DBD 2/6/2012: Highlights from Yesterday's Game

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Clint Eastwood has made Chrysler’s day.

For the second year in a row, the car maker has won over audiences during Super Bowl XLVI with an emotional commercial. This time it featured a gritty Mr. Eastwood trying to rally Americans.

This country can’t be knocked out with one punch; we get right back up again and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines," intoned Mr. Eastwood in the two-minute spot crafted by Wieden+Kennedy.

“Powerful and one of the best Super Bowl ads ever,” said Allen Adamson, managing director of Landor New York, a branding firm owned by WPP PLC.

“So, Clint Eastwood needs to be president. Just saying,” read a Tweet on Twitter.

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European leaders stepped up pressure on Greek politicians to meet the conditions of a 130 billion- euro ($171 billion) bailout, saying time was running out.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris today as Greece’s interim prime minister, Lucas Papademos, planned to confer with the so-called troika of international lenders in Athens. A gathering of Greek political leaders was delayed by a day until tomorrow as they struggled for a unified response.

"I can’t quite understand why we need a few more days — time is running out," Merkel said today in a joint briefing with Sarkozy.

M.I.A. Flips Bird, Upstages Madonna at Super Bowl

Forget Madonna – the most memorable moment of Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show came when M.I.A. threw up her middle finger and uttered an expletive to the audience of millions, recalling the raciness of Janet Jackson’s 2004 “wardrobe malfunction” and rendering The Material Girl tame by comparison.

The gesture came during a performance of Madonna’s new single, “Give Me All Your Luvin,” on which M.I.A. raps. Viewers at home saw their TV screens blur for a second afterwards in a failed attempt to conceal the act.

“The NFL hired the talent and produced the halftime show,” NBC spokesman Christopher McCloskey said. “Our system was late to obscure the inappropriate gesture and we apologize to our viewers.”

I almost turned this into the DBD topic but didn’t know if that would be cool. And I don’t want an angry dame with power tools after me! She posted a couple of nice pics too.

There are tons of charming, small towns along the southern coast of France. St Tropez is the best (in spite of everything you read about it and it being so totally lifestyles of the rich & famous, it really is a small, hilly, utterly charming village on a lovely bay in the Mediterranean, with a wide variety of people and a lovely pace outside of the highest high season — if you are going in July/August, avoid, but any other time, it’s worth a night or two). There are hotels and inns in every price range, I would recommend something right in town, rather than in the countryside. I have stayed at La Maison Blanche, but just looking at their web site it looks to have become much more expensive since I stayed there. Might be worth Googling though, it’s a great location and a very pleasant, simple but nice hotel. In addition to cafes, shops, views and beaches, St Tropez offers some great hiking westward along the seaside cliffs heading out of town.

If St Tropez seems like it’s too bougie, there’s a more family-oriented, slightly bigger town across the bay (which can access St Tropez by ferry if you want to check out the yachts for a day) called Ste Maxime. It’s also right on the sea and there you could find some perfectly pleasant hotels for around €100/night for a double.

The next major city eastward toward Italy is Cannes, with the smaller towns Antibes and Juan-les-Pins in between Cannes and Nice. All are very pleasant and you could entertain yourself at virtually any price range in any of them. I have stayed at the Intercontinental in Cannes, and at the Hotel Martinez, both of which are pretty 5-star, set right on the Croisette, the beachside road in the city. A better option is probably The Cavendish or the Ideal Sejour, off of la Croisette, but still within the bustling part of the city.

Inland between Cannes and Nice is the town of St Paul de Vence, home of the restaurant/hotel Colombe d’Or, which, if you are interested in modern art, is a must-see. A number of artists used to frequent the restaurant when they were but young and poor and paid their bills in art, which now hangs on the walls. If you’ve ever wanted to eat under a Picasso or Miro, this is your spot. It also has a lovely terrace on which you can dine. Nearby is a beautiful hotel, Le Mas de Pierre, with great views, grounds, a nice pool, and large, modern, yet classically French rooms. Prices vary a LOT by season and booking method, so it’s worth Googling to see if you can get a good rate (I think I have paid around €160 both times I have stayed there on my own, and paid only €175 including full business meeting expenses such as breakfast/lunch/meeting rooms when holding an event there).

Further inland, Aix-en-Provence and St Remy are both charming country towns worth a visit. Aix-en-Provence is due north of Marseille, probably about 40 minutes inland, built of warm yellow stone and surrounded by lavender fields. St Remy is the home of St Remy cognac and is another hour or so northwest of Aix. There’s a cute, cheap hotel here to stay in.

In Italy, I really can’t recommend Lake Como highly enough. There are a few good towns around the lake to stay in: Bellagio, Varenna, Menaggio. They are connected by both ferry and road. Bellagio is the most famous and the most bustling, though none is really bustling. All the Como towns are very well served by VRBO (probably better than a hotel there, the hotels are v expensive).

Bellagio:

Varenna:

I lived in Florence for a year, if you would like recommendations for there send me an email at cgbscootie at yahoo dot com, and I will send you a whole list I put together last summer for another friend!

In the Super Bowl yesterday, when the Pats had one minute to try to win, the Giants committed a 12 men on the field penalty, which gave the Pats five yards, but also took like five seconds off the clock.

Why wouldn’t they reset the game clock at this point (given that the penalty was accepted)?

Otherwise, why wouldn’t the Giants just put fifteen people and Tom Coughlin on the field each time?