Zurich...

Flying into Zürich


The last Starbucks I'll see for a couple of weeks - in Zürich Airport


In the airport train station to take the first of three trains


The train station sign showing we are Zürich Airport


What you see after leaving Zürich through the rain window (you really should click the photo to enlarge it!)

Italian Festival in Washington, D.C.

Yesterday was the annual Italian Festival in Washington, D.C. Every year they focus on a different region of Italy and this year it was Lazio's turn. It's a small festival, but nice. In area where it's rare to hear Italian heard, it's nice to hear so many people speaking Italian around me. The gelato was good and we got to see some friends we hadn't seen in a while.

Click here for more photos and videos.

Avatar - A Fantastic Series!

I have become hooked on Avatar, The Last Airbender, an American cartoon series that is starting its fourth season soon on Nickelodeon. It is very well written and voice-acted. It is full with action, adventure, betrayal and redemption. It's funny, it's serious, it is meant for children but is hugely entertaining for we adults as well. It borrows from many different Asian traditions but the result is rather unique too. I highly recommend it!

Another Fantastic Italian Meetup

Another fantastic meet-up of Italian ex-pats at the fantastic Michelangelo's Ristorante!

Click here for more photos!

I Have the Cutest Pets in the World

My dog does this every morning. He stretches, he rubs his face with his paws, he rubs it against the wooden banisters of our staircase, and he's a lot of fun to watch!

The guinea pigs, well, they just love to eat. If we wait a little too long to feed them and they hear us nearby, they stand up on their hind legs and start squeaking in no uncertain terms. Translation: feed us!

My Birthday Party at Wolf Trap Theater

My birthday isn't until Wednesday this week but that's a tough evening to have a party, so I planned it for last night instead. Thanks to my friend Irene (that's her son Arthur hamming it up for the camera) for her great idea to have a picnic on the lawn of the Filene Theater at Wolf Trap. As you can see if you click on the photo to enlarge it, the lawn is right above the seating area of the stage. Lawn seats were only $8.00 (cheaper than a movie!) and we got to watch The Gondoliers, a real fun Gilbert and Sullivan operetta set in Venice. Unfortunately, we had to cut it a bit short because of a lightning storm that came in. Anyway, thanks to all my friends who came to help me celebrate!

Outdoor Concert in Fairfax

I hadn't seen my friend Jill and her family for a long time so it was really wonderful to see them again!

Within walking distance of their home in Fairfax is a beautiful park and like many of the communities around here, they have weekly outdoor concerts in the summer. Friday evening I got to watch and listen and had a great time. It was peaceful surroundings and foot-thumping songs!

Thanks, Jill! Click here for more photos.

Steve and Shannon's Party

Steve and Shannon have been friends of ours for years and they always give the best parties! We were privileged to attend their party Saturday evening and had a blast. Thanks, Steve and Shannon! Their children, Maddie and Zach are child prodigies! Zach scored a whopping 700 on his SATs this year and Maddie has been making a big name for herself in theater. The coolest people ever!

Photo 1: Zach with three of his many girlfriends.

Photo 2: Me and Shannon!

Photo 3: The whole family, Steve, Shannon, Maddie and Zach!

Click here for more photos.

Reston Taste of the Town

On Saturday, we went to the Taste of Reston, where most of the restaurants at Reston Town Center had samples of their food out for tasting. It's always fun and we can check out lots of restaurants at the same time without spending a lot of money.

Click here for more photos and videos.

Pull the String on the Car

I was at a red light when I noticed that this car had a red string trailing out of it for quite a bit. So is this like when someone walks out of a public restroom with a piece of toilet paper stuck to his shoe? Or is it a pull string like on a doll? I wonder what would happen if someone pulled it?

Fun with Closed Captioning

Have you ever turned closed captioning on during a TV show or DVD you're watching? I do this often for a couple of reasons. First, when I have to keep the TV low it helps to make out what people are saying. Second, when it's a foreign film or there are characters with heavy accents, it's easier to "see" what they're saying.

