my list.
French Riviera – Do a house swap for a month to stay anywhere along the French Riviera and explore all the villages.
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador – Cruise the Galapagos Island.
McNeil River Game Sanctuary, North End of Alaska Peninsula – To see bears catching fish in the river.
The Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite Valley, California – Stay at the Ahwahnee Hotel for a week in the winter.

Venice remains the only 21st century functioning city in Europe where every form of transport is on water or foot. PHOTO COURTESY OF NICOLA GIORDANO FROM PIXABAY.

Raoul Pascual – T-Boy co-founder, illustrator and art director:

Italy – Rome, Venice, Florence (with my wife who has never been). Set up a caricature booth in Florence.
Japan – Tokyo, Kyoto,
Alaska – cruise
Bible Land Tour – put the climate, the smell, the culture, the people, the feel of the distances between landmarks to all my Biblical studies
Cebu Islands, Philippines – supposed to be better beaches than Hawaii plus underwater caves and hiking trails – a lot cheaper too.
Road trip across America with whole family
Submarine adventure ala National Geographic
Sky dive
Watch the Olympic Games live
A blimp ride over Los Angeles
Visit the moon

During the ancient and medieval periods, Kashmir was an important center for the development of a Hindu-Buddhist syncretism. PHOTO COURTESY OF NARENDER9 VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Skip Kaltenheuser – T-Boy writer:

Kashmir – Some places I’d like to go to are off-limits, at least to my sensibility, because of internal political strife or potential international conflict. And in this case, the tensions are between nuclear powers, Pakistan, India and China. I hope they find a way to work it out and the whole region becomes travel friendly, I’ve heard its beauty is awesome.
Palestine – I’d like to explore all of the Palestinian territories, in part because I’d like to see what’s is being done with US complicity. Maybe there’s too many poison pills for a viable Palestinian nation to take shape, ideally all those lands would become part of Israel, with Palestinians getting full citizenship and legally solid property rights. Dim prospects, alas.
Vietnam – Once the part of the world I most wanted to avoid. In my military draft lottery Nixon was close but no cigar, so I never really had to make the tough decision over what I’d do. I did continue efforts to keep others from going into that dreaded insanity, but I was in the clear. Now Vietnam ranks high on my wish list. It’s most recent impressive accomplishment involves minimizing Covid-19 impacts.
Morocco – I’ve wanted to go ever since I saw the Crosby, Hope and Lamour movie Road to Morroco, and of course Casablanca.
Nicaragua – Friends have recently raved about the Aqua resort on the Emerald Coast. My last time through the country was traveling overland to South America in ’75. In a hurry, I didn’t get a chance to give the countryside a close look amid the lingering chaos from an earthquake and the Somoza regime’s corruption. I’d like to give it another chance and catch the beauty I missed, including some of what’s underwater.
Tierra del Fuego – A law prof always posed the problem what if your client gets screwed and the perp absconds to Tierra del Fuego, so it’s singed into my mind. I’d like to see how all those miscreants in exile are doing, and also travel a bit up nearby regions of Chile and Argentina, which share the island at the end of the world.
Cuba – This quasi-forbidden fruit remains on my wish list. Its history and culture are fascinating and I’d like to see it overcome its problems, some of which the US has exacerbated, and explore it before it changes too much.
Thailand – I’ve been fascinated by the mystery novels by John Burdett, starting with Bangkok 8, that wander about Bangkok’s underbelly. They’ve wet my appetite to explore the whole country.
New Zealand – How could one not want to explore a beautiful country that so obviously has its act together?
More of Africa – I was privileged to travel large swaths of the continent. I’d like to see more, including of the cultural mix and the wildlife. I was only briefly in Zimbabwe, long ago, on the way to Zambia to raft the river. The desperation was very unsettling. I hear both countries have great wildlife potentials, I hope they can pull their act together and end the corruption destroying that potential and eating the countries’ future.
Canada – So much of it left to see, including in its far reaches. I’ve done hell-hiking. This tin man would like to do heli-skiing while he can still find the oil can.
A more leisurely return to the Balkans – Years ago I supervised or observed elections in Bosnia and Macedonia, and took note of the beauty. I’d like to see how they’re faring now in, I hope, more relaxed circumstances, and more of the region generally.
Explorations of the locales for the well-researched, atmospheric WWII espionage novels of Alan Furst. Though they often overlap in occupied France, they branch out to the whole European theater of the war, and would be great starting points for travel perspectives.
Other than travel with my now young adult kids, my favorite travel pursuits have always included festivals, particularly Carnival across different cultures. I look forward to continuing that exploration, when crowds no longer generate health worries. Until then, road trips are moving up the list.

The post Top Bucket List Destinations: T-Boy Society of Film and Music appeared first on Traveling Archive.

T-Boy’s BEST Virtual Vacations

Ed Boitano — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 01:30:44 +0000

You may not be traveling to far-away places in the immediate future, but we can bring them to you. Here’s a series of T-Boy’s virtual vacations, and we hope you’ll be able to go there and to other distant destinations soon.

Virtual Sicily

EXPERIENCE A VIRTUAL SICILIAN SIGHTSEEING TOUR
Sicily, Italy by Fyllis Hockman: “It happens all the time with Overseas Adventure Travel. I start out expecting to write about the trip itself – in this case, Sicily’s Ancient Landscapes & Timeless Traditions – and I end up writing about all the things that are not on the itinerary – what OAT refers to as Learning and Discovery.”

FYLLIS HOCKMAN’S ARTICLE ON SICILY

Virtual Antarctica Adventure

EXPERIENCE A VIRTUAL ANTARCTICA SIGHTSEEING TOUR
Journey to the Bottom of the Globe by Ed Boitano: “After setting foot aboard the deck of my vessel to Antarctica, I began asking guests why they chose to take an eight-day cruise to the coldest, windiest and driest continent in the world; a landscape which is 98 percent thick continental ice sheet and 2 percent barren rock; a continent so cruel and unforgiving that almost no life can survive on it. The overwhelming answer from my fellow cruisers was simple: ‘Because now I can.’ It was a good answer. The more I thought about it, I realized it was my reason too.”

ED BOITANO’S ARTICLE ON ANTARCTICA

Virtual Hemingway’s Paris

EXPERIENCE A VIRTUAL HEMINGWAY’S PARIS SIGHTSEEING TOUR
A Magical Walk Through Hemingway’s Paris by Richard Carroll: “Magically enchanting and much-loved Paris, the Urban Empress of Europe, remains eternally young and amorous. Occasionally vain, always passionate, and with a long and turbulent history, the legendary city has a special flair for life that has captivated many of the world’s most inspired artistic talent.”

