Aught Six: Act Two

Welcome to the second installment of this blog's version of As the World Turns (for a look back at "Act One," click here). As with the first installment, most of this stuff has been lifted directly from the weekly e-mail reports I get from Harper's.

Scene 1: Africa
On May 30th, the June 5th edition of TIME reports an International Rescue Committee estimate that 3.9 million people have died from war-related causes since the conflict in Congo began in 1998, making it the world’s most lethal conflict since World War II (Congo, the second-largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa, has a population of 63 million people and is larger than California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas combined.)

Some Congo history from TIME: “ . . . Congo won its independence [from Belgium] in 1960. But within months its first elected Prime Minister had been killed by Belgium- and U.S.-backed opponents because of his growing ties to the Soviet Union, an assassination that eventually opened the way for army general Mobutu Sese Seko (see photo at right) to grab power. A U.S. favorite during the Cold War, Mobutu presided over one of the most corrupt regimes in Africa history.

"In 1996 neighboring Rwanda and Uganda jointly invaded Congo to eliminate the Hutu militias, known as the Interahamwe, that had been responsible for the Rwandan genocide and were hiding in Congo’s eastern forests. As the invading armies advanced across the country, Mobutu fled, and the invaders installed a small-time rebel leader named Laurent Kabila as President. But things got worse. In 1998, after Kabila got too friendly with the Interhamwe, Uganda and Rwanda invaded Congo again, triggering what became known as Africa’s first world war. The scramble for power and resources dragged in forces from eight African neighbors, pawned a myriad of Congolese factions and set off campaigns of ethnic cleansing. Kabila, as nasty and corrupt as his predecessor, was shot dead by one of his bodyguards in 2001.

Laurent's son Joseph Kabila, 29 (see photo at left), assumed power. One year later, after some arm twisting by continental power South Africa . . . the young leader and most of the rebel groups and foreign forces fighting in the country signed a peace deal. A national army was formed, aimed at integrating soldiers who had previously been trying to kill one other. . . . But in some parts of the country, the fighting has never really stopped.”

The IRC says that though the peace deal was signed more than 3 years ago, 1,250 Congolese still die every day because of “war-related causes—the vast majority succumbing to diseases and malnutrition that wouldn’t exist in peaceful times.”

In June, an Islamic militia takes over Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, routing U.S.-backed warlords. In August, Ethiopia denied reports that it had attacked Somalia, but Somalia declared an "all out holy war" on Ethiopia.

In July, a United Nations official in Sudan lamented that violence in Darfur has gotten worse since the signing of a recent peace accord.

Also in July, the five-year-old world trade talk known as the Doha round because that's the city they started in, broke down over agriculture policies: The U.S. has been pushing for the EU and others to end their agriculture tariffs, with others responding that the U.S. first needs to cut back its farm subsidies—and that is a no-go. Bad news for cotton-producing African countries like Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali (see map at right).

Scene 2: The Americas
In May, Alvaro Uribe (at left) became the first president to win re-election in Colombia since 1892.

In June, former President Alan García beat Ollanta Humala in Peru's runoff presidential election. During his last presidency, which ended 16 years ago, García led Peru into an economic collapse, but he was able to gain approximately 55 percent of Sunday's vote. Some analysts believe voters elected García more as a rejection of Humala—who had been endorsed by Hugo Chavez of Venezuela—rather than as an endorsement of the former president.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Senate voted for the ninth consecutive year to keep the minimum wage at $5.15 per hour, and House Republicans declined to renew the 1965 Voting Rights Act because it was unfair to Southerners.

In July, Felipe Calderon (see electoral poster at right), the candidate of Mexico's conservative Institutional Revolutionary Party, was apparently elected president of the nation, though Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the leftist mayor of Mexico City, refused to concede and demanded a complete recount.

It was reported that advisers at federally funded "pregnancy resource centers" in the United States were telling women that abortions increase the risk of cancer, infertility, and mental illness.

