Bailey Alexander

Eurovision Contest 2012 even had Engelbert Humperdinck

Sweden may have won but the The Guardian provided the finest in entertainment; snark style. Sorry to hear Hump came second to last. Oh, and
the Russians brought bakeries...

St. Gabriel satisfies my fetish for flowers.

Living in Prague gives great value. Far better than our last address. Rent is half as much and our place is twice as nice with a gorgeous view. The food selection provides good quality produce and the restaurants are both affordable and consistently good. Yesterday I had to buy more electronics for a current project and was pleased at the price, similar to when buying household sundries which I find to be surprisingly cheap. 

The fact I have a fetish for flowers allows me to save a little less but until I have a garden to call my own, Gabriel gives me a good deal. 

She's a gorgeous gal and owns a store in my hood called St. Gabriel Flowers. I took a foto of her today, always the sweetest smile on her face, funny and very cool. I made sure to 'like' her on facebook.

 

 

 

Gabriel runs a great business and last week I bought a lovely new petunia plant which allows me to pinch off the little flowers, making room for twice as many the following day.

I love Bohemia...

With over 500 million citizens the EU's more than just a bunch of zombie banks.

As promised, 2012 doomsday scenarios loom everywhere. Especially off the lips of the just about every single Anglo-American out there. It calms their own fears, placing the blame over 'there'.  And the fundamentals again, svp?  

And Europeans are more serious than the Anglo-Americans, translating in a myriad of ways into their daily life. Consumerism is less prominant, almost non-existent here in Prague. In comparison; refreshing. 

Germany will continue to be consequent, competent and carry on. Obama's Chauncey Gardiner act is wearing thin and no one listens to Cameron; Britain never contributed to the EU solidarity fund and they opted to bow out and focus on financial services; Bon Chance. 

Lola Voronina; A Russian explains how the Pirate Party moves from strength to strength.

The Pirates are committed, cool and very, very focused. Rick Falkvinge found the party, keeping his calendar full of speaking engagements yet the independent members are what moves the fastest growing political party into the future. Fantastic stuff.   

I'm trying to get Falkvinge on Alex Jones and Democracy Now but other movements seem to occupy their time. So many movements, indeed, but inspirational to see how the Pirates move their ideas into action. Entering European Parliament and spreading their message through missionary work, like Kopimism, which just makes me smile. 

And to think she's going to teach me how to make Borscht next week. Life's nice. 

Glenn Greenwald on the high quality content of Julian Assange's new show.

It's worth reading the entire article, Assange's show is fantastic and informative. 

facebook IPO aims for the stars yet heads towards earth at alarming speed.

The more vulgar the world appears the prettier the fotos I post on Facebook. This isn't to everyone's taste but I get allot of likes, which is nice. I understand the desire to complain about every little thing, I'm just not going to do it.  

The underwhelming debut of FB's IPO either surprised people or didn't, depending on who you were; such was the hype. Or classic 'pump and dump'.

Good news, I guess, Zuckerburg confirmed FB wouldn't allow users under 13 to post but to be honest, how would we know. 

Advise and Consent; when process was everything and institutions still inspired something.

After hours, when mio marito is traveling I often while away the time watching old flics; film noir, gothic noir, classical drama, anything available on youtube for free.

I covet my DVD collection and iTunes provides personal faves like Witness for the Prosecution and 12 Angry Men when the flic isn't for free. Yet gems like Lured with George Sanders and Lucille Ball, playing against type, kinda, will cost you nothing, so why not imbibe.

The Nature of Things: Copyright and Monopoly laws.

Read all about it on Rick Falkvinge's Infopolicy:

"Despite tougher Copyright Monopoly laws, sharing remains pervasive"

The soap opera that is MAD MEN.

I still think the period represents America's culturally zenith; when we were serious, felt curious about our future and looked forward to growing up.  The characters cover all the bases so well.  

