Gay Travel in Sicily: Taormina

Paiderasteia, Photography and the Marketing of Europe’s First Gay Resort…

The Sicilian town of Taormina occupies a site on a lofty hill 300 meters above the Mediterranean sea. The remains of a Saracen castle rise above the city, while portions of its ancient walls crown the brow of the hill. In the distance, the remains of a Greek amphitheatre are visible. This ancient theatre (the Teatro Greco ),  is one of the most celebrated ruins in Sicily, on account both of its remarkable preservation and it’s beauty, set high above the sparkling blue waters.  The archeological remains speak to Taormina’s turbulent history at the crossroads of the ancient world.  Phoenitians, Carthaginians, Geeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese and Bourbons have all held the city, contributing to a varied artistic and cultural heritage.



Taormina’s contemporary history is equally as rich. Famous for its natural beauty, temperate climate and the opportunity of enjoying the personal charms of some of Sicily’s young shepherds, Taormina came to prominence as Europe’s first “gay” resort.  It is a story that involves some of Europe’s most distinguished nobility, the advent of a new technology (the camera), the popularity of a new media (the travel magazine) and the “Uranian School” of homosexual poets with their dreams of adolescent love.

Our drama begins in 1787 with the visit to Italy by J.W.Goethe, the famous German intellectual. German poet, novelist, playwright, courtier, and natural philosopher, Goethe would become recognized as one of the greatest figures in Western literature. At the time of his journey to Italy, he had already gained early fame with The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) in which he created the prototype of the Romantic hero.

In 1786-88, Goethe embarked on a “Grand Tour” of Italy to immerse himself in the remains of classical antiquity and in contemporary art. He journeyed to Roma via Innsbruck spending time in Lake Garda, Verona, Venice and Naples. “In Rome I have found myself for the first time,” he wrote. He drew statues and ruins, collected antique and botanical samples, and the ancient Greek monuments he saw in Italy significantly influenced his growing commitment to a classical view of art. 

Goethe also journeyed to Sicily, and discovered the beauties of the island. He wrote intriguingly that  ” To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is to not have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the clue to everything.” He was particularly taken with Taormina. which he described as a “patch of paradise”. Goethe’s diaries of this period form the basis of the non-fiction Italian Journey (in the German original: Italienische Reise) a book on his travels to Italy. In the years which immediately followed its publication in 1816, Italian Journey inspired countless German youths to follow Goethe’s example. 

 

Otto Geleng

One of those youths was a  red-haired Prussian painter named Otto Geleng, whose dramatic landscapes brought Sicily’s beauty to prominence throughout Europe and so established Taormina as a tourist destination.   Geleng arrived in Sicily from Berlin at the age of 20 in keeping with a long tradition of young artists training in Italy. What distinguishes Geleng, however, is that he was the first artist to depict Sicily where he captured the spectacular views and the landscapes.

Beginning with low hills in the south and west, the island of Sicily becomes more mountainous to the north and east, ultimately culminating in the island’s most prominent feature, the 10,000 foot-high volcano Mount Etna. Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of eruption. The fertile volcanic soils supports an abundance of wildflowers flowers,  and extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes of the mountain.  The combination of scenic views, abundant vegetation and the azure hues of the Mediterranean sea offered Geleng an almost fantastical setting – none of which was familiar to the rest of  Europe. In fact, when his paintings were exhibited in Berlin and Paris, none of the critics could believe that the young Prussian’s landscapes depicted real places. His representations of plum orchards in bloom on the slopes of snow covered Mount Etna were labeled the works of Geleng’s ‘unbridled imagination’. 

Recognizing that life did not get much better than in Taormina (certainly when compared to Berlin), Geleng challenged his critics to visit the island offering to pay their costs if he was wrong. He then returned to Taormina and opened the first hotel – which still stands today.

 

Von Glœden

 A young Prussian photographer, Wilhelm von Glœden, was the next German traveler to settle in Taormina . While Goethe’s writings and Geleng’s beautiful landscapes had put Taormina on the map, it was Von Glœden’s photographs of naked shepherd boys in bucolic settings that established pornography as a new growth industry and established the city as a “must visit” tourist destination.

Von Glœden had traveled to Sicily from his home in Germany, seeking a more temperate climate  to cure his lung disease. He settled in Taormina, , which he was to call his ‘heaven on earth’. His references were certainly to the stunning landscapes, but almost certainly included the fact that in 18^th century Italy,  men embraced homosexuality as a practical solution to the prevalence of women’s venereal diseases and the unconscionable conditions of the local “houses”. A pragmatism that was not widely imitated elsewhere in Europe.

Many of Glœden’s pictures focuses on typical Sicilian peasant scenes – young girls and old men, fishermen, water-carriers and priests, country roads and town squares. These were turned into postcards and achieved widespread popularity for their engagingly sentimental and charmingly “typical” views of Mediterranean life. But von Glœden also took thousands of photographs of Sicilian boys, often in states of partial or complete undress. Drawing on the widely esteemed traditions of classical antiquity, von Glœden presented his pictures as ‘illustrations of Homer and Theocritus’, which was a subterfuge to justify his models’ nudity and is also the reason for the camp style of some of his pictures.

It is worth noting that von Glœden’s was a very good photographer at a time when the photographic arts were in their infancy. He pioneered the field of filters and of transparent colors brushed directly onto the photographs which subtly altered the tonalities and intensities of the finished print. Around this time, Von Glœden developed an emulsion of milk, olive oil, glycerin, and scent which he used on the models to give their skin a soft, even glow. Many of the world’s famous photographers were attracted to him – requesting to learn new techniques.

It is true that von Gloeden not only did nudes, but also portraits, landscapes, genre pictures and so on. Though he apparently never photographed anything openly sexual, the erotic implications of his nude pictures are clear enough. Curiously, his trade was not underground, as one might imagine, considering the homophobic atmosphere of the time. Many of the pictures were published in trend-setting periodicals as “The Studio” and Velhagen & Klasing’s “Kunst für Alle” (Art for Everyone) and were shown at important international, where they were awarded prizes. His more carefully draped studies were regularly reprinted in hundreds of travel magazines and brochures advertising the joys of a Mediterranean holiday, and was even noted in Baedeker. The British concept of what constitutes “the romantic Mediterranean” was invented by von Glœden. .