Scene 3: Europe

In August, under pressure from U.S. officials, authorities in the United Kingdom announced the discovery of a terrorist plot to blow up as many as ten passenger planes in the air, possibly by using explosive liquids hidden inside sports-drink bottles. Twenty-one suspects were arrested. Carry-on luggage was banned on flights in and out of Heathrow airport.

Scene 4: Israel and Palestine

In May, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (see photo at right) called on the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority to accept the goal of establishing a Palestinian state (and thus acknowledge Israel's right to exist); if Hamas does not comply, he said that he will call a national referendum on the issue.

In June, it was reported that an Israeli artillery shell killed at least seven civilians, including five members of one family (including young children aged ten, three, and one) who were picnicking on a beach in Gaza. Israeli officials expressed regret and said that the shell had been aimed at a target 400 yards away from the picnic. Later, however, the Israeli military absolved itself of responsibility in the deaths. An Israeli committee admitted that Israeli forces fired six shells on and around the beach, but found that a mine planted by Hamas (or possibly a buried shell) had, by coincidence, exploded and killed the family at around the same time as the shelling. A former Pentagon battlefield analyst said that the shrapnel and craters he found at the scene of the explosion were consistent with shelling by Israelis, as were the wounds suffered by survivors.

Hamas declared that it would no longer abide by a 16-month-old cease-fire and fired a rocket into Israel.

In July, Palestinian militants conducted a raid in Israel and abducted an Israeli soldier, whom they carried to Gaza via a secret tunnel. Israel retaliated by bombing Gaza's main power plant, two bridges, the offices of Palestine's prime minister and interior minister, and a soccer field, and by arresting as many as 64 Palestinian officials. Palestinian militants demanded that Israel release all Palestinian prisoners who are women or under the age of 18.

Later in July, war erupted between Hezbollah and Israel after the Lebanese militia launched Operation Truthful Promise against Israel by crossing the border and capturing two Israeli soldiers. Israel countered by staging Operation Just Reward against Lebanon, bombing roads, bridges, power stations, fuel depots, ports, and airports, and killing numerous civilians. Hezbollah bombed Haifa, surprising Israel with the range of its rockets and killing at least eight civilians.

Ehud Olmert, prime minister of Israel (see photo at left), said Hezbollah's war on Israel was a ruse to divert attention from Iran's nuclear weapons program.

In August, after an Israeli bombing raid killed 54 people, including 37 children, in the Lebanese village of Qana, Beirut residents set fire to a U.N. headquarters. Israel agreed to suspend some bombing operations for 48 hours in order to investigate the deaths. Israeli bombs later struck a U.N. post in southern Lebanon, killing four peacekeepers. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said the targeting was "apparently deliberate," and Olmert called Annan's comments "premature and erroneous."

Hezbollah guerillas fired several hundred rockets into towns in northern Israel, hitting a laundry detergent factory and a cemetery, and injuring at least 31 people. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed in an ambush, and Israeli officials claimed to have killed some 200 Hezbollah "operatives" since the outset of hostilities.

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah (see photo at left) boasted that his forces were inflicting "maximum casualties" and warned Israel that if it "bombed our capital Beirut, we will bomb the capital of your usurping entity." Ultimately, ,however, Hezbollah accepted a U.N. ceasefire resolution, and agreed to allow Lebanese and U.N. troops to serve as peacekeepers in southern Lebanon and subsequently declared victory in the 34-day war. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged that Israel would "do better" in what Defense Minister Amir Peretz referred to as "the next round."

In September, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan denounced Israel's use of cluster bombs, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert refused to lift a seven-week-old blockade on Lebanon.

French president Jacques Chirac said that sending 15,000 United Nations troops to Lebanon was "excessive."

Scene 5: Asia

In May, the Nepal House of Representatives declared the King of Nepal (see photo at right) to be powerless.

In June, the United States announced that it would join 5 other nations in demanding that Iran immediately suspend uranium-enrichment activities. In August, Iran was launching missiles at Kurds and cracking down on "decadent" satellite dishes.

In July, North Korea launched six rockets over the Sea of Japan, including a Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile, which apparently was aborted after just 40 seconds.

