FRENCH TELEVISION IN TWO HOURS DOCUMENTARY PROCLAIMED CROATIA PRIVILEGED TOURIST DESTINATION IN THE WORLD
 

FRANCUSKA TELEVIZIJA O HRVATSKOJ

PARIZ, 25. rujna (Hina) - Na francuskom javnom televizijskom kanalu, France 3, prikazana je u srijedu navecer, u udarnom terminu, dvosatna emisija posvecena Hrvatskoj kao "povlaštenoj turistickoj destinaciji". #L#
Emisija "Korijeni i krila" ("Des racines et des ailes") - koju vodi poznati televizijski novinar Patrick de Carolis - zauzima znacajno mjesto u francuskoj televizijskoj produkciji.
Višemjesecni rad koji iziskuje ovakav karakter emisija objašnjava zašto su ove godine samo tri bile posvecene stranim gradovima, i to: Luksoru, Istanbulu i Sankt-Peterburgu, dok ih je prošle godine bilo ukupno pet: Prag, Rim, Firenca, Sevilja i Atena.
Emisija - okosnica koje je bio Dubrovnik, gdje je ispred Kneževa dvora bio i plato na kojem je Patrick de Carolis primao brojne hrvatske sugovornike - zapravo je pravo posvecenje Hrvatske kao nove velike turisticke destinacije koju su, "upravo ovoga ljeta u velikom broju otkrili francuski turisti, prvi put iza rata", kako bilježi Figaro u srijedu u clanku Hommage Dubrovniku i Hrvatskoj, kojim je i najavljena emisija o Hrvatskoj.
Nakon reportaže o Dubrovniku, pod naslovom Suparnik Venecije, svojevrsnog hodocašca kroz burnu i "slavnu povijest" grada podno Srda, milijunskoj je televizijskoj publici predstavljen Split - "Grad palaca", ali i Vukovar, cija je ratna drama ispricana kroz sudbinu Hrvatice Ruže Maric, kustosa Gradskog muzeja, i Srpkinje Slavke Loncar, direktorice djecjeg vrtica, i njihov rad u prilog pomirenja i suživota Hrvata i Srba u gradu na Dunavu.
U završnom dijelu emisije smjenjivale su se reportaže o ljepotama jadranske obale, od Kornata do Mljeta, s vecim prilozima o Korculi i Hvaru.
"Hrvatska, zemlja na raskrižju Istoka i Zapada, slavenskog svijeta i Sredozemlja" - uvodno je slovo voditelja emisije Carolisa, dok je specijalizirani casopis "Telerama", u broju od prošloga tjedna, naglasio kako "sredozemna klima, netaknuta priroda i izvanredna kulturna baština" predstavljaju za Hrvatsku dodatne adute u prilog njene kandidature za integraciju u Europsku uniju, podsjecajuci još jednom da je Hrvatska danas "povlaštena turisticka destinacija".
DES RACINES & DES AILES DU 24 SEPTEMBRE 2003


Emission proposée et présentée par Patrick de Carolis depuis la ville de Dubrovnik en Croatie.
Situé au carrefour entre le monde slave et le monde méditerranéen, entre l'orient et l'occident, ce pays indépendant depuis 1991 possčde un patrimoine architectural tout ŕ fait exceptionnel dű notamment ŕ sa position stratégique.
Dubrovnik, la rivale de Venise
Split la ville - palais
Femmes de Vukovar
Les perles de l'Adriatique


Mélange de cultures, de civilisations, d'époques, la Croatie porte en elle les traces de son histoire, des peuples qui s'y sont installés, qui l'ont convoitée : Grecs, romains, byzantins, Vénitiens et męme français.

Mais au-delŕ de cette histoire riche en évčnements, ce pays possčde un patrimoine naturel unique en Europe. Des milliers d'îles, la plupart inhabitées, des parcs nationaux, une nature méditerranéenne tout ŕ fait préservée.

Nous installerons notre plateau ŕ Duvrovnik, un joyau situé sur la côte Adriatique et classé au patrimoine mondial de l'Unesco. Nous vous raconterons l'histoire de cette ville qui longtemps rivalisa avec Venise.


