The Visible Hand

Posting is probably going to be rather light for the next couple of weeks, for several reasons.

First & most importantly, I'm not sure how much time I'll be able to spend on the internet once I move up to Michigan, as my DSL service isn't due to be turned on until September 10th. My girlfriend's on her way up to Lincoln as I type, and we'll be leaving for Michigan Friday morning. Of course I'll have access when I'm on campus & using the law school's wireless network, but I'd like to think I'll be spending most of that time studying. Heh, I guess we'll see how that works out.

Which of course is point number two--this whole law school thing. I've been debating for a while whether I want to keep this blog thing going while I'm in school. I'll amost definitely keep posting about soccer, but I haven't decided how much I want to discuss the whole law school experience. I'm sure I'll end up discussing it quite a bit, but for now I think my goal will be to keep the posts on a general level & avoid mentioning specific classes or professors.

In any event, a name & URL change is lurking just around the corner. I'll be sure to keep something up here at this address pointing to the new one though. Although I haven't quite decided, the new name will probably be more law-related--which of course could be rather odd if I end up (continue?) focusing on soccer. In the meantime, I'd enjoy hearing some input from you loyal readers. And I hope you keep dropping by, even if posts are a little scarce for the next couple of weeks.

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Here are a few facts & figures drawn from the BBC's preview of Arsenal's match tomorrow against Blackburn about the 42-match unbeaten streaks of Nottingham Forest & the Gunners.

Arsenal: 30 wins, 12 draws
Forest: 21 wins, 21 draws

Arsenal: 92 goals scored (of which Thierry scored 31)
Forest: 58 goals scored

Arsenal: 31 goals conceded
Forest: 22 goals conceded

Arsenal: +61 goal difference
Forest: +36 goal difference

Lest anybody thinks I'm merely a blinkered Gunner supporter claiming they're the bestest team ever in all the history of world sports, I could add the following line:

Arsenal: 0 European Cups
Forest: 2 European Cups

It's always difficult comparing sports teams from different eras, and having never seen even one second from one single match played by Clough's Forest I can't possibly claim to judge between the two (but here's an interesting piece from the Sun by somebody who could). Still, it's interesting to compare some of the stats--especially looking at the number of draws Forest were held to. Following upon Ferguson's absurd claim that last year "wasn't championship form from Arsenal; they had too many draws," you have to wonder what he'd say about that legendary Forest side then. I think you have to be seriously deranged or just a colossal moron to claim a team that goes 38 matches unbeaten & finishes 11 points ahead of the team in 2nd place didn't show "championship form."

You also have to really question his math skills when he claims "[n]ormally you're going to lose about four games a year when you win a title but, with all the draws they were getting, four defeats would have cost them first place." Hmm, taking away four of those draws means four less points and....Chelsea are champs? Nope, Arsenal still finish first, 7 pts clear. Moron.

One other piece of good news I forgot to mention about Sunday's match is that Fabregas chopped off his hideous mullet (he's the one on the far right). Well done lad!

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15 Aug. 2004 Everton 1 - 4 Arsenal

22 Aug. 2004 Arsenal 5 - 3 Middlesbrough

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Here's something I've been meaning to do for a while--gathering links to all my entries about last season's matches into one post, which I'll link to on the right sidebar. I'll make a similar one for this year's matches & try to keep it up to date as well.

7 Feb. 2004 Wolves 1 -3 Arsenal

15 Feb. 2004 Arsenal 2 -1 Chelsea (FA Cup)

21 Feb. 2004 Chelsea 1 - 2 Arsenal (H/T post, F/T Post)

24 Feb. 2004 Celta Vigo 2 - 3 Arsenal (Champions League)

28 Feb. 2004 Arsenal 2 - 1 Charlton

10 March 2004 Arsenal 2 - 0 Celta Vigo (Champions League)

13 March 2004 Blackburn 0 - 2 Arsenal

20 March 2004 Arsenal 2 - 0 Bolton

24 March 2004 Chelsea 1 - 1 Arsenal (Champions League)

28 March 2004 Arsenal 1 - 1 Manchester United

3 April 2004 Manchester United 1 - 0 Arsenal (FA Cup)

6 April 2004 Arsenal 1 - 2 Chelsea (Champions League)

9 April 2004 Arsenal 4 - 2 Liverpool

25 April 2004 Tottenham 2 - 2 Arsenal

4 May 2004 Portsmouth 1 - 1 Arsenal

15 May 2004 Arsenal 2 - 1 Leicester 1 (plus end of season link round up)

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Kevin Drum puts together a beautiful little 'compare & contrast' project, placing previous statements from members of the Swift Boat Liars Vets for Truth next to their recent coordinated slander upon John Kerry. Looking at all their recent venom alongside their strong words of praise for Senator Kerry just a few years ago is really rather stunning. Why, combined with their utter lack of even one shred of evidence to supplement their tale, you'd almost think they're playing it a bit loose with the truth. Kerry's campaign really ought to run a commercial throwing those very quotes up on a black screen & asking why these goons are at all believable.

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This has to be the best football match I've ever watched. Arsenal 5 - 3 Boro. What a way to mark 42 matches unbeaten & equal Nottingham Forest's English record.

