Whine & Cheese

Quiet = Not Good

Just wanted to do a quick post to officially say that it has been good to get back to blogging.  I hesitated to do this kind of post until it I was sure it was going to stick, but the decision to give W&C a new look was the subconscious sign I was subconsciously looking for... again, other than being tired of the old look, there was no premeditation re: overhaul until I did it!  

I took a look back at my entries for last half of 2009 and, with the exception of my reading/book posts, there were only a handful of entries and even then there wasn't a whole lot to them. In coming back, there would be none of the pressures (all self-inflicted, mind you) of posting daily or some hazy measure that they had to be substantive... just getting back to its original intention, being a place to say things, when I have something to share!

Chattiness is a pretty good sign that I am happy/content.  And while this blog is half-named 'whine,' even when I am whiny, I don't think things have totally devolved.  It is when I shut down/stay quiet for an extended period that thing are probably not okay. There were a lot of challenges last year and looking back I can see I know I was not the most pleasant person to be around.  While I was long overdue for a blogging sabbatical just because I had been doing it pretty darn consistently since September 2003, part of it was this shutdown with the re-boot taking a few months...   

... as things started to turn around in the fall, with the Hawaiian vacation certainly helping out a lot.  But wanting to chat again... and beyond 140 characters... is something to feel good about and a true sign of being back online, in this case both literally and figuratively.  Anyone who knows me, knows that while 140 characters is sufficient for a good punchline every now and then and satisfies and urge, it is much too limiting for me.  This was always where I let things most hang loose, the place I am most myself.  Chatty and rambling... 

New Look For 2010

I am not sure what got into me, I didn't wake up this morning with even the twinkle that I was going to give Whine & Cheese a new look, but that's what happened! 

The previous "look" had long over-stayed its welcome and even though the schmancy rotating/random banner was fun, it was showing signs of aging... with shows and/or people that I am not so super-enthusiastic about anymore.  Also, the layout was a custom/advanced template which took a lot of work to get right (and a lot of work/thought to modify), so that's another reason it stuck around so long.

But with a renewed energy to blog again in 2010, it seemed appropriate to give my blog a new look.  This is a standard TypePad template (Vicksburg) with a few CSS tweaks to stuff like font, colors, column width, etc..  It was done in a very trial-and-error method, but after a few (or more!) frazzled nerves, I am satisfied with this much more simplified, sleaker, cleaner, less cluttered look.

I would love to get some feedback, particularly if something is missing or not working right or say if the colors and/or font or font size are difficult to read... or if it doesn't fit on your monitor as I widened things up since I am guessing most of us have the more rectangular flat screens these days.

Mountains Beyond Mountains (#3)

Thanks for surviving the recent string of eye-candy posts!  See what happens when I get (or should I say, stay) caught up on my book posts?!  Is that a good thing or bad?  But alas, it is always only a matter of time until I finish another book, so here we go...

This next one is a good example of the many steps that lead me to a new book.  After the earthquake in Haiti, I really felt compelled to learn more about the country, but didn't know quite how to accomplish that.  It was around that time that I saw/heard about the organization Partners in Health as one of the "recommended" charities.  Shortly thereafter, I stumbled onto to this from Amazon's Omnivoracious book blog that led me to this book, Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, with the central figure being the driving force behind PiH, Dr. Paul Farmer.  A couple of days later, it was time for a new book... and voila!  A book I had never heard of... about an organization I had never heard of... about a man I had never heard of... about a country I wanted to learn more about... all within the span of a few days!  It's no wonder I never (and never ever will) get through my to-be-read list!  

[On a quick side note, that Omnivoracious blog entry did report that PiH's facilities in Haiti's central plateau were undamaged. This area is quite remote/desolate and a couple of hours away from Port-au-Prince.]

While is not a book about Haiti, it is very much the heart of it as Farmer has devoted his life to Haitian people and although its reach is now global, the spirit of Partners In Health was born there. The book more than accomplished my goal of getting some basic knowledge about Haiti.  There is a little bit of everything: the historical, political, religious, geographical, and certainly socio-economic. As you likely heard during news coverage, Haiti was already the poorest country in the Western hemisphere before the earthquake, so that only adds to the tragedy.  The book gets its title from Haitian proverb that seems to embody this seemingly constant string of bad luck (among a very superstitious people)... "Beyond mountains, there are mountains" or when one problem is solved, there will only be another one lying in wait.  Not a terribly optimistic life view.

Published in 2003 (so long before this humanitarian disaster), as mentioned, Farmer travels the world feeling it is a moral imperative to provide health-care to the world's poor. The reader goes from the halls of Harvard Medical School to Siberian prisons to the Chilean slums to the surprising (or not, if you've seen Michael Moore's documentary Sicko) health-care oasis of Castro's Cuba.  Farmer is providing just the most basic of medical services, treating curable diseases that run rampant in third-world countries.  Much of the book is devoted to the treatment of tuberculosis, an infectious disease that you hear little to nothing about in this country.

