Bailey Alexander: The Europhile

Concentric circles as we prepare to sail away once again...

I'm pleased and proud to announce the furniture is selling nicely, sofa and chairs disappeared quickly, quite possibly due to less than stellar bartering skills.  Shelves, screens and drawers are still scattered about, waiting for a pair of eyes to fall upon and wish to acquire...

But wouldn't it pretty grand to have MADI sail into Venice with her Italian inspired spinnaker billowing in the wind, heading home for good. 

Well, that's then, but this is now, so prior to fantasizing about our imminent August itinerary, all attention must be spent addressing acquiring quotes as many of MADI's pieces need servicing prior to sail.

Mio marito and his motorcycle exited up north for one industrious week, skidding onto one very large ship, via Palermo and Livorno and he's now safely and happily ensconced in his favorite place in the universe; Limone, Piedmonte.  He'll hit the local and request my documents be sent from Malta to complete my application for Italian passport, then he'll drive down around and check out some of the marina I found while researching and calling ports stretching from Barcelona to Genoa.  I tried diligently but multiple languages were beyond my linguistic reach, proving far less than fluent.

Whichever way we view our current scenario, it would seem we're not far from where we began when making the transatlantic voyage some 8 yrs ago. We do know oh so much more, and this time we'll end up in a business oriented place like Geneva instead of the historically heavy and world weary Rome. 

We're certainly more connected, we've learned at least a thousand lessons, many of which are emblazoned upon the mind.....and now we'll be closer to family as most domicile in Geneva, Northern Italy and the South of France.

Who knows, I certainly don't, I've long since given up control of absolutely anything but I must say it'd be nice to have a job on this side of the pond, earning euro and exercising complete immersion. 

It could happen, but first this skipper has to email another contact with MADI's particulars prepared by the Captain...."aye aye...."

Cronkite and Carson both spoke for one United State of Mind

Whether or not you're a change agent, classicist or traditionalist, Cronkite's passing, like Carson, makes one pause, pine and ponder just why our country no longer swings back towards the middle.

Tony's media campaign for President of EU

Of course, a few issues at hand.

 1) Job doesn't exist.

 2) Job description hasn't been written; scope, deliverables, any particular need of or reason for
     is nowhere to be found. Must be hiding in the same place as the JD.

3) He's not European.

 But listen, why waste time with tedious particulars when Tony wants to be Prez of EU.

At least Steve Bell makes me laugh about it...

White Men vs The Real World

Obama's Prez, Oprah and Ellen are tv talk queens.  Counties like Santa Clara in California have residents speaking Spanish, Chinese, Farsi and Hindi, basically anything other than English, more diverse than the Metropolitan region of Miami.

How far have we come, baby?

Pompidou in Paris showcases an all women show, finally, the largest of its kind. We've come a long way but nice to note the quote from 1989 by a group of women plastering posters across New York. "Do women have to be naked to get into the Met?"

Makes me grateful but nostalgic, thinking of the predecessor to the Women's Tennis Association, Virginia Slims. 

When I was a kid, I played competitive tennis.  As a ranked player in the PNW you got to be 'ball girl' when Virginia Slims came to town.  I ran after those yellow balls enthusiastically for Chris Evert and Navratilova, etc, it was such fun but not without its odd moments.

Whenever we had a break we'd view the matches from the isles. One night someone came up quietly behind me and asked for the score. She had a deep, 'female' voice and as I turned around I found my 13 yr old face inches away from Renee Richards, the controversial player who'd undergone a sex change.  No wonder I went on to direct Drag Shows in Seattle. 

But I digress.

It's 2009 and we've come a long way....even if I currently live in a country, a member of the EU, where both abortion and divorce are illegal, and unlike all other EU members, abortion is absolutely illegal under all conditions. GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL, DO NOT PASS GO.  Well, at least the women aren't stoned to death.

It simply makes me enjoy the american activists blogs a bit more, like Tennesseeguerillawomen, reminds me of the fight.   I was lucky to grow up around smart, strong women, like Muv, like cousins that became Superior Court Judges, growing up with close friends w/mother who lived on the lists like Who's Who of Women in America. They worked it, not relying upon sexuality, but instead, their intelligence, their femininity, c'est vrai, one works with what they've been given.

