We had a wonderful time on our trip to Vail. Friday finished off the week with a glorious bluebird day. Still plenty of freshie around but we also had plenty of groomed stuff to scream our way down.
Check out this online scrapbook:
Or you can click HERE and view it at the scrapblog site. You can also make it full-screen there. I recommend using the arrow keys (vs. hitting the 'play' key) to turn the pages so you can go at your own pace.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Gorgeous!
What a beautiful day! It started out snowy (we received 10" overnight!) but the sun came out mid-morning and - though it was still cold - brightened things up considerably. We had a large group of about 15 people skiing together in the morning, which thinned out after a couple of runs and evolved into a nice group of about 8-10 of us skiing together in the afternoon. We skied hard from 9 'til about 3:30 and had a ball. The sunshine makes everything look so pretty!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Cold!
I've just completed what I believe is my coldest ski day ever. I think the high today here in the Vail Valley was in the single digits. We skied at Beaver Creek today, a resort I enjoy a lot, but my feet were just solid blocks of ice and it wasn't really an enjoyable ski day. We did have lunch at the Ritz, so it wasn't all bad!
Fortunately yesterday was just beautiful. After a combination of sinus issues and altitude sickness kept me off the slopes on Sunday, it was great to be feeling better and to have a very enjoyable day on the hill. We were even blessed with unexpected sunshine for most of the day, which was a real treat.
Tomorrow's supposed to be warmer, thank goodness, and I'm planning to tackle Vail's slopes once again!
Fortunately yesterday was just beautiful. After a combination of sinus issues and altitude sickness kept me off the slopes on Sunday, it was great to be feeling better and to have a very enjoyable day on the hill. We were even blessed with unexpected sunshine for most of the day, which was a real treat.
Tomorrow's supposed to be warmer, thank goodness, and I'm planning to tackle Vail's slopes once again!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
What's old is new again
Though I started this blog to keep friends and family informed while I travel, I realized that I don't have to restrict it to just that topic. So...
It's FINALLY Bonesday! Yes after, what, seven weeks (the day before Thanksgiving), FOX is finally giving us a new episode of Bones. Granted, we were supposed to get a new episode last week but the presidential speech threw a kink in things. I just started watching Bones over the summer when some of my friends from my Remington Steele group told me I had to watch it. I borrowed their DVDs and watched the pilot. I thought it was just OK and it was several weeks before I watched another episode. I really should have known better. Like Steele's pilot ("Tempered Steele", though that was the second episode to air) there's a bit of a different feel to the episode as compared to the others. But once they got on a roll, boy did things pick up. I watched the rest of season 1 over the course of a week. When I finally got my hands on season 2, I think I watched all 21 episodes over the course of a weekend. My friends were right - I hadn't seen chemistry like this in a long, long time. Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz just "click" together the same way that Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan did back in the 80s. It's a shame it's taken 20+ years for that chemistry to repeat!
As I got more into the show, I noticed more similarities with Steele and a friend and I started compiling a list of commonalities between the shows. It really is true about nothing is really new in Hollywood. So, without further ado I present:
How Bones is like Remington Steele:
1. Both shows feature a bickering mixed-gender crime-solving team. Bones is often compared to Moonlighting and in the sense that the characters are not a romantic couple (yet), that's appropriate. However, Moonlighting's creator, Glenn Gordon Caron, got his first regular writing job on Remington Steele and many of its early episodes also feature the leads bickering.
2. Both shows have one wildly uneven season where episodes were obviously aired out of sequence (B4, RS3), yet that is the season with the highest ratings.
3. Both shows opened season 4 with a 2-parter set in England
4. Both shows have episodes regarding children of privilege ("Blood is Thicker than Steele", "A Boy in a Tree"/"The Bone that Blew").
5. Both Temperance Brennan and Laura Holt have fathers who abandoned them when the girls were in their mid-teens.
6. "High Flying Steele" and "Double Trouble in the Panhandle" are episodes in which the leads go undercover in a circus.
7. Both "The Hero in the Hold" and "High Flying Steele" feature rising water in an enclosed space as a potential deathtrap for one or both leads.
8. Both shows featured airline/airplane-centered episodes with "The Passenger in the Oven" and "Coffee, Tea or Steele".
9. Based on interviews & articles I've read, it appears that the networks didn't/don't know how to promote an hour-long show that has both comedy and drama in it. Though I wouldn't classify either show as a comedy, the actors certainly have to utilize comedic skills at some point in almost every episode of both shows.
10. Both shows have a Christmas episode featuring Santa as the bad guy: "Dancer, Prance, Donner and Steele" and "Santa in the Slush".
