Well, I'm finally in Canberra!

We arrived here at around noon after a three hour journey by car, and my first impression was "OMG! People actually live here!" (well no, I'm not that naive, it's more the fact that now I've been able to actually see that there's more to Canberra than the Parliament Houses, the War Memorial and Questacon - you can thank Year 6 and Year 10 camps for that).

After drumping our stuff at Shawna's place (thanks for hosting us Shawna!), we headed off to Canberra Centre, a massive shopping mall. Lunch was fairly uneventful, except for fact that when it came time to pay for our parking we noticed the first big difference...... The first half an hour costs 60cents! And then incrementally increases until a maximum of about $13-15 for 7+ hours. In Sydney, althought you've got the first couple of hours free, the price skyrockets to about $30 for the same amount of time!

Next stop was Floriade, the national flower festival that apparently gets a lot of hype around this time of year. I must admit, it was fairly nicely set out - it all followed an Australian Movie theme so flower arrangements were set out to reflect favourites like "Crocodile Dundee", "Shine" and "The Puberty Blues" (whatever the hell that is). I took some really neat photos :) Some of them are below (click for enlargements)

This is the closest we got to, and intend to get to, Parliament House ---->

So anyways, tonight we spent our time versing each other on Wii Sports - Wii's are awesome! Shawna's mum then cooked us a hectic lasagne! At the dinner table her parents helped us brainstorm ideas for tomorrow's shenanigans, we'll just have to wait and see how that pans out :) ...  Now I'm just full and wanting to go crawl up in bed and sleep. I've brought a whole heap of uni stuff  along with me, hoping to perhaps find a chance to get it all done - highly unlikely but.

Anyways, I'll reserve a proper critical analysis of Canberra once I get out and experience it a bit more. So far, so good :)

Till tomorrow night....

Adieu.

]]> http://legaciesofbetrayal.wordpress.com/?p=265 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 02:38:25 +0000 legaciesofbetrayal http://legaciesofbetrayal.pl.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/handouts-heroic-tier-overview/ In a land once cowed by the power of immortal vampire lords,
people go about their peaceful lives unaware of the
dark threat that lurks just beyond the edge of daylight...

Only a few short centuries ago, the land was ruled by vampire lords who treated the mortal races as slaves, ruling through a vast cult of demon-worshippers who pledged their allegiance to the blood demon Orcus and his vampire servants. For untold generations, the Kingdom was a place of death, plague and strife with few permanent settlements since the fall of the Inkosh Empire.

King Tristran’s ancestor, a great warrior-lord known (and feared) throughout the kingdom as the “Sangain Slayer” defeated a powerful vampire lord who ruled the dark Citadel of Blood. The Slayer called upon the might of the gods to place a strong curse upon vampire-kind, dooming them to weakness in so doing. While most have forgotten their kingdom and king's dark legacy, there are those who will never forget.

Remnants of the Cult of Orcus, a few even strong vampires born of blood before the curse was wrought, remain scattered throughout the land, awaiting a chance to reclaim power over all. Some say the blood demon Orcus himself still harbors a special hatred for the descendants of the man who brought his servants to their knees.

As the kingdom peers over the precipice of disaster, heroes are once again needed fight back the tides of blood and betrayal.

The Village of Bountmarch

Your characters grew up in or near the village of Bountmarch, a small, unwalled, trade village in the Verdant Fields, the breadbasket of the Kingdom. Most of Capital City's foodstuff make their way through Bountmarch at some point, and many who set a course for untamed lands north of the Verdant Fields pass through the village on their way out of civilization. If your character was not born in or near Bountmarch, they are likely passing through on their way to points North when the events of the first adventure begin to unfold.

Key features of the village, and people connected to them are as follows.

The Cracked Grain Inn: The vaillage's only inn and only reputable tavern, the Cracked Grain is where many of the upstanding citizens of Bountmarch can be found most evenings.

• Jahl (male human), the proprietor of the Cracked Grain, brews the local Weissebiter.
• Seneschal Devain (male human), the Baron's seneschal frequents the Cracked Grain.

The House of the Sun: The village's temple of Pelor is also a large farming operation.

• Father Hithril (male human), the village's aging priest of Pelor.

County Hall: The focal point of the village's government, this building also houses the offices of the village guard and a few jail cells.

• Captain Rythan (male human), is the captain of the small village guard, and also the sheriff.

Dolset's Outfitters: A local general store, part of the Lightfoot House merchant guild that spans the kingdom.

• Ja-ane Dolset (female halfing), the local representative of Lightfoot House and proprietor of Dolset's Outfitters.

Tellus Arms: Village blacksmith, known to produce simple arms and armor.

• Tellus Daenson (male dwarf), is the town smith and proprietor of Tellus Arms.

Bountmarch Manor: A large manor opposite the County Hall on the Village Square, village-home of Baron Bountmarch.

• Baron Bountmarch (male human), is the local lord and ostensible manager of Bountmarch Grocery & Warehousing.

The Surrounding Area

The unwalled village gradually becomes fertile farmland as the gardens surrounding the area become larger and larger the farther one gets from the Village Square. Traveling west through the Verdant Fields will eventually bring one to the River Sangain, passing the Baron's keep on the way. The banks of the Sangain are home to the small fishing communities of Verdellstad and Vantraiche.

The King's Road that bisects Bountmarch travels from Capital City in the south, north to the Great Forest and the holdings of the eladrin and elves.

Not far to the east of the village, the land gives way to hilly scrubland cut with sharp ridge lines, and eventually rises to a spur of the Ice Cap range. This scrubland stands between the village and the vast Plagosh swampland, a natural barrier to the tepid rising waters of that region.

Ruins and graveyards left behind by the Inkosh empire dot the edge of the Plagosh, and fill the scrubland between the swamp and fertile farmland. As far as the River Sangain one might also find lairs left behind by ancient vampire lords, now inhabited by lesser monsters and perhaps still filled with relics and wealth.

