Life in the key of E flat minor

When I first visited Ireland around 12 years ago, I was under the impression that I would land at the airport, head to the hostel and seek out a delicious authentic Irish stew and some offal dish, like steak and kidney pie. The first opportunity that my companion and I had to eat, we found a restaurant that offered the said “authentic” Irish stew.  It was gross; a thin, weak broth covering fatty and tough bits of beef with minimal vegetables.  If something that should be flavorful and thick, filling and fragrant was so repulsive, I couldn’t imagine what a steak and kidney pie would taste like.  I made the quick decision to avoid it. This doesn't represent what the bad Irish stew looked like After a bad meal in what we discovered to be a tourist trap, we asked our front desk clerk at our hostel for suggestions.  Our clerk apologized for the unsatisfying meal and gave us leads for better places to eat.  With those tips, we found that Irish food was good and...

Last night, Piers Morgan focused some time on his show about the Hurricane Irene coverage, asking the pithy sound bite: Hurricane or Hype? The crux of this question centered on whether or not the media’s coverage and government’s reaction was too much. I made my opinion about this topic in the middle of the storm. While news anchors are prone to sensationalism, the coverage and reactions were apropos for a storm of this magnitude. While I am one of the first people to criticize weathermen for their inaccurate predictions – which is usually about a snow storm that doesn’t cancel school the next day, I do understand that they are reporting on predictions. Meteorologists use complicated weather models to make educated guesses about the tracks of storms. By nature, to predict is to estimate or calculate in advance; there is nothing certain about it. Hurricane Irene's path Looking back on two storms that have wove their way into the collective memory, I think that we’ve...

After the waterlogged weekend that we had on the East Coast, I’d like to take a trip to the desert.  Seeing the Schuylkill flooded carrying debris and speeding out to the Delaware made me long for someplace dry and arid. For me one of the more famous and accessible desert is the two-desert Joshua Tree National Park. An eponymous Joshua Tree I’ve been to Joshua Tree in the winter of 2006.  It was an ambitious day trip that I took with my friend, Denise.  I had a red eye flight to take back to Philadelphia so we left early in the morning to make the 2 ½ hour trek out to Twentynine Pines.  A rock formation along Park Boulevard Clichédly, we queued up the U2 as we got onto California Route 62 and followed the sign to the Park. The entrances from 62 put you into the Mojave Desert, the habitat of the Joshua Tree. The name sake of the park was named by Mormon settlers because the shape that reminded them of a Biblical story of Joshua praying with his hand up i...

Today the east coast felt a noticeable earthquake from North Carolina to Ontario.  According to government sources, the quake was centered near Mineral, VA about 40 northwest of Richmond.  Through twitter and the iPhone, my colleagues and I were able to confirm what we felt in a matter of minutes from the safety of outside our building. What remains funny to me is the development of the Wikipedia article from its anonymous contributors. At the end of the Impact section: "Barack Obama transformed into a robot" This inaccuracy was noted and edited out, probably multiple times before I refreshed to read the updated version. Casualties: 9001 squirrels That's a lot of dead squirrels.  I have a difficult time believing that many rodents died; they seem to be able to sense an upcoming disaster and tend to act accordingly. A more credible version It seems that after several iterations, the anonymous authors and editors have been able to cite the appropriat...

There are so many places in Canada that I’d like to see.  Having only been to Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver and Calgary, for example, are on my list.  Yet, I’d like to visit the capital next. Ottawa is in nestled in the Ottawa River Valley in eastern Southern Ontario, bordering on Québec.  This location has made the National Capital Region of Ottawa and Gatineau a bilingual area with a diverse population. Home to the National Government, the city is a mixture of formalistic and functional architecture with a good helping of Romantic and Picturesque styles, too. Central Block, Parliament Hill Like our capital, Washington, DC, history is rich in this planned city that Queen Victoria chose as the capital for the Province of Canada (comprised of parts of modern day Ontario and Quebec) on December 31, 1857.  The city is the site of the northern terminus of the Rideau Canal, the oldest continuously operated canal system in North America and a UNESCO World ...