Arsenal were totally dominant in the first half. Henry scored a lovely goal in the 25th minute, knocking a perfect little lob over Schwarzer after Reyes had sprung him clear with a brilliant 50 yard ball over the top. Still, a very well worked goal for Boro, from Job, in their only attack of the half brought them level in the 43rd minute. 1-1 at the half, with Boro rather lucky not to be trailing by two or three goals--Henry had a 30+ yard rocket of a free kick slam into the crossbar with Schwarzer nowhere near it, among other near misses.

Boro then scored 2 goals in the first 8 minutes of the 2nd half--thanks to truly horrendous howlers from Cygan & Lehmann. But give Jimmy Floyd & Franck Queudrue plenty of credit tho--both hit magnificent strikes. Suddenly we were down 3-1 in a game we'd dominated. In what would be our record-tying 42nd match unbeaten. Arsenal had 37 minutes to score at least 2 goals.

Dennis Bergkamp provided the perfect response in less than a minute. Picking up the ball in the middle third, Boro allowed him to run at goal. Just beyond the edge of the box with Boro's centerbacks retreating in front of him, Dennis hit a wicked low shot that sped past Schwarzer & immediately restored hope.

Thierry Henry very nearly equalized after a scramble in the box following a well-taken Bergkamp corner. Cygan kept the ball alive, and Gilberto sent it back in. Henry instinctually stabbed at it, and with Schwarzer well beaten the ball just whizzed wide of the far post.

No matter. Le Boss hauled off Freddie Ljungberg in the 60th minute & put on Robert Pires. It was, as they say, an inspired substitution. Just five minutes later, Fabregas took off on a surging, driving (indeed, almost Vieira-esque) run through the heart of Boro's defence, breezing past three Boro defenders. He just managed to thread a ball into the box for Henry, who beat one more defender with a burst of pace before sending a cross back to the right, where a just arriving Pires popped up to tap home the equalizer from a mere foot or two.

The TV was still showing replays of Arsenal's brilliantly worked equalizer when one of the commentators erupted again & we abruptly returned to live action only to see the ball crash once more into the Boro net, this time courtesy of Jose Antonio Reyes. Within 20 seconds of equalizing, Arsenal were ahead, 4-3. Boro immediately squandered possession from the kick-off after Pires' goal. Dennis sent Jose in with a nice ball, and Reyes sped into the box with Reizeiger scrambling to keep up. Quick as you blink Reyes had stopped, and with poor Reizeiger falling over himself to stop & turn around, Reyes cut inside & smashed an unstoppable shot past Schwarzer into the far side-netting. With his unfavored right foot. Truly a special goal, from yet another of Wenger's truly special signings.

Both goals were scored in the 65th minute, which meant Arsenal had just 25 minutes to go before entering the recordbooks alongside Clough's legendary Nottingham Forest side. Boro were clearly shellshocked, but the game didn't really drop off. There were close calls for both sides. Henry & Pires were combining particularly well, and Pires was just offside when Henry fed him through in the 80th minute.

It was no surprise then when those two finally did combine successfully to score one more goal. Stoppage time had just begun when Bergkamp neatly picked Queudrue's pocket right at midfield and raced forward. He slowed up slightly, waiting for Pires' overlapping run on the left & played a perfect ball for him into the penalty area. With Henry streaking into the six yard box, Pires slashed toward the center & cut the ball back perfectly for him. Henry just got his foot in a moment before the defender, redirecting the ball into the open net. 5-3, and a fitting end to a fantastic football match.

Fox Sports World usually replays these Sunday PPV games on Tuesday or Wednesday, and I cannot urge you strongly enough to mark this one down on your calendar or pop a tape in your VCR or whatever. This Arsenal team is one that will be talked about for years & years to come. The football they're playing right now is truly special. They're always looking to keep possession, playing smart balls along the ground, always finding that seemingly impossible angle & threading passes perfectly into the narrowest of spaces. Always moving without the ball & presenting the man in possession with three or four options going forward. Always looking to set one another up for a better scoring opportunity. Always looking to launch a blistering counterattack--sometimes doing it so quickly the TV cameras can only catch the end of a goal, as they did with Reyes' winner today.

The way Berkgamp's playing it looks like Wenger & Gary Luin are slipping shots from the fountain of youth into his Lucozade bottle. Reyes is more than living up to the hefty price we paid for him last January. He's going to be--hell, already is--a real superstar. And in my eyes, Henry is simply the best in the world, period. Pires always seems to be making those dangerous runs into the box at just the right moment, and always seems on hand to knock home a cross when it's needed most. Kolo Toure continues to be a rock in central defence--right at the start of the 2nd half Ray Parlour was almost in 1v1 against Lehmann, but Toure somehow slid in with an amazing covering tackle. But perhaps most impressive of all was the young 17 year-old Fabregas, who again played the sort of football that even Vieira, Roy Keane or Steven Gerrard would be well proud of. He was dominant in midfield, winning tackles, conserving possession, spraying lovely balls out to the wings to launch attacks, covering back, and even taking off on a brilliant driving run or two forward--indeed one such run created the equalizer.