Character Races

All of the races in the Player's Handbook can be found in the Bountmarch region, or would have a reason for passing through or visiting the village. The people encountered Bountmarch are mostly human farmers, and many of them live on farms near the village.

Dragonborn are rare in the Kingdom, but there are a few small settlements of the race in the Fire Cap range high above Baernsplateau. A dragonborn character might be passing through Bountmarch as a mercenary protecting trade caravans traveling the King's Road, or perhaps traveling from a home high in the mountains to Capital City seeking adventure and excitement.

Most of the dwarves in the Kingdom reside in Baernskeep, a dwarven stronghold on the edge of the Fire Cap range. A dwarf character could be in Bountmarach to pay a visit the local dwarven smithy, Tellus Daenson, who could be a family member or a friend. Dwarves also frequently pass through Bountmarch bringing goods from Baernskeep to trade in Capital City.

The forest city of Myth Illanor is home to most of the Kingdom's eladrin population, and beyond the Great Forest eladrin are most likely to be found in the employ of the crown in Capital City. Eladrin characters might just be passing through Bountmarch on the King's Road from Myth Illanor to Capital City, or perhaps the eladrin nobility have sent a representative to the Baron on a particular mission.

Scattered tribes of elves range across the vast expanse of the Great Forest, migrating with the seasons. Beyond the forest, elves are rare in the Kingdom, but will most often be found as rangers protecting the Verdant Fields. Elven characters might visit Bountmarch in the service of the Verdant Guard, a company of rangers that protects the farmsteads in the region from encroaching darkness.

Half-elves are surprisingly common in the Kingdom, and particularly so throughout the Verdant Fields. Aside from permanent residence, Bountmarch has numerous opportunities for half-elves. Perhaps they are in the village in the service of the Verdant Guard, or even tracking down their long-lost human parent.

While not exactly rare, halflings are at least uncommon in the Kingdom. The halflings that are around are deeply involved in trade throughout the land, and can be found in nearly any community. Some halfings also live simple lives as fisherfolk on the River Sangain, others are known to be involved in the notorious Black Hook thieve's guild. A halfling character in Bountmarch might be transporting trade goods to Dolset's Outfitters, fish from the river to the market, or even on a mission from the Black Hook.

Humans are the most common inhabitants of Sangain. Capital City, Port Plagosh, and Bountmarch are all predominantly human settlements. A human character in Bountmarch might be a local resident, a guard in the service of a traveling merchant or farmer transporting goods to the market, or a sellsword in search of work.

Like halflings, tieflings are uncommon in the Kingdom. The remnants of the nobility of Inkosh, most tieflings are feared if not openly reviled by many citizens of Sangain. A tiefling character is most likely from Capital City, where a few notable tiefling families still reside and operate trade organizations. A tiefling character in Bountmarch is most likely accompanying a delivery of trade goods to the village, or supervising the pick-up of a shipment from the grocer. Tiefling sellswords outcast from their houses may also visit the village in search of work.

Magic Items

Magic items are not available for routine purchase in the Kingdom of Sangain. The right connections in Capital City, and maybe even Port Plagosh will be able to find some items, but not everything. Rituals to enchant and disenchant magic items are also known to exist.

This was the case on a recent trip.  We were only an hour and a half from home, but deviated from our usual route.  (Actually, we don't have many "usual" routes because I love to see as many different things as I can.)  Hubby had a certain county road in mind, so we headed for it.

Along the way, though, I spotted a sign that intrigued me.  It said "Capitol City" and pointed us down another road.  "Capitol City?" I thought?  Out in the middle of rural Minnesota?  We followed the sign, which led us six or seven miles and around a few more corners, ending up on a spot on a gravel road that overlooks two lakes.

There we found it, a piece of Minnesota history I'd never heard of.  It wasn't a city, or even any buildings, this Capitol City.  Instead, we found a series of signs that detailed a capitol city that almost was.

St. Paul was originally set up to be the temporary capitol of Minnesota, so Governor Henry Hastings Sibley sent out a party of searchers to find an ideal location.  They recommended this site in Kandiyohi County.  It went through some political twists and turns, and at one point was actually slated to become the new capitol, but the order was repealed by the next governor.

The plats had been laid out, with the capitol atop the hill and a town on the shores of the nearby lakes.  It led me to wonder how different our state would be with the capitol in Capitol City instead of St. Paul.  How would it have affected rural development?  How would the Twin Cities be different?  One can only wonder, because the state capitol stayed in St. Paul, and all that remains of Capitol City are the markers and documents that describe what it was to be.

Jakarta begin its history in 16th century as a Town Harbour SUNDA KELAPA under the name of JAYAKARTA meaning Glorious Victory by Prince FATAHILLAH in June 21, 1527.

The arrival of VOC In the Dutch Era Colonialisation in 1619, destroyed the City of Jayakarta and change the name into BATAVIA.

After the outbreak of World War II where the troops of align European country: Bitish, Dutch, America defeating Japanese troop between 1942 to 1945 during which time Batavia change the name into JAKARTA and was retained after Indonesia achieved national independence after the war's ending.                      

From the long History above, until now one could find a World War Second Cemetery in Jakarta where the troops from: UK, AUSTRALIA, DUTCH, US and the GURKHA from PAKISTAN and INDIA were  been buried over here in a site called MENTENG PULO as a World War Second Memory. In  one  occassion the Prince Charles of UK was taken a chance visited this site when the Prince and the Lady came and Visit Indonesia.

By Mari Sandoz

Published 1939, reprinted November 2007

University of Nebraska Press

352 pp.

