Mad Men and Summer Bachelors

Mad Men, last Sunday night, was the best one (at least VB thought) so far this year. Quite a few critics panned it. VB loved the updo on Betty, and the fact that Joan is still in the show.  Before VB goes on to the main reason for this post, she's going to change tangents for a moment.  If you love Joan as much as VB, then you might like to check out, Mad about Christina Hendricks, from Self Magazine.  Unfortunately, the site only gives you a taste of the article, so for your viewing pleasure VB has photographed the important stuff.

As you can see below, there's a photo of a VW Bus.  She practically grew up in one.  VB just thought she'd mention this.  So now you all know.

Last Sunday's show was a reassurance that Pete was just as much of a scumbag as he was the first season.   VB didn't give Pete's home alone scenes too much thought until she read James Wolcott's blog, Mad Men Recap: Roman Hair Stylist Erects High-Rise Bird's Nest on Betty's Head.

Wolcott says: "Ah, Pete, finding himself adrift as a “summer bachelor,” a now mostly extinct species. In those sole-breadwinner fifties and sixties of the previous century, married men in Manhattan--mostly members of the executive class--reverted into summer bachelors when the wife and kiddies went to the country house upstate or in Connecticut or south to the Jersey shore and the husband was left behind in the city to relive his frisky youth and hopefully not get caught. This urban idyll, fruited with temptation, was immortalized in The Seven Year Itch, with Tom Ewell trying to keep his ice cubes from spinning out of his glass every time he was met by the creamy radiance of Marilyn Monroe, the upstairs neighbor who tucked her underwear in the refrigerator for that cool, tingling sensation."

This got VB to thinking, and remembering.  As strange as this may sound, Abu Dhabi always reminded VB of the 50's - 60's America. As modern as it technologically / architecturally, it was also like living in a small town 1960's.  A time when we Americans were just starting to flirt with a variety of freedoms, Abu Dhabi always seemed to be on the verge socially, but basically just stuck in time (and that also depended on which ethnic group you hung around with too.)  It was that nightly car prowl along the Corniche that brought back scenes from American Graffiti, even though the boys were wearing disdashas and the girls abayas. The cars were newer, as well, with some supped up, and as noisy as possible. The boys would yell out of their car windows, much the same way they do / did in the States.  This would be even more pronounced during Ramadan, when everyone and their brother went out at night to celebrate. 

But what pulls Wolcott's critique into perspective was the "summer bachelor". We sold our home in the USA, and were subjected to full Abu Dhabi summers as a family, with a short break of two-three weeks holiday each summer. The streets of Abu Dhabi would be virtually empty. Even the locals left town. The only people remaining, would mostly be the expat male workers, or as Wolcott calls them, "summer bachelors."

You always knew when it was time for all the womenfolk and children to clear out of town, when the freezers  at Spinney's spilled over with frozen Hungry Man and Stouffer's dinners; when real food all but disappeared, and all that remained were provisions for easy and quick cooking.  Certain goods became scarce (as they did occasionally) for the summer, not to show up again until school was in full session.

Summers in Abu Dhabi were thick and hot. The air would take your breath away. Windshield wipers were needed for cars, even though it wasn't raining. The heat was regularly reported at just almost 120 degrees, as any higher would, by law, allow all  the South Asian outdoor laborers to have the day off. 

When the streets are empty, and everyone's left town, what do you do in 120 degree heat with 100 percent humidity?  What would you do if you were left "Home Alone" in the summer?

Here's a few ideas:

(1) Hang out at the beach. Most private clubs, like the Hiltonia, have chilled pools. Sit and sweat, drink water, and then go sit in the pool and chill (literally) for awhile. 

(2) Become friends with someone who owns a boat, regardless of size. Go to one of the small islands where the ebb and flow of the sea have maximal effect (more sand and sun during certain hours.) Sit under an umbrella, drink (these people are drinking beers, and champagne), set your amuse-bouche on a board paddle, and enjoy the company. (VB doesn't know who owns this big boat. It's certainly not the one she took.)

Or know someone who owns a jet ski.

(Oh, yeah, that's the tiny boat below that fit all eight of us!  Go ahead...laugh.)

(3) Dig a hole. The sand is quite cool.

(4) Then go bury yourself in it.

Of course, it's still pretty damn hot, so make sure you've got some cover.

(5) Or use your camera. Take that fancy air conditioned car out for a drive!  You'd be surprised at how easy it is to make friends when you are out and about taking photos. You might realize you're not the only "summer bachelor" or  "bachelorette" around.  These guys were thrilled when VB showed up the next day with two copies for each of them, so they could send to their families.

Funkengroovin - To Mokkatam and City of the Dead

(Repeat from the last post.) Before VB's trip home The Boss Man and she decided to go shopping for a few items to take back to the States. We went to the Mokkatam Alabaster Factory Shop, and then our driver took us to The City of the Dead for more. Here's the VW part of the trip.

(Below 4 photos): A red single cab on the highway. They're a bit blurry, but that's what you get when you're trying to photograph a moving object, while you are in motion as well.





(Below): A wrecked car on a service road, cut in half by VB's rear passenger seat window.


(Below): Grrr! Just missed another one again!


(Below): In The City of the Dead, a white Beetle, with a very funky background. Looks like he's working on it.


(Below): As promised, the newest latest version of the VW ambulance seen around Cairo.


(Below three photos): The rear and front of a teal Beetle on the highway.




(Below): An overloaded garbage truck on the highway.


(Below): An orange Beetle for sale. You will probably see this one from another angle in a future post. this photo was taken as we passed. It was parked between two police look-outs and VB was a bit leery about taking a photo with the fuzz breathing down her neck.

NEWS:

There hasn't been a lot of VW related news lately (except their deal with Porsche and new car related items), but VB did find some interesting Egypt traffic and general auto news bits of interest.