During this muggy summer when Philadelphia's temperature hit the century mark, my cousin and I fled for the Poconos to a day of respite from the oppressive heat. We visited the town of Jim Thorpe and spent the day exploring the Carbon County borough . After a leisurely visit, we decided to take an as relaxed drive home via US 209 South to PA 309 South. We were only the road for about 15 minutes when we saw the golden domes of this Church poke up through the cluster of homes in the town of Lansford. We drove around to find the best way to access the church, finding all the one way streets in the direction other than we wanted. Eventually, we stopped in front of the St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church and were able to the snap a picture of the building, avoiding all the overhead electrical wires.  This is the fruit of our labor.

According to the Bourbon Blog, yesterday was National Rum Day . In honor of the wonderful day (for the Rum AND Madonna’s birthday ), I wanted to share with you an intense mojito from the Rum Bar in Philadelphia.  My friend, Necie, and I decided to go hit a bar to meet up and swap the book for our upcoming bookclub.  It was Monday and I knew that Rum Bar had ½ price mojito special then. We studied the extensive menu of drinks, and I chose the chili coriander mojito. Instead of mint, this mojito was muddled with cilantro (a.k.a. coriander) leaves in a chili pepper infused rum. It was innocent looking, but this drink packed a punch.  The flavor starts sweet and citrusy from the simple syrup and lime juice as the bouquet of the cilantro grows – the fresh, green, bright taste. Finally the peppery taste joins and intensifies in heat, leaving a warm burn in the back of the throat that slowly dissipates, but does come to an end.  It was a concentrated, intriguing drink ...

In honor of Madonna's birthday, I wanted to share my favorite songs of hers - a top ten list. 10) “Dress You Up” In the height of her “Boy Toy” phase, Madonna shows off her 80’s fashion flare, dancing and performing in this concert footage video for her final single from Like a Virgin . This was the first time that a Madonna song really stuck with me. I enjoyed "Borderline" and "Like a Virgin," however this was her first pop song from her collection that aged well and is still a great song today. 9) “Causing a Commotion” I remember being 14 and dancing around in my room to this song when it first came out in the late summer of 1987. I got a radio that previous Christmas including the big bulky headset earphones who pads surrounded your ears, and I would listen to the radio when going asleep. Even in twilight dream like state before passing out completely, I would perk up when I heard the song and jump out of bed and dance. Of course, this was much ...

I subscribe to several travel e-mail magazines, including Budget Travel. I enjoy their articles and I get the newsletter about twice a week. This past Thursday, I noticed a link in the newsletter, " 10 Natural Wonders to See Before They Disappear ," and read along in wonder. The article lists natural wonders which are threatened with non-existence within the century and includes suggestions for tour operator at each destination to take advantage of the amazing features of each destination. Surprisingly, I have been to one of the locations on the list, the Dead Sea. When I was a freshman at Penn, I had the opportunity to travel to Israel in 1992. During my trip with the Penn Glee Club, we spent a day in Ein Gedi and played in the therapeutic waters of the Dead Sea. I never dreamed to get to the highest spot on earth, but I have made it to the lowest. The group took the prerequisite pictures of us floating, reading newspapers and magazines as if in a recliner. I was unf...

While I was on the elliptical on last week and getting lost listening to my work-out mix (which is eerily similar to my-getting-ready-to-go-out mix), I heard this thunderous thump from above.  No one else on the ellipticals or treadmills near me budged but it startled me.  It continued throughout my entire run on the machine and it took me midway through my cardio routine that it was the sound of weight trainers dropping their weights on the floor.  My usual location in my gym for cardio is the first floor room which has dramatically high ceilings about 1½ stories tall.  Though none of that buffered the heavy thump that weights make when they’re dropped.  It’s not that I haven’t heard weights dropped before; I just forgot how irritating it is. It happened again this week, but I had changed venues in the gym and went to the third floor with a mixed cardio and weight room and this time someone in the room was dropping weights.  To top it off, he was grunt...

A friend updated her status on facebook Monday night, "....Just sold a ticket to the sold out showing of Jurassic Park at Red Rocks tonight for face value...." and I stopped reading.  I didn't need to know anything else but I was missing a showing of Jurassic Park at Red Rocks!  I moped but I decided to use that status update as inspiration for my latest myPics. In the middle of this brutally muggy summer, the image of snow always cools me down.  There is something majestic and thrilling about a distinct rock formation against a bright blue sky.