Pete Campbell, unloved since birth and under-appreciated at work has enough venom to last a lifetime and yet he's grateful when a morsel of credit or kindness is thrown his way. He's an earlier version of James Spader without the finesse and that disconcerting brand of self-consciousness. He deserves some sympathy. When Lane initiated the fistfight it was kinda funny but unfair. For those perceiving modern day high finance guys as glorified accountants how could we possibly root for Lane.  

And nice to have Roger back, the Dorothy Parker of the group. Both witty and notorious drinkers, the difference being Parker didn't wish to be Jewish and felt a female was but a curse put on writers living at that time.   

On the contrary Roger relishes and celebrates his waspy background and role of hunter with flair. Perhaps too cavalier but he could care less. He'll wear his fate as long as fedora's are in fashion, which will end soon but then so will the series.  

Guess who came to dinner; The Russians

Last night a couple of women from St. Petersburg showed up at Chez Bay. It was interesting to listen to their perceptions about Putin, their politics and their system. So different from my own experience growing up, yet one of my guests, Lola Voronina has become a good friend and we've ended up in similar worlds.  Odd to think the further east we move the  freer we seem to feel. 

Russians, I find, are cool, tough and refined. A great combo and they tend to complain less than the west. They go about their business, in spite of it all, underneath the radar. 

When living in Paris I didn't know any on a personal level, none came to play at Chez Bay yet apparently they were everywhere.

Donna Summer's Mac Arthur Park; to be given lyrics like that and sing a song like this:

Rest in Peace Ms. Disco Queen.

Buying weed and a striptease; from Amsterdam to Prague

Today the Prague Post announced the arrival of a new brothel. It boasts red-light district windows resembling those found in Amsterdam, not necessarily a highlight when we lived there. In fact I found it depressing while out on errands and eventually avoided the area altogether.

Memories of Amsterdam are best when focused on floating down the canals and admiring how the Dutch decorate their bikes. But I do wonder how recent laws will impact tourism; soon, throughout the land, weed will no longer be available to tourists. 

I don't smell pot along the streets here in Bohemia but apparently you can get a strip tease for about 290 czk/12 euro.

 

The new windows with red fabric and women for sale appeared along Ve Smeckach street, just steps away from Wenceslas Square.

Residents have filed complaints but somehow I think the issue will fade away. Unlike Amsterdam where real estate space is dear, here everything is laid out and the space feels expansive, distinctly different from our last address.

Cultural realities evolve into their own future and even if both countries have low unemployment I find the Czechs far different than the Dutch; straightforward, cool but inherently conservative, merchants from way back.

Here the culture feels more nuanced, complicated yet relaxed. Today near the town center I saw another guy being taken away in handcuffs. Strangely enough, neither the police nor the culprit appeared that fussed, not unlike what I used to see in Italy; issue addressed and then it seems to calmly fade away.

 

Nomi Prins; JP Morgan's loss will continue to grow along with the Fed's role from within.

JP Morgan didn't hedge, they 'bet' the corporate markets would improve in synthetic derivative fashion. They lost the best, lost 2 billion and counting. For those that love therapy speak, an intervention is needed. Odds are, an intervention won't happen and for those that dismiss the role of the Fed, they are naive. The Fed's role is major, along with the other economic institutions, they are the enabler's.

The gambling addicts are safe and that is very, very scary for all. Nomi Prins explains away all in her 'thoughts' section. Nomi gets it, the multi-faceted fraud, the insider trading, after all she comes from within the system. Not unlike AIG, MF Global, Lehmans and all the rest...they'll continue to use the economic instruments as weapons, hence we wait with great trepidation as the global financial terrorism continues...

Obama The Odd; dropping his name into biographies of prior presidents.