While Farmer sounds like a hero or angel sent from heaven (and he is), Kidder does gives us a the full portrait of the man.  One has to be a bit crazy to take on seeming such insurmountable odds, and Farmer is an odd character, not always likable, at times moody and a bit of a diva.  But at the proverbial end of the day you have to respect the man for plowing ahead and pushing that snowball back up the hill each and every day of his life (at the expense of a personal life, despite having a wife and child).

This book had one of the highest percentages of 5-star ratings that I have seen in some time.  On Amazon, an amazing 75% rated it 5 stars with another 17% at 4 stars.  For me, this was a case of hands-down 5-star story, but a wavering 4-star book.  Perhaps it is Kidder's regular appearances on the non-fiction bestseller list or his Pulitzer Prize win that has upped his reputation.  While there is certainly nothing wrong with this book, I just thought it lacked a strong narrative drive.  It is a compelling story, but with the exception of a couple stories, I did not find myself reading faster or reaching for the book at every free moment. But 4-stars is still a thumb-up recommendation for eye-opening, educational, enlightening, and entertaining work.

Verdasco, Rated X: Part 2

If you're just checking in this afternoon, make sure to check out this morning's post as I stumbled upong even more pix from Fernando Verdasco's Calvin Klein undie campaign.  I chatted a bit in that post, but I'll just let the pictures to the talking on this post...yowza!

Verdasco, Rated X

... or X marks the spot!

It's been July since I last used my Fernando Verdasco blog category, so we're long overdue... even if it has nothing to do with the Spaniard not quite doing as well as this year at the Australian Open.

Apparently Fernando has been doing a bit of (extra) modeling on the side and fortunately for us it's for underwear... though he hasn't been exactly shy being in front of the camera wearing even less!  If you are annoyed by the big X as I am, there is a good reason reason for it as Fernando is among the "celebrity" models for their new "X" underwear line.

Also, featured in the campaign is Mehcad Brooks who showed off his washboard abs (and a bit more than that too!) as "Eggs" on the 2nd season of HBO's True Blood.  He's also on that new ABC law firm series "The Deep End" (haven't seen it).  Here his "X" shot:

To review, for Google search hits we have:

Fernando Verdasco Shirtless, Fernando Verdasco Underwear, Fernando Verdasco Calvin Klein

Mehcad Brooks Shirtless, Mechad Brooks Underwear, Mechad Brooks Calvin Klein

That Guy From The Black Eyed Peas, Shirtless

... or more specifically, "that guy from The Black Eyed Peas, who is not will.i.am or the other black guy ... and certainly not Fergie."

While channel surfing this past weekend, I stumbled onto a Black Eyed Peas concert from, of all places, the island of Malta on MTV-HD or Palladia (or whatever it's called these days).  I received quite the surprise a few minutes in as "that guy" doffed his shirt. He has always been bit of an attractiveness enigma to me... sometimes looking quite hot, other times not so much.  Either way, I suspected his bod was pretty darn good, so I was pleased to finally get confirmation of it. 

I was too lazy to figure out a way to screen cap it myself (and beside the frenetic/quick-cutting editing was borderline nausea-inducing), so I searched the Web for photos and found this one... and this appears to be the only one of a shirtless nature... so thank you Mr. Klein, even if he has to put his credit kinda sorta in the way, but I guess that is the point w/ watermarking... haha!

I have to admit that forever how long the Black Eyed Peas have been in existence to this very day, I have no idea what this guy's name is... honestly, I feel bad for "the other, not will.i.ma black guy" too, since will and Fergie get all the attention.  But alas, the "other black guy" is... are you ready for this, apl.de.ap and... drumroll, please...

The always exotic man pictured above is... Taboo!   And even if you knew that, you might not know that his real name is Jamie Luis Gomez!   So there's you cheesy eye-candy for the day along with a bit of Black Eyed Peas triva.

Tennis Giant

On Friday, the question was asked, Can Roger Federer be topped?  I am thinking that maybe the answer is... no!  Even though I likely felt the same way when Sampras won his 14th Slam while Federer was just a bit more than a twinkle in the future of the men's tennis tour.  Over the weekend, Roger captured his record 16th Grand Slam title in Melbourne.

I always love this trophy pictures in street clothes since it almost makes these tennis superstars look like normal human beings.  One of the reasons I think tennis got my attention as my sport of choice was that they are generally not freakish physical spectacles like basketball or football.