Au sommaire de ce soir, 4 reportages :

- Ť Dubrovnik, la rivale de Venise ť
Invitées Dubravka ZVRKO (Présidente de l'Alliance Française) et Tereza KESOVIJA.

- Ť Split, la ville-palais ť
Invités Nansi IVANISEVIC et Dino MILINOVIC (Historien de l'art)

- Ť Femmes de Vukovar ť
Invité Nansi IVANISEVIC

- Ť Les perles de l'Adriatique" ť
Invité Dino MILINOVIC (Historien de l'art)

Croatian "Collegium Antropologicum" officially the most improved

social science journal in the world for mid-2002.
 

Dragi Nenade,

Saljem Vam slijedeci clanak koji sam upravo nasao na MedLine.
Osobno mislim da je vrijedan pozornosti citatelja Crowna. Usput, MedLine je
konacno promijenio oznaku jezika uz hrvatske casopise u "Croatian".
(Pre)dugo smo cekali, ali koncano se ostvarilo.

Primite srdacan pozdrav, Stanislav
Stanislav_Lechpammer@dfci.harvard.edu

Croatian "Collegium Antropologicum" officially the most improved
social science journal in the world for mid-2002.

Rudan P, Skaric-Juric T, Rudan I.
Coll Antropol. 2003 Jun;27(1):S1-4.

Thomson ISI's bimonthly web-product ISI Essential Science Indicators
(ESI) is an in-depth analytical tool that regularly reports quantitative
analyses of research performance and science trends, covering about 8,500
scientific journals from the entire world. In each issue ESI lists the
scientists, institutions, countries and journals that are most improved from
one update to the next, i.e. that show the largest percentage increase in
total citations. In its edition of January 2003, it reported that our
"Collegium Antropologicum" was the most improved journal in the field of
Social Sciences during the period from July 2002 to September 2002. The
field of Social Sciences is one of 22 categories of science regularly
analyzed by ESI. It includes anthropology, public health, sociology, social
work and policy, political science, law, education, communication, library
and information sciences, environmental studies and rehabilitation. Due to
journal's success, which is based on publications of predominantly Croatian
scientists within the past seven post-war years, Croatia was also officially
the most improved among more than 200 countries, and University of Zagreb
was the most improved in the field of Social Science among thousands of
other institutions. We hope that this is an early sign of revival of the
scientific activity in our country after the War in Croatia (1991-1995).

OTHER VIEW: IN POSTWAR BALKANS, ERRANT LESSONS
By Max Primorac -- Special to The Sacramento Bee - (September 25, 2003)

ZAGREB, Croatia -- Once Iraq's security situation stabilizes, a plethora of embassies, aid agencies and other international institutions will rush in as they did a decade ago in postwar Yugoslavia. The first order of business in this nation-building exercise will be to hire hundreds of Iraqis to administer aid programs and to serve as our intermediaries to their countrymen. This is when the United States could succeed or fail in establishing a firm foundation for Iraqi democracy.

The Balkans provide sobering lessons of the ill effects on democratic development that ensue from relying on former regime apparatchiks. Western agencies did not disqualify ousted Communist regime members from employment or grants. In fact, former loyalists, many from hated military and police structures with no record of dissent, became the main beneficiaries and administrators of democracy aid.

As a result, a leading human rights activist in the region is ruefully remembered by the public as a regime intellectual who helped land dissidents in jail. A favored women's activist's previous position as director of the Museum of Communist Revolution caused a deep rift within the women's movement, pitting ex-regime-against non-regime-led groups. A top minority leader, handpicked by the U.S. Embassy, was a proxy of Slobodan Milosevic, who was responsible for brutal ethnic cleansing. Despite their compromised records millions of dollars in aid came their way, casting them as "leaders" of the democratic process.

