Sunday, October 31, 2010
Tragic events in Turkey
The BBC reports today that a suicide bomber struck Taksim Square in Istanbul today, injuring two dozen people. My thoughts are with the residents of Istanbul today, they were such gracious hosts to me when I visited a month ago ... including taking me to Taksim Square.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Staying comfortable
Can't argue with the comfort of the Burjuman Rotana hotel, attached to the office tower with the Regus center where our trainings are being held.
Roomy!
Roomy!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Off to Dubai
Got home around 7:30 last night, dropped my bags, showered, threw in one load of laundry, started recharging everything that needed recharging, went out for dinner and a drink, came home, threw the laundry in the dryer, watched an hour of TV, set the dryer for another cycle, went to bed, slept 7 hours (woohoo!) got up, watched the rainy Korean Grand Prix while packing, walked to the bakery for some cheese croissants for breakfast, came home, finished packing, showered, tram to Central Station, train to Schiphol, check-in, check baggage, carry-on to the coffee place near the gate with wireless internet (not free), in about an hour I will (hopefully) be on the way to Dubai, 7 hour flight, arrive 10:30 local time, cab to hotel for 6 days of air conditioned splendor where it is 97 degrees outside each and every day (at least).
THEN ... next week ... a whole week without flying. Looking forward to it.
In Dubai I will once again be working in the comfy and modern Burjuman mall/office/hotel complex:
THEN ... next week ... a whole week without flying. Looking forward to it.
In Dubai I will once again be working in the comfy and modern Burjuman mall/office/hotel complex:
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Go Sounders!
I'm not back in Seattle enjoying it, but hats off to the Sounders for another great campaign!
Behind first-half goals from Zakuani and midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, Seattle continued its sizzling form on Fan Appreciation Night, outlasting Chivas USA 2-1 for its fifth straight win Friday night in front of a crowd of 36,356 at Qwest Field.
With an average attendance of 36,173, Seattle broke its own Major League Soccer record set last year. The team's on-field product recently has been just as good as its amazing fan support, improving to 10-1-3 against MLS competition in the second half of the season.
Friday, October 15, 2010
At the Egyptian Museum, Cairo
No photography allowed inside. Fantastic collection, needs some TLC to bring it up to modern display standards, mostly. Great King Tut section, great progression through Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, some good Greco-Roman era stuff.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
The Van Gogh
I finally got around to the Van Gogh on a Friday night, when they are open until 10 and usually have some kind of music program in the central hall (between the ground floor Van Goghs and the desk where you buy audio tours).
Interesting new show on late 19th century Naturalism opened on Friday, so I saw it on the first day
Then I listened to a jazz quintet cover Miles Davis' soundtrack for the 1957 Louis Malle film Elevator to the Gallows:
Interesting new show on late 19th century Naturalism opened on Friday, so I saw it on the first day
Then I listened to a jazz quintet cover Miles Davis' soundtrack for the 1957 Louis Malle film Elevator to the Gallows:
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Saturday morning, farmer's market
Local shopkeepers on my street are repairing windows and cleaning up broken paving stones ...
But a few blocks west, all is a normal Saturday morning at the farmer's market at Westerkerk.
But a few blocks west, all is a normal Saturday morning at the farmer's market at Westerkerk.
Battle at the bridge
Well you don't see that every day ....
Around 6 pm I went over the little bridge beneath my window and through the alley to have a drink at the cafe at the end of the alley, BS with David the Scots bartender, think about where to get some dinner ...
So as we're BS'ing, noise starts to come up the street, and suddenly there are several hundred darkly clothed demonstrators waving pirate flags filling the street and sidewalk. They roll a stage with loudspeakers into the intersection right in front of us and stop, setting up camp.
And I don't have my camera! Dang it.
David tells me it's probably related to a protest by 'squatters' on changes in Netherlands law that will make it harder for them to occupy vacant buildings.
The protesters then send 3 or 4 kids in ski masks to break into the building directly across the street and occupy the vacant apartment there. They bring a bullhorn with them and address the crowd from a 3rd floor window, waving proudly.
By now there are at least a couple thousand protesters and gawkers filling the street for a couple blocks. The cafe got a heads-up on the activity from somebody, because two big security guys have shown up and are watching this all from the doorway ... I'm the 2nd biggest guy in the room and stand behind the biggest guy and watch. A few tourists take shelter inside, worried about where this might be going.