Seth Mendal in Commentary:

ZUCKERBERG: The Musical! (a Facebook opera by CDZA)

Glenn Greenwald on 'dangerous, creepy' pundits like Andrew Sullivan

Sullivan's a blogger that capitalized on 9/11, supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003, idolized Bush Jr. early on and practices the sort of situational morality that can only come from a Christianist. To his credit, his site has always been extraordinarily prolific, hiring young interns to extract a myriad of morsels to feast on from the internets. Yet, his weekly sermons are often just too much, but then, he is an Irish Catholic, almost peculiarly humorless and dangerous, oh yes, very. Glenn Greenwald calls him on it, emphasizing how painful it is to watch it. 

Glenn Greenwald: "Andrew Sullivan — who has become the most reliable media hagiographer of an American President since . . . . the 2002 version of Andrew Sullivan under President Bush...

Fukushima: "Hell no, we won't glow"

"The weight of the world depends on Unit 4 reactor," so they say. Hard to know, like Manuel on Fawlty Towers, I know nothing.

Friends living there post ominous posts on Facebook but its mentally taxing to process potential scenarios. One can only imagine the stress of child bearing mothers, less inclined to grow food in such a potentially toxic environment, becoming activists in their daily regime. As the saying goes, "Hell no, we won't glow." 

Fukushima updates as fate awaits.

Updating films like Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory and The Picture of Dorian Gray

Remakes work or they won't and movies like Willy Wonka might best be left alone. Johnny Depp is cute and cool but Gene Wilder took the role on one condition:

"When I make my first entrance, I'd like to come out of the door carrying a cane and then walk toward the crowd with a limp. After the crowd sees Willy Wonka is a cripple, they all whisper to themselves and then become deathly quiet. As I walk toward them, my cane sinks into one of the cobblestones I'm walking on and stands straight up, by itself... but I keep on walking, until I realize that I no longer have my cane. I start to fall forward, and just before I hit the ground, I do a beautiful forward somersault and bounce back up, to great applauseWhen asked why, Wilder replied, "because from that time on, no one will know if I'm lying or telling the truth." 

Obama “evolves” on marriage - Salon.com

Obama “evolves” on marriage - Salon.com. Like Greenwald I admire the spirit of a comment posted on Salon:

"Obama's campaigning for re-election like he's some sort of populist crusader."

Glenn Greenwald begs the question: Why has the Obama administration so aggressively protected the financial industry from legal accountability?

Princess Diana; talk about zeitgeist.

Apparently another book's been written about Princess Diana. They'll write about her forever, however, if you were the same age when she arrived on the world stage, it was easy to project our dreams as she took our breath away in a very specific, personal way.   

The feathered hair and that fresh, charming face. A short life and violent death. The details seem to fade away as she remains in that way. Talk about zeitgeist.    

Modern Zeitgeists; parasitic spirit of our time.

“What I say today everybody will say tomorrow, though they will not remember who put it into their heads. Indeed they will be right for I never remember who puts things into my head : it is the Zeitgeist.” –George Bernard Shaw

Modern zeitgeists come in so many forms. Spirits of our time.

Few would argue Matt Drudge is the on-line media king of the muckrakers. Arianna Huffington proved brilliantly you could aggregate everyone else's content and take sole credit. Navigating effortlessly from the right side of politics to the left; the l-r paradigm was made for types like Arianna. 

Now for something completely different: Avec plaisir, the new Première Dame of France: Valerie Trierweiler

So goes Sarko, so goes Carla Bruni. A relief for many. Bruni always struck me as a higher end version of Liz Hurley, the kind that earn celebrity currency through high profile partners. Carla won, then lost, so their game goes.

Warhol's Elvis, Lichtenstein's Sleeping Girl: Whatever the market will bear...

Guardian:

"Andy Warhol's Double Elvis sold for $37m (£23m, while works by Roy Lichtenstein and the Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei broke their own records at Sotheby's contemporary art sale.

Lichtenstein's Sleeping Girl, depicting a woman with closed eyes and flowing blond hair, fetched $44.9m on Wednesday. Weiwei's one-tonne, handmade porcelain Sunflower Seeds brought $782,500.