I might have more to say about this match later, but right now I'm too full of energy to sit still here at the computer any longer. I've got to go out for a run & burn some of this adrenaline.

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It's been a couple of days since my last post on my summer trip to Europe (linked here: Part One & Part Two), and it's about time I added a third installment. Part Two began & ended in Valencia, which means next up is our last destination in Spain.

Barcelona
My first visit to Barcelona, in December, 2000, didn't leave too positive an impression. A friend I was traveling with had her pocket picked outside the Sagrada Familia. The city seemed awash in tourists & seedy folks looking for suckers among 'em. It had undeniable beauty, and some excellent restaurants & museums, but it rubbed me the wrong way. And I was prepared for more or less the same experience this time 'round.

Our visit didn't necessarily get off to the best start. Our train from Valencia was delayed a couple of hours, and we eventually arrived in Barcelona around 9pm on a Saturday night. Walking along the corridor from the train station down to its metro station, a group of some 20 or 30 very loud & very tanked kids came barreling down behind us, bumping into everybody along their path to the platform.

The rest of our trip to the Liceu stop was uneventful & our Barcelona digs, Pensión Dalí, was literally steps off Las Ramblas, the main street running down alongside the Gothic Quarter (Barri Gòtic). On the train we'd consulted a TimeOut guide to Barcelona dining & had settled upon Juicy Jones, a vegetarian restaurant that looked to be very close by. We had to walk up & down the street a couple of times before we found it--the doorway is very narrow & very graffiti covered, which they apparently refresh every so often. The food was excellent--I had one of the daily Thali specials, featuring all sorts of tasty Indian dishes & an amazing Mango-Orange-Kiwi juice creation.

The next morning we went for a run, heading directly east along the Calle de Ferran, Calle de Jaume I & Calle de la Princesa (all the same street--it just changes names as it goes along) until we hit the Parc de la Ciutadella, which we ran around a couple times before heading north to the beautiful red brick Arc de Triomf, and then back down & returning to Las Ramblas. It was a fantastic run, and afterwards we headed over to the Cathedral square.

We'd read that every Sunday at noon a band plays on the Cathedral steps & people dance the Sardana, the Catalan National dance, in the square. On the train ride the night before, in Anthony Beevor's The Spanish Civil War, I read about Barcelona's resistance & the particularly bloody & unforgiving nature of combat, on both sides. Incredible stuff about how Franco's Nationalist troops would pretty much take any military age men they captured in Republican territory & execute them; how conservative Nationalist gentry would randomly go out 'peasant hunting,' indiscriminately murdering their farming tenants; how defeated Republican troops would often just go line up & sit alongside a wall, awaiting Franco's firing squads. I remembered visiting FC Barcelona's museum 4 years ago (and reading this excellent history of the club) & seeing the jerseys under Franco, which had to bear a CF Barcelona logo (reflecting its international origins the club name was anglicised to 'Futbol Club' Barcelona--Franco forced them to change it to the customary Spanish 'Club de Futbol' Barcelona).

So as I watched the band strike up its music & scores of 50 & 60 year-olds form a circle & begin their slow, graceful dance, it occurred to me that under Franco this weekly tradition was likely practiced, if at all, at some peril to its dancers. Catalan culture & language was anathema to Franco, and he did everything he could to erase & marginalize anything that differed from the 'good old days' of an imagined & ideal Catholic, Castilian Spain, reinvented & realized under Fascism. With that in mind, watching these mostly elderly folk partake in their peaceful, communal dance became a powerful experience.

Afterwards I began seeing Barcelona in almost an entirely new light, & overlooked much more easily the very same tourist hordes & kitschy shops that so bothered me last time (I think it also helps that since then I've become quite a fan of Whit Stillman's outstanding film, Barcelona, which lovingly showcases the city).

Along with the usual hotspots like the Sagrada Familia, Cathedral, Parc Guell & the Picasso Museum, I also really enjoyed the El Museu d'Història de la Ciutat, and its massive underground site housing ruins from the Roman settlement of Barcino which date back to the first century BC. Down below you see the remains of a winery & a Fuller's shop--a Roman laundry/dry cleaning firm, where urine, thanks to its high ammonia content, was used as bleach--along with remnants of the city walls & all kinds of other artifacts.

The military museum atop Montjuic was also pretty neat, as was the trip up via a chairlift which provides magnificent views of the city as you ascend to the top of the mountain. The Poble Espanyol, or Spanish Village, at the foot of the mountain was likewise very nice. Built in 1929 for a Spanish cultural Exhibition, its winding streets contain quite impressive copies of architectural styles & buildings from every region in Spain. Another really cool sight--and, amazingly, nearly deserted even in the heart of the tourist-choked Barri Gòtic--was the four columns from the Roman Temple of Augustus, which now sit in the courtyard of a private building. Lonely Planet advises that its doors are open sporadically but that stopping by between 10am & 2pm is one's best bet, and it worked for us. It did require poring over our map & taking a few wrong turns to find the tucked away building, but it was well worth the effort. We sat in the little courtyard & admired the massive columns in silence for several minutes, just meters away from streets clogged with tourists & street vendors.

