06.30.05
DJ Lejo
Get down to the agile finger work of DJ Lejo. When you are done see what else Lejo has been up to at www.lejo.nu
06.14.05
Smell meme
I am accepting the smell meme from Victor:
Total Volume of Smells:
My volume of smells is probably best split into different books. There are group of smells that are distinct and seldom interact, some books are seldom opened. A fascinating occurrence that has taken place a few times is when I suddenly find a smell I have not experienced for years and my mind races to identify the item and where I know it from. This occurs with the most frequency when I am traveling, for example on my recent trips to France and to Colombia both I found scents I had not smelled from my childhood.
The last smell I bought:
Lavender soap bars from a village near Rochester UK. This is a gift for Briana.
Smell I am Smelling right now:
This week I am not smelling much of anything since my allergies are raging. I can however smell the fresh coffee brewed by Elaine who sits in the cube next to me. It is a good smell and kind of gives me a bit of a caffeine fix without having to actually drink any of the stuff.
Five smells I smell a lot that mean a lot to me:
1. Lavender: It can calm me down like nothing else around. I have a lot of lavender scented items at home
2. Nectarines / Cherries / Raspberries / Apples : I love fruit, specially fresh berries. I love summer because I know I get to buy local fresh berries by the pound and enjoy the hell out of them.
3. Hops: I enjoy going to microbreweries and tasting the fresh crisp beers. A lot of my favorite places brew on the spot which makes for a good association with hops.
4. Fresh bread: When I was a little kid I used to always keep a nickel in my pocket (actually a Colombian 10 cent coin, but you get the idea). If I ever felt hungry I would smell the air and follow my nose to the local bakery (every neighborhood has a local bakery) and get a hot bun.
5. The smell of my girl: I can tell when she enters the room or is nearby. I can smell when she has been in the room. Sometimes smelling her appear short circuits my brain and makes me loose attention of whatever I am doing and concentrate on her.
Two smells I hate:
1. Fish: I am allergic to fish and it smells like poison to me. I have had to walk out of fishy restaurants.
2. Unknown flower: There is some flower local to Portland that smells kind of like a Lily and I find repugnant. I don’t know what it is called but it is small white and grows all over a mid to large sized flowering bush. There was one of these on the corner of the block I lived in my first two years in Portland and I had to either hold my breath or walk four blocks around to avoid it. Other people seem to like it.
Three People I am passing the meme baton to:
Sven who is in touch with his senses
Mari who digs these kind of things and who has moved me to answer many a quiz before
Michael to see if he will bother with this triffle.
06.09.05
Galleries from the trips
I just finished compiling and sorting through all the pictures I took on the vacation to Paris and Bristol. A selection of the images is included in the various entries (probably the best pictures) but if you want to see the full set of images from the trip they are available at:
Geekroar.com Gallery :: Paris 2005
And
Geekroar.com Gallery :: Bristol 2005
06.07.05
I am arrived
Portland OR
Air traffic was a total mess. It seems some huge storm has moved over the east coast and shut down airports all over the place. My flight was an hour late in loading (the arrival of the plane was delayed by east coast traffic delays) and then spent a half hour on the runway waiting to take off. We got to see six planes in line in front of us have to turn back to the gate because their destination airports got closed. I got into Portland at 10:30PM (it was supposed to be 8PM) and found my luggage had not been loaded onto the same plane so I waited at the airport until midnight to get my bags. By the tie I got home at 1am I realized I had been up and traveling with no sleep for 26 hours.
06.06.05
In the Heart of Texas
5:47 PM (or 12:48AM Paris time)
Houston, Texas
While waiting at CDG I realized Continental had given me one hour between landing in Houston and when my Portland flight was due to take off. One hour (actually more like 30 minutes before boarding starts) might be enough time if all you are doing is walking from one gate to another but when you come in to the US from an international flight you have to disembark, walk from the terminal to the immigrations area (not close) get through immigrations (a line), get your luggage (wait for it to show up on the carousel), get through customs (another line), get through another security screening (more lines and the taking off and putting on of shoes) and then get back to the terminal. The flight from Paris had to approach the airport from the West and got in about ten minutes late. Moving as fast as I could I found myself jogging toward the gate with 5 minutes to takeoff. I got to the gate to find out the flight is delayed a half an hour, which is good news for me. I have to give Kudos to Continental for how they handled people with connections. Near the baggage carousel there was a portable podium with a lady who told me where to go to catch my flight and had a boarding ticket for me ready on the next flight to Portland in case I did not make it. I must say that while the flights have been cramped and all that Continental has in general been a good company to deal with. I am annoyed that after jumping through some hoops to get a seat with a laptop power adaptor I got on the plane to find out they had only powered up the first four rows but oh well çest la vie.