ISBN 0-803-26031-8

Reviewed June 10, 2008

Originally reviewed in: BookReview.com

Originally published in 1939, Mari Sandoz's "Capital City" fits into the many novels reacting to the poverty and politics of America during the Great Depression. Drawing on personal experience and the archives of Midwestern newspapers, Sandoz crafted the fictional state of Kanewa, home to an elite circle of families and an ever-widening circle of the disenfranchised. Her aim was to use fiction to depict the bitter competition driving the families, the anger working people felt and the rise of fascist thought in the Great Plains.

Does she succeed? Well, yes and no - the book certainly contains ample instances of hedonism, elitism and short-sightedness, showing Sandoz certainly did her research on the area's culture. The problem is that Sandoz, considered the definitive historian on Plains Indians and the Lakota chief Crazy Horse, feels ill-fitted writing a work of fiction. Used to a scholarly audience, her literary work never quite grabs the reader's full interest.

The chief culprit in holding the book back is its slow, almost dreary pace. The first third of "Capital City" is all exposition, setting up the framework of the city's "nobility" - a genealogy on par with Mafia families or royalty who barter their children for political alliances. Every character has a backstory, every business has a political history and everyone seems to be against someone else. It's a tangled mass almost requiring an organizational chart, especially since they spend half their time scheming against the others.

Once the book develops narrative it gets more interesting, since the city is full of complicated subplots. A firebrand farmer running a long-shot Senate campaign, the death of a city official during a grand elitist celebration, a university professor whose novel is excoriated by the town for its brutal honesty (a foreshadowing of Sandoz fleeing to Denver after "Capital City" was published) - all are factors in the city's restless agitation. But those plots don't make up for a slower start, every development paired with three pages of exposition.

This is not to say that "Capital City" is as painfully dry as the Great Plains. Sandoz is one of Nebraska's preeminent writers for a reason, and her skills are repeatedly exercised when describing the Depression's attitude. There are frequent allusions to the city and her residents as whores and parasites, and the term "capital city" is written with the sort of fear and vitriol that matches the Ministry of Truth from Orwell's "1984." Her characters fit a variety of descriptions, ranging from straight and aged as smokestacks to old crows on the fence waiting for carrion.

One particularly noteworthy passage attributed to the novel's protagonist shows Sandoz's grasp of prose writing: "He was like those others born in Franklin, mere followers, his brother and all the others here, content with the feel of money flowing under their hands, their mothers' money, or their grandmothers', or somewhere much farther removed; even exhilarated by the movement, as though it were their own making, like the blanket of green plantlets rising and falling with the pulse of a turgid stream."

As a historical piece of fiction "Capital City" is certainly a strong look at Midwestern politics during the Depression, and its techniques earn it a place among the early works of new journalism. Sandoz has a great deal of frustration at Midwestern culture and uses many of the right words to express it, and it's a frustrating thing that the book never truly lights afire.

Sukhothai which literally means "Dawn of Happiness" with an area of 6,596 sq.kms., is about 427 km (267 miles) north of Bangkok and was founded in 1238. Sukhothai was the capital of Thailand for approximately 120 years.

Boundary

Distances from Amphoe Muang to Other Districts :

Distances from Amphoe Muang to Other Districts :

Phitsanulok Kamphaeng Phet Tak Uttaradit Phrae Lampang

59 77 79 100 165 207

kms. kms. kms. kms. kms. kms. How to get there By Car Those with private cars will find it enjoyable to drive from Bangkok by having the opportunity of really seeing rural Thailand. They will travel through a number of provinces: Ayutthaya, capital of Thailand before Bangkok; Saraburi with its temple of Lord Buddha's Footprint; Lopburi with its ancient Khmer temple; Chai Nat with its huge irrigation dam; Nakhon Sawan where major rivers converge to form Maenam Chao Phraya; Phitsanulok with its various attractions; Kamphaeng Phet and Tak with their striking views of hills and rivers.By Bus Air-conditioned buses depart from Bangkok's Mochit 2 Bus Terminal to Sukhothai daily between 9.45 a.m. and 10.20 p.m., frequently during the morning. The journey takes 7 hours. Call 0 2936 2852-66 or visit www.transport.co.th for more information. Private bus companies which operate daily bus services to Sukhothai are such as Win Tour (Tel: 0 2936 3753 or 0 5561 1039), Phitsanulok Yan Yon (Tel: 0 2936 2924-5, 0 5525 8647) Sukhothai Bus Terminal (Tel: 0 5561 3296 By Train There are no trains going directly to Sukhothai. One may travel by train to Phitsanulok and then take a local bus to Sukhothai, about 59 kilometres away. Contact Bangkok Railway Station Tel. 1690, 02223 7010, 0 2223 7020. By Air Bangkok Airways flies from Bangkok to Sukhothai daily for 1-hour journey. Sukhothai Airport is about 40 kilometres north of the town. For more information, call 0 2265 5678, 0 2265 5555 or 0 5564 7224-5.

Islamabad is the capital city of Pakistan. It is a very beautiful city. I have visited this city many times.

Here are some pictures of this city.

Supreme Court:

Faisal Mosque:

Pakistan Monument:

Quote of the Week: "We're sort of winking at you, you know? We're saying 'oh, we know what you're going to do.'" ~ Carrie Gouskos on the Tome of Knowledge

Story of the Week: Massively visits Mythic. Michael Zenke just became the most envied person in the Warhammer world, as he was invited into EA Mythic to conduct numerous interviews, play testing and investigations into WAR. A week later, and we have 15 (!) articles for his work. Here they are:

• "Massively Goes To WAR: Your Questions"
• "Massively Goes To WAR: Jeff Hickman's View of Warhammer Online"
• "Massively Goes To WAR: Emotions behind the Tome of Knowledge"
• "Massively Goes To WAR: Interview with Senior Designer Dan Enright"
• "Massively Goes To WAR: Insights into Warhammer's crafting system"
• "Massively Goes To WAR: How to Conquer a Capital City"
• "Massively Goes To WAR: Exploring Warhammer's Capital Cities"
• "Massively Goes To WAR: Everything You Need To Know About Guilds"
• "From Tabletop to Desktop: WAR's Destruction Careers"
• "Massively Goes To WAR: The Early Days of Mythic Entertainment"
• "Massively Goes To WAR: Spotlight on the Goblin Shaman"
• "Massively Goes To WAR: Spotlight on the Dwarf Engineer"
• "Massively Goes To WAR: Spotlight on the Chaos Marauder"
• "Massively Goes To WAR: Every Warhammer Class Explained"
• "Massively Goes To WAR: How you get your public quest loot"
  
• Finally, you can look over all the screenshots used in the Massively Goes to WAR gallery.