Hefner, Lolita and Dorothy Parker's review of Nabokov circa '58

Hugh Hefner acquires serial rights, but I've mixed feelings, like many, after reading so much ado about Nabokov's unfinished work.

Rewinds my mind to the time I read Dorothy Parker's review of Lolita. I'll go back to my portable DP, the other DP and capture some of Ms. Parker's review for your purview.

For Esquire, in '58, she starts by outlining the publishing troubles, in England, Paris, etc, then quotes one review by the English critic, John Gordon, of the London Sunday Express, "Without doubt it is the filthiest book I ever read.  Sheer unrestrained pornography."

Ms. Parker begins; "I do not think that Lolita is a filthy book. I cannot regard it as pornography, either sheer, unrestrained, or any other kind.  It is the engrossing, anguished story of a man, a man of taste and culture, who can love only little girls.  They must be between the ages of nine and fourteen, and he calls them nymphets." 

The middle bits focus on Lolita, "She is a dreadful little creature, selfish, hard, vulgar, and foul-tempered.  He knows that he knows all of what she is.  That the knowledge cannot turn away his obsession with her is his agony.  An anguished book, but sometimes, wildly funny, as in the saga of his travel across and around the United States with her; and in the account of that trek are descriptions of the American hinterlands that Sinclair Lewis could never touch."

Then she heads towards the end with "It is in its writing that Mr. Nabokov has made it the work of art that it is...his command of the English language is absolute, and his Lolita is a fine book, a distinguished book-all right, then-a great book. And how are you, John Gordon, Esq., of the London Sunday Express?"

This, I find, is the difference between reading a 'thrilling modern critic' critique the world  by keeping it average, like Ellsworth Toohey, and reading one writer's adroit review of another, so verily well.

The new N-word, exposing the man behind the curtain and elsewhere around the sphere.

Phil Bronstein notes the irony of Vanity Fair revealing Palin's Narcissistic personality disorder.  Most people could define Palin's personality in a myriad of ways, but almost all would agree she's fierce. Although perhaps more in the order of a Guy Ritchie movie; a fast moving romp with more attitude than content. 

Faith game shows in Turkey, Embassy parties and wishing I could miss the sun.

Religious quiz shows in Turkey would feel funnier to me if the atheists converted the faith leaders, rather than other way around.

Hmmm, what other musings from Malta, attended a lovely soiree at the Embassy to celebrate the 4th. Dress code: Lounge.  I was jazzed and really anxious to hear the surround sound of American accents, but alas, it was mostly Maltese pressing the flesh.

Gorgeous gig along the Med was hosted by charge d'Affaires, Mr. Jason Davis and his partner, Matthew Smith, both spoke with lovely accents and kind company, specially Matthew.  Wonderful we have a gay couple at the Embassy, but sort of suspicious the enormous size of the US Embassy being built...'for security' they say.

Malta may be neutral, neither of the east nor west, but strategic to be sure.

Newsy blessays along the blogosphere about Obama playing the long game. Fair enough, still think the American experiment could use a big jolt or two....an old friend sent weird article about Obamageddon, well, party til 2012 then.

Wouldn't mind the sun going away, if only so I could miss it.  Maybe I'm just a wimp but 3 months without a day of rain rather enhances the sensation of feeling landlocked. Good for writing, not great for socializing.  Was invited by a Maltese galpal to a Bar-b-Que to complete a social weekend, Libyans, Bulgarians et al but lethal combination of finger food, fests and sun proved too much, instead, yesterday was a day to do nothing but avoid the sun and Swine Flu that's finally arrived in Malta. 

Hung out with some Maltese characters at the local store, the boys regaled me w/stories about some of our compelling modern day rulers, ya know, the sort that have balls seen from google earth, like Cheney.

I've already posted that Berlusconi paid homage to ex PM Dom Mintoff, they guy that stood up to the CIA and kick started Silvio's career in the middle of the Med.  It's well documented the strong ties than bind Qaddafi with Mintoff, but I did not know that Kim Jong-il studied at the University of Malta.  Somehow I suspect he spent more time studying Mintoff's mindset than Maltese studies.