IN CAIRO'S ROADS, A MAP FOR A NATION'S WOES

""Driving in Cairo is a lot like playing Atari," the 42-year-old Noureddin says with a smile, referring to the popular 1980s’ video game system. "Here, you dodge cars, pedestrians, donkey carts, buses. You try to make it to the end without hitting someone, getting hit or getting a ticket. The difference, though: There's no reset button. This is no game."

As the number of new vehicles on Egypt's roads steadily increases, the congestion is getting worse, with the distance between cars on the road easily measured in millimeters. The problem has become so bad that the government is kicking off an awareness campaign to supplement a relatively new and much-criticized traffic safety law."

Cairo's terrifying traffic chaos

"Drivers swerve with the greatest dexterity into the tiniest of spaces. Nearly every car or bus carries the scars of battle.
Of course spare parts are expensive, no-one has insurance and claiming for damage is about as worthwhile as dowsing for water in the desert.
The rules are pretty simple. Full-beam headlights and blaring horns somewhere behind usually mean you are about to be overtaken - or undertaken - at high speed, even though there is no space between your car and that concrete wall beside you."

A Taxi, an accountant and his four sons

"“There are doctors, engineers, teachers, all of them driving taxis. They just don’t earn enough otherwise,” he told me, grinding to a halt as a pick-up tried to do a U-turn in the middle of a narrow road. “This government doesn’t even provide order.” It’s hard to argue with that point on the streets of the capital where even the newest cars have scratches and dents, testimony to traffic rules that seem to be regarded — at least to any visitor — as optional."

A system much misunderstood

"Diyyah for the death of a woman during the time of the Prophet Mohammed was usually less than half that for a man. Many conservative muftis prefer to maintain this practice in court cases today, but it is controversial and varies from country to country."

"Compensation for damages and injury is common legal practice in many countries. Insurance companies in North America, for example, pay damages according to “tort”, or compensation, laws. Compensation for murder, however, is specific to Islamic countries governed by the Sharia laws.

“The amount of money is different from country to country,” Justice al Hamdi said. “The Quran just sets a guideline and the laws of the country determine what that price is.”

In Egypt, for example, the diyyah for car accidents is 53 Egyptian pounds (Dh34) while that for premeditated murder is 2,000 Egyptian pounds. These numbers have remained unchanged, which makes the issue of blood money irrelevant in jurisprudence."

Driving According to Egyptians

"First lesson I have learned in Egypt, there appear to be absolutely no traffic rules at all."

Great article comparing traffic and driving attitudes between Abu Dhabi and Cairo.
Cairo traffic would drive you mad… but it works

"...While it appears, in this most populated of African cities, that an absence of rules leaves the roads in a state of chaos, just the opposite is true. The seemingly anarchic driving hides underlying order. It may not be immediately apparent, but traffic in Cairo works according to a clear, firmly understood (if unspoken) set of rules."

"... If everyone understands the rules and expects others to act accordingly, then no one is surprised. And it works: you are six times more likely to die in a car accident in Abu Dhabi than in Egypt."

"Honking of horns, just about the only form of signalling on the road, can mean many things. Drivers honk when passing through a small intersection to indicate to other drivers who may be out of view that they should slow down: “I’m coming. You wait.” Honking is used when passing other cars on the road, and at busy overpasses: “I am passing now. You’ve been warned.” Honking can express frustration at heavy congestion: “I am not pleased. I wish I was moving faster.” Taxi drivers use their horns to get the attention of a potential fare: “Take this taxi. Hello, I am here.” Sometimes a driver will honk for what seems like no other reason but sheer happiness: “Great morning of light!”
Unlike in Abu Dhabi, where the hierarchy on the roads is an extension of the greater social order, no driver in Cairo – no matter what make of vehicle, its condition or the attire of the people inside – is an exception to the rules. "

"The experience on the roads in Abu Dhabi and Cairo couldn’t be more different. Both may be known for having aggressive drivers, but the nature and manifestations of that aggression are not the same. In AbuDhabi, the aggression exhibited on the roads results from a genuine sense of entitlement that some drivers have: they seem to think they have a right to drive recklessly and it is the responsibility of the other vehicles on the road to make sure they don’t get in the way. Cairo has never seen a 200-car pile-up.

Aggression on Cairo streets is defensive, not offensive, and it is the result of collective consensus that despite each driver looking out primarily for himself, each is only one cog in a much larger machine, and all have the same goal – to move forward without collision. "

My $4,500 Lemon: Taking the Feds Up on Cash For Clunkers

"My first reaction to this news was shock. Sometime after I backed into a stump, but definitely before I clipped the neighbor's garage—actually it was around the time the babysitter somehow creased a perfect inch-deep furrow along the entire passenger side, headlight to brake light—I stopped thinking of the van as having any monetary value whatsoever. I resolved to drive it for at least 10 years, or until I developed a capacity for shame, whichever came first. At which point I would pay someone to take it off my hands.

Now I see the van with fresh eyes. It's no longer just a sun-bleached hulk with the rear wiper snapped off. It's a wiperless hulk worth thousands. If this is socialism, call me comrade!"

Wheels: A Daring (and Deadly) Race Remembered

"Almost 400 vintage cars will participate in the Mille Miglia in Italy next week, a historic revival that pays tribute to what was once considered the most dangerous race in the world."

Goin' Down the Road in Defunct Car Brands

Cool Feature. Lame Car.

"We’re firm believers that innovation can take place in the most mundane places. A company can create a new product on the back of a coffee-shop napkin, an airline interior can be breathtaking, and the most utilitarian family sedan can feature a “must-have” doodad that few other cars can match.

In an attempt to spotlight some cool tricks available on, ahem, less-interesting cars, we’ve listed a few of our favorites. Whether any of them are make-or-break remains to be seen, but we’re sure you’ll let us know if you can’t live without any of these features."

Wheels: Wacky Parade Is a Memorial to Car Artist

"Last Friday, a procession of odd-looking vehicles paraded from San Francisco's Ocean Beach, through the city and across the bay to Oakland, as a memorial to an art-car pioneer."

