Here are the two wallpaper / screen savers for January 2010.
Below: Representing best wishes for the new year - A photo of a cabrio VB took on a trip to Germany in 1996. This is a digitized representation of an old SLR photo.
Below: Representing resolutions and good intentions - a Midget (?) or a Sprite (?) needing a good bit of work.
)VB used to get rides in a Midget with another female co-worker. VB had a job with an employment agency for a few months after graduating from college. When her Chevy Malibu broke down in the middle of winter, VB rode to work with her manager, in a tiny little car, just like this. This co-worker would explicitly recount her previous evening's sexual endeavors in the bathroom, on the kitchen counter, or even in the MG - (UGH! hopefully not on VB's seat), and where ever else the mood struck.)
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas!
What VB got for Christmas. A VW Bus speaker for VB's iPod. Very cool. It's from Urban Outffitters. VB wanted to show a photo a couple of weeks ago when she did the Funkengroovin shopping post, but couldn't get in an acceptable size. Now she's got her own, and can show it off.
It's that time of year again. Time to buy those gifts for your funkengroovin friends. VB's been looking for items that might appeal to just about everyone, and has compiled her yearly list. Sadly, no Pier 1 car ornament this year.
No news items today, and probably not for awhile, at least until after VB returns to Cairo.
Below: What VB woke up to this morning here in Connecticut.
A complimentary cat on cat action photo from the porch of Vagabondblogger. It's mating season here. What's up in your neck of the woods?
That is Johnnie Come Lately, who've we've discussed here , and here, trying to hump a new girl in the hood. He would've made it, except for the fact that Doggie didn't want "the nasty" going down, on her porch. Johnnie Come Lately had his girl, by the nape of the neck, in his clenched teeth. VB tried to get a photo, while trying to get Doggie out of the way at the same time. Doggie was pouncing at the windows and barking - something she normally doesn't do. The new girl turned, as did Johnnie, and she was able to get lose, and took off. He, of course, followed. We shall see what becomes of all this mating in a few months.
Sorry folks, VB's busy catching up with tasks due to snow delays. VB's finished wrapping gifts; cooked up some finikia, baklava, and Mimi's Christmas Morning Coffee Cake; now working on Martha's ham dinner. So, Funkengroovin has been delayed, as well. Sorry, but life beyond the blogosphere does exist.
VB writes this as the snow falls non-stop. Our two first big snows of the season. It's said we've gotten six inches to a foot of snow, with another five inches predicted for today. Regardless of how much snow falls here in Connecticut, it will never erase VB's memories of one certain winter in Alaska.
(Below): Moose - A mom and her calf tromping through the woods behind our house in Anchorage, Alaska.
Seventeen years ago, winter started, for us, the night of the Clarence Thomas hearings on capitol hill. We were living in Anchorage, Alaska at the time.
"On October 11, 1991, Hill was called to testify during the re-opened Senate confirmation hearings.[13] Hill did not provide detailed descriptions in her original statements to the FBI but later testified at the Senate hearing:[13] "He spoke about acts that he had seen in pornographic films involving such matters as women having sex with animals and films showing group sex or rape scenes....On several occasions, Thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess....Thomas was drinking a Coke in his office, he got up from the table at which we were working, went over to his desk to get the Coke, looked at the can and asked, 'Who has put pubic hair on my Coke?'"[33] Hill also indicated that Thomas made reference to the pornographic actor Long Dong Silver."
Yep, this guy is a Justice of the Supreme Court now.
We had an ice storm that day, in Anchorage. The electricity was eventually knocked out, but just like everyone else in the US, we were entranced by the proceedings. The Boss Man and VB huddled in the living room, fireplace ablaze, listening to the confirmation hearings on a battery operated short wave radio. Ice dripped down from the trees, shrubs, and any house wires available (most everything else was underground.) Wherever you live during winter, where it snows, you can sometimes hear the sound of snow blocks sliding down, and crashing off the roof. But ice? A bit more scary, since we had read a story about a child being killed from a direct hit, by a falling icicle a couple of years earlier.