Our final night we went on an outstanding bike tour of the city (from Bike Tours Barcelona). There was just one other rider along with the two of us and the guide, a friendly 50ish Austrian guy who, in his words, "traded in his desk for a bike" this March to lead bike tours of the city. It was a lovely way to see the city, and I'd highly recommend doing something like it.

Dining in Barcelona was also generally excellent. We had a wonderful lunch at Taller de Tapas (which is apparently a new 'buzz' restaurant), where I had some very tasty calamari rings, sauteed mushrooms & a fillet of codfish. We also shared a bottle of Cava, a Catalan sparkling white wine, which, despite its tag as poor man's champagne, I quite liked. In fact, I think I liked it at least as well if not better than any champagne I've had (of course, maybe I just need to buy better champagne). But generally speaking, I'm a huge, huge fan of Spanish wine, particularly its reds (and anything made from tempranillo grapes). I used to think I didn't much care for wine, but I've discovered it's more that I don't much care for the big French reds, the Merlots or Cabernets. Along with Spanish wine, I really like Chianti--which I had ample opportunity to enjoy in the next stop on our itinerary: Florence.

And with that, as it's quite late once again, I think I'll have to conclude this entry.

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Normal service resumed today at the Lincoln Journal-Star. One day after igniting a mini political firestorm across the internet by publishing a letter from retiring Republican Congressman Doug Bereuter, which described President Bush's decision to invade Iraq as "unjustified," the front page photo & headline today was "146 Cats Taken From Home." While 146 cats stuffed into a 12 foot by 13.5 foot basement room is rather interesting, I doubt it'll be showing up in tomorrow's National Journal, as the original story apparently did. In any event, it was nice to see the hometown paper enjoy its brief moment in the spotlight. And to see it return to the bread & butter of local news--cat rescue stories.

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I had my first blog-to-real life experience today, meeting fellow Lincolnite & law student Steve, from Half-Cocked, for lunch at Baciami, an excellent newish restaurant in Lincoln's downtown Haymarket district. The Journal-Star gave it a good review here, and it was well deserved.

It was also a lot of fun to meet somebody whose blog you've been reading for a while, and it was probably good practice, as I imagine sooner or later I'll be meeting several of the Michigan law bloggers I've been reading since I decided on Michigan.

Anyhow, I heartily recommend both Baciami & Steve's blog. And in tune with the Lincoln theme of this post & the one below, here's a link the official site of Matt Conneally, the Democratic candidate to replace the retiring Bereuter. Dick Cheney's already swept into town campaigning for the GOP candidate (and leaving city hall with a hefty security bill), and Matt could use whatever help you can give.

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Bereuter: War in Iraq not justified.

That would be GOP Congressman Doug Bereuter. A 26-year veteran Republican, who served on both the Committee on Internation Relations & the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

And to top it all off, he's my Congressman and the story linked above ran on the front page of the Lincoln Journal-Star this morning.

Now, sadly, the impact of this is weakened by two things: a) he's retiring, and b) these statements were expressed in a letter to constituents who'd contacted him about the war (the letter is available here in .pdf format, thanks to the good folks at the DCCC). It'll be interesting to see how he elaborates upon or explains the things he said in the letter in future interviews. Atrios blogged about this here, titling his post Courage, mentioning how this could endanger Bereuter's seat on the post-Congress lobbying gravy train. That's about half right--I'm glad Bereuter's come out & expressed this & better late than never, but since he already has a job lined up with the Asia Foundation, I doubt he has much to worry about.

Anyhow, given his committee positions, he should know about as well as anybody in Washington the truth about the state of our pre-war intelligence & our current diplomatic relations. President Bush's decision to launch pre-emptive war against Iraq was the defining moment of his Presidency. And I think, more than anything else, how folks vote this fall will largely shake out to coincide with their opinions about that decision.

Sure, the economy is always important, as are all kinds of other issues. But I still think Iraq & national security will play a defining role in the outcome of the election, and that, one way or another, it'll be a blowout. Either the conventional wisdom will continue its creep toward accepting that Bush's march to war was rash & ill-considered, at best, or something'll happen--another attack, capturing Osama, etc--that drastically changes the equation & re-convinces people of Bush's judgment & ability to prosecute the war on terror effectively.

That a Republican Congressman--a long-serving one with key committee assignments, and thus in the know--would come out & directly state that

I've reached the conclusion, retrospectively, now that the inadequate intelligence and faulty conclusions are being revealed, that all things being considered, it was a mistake to launch that military action...Knowing now what I know about the reliance on the tenuous or insufficiently corroborated intelligence used to conclude that Saddam maintained a substantial WMD (weapons of mass destruction) arsenal, I believe that launching the pre-emptive military action was not justified.

may well shift a lot of minds & give a big push to the CW that Bush's leadership in the war on terror has been reckless & ineffective.

Clearly it will be important to see what Bereuter says if/when he's questioned about this by other reporters, or if he goes on any of the Beltway political shows. Likewise, I'd be very curious to see what kind of reception he gets from fellow GOPers at the convention in a couple of weeks--that is, if Rove hasn't already shredded his invite.

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Yesterday I began my account of my summer trip to Europe in this post, where I left off soon after my girlfriend & I arrived in Valencia.