But I did enjoy this picture in a photographic sense, thanks to the perspective. Not sure if the photographer was just forced into this position and was just trying to make the best of it (usually there are dozens upon dozens of them at these shoots), but give him (Mark Dadswell of Getty Images) the benefit of the doubt (as I know how I sometimes (over)-think when taking photos) and  love how Roger towers over the skyscrapers of Melbourne... and turning him in a true giant with a bit of camera trickery.

Can Roger Be Topped?

... that is the question that was asked in a pre-Australian e-mail I received from the ATP.

Mind, meet gutter. Ahem!  I'm guessing the heterosexual male gay writers have no idea about the double entendres that go into headlines like this, but alas such is the case that members of that rogue political movement would be quite surprised to learn there are very likely liberal tea-baggers, where that involved absolutely no government participation!

Anyhow, getting back on track... can Roger be topped? <snort!>  He already improved on some of those stats from above, unbelievably making his 23rd consecutive Grand Slam tournament semi-final (last "early" loss being the French Open... in 2004!)... and now has made the finals of 18 of his last 19 (the one blip being the 2008 Aussie Open) tournaments. And having already passed Pete Sampras' seemingly un-top-able 14 Grand Slam titles, it just seems that the easy answer to the question is... no!

That said, I am a bit worried that Roger can be "topped" this weekend at the Australian Open final vs. Andy Murray.  Well, "worried" seems to be too strong a word for the greatest tennis player of all-time.  My gut is telling me that the tide is turning to the new generation.  At age 28, Roger is pretty much at elder-statesman status on the tour.  Rafael Nadal has long had Fed's number (and just now 23 years old) and Juan Martin del Potro (age 21) surprisingly took the US Open from Fed last year and Murray (just 22) has been nipping at his heels and even has a 6-4 head-to-head advantage, though Fed has won the last two meetings. It just seems that time may be right for a Murray major (and Major) breakthrough.

That said, Murray has the weight of the United Kingdom on his shoulders (it's been 74 years since a man from the UK has won a major!) and has yet to win 3 sets in one match against Federer (tho they've only met once in a Slam, the 2008 US Open final)... so who knows!  I am not a big Murray fan.  He seems like kind of an ass, whiny/crabby cry-baby-ish... quite similar to our own Andy (Mr. Roddick), but at least I can watch/admire Murray's game vs. the twitchy and cocky Roddick. 

So on personality alone, I'd hate to see Murray beat Federer (and Nadal, for that matter, beyond that he can beat anyone else, ha!)... though, I'll give him credit that his bod is pretty rockin':

Here Google, Google: Andy Murray Shirtless

De-Friending, Eliminating the Negative

This is a continuation of sorts of my American Idle politic-ish post from earlier this week... and a further reasons why I am getting a bit sick of politics in that the divide only seems to be getting worse between the political parties and their, if I can borrow a Facebook term, their "fans." 

One of the side effects of the Internet I think is that it promotes group-think as we tend to gravitate towards those with a lot of the same beliefs.  It seems to get to a point where you start thinking that all you think is "right" since all these people around you are saying the same things and/or cheering your own thoughts on.  This can be via the good 'ole fashioned blog or even just a thumbs-up or comment on Facebook.

I have certainly experienced this first hand.  Since I've been blogging (circa 2003!), I have the great fortune of expanding my circle of friends, even if they are the new-world variety that's not so easy to meet up for a dinner or coffee, because they live hundreds or thousands of miles away.  But to get to the point, most of these folks have been Democrats thanks to this blog having a pretty gay sensibility to it (though I've never considered it a "gay" blog).

But over the years, a few Republicans have slipped in... and even more so on Facebook, particularly when a bunch of us who participated in a now defunct tennis contest formed a group on that social networking site.  I don't initiate "friendships" with people I don't "know" (though this definition has loosened up in today's online world... again, "know" not meaning basics like "has ever met in-person"), but a bunch of these tennis folks requested FB friendships and since it was all pretty new (for me) at the time and I certainly needed to up my friend numbers I thought, no harm!

Well, it didn't take long, especially during this past presidential election, to figure out where people stood politically.  It was kinda of fun to see/read the "other side" and ultimately I think it made me more respectful as it made me pause before I posted anything of a political nature... again, I am of the "we can disagree, without being disagreeable" camp.  Now, I won't always say I was successful, but I tried... and try not to name-call, something that increasingly made me cringe even when folks on "my side" do it.  While I certainly think someone holding up a "God Hates F@gs" sign is hmmm... let's say a "hate-filled religious @sshole," I think calling said person has a way of shutting any and all communication down.  Granted one will never (ever!) make progress with someone like that sign-holder, but I think the name-calling (again, however well-earned it may be) does a whole lot of collateral damage with folks on the periphery.

