Winter Olympics I: Gold At Albertville, '92

Thankfully, I have only taken one police-administered breath-a-lizer test in my life. This happened in France in January 1992. I had driven up to Courcheval 1650 from Albertville, and toured what would become our group's Olympic home one month later, the Hotel du Golf. Naturellement, I lunched outside in the sun with Henri, the hotel's owner. It is my recollection that we sampled some local beaujulais, which Henri cooled in the snow.  The yellow scarf pictured above witnessed the whole thing.

I wanted to return to Albertville before dark, because I was inexperienced at driving those vertical roads with their constant twists and turns. I had only begun to learn the art of alpine driving, having negotiated sleet and fog coming up to Albertville from Lyons.

I remember little about that first descent, except that it was wonderful to come down through the pretty towns, like Moutiers, below Courcheval. But, exiting one of the the last sharp turns I ran into du lineup gendarmes: a surprise alcohol level test.  This is great, I remember thinking: big time corporate events leader arrested in France on a DWI. That would make a nice pre-Olympic headline.

But, Friends, this was pre- Olympic France. I do not know what my score was that day, but they did not retain me or even scold me. I had a gold in my first Albertville event.

Later, my Olympic job became Chief Driver, since all of the Renault Espace vans had standard shifts located on the column. I was one of very few who could drive them, making many trips to and from the airport in Lyons and the train station in Moutiers, not to mention Albertville itself.

One sunny afternoon, my colleague John and I watched hockey in Meribel. Afterwards, we stationed ourselves at a bistro, where we could watch the ski-jumpers high above us across the road and sip our wine. 

When we got back up to Courcheval, I realized that I had left my yellow scarf in the bistro, and John wanted me to go right back and retrieve it. Instead, I said we'd try the next day. This was typical of our respective working styles. John, a former army Colonel and MP never left anything undone or unplanned. My somewhat looser system could annoy him, but he had slowly come to trust me anyway.

Late the next day, on our way to watch the ski-jump finals in Meribel, I stopped by the bistro, made my way through the crowded tables filled with attractive brightly-clad skiers and spectators. There, hanging on its peg, exactly where I had left it, was my scarf.

As we crossed the road, John just gave me one of his looks and a slight shake of his head, amazed that  nobody had walked off with the scarf.

I had learned not to say anything to him at times like these, but to just enjoy the moment.

 I had won my second gold at Albertville.

Note: for a look at the trois valees area above Albertville, please go to:  http://www.courchevel.com/img/plans/plan_pistes3v.pdf

This piece is running concurrently on our style blog:

http://rareburghers.blogspot.com/

Odds and Ends, Mostly Odds

This is Wednesday, which means it's time for some odds and ends: mostly odds.

Now that's a paddy-wagon!....Iran's Islamic government has decided that its occasional crackdowns on the opposition have been ineffective and inefficient. Consequently, they have decided to arrest the entire population of the country.

Arrested Development.... China has vetoed a UN resolution condemning Iran's national arrest. In its statement, China said that it had been able to make huge economic leaps after arresting its entire population twice: in 1949 and 1989. China sees no reason why Iran could not make similar post-arrest leaps, especially if it continues buying arms and nuclear equipment from China.

You may need it!....Nigeria's new Acting President's name? Goodluck Jonathan. True.

Qat got his tongue....Thomas L. Friedman reports from Yemen in the Times that he "took part in a qat chew" with Yemeni officials, referring to a mild halucinogenic. The resulting qat column proposes that the US " build 50 modern schools" for Yemeni boys and girls for every Predator missile we fire at Al Qaeda targets in Yemen. Perhaps this strange man could also chew some qat with some Wash. D.C. officials and get the Pentagon to build 50 modern schools for DC boys and girls. Did Yemenis spike that qat? Calling Dr. Leary!

Speaking about luck....The New York State Senate has expelled Senator Hiram Monserrate of Queens for his domestic assault conviction. Reportedly, the expellee took in all in stride, using his generous severance and pension package to form a new gaming company. Monserrate and his partners will apparently bid on the troubled Aqueduct "video gaming" (wink-wink) center, as a result of questions surrounding the current bid by Gov. Paterson's friend, Floyd Flake.