Motor City Misfires: Ten Cars That Sunk Detroit

Big Bucks and Big Ideas for Big Transportation Bill

"Uncle Sam is finally getting serious about overhauling a transportation system that hasn’t seen a significant upgrade since the Eisenhower era."

Nate Silver takes score on Americans' changing driving habits

"Silver has turned his somewhat jaundiced eye to the automotive industry in this month's Esquire magazine. In his "The Data" column, Silver posits that it's more than high gas prices and an economy on the skids that are helping to systematically change the amount we Americans drive, and that maybe, just maybe, this reflects a change within our national psyche. His findings suggest a one-year delay in Americans' response to gas crises and our growing lack of dependence on cars -- all this coming from a non-car-driving New Yorker. Silver does this with his usual mix of statistics and anthropological insight."

Sideways star plays Micro Bus in VW's new ad campaign


Getting There is Half The Fun on the Dubai Palm Monorail
"As part of a plan to reduce gridlock while attracting tourists, a new monorail in the emirate of Dubai silently whisks passengers to exclusive resorts and offers sweeping ocean views along the way, proving that even public transportation is more extreme in the United Arab Emirates."

Wheels: Eurovan Devotion

"One family's long devotion to the EuroVan"

Karmann Ghia at Tsukuba Circuit (Cool Photo)

Last week was the season finale for Chuck, which is on NBC Monday nights. VB started watching it, when they offered the first episode free on iTunes last year. It was during the spat Apple was having with NBC, which resulted in NBC pulling ALL their shows out of iTunes. Chuck is produced by another company, which apparently had the rights for reproduction, putting it out of NBC's jurisdiction. Well, VB got addicted. Let's just say Chuck is something akin to a modern day Get Smart. VB hopes that the contract will be renewed for next year, and nothing has been decided yet. This is part of the last episode.

For more background on Chuck, and when and where in the world you can view it, check out Wikipedia.

Jeffster - Mr. Roboto

A Few Thoughts On Swine

This post is basically a response to the mass slaughter of pigs in Egypt.

VB was born in "Porkopolis" ("The nickname Porkopolis was coined around 1835, when Cincinnati was the country's chief hog packing center, and herds of pigs traveled the streets." - Wiki) VB remembers, as young child, watching pigs marching up the ramps for slaughter to become "The Weiner The World Awaited, " at the Kahn's packing company, on Central Avenue. (You may laugh at VB, and may have heard of Cincinnati, but check here to find out what growing up there was really like.)

VB's parents (just like every other Greek in America) owned three restaurants (at different times). The last one was in a predominately black area. It was the 60's, and every so often her parents would cook up some pigs feet. It was soul food, and the regular customers were from the neighborhood. Raw hooves would be piled up over the old-fashioned white ceramic freezer. Too bad VB didn't have a camera back then, but the sight of fresh, raw pigs feet piled high, remains embedded in her memories. Not only that, but a New Years Eve tradition with The Boss Man is to down pickled pigs feet, and his mom always had a roll of Goetta in the fridge. Let's face it, regardless of ethnic background, the majority of people in, and from Cincinnati, love pork products. That includes VB. Give her a pair of ham hocks and she will cook up some retro split pea or navy bean soup for you.


By now, most people have heard or read about the swine cull here in Egypt. It is an overkill reaction to the Swine Flu aka H1N1 Virus. Let's all remember, "It's the other white meat." Besides, most of the swine that VB has actually met, are human, and according to the dictionary, "an offensive word for a person who behaves in a cruel or disgusting way towards others." This definition would apply to those who made this decision, as well as those who own factory farms. These viruses are born in industrial environments. The small breeder is typically immune, and provides a service to the community. Plus, as we've seen in the past, (mad cow), small farmers are more capable of containing the disease, so it does not spread. Factory farms do not, nor do they produce the expensive specialty meats we crave. They basically produce mass market meat, at a price, which seems cheap at the grocers, but is subsidized through governments, with our tax dollars, but has a direct impact on the environment. Who are the real losers? The small family run farms - worldwide.

For those of you out there who can't get enough of the culling, or hate swine so much, you too can be a swinefighter!


Here's a few articles to chew on:
Swine Flu Ancestor Born on U.S. Factory Farms
"“Industrial farms are super-incubators for viruses,” said Bob Martin, former executive director of the Pew Commission on Industrial Animal Farm Production, and a long-time critic of the so-called “contained animal feeding operations.”"

A U.S. Hog Giant Transforms Eastern Europe
"European hog farming is being transformed by an agricultural powerhouse operating in far-flung outposts."

"Old customs and jobs are dying and the air itself is changing, however, transformed by an American newcomer, Smithfield Foods. Almost unnoticed by the rest of the Continent, the agribusiness giant has moved into Eastern Europe with the force of a factory engine, assembling networks of farms, breeding pigs on the fast track, and slaughtering them for every bit of meat and muscle that can be squeezed into a sausage."

Local Pastured Meats: Good for You, Good for the Planet
"...Pigs, unlike the “monovore” cows, are omnivores. Along with some corn and soy, they eat whatever they can scavenge in the pasture. In the summer, they hang out and in the shade and pose for pictures like the ones we saw. When Jen said she lets her pigs dig into the ground (instead of ringing their noses to prevent it), I couldn’t help thinking that her pigs are like the teenagers with the coolest, most laid-back parents in town. If you had seen how happy those piggies were in the photos, you would probably want to be one. Maybe."

New Virus, Old Tale: Animals Share Bugs With Us
"All of this is the latest iteration of a phenomenon dating to the dawn of mankind: zoonosis. A zoonotic disease is one that spreads from animals to humans, or vice versa. Bubonic plague came from a bacterium that infects rats and can spread via fleas to humans. HIV is a virus that passed into people from a monkey. Malaria, tuberculosis, rabies, yellow fever and typhoid fever are zoonotic.