 Von Glœden’s more evocative nudes were avidly collected. Their suggestion of ancient places, use of artifacts and classic compositions helped to divert or at least excuse their sexual impact. Von Glœden’s photographs of lightly-clad or naked boys were circulated among the extensive coterie of the “Uranian School” of homosexual poets, as well as in many of the “physique and health” magazines spawned by the German Korperkulture (physical health/naturalism/nudism) and Wandervogel (boy scouts/hiking) movements. His theme of love for the adolescent boy, inspired by the paiderasteia of the ancient Greeks, was extremely erotic for the upper class of Victorian Europe.

Likewise Von Glœden’s wealthy and educated friends could not keep secret the beauty of his Greek vision. They spread the word and Von Glœden found himself becoming famous and wealthy once again from his work, for which he initially had no desire nor hope of profit. By the turn of the century, poets and actors, painters and famous society figures flocked to Taormina, making it a must on their grand Italian tours. After touring the city’s charming Ancient Greek theatre, the travelers would pay a visit to von Glœden at his studio.

Mr and Mrs Alexander Graham Bell visited von Glœden in 1898, and came away the proud possessors of several of his photos of native Sicilians, which they graciously presented to the National Geographic Society. Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia, King Alphonse of Spain, Wilhelm II and the gentle King of Siam Paramandra Maha Chulalongkorn were also visitors. King Edward VII of England (who carried Von Glœden’s nude photos back to the U.K. in his diplomatic pouch) stayed at the von Gloeden estate. Well-known bankers and industrialists as Rothschild, Morgan, and Vanderbilt were amongst his guests, as were the composer Richard Strauss and the celebrated author Rudyard Kipling.

German industrialist and munitions manufacturer Frederich Alfred Krupp, was a frequent visitor and purchased large quantities of Von Glœden’s works. His patronage came to a rather abrupt end when he found himself at the center of a pederastic scandal involving youths Krupp had “procured” in Capri and transported to the Bristol hotel in Berlin. The scandal threatened to topple the House of Krupp, taking his entire industrial empire with it. Krupp did what was the required thing for his time and situation: he put a bullet through his brain. Krupp’s main patron, the then Kaiser Wilhelm himself continued to be a frequent guest to Taormina, where he would anchor the Imperial Yacht in the picturesque bay, perhaps to remember his friend Krupp, but more likely to sleep with one Von Gloeden’s boys.

Partly because of Von Glœden’s fame, Taormina became one of  Southern Europe’s first destination resorts, an achievement that was recognized in 1911 when von Glœden was awarded a medal by the local government. By this time Taormina had become, in the words of one English author, “a polite synonym for Sodom“. Still, it is largely due to the photographer that Taormina, which at the time of his arrival had been forgotten and impoverished, became a playground for Europe’s rich and famous, which, I guess, in the eyes of the locals was better than goat herding.

The Black Christ: The Anatomy of a Miracle

The Coming of the Black Christ 

The Feast of the Black Nazarene is traditionally held on January 9 in Quiapo, a district of Manila. This year 2.6 million people gathered along the procession route hoping to touch the Black Nazarene and be cured of their sickness or be blessed with good luck and perhaps other miracles. Belief in the power of this physical contact, this laying on of the faithful’s hands, is so strong that some believers rub the statue with cloths in the hope of carrying some of its power home.

The Black Nazarene is a 400 year old wooden, life-sized sculpture of Jesus Christ carrying his cross. This is Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno, the Black Christ. Legend has it that the figure was carved by an Aztec woodworker in Mexico, and transported to the “new world”  by Augustinian Friars who arrived in Manila on a Spanish galleon in 1606. According to church history, the ship went up in flames on arrival and the image was burnt “black”, but safe. It has been honored as the Black Nazarene from then on. Further increasing the relic’s mystique is the fact that it has survived the fires that destroyed Quiapo Church in 1791 and 1929, the great earthquakes of 1645 and 1863, and the extensive bombing of Manila during World War II.

In the year 1787, the Black Nazarene was ordered by Manila’s Archbishop Basilio Sancho de Santas Junta y Rufina to be transferred to its current home, relegating its patron saint, St. John de Baptist to a permanent status of lessened reverence.  At the time of the image’s arrival, Quaipo was an complex of intersecting rivers, canals, and marshes, abundant with the water lily “Kiapo”, from which it derives its name. In the Manila of the olden times, a house beside an “estero” was actually desired, for these then-pristine streams supplied water for the gardens as well as an efficient route of transportation by water taxi. Quiapo thus became a flourishing center of commerce, the home of the elite ‘illustrados’ and the new rich who came to build their luxurious homes and mansions next to them.

Time and change have ravaged the Quiapo of historical past. Now it stands transformed, its estero networks hopelessly clogged into stagnant pools, while the splendid heritage houses of the wealthy have deteriorated or have been replaced with cheap commercial architecture. People and vehicles congest what were once grand avenues and leafy streets. Hawkers illegally convert the few remaining open spaces into makeshift markets offering cheap prices on native handicrafts as well as on pirated movies, software and pornographic videos.

And yet, Quiapo Church remains one of the most famous churches in the country – as the Black Nazarene draws thousands every Friday to light a candle in supplication.  For over 400 years, this wooden image has spawned a culture of devotion and idolatry, (in a country well known for devotion and idolatry), drawing countless devotees, paying homage in all piety, some in open humility, walking on their knees to the altar, for a favor, for a miracle, for penance, for giving thanks.

In February 1606, a group of ten priests and four brothers boarded the Espiritu Santo in Acapulco for the annual voyages of the Galeones de Manila-Acapulco to the New World. According to the historical accounts of the voyages derived from the Archivo General de Indias (General Archive of the Indies, Seville, Spain) the convoy of three ships reached Cebu on the 10^th of May and arrived Manila on 12 May 1606. 

The Manila galleons or Manila-Acapulco galleons were Spanish trading ships that sailed once per year across the Pacific between Manila and Acapulco, Mexico.  Service was inaugurated in 1565 when Andrés de Urdaneta (an Augustinian Friar), discovered a return route from the Philippines in 1565.  Attempting the return, Urdaneta reasoned that the trade winds of the Pacific might move in a gyre as the Atlantic winds did. If in the Atlantic, ships made a wide swing (the “volta“) to the west to pick up winds that would bring them back from Madeira then, he reasoned, by sailing far to the north before heading east, he would pick up trade winds to bring him back to te coast of North America. Though he sailed to 38 degrees North before turning east, his hunch paid off, and he hit the coast near Mendecino, California then followed the coast south to Acapulco.