Democracy is seen as the peaceful way to resolve simmering ethnic and religious disputes. Yet, the importance of civil society and human rights can get lost in the illegitimacy of past collaboration. After a decade and millions in regional aid, a U.S. government study found "the capacity of NGOs [non-government organizations] to develop their constituency is an uncommon concept to most ... and public understanding of and support for the NGO sector remains limited." Inter-ethnic tensions have not abated either, and NATO peacekeepers are still the only glue holding Bosnia-Herzegovina together.

Here is the dilemma: The very skills we in the international community seek in our local hires and aid grantees -- foreign language, education, and administrative and international experience -- could scarcely have been gained other than through collaboration with this regime. Already there is talk of transforming Baathist associations of lawyers, doctors and other professional groups into a basis for an emerging civil society.

It is reasoned, as it was in the Balkans, that such individuals have skills needed to rebuild the country and thus should be given a stake in a democratic future. But in the Balkans cooption works the other way around. Itinerant Western officials and contractors become dependent on local staffs that promote former colleagues for grants, scholarships and other aid benefits. Those who never collaborated and more genuinely represent their country's aspirations are again "disqualified."

Ironically, the unintended consequence is to re-establish former undemocratic elites under the auspices of democratization.

Iraqis can determine themselves the criteria for electing their representatives and rules governing lustration. If they choose to include ex-Baathists, so be it. However, a more stringent vetting process must be set for people the United States hires and funds, those who will serve not only as our eyes and ears on the ground, but who also will be our faces to the Iraqi public.

This is our choice alone. We cannot expect to win the hearts and minds of those who suffered under the iron fist of Baathist officials if we employ those very same officials. The democratic message we would want to send through them will be rejected, discredited by the messengers delivering it.

This is not to say we should not draw from those inside Iraq, untainted by regime affiliation. But given the high stakes we should primarily draw from the thousands of Iraqis who escaped Saddam's tyranny, forged new lives in the West, and adopted our democratic values and practices. They bring invaluable professional and language skills, cultural sensitivity and good judgment. Most important, they are most likely to stay the course in Iraq and serve as reliable long-term builders of the country's incipient democratic institutions.

This approach can better ensure that we help those inside Iraq who merit help, the ones with the credibility to sell democracy to, and have it embraced by, the larger Iraqi public.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Max Primorac has more than a decade of work experience in postwar democratization and conflict resolution in the Balkans.

Max.Primorac@ccs.open.hr

Jazzcubes Poetry

Zagreb Redefined3. So many lights, in so many days, often full of blind trust saving the day for a late grandfather still missing inside a postcard. --Steve Renko

Letter to EU Commission and reply

I am sending you once more the letter I wrote to the President of the EU Commission, Mr. Prodi, so you can compare it with the answer I received today. Their letter is below mine.
Hilda Foley


The majority of the Croatian population approves of Croatia's entering into the EU and we find the conditions which you mentioned in order to be accepted inconsistent with the ones' other
countries were required to meet.

You mention for example "the return of refugees". As you must realize,
Croatia has only recently come out of a brutal war of aggression by
Serbia, in which these Croatian Serb refugees were the ones who rebelled
against Croatia and with the help of the Yugoslav/Serb army killed some
twelve thousand and "ethnically cleansed" several hundred thousand
Croatians in their own country, destroying and plundering their homes and
properties.

No other country in the world has been forced to forgive and forget so
soon what has been done to it. May I remind you that the Czech Republic,
which is accepted into the EU, has not allowed its Sudeten German
refugees to return or compensate them for their material losses even
after more than fifty years. This was not a requirement by the EU for the
Czech Republic. Therefore, is it not obvious that the EU stand in regard
to Croatia and the refugee situation is quite unfair and inconsistent.
Furthermore, one has to realize that it was first the Croatians who were
driven out by the Serbs (1991-1995), years before in 1995 Croatia
liberated its Krajina territory and the Serbs left on the orders of their
own leadership.

Consequently, the returning long-time Croatian refugees must have
preference for housing. Since Serbs destroyed most of Croatians' homes,
out of necessity Croatians have been settling in some of the Serb ones'.
Croatia after the ravages of war simply does not have the money to build
homes for all the refugees, Croatian or Serb. This problem should be
understood by the EU and not held against Croatia.

