Thistle Do Nicely: Edinburgh, Scotland

Before heading back to London, my friend and I stopped in Edinburgh for a couple of days and were lucky enough to have gorgeous weather. We happened to stop in a pub for a pint during the one hour it rained during our entire stay.

Don’t really have too much to say for Edinburgh other than that Edinburgh Castle is one of the best castles I’ve ever been to, the trek up Arthur’s Seat is well worth it, and the Scots still love those puns.

Morocco Day by Day: Arrival in Tangier

In April, four friends and I took a 10 day trip to Morocco for what can only be deemed an extreme and totally awesome adventure. The next several posts shall be dedicated to this particular trip. I did take approximately 80 billion photos, so if that’s what you’re after, you really should head over to Picasa.

We took an Iberia flight, at some ungodly hour of the morning, to Tangier on 6 April. We’d heard some fairly mixed reviews of Tangier but we decided to check it out for ourselves. Many folks warned us to stay clear of it because it tends to be a bit more dangerous than other Moroccan cities and doesn’t represent the “real” Morocco. Others said they could get lost in the Medina for days on end and would be happy to explore the many cafes, night clubs, and restaurants. We wound up really enjoying it but probably would have gotten bored if we’d stayed for much longer.

The weather was absolutely perfect upon arrival and we could not have asked for a nicer place to stay. The hostel was called Dar Jameel and was a fairly close walk to the city’s main Casbah. It also featured a terrace overlooking the harbor.

After enjoying some “whiskey Berber” (or mint tea) on the terrace, we went into town to explore the medina. Unfortunately, we were a bit too late to actually get into the Casbah, but we did manage to sneak a look inside before the doors were shut.
The above photos are from the area just outside the Casbah. We stumbled through many arch ways and around several corners to find this place. We experienced our first Moroccan “guides,” or any man or child who decided he could help us find whatever it was we were trying to find. It was a bit unsettling but almost everyone left us alone after we said “no.”

The medina was fairly small, at least from what we saw. Kebabs in a local shop satisfied our hunger but not our new found need for mint tea.
This guy seemed to know it was our first day and so showed us how it’s done properly.

Back at the hostel a few of us played an epic game of Scrabble on the rooftop during prayer call. It was a bit eerie hearing the call for the first time, but was even more so at about 4am that morning. We had little choice but to get used to it quickly.

Dunkeld, Scotland

In March, a different friend and I made our way up to Scotland. Despite having lived in the UK for a while now, and having a British father, I’d never made it up that far north (disgraceful, I know). Well, we took the train from London up to Edinburgh and then hopped on a bus to Dunkeld. My friend happens to be a pretty fine fiddler and once upon a time went to fiddlin’ camp in Virginia. It turns out there was a fiddling festival in Dunkeld, in honor of Niel Gow, and so we decided to go along so she could get her fix and I could experience what all the fuss was about.

I didn’t realize this before our trip, but apparently the Scots love their puns, perhaps more so than the Irish. This was especially evident in smaller towns, such as Dunkeld. We also happened across a beautiful church, St. Columba’s Cathedral and a forest that may have given Shakespeare inspiration for MacBeth.

We encountered surly bus drivers and some rather Lord of the Rings-esque scenery. Don’t worry Niel Gow, we’ll be back.

Travels Part 1: Portugal

What a better way than to get this blog going again than by posting some pictures from some of my more recent adventures? One of these days I might actually include some photos from England, Northern Ireland, and the United States, but for now I’ll stick with these. Of course you can find many of these on Facebook (if we’re friends), or on Picasa, but those don’t include the stories! I’m feeling a bit inspired as I shall be journeying to India on Monday for two weeks.

Last November a friend and I went to Lisbon, Portugal for three days-not long enough! It rained almost the entire time and was much colder than we’d expected, but it was absolutely wonderful. The city is a wonderful blend of new and old, much cheaper than London, and free of many of the obnoxious tourists you’d see in a more traveled area such as anywhere in Spain.

Since I’m recovering from some dreadful illness (possibly swine flu, No Joke!), I’ll let the pictures in the gallery do most of the talking (but what about those stories? Suck it up this time and deal!).

The first couple of pictures are from the old quarter of town, which is filled with winding little streets. My friend and I knew there was a castle to be found somewhere, but it took quite a long time to find it. It was sunny before we got to the castle and absolutely pouring by the time we got there. The photo of people with umbrellas pretty much sums up the whole trip.

The next day we were quite busy and ventured to neighboring areas including, Sintra, Cabo da Roca, and Cascais. On our final day we went to Torre de Belém which is absolutely gorgeous. We also partied all night with some folks at our hostel before getting on an early morning flight…but I’ll refrain from posting those photos here.

Stay tuned for photos from Scotland!

Mad Men and the Sopranos Just Might be the Same Show

Let’s get something sorted before I continue, I LOVE both Mad Men and the Sopranos. If you haven’t watched either, something is wrong with you. I didn’t think I’d ever feel this way about anything, but if new episodes of Lost and Mad Men happened to be on at the same time…I would probably watch Mad Men first.

