We got in trouble at the Vatican

The trip with our students was pretty awesome and fairly hassle free (excepting one emergency room visit, a minor jellyfish sting, stomachs having bad reactions to foreign food, and an embarrassing trip I had to make to a pharmacy to buy feminine supplies). Above is my portion of the group. We saw the Prado and Royal Palace in Madrid (where I found awesome pints for one euro), the beach, Parc Guell, Sagrada Familia and Las Rambla in Barcelona, took an overnight ship journey across to Rome, and while there saw the Coliseum, Forum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, etc. At the Vatican some of our group got fussed at and our tour guide was fined because some kids sat on the steps outside the Sistine Chapel. Hopefully the Pope was not personally notified. To be honest, I could have stayed a few more days. If you so desire, you can check out all the pics on FB, which is a social networking sight some of you may have heard of. Cue Chuck Berry's 'Back in the USA'...

Raptor Resource Project

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Got hooked recently on the live eagle feed from Raptor Resource Project, which specializes in the preservation of falcons, eagles, ospreys, hawks and owls. The live feed is from a nest in Iowa. Two eaglets hatched over the weekend and a third is due soon. The second video above is of the first eaglet. You can clearly see him rocking out. More info about the nest and eagles here.

Time Is Going By Really Really Slow...

This made me laugh out loud.

The Hold Fucking Steady

I'm heading over to Dave's neck of the woods to catch a Hold Steady show at the legendary Cat's Cradle. Excited? A little.

Journey To The Edge Of The State

Our summer vacation was a smashing success. We broke the trip up on the way out with a one day stop in Nashville to pick up some more family. By Thursday afternoon, we were in the mountains, dividing our time among Dollywood, Splash Country, Ripley's I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Aquarium, and our lovely cabin. (Those are my children in the photo, cooling off in a mister fan at D-wood.)

Dollywood was a very pleasant surprise; the employees were - without exception - extremely polite and the grounds were immaculate. My son rode his first (and probably last) roller coaster, and my daughter was pissed that she was too short to ride ...

Splash Country, technically part of Dollywood, was a bit of a disappointment, just because it was fucking packed. It also reinforced my belief that I would never, ever want to see 99.99% of the human population naked. (And it didn't help that my brother-in-law Matt reminded me that we were basically bathing with all those slobs.)

Ripley's Bullshit Or Not Aquarium was pretty cool, but my kids got bored half-way through. Things did pick up again, however, when they realized they could pet the horseshoe crabs. Gatlinburg was nice, but Pigeon Forge made me think of Panama City, and not in a good way.

Anyway, we're back. The Johnny Cash rest stop was a welcome sight on the way home, and I must say, the Man In Black keeps his restrooms as clean as an operating room.

Alaskan Adventures

OK, I'm not as cool as Steve McQueen (who got a DUI in Alaska and subsequently took the mug shot you see here), but I did get pretty wasted in our 49th state.

After 24 hours of travel across four time zones, we finally arrived in Homer at midnight (felt like 4 am to us) and proceeded to go to a bar called Charakters. After several pints of a local brew and listening to Jewel's brother's band (!), Mike and I decided it would be a good idea to play guitar and drink whiskey and champagne for another hour or so. Did I mention it never gets dark? My body was in complete disarray. The next day, I puked here, here, and here. Good times. I will say that Homer is very beautiful- everywhere in town you are surrounded by gorgeous mountains and fresh, cold water.

Recover was slow but I rallied on the third day in time to start prepping for the wedding. Frog's boss donated 30 lbs. each of scallops, shrimp, halibut, salmon, and crab legs. Caroline and I helped our friend from New Orleans, Chef Rob, turn all of it into the best wedding food of all time. It involved lots of shopping, running around, and driving cars with no brakes down precipitous, winding hills. Everyone in Alaska seems to own three or four cars, none of which run very well, and all of which have the keys left in them at all times for anyone to use.

The wedding itself was a huge success. It rained quite a lot that afternoon, but after some logistical shuffling, Frog came down the aisle to Mike and I playing and singing the V.U.'s "I'm Sticking With You". Sadly, the ceremony was not filmed, although there are plenty of pics (which I'll post when we get 'em back). The ceremony was brief and I am now a 'Wedding Commissioner' in the state of Alaska. Bride and groom danced to AC/DC and a swell time was had by all.

We flew from Homer to Anchorage in an 8 seat plane that cruised at about 2500 feet. Talk abour unvarnished beauty. All around there were no signs of human life at all: no roads, power lines, boats, nada. Just glaciers, lakes, mountains, and greenery. Absolutely stunning. As for Alaska itself, I can completely understand its appeal for certain people or for anyone wanting to get away from something or wanting to start fresh. Still, the 50 degree highs in mid-June convinced me it was not a place for me to be long term. Also, Alaskanas, while friendly, definitely are part of an exclusive 'club' and seem to carry that designation like a badge of honor. Pride of place and all that, but eccentricity can turn into boorishness at a pretty quick clip.

Mr. Becker Goes to Washington

So last week I was one of the chaperones for a trip to Washington D.C. Twenty of our juniors were invited by the Governor of N.C., Mike Easley, to attend the National Summit on the Silent Epidemic (which refers to the astronomical dropout rate in the U.S.- about 30%). We were in a pretty small conference with some big hitters: Tim Russert, Frank Sesno, David Broder, some Senator from New Mexico, the governors of Rhode Island, North Carolina, and New Hampshire, Secretary of Education Stallings and First Lady Laura Bush. We met most of the above, with the exception of the First Lady, and the kids got a guided tour of the Capitol and attended the world premiere of a new MTV/Gates Foundation documentary, "The Dropout Chronicles". The premiere was a swanky cocktail party (sodas only for the kids and chaperones!) and was hosted by Sway, some MTV celebrity that the kids were thrilled to meet. Anywho, the whole thing was pretty cool and the kids enjoyed themselves and were, I must say, incredibly well-behaved. In the above picture, I am the partially obscured white guy to the right.