In Other News:

• /random is frustrated by the bounds of the Warhammer NDA, but I think you can read around the lines to know he's excited about the game.
• Another week, another great Forum Watch, brought to you by The Greenskin!
• Australia now has 6,000 copies of the WAR Collector's Edition on sale.
• A Q&A with Mark Jacobs at Venture Beat - it's a really insightful interview that doesn't just rehash over the same-old, same-old.
• New dwarf art is available for your discerning tastes at Warhammer Vault.
• Keen's Korner - "Crafting a new way of Crafting". See what he did there? I did!
• Book of Grudges asks the question we've all wondered: "Is PvP really just for the hardcore?"
• WAR Europe has a neat section on the website entitled "Fan Tales" for beta players to post stories.
• Josh Drescher is a nerd.
• WAR-RvR.net is taking questions about the White Lion career for next month's grab bag -- so go dump your mind there.
• Warhammer Geek's latest parody is a subject near and dear to many a heart: "CyberSex Mistell".
• Warhammer Vault continues to impress us with two new wallpapers: a Greenskins and White Lion throw rug!
• The Tome of WAR -- a Warhammer Online mod/addon site -- is in the making, and the creators want to share their vision and get feedback on this WHA thread.
• Josh Drescher gets personal. Oh yeah baby. Oh yeahhhh.
• There's a new Warhammer novel that's being released online, and you can read it as its published, chapter by chapter!
• Art director Greg Grimsby popped by the WHA forums to explain how the dwarfs ended up with the gyro-harness mount.
• RadarX over at TTH evaluates whether or not the $80 Collector's Edition is worth it.
• There's a really cool -- freezer burn cool -- review of WAR from the NY Comic Con. Methinks the guy liked it!
• This doesn't have so much to do with WAR as it does MMO development as a whole, but I love this article over at Eating Bees like I love my non-existent children.
• Mania's Arcania, a WoW Hunter Pet blog, has written up a piece on WAR's White Lion class. Cheeky!
• Book of Grudges reports that Play.com has apparently sold out of the WAR CE.
• Warhammer Conflict's announced a pair of new features: Richest Members and Sudoku!
• And then they had to go and add Conflict Pets just to mess my little duo news tidbit up.
• Should you update your Dxdiag file if you change your system and want to get into closed beta? A WAR dev answers the question here.
• Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen -- the newest Greenskin Forum Watch is here!
• Mugs up, ale down! A new dwarf blog is on the scene: The Cogworks!
• Three new crafting screenshots are now available at TTH, which come from the new crafting interview with Mark Jacobs. I'm lovin' it!
• Book of Grudges chews on the new Engineer info.
• Jeff Hickman popped onto the WHA forums to calm some minds over large-scale RvR.
• The Cogworks has the latest Engineer News for you to digest.
• Hardcore Casual mulls over whether WAR will be a serious threat to WoW or... not.
• TTH has a recap of all the crafting info we've been handed.
• "That's WAR!", a new Warhammer podcast is available -- if you can understand German, that is.
• "Warhammer Online: End Game" over at GameZig discusses the much-anticipated massive PvP bouts.
• Another one hooked: "Warhammer Online: My interest unlocked"
• Warhammer Conflict has another Guild Chat Event this weekend -- get wooed by WAR guilds!
• James Nichols clarified how you use your Amazon pre-order codes.
• New Secret Life of Mobs comic: "Skaven Army"
• Over at Video Game Theory, they muse about how WAR's guilds will outlast other MMO guilds by a long shot.

...of one of the most obscure British TV imports I've ever seen in the US.

Back in my native Washington DC, we had the good fortune to have three PBS stations. Channel 26 was the Captain of the Football Team, Channel 22 was everyone's shy but brainy Best Friend, and Channel 32 was the oddball new kid whom nobody really understood. Where the first two were happy to provide those great British crowd-pleasers like Are You Being Served and Mystery, Channel 32 scraped around the back of the PBS catalog until it came up with the little shows that no one else seemed to want. The Scottish crime drama Taggart was one (don't forget to check out a classic interview with Taggart star Blythe Duff in 30 Years of British Television - your pushy author).

The other was a real head-scratcher that rejoiced in the brilliantly understated name Capital City. Set in London's financial district during the '80s, the program followed the lives and loves of the brilliant young things on the trading desks of an investment bank.

I believe it ran for just two seasons, but oh the places we went in that short expanse of time. More importantly, what dramas we witnessed. The suddenly worthless securities that dashing young Declan (Douglas Hodge) was landed with; the vicious sniping between trading floor manager Sylvia (Emily Bolton) and nearly everyone else -- magic!

For its small but loyal following (I'm proud to say that I have both seasons on DVD, thank you very much), the joy of this program is the way financial crises were played for high drama. Characters would enter a room and gravely announce that the Smith-Benson deal had just fallen through in television tones normally reserved for a shifty young man in tweeds and spats telling a room full of relations that Mr. Plumstead's been found dead in the back garden. Riveting stuff. (Check out the clip above for a taste.)

So yes, darn it, the world does seem to have landed itself in a pickle of a predicament over these dodgy loans and credit cards filled to bursting, but it also brings to mind a gentler, greedier time when one brave little program that could dared us to weep for the movers and shakers who made it all possible.