11. In both "Steele Knuckles and Glass Jaws" and "The Baby in the Bough", the leads have to care for an infant that was abandoned.
12. Both shows had episodes where family members of the leads were involved. Pierce Brosnan's wife and Stephanie Zimbalist's dad were in several episodes of Remington Steele and Emily Deschanel's dad directed an episode of Bones.
13. Some of the common guest stars: Richard Cox ("Etched In Steele", "The Soccer Mom in the Mini-Van"), Roxanne Clark ("Steele Waters Run Deep", "Stargazer in a Puddle"), Tom Everett ("Dancer, Prancer, Donner and Steele", "The Killer in the Concrete"), Jim Jansen ("Sting of Steele", "Woman of Steele", "The Blonde In The Game")
14. Both shows have an episode dealing with fictional superheroes: "The Superhero in the Alley", "Stronger than Steele"
And finally, could the birthdays of the leads be just a coincidence?
Stephanie Zimbalist (October 8) - Emily Deschanel (October 11)
Pierce Brosnan and David Boreanaz both born on May 16th!
Now I want to post a challenge to the writers of Bones. For 20+ years we've heard the same thing: if the leads get together, the sexual tension is over and the show goes downhill. I say, Baloney! That's almost like saying "life ends once they get together because they become boring". If handled properly, that doesn't have to happen. Sure, the sexual tension changes, but it can be replaced with other things. In this instance - would B&B need to keep their relationship a secret? How will they be able to handle working side-by-side when their relationship is different? That "line" that Booth put in place back in S2 has only been effective in keeping them physically apart. As numerous fan fiction writers have pointed out, they're so emotionally close now that the point of the line (to keep them emotionally apart which will keep them effective in their jobs) is worthless. We've seen numerous examples since the line was implemented where either Booth or Brennan goes a bit nuts because the other is in danger and they haven't figured out how to rescue the other one. So come on Hart Hanson and all the writers, give the viewers some credit and let's get some significant movement forward on the B&B relationship (and NOT just in the fantasy episode!).
It's FINALLY Bonesday! Yes after, what, seven weeks (the day before Thanksgiving), FOX is finally giving us a new episode of Bones. Granted, we were supposed to get a new episode last week but the presidential speech threw a kink in things. I just started watching Bones over the summer when some of my friends from my Remington Steele group told me I had to watch it. I borrowed their DVDs and watched the pilot. I thought it was just OK and it was several weeks before I watched another episode. I really should have known better. Like Steele's pilot ("Tempered Steele", though that was the second episode to air) there's a bit of a different feel to the episode as compared to the others. But once they got on a roll, boy did things pick up. I watched the rest of season 1 over the course of a week. When I finally got my hands on season 2, I think I watched all 21 episodes over the course of a weekend. My friends were right - I hadn't seen chemistry like this in a long, long time. Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz just "click" together the same way that Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan did back in the 80s. It's a shame it's taken 20+ years for that chemistry to repeat!
As I got more into the show, I noticed more similarities with Steele and a friend and I started compiling a list of commonalities between the shows. It really is true about nothing is really new in Hollywood. So, without further ado I present:
How Bones is like Remington Steele:
1. Both shows feature a bickering mixed-gender crime-solving team. Bones is often compared to Moonlighting and in the sense that the characters are not a romantic couple (yet), that's appropriate. However, Moonlighting's creator, Glenn Gordon Caron, got his first regular writing job on Remington Steele and many of its early episodes also feature the leads bickering.
2. Both shows have one wildly uneven season where episodes were obviously aired out of sequence (B4, RS3), yet that is the season with the highest ratings.
3. Both shows opened season 4 with a 2-parter set in England
4. Both shows have episodes regarding children of privilege ("Blood is Thicker than Steele", "A Boy in a Tree"/"The Bone that Blew").
5. Both Temperance Brennan and Laura Holt have fathers who abandoned them when the girls were in their mid-teens.
6. "High Flying Steele" and "Double Trouble in the Panhandle" are episodes in which the leads go undercover in a circus.
7. Both "The Hero in the Hold" and "High Flying Steele" feature rising water in an enclosed space as a potential deathtrap for one or both leads.
8. Both shows featured airline/airplane-centered episodes with "The Passenger in the Oven" and "Coffee, Tea or Steele".
9. Based on interviews & articles I've read, it appears that the networks didn't/don't know how to promote an hour-long show that has both comedy and drama in it. Though I wouldn't classify either show as a comedy, the actors certainly have to utilize comedic skills at some point in almost every episode of both shows.
10. Both shows have a Christmas episode featuring Santa as the bad guy: "Dancer, Prance, Donner and Steele" and "Santa in the Slush".
