Toronto, day 4

For breakfast I headed to the Tim Horton's again. Got a croissant and OJ.

Spent most of the morning at the hotel.

For lunch I went across the street and bought the same burger as I got one of my first days here. Chased it down with a can of Pepsi.

In the afternoon I went down to Chinatown. It was OK.

In Chinatown, outside Kung Fu Tea.

For dinner I walked down to an Italian restaurant, Vagabondo. I ordered eggplant parmesan and hot green tea. It was all right. Could have used more eggplant and less cheese & tomato sauce.

I then went back to the hotel and headed down to the area near Second City.

I stood in the longest line at Sweet Jesus for a vanilla cone. This time I got rainbow jimmies, or as they call them up here, "sprinkles".

Afterwards I caught the 8:35 showing of a movie from Mexico, Tigers Are Not Afraid. It's a horror flick that's two years old. I had trouble following some of it. Maybe some of it was lost in translation. Though, I can see why that Hellboy director gave it a blurb: Tigers is a lot like his Pan's Labyrinth where the fantasy element is probably not real and all in the girl's head.

The TIFF movie theatre, where I saw Tigers Are Not Afraid. Beautiful inside! I can see why, next to Sundance, it's a vanguard in indie cinema.

Toronto, day 3

On Saturday I ambled across the street to Tim Horton's. Been hungering for a cinnamon roll lately, so I picked one up and a bottle of OJ.

The rest of the morning I hung out at the hotel. Read the newspaper, showered and shaved, and wrote on this blog.

For lunch I walked around the neighborhood but nothing was really open because this is the Financial District and they're only in business on weekdays. So back at the hotel I ordered room service. Got mushroom ravioli with sautéed kale, tarragon vermouth cream, and roasted butternut squash. It was awesome!

The rest of the afternoon I just hung out at the hotel, reading the book I brought up from the Philly library, The Five by Hallie Rubenhold and a little of that Kids In The Hall bio I bought my first day here.

Around 4 PM, the hotel dropped off a bowl of fruit because I'm staying here five nights. I wonder if part of the reason they did it is because I paid $40 CA for a $32CA lunch.

Around 5:45 PM I hit the road for the Toronto FC match. The light rail was pretty packed, though I got a seat for the 25-minute ride.

That little festival was still going on. It was a pain in the ass getting in because my ticket at the stadium was Will Call. I had to pay to get into the grounds, then I got reimbursed once I picked up my ticket.

I was in a sour mood at the game because the ticket cost me $159CA. And it wasn't even a good seat. I was on the second level and people kept marching in 35 minutes into the first match, blocking my view. I think I just may have gone to my last MLS match. The tickets keep getting more and more expensive, and the quality on the field hasn't improved much since I started watching games in '13. How do you say: Cash grab?

The ride back to the hotel was horrendous. The light rail was jam-packed. I was starting to get a little claustrophobic about halfway through, but held out. Reminded me of working in San Francisco and going home at 11 PM, squeezing into a BART train with all the Giants clowns.

In hindsight, I should have booked my return flight for Monday instead of Tuesday. Toronto is as I feared: not a nice place to visit. Too expensive and not any worthwhile tourist sights. I can see why the rest of Canada hates Toronto. I miss Montreal!

Toronto, day 2

All right, on Friday morning I slept in until 7:30 after going to bed at 11 PM. I did breakfast at the hotel. Instead of the $30CA buffet, I just ordered five sausage links and a small glass of OJ for about $14CA.

Around mid-morning I headed to Union Station, which is where I got off yesterday. I bought nine tokens and hopped on a light rail to BMO Field, where Toronto FC play. It was a bit of pain making my way to the box office because there was some sort of underwhelming festival going on. In order to reach the box office, you had to pay to enter the festival. Luckily I spoke with a manager and they let me buy an "Exelunch" ticket for $20 and I got reimbursed when I left. It was all for naught, unfortunately. The box office is only open on event days. Oh well, at least I'll know how to get there on Saturday.

At Union Station I saw this, which is made up of little Lego stormtroopers.

Outside the Hockey Hall of Fame, a few blocks from my hotel, the Omni.

For lunch I hit some joint around the corner from the hotel. I got a Firecracker: corn, green peppers, artichokes, spinach, jalapeño, green onion & cheddar on onion rye bread. They warm it for ya. I chased it with, I'm assuming, freshly squeezed lemonade. Awesome!

In the afternoon I just hung out at the hotel. I was gonna visit Chinatown, but I'll do that tomorrow.

For dinner, I hit a Mexican place a block or two from the hotel. Quesada was more fast food than authentic Mexican, but it did the trick. I got a regular chicken burrito. Regular is about half the size of a Qdoba burrito. I ate it in my hotel room while watching the news. Apparently, Toronto has a high murder rate.

Around 6:30 PM I headed for Second City. It's less than a mile from the hotel, but I have a pocketful full of bus tokens, so no big whoop.