RICHARD CARROLL’S ARTICLE ON HEMINGWAY’S PARIS

Virtual Churchill Museum

Photo: Imperial War Museum/PA

EXPERIENCE A VIRTUAL CHURCHILL MUSEUM SIGHTSEEING TOUR
2 Lumps of Sugar Make This Churchill Museum Unique by John Clayton: “Are several lumps of sugar worth putting in an historic museum? That may sound like a funny question, but the fact is that yes they are – especially if they’re part of the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms (CWR) in London.”

JOHN CLAYTON’S ARTICLE ON THE CHURCHILL MUSEUM

Virtual Aran Islands

Photo by Giuseppe Milo, via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0

EXPERIENCE A VIRTUAL ARAN ISLANDS SIGHTSEEING TOUR
The Aran Islands: A Living History by Ed Boitano: “In Robert Flaherty’s brilliant 1934 documentary film, Man of Aran, we see an Irish man smashing limestone rocks to bits, while his wife gathers seaweed from the shore below the island’s steep windswept cliffs. Meanwhile, their young son scavenges for animal manure and precious particles of dirt that have collected between the rocks, blown from the mainland. These four ingredients will be used to create the soil in order to grow potatoes – the family’s main source of subsistence. This is the Aran Islands; a landscape made almost entirely of solid limestone rock.”

ED BOITANO’S ARTICLE ON THE ARAN ISLANDS

Virtual Frank Lloyd Wright

EXPERIENCE A VIRTUAL TALIESIN WEST SIGHTSEEING TOUR
A Tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West by Susan Breslow: “Taliesin West should be an inspiration for everyone who faces another birthday and thinks: I’m too old to follow my dream. Frank Lloyd Wright, who had achieved public acclaim back east for his architectural designs (as well as public disdain for his scandalous affairs), was 70 years old when he arrived with a few apprentices in the foothills of Scottsdale Arizona’s McDowell Mountains in 1937.”

SUSAN BRESLOW’S ARTICLE ON TALIESIN WEST

Virtual Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway

Photo credit: Travel Notes (ttnotes.com)

EXPERIENCE A VIRTUAL LYNTON AND LYNMOUTH CLIFF RAILWAY TOUR
2 Classic Trains in England by John Clayton: “Growing up in Great Britain, I loved the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway. Situated in a setting of steep, ruggedly rolling green hillsides alive with unequalled beauty, below which lies a perfect picture postcard sea, and enriched by a town that looks as if it stepped out of a Beatrix Potter book.”

JOHN CLAYTON’S ARTICLE ON THE LYNTON AND LYNMOUTH CLIFF RAILWAY

Virtual Bluesman Phil Gates

EXPERIENCE A PHIL GATES CONCERT
Phil Gates – Following Tradition by T. E. Mattox: “Bluesmen have been lacing up their walking shoes and relocating to Europe for generations. So, when L.A.-based guitarist Phil Gates packed his bags in 2016 and moved to the Swiss countryside, he was just following in the footsteps of a long-standing blues tradition.”

T.E. MATTOX’S ARTICLE ON PHIL GATES

Virtual Skeleton Coast

EXPERIENCE A SKELETON COAST SIGHTSEEING TOUR
Exploring the Surreal Skeleton Coast by Skip Kaltenheuser: “The Skeleton Coast is one of the most appropriately named stretches of land in the world, a place where many hapless sailors of centuries past have mingled their bones with whale ribs and shipwrecks.”

SKIP KALTENHEUSER’S ARTICLE ON THE SKELETON COAST

Virtual Berlin

EXPERIENCE A BERLIN SIGHTSEEING TOUR
Berlin: Yesterday and Today by Ed Boitano: “I can still recall in detail my first arrival to Berlin. As the cab driver raced passed Tiergarten; the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe; the Reichstag; and Brandenburg Gate, I asked about the new Kennedy Museum, now located in the Mitte (middle) district). Without hesitation, he offered his own personal narrative about JFK’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech of 1963: ‘Over 90% of the people in West Berlin were on the streets. None of us had ever seen anyone so charismatic.'”

ED BOITANO’S ARTICLE ON BERLIN

The post T-Boy’s BEST Virtual Vacations appeared first on Traveling Archive.

T-Boy Film Critics Winners, Kirk Douglas on His Acting

Ed Boitano — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 00:21:22 +0000

T-Boy Society of Film & Music’s Best Pictures of 2019

Best Picture

Parasite: Bong Joon-ho
The Irishman: Martin Scorsese
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood: Quentin Tarantino
Pain and Glory: Pedro Almodóvar
1917: Sam Mendes
Joker: Todd Phillips‎
Marriage Story: Noah Baumbach
Us: Jordan Peele
Synonyms: Nadav Lapid
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: Marielle Heller

Profiles in Courage

Written by then-Senator John F. Kennedy

Profiles in Courage is a 1956 volume of short biographies describing acts of bravery and integrity by eight United States Senators under enormous pressure from their parties and their constituents. Written by then-Senator John F. Kennedy, who won the Pulitzer Prize for the work. The staff at Traveling Boy suggests that Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney might fit the bill as a Profile in Courage due to his recent vote to convict fellow Republican Donald Trump in the Senate Impeachment trial. He was unable to stand in line with other Republic Senators as a result of his deeply-felt oath of office, the US Constitution and personal relationship with God.

The subjects of Profiles in Courage are John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Thomas Hart Benton, Sam Houston, Edmund G. Ross, Lucius Lamar, George Norris, and Robert A. Taft.

Each chapter from the book is summarized here

Impeachment Trial a ‘Teachable Moment’ for History Teachers

Teachers weaving the trial into lessons about the constitution, democracy

Courtesy Ali Tadayon, Journalism Resident at Edsource

Chloe Erskine, who teaches world history at Oakland’s Dewey Academy, instructs students about the presidential impeachment trial, discussing presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s views on the trial. Photo courtesy of Andrew Reed/EdSource

For the first time in more than two decades, teachers have the opportunity to use the political drama of the impeachment trial to liven their lessons and teach history as it unfolds.

The Oldest Person in the World Turns 117

By Brigit Katz, smithsonianmag.com

Last week, Kane Tanaka celebrated her birthday with a party at a nursing home in Fukuoka, Japan. Dressed in a gold kimono with a cluster of purple flowers tucked behind her ear, she enjoyed a big birthday cake.

“Tasty,” she said after the first bite, as quoted by Reuters. “I want some more.”