Bombings on trains and in train stations killed 181 people in Mumbai, India, and led India to postpone peace talks with Pakistan.

In August, the Sri Lankan air force bombed an orphanage and killed dozens of schoolgirls, and the Tamil Tigers failed to kill the High Commissioner of Pakistan with an exploding rickshaw.

Scene Six: The History Stacks

In June, The Army Corps of Engineers admitted that its incompetence was largely to blame for the destruction of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

In August, Nobel-prize winning German novelist Günter Grass (see photo at left) announced that he had once been a member of the Nazi SS.

Scene Seven: The Cemetery

In September, Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, died after a stingray stabbed him in the heart.

Scene Eight: Iraq

In May, the Los Angeles Times reported a top U.S. ground commander in Iraq telling his officers that some U.S. troops have been their "own worst enemy" because of how they've dealt with Iraqis. "We have to understand that the way we treat Iraqis has a direct effect on the number of insurgents that we are fighting," he said.

Later in May, The New York Times and Los Angeles Times front what military officials say appear to be the murders of two dozen Iraqis by Marines last November. A congressional official said the shootings were "methodical in nature." The Marines reportedly killed a few unarmed men taken from a taxi. Then they went into houses, where they killed women and children. An initial press release from the military said most of the civilians were killed by a "roadside bomb." The NYT, which has the more detailed report, asked a "senior defense official" how many Iraqis were really killed by the bomb. The answer: "Zero." The military only investigated after TIME started digging and reported the story back in March. The killings are now the focus of three investigations, including one into the possible cover-up. "When these investigations come out, there's going to be a firestorm," one retired military lawyer told the Washington Post. "It will be worse than Abu Ghraib—nobody was killed at Abu Ghraib."

In July, four U.S. soldiers in Iraq were being investigated for raping a woman, then killing her and three other members of her family; it was suggested that the accused, Private Stephen D. Green, of Midland, Texas (see photo at left) may have spent up to a week planning the attack. A week later, five more American soldiers were charged in the case and Iraqi prime minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki denounced the immunity of American soldiers in the case. It was later reported that Green had said that, in Iraq, "killing people is like squashing an ant, I mean, you kill somebody and it's like, 'All right, let's go get some pizza.'"

It was later announced that May was the deadliest month for Baghdad residents since the beginning of the American occupation.

In August, it was pointed out that the United States has been fighting in Iraq for as long as it fought Germany during World War II and thousands of U.S. Marine reserves were involuntarily recalled to active duty to offset a lack of volunteers for the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In September, The Pentagon announced that civilian casualties in Iraq had increased recently by more than fifty percent, and death squads were said to be torturing and killing as many as 1,800 people per month.

Scene Nine: Al Qaeda Situation Room

In June, United States forces succeeded in killing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, with two five-hundred-pound bombs that were dropped on a safe house north of Baghdad. Zarqawi reportedly survived the bombing at first and even tried to get away but was strapped to a stretcher, where he died.

In August, Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman lost the Democratic Senate primary election to anti-Iraq-war candidate Ned Lamont (the Lamont campaign made a lot of hay out of the photo at right). Lieberman then announced that he would run as an independent candidate. Vice President Dick Cheney said that Lamont's victory was encouraging to "Al Qaeda types." One week later, Lieberman said that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should resign.

Scene 10: The Courts

While acknowledging that Khaled al-Masri (see photo at left)--an entirely innocent former detainee of the U.S. government-- "deserves a remedy" for allegedly being tortured by the CIA, a federal judge dismissed al-Masri's case this past May because allowing it to proceed would expose government secrets.

In July, the high courts of Georgia and New York both upheld bans on gay marriage.

Scene Eleven: The Executive Office

In June, it was reported that the Pentagon has decided to remove a reference to Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions-- the one that bans torture and cruel treatment as well as "outrages on personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment"--from a new edition of the Army Field Manual on interrogation. The change, which would reverse decades of military policy, follows President Bush's declaration in 2002 that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to "unlawful combatants" such as terrorists.

