Food and Dance

Last Saturday a few of us celebrated the potential adventure Geoff, Pedro and I plan embark on this summer. For me, it was also celebration of friends. Good people willing to use the simple pretext of our adventure as a launching board to go out and have fun. People I will miss during the few weeks of my travels. Thank you to all who came and made it a grand evening.

Our evening started out at Fude, a lovely restaurant tucked into the village. Fude is fun, as evidenced by the smiles around the table as people read the menus, the even greater smiles as the food arrived and finally slightly smaller smiles (limited by the fact that we were busily eating).

Featuring:

A Table Full of Friends

Glamorous Guests

Buffalo Rib Ecstasy

Fun Fude

Engaging Conversation

Good Company

It should be noted that Pedro, Geoff and I were not the only future travellers enjoying dinner. Both Florence, going to Italy, and Theresa, going to Albuquerque, are planning to travel in the next few weeks and broadened our reasons (in case we need more) to celebrate.

From dinner we went to the Empire to meet up with some more friends for some hot salsa dancing. By hot I mean, that if our plan was to prepare for a Cuban club where the air conditioner had mistakenly been replaced by a heater, I think we would have been well on our way (as evidenced by the formerly transparent windows dripping with condensation). As a confessed dance addict, I had a marvelous time.

Salsa Dancing

Beating the heat

The McGrath Effect

Those that endured

Once again, thanks to those that made this evening so enjoyable. I've included a collection of photos from the evening here.

technorati tags: Fude, Dinner, Salsa, Party

Short dives on a long weekend

A warning, but to whom?

This weekend I had my first opportunity to do some open water scuba diving. The location was a very cold West Hawk Lake on a very windy and cold Saturday and a calmer and slightly cold Sunday. The weekend featured every variation possible of jokes involving changes to ones anatomy when entering freezing cold water, primarily from the instructors who had dry suits (much warmer then the wet suits we were wearing), and not quite as often but still quite frequently, jokes featuring the untimely demise of dive buddies.

At the surface

I can't really comment too much on what it was like underwater. It's quite other worldly and exhilarating, but I think I was concentrating too much on not freezing to death to really bring my thoughts to focus. After our first dives we headed out to Kyla's parent's cabin at Falcon Lake and quickly warmed up by putting ourselves to use helping them out as they got the cabin ready for the summer. In exchange we got a warm tent trailer to sleep in for our troubles. A worth while exchange. Thanks again for the company, warm place to sleep and great meal!

You can view some pictures of the weekend here

I've also provided a cautionary photo essay detailing what can happen when you lend Geoff your camera to take pictures.

technorati tags: scuba

Re-Post: Too much in Paris

Original posted on: June 26th, 2004

The four us together in Paris

I'm sitting in an Internet cafe right now just outside my hostel. Karl is madly hunting down a CD-R because we're taking pictures at a faster rate than we can upload them. Kyla's cooking up something in the hostel kitchen and Sherri... well I'm not sure what Sherri is doing. Probably somewhere in between helping and distracting Kyla. We're the complete group now and it's absolutely great. Unfortunately Paris is so filled with wonderful things, we could spend weeks here (if it weren't for the cost and time restraints) and feel we didn't get everything in. I'll do a short recap to fill you in.

Kyla encapsulates our feelings about Paris

Karl, Kyla and myself arrived the day before Sherri and decided to walk the city to get a good feel for it. The city houses so many famous landmarks it didn't take long before we were completely wowed. We had brought a baguette, brie and a bottle of wine along for a simple supper. We found a beautiful spot in the park at the base of the Eiffel tower and set about feeling even better about the city. As a side note, I had been quite worried about costs while staying in Paris after reading our friend Mike's travel blog. However, with the help of a local grocery store we managed to get all our food and wine for about three Euro (I probably don't need to tell you that it was cheap wine).