This Wednesday (7th) I shall be getting a stupidly early train to Kings Cross to embark on my very first London working experience, EEEEK. EEEEK is all I can actually say. I'm nervous. I'm apprehensive. I'm thoroughly excited!

I can't really let too much slip, not at the moment, but basically I'm going to be doing some freelance writing, Wed 7th-Mon 12th. I'm going to be located at Oxford Circus and lapping up the fashion of our good ol' Capital City. Fingers crossed this week worth stint will lead onto more work and push me forward for more opportunities!!! That would be perfect... and especially so for our big move this summer to the big smoke aswell!

I shall indeed have LOTS AND LOTS to tell upon my return next week, but for now, wish me luck!

Ms. Judy Pink.

1. Emigracja. Jak dla Sławińskiej NY, tak dla mnie Warszawa jest miejscem dobrowolnego zesłania. Liczę, że chwilowego, ale chwila się rozciąga już trzy lata i jej kresu nie widać. Też byłam trochę oszołomiona codziennym kontaktem z wielkim miastem, też bywałam w skostniałych urzędach, wypełniałam papiery, a nawet posunęłam się do ekstrawagancji i w stolicy urodziłam dziecko:) Też toczę ze sobą rozprawy o tożsamości i przynależności, o byciu tu i teraz, o Polakach, jacy są i dlaczego właśnie czasem nijacy tacy... Drążę korytarze w tej zapyziałej rzeczywistości i wystawiam swoją słabą cierpliwość na kolejne wyczerpujące próby... 

2. Ludzie. Nowy Jork to tygiel, pisze autorka. Warszawa to tygielek. W Wielkim Jabłku są wszyscy - Holendrzy, Japończycy, Polacy, Chińczycy, Meksykanie, Hiszpanie, itd. W Warszawie też są wszyscy. Wietnamczycy mieszkają chyba w Łomiankach (prasa donosi, że coraz trudniej tam się porozumiewać po polsku), Rosjanie na Pradze, w tzw. dobrych dzielnicach całe rodziny ambasadorów. Doprawdy, nigdy nie wiadomo, kogo się spotka na mieście. Kolega M. niedawno przyprowadził mi do domu Portugalczyka:), na placu zabaw F. kłócił się o łopatkę z małą Turczynką, a ostatnio w lokalnej kawiarni, gdy sobie na koniec zasiorbałam słomką, dwaj przystojni chłopcy podnieśli głowy znad laptopów i powiedzieli z najpiękniejszym francuskim akcentem: "Na zdrowie!". 

3. Wielka kratka. Manhattan w 1811 roku ojcowie miasta podzielili na piękne kawałki za pomocą linijki i skrupulatnie ponumerowali (choć zdarzają się dwie ulice z tym samym numerem, w końcu nikt nie jest doskonały), a prawdziwego nowojorczyka poznać po tym, że się w tej numeracji nie gubi ("Kto w NY nie wie, gdzie jest, nie zasługuje na to, by tu być!" - grzmi "New Yorker"). Ja w Warszawie też mam swoją małą kratkę. Dopiero przy lekturze tej książki zrozumiałam, dlaczego tak lubię spacery piechotą od pl. Konstytucji aż do Jerozolimskich. Bo tam jest kratka - Marszałkowska, a od niej Piękna i Koszykowa, i Hoża, i Wspólna, i Żurawia. Równe, rytmiczne kawałki, można wręcz kroki liczyć, ile od jednej przecznicy do drugiej... Wspaniały czas na udaną kontemplację! Kolejne etapy pokonuje się z ochotą, czując pod stopami puls miasta - jak w NY!

4. Gwiazdy i mosty. 171 East Seventy-First Street - tam mieszkała Holly Golightly. Trudno jest w NY znaleźć miejsce, gdzie nie mieszkałby ktoś sławny albo znany. Niemal brak miejsca na kolejne brązowe tabliczki z nazwiskami. Pozazdrościć. W Warszawie na Chocimskiej przez marnych parę lat mieszkał Gombrowicz, może nawet drzwi w drzwi ze słynnym dyrygentem Rowickim. Na Chocimskiej także mieszkała Elżbieta Barszczewska, piękna aktorka przedwojenna, na Malczewskiego dom miała inna aktorka Jadwiga Smosarska. Na rogu Rakowieckiej rezydował Melchior Wańkowicz, w al. Niepodległości Jan Bytnar, a w domu przy mojej ulubionej Asfaltowej pisał Kleksa Jan Brzechwa. Gwiazd żywych również pod dostatkiem, dość powiedzieć, że w autobusie do pracy mój drogi M. spotyka czasem byłego premiera M. Gwiazdy z mostów widać także tu, Sławińska uwielbia Williamsburg Bridge, przebywanie na którym daje jej poczucie spokoju i bezpieczeństwa. Ja lubię jechać Siekierkowskim, zawsze odczuwam niepokojąco przyjemny dreszcz na łydkach. Czy to znak, że już pokochałam miasto, w którym mieszkam? 

5. Przyjemności. Nowojorskie przyjemności są po nowojorsku przyjemne. Kawę mają ohydną, podobno. Za to pizza najlepsza jest na świecie, prawdziwa, robiona przez włoskie mama mia... Jak i w NY, tak i tu, trzeba długo szukać, by znaleźć rozkoszne miejsce, do którego się wraca - jak ja do tych (chyba) Egipcjan z kebabem, Polaków w "Dzikim Ryżu" i różanej "Lokalnej"... Nie ma łatwo, trzeba samemu przemierzyć miasto, by znaleźć swój port, choć my mamy nieco łatwiej, bo jeden pasibrzuch Nowak w "Co jest grane", a oni - za oceanem - tysiące (wiecznie głodnych) krytyków kulinarnych... 