(Below): The aftermath of the ice storm.
An ice storm is not the same as hoar frost, which the kids love to repeat over and over again, while emphasizing the word "hoar." (Below: Hoar frost.) It makes the whole world around you look, as someone commented, "like you're walking inside a Christmas card." That's right, everything looks flocked. Totally flocked, just like those Christmas trees splattered with fake snow.
From Wikipedia: "On March 17, 2002, a record snow storm dumped 28.6 inches (72.6 cm) of snow on the Anchorage area in 24 hours, closing schools for the next two days.[1] The storm broke the city record for the most snowfall in a single day."
That may have broken the record for one day snowfall, but by Christmas 1991 everyone in the neighborhood had to have their roofs shoveled. It was normal to see people on one story flat roofed buildings, blowing snow off on a regular basis. Most homeowners didn't have to worry about it, that is, not until winter of 1991. By December, Anchorage had already had over 50 inches of snowfall. Snow had fallen, thawed a bit, iced over, under more and more snowfall, making the layers very heavy. Here are photos of a neighbor's house being shoveled.
(Below): The shoveling process. Seeing as how difficult it is to get up to and down from a roof, especially in the snow, going to the bathroom would have to be a chore. As a result, VB actually saw one guy taking a piss off the top. These aren't exactly the sort of guys you'd invite into your house, plus once inside, it would take a while to peel off all the layers, remove the boots, and then put them back on again.
(Below): As the snow gets deeper the moose tend to move to railroad tracks, and city streets. VB almost crashed into a mom with two calves as they ran out in front of her Vanagon one day. She had studded snow tires, which could stop on a dime. Snow increases the chances of bumping into (literally) a moose. Alaska law declares that, anyone who hits a moose during the winter months must immediately stop, and gut the animal. It's usually cold enough outside for the meat to preserve, gutting it cuts down on infecting the meat, and it's used as a donation to food banks (or so they say.) VB doesn't know the first thing about gutting a moose, never carried a knife with her, so she's definitely no Sarah Palin!
BTW, that fence was about eight feet (or so) high. Moose are big.
(Below): After coming out of the woods and into the city, the moose tend to devour anything and everything in sight. Some smug twits try to grow exotic expensive trees in Anchorage, only to have them served up as a winter snack for a moose. Here's a calf, foraging in our front yard.
(Below): Number One Son watching out the window, as the moose devour our shrubs.
Even though we are getting a good deal of snow, VB does not have to shovel her way out of it anymore. When we were back in Alaska, VB's Christmas present was a snow blower, and for two years there were days when she had to use it twice daily. Now she lives in a homeowners "association," which hires people to do all this for us. So VB can sit back, tend to the fire, watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for the umpteenth time, and then complain when the illegal immigrants they've hired (who don't speak one damn word of English) screw up. Actually, the illegals have done a much better job of shoveling us out, than the free loading white guys they had several years ago. These new guys / gals show up at 5:00 AM, and in the evening, if need be, per the contract. They actually use shovels, on the walkways and decks for all the buildings here. Someone should buy these guys a snow blower!
Awesome Daughter and VB are going to break some Association rules. We're going to take the dogs out, off leashes, and let them run amok allover the association grounds! The dogs love snow! Screw "The Association!" They're a bunch of windbags with silly rules, which they all think are "just fine and dandy." They're just lucky we aren't the Griswolds (even though they might think we are.)
BTW, Number One Son, has become quite the replacement for The Boss Man. He went out and bought a mighty fine Christmas tree from Home Depot, unwrapped it from the plastic wire casing, leaned it up on the deck, and then left town to go to "The City" (where he got stuck for two days). Awesome Daughter and VB carried the tree in to the garage (so it doesn't accumulate 6-12 plus inches of snow, and look all flocked.) We tucked it between the Beetle and the Mini. We shall resume Christmas duties once Number One Son decides it's time, and pulls down the attic stairs for us (you can clearly see what happens to Clark in the video when he does so.) Then we can decorate the tree (and no, not with flocking.)