The two-hour show was awesome! It started at 7:30 and had about a 10-minute intermission. I think the first half was time-tested and the second half was improv'd and works in progress. Obviously, the first half was the stronger of the two. They crapped on the U.S. a fair amount with one joke going something like "We're far from perfect, but at least we're not a complete mess like down there."

My seat on the top balcony at Second City before the start of the show.

One funny scene had a guy being interviewed for Canadian. One question was to describe the CFL, and the interviewee replied, "What's that?", which was the correct answer.

Another funny skit was about the Climate Crisis and two performers on the stage, with one blowing into a blue balloon, which symbolized Earth. After every line they would say, "Do you see?" Eventually, the guy holding the balloon walked into the audience, and one of the other performers appeared on the top balcony, where I sat, holding a blue balloon. The gag being that the balloon could burst at any moment. It was a lot funnier in person, trust me.

After the show let out, I got a vanilla cone at this place. Don't think a name like that would play in the States, a.k.a. Jesus Land.

I enjoyed the ice cream and walked back to the hotel.

Toronto, day 1

So, Thursday I got up at 4:30 AM. I took the bus and train to the airport. Pretty cool, only cost $8.75. Take that, Uber!

I got at my gate in plenty of time. My flight took on time at 9:30 AM. We were only up in the air for a little over an hour. It touched down around 11 AM.

I took my time getting to the hotel because official check-in time was 3 PM. Unlike in the spring, when I was in Mälmo, Sweden, I made it to the hotel without getting crazy lost. They were cool to let me check in around 12:30 PM and upgraded me to a king suite with premium internet (both complimentary).

After dropping off my things in my sweet suite, I withdrew some cash from Scotia Bank and hit a bookstore for the Kids In The Hall biography. It wasn't on the shelf, so the clerk took the elevator to the basement.

For lunch I went across to some burger joint across the street. Got their Crafty burger, which had their special garlic mayo and more mushrooms than you could shake a leprechaun at. It was delicious!

From about 3 PM to 5:30 PM, I took a nap, probably going into a deep sleep for at least 30 minutes. Despite the food, I was really tired. I went to bed last night at 10:30, and for the six hours I laid there, I didn't really sleep that well (didn't want to miss my flight).

For dinner I walked several blocks to a seafood joint called Pearl Diver and ordered fish and chips. If has heavenly! Don't think I've eaten it since vacationing in Glasgow, Scotland all those years ago. If memory serves, the fish at Pearl Diver was haddock.

Thought this was pretty cool. Saw it Pearl Diver while waiting to be seated.

For the rest of the night, I just hung out the hotel. I was gonna check out Metric and some charity event, but a ticket was CA$90. Even though the exchange rate is good (CA$1 = US$.75), it looked like a ticket for Saturday night's Toronto FC match was going to be over $100 CA, so I thought I'd spend the mucho mullah on that, since that's the centerpiece of my trip. Plus, I'm pretty sure the Metric show was sold out because they had tweeted on Wednesday that only 150 tix were left.

Some sort of Space Needle I saw while wandering around, looking for ice cream.

Copenhagen, part 2

It's a little before 7 PM on Saturday. I'm in Toronto, waiting for my flight back to Philly. With the six-hour time difference, I got up at 7 AM in Copenhagen and now have been up 18 hours. Flight doesn't leave until 9:20 PM.

Anyway, the soccer game on Thursday night was awesome! I got a little lost getting there 'cause I hopped off the bus about four stops too late. Fortunately, I asked a guy about to hop on his bike (that's so Copenhagen!) how to get to the stadium.

The location of the stadium reminded me of the Sports Complex in South Philly -- it's surrounded by a mainly residential area in the city limits. That's the cool thing about Copenhagen, how everything isn't in the suburbs . . . even the airport is in the city.

It was a playoff match, so there was a bit of crowd: at least 20,000, I'd say. Once inside, I grabbed a bøfsandwich, which is Denmark's version of a hamburger. It had roasted onions on the bottom of the burger, and ketchup and gravy on top of the burger. Really good!

I wasn't in the front row like in Malmö, but in the eighth row, about halfway between midfield and a corner flag. The game started promptly at 6 PM with The Boomtown Rats' "I Don't Like Mondays" playing but with reworked lyrics and the crowd sang. Here's a pic I took before or after that song:

And here's another pic, this one of the supporter before kick-off:

It was a good game, with F.C. København (FCK) getting a clean sheet. They either scored three or four goals. After every goal, the PA system blared the "woo-hoo!" part of Blur's "Song 2". On the first goal somebody on the upper level threw their beer on us -- a little wet my Hertha scarf and my neck.

Oh, and another cool thing was that when FCK had a corner kick, a lot of the fans fished out their keys and jingled them.

After the match, I headed to the shop. I had tried buying something before the game, but it was jam-packed. I wanted to get a training jersey because it doesn't have their sponsor, Carslberg, on it, but they didn't it in my size, so I got their secondary jersey with Carlsberg on it.

Once again, I got a little lost heading to the bus stop. I actually passed the U.S. Embassy with its abundance of security cameras and high walls.

