Rambles

Big brother?

garry — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:40:28 +0000

This article is not at all comforting. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/john-ibbitson/tories-have-yet-to-prove-case-for-e-snooping-bill/article2256197/?cmpid=nl-news1

Deskpins

garry — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:29:13 +0000

Something I was missing from Linux – a way to keep one window ‘on top’ while you’re working in one or more others…

http://users.forthnet.gr/pat/efotinis/programs/deskpins.html

Now if I could just find a good free calculator.

First snow

garry — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:58:04 +0000

Hardly much, but still we appreciate the winter gesture.

Fireflies

garry — Sat, 22 May 2010 01:41:02 +0000

May 21 and the first fireflies. A record in our three years here… Wow.

Rainy day

garry — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:41:07 +0000

Reading the Atlantic’s (December 2009) article ‘Did Christianity Cause the Crash?’ and in my pre-coffee stupor thought I might write a book “Think Positively; It May Not Help” or somesuch. Even with a better title (and better writer!) I think it would flop. Oh well. ‘A prophet in his own time’.
The hardest part of the day – maybe the only hard part – on this trip seems to be getting out of bed and getting a coffee. I mean now that I’ve had one and looking back, it really isn’t that hard. But lying in bed half awake, and imaging going downstairs and using pigdin Spanish and gestures to get that coffee… sigh. But today I walked in and the impassive waiter actually pushed a saucer out for me. I felt acknowledged and understood!
After brekky and lazy ablutions, I headed off to the Thiessen. It was the last of my trio of art museums on my Art Madrid pass and I’d been thinking of skipping it – a bit of an AM overdose. Glad I didn’t. Lots and lots of not BigNames, who painted some really wonderful works. A nice selection of ‘master’ works too, tending to the early works of master X. And most interesting to me, what seemed to uneducated me to be a very rich set of modern paintings that really helped me understand how painting has evolved since the late 19th / early 20th century. By the end I was in serious overdose, but it was great!
Took a break between floors (it’s nicely organized so you kind of walk chronologically) to come home and talk to Steve. So nice to connect with him again.
Now I’m on my back on the bed, wondering if I really do a) want to go out for a glass of wine, and b) really do want to try catching a flight tomorrow. All of which will resolve in due course.
But now the wine…

Bleary in Madrid

garry — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:52:53 +0000

Tired today. Tummy unsettled this morning, and now I’m just foggy of mind and purpose. Lovely day out – sunny, with great dark clouds promising rain. But not delivering yet.
Did my laundry. I made an unsuccessful search for Ondablu but Rick Steves is clearly out of date. There was another no-name nearby and so I’m clean and folded, although it took several attempts by the patient laundry lady to teach me how to use the machine. Wandered about the neighbourhood while waiting – the laundry was right by the former house of Cervantes! – if I read the spanish correctly. And all of this makes me want to read some Spanish literature…
Later. Well, as the day progressed I got a bit of energy back. Had a decent bargain lunch at Fres Co, an all you can eat buffet. Both the variety and getting to choose without trying to translate was a treat.
Steve and I have missed each other all day – I’m in and he’s out, and vice versa. It’s the time zone and his busy BA schedule. And mine. Bummer
After lunch and a bit of a rest I went over to Retiro and promenaded. It’s the place to promenade. A nice combination of formal gardens and places to hang out. The little lake was great, with inept Alfonso standing guard; I thought about renting a boat, but glad I didn’t as it suddenly started to pour, complete with thunder. Clever me; I had my raincoat. I headed north to the Museum of Archaeology. It’s being renovated, which was a blessing in disguise. Only a few rooms were open, and they seemed to have picked their best treasures to put on display. I had no idea the pre-Roman Iberians did such sophisticated work. Lovely jewelry, some fine bowls. Two really impressive burial statues of women, both I think discovered in the last century. I wish I had a picture. The exhibit did a nice job of a whirlwind trip from stone-age through bronze, the Roman and Visigoth periods, including some complex gold jewellery that looked like a combo of crown and chandelier. I need to check the website for info.
I’d seen an ad for a concert earlier, and the timing was right so I decided to try for it. It was being held in the National Music Auditorium. Figured out the subways and made it 15 minutes before performance. The pre-concert ticket offices were either closed or somewhere else, and I was a little sad, until a women came up with a ticket to sell. I ended up sitting beside her through the concert. Wonderful seats. The seating – maybe for smaller concerts, since the hall was certainly big enough for a symphony orchestra – went all round the stage. We were sitting just behind where the orchestra would play. I was close enough maybe not to spit, but certainly to hit with a rotten tomato should I be displeased. I wasn’t. And I had a very clear view of his hands – wow. My companion seemed quite nice. New rule of travel: always always carry your spanish/whatever phrasebook. Too bad we couldn’t communicate. But she knew of Canada – Quebec and Vancouver at least.
Concert was just what I needed, and three encores! Never heard of Mei-Ting Sun My excuse is he’s young – thirty? And he’d done his own transcriptions of Firebird and some Strauss waltzes. Quite a nifty guy….
Now to bed! Good day, all told.

