Chichen Itza

Well, in the other digital photography we brought back from the Yucatan, I have some images of the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza. It's another World Heritage Site, and a truly impressive place to visit. It's amazing at the level of sophistication of a civilization that abandoned this site nearly half a millenium before the Spaniards arrived.

Seeing this ruined observatory was particulary striking. What's interesting is that the Mayans never seemed to have developed the telescope...



The Mayans also loved their sporting events. This is the largest of the ball courts at Chichen Itza. I took this picture to show where our season tickets would have been...



People told us they were going to stop letting tourists climb the big pyramid within the next year or so...



We were glad we got to climb it before the ban went into effect. The view was very nice...

Garden View Room

We just got back from our (delayed) honeymoon in Cancun. I booked a "garden view" room at the Casa Magna Marriott. I was somewhat concerned about not getting a nice view. I shouldn't have been.

My Giants

This Yahoo! article is headlined "Giants Sign Veteran Kicker Matt Conway". The article goes on to explain that they signed kicker Brett Conway to replace Matt Bryant. That's kind of sad (the mistake, not the signing, but as a Redskins fan, I can't say I'm sad to have a division rival have him kicking), but what tops is the link to a slideshow of the baseball Giants.

1999 Balbi Malbec Reserve

I previously decided to try keeping track of wines I drink to develop some sort of knowledge base. Since I enjoyed the Argentinian Malbec mentioned there, I picked up another one in my duty-free shopping spree on the way out of the UK. The 1999 Balbi Malbec Reserve was a very enjoyable, fruity, flavorful wine.

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them

While Christina was in North Carolina a couple of weeks ago, I got this book out of the library, took it home and read it all in one evening. I guess that's a pretty good recommendation, so feel free to pay more attention to that than the rest of my rambling.

I guess my political views have been lately more left than right, because I found myself agreeing with most of what Franken had to say. Occasionally, he was a bit too far out there...I guess at heart, I'm a moderate. Still, I appreciate a partisan who backs what he's saying with facts. Franken does (he has a Harvard research staff). I did find three mistakes...two of which I recall. At one point, he refers to a South Carolina politician named "Carole Campbell." I'm pretty sure he meant "Carroll Campbell." Also, he refers to a McCain-Bush debate from early 2001. I think he means 2000; I don't think Bush has debated anyone since he had to during the campaign.

Be Careful Where You Eat In Stratford...

I was composing an e-mail to my friend Melissa, and I thought I'd share one of the anecdotes I typed out with the rest of the world...

Earlier this month, I went to Stratford to see 'Cymbeline' with some associates. Stratford itself seemed like a bit of tourist trap. The restaurant we ate in had instructions for ordering in a pub that seemed aimed at foreigners unfamiliar with pub food, except the instructions made absolutely no sense. We ordered at the bar and sat down at our table to await the food being delivered. As we were sitting there I nudged a friend -- one of the two bartenders who had taken our order had lifted his shirt up and was happily rubbing his belly. I feel bad, but when he came over a few minutes later with two orders of fish and chips, I let the people who were seated facing away from the bar raise their hands and got mine only when the second bartender arrived with the third plate.

I enjoyed 'Cymbeline'. We had very nice seats two or three rows back from the stage. The actors would run by and narrowly avoid hitting me with their swords. I later read that the play is one of the few 'original' stories by Shakespeare, but he seems to have borrowed every cliche from every other play...royal remarriages, mistaken identity, women dressing up like men, poisoning, etc...