Eating and drinking under the tower

Afterwards, we wandered the city at our fancy, finding beautiful spots and landmarks everywhere we went. As evening approached, we came out from among the tall classically Parisian buildings to find ourselves looking out across a river at a beautiful sky painted by the setting sun with strokes of colour melting into the tall cream coloured buildings of the Parisian cityscape. Needless to say it was beautiful. Warning: The picture below does this no justice

Kyla on the bridge

The next day, after Sherri arrived in the afternoon, we felt the need to decide for her that she should stay up and see all the same sights we had already seen to fight her jet lag. Well, staying up all day conquered Sherri's jet lag, but the sights didn't hold quite the same amazement the second time and Sherri obviously couldn't appreciate them fully with her lack of sleep.

Sherri enjoys the park by the Louvre

The next day we got a Museum pass and tried to milk the most out of it. We went to the Louvre, which is so incredibly vast you could easily spend a day in it. It was the first place we were confronted by mass tourism. As we neared the Mona Lisa the crowds swelled to mob like proportions. Among the pushing and flashing cameras you really had to wonder whether the Mona Lisa deserved this kind of hype, when every other piece in the museum was equally or more amazing.

Find Kyla in the photo to get a sense of the scale

A photo of the mob... oh ... and the Mona Lisa

To proceed with the description of events a bit more quickly (Ed: Blogging about Paris is only so interesting when it exists right outside the shop window and you've got a night train to catch that evening), we checked out many other museums and sights. The next day we went to Versailles which was big and even more besieged by tourists. If you've seen Sansoucci in Potsdam save your Euros and go somewhere else.

We then returned to Paris were I attended a mass at Notre Dame Cathedral. At first its hard to connect with that level of ritualization within a worship service, but when connected with the original motives for those rituals it can be a powerful event. Later, in the tourist equivalent to a dog marking territory, we climbed the church (Ed: Long lines of American tourists bring out the cynic in all of us. I'm also guilty as charged.). After, the group split again to climb yet another famous landmark while I found a relaxing spot on Saint Germain boulevard to sip a coffee in an outdoor cafe and write a letter home.

Then it was the night train and off to Madrid.

Ed: The title of this post "Too much in Paris", is slightly misleading in that is seems as if I didn't enjoy Paris. I wanted to capture the "too much" of Paris in the sense that there was so much of this great city we could never take in. At the same time Paris was the first city we went to where I really noticed the tourists. Being a complete tourist myself, it was disheartening look in the mirror and see the not so nice aspects of tourism. Primarily large numbers of people blindly following other people with no real understanding why the original people came and saw the monuments and artwork and left so impressed. My break from climbing famous structures to an admittedly equally cliched pause along Saint Germain boulevard to take in some espresso and people watching, was my most enjoyable Parisian moment and gave me a short glimpse of the style and pace of life in Paris.

French Security

But enough introspection, the second thing I wanted to point out in retrospect is the picture above. Many of you have heard me tell the story of the heightened security in Paris because of the Olympic torch passing through while we were there and the conflict of interest for security forces that was the French team playing in the Eurocup at the very same time. I've told the story so many times, I began to think I may have been exaggerating the account, but if you click on the picture above you can see for yourselves, all TVs but one focused on the current football match rather than the Eiffel tower.

technorati tags: Europe, Trip, Paris

Quality Assurance Announcement

Dear Reader,

Some less sophisticated blogs considered it a mark of achievement or high standing to be able to stir up drama within the comments of their posts. Comments such as those left by a certain individual in a recent post. I will not be one of those blogs, however this event gives me pause to stop and assure you, the reader, of the quality of reporting that goes on here.

The person (I can only assume, since only a name was left), who triggered this, identified themselves merely as "Dave", hiding behind the anonymity of the millions of "Dave"s which populate our planet to launch this underhanded attack. I will not lower myself to refute the multitude of falsehoods perpetrated by this cowardly individual or individuals. For example, the accusation that I was "complaining" about the forced labour that I was required to bear. Can such a point even be raised? I was clearly outlining the facts bereft of any sentiment to which they might be attached. A lesser person might use their blog as pedestal upon which to launch a counter-attack, but I will stray from that temptation and simply affirm that no person should ever have any doubt as to the opinions expressed on this blog. This blog adheres and will continue to adhere to a standard of utmost truthiness (2005 Word of the Year).