The other great inconsistency is the requirement for Croatia to open its
borders without visa requirement to Serbia/Montenegro and
Bosnia-Herzegovina. If the EU wishes open borders between nations, why
has Slovenia, next in line for EU membership admittance, been allowed to
seal its borders with Croatia while Croatia must open its borders to its
recent aggressor Serbia? Certainly the EU leadership must know about the
huge criminal element in Serbia, Bosnia and Albania, with drugs, white
slavery and people smuggling among other criminal activities in addition
of providing easy access to terrorists and Islamic fundamentalists. Just
why would then the EU require Croatia to freely open its borders to be
inundated with such undesirables? Croatia does not want them or need them
any more than any other European country. Obviously, such an EU demand of
Croatia is totally unfair and detrimental.

Last but not least, Slovenia was part of former Yugoslavia and will be
accepted into the EU, on what grounds is Croatia less eligible? Slovenia
was never in history a state, while Croatia was one of the oldest
European kingdoms centuries ago. Croatia was never part of the Balkans as
the border was between Croatia and Serbia. It divided the Western culture
and Christianity from the Eastern Orthodox, Byzantine and Muslim culture
and religion. Croatia only became part of the Balkans when, without the
privilege of a vote, it was united with Serbia and Slovenia into
Yugoslavia in 1918. Croatians are simply not Balkan people, they are
Central and Mediterranean Europeans, historically and culturally.

Excellency, please consider these facts and do not let the EU push
Croatia into these Balkan associations to which it does not belong any
more than does Slovenia and which goes against the wishes of the Croatian
people.

Very truly yours,

Hilda Marija Foley
American Croatian Association
13272 Orange Knoll
Santa Ana, Ca. 92705 USA


Here is the answer:


EUROPEAN COMMISSION Aug. 5, 2003
External Relations Directorate General
Directorate Western Balkans
The Director

Dear Ms. Foley,

Thank you for your letter of July 22 2003 addressed to the President of the European Commission, Mr. Romano Prodi. Mr. Prodi's cabinet has asked me to reply on his behalf.

I appreciate your close interest in EU-Croatian relation in general and, more specifically, in President Prodi's recent speech in the Croatian Parliament. However, some of your remarks cannot be deducted from this speech or need to be clarified.

First of all, regarding your rethoric question whether Croatia is less eligible for EU membership than slovenia, I limit myself to recalling the following dates: Slovenia applied for EU membership in June 1996. The Commission Opinion was issued in 1997 and Slovenia started negotiations in March 1998. These negotiations were concluded in December 2003 and, following the ratification of the accession treaty, Slovenia will join the EU in May 2004. Croatia applied for EU membership in February 2003 and the Commission is now in the process of examining this application in order to prepare its opinion.

The criteria for accession are the same for these two countries as well as for all countries applying for membership. Membership requires that the candidate country has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for the protection of minorities; the existence of a functioning market economy, as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union; and the ability to take on the obligations of membership, including adherence to the aim of political, economic and monatery union.

As you can see from these conditions, there is simplyno place for ethnic discrimination within the European Union. It is therefore consistent that the European Union, within its Stabilisation and Association Process, insists on refugee return, be it in Croatia, in Bosnia and Herzegovina or in Serbia and Montenegro, be the refugees of Croatian, Serb or of any other origin. Within its CARDS programme, the European Commission has been providing significant financial assistance for housing reconstruction in Croatia in order to facilitate refugee return.

Finally, the European Commission has not required Croatia to open its borders without visa requirements to Serbia and Montenegro. However, it welcomes and promotes all initiatives leading to increased co-operation and exchanges, including business exchanges, between these two countries. The fight against organized crime which you mention is also a prime example of a problem that can only be tackled if all the countries of the region co-operate. Moreover, regional co-operation is of course an excellent training ground for membership in the European Union: after all the EU itself is an example of very advanced regional co-operation and integration.