In June, three detainees at the American prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, committed suicide using nooses made from clothing and bedsheets. Navy Rear-Admiral Harry Harris said "I believe this was not an act of desperation but an act of asymmetric warfare against us." All three men had been in the camp for about four years and had recently engaged in a hunger strike.

In July, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President George W. Bush had overstepped his authority in establishing military tribunals for Guantanamo Bay detainees.

President Bush also said that he was "willing to abide by the ruling. "It didn't say we couldn't have done--couldn't have made that decision, see?" Bush added. "They were silent on whether or not Guantanamo--whether we should have used Guantanamo. In other words, they accepted the use of Guantanamo, the decision I made."

Scene Twelve: A Note of Hope

In June, the worldwide rate of HIV infections stabilized for the first time in history.

The Map of Africa at right is colored according to the percentage of the adult (ages 15-49) population with HIV/AIDS. Data from UNAIDS - the majority of percentages are from 1999, although several are more recent (2001, 2002).

Also Sprach den Mann auf dem T-Shirt

Die Arbeiter haben kein Vaterland.

Die Proletarier haben nichts in ihr zu verlieren als ihre Ketten. Sie haben eine Welt zu gewinnen. Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt euch!

Nuevos Tios Pasan Diez Dias en Chicago

Lunes 7: Llegada a la una de la tarde, sans maletas . . . merienda de empanadas árabes y mango seco . . . paseo por el lago Michigan (sugerencia de Emilio) . . . paseo por el centro en un coche alquilado . . . paseo por Oak Park . . . el estudio del arquitecto Frank Lloyd Wright . . . la casa donde Hemingway nació . . . cena en el diner “Peterson’s Emporium”

Martes 8: Tuna melt en el Kopi café . . . primer viaje en el “El” . . . compras en La Milla Magnífica . . . gumbo en Heaven on Seven . . . llegada demorada de maletas (entregadas por un matón de discotecas)

Miercoles 9: Wiggleworms (clase de música de Emilio). . . visíta a Navy Pier . . . vuelta en la rueda de Chicago . . . cena (L’Appetito) al aire libre a los pies de John Hancock . .

Jueves 10: Visíta a Evanston (foto abajo) . . . tomates verdes fritos en el Dixie Kitchen . . . tarta de “chocolate molten lava” en Chili’s . . . primera visíta al Art Institute de Chicago . . .

Viernes 11: Tour de arquitectura Art Deco en el centro, guiado por María José (con ayuda del Pocket Guide to Chicago Architecture). . . . vuelta al Art Institute de Chicago . . . "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind" en el Neo-Futurarium--momentos estelares: “Playing with (a totally stupid ass) fire (a.k.a.: “Shampoo!”); “Wipe Out!”; “Step Forward, Mighty Warrior” . . .

Sábado 12: Le Tour de Foster en bici . . . baño en el lago Michigan . . . kayak en el rio de Chicago (“¡horrible!”; recuerdos de una tarde de terror en China) . . . festival de música de Grant Park: Misa Criolla de Villalobos en el Pritzker Pabellón de Frank Gehry . . . I-Love-Madonna-fest . . .

Domingo 13:
Segundo baño en el lago Michigan . . . Festival Coreano con Fernando y Lisa y los “Tumblers” de Jesse White . . . Sushi . . . Pizza de Pizza Capri

Lunes 14:
Subída al piso 95 del rascacielos John Hancock . . . la primera carioca de tres (ganó Gerardo)

Martes 15: El Museo de Arte Contemporaneo . . . concierto de jazz al aire libre (“atentado a “La Chica de Ipanema”) y baile de Emilio . . . la segunda carioca de tres (ganó Mari) . . .

