Detroit Hospitality Includes Mid April Snow for Alaskan Guests

My son's future in-laws have been more than hospitable and we've met a lot of interesting and friendly folks.  We've been eating an array of delicious food, including a great selection of vegetarian fare.  I really needed a run this morning to make a dent on all those delicious calories. 

They were such good hosts they even provided snow this morning for their Alaska guests.  So with socks for mittens I went out for a refreshing run. 

My run Friday in Chicago was in cloudy, windy weather, but there were signs that spring was near. 

Great American Art: Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry

Our host took us on a tour to counter our images of Detroit. There's no denying that Detroit is in trouble, but there are also signs that Detroit has been and will once again be a city of importance. Perhaps most symbolic of the people, the industry, and the art of Detroit, is the Diego Rivera mural Detroit Industry that covers four walls in a courtyard in the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA). It was the most satisfying part of the tour for me Sunday.

DIA - Diego Rivera S. wall - click to enlarge

From NPR:

In 1932 Edsel Ford, the son of Henry Ford and president of the car company that bears the family name, and William Valentiner, the director of the Detroit Institute of Arts, commissioned Rivera to paint two murals for the museum's Garden Court. The only rule was the work must relate to the history of Detroit and the development of industry.
Soon thereafter Rivera and his wife, painter Frida Kahlo, arrived in Detroit and began studying and photographing the Ford automotive plant on the Rouge River. The factory so fascinated and inspired Rivera that he soon suggested painting all four walls of the Garden Court. Ford and Valentier agreed and soon Rivera's commission was expanded.   .  .  .

The Controversy
Many people objected to Rivera's work when it was unveiled to the public. He painted workers of different races – white, black and brown, working side by side. The nudes in the mural were called pornographic, and one panel was labeled blasphemous by some members of the religious community. The section depicts a nativity scene where a baby is receiving a vaccination from a doctor and scientists from different countries took the place of the wise men. 

From the Detroit Art Institute website

Rivera was a Marxist who believed that art belonged on public walls rather than in private galleries. He found his medium in the fresco, where paint is applied to wet plaster. Its vast size allowed him to explore grand and complex themes, which would be accessible to a large audience. In Mexico, Rivera's murals tied modern Mexican culture to its indigenous roots, revealing the ancient Indian cultures as Mexico's true heritage. Similarly, Rivera's Detroit Industry murals depict industry and technology as the indigenous culture of Detroit.

 From the Detroit News:

Many rich patrons of the DIA balked at the idea that a gigantic image of a factory, Ford Motor Co's Rouge Plant, was going to be the centerpiece of the DIA, according to press accounts of the day. Dozens of religious organizations were convinced Rivera had mocked the Holy Trinity in a panel that depicts a child vaccination. The scene shows a young child with a horse, a cow and sheep at the infant's feet. The composition of the figures forms a triangle like that of a nativity scene.

Additionally, groups representing hundreds of thousands of Metro Detroiters demanded that any public funding to the DIA be cut due to Rivera's work. A front page editorial in The Detroit News on March 18, 1933, neatly summed up their anger:

"Rivera's whole work and conception is un-American … and foolishly vulgar," the unsigned editorial states. "It bears no relation to the soul of the community, to the room, to the building or to the general purpose of Detroit's Institute of Arts. … This is not a fair picture of the man who works short hours, must be quick in action, alert of mind, who works in a factory where there is plenty of space for movement. The best thing to do would be to whitewash the entire work (and) completely return the court to its original beauty."

As the threat became more real, the international press soon picked up on the drama.

The irony is that Rivera, so-called loyal socialist, was in complete awe of Henry Ford and Detroit's technology
"Henry Ford (is) a true poet and artist, one of the greatest in the world," Rivera said shortly before he arrived in Detroit, according to press accounts. Rivera, according to his autobiography "My Art, My Life," believed American engineers — creators of factories, skyscrapers and highways — were the nation's true artists and Detroit perfected the best expression of American art: the large-scale factory.
While Rivera had no intention of glossing over the misery in factories or Detroit streets, he was clearly entranced by its manufacturing muscle.

The section below shows tours for the middle class who came to watch the workers.  The iPad tours pointed out that Rivera had painted Dick Tracy and the Katzenjammer Kids. into this section.  The Tracy figure is to the left of the ladies in a triangle all on his own, the Katzenjammer kids are on the other side of the ladies.  Again, double click to enlarge all these pictures.

