August set to be one of the gloomiest

A depressing article from the free Metro newspaper Megan reads sometimes on the train

August is on course to be one of the dullest and wettest on record with the month's final days unlikely to bring relief from the unseasonal gloom. Britain has so far had just 96 hours of sunshine over the past three-and-a-half weeks - 58 per cent below the month's average of 169 hours and way behind the record 257 hours enjoyed in 1947. Furthermore, 130mm (5in) of rain has already fallen this month - significantly above the average of 84mm (3in). That puts this August in 12th place on the all-time wettest list, with a number of days of potential rain still be to logged by the Met Office. Forecasters say the next few days should be dry across Britain but the North may suffer some showers.

(sigh)

Funny Photo Friday

This is a little late, but my mom sent us a CD with a package that came around the 4th of July. She thought it would be funny to include a few patriotic items (nice flip flops, mom), but this CD is the funniest.

Check out the back label:

Patriotic CD
Made in China

Announcement

Last year on September 11th, we were grinning giddily as the Detroit customs official said, “Welcome back to the USA.” Waiting for our connection, we giggled at the sight of Cinnabon, Taco Bell, and Chili’s, marvelled at the free, clean bathrooms with sit-down toilets, hesitated over the drinking fountain (Is it real? Is it safe?), and waited in line with relief at the civility of humanity, relaxed and with our elbows at our sides. Later, our tan faces smiled at the comfortable temperatures outside the airport in Michigan and greeted family members with true joy.

This year on September 12th, we hope to grin giddily as the Minneapolis customs official welcomes us to the USA. We will be eating cinnamon rolls and tacos, telling each other we’re going to go use the toilet or the loo where I will hesitate to crouch like a little girl to see which stall is open and wonder when the red and green indicator will show up on American bathroom locks and, for that matter, when water-saving two tier flushing will make it over the oceans with more frequency. We will fill our water bottles in real working drinking fountains rather than the bathroom sinks and feel both annoyance and general affection for the loud Americans in our queue. And, when we later greet family members with great joy, our pale faces will no doubt be smiling at the September weather that simply cannot be worse than this, Durham’s past August.

We will be in West Michigan through the 22nd. Please come see us!

Well at least we aren't the only ones with unfavorable sterotypes abroad...

This just makes me chuckle, the BBC ran a similar story a few weeks ago, still funny... I mean distressing... I mean funny.

Some Britons Too Unruly for Resorts in Europe

Funny Photo Friday

Get it?


(OK, this is a little crass, but oh well. Sorry.)

I remembered everything.... but the camera.

So it all began with an idea... 'Josh,' I thought to myself 'it's your fifth anniversary, you didn't really celebrate your anniversary or Meg's birthday last year, do something fun.' Finding my own internal sales pitch rather compelling, I got clearance to spend more money than usual (I'm still a student after all!) and decided to get cracking.

Europe is an amazing place at times, primarily because of how close exciting and historic centres are to one another and how easy and cheap it is to get around. So, knowing my wife rather well I decided to plan a surprise trip to somewhere fun and exciting and after spending way more time that I should (I was either thorough or stalling my dissertation depending upon how you look at it) I decided to surprise Megan with a surprise long weekend in Prague!
Read the rest and hear about the camera...

Now I was rather excited about this idea and thought it would be quite fun. I'd pick her up from work, blindfold her, wisk her to the airport and see how far I could get her before she realised where she was. However, there were a couple of things that made me nervous... well really only one thing, packing. The idea of packing for someone was a little scary and that idea that I, as a boy, am packing for Meg, as a girl, even moreso; primarily because her array of traveling equipment dwarfs mine... and I don't know what any of her stuff does. But doing my level best, I packed as much of it as can fit in one of those airport sized ziplocks and took off to meet her and, consequently, begin my glorious and faultless plan.

In general, I have to say it all worked quite fabulously. I showed up at her office a little before quitin' time and told her I was 'taking her out.' We loaded on Newcastle's metro to go to the airport and it was all good. Although it turns out there are apparently announcements on the Metro announcing, 'this train terminates at the airport' every 5.62 seconds... dang. From there I lead her to the airport, past the smiles, waves, and thumbs up from by-standers and made it to security before I took the blindfold off. We walked through security and standing in front of the departures window I asked, 'Ok Meg, pick three places you want to go?'

She responded, 'Uhhmmm.... Düsseldorf, Exeter and Prague.'

'How about Prague then?'

'Really?'

'Yup.'

'We are going to Prague?!?'

'Yup.'

She then beamed that smile that clearly states to those around that I did something incredibly good while we sat down and waited for the plane, and the great weekend to come.