Miercoles 16: Almuerzo (Corner Bakery) al lado del rio Chicago en la Plaza de los Veteranos de la Guerra de Vietnam . . . Ultima visíta al Millenium; sesion fotográfica con el “Bean” . . . cena (pot roast) en Charlie’s al aire libre . . . postre en Sweet Occasions . . . última carioca de tres (ganó Gime)

Jueves 17: Despedida

Debido a mi trabajo, no pude pasar todo el tiempo que quisiera con Gerardo y Gimena. Espero que puedan volver pronto. Y estamos esperando con ganas noticias de su visíta a Nueva York donde estarán siete dias antes de volver a España.



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Ode to a Brother

Takes off from work to fly up when you're in a pinch.

Brings the love.

Solves problems.

Brings to mind the character of "Mr. Wolf," who saves Jimmie Dimmick's bacon in Pulp Fiction . (That's Harvey Keitel as Wolf and Quentin Tarrantino as Dimmick in the photo at right).

Bounces your son on his knee.

Gives him a Karl Marx t-shirt.

Plays patty-cake with him.

Gives him his bottle.

Sings to him. And then offers him his body as a deluxe sleeping pillow.

Drives the car you rent (he has insurance) and chauffeurs you around the city.

Carries boxes of books up and down the stairmaster in your hallway to the rented car three stories below. Assumes all assigned tasks. Understands and forgives your organizational manias. Talks you through the purchase of a new car seat for your son and then installs it.

Takes you to see an All-Star Soccer game and talks you through the play and the players.

Shares your tastes in food and sport. Talks you through the purchase of shelves and drawers for your closets. Buys the tools needed to install your new shelves and drawers and then installs them himself. Catches mistakes before they happen and repairs the mistakes that have already been made. Stays up until 4:30 in the morning, encouraging you to get it all done and then goes through piles of paperwork crap that you have put off sorting for months and maybe even years and sorts it. Gets up with you four hours later to get on the stairmaster again to take move more boxes into storage, leaving just enough time to get him back to the airport for his return flight.

Such is my brother. And for that I am profoundly grateful.

Moulting Season?

At 2:10 today, I sent an e-mail to Dr. José Aybar, Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs for the City Colleges of Chicago, accepting the Project Align Coordinator position which he offered me this past Monday. I report for work at 9 a.m. on Monday.

I don't think I've ever felt more wary about accepting a job, and not just because this is coat-and-tie work which will require me to buy new dress shoes, new dress shirts, and more coats and ties this weekend (I have one suit right now and it only sorta fits me). As Thoreau warned in Walden,

I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes. If there is not a new man, how can the new clothes be made to fit? If you have any enterprise before you, try it in your old clothes. All men want, not something to do with, but something to do, or rather something to be. Perhaps we should never procure a new suit, however ragged or dirty the old,
until we have so conducted, so enterprised or sailed in some way, that we feel like new men in the old, and that to retain it would be like keeping new wine in old bottles. Our moulting season, like that of the fowls, must be a crisis in our lives.

Auld Lang Syne

On Thursday the 20th (Emilio’s 36th Thursday in this world), I sent a text message to Peter saying that we would be late to our scheduled noon rendezvous and as soon as I pressed the send button, I got a text message from Peter saying that they were going to be late. Turns out we were almost perfectly synchronized and so we met at the Grand stop on the Red Line minutes after exchanging text messages and took the free trolley together to our original destination spot: Navy Pier, the most visited tourist spot in Chicago (according to one guide I read). The focus of our visit was the Chicago Children’s Museum, which is more of an “Exploratorium” than a museum, as all of the exhibits are, essentially, playgrounds. The highlight for me was the water works station where we used clear plastic Tinker-Toy-like tubes to construct odd fountains, but I also enjoyed constructing flying machines, and playing statue to video butterflies (see the photo of Mari above on the left). After leaving the museum, Iona and Aedan took a thrilling ride on the Wave Swinger and then Iona joined Peter and Mhairi on the Ferris Wheel while Maria and Emilio and I enjoyed watching Aedan make his way through the SkyTrail ropes course. Once everybody’s feet were back on solid pier, we plotted the fastest route to the Chicago Theatre, where the Scots among us had first-row balcony seats for a performance of the Gipsy Kings. We ended up sending the Gibsons on ahead of us, but the bus we took to the El dropped us off near the Chicago Theater so we met up again by coincidence.