I eventually found the bus stop. There was some guy waiting there already. Nice chap. He's from Lawrenceville, NJ.

As I was waiting for the bus, my hay fever started acting up. By the time I got back to the hotel, my eyes itched like crazy and my nose ran like a runaway bike.

Copenhagen, part 1

It's a little before 1 PM on Thursday. Time to catchup. . . .

Yesterday morning I had breakfast again in Malmö — just a slice of toast and OJ again. I hung out in my room until about 10:45 AM, stopped at Wallander's Cafe for the same treat as yesterday, then grabbed the 11:30 train. I was taking my time 'cause check-in at the Richmond Hotel in Copenhagen wasn't until 3 PM.

I got off the train at the the Malmö Hyllie stop. I was hoping it was liking Malmö's main station, but they didn't really have any concessions. Basically just a stop, not a station. So I hopped on the next train to Copenhagen.

Copenhagen's station isn't as nice as Malmö's. No real place to eat, mainly 7-11's, low-end coffee shops, and tons of currency exchanges. I did swap my Swedish Kroner for Danish Kroner. I had something like 130, and I got back around 80. Whatever.

My hotel room wasn't ready yet, so I wandered around from 1 to 3 PM. I withdrew 100 kroner from an ATM and ate a caesar wrap at an Espresso House. I went back to the hotel around 2:45 PM and picked up the card for my room 15 minutes later.

At 5 PM I started walking to Famo, which is 1.2 km away. I got there a little before they opened at 5:30 PM.

I was in the mood for Italian and, boy, does Famo fit the bill. Most of the staff have heavy Italian accents! Definitely on the high end. Not much of a selection. You have your choice of two dinners, one with an additional serving of food. I went with the first option with more dishes. I think there were two starters, an antipasta, two main courses, and dessert. The servings were relatively small. The food just kept coming. I didn't leave until after 8 PM. It came out to 450 kroner ($68) but I left 550 kroner on the table because the service was awesome.

On the walk back to the hotel, I took stock of my right foot. The top right of it hasn't been feeling too hot since my first or second day in Malmö. I think I had tied my sneak too tight and fucked up my foot. I've been ignoring it, hoping it would get better. I remember when I was younger it would happen but wear off within a few hours. Getting old sucks. Feels like my body's breaking down, with my shoulder problems, pre-arthritic back, and now this foot.

I spent the rest of Wednesday night at the hotel. Before going to bed I watched a Beatles special by Ron Howard and featuring a little bit of Philly newscaster Harry Kane.

Thursday I had breakfast at the hotel. I originally wasn't going to do it 'cause it's $16 but there are no breakfast joints around here. I ate a few bacon strips and a couple sausage links, then drank a petite glass of OJ.

I wanted to spend the rest of the morning doing laundry. First I walked about a quarter-mile to the train station and picked up a 48-hour city pass. When I got back to the hotel, I packed up my dirty drawers and company into my suitcase. I walked a couple blocks and caught a bus that dropped me off a few blocks past the restaurant I ate at the night before.

The place is called the Laundry Cafe. It's a little gimmicky: laundromat and cafe combined. They have three washers and three dryers; one of the former and two of the latter were broken. A woman with an Australian accent was using the two washers. They still had 40 minutes and 44 minutes to go, and she said they were going to be using the dryer. After mulling it over for a minute, I decided to split.

Back at the hotel, I googled other laundromats. By the time I made up my mind, it was 10:45 AM. I decided to hold off. Maybe I'll do it Friday morning, maybe I'll just wait until I get back to Philly (though I've been wearing the same thing since yesterday, Wednesday).

For lunch I picked up a tomato, mozzarella and pesto sandwich from 7-11. Don't snicker, the food in there is comparable to what you might find in Starbucks or Whole Foods back in the States. The cashier heated up my sandwich in that contraption they use at Qdoba to warm a tortilla.

Afterwards, I decided to write this and just relax at the hotel, give my foot a rest. Research I did last night said you can ice it, but keeping off of it is best way to recover. It only really bothers me when I walk. I'm going to see Copenhagen F.C. tonight, so I'll be standing a bit — might as well rest.

Ystad, Sweden

It's 8:30 on Tuesday night. Thought I would start to write what I've been up to the past couple of days.

Before I do, something I forgot to mention in Malmö is that during the game, one of the supporters' chants had the drum beat of the Hoodoo Gurus' "Like Wow Wipeout", then they shouted, "MALMÖ!"

Anyway, yesterday morning I didn't do much. Had breakfast again at the hotel in Malmö. That time I had their pancakes, which were palm-sized pitas, as well as a croissant and toast. Polished it off with OJ again.

I just hung out in the hotel room until checkout: 12 PM.

Check-in for my room in Ystad wasn't until 3 PM, so I took my time at Malmö's central train station. They have a little food court there. I got a slider and a can of Coke.

I hopped on a train to Ystad, which left Malmö around 1:25 PM. The ride took about an hour.