A total of 110 Manila galleons set sail in the 250 years of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade (1565 to 1815) with three or more ships sailing annually from each port. The Manila trade was so lucrative that the merchants of Spain petitioned King Philip, complaining of their losses, and secured a law in 1593 that set a limit of only two ships to sail each year from either port, with one kept in reserve in Acapulco and one in Manila. An “armada”, or an armed escort was also allowed.

With such limitations, it was essential to build the largest possible galleons. In the 16th century, they averaged from 1,700 to 2,000 tons, were built of Philippine hardwoods and could carry well over a thousand passenger (the Espiritu Santo carried a crew and passenger manifest of 1600 souls according to the records).

The galleons carried spices, porcelain, ivory, lacquerware, processed silk cloth gathered from both the Spice Islands and Asia-Pacific, to be sold in European markets. After landing the cargoes in Acapulco, the cargoes were transported by land across Mexico to the port of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico, where they were loaded onto the Spanish treasure fleet bound for Spain. This route avoided the long and dangerous trip across the Indian Ocean and around the Cape of Good Hope.

Of the original group of ten priests and four brothers who boarded the Espiritu Santo in Acapulco, one of them died in passage, one of 40 such deaths recorded on the outbound leg of the voyages. Members of the Augustinian Recollects, a monastic order of men and women founded in 16^th century Spain. They are a reformist offshoot from the Augustinian hermit friars and follow the Augustinian Rule.

The work of the Augustinians includes teaching, scientific study, the cure of souls, and missions. In any history of education there will be frequent mention of Augustinians as they distinguished themselves in the Enlightenment as professors of philosophy and theology at the great universities of Europe, including Padua, Pisa, Naples, Oxford, Paris, Vienna, Prague, Heidelberg, etc. This tradition of education continued in the Philippines where the Recollects administer two universities, three colleges, as well as four secondary schools.

The Recollect tradition of education and scientific study is worthy of note, particularly when one considers that much of the original history surrounding the Black Nazarene seems to contradict historical records.

The fact that the Black Nazarene was transferred to its current home in 1787 and that prior to this the Black Nazarene was worshipped in the Saint Nicholas Tolentina Parish Church in the original walled city of Intramuros are matters of historical record. Also a matter of historical record is the date of April 21, 1621, the date on which the Confradia de Jesus Nazareno was established – a of the devotion that the Recollet Fathers maintained over 15 years. (The confraternity obtained Papal approval on April 20, 1650, from His Holiness Pope Innocent X.)

What is not supported by historical record is that the image was actually displayed at the first Recollect church in Bagumbayan (now part of the Rizal Park), or more importantly that that the ship carrying the image was burnt (either at sea or soon after arrival depending on the source) and that the image “miraculously” survived.  Specifically, the historical records of the Archivo General de Indias make no mention of a fire and clearly state that the Espiritu Santo, the Santa Ana and the Neustra Senora de la Antiqua all arrived in Manila. Certainly, a major fire or catastrophe would merit mention.

Secondly, the Recollect’s history bears no mention of a fire or the miraculous survival of the Black Christ. This fact is noteworthy when one considers the fervor and devotion with which the early Recollects worshipped the Nazarene. The Black Nazarene maintains a central role in their faith, yet no historical texts make mention of the original “miracle”.  There is one other minor point, which is that the original Recollect church in Bagumbayan had as its patron saint John the Baptist. You would think that having just witnessed a “miracle” that you would dedicate the church in which it was housed to the Black Nazarene.

My hypothesis is that there was no fire and in fact that the image of the Black Christ was not brought to the Philippines by the Augustinian Recollects. There was no “miracle” in that sense.  Instead, I ascribe his arrival in Manila to two seemingly unrelated factors – Tokugawa Ieyasu and the weather.

Japan in the early 1600’s was not a welcome place for Christians. In the late 1590’s Hideyoshi, a powerful Japanese Daimyo unified Japan. Once he became the ruler of Japan, Hideyoshi began to pay attention to external threats, particularly the expansion of Spanish and Portugese power in East Asia.  By 1587, Hideyoshi had become alarmed and produced an edict expelling missionaries from many areas of the country. In 1597, he then ordered Nagasaki under his direct rule to control Portuguese trade and as an example ordered 26 “Kirishitan” followers executed.

The early Japanese Christians suffered all sorts of persecutions. They were wrapped in straw sacks, piled in heaps of living fuel, and set on fire. All the tortures that barbaric hatred or refined cruelty could invent were used to turn thousands of their fellow-men into carcasses and ashes. Yet few of the faithful quailed, or renounced their faith. They calmly let the fire of wood cleft from the crosses before which they once prayed consume them, or walked cheerfully to the blood-pit, or were flung alive into the open grave about to be filled up.

On a trip to Japan several years ago, I attended a lecture on the early European settlements in Japan. I remember the speaker commenting that many Christians were persecuted and churches dismantled. The Japanese, knowing that the images of Christ were holy, did not want to offend these foreign gods, so they wrapped them in bundles of straw, covered them in tar  and set them adrift.  

A second data point – according to historical records on July 22, 1606, a Spanish ship left Cavite en route to Japan. It was August 20th when they reached the 20th parallel. There they had a fierce storm in which it was necessary to unstep the topmast and to lower and take in all the sails. Such was the fury of the wind and the violence of the waves that the tiller was broken and the ship was left in such a great distress that it was necessary to lighten it of everything it had on deck. The storm grew worse and the night came on very cloudy and dark with hurricane winds and terrific thunder. About 10 o’clock at night the wind increased in such a way that the ship was heeled over until the sails touched the water, and the side of the boat was submerged. In such distress the sailors and the Captain promised a lamp of 150 pesos to our Lady of Rosary in Manila. God was pleased to hear the prayers of His servants and a little while afterwards the ship entered the port of Fucajari, but two leagues below Nagasaki.

Now, if you draw a line from Nagasaki to Manila (as was done in the attached figure by the historian who compiled the storm data) you will see that it is quite possible that the Black Nazarene washed up on the shores of Manila Bay driven by the typhoon of August 1606. Wrapped in bundles of straw and tarred, the image of Christ bending under the weight of the cross, was taken by the local fisherman to the nearest Church – the newly commissioned Recollect Church of John the Baptist.