Well, Palin's taken over the press, Michael shall be put to rest soon and until then, I'll just carry on with my business and stay sane by swimming laps at the fresh water outdoor pool where I don my full diving kit, fins, goggles, snorkel and racing suit, if only to scare the wee ones out of my way.

I did finally deviate from my routine and venture into the warm Med, swimming with the fish, avoiding the jellies, enjoying the otherly divine culture of the underwater world....

Meeting Medvedev in Moscow

Russia suggest Obama study up a bit prior to his trip to Moscow.  Somehow I doubt the canny man Putin will be as 'in thrall' with our Prez, after all, we haven't heard of an any ex soviet dissidents occupying a branch of Barry's all inclusive family tree.

Not sure how they'll progress the relationship, both have internal troubles, and yet wide gaps remains betwixt the two; NATO including Georgie and Ukraine, deployment of US missiles in Central Europe aimed directly at Russia, this type of thing.

What I do know is that Russians harbor deep suspicions of America, almost as much as our government feeds the même chose to us...

Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I'll be There

The similarities are startling.  As I miss Michael Jackson I find myself thinking about Judy Garland.

Accents are odd, but Arnold Schwarznegger's is really, really off.

Digby's link to NYT magazine begins with...

“Our wallet is empty,” Schwarzenegger said in a speech a few days before my visit. “Our bank is closed. Our credit is dried up.” He called for cuts that would, among other things, eliminate health insurance for close to a million poor kids, stop welfare checks for more than half a million families and close 80 percent of the state’s parks. Then he pivoted into empathy mode. “I see the faces behind those dollars,” Schwarzenegger said. “I see the children whose teachers will be laid off. I see the Alzheimer’s patients losing some of their in-home support services.”

Then he finishes the interview with his inimitable esprit, “Someone else might walk out of here every day depressed, but I don’t walk out of here depressed,” Schwarzenegger said. Whatever happens, “I will sit down in my Jacuzzi tonight,” he said. “I’m going to lay back with a stogie."

God. The State is broke and this provides comfort?  Of what kind?  And to Whom. And just because he's being such a brute I'm going to pick on his accent.

Royal watchin and California dreamin...

Hard not to admire Queen Elizabeth but the Independent reports the Royal Family cost the taxpayer 69p per person last year - an increase of 3p, via Buckingham Palace accounts.  

I'm not very patriotic but is this proper flag prop protocol?

 Apparently Palin's a runner, not necessarily a news flash, but what's interesting is how the flag is so casually draped, crumpled and uncared for.  If she were in the kitchen and someone spilled a glass of orange juice, she'd probably grab the flag to clean up the mess.  

America is too big.

Some 20 yrs ago, an English friend I'd met while studying in London, traveled extensively throughout the US.  When he arrived in Seattle we talked about his lengthy sojourn and how much he liked the States, how convenient it was, how 'professionally nice' Satellites were, etc and then he said something I still think about, if only because it's so true; N. America is too big.

America's looking a lot like Italy. Al Franken? Finally? Si, Finito!

Mio marito's in Switzerland this week so I can't confirm, but I'm thinking my Italian guy must be ROTFL.  Whenever we caught a whiff from across the pond about the Al Franken/Coleman drama, many moments of mirth ensued.

Professor Higgens, "She's so deliciously low..."

Todd S. Purdum has a delightful piece in Vanity Fair on the wackjob from Wasilla, Sarah Palin.

Andy Sullivan is just obsessed, absolutely obsessed, in fact, he's so inspired he's come up with a bon mot like this; The narcissism, the pathological and incessant lying, the viciousness, the delusions of grandeur, the vindictiveness, the fathomless and proud ignorance, the opportunism, the vanity, the white trash concupiscence and fraudulence in almost every respect: these are now indisputable.

Yes, Andy, yes, I've seen the equation up close in America, devoted a chapter to it;  white trash + evangelical = concupiscence times 10. Sort a like the christianists you blog about incessantly.  Dawn Powell said seven decades ago, "willful ignorance masquerading as native wit" similar diff.

Still think she'll be prez; Higgins beat the bet against Pickering and passed Eliza as a duchess didn't he...

God just keeps on blessing America....