Predicting the Future of Travel in 2040

Allianz Partners’ Futurology Report Predicts Airline Passenger Numbers will Double, ‘Faces’ via Facial Pattern Recognition Systems Will Replace Passports and Boarding Passes

Courtesy Allianz Global Assistance

By the year 2040, international travel will be a faster, easier and more ecologically sustainable activity than ever before, according to a report commissioned by Allianz Partners to help prepare for the travel-related needs of their customers in the future. Allianz Partners is a world leader in B2B2C assistance and insurance solutions, delivering global protection and care, and offers dedicated travel insurance services through the Allianz Travel brand.

Cruise Lines Pledge Australian Bushfire Relief Cash

Courtesy Travel Weekly UK

Carnival Corporation and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings have both made donations to help support Australian bushfire disaster recovery efforts.

How to Plan an Antarctica Cruise Aboard These Luxury Ships

Courtesy Departures

Photo courtesy of Pelorus

One of the best ways to experience the white desert is aboard a luxe Antarctica cruise.

English Pronunciation Isn’t Easy But This Quick Primer Can Help You Get it Right

Courtesy Olivia Valdes, ThoughtCo

We all know the embarrassing feeling of discovering we’ve been mispronouncing a word for years. On the other hand, some words are so commonly mispronounced that the “correct” pronunciation sounds downright strange. Don’t feel bad if you’ve been mispronouncing some of these tricky words. A living language like English evolves and thrives precisely because it’s spoken every day.

Random Acts of Canine Kindness

Cedric the Dog takes a well-deserved break after an ill fated attempt to shut down a white supremacist rally in Indiana.

You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog. – Harry S. Truman

MORE Dog Quotations

Mexico City Blues [113th Chorus]

Jack Kerouac – 1922-1969

Got up and dressed up
and went out & got laid
Then died and got buried
in a coffin in the grave,
Man —
Yet everything is perfect,
Because it is empty,
Because it is perfect
with emptiness,
Because it’s not even happening.

Everything
Is Ignorant of its own emptiness —
Anger
Doesn’t like to be reminded of fits —

You start with the Teaching
Inscrutable of the Diamond
And end with it, your goal
is your startingplace,
No race was run, no walk
of prophetic toenails
Across Arabies of hot
meaning — you just
numbly don’t get there.

Send Deb your favorite travel poems

10 Crowd-Free Alternatives to America’s Most Iconic National Parks

For every national park swarmed by visitors, dozens of state and federal preserves, parks, and monuments go relatively untraveled.

Secrets the Cruise Lines Don’t Tell You

Courtesy Erika Silverstein, Cruise Critic

Kenai Fjords National Park. Photo courtesy of Deb Roskamp

Cruise ship life can be a little mysterious. Your choices aren’t always spelled out in black and white. The more you cruise, the more you pick up on the unofficial secrets the cruise lines don’t tell you — which give you more options, let you save money and generally allow you to have a better time onboard.

The “Mentor,” a vessel owned by the notorious Lord Elgin, sank in 1802 while carrying panels and sculptures looted from the Parthenon

Courtesy Jason Daley, smithsonian.com

In September 1802, the H.M.S. Mentor sank off the coast of Avlemonas, Greece, sending 17 crates of antiquities tumbling to the bottom of the Mediterranean. More than 200 years later, the Greek Ministry of Culture reports, marine archaeologists tasked with exploring the wreck have recovered gold jewelry, cooking pots, chess pieces and an array of other artifacts connected with the trove.

Protect Yourself Against Airport Checkpoint Theft

Airport theft is becoming a major problem for travelers, so make sure to get to your destination with all your items intact.

Kirk Douglas (1916 – 2020)

T-Boy Society Film & Music selects Kirk Douglas’ best film appearances followed with comments by Mr. Douglas.

Top 5 — In order of preference

Lust for Life (1956)
“Acting is make-believe. I never believe I’m the character; I want you to believe. But with Lust for Life, I got so involved with van Gogh… it really was frightening, because I felt like the character was overtaking me… It was a very, very interesting experience. I have never felt that way on any other picture.”
Paths of Glory (1957)
“I saw a little picture that Stanley Kubrick had done [the 1956 film The Killing], and I said, ‘Gee, he’s very talented.’ I called him and said, ‘Do you have any other projects?’ He said, ‘Yes, I have a project, but nobody wants to do it.’ And he sent me Paths of Glory. I said, ‘Stanley, this picture won’t make a nickel, but we have to do it.’”
Ace in the Hole (1951)
“I thought that Billy Wilder was such a brilliant director… [That character was a lot to handle, so I asked him if I should tone him down a bit, but he told me to do just the opposite.] ‘Both knees! Give it both knees!’”
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
“You know, it’s tough to make a movie about movies… We’re all too close to it. But The Bad and the Beautiful was very good. And Lana Turner, I think, did her best job; she was very good. I was good, too!”
Spartacus (1960)
“I was intrigued with the character of Spartacus, and I just had to make it. And, at the same time, we were going through a terrible period, the McCarthy era… I’m very proud that Spartacus broke the blacklist [by giving blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo screen credit], because that was very important… It happened at the right time for me. I was young enough to be foolish… It’s nice to make a movie that people enjoy and that does something.”

Honorable Mention

Lonely Are the Brave (1962)

“I love that character and his relationship with his horse. And I always consider that my best movie. It was not a big success. It’s gotten to be more of a cult film right now… Again, Dalton Trumbo wrote the screenplay. It was the one time we never changed a word; it was perfect, like a hole in one.”

Kirk Douglas Bio

Anna Karina: The French New Wave Icon, Has Died at Age 79

Anna Karina, the Danish-born actress who became a symbol of La Nouvelle Vague in Jean-Luc Godard’s seven 1960s films, died last month in Paris. Her death was confirmed by France’s culture minister, who said the cause was cancer.

Anna Karina in 1968. Photo courtesy of Joost Evers / Anefo, via Wikimedia Commons / CC0 1.0.

Film Comment ’s 10 Best Films of the Decade

In the last decade, filmmakers pushed cinema to new and strange heights, shaping time and images and telling stories in novel ways.

Without further ado, here is Film Comment’s top ten films of the last decade.

Australia’s Fires May Have Implications for Cruise Tourism

Courtesy Maritime Executive

The devastating fires affecting southeastern Australia are having an effect on cruise itineraries as well. The damage has already led to alterations for several voyages and may affect more.

Skeletons Unearthed in Connecticut May Belong to Revolutionary War Soldiers

By Theresa Machemer, smithsonianmag.com

Painting of the Battle of Guilford Court House from Soldiers of the American Revolution by H. Charles McBarron. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Construction workers renovating a home in Ridgefield, Connecticut, last month were surprised to discover human bones under the property’s foundation.