Valencia, cont.
I'll start tonight by linking to this nifty little site with a ton of photos of Valencia--unfortunately the photos are a little small & the text is entirely in Spanish. Which gets to another thing I liked about Valencia--it definitely has that feel of a place somewhat off the beaten path, where English is somewhat rare. Where maybe you feel slightly more like an individual explorer & a little less like yet another member of the tourist throng parading around, as, say, you might feel in Florence or strolling about Barcelona's Barri Gòtic. Not there's anything wrong with Florence or Barcelona--I liked them both very much, and after Valencia, Barcelona may well have been my next favorite city--it's just sort of impossible to escape the feeling of being part of an invading army of sightseers.

Anyhow, on our bus ride to Valencia we'd read in our Lonely Planet guide about a city tradition that struck me as particularly interesting, given this whole law school journey I'm about to embark on. It seems every Thursday at noon the Tribunal de las Aguas, or Water Court, meets in the square outside Valencia's cathedral to settle local famers' irrigation disputes, with affairs conducted entirely in Valenciano (something of a mix between Castilian Spanish & Catalan--which itself is basically a mixture of Castilian & French).

Of course we were arriving on Thursday afternoon. So that's one I'll file away under Next Time Take An Earlier Bus. No matter, we ended up having a lovely afternoon at the Playa de la Malvarrosa, where we enjoyed that strange chicken-laced 'Paella Verdura' I described here, erroneously identifying the restaurant as one Hemingway frequented & described in The Dangerous Summer. In fact, La Perla served us that strange, but tasty, paella verdura, and the restaurant with the Hemingway connection is La Pepica, where we also ate. Its specialty is a shrimp paella, and it was probably the best paella we had in Spain.

The next morning we set out to find the Crypt of the Jail of Saint Vincent Martyr, which Lonely Planet advised us shows a daily film, in English, which provides an excellent overview of the city's history along with the tale of the 4th century martyr. Although it was extremely difficult to locate, the experience furnished my favorite moment of the entire trip.

After wandering in circles around the cathedral for about 20 minutes--as our map indicated the crypt ought to be just to the east--we decided to walk into a random museum & ask for directions. I approached the ticketseller at some museum and asked, in my best rudimentary Spanish, where St. Vincent's crypt was. It took a couple reptitions & ultimately showing him the the name in our guidebook before suddenly his eyes lit up. He jumped to his feet, gestured for us to wait and ran back into the museum. He emerged a moment later with a fellow employee whom he asked to tend the front desk for him while he escorted us outside. Immediately he flagged somebody down who appeared to be a friend of his & explained the situation to her. She turned to us & began speaking to us in a fragmented English, confirming where we wanted to go. With that clear, she told the ticket taker she had things in control & he gave us a big friendly wave & walked back inside. But our journey was not quite over.

She explained she wasn't quite sure where exactly where the crypt was, but she had a friend inside another shop who spoke better English and definitely did know. She led us to a guy in his 20s, who turned out to be Egyptian & who spoke perfect English. He happily walked us around the block and over to the museum, all the while telling us all about what he was doing in Valencia (working for some sort of temporary ancient Egyptian exhibition, signs for which we'd seen all over town), bidding us farewell at the entrance.

We thought that was pretty damn exceptional service, but there was still more to come. The girl inside the Crypt musuem informed us, slowly & clearly in Spanish, that the English version of the history film would start in five minutes, and that as the film progressed it would project on different walls around the ruins. She also gave us a little map showing us the different viewing stations. We descended what looked like brand new marble stairs--complete with a wheelchair lift--to the tiny space below enclosing the ruins of the jail & crypt. Pretty soon the film began, detailing the Roman history of the city, then called Valentia, and the gruesome martyrdom of St Vincent. After about ten minutes, the narrator indicated the next portion of the city's history would continue about 10 feet behind us, with the film projecting on a different wall.

We turned around and walked over to the next viewing station--just then we heard a sudden clickety-clack, clickety-clack. The girl from the info desk was running down the marble stairs in her heels, peeking down to check that we'd made it to the next viewing station all right. Seeing us stationed at the appropriate spot, she flashed us a big smile, waved & jogged her way back up the stairs.

Now that is amazing friendliness. And that was the moment my love for Valencia was well & truly cemented. After that, my girlfriend and I started joking/dreaming about the beach villa we'll retire to in Valencia.

I also started joking about hauling her into water court on our next visit, as I began noticing her subtle attempts at meals to refill her glass with mineral water when I wasn't looking. I believe the first such water court joke was made that night at Erba Cipollina, an excellent vegetarian-friendly restaurant. Googling it just now I see it received an oustanding review from gay.com, which describes Valencia as a "charming city...bask[ing] contentedly on the sun-saturated coast below Barcelona, surrounded by dramatic mountains and glorious orange groves. The city boasts fantastic architecture, myriad gay bars, gay-friendly restaurants by the dozen and a relaxed Mediterranean attitude." So that's another source giving Valencia a big thumbs up.