Yours sincerely,
signed:

Reinhard PRIEBE

A Personal Appeal from Congressman Kucinich

From: info@kucinich.us

Dear Friend,
I'm going to be blunt. My presidential campaign needs your
help more than ever. There are only a few days left in this
fundraising quarter (ending Sept. 30) and I need your support.
If you saw last night's nationally-televised debate, you know
that I am speaking out for you...and for your issues.
I spoke out for bringing the troops home from Iraq, and against
the President's request for $87 billion more. I was alone in
discussing how the Iraq occupation hurts our economy.
I was alone in advocating a withdrawal from NAFTA and the WTO
in favor of bilateral trade pacts that protect workers' rights
and the environment. I spoke clearly about taking our healthcare system out of the
hands of the insurance and pharmaceutical companies -- and
establishing nonprofit national health insurance, Enhanced
Medicare for All. I alone called for returning the Social
Security retirement age to 65.
Our wealthy nation can afford healthcare and retirement security.
But we have to rescind the tax breaks for the wealthy, and as I
pointed out in last night's debate, the wealthiest 1% in our
country will get a majority of the Bush tax cut.
To keep bringing these issues to the American people our campaign
needs an infusion of funds. Please donate at
https://www.kucinich.us/contribute.php  Your contribution today
will be doubled through federal matching funds arriving in a few months.
I know many of you have donated as much as you can, and I thank
you. But please reach out to three other people who share our
values -- by forwarding this email to them.
If you watched last night's debate, you saw me call for a 15%
cut in Pentagon spending and an end to tax breaks for the wealthy
in order to fund childcare and education and job creation. I
spoke of my efforts to end the death penalty and to establish
a cabinet-level Department of Peace.

These issues reflect our unique and progressive grassroots
campaign that you have helped build. To expand our insurgent
campaign, please donate: https://www.kucinich.us/contribute.php 
Sincerely,
Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich
http://www.kucinich.us

Produced, directed and hosted by John Znidarsic
 

Mason, Pedi and Winther Set for Free Discovered Treasures Concert

By Andrew Gans
17 Sep 2003

Sunset Boulevard's Karen Mason, Forbidden Broadway's Christine Pedi and Mamma Mia!'s Michael Winther are just a few of the performers who will take part in Discovered Treasures: New Classics of Today and Tomorrow this month.

The Sept. 30 concert at the Donnell Library Theater is being produced, directed and hosted by John Znidarsic. In a statement Znidarsic said, "I have never been one to settle for hearing the same music day in and day out. I love discovering new songs — just like I discovered the 'classics' when I was child growing up in Cleveland, Ohio. When I moved to New York, I found nothing more exciting than discovering new songs that made my heart laugh, cry or even skip a beat. "

The 6 PM concert will feature songs by Tom Andersen, David Arthur, Charles Bloom, Mark Campbell and Stephen Hoffman, Douglas J. Cohen, Frank Evans and Christopher Berg, Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler, Ron Kaehler, Paul Katz and Michael Colby, Noel Katz, Brian Lasser, Jeffrey Lodin and William Squier, James Merillat and John Kenrick, Ben Moore, Rob Lindsey Nassif, Kim Oler and Allison Hubbard and Richard Pearson Thomas. Additional performers include Mana Allen, Richard Danley, Christopher Denny, Rebecca Eichenberger, Jennifer Goode, Andrea Green, Maree Johnson, Aaron Lazar, Eddie Korbich, Cindy Marchionda and Maureen Taylor. Concertgoers can expect to hear such tunes as "A Life of My Own" from The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, "Castles in the Air" from Speakeasy, "For Laura" from The Enchanted Cottage, "Gertrude Irvington's Box" from Saratoga Trunk Songs and Splendora's "Grateful."

Admission to the concert is free of charge. The Donnell Library is located in Manhattan at 20 West 53rd Street. For more information, call (212) 265-3495, ext. 218.

Mason, Pedi and Winther Set for Free Discovered Treasures Concert

Sunset Boulevard's Karen Mason, Forbidden Broadway's Christine Pedi and Mamma Mia!'s Michael Winther are just a few of the performers who will take part in Discovered Treasures: New Classics of Today and Tomorrow this month.
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/81671.html

Here's what fedor kabalin had to say about this News Article:

Znidarsic!