I wandered around Ystad a little bit, looking for my hotel. My directions had me lost, so I went into the Tourism Office, since it was right there across from the train tracks.

The hotel was about 50 yards from the Tourism Office. I just had to cut through an alley and it was right there:

After dropping my gear off, I hit an ATM nearby. I didn't want to use my credit card for every purchase. Took out 1,500 kroner (about $160USD).

I spent the rest of the afternoon deciding what I was going to do the next day . . . Monday was pretty much a travel day.

For dinner, I wandered around for almost an hour. Couldn't find any real restaurants. Some cafes that closed at 4 PM, several Asia food joints, and restaurants with "pizzeria" on their windows. I eventually settled on a Thai place. Sad day for me, they're a cashless establishments. Damn you, tech heads, and your phasing out of dollar bills!

I settled on chicken and vegetables. Of course it came with white rice. It was a bit spicy and fell in the fast food column, IMO, and since I was right next door to Denmark, I ordered a Carlsberg beer. Disappointing that it was a green plastic bottle and not completely cold. Didn't even finish it. Maybe for the best, since I had a drinking problem up until March 1, 2012.

After dinner I wandered around a bit. At one point I crossed the train tracks and took this pic at 8:23 PM:

Today, Tuesday, I had breakfast here at the "hotel". I put it in quotes because it's basically a boarding house. My room is super tiny. There's about a foot on three sides of my bed. Like the old sitcom line goes, "Now I realized why it was so cheap."

After having toast and OJ for breakfast, I got a shower and split around 9:30 AM. Near the Tourism Office is Wallander Cafe. I hopped in and bought a little triangular treat and a can of Coke.

Next I walked about a mile to Ystad Studios, where they shot some of the Wallander episodes and films.

There wasn't a tour, per se, you just kinda walk around on your own, though the two women there were helpful. I was kinda bummed they didn't take cash, only electronic payment. The twenty-something who took my "money", led me to an area behind the front desk where a 10-minute film ran with an Ystad police officer talking mainly about the Swedish TV show and a little about the BBC production. Oh, real quick, before the film started, I was talking to the twenty-something girl and she mentioned that Denmark and Sweden weren't joined by a bridge until 2001. WHAAAT?!!!? Before that you had to take a ferry. And I did mention I've been watching the Danish TV show UNIT ONE, which started around the year 2000. She said it was very popular at the time and the first of those type of crime shows. Her parents used to watch it.

The tour was pretty cool. It wasn't all Wallander. Apparently the studio is still active, though the salad days are behind them with the two Wallander productions. One exhibit was really cool: a video interview with Henning Mankell.

Before I left, I asked the other Ystad employee, a woman about my age, maybe younger, though at least 40 years old, about local Wallander shooting locations. She mentioned she was in Philly around '95 while working for UNICEF. She stayed with a family in the suburbs but couldn't remember the town. She did say our Penguins were doing well. Had to tell her they're on the other side of the state, yo!

After making a pit stop at the hotel, I walked to an Espresso House for lunch, but they didn't take cash, so I headed a block away to some fast food joint called MAX. Bought six chicken nuggets and a kid's box of apple juice. I got lost on the way back to the hotel because I tried taking a back way . . . but it's so confusing with the serpentine streets.

I ate my lunch at the hotel and the nuggets were a mistake. Gave me wicked indigestion.

I skipped to the Tourist Office again to buy some souvenirs for my mother and nephew, the latter whose birthday is in June. Took a while cuz I wanted to get it right and make sure it won't get damaged in my suitcase.

Then I walked in a couple blocks to a pool that's being renovated into housing, I think. I just wanted to check it out because in the BBC Wallander, it was used as the exterior for the police station. Pretty cool.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at the hotel. For dinner I went to a restaurant that's across from yesterday's ATM. I ordered garlic bread for a starter and a main course of salmon, vegetables and potatoes. Interestingly the salmon was cold. Guess that's how they roll in the sleepy seaside town of Ystad. The meal came out to 299 kroner but I gave the girl 400 cuz I need to get rid of this cash before I leave — different currency in Denmark . . . still called kroner, though.

After dinner I walked to 10 Mariagatan Street, where in the Swedish TV show, and maybe in the books, Wallander lived. Cool pic, I think:

On my way back to the hotel, I saw there was a race going on. It was seven o'clock at night. You Swedes so crazy. Guess that's what you get with a town of 20,000. (There were at least 100 racing.)

Malmö, Sweden

It's Sunday night, about 9:15, in Malmö, Sweden. Let's catch up, shall we?

My flight left Philly for Toronto on Friday around 4:30 PM. (I took Canada Air.) The sixyty-ish woman next to me on the plane is from Lafayette Hill, which isn't too far from my apartment, and mentioned a great vacation she had recently to Israel and Jordan. She has four kids and was visiting her one son who has been up here for 10 years after marrying a Canadian.

The terminal in Toronto seemed familiar. I was in there before. I think it was last year when I flew to Austria and Germany.