Gaming Center? What Gaming Center?....Speaking of that $200-300 Million video slot machine center at the site of the former Aqueduct racetrack: does anyone remember who came up with this idea, how it passed in the first place and why we need it?  Were these guys/gals in the Senate and Assembly sitting around with Friedman and Paterson chewing on the qat again! Meanwhile, St Vincent's Hospital has to close and Yemeni boys and girls are sharpening their pencils. Does the concept of a mass arrest in Albany appeal to anyone?

The early worm gets the bird....Finally, on those rumors about Gov. Dave's party habits and pending resignation. The Gov has reminded people that he doesn't need to sneak women into the Governor's Mansion; he's the Governor, for goodness sake, he can invite anyone at anytime he pleases without sneaking. Give the guy a break, have you ever tried to live in Albany? No elected officials actually live in Albany. It's a place you go to pick up a pay check and another and another and one more, until you, your sister and your cousins  get your pensions. Singling out one guy up there for unethical or immoral behavior is like identifying one particular cornstalk in Iowa for having a worm.

Note: please remember our lifestyle/design blog, http://rareburghers.blogspot.com/  and don't forget cousin Adam Haslett's new novel, Union Atlantic (Nan Talese/Doubleday), which is now in stores/online.

A Hire Power

       
          1.

The thing
to remember is:

we’re  at the beginning

of our ropes.

          2.

The early bird

and the late

measure their results

as one more day.

Not so,

the worms.

         3.

Each strategy

holds a trick

within it:

fruit inside

a pit.

        4.

I’d like

to surrender

to a Hire Power

If only.

      

Any Three From Each

                            

                                 A                                        B


                             never  
                                                                       surrender
                            practice
                                                                         perfect
                             Might
                                                                         might
                              right
                                                                       might not
                               rain
                                                                           sun
                               soup
                                                                          salad
                               meet
                                                                         leave
                             pound                            
                                                                          slice
                              lost
                                                                      mod squad
                             beatles
                                                                        stones

                                                                      
                        
                                                          
              

RuiNation Ruminations

• President Harry S. Truman famously had a sign on his desk reading: "The Buck Stops Here." His successors have added an addendum: "....until we can borrow another one."
• In the Fifties, when you said "Red" in Washington, you were speaking about dirty rotten commies. In the Sixties, when you said "Black," you were referring to civil rights. Now, they refer to compulsive spending and constituents' mood back home.
• They used to administer a simple arithmetic test to incoming members of Congress: addition and subtraction. Now, they just do subtraction. Seems to work just as well.
• Washington D.C. is the only place left in the country still talking about "bi-partisanship." Dems think it's a new Gay Marriage Bill and Republicans are opposed despite not knowing its meaning.
• Oh, how quickly we long for the good old days, before BankBash, before NewJobBank, and TeacherPetEd. We already long for those ancient times when Max, Nancy and Harry were putting the finishing touches on the National Health Reform Bill. Was it just a dream?
• Washington's version of the Hatfields and McCoys: the Do Everything Nows and the Never Do Anythings. This is no longer a zero-sum game. Voters have become the Get Rid of 'Em Alls.
• Wouldn't it be funny of we had an election in November and no voters showed up? Well, maybe not. Perhaps we should take a cue from recent advances in education and pay voters like students. Oops, Republicans just shot that one down: too bad. 
• The Peoples' Representative from Hubei Province has suggested that henceforth China celebrate July 4 each year as Cha-Ching Day, in reverence for our country's collective stupidity.

Note: Doubleday/Nan Talese will soon publish cousin Adam Haslett's novel Union Atlantic. Surely Adam is the only U. of Iowa writer with expertise on the Federal Reserve: must have been the Yale Law School training. Sorry to admit that he's the best writer in the family. Read his book; it's going to be huge, as in Oprah-type huge. 

State of the Union IV: True: Like Ice, Like Fire

                                      

For those of you just joining us, in State of the Union Part III Thirdgarage proposed the adoption of  a symbolic Fifty-First State and a Fifty-One Star Flag.

The flag shown above may seem a little different to the eye, because it is. Mr. Robert Heft, who died on December 12, 2009,  designed this Fifty-One Star Flag. He did so around the same time that he designed our official Fifty-Star Flag as a high school project. It has been held in trust ever since.

