It was a shade after 5 am when we piled into the car and headed for Circuit City on Black Friday, 2006. Our goal was to score a $299 laptop computer, but it sounded like you needed to arrive sometime last night to land that prize. My personal mission was to get Season One of "Rescue Me" for $14.99, which we got but the price rang up incorrectly at the register. (They corrected it). We bought all sorts of "stuff," including some DVDs, video games (for a unit I don't even have yet), a few SD cards, the Beatles "Love" CD/DVD, etc...

Our next stop was Kohls and Ultimate Electronics. Ultimate sold out of its spectacular HD TVs, so that was brief, but we scored a vegetable steamer, some clothes, gifts for the annual Christmas Angel toy drive, strange jewelry items (I don't even ask) and these oddball pillows that double as MP3 speakers (again, I don't ask).

This year, our teenager joined the Black Friday spree. She had a blast. Having her, along with her hilarious commentary, made it that much more fun.

Quick note: the music here is "Early in the Morning" by the Gap Band. I "borrowed" 30 seconds from one of my favorite songs; I encourage you to buy their CDs; they are on sale!

We have a new rising star we'll be rooting for in future seasons--Tampa Bay prospect Fernando Perez. I saw Perez talk to a young boy at our first AFL game this season, and his manner and respect for the fans stood out from his peers. Today, after the championship game ended, Perez's interaction with young fans earned our respect and admiration.

Perez, a 23-year-old center fielder for the Devil Rays, certainly has his work cut out for him with such talent as Delmon Young and Carl Crawford standing in his path. Nonetheless, Perez plays with flair in the outfield, and his running catch of a blast over his head ended the game with a touch of the dramatic. The young man, who played at Visalia in the California League this past season, is from Elizabeth, NJ and attended Columbia University (no small feat in its own right). At Visalia, he batted .307 with 33 stolen bases and close to a .400 on base percentage. He was a seventh round pick in 2004 an we hope he's headed for big things. He's a class act all the way.

In this clip, he's being interview by a reporter from MLB.com

And so our memorable baseball season comes to an end. The Phoenix Desert Dogs beat the Grand Canyon Rafters 6-2 ending the 15th Arizona Fall League season in fine form. A relatively smaller than usual crowd for the championship game (this was our third in a row) saw a few innings of shutout pitching before two costly errors put The Dogs ahead to stay. An 8th inning home run by Detroit Tigers prospect Brent Clevlen capped the victory which was saved by Blue Jays young closer-to-be, Tracy Thorpe (all 6-4, 250 of him).

We are sad to see the season come to an end.It was a season that included the World Baseball Classic, Cactus League, major league games, the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh, Fall League, the Fall League All-Star Game and now the title game. We loved every inning of every game and can't wait til 2007.

Set to the Podsafe version of "London Bridge" by Duwayne A Wright, here's a blend of some clips from six days in London.

Here is what is known as a "legal busker" (meaning she has a license to collect money) at the Leicester Square Tube stop.

Yes, we are food celeb junkies. We watched Gordon Ramsey's new show in the UK last week, and it was pretty wild. He actually dropped the F bomb more than "Goodfellas" and The Sopranos combined. Certainly would not work on US TV networks.

A long Tube ride landed us at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen, a restaurant that employs disadvantaged youth to inspire them to have better lives. Jamie was nowhere in sight, but the place looks quite good. Sadly, they don't take a lot of walk-in diners--reservations appear to be a must.

En route back to our hotel via the Circle Line, we came across this musician who was playing "The Girl From Ipanema." Rather well, I'd say.

A musician entertains the passersby during rush hour along Bond Street in London.

For some odd reason, I have developed this odd fascination with European Football (soccer) over the past year or so (as noted in my San Siro Stadium video). Maybe it’s the fact that our trainer is a big fan and we talk about it three times a week. Well, last trip to London, we found Soccer Scene and stocked up on some football souvenirs. Here’s a look at our return visit. The store is on Carnaby Street, one of the shopping districts in London.

Here's a quick clip of another musician performing in The Tube.

 

Our hotel’s “events” sheet for London listed “The BBC Good Food Show, London,” as a key weekend event, and that was an understatement. A quick Tube trip to Kensington/Olympia station took us to this wondrous exhibition of food vendors, chefs, wineries and even food gadgeteers who were selling such clever notion as the Tea Tool that allows you to squeeze as much tea out of a tea bag as humanly possible. Guess who bought one?

 

The big highlight? The stand on the second floor selling smoked tuna from Scotland. The earnest proprietor took the time to explain how his father taught him how to catch tuna (line caught) and the artisan method for smoking the tuna. It was as delicious as it sounds.

 

The other highlights were the amazing oils and vinegars from Mediterranean regions as well as a black truffle paste that could make a TV dinner taste like gourmet fare.

About a mile down the road from my hotel in Milan is San Siro Stadium, the home field for AC Milan and Inter Milan. I was told there was a stadium gift shop, but upon arriving, it was either closed or I was so indecipherable, the guard thought I was asking for a handout.

 

There is a Coppa Italia match tonight, and it would have been good to arrange tickets in advance. AC Milan is playing Brescia. AC features Cafu and Kaka, two world-reknown players from Brazil. Brescia appears to be a “B’ team, which means they are in a different league (literally) than their more experienced opponent.

 

The scene at San Siro reminds me of our visit to a soccer game in Mendoza, Argentina back in 1985. The portable shops and food stands are far more homemade looking than what you will find in the U.S. Next weekend, we hope to visit either Chelsea or Arsenal’s home field. That should provide an interesting comparison

One of the highlights of our trip to the UK in July was a visit to the Borough Market, a spectacular farmers market and food mecca. We returned this trip, but this time with a better videocamera.

In the UK, on the 11t h hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month, the nation commemorates those who served in World War I and II with two minutes of silence. The 11-11-11 marks the time of the signing of the armistice that ended WWII. This shot was taken in The Tube, where those on the platform either stood silently or quietly went about their way. As you note, most folks are wearing poppies that are sold with the proceeds going to war veterans.

A shot of the Spanish Steps in Rome. Why it's called the Spanish Steps, when it's in Italy, remains a mystery to me.

With just a few hours between meetings, I grabbed as much of the Central Rome scene as possible.

A plane's eye view of the French Riviera traveling from Nice to Milan.

Ah, Franck Muller watches. The sight of them stops me dead in my tracks. It’s doubtful I’d ever own one, but they are sure nice to admire. My own luxury watch story is a sad one and a tale for another day.. Nonetheless, here’s a shop in Cannes that sells Franck Muller beauties and nothing else.

 

 

The sun, the sea air, the smell of grilled fish in the air… Yes, I have to say, Cannes, in the south of France, is really splendid. There is a promenade along the sea with restaurants, folks out for a stroll, artists and musicians. Here is a quick clip of one such duo.

Let’s see… I let my home at 10:45 am local time and 23 hours later, I am at/on (not sure which is correct) The French Riviera. Cannes, to be exact. It’s my first time here and it’s a bit overwhelming as you travel across time and space. Here’s a brief look at the Cannes seascape from outside my hotel. I learned my lesson from my last European adventure—my JVC Everio is locked in the safe. For short video adventures, the pocket-sized Point & Shoot Camcorder is the tool of choice. Lots more to come.