I’m Coming Home
Monday, June 6, 2005, 11:52 AM
Charles de Gaul Airport, Paris
Waiting at CDG in Paris waiting for a flight that will take me to Houston and then to Portland. My innate desire to always be on time got me to the airport two and a half hours early which turned out to be a good thing because getting to the right terminal, the line to check in, the security line and the walk to the gate took up over an hour. My plane is set to board in fifteen minutes after which I get to play sardines for some 18 hours. My arrival in Portland is set for 8pm tonight but that will really be about 4AM the next day for me. I then sleep as much as I can and it is off to work the next morning. I am ready to sleep in my own bed but have no desire to go back to work in the morning. Alas, such is the life of a wage slave.
06.05.05
Steak Frit
11:00 PM
In the new apartment at Montmarte. It is a beautiful place and very well decorated. I thought of taking some pictures but thought better of it. Don’t know how the owners will feel about having their personal space posted on the Internet. Dinner was at the Bristo on the corner (there is almost always a Bistro on the corner) and I decided to make it a traditional Parisian dinner of Steak Frit with Bordeaux wine. Neither were great but I still enjoyed it. I had some Profiteroles for dessert as well. Yum.
Stormy weather…
5:00PM
The flight back to Paris was delayed by over an hour. It seems the puddle jumper landed in Bristol and got a flat tire on the runway. They had to jack the plane up and replace both tires before it was ready for use again. It is amazing how as soon as you leave the British coast line the clouds suddenly disappear. Methinks the Brits did something naughty long time ago and were cursed with shitty weather.
On the river Avon
Sunday, June 5, 2005
Woke up this morning and had a cereal and raspberry breakfast with Teresa. We then went out for a walk about town and to the suspension bridge over the gorge. From there we walked down into town and eventually took a bus into the old part of town (we would have walked further but it had been raining for a while). I realized on the bus that this was the first time in my life I have been aboard a double decker bus and I am glad it was on a city and not a tour bus. Downtown we went to an outdoor food fair which was badly soaked and got some lamb samosas, vegetable pakoras and chicken curry from an Indian booth which we ate at the local shopping mall.
A quick walk down to Queen Square and into the tourist area (not very big, Bristol does not have a large tourist trade) brought us to the docks and the start of the Pirate Walk. The Pirate walk is led by Pirate Pete who must be the most dedicated and knowledgeable pirate I have met to date. Pirate Pete has a real love for pirate history and Bristol history and has researched his stories through the records. Pirate Pete took a few of us adults and a pack of Brownies on a nice tour that included the pubs where Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe were written as well as the house were Black Beard lived.
06.04.05
Down to the pub for a pint
Saturday, June 4, 2005 7:50PM
I love Teresa’s apartment but her sleeper couch is very stiff and I woke up with a bad crimp in my neck. All day today I have had limited head movement. Teresa made me a grand traditional British breakfast of eggs, ham, beans and English muffins.
After breakfast we drove up the M5 and then down some darling single lane country roads to the Chedworth Roman Villa. The excavated villa is surprisingly large and today had medieval re-enactors. We ambled around the villa reading excavation notes and spent some time watching the re-enactors have at each other with short arms hand to hand combat. The fighting was very similar to what one would see in a US SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) event except that they were all using live steel and wore minimal armor. A couple of people got bruised or scraped but there were no serious injuries. Amazing what not living in the land of the lawsuit can do for you.
We took other country back roads back to the M4 stopping by at ‘the Waterside Inn’ run by Mick & Karen and having “real ales, walkers & Ramblers welcome”. I ordered the typical local dish of Bangers & Mash along with a half pint of cider and Teresa ordered a Potato Jacket (baked and stuffed potato) with Chicken Tikka.
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