Atlanta Airport

garry — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:36:41 +0000

March 19
Free internet on Concourse E. Very nice!
Hard to leave Arty – he knew something was up, and followed me around, positioned himself by the door, and then moved to his scratchpad and sat there, resigned.
Good trip in. A bit of traffic through Toronto, but it’s still school break and so lighter than usual. Listened to CBC on and off. I’m gradually losing my grumps about CBC. It’s doing a pretty good job, given the population it is serving.
Pearson was surprisingly pleasant too. I made it from parking the car to airport lounge in about 90 minutes – not bad given the long lines for immigration and the four security experiences.
Now I’m with S in Atlanta. He’s busy picking up a trip for April, and I’m going to try putting some photos on the website. I think my suitcase has more gadgetry than underwear.

Munich Day 1

garry — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:50:00 +0000

I do the usual jetlag wakeup at 1AM but get back to sleep after 30 minutes of reading. I’ve set my alarm for 7AM so I don’t miss breakfast – nice layout of muesli and yogurt, breads, cheeses, meats and soft-boiled eggs. I treat myself to an egg – yum. German eggs are worth the badness. But they don’t know how to make tea, so I have some strong acrid coffee and I’m ready to go.
Plan was to visit the two art galleries: Alte Pinakothek and Neue Pinakothek but I only make it to the first, and that exhausts me after a couple of hours. Wonderful stuff. I walk randomly into a room and right there in a corner an arresting portrait of a man, and then another amazing painting, and another…. all now a blur! Next time post cards.
Out into the cold sunshine and grabbed a sandwich and coffee somewhere nearby, and then started walking in the general direction of the Deutsche Museum and the river – Steve runs there and I wanted to see it and share it with him. In my usual fashion I stumble onto the royal palace and then into the old quarter… I love the serendipity of it all. Although it really isn’t. I’m in a world where history and art and the generally new to Garry are packed close together, and I’m happening on fabulous stuff, and probably missing loads of other stuff.
I give up on walking, and catch the tram to the DM where I decide it’s too late to bother. Help a french-Canadian couple – identifiable by the MEC logo on their rucksack – take an I am here snap, and then wander along the river a bit, and head back to the hotel. I need to take a break.

Munich Day 0

garry — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:15:00 +0000

February 16

I’m a bit of a ghost but find the appropriate train into the city, and am trundled through hoar frost and rising mists from the snowy landscape before we hit graffitti and urbanity.

I follow directions to the Hotel Urland and actually find it after getting confused about compass directions. The owner/receptionist is way too perky for me at this point in my waking life. I eventually extricate myself, make it up to my little room, figure out how to open the door, and collapse for a nap. Yum.

2PM or so – and I walk into the reconstructed old town where the German Mardi Gras celebrations are underway. Gets more crowded as I walk towards the centre. Lots and lots of people of all ages. It was great to see such a combo of adults and little kids, many in silly costumes, lots of confetti, wild variety of music, booths selling food and beer and of course confetti. I just wandered around, too lagged to be effective but having a pretty good time. I eventually made it back to the hotel, and then to a local restaurant (Lotz?) for a huge plate of roast pork (rind carefully arranged in an X on top) potatoe dumplings and cabbage. And a welcome beer. And then bed.

February 15, 2010

garry — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:15:00 +0000

February 15, 2010

Buy a fine little replacement suitcase at the flight crew store – perfect for carryon, and looks big enough for weeklong trips. I’m delighted. No word on the bag, but it turns up when we go to Baggage Aid – waiting for us in the non-rev baggage area! – and I happily repack my new little bag, with able guidance from S.

Depart Atlanta for Munich! Don’t sleep, but the flight is pleasant. Wonderful views of the ordered German winter landscape as we descend for the landing, and it’s….