I watch for about 10 minutes and say "You know, time to go before the tear gas starts," because this is all happening 2 blocks from a big downtown police precinct, and helicopters have been hovering over the neighborhood for an hour before I left home, so I know the cops have been keeping an eye on the crowd.
Quick stop at Burger Bar for dinner to go and a wide detour around the crowd (which is between me and home) gets me back home by 8. By now there are a lot of kids milling around on the far side of the bridge from my place, and I can hear plenty of noise coming from one street over where the cafe is.
I'm on the 5th floor ... retreat to high ground!
Sure enough, the cops drive the crowd out of the street one block over, and eventually there is a line of riot cops with shields holding the alley entrance across the street from my building, and they are taking incoming bottles and rocks from protesters.
That lasts for about 10 minutes while the crowd gets a little bigger and tries to get up the nerve to push the cops back up the alley .... which is just when the cops roll through a dozen mounted riot cops that easily disperse the kids in front of the alley.
That quiets things down for a little bit, but a helicopter hovers 100 feet up and illuminates the intersection with a spotlight, the kids tentatively move back in, and the cops send in tear gas, wait for it to disperse, then charge out of the alley and re-take both sides of 'my' bridge. They bring in two big vans and an ambulance and set up an aid station on my side of the bridge .... and, fun was over, the kids found someplace else to go, before a huge squall rolled through town around midnight and hosed down everything.
Looks like some broken windows across the street, a lot of paving stones got broken up to make ammunition ... and there were repair crews out there working before I went to bed!
Just another quiet night in the city.
Around 6 pm I went over the little bridge beneath my window and through the alley to have a drink at the cafe at the end of the alley, BS with David the Scots bartender, think about where to get some dinner ...
So as we're BS'ing, noise starts to come up the street, and suddenly there are several hundred darkly clothed demonstrators waving pirate flags filling the street and sidewalk. They roll a stage with loudspeakers into the intersection right in front of us and stop, setting up camp.
And I don't have my camera! Dang it.
David tells me it's probably related to a protest by 'squatters' on changes in Netherlands law that will make it harder for them to occupy vacant buildings.
The protesters then send 3 or 4 kids in ski masks to break into the building directly across the street and occupy the vacant apartment there. They bring a bullhorn with them and address the crowd from a 3rd floor window, waving proudly.
By now there are at least a couple thousand protesters and gawkers filling the street for a couple blocks. The cafe got a heads-up on the activity from somebody, because two big security guys have shown up and are watching this all from the doorway ... I'm the 2nd biggest guy in the room and stand behind the biggest guy and watch. A few tourists take shelter inside, worried about where this might be going.
I watch for about 10 minutes and say "You know, time to go before the tear gas starts," because this is all happening 2 blocks from a big downtown police precinct, and helicopters have been hovering over the neighborhood for an hour before I left home, so I know the cops have been keeping an eye on the crowd.
Quick stop at Burger Bar for dinner to go and a wide detour around the crowd (which is between me and home) gets me back home by 8. By now there are a lot of kids milling around on the far side of the bridge from my place, and I can hear plenty of noise coming from one street over where the cafe is.
I'm on the 5th floor ... retreat to high ground!
Sure enough, the cops drive the crowd out of the street one block over, and eventually there is a line of riot cops with shields holding the alley entrance across the street from my building, and they are taking incoming bottles and rocks from protesters.
That lasts for about 10 minutes while the crowd gets a little bigger and tries to get up the nerve to push the cops back up the alley .... which is just when the cops roll through a dozen mounted riot cops that easily disperse the kids in front of the alley.
That quiets things down for a little bit, but a helicopter hovers 100 feet up and illuminates the intersection with a spotlight, the kids tentatively move back in, and the cops send in tear gas, wait for it to disperse, then charge out of the alley and re-take both sides of 'my' bridge. They bring in two big vans and an ambulance and set up an aid station on my side of the bridge .... and, fun was over, the kids found someplace else to go, before a huge squall rolled through town around midnight and hosed down everything.
Looks like some broken windows across the street, a lot of paving stones got broken up to make ammunition ... and there were repair crews out there working before I went to bed!
Just another quiet night in the city.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Divani Caravel, Athens
View from the rooftop pool/bar of the hotel where I stayed and our conference was held:
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