Recalling '96

    Story telling is an art. When I begin an article, I anticipate the story to be painted before me without the use of visual aid. I am frequently disappointed when writers who hold positions I only dream of fail to do this. Now, I know nothing of New York City, nor about the 1990's aside from that Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and myself were created then. But, Hugo Lidgren of The New York Times Magazine did a fine job of showing me what I missed in his article.
    I began his piece hoping to learn something. I left it not quite sure if that happened. I also left it with a vivid image of a memory that does not belong to me. I hope to do the same for other people so I must applaud such feats when I see them.
    Lidgren's play-by-play of his 1996 evening is not intended for the likes of me. Barely three at the time, I had only been to the big apple twice and obviously do not remember either journey. This story could have fooled me. Without flashy writing or much background information I now feel I can grasp the difference that separates then from now.
    This may not be true but I appreciate the article for that very reason. The story moves quick and was told more similar to an uncle's drunken ramble rather than an article. Breaking this boundary is something I strive to do.

Good Luck

    Leave it to Vice. Recent news has focused on the Russian Orthodox church, which is pushing to return ownership over Alaska to Russia. Their motives stem from recent homosexual activities in the state and country. It is the same church that lashed out at the Pussy Riot performance in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Despite the contradicting intolerance of both gays and the unruly kittens, Alina Khametova and Camille Standen conducted a tight, professional interview and ignored the obscurities within the answers.
 
    One of the many flaws that dangles from my reporting notebook is my interviewing skills. I do close to everything wrong. I frequently say um, interrupt most responses and fail to pay attention to them if I make it that far. The little reporting I have done has been with likable and knowledgeable individuals who are what I have come to consider "interview friendly." How the two ladies managed to stick to their agenda, gain information and not verbally assault the man they spoke with is fantastic. What is most impressive is not their ability to interview such a narrow minded individual but do so with a nonchalant yet smart ass tone that shouts in disapproval. They write for their readers. In the midst of the church's leader's plan the interviewer simply responds "That's nice, I suppose." It is their way of poking fun at the response without criticizing it.
 
    The authors of the article do not take the Russian Orthodox church's actions very serious. It is hard to. What I like, is their way of shining a funny light on something some people actually take quite serious. It is all a way of putting a Vice look of the world.

Tengo Sed

    Alcohol is a substance like no other. Its presence is ingrained in all walks of life. It is one of the few things that can relate the 99% to the remaining 1%, Juneau to Miami and Catholicism to Voodoo. It has been mastered and consumed by all creeds and colors and that will never change. Some of my earliest memories include family gatherings highlighted by big bottles of Jameson and my father counting out my time as I ran to grab him two Heineken from the fridge. I appreciate a good drink as I have been molded to do but one I have yet to understand is the gin and tonic. I first had one several years ago with my grandmother at her husbands funeral. Less than a sip later my hand had moved the glass aside hers and was cuing the bartender back to us. Many attempts in the years that followed proved no better. Matt Goulding is the first person to serve the drink to me in a fashion I enjoyed. Unfortunately it was not in a glass but Time Magazine. I can promise anyone who criticizes the drink will question their dissatisfaction after reading Goulding's article. 

    The story is about the gin and tonic in Spain. His descriptions of the many preparations of the drink was enough to make wonder if I have ever actually tried the concoction he speaks of.

     "You drink it for that bracing bittersweet dance between aromatic juniper-charged gin and the quinine bite of a good tonic."

    The only other time the referencing of juniper caught my attention was in Monty Python's "Life of Brian". Now my taste buds cannot help but be curious of its flavor. 

   Not only did Goulding attract me to a drink I know I do not like but to a place I once had no intention of visiting. I can see Pascual, the owner of his favorite G and T place pouring a glass that will undoubtedly change all of my misunderstandings. I also see the 38 gins and five tonics dominating the bottles than sit behind him. 

    This is one of the best articles I have read in a good while. It is vivid, persuasive and leaves my mouth watering for a "gin tonic" at 3:45 on a Sunday. 

    

   

    

Please Sir, I Want Some More

The February 2013 edition of National Geographic is missing pages. Soccer Joy is an article by Jeremy Berlin that was simply not finished. It focuses on the sports tremendous impact and influence in Africa. The writing is engaging, vivid and commented by Jessica Hilltout's quality photographs. The topic is specific, under observed and fascinating. All of these qualities should equate to a must read feature. Rather than that, Berlin completed the article in 563 words. His article is similar to the dessert of a five-star restaurant. It's brilliance ends far before those who consume it get their fill. I want more Jeremy. Any American who passes Fox Soccer on their television knows Europeans love for the game goes far beyond any reasonable logic. It is no longer a story. People who share that same passion, but play on rocky fields in broken sandals with larger rocks as a ball is a story. It is a story that deserves 563 words as an introduction and with Berlin's writing ability, the untainted attention of anyone who begins it. I am still hungry.

Sliding Right By

Looking to expand the limited selection of reading materials I expose myself to, I dug deep into the archives of Adirondack Life. I scrolled down the page until I found a piece on curling. As an open-minded reader and a massive critic of this sport, I thought another persons opinion may be able to break my narrow-minded image of these shenanigans on ice.
 I didn't.
The blog (which I just realized was a blog) began with the Niki Kourofsky describing her limited knowledge that rested perpendicular with mine. Great. This will surly explain what my image of the sport was missing.
It didn't.
The development of curling took up a large majority of the story. The Scottish brought it to the Americas a long time ago and it does not take an outside source to know the popularity hasn't exactly skyrocketed since then.
Following this consistently dull history were the dull rules. There is nothing worth mentioning if someone has watched the sport in the Olympics. It holds similar entertainment value to the warming period of a lava-lamp. The result is never what we would like it to be. No trash talking, cursing or boozing. How the United States recruits their players is past my understanding.
After the rules and regulations there was no doubt this story would shock anyone still conscious and reading.
Not exactly.
She went on to explain that people play the sport on lakes in the Adirondacks and the clubs are more than willing to teach people to play.
I continue to read this story hoping I missed something but this doesn't seem to be the case. Kourofsky did nothing wrong aside from writing on something less than one percent of Americans will ever hold any value to. Sadly, it was well written and she did her homework but I feel it was just an attempt to fill space rather than provoke interest. She was better off writing about how the ice it is played on freezes or the mineral composition of the stones used; either would offer equal or more excitement. I fully realize one day I will have to write on life draining events so I hope this does not come off as an attack on her writing or her writing.
It's not.