Sincerely,

The Management

technorati tags: quality

A Georgian Table

There are two legends that Georgians tell to explain the creation of their country, and fascinatingly, both involve food. In the first, the Georgians claim that when God was distributing land to all the peoples of the Earth, they were too busy feasting and drinking to show up at the appointed time. When they finally arrived, they were dismayed to learn that all the land had already been given away. They explained to God the reason for their delay, and God, obviously recognizing the value of a people who would rather be feasting than fighting over land, took pity on them and gave the Georgians the part of the Earth that he had been reserving for himself - naturally, the most beautiful part. In the second legend, God took a supper break while creating the world, and became so involved with his meal that he inadvertently tripped over the high peaks of the Caucasus, spilling his food onto the land below. This land blessed by heaven's table scraps was Georgia.

The Traveler's Lunchbox - A Georgian Feast

With this kind of folklore behind the country, I was only too happy to accept an invitation to a Georgian Table. The term "Georgian Table" can be roughly translated as an obnoxiously large feast featuring Georgian food. Our guide and host for our adventure into Georgian cuisine was Sara, who, along with her brother Geoff, had spent several years in Georgia. She can be seen in the picture below organizing the unsuspecting workforce some guests in preparing the dishes.

Sara giving instructions

To illustrate the point about utilizing her guests, Geoff and I never even made it through the door of the house before being assigned our duties. We were to barbeque the meat (it had a Georgian name, which I will choose not to misspell for you). Apparently this was very Georgian, as the meat was only supposed to be cooked by the men and over an open fire. While we didn't use an actual open fire, I can't help but feel that the barbeque's uncontrolled flames added a measure of authenticity to the whole endeavor.

Hard at work

I'm not sure how authentic the rest of the preparation technique was (as evidenced by the picture below).

A little too happy

The meal was absolutely amazing and unending, this is apparently authentically Georgian as well. When dish after amazing dish kept appearing from the kitchen, it soon became apparent why the "volunteer" recruitment had been needed.

The Georgian Table

And as a sign of a truly good party, the fun didn't stop until we had received a warning from the landlord. The offense? Ballroom and Latin dancing in the common square between the townhouses. Although, I think she was just bitter Geoff and I hadn't asked her to go dancing by moonlight.

All in all it was an excellent night. A big thanks to Sara and everyone who helped out.

International Incidents

Last Saturday was the occasion for two internationally themed events. A "Dance Around The World" party at the studio and a farewell party for Karl (going to work in Europe)and Cathy (off to camp for the summer).

As per usual the party at the studio was grand, with some interesting showcases from a group of Irish dancers, traditional Indian dancers and one Hungarian dancer (superbly represented by our Saturday group's very own Peter Schilling). The rest of the evening was left for us to capture the floor to musical sounds from around the world.

Waltzing Around The World

Of note from that evening is the fact that Geoff and I now know how to properly treat a "European Lady". We were corrected by our beloved instructor, Margaret (ever the perfectionist), and shown the proper technique. Below, you can see us demonstrate our skills.

Two Gentlemen (*cough*) and a Lady

(Additional Dance Party Pics)

After having so much fun it was hard to pull ourselves away, but Karl is good man, so Geoff and I accepted our humble duty and took off to the pub to offer our support at his farewell.

Cathy and Karl

You can see Karl's recollection of the evening at his blog. My fans may want to add his blog to their RSS feeds*, as he'll be blogging as well when we meet up in Europe this summer.

*If you're using Firefox, Sage is a great extension to make this easy

Reverting to form

I came across this picture while going through Washington Post's "Day In Photos" feature. In the picture, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is switching from an alternative fuel vehicle (used for his press conference on gasoline prices) to his SUV. Sometimes you just can't improve on reality.

Making the switch

Unfortunately screen-capped as opposed to directly attributed due to the Washington Post's Flash interface

Viva Fifa!

The tickets have arrived! In a little over a month, four good friends (Pedro, Geoff, Karl and myself) will be in Europe to watch the FIFA World Cup and, in general, have the time of our lives.

Destination Germany

technorati tags: World Cup

Concept Commerce

This site made me smile. Click through, for products that are more interesting than they are useful.

ATYPYK

(via Drawn!)

Re-Post: The friends begin to assemble (or Weil am Rhine Part II)

Original posted on: June 23rd, 2004

After Ulm, Karl and I returned to the Maurer's in the Weil am Rhein region. It was not to be a good day for train travel.