Anyhow, the film at the crypt was very interesting, filled with interesting historical tidbits from the city's Roman, Muslim & Christian eras (for example, the city Zaragoza derives its name from the original Roman settlement there, founded in 14 B.C., named CaesarAugusta--which, if you say it really fast using a hard Italian/Latin 'c,' sounds pretty much like Zaragoza. I don't know, I found that kinda cool.). The cathedral nearby is also gorgeous, especially its exterior when viewed from the Plaza de la Virgen, which features a lovely square & fountain ringed with restaurants--which, sadly, aren't that great, but you can't beat the view from their outdoor tables. Their prices aren't bad either. The fountain depicts the old man of the River Turia & eight maidens with water pots who symbolize the river's major irrigation canals. Valencia's art museum, El Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia (Spanish only site), was also quite good, even right after visiting those in London & Madrid. There also is a small section of excavated Roman streets, building foundations & mosiac floors, but that was fenced off for construction/restoration work.

Lastly, one of my favorite parts of Valencia is the set of beautiful parks & gardens the city installed in the riverbed of the Rio del Turia, which used to snake through the city but has been dry for years since its course was diverted further afield due to flooding (I believe). My girlfriend and I went running down in the riverbed parks & gardens on two mornings, and it was just beautiful. There's a really neat gigantic Gulliver statue on which kids can climb & play as lilliputians. Elsewhere there are pretty fountains, striking & diverse gardens & groves of orange & palm trees. Above, spanning the rivervalley are several rather striking bridges, some ancient & open only to foot traffic, others thoroughly modern but equally beautiful, such as Valencia native Santiago Calatrava's Alameda station bridge (which you can view, after a few clicks, at his site here. Calatrava also designed the torch for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and I believe he's also been selected to design the new subway & train station at the world trade center site in NYC).

Once again it's rather late, but I think I've at least done Valencia justice. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be back with a third installment--and hopefully I'll get it done earlier than 2 in the morning.

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I've promised a post about my pre law school trip to Europe, and at long last I deliver! Sadly I can't supplement it with photos just yet--my camera is an ancient 1970s era Canon 35mm SLR I snatched from my parents after they bought a digital camera. More importantly, my girlfriend has all the rolls down in Kansas City, but sometime next week we should have some photos in digital form and, if they're any good, I'll post a few.

So without further delay, here is the first installment of How I Spent My Summer Vacation, or A Six-Figure Debt Load Ain't Gonna Stop Me From Enjoying My Last Pre Law School Summer.

London
Our trip began in London, where we immediately entered hardcore sightseeing mode. This was perhaps not the wisest decision, especially considering we'd been exhausted from moving out the day before & I'm almost never able to sleep on planes. A combination of jet lag and a fever left me feeling like death for about 4 or 5 days. That the temperature in London hovered in the low 50s & I'd packed anticipating weather in the 80s and 90s probably didn't help either. And although it was rather chilly, we were at least thankful that, aside from a short downpour during our visit to the Tower of London, our time in London was dry.

All told, we packed a lot into our first few days in London and, sick or not, I had a great time. The highlight for me was probably the underground rooms in which Churchill & the War Cabinet operated during WWII. After the war, the rooms were preserved exactly as they were on their last day--including the locations of pins marking allied & axis troop locations on the giant maps in the maproom.

The other thing that really stayed with me from London was a small & rather insignificant portrait in the National Gallery, A Man Reading (Saint Ivo?), from the workshop of Rogier van der Weyden. The description beside the painting noted that "[i]t once bore a later inscription identifying the subject as Saint Ivo (1253 - 1303), the patron saint of lawyers and advocate of the poor." At first this combination struck me as an oxymoron--today's stereotypical lawyer is certainly anything but an advocate for the poor.

But this was just days after Kerry named Edwards as his VP, and I recalled reading about polls suggesting that Edwards' trial lawyer past apparently isn't the electoral handicap Republicans were hoping it'd be--indeed, 67% in CNN's poll said it was a strength. I also recall reading a blog post (I think on Eschaton either by Atrios or a guest poster) which basically made an Erin Brockovich/A Civil Action sort of argument. That is, sticking up for the little guy & suing reckless corporations to hold them responsible for their negligence or outright evil actually goes over rather well with folks. Go figure!

Of course, the plaintiffs' bar isn't filled solely with big-hearted saints vanquishing nasty Evil Inc.-- it has its share of unscrupulous ambulance chasers as well. Likewise, not all corporate lawyers are like the soulless army of blue-haired three-piece suit thugs who answer to Mr. Burns on the Simpsons either. It's worth remembering that there are extremes on both sides, and the corporate lawyer who defends an honest & hardworking company from a baseless lawsuit filed by somebody more interested in leeching than earning a living is equally as important & admirable as the Brockovichs of the world. And regardless of how lawyers are often portrayed as expensive get out of jail free cards for the wealthy (think OJ, or Burns' Lawyer Squad again), at root the law really is a profound & powerful tool for the weak & powerless.

Or at least it can be. The rule of law places constraints equally on the rich & powerful and the poor & powerless. The Magna Carta didn't rein in the actions of peasants; it circumscribed the King. An individual citizen with a solid case really can be just a retainer away from hauling the world's biggest corporation into a courtroom & getting a shot at justice.