On Friday, the G’s checked out of the Days and lugged their gear up to Andersonville, where Peter helped me install our window air-conditioning unit (and just in time as temperatures soared on Saturday) while Mhairi and Mari hit the shops.

We later dined on corn dogs and “Chicago-style” Polish hot dogs (firsts for our Hebridean friends) with Jack and Julie and Nathaniel at Huey’s, where Maria gave us a class in the gestures to use if you want to imitate Mhairi when she describes something as “huge.” After lunch, took a short walking tour of the ‘hood, bought cool stuff at Kopi Café and Presence, sampled dozens of beers at Charlie's (one of us did, anyway) and then headed back to Chez Foster.

The plan was for the Gibsons to take an 8 p.m. taxi to the Holiday Inn Express at O’Hare in anticipation of their early morning flight to Orlando the next day, but the plan didn’t account for Karaoke (we're in the throes of Copacabana in the photo at right), the laughing fit that a dancing Mhairi induced from Emilio, or a rousing rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s disco classic,“I Will Surive,” performed in the style of Grrrrrroundskeeperrrrr Willie (of The Simpsons), if Grrrrrroundskeeperrrrr Willie werrrrrrrre rrrrrreally angrrrry. My favorite lyric: "I'm not that tenderrrr little perrrrson still in love with you. " There were calls for an encore performance of this one, folks--and an encore was delivered. And so, we did not bid our last farewell until 1:30 a.m., and even then, our time together seemed too, too shorrrrrrt.

Windy City Interactivity

On Tuesday the 11th, the Gibsons headed out hoping to visit the Shedd Aquarium and to go on a tour run by the Chicago Architecture Foundation, but faced with intermittent rain and long lines at the Shedd, they called an audible and ended up spending the entire day at the Adler Planetarium. I hadn’t included the Planetarium on my list of “29 Fun Things for the Gibsons to Do in Chicago” (I’ve never been there myself), but when we met up at the Days Inn that night for a dinner of take-out from Eatzi’s, they lobbied hard for its inclusion. After dinner, Peter accompanied me to Linens and Things where I bought a $29 microwave (our hand-me-down quit working over the weekend) and he marveled at the Palm Peeler and the Dryer Balls.

On Wednesday, we hooked up downtown after they’d seen Wicked at the Oriental Theatre (Peter liked it enough to buy the soundtrack) and we all walked over to my favorite Chicago destination: Millennium Park.

There are four things to love about Millennium Park: two of them are interactive sculptures: Cloud Gate by India’s Anish Kapoor (a.k.a. “The Bean”; see photo above on the left with Iona, Peter and their respective reflections) and the Crown Fountain by Catalunya’s Jaume Plensa(that's the south wall of the north fountain, squirting, on the right and the north wall of the South fountain, under Scottish surveillance at left) .

A third is Canadian Frank Gehry’s Pritzker Pavilion, where the Grant Park Orchestra was offering a free performance of Chabrier’s Danse slave, Saint-Saens’s Piano Concerto No. 4 (featuring Marc-Andre Hamelin), and Franck’s Symphony in D Minor.

And the fourth is the Park Grill hamburgers with Horkheimer cheddar cheese. Under foggy skies on Wednesday night, we indulged in all four—except Peter, who avoided the Horkheimer. And some enjoyed ice cream, too.

Och aye the noo!

Since this past Thursday, the Chicago branch of the Benton and Ruiz clans has been sucked into a Scottish vortex following the arrival at O'Hare airport of our good friends Peter, Mhairi, Iona (age 8) and Aedan (age 6) Gibson. This is the first time we have seen each other since the summer of 2000, when Aedan (born on November 18, 1999) was about as old as Emilio is now. Those of you who have enjoyed reunions with old friends after a long separation know how deeply affirming it is to find that some affections never die. It has been that kind of a week for us.