Wdzięczna jest ta książka i czytam ją zaiste w dobrym tempie nowojorskiej minuty:) Wolałabym jednak na wstępie trochę więcej szczerości - TAK! To było moje największe marzenie: mieszkać tu, żyć tu, w tym kłębowisku kultur, języków, plątaninie linii metra, wśród oparów wielkiej sztuki, 100 stopni Fahrenheita, pocić się nad utrzymaniem na powierzchni tego tętniącego pępka świata! O tym marzyłam i mam to! Wtedy czapka sama spadłaby mi z głowy... 

 A chilly winter breeze brings 2008 to Washington DC.  The new mayor faces challenges in every aspect of managing the out of control bureaucracy. Take heart, Fenty is up to the task.

I think it would be wise to look beyond the headlines and listen beyond the soundbites. Our mayor is systematically reviewing, assessing and altering every facet of the District Government. For the first time since the District was afforded home rule, we have a mayor that understands the practical and the political. We have had mayors in the past that had the charisma to charm the electorate but did not have the ability to operate the city. We have had mayors in the past that have had an understanding of how to manage a city but none of the political gifts necessary to accomplish anything.

Mayor Fenty has stepped up and in short order begun addressing our problems while making sure changes enacted are long lasting and the impact is presented in a palatable fashion.

We will have a school system in the city that will provide hope, education and a foundation for a better tomorrow for our children. Every child will be afforded the opportunity to learn from early education, through primary education into secondary education and beyond. The city has a mayor that understands the importance of promises kept and the devastation of dreams not met.

Every aspect of living in the District will improve. It is a new day.

The metro will be completed. The new ballpark will open on time. Niche neighborhoods will thrive. The open air market will return.

Spring will come on schedule and once again we shall revel in the fact that no one does spring like Washington. Cherry Blossoms will explode in soft pinks around the tidal basin and our streets will begin to fill with visitors from across the country.

This is their Capital...........it is our city.

Today, let us be thankful for all the tomorrows that we shall enjoy. We have a mayor and now the promise of home rule can be fulfilled.

Just look at this!

Not bad, is she? :D

Cheers, lynus ^-^

The 138 constituents (136, since two conspicuously did not raise hands) who approved the first draft melted away from Sucre at pre dawn hours Sunday.  It was as if they were not the winners who only hours before had hailed the chart. They were like the real losers who trudged away from a shameful defeat. They ran away as they could. A military bus gave them a ride till about 10 miles off Potosí. And they walked to the city.

All this after they had approved a chart that allegedly, as a year ago was said,  would reshape Bolivia, politically and socially. The chart approved Saturday by MAS alone (over a hundred assembly members did not attend) had a very unusual venue: an army academy. To date, it was the first chart approved, even in principle, within a military academy. The army, and primarily the police, protected the meeting, which had been removed from its original place, the Mariscal de Ayacucho center, in downtown Sucre, where it had been besieged for months by civilian population demanding the Assembly debated the thorny issue of the capital of the nation. The MAS majority refused to tackle the matter under the understanding that doing so would mean losing support from La Paz, the political capital for over a century, where lies the backbone of its political support. It would have been, understandably, a hara-kiri. MAS is aware that as time has gone by, La Paz has been isolating itself from most of the country and an eventual referendum over which city should be Bolivia´s capital could bring embarrassing results for both La Paz and MAS.

As of this hour – midday Monday- the whereabouts of the official assembly members are unknown.  People wonder ¿where are those who represent Chuquisaca from the ranks of MAS and what they will do next. ¿Will they continue supporting a chart that has triggered the worst wave of violence during a government supposed to change things the right way  __peacefully, since President Morales always says he represents "the culture of peace"?

Regarding the fast-track approved constitution, a question still lingering is if a first step has been undertaken, ¿what about the next? Let´s explain.  The approval “ en grande,” that is just in principle and still subject to a thorough review, happened in a dramatic way: the board of the meeting read just the subtitles __no content at all. And the chorus raised hands in approval. (When news was heard that one person had been killed and to adjourn the meeting was necessary, it has been said the reaction from Board Chairwoman Silvia Lazarte was icy cold, “There is one dead. May he enjoy Paradise. We have to continue working.”  Then, because of the heavy environment hanging over the meeting after the news,  she agreed on a 15 minute break.)

That was it. After saying yes, assembly members rushed to pack and run away.  Now the review should come, although Presdident Morales hinted yesterday that step would be dismissed.  Assuming the “headline-only draft” is OK, where the review will take place?      

This constitutional experiment has been always controversial. I shuddered when I was told about the unusually high number of illiterate members in the Assembly. But I used to look at this argument suspiciously, thinking that even illiterate people would do better than many of the rapacious politicians who ruled the country over almost two centuries. But as months went by, I began questioning myself. Drafting a constitutional chart, I said, is like holding the wheel of a bus riding over bumpy paths. In order to succeed one would choose the very best and most experienced drivers. This was not the case with the Bolivian Constitutional Experiment.  ¿Would I put my children in that bus? ¿Would I tell my wife to board that bus? I agonized over this point. 

As this official-only assembly ordered the approval of the first step Evo Morales has crossed the Rubicon. As Julius Caesar. A time of uncertainty lies ahead.        

But is London England's capital city or the United Kingdom's? London belongs to the whole of the UK, and almost every national institution headquartered there is, precisely, national (i.e. British) rather than English - with the exception of a few iconic cultural and sporting organisations, such as the English National Opera, the English National Ballet, Twickenham, Wembley or the FA.