However... turns out I forgot the camera. I remembered everything else she needed, mostly because I threw anything that looked relevant into the bag, but forgot the camera for our glorious little weekend in Prague. We saw the sights, ate some great food (thanks again Elliot), and had a good time in the rather un-English weather (warm and sunny!) of the Chezk Republic. And while I'd love to tell you more about those bits, the great squares, bridges and one weird clock... it just isn't nearly as much fun without pictures. So you are just going to have to wait until we develop our pictures from the disposable camera we bought upon arrival. We'll elaborate when there are pretty things to look at (I've decided blogs are kind of like children books, the ones with pictures are alot more fun).

But in general, just know that if you want to surprise your wife on your fifth anniversary with a surprise trip to Prague, I'd recommend it... it tends to go over rather well.

A real post is to come but first... another first.

We've lived in England for almost a year at this stage and throughout that time (and despite the rain that comes down far more often than I like) there hasn't been one thunderstorm. The rain, which is around rather often, normally begins as a thick mist that then begins to fall turning into a light rain, which then turns into proper rain, and then back to light rain, to mist, to cloudy, to sun. (Wash, rinse and repeat.) In the midst of all this falling water, it rarely falls that hard and we have yet to have a real storm in any proper sense of the word.

Well today there was a new development on the weather front and while I still haven't seen a proper storm, I finally heard thunder this afternoon. How exciting!

I took a picture to show the cloud that had said thunder attached... not that a photo shows sound but you'll have to take my word for it.

P.S. The cloud looked much more dramatic in person.

Ps and Qs and Ox

I've noticed that the English (to generalize) tend to use the word please more than Americans. Midwestern Americans and the famously hospitable southerners (to generalize further) are extremely polite and tend to over-use thank you and I'm sorry and yes, sir/ma'am. But aside from a childhood demand of "what's the magic word?", please is not nearly so popular.

For me, a midwestern American, a thank you is obligatory, but a please is optional if the request is spoken in a calm, polite and friendly way. In fact, something about a kind voice makes a please sound redundant to me. You throw it on the end or in the middle if it feels right with the sentence: ordering at a restaurant, maybe yes; asking your sister to pass the potatos, maybe no. I feel like here, if someone asks for something, anything, they say please at the end, even if (and this is not uncommon) the facial expression or tone of voice indicate no such nicety. And when responding, you throw it in there, too. If not, there might be trouble. (English trouble, which is really not trouble at all, but just a look- an evil eye meant to cause discomfort but not so much as to make a scene unless said eye is drunk.)

However, today I made a huge England faux pas at lunch, and after the woman asked me, "Who's next please?", I said, "Could I get the thai chicken on a wrap?" Even I felt the gaping hole at the end of that sentence, not that I could have missed it with the look she gave me. Seriously, the whole room slowed down waiting for the natural conclusion of my sentence that was never to come. It was as if all the cheer drained out of her face. And cheer in the service industry can be hard to come by over here.

Oops. And then it was too late, and I had to think fast to redeem myself. Luckily there're lots of chances:
"Marg or mayo?"
"Mayo, PLEASE."
"All the salad? (salad referring to all the extras- lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion...)"
"Yes, all of it, PLEASE."

By the end, her "twopoundfifty, please" had a luv on the end of it, and I knew I was in the clear. Thank goodness for that one. I like that place, and I've got just enough twisted English-ness in me to avoid it on the basis of taste. Their taste in me, not mine in them. I'd hate to have to face that look again.

...

Also today, they had "roast ox" flavo(u)red ch/crisps.

!!

I passed on those. No, thank you.

Your final easy installment: Zaragosa Expo

Zaragosa was the original reason for our trip to Barcelona, so I can't skip this last Spain post. It's been delayed due to a surprise (for me) anniversary trip to Prague (I know! I feel the same way! It's just that Easy Jet has cheap flights and Josh thought our 5th should be specially celebrated! I'll get into that later). In the meantime, we've been posting some old posts that have been lying in wait.

Anyway, Anthony was a designer for an exhibition at the Zaragosa Expo 2008, a worlds fair-like event with a focus on water and sustainable development. He and Queenie booked the trip to Spain with the intention of visiting the Expo. We then booked our trip based on the fact that friends from NYC would be within a budget airline flight away from us. And thus... we all spent a hot afternoon wandering around northern central Spain learning about water (well, not really. We didn't do much learning exactly...).

Read the rest...

Already high on the carbon footprint scale with all our flying, we chose to keep up the good work and rent a car for the trip. It's a 3 hour drive from Barcelona, and the car cost less than two train tickets. As the trees thinned out and Utah began to appear out our windows, the temperature warmed up, too.

But who am I to complain about heat right now? It's 62 outside as I type this in Newcastle.

The Expo was unlike anything I'd been to before, although I don't know that I need to attend another any time soon. Over 100 countries had individual exhibits, each its own room in a series of very large, open buildings, and these varied from well done and interesting to imported cheap souvineer shop in a box. Many had a water theme, although some didn't seem to grasp the concept at all. Of course, that being said, we flew through any that had actual real information on the walls; we weren't there for educational purposes.