11. In both "Steele Knuckles and Glass Jaws" and "The Baby in the Bough", the leads have to care for an infant that was abandoned.
12. Both shows had episodes where family members of the leads were involved. Pierce Brosnan's wife and Stephanie Zimbalist's dad were in several episodes of Remington Steele and Emily Deschanel's dad directed an episode of Bones.
13. Some of the common guest stars: Richard Cox ("Etched In Steele", "The Soccer Mom in the Mini-Van"), Roxanne Clark ("Steele Waters Run Deep", "Stargazer in a Puddle"), Tom Everett ("Dancer, Prancer, Donner and Steele", "The Killer in the Concrete"), Jim Jansen ("Sting of Steele", "Woman of Steele", "The Blonde In The Game")
14. Both shows have an episode dealing with fictional superheroes: "The Superhero in the Alley", "Stronger than Steele"
And finally, could the birthdays of the leads be just a coincidence?
Stephanie Zimbalist (October 8) - Emily Deschanel (October 11)
Pierce Brosnan and David Boreanaz both born on May 16th!
Now I want to post a challenge to the writers of Bones. For 20+ years we've heard the same thing: if the leads get together, the sexual tension is over and the show goes downhill. I say, Baloney! That's almost like saying "life ends once they get together because they become boring". If handled properly, that doesn't have to happen. Sure, the sexual tension changes, but it can be replaced with other things. In this instance - would B&B need to keep their relationship a secret? How will they be able to handle working side-by-side when their relationship is different? That "line" that Booth put in place back in S2 has only been effective in keeping them physically apart. As numerous fan fiction writers have pointed out, they're so emotionally close now that the point of the line (to keep them emotionally apart which will keep them effective in their jobs) is worthless. We've seen numerous examples since the line was implemented where either Booth or Brennan goes a bit nuts because the other is in danger and they haven't figured out how to rescue the other one. So come on Hart Hanson and all the writers, give the viewers some credit and let's get some significant movement forward on the B&B relationship (and NOT just in the fantasy episode!).
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Sunday - Pisa & Florence
(OK, so I'm already home now but at the rates the cruise ship was charging it was getting way too expensive to sign up for more internet time. And then my "global" access plan didn't work in our terminal at the Rome airport - even though it had worked in baggage claim. Go figure!)
We docked in Livorno early in the morning and the ship made enough noise to wake us all up early. We dragged ourselves out of bed (it’s getting harder each day!) and met our private tour guide, Suzanna, for our tour of Pisa and Florence. We were fortunate and arrived at Pisa before most of the large tour buses arrived, so it was fairly quiet and there was still a bit of misty light which made for some nice photos that even I couldn’t mess up too badly.
We got back on the bus and drove the hour to Florence. I loved this place but didn’t get to see near enough of it. We didn’t get to go into any of the major museums as we’d have spent all our time in line. We did get to walk along the courtyard of the Uffizi and see various statues of famous people from Florence. There’s a scale replica of the famous David statue outside the Uffizi, but unfortunately it was covered in scaffolding. We checked out Florence’s cathedral, which is the fourth longest in the world, but didn’t go in. We did, however, get to see the famous doors on its baptistery, which are called “The Gates of Paradise”. Later, a couple of us took a quick tour of Santa Croce. It’s another large church, still in use, but it’s also a museum and there are a number of famous people buried there: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Enrico Fermi and Marconi, just to name a few. By then we were out of time and had to head back to the bus. Before we left for the port, we drove up to a fantastic overlook on Michelangelo Drive that provided amazing views of the city as well as allowing us to see some of the original Roman walls.
I’d love to come back to this part of the world when I have more time. Florence, Venice and Rome, especially, it seemed like we didn’t have a hope of seeing everything. Since we didn’t actually go into Naples, I’d like to do that and I’d also like to spend some more time in Barcelona. Hmmm…methinks another trip is in order!
Let the countdown to ski season begin!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Saturday - The Riviera
We got to sleep in an extra hour today, which was greatly appreciated. We’ve been so spoiled by having our private tours that today’s tour (purchased on board) was a bit of a disappointment. We took a bus over to Nice and had about 45 minutes to stroll around the old town. Our guide was quite knowledgeable, but we mostly gathered info from her while on the bus and were on our own while off the bus. The market was delightful though. Fresh foods, fresh seafood and fresh flowers all existed in abundance, along with the obligatory souvenir shops. We also ran across a wedding celebration, which was interesting to see.
Next was a stop in the medieval town of Eze (pronounced “ehz”). Again we were here only a short time, so we took a few photos of the remains of the castle at the top of the village and spent the rest of the time relaxing in a small café where a Coke and beer cost 3 euro and wine was only 1 euro!