For readers of this blog who don't know, we met Mhairi and Peter in Xiamen in the Spring of 1997, and met Iona there when she was a little over two weeks old (Mhairi went back to Scotland to give birth to her). Two years after we moved to Chicago, we traveled to Mhairi's native island of Lewis--one of the Hebrides off the northwest coast of Scotland--where the Gibsons had relocated after leaving Xiamen; Mhairi and Peter later spent a vacation week with us in Tossa de Mar in Spain, where Mari's parents have a summer home. And since then, the rare e-mail and the rarer phone-call has kept us in touch (in the interval the Gibsons moved to Saudi Arabia and they will be relocating to Qatar later this summer).

Though the Gibsons have only been here a little more than 4 days, the stories and the laughter we have enjoyed have been bountiful. And so has the activity. Thursday night, we established Camp Gibson at the Days Inn on the corner of Clark and Diversey ($180 plus dollars a night for an executive King, for any of you who are interested) after I had met the clan at O'Hare (our taxi driver had once lived in Scotland and was delighted to share with us the names of every village his memory could cough up; they all seemed to feature a rolling "r"). Friday, we all took the El to the Field Museum of Natural History (the photo above at right was taken on the front steps), a.k.a. "The Dinosaur Museum" (as the two fierce creatures in the foreground of the photo at left referred to it), where we spent many leisurely hours exploring just a couple of the corners of the museum's extensive collection. Until you visit the Field, I don't think you will can have much of an idea of the tremendous and outlandish variety of animal species that exist or have existed on this planet (including, for example, wild pigs whose teeth grow through their own skulls and then curve around on top of their snouts).

On Saturday, the G's followed an itinerary I proposed that led them around the Loop on the Brown Line and then on foot across the Chicago River and up Michigan Avenue--the Magnificent Mile--past the Tribune Tower and the Magnificent Mile Art Festival (which just happened to be this wekeend), with stops on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building and a gumbo lunch at Heaven on Seven, where Iona and Aedan were, apparently, charmed by the many hot tabasco sauce labels including, memorably, one called "Space Ass." Some time after 3, the Gibson four made it to the Briar Street Theatre in time to see the Blue Man Group matinee performance of "Tubes" and we met them outside after they had been thoroughly "wiped." Over a pasta dinner at Bucca di Beppo, Mari and Emilio and I got a debriefing on the day and a Blue Man review (Mhairi especially appreciated the group's "wicked" sense of humor, and just about every sketch seemed to move Peter to laughter and appreciation). The debriefing continued at the Days, and some time after the kids had gone to sleep, Peter had to take a time-out because a laughing fit had brought on an asthma attack.

On Sunday morning, I went to U. S. Cellular Field and after an hour or so of vulturing, I was able to get my talons on five face-value tickets to a sold-out White Sox (2005 champs)-Red Sox (2004 champs) battle featuring Jose Contreras and Curt Schilling on the mound. I called the G's, who immediately got on the El and we were in our left-field seats by the second pitch. On the way to the ninth inning, cotton candy ("magic floss," actually), Lemon Chill, left-over Bucca pizza, a Polish, and various beverages were consumed; the rules of the game were explained; 50 spf creams were applied; skins were burned anyway (my nose mostly); Red Sox All-Star leftfielder Manny Ramirez was vigorously criticized by one of our neighbors; fully clothed Scottish children immersed themselves in open showers, walked under mist bars, and hurled baseballs past a speed gun; Japanese second baseman Tadahito Iguchi hit a home run; high fives were given; and with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth, the White Sox were down by one. Then All-Star Sox right fielder Jermaine Dye hit a homer into the bullpen in front of us and extras innings were served. During one of those extras, we moved into a shaded area behind third base. During another, the Pale Hose scored 2 runs to equal the 2 the Red Sox scored in their half of the inning. With the score still tied at the end of the 13th inning, we reluctantly left our seats and raced back to the Red Line El that would take Peter and Mhairi to an Andersonville rendezvous (see photo below) with Mari a Jose and a 7 p.m. performance of "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind" at the Neo-Futurarium. While they were out, Iona and Aedan and Emilio and I dined (mac and cheese for some; pear-apple-peach puree for others) and looked at old photos of little babies we all know and love. When the Neo-Futurists returned (fully satisifed by the 29 plays they'd seen in 60 minutes), Peter, Emilio and I held down the fort while the hunters went in search of ice cream and lightning bugs (they were successful on both accounts). Meanwhile, back at the Cell, the White Sox eventually beat the Bostonians 6-5 in 19 (!) innings.