We started off in a building built just for the expo... and then couldn't find our way out. This photo makes it look cooler than it is. You walk in and up escalators and then back down going round and round the building via ramps. The thing is... there's actually nothing in the building and if you decide you aren't interested anymore, there's nowhere else to go and you just might end up getting shushed and yelled at in Spanish by Expo personel.

The reason we came was to see Zaha Hadid's new bridge and the exhibit in it and directly in front of it. Here's the bridge:
So as Q, Anthony, and I headed to take photos, Josh took a seat...
Anthony and Queenie at the exhibit:
And then here's us right before the bridge entrance. We're looking at some statistics about water availability and usage. Very well-presented and interesting to look at... Must have been some really smart people who designed it.
Inside:
Anthony's name was even listed on the exhibit (below). We were so impressed.
On our way out of the bridge, Josh spotted a place he wasn't supposed go... and promptly went there.
Check out their surprised expressions at that crazy door:
We decided to wait in line for at least one amusement-park-esque exhibit. It ended up being a really bad "4D ride" about extreme weather. Oh, and it was in Spanish.
(I think Queenie looks nervous.)
We did think that the entire place lookedmuch, much better at night.
All the buildings and exhibits were lit quite nicely, and I think the cooler temps didn't hurt. For example, this huge and completely random statue we passed by during the daylight suddenly became photo-worthy:

Huh. Guess that's it. Sorry to end on that random note. Definitely, go back and check out that photo of Queenie and Josh. That's a good ending any day.

Funny Photo Friday

A photo from the airport on our way to Spain.

I've thought some vending machines overcharge for their contents, but this is something else- 50p for a few ziploc bags for your little containers of liquids! Unbelievable!

Co-workers

For those of you who don't know, I work at a church. And recently, as all the church employees and full time volunteers went out for lunch, I realised I'm the youngest person there. Moreso, I realised out of the 14 of us I was the only one under thirty and only one of two who were under fifty (I think. If there's any indication they fit in that category, I'm not going to ask their age).

Its odd to have most of your co-workers be twice your age...

Happy-slappy hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones ... (quote: Dr. Who)

We've heard talk about ASBO's here. I assumed an ASBO was a cheap grocery store full of store-brand soda and inexpensive pasta sauce, while Josh thought it was a derogatory comment, as in"Stop that, you ASBO."

We've since discovered that it's actually a criminal offense, an Anti-Social Behavioural Order, covering anything from noisy neighbors to intimidation to vandalism, and the term comes up surprisingly often. Also, Wikipedia tells us that a CRASBO is a Criminally Related ASBO. I'm looking forward to the first time I hear that in normal conversation.

We found this new-found knowledge even more puzzling. Anti-social behavior. Makes us think of a bunch of teenagers sitting in their bedrooms playing video games. Yells Mom up the stairs: "Honey, don't you want to go out and play with your friends? Stop being so anti-social!" I don't think we quite have the right idea...

Olympics

Well, now that the Olympics have begun in full force, I've noticed a couple of things, (mostly because they are on in the morning when I'm stalling the work I should be doing) about them. I've always enjoyed the Olympics but it's different watching it here in the UK. So here are some thoughts...

1) It's a little weird to watch the Olympics where the country you live in is rooting for other people. They commentators just keep talking about all the British athletes and hometowns which, while not surprising, just feels a little disconcerting.

2) It's a lot of fun to watch/cheer for a country that doesn't have as many folks playing in the games. Mind you the UK isn't lacking in athletes and will finish in the top 10 countries but there don't feel to be as many athletes or they don't seem to be in sports I expect. This morning I've already watched Mixed doubles badminton, men's judo, and men's C1 kayaking, huh?

3) Because its feels like there are less, it also seems as though they follow every athlete in ways that they don't in the states. Its more like an everyone has they 5 minutes of fame kind of thing... and I like that.

4) The commentators here take their job quite seriously, lots of emotion (as far as the British go) and they apparently find the sports they comment on much more exciting than I do. I've heard several exclamations of 'riveting,' 'thrilling' and 'amazing' on things I didn't find nearly so. But maybe that's something all sports casters do or at least the way they appear to the apathetic.

5) Go USA! (or UK, but I've always rooted for English speaking nations...)

Five years is a long time.
And we've only just begun!

Funny Photo Friday

"Still"? Really?


(Off topic: By the way, I distinctly remember riding in a mini-van with my mother on 08-08-88. Now it's 8-8-08. Crazy. Also, that date became my wedding anniversary, but that's not the point here. Not sure what it is, but that's not it.)