The Trial of Joan of Arc

By Kat Eschner, smithsonianmag.com

Joan of Arc on horseback in an illustration from a 1505 manuscript. Image courtesy of Jean Pichore, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

In January of 1431, the preliminary trial of Joan of Arc began. After leading the French army in battle against England, Joan underwent trial and was accused of witchcraft and heresy and burned at the stake by the English and their allies. It’s been almost 600 years since the trial and execution of Joan of Arc, and her memory hasn’t faded. From novels, plays and movies to scholarly books and endless theories about how she heard the voices that led her to lead an army, her story has been regularly re-explored by generations in France and elsewhere. Here are a few reasons we can’t forget Saint Joan.

Should You Be Skipping Breakfast to Lose Weight?

By Malia Frey

You’ve probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But many smart dieters are skipping breakfast to lose weight. It’s true. For some people, not eating breakfast is actually a better way to slim down. But this trick doesn’t work for everyone.

Paris’s Museum of Art and History of Judaism Appoints Geoffrey Weill Associates for Public Relations

Located in the magnificent 17th-century Hôtel de Saint-Aignan in the Marais neighborhood of Paris, the Museum of Art and History of Judaism (Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme – known as “mahJ”) has appointed Geoffrey Weill Associates to widen its awareness in North America.

How to Block Spyware From Snooping on You

Courtesy Brenna Miles, Lifewire

It’s rather easy to define spyware, which is a type of malware that tracks your internet activity in order to gather sensitive information such as credit card numbers or demographics. Most of the time, spyware works in the background of a device, invisible to the unsuspecting.

Purging Your Stuff Is the New Conspicuous Consumption

Inside the world of minimalism and tidying are the makings of a seismic shift in American consumerism.

Courtesy Leslie Patton

On a recent Saturday afternoon in downtown Chicago, Tara Latta’s 36th-floor apartment with stunning river views is a complete mess. I’m watching the 39-year-old trying to jam the contents of a storage unit into her new one bedroom, and it doesn’t appear to be going well. Her kitchen table is teeming with CVS receipts, unused thank-you notes, catalogs, utility bills and to-do lists. U-Haul boxes are stacked halfway to the ceiling. The counters are overflowing with tea cups, mixing bowls and water bottles. But all is not as it seems. Latta is in the midst of her second of three, five-hour sessions with tidying consultant Kristyn Ivey.

10 Mediterranean — Gifts for the Food Lover in Your Life

More than a mix of rich history, gorgeous beaches, and warm blue waters, the countries along the Mediterranean Sea and their people have a history of living longer and healthier lives and you can too! By simply following a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil, nuts, beans, fish, fruits and vegetables, even drinking wine with meals, you can prevent diseases and prolong your life.

How to Renew a Passport in 24 Hours

Courtesy Shannon McMahon

By partnering with an existing service called RushMyPassport, FedEx is facilitating a nationwide solution for those who need very fast passport renewal.

The post T-Boy Film Critics Winners, Kirk Douglas on His Acting appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Teachers on Impeachment, Anna Karina Remembered

Ed Boitano — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 08:18:35 +0000

Impeachment Trial a ‘Teachable Moment’ for History Teachers

Teachers weaving the trial into lessons about the constitution, democracy

Courtesy Ali Tadayon, Journalism Resident at Edsource

For the first time in more than two decades, teachers have the opportunity to use the political drama of the impeachment trial to liven their lessons and teach history as it unfolds.

The Oldest Person in the World Turns 117

By Brigit Katz, smithsonianmag.com

“Tasty,” she said after the first bite, as quoted by Reuters. “I want some more.”

Predicting the Future of Travel in 2040

Allianz Partners’ Futurology Report Predicts Airline Passenger Numbers will Double, ‘Faces’ via Facial Pattern Recognition Systems Will Replace Passports and Boarding Passes

Courtesy Allianz Global Assistance

Cruise Lines Pledge Australian Bushfire Relief Cash

Courtesy Travel Weekly UK

Carnival Corporation and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings have both made donations to help support Australian bushfire disaster recovery efforts.

How to Plan an Antarctica Cruise Aboard These Luxury Ships

Courtesy Departures

Photo courtesy of Pelorus

One of the best ways to experience the white desert is aboard a luxe Antarctica cruise.

English Pronunciation Isn’t Easy But This Quick Primer Can Help You Get it Right

Courtesy Olivia Valdes, ThoughtCo

Random Acts of Canine Kindness

Cedric the Dog takes a well-deserved break after an ill fated attempt to shut down a white supremacist rally in Indiana.

You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog. – Harry S. Truman

MORE Dog Quotations

Mexico City Blues [113th Chorus]

Jack Kerouac – 1922-1969

Everything
Is Ignorant of its own emptiness —
Anger
Doesn’t like to be reminded of fits —

Send Deb your favorite travel poems

Purging Your Stuff Is the New Conspicuous Consumption

Inside the world of minimalism and tidying are the makings of a seismic shift in American consumerism.

Courtesy Leslie Patton

Secrets the Cruise Lines Don’t Tell You

Courtesy Erika Silverstein, Cruise Critic

Kenai Fjords National Park. Photo courtesy of Deb Roskamp

The “Mentor,” a vessel owned by the notorious Lord Elgin, sank in 1802 while carrying panels and sculptures looted from the Parthenon

Courtesy Jason Daley, smithsonian.com

Anna Karina: The French New Wave Icon, Has Died at Age 79

Anna Karina in 1968. Photo courtesy of Joost Evers / Anefo, via Wikimedia Commons / CC0 1.0.

Film Comment ’s 10 Best Films of the Decade

In the last decade, filmmakers pushed cinema to new and strange heights, shaping time and images and telling stories in novel ways.

Without further ado, here is Film Comment’s top ten films of the last decade.

Australia’s Fires May Have Implications for Cruise Tourism

Courtesy Maritime Executive

The devastating fires affecting southeastern Australia are having an effect on cruise itineraries as well. The damage has already led to alterations for several voyages and may affect more.

Skeletons Unearthed in Connecticut May Belong to Revolutionary War Soldiers

By Theresa Machemer, smithsonianmag.com

Painting of the Battle of Guilford Court House from Soldiers of the American Revolution by H. Charles McBarron. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Construction workers renovating a home in Ridgefield, Connecticut, last month were surprised to discover human bones under the property’s foundation.

The Trial of Joan of Arc

By Kat Eschner, smithsonianmag.com

Joan of Arc on horseback in an illustration from a 1505 manuscript. Image courtesy of Jean Pichore, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Should You Be Skipping Breakfast to Lose Weight?