VB sends her sympathies to all those dealing with the latest edition of "the cable wire has been cut" coming out of Egypt. She lived through that earlier this year, and it's ugly!
When VB was in "The City" she and her family decided to poke their heads into FAO Schwarz. That was the Friday before Thanksgiving, and VB didn't want to do a post on Christmas shopping that early. Well, time has a way of moving quickly during the holiday season, and before she knew it, it was time for VB to start doing some shopping herself. She accumulated quite a few links for VW gifts, and they have been a real bitch to organize - thus the late posting.
Let's start with toys. Below four photos were taken at FAO Schwarz. Unfortunately, if you go onto their web site, you will have one hell of a time trying to find some of the replicas available in the store. The first three photos represent the Schuco line. Schuco USA has pages and pages of models available, starting here. You can whittle down your search by checking the model specific list to the left of the page. They also carry other brands, such as Johnny Lightning.
Diecast Models has a few VWs for sale, as well, at the link.
Toys are also available on ebay, which VB is listing under the miscellaneous section, as they also have accessories, ephemera, and other items all listed on the same page.
(Below): These Automoblox cars look like the New Beetles, but they're actually not. Check out the link for the various models available.
Pier 1 and Barney's Department Store have decided to take advantage of Beetle love, whether it be the original or the new. Here's a shot from the Pier 1 ad. Pier 1 is not selling anything VW, although last year they sold a small Beetle ornament, nothing as nice as the one in their ads.
(Below): VB couldn't find this ornament at her local store, nor online, but it's in the Pier 1 TV commercial.
(Below): The Pier 1 brochure cover.
VB walked her ass off in "The City" tromping from midtown Manhattan to the Upper East Side just to catch a glimpse of the painted New Beetle, which Barney's is raffling off. She went from one floor to another, back down, then back up to customer service. Not only were they basically unaware about the car, it was nowhere to be found. Generally, if you're raffling off something as special as that, you put it on display for all to see. Needless, to say, VB was very disappointed. The photo below is as close as she got to seeing the real thing - a photo of the window display featuring the New Beetle (yeah, behind all that other crap.)
The article below, from the New York Times, has a slide show, which displays a VW Bus ornament for sale at the Barney's Store. You'll have to click on the slide show link to get to a photo of the Bus ornament. SHOPPING WITH ERIC COHLER AND JENNIFER COHLER MASON Sparkle and Glow "...But it wasn’t until the two plunged into the hippie holiday scene at Barneys New York that they really connected with the universal message of peace on Earth. Flower-painted Volkswagens, polka-dotted mushrooms and tie-dye-pattern balls would be fun for the tree, they thought, and a large wreath of pastel balls in the shape of a peace sign could jazz up a door or wall for Christmas — or any time, for “the all-purpose holiday,” as Mr. Cohler put it."
How can VB put this without being insulting. There isn't a way, so watch the video. It's all about the hippy-dippy Beetle raffle. She's (VB) just going to bite her tongue on this one. Simon Doonan, the creative director, who is featured in the video, is just soooo over-the-top. VB actually paid more attention to him, than she did to what he was saying.
GIVE GOOD GIFT
(Below): Two videos showing how the Beetle was painted, for all you curious types, who (if you're like VB) dream of one day getting an old Beetle and having your way with it. VB would personally like to decoupage an old Beetle, but that's pretty much a dream. The second video shows very nice shots of the finished product.
Yellow Vw Beetle Ceramic Money Box - they also offer one in black. If you're in the USA though, you might want to check in at your local Michael's, where Awesome Daughter and VB found white VW Beetle banks ready for painting, for about $6.00.
USA: (Miscellanea) Lots of accessories here at Flowers-Up for your VWs, including leis for your dashboard, bud vases, and more stuff to make your vehicle even funkier looking.