To the priest and four brothers who had made the long journey from Cadiz in Spain, the arrival of an image of Christ on the shores of Manila Bay, would truly qualify as a miracle. The fact that he was the Black Nazarene might even have served to confirm that the Philippines was indeed their chosen spiritual home.

           

Las Vegas: UnNatural Relations in Las Vegas I

I flew into Las Vegas last week. It was my third visit to Las Vegas in the last 12 months and each time I arrive at the McCarran Airport, I immediately sense that there is something “unnatural” about Las Vegas.  Something about it just doesn’t feel quite right. And I am not really sure why.

Founded as a railroad town back in 1905, Las Vegas has made its mark as a place of illicit desire, a refuge from the laws and values that have held sway in the rest of puritan America.  The nation’s fastest growing city is comprised, not of offices or banks, but of casinos operating 24 hours a day, raking in profits from an activity outlawed almost anywhere else in the world. 

In 1890, Nevada was the lowest populated state in the union with a population well under 100,000.  There was talk at the time about Nevada becoming part of California and abolishing Nevada all together. Nevada lacked the resources that other states had; it was so arid that it lacked enough water to develop industries. In the end, what saved Nevada was its historic tolerance for sin. And so gambling, whoring and drinking became the way you survived in the desert. 

Little has changed in 120 years. Las Vegas is still based on the commercialization of desire, a city where the only currency is currency. As long as you have the chips, nobody cares what your race is, your color, your gender, your sexual orientation. Everybody is the same until you’re out of money. And then when you’re out of money you’re just out.

And money – or the sound of money is everywhere. The first thing you hear when you walk up the ramp from your plane is the clatter of slot machines. You can’t walk into a Seven Eleven or an AM/PM or anyplace else without there being slots. Even the grocery stores have slots. And I think that is what bothers me. Not the slots per se, but the unbridled optimism that they represent. The promise of the future. A bet on the future. “Come On”, the flashing Sirens sing – one more spin of the wheel, one more quarter – and your life might change. Or at least for a few moments.

If you think about it, you can’t have gambling without optimism. And there is a kind of structural optimism that forms the foundation of Las Vegas. Who would build a city, situated miles from no where, in the middle of a desert filled with snakes and serpents and all matters of evil?  The sane man would not be remiss to ask himself why on earth would you settle here? Because it is not a sensible place to build a city. It really is not. 

History tells us that a young Mexican scout named Rafael Rivera is the first person of European ancestry to beat the odds in Las Vegas. Mexican trader Antonio Armijo, leading a 60-man party along the Spanish Trail to Los Angeles in 1829, veered from the accepted route. While Armijo’s caravan was camped about 100 miles northeast of present day Las Vegas, Rivera rode west into the unexplored desert in search of water. Two weeks later, he hit the jackpot and discovered an artesian spring in a valley that was eventually to take on the name of “The Meadows” or Las Vegas in Spanish.

Some 16 years after Rivera’s discovery, General Stephen Kearny led the Grand Army of the West into the town’s central plaza and demanded that the Alcalde, or mayor, join him in addressing the townspeople. At that time, Las Vegas,  was a small settlement of adobe houses set among rustling cornfields.  Kearny climbed a rickety ladder to the flat roof of one of the adobe buildings facing the plaza and announced to the collected citizens that by the orders of President James Polk he was absolving them from their allegiance to the Mexican government and claiming their country on behalf of the United States. And so began Las Vegas’s descent into sin.

The moral decline was significantly hastened by the arrival of the railroad in the summer of 1904. By 1890 railroad developers had determined the water-rich Las Vegas Valley would be a prime location for a stop facility and town and so in 1902 the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, (later known as the Union Pacific) purchased a 110 acre tract centered on what is today Las Vegas Boulevard.  The railroad laid out a town, held a land auction and on May 15, 1905 the city was born. 

The tent town called Las Vegas sprouted saloons, stores and boarding houses. The boom-years for Las Vegas wouldn’t begin until after the 1931 completion of Boulder Dam but the attractions of liquor, prostitution and gambling were recognized early on. The center for these activities was an area known as Block 16, one of two blocks (there were 40 in the original town) that the founding town fathers in their wisdom licensed to serve liquor without restriction. It quickly grew to sell women as well. 

Block 16 catered to the repair yard workers and miners, but weary travelers journeyed to the saloons for refreshment while their trains stopped in the town for a 45 minute layover. The Double O, Red Onion, Arcade, and Arizona Club served 10-cent shots, hosted poker, faro, and roulette, and sported cribs out back for bar customers with the urge. The Arizona Club was the poshest with a with a glass front, a $20,000 mahogany bar, and a second story for the convenience of the ladies of the night and their gentlemen. 

Despite the occasional spirited civic campaign to eliminate them, Block 16’s activities survived numerous challenges over the years. At midnight, Oct. 1, 1910, a strict anti-gambling law became effective in Nevada. The Nevada State Journal newspaper in Reno reported: “Stilled forever is the click of the roulette wheel, the rattle of dice and the swish of cards. “Forever” lasted less than three weeks. Ten years later, the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect, banning the transport and sale of alcohol throughout the country. During the thirteen years of Prohibition, the saloons on Block 16 operated and sold alcoholic drinks in secret as did other so-called “speakeasies” around the United States. 

The local sex industry also managed to survive the tidal wave of Progressive-era brothel shutdowns that re-shaped cities such as Denver, San Francisco and Sacramento. The wave did touch Las Vegas during the ’20s, however, when a grand jury instructed city commissioners that “occupants of houses of ill fame not be allowed on the streets, unless properly clothed” – an attempt to discourage the scantily clad women from sitting in second-floor windows of the bordellos on hot summer nights.  What finally killed Block 16 was World War Two. With soldiers at the nearby Las Vegas Aerial and Gunnery Range coming up for off-duty passes in rotations of hundreds a night, Block 16 was seen as a challenge to martial discipline. When the commander of the Gunnery Range threatened to declare the whole town off-limits to servicemen, local officials immediately revoked the liquor licenses and slot machine permits of the casinos on Block 16. 