The Detroit Institute of Art has an online audio tour of the murals.  And, a surprise bonus, our Anchorage Museum membership cards got us in free and a discount in the bookstore.

Detroit - Fisher Building

We were taken on a quick tour of Detroit today.  The first stop was the Fisher Building.








From the National Park Service:

In the late 1920s, the Fishers hired master architect Albert Kahn to design a building as both a philanthropic and commercial investment. The Fisher brothers wanted to spare no expense, and Kahn designed a $9 million Art Deco masterpiece that lavished 1/4 of its expense on art work and luxury materials. Reflecting the wealth of its owners, the completed Fisher Building accommodated the needs of the automobile owner by "enabling its patrons to leave their cars, attend to all shopping needs . . . visit their doctor, dentist, banker or broker, attend the Fisher Theater, and return to their cars without having to leave the building."

Wikipedia on the Fisher Building:

 The Fisher Building (1928) is an ornate Art Deco skyscraper located on the corner of West Grand Boulevard and Second Avenue in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. It was constructed of limestone, granite, and marble, and was financed by the Fisher family with proceeds from the sale of Fisher Body to General Motors. It was designed to house office and retail space.

Wikipedia on Fisher Body:

1960s Logo (from Wikipedia)

Fisher Body is an automobile coachbuilder founded by the Fisher brothers in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan, which is now an operating division of General Motors Company. The name was well known to the public, as General Motors vehicles displayed a "Body by Fisher" emblem on their door sill plates until the mid-1980s.                    

Detroit1701 offers this history:

In the later decades of the Nineteenth Century, Lawrence P. Fisher built carriages to be drawn by horses in his shop in Norwalk, Ohio.  He fathered eleven children, including seven sons who would become extraordinarily rich by building bodies for the new automobile industry.  Lawrence Fisher’s brother, Albert,  had established the Standard Wagon Works firm in Detroit in the 1880s to build horse drawn wagons and carriages.

  In the early 1900s, two of Lawrence Fisher’s sons—Frederick and Charles—moved from Norwalk to Detroit to work at the C. R. Wilson Company, another Detroit carriage manufacturer.

Detroit’s early automobile entrepreneurs found it extremely difficult to raise capital.  Since they were short of funds, many of them basically assembled cars from parts made by independent suppliers—machine shops, carriage builders and the like.  Until about 1914, Henry Ford’s automobiles were basically assembled from parts made by the Dodge Brothers and other Detroit suppliers.  Henry Leland, who built engines for R.E. Olds’ Oldsmobiles and helped create the Cadillac Motor Car firm, may have been among the first to approach the Fisher Brothers about manufacturing bodies for cars.

Elevator Door

Frederick and Charles Fisher, along with their uncle Albert Fisher, formed the Fisher Body Company in Detroit on July 22, 1908.  Their firm was a quick success.  Five other Fisher brothers—Alfred, Edward, Howard, Lawrence and William—moved from Norwalk to work in the development of the firm.  All, or virtually, all early automobiles in the United States were open cars that provided some type of canvass that might be raised in inclement weather.  It was typically a good deal of work to put up that canvass with the isinglass windows.  If you have driven a soft top Jeep, you will be very familiar with this challenge.  The Fisher Brothers pioneered the development of an all-steel enclosed body and, I believe, Cadillac was the first vehicle firms to sell such cars.  This was a major step in making cars desirable since they could be driven in any weather, so long as the roads were passable.  The solid steel body and the electric starter encouraged women to drive and buy cars.

We're in Detroit - At Least the Suburbs

We drove past the Hemingway house in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, where Hemingway spent his childhood and where Frank Lloyd Wright lived, on a gray, windy, wet day and flew to Detroit.







This isn't the first time we've been in the Detroit airport, but the first time it's been our destination.  I've walked through this wonderful tunnel a couple times while in transit here.  The lights change colors and flow like Northern Lights and there is tinkling music that makes this walk almost fun.  I'm reminded that airports are the big depots of the present where cities spend many millions for giant travel palaces, taking the place of the great train stations of the past.  Except that people could possibly face the indignity of a TSA patdown to enjoy the luxury of the airport.  We've managed to go through without being scanned or patted down and the TSA officials in Anchorage were polite and respectful.  The ones in Chicago pulled that off less successfully, though it seems they were given instructions to be that way. 

