Best judgment?

I understand why baseball umpires are sensitive about instant reply–the technology threatens to eliminate their jobs, or, at least, embarrass them by correcting blown calls. (The point is, after all, that the machines will make better calls than the human umpires.) But listen to the commissioner: instant reply is coming. And, for all of Bud Selig’s shortcomings in baseball’s top spot, he has consistently gotten his way. So, rather than fight the new plan at every stage, why don’t umpires get on board, and see to it that instant replay is implemented in a way that maximizes their importance on the field and their dignity? I don’t know–maybe it’s just me, maybe the umps aren’t thinking this way, but I wouldn’t like to be on the losing side of history, especially for a change that, in the baseball world, will be a big one.

Las Líneas de Nazca

As mentioned, the reason for the visit to Nazca was the Nazca Lines, huge drawings in the desert made thousands of years ago by the people of the Nazca civilization. Or by aliens, if you believe Indiana Jones. Here’s how we saw the lines:

And here’s what we saw (among many others, over a dozen in all):

From the air, this was equally impressive:

Plug

On a friend’s urging, I saw American Teen tonight. I hope I don’t fall into the habit of using this space to push books, movies, or anything else, but this is a movie to see. Filmed in Warsaw, Indiana, over a single academic year, the film is a creative, reality TV-style documentary that follows five high school seniors through their final year at home, in school, and with each other. It’s got great characters, half a dozen compelling narratives woven together brilliantly and beautifully, and all the reality of high school in America today, no matter where you experienced it. I’ll leave my plug at that, but I’ll encourage you to do two things: click on the link above and watch the trailer. If those three minutes seem interesting, go see the movie. It won’t disappoint.

Staying humble

Here’s the entirety of an email I got from a friend this afternoon:

i just almost had a heart attack, because i thought i’d flushed my glasses down the toilet, because i was napping there, and then they disappeared. turns out, they were just down the leg of my pants, and they dropped out on the ground when i stood up and shook my leg

The world of sports

Or: why I love international sports. Two articles I read today:

Article 1: Some athletes are more than superstars. They carry whole nations on their backs. Their nations have 1.3 billion people and get to host the Olympics. And they are responsible for exposing a whole continent to a sport. Actually, that’s just one (huge) guy.

Article 2: And elsewhere, it’s a victory when your athletes come home at all. See, a lot of the time they don’t, since your country is so poor. (HT: DGP)

Can we have more of this, please?

Rather than having one president with the power to do, you know, everything, why don’t we keep this three-headed setup going: one president to talk sweetly to the rest of the world and make them love us, one president to offer blustery challenges to bad guys and make us feel powerful, and one president who doesn’t do much, not screwing anything up as he does(n’t) it.

Nazca

Nazca is a fascinating outpost that is supported primarily by the tourist money that comes in because of the Nazca Lines. Fifty dollars for a half-hour ride surely makes some of the locals good money (hundreds of tourists take the flights every day), although the wealth clearly doesn’t reach most of the residents. The town’s main street, frequented by passing tourists, looks as much like Disneyland as Peru.

 

Just a block off the main street, however, Nazca resembles the rest of the country. And from there the surrounding mountains are also obviously visible.

 

Another few blocks from the town center is a dry river that separates the main part of town, no rich enclave itself, from poorer areas that become shanties farther out.

Paracas

To illustrate the trip as I should have done at the time, I’ll post a couple pictures from each destination, in the order I traveled. Here’s Paracas:

My travels

Where I went in Peru and Ecuador (click the tabs or the View Larger Map link below to see destinations and dates):

View Larger Map

Notes from (Ecuador and) Peru: #6–The End

Weeks ago, when I wrote last, I was in Quito, Ecuador, suffering through one of the worst four-day periods of my life. I was sick and lonely, stuck in a hotel room in a foreign country, with no prospects for improvement each day. I got better after a couple days, then I moved on and continued my trip, moving south to Guayaquil. The trip got much better again, but not until I got back to Peru.