The flight to Copenhagen left around 9 PM. About an hour in they served dinner. I opted for chicken over pasta 'cause I had pesto tortellini the night before. It was good, but I couldn't sleep during the flight. Don't if it was because I was excited about the trip or eating so late. Bummer, since I purposefully booked a window seat to sleep.

This time of the year, Denmark is six hours ahead of the East Coast. The plane landed after 10 AM on Saturday (4 AM Philly time). I took a half-hour train to Malmö, Sweden. My hotel, 

Elite Hotel Esplanade, isn't that far from the train station, but it took me a while to find . . . different city and all that.

I probably checked in after 1 PM. Check-in was officially 3 PM. Thankfully my room was ready. Nice place. Four-star hotel.

Despite there not being a ton of people around for the city centre, I walked a block away to a restaurant called Victors and got an Angus burger. They were cashless establishment, so I paid by credit card. Not cracked up about that 'cause I'm gonna get hit with fees.

Afterwards, I headed back to my room and tried to take a nap. Pretty much tossed and turned from 3 PM to 5:30 PM. I'd fall asleep for 10 minutes then would snap awake.

I asked the front desk if there was a good restaurant close by for fish. I couldn't find it, so I wandered around for about an hour. I eventually settled on an Indian restaurant called Tandoori House. My stomach hadn't been feeling too good, so I figured I could do something with rice that wasn't too spicy. I was the only one there beside a group of five who left about when my prawns arrived. It was OK.

I then rested at the hotel for a little bit, and eventually walked about a quarter mile to the train station for some ice cream. I bought a strawberry vanilla ice cream stick. Sort of like Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake on a stick, but different:

On Sunday I got up around 7:30 AM and headed downstairs for breakfast at the hotel. Ate five strips of bacon, a few three-inch sausage links, and drank a glass of orange juice. Getting the OJ was a bit hi-tech. There was a tablet next to the dispenser. You tap one of four options, (OJ, apple juice, water, and something else) and the liquid pours into the glass that you hold with your hand.

My stomach still wasn't feeling too hot, so for lunch I walked between a quarter mile and a half mile to a stand called China Box and got some white rice. On the way back I stepped into a joint called Espresso House and ordered hot green tea.

After lunch I planned on how to get to the soccer stadium for Malmö FF's 5:30 PM match —that's at 17:30 for you Europeans. At the train station I bought a 24-hour bus pass for 75 kroner (about $8 USD). There were a few buses I could take, but I opted for the 3 line. It was little less than a half-hour ride and dropped you off right at the stadium.

I hit the store before heading into the stadium. I bought a training jersey and a pen.

Getting into the stadium was a pure delight. No metal wands or security pat-down. They just scanned your ticket, which is the way it should be.

Before the match I ordered from a concession stand a hot dog in which only a third of it fits on the bun, Pringles and a Coke. Good stuff, though I only ate the hot dog that fit in the bun.

The game was awesome! Though for the first half the sun was in my eyes. I had bought a front row ticket in midfield for 500 kroner ($50 USD). Here's a pic from about the 75th minute:

And here's outside the stadium as I was leaving:

I caught the bus right away outside the stadium and got back to the train station around 8 PM. I went inside the station and got a frozen ice cream from the supermarket COOP.

On the way back to the hotel, my hay fever started to set in and I thought about Malmö. Even though it's the third biggest city in Sweden, it's a little sleepy. There are people around but not as many as would think. Reminded me of Portland, Oregon.

What's also interesting about Malmö is that it's pretty much a cashless city. Apparently there a lot of tech startups here. I hadn't see any ATMs, so I bought everything on my main credit card. Hopefully the add-on fees aren't too out of control.

The rest of Sunday night I spent in my hotel, my hay fever coming on strong with itchy, watery eyes and a runny nose.

THE GOODNESS PARADOX by Richard Wrangham

Some excerpts that caught my eye:

If you are a Hobbesian, your cynical view of human motives suggests you see a need for social control, cherishing hierarchy and accepting the inevitably of war.

— p. 6

Reactive aggression is the "hot" type, such as losing one's temper and lashing out. Proactive aggression is "cold," planned and deliberate.

— p. 9

Character contest often stem from arguments in bars. Two men whose inhibitions have been loosed by alcohol start calling each other hostile names. They more outside to fight, one pulls a weapon, and suddenly a shouting match becomes serious. When the criminologist Marvin Wolfgang conducted the first major study of the reasons for murder in the United States, in 1958, he found that, during a four-year span in Philadelphia, character contests were responsible for 35 percent of the city's homicides. . . .

— p. 26

He could easily have been a criminal. Genes can influence behavior; they rarely determine it.

— p. 46

Our species swings between the deisre for peace and the temptations of power. . . .

— p. 271

Rousseauians say we are a naturally peaceful species corrupted by society. Hobbesians see us as a naturally violent species civilized by society. Both perspectives make sense.

