Heretics' almanac

An idea for tourism

One more thing about Rome: the Romans were among the most grumpy, unwilling hosts I've ever come across.

I know tourists are a hassle. We/they make themselves comfortable, are loud, don't know how to move with the flow of the city, get too drunk, and are interested in the wrong thing.

Still, they got off their butts, spent hard-earned money and their precious vacation time in a place unfamiliar to them. And they leave behind money, enough in Rome's case to save the city from being a sleepy, run-down capital city that takes a back seat to Milan commercially and Florence and Venice culturally.

My idea is this: tourists should rate the friendliness and basic manners of the people in various destinations and impose a short-term boycott of the worst to make a point the tourist boards surely won't miss. If these boards have any sense, they'll start smile campaigns and abbreviated human being schools for people in the trade, and also make them more aware that these pesky tourists put food on the table, finance high-end mopeds, etc.

Back from Rome

As far back as I could read, I've been a history buff, and finally last week I got a short trip to Rome.

It's an amazing city, overflowing an abundance of historica artifacts. It's as if sunrise pulls history out of the earth. People warned me it was a dirty city, but it seemed like the dirt and dust was part of the archeology.

But it was more jarring than pleasing. The main political themes of Rome has been to project awe-inspiring power, whether they were imperial Romans, the Catholic Church, or the fascists. Every structure was built to overwhelm the individual. St. Peter's Square felt - ironically - a bit claustrophobic. The Pantheon was captivating but also a little grotesque. And you have to wonder what in the world possessed people at various points to say "what we need here is another church," because they litter the landscape like payphones in New York a few years ago. There are probably more churches in Rome than Starbucks in New York.

Clearly, the Italian government doesn't have the funds to conserve all the old buildings, however you define "old" in a place like this. There is evidence that many old buildings are built on top of even older walls, many churches are in blatant disrepair, and the commercial freely commingles with antiquity. As it's always been, I suppose.

Strangely, there's very little I can say was beautiful. The proportions were a little off, the landscape too disjointed. It's a great place to learn about the history of architecture, but not how to be a great architect. It's an exposition of history, but most of the lessons are negative. It's a place that amazed and impressed me, but it didn't make me feel good.

And I hope to return again soon.

Such endeth the Sopranos

I guess most people are disappointed by the Sopranos series finale, hoping, well different things. Some thought Chase was gutless for killing of Phil Leotardo; others thought that there should have been more closure.

Something was about to happen when the black screen hit us, and Chase clearly wanted our imagination to figure it out ourselves. What I expected was that the guy who went to the bathroom would come out with a big gun, spraying down anyone within a 10-foot radius of the Soprano family, and that the only question would be whether Meadow would avoid the massacre. I was expecting to be surprised and possibly shocked.

At the starting line

We get beads, the color of which is determined by our connection to the cause. I'm wearing an orange bead, the loss of a sibling. The whites ones are for parents who have lost their kids. A lot of people carry several different colors. Lots of pictures of people in uniforms. One woman I spoke with said she'd lost six of her Army buddies in combat in Iraq and two to suicide due to PTSD. But people are smiling, talking, being friendly. It's strange to be among so many with a similar frame of reference.

There are teams of people walking in the memory of one person, usually, it seems, a young, happy-looking face. Lots of t-shirts tell us they're proud of the lives that ended.

These are tough people.

About to walk for suicide

I'm presently sitting at the Starbucks on Hanover Square and am about to meet my teammates for what is (aptly, I think) known as "Out of the Darkness Overnight" - http://theovernight.org.

The Starbucks is quiet, though the occasional group of tourists or passers-by will drop in for their fix. I'm the only one sitting here.

The walk will take the better part of the night to complete. My team, SOLO-S, is in second place among teams in terms of raising funds. My contribution is about $2500, which is pretty good but can't touch the above $10,000 crowd.

2000 or so are expected to walk 20 miles through Manhattan and possibly another borough. I'm guessing Brooklyn, as we start at South Street Seaport, in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Wish me luck.

Paris Hilton

I can only imagine that prison, even a county jail, can't be fun for anyone. And Paris Hilton is probably particularly ill-equpped for that kind of not-fun thing. But it seems pretty obvious that she a) exhausted all her second (and third) chances for leniency, and b) should serve her time, like anyone else would. But who thinks otherwise? Apparently a sheriff, and you have to wonder what persuaded him. Maybe this experience will help her grow up. Or maybe she'll think of herself as a victim and won't learn a thing.

The significance of the Six Day War

These days 40 years ago, Israel was in war with Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, who also had quite a bit of help from numerous other Arab countries. There's been lots of press about the political (and to a lesser extent, military) legacy of the war. Everyone agrees it was a stunning victory for Israel and humiliating defeat for the Arab regimes; and there's an emerging concensus that Israel's territorial gains were a mixed blessing. In particular, a lot of pundits think that the role of occupier has served to tarnish Israel's moral standing and reputation among the nations.