I find watching closed captions interesting for another reason. When watching shows that are not live, but previously scripted, such as a movie or TV sitcom, the closed captions don't often match exactly what is said on the screen. Obviously, that makes sense for live broadcasts where the closed caption writers are writing as fast as they can but why would that be the case for scripted shows? The only explanation that comes to me is that actors often are not exactly following the script or the director or someone else associated with the movie made last-minute changes.

That being the case, I believe, it's fun to see what changes are made before or during the filming of a movie.

Herndon Fesitval

Last night was the Herndon Festival in nearby Herndon, Virginia. We had only gone once before years ago. It's a rather small and tame affair, though I suppose it's big enough for a small town like Herndon. Still, we found ourselves pretty much wrapped up in less than an hour and headed home. Nice enough and it doesn't cost anything, so no complaints. :-)

Italian Meetup at Michelangelo's

This week we had our Italian Meetup for the first time at Michelangelo's Restaurant here in Ashburn. That's Michelangelo and his wife in the first photo.

This restaurant is wonderful! Because we were a large group, I think there were 15 of us, and they knew we were coming, they prepared a fixed-price menu for us and brought out one dish after the other for us all to share. There was so much food that there was a lot left over after we were all stuffed - a real shame because it was all so delicious! The staff was very friendly and attentive. The owners were doting on us and making us feel so welcome, and the food just never stopped coming. The evening was capped off with Michelangelo's own homemade tiramisu -the best I've ever had!

We loved it so much that we decided to meet there once a month...FOREVER!

Click the link below if you live within 50 miles of Ashburn, Virginia and check out this wonderful restaurant!

http://www.michelangeloitalianrestaurant.com/main.html

More photos on my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeganci/sets/72157605329310500/

Herndon Friday Night Live Concert, May 23rd

Almost every week during the summer the town of Herndon near us holds a free concert. Sometimes it's well-attended, other times not. But it's always fun!

All the Colors of the Rainbow

We have a had a lot of rain lately, finally! I say finally because last year we had drought conditions and had to cut back on our water usage big time. Now we have had lots of rainstorms, so many that some areas have flooded. Luckily, we don't live in a flood zone so our basement is still dry!

The rain brings other benefits, like this rainbow I saw near my house. When it doesn't rain, we don't get rainbows!

Truth in Advertising

At the local Starbucks:

Are you energetic, friendly, motivated and addicted to coffee? Apply today as a full-time or part-time barista!

Great Bumper Stickers

Seen recently in my supermarket's parking lot:

I do whatever my Rice Krispies tell me to.


You're just jealous because the voices are talking to me.

Guinea Pigs Again Enchant The Neighbor Girls

The girls came to visit Nibbler and Quibbler again and this time they were able to feed them les carotes. What a feast. How lucky are these little piggies to be hand fed?

The Latest REALLY Cool Thing!

This is so cool and it's free. Check it out for yourself. You can explore space from the comfort of your home. It's a bit like Google Maps for space!

Download and experience it:

http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/experienceIt/ExperienceIt.aspx%5C

Smash Mouth in Concert

Sunday evening my son and I went to see Smash Mouth in concert nearby at the Belmont Country Club, the first in a summer-long series called Loudoun Music Fest. CCR Revisited was supposed to play two weeks ago but they were rained out. As you can see, this is an outdoor venue.

The opening act was a band called Mae, decent enough, rocking hard. Their set was a little long but pretty good. That's them in the first photo.

Smash Mouth came on after them and they rocked the house (OK, field) big time. One thing I thought while watching them is how it's pretty cool to see a band that was big (OK, sort of big) a few years ago. The reasons? 1) Tickets are much cheaper than seeing them in their hey day. 2) They've been doing this so long that if they didn't know how to do a concert right they wouldn't have lasted this long. 3) The crowds aren't overwhelming. As you can see, we sat pretty close to the stage!

You see the yellow-jacketed security guards? They were there to make sure none of us were audio or video recording the event (though many were, I'm sure). They also were guarding the fenced in VIP section in front of the stage. While the rest of us paid $15 - $20 for a ticket, those in the VIP section had paid about $40.