Then it was back to the ship for lunch before walking into Monaco. I hadn’t realized how small it is: only 473 acres. It’s the second-smallest principality in the world, next to Vatican City. Having read beforehand we wouldn’t be allowed in the casino with sneakers, blue jeans or shorts, we decided to skip it. Instead we wandered along the waterfront and watched the Vespa rally that was ongoing and then climbed the hill to the Palais Princier (the Palace of the Principality). It’s gorgeous up on top of the city like that; very beautiful gardens and everything is so clean. We also walked by the cathedral where Prince Ranier and Princess Grace were married as well as the Oceanographic Institue – whose building was almost as impressive as the palace! Then it was back down the hill to the port area where we sat at a café and enjoyed a drink (or an ice cream!) and watched the folks along the dock.
I can’t believe our final stop is tomorrow! Florence, here we come.
Next was a stop in the medieval town of Eze (pronounced “ehz”). Again we were here only a short time, so we took a few photos of the remains of the castle at the top of the village and spent the rest of the time relaxing in a small café where a Coke and beer cost 3 euro and wine was only 1 euro!
Then it was back to the ship for lunch before walking into Monaco. I hadn’t realized how small it is: only 473 acres. It’s the second-smallest principality in the world, next to Vatican City. Having read beforehand we wouldn’t be allowed in the casino with sneakers, blue jeans or shorts, we decided to skip it. Instead we wandered along the waterfront and watched the Vespa rally that was ongoing and then climbed the hill to the Palais Princier (the Palace of the Principality). It’s gorgeous up on top of the city like that; very beautiful gardens and everything is so clean. We also walked by the cathedral where Prince Ranier and Princess Grace were married as well as the Oceanographic Institue – whose building was almost as impressive as the palace! Then it was back down the hill to the port area where we sat at a café and enjoyed a drink (or an ice cream!) and watched the folks along the dock.
I can’t believe our final stop is tomorrow! Florence, here we come.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Friday - Barcelona
Back on the ship now after spending the day in Barcelona. There’s so much to do and see here that we didn’t manage to do any of it justice. We had vouchers for the hop-on-hop-off bus but we had to walk quite a ways to get to the office to turn in our voucher, so we were a bit late in getting started. Our first stop was the gorgeous La Sagrada Família (Sacred Family) cathedral. We didn’t stop to take the tour but it’s just an amazing building. Construction’s been on-going since the late 1800s! I’ll have to research to see why it’s taken so long to complete. It’s so immense and right in the midst of the city, so my photos don’t really do it justice, but here’s my best one.
From there we went to Güell Park, home of the Casa-Museu Gaudi. This house is where Antoini Gaudi lived from 1906 to 1926. He was a heavy influence on the architecture of Barcelona. In fact Barcelona has a number of unusual buildings that reflect the influence of several prominent architects. While his designs are functional they seem to me to have a healthy dose of whimsy too, as is seen in this building at the entry to the park.
My favorite thing from the park, however, was this lizard fountain he designed. I don’t know if he actually painted it but I really liked it.
At this point we’d already spent half of our time, so after a bit of souvenir shopping on the way back to the bus we hopped on for a good long time. We drove past several tourist spots that looked interesting, but we just didn’t have the time to stop and explore. We also drove past FC Barcelona and a couple of the venues from the 1992 Olympic Games. We stayed on the bus until it got us back near the port where we disembarked and strolled up Las Ramblas, said to be one of the prettiest streets in the world. Traffic is very limited there and it is touristy but it was shady on a warm day and very pleasant. We made it back on one of the last shuttles, but in plenty of time to cast off.
Next up: The French Riviera
From there we went to Güell Park, home of the Casa-Museu Gaudi. This house is where Antoini Gaudi lived from 1906 to 1926. He was a heavy influence on the architecture of Barcelona. In fact Barcelona has a number of unusual buildings that reflect the influence of several prominent architects. While his designs are functional they seem to me to have a healthy dose of whimsy too, as is seen in this building at the entry to the park.
My favorite thing from the park, however, was this lizard fountain he designed. I don’t know if he actually painted it but I really liked it.
At this point we’d already spent half of our time, so after a bit of souvenir shopping on the way back to the bus we hopped on for a good long time. We drove past several tourist spots that looked interesting, but we just didn’t have the time to stop and explore. We also drove past FC Barcelona and a couple of the venues from the 1992 Olympic Games. We stayed on the bus until it got us back near the port where we disembarked and strolled up Las Ramblas, said to be one of the prettiest streets in the world. Traffic is very limited there and it is touristy but it was shady on a warm day and very pleasant. We made it back on one of the last shuttles, but in plenty of time to cast off.
Next up: The French Riviera
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