In this respect, the capital city serves as a symbol for so many other instances (including, of course, parliament) whereby there are both national institutions for the UK as a whole, and parallel or subsidiary organisations for the nations of Scotland or Wales - but not England. Scotland has its capital in Edinburgh; Cardiff is the capital city of Wales - but it sounds rather odd to say England's capital city is London. 'In the absence of any other', one feels like adding. This discrepancy - whose origins in the asymmetrical constitution of the UK are well known - struck me on reading Gareth Young's recent post 'Is Britain Doomed?' (well, actually Philip Hosking's comment on that post) on the Our Kingdom blog, in which PH did refer to London rather dismissively as the 'capital of England'. (The phrase puts me in mind of that ad of a few years ago, where a child is asked what the capital of 'England' is, and she thinks for a while before answering 'E' (i.e. letter E). Perhaps why that is so funny is not just because of the cleverness of the child in working out a coherent but wrong answer to a question she wasn't sure of, but also the very fact that she didn't know the answer - reflecting the ambiguity of London's status.)

Maybe the fact that Philip Hosking's unthinking assumption that London is the capital of England reflects a Celtic perspective on the UK, I don't know. But from an English perspective, there's not much of a sense that London is especially English, other than in the general sense that the UK itself is 'English': a product of English politics, statesmanship, military victories, culture and society over the centuries. English people generally are proud of London and of the fact that it is a great global metropolis, and the world's financial capital (the capital of capital, if you like). But is it our capital; does it symbolise England?

It was for that reason that I added a facetious comment of my own to the Our Kingdom post pointing out that London was officially only the capital of the UK and that in this respect, as with the parliament, England doesn't actually have a capital city. I then invited suggestions for the capital city of what would effectively have to be a devolved or independent England, if the country's new capital were to have any formal rather than merely symbolic status. I suggested Canterbury: partly because it was the birthplace of Anglo-Saxon Christianity (and I'd personally like England to continue to have some sort of continuing official status as a Christian country), and partly, facetiously, because it's got good access to Brussels via the Eurostar!

On reflection, however - and yes, this is the sort of sad rumination with which my brain is so frequently afflicted - I'd like to change my selection to Nottingham. Why Nottingham?

1. The capital of England couldn't be London as this would replicate all the Westminster-villagey, London-centric things that are wrong about UK politics; plus it would inevitably mean the federal English parliament and ministries would be too much under the thumb of the UK ones and would struggle to establish a separate identity and organisational culture
2. You couldn't locate the parliament in another big city like Manchester or Birmingham as this could result in that city trying to set itself up as a rival to London (and potentially failing); while it could generate a lot of jealousy and antagonism on the part of the other big cities that hadn't been chosen
3. It couldn't be in a small but symbolically important city such as Canterbury, Winchester or York, as the coming of the parliament, the construction of a new parliament building and ministries, and the housing and infrastructure requirements would be overwhelming and would totally transform the city in which they were established. Equally, locating the parliament in York would get the Lancastrians up in arms (hopefully, not literally); putting it in Winchester would lead to accusations of South of England-centrism
4. It would be good, nonetheless, to establish the parliament in a historic city with a rich and symbolic past
5. Nottingham is just such a city, and its East Midlands geographical location is ideal: neither North nor South; good transport links to everywhere in the country
6. It's also a city in serious need of regeneration. Deciding to locate the parliament here would be the trigger for massive investment; plus it would be demonstrating the political establishment's determination not to be identified with the privileged South but to be committed to English communities that need support
7. And last but not least, it's the home of Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. What better symbol for our times of the people of England rising up in revolt against an overarching [pun intended] centralised state and a corrupt political elite!

Anyone got any better suggestions for England's new capital?

For starters, Delhi is _not_ a well planned city. It depends which part of Delhi we are talking about. Old Delhi (whose original name is back in fashion these days - "Shahjahanabad") is not well planned and is a fire disaster waiting to happen.

"New Delhi" which refers specifically to an area built to the south of Old Delhi, designed by British architects and built by Sikh refugees to the City, is extremely "well planned", and also completely useless for 21st century city dwellers. Nice and wide roads, 3 lanes one way, trees and huge bungalows are eating up space which could be utilised to build skyscrapers, art galleries, theatres, commercial space and residential space which would bring the ridiculous cost of land within Delhi tumbling down. But, that said, it all does look very Pretty. If I could level all of New Delhi, I would do it in a flash. We don't need a bloody "Presidential Palace", we don't old high-roofed White House look-a-like bungalows which require a staff of 15 servants. In fact, there is no real reason at all WHY Delhi should be the capital of the country, other than the fact that is has always been the capital of something for the past 2000+ years. In my view, level the damn place, make a museum out of Parliament house, and send the bloody Central Government packing to most crime-ridden flea-infested part of Madhya Pradesh/ Bihar, and have them build a new Capital from scratch. A new capital, for a New India. And watch how that becomes a new center of economic activity. THAT would wonders for our GDP and economic growth. Fuck the British, and their so-called love of infrastructure.

Now Outside of 600-year-old Shahjahanabad, and 100-year-old New Delhi, the rest of Delhi is just absolute chaos. But this has nothing to do with lack of Britishness. After partition, wave after wave of refugees made Delhi their home. You try setting up an orderly city in those circumstances. Places like GK-1 & GK-2 built by DLF, when they were considered the edge of Delhi, sometime in the 1960s are literally creaking at the seams, with what used be single houses in big plots being converted to 4 storey-8 apartments blocks with equivalent numbers of cars unable to fit into those alleys.

The power cuts in the city used to be extremely frequent up until about a year ago, by which time Tata Power and BSES Rajdhani/Reliance Energy have finally managed to reduce power theft, upgrade billing, metering and fix a few of the centuries old transformers. If the British were so good, how come they couldn't plan for future power stations? Do you think their broad avenues, bungalows and Presidential Palace with its still waterways consume less energy than anything produced by Indians? In terms of upkeep, water and power? Good infrastructure my left foot!