Likewise, I think it's wrong to disrespect to the office of the President, period. While I certainly had many, many, many issues with the previous administration, he was the president.  While I might have found an amusing aspect to it, I would have still thought it very wrong someone yelling out something like "You lie!" to George W during an address to Congress.  One of the very first FB de-friendings was when one of these contest folk who status'd something to the effect of "xxx applauds the Fox Network for refusing to carry Obama's speech tonight."  First, I thought it was wrong for Fox not to air it (this was the main network, not the "news" network... and again, not bias here as I think MSNBC is a "news" network too!) as it was showing a bias and a disrespect to the president, but that this person took the further step calling it "applaud-worthy" was just something unacceptable to me. 

Last week, I deleted another "friend" just last week on similar grounds. The gist of his status was "thanking our wonderful president" for a 500-point drop in the stock market, adding he should be shipped off to Haiti along with other "Dumbocrats." Oh, where to begin! 

Well, for starters, conveniently ignoring the 4,000 points that Dow has gained since last spring... to any kind of joking about Haiti... and while I am honestly think I am pretty slow to pull out the race card (and, likewise, pretty unqualified to do so as a white male)... how can one not see the racial implications of "shipping" him to the first black-led republic and a former slave colony?!   I could laugh off the Dumbocrats tag, but given the rest it was just another proverbial straw on the camel's back. 

I gave him some time to re-consider/think it over, but after it was still there a couple of hours later... with even receiving a "thumbs-up/like" for this status, I hit the "X"/delete button on our "friendship."  Looking back,  I should have expressed how offensive I found his status before deleting him... but alas, I did not... plus I have my doubts he has even noticed (or cares) that I'm gone (unlike my measly 32 friends, he had 200+).  It was an easy delete, in large part, since he was even pushing the "being an acquaintance" line in my online life. 

Of late, I've been more conscious of trying to eliminate this kind of negativity from my life... and I am not just discriminating on political allegiances either.  While, I'll admit to lurking and/or checking in on them from time to time, but there are several liberal folk that I have moved out of "automatically pop up" line of vision, be that RSS feed or Twitter main screen (love the new lists!) or hiding them from my FB live feed.  I still have more progress to make and be better, but I think I have made steps in the right direction.

The Financial Lives of the Poets (#2)

Are you sitting down? This book post will make me up-to-date on my book posts for 2010. Okay, I know it's still only January, but I'll take it!  Though I do have to thank my somewhat lengthy third book (along with a very mini fourth one) for helping out too.

I had heard good things about The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter.  It got some buzz on the 2009 year-ends lists (though on the longer lists) and when I happened to be prepping my own 2009 Best Books post, it was listed as a "if you liked this one, you'll probably like that one" suggestion for my book of the year, Jonathan Tropper's This Is Where I Leave You.  If I needed any more reason than that, I had also heard good things about Walter's earlier book, The Zero, and that leans right into my tendency to ignore the book I hear good things about and read the author's latest instead... plus, as Todd would comically say, "it sounds like a book you would read."

Right off the bat, I could see why this book was compared to Tropper.  It had a bold and brash style and protagonist Matt Prior's life seemed be similarly unraveling in mid-life crisis mode to that of Judd Foxman.  The big difference in this book is that Matt's wounds are more self-inflicted and this ends up more of a time-sensitive take of the current economic downturn and the national wake-up call after years of bad/irresponsible behavior, than Tropper's family-centric circus.  Honestly, I am not sure how Walter got this book written and published so quickly.

While I enjoyed this book from the get-go, I have to admit, for quite some time, I unfavorably compared it to Tropper and when Matt scrambles for ways to back his life off the edge of the cliff he takes a turn that seemed way too much of a sub-plot from the Showtime series Weeds.  But just when I thought I knew where things were headed, Walter surprised me.

I won't reveal the meaning of the title of the book, but it all makes sense and is no where near as cryptic as one would think. Also, here are so many little gems here from raising kids in today's world to caring for an aging (simultaneously hilarious and heart-breaking) to one's "online" life.  I shared this quote appropriately enough on Facebook about that very thing, as Matt speak of his wife's increasing time spent on the computer and her smartphone:

...but I worry that what she's really looking for is not the people she once knew, but the her she once was, some happier version of herself living a better life than the one she has with me.

Ultimately, Poets broke out from the burdens I placed on it and ended a streak of books that had not particularly wow'd me and through the snark turned into quite a heart-felt story of redemption and re-evaluation (via quotes/thoughts like the one above). 

Star-rating-wise, this was another whole-numbers struggle. I gave it 4 stars on GoodReads, though on that initial review would have bumped it up to 4.5 stars... though this week+ later re-visit makes me ponder a true bump up to elusive 5 stars. Regardless, this is a book I quite enjoyed!