We're in a hotel and will be picked up soon to go to an engagement party for my son and his fiance at her parents' home.  And we are delighted.

Board Approves Draft Plan While I'm Away

I'm at the airport now waiting for our flight to Chicago and then on to Detroit.  Which is why I skipped this morning's Board Meeting. I had a few loose ends to tie up before we left. But the world works in mysterious ways.  After team teaching with Dennis at a UAA sociology class this afternoon about the organization Healing Racism in Anchorage, I went to the Thai Kitchen for dinner.

Before J got there, I recognized a gentleman I'd seen and chatted with at the Redistricting Board meetings recently.  He invited me to join him, I countered that he should join us at a bigger table.  And that's how I found out I didn't miss much at this morning's session where, Randy Ruedrich told us, they talked about Senate pairings.  We had a good dinner and interesting, amiable conversation.  But appears from the website, that the Board passed the draft plan at their afternoon session, which Randy passed up and I was in class.  Here's their official announcement.

Anchorage, AK - Today, the Alaska Redistricting Board adopted draft redistricting plans for the purpose of soliciting public comment before adopting a final plan. Two of the plans are statewide plans prepared by the Board that differ only in the configuration of state senate district pairings. The Board also adopted alternative plans for Southeast Alaska and the Mat-Su region that can fit with either of the Board's statewide plans.

All draft plans adopted by the Board today have been posted for public download at http://www.akredistricting.org. 

After the Board's action today, Chairman John Torgerson made the following statement:

"The Board worked hard in an open manner to build draft plans that protect Alaska Native voting rights while providing fair and equal legislative representation for all Alaskans."

Torgerson added that he believed the Board's draft plans achieve lower population deviation ranges than previous redistricting plans, stating that "A fundamental redistricting principle is the one person one vote rule which means that everyone's vote should be weighted equally. I believe our draft plans reflect the Board's commitment to that principle."  

The Board was required by the Alaska Constitution to adopt a draft plan or plans within 30 days of receipt of census data which occurred on March 15, 2011. After receipt of the redistricting data, the Board held hearings in Anchorage, Bethel, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, Kotzebue and Wasilla in addition to a statewide teleconference on March 31^st to solicit public opinion.

The Board began drafting redistricting plans in public work sessions at its Anchorage office on April 4^th.  

To set the framework for its draft plans, the Board initially focused on rural Alaska. One of the Board's first actions was to formally state their intention to draft a plan that included 9 Alaska Native influence districts. This was done to comply with the Voting Rights Act requirement of avoiding retrogression when drafting new redistricting plans. Retrogression occurs when a redistricting is drawn in a manner that worsens minority voting strength as compared to the previous plan.

In order to solicit a full range of opinions from Alaskans, the Board also adopted plans submitted by private groups as follows: statewide plans from Alaskans for Fair Redistricting, Alaskans for Fair and Equitable Redistricting and the Rights Coalition; regional plans from the Alaska Legislature's Bush Caucus, and the City and Borough of Juneau; and single district plans from the City of Valdez and the Bristol Bay Borough. The Board is releasing these plans as they were presented to the Board. The Board does not endorse any of these plans and did not attempt to verify the accuracy or legality of any private plans. 

The Board will begin a series of public hearings around Alaska on April 18 to take comments on its draft plans and private plans that were released today. The public hearing process will end with a statewide teleconference on May 6^th.  The Board will then begin meeting in public work sessions on May 16 to draft a final plan for adoption by June 13, 2011.

The Board's draft plans are subject to revision before the Board adopts a final plan.

Kay Brown's blog at Alaskans for Fair Redistricting gives details on what the districts look like in clear, precise reports.

Hatching New Alaskan Bloggers

Someone at Ole! asked me to teach a class for them.  I have enough to keep me more than busy, but they persisted. I think you should teach about what you know and have a passion for and so I suggested blogging. 

I'm learning that I know a lot about a very narrow niche of blogging.  When I started I was open to a wider universe of options, but when I chose to go with Blogspot as my blogging platform I narrowed my thinking considerably.  And while I keep learning about how to do things on Blogspot - and they keep changing things - I'm more just using it as a tool to  write my posts.

