Happy Halloween

This is one time of the year you miss your kids. Especially if they used to bring back more candy than you gave out!

On the left, three cute gremlins. Their brother (not in the picture) suffered the disadvantage of being too young to go out that year. Above right, he's learned to make up for lost time. Like a bandit, you might say.

Happy Hallowe'lections

Here are a couple of Halloween horror stories, both having to do with elections in Florida. Remember Florida, in 2000? The same party is still in control and nothing much has changed.

1. A court has ruled that election officials may provide written notice telling voters that a vote cast for a withdrawn candidate [Mark Foley (R)], whose name still appears on the ballot, will be counted as a vote for a replacement candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot [Foley resigned one month ago]. The Florida Secretary of State [Katherine Harris' old job, a position now occupied by Sue Cobb (R)] proposed to give a notice to voters addressing only the former and current Republican candidates. The court said that the notice failed to meet the impartiality requirement. Instead, they will use a notice at polling places that was provided by the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections [who are locally elected county officers]. The court found that notice to be a neutral, evenhanded, plain and concise statement of facts.

It would be to the Republicans' advantage to explain why a vote for Foley is not really a vote for Foley, but the Secretary of State cannot put together a proper notice.

2. Meanwhile, in Tallahassee, the local elections supervisor has been giving voting machine manufacturers unholy hell. He has demonstrated that voting machines made by the three manufacturers certified to do business in Florida can all be "hacked," altering the vote count. Did he get a thank-you note from Sue Cobb (R), the Florida Secretary of State? No. She has threatened to sue him and remove him from office for"undermining voter confidence." You can read about it here: http://www.sptimes.com/2006/10/31/State/Activist_inside_and_a.shtml

I'm going to do something on November 7 I thought I'd never do. I'm voting straight party ticket. I may have second thoughts if I have to vote for certain incumbents, but it will be a lesser-of-two-evils analysis. I'm taking a clothes pin with me in case I have to hold my nose while voting.

if you wonder why time seems to speed up

This cartoon will be a mystery to our friends in the U.K. They don't "do" Thanksgiving and I don't think they get "into" Halloween. They don't over-commercialize Christmas, either. Lucky them.

never say never

Taking a break from vacation photos, let's think for a moment about the lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Here you see placekicker Matt Bryant, with three seconds on the clock and the Eagles ahead by one, attempting a 62-yard field goal.

Yeah, right, we said. Game's over, we said. What time does the baseball game start, we asked.

He made it, straight down the middle with yards to spare. The ball went over the goal with so much air under it that he'd have broken the NFL record if he'd kicked the ball from two yards farther back.

A great lesson in nevers: Never give up, and never leave the game until it's over. The fat lady never had a chance to start singing. It was good.

scenery in Scotland, part 4

If you saw Rob Roy, you may remember this scene. These are the gardens at Drummond Castle (with daughter and mother-in-law decorating the first landing on the way down). First laid out in the early 1600's, it was the scene (in the movie) where Montrose was posing for his portrait, Rob Roy came to renegotiate his loan, Montrose asked him to perjure himself against Argyle, and he escaped into the Highlands. These gardens are magnificent. Even on a drizzling September day without much sunlight, there's enough color to dazzle you.

driving in Scotland, part 2

In retrospect, I very much enjoyed driving a full-sized van over two-lane roads with narrow shoulders, on the "wrong" side of the road, especially in the rain. I can say that now because we survived, and because the inspector at the car rental return shop wrote "NND" ("no new damage") on the report at the end of the trip.

The Brits are polite people and they drive that way. Except for the honkers. Stop at a place where you aren't supposed to stop (such as, entering a traffic circle and stopping because you forgot to look right to see who's about to hit you, or stop to let pedestrians finish crossing the street) and the guy behind will honk - every time. That's OK, because a lot of accidents are caused by people stopping where they aren't supposed to stop. But, I remember being honked at in Germany only once. Maybe the other German drivers were getting ready to get out and beat me senseless with a bratwurst, but they didn't honk as much. In Scotland and Germany, I didn't see any obvious signs of road rage, and didn't drive by any fender-benders, either.

In Scotland, most of what you need to know is painted on the asphalt in large white letters. Like, "slow" as you approach an intersection. Like, arrows telling you which lanes are turn lanes and which are through lanes. Like, the speed limit, a number inside a large circle. They do have road signs. My favorite is the sign reading, "Slow down NOW." There was one sign, a red circle with a blue background, that I never did decide what it meant. After awhile you'd see another just like it but with a red diagonal line telling you that the mystery zone ended.

One thing they do not have is billboards. They don't even have the kind of small-sign clutter we've come to associate with cities. You might notice that while you are there, or you might not notice until you get back home and look at all your photos and realize their scenery is not trashed and cluttered with signs. In the U.S., our scenery is blocked by signs. In Scotland and other parts of the U.K. and Europe, where the scenery is spectacular at every turn in the road, may they never be cursed with such garbage.

When we returned the rental car I noticed a Japanese couple leaving in theirs, apparently having just arrived in Edinburgh. The lady was behind the wheel and she had a thoughtful, almost prayerful, expression on her face. They don't drive on the left in Japan, I've been told. I hope that she, too, was rewarded with an "NDD" at the end of their trip.

eating in Scotland, part 2

Earlier, I tried to upload a photo of sticky toffee. Here 'tis. Doesn't look like much in this photo but it tasted wonderful. This, from a restaurant in Crieff called Passion. We spent the rest of the trip trying to find one as good.

travels in Scotland, part 2

One aspect of Scotland that you notice right way is the friendliness of the Scots. Granted, those in the business of hosting tourists like us have an incentive to be friendly but their warmth and good humor is genuine. That extends to others you bump into along the way such as taxi drivers.



Pictured here is Galvelmore, the B and B in Crieff, west of Perth, where we stayed two nights. We found it using Google before we left and booked our rooms well in advance. It turned out to be a good choice.

Galvelmore is owned and operated by Katy and David Galbraith and, naturally, I had to stay with someone who could be a (very) remote cousin. They have two young children, who were off to school by the time this picture was taken.

scenery in Scotland, part 3

Pictured here is Culcreuch Castle, near Fintry. (As usual, click to enlarge the photo.) As castles go, this is modest but it has been made into a fine hotel with a very good kitchen and bar, and it is the setting for about 200 weddings a year.

The part of the building on the left is the original part. The first two or three floors were complete by 1400. The rest was added in more modern times. The date over the front door is 1721. We stayed in the bridal suite, on the top floor. It isn't often you wake up to look out over the battlements of a castle!

I went out of my way to find this for a personal reason (and, truly, this is off the beaten path). Back when my family was a Scottish clan with a chief, he lived here. His forebears lived elsewhere around Loch Lomond but this seems to be the only structure associated with the clan that is not a ruin. Alas, the chief was denounced as an outlaw in the early 1600's and fled to Ireland, losing his estates. His son was the last chief of the clan and since then we have been chiefless. No, I am not volunteering to become the next chief!

scenery in Scotland, part 2

The castles of Scotland range from well-kept Blair Castle (top photo) to Urquhart Castle, on the shores of Loch Ness (below). Blair Castle (check it out: http://www.blair-castle.co.uk/index.asp) has room after room stuffed with porcelain, embroidery, silver, oil portraits, medieval swords and armor, furniture, and a truly fine exhibit of the history of the Atholl Highlanders, "Europe's only remaining private army."

At the other extreme is Urquhart Castle. This castle was taken, destroyed and rebuilt several times during its history. Check it out here:
http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/properties_sites_detail.htm?propertyID=PL_297