"Why are our days numbered and not, say, lettered?" - Woody Allen

When this kid is a teenager his mom will put this pic on the bulletin board at his birthday party.

Tomorrow is our 37th anniversary, but Pam has to work so we went out to dinner tonight. We went to a new restaurant over in Surprise called Vogue Bistro. A relatively small place in a strip mall that's been open three months. We had a conversation with the owner who stopped by our table. Interesting guy. He's Ukrainian and his wife is French. They wanted to open a restaurant with Scottsdale-like food in the northwest valley, an area devoid of what could be considered "dining" restaurants. We had coupons which got us a free appetizer (we chose the shrimp skewers) and a free glass of wine. Pam had Mahi Tuna and I had a seafood platter that included muscles, shrimp and scallops, accompanied by a sauerkraut tart, all of which I matched with a German Riesling.
Our conversation with Roman started out with my question, "What's the difference between a bistro and a restaurant?" He said that in Europe a bistro serves fine food but in an informal atmosphere with loud music and a party atmosphere, but that here in the U.S. the distinction is blurred.
Blurred or not, the food was very good. Not cheap, but not outrageous either. (Remember, I'm a Scot.) Good service, too. We'll definitely go back. It's not a place we'll go to often - the budget and all - but it's a great special occasion place. And if your from out of town and come for a visit, that constitutes a special occasion!

Wednesday is a medium ride and it went fine. The monsoon weather - high temps and high humidity - makes it a bit unpleasant, but no bum pain. After the ride I went up to Paradise to work on Sunday stuff. Rode the motorcycle, mostly because I haven't been on it in several weeks and that's not good for the engine. The jacket and full-face had me sweating as much as when I was on the bicycle, so I was glad Paradise is only 4 miles away.
I'm looking forward to the end of the monsoon season when riding both bikes will be more pleasant.

NBC will make $25 million from advertising during the Olympic broadcasts. Their access to everything from venues to technical resources depends upon the help and cooperation of the Chinese government. Do you think NBC is going to say anything that will offend that government?
In an interesting and related item, Lopez Lomong will be carrying the American flag in the procession at the opening ceremonies. Lopez is now a U.S. citizen, but he was one of the "Lost Boys of the Sudan." You've undoubtedly heard of the slaughter in Darfur, the area in western Sudan where approximately 300,000 ethnic minority Sudanese have either been killed or died of starvation since the conflict began in 2003. Hundreds of thousands more have been raped or had limbs hacked off by the Janjaweed, a militia supported by the Sudanese government.
Almost the entire international community has denounced the Sudanese government and its genocide in Darfur. Except for China, which stands almost entirely alone in its support of the government of Sudan. Only the international community's timidity has kept it from denouncing China with the same unified voice it has directed against Sudan.
Lopez Lomong is a member of a group known as Team Darfur, a group that includes 38 Olympic athletes and is dedicated to drawing attention to the situation in Darfur and China's complicity in the genocide. He was selected as our flag bearer by the captains of each of our Olympic teams. If you heard Lopez interviewed (we did on NPR this afternoon) you'd fall in love with the guy. He is so thrilled to be an American and to represent his new country in Beijing. So I can imagine that those captains thought that Lopez represented what it means to be an American both in legal and emotional terms. But one can't help but wonder if the captains didn't also consider Lopez's background as one of the refugees from the killing fields of Sudan when they chose him to carry our flag in Beijing.