But something interesting happened after Smash Mouth got on stage and had played two or three songs. The lead singer, Steve Harwell, said that the concert would be a lot more fun if more people could be in front of the stage. The VIP section was pretty sparsely filled. He asked those who had paid a lot more for their seats and the security guards whether it would be OK with them if they let more people in. Put on the spot, what were they going to say? So in some of the photos you can see a lot of people hopping over the fence into the VIP section.

Steve was right. The concert was a lot more fun after that! I'm sure those who paid more for their seats weren't happy about it, but even they must have thought it was more fun to be standing and surrounded than just sitting there complacently.

Anyway, as the skies darkened and the full moon came out, the concert kept going. They played all of their famous songs and then some. You might know them as the band that sang I'm a Believer from the Shrek movie. You might also have seen them at the end of the very funny movie Rat Race.

Overall, it was a real fun concert!











I think the above photo I took is pretty cool. Click it to enlarge it!

Seen It, Done That, Been There (Thoughts on Getting Older)

It's interesting how age adds wisdom but also boredom. We all know the formula for a good romantic comedy.

1) Boy meets girl.
2) Boy gets girl.
3) Boy loses girl.
4) Boy gets girl back again.

(Yes, I know it sounds very one-sided, but that's the formula, folks!).

So how many romantic comedies can you see before they start to seem like movies you've seen before? How many TV situation comedies can I see before I start to recognize plots from I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners?

More and more, I love originality but it's harder and harder to find because there are only so many ways that people relate to each other and even fewer ways to write about them in ways that are unique. So...horror movies seem less horrifying, comedies are less comedic, and so on. When I happen upon something new and different, wow, I love it!

The same thing happens with music. I have lost count of the number of times that my kids heard a song on the radio played by a modern band and commented what a great new song it was. Except...the song is older and has already been covered by other bands. Tonight my son and I saw Smash Mouth in concert. Remember them from 10 years ago? More on them in my next blog entry. Of course they have many of their own songs but one of the most popular on the night, very well played and sung, was I'm a Believer. It was written by Neil Diamond. Since 1966, these are the bands and singers that have recorded the song, starting with The Monkees:

• 1966 The Monkees single, also on the 1967 album More of The Monkees
• 1967 The Fifth Estate (band) on the album "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead."
• 1967 The Four Tops on the album Reach Out
• 1967 The Ventures on the 1967 album Guitar Freakout
• 1967 Neil Diamond on the album Just for You
• 1974 Robert Wyatt single, also on the 2004 album His Greatest Misses
• 1979 Bram Tchaikovsky on the album Strange Man, Changed Man
• 1979 Neil Diamond on the album September Morn (with new lyrics)
• 1979 Tin Huey on the album Contents Dislodged During Shipping
• 1982 A La Carte on the album Rockin' Oldies
• 1990 Lulu Santos on the album Honululu (with Portuguese lyrics)
• 1995 Vic and Bob with EMF, non-album track (#3 UK Singles Chart)
• 1996 Neil Diamond on the album In My Lifetime
• 2001 Smash Mouth on the Shrek Soundtrack
• 2001 Eddie Murphy on the Shrek Soundtrack
• 2005 Daniel O'Donnell on his Rock n' Roll Tour

Does this make it a good song? YES! It has been very popular for 42 years and counting. It has not been unique since The Monkees first sang it, but it's still very good! Of course, it's a 4-minute song and we all know how we can listen to the same song over and over, but if it's a novel or movie it's disappointing when we recognize the plot because of the time it takes to digest the novel and even the movie. We've all heard and probably uttered the phrase, "There go two hours of my life I won't get back!"

Seen At My Local Supermarket...

I would hate to fill this position. Who knows how long I would last?

It's good that there is the Braille equivalent underneath. If I were blind, though, I would not want to open the door. Of course, even though I'm not blind, I still don't want to open the door on the off chance that the manager inside may not be quite alive!