That's not to say everything in our system is just peachy--an overlobbied Congress, underfunded public defenders, etc etc. But seeing that painting led me down a train of thought that did a lot to crystallize things I've been thinking about since I decided to go to law school, and made peace with the notion that I may very well graduate & work for BIGLAW, representing Bigtime Inc. There are saints & sinners on both sides, and the important thing to remember is that our system depends on every party receiving able representation. Somebody's got to represent the murderer or the breathtakingly negligent corporation, just as sometimes Erin Brockovitch represents the guy who manages to trip on the pavement outside every major business in town.

Anyhow, this post has suddenly turned become less of a vacation review and more of a Why I Decided To Go To Law School post--which, admittedly, I have been meaning to write for some time (and hopefully will do later). Moving on then...

SPAIN
Madrid
While I'd been to Spain before, my girlfriend hadn't. Sadly, she didn't much take to Madrid, where we began our travels on the continent thanks to EasyJet's absurdly low fares for London to Madrid flights. We did both really enjoy The Prado and The Reina Sofia, which was hosting an excellent Dalí exhibition, but for some reason the city didn't give her a great vibe (which I think was largely due to the pickpocket who succeeded in unzipping her backpack but, thankfully, didn't actually make off with anything). New & interesting to me was the Temple of Debod, built some 2,000 years ago in Egypt & shipped to Madrid by the Egyptian government in gratitude for Spanish efforts to help preserve various other archaeological sites. Another highlight was Artemisa, a fantastic non-smoking vegetarian restaurant--two major rarities in Madrid. We enjoyed it so much we went back a second night. Both times we started by sharing their sampler appetizer, featuring an excellent Catalonian spinach, some very tasty, zesty fried cheese-filled peppers & fried zuchini balls, among other things I can't remember (maybe my girlfriend, whose memory of meals is astounding, can help me add more details later).

Madrid passed by in a flash--especially since I spent most of one day in bed trying to catch up on sleep & get over my jet lag induced sickness--and soon we were moving on to what was perhaps our joint favorite city on the trip.

Valencia
The last time I visited Spain, when I was studying abroad in England in 2000-01, I visited Valencia primarily because I wanted to see their soccer team, which had just completed a spectacularly successful season in 99-00, finishing as runners-up [to Real Madrid, grr] in their first Champions League campaign. While there I fell in love with the city, with its broad, beautiful palm & orange tree-lined boulevards, its splendid smorgasbord of medieval & Islamic architecture, and its incredibly friendly people. At the soccer game I'd sat among a massive group of cigar-smoking old men who all eagerly chatted with me, competing with one another to give me a program copy & offer me their opinions about the players.

I managed to convince my girlfriend to put Valencia on our itinerary by drawing attention to its lovely beaches (preying upon her fondness for sun & sand), pointing out that its Cathedral claims to house the Holy Grail & really hyping the whole friendliness angle. We weren't disappointed.

After hopping off our bus from Madrid, we spotted a city bus going to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, the city center. I used my elementary Spanish to tell the driver where we were headed & we took our seats near the back of the empty bus. After about ten minutes or so, I turned and told my girlfriend I thought we were close to our stop. Just then, the driver turned around and scanned through the now-crowded bus. When he spotted us, his face brightened & he mouthed "Proximo--Next Stop." I thought that was a pretty auspicious start.

But, sadly, I think that's where I'm gonna have to stop this entry, as it's suddenly quite late. HopefullyI'll be back tomorrow with the second installment of How I Spent My Summer Vacation.

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I already thought Will Ferrell was pretty cool, but after seeing this, I have to say the man is freaking awesome. He really does an amazing Bush--SNL just isn't the same without him.

Hopefully, of course, come November there'll no longer be a need for SNL to have anybody who does Bush.

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Arsenal picked up where they left off in May, stylishly stomping all over Everton en route to an impressive 4-1 opening day win, extending their unbeaten streak to 41 games, one shy of the alltime record set in the late 70s by Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest. There were a few shaky moments--largely down to Pascal Cygan being his normal self--but for the most part Arsenal were simply dominating.

That the four goals came from four different players was nice too--far too much has been made of Arsenal's supposed over-reliance on Thierry Henry's prolific goal-scoring record. Of course he did directly assist two of the goals & Pires knocked home the last goal after Nigel Martyn could only parry Henry's fierce drive from the edge of the box. Still, Jose Reyes continued his electrifying preseason form & five'll get ya ten that he ends up with at least 20 goals this season. He & Henry look like they might form a truly lethal strikeforce partnership, perhaps the best Premiership has seen since Andy Cole & Dwight Yorke scored goals for fun in Man Utd's treble season. Apparently Jose spent the summer in the gym bulking up, and all the hard work clearly's paid off--he displayed a new power to match his searing pace.

Freddie Ljungberg also played an outstanding match. He looked full of energy & his dangerous runs into the box tormented Everton's backline. Happily all his industry & ingenuity were rewarded when Henry picked him out with a perfect cross, and Freddie scored perhaps the simplest goal he'll ever get, tapping home from a mere yard or two.