While city officials were able to close down the flesh trade, illegal gambling flourished until 1931 when the Nevada Legislature approved a legalized gambling bill authored by Phil Tobin, a Northern Nevada rancher. Tobin had no interest in gambling and had never visited Las Vegas, but saw gambling as a vehicle to raise funds for public schools.

To Be Continued….

Las Vegas: Un-Natural Relations II

By the early 1940s, downtown Las Vegas had several luxury hotels and a dozen small but successful gambling clubs. In 1941, a businessman by the name of Thomas Hull, who owned a string of motor inns in California, decided to open the El Rancho Las Vegas, just outside the city limits right off the highway from Los Angeles. The El Rancho had 100 motel rooms, a western styled casino, it was located right off the highway and had a large parking lot with an inviting swimming pool in the middle. The success of the El Rancho Vegas triggered a small building boom in the late 1940s including construction of several hotel- casinos fronting on a two-lane highway leading into Las Vegas from Los Angeles – a stretch of road that has evolved into today’s Las Vegas Strip.

During this time the celebrated mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel visited Las Vegas. A key player in a national crime organization known as the Syndicate, Siegel, had spent most of the 1930’s in Hollywood, overseeing L.A.’s half-a-million-dollar-a-day bookmaking enterprise and paling around with studio executives and movie stars on the side. But when Nevada became the only state in the Union to legalize the racewire, a service that relayed thoroughbred racing results to off-track bookies across the country, Syndicate boss Meyer Lansky sent Siegel to take over the action in Las Vegas

Siegel had every reason to believe that Las Vegas was headed for a spectacular boom. Two new defense installations had been recently situated on the outskirts of town, which together had brought thousands of people and their payrolls into Las Vegas’s orbit. And now that the country was at war, hordes of impatient couples were already stampeding over the border into Nevada, where state law allowed them to tie the knot without waiting for the blood tests required back home.

Since Las Vegas already ranked as the country’s top spot  to dump a spouse (edging out with Reno for the honor)– Siegel figured the casinos on Fremont Street would soon be packed to the rafters. A “quickie” divorce could be attained after six weeks of residency. These short-term residents stayed at “dude ranches” which were the forerunners of the sprawling Strip hotels.

Siegel wanted a resort that would change the Strip. The El Rancho and the Hotel Last Frontier were set in a western theme. Siegel saw something different – Hollywood in Vegas. He saw lights, class, and headliners appearing. As far as Siegel was concerned, “Cowboy” was dead and “Hollywood” was in. Boy, he got that right.

The Flamingo with a giant pink neon sign and replicas of pink flamingos on the lawn, opened on New Year’s Eve 1946.  While the El Rancho Vegas and other 1940s resorts followed a western ranch-styled theme, the Flamingo was modeled after resort hotels in Miami and Cuba.  Siegel spared no expense on his resort. He built a pool, tennis courts and riding stable to create a resort that not only attracted the Hollywood set, but gave its visitors a variety of diversions from their inevitable losses at the tables. With its swank atmosphere, wall-to-wall carpeting and a new-fangled air cooling system, The Flamingo would become a favorite hot spot for the Hollywood crowd.

But by the time construction was finally completed, in the spring of 1947, Siegel had overrun his budget by four and a half million dollars, and the Syndicate’s mood had soured. A few months later, Siegel was gunned down in his girlfriend’s Beverly Hills home. No one was ever convicted for the murder, but a few weeks later Lansky’s deputies took over The Flamingo. Its like they say - when you’re out of money you’re just out.

Just before dawn on January 27th, 1951, a blinding white flash lit up the Las Vegas sky. Minutes later, there was a thundering blast that left a trail of broken glass from Fremont Street clear out to the Strip. Atomic bomb testing at the Nevada proving facility had begun.

“We have glorified gambling, divorces and doubtful pleasures to get our name before the rest of the country,” wrote the Las Vegas Sun. “Now we can become a part of the most important work carried on by our country today. We have found a reason for our existence as a community.”

In April, the press is invited to view and broadcast the detonation of a nuclear device on the Nevada Proving Grounds. Americans watch the detonation of the 31-kiloton device from the safety of their living rooms. Over the next twelve years, 235 nuclear devices — an average of one every few weeks — would be detonated above ground in the Mohave desert, just 65 miles from downtown Las Vegas.

The atomic craze sweeps the nation, and Las Vegas capitalizing on the publicity garnered by the tests, begins marketing the detonations as one of their city’s attractions, including the annual Miss Atom Bomb Beauty Pagent.  It’s the 1950’s. Welcome to the “Atomic City.”

The 1960’s were to be equally as interesting. In the early hours of Thanksgiving morning 1966, a private train rattled into a desolate crossing in North Las Vegas. From the trailing car emerged one of the wealthiest men in the world — the legendary billionaire recluse, Howard Robard Hughes.

In his youth, Hughes had been a full-fledged American celebrity: the dashing movie producer whose exploits had provided endless fodder for gossip columns, the record-breaking aviator who had been honored with a hero’s ticker tape parade. But though only a few people knew it, that man was long gone. Plagued by chronic back pain and hopelessly addicted to narcotics, Hughes had spent much of the last three years in near-total seclusion, his mind careening between rationality and full-blown dementia.

Now, he had come to Las Vegas, his old stomping ground, seeking tax shelter for his riches and refuge from the hounding attention of the press. Accompanied by a phalanx of beefy Mormon caretakers, he took up residence at the famed Desert Inn, where an old acquaintance, Las Vegas Sun publisher Hank Greenspun, had reserved the entire eighth and ninth floors for his personal use.

One week passed. Then two. But to the Desert Inn’s dismay, Hughes and his entourage showed no signs of moving on. They were not the exactly the kind of guests you wanted taking up your best rooms. Hughes never gambled and his aides were all Mormon, so they they didn’t drink and they didn’t tip, nor did they need any of the other “services” that Las Vegas provided. But Hughes liked Los Vegas and wouldn’t leave.

The Desert Inn’s solution was fairly elegant and on April Fools Day, 1967, official title to the Desert Inn passed to Howard Hughes. “I have decided this once and for all,” Hughes declared in a memo to his aides. “I want to acquire even more hotels and . . . make Las Vegas as trustworthy and respectable as the New York Stock Exchange.”