There has been no water to be had for years. I could blame this on the British too. Which idiot plans on settling next to the Rajasthani desert and have hot winds blowing in during the middle of June with the temperature at a mild 47 degrees celcius? Vasant Kunj is still a dry desert dependent on rusted, leaking Delhi Jal Board trucks. Water pipes from the new treatment plant at Sonia Vihar were completed only 2 years ago, and we are still begging-dependent on UP & Haryana to release some water to us to keep things going. There may be working water pipes under British-built New Delhi, but they are maintained at the expense and cost of that section of the local population that has no water whatsoever.

And I haven't even begun to talk about North Delhi, West Delhi or East Delhi yet...

With due respect, the British are NOT responsible for the only city with barely passable infrastructure in - dare-I-say-it South Asia.

Delhi embarked on a clean-up plan when a few things happened in recent times:

1. Economic Liberalisation in 1991. And this is the capital of the country in which the liberalisation occured, i.e. a Centre of Power. 
2. There was a software boom (amongst other various booms, which are still very much n progress), and there was lots of empty land outside Delhi that was being developed because there was no land to be had inside the city. Thus we have Gurgaon, and NOIDA (which stands for New Okhla Industrial Development Area, btw - Okhla being an industrial area of Delhi)
3. The Congress (I HATE the Congress, as do most Delhi-ites, BUT, many of us respect Sheila Dikshit a lot, who is viewed as not being very corrupt - despite all the clout her son carries in Delhi) came to power with a huge majority.
4. Delhi bid for the Commonwealth Games and won. This means our city will have to be at a certain level before it can even consider hosting such an event - note that this is a precursor to bidding for the Olympics - and all of this is the VISION of some of the current politicians who rule Delhi. Of course, the fact that we are part of the Commonwealth is because of the British, so yes, maybe it all is because of them.
5. Being a Union Territory, and not subservient to the requirements of any rural state, coupled with The BJP's push for Statehood allowed Delhi to have an independence in the running of affairs that no other city gets to have in all of India.

There may be other factors, but these are the ones that come to mind. Sheila Dikshit, or whoever advises her has been the only person approaching a leader that I have seen in recent times. She has lived in Delhi, and is part of what one might call the Urban Elite - and therefore knows exactly what is required in a mostly _urban_ environment by urban dwellers. No other Urban area in India has this luxury - why? Because every large urban agglomeration in India also happens to be the State Capital. Bangalore for Karnataka, Hyderabad for Andhra, and of course Bombay for Maharashtra (or as arrogant Bombay people would like to claim - Bombay for all India). This means that you have goondaspoliticians coming in from their agrarian/rural base, and governing from an urban capital. So - loot the urban financial centres to feed the farmers with free rice and electricity. Result: Power cuts in the cities, no roads, and lots of cows. Welcome to modern day India.

In USA - NO Big City is the capital of the state that it is in - New York state is governed from Albany. California is governed from Sacramento, and on and on. This allows the Urban centres to focus on their priorities which are strikingly different from the rural ones.

There are a lot of other factors as well, but I am at work currently so can't answer you fully.

 But I would like to strenuously deny that the British built city of New Delhi is the cause of what resembles passable infrastructure. All this is recent phenomena caused by the luck of having a semi-decent politician in power, and some of the other factors mentioned above. She privatised the electricity distribution. She's privatised the Waste Management (garbage) which is now managed by the DWM (Delhi Waste Management). She wanted to privatise water distribution but that was shot down due to 'concerns'. She wanted to liberalise the liquor policy because she was quoted as saying "I do not feel it is the government's business to sell alcohol" but was also shot down by public protest. She managed to push through a half-attempt. Large 'kirana' stores can stock beer and wine. She attempted to allow shops to remain open for 24 hours, and I think that still holds, but most stores don't do it, claiming issues with the police.

She wanted to revise farcical privatisation of Blueline buses done in Delhi by the BJP (One bus to one owner!~#$##!#!$) and revise that with a system resembling the telecom industry - allow 3/4 corporates to run bus services in Delhi. Again, this proposal was struck down by her own party members, and various other vested interests.

Now I don't want to sound like a Sheila Dikshit fan, but which other politician in this whole country has their head screwed on this straight?

Prior to Sheila Dikshit running Delhi, it was exactly what Bombay people still perceive it to be - a sarkari village without a nightlife and where everybody knows someone in the government. (Nowadways everybody knows someone who owns a pub and can get you free entry).

Note - the Delhi Metro is success not because of anything the British did, but because of a man called E Sreedharan, and also because of Sheila Dikshit - who COULD have obstructed its construction, but instead got straight out of the way, and let them acquire the land they wanted to acquire, let them compensate the people freely and fairly, and basically gave them Support. (Having a friendly government at the Centre helped this as well).

To conclude I'd like to say a few things:

1. The British contributed nothing to improve the infrastructure of Delhi. Wide roads, and a presidential palace with a memorial arch and a canopy which used hold a statue of King George do not make life easier for a city of 14 million people (and growing)
2. I am NOT a supporter of Congress, and I hate everything they have done to this country. I am not a lover of Sheila Dikshit either, but again, looking at the alternatives, I would vote for her again if she runs or gets a ticket from her party (which she won't because she actually accomplished something)
3. This post is messy, disorganised, and doesn't say all i wanted it to because I am at work and have to go for lunch now. But I would love to debate this further with you.
4. I know this post sounds like a "Let's blame it all on the British" diatribe, but that is not my intent. But let's be clear. India was a colony. A big colony, run initially by a multinational company. They needed to get those resources extracted as efficiently as possible. Thusly, a nationwide railroad, developed ports (Bombay & Calcutta), a decentralised administration (building a local elite)  and all the support services that go along with it. If the British, with their apparent love of infratructure are so good, how come the United Provinces (British ruled) and now known as UP are in such bad shape. Why do you only mention those 3/4 specific cities?
5. I will concede one thing - Bombay - IS semi-decent because of the British. But then in my view the whole city was built by the British anyway. They reclaimed the land to make it one city, so rightly they should get the credit for that. But sorry, the same does not apply to Delhi.