And it's a two-way street, as seen recently when a Canadian farmworker infected with the new H1N1 swine flu apparently passed the disease to a herd of pigs. When it comes to influenza, the thoroughfare between Homo sapiens and Sus scrofa -- domesticated pigs -- is something of a superhighway.

From the perspective of an influenza virus, the receptors on the lungs of a human being -- the places where the little spiky knobs on the virus can attach themselves -- look very much like the receptors in a pig. A pig's anatomy is so similar in certain respects to a human being's that pig heart valves are routinely transplanted into human heart patients."

Do I really have to cook pork until it’s not pink in the middle? How much should I worry about trichinosis?

Egypt hog slaughter will cost $54 million (Perhaps this $54 million would be better spent on the proper education and medical availability for people?)

Swine Flu: Don't Blame the Pig
"The swine flu outbreak that has sparked widespread fear — so much so that Egypt has ordered the slaughter of the country's 300,000 pigs, even though no cases have been reported there — is easy to pin on the eponymous animal from which it emerged, but the fact is, the current epidemic is little more than an accident of evolution. If pigs are to blame, so too are birds and humans...."

LIVING ON THE EDGE, WAITING FOR A SLAUGHTER "Public hysteria over swine flu has mostly been manifested as discrimination against the zebaleen. Local newspapers have published maps of zebaleen neighborhoods advising citizens to avoid these areas, and by extension their inhabitants. Women from El-Maya El-Haya have reported being refused entry onto public transport, and many city residents refuse to open the door for zebaleen, throwing their rubbish into the streets instead for fear of contracting swine flu."

11,591 PIGS SLAUGHTERED IN EGYPT "Up to press time 11,591 pigs were slaughtered. He emphasized, however, that the total number of pigs in Egypt which was erroneously reported as 300,000 is actually 156,000 only, none of which have tested positive for swine flu."

20 countries ban pork imports on flu fears
""Trading meat, whether processed or raw or frozen meat, should not be restricted because there is virtually no risk of transmission that way," the WHO's Peter Ben Embarek said."

"The other countries listed by the WHO as having imposed pork and meat restrictions are Thailand, Jordan, the Philippines, Ukraine, Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Montenegro, Surinam, the United Arab Emirates and Belarus.

In Lebanon, the trade measure involves "destruction of any cargo en route from (flu) affected countries" and also orders the closure of all domestic pig farms, prohibits the slaughter of pigs, and calls for "blood testing of all pigs".

Egypt has ordered the slaughter of all its 300,000 to 400,000 pigs as a precaution against H1N1, a move the United Nations said was "a real mistake.""

Egypt persecutes Christian pig farmers in the name of swine flu
"Muslim majority country seeks reasons to kill off ’unreligious’ animals"

"This event comes a week after the Egyptian government ordered the slaughter of all the country’s 300,000 pigs even though no cases of swine flu have been reported in the country. Egyptian animal rights activist Amina Abaza deplored the slaughter of pigs and said "the decision to cull them was probably taken only because they belong to the Christians."

In defense of the farmers, the World Health Organization has said the move to slaughter every pig in the country was unnecessary because the virus is however being spread through humans.

Changed alibi

However, the rationale for killing all the pigs in the country has now taken a different cause. The Egyptian health authorities now say that the authorized killing of pigs is in a bid to campaign against unsanitary pig farming conditions, particularly in the Cairo slums where the garbage collectors live.

But the garbage collectors who engage in pig farming are all Christians, who make up the minority of the society, and with no other source of livelihood available to them, or assured them, observers have questioned the intent of the health authorities in Egypt, raising charges or religious persecution."

Egypt’s slaughter of pigs draws criticism as misguided
"International health officials say there is no reason to slaughter pigs because H1N1 cannot be passed from pigs to humans."

France-"Authorities estimate it will take up to six months to kill all the pigs in the country, according to AgencePresse, and have announced plans to buy new machinery from abroad for the specific purpose of increasing the slaughter capacity to 3,000 animals a day. Al Masry Al Youm reports that as of Monday, only 888 pigs had been killed and that Health Minister Hatem El Gebaly has announced the government has set aside 30 million Egyptian pounds to compensate farmers.

The move has received criticism from some unexpected quarters in Egypt, with the editor of the pro-government daily Rose El Yousef mocking it on the editorial page.

“Killing [the pigs] is not a solution, otherwise, we should kill the people, because the virus spreads through them,” he wrote. “The terrified members of Parliament should have concentrated on asking the government first about the preventive measures and ways of confronting the problem.”"


As Israel Ignores Swine Flu Reality, Global Risk
"After two potential cases of swine flu were discovered in Israel, and two Israelis who had just returned from Mexico with flu-like symptoms were quarantined, the Deputy Health Minister, Yakov Litzman, took the next logical step: he renamed the virus. "We will call it Mexican flu. We won't call it swine flu," Litzman declared. He chose to identify the virus with its alleged country of origin instead of pigs because pigs are not religiously permissible to eat, reports the Associated Press."

"Litzman's renaming of the new flu virus would just seem out of place and random if it had been in any other country, but in Israel--where pigs are raised on Arab lands and pork shops are firebombed out of certain neighborhoods--pork is highly politicized. Even the word for "pork" in Hebrew, chazir, is so reviled that it goes by many euphemisms: "white meat," "other meat," and "white steak.""


Turkey's Pork Shortage (And It's Not 'Cause of the Food Crisis Either)
""There are only 2,000 Greeks left in Istanbul," he grumbled. "None of us dares speak out." Curiously, all the other slaughter houses that once dealt with pork have been closed too. Lazari's reluctant to say what he suspects is happening.

"There are only 2,000 Greeks left in Istanbul," he grumbled. "None of us dares speak out.""



R.I.P. to all the poor innocents being blamed for H1N1 and slaughtered as a result. For all those little piggies, VB hopes you can all be "The Weiner The World Awaited, " and, if not perhaps you'd love to be an Oscar Meyer Weiner.