Prague's goddesses

The Luxury of travel; The Internationals

Strange how safe I feel in Bohemia, a former Communist bloc, full of Slavs.

Travel is just fun. I get the Anglo-American mindset and now better understand what informs the Romance language countries, the Dutch are cool. Now I'm learning all about the Slavs, so far, so good.

And yet its the combination of multiple cultures that makes it more interesting than ever.

The other day I receive an invitation from a man from Azerbaijan, a man who obtained his Ph.D in linguistics at Cologne University. His wife is Turkish and their children live and work in Munich. His family settled in Prague long ago, its convenient for the kids as they visit often. Their home is full of oriental rugs and precious belongings that surround our space as we drink Turkish tea and local pastries. We chat for 3 hours as the conversation flows, its a luxury.

He works for media outfit, a venture funded by the US, devoted to reporting on Authoritarian States; he's internalized all that this means. They all speak Czech, German and a few other languages, their English fluent. They're the international set, civilized in that high end way, an open mindset, comfortable everywhere.  

I'm familiar with Internationals, happy to be married to one; nomadic by necessity built into their DNA. Their authentically global, realistic and less fearful of what lurks on the horizon. They get deeply how connected our world, the live it, they have perspective. I like it, being around them feels like a luxury all in its own.

 

 

Occupy Czech Republic

Occupy Czech appears to be suffering the same malaise I saw on May Day across the pond. 

I can assure the environment was far more depressing than my lame fotos. The man in the tent spoke some English, was sweet, and no, though he looks like he was ready to flip me the finger he wasn't.

 

 

More than willing to have a chat, his broken English better than any Czech I could come up with; I've barely mastered the most basic of daily exchanges. Just grateful I can say the name of my street with ease. It took me forever to pronounce the name of our address in Amsterdam, you have to throw so much guttural energy into their language it makes German sound smooth and lyrical. 

This guy was obliging and kind. The two other people hanging outside their tents were very somber. A few tents, some signage, a few pots and pans, they'll stay until May 15th. 

I was on my way to meet a friend for lunch. She'd arrived back from Luxembourg, and yes, one can imagine the Occupy movement had less impact there, upsetting everyone as their Occupy protest collided on the same day as the disabled. Yes, telling and sad, so singularly anti-climactic.  My Russian friend had plenty of positive feedback regarding the Pirate Party, perhaps this movement could learn something from  the other, or not. 

The movement in general seems crippled by a lack of momentum, message and worst of all, perhaps little surprise, the media aren't paying any attention at all. 

Perhaps a demand or two wouldn't hurt but unless they're ready to storm the 'Bastille' its becoming harder to imagine how they can make a difference and impose a positive impact on their own lives. After I snapped the foto he just zipped up his tent and went to sleep...

Sarkozy is gone; relief, a reprieve.

Who knows what such a victory portends; higher taxes for some, less authoritarian measures for many. The taste for war will wane, the hype and amped up energy perpetrated by the bling president will deflate and the false flags will slow down.

They'll address, or try to to fix some internal issues. Germany will work quietly with them, behind the scenes, grateful for a more pragmatic partner. The EU experiment will evolve and we will need to wait patiently to see what this means.  

I can easily recall the heady weeks before Sarkozy came into power and we still lived in Paris; I had guests from both sides @ Chez Bay, all wanted Sarkozy and welcomed his energy, his way.

Now, 5 years later, exhausted, the need to shift gears. Unlike the Americans the French aren't going to project all their dreams onto a new leader, a consensus driven type, they're simply tired of what Sarkozy became all about. It was too too much, even for the French, this little man that rocked aggressively back and forth on his lift heels, insisting how he would ensure France remain at the center of the world stage. 

They've had enough, they need a reprieve, they need to recoup, softly, with the mild mannered man Francois Hollande.