So having to put together a four 75 minute classes over four weeks made me see how much I'd hunkered down.  This isn't all bad.  You can start getting proficient in you little area of expertise and actually do something, like concentrate more on content than process.  And there's way too much to know about everything.  A little focus is good.  As long as you make time to wander outside your normal brain patterns regularly

There were about 15 participants the first week, none of them youngsters, with a wide range of expertise - from a person who didn't have an email account (but she created a blog in class) to several people who had already had blogs, but hadn't gone too far with them.  Each has learned to do new tricks with their blogs - from adding bold headlines, tabbed pages under the header, photos, labels, etc.

Many who didn't already have blogs, and some who weren't even sure what a blog was, though they'd heard about them, have actually created blogs.  So I'd like to introduce a few of these Alaska bloggers.  (I only have a few of the url's - but I saw the blogs in class last Friday.)

Those who had already created a blog:

Dorothy had set up a blog Meanderings by Dorothy to write about some of her interests such as Tai Chi, contract bridge, and Anchorage Opera. It was very basic, but now she has  added pictures, has a hit counter, and has set up links in categories.  

Joe's blog, HodgePodgepourri,  focused on documenting family history and personal recollections, has been around a couple of years.  There's an interesting series of tales, last November, of his childhood working in the "Buckingham Palace" a hotel his family owned in Indiana. 

Ed  has a very focused blog, Building an Alaska Wilderness Sauna, on the family's sauna at their cabin.  There are dramatic pictures of it burning down.  He's recently put up a lot of step-by-step pictures of the rebuilding.


Michael had begun a Wordpress blog, but wasn't doing much with it.  Since the class began, he created a new blog, Reflections,  to share his interest in philosophy and particularly the ideas in his book, The Reality of Being.

The last one for this post, is Lynne's first ever blog, Koralling Genius.  Lynne can't actually see her blog, because she is blind.  But she can hear it.  And you can tell she has a lot of thoughts on how the world tends to dismiss people with disabilities.  I think this is a blog that will give people a view of the world they don't usually hear.  And give her a platform where she can speak without being prejudged. 



This week, as I head off to Detroit to J1 and B's engagement party, several local bloggers will be guests in the class to talk about their blogs and blogging.  Thanks to Phil at Progressive Alaska, Kellie, at Stress Management, Peter at Frozen Grin and Off and On:  The Alaska Parkinson's Blog, and Mel at Henkimaa.

Year End LA Tour With The Future Machatunim

(Note:  Today is 1/1/11)

We met our future Machatunim* Thursday night for dinner. They're here from Detroit. Friday we took them on a quick tour of LA. OK, not everyone knows machatunim. From googlebooks, Secret of a Jewish Mother:

*MACHATUNIM (noun) The parents of your child's spouse.

Let me just say, we're getting along fine.  We started off at the observation deck of the Santa Monica airport.  M had already spotted a vintage airplane, so I decided to stop to see what else he might see.  Then off to downtown where we checked out the old Library from outside and I waited at the curb while they all went into the Biltmore Hotel.  Then we parked and wandered around the Disney Concert Hall designed by Frank Gehry.

The Gehry building is irresistible to someone with a camera.  It offers so many shapes and shadows.  I've posted pictures of it before.

It seemed that it all goes up like this.  

From behind.

 From across the street.

 

Then past the Dorothy Chandler to the  Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels down the block and to the right.

From the Cathedral website:

What historically took centuries to construct was accomplished in three years in the building of the 11-story Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. This first Roman Catholic Cathedral to be erected in the western United States in 30 years began construction on May 1999 and was completed by the spring of 2002.

Spanish architect, Professor José Rafael Moneo has designed a dynamic, contemporary Cathedral with virtually no right angles. This geometry contributes to the Cathedral's feeling of mystery and its aura of majesty.

Tomás, see?  A Spanish architect, just like you.

A quick looksee at Union Station.

Then a late lunch at Philippe.  

We drove up to see Dodger Stadium from outside the locked parking lot gates. (M is a big baseball fan.)  It was too far away to get a good picture.  And then off to the Griffith Park Observatory.  It was fenced off and people were parked on the side of the road. 

And then down still schlocky Hollywood Blvd. to the Sunset Strip and then home.

All in all a very good end of the year.  Happy New Year to you all.