— p. 273

AMERICA: THE FAREWELL TOUR by Chris Hedges

I actually read it in late September and early October. Some sections I liked:

The classical world, unlike our own, did not see time as linear. Life was cyclical. It entailed birth, growth, maturation, decay, and death. The concept of inevitable human progress was foreign to ancient societies. What was true for individuals was true for societies.

—chapter 1, "Decay", p. 38, last graf

And as Plato and his pupil Aristotle understood, the building of empire, any empire, extinguishes democracy. Empire requires a centralized bureaucracy. Its complexity mandates a permanent caste of bureaucrats and military leaders who strip the citizenry of power.

—chapter 1, "Decay", p. 39, 3rd graf

Søren Kierkegaard argued that it was the separation of intellect from emotion, from empathy, that doomed Western civilization.

—chapter 7, "Freedom", p. 309, 2nd graf

Just finished Robert O. Paxton's Anatomy of Fascism. Excerpts I liked:

Someone has said that a political party is like a bus: people are always getting on and off.

—Chapter 2, Creating Fascist Movements; section "Recruitment", p. 52

His Storm Troopers aroused both fear and admiration by their readiness to beat up socialists, communists, pacifists, and foreigners.

—Chapter 3, Taking Root; section (2) Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, 1928-33; p. 67

On the eve of World War I the major states of Europe were either governed by liberal regimes or seemed headed that way. Liberal regimes guaranteed freedoms both for individuals and for contending political parties and allowed citizens to influence the composition of governments, more of less directly, through elections. Liberal government also accorded a large measure of freedom to citizens and to enterprises. Government intervention was expected to be limited to the few functions individuals could not perform for themselves, such as the maintenance of order and the conduct of war and diplomacy. Economic and social matters were supposed to be left to the free play of individual choices in the market, though liberal regimes did not hesitate to protect property from worker protests and from foreign competition.

—Chapter 3, Taking Root; section Some Other Unsuccessful Fascisms; p. 77

On the eve of World War I, the Action Francaise had enjoyed some success recruiting a few industrial workers to nationalism, and the unexpectedly wide acceptance by workers of their patriotic duty to fight for their homelands when World War I began foretold that in the twentieth century Nation was going to be strong than Class.

—Chapter 4, Getting Power; section What Fascists Offered the Establishment; p. 103

"War is to men as maternity is to women." [[Mussolini quote]]

—Chapter 6, The Long Term: Radicalization or Entropy?; section What Drives Radicalization?, p. 156

L.A., day one

I'm in L.A. for an extended weekend to catch Saturday night's LAFC match against the Philly Union. Thought I would create a travel log.

It's currently 8:51 PM on Thursday, June 28th. I got up this morning at 3 AM. The scheduled cab picked me up at 4 AM. The driver was a retired Verizon worker, who knew my uncle. Small city.

I got down at the airport a little after 4:30 AM. The TSA line stretched back at least 300 years — no lie. But it moved quickly. You didn't have to take off your shoes or remove laptops from bags.

Surprisingly, the flight took off on-time at 6:36 AM. I thought it was going to be delayed because the weather predicted isolated thunderstorms. I got stuck in the back row between two antisocial birds, so I couldn't really sleep (I need a window seat to nap). Don't think I'll be taking Alaska Airlines again. They didn't serve any snacks on the five-hour flight, only a beverage. And odd how my Expedia account is set up for a window seat but I had to get a seat assignment at the gate.

At LAX, I was gonna take public transportation because it was about 9:30 AM and check-in for my lodgings wasn't until the afternoon, but Google Maps said it was going to take at least 90 minutes, so I checked a website and it said a cab was going to cost at least $50. I already spent $55 (with tip) for the cab to the PHL airport, so I finally downloaded the Uber app. The Asian immigrant who drove me was really cool. Only cost me $27 and change . . . I gave him a tip so it was $30. He drives his Prius on the side. His day job for the past 12 years is being a cashier at a coffee shop. He has a kid and wants to move to a less expensive city. I, of course, promoted Philly.

I got to the motel around 11 AM after a half-hour-plus ride. My room wasn't ready (I had called at the airport), so I went down to a deli a couple blocks away. I had stayed at this same motel back in 2015. I got a BLT, Dorito's, and a Pepsi in a bottle. It was awesome! I hadn't eaten in about 12 hours when I had a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios after I had gotten up at 3 AM ET.

Around 12:15 PM, my room was ready. However, I messed up and didn't call my credit card company when back in Philly, so my MasterCard was declined. I had to call them to get it straightened out, and it caused problems for most of the afternoon. I was a little embarrassed, cuz the lady at the motel, Julia is nice.

From about 12:30 PM to 2:45 PM I napped. Fortunately it wasn't a deep sleep, which could have resulted in me sleeping until evening. There's construction next door. They were going crazy with a staple gun.

After my nap I wandered up and down the street I'm staying on, Wilshire Boulevard, here in West L.A., looking for a place to eat dinner. I also hit a supermarket to buy Werther's caramel candies, mints, tissue packs, Fuji water, and a TAP card for public transit — $27 for a weekly pass . . . think I'll take the buses when I fly home on Monday cuz I need to check out by 11 AM, and my flight doesn't take off until after 9 PM. I'll have all the time in the world.