After getting horribly roped into Don Draper’s smoke-filled and booze-fueled world on a procrastinatory binge about a month ago, I suddenly had a craving to go back and watch the Sopranos. A bit of IMDBing showed that this desire should come as no surprise since Matthew Weiner, writer and producer for several Sopranos’ episodes, happens to be the creator of Mad Men. Well, I obtained the first season of the Sopranos on DVD and have come to the conclusion that Mad Men and the Sopranos are practically the same show-Mad Men possibly appealing to a larger female audience (here’s lookin’ at you, Jon Hamm). I don’t mean this in a bad way, clearly I’m fully addicted to both. But if I didn’t say something, I might go a little insane. Here’s the rundown (in case you hadn’t figured, there will be a few SPOILERS):

1) Don Draper and Tony Soprano as a pair of Bad A’ Mofos.

Okay, so Don Draper is a little easier, to um..digest (on the eyes), and we all really want to like him, but time and time again he shows what a true jerk he is. We all know that Tony’s not exactly the nicest guy but we can see, from his interactions with Dr. Melfi and his daughter Meadow, that he’s not always happy with the decisions he’s made. All he’s ever really wanted is to “get food on the table”, and besides, he barely managed to get into college, let alone survive that semester and a half. Both are mysterious, adulterous, and true top dogs. Don always manages to keep his job by being the best, sharpest, and by having some sweet connections. Tony shows he’s not to be messed with by never being afraid to run over someone.

2) Carmela Soprano and Betty Draper as the almost, but not quite so innocent bystanders.

Although Carmela initially comes off as the stronger woman (she yells and stands up to Tony), we have to remember that Betty is stuck in the late 1950s and early 1960s and can’t be expected to do the same. As the show progresses, Betty does become more vocal and even kicks Don out of the house for a brief period of time. Both want to be good wives and mothers but know that their husbands aren’t exactly honorable men. No one else really understands what they’re going through and we don’t know what they’re going to do next to act out. Each one always seems to be on the edge of having an affair but always seems to return to her spousal duties.

3) The Shoes Thing.

Burt Cooper, everyone’s boss over at Mad Men, makes everyone remove their shoes before entering his office. Meadow Soprano, Tony’s daughter, will not let anyone enter her room until they have removed their shoes. Maybe this isn’t such a big deal, but can you think of any non-Asian shows that do this?

4) Psychiatry.

One of the major relationships on the Sopranos is between Tony and his psychiatrist, Jennifer Malfi. She learns about his emotions, his fears, his secrets in a way that no one else does. On Mad Men, psychiatry is reserved for weak people who weren’t raised right, like Roger Sterling’s daughter. Or Betty Draper. In the first season, Betty develops a nervous condition after her mother dies. As a way of “fixing” her, Don sends her off to a psychiatrist, who reports to him by telephone in the evenings. Betty’s sessions with her shrink are incredibly different from those of Tony and Dr. Melfi, but each each tends to be the pivotal scene of the episode. Perhaps the folks at the Sopranos and Mad Men are interested in demonstrating how psychiatry has changed over the decades? The relatively silent and somewhat creepy doctor from MM versus the rather engaging and likable  Melfi from the Sopranos.

5) Catholicism

Tony certainly makes no claims to be a good Catholic, but Carmela does. She hangs out with the priest, regularly confesses, and often admits that she thinks her husband is doomed to Hell. Don doesn’t really speak about religion and is called out for it by Connie Hilton. Peggy Olson, Don’s former secretary and now copy-writer, has been raised Catholic and frequently clashes with her family over her lack of devoutness. Both Carmela and Peggy get dangerously close to their parish priests and we sometimes can’t help but wonder whether something scandalous will happen.

6) New York City is always in the distance but never quite attainable.

In the Sopranos opening we see NYC in Tony’s side view mirror before he gets on the Jersey turnpike to go home. They go into the City sometimes, but most big business is handled off the side of the highway and closer to home. Sure the folks at Mad Men work in Manhattan, but most of the scenes downtown take place indoors. Anything that takes place outside happens in the ‘burbs of Tarrytown. Betty continually expresses her love of NYC but always seems stuck outside of it because Don never takes her there unless he has some sort of business to attend to.

7) Weird dream sequences and troublesome parents.

Tony and Betty not only share their need for psychiatry, but also their draining, elderly parents and bizarre dreams. Both Betty’s father, Gene, and Tony’s mother provide constant problems until they eventually die.

That’s all I’ve got for now, but trust me, they’re the same.

It Sure Has Been A While!

Whoah…I haven’t posted here since last December? I guess that’s what being in grad school will do to you! Now that all my coursework is done and unemployment has officially begun, this blog may very well become the venue for incoherent and random musings (as if they weren’t before). Edamame and his adventures will most likely return at a future date.