Cloistered round-the-clock in his makeshift headquarters, the eccentric billionaire now began to collect Strip hotels and casinos as if they were snow globes or stamps: the Frontier and the Sands and the Castaways; the Silver Slipper, a small casino across from the Desert Inn, whose revolving marquee reportedly disturbed his sleep; and the massive Landmark Hotel, which officially opened in July 1969. When Hughes left four years later he was the largest employer in the state of Nevada and Wall Street had come to recognize the potential of the ‘gaming industry”.

The heir to Hughes legacy is perhaps Steve Wynn. He opened the 3,049-room Mirage Hotel-Casino opened in the fall of 1989 at a construction cost of $630 million. It features a white tiger habitat, a dolphin pool, an elaborate swimming pool and waterfall and a man-made volcano that belches fire and water. He also constructed the 2,900-room Treasure Island adjacent to The Mirage at a cost of $430 million. The hotel features Buccaneer Bay where a full scale pirate ship and British frigate engage in a battle of cannon fire. In the end, the pirates blast the British and the frigate slowly sinks beneath the churning waves.

Wynn lost control of his empire to MGM Grand in a hostile take over. He didn’t do too badly, walking away with a little bit over 400 million dollars. This he immediately plowed back into the sand, purchasing a large track of land at the end of the Strip and building The Wynn, a 2700 hundred room resort, with 19 restaurants, a golf course, spa and pool. In December, he opens Encore a 2400 room all suites extension to the property. 

It’s a 1.2 billion dollar bet that Las Vegas will continue to prosper. But then, you can’t have gambling without optimism.

Sankt Anton am Arlberg

Continual War, Dynastic Conflict and the Occasional Tourist….. 

Sankt Anton am Arlberg is a village in Tyrol, Western Austria, with a population of c. 2,800 in the summer and around 20,000 in the winter. The dramatic influx of residents is due to St. Anton’s prominence as a ski resort.  Situated at 1,304 m above sea level in the Tyrolean Alps, St. Anton lies on the Rosanna River, and is on the main East-West rail line between Austria and Switzerland. It is well known around the world as the host of the Alpine World Skiing Championships in 2001 and as one of the world’s most famous international winter resorts. 

The history of Tyrol reflects the history of Austria – a drama of almost continual war and dynastic conflict, interrupted by intermittent periods of peace. All the famous names are here –  the Habsburgs, Napolean, Leopold of Babenberg, Metternich, Hitler….. 

Incorporated into the Southern part of the Duchy of Bavaria during the Early Middle Ages,  the region fell under the rule of Duke Rudolph IV of House of Habsburg  in the 1369 and from that time onwards, Tyrol was ruled by various lines of the Habsburg family. Following their defeat by Napoleon in 1805, the Habsburgs were forced to cede Tyrol back to the Kingdom of Bavaria. The Tyroleans, who had no great love for their neighbors the Bavarians, rose up and succeeded twice in defeating Bavarian and French troops trying to retake the country. Tyrol remained divided under Bavarian and Italian authority for another four years before being reunified and returned to Austria at the Congress of Vienna in 1814.  Integrated into the Austrian Empire, from 1867 onwards it was a Kronland (Crown Land) of Austria-Hungary.

It at this time that tourism on the Arlberg began in earnest and the Tyrol became more than a chess piece in the games played by Europe’s dynasties. The tunnel to Switzerland was built during the 1880’s and with the tunnel came the train and on the train were the Brits with their skis.  St. Anton became the first truly international ski destination in Europe because it was on the route of The Orient Express.  The Tyrolean’s contribution to skiing includes the first chair lift ever built, the first tram, the first ski school and the concept of Apres Ski (more on this later).

This evolution of the sport of skiing was interrupted periodically by the occasional regional conflict. The onset of World War I saw the heavy fighting centered along the historical border of Tyrol with this front becoming known as the “War in ice and snow”, as troops occupied the highest mountains and glaciers all year long. Twelve metres (40 feet) of snow were a quite normal occurrence during the winter of 1915–16 and tens of thousands of soldiers disappeared in avalanches. (The remains of these soldiers are still being uncovered today.) 

The Italian Alpini, as well as their Austrian counterparts (Kaiserjäger, Standschützen and Landesschützen) and the German Alpenkorps occupied the mountain tops and carved extensive fortifications and military quarters, drilling tunnels inside the mountains and deep into glaciers. Guns were dragged to the tops of mountains reaching 3,890 m (12,760 ft). The forces that had occupied the higher ground were almost impossible to dislodge, so both sides turned to drilling tunnels under mountain peaks, filling them up with explosives and then detonating the whole mountain to pieces, including its defenders. Welcome to the neighborhood. 

The 1930’s saw little respite from conflict.  Although the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of St. Germain had explicitly forbidden the unification of Austria and Germany, Nazi troops entered Austria in March of 1938 and became a part of the notorious Third Reich. As a result, Austria ceased to exist as an independent country.  

Life has improved in the Tyrol since the end of the war. Few resorts in the world can match this place when it comes to expert terrain, off-piste, and trail variety. This resort has trails facing every exposure of the compass, allowing skiers to chase the sun for the entire day and never see a shadow. Cruisers delight in the over 4,000 feet plus of vertical on numerous top-to-bottom runs, and an ultra modern lift system has eliminated most of the lines for which the resort used to be notorious.

St. Anton is part of the Arlberg alliance of ski resorts—a region that includes the ski areas of St. Anton, Lech, Stuben and St. Christoph. In all there are more 82 cable cars and ski lifts, 260 km (160 miles) of groomed pistes and 184 km (114 miles) of deep-snow runs. Expert terrain includes less frequently groomed ski routes such as Schindlerkar and Mattun, and the backside of Valluga (2,811 m) down to Zürs, which is for experts and then only if accompanied by a guide. The overall area measures 50km² – think Whistler or Vail and then multiply it by two.

Skiing has a long history in this village: even before World War I, the first skiing teachers were employed at St. Anton, home of the world’s first ski school. Further contributing to the reputation that the region enjoys today as a winter sports centre was the Arlberg Ski School founded by Hannes Schneider after WW II. Schneider was one of the foremost figures in the early days of skiing and developer of the “Arlberg Method”; the first uniform method of ski instruction. Legend has it that one day, Schneider , after taking a couple of particularly nasty falls, finished the rest of his run in a deep crouch. This, of course, had the effect of lowering his centre of gravity, and no more falls resulted. He tried the crouch again the next day, and this time discovered what was apparently a new way to turn.