By Malia Frey

Paris’s Museum of Art and History of Judaism Appoints Geoffrey Weill Associates for Public Relations

How to Block Spyware From Snooping on You

Courtesy Brenna Miles, Lifewire

10 Crowd-Free Alternatives to America’s Most Iconic National Parks

For every national park swarmed by visitors, dozens of state and federal preserves, parks, and monuments go relatively untraveled.

10 Mediterranean — Gifts for the Food Lover in Your Life

Protect Yourself Against Airport Checkpoint Theft

Airport theft is becoming a major problem for travelers, so make sure to get to your destination with all your items intact.

How to Renew a Passport in 24 Hours

Courtesy Shannon McMahon

By partnering with an existing service called RushMyPassport, FedEx is facilitating a nationwide solution for those who need very fast passport renewal.

The post Teachers on Impeachment, Anna Karina Remembered appeared first on Traveling Archive.

World’s Oldest Person, Future Of Travel, Joan of Arc

Ed Boitano — Sat, 11 Jan 2020 14:19:52 +0000

The Oldest Person in the World Turns 117

By Brigit Katz, smithsonianmag.com

“Tasty,” she said after the first bite, as quoted by Reuters. “I want some more.”

Predicting the Future of Travel in 2040

Allianz Partners’ Futurology Report Predicts Airline Passenger Numbers will Double, ‘Faces’ via Facial Pattern Recognition Systems Will Replace Passports and Boarding Passes

Courtesy Allianz Global Assistance

Cruise Lines Pledge Australian Bushfire Relief Cash

Courtesy Travel Weekly UK

Carnival Corporation and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings have both made donations to help support Australian bushfire disaster recovery efforts.

How to Plan an Antarctica Cruise Aboard These Luxury Ships

Courtesy Departures

Photo courtesy of Pelorus

One of the best ways to experience the white desert is aboard a luxe Antarctica cruise.

English Pronunciation Isn’t Easy But This Quick Primer Can Help You Get it Right

Courtesy Olivia Valdes, ThoughtCo

How to Block Spyware From Snooping on You

Courtesy Brenna Miles, Lifewire

Purging Your Stuff Is the New Conspicuous Consumption

Inside the world of minimalism and tidying are the makings of a seismic shift in American consumerism.

Courtesy Leslie Patton

10 Crowd-Free Alternatives to America’s Most Iconic National Parks

For every national park swarmed by visitors, dozens of state and federal preserves, parks, and monuments go relatively untraveled.

Random Acts of Canine Kindness

Cedric the Dog takes a well-deserved break after an ill fated attempt to shut down a white supremacist rally in Indiana.

You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog. – Harry S. Truman

MORE Dog Quotations

Protect Yourself Against Airport Checkpoint Theft

Airport theft is becoming a major problem for travelers, so make sure to get to your destination with all your items intact.

How to Renew a Passport in 24 Hours

Courtesy Shannon McMahon

By partnering with an existing service called RushMyPassport, FedEx is facilitating a nationwide solution for those who need very fast passport renewal.

Australia’s Fires May Have Implications for Cruise Tourism

Courtesy Maritime Executive

The devastating fires affecting southeastern Australia are having an effect on cruise itineraries as well. The damage has already led to alterations for several voyages and may affect more.

Skeletons Unearthed in Connecticut May Belong to Revolutionary War Soldiers

By Theresa Machemer, smithsonianmag.com

Painting of the Battle of Guilford Court House from Soldiers of the American Revolution by H. Charles McBarron. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Construction workers renovating a home in Ridgefield, Connecticut, last month were surprised to discover human bones under the property’s foundation.

The Trial of Joan of Arc

By Kat Eschner, smithsonianmag.com

Joan of Arc on horseback in an illustration from a 1505 manuscript. Image courtesy of Jean Pichore, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Should You Be Skipping Breakfast to Lose Weight?

By Malia Frey

Paris’s Museum of Art and History of Judaism Appoints Geoffrey Weill Associates for Public Relations

Mexico City Blues [113th Chorus]

Jack Kerouac – 1922-1969

Everything
Is Ignorant of its own emptiness —
Anger
Doesn’t like to be reminded of fits —

Send Deb your favorite travel poems

10 Mediterranean — Gifts for the Food Lover in Your Life

Secrets the Cruise Lines Don’t Tell You

Courtesy Erika Silverstein, Cruise Critic

Kenai Fjords National Park. Photo courtesy of Deb Roskamp

The “Mentor,” a vessel owned by the notorious Lord Elgin, sank in 1802 while carrying panels and sculptures looted from the Parthenon

Courtesy Jason Daley, smithsonian.com

The post World’s Oldest Person, Future Of Travel, Joan of Arc appeared first on Traveling Archive.

How to Order in Paris, A Conversation with Noam Chomsky, Roma

Ed Boitano — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 00:39:51 +0000

Typical French Restaurant Vocabulary: How to Order in Paris

Words and Phrases You’ll Need to Eat Out

Courtesy Courtney Traub

Are you a bit nervous about eating out in Paris or elsewhere in France, worried you may not be able to get by without fluent French? Use this guide to learn basic expressions and understand most signs and menu headings at restaurants in Paris.

Basic Signs to Learn and Watch for at Paris Restaurants:

(Table) reservée: Reserved (table)
Terrasse chauffée: heated patio (seating)
Toilettes/WC: Restroom/Water closet
Prix salle: Prices for seated customers (as opposed to bar or takeout prices)
Prix bar: Prices for customers ordering and sitting at the bar (usually applies only to coffee and other drinks)
Prix à emporter: Prices for takeout menu items.

Arriving at the Restaurant: Basic Words and Expressions:

Table for one/two/three, please: Bonjour, une table pour une/deux/trois personnes, s’il vous plaît (Uhn tahbluh poor….seel voo pleh)
Do you have a table near the window, please?: Avez-vous une table vers la fenêtre, s’il vous plaît? (Ah-vay voo oohn tahbl-uh vehr lah fuhn-ehtr-uh, seel voo pleh?)
(Can we have) the menu, please?: La carte, s’il vous plaît? (Luh kart, seel voo pleh?)
Where’s the restroom, please?: Où sont les toilettes, s’il vous plaît? (Oo sohn lay twah-leht, seel voo pleh?)
What are today’s specials? Quels sont les plâts du jour, s’il vous plaît? (Kell sohn lay plah doo jour, seel voo pleh?)
Do you have fixed-price menus?: Avez-vous des menus à prix fixes? (Ah-vay voo day meh-noo ah pree feex?)
Do you have a menu in English?: Avez-vous un ménu en anglais? (Ah-vay voo unh meh-noo ahn ahn-glay?)
Is it possible to order take out? Est-ce possible de prendre des plats à emporter?

A Conversation with Noam Chomsky: Revival of Hate Is Encouraged by Trump’s Rhetoric

Courtesy Democracy Now!

Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, political activist, and social critic. He is the author of over 100 books on topics such as linguistics, war, politics, and mass media. Photo courtesy of Σ, retouched by Wugapodes, via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0.

It’s been barely a month since a gunman stormed the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing 11 Jewish worshipers. The massacre has been described as the worst anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. After the shooting, we spoke with Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned professor, linguist and dissident, about Pittsburgh, Israel’s policies toward Gaza and other recent white supremacist and right-wing attacks in the U.S.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. We continue our conversation with Noam Chomsky. Democracy Now!’s Nermeen Shaikh and I spoke to him on November 1st. It was just days after a gunman shot dead 11 Jewish worshipers, October 27th, at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. It was the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. I asked Noam to talk about anti-Semitism and his own Jewish upbringing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was a Hebrew linguist.

NOAM CHOMSKY: When I was a child, the threat that fascism might take over much of the world was not remote. That’s much worse than what we’re facing now. My own locality happened to be very anti-Semitic. We were the only Jewish family in a Irish — mostly Irish and German Catholic neighborhood, much of which was pro-Nazi, so I could see it better on the ground.

What we’re now seeing is a revival of hate, anger, fear, much of it encouraged by the rhetorical excesses of the leadership, which are stirring up passions and terror, even the ludicrous claims about the Nicaraguan army ready to invade us — Ronald Reagan — the caravan of miserable people planning to kill us all. All of these things, plus, you know, praising somebody who body-slammed a reporter, one thing after another — all of this raises the level of anger and fear, which has roots.

The roots lie in what has happened to the general population over the past 40 years. People really have faced significant distress. An astonishing fact about the United States is that life expectancy is actually declining. That doesn’t happen in developed societies, apart from, you know, major war or huge famine. But it’s happening because of social distress, and not necessarily impoverishment. The people who are demonstrating this fear and resentment may be even moderately affluent, but what they see is they’re stagnating. In the past, there was — you had this dream: You worked hard, you could get ahead, your children would be a little better. Now it stopped. It stopped for the last 40 years as a result of very specific socio and economic policies, which have been designed so that they sharply concentrate wealth, they enhance corporate power, that has immediate effects on the political system in perfectly obvious ways, even to the point where lobbyists literally write legislation. This onslaught has literally cast a bunch of the population aside. They’re stagnating. They are not moving forward. They see no prospects. And they’re bitter and angry about it.

AMY GOODMAN: And then, if you could talk about specifically the targeting of the Jewish worshipers, I mean, and the clear connection that the shooter made between this temple and HIAS, what’s formerly known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the group that has helped to resettle refugees of any religion for well over a hundred years? And he repeated words that Trump has begun using more and more about, you know, they’re helping the “invaders” come in. If you could respond specifically to that?

NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, I think it’s pretty clear that he’s whipping up terror about invasions, people pouring across the border to plan to kill us all, to destroy our civilization. You take people who are already somewhat disturbed and living under harsh conditions, this can incite them to acts of extreme violence against targets like the Jewish temple. All the anti-Semitic tropes are pointing in that direction, but most — also against Afro-Americans, immigrants, any vulnerable population or population that’s easy to target for lots of cultural and historical reasons, all this amplified by the loud speaker up in the White House and his minions, who are doing what they can to terrorize the population, create the conditions under which you can get something like the attack on the synagogue.

AMY GOODMAN: So, I wanted to turn, then, to a clip of the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, who was interviewed by Ayman Mohyeldin on MSNBC on Sunday, so it was soon after the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre.

RON DERMER: To simply say that this is because of one person or it only comes on one side is to not understand the history of anti-Semitism or the reality of anti-Semitism. One of the big forces in college campuses today is anti-Semitism. And those anti-Semites are usually not neo-Nazis on college campuses. They’re coming from the radical left.

AMY GOODMAN: This is right after the white supremacist attack on the synagogue, and the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. is now injecting, saying this comes from both sides. If you could respond to this? Interestingly, two days later, when Trump and his family went to Pittsburgh, the only — and this is pointed out in The New York Times — the only public official standing there to greet him was Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer. People like the Pittsburgh mayor and the others said this was not the time to come.

NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, I think it’s quite easy to understand. There is an alliance of reactionary repressive states developing under the U.S. aegis. Israel is a leading member of it. Saudi Arabia is another, one of the most brutal, regressive, harsh states in the world; United Arab Emirates; Egypt under the harsh, brutal dictatorship; the United States; Israel.

And the United States, of course, very — especially under this — the alignment goes way back, but the Trump administration has gone way out of its way to lend support to Israeli crimes, Israeli expansion. And the Israeli right wing, of course, which is increasingly dominant, is delighted. So, the fact that, say, the Israeli ambassador would come out and say that is really no more surprising than the fact that John Bolton would praise the election of a strong advocate of torture, murder and repression. It all fits the same pattern.

AMY GOODMAN: This issue of the number of people who died this weekend, the horrific massacre — 11 Jews died. The model of the coverage, of knowing who each person was, hearing their names, their life stories, their ages, who their families were, knowing when the funerals are taking place through the week — what about this being a model for what’s happening in Gaza? I mean, for example, on, I think it was, Friday, six Palestinians were killed, with those ongoing protests near the separation wall. Israeli military has gunned down more than 200 Palestinians. That was Friday. Six Palestinians died. And on Sunday, three Palestinian teenagers were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip. Your thoughts on Dermer trying to make this connection to get away from the issue of white supremacy and, somehow, someway, blame the left?

NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, remember, all of this in Gaza is being done with overwhelming U.S. support, even U.S. weapons, literally.

Gaza is on the verge of becoming, literally, uninhabitable. The international monitors — U.N. and others — have warned that within just a few years, it may be literally unlivable. I mean, right now, there’s virtually no potable water. The sewage pours into the sea, because Israel has bombed and destroyed the power plants and the sewage plant.

Back in 2005, when Israel withdrew its illegal settlers in Gaza and moved them to illegal settlements in the West Bank, it imposed a siege on Gaza. The official terms for that — official, not making this up — are “We have to impose a diet on Gaza, not harsh enough so they’ll all die”— implication being that wouldn’t look very good — “but harsh enough so that they can barely survive.”

And there have been — quite apart from the brutal siege, there have been repeated attacks on Gaza by the Israeli army. Gaza is virtually defenseless. This is one of the strongest armies in the world, lashing out to devastate Gaza.

There’s always pretexts. There are pretexts for everything. Hitler had a pretext for invading Poland: He was protecting Germany from the wild terror of the Poles. And the Israelis, with U.S. backing, have concocted pretexts — no time to go through it here, there’s plenty in print about it. Every one of them collapses on inspection. It’s just a punching bag.