Music from the Age of Shakespeare: A Cultural History

Dear Nenad:
At last I can say that this book is finished! It is called Music from the Age of Shakespeare: A Cultural History, and is about Elizabethan music. It is meant for non-musicians who would like a reader-friendly way to learn about this subject. But it's not only about the music -- it's about the lives of various classes of society in that time and how music fit into those lives. Below is the editor's description and I can tell you that he's not kidding about the "scrupulously researched" part. My university library will never forget helping me carry BOXES of books to my car.
Anyway, if any Crown readers are interested, it's now available on Amazon.com.

Many thanks for Crown's existence -- I read it religiously! Suzanne Lord


lordlord@siu.edu

Book Description
This book introduces every important aspect of the Elizabethan music world. In ten scrupulously researched yet accessible chapters, Lord examines the lives of composers, the evolution of musical instruments, the Elizabethan system of musical notation, and the many textures and traditions of Elizabethan music.

Najbolji hrvatski e-content - WSA 2003

Nominacije osam hrvatskih originalnih proizvoda/projekata koji
predstavljaju primjere najbolje prakse u Hrvatskoj u podrucju e-sadržaja,
multimedija i kreativnosti proslijedene su organizatorima Nagrade Svjetskog
summita o informacijskom društvu.

Najbolje od nominiranih proizvoda/projekata iz 136 zemalja odabrati ce
Veliki žiri tijekom listopada 2003, a odabrani proizvodi/projekti i
njihovi kreatori biti ce pozvani na Svjetski summit o informacijskom
društvu [WSIS] Geneva 2003 u okviru projekata WSA Content Villages i WSA
Best Practice Showcase Event kako bi predstavili svoje proizvode/projekte.

Proizvodi/projekti nominirani za Nagradu su:

1. e-ucenje:
e-škola fizika [ www.eskola.hfd.hr]
Voditelj projekta: Dr. Petar Pervan

2. e-kultura
Culturelink Network [ www.culturelink.hr  ]
Autor projekta: Aleksandra Imogen Ivir

3. e-znanost
Plavi svijet [ www.plavi-svijet.org  ]
Voditelj projekta: Draško Holcer

4. e-government
Tehnološki i društveni preduvjeti elektronicke demokracije [
www.foi.hr/~bklicek/edemocracy/  ]
Voditelj projekta: Prof. dr. sc. Božidar Klicek

5. e-zdravlje
Pliva zdravlje [ www.plivazdravlje.hr  ]
Voditelj projekta: Darko Pejnovic

6. e-business
Moj Posao [ www.moj-posao.net  ]
Voditelj projekta: Mirjana Droptina

7. e-zabava
Nik Titanik Mad Theatre [ www.niktitanik.com  ]
Autor projekta: Nikola Plecko

8. Posebna kategorija: e-ukljucenost
IPSIS - Internet Pomoc Slijepom Internet Surferu [ www.ipsis.hr  ]
Voditelj projekta: Danko Butorac


Više informacija o WSA 2003 možete naci na stranicama Internet
Instituta [www.hr-gateway.org], te na službenim stranicama WSA
[www.wsis-award.org].


Kontakt osoba: Natalija Gojkovic
e-mail: natalija.gojkovic@hr-gateway.org

Croatian Tailgaters in Kansas City

The following article from the New York Times discusses some of the
foods the writer saw at a tailgate party prior to a Kansas City Chiefs'
football game. Note the Croatian foods which were being served at some
parties. John Kraljic

September 24, 2003
Before the Sunday Kickoff, Tailgating With Gusto
By PETER KAMINSKY


ANSAS CITY, Mo.
They come here to the Arrowhead Stadium parking lots from Independence,
Grandview, Boonville and from out in Benton County by the reservoir, all
with a passion for food and football. They come dressed in red, driving
red vans and red pickups. They light fires in the parking lots before
finishing their morning coffee. They are fans of the Kansas City Chiefs,
but more than this, they are tailgaters, heartland enthusiasts of al
fresco cuisine.