This resort is not a quiet place. It boasts a nightlife and is a meeting place for some of the greatest skiers on the planet. Most of them can be found at the Mooserwit located a few hundred feet off the main run. It packs in hundreds of skiers and snowboarders drinking beer and schnapps. The music is Euro remixes and dance tracks. One of my Austrian remarked that Mooserwit is one of the top 100 businesses in the country. That doesn’t say much about Austria, but it does give you a sense of scale. The fun doesn’t stop at Mooserwit. There is the Krazy Kangaroo, Scottys, Underground, Amadeus, and many more. 

The role Apres Ski plays in St. Anton is illustrated by the advertisements for Billy Boy condoms, lingerie and JagerMeister (the local alcohol of choice) which line the trams and gondolas. There is a certain coherence here. And the three advertisements juxtaposed next to each other does kind of set the mood. 

There are a number of lodging options from very upscale hotels to more modest family owned hotels. At Christmas we stayed at the Hotel Parseierblick, a traditional Austrian ski lodge run by Lilo Stolz (www.parseierblick.at). The accommodations were clean and cheerful and the Hotel Parseierblick is located about 30 feet from one of the new high speed gondolas, so it was very convenient. The real pleasure, however, was the Strolz family. They were warm and extremely hospitable and made us feel very much a part of St. Anton. 

Last month we returned and stayed at a more traditional, upscale hotel – the Ski Hotel Galzig. A relatively new and modern hotel it was also very well located and very well managed. But for all of the modern amenities, it lacked the warmth and genuiness that we had come to associate with St. Anton. 

 

 

 

Hannover: The Abridged History

 

Glories Past…..The Issue of Self Esteem

 

The town of Hannover was founded sometime in the early Middle Ages as a small rural settlement on the high banks of the River Leine. Almost 1400 years later, It retains its original character, at least in the minds of its residents.

When I first announced to my German friends that we were moving to Hannover, several sent letters of condolence. Even those who lived in Hannover seemed a bit embarrassed. Why would anyone want to move to a place that they had spent their whole adult lives trying to escape from? After having been here for several months, I am frequently asked if we are going to stay and have we considered Hamburg? 

This embarrassment over their city most likely has its antecedents in the fact that in 1714, George Louis, the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (also known as Hannover, after its capital), and thereby the Archbannerbearer (a prestigious sinecure) and, importantly, a Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire left town to became King of England. Now, I can’t fault George Louis (you probably know him as George I ) for trading up so to speak. I mean in retrospect London has done fairly well. But, it has left an indelible mark on those left behind in the form of a very low level of self-esteem. Hannoverians really haven’t gotten over being abandoned by their monarch. 

One hundred and fifty years later, the Second World War dealt a further blow to Hannover’s psychology. Almost two thirds of the buildings were destroyed or burnt and the city was essentially flattened – this by the same family that had left in 1714. Thank you House of Hannover. The fact that Hannover was the base for Volkswagen’s heavy truck production may have also been a contributing factor, but still having your city destroyed by its namesake must be a bit traumatic. And destroyed it was, as after the war over 6.3 million cubic meters of rubble was removed. 

So, where does that leave Hannover today? Well it has more forest area within the city than any city in the world. It is famous for the extensive network of bike paths. You can go everywhere on bike, and they are all separated from vehicular traffic. The roads are wide and parking plentiful even in the inner city. And it has several beautiful lakes, including the Machsee which is located in the center of the city. 

In Hannover there are only a few of the old beautiful buildings that you expect to see in a European city. Yet, there is surprisingly little of the painful 1950’s and 1960’s style architecture that characterizes much of the UK and the old buildings that still stand are pretty spectacular.

Perhaps the most attractive feature of this city is that its neighborhoods are separated by farmland and forest. It is very European to my mind with small clusters of perhaps one hundred homes surrounded by fields or wood. Tract housing and aluminum siding have yet to find their way across the Atlantic. No more than 100 feet outside our back door is a park that runs into open fields and we are only 6 minutes from the school – which is in the center of the city.

So, we rate Hannover high on livability and are not quite sure why everyone is in such a rush to leave……but then winter has not yet arrived.

Weihnachtsmarkt

The 4000 Pound Fruit Cake….

One of the pleasant surprises of the last year has been the discovery that there is no other place in the world that celebrates the Christmas holiday season quite like Germany. The country’s traditions date back to the middle ages, including its colorful Christmas markets (“Weihnachtsmarkt”) which turn its towns and cities into centers of holiday tradition and cheer. They are truly unique.

Held during the four-week Advent season prior to Christmas, these holiday fairs include numerous booths and stalls set up in the town/city center. A huge Christmas tree with hundreds of bright lights and garlands stands as the centerpiece. The booths and stalls sell a variety of Christmas decorations, ornaments, wooden toys, nutcrackers, figurines, gifts, clothing, and more. 

Hungry shoppers cozy up to the food stalls, seeking out a wonderful range of German holiday treats such as savory sausages, spicy and smoked meats, chocolate-dipped fruits, and warm mulled wine and fruit punch. The fragrance of freshly baked stollen (holiday fruit bread) and spiced lebkuchen (gingerbread), plus roasted chestnuts and almonds are a delight to the senses and add to the holiday atmosphere.

The centuries-old tradition reaches back to a time when regular seasonal markets took place throughout the year. Christmas markets were a welcome occurrence during cold-weather months. They were joyful occasions for weary (bored?) villagers and added a bit of light to long winter nights. Lets face it, there is not a lot to do in the countryside when the sun goes down at 4pm and the temperatures plummet. 

Despite the widespread belief that Christmas has only recently developed into a feast of commercialism, as early as the 17th century, gift-buying at the Christmas markets had already become a main pre-holiday activity. The first markets were little more than winter markets that lasted a couple of days and instead of the stands that line market alleys today, traders laid their goods out in the streets. Only local tradesmen were allowed to sell their wares at the city’s market, which has led to a distinctive regional character of the various markets.

Today, German Christmas markets serve much the same function that they have for centuries — as a festive meeting place for locals and a market for homemade Christmas ornaments and decorations. And of course for drinking – some old traditions never die.