Our train from Ulm to Friedrichshaven Stadt was delayed half an hour in the station due to a derailment further down the track. When we arrived in Friedrichshaven our next connecting train didn't arrive for an hour and half. Luckily Friedrichshaven is probably the most beautiful place ever to have a stop over. We spent the hour and half sitting along the pier which is just outside the train station. It was very beautiful with Switzerland and the Alps filling in the background behind the lake. On the lake little white sailboats floated, enjoying the beauty of the day as well.

The beautiful harbour

In case the beauty proved too monotonous, an irate white swan and a group of unwary school children provided entertainment.

Karl confronts the swan after it has attacked his backpack

After arriving successfully in Haltingen we waited to pick up Kyla from the train station. She was supposed to arrive at 8 o'clock, but numerous checks at the train station and two trips to Basel later she still hadn't arrived. At midnight we had run out of ideas for what to do, four hours had passed and six trains from Frankfurt (her last connection) had come and gone, so we returned home. Just as we entered the door, the phone rang and to our immense relief Kyla's voice greeted us from the other end. She was in Haltingen (the same village as us) and with a guy she had met by the train station named Raphael. We found out later that she had power problems on her train from the Netherlands into Germany. Two hours later in Frankfurt and not knowing German, she got some extremely inefficient advice and added a few more stops to her journey. Needless to say, we are quite thankful Kyla is with us.

Tuesday we headed to the alps. The day started off cloudy and you couldn't see a thing from the top of the mountain we had decided to ascend by tram. We waited it out over lunch though, and by the time we had finished eating the surrounding mountains started appearing one by one. It was an absolutely amazing effect to look down at once was complete white and now was an extremely long and straight drop to the lakes and villages below. As we walked down the mountain the weather becoming increasingly more beautiful until it was a full out gorgeous day. It was one of the most beautiful walks I've ever been on. The trail weaved it's way down the mountain over hills dotted with flowers, through small villages, past farm yards and through pastures where classic swiss cows grazed. The sound of the cow bells carries for miles and creates a soothing yet surreal effect I wont soon forget.

A view from the top

Breathtaking

A small chapel set against the hill

What was previously a wall of white

Our "Sound of Music"esque shot

A random encounter

The cow that fell in love

The valley

Wednesday is today, and I've stayed back to get some rest while Karl and Kyla have gone out with Richard to see more of the Black Forest. Tonight we'll watch the Germany Czech soccer match. Then tomorrow we'll take off for Paris, our meeting point with Sherri (the final member of our travelling group). Then the travels will truly begin. We've been completely spoiled up to now (and we've loved every minute of it) staying with relatives and connections, but tomorrow it's time to actually set off on our own and travel. I'll try my best to keep you all posted.

Ed: As mentioned the trail we took wound its way through farmer's fields. In one of these fields (see shot labeled "The cow that fell in love") I met with a large cow. Since we wanted to walk right in its path, I decided to try and be friendly and pet him. If you click on the picture for the close up you will see the result, the cow giving me a big sloppy lick (I'm not pulling out the cow's tongue, as it appears). Anyways, the cow became my instant best friend and decided to follow me. What made this all the more disconcerting was the fact that we were travelling downhill and here was a gigantic beast following me with a loud clanking sound and its head literally within a foot of my back. I wasn't concerned that the cow meant me harm (it clearly adored me), but the fact is that a cow travelling downhill isn't the most graceful creature. I would describe the motion as periodically checked descent and this, as mentioned, just a foot from my rear. I was quite relieved when we finally entered the next field.

technorati tags: Europe, Trip, Germany

If only he had email

There are times in our lives where we, much like King Solomon, ask ourselves what is the point of all our possesions.

What do people gain from all the toil
at which they toil under the sun?

ECCLESIASTES 1:3, NRSV

Millionaires24.com, the new email account for the world's discerning elite, encourages us to probe even deeper, "What is the point of a yacht in Monaco... when you are just one out of billions on the Internet?"

Luckily, Millionaires24 has an answer. For the distinguishing price of 399 US$ a month, a limited group of 10,000 people will be able to have web based email with less features than most free accounts. As Ray Smuckles would say, "At this level the market demands non-linear value."