(Below): The homage to the Flying Pig in VB's hometown "Porkopolis", along the riverfront, Cincinnati, Ohio. Yes, we Cincinnatians worship swine.


And now links to some tasty pork articles and recipes:

The King of Parma Hams

Pork Knuckle, German Delight

Greek Pork From a Medieval Past (Video narration available if you don't want to read the article.)

In Greece, Slaughtering the Pig (Video narration available)

Grilling: Pork Souvlaki with Pita and Tzatziki

Polish Pork Primer

Bacon Today: "Daily Updates On The World Of Sweet, Sweet Bacon"

We’re All Meatheads Now
chefs of the Mario outside of Paris, is without a doubt a "There has been a lardy avalanche of pig prose of late—celebrations of all the edible glories of pig: its snout, ears, and tail; its blood, belly, and liver; and I suppose, if you have to be boring, its plain old meat (I wrote about the phenomenon in Slate). New York magazine food critic Adam Platt has recently dubbed carniphilicBatali/David Chang/Paul Bertolli variety “meatheads,” and emphasized that it is pig they worship above all other animals. Add one more to that list: Stéphane Reynaud, chef-owner of Villa 9 Troismeathead of the highest order.

Pigs' feet: the new superfood
"The latest anti-ageing food? Pigs' trotters. That's right, you heard it here first. In New York, the most talked-about new opening of the past couple of months has been a Japanese restaurant called Hakata Tonton, where 33 out of the 39 dishes contain pigs' feet."

One of VB's favorite recipes (and it's just as good with beef): Carolina Pulled-Pork Sandwiches


Since the pig culling in Egypt incited this post, let's visit Cairo. Earlier this year, Anthony Bourdain's Season 5 of No Reservations aired (in the States), with a segment on Egypt.

It's available on iTunes, but also on YouTube. Here is the first part of his Egypt segment, where he not only discusses food, but (on several occasions) traffic, which is great. (Um, no pigs are slaughtered or eaten during this Egypt centric episode.)


No Reservations - Egypt Part 1 of 5



If you watched the Anthony Bourdain visit Part 1 to Egypt, then you know why this photo is here.
(Below): A pigeon coop in The City of the Dead.

Funkengroovin Wednesday - Lemons Are Green

"The Volkswagen missed the boat.

The chrome strip on the glove compartment is blemished and must be replaced. Chances are you wouldn't have noticed it; Inspector Kurt Kroner did."

Remember the old VW ad? (from murketing):

"There are 3,389 men of our Wolfsburg factory with only one job; to inspect Volkswagens at each stage of production. (3,00 Volkswagens are produced daily; there are more inspectors than cars.)

Every shock absorber is tested (spot checking won't do), every windshield is scanned. VWs have been rejected for surface scratches barely visible to the eye.

Final inspection is really something! VW inspectors run each car off the line onto the Funktionsprüfstand (car test stand), tote up 189 check points, gun ahead to the automatic brake stand and say "no" to one VW out of fifty.

This preoccupation with detail means the VW lasts longer and requires less maintenance, by and large, than other cars. (It also means a used VW depreciates less than any other car.)

We pluck the lemons; you get the plums."

And, for those of you who have seen the print ad, VB wants to celebrate the New Season of Mad Men, by celebrating "the lemon." ( The ad, that drove the ad men in Mad Men, mad last season.) How could an advertisement like that actually work? It just did, and has been considered a stroke of genius. Mad Men, VB's favorite TV show starts it's new season on July 27th. And, FYI, even Mother Jones Magazine has an article about this amazing show. (WTF? Doesn't Mother Jones have enough to chew on with the upcoming elections?) More articles about Mad Men at The LA Times and The New York Times, calling it "the smartest show on television."

So, today VB celebrates lemons! Obviously, the cars shown are not really lemons.

(Below): Lemons for sale at the local stand. Unlike the US, lemons are sold here before they turn yellow. And, no, your homemade Limoncello will not turn green.


(Below: Bright green bug, on Port Said Road (spelled Bort around here).


(Below): This beetle recently showed up, parked near VB's apartment. A lot of people drive by, stop, back up, and then ask the attending boab (doorman) about it. Apparently, it had been stored in the owner's garage for a long time. He then gave it to his driver to use. According to the boab, since being in storage, it's worth has gone up eight times in value. From what VB can tell this is a "66-"67 Beetle.






Question: Why does this car have black license plates?


(Below): Another lime bug we passed on Road 9.


(Below): And, sometimes lemons are actually yellow! (That is, among other colors too.)


(Below): Too many baskets? Maybe this is the way all those lemons are transported...



NEWS:
Ford at 100:
Mr. Ford’s T: Versatile Mobility
"Nearly as significant as the Model T’s ubiquity was its knack for performing many tasks, going far beyond basic transportation."

A Week of Car Shows, a Century of Transportation

The Racing Is Fast and the Police Aren’t Furious
"Police officers in Lodz, Poland, have tried to deal with illegal street races by helping to organize them."

Freakonomics: FREAK Shots: How Many Bumper Stickers Make a Bad Driver?
"Driving a car can be depersonalizing. That’s why drivers use bumper stickers, bobble-heads, fish brake lights, racing stripes, etc. to show others on the road their personalities, explains Tom Vanderbilt in his book, Traffic. A recent study by Colorado State University psychologist William Szlemko found a link between road rage and the number — but [...]"

Film and Geotag Your Next Car Accident

East Texan's Electric Car Creation
"Al Kelley has had a burning desire to build an electric car for nearly 30 years, and now with his "bug truck" as he calls it, that dream is a reality. A skilled auto-electrician, Kelley built the battery-powered bug with his bare hands." (Video available at the link.)