For dinner I settled on a Chinese restaurant across the street. I got scallops and asparagus with a side order of white rice. All the major food groups! It was a real treat. I haven't had scallops in ages, and the asparaguses were cut up in about three-inch bits, including the white ends, not just the tips. They didn't have any hot tea, so I got Thai tea.

This picture doesn't really capture the color. It looked like orange paint. Those little black things at the bottom are Bobas. I didn't consume them. They went up the straw but were a bit much. The tea was actually interesting. It was a little sweet and you could taste the tea, however, it had a chalking aftertaste, like with a milkshake.

After dinner I hung out in my motel room, taking care of credit card debacle on the phone, bought a ticket for a punk rock show tomorrow at the Viper Room, and read a little. Around 8 PM I went next door to CVS and got a Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough Ice Cream cup.

It's now a little before 9:30 PM. Gonna hit the hay soon. . . .

An exercise in creative writing: I took the lyrics to "Rabbit and the Rooster" by The Lawrence Arms and reworked it thinking about the Philadelphia Union with references to the Atlanta match from a few weeks ago:

Oh my stars and red cards

What a great time we will have

Athletic activity all the bloody way

Fuck that forgetful ref

We’ll never see him again

Get out of our way

Cuz today is our day

Rip it up, rip it up

Kick, kick, kick

I didn’t sleep nine hours last night for my health

I’m trying, I’m trying to perfect my first touch

To cut down on mental lapses and mistakes

I’ve got a few good years left in me, boy

Then it’s time to retire and grow a spare tire

And with lead legs I shall fall flat down, out of breath

No, I will not dive tonight

I will not dive tonight

Oh my stars and yellow cards

What a great time we will have

Athletic activity all the bloody way

Fuck that Romanian ref

We’ll never see him again

Get out of our way

Cuz today is our day

I’m not into tackling and worrying if studs are up

I’d rather kinda crash into the box

And split those two defenders, then take that goalie one-on-one

C’mon, let’s go

Do the long throw

Oh my stars and red cards

What a great time we will have

Athletic activity all the bloody way

Fuck that overweight ref

We’ll never see him again

Get out of our way

Cuz today is our day

There are visitors in the corner

And our friends in the River End

We’ll never leave them behind

We don’t have all night

To get above that red line

Tomorrow I may get cut

But today our day

Today is our day

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-DOOP

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-DOOP

Whoah. . . .

Che

Finished reading Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life by Jon Lee Anderson. Very good. Here are my favourite parts:

This was the "scientific" discovery that Ernesto Guevara had been destined for, the culmination of a search that had been with his work in medicine. Treating individuals' illnesses had never been his real interest; his motivation had always been with medicine, so it had become with politics. Searching, crossing solutions off the list of possibilities as he went—reformism, democracy, elections—he had found Marx, then Guatemala, then Cuba and the realization that the cure to society's ills was Marxism-Leninism and that guerrilla warfare was the means to achieve it.

Chapter 24, "These Atomic Times", p. 482

Scientific truth is a natural law not malleable by theories. In essence, Che was arguing that his formula for attaining socialism through armed struggle amounted to a scientific discovery, and that the discovery would lead to the end of injustice and the creation of a new form of man.

Chapter 24, "These Atomic Times", p. 483

One sentence to crystallize Che:

Julia found Che to be a complex and fascinating man with a mean streak.

Chapter 24, "These Atomic Times", p. 492

Che said before battle:

"...from this moment on, consider yourselves dead. Death is the only certainty in this; some of you may survive, but all of you should consider what remains of your lives as borrowed time."

Chapter 25, "Guerrilla Watershed", p. 518

Che was extremely critical of the Western Communist parties for adopting a "peaceful parliamentary strategy of power." Russell wrote that Che felt this would "deliver the working class bound hand and foot over to the ruling class."

Chapter 25, "Guerrilla Watershed", p. 519

Rojo argued that the revolution had worked in Cuba because the Americans had been caught off guard. That day had passed, and the United States and its regional allies were now on the alert. Che conceded the point but, as always, refused to accept that Cuba's success was an exception that could not be repeated elsewhere.

Chapter 25, "Guerrilla Watershed", p. 526

Granado recalled one conversation with Che in which he pointed out what he believed was the fundamental difference between them. Che could look through a sniper scope at a soldier and pull the trigger, knowing that by killing him he was "saving 30,000 future children from lives of hunger," whereas when Granado looked through the scope, he saw a man with a wife and children.