NEWS: Just One piece this week. From Wired.com. We fly in through Logan International, and subsequently through the Big Dig tunnels, so VB found this to be interesting. Fortunately, we head west when we leave, with our E-ZPASS. E-ZPASS is a must on the east coast. And, BTW, we heard on NPR (that day) that Massachusetts will be doubling toll fees the coming year. For us, "The plan also calls to double the tolls at the Sumner and Ted Williams tunnels to $7." And, everyone knows, you can't leave the airport without hitting one of these two tunnels, but "Fast Lane users would pay $1.50 at Weston and Allston-Brighton and $6 in the tunnels."
Traffic is pretty smooth until about five miles from the I-84 entrance ramp, where traffic gets backed up, and crawls at a snail's pace, due to the bottleneck at the entrance. Otherwise, going westbound it's really not that bad.
(Below): The entrance to I-84. Right two lanes are queuing up, while the left lane is the only lane available for continuing westbound traffic.
Big Dig Has Bostonians Battling Bigger Bottlenecks "Despite being a national embarrassment, advocates say the Big Dig has alleviated traffic, and to a large degree they're right. Getting across town on the Central Artery could take as long as 15 minutes; these days you can do it in three minutes or less. Back in the day the Artery might be bumper-to-bumper for 14 hours. Nowadays, the Dig is a breeze.
But get out of downtown and things don't look so rosy. The Globe examined reams of state highway records and concluded that congestion has gotten worse north and south of the city - in some cases a lot worse. One 11-mile stretch of highway just north of Boston saw commute times double from 12 minutes to 25. Similar delays were seen on other highways leading to the tunnels."
(Below): Going through the tunnel after dropping The Boss Man off at Logan International, for his ride back to Cairo.
(Below 2 photos): Oooo - A Eurovan. We meet up at the entrance to the toll booth, leaving Boston proper.
(Below): Currently, VB's favorite song. The Submarines - You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie (iPhone 3G ad song)
VB's not sure what's going on along 5th Avenue in "The City" these days, but it looks like one wild and crazy Christmas. Most of the photos are self explanatory - don't ask VB she has no idea what was going on in the mind of the window designers this year (possibly visions of the newest TeeVee political sensation, Sarah Palin?)Whatever drove them to this, it makes for outrageous photo ops with the tourists, as they pose in front of all the windows.
Also, views of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in the process of being trimmed. VB's only seen the decorated tree a few times in the past herself, so watching the process is pretty interesting. It helps answer the question: How did they do that?
You might want to click on the window photos to enlarge them. The reflection from the street interferes with the view.
(Below): Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in the works. Can you believe they use scaffolding to trim this tree? All we need is a measly step-stool to put the tinfoil covered cardboard star we made long ago, up on the top.
VB is in Alexandria for Eid, so the Funkengroovin post will be a day or two late, that is, if VB survives another taxi ride through town. The drivers here apparently think we Americans are suicidal fools. Well, we did take their taxi now didn't we? It's been a blood curdling / harrowing frolic through a wonderful city.
On the more positive side (after last week), VB did discover a way to get through the rest of the election cycle, without going out of her mind. Vanity Fair is presenting numerous libations, to drink yourself through this damn ordeal!
Some interesting drinks thus far:
Lipstick on a Pig A Drink to Nowhere (Gravina Island Iced Tea) On the Baracks Cuppa Joe Biden Pom Pom Palin McCandy Cane Obama Mama Baked Alaska Cosmo-Politician Swing Voter Dirty Delegate Ward Eight The Economic Boost
According to Vanity Fair: "Put the party into politics with VF Daily’s Capital Cocktails. Come November, we’re all going to need a stiff drink!"
And, if the election alone isn't enough to drive you to drink, for us American Expats there's more. According to Esquire's, The American Diaspora:
"Nobody knows how many Americans live permanently abroad...The U. S. is the only advanced country that makes no formal attempt to count its emigrant citizens."
"On top of what Americans living and working abroad owe their adopted countries, they also have to pay U. S. taxes. As a result, Sundberg says that both American and foreign companies often have to pay overseas Americans 30 to 40 percent more to compensate. (The U. S. is the only major trading nation that double-taxes its nonresident citizens.)"