The Tygan 356 Speedster
"Yet in spite of its prosaic underpinnings the Tygan is effectively a new car selling for new money. Part of its value is in the stripping of the old Beetle. Behind the Dorset factory is a Beetle graveyard, where these old workhorses are stripped of mechanical components like carrion from old bones before the remains are sent to the scrapyard. It's rather a sad place, especially when you consider that each one of the 600 or so Chesil/Tygans built over the years means one less Beetle on our roads. Only the spine of the Beetle is retained, shortened by 11 inches and fitted with new but similarly shortened floorpans. Tygan prefers to fit the safer, better-riding rear suspension from later Beetles, but will still use original trailing arms if masochistic purists demand it." (Full article and photos at the link.)

He's got the recycling Bug: Man brings VWs back from dead
"To celebrate the 50-year milestone, its silver anniversary, Kulungian brought the car out of barn storage and did some needed work on it to make it again serviceable, this time registering it as an antique auto." (Full story and photo at the link.)

Another reason to watch Dancing With The Stars:
Christina Applegate, Alec Baldwin Grateful for Emmy Nods
"Want to see ... the glamorous life of an Emmy nominee: When we're done talking, I'm getting in my 1978 Volkswagen beetle convertible and driving to the garage so they can install a windshield [part]. Nothing like show business!" – Dancing With the Stars' host Tom Bergeron, who earned a nod in the brand new category for reality-competition show host."

(UK)
Classic search to celebrate 60th anniversary of VW Transporter
"As part of celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the Volkswagen Transporter, Paul Burke and his colleagues at Volkswagen Group Ireland have initiated a search to find Ireland’s classic Transporter van, pick-up, combi or passenger bus.

The company is seeking out the best example of a classic VW Transporter currently in existence here.

Owners in possession of such a vehicle are invited to post photos of their van along with stories relating to its history, journeys, maintenance or restoration projects to the 'Create your own Memories' section at the web site www.volkswagenvans.ie."

(UK)
Car Clinic
"Q I’ve always wanted to buy a funky camper van so I can give up my job and head off around Europe. I’m hankering after an old Volkswagen, probably of 1960s or 1970s vintage. Are VW vans as reliable as their reputation suggests or would I be better off with a less sexy Ford Transit conversion? HA from south London" (Go to the link for the answer.)

(UK)
Right Guard Plots 'VW Van' Live Gigs
"Three winners of a monthly competition on the Right Guard- sponsored Yahoo! 24-hour music festival guide website will be invited to watch a gig in the camper van and sample the deodorant.

The work also involves the creation of a mobile WAP site, while a documentary about the restoration of the 1965 VW van being used for the gigs is being seeded online." (Many photos of the van can be seen here, at flickr.)

Lastly, VB used to take her Vanagon down to the Windsor Locks drive-thru Starbucks, for a latte. Vagabondblogger Doggie would ride in the back seat, and bark at the attendant. It was her thrill for the day. She passed away a year ago, and Lotus the new pup has only had a couple of trips to the drive-thru. Now it seems, the Windsor Locks Starbucks (the one near Bradley International Airport) will be closing. It's a shame, since the staff there was much friendlier than the people operating the Enfield store (not drive-thru.) Plus, the Barnes and Noble, just a few hundred feet away in Enfield, sells Starbucks coffee! (Let's talk about the thought process on that one, shall we.) So much for that. And, regarding friendliness, Dunkin' Donuts would toss a donut hole to doggie for a treat! So there Starbucks! Go ahead a close your damn drive-thru. Oh, and BTW, VB's sure, when she's shopping at Evergreen Walk, (the only other Starbucks she patronized), that she'll find a replacement for that one too, since you seem to think the folks, in Connecticut, on the east side of the Connecticut River are not worth your time. Dunkin' Donuts has drive thrus all over, their cheaper, and their coffee is just as good!

Here's a full, alphabetical, list of state by state closures, throughout the US: All 600 Stores



Mad Men - Theme Song - "A Beautiful Mine" by RJD2

VB heads back to the US Tuesday night, for a two month stay. She will still continue postings from there. She has also been informed that the electricity at her house will be out most of Thursday too.

Funkengroovin Wednesday - Road Trips, Road Food and TV #5

The Hairy Bikers, plus Oz and James' Big Wine Adventure

This has nothing to do with VW's, but two of VB's favorite shows involve road trips and adventure. The first is The Hairy Bikers, and the second, is Oz and James Big Wine Adventure.

Other news pertaining to Road Trips, Road Food, and TV comes from BBC Food Channel and Apple TV.
On 10 May 2008, (Saturday) BBC Food Channel had Road Trip day, where they showed repeats of previously shown shows, which are not only informative, but funny, as well. Both shows either include cooking on the road, and / or camping out. The other of VB's favorites, included in this BBC Road Trip, is In Search of Perfection, with Heston Blumenthal. Heston is pretty much the British equivalent of Alton Brown. Both love talking about the science behind cooking, and if you're a science idiot like yours truly, then you actually might learn a thing or two. One of the features that makes BBC Food stand out from it's American counterpart, the Food Network, is watching a lot of these blokes, travel around, cook outside, grill, and play with their food. Whereas with most of the shows on the Food Network, it's the same old, in the kitchen presentation, they've been shoving down our throats for years.


In the Hairy Bikers, as far as I've seen (through all that hair, and giggling, mind you) is a delightful tour of Transylvania and Turkey, where they make their own Doner Kebab, as shown below. The Road Trip show takes place in Portugal, and it's pretty much the same format: travel around on their bikes, visit cafes / pubs / homes, and then try cooking a local specialty al fresco. VB hasn't tried any of the recipes, but the show is awfully fun to watch. It's pretty obvious that they don't carry any of their own cooking equipment on their bikes. So, a question: where the hell did they hide the kebab cooker? Again, they had a bunch of helpers towing around their cookery, even though they do a bit of outdoor cooking themselves.

Unfortunately, for the most part, none of these shows realistically deals with cooking on the road.