And the effect on the people of Gaza is to create utter desperation. The current march is just an attempt to somehow break the siege, make life possible. The problem could be overcome easily, simply by providing them with the opportunities for survival. That’s it. Not trying to block every attempt at political unification of the factions. It’s often been a pretext for another attack.

Some of what’s gone on — parts of it we’ve seen — are just grotesque, like when a highly trained Israeli sniper murders a young woman far from the border who’s trying to help — a Palestinian volunteer medic, young woman, who’s trying to help a wounded man, and a sniper murders her. Highly trained snipers. They know what they’re doing. The international monitors who have gone through the hospitals are shocked by the kinds of wounds they’re finding, purposely designed to maim people so they’ll barely — not kill them, but maim them, so they won’t be able to have a — even take part in the minimal life that exists there.

Actually, Trump had a solution to this, to the misery of Gaza and the prospect that 2 million people, half of them children, will soon be in a situation of, literally, beyond the possibility of survival. They had a lifeline, what’s called the UNRWA support, international support, which was barely keeping them alive. So, Trump’s reaction is to cut it, cut support for it. And he even had a reason. He said, “They’re not being grateful enough to me for my efforts to give them the ultimate deal that I’m planning.” Ultimate deal, which means give up all your rights and forget it.

I mean, the war in Yemen, which finally, at last, is getting a little bit of attention, has been a major horror story. The most careful estimates of the killing, that are now just coming out, show that there may be seven or eight times as high as what has been — the numbers that have been given. They’re on the order of 70,000 or 80,000. The analysis of these Saudi-Emirate programs, a long study that came out of the Fletcher School of International Diplomacy at Tufts University recently, showed, quite persuasively, that the policies of the attackers are aimed at destroying the food supplies, making sure the population starves to death. They’re also trying to close the port through which some supplies come.

All of this is fully backed by the United States. U.S., and Britain secondarily, supply the arms. The U.S. supplies the intelligence for the Saudi Air Force, which is carrying out massive atrocities. All of these things are happening. For years, they’ve barely been discussed. Now, finally, you’re seeing pictures on the front page of starving Yemeni children, even a call for a ceasefire — much belated, little attention to our crucial responsibility for it.

Just like our responsibility, which is overwhelming, for the plight of the miserable people trying to escape from the troika — Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala — the three countries that have been completely under our thumb and are suffering bitterly for it, now trying to escape. So we turn them into an invasion mob planning to destroy us. All of this is surreal. It only is overshadowed by the failure to attend even minimally to the literal existential threats, that are not remote.

AMY GOODMAN: Do you consider this one of the gravest times, in your lifetime, in U.S. politics, Noam?

NOAM CHOMSKY: It’s one of the gravest times in human history. Humans have been around for 200,000 years. For the first time in their history, they have to decide — and quickly — whether organized human society is going to survive for very long. So, is it the most gravest moment in my life? Yes. But also in all of human history.

AMY GOODMAN: The world-renowned professor, linguist and dissident Noam Chomsky. He was speaking to us from Tucson, Arizona, where he now teaches at the University of Arizona. He’s also institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has taught for more than 50 years.

Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, political activist, and social critic. Sometimes described as “the father of modern linguistics”, Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He holds a joint appointment as Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and laureate professor at the University of Arizona, and is the author of over 100 books on topics such as linguistics, war, politics, and mass media. Ideologically, he aligns with anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism.

‘Roma’ Named Best Picture by New York Film Critics Circle

Photo courtesy of Carlos Somonte/Netflix

The film’s helmer, Alfonso Cuaron, also won best director and best cinematography honors.

The New York Film Critics Circle has named Roma as its best picture of 2018.

Last year, the NYFCC selected Lady Bird as the best picture of 2017.

A full list of this year’s winners follows.

Best Picture: Roma
Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Best Actor: Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
Best Actress: Regina Hall, Support the Girls
Best Screenplay: First Reformed
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Supporting Actor: Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Best Cinematography: Roma
Best First Film: Eighth Grade
Best Foreign Language Film: Cold War
Best Nonfiction Film: Minding the Gap
Special Award: David Schwartz, stepping down as chief film curator at Museum of the Moving Image after 33 years
Special Award: Kino Classics box set Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers

Founded in 1935, the organization’s membership includes critics from daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, magazines and qualifying online general-interest publications. Every year in December, the group meets in New York to vote on awards for the previous calendar year’s films.

The post How to Order in Paris, A Conversation with Noam Chomsky, Roma appeared first on Traveling Archive.

A Magical Walk Through Hemingway’s Paris

Richard Carroll — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 01:35:15 +0000

PARIS, France – Magically enchanting and much-loved Paris, the Urban Empress of Europe, remains eternally young and amorous. Occasionally vain, always passionate, and with a long and turbulent history, the legendary city has a special flair for life that has captivated many of the world’s most inspired artistic talent.

French plaque honoring Hemingway – Left Bank of Paris. PHOTOGRAPHY: HALINA KUBALSKI

After the Great War and during the 1920s and ‘30s, Paris was the place to be for artists and the forward-thinking avant-garde looking to etch their mark, while novelists and writers quickly recognized that it was far easier to be acknowledged by the small innovative Parisian publishing companies than to catch an editor’s eye in the States.

During this most exhilarating period in 20th Century American Literature, Paris was the destination for an amazing assortment of international expatriates, including some 30,000 Americans many clutching one-way tickets to the City of Lights.

Some arrived in Paris in search of panache and identity, while others, overwhelmed by the complex and tenacious city, became lost in heart-wrenching dreams of discovery and triumphant achievements.

The French franc was a colossal friend, the exchange rate a whopping 25 to 35 francs to the dollar, while Paris’ free-flowing alcohol was a further attraction as long as hard-line prohibition had the upper hand in the United States. Parisian nightlife, animated cabarets, freethinking ladies, and French wine were all treasures to behold.

Hemingway’s Paris. He lived nearby. PHOTOGRAPHY: HALINA KUBALSKI

On the vibrant Left Bank of Paris, in the Latin Quarter and Montparnasse, Ernest Hemingway and wife Hadley, bespectacled James Joyce struggling to publish Ulysses, and F. Scott Fitzgerald with his flamboyant wife Zelda, both giddy from the publication of The Great Gatsby, had settled in, along with photographer Man Ray, always ready to capture the moment. Pablo Picasso and writers Ezra Pound, Djuana Barnes, Nancy Cunard, Sherwood Anderson, and eccentric John Dos Passos, along with a memorable list of other authors and artists, were also part of the heady Paris scene, and friends of Hemingway.

