September 3rd, 2016

Hiya...huge news this week comes from Forbes magazine which ranks Taiwan as the top destination for expats.  My fellow foreigners were all sharing it on Facebook and nodding in agreement.  If you've run across me on our annual visits home, or read this space with any regularity, I complain about this place (sometimes referred to here as a dump) often, but whether it is a gradual realization or Stockholm Syndrome, I find it hard to rail exclusively against it as fervently as before.  I cannot argue about this Forbes piece as it is very easy to live here.  Clean and efficient and reasonably priced in most areas, but I will never back down on my three pillars of frustration; The weather, the food and the asshole drivers.  Other than those three things, it is nice and hope that comes through in this diary at times. 

I need to make a list of generalizations that are always true and the one I am adding this week is that people who display shit on the little shelf over the backseat of their car are total douchebags.  Sun bleached stuffed animals are the usual culprit, but will also include hats and tissue boxes.  Whenever I am behind one I give a wide berth cause they are gonna space out and make some maneuver that will fuck you up.

Did something last week that I have never done before and likely will never do again...donate money to a political campaign.  A friend forwarded an invitation to a Hillary fundraiser in Taiwan where her Chief of Staff while FLOTUS and later UN Ambassador for Women At Large was going to speak on her behalf while  soliciting votes and donations.  Tickets to go cost a $100 "donation" and since Betty and I were free that evening, thought it'd be fun to go.  Made the purchase on-line and every day since have received an email from someone in the campaign looking for some love: 'Tell us your story',  'the campaign needs you (re. your money)', etc. As I wrote the last line, my inbox beeped and here is today's note from the campaign...

John --

The organizing team drives this campaign -- we work hard to connect with voters by knocking on doors, making calls, and getting supporters out to vote and caucus. Plus, we have a real good time. (True story: I actually met my wife when I got started organizing more than a decade ago.)

Signing up to volunteer is one of the best ways to not only show Hillary that you're with her, but to ensure that she's elected president on November 8th. It’s a fun, easy way to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Not sure where to start? Take this quick quiz to get your personalized recommendations for how you can help.

When you’re talking to folks in your community, you're going to be so inspired by the stories you hear. You’ll realize just how much we have in common, and that just one person can make a difference.

I can’t wait to see you out there, John. Are you ready?

Take the quiz

Thanks,

Marlon

Marlon Marshall
Director of States and Political Engagement
Hillary for America      

 Don't blame them as that is the logical first move out of the playbook for any organization trying to raise money, but it makes you feel sorry that you did it and will think twice about doing so again.  Ultimately, the event was canceled and they offered to either refund us or we could just let it ride.  Even though I am a big Hill Cat supporter, the annoyance over the constant communication led us to request a refund.  Will update you later as to how prompt they were in doing so or whether this was simply another scam by Crooked Hillary.  Regardless, will continue to remain an avid supporter of her as her credentials make her the most qualified for the job that I can remember.  Am no babe in the woods and understand she is a brutal political operative and there are several items on her resume that did not turn out as she/we all hoped, but those seemed to come from a position of caring.  She is always (by all accounts across the aisle)the most prepared in the room, is a decorated lawyer who has a lifetime of devotion to causes for the betterment of women and children (she was an advocate against segregation in her 20's while Trump and dad were being sued for housing discrimination), and has copped to doing stupid things (emails).  The vilification that has been baked into the public consciousness where she gets convicted of being (take your pick, murderer, rape enabler, etc.) and then they go looking for evidence, which never appears but she is still guilty of all of it in the public perception, depresses me.  Not that there are political operatives on the other side that do this as that is their job, but that people will believe something in spite of all the facts.  Know that some will read this and think I am naive at best, but I'm right and you know it too. 

Before moving onto the travelogue this week, Betty shared this link from King 5 News touting Hemp tampons easing menstrual discomfort.  No comment :)

So we fly into Denver (howz that for a segue?)...after we left the Boy to do his internship in DC and bid adieu to Babydoll's friend, the plan was for she and I to visit Denver then drive to visit Grandma in San Francisco via Colorado, Utah and Nevada.  A lot of folks asked me why?  Don't know if there is one answer but basically, we had some time, had never seen that part of the country and had always wanted to go, so why not?

Let's get the weed talk out of the way...have seen recreational pot stores before so visiting one was not the main attraction, but was interested to see the effects of it on the society in the place where it has been legal the longest.  The cons are that they have seen a slight rise in use by kids and in hospitalizations for over indulgence (almost exclusively by pot tourists).  The fears about a rise in crime, drug use and traffic accidents have (so far) proven to be the opposite as statistics are showing a decrease in the use of heavier opiates and fewer road incidents.  Add the benefits of $135 million in tax revenue increase directly associated to legalization and a spike in job growth and you got yourself an entrepreneurial success story that even the most staunch opponent can appreciate.  Look it up yourself, but here are a couple of examples.

In another answer to the "why" Denver question, no secret that visiting a new baseball stadium is part of the impetus to go  and we hoofed it over to Coors Field the evening of our arrival. 