"Having the overseas constituency formally counted could help lead to political influence and even representation in Congress. Then expats could start solving the list of problems they face: heavy taxation, U. S. and foreign banks' aversion to overseas clientele; Social Security payment without Medicare benefits; convoluted voter-registration rules. "Most other countries put a premium on encouraging their citizens to live and work abroad," says Sundberg. "They see it as an asset rather than a liability."'
Cheers!
(Below): Taxi driver thinks he can fool us into thinking his Lada is really a VW.
(Below): Alexandria taxi drivers use smoke and mirrors into trying to make you think you're "safer" in their cab. Here's the mirror effect.
Happy Birthday to VB's puppy Lotus! She's one year old today - that's right September 11th!
She was all for it, but Cooper, her older half brother, wanted nothing to do with the hat!Although, he did vacuum up his slice of cake.
BTW, we bought them raincoats today. VB used to have a matching lined one for VB Doggie (that's right, VB and Vagabondblogger Doggie had matching coats.) So we decided, after that bitch of a storm Hanna tore through here, and it was getting close to autumn, they needed rain coats. Check it out!
(Below): Lotus posing, while in the background, Cooper fights with the hat.
(Below): Hat free, Cooper has the appearance of a dog who is "having nothing to do with this!"
Ten years ago we had just moved to Abu Dhabi, and were frequent weekend visitors to the old Hiltonia Beach Club. April 1998, the club was closed "By Order of Higher Authority". I remember the date distinctly. It's burnt into my mind. Sheikh Zayed had decided to redo the Corniche in anticipation of the GCC meeting to be held there, the following year. The new Corniche skirted on the outer section of the Hiltonia, and the property owner decided to keep it closed for the next two years. Then suddenly, a fence went up - one of those "building fences" often seen around the Emirates. VB knew something was up, and sure enough sometime around 2001 the new Hiltonia opened, after having added a whole new beach, by hauling in sand.
Many of the old timers had gone to other clubs. Not us. Everyone in our family had a negative opinion on the other clubs, so we ended up occasionally being invited out to an island with friends or doing nothing. Except for the kids. They had plenty of friends with Sea-Doos and boats (more like yachts, really), and were entertained just about every weekend.
The old Hiltonia even had a Burger King Hut, which served the best damn hamburgers! Unfortunately, the new Hiltonia decided to go a bit more upscale, adding an outdoor grilling restaurant, and Vasco's Restaurant. No more Burger King! It was a heartbreaker, but we survived. We also survived the Russian women, who would turn a bikini into a thong; the crowd of European tourists in April; and the snooty new expats with their panamas ordering the waiters / beach boys around just before we left. We did enjoy the chilled pool and the afternoon breezes though. It was a nice place to relax.
VB's been digitizing old SLR film, and in remembrance of good times past, she's posting photos of old (uhm) Abu Dhabi Hiltonia and some old fashioned UAE recycling, to share.
The Best Damn Hamburger!
The Old Hiltonia Beach Looking Towards The Causeway.
The Old "Large Pool" with The Bridge:
The Old Large Pool, and in the background the Grassy Tanning Area: (One day a very curious Indian worker decided to climb one of the palm trees to see into the club. He happened to be peeking in on some female sunbathers, who frequented the beach on weekdays, and was in an awkward position. Only able to hold on with one hand, while getting his mojo on, he suddenly tumbled from the tree, breaking his arm! He was sent to hospital, and immediately deported.)
The moving company refused to return to pick up the excess cardboard from our move. This man was more than happy to make several trips, just to collect a few extra dirhams. This was taken through the reflective glass window, thus the strange haze and color.
Expat currently living in Egypt. I'm not really a vagabond, but I would like to be. I do own an '87 VW Vanagon Camper (Weekender) and a 1965 VW Beetle Convertible.
I'm more of a rider on the corporate vagabond trail.
Views expressed here are mine and mine alone. If anyone feels insulted by this, or any other posts, don't worry I am a equal opportunity lampooner.