(Below): Oz and James Big Wine Adventure. They don't really cook (unless you consider making a batch of bad wine "cooking"), but they do go on a Road Trip, and they camp out, too. James drives a Jaguar on the trip through France, and they are complete opposites. Oz the wine snob, pairs up with James from Top Gear. It turns out to be a comical tour of French wine country, as James sneers at Oz's snobbery, and Oz can't fathom James learning a damn thing about wine, or what he calls, "getting it." And by the time it's all over, you'll be "getting it" (or at least a bit of it) too. VB's not sure either of these shows has been on TV in the States (since she's so rarely there, and hasn't had the BBC Food Channel for quite some time until the move to Cairo.)





James May - Rant 3




And, for future reference, a Cabernet goes nicely with a good hamburger.

Funkengroovin Wednesday - Road Trips, Road Food and TV #4

Danny Boome, pictured below, might remind you of another young man who traveled around in VW Bus. In Danny By The Sea he tours his childhood area, the Norfolk coast, in search of good eats. He cooks on the beach, a bit in the van and seeks out distinctively British food. His series just ended a couple of weeks ago.

Only problem: He talks way too much when he's driving! Check it out (below). Someone should tell the boy: "Both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road!"


Message to Danny: "Chill!"

Danny might look familiar to Americans, since he has just started his new show on The Food Network, called Rescue Chef. He's the talk of the blogs, and appears to be every single (and married) woman's dream. He's the latest, hottest young single chef since Jamie. Check out his cooking skills, enthusiasm, charm, and most importantly, his VW Bus in the video below in Danny By The Sea outtakes. It's where he claims to have "cooked my first crab," But when VB first heard him, she thought he said it was where he "took my first crap." VB needs subtitles! (For all shows, even the American ones too.)

More information about Danny at Danny Boome TV.

Danny By The Sea: Danny Boome - Show Reel 2007




Unfortunately, VB couldn't find any information about Danny's Bus - nowhere!

Just A Note:
From Apple TV, one of VB's favorite shows is available for downloading: Little Britain Season 3! Go ahead, laugh your pants off! Seasons 1 and 2 are not available (yet?). BBC America is a new channel that was just added.


NEWS:

Here Comes the New Spindle, Same As the Old Spindle
"Hold off on the mourning, all ye Spindle fans who continue to lament the loss of their beloved public art and pigeon poop collector." (Photo at the link.)

It's hip to be square
(Photo gallery and article at the link):




The Clash London Calling Video (excellent sound quality)

Funkengroovin Wednesday - Road Trips, Road Food, and TV #3

Jamie Oliver aka The Naked Chef

Gino was an Italian that went to Mexico. Jamie, in his Great Escape, is a Brit who went to Italy. Both drove classic VWs.

(Below): Photo from The Star Online (check out the article).


Jamie's show premiered two years ago in the UK, when VB was living, back in the States. It then showed in the States, 2007, when VB was in Egypt. Such is the luck of an expat's wife. This often happens, when you travel between international homes. You'll see an episode or two, leave country, and miss the rest of that series, or vice versa. That's where the Apple TV helps out - sometimes. But Apple TV does not offer BBC shows, UKTV shows, or any cooking shows of substance, unless you count the ("fuck me," "fuck all," "...fucking..." blah, blah, blah...) Gordon Ramsey shows, Hell's Kitchen, and Kitchen Nightmares (which VB loves, BTW.) VB does have Jamie's Italy book albeit, more has been written, on the Internet, about his actual road trip. All that's said about his VW Bus in his book, is a thank you to all the folks who helped soup it up, and built the trailer. VB loves Italian food, and one of her favorite TV chefs is Molto Mario Batali, although The Boss Man favors Giada De Laurentiis (most men do - what's not to like.) Jamie is fun to watch regardless, more so for his enthusiasm.

(Below): Photo from Jamie's Book.

VB was, again, quite impressed by Jamie's choice of transportation. And as she stated in her last post, Jamie did have a trailer full of cooking supplies, which he (literally) towed, from the back of his Bus (see photos and video.) Jamie's Bus, although ancient, had been renovated into a lean, mean lovin' machine (that's what it was actually built for.) But even then, VW Buses have a tendency to break down, at the worst times. It has been reported, that expletives were used (OMG!) by Jamie towards his beloved bus, during the filming. Apparently, this cursing chef syndrome has become quite popular.

(Below): Again, from the book. All broke down, and with a Porsche engine, no less! Just goes to show, that nothing you do to a VW Bus or Beetle, will guarantee that it will actually run when you want it to. It's a fucking curse! (But some of us, masochists, refuse to change.)


The article: Pukka set of wheels: Jamie Oliver's VW campervan has a short bio of Jamie's van, and how he came to acquire it.
"This van has had a chequered history. According to Campervan Crazy, the definitive work on these vehicles by David and Cee Eccles, it was discovered in a scrapyard in 1991 by Matt Keene, an enthusiast, who set about a four-year restoration. This involved sandblasting the shell and chassis and replacing all the metalwork, including parts fabricated specially if spares couldn't be found. Matt fitted front-opening "safari" windows, pop-out windows all round and an opening rear window for the ultimate in cool. The purple and white paint-job was Matt's as well."

"In 1999, it passed into the ownership of a London music-video producer. During this time, it was stolen by a woman who locked it in her garage and polished it every day. It was returned unharmed, and shinier. Oliver saw it while riding past on his scooter, knocked on the window and asked to buy it. More upgrades followed."