Chapter 25, "Guerrilla Watershed", p. 541 

Che's habit of referring to the people, the workers, as bits of machinery affords a glimpse of his emotional distance from individual reality. He had the coldly analytical mind of a medical researcher and a chess player. The terms he employed for individuals were reductive, while the value of their labor in the social context was idealized, rendered lyrically. It was a conceptual mode that had parallels in his life. Che had found meanings in his identity as a revolutionary within the large family of socialism. Fraternal guerrilla life was the crucible of his own transformation. The Communist consciousness he had attained was an elusive, abstract, and even unwanted state of being for many people, however—even those who believed themselves to be socialist and who happily echoed his shout, "Freedom or Death." Willingness to sacrifice material comforts and life itself for the cause was a state of mind most men and women had not achieved, and they probably had little interest in trying. Also, of course, the happy global socialist fraternity of which he spoke was in fact a house bitterly divided.

Chapter 26, "The Long Good-Bye", p. 572

He indicted Lenin—who had introduced some capitalist forms of competition into the Soviet Union as a means of kick-starting its economy in the 1920s—as the "culprit" in many of the Soviet Union's mistakes, and, while reiterating his admiration for and respect toward the culprit, he warned, in block letters, that the U.S.S.R. and Soviet bloc were doomed to "return to capitalism." . . . With the passage of time, of course, Che would be proved right.

Chapter 28, "No Turning Back", p. 663

Che's unshakable faith in his beliefs was made even more powerful by his unusual combination of romantic passion and coldly analytical thought. This paradoxical blend was probably the secret of the near-mystical stature he acquired, but it seems also to have been the source of his inherent weaknesses—hubris and naïveté. Gifted at perceiving and calculating strategy on a grand scale, yet at a remove, he seemed incapable of seeing the small, human elements that made up the larger picture, as evidenced by his disastrous choice of Masetti to lead the Argentine foco. There, and in Cuba, the Congo, and Bolivia, the men he believed in consistently failed him, and he consistently failed to understand how to alter the fundamental nature of others and get them to become "selfless Communists." But, along with his mistakes, what is most remembered about Che is his personal example, embodying faith, willpower, and sacrifice.

"Epilogue: Dreams and Curses", p. 725

Bye-bye, Berlin

So this morning, around 10, I headed to East Berlin to three bookstores for Robert B. Parker's German translation of Hundred Dollar Baby, though it was actually four bookstores because the first one recommended I hit another bookstore a couple blocks away. Not surprisingly, none of the stores had it. Germany's interesting in that used bookstores seem to be English only, while stores with German books are strictly new and post.

Anyway, before I hopped on the first train, I took this pic at the main train station -- the one near my hotel:

For lunch I picked up an Italian wrap at the train station in that pic and chased it down with some Lemon Lipton iced tea.

Around 2 PM I left for the soccer game. My seat was better than the one in Dortmund. I was in the fourth row at midfield.

And here's a pic of Berlin's supporters, to my left:

The game was cool. Berlin won 2-1.

I took this as I was leaving (the stadium was where the 1936 olympics took place):

For dinner I wanted some Wiener schnitzel my last night here. My travel guide recommended Jolesch in East Berlin's Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg neighborhood, which seemed like a working class neighborhood and, according to Wikipedia, is where a lot of immigrants wind up.

The schnitzel was good. They gave me two big pieces of it. I drank it with Earl Grey tea.

Reason for the brevity of this blog post? It's 9:30 PM. I need to get some sleep. My alarm's set for 5 AM so I can make my 9:40 AM flight.

Berlin Is Never Boring (Even When I Am)

Got up this morning and did the croissant and OJ for breakfast again. Maybe tomorrow I'll splurge and do the hotel's breakfast for €15.

Around 10:30 AM or so I headed to the Reichstag (a.k.a. Der Bundestag), which is about a 10-minute walk from the hotel.

I didn't go in because I wasn't in the mood for a security check, but here's the dome:

And here's the German flag:

Nearby is the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate):

Here's a close-up of the chariot:

For lunch I picked up around the corner from the hotel some currywurst and washed it down with a bottle of Coke.

In the afternoon I had to hit the laundromat again. Since Munich I've been changing my clothes once a day, compared to last week when I was wearing 'em two days. Too much information? Anyway, I was talking with a nice Baby Boomer couple at the laundromat in East Berlin. They just got off a cruise, and are from northern California.

For dinner my travel book gave its highest rating, three stars, to an Italian restaurant in West Berlin. I wanted to eat on the western side of the city, since I've been spending so much time on the Ost (Eastern) half. It took close to a half-hour to get out there. I think it was in the Westend neighborhood. Sad day for me: the restaurant was closed. Temporarily or permanently, I couldn't tell, though all the shades were pulled down.

Heading back to the train station, I found this apartment building humorous. Boy, do they love their satellite TV!

I took the train past the main train station and got off at the Hackescher Market stop. I was there yesterday when I went to the DDR Museum -- there were a lot of food joints there. I eventually settled on an Italian restaurant. They didn't have my first choice, raviolis, so I went with vegetable lasagna and washed it down with green tea. The lasagna wasn't as good as the one in Munich, but I still devoured it all.

Big day tomorrow. I get to catch some football!

P.S. every hotel I've stayed in has this tube in the shower and near the sink where you squeeze it for the soap. Europe is off the chain!!!