And they are not alone. More than a million people attend National
Football League games each weekend. Dan Masonson, a league spokesman,
estimates that 400,000 tailgate before kickoff. Hundreds of thousands
more - millions maybe - tailgate before college football games and in
the infield during Nascar races (race officials estimate that at least
30 percent of the crowds tailgate). Their numbers swell when you take
into account Friday night high school games and Saturday college
lacrosse matches, amateur soccer and flag-football leagues.

Allocate a six-inch bratwurst for each of these weekend tailgaters -
taking two million as a conservative estimate - and you could lay a
straight line of sausages from the Meadowlands, the Giants' home, to
Ravens Stadium in Baltimore - 191 miles.

Todd Wickstrom, who runs Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, Mich., said
sales of foods for grills and picnics increased some 30 percent on the
University of Michigan's game days. Tailgate dining costs less and
tastes better than eating in the stadium, he said. "You can drink your
own beer, eat your own barbecue," he continued, "and then you can go to
the game and be full and not have to fight to go through all the lines."

But there is little fast food among die-hard tailgaters. For some fans,
the time spent cooking is half the fun. At Louisiana State University,
some fans show up 48 hours before kickoff to start tailgating, according
to the sports information director, Michael Bonnette. When the Tigers
traveled to the University of Arizona, he added, the L.S.U. fans were
shocked to discover that tailgating was allowed only five hours before
game time. "Our fans just felt like they had gone to another country,"
he said.

If you had to pick just one tailgate event to attend - and I have
attended dozens - Arrowhead's would be the one. Chiefs fans tailgate
with gusto, and eat well while doing so.

With its history as a meatpacking center, Kansas City is the birthplace
of one of America's four great barbecue traditions (the others being
Texas and the two Carolinas), and on game days the scent of slow-grilled
meat hangs like a haze over the more than 300 acres of the stadium's
lots. Arrowhead's management recognizes the passion. There are enough
Port-a-Potties surrounding the stadium to accommodate 70,000 fans, and
special receptacles for disposing of live coals are visible everywhere
you look.

Arrowhead is tailgaters' Valhalla.

It is also the site of a lineup that suggests a pickup-truck version of
the Oklahoma land rush.

At 6:30 a.m. on a recent Sunday, as the Chiefs slumbered before their
first home game, against the San Diego Chargers, there were lines a
half-mile long outside the stadium. The parking lots open at 9 a.m., but
arriving three hours early is necessary for those prepared to jockey for
the best spots, close to the stadium.

Lucy Long, an assistant professor of popular culture at Bowling Green
University in Ohio, had told me that tailgating was male-dominated.
"It's a chance to show off," she said, "through the money spent
purchasing expensive gourmet food or through culinary prowess." But
there at the wheel of the seventh van in the line was Deborah Davis, who
with her husband, Richard, heads a competitive barbecue team called Butt
Head Barbecue. They had begun their preparations the night before, as I
learned during a visit to their farm in Adrian, Mo. The Davises, both
49, have devoted a room of their modern barn to a well-equipped kitchen
whose décor of football helmets, autographed pictures and banners makes
it look like a shrine to the Chiefs and the University of Missouri
football team.

Mr. Davis had already loaded his large portable smoker with the first of
the 18 slabs of ribs he prepares for game days, while Ms. Davis had
prepared the mise en place for a fresh black bean salsa with Holland
tomatoes. "The local ones just didn't happen this year," she said
wincing. A natural chef, she wielded her knife with speed and precision,
then moved along to prepare a marinade for barbecued shrimp.

It looked good, and I asked if I might have the recipe. Ms. Davis looked
up with a smile, but Mr. Davis answered, "Nope."

I was not surprised. Those who compete in barbecue contests never tell
anybody anything. As is football games, the tiniest adjustments can
confer an overwhelming advantage.