Barcelona: Installment #2

This section is called: Photos Stolen from Queenie and Anthony that Will Show our Families that We are Healthy and Smiling.

These photos are captioned the following:

1. The Mediterranean was colder than we expected. Also, I miss the beach. And the sunshine.

2. Yea! Queenie and the subway! We could almost be back in NYC!

3. Bari Gotic (and a good-looking group)

4. Josh being offended that the dog was more interested in its owner leaving the store than him.

5. Now which of these little La Sagradas is the least horribly made and will look the nicest sitting on Megan's desk at work after being spray painted silver?

6. In Park Guell

7. Wait. Where's Anthony in any of these? Oops. Sorry, Ant.

Read the rest...

Buh-buh-buh-barrrr-celona (to the tune of My Sharona)(josh made me title it this)

Alright. It took us all week just to upload all the photos for this post.

No, no, don't worry; there aren't that many, but I did decide to split them up into installments. So today we have the General Barcelona and Lots-o-buildings section.

Let's start with general Barcelona. We were only away for five days, but I think we covered decent ground. We wandered around the first two days, headed 3 hours North to an expo in Zaragosa on the third, and spent the fourth day doing more wandering (and beach-going). Of course, the excuse we used to go to Barcelona was that our friends, Queenie and Anthony, were flying in from NYC. Although it was great to see them, I think Josh, the only non-architect in the group, was at a disadvantage. He had to entertain himself while we stopped at random buildings to snap (a decent number of) photos. Poor guy.

Ok. Let's get to the pictures. (Read the rest...)Ok. Let's get to the pictures.

First things first. Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia cathedral. Construction began on this crazy thing in 1882 and continues today. I wasn't expecting to visit a full construction site (and to pay to enter one), but the building was amazing, cranes and all. While the size, duration of construction, and probable cost seem a bit much, it's an interesting place that I would love to see when complete (2026, apparently). I find it refreshing to walk into cathedral unlike any I've seen before.


Josh has a 35mm fisheye camera (lomography!), so we tried using that viewfinder with our digital camera... entertainment that allowed us to get a bit more cathedral time for our money while playing around with it.
I'm just going to skip chronological order and go for topical. So, next. While walking, we happened upon the Santa Caterina market, renovated by Enric Miralles. You might remember him from our photos of the Scottish Parliament building. (I left out the photos of Josh sitting idly by while we photo'ed away.)

The Bari Gotic or gothic neighborhood was a lovely place to wander with narrow streets opening to cafe-filled plazas and the big medieval cathedral.

Josh and I had a nice dinner in this large plaza. Definitely an over-priced, tourist hot spot, but we spent the meal trying to come up with a shorter word for 'justifiable tourist trap,' if that says anything!
The Catedral (nice, but Durham's is still more impressive!):
Josh up close and personal with goose in cathedral courtyard:
Aahhhhh, the beach. How I miss it. I always sing praises of Michigan beaches, and while most people don't believe me, I still insist they are just about perfect. I'll not admit that their location of 15 minutes away from my childhood home might have something to do with that. We spent two nice afternoons at Barcelona's beaches, enjoying the surprisingly cold Mediterranean, the hot sunshine, and the nudists at the other end of the sand (or at least enjoying lazy contemplation of our innate American prudishness. My suit is staying firmly tied around my neck).
Contemplating where to go for dinner. I think we ended up with paella that night- rice and seafood cooked in one great big, flat pan. Also in the background is the fish by Frank Gehry (designer of, most famously, the Guggenheim in Bilbao).
This photo shows the National Museum of Catalonian Art and part of the grounds of the 1929 World's Fair.

Josh spent some time wandering around there... while Queenie, Anthony, and I made an architect's pilgrimage to the reconstruction of Mies van der Rohe's German Pavilion for the 1929 World's Fair. It's called the Barcelona Pavilion now, and I was completely appalled that Josh hadn't heard of it. I'm still a little shocked. I'm sure I've mentioned it. He knows who Philip Johnson is, for goodness sake. Anyway, it's only one of THE pinnacles of modernist architecture in the 20th century. That's all. But, you know. Whatever.
Behind the big museum are some of the facilities from the 1992 Olympics. We hopped our way from shade to shade before finding this nice spot. The soccer/football stadium is in the background.
Our last day, we walked up to Gaudi's Park Guell. While there were some nice parts, it wasn't nearly as big or interesting as I had hoped, not that the crowds indicated that. The mosaics were nice, though, and this part below completely reminded me of that very strange rock garden in Chandigarh, India...

It was a wonderful weekend with warm weather (at laaaaast!), good friends, nice food, interesting architecture, and unending sunshine. Check back for some more photos that actually have us in them. Oh, and Josh booked our hotel on Hotwire based on the location of Q+A's hotel. These photos from our window show how fantastic it was. Yea for the Internet!