Happiness and expectations

Heard a great talk on TED today on the ever elusive pursuit of Happiness. I agree with the notion its much ado about perspective and the amount of expectations we apply. The talk was served on a full tray of cliche's and yet the cliche's concerning expectations and choice appealed to me. Along my nomadic lifestyle I've often found my expectations decrease just as my level of contentment tends to increase, as if in complete unison. Such are the cycles of my life, so far. 

Its been interesting to meet so many fellow expats in so many countries but more oft than not its depressing. I'm not talking about the ones that live abroad part of the time or have their stuff in storage or teach English to stretch out the experience. I get that and I get they will eventually go back home. I'm talking about the ones that don't, that have lived abroad for a long, long time.

Pirate Party moves ideas into action in amazingly short time.

Read all about it in Der Spiegel, they have at least a half-dozen articles to peruse. Its so stunning not to mention unbelievable to think with a name like The Pirate Party, they would and could capture the attention of a great nation, gain 2 seats at the European Parliament in Brussels. 

It would seem surreal if it weren't so obvious. 

Rick Falkvinge articulates on his site precisely what the party is about, detailing their issues of copyright and policy with simple and straightforward articles and analogies. He exposes the fallacy, the disingenuous propaganda masking the truth about copyright and monopolies. Adroitly and succinctly outlines for anyone interested.

Cue the moon...

London Telegraph: "Young Italians flock to become Shepherds"

The Telegraph has its own angle on this trend yet I wonder if its only economic. I've spent so much time traveling through Italy, extensively up north, visiting 'family' members, on holiday, hanging out, many youth opt to stay close to home rather than travel and work in a major city. Why wouldn't they? 

I'm often struck, still, by the relationship Italians share with nature. While walking with my husband's uncle, Zio Giacomo, he often stops to touch the leaves and study the gardens and trees around his house, in his neighborhood. He teaches me the difference between male and female fruit, when at the market he studies the food with much attention and great affection. Its so fun.

Most Italians are terrific stewards, they toil their soil carefully for wine, fruit and vegetables, they discuss their nutrients and qualities with respect, regardless of whether they live in the city or the country. 

They travel throughout their country, inspecting, learning, enjoying the other towns. They covet and live well within their nature; this trend feels less economic and more natural and normal, to me at least. 

Travel is a luxury like no other; Church at St. Ludmila in Vinohrady

Before venturing off to a very Bohemian joint for lunch I met my friend @ Church at St. Ludmila. Two months ago the square surrounding the neo-gothic church looked lovely but austere, now bands and flowers at full bloom. Travel is a luxury like no other...

"The neo-gothic church of St. Ludmila is situated at Náměstí Míru (Square) in Vinohrady. The project plan of this church was prepared by the architect Josef Mocker, who was also one of the architects participating in the completion of St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle.

Tony Blair; from lazy eyed to crazy eyed.

They say the wild eyed one is back. Like a cockroach. Perhaps only Sarkozy is loathed as much as Blair in Europe and the UK.   

If you've seen Kingdom of Heaven, a gorgeous flic that happens to be historical correct, you simply shake your head and try and absorb how surreal it was to allow the Mandatory Palestine; officially becoming their 'real estate'. As Gore Vidal sighs, "based on ancient tablets."  

The Things My Feet Have Seen series, ctd.

Beautiful, balmy, moody weather. Early evening, time to relax, temperature calm, light shifts silently; cue rainbow at my feet...

In spite of it all, Ron Paul keeps winning...

In spite of the skeptics, the doubters, in spite of all those too leary of learning anything outside of what they already know, think they believe, know to be true.

May Day

Chris Hedges is not only suing Obama over NDAA but he's got some strong thoughts on OWS. He suggests its not about a date, an action but rather the beginning of a long process. He believes the movement articulates all that is inherently wrong with our system. He finds our government as corrupt, as fragile, as decayed as any, in particular he compares our 1% to the elites locked away in Versailles back in 1789.