I had witnessed similar preparations earlier in the day during a visit
to another group of Kansas City tailgaters, this one cooking under the
name the Gremlin Grill. Run by three brothers, Al, Pat and Brett
McSparin, the Gremlin was competing in the summer sun at the Barbecue
Blaze Off at the Calvary Baptist Church in Blue Springs, Mo. ("And You
Think It's Hot Here?" read the sign in front of the church.) Pork
shoulder was on the menu for the Blaze Off, but the brothers,
accompanied by a legion of children, wives and friends, were also
starting to smoke a prime rib that they would eat at their Arrowhead
tailgate party the next day.

"We've been doing this for about 15 years," Pat McSparin said. "We are
die-hard fans."

AT 7 a.m. Sunday morning, Al McSparin's teenage son, Tyler, was tossing
a football to friends under light pole G-28, the spot the McSparins have
held for every game since they began tailgating in 1988. Over in Lot H,
Rich Davis did the same at his spot. Lobbing a pigskin is what
tailgaters across the country do when they're waiting for the lots to
open. From inside the stadium came the booming sounds of the bass and
organ introduction to the Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin.' " It
was loud enough to make my heart thump.

At 8:58, the stampede commenced. Like an invasion force hitting the
beach, the McSparin crew approached in half a dozen vehicles, parked and
began to unload gear. By 9:04, two grills had been assembled, and the
first puffs of smoke curled upward from them. Seven minutes after that,
there were three tents erected above long tables, a cocktail bar and
coolers full of cold drinks. As a breakfast offering, someone put a
couple dozen chicken kabobs over the fire.

As the McSparins established their family beachhead, the wide plain of
the parking lots here were transformed, nearly as quickly, into a
tailgating encampment dedicated to the pleasures of food and drink. The
air grew thick with smoke as the aroma of thousands of grills hit from
all sides.

Fifty feet away from the McSparins, Ken Yarnevich and his friends - some
Croatian, some Slovenian, all Chiefs fans - set out a spread of stuffed
cabbage and plates of the nutty, buttery pastry, part sweet, part
savory, that is known as povatica.

One fan had also prepared a marvelous concoction of ground pork and beef
in a savory brown sauce. Joe Horvat, who calls himself Joko the Croat,
said it was djuvec.

Continuing around the lots, I savored more marvels. Here were grills
attached to the trailer hitches of pickup trucks and mobile kitchens
that might have served Hollywood movie sets. And there in Lot M was
Monty Spradling preparing the most perfectly cooked hamburger I have
ever tasted. Indeed, so confident was Mr. Spradling in his offering that
he served it to me on a bun, unseasoned and with no condiments.

His secret? "The single most important thing here is to use excellent
beef from a butcher who grinds aged chuck," he said. "My butcher
actually throws a little brisket trimmings into the grinder." And his
technique? Simple. "Cook on a hot but not flaming fire for 5 to 6
minutes per side. I only turn once."

Around 10:30 a.m., the combination of smoke, food, music, good spirits
and anticipation of the game began to blend into an irresistible, almost
psychedelic haze of bonhomie.

It led me inexorably toward Rich Davis and his ribs. In contravention of
the Kansas City barbecue canon (which calls for a sweet red sauce), Mr.
Davis served his ribs bare, with only a dry rub for seasoning, and it
was among the best I have eaten in the tailgate or barbecue-competition
world. I told him I tasted different kinds of peppers as well as cloves
and floral sweetness.

"You're right on the peppers," he said, "wrong on the cloves." The
sweetness? A true pit master never tells.

Over at the McSparin bacchanal, Al McSparin was finishing his smoked
prime rib. I drew myself an ice cold pint of Foster's beer from his keg,
mounted on a truck, and dug into an herbaceous, earthy, smoky, salty
slab of beef. By the time I was finished, ticket-holders were streaming
past me into the stadium, a river of red.

As best as I could tell, the departing fans had doused their fires and
gotten rid of the coals, but Pat McSparin was not so sure. "You can
always count on some idiot putting his hibachi under the car so that no
one will steal it during the game," he said. "Then you have to call the
fire department."

Oh, yes, the game. Chiefs 27, Chargers 14.