On Monday, the G's hit the Art Institute in the morning, enjoyed overhearing Chicago accents in the Ladies' bathroom (I'd given them a primer the night before on the correct Chicago pronunciation of words like "sausage," "Bears," and "beers"), bought tickets to Wicked and The Gipsy Kings, and then met up with us to take a train to the Dixie Kitchen in Evanston (The G's dig Cajun cuisine and Southern cooking).

After dinner we all "enjoyed" the Harry Potter jelly beans that Mari provided for our delight (debate raged about whether "rotten egg" or "booger" was worse), and took the double-decker Metra train to Ravinia where we set up our picnic blankets and lawn chairs for an open-air evening of glow-sticks, dancing, bubble-blowing, people-watching, picture-taking, strawberry-munching, caramel popcorn-devouring, brother- and sister-calling, Sweet Honey and the Rock and Ladysmith Black Mambazo-listening, and some snoozing before we took a southbound Metra to the city and a full night's sleep (some of our younger members got to the sleep part sooner than the rest of us did).

Begin Countdown to 40

The 39th birthday festivities started off with Monday's arrival of a package from Mom and Dad that included a new video game--NFL Head Coach--just like the one my younger brudder got a week ago on his day of days; a grand book of Shel Silverstein drawings (the American Quino, for this blog's Latino readers); and a gray Horned Frog tee. La abuela Ines was the first to call with good wishes from Buenos Aires, but I missed talking to her because I was still abed. Jaime and Maria Rosa were next to weigh in with good wishes from Madrid, but I missed them because I was a-showering. Post-shower and pre-Wiggle Worms, Mari and Emilio pinned me down with chocolate cake and fire and then hit me with a funny card and Nike no-show socks and cotton Rugby shorts (my uniform these days). While they were out wiggling, I shaved my head and when they got back they brought a birthday card from Grandmom that included a check which we promptly deposited and subsequently spent on more no-show socks from New Balance, cargo shorts and a tee from The Gap. Before we left for Evanston, though, Jaime and Maria Rosa called back, to let me know that they were sending me a birthday gift with Gerardo and Gimena (who are coming in August), and I talked to them as long as I could before Emilio started winning the eat-the-phone-cord battle. After taking the train to Evanston, Mari insisted that we check out a baby clothes store (Lollie), and while we were buying Emilio shorts that don't leave elastic marks on his belly (we ended up making our selections from the 18-24 mos. rack; the owner of the store said Emilio is a big 8-month-old), Emilio and I skimmed through a book called "Little Bee" that has a hole in each page that a finger puppet bee can poke his head through. Each time it did, Emilio got the giggles, so we decided to buy it. Dinner was Dixie Kitchen fried green tomatoes, sweet tea, and a pulled pork sandwich for me, Catfish Bienville for Mari, and a bottle of formula and Morning O's for Emilio. It was Emilio's first time to sit in the high chair in a restaurant and he handled it with much aplomb, participating in the conversation as best he could, and separting the good Morning O's from the bad (the bad went to the floor; I picked them all up before we left). Before we ordered, the ghost of Marilyn Monroe called my cell and sang me the Happy Birthday Song. (Thanks for setting this up, Jack.) After dinner, I read to Emilio from the bee book and he tried to eat the little buzzing fellow (see photo at right). Two more tees were bought at Urban Outfitters, including one with the Hammer & Sickle design I've been looking for. And dessert was the chocolate molten cake at Chili's. Once we got home, I took birthday calls from Brian and Lisa and this morning Ruth and Gene both called.

To my many, many gift-givers and well-wishers, Thanks!