Campbell Creek Bike Trail Under Seward Highway Tonight

There's a meeting tonight to talk about 'improvements' to the Seward Highway between Dowling and 36th.  According to Rep. Berta Gardner's November 11, 2010 email to constituents

I spoke yesterday with Jim Amundson of the Department of Transportation and confirmed that sound barrier fencing (36^th Avenue to Dowling) and a bike path at Campbell Creek under the Seward Highway both remain in the project.   DOT plans to begin "turning dirt" in Spring 2011!

Some history.  Lanie Fleischer, who was one of the key people to get the bike trails built in Anchorage over 30 years ago and whose name is on the bike trail sign at Goose Lake, told me that the engineer in charge of building the Seward Highway, way back then, told her they were going to build the highway low enough that they could never have the bike trail go under it.  Non-motorized vehicle riders in those days were considered anti-capitalist, pinkos.   So now, at far greater expense than necessary, we are finally getting that part of the trail completed.  If the trail stays in the project.  So get down there to let them know you want that bike trail finally done.

If you can't go, call them up and email and tell them you support the bike trail.   Contact information below.  It's not a done deal until they have it in the plans, in the works, and finished. 


Here's the info from the Department of Transportation website:

Body of Notice:

Wednesday, November 17, 2010
5:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Sourdough Mining Company
5200 Juneau St.
Anchorage, AK 99518

Seward Highway: Dowling Road to Tudor Road

The State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) invites you to a public open house regarding the Seward Highway: Dowling Road to Tudor Road project. DOT&PF has completed the environmental phase of this project and is proceeding with design.

Why should you attend this meeting?

The meeting will provide information on the project and solicit public comments for consideration during the design phase.

The meeting will be in an open-house format, so you can stop by at any time during the scheduled hours. Staff from the project and DOT&PF will be available to discuss, answer questions and take your comments regarding the project.

Contacts:
Project Manager, Derek Christianson
CH2M HILL [This is the company that bought VECO from Bill Allen.]
Phone: 762-1358
sewardhwy.comments@ch2m.com

Project Manager, Jim Amundsen
DOT&PF
Phone: 269-0595
jim.amundsen@alaska.gov

Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage already has a post on this.

"Natural Resource Extraction"

We took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked over to the Thai Kitchen for dinner last night.  On the way we passed these woods off of Laurel Street.  We walk along here fairly frequently.  Tonight we saw a blue sign.

You don't see the blue sign?  Look carefully, it's right in the middle. I guess if you were driving by, it would be easy to miss, and impossible to read if you did see it.  But we were walking, so we could see more, and walk up the hill to read what it said.

So, with that basic information, we walked on.

The view from the Thai Kitchen is often pretty spectacular, if you can ignore the strip mall decor in the foreground. Tonight was no exception.  Dinner was good and then we walked home down 42nd Ave.

Since it was too late to call, I tried the Muni website.  It took quite a bit of poking around from the basic www.muni.org  to finding the page where I could look up case # 2010 - 110.  Which didn't exist.  So I tried 2010-110, and there it was:

Staff Report | View Case Comments | Submit Comments
PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION
Hearing Date:	Monday, Oct 11, 2010 *
Case Number:	2010-110
Petitioner:	Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office- (TLO) 718 L Street Ste 202 Anchorage, AK 995010000 E-Mail: timothy.spernak@alaska.gov Day Phone: 9072698688
Representative:	Lounsbury & Associates Ken Ayers 5300 A Street Anchorage, AK 995180000 E-Mail: k.ayers@lounsburyinc.com FAX: 9072729065 Day Phone: 9072725451
Application Date:
Request:	Zoning conditional use for a natural resource extraction
Site Address:
Detail:	A conditional use to allow for a natural resource extraction. Providence-Chester Creek Subdivision, Tract C-2. Generally located east of Laurel Street and north of E. 40th Avenue
Legal Desc.:	PLI Public lands & institutions district
* Community Council review comments are due to the Planning Department 10 days prior to the public hearing date if they want them included in the Board or Commission packet.

So, the request is for "Zoning conditional use for a natural resource extraction"


Maybe they're going to drill for oil?  Mine for gold?  Coal?  Or is this a timber harvest?  Do you think the Muni Planning Department, now that they have a website for this stuff, could give us a few more details?  Is it vague like this

• because they don't want us to know?  
• Or because it just never occurred to them to put up more information?  
• Or they don't have the computer ability to add more information? 
• Maybe they just like talking to people, so they just put up a little info so people need to call them.
• Or maybe they think people will give up in frustration.
• Or maybe they just have so much to do they didn't get around to it. (I'm not being sarcastic here, with budget cuts, there are fewer people to do more work.  And if the public doesn't find out about these things, then businesses - and in this case a quasi governmental body - don't have to face the public before they get regulations waived.  Ergo, less government is better. Now I am being sarcastic.)