Update: Bomb Squad Collects Power-Ups

Some brighter news for today, in a follow up to the original post:

Charges will not be filed against six juvenile girls who placed brightly wrapped boxes at several locations in Ravenna on March 31, Portage County Prosecutor Victor V. Vigluicci said today.

Beacon Journal | Girls won't be prosecuted after bomb squad called on art project

In a State of War

Here's an inflammatory quote for the day*:

Clawson said that he would prefer to rely on sabotage and other clandestine activities, such as "industrial accidents." But, he said, it would be prudent to prepare for a wider war, "given the way the Iranians are acting. This is not like planning to invade Quebec."

The New Yorker: The Iran Plans

The subject is America's plans for dealing with Iran. The New Yorker, as usual, provides a well reasoned and well researched article. The BBC also has some information on the author of the article.

As pointed out in the article, a tactical win through brute force, is not necessarily a psychological win while dealing with Fourth Generation style warfare. It is interesting that with the evolution of sub-state warfare, pacifism becomes not an alternative but often the only viable approach.

*To be clear, the quote is a merely a hook

Re-Post: Ulm Summary

Original posted on: June 23rd, 2004

Karl and I spent the weekend in Nattheim, a small town just outside Ulm. The town is note worthy for having two stoplights, one school and being the temporary residence of Jan and Olga Hoffman. Over all it was a very low key weekend, but it was really good for me to get a chance to see Olga again. Olga is a young lady who stayed at our place two winters ago while student teaching in Winnipeg. Stephen and I consider her our older sister from a different mother (....and father).

Olga and Jan

I'll briefly summarize the highlights for us:

On Friday we attended the school where Olga was teaching. Due to it being a small town, and the children never having seen a Canadian before, we had instant celebrity status. After showing the kids pictures of Winnipeg from a coffee table book about our city, the majority of kids wanted to move immediately to Winnipeg and live there... poor kids. Also, I was the fastest Grade 1er at subtracting numbers under 20 in German. I finished first in my initial round (knocking Karl out of competition) and then stole the show in the final round with a convincing victory. I was appointed math king for the day and received an official certificate (Mom if you're reading this, save some space on the fridge).

Myself, proudly bearing the certificate

Saturday was Jan's birthday and we celebrated outdoors in the evening. Someone had created an oversized Twister mat, and we had a team competition. Our team arose victorious thanks to Karl's strategic game play and Olga's superior strength.

Awwww, two locally brewed bottles by candlelight

Playing Twister

Sunday, we went to Ulm munster which has the largest church spire in the world. We climbed up the numerous spiral staircases to the top, for a total step count of around seven to nine hundred (Karl counted, I'll get an exact figure later).

The inside of the spire

We then stopped by an Italian ice cream shop, which had the most creative visual designs for ice cream in a bowl I've yet to see, along with a wide range of excellent flavours. Later Karl and I took the Hoffmans out to a Sardinian restaurant they knew of for an excellent supper.

Italian Eis!

...and that was our stay. Thanks Olga and Jan for your hospitality.

Ed: It never struck me until a friend came back from Germany and shared a similar experience of the elaborately created Italian ice cream creations, that this seems to be something unique to Germany. I travelled Italy and while it was no problem to find Gelati, I never came across these crazy "Italian" ice cream inventions. Perhaps it shares a similar story to the infamous Döner, which was popularized by Turkish immigrants to Germany, but differs from its original form to appeal to a German market.

technorati tags: Europe, Trip, Germany

Re-Post: Weil am Rhine (Part I)

Original posted on: June 19th, 2004

I don't really function by dates, but I guess it would be good to give you some since I'm always posting slightly later than the actual event.

Monday late afternoon on June 14th, we arrived at the one track train station of Haltingen, just a six minute train ride from Basel Badischer Bahnhof. There we were greeted by the Maurers (our hosts) and two incredibly cute grandchildren. After the short ride to their house (essentially three blocks away), we sat outside on the patio for some really good ice cream. If you ever worry about becoming old, come visit the Maurers, they are the most active, busy and entertaining grandparents I have yet to meet.

