:: Life of Dave ::

:: Saturday, May 29 2004 ::

You know, I hadn't really understood how completely wrong the BJP had gotten their election campaign until this morning. On the right, you can see one of their "India Shining" posters, which they used to try to win the recent elections. When you think about the number of poor in India, one imagines that images of women and their children playing cricket do not hold a great deal of power, except possibly to remind the have-nots of what the haves have. Of course, not being in the US I'm sure one of the two candidates are using something equally stupid and inflammatory. There must be a rule written someplace that says political parties who win have to be as out of touch as possible... well, until they lose, that is. The image comes courtesy of the BBC, and you can read the article it was used in here

:: David (03:03 in Michigan, 09:03 in Paris)
...

:: Friday, May 28 2004 ::

We just watched "Roger and Me", the film from the late 80's that Michael Moore did about Flint, Michigan. Although I knew all about it, I had never actually watched it. When you have some free time, go back and take a look at it again. It's an incredible piece of film making. I have a feeling I may have bought the hype about Moore as an 'in-your-face' film maker without having enough evidence. Maybe he actually deserved the Palme d'Or....
:: David (16:15 in Michigan, 22:15 in Paris)
...

One of the things I always find interesting about changing jobs is the discovery of just how many little details there are which require experience to do. An example - the difference between making a graph look good on the computer screen, and a graph that is ready to go to the publisher. There are a million little tricks required to take a graph from Excel and turn it into a printed page ready to go in a book. And why would you learn these tricks? Only because you had to. Perhaps Microsoft Office's biggest fault is its complete inability to stop interfering and become just like a paint program - "this is an image, which looks exactly like the printed page will look. Any Questions?"
:: David (10:50 in Michigan, 16:50 in Paris)
...

Well! We had a little presentation in front of several representatives from various Eastern European countries today, and I didn't choke or mess up too badly, so I'm overall fairly pleased with my day. And Avignon tomorrow, bright and early. Nice!
:: David (08:33 in Michigan, 14:33 in Paris)
...

:: Thursday, May 27 2004 ::

Well, I'll be darned! We managed to get tickets to day four of Roland Garros, and saw some amazing tennis! Rather than re-type what's already been said, I'll quote Sasha's email home about the day:

At 5:30 this evening David and I went and stood in line outside Roland Garros to get afternoon tickets to the tennis. We waited with tons of other people until we finally reached the front of the line at 7-ish and bought tickets for the Serena Williams match that was going on. They were already two sets in, and we arrived in our seats just when they were starting the third set. We were seated in row three, just behind the friends and family seating, but over to the right (I thought I might have seen the Williams father at one point, but I couldn't tell for sure). Maria Kirilenko and Serena were right in front of us, so close that we could hear Serena giving herself pep talks. The game was intense - the French crowd was entirely behind Kirilenko, but I was sitting next to a group of three black French women who were one hundred percent behind Serena - they were very angry when the French fans were being mean to her. At one point, we got a "s'il-vous-PLAIT" from the chair umpire because we were all doing the wave - it was great fun. The final score was 4-6 6-2 6-4, and it looked quite bad for Serena in spots, but she pulled through in the end. With that match finished at 8:20, we realized that with our tickets we could get into any of the side courts (but not the main court, sadly, where Navratilova was winning her doubles match), so we went off to find the Enqvist-Bjorkman match, which was just entering the fourth set with Enqvist up 2-1. We were cheering for Bjorkman (mostly so that we could watch even more tennis!), and although he didn't pull through for us, he did give us some beautiful plays and a classic Bjorkman moment where he faulted on his serve and refused to believe the line judge, walked up to the net and made the chair umpire check it out. When the umpire said, yes, it was out, Bjorkman said "I don't believe that!" but he went ahead and served again, and faulted again in exactly the same spot. He started up towards the net, but for some reason the umpire gave in and said, "premier service. first service." At which point Enqvist, who was literally feet away from us (we were in the second row of the tiny courts, right next to the service line, so we could see everything), stood there and stared at the umpire. After Bjorkman aced his next serve, Enqvist made a gesture to the umpire, I think implying that both of those calls were good and that it should have been Enqvist's point. But in the end, he didn't need it, and he won the match 6-3 3-6 7-6 6-3. We were pretty hungry by then (it was 9:30), so we went off to the Latin Quarter to get some sushi on our way home. Not bad for a Thursday afternoon.

So there you have it - quite a nice way to spend your after-work hours, if I do say so myself.
:: David (17:50 in Michigan, 23:50 in Paris)
...

In a few minutes I'm going to head off to Roland Garros (AKA the French Open) to see if I can procure a seat or two and watch some tennis. It's only a few blocks from here, as I understand it, so if we can't get seats, no problem.
:: David (11:00 in Michigan, 17:00 in Paris)
...

Hey! It was today in history when the Battle of Tsushima made the West sit up and take notice of Japan as a military power, when it utterly vanquished the Russian navy in 1905. Since I lived fairly close to Tsushima while I was in Japan, I took a trip there in 2001, from which there are many photos (down towards the bottom half of the page).
:: David (07:10 in Michigan, 13:10 in Paris)
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The Guardian was chock full of interesting articles today, including an article about Garry Trudeau and Doonesbury, and one about the viral marketing of an almost pure sugar product called a 'Fruit Winder' to children. The article discusses whether or not this sort of marketing should be allowed, given the obesity crisis in the UK.
:: David (07:06 in Michigan, 13:06 in Paris)
...

Your (and my) word for the day: Permaculture. According to the Permaculture Drylands Institute, Permaculture is "the use of ecology as the basis for designing integrated systems of food production, housing, appropriate technology, and community development. Permaculture is built upon an ethic of caring for the earth and interacting with the environment in mutually beneficial ways." The word itself, according to a document by Steve Diver, was coined by Bill Mollison, an Australian ecologist, and one of his students, David Holmgren, in 1978. It is a shortened form of either "permanent agriculture" or "permanent culture".
:: David (06:53 in Michigan, 12:53 in Paris)
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Photos from my trip to Ireland are up! We basically retraced the route I took last time, but with some interesting pit stops along the way. I'm amazed we survived, given my ability with a manual transmission and Ireland's penchant for traffic circles. I also wrote all the gory details of the trip, but I havn't posted them yet.
:: David (01:34 in Michigan, 07:34 in Paris)
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:: Wednesday, May 26 2004 ::

Tee hee! Eurovision news today - according to BBC News, the Ukraine may build a completely new venue to host the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. Sadly, it sounds as though the costs may be more than the small country can bear:

When Estonia hosted the