Bigger than life and significant to the literary and artistic scene, Gertrude Stein, writer, serious art collector, and a remarkable influence on writers and artists, cleverly tagged the exiles The Lost Generation, backed by her jealous lover, Alice B. Toklas, who fiercely disliked Hemingway. The exiles included a cast of street characters with stories to tell, who were lounging at sidewalk cafes often deep into their cups, discussing literature, sharing gossip and jealousies, wondering where life and careers were headed and when the next dollar would materialize.

Hemingway’s Paris – Left Bank. PHOTOGRAPHY: HALINA KUBALSKI

Mercifully, much of the great city has remained suspended in a timeless bubble, making it easy to relive the Lost Generation, to tread on the ancient stones that Hemingway and friends negotiated, sit at the same sidewalk cafes and restaurants, see the gardens, hotels, churches, cathedrals, and lodgings that once upon a time were their stomping grounds.

The reflective adventure comes together with Oriel and Peter Caine’s prestigious Paris Walking Tours, founded in 1994 and recommended by the Paris Tourist Office. The Caine’s, who are themselves esteemed authors and scholars, engage knowledgeable English-speaking guides whose contributions to the tour include appropriate humor and fascinating encyclopedic insights.

Paris walks – Hemingway’s Paris. PHOTOGRAPHY: HALINA KUBALSKI

Following the guides through any of the two-hour walks, Hemingway’s Paris, Writers of the Left Bank, The Village of Montmartre or Saint Germain-des-Pres, gives the sense of having moved through time, setting the stage for an irresistible mélange of literary and artistic history.

A magnificent destination of monuments and striking architecture, each turn of a Parisian corner invites a celebration of the senses that embellishes the timeless link to Hemingway, and a city glowing with imperishable splendor and earthiness that can grab your heart and hang on for a lifetime.

Hemingway’s favorite restaurant where he worked on “The Sun Also Rises” and short stories. PHOTOGRAPHY: HALINA KUBALSKI

Via a touch of imagination supported by the images of Woody Allen’s excellent film, Midnight in Paris, and Hemingway’s memoir recalling his life in Paris, A Moveable Feast, one can envision him strolling along the narrow, winding cobblestone streets, Fitzgerald at his side, Zelda, edging between them wildly dancing the tango and hoping for an open bar.

With Lost Generation thoughts flowing, you might hear a bit of Hot Jazz and pass by Kiki, the classy lady of the night, a favorite artist’s model, who never met a man she didn’t like. You might pick out Josephine Baker’s bluesy voice, floating through the night air from the intensely popular Folies Bergere where Baker, a favorite of Hemingway, often performed in her adopted homeland with Chiquita, her pet Cheetah.

Gertrude Stein’s home and salon at 27 rue de Fleurus, now a private resident, once decorated with priceless Gauguin, Renoir, Matisse, Picasso, and Cezanne paintings and long noted as the most distinguished salon in all Paris, was an important gathering place for a coterie of famous artists, writers, and trend-setters including Hemingway and European Royalty.

Down the street, Malcolm Cowley, famed writer, poet, and critic, lived and wrote at 1 rue de Fleurus. Famous for having reportedly once floored Hemingway in a friendly boxing match, Cowley became the spokesman of the 1920s American expatriates.

A celebrated bookstore for Hemingway and other famous writers. PHOTOGRAPHY: HALINA KUBALSKI

Sylvia Beach’s Shakespeare and Company on rue l’Odeon, the only English-language bookstore on the Left Bank, was another celebrated gathering place for writers. Writers could buy or borrow books there, Hemingway often noted for doing the latter.

The bookstore closed in 1941 during the German occupation of Paris and never reopened, but in 1951 another Shakespeare and Company opened in tribute to Sylvia Beach. Steps from the Seine and the Notre Dame Cathedral, the bookstore, featured in Midnight in Paris, buzzes with camera-toting visitors with a literary liking.

Hemingway’s Residence, Left Bank of Paris. PHOTOGRAPHY: HALINA KUBALSKI

After experiencing the famed bookstore, it’s astounding to walk past the Hemingway’s old neighborhood on rue Mouffetard where they rented their first apartment on the third floor at 74 rue du Cardinal Lemoine. A small women’s clothing store on the ground floor is aptly named Under Hemingway’s.

Hemingway’s Paris: La Rotonde, Boulevard du Montparnasse. PHOTOGRAPHY: HALINA KUBALSKI

Along Boulevard du Montparnasse are a cluster of legendary cafes; La Rotonde, La Coupole, Le Dome, and Le Select, home to Mickey a 19-year old cat, all within walking distance, all fashionable today, just as they were when they were the center of life in the 1920s with their people-watching sidewalk tables, and churlish waiters.

Reams of material have been written about the significant cafes and their eminent patrons, but Hemingway’s preferred café, also on Montparnasse, was La Closerie des Lilas. He often sat in the corner with a cafe crème, writing some of his finest short stories and working on his brilliant novel, The Sun Also Rises.

LEFT: Hemingway’s bar: La Closerie de Lilas; RIGHT: 10 Ritz Hotel, Paris. PHOTOGRAPHY: HALINA KUBALSKI

Incredibly, the bar retains its period ambience confirmed by a framed black and white photo, circa 1920s. A small copper plaque inscribed with his name is embedded in the bar, along with a small photo of him above the bar. One can imagine Hemingway sitting here chatting with Fitzgerald and Joyce, while in the background Cole Porter is playing the piano to an audience of wistful lovers on the prowl.

Years later, one of Hemingway’s numerous haunts was the famed Ritz Hotel on rue Cambon, where his name is now honored with the intimate Hemingway Bar. Hemingway spent his time in the hotel imbibing aperitifs with the celebrities of the day and observing the carefully coifed, costumed, and accessorized French women, who were undeniably elegant.

11 Ritz Hotel, Paris – Hemingway’s Bar. PHOTOGRAPHY: HALINA KUBALSKI

Nearby, the mighty Seine, dotted with barges and sight-seeing boats, flows along tree-lined walks where embracing couples shimmer and shake, brusque vendors sell books, prints, and paintings, and old-timers cast for fish.

Hemingway and wife Hadley lived above this boutique. PHOTOGRAPHY: HALINA KUBALSKI

Parisians remark that the more Paris changes, the more it stays the same. For Hemingway, the City of Lights was an ageless enclave of beauty, style, and history, and where, through much effort, his distinctive writing style developed.

When You Go

Contact Paris Walks; check the five-star Paris Sightseeing Pass offering visitors access to over 60 top attractions including the sightseeing bus, metro, a Seine cruise, and other discounts.

The post A Magical Walk Through Hemingway’s Paris appeared first on Traveling Archive.

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