One of the perks of traveling is trying regional foods.  Barbeque differs throughout the South, and the North has different styles of pizza. However, I’m not focusing on food trends in this entry, (like a Chicago hot dog or New England Claw Chowder), I’m talking about the regional food products: your pre-packaged, pick-up-at-the-store snacks. Once, in Alamogordo, NM, I sampled chili and lime flavored roasted lima beans (spicy and tart), akin to a package of peanuts. In Pennsylvania, the area around York is home to Bickel Snacks (good, crunchy hard pretzels) and Middleburg is the land of Middleswarth Potato Chips (light in feel, not very greasy and substantial potato taste).  Even giants in the food markets have regional varieties, Frito Lays has more spicy versions of their products in Latino markets, including more chili and lime flavored treats. There is a regional supermarket, H-E-B , that serves Texas and Mexico, and has a great line of namesake brand products.  O...

I am a history fan.  I wouldn’t say that I’m a buff, per se , but I like history.  I will spend my weekends relaxing in front of the TV watching all of the History Channel and History International shows.  History is a source of great entertainment for me. One big piece of world history that I enjoy is British history and the history of its many colonies (US, Australia, the former Empire and the Commonwealth now, for example.)  During Empire’s reign, the British traveled around the world and left their mark even on many of the most remote islands on the globe. These far flung places are places that I would love to see. This wish list is really a pipe dream.  There are limited modes of transportation to these British Overseas Territories, either via boat or in the case of the latest one, via military transport or cargo ship. Pitcairn Island; Pitcairn Islands . Pitcairn Island is the only inhabited island in the four island chain.  The remote Pacific is...

I tweeted this news story today: Chris Christie slams fearmongering over Sharia law . ( IrishWombat: gives kudos to Gov. Christie for supporting a Muslim judge: http://owl.li/5W4Dz . Wish others in #Republican party would believe similarly .) In essence, Gov. Christie lambasts conservative critics about his nominee for New Jersey’s Superior Court.  Sohail Mohammed, Christie’s appointee, is an American attorney who offered legal aid to New Jersey residents who were suspected after the September 11th attacks.  These suspects were found innocent of any crimes. The opponents of the nomination have issued factless warnings that the judge would base his rulings on Islamic law. This is false supposition got Gov. Christie furious.  He calls out the opponents as “crazy” for their misleading statements. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie According to the article, there are many several Republicans and GOP president candidates that stir up fear that Muslims will force American...

Last August, I went to Yosemite for one of my dearest friend’s wedding. A group of us stayed at private cabins only accessible via the park, just 20 miles from the valley floor. The wonder trip consisted of hiking, observing nature, drinking white wine in a hot tub night while looking at the Big Dipper through the opening in the redwood canopy and celebrating our friend’s very happy day. During one of our nights, we made a last minute decision to go to Glacier Point to catch the sunset.  At the summit, I started to take photos in the opposite direction of sunset to catch the light reflecting off the iconic features of Yosemite.  This is when I caught a few shots of the light on Half Dome standing guard over the valley, like this one.

Nothing brings back great memories like the smell of something good and I would have to say that most people I know love the smell of coffee. The bright, earthy and nutty smell immediately hits the olfactory nerve and tells the body that caffeine is near, even if you don’t like the drink.  For some, it brings back the mornings when someone brewed coffee for them while still in bed, waking up after a restful sleep.  For others, it’s the memories of coming over for Sunday brunch already to eat and rehash the fun of the weekend.  Still others have other happy occasions, like Christmas or Easter morning, come to mind when they smell coffee. For me, though, there is a particular coffee blend that stimulates great memories, the mix of coffee with chicory that is the hallmark of coffee in New Orleans.  The brew has, in addition to the bright, earthy and nutty scents, notes of chocolate and wood from the chicory, the root of the familiar the Belgian endive and radicchio....

This is a little bit of a cheat since I’m leaving for Ireland in thirty-eight days, but I have always wished to return.  Twelve years ago, I got the opportunity to visit Ireland with one of my best friends, Laura, and the trip was definitely life-defining.  We traveled throughout the Republic and Northern Ireland, hitting Dublin, Cork, Dingle, Limerick, Galway, back to Dublin, Enniskillen, Belfast and again to Dublin. A bucolic view of Ireland While there, I wrote nine e-mails about my visit to friends and family.  This was the time before blogs or smart phones.  Digital cameras were gaining popularity, but still most pictures were taken on film and printed (and also scanned onto a CD at the photo processor’s.) In one of my several attempted to design a webpage and to keep a travelogue, I posted my e-mails, including all typos, misspellings and missing words on my cuchulainn.net site.  I went back to visit them to see what had impressed me about Ireland an...