 Coors Field reminds one of all the other new parks (Pitt/SD/DC/Phi/SF/NYM) in the brick façade/green painted steel boned style.  Things they got very right were its ideal downtown location (a free shuttle took us within a couple blocks), intimate feel (with nary a bad seat in the house) and decent food (including highly touted and underwhelming regional dish Green Chili).  I did enjoy two orders of Wilbur's BBQ baked beans however.  Where they suffered was that they were unable to incorporate the skyline well and that the fan base seemed beaten down.  Same as San Diego, the crowd didn't feel rabid which can be attributed to the fact that their team has sucked forever  Add the usual criticism of west coast teams in that there are so many outdoor things to do that why would anyone care about a perennially average and unexciting team and it felt blah..  Oh yeah, their version of the 5th inning scoreboard race was mystifying as it featured a contest between a hopping toothbrush, a waddling tube of toothpaste and a shimmying molar.  Huh?  Asked the Barney colored Rockie fans around us what was up with that and they all just shrugged in a 'please just leave us alone' way.   Still not as pointless/fantastic as the Oakland A's "Dot Race", but close.

Added a new player to my top 10 baseball names...the Diamondbacks Socrates Brito (who hit a dinger that night)

 Tons of potential and would be a fantastic place to be should the Rockies ever pull their heads out.

Tooled around the city and after 3 weeks in the East Coast megalopolis corridor, the West Coast vibe was readily apparent.  The city was pretty and well laid out and what surprised was how flat the metropolitan area is as one thinks of it being mountainous but sits on a high plain east of the peaks of the Rocky Mountains.  Our hotel was on the 16th Street Mall, which is a 15-20 block outdoor mall that is pedestrian friendly with only a free bus service (which took us to the Rockies game) running up and down it.  A great public space in concept and did have most of the stores one would want when shopping, but felt a bit tired with just as many junk shops and a ton of homeless.  Not so bad during the day, but reportedly dangerous at night and with a heavy smell of urine early in the morning.  The suburbs seemed pleasant enough and totally understand why people love the place but not gonna put it on my potential retirement cities.  The Boy is creating a list of colleges to apply to and while I really try not to directly influence his choices too much, I do look at the list and think/dream about the cities they are in and subconsciously push the ones that I would be happy to return to often to visit.  I would put Denver on that list in a good way. 

On our second day in town, wanted to see two Denver institutions that have always appealed to me and were close by each other.  The first was Red Rocks Amphitheatre.  Jam band Widespread Panic was playing a 3 night stand there and that just ain't my thing, but it resides in a state park and you can visit it free of charge during the day.  In a statement that I will try not to repeat endlessly as we travel through Colorado and Utah, the magnificence of the rocks and geologic history were awesome.  Views of the city in the distance and glorious rock formations on either side of the seats, I've never seen a theatre more beautiful.  The Gorge in Washington has a great view and is often compared to Red Rocks, but there is no comparison.  Sorry I didn't get a chance to see a show there, but on the morning we visited, the seating area was occupied by dozens of locals working out.  Yoga/tai chi, people running the steps and cross-fitters made for a pleasant morning of people watching.

 Next stop about 10 minutes up the road was the Coors Brewery in Golden, Colorado.  Growing up, our beer of choice was always Coors and Coors Light.  If I have to drink a beer, it's a Silver Bullet or nothing and the brewery has a legendary status, at least to me and my J-O high school buddies.

We had to wait in a line with a mix of beer bellied yahoos from across 'Merica and burnouts from the Widespread Panic traveling Dead-wannabe entourage for about an hour before we are whisked in Coors emblazoned mini-buses to the brewery proper. 

Boring.  Have seen tanks before and understand the process.  Unlike wineries and some idyllically located whiskey distilleries, beer breweries are just not that interesting and there is not much to see.

 We learned that while they brew Coors Light in many locations, Coors Banquet beer is only brewed there using some of that fine Rocky Mountain Spring water.  The also brew Blue Moon and Killians  (yuck) at that facility.    Adolph Coors was a visionary with regards to recycling and was said to have invented the aluminum can.  I did enjoy a very fresh taste of the Banquet beer, which didn't taste any different to the warm shit we used to drink in Ched's garage circa 1982.  Overall was a big letdown.

Next day we bit the bullet and drove across Colorado through some beautiful country.  Passing places like Vail and Aspen.  Am not a skier but appreciate ski culture and could envision how amazing it must be in the winter.  We stopped in Grand Junction for the night as we planned to hit Colorado National Monument the next morning.  A quaint small town that tries hard and made for a relaxing stop.  Rated as one of the top restaurants in town, we popped into Nepal Restaurant for dinner.  Possibly the best thing to come out of the last four years of family travel is that the kiddies are not only game for sampling new food, but are Bourdanian in their willingness to throw down local style..  I'd never had Nepalese/Tibetan food that I can recall and it is unsurprisingly heavily influenced by Indian cuisine, but the discovery that night was  "Meat Momo", which are meat/veggie filled dumplings.  While dumplings are obviously familiar, the texture (kinda crunchy) and flavor of this Tibetan variety was new and delicious.  Definitely worth searching them out in the future.

Next morning was Colorado National Monument...again, the vastness of space, eons of history exposed by the erosion of the Colorado River and the dryness of the high desert hits me in a way that relaxes and inspires and puts ones place in the cosmic universe in stark relief.

 The monument straddles the border with Utah and after the morning driving climbing around, we were on our way to our next stop...Moab, Utah.

See ya tomorrow.