Under the Argive moon

I guess I'll write a few words about our Greek trip (Ken McFarland's "Contra Dancing through the Greek Isles"). jwg will no doubt post pictures eventually (he took about 800, he says), but in the meantime I'll say a few things.

The "sailboat" we were on was really a motor-powered yacht with masts and a few sails, mostly for show.

We didn't go to any of the islands originally advertised, owing to unusually high winds in the Cyclades. We went to some other islands (and one non-island port) instead.

The open-air deck where we danced sloped downward slightly toward the stern, and its starboard half sloped rather more noticeably to starboard; but the forward part of the port side was partially blocked by an inflatable boat, And there was a big ol' mast in the middle of the deck. All of this made dancing on the deck...interesting.

As a result of all this... we had a great time, and loved every minute of it.

Dancing on top of a boat under a waxing (and eventually full) moon, with a bunch of extremely nice people; wandering the narrow alleys of countless whitewashed villages on rocky slopes, sometimes by ourselves, sometimes with people with an unerring ability to find the best bakery or gelateria in town; swimming in a cove partially warmed by an inflowing hot spring; eating way to much Greek food; what more could one want?

Oh, and Ken himself is a delight, puts together a very nice tour, and plays a mean game of hearts. His partner, Dennis, is a very sweet man, and an absolute demon on the dance floor.

We're thinking very seriously of signing up for the "Safari for Contra & English Dancers to see the Wild Animals & Birds of Kenya" next May-June.

Explain something to me...

The playoffs start the day after tomorrow. It's true that the NL wildcard team hasn't been determined yet, but the location of every game through Friday is known.

So why in the hell can't Major League Baseball tell us what time any of the games start?

Things we learn unexpectedly

So, although the official season permieres of "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers and Sisters" were last night, this didn't stop the networks from listing last week's rehashes as "new episodes" for the benefit of TiVo. We might as well have skipped the DH one, but B&S intercut clips of the actors talking about their characters and about the interactions of both the characters and the performers that were kind of interesting. Having never looked him up in IMDb, I had not been aware that Matthew Rhys was Welsh (as opposed to merely of Welsh ancestry, as the name suggests) until he opened his mouth.

Oh, and it was cute hearing Dave Annable talk about Rob Lowe's amazing blue eyes. Dave, honey, you're way more attractive than he is.