That passage is just an illustration of how, an infatuated Jamie, misunderstood man's relationship to an older VW. It's not a law, not in the manual, it's an attitude, like karma with your machine (and no one has that kind of karma.) As cool as Jamie is, it sounds like he expected a bit too much from his Bus - perfect performance, all the time (like a workhorse in a kitchen?) Here's the general rule for old VWs: They always break down at the worst times; They have their own idiosyncrasies, and don't even try to fuck with them!; And never, ever, rely on one to work when you need it most (they have a mind of their own!) It's not at all like the dreamy comment from Jamie's wife, Jools, "It's a campervan. Every boy's dream," she claimed, in the first video. They are temperamental, eccentric, and can be downright cantankerous! Hey! Number One Son is 19 years old, and he knew enough not to drive the van across country (USA) late March, on his way to Oregon! Yes, he loves the van (and the girls (some verbotten) who love him, for his van - it's not really his.) But he was practically born in it (literally.) He has a true understanding of how "awesome," or "sick" they can appear ( they're like a fucking drug), and of how frustrating they can be to the owners (like a dominatrix - she gives you pain, but way too much pleasure too, but not regularly, only when she feels like it.) That's what owning an old VW (not just a Bus) is like (and our family has two!)

Instead of VB going all around the Internet reinterpreting everyone else's assessment of Jamie's trip, and pretending she knows what she's talking about, and mucking it up, let's watch Jamie explain it himself. Below, Jamie's journey in his own words, plus views of his VW Bus, with trailer attached, and scenes from the trip.





From CTVNews
"Great escape to Italy afforded celeb chef the opportunity to shake off stresses

Oliver said his two-and-a-half month Volkswagen-bus road trip around Italy -- the subject matter for "Jamie's Great Italian Escape' -- served as a break from the chaos and an opportunity to leave the stresses behind.

It's certainly not a relaxed Jamie who curses at the van when it breaks down and leaves him stranded on a windy Italian road -- all on camera -- but he says the experience was good for his soul despite a few stressful moments along the way.

"It was my chance to escape. My chance to sort of fill up again, shake off any stresses. And to have a two-and-a-half month span in that country was just brilliant."

"The Italian people, if you're keen and you're polite and you've got a smile on your bloody face, they're just so open-minded, they really are."


(Below): Photo from Channel4.



about jamie, questions and answers
"Penguin: What inspires you to create new recipes?

Jamie: Books, people, stories, markets, locations, scenarios - you know, like coming up with the best hangover recipes when you're hungover, or coming up with great portable food recipes when you're living out of a tent or a VW camper."
(Jamie, where's the portable food recipes? Or maybe, the next article answers the question.)

(The engine description in the following two articles does not jibe with Jamie's claim in the Top Gear video below.)
The Good Oil: Jamie Oliver's mobile kitchen for sale
"Saturday May 26, 2007
British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is selling his Volkswagen Kombi, the van he used while filming his TV series on food in Italy. The 1959 model is being auctioned in London tomorrow and is expected to fetch upwards of $100,000. The van has had VIP treatment since Oliver bought it in 1999. It's fitted with satellite navigation, a Play-Station, TVs and a high-spec audio system. Driving the rear wheels is a 2.4-litre VW/Porsche 914 engine. A specially built trailer kitchen Oliver towed around Italy is part of the package."

From CamperVan Confessionals
Nice little earner for Jamie
"Fame, money but no longer with a camper van! Has Jamie Oliver lost his senses?!!" (Hmm, yes!!!!)
"CELEBRITY chef Jamie Oliver sold the Volkswagen camper van he drove around Italy for one of his TV cookery shows for £41,500 yesterday. It had attracted interest from all over the world.
The 1959 Samba had a 2.4litre engine and many gadgets. Nick Wiles, of car auctioneers COYS, said: "This was any Volkswagen camper van enthusiast's dream, coupled with a touch of fame."


And, for those of use who actually have a collection of stackable cookware for the road, all we need is something, you know, recognized (like the crap you can buy from Rachel Ray - gawd, does VB hate that girl.) Jamie, as with any celebrated chef has his own little empire now, including his own line of cookware for the road:
Jamie Oliver reinvents the collapsible kitchen
"It's called the Tefal Survival Kit and it is a set of cooking equipment that fits together into single, nice, neat stack. When taken apart it contains a wok, frying pan, sauce pan, two glass lids, and a universal handle so that you don't burn your fingers."

Take VB's word for it, you can buy these (at least in Europe) anywhere Tefal is sold. Below, pieces we bought in Baku. They reminded us of the camping cookware we had, and there were many separate covers, cooking pieces, and handles to choose from. VB's pretty sure, they're probably cheaper than the "Jamie Oliver" brand.

(Below) Two pieces we bought, with a detachable handle.



About the rise in VW Bus popularity:
The Big Spend: Camping it up...
"More recently, the iconic roadster has become a must-have accessory for the armies of post-war baby-boomers who hanker after former glories, as well as for younger drivers keen to buy into their aura of cool.

Popularity is driving up prices. Ten years ago, a decent second-hand van could fetch £21,000 on average; today, the figure stands at £29,000.

Celebrity is in on the act: chef Jamie Oliver recently sold his VW Camper for £45,000, while a yellow van was given a starring role last year in the hit US film Little Miss Sunshine."

Celebrities love caravans
"Even the rich and famous are getting into a lifestyle long snobbishly regarded as somewhat downmarket. Blazing the trail was Jamie Oliver, who is a member of the Caravan Club and spent thousands of pounds converting a 1950s VW bus into a modern mobile home complete, of course, with a cutting-edge kitchen. Last September Oliver shunned airports and limousines when touring the UK to promote a new book, choosing instead to travel with his wife in the Porsche-engined caravanette.
>
Others who have been spotted perusing the latest models at caravan and motor home shows include Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and comedian Peter Kay."

Ahhh, and also Terri Hatcher. (Photo from Celebrity Cars Blog.)



More on Jamie's Italian Adventure:
Jamie Oliver: Real Guts


From Top Gear - Don't try this at home! (so-to-speak)
Jamie Oliver cooking on circuit



It would have been nice to see Jamie's little adventure. Perhaps when they decide to repeat it, VB will actually be in the right place (geographically), so she can enjoy the trip too. (There are no DVDs available, anywhere in the world for this. They are all sold out, except maybe in China.)