As nice as that pass was, Henry's contribution to the first goal was even better. The move began when Henry brilliantly sent Reyes in on goal with a neat flick on, and when Reyes' shot was blocked, Henry picked up the loose ball in the box & shaped to shoot through a crowd, spotting Bergkamp's surging run to his right just before pulling the trigger. Unselfishly, he laid the ball off for Dennis, who took one touch to control & with his second lashed the ball through Martyn's legs.

I think my favorite goal might have been the second goal, scored by Reyes, simply because it was rather amusing, especially on the replay. I believe Lauren had the ball wide right & seemingly knocked an aimless, overlong ball out left. On the replay, you could see Reyes pull up a little short & start rubbing his thigh distractedly. Just then Freddie surged forward to gather the ball just inside the left touchline & run at the box. He managed to bamboozle two Everton defenders & knock a relatively harmless looking cross into the six yard box, where Reyes, still rubbing his thigh, was surrounded by three Everton defenders. Reyes looked up just in time to dart between the trio of flat-footed Toffees & neatly head the ball past a helpless Martyn. It was slapstick defending, and unless they improve considerably, Everton could be in for a nasty relegation dogfight.

I also watched the Chelsea-Manchester United match, which was actually pretty dire. Chelsea scored a neat little goal fairly early, with newboy Didier Drogba combining nicely with Eidur Gudjohnsen for the Iceland man to score. After their goal though, Chelsea just sat back & let Utd come at them. And Utd, lacking Ruud & Saha and with Keane forced by injuries into playing in central defence, never looked too threatening, despite boasting far more possession. With Cristiano Ronaldo playing at the Olympics & due a rest after a long first season, Euro2004 & his time in Athens, Rio still suspended until September, & Ruud and Saha out for a while yet, Utd could really struggle in these first few months. Suddenly Utd's squad looks incredibly lightweight & very thin. Eric Djemba-Djemba was a horrible signing and he shouldn't be starting for any side with top half of the table ambitions, let alone championship pretenders. Ditto Diego Forlan & Quinton Fortune, the latter directly at fault for the goal, as he had been for Arsenal's first last Sunday.

Although it was somewhat uninteresting to watch, that Chelsea looked so underwhelming, especially against a understrength & injury-hit Utd side, was very encouraging from an Arsenal supporter's point of view. I've read a lot of people and pundits tipping them for the title, but just because Chelsea have bought a roster brimming with world class talent doesn't mean they're a world class team--ask the Lakers how well their four hall of famers did against Detroit. Championship teams almost always enjoy an innate understanding, the ability to play seamlessly with one another & make it look so easy they could do it blindfolded. All these new faces will need time to settle in at Chelsea, to learn how to play together & to develop a team spirit. Meanwhile (hopefully) Arsenal will be storming out to an insurmountable lead.

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The 2004-05 Premiership campaign is underway, although Liverpool & Tottenham's 1-1 draw was rather underwhelming. Hopefully Boro-Newcastle will be more interesting later on. Liverpool did start brightly & passed the ball along the ground far more than they did under Houllier--I could tell that was especially difficult for the preeminent artist of the aimless long ball, Jamie Carragher, who on several occasions in the first half seemed visibly to check himself from blasting the ball forward & finding a midfield teammate to stroke it to instead. Cisse got a nice predator's goal near halftime (which made me very happy, as he's on my fantasy team in Yahoo's much improved game here), but after the break Liverpool seemed to sit back & play like the cautious, boring old 'Pool of Houllier.

Even worse, Benitez inexplicably hauled off the very lively Cisse on the hour mark. Soon after, Spurs regained the momentum & equalized through Jermain Defoe, whose predatorial pounce upon on a loose ball in the box was even more impressive than Cisse's strike . That ignited something of a spark, but neither side really looked likely to break the deadlock. After the shock of losing Michael Owen to Real Madrid this week, I'm sure this was not quite the start Benitez, Steven Gerrard & Liverpool were hoping for, but it certainly wasn't a disaster. Baros & Cisse look capable of forming a solid partnership, Gerrard utterly dominated the midfield, although Harry Kewell continued to show his brilliance only in flashes. If Liverpool are to challenge for anything beyond 4th place, Kewell will have to significantly increase his contribution to the side.

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll post again later today, perhaps even about something other than soccer!

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Back home in Lincoln, NE, after almost 6 weeks of travel (4 in Europe, nearly 2 between NE, KC & Colorado). I've been eagerly awaiting an end to living out of a suitcase, but, sadly, since I'll be moving to Ann Arbor the last week of August, I'll only have about a week and a half here in Lincoln, which means I can only kind of unpack. Of course, since about 90% of my stuff's sitting in storage, this unpacking/re-packing won't be too difficult.

Although there are about a million things I want to blog about--my travels, politics, the last few moments of pre law school life, Arsenal & the great Vieira saga (I still can't fully believe he's staying), etc etc--it's late and I'm planning to wake up at 630am to catch Liverpool & Spurs open the 2004-05 Premiership campaign, so this abbreviated entry will have to suffice. Since my perusal of the TV schedule indicated Fox Sports World will be broadcasting no less than three matches tomorrow, I expect to be rather busy between that & playing around with my new laptop. Still, hopefully I'll manage to return to something resembling regular blogging form.

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