We were in London and Berlin and Brussels and Washington DC this summer and they all have these little pockets of trees amidst all the buildings and roads.  They are little oases amidst the concrete.  Anchorage still has these clumps of original forest here and there in the middle of town.  Some people argue that we don't need to preserve this greenery in town because we are surrounded by thousands of acres of wilderness.

But you have to get in a car and go to that wilderness.  We need to have wilderness, or at least green spaces, that kids can walk to from home.  Places where we can connect with nature.  When they are mostly cut down, it's almost impossible to get them back.  The city has to essentially die, like Detroit, before you can reclaim the land.  And it takes a lot longer to get real trees going in Anchorage than it does in Detroit.

The announcement also says this is on Laurel "north of East 40th."  That's an interesting description.  While East 40th may exist on their maps at this point, it's just woods going up the hill like the rest of this land right now.  And it's green between two buildings between Laurel and Lake Otis.  That road, funded by the State, will be a gross invasion on this little paradise with this lovely forest covered hill that doesn't take up much space, but preserves our connection to wilderness.  And cleans the air.  And buffers the noise.  And moderates the wind.  And percolates the rain water.  And gives refuge to migrating birds.  This isn't some wimpy green fantasy.  This is about recognizing the ecosystem's natural recycling and cleansing functions that we cannot duplicate for much greater costs.

This is all Mental Health Trust land, just south of McLaughlin Youth Facilities.  I think the abstract idea of a land trust for people with mental health problems (arguably a fairly large portion of our population) is a great idea.  But practically, like the land for the University, it is a way to take otherwise almost, sometimes, inviolable land, and putting it for sale, because it helps the mentally ill and it helps education.   And then legislators can say, "Why come to us for money?  Just sell your land?"

This post is full of links - many to past posts - which all relate to what is covered here.  If what I say in this post isn't clear to you, then click on the link for more depth on that particular point.

Switching from NL to Spain at Bear Tooth World Cup Showing

In 1990 we were in Hong Kong for the World Cup in Rome.  That meant the games began around 2 or 3 am.  For the three or four weeks of the World Cup, Hong Kong workers came to work sleepier than normal.  My son was part of this obsession.

Since we don't have cable at home, I don't watch much sports, but after being in Berlin on a couple of football Saturdays in May, I did pay attention to the world cup this year and even saw  bits of games if they were on while we were out somewhere.

Since about 700 million were reportedly going to watch this game around the world, it seemed like I should join in on this communal world activity. The ADN said it was free at the Bear Tooth, doors opening at 10.   So I got there at 10.

The line already went all the way around the building.


















Someone was passing out tickets as I looked for the end of the line so I took one. 






The man sitting next to me was from Barcelona and he overheard me when I called my son and answered Holland when he asked who I was rooting for. J was too, I think because Gus was rooting for Spain. "Are you from Holland?" the man asked. Then he told he he was from Barcelona and he'd met the Spanish players from Barcelona because they were friends of friends.









Then it began.  A few people in front stood up for the Dutch national anthem and it was clear there was a Dutch contingent - even a woman wearing a very Dutch white cloth hat.

Choosing the Dutch was pretty arbitrary.  I didn't really have a reason to go either way and after a while it sure looked like Spain was playing much better ball and the Dutch were pretty rough.  And in American sports, male players are supposed to act very macho and not show any signs of pain when they're down.  I'd been hearing about the acting talent of the World Cup players, and today I got to see it.  Every fall was a life threatening injury of great agony until the ref called the penalty (or not), then the player was up and fine.

Until the Dutch player de Jong kicked Xabi Alonso in the chest.  Watch it yourself on this YouTube. (It's only ten seconds.) It was terrible. 




I'd already found that my body, despite my decision, was rooting for Spain, and with this kick to the chest, my body and my head got back together.


So, when Andres Iniesta scored a goal for Spain with about two minutes left in extra time, I cheered loudly with the other Spain supporters.








Then I retrieved my bike from the crowded rack and rode home.