Category: Life

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Taking a week off while my Mum is visiting us here in New Mexico.

The Christmas Eve farolito walk up a freezing and snowy Canyon Road was beautiful. Everyone had paper lanterns (ingredients: brown paper bag, sand, candle) in ranks on roofs and walls and all over:

And the bright sun throughout Christmas was such a change from Britain and Ireland, where you may as well keep the curtains closed this time of year.

More later, when I’m back to work next Monday. Hope everyone has a great time over this great time.

(Photo credit: Bill Belknap)

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

I caught part of a strange interview with Brian Williams, the journalist who’s taking over from Tom Brokaw as anchor for NBC’s evening news show. It was just a puff piece on an entertainment news show.

Ditsy interviewer: ‘That’s some big shoes you’re filling.’

Williams: ‘Oh absolutely.’

Dits: ‘And do you try and wear those shoes?’

Williams (looking surprised at such a ridiculously stretched metaphor): ‘Er, well, I think you just wear the ones you bring.’

A good save from Brian, but bizarre nonetheless.

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

A while ago I mentioned I was working on a business site for myself, to promote the web consultancy and development I’ve been doing.

I forgot to put a link in from here, to let folks know about it. I’m still working out a few of its kinks, but it’s more or less presentable.

The Moore Consulting site is at www.moore-consulting.net, so feel free to swing by for a look, and to check up on some of what I’ve been up to when I’ve not been writing about cycling down the Mississippi.

And of course, feel free to get in touch if you think I can help you with some web work.

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Standing in the queue at the busy supermarket the other day, I noticed a curious thing (aside from the weird stuff that everyone else seemed to be buying – it was like they were in a different shop).

The shopping trolleys here (or ‘carts’ as they call them) have cupholders. Right behind the handle are two wire receptacles for the beverage of your choice.

This is getting ridiculous.

German automotive engineers have been known to weep like babies when they get the feedback from testing their new ultimate driving machines in the US: ‘handling, safety, engine management, transmission . . . all that stuff is fine. But there’s nowhere to put my 50-ounce Big Gulp cup of Dr Pepper.’

But now it seems some Americans can’t be driving any sort of wheeled vehicle without access to a sugary soda or a grande double decaf soy mocha latte.

The supermarkets often have juice and coffee counters, so you can get smoothies or your cup of joe. I thought it was mainly for takeaway, but now I see that people refuel while they’re shopping.

Not exactly cafe society.

Saturday, November 06, 2004

You know Nissan have this ‘Shift’ them in their current ads? Like, ‘Shift Expectations’, that sort of thing.

They got a bit carried away in a TV ad that’s running here at the moment. It’s particularly unfortunate, because ‘to shift’ means something entirely different in Ireland, which I can’t help thinking about, especially when the voiceover earnestly says:

‘Everything we touch, we shift. Everything we shift we try to make better.’

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

So with John Kerry conceding the election to Bush this morning, we’re looking at four more years of this president – not a pleasant thought.

The most frightening thing about the result are the reasons people gave for their decision. According to the AP exit polling, if you thought Iraq was the most important issue, you were very likely to vote for Kerry. Similarly, if the economy mattered most, you voted for the Democrats. However, the single most important issue in the minds of the electorate (and one that escaped the advanced polling) were moral values, which drew a massive Christian vote to counteract the increased voting from young people.

Loosely translated ‘moral values’ means are you Christian, and are you opposed to gay marriage and abortion? And 80% of the voters who said that moral values were important to them voted for Bush.

Which suggests to me that for a very large number of people in this country, the performance of a president is irrelevant so long as he or she shares your personal beliefs.

So the careful separation of church and state, and the respect and tolerance of people of all religions and none called for in the constitution are thrown over, and the Republicans become the party of the evangelicals.

Note that the issue was ‘moral values’ not morality. Assessing morality requires discernment and judgement (and you might conclude that the president is pretty suspect morally). But assessing ‘moral values’ just means establishing that the president adheres to the same unthinking prescriptive codes that you do. Easy.

And with there being almost no change in the elctoral map from last time (we’ll have to wait and see with New Mexico), the country is becoming increasingly entrenched. It reminds me a little of how things felt when Mrs Thatcher won re-election in the UK in the mid-80s – those opposed to her couldn’t understand how she could be returned to office, while she happily continued her ideologically-led destruction of many of the best parts of British society.

But her ideology was at least a political one – rampant free-marketeerism and the running down of public services. Bush’s ideology is based on religious beliefs, unemcumbered by thoughts of tolerance and pluralism. This isn’t just a shift to the right, it’s a shift away from the basis of politcal life in the US to this point – it’s always been a religious country, but it’s been governed by largely secular parties. Now that’s not the case. It is not nor it cannot come to good.

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

It’s going to be a bit quiet round here for the next week or so – I’m working hard building a new site for myself.

The site is to support my new venture – web consultant. Tired of applying for jobs and not hearing anything (or, more accurately, hearing that there’s been no decision yet), I decided to formalise what’s been happening informally already.

I’m doing some web content writing for my old friends at iQ Content, and some other web projects for people. So now I’m admitting that that’s what’s happening, and I’m going after some other business.

When I’ve built my own site.

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Talking to Roque today, while getting one of his great carnitas in the plaza, and he is amazed I haven’t heard of Los San Patricios – the Irish who fought for Mexico in the Mexican-American War of 1846-48.

Seems a bunch of Irish soldiers deserted from the US army amid widespread atrocities by the Americans and intolerance of Catholics among the officers. Many fell in with the Mexicans, and recognized an attack by a larger more powerful neighbour when they saw one.

The Irish formed St Patrick’s Battalion, and fought bravely against the Americans in several encounters. When the US army eventually won, many of them were hanged as deserters and traitors, with ‘D’ for deserter branded on their faces. Lovely.

Others survived and stayed in Mexico – Roque tells me the current president Vicente Fox is descended from one of the San Patricios, although my quick internet search didn’t confirm that.

The battalion is still honoured in Mexico – a stamp commemorating their efforts was recently produced.

The Latin feel of New Mexico puts me in mind of Ireland a lot, so I can see how there would have been an affinity between the Irish soldiers and the Mexicans, and it’s nice to find some more connections between there and this part of the world.

More information on the battalion:

Hispanic Magazine

Crisis Magazine – a more detailed historical account.