The most famous include Nuremberg’s Christmas market, which draws millions of visitors each year and dates back to the 16^th century, and Dresden’s Striezelmarkt. The market in Dresden is considered the oldest in Germany having been established in 1434.  It takes its name for the local specialty “Striezel” or “Stollen,” a type of fruitcake made around Christmas time.

Bakers would give one or two 36-pound cakes to the local prince during Christmas time. These cakes were carried ceremoniously to the castle and cut by a knife over five feet long (the Dresden Stollen Knife). The fact that you needed a five foot knife to cut what is essentially a oversized fruit cake indicates to me that this may not be the world’s tastiest fruit cake and may explain why most of it was doled out to the poor at the behest of the Church.

In recent years the size of the Stollen has increased in direct proportion to Germany’s economic prosperity and now weighs in at around 4 tons.  On the day of the Stollenfest this four-ton mega-stollen makes its way through the old city to the Striezelmarkt, where an attractive Stollenmädchen (literally: “the fruit cake girl”) cuts the giant fruitcake with the traditional “Dresdner Stollen Knife.” After, It is divided into portions that are sold to the general public who line up in the thousands. While one hates to comment on others holiday traditions, clearly there is something unique going on here.

This Christmas, we visited the markets in Hannover, Munich and Braunsweig all of which we enjoyed, though none of them featured an attractive “fruit cake girl” or alas a 4 ton fruit cake. As a note, the markets are a major draw, luring 160 million visitors to the more than 2,500 Christmas markets. These temples to Christmas spirit provide a needed once-a-year booster shot in the arms of local economies, with total Christmas market-related tourism spending estimated at close to €5 billion per year. Not bad for an oversized crafts and bake sale. And despite the focus on commerce, there is something vaguely non-commercial about the country’s tradition of Christmas markets. 

Merry Christmas…..

Oktoberfest

100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall……

We went to our first Oktoberfest on Friday evening. It was not the real Oktoberfest held in Munich, but a smaller version here in Hannover. Still, it is a great German tradition and so worth noting.

The first “Oktoberfest” took place in Munich on October 12, 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I and the grand father to that famous “Mad King Ludwig” of nursery rhyme fame ) and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

Sensing a commercial opportunity, the town fathers of Munich took over festival management in 1819 and decreed that the Oktoberfest should be celebrated every year without exception. The festival was lengthened and the date pushed forward to September – the stated reason being that the end of September in Bavaria often has very good weather. The real reason is that the high temperature in the first week of the Oktoberfest (30 °C) stimulates the thirst of the visitors and if Oktoberfest is about anything it is about beer. 

This year over six million people visited the 42 Hectare Theresienwiese (fairgrounds). Of these visitors, it will not surprise you that 72% were from Bavaria while 15% of visitors come from the surrounding EU-countries and other non-European countries like the United States, Japan, and Australia. While no official statistics are available concerning consumption of beer by the different nationalities, it is safe to say that the Bavarians consume perhaps 95%. 

There are today 14 beer halls (the politically correct term is ”festival hall”) which seat over 100,000 people. All told over 61,000 hecto liters of beer is consumed in a two week period. For those of you who did not grow up in the metric system a hecto liter is 100 liters (61,000 x 100 = 6,100,000 liters). The other statistics are equally impressive – 481,649 chickens (roasted), 179,899 pairs of pork sausage, and 560,089 pork knuckles. Oh and 95 units of oxen…you gotta love official German statistics. 

Today’s Oktoberfest bears little resemblance to that initial wedding festival. In the early years there were games of skittles, large dance floors, and trees for climbing in the beer booths. But the city fathers in their wisdom wanted more room for guests and musicians so out went the trees and the booths became beer halls.  This I believe was a mistake as the spectacle of meaty Bavarians wearing the Sennerhut and Lederhosen climbing trees after consuming copious amounts of beer would clearly boost visitor numbers. 

In 2005, the city fathers once again intervened to make the Oktoberfest, and especially the beer tents (the largest beer hall today is the Hofbräu-Festhalle which holds 10,000) more friendly to older people and families by introducing the concept of the “quiet Oktoberfest”. Until 6:00 PM, the tents only play quiet music, for example traditional wind music. Only after that will Schlager and pop music be played, which had led to violence in earlier years. The music played in the afternoon is limited to 85 decibels. With these measures, the organizers of the Oktoberfest hope to curb the over-the-top party mentality and preserve the traditional beer tent atmosphere. 

Good luck. 100,000 drunk Bavarians are going to do what ever they want…..

German Efficiency

One Country…..Two Systems

 

We arrived on Sunday and on Monday had our visas done, local  residence permits, heath insurance and bank accounts. German efficiency. Impressive.

As a point of comparison, It took 16 trips to the government offices in Shanghai, an AIDS test and the production of about 150 documents including my primary school report card to get my China residence permit.  Opening a bank account these days in Singapore requires a security clearance and a proctology. And Manila? Please, lets not go there.  

Only Hong Kong comes close to the standard set by the Germans….unless that is you want your washer fixed, cable television installed, or drinking water delivered where Hong Kong wins by a mile.

Lets start with drinking water. Not special drinking water – not that fizzy kind that all Europeans seem to favor, just the kind that comes in those large blue plastic bottles that Watson’s delivers to your home or office in Hong Kong.  How long would you estimate it takes to get your drinking water delivered? Three days? A Week? No, only three weeks. Yes, only three weeks to have it delivered by a company that specializes in selling drinking water.  And that after a deposit of E300 for the dispenser. 

But in all honesty, if you pay the deposit, fill in the forms properly and wait the requisite three weeks – they will deliver the water. This is in marked contrast to the washing machine repair man. Did you know that it is impossible to have a washing machine repaired in Germany? Clearly, against the laws of nature. Well, in Hannover anyway. 

 

Installing cable television seems a bit easier – but just a bit. He was going to show up last Monday, but then postponed to Thursday, which was postponed to Monday – but then as Tuesday was a holiday, he had to postpone to Thursday at 09:00 am. Here, I am not exaggerating. I swear this is all true……

So, it is one country, two systems. One system that works well (in a literal sense) and a second that works when it wants to. No wonder Europeans don’t go in for this “small government” philosophy – it reminds them too much of the private sector. In closing, I did receive a letter today and was quite pleased to learn that my children qualified for social benefits and that the European Community will be sending me a check for E200 per kid a month. Thank you Jacques Chirac. Now, if you could just fix that washer……..