We first made this proposal in October 2001, while the country was beginning to heal its 9/11 wounds. Our efforts to find Mr. Heft at that time were unsuccessful. So, he never endorsed the idea. On the other hand, he hadn't not endorsed it either. What does a Fifty-First State and Star symbolize to us?

1. Star 51 is about our aspirations as a nation and our place in the world; it is meant to focus us on who and what we could be; it represents our true potential, not a finite territory. It is unbounded.

2. It is not Red, Blue, or Green and is neither Left nor Right.  It is not owned by a Corporation or anybody else.

3. It points the way forward out of a series of calamities; its adoption is meant with deepest respect to our current flag and Union and the memory of many who fought or died to protect it and our freedom.

4. It will shine its light on our true and dangerous enemies, so that we see them clearly; we have enough real enemies without inventing others. Most importantly, it reminds us not to be our own worst enemy.

5. Our 51st State is honest and true "like ice, like fire" as one sage has said. It has no state capitol, therefore it has no under-the-radar legislators or their relatives and "friends" in imaginary state jobs as part of a bloated budget.

6. Star 51 will not appear on any Talk Show or on Reality TV.  There will be no book with a huge advance, and Wall St. can't  IPO it, split it, bundle it, trade it, short it, mortgage it or bankrupt it.

7. People everywhere: US citizens and others , taxpayers and cheats, church-goers or not: child, teen, adult, and aged can look upon it and rekindle their dreams (then pay their fair share of taxes!).

8.  Real prosperity will be made again in garages and free minds by girls and boys, women and men who are tinkerers, maybe just a bit odd. Star 51's killer app is to do the unexpected and to do it well. It will remind us that Wash. D.C. and Wall St. can't manufacture prosperity; they only make bets and skim their shares. 

9. The new Star's light and magnetism more firmly unite the other stars; it acts as a symbol of our creativity and innovation as a nation.

10.   A high school boy in Ohio conceived and designed the flag decades ago: a beautiful, selfless act. He had another use in mind at the time, but I'd like to think that he would have enjoyed our idea.

We're walking around in the dark as a nation, bumping into one thing, then another. Why not turn on a light where we can all see it?

Note: If you would like to know more about Robert Heft and his flags, you can read Jim Sielicki's UPI story about him at:  http://www.usflag.org/flagdesigner.html

State of the Union III: Star 51

This week Wash. D.C. imagines the State of the Union for citizens. This is the ultimate insiders' viewpoint. A President gives what is usually a mildly interesting speech, while his own Party reacts as if trying to incite Bruce Springsteen to do one more encore.

The opposition usually sits on its hands, although this year, some yahoo seeking his/her fifteen minutes might just rudely interrupt. Hopefully, by now all the South Carolinian pols have exhausted their fifteen minutes. Afterwards, the pretender-party selects a promising unknown, whom with luck we will never see again, to read a dull retort.

After that, the Talking Heads will tell us what the President  really said, because we're too dull to have understood what he/she (someday soon) really said, or should have said, or would have said had he/she been more able. Sarah Palin may do her new thing and a few pundits, whom you might have thought were already dead, will do theirs. Then, MSN and Fox will go nearly-postal on each other.

Ho-Hum.

We believe it's time for some bold, imaginative action: time to tap into our collective desire and ability to transcend the forces of mediocrity gathered around us in business, government, education and media. For this purpose, we make a proposal:

Create a symbolic Fifty-First State and adopt a Fifty-One Star flag.

Some of you may have noticed that the flag at the top was a little different, because it is. Mr. Robert Heft, who died last December, designed this Fifty-One Star Flag. He did so around the same time that he designed our official Fifty-Star Flag as a high school project.

True story.

We do not mean this in any disrespectful or exploitative way. We simply think the country needs a unifying metaphor at this moment. Haven't we had enough blah-blah-blah and name-calling? Can't we rise above well-intended "Tea Parties," which gather many sincere citizens, but also those who fear extra-terrestials more than terrorists, think Darwin is the devil, and want an SUV in every garage?

What is the Fifty-First State and what is the meaning of the Fifty-First Star?

 In State of the Union Part IV, we explain.

Note: If you would like to know more about Robert Heft and his flags, you can read Jim Sielicki's UPI story about him at:  http://www.usflag.org/flagdesigner.html