Tuesday morning we woke up and after a good breakfast, took off for some hiking in the black forest. We drove part way and then climbed up a large hill/small mountain called Blauen. It was a fairly steep hike, but the Maurers never lagged and we were soon to the top. The view was spectacular and when the clouds were replaced by the sun in the distance, we could see all the way to the Swiss alps. From the top, Richard pointed out another large hill/small mountain, telling us he had climbed up with skis and then skied down. Imagining what it would like to accomplish such a feat, I imagined myself undergoing a few weeks of training to prepare or at the very least upon reaching the top, spending a day not moving. So I asked Richard how long ago he had done it. Last year, was his response. Now you may begin to see what I am talking about when I say they are active people.

Hiking through the black forest

Coming out on top of Blauen

After descending the mountain, we grabbed some gelati at little store in a classically European looking little village.

When we returned home we were treated to an authentic meal from the area. For our meal we had Raclette. Essentially cheese on everything, Raclette is an ingenious idea where you melt Raclette cheese in a special device and then pour it over potatoes, tomatoes, whatever you feel like really. You can also throw in onions, peppers or meat in with your cheese on the melting tray to excellent effects. How you Raclette is up to you. The combinations are endless, but all the combinations I tried tasted absolutely amazing. Then to top the meal off, genuine Black Forest cake was brought out. It tasted great, but our host, Richard, looked disappointed. Something was missing. A few seconds later he came out with a bottle of "Cherry Water", alcohol distilled from the local cherry harvest. A light (i should probably put quotations around light too) sprinkling of "Cherry Water" later and we could never go back to the Safeway version of Black Forest cake.

Having Raclette on the terrace

After lunch we biked to two of the garden plots owned by the Maurers. It was a relaxing and beautiful ride that wound through the small town and hilly vineyards to get to the garden plot and small orchard.

At the orchard with Richard

After returning home and relaxing a bit we set off to their daughter's by bike to watch the Germany Netherlands match.

The next morning we took off fairly late (due to me being so faithful and writing posts for you guys) and headed for Basel by car. We walked around the city a bit and saw some of the major sites. Basel is a very beautiful city with small winding roads, many only accessible by foot.

A narrow street in Basel

Shopping for basil in Basel (I thought it was clever)

Walking by the shops you can definitely sense that this is a city for the rich (or at least not the budget traveller). In the evening we watched slides with the Maurers, which at first may sound like a recipe for boredom, but when the slide show is with the Maurers is anything but. Travelling in a foreign country you notice the differences. As Karl and I travelled, we were amazed by the history of the place, the outstanding food and so forth. The Maurer's slides, on the other hand, showed the opposite perspective, what it was like to be a European visiting America. Things so unbelievable they had to be documented on film included, obese people (evidenced by a photo taken in the zoo of the overweight people attending, not the animals) and the fact that dilapidated automobiles were allowed on the road (seeing once such vehicle, Margit stopped on the side of the road to pose by a rusted out truck with her granddaughter).

The next morning was our last of "Part I" (we were to return in a few days to meet Kyla) and Karl and I did a relaxed walk through Basel in the morning and then said farewells and took off for Ulm (our next destination).

Bomb Squad Collects Power-Ups

Police in Ravenna Ohio were called in on Friday (March 31) to investigate packages looking suspiciously like power-up cubes found in Mario games. I don't know how big Ravenna Ohio is or how much of a terrorist target it could be, but nobody seems to be fooling around over there. The girls may face criminal charges. The website that inspired them has this to say:

To clarify some of the points in the article: this is not a sinister 'game', it is supposed to be a comment on public spaces being routinely used for advertising (billboards, etc) but not for art (these boxes). Also, despite what Ravenna Police Chief Randall McCoy says, the purpose of these boxes is not "just to see what kind of response you get". It is to bring a smile to people's faces, to get them to connect with their neighbours, to bring colour into an otherwise grey urban landscape. Posterchild and myself are both deeply sorry that things are not working out in Ravenna.

qwantz.com - poster child mario question blocks!

It's a sad day when paranoia replaces what could have otherwise made someone smile.

Related Post: Brilliant! - Two subversive additional ways to make people smile