He suggests ours government is out of touch, quite like Versailles; ripe for our own Revolution. Sounds like Alex Jones. Jones insists everything is a conspiracy, Hedge insists the system is corrupt, therefore ungovernable. Sounds like two sides of the same coin.  

Hedge's doesn't consider himself a member of the movement, of OWS, but he sees it as the beginning of being able to create paralysis through momentum and transparency. Mask or no mask, conspiracy or gross incompetence.

Let the festivities begin...

Jim Kunstler gives another elegy on America's post industrial landscapes...

JK begins:

"A few weeks ago I flew to Chicago, hopped into a rent-a-car, and navigated my way on the tangle of interstate highways to the now mostly former industrial region in the northwest corner of Indiana just off lowest Lake Michigan between the towns of Whiting and Gary. The desolation of human endeavor lay across the land like nausea made visible, but more impressive was how rapid the rise and fall of it all had been."

Think Pink...

The age of innocence, before life unfolds and cynicism sets in. It's lovely...

Mad Men: thank god Roger's back.

Mad Men may feel universal to some but rings uniquely American to me. It's like inhaling those moments intrinsic to our past, near and dear to those growing up in the 60's and 70's on either coast. Older than I; perhaps even more.

Those phones, our mannered naivety, so ascendant at that time; our world offering more and more to the masses. You can almost feel season 5 swirling towards the point minimum wage reached its peak, right before the credit bubble slowly overtook the mid 70's, greed became the norm in the 80's and all that jazz. 

This show is pitch perfect, Don's whistling the Beatles, moving forward.

Brands from the past make us pine, characters pitching our cereal or ruffling through drawers full of familiar junk that now feels precious. So familiar and yet so far away, surround sound nostalgia reverberates and bangs about unmercifully in our brains. Pure, painful, instant placebo from our past. 

Just one of those stunning mornings...

...worthy of a deep embrace. Spring has sprung in Bohemia, the downstairs garden is open, very much alive, inviting and worth a picture or two off Chez Bay's Balcony...

Reading Anaïs Nin is an awfully romantic exercise...

...what with this 'war on women'. As if it began this past year, newsflash; it was always there.  

Persevere and keep the blinders on ladies, if not, you won't last long in this patriarchal world.

Anaïs Nin; a potent combo of French and Cuban DNA. Living in constant fantasy, in flight yet relied on human reality to get her work published, to get through the day. Relaying a literary style so authentic, discussing her 'bohemian' union with Henry Miller:

I dread going to Spain with Henry because it will mean cafes, streets, whores, streets, cafes and movies. No real enormous or fantastic adventures. Cafes. Just as I am sitting here with Eduardo, drinking vin d'Alsace and watching his minor June-oh, so much smaller-collecting clients.

I want to become a whore but I don't know how it is done. Shall I sit at the Cafe Marignan and let a man with a yellow roadster and a Scotch terrier drive me away? Banal. He, the one I am expecting, must have ears. He may be in Spain.

Where's the left side of this paradigm?

It's been a long time since I caught Sandra Bernhard on stage in New York but her words linger and I can still hear her saying, "Where's Cher! I look here, there, everywhere but no Cher..." We love Cher, a face so uniquely beautiful before she dared to enter and alter it so severely. Still lovable but we grew to miss that lovely face. 

 

 

 

Mad Med and Sherlock; transatlantic take on Woman vs Female.

You can practically hear the English writers sharpening their literary blades at night, arming themselves to wield their wicked wordplay the next day, so cunning. Able to angle their way around any given issue in the loveliest, cutting way conceivable.

Why take their 'national treasure' Stephen Frye. I get why he's beloved and then I read the tweet he sends out to the world while waiting in line to speak at Christopher Hitchens' memorial service. I think his tweet more memorable than an essay written by the deceased. Frye taps away, seemingly giddy, "23rd in line, what a line up..." Apparently 23 literary giants before him, then his turn to wax poetic. He cannot wait. At a memorial.

That tweet, including his comments on women and sex make me think he's not quite as tweedy as he pretends to be. Well, I suppose we're all a bit delusional in our own special way.

And yet this is precisely why we love the English and continue to listen as they instruct us all on how it must be done. BTW, cannot wait for the London Olympics, a formidable management style shall be shown to the world. Of this I'm certain and eagerly await.    

Larry Kramer interviews Gore Vidal; to be or not to be 'gay' is not the question.

Had a chat with Gore Vidal last night. He never, ever disappoints. Reading the master is like sitting across from the lion, each of us seated in a high back chair, glass of Chivas in hand, relaxed.     

In Sexually Speaking, a series of essays on sex, GV opens his preface with a piece about Tennessee Williams, thinking Tennessee's gay critics cruel, sinister even, insisting everything outside the 'gay' condition must be marginalized. 

Gore admired Tennessee's response to this sort of dull bigotry: "Why should I limit my audience any more than it is already?"  Writers and artists first and foremost. Of course, if you wish to read about Tennessee's private life, you can, I did, it's graphic and honest. But it has little to do with his poetry, his plays. He was far more familiar with heterosexual life, especially in his early, fertile writing days. The heavy cruising came later on. 

GV ends his preface with a quote from Elaine May, "I love a moral problem so much more than a real problem." (where have these people gone...)

Make a wish...

Last week, I found a gizmo I'd put away. Took it out.  

Went to the gazebo park down the street, many attempts made, no such luck

The Pirate Party goes from strength to strength.

Yet another stunning victory. Rick Falkvinge's Infopolicy posts the following: 

In the local election of Innsbruck, the Austrian Pirate Party has sent shockwaves by taking its first Austrian seat, finishing at 3.8% in the election.

This caused frontpage news in Austria – the tweeter @Exiledsurfer was kind enough to tweet the pictured frontpage. Taking one seat in the city parliament of Innsbruck in a local election may not seem like much – but it’s large enough to make the front page story, heralding a strong trend all over Europe – you can almost read the strong headline (“Pirates Get Their First Seat”) as though it read “It Begins!”. It is also noteworthy that their election budget was a mere three thousand euros.

"Pirate Party" Soiree @ Chez Bay

Nothing like throwing a party for the future. The Pirate Parties International had their General Assemblies in the Czech Republic last weekend and my way of saying thanks was to host a party on their behalf.   

The Pirates are now officially legit; Germany's 3rd largest political party and today, fresh off the press; Austrian Party wins first seat, makes front page news. 

The conference proved highly productive and industrious, full of practical matters, strategy and all things democratic. Votes, video streaming, issues, debates and all the rest of it.  

Friday and Saturday evening socials near the venue and for all those remaining Pirates in Prague, Chez Bay got to open its doors; how lucky am I. Very.

Of course, discretion being key, details remain secret, allora; what happens in Bohemia, stays in Bohemia.... 

Driving thru Europe; cultures change along with their landscape

Schloss Fucshl is a gorgeous hotel just outside Salzburg, elegant environs, the trout for lunch arrived fresh from the lake.

Sun arrived for lunch then the weather turned foul. We tucked into the 'lodge'; he ordered Apple Strudel and coffee, I, Calvados. 

Austria, as lovely as any place on the planet, a favorite destination, a particularly pleasant and civilized state of mind...or so it always seems to me.

Garage Sale laws; stripping citizens of their self-sufficiency, one by one.

Slightly unsettling trends like limiting Garage Sales appear to be stripping Americans of self-sufficiency. One law at a time. I read these items from across the pond on a daily basis then my friends from childhood confirm them on Facebook.

It boggles the mind to see people denied the right to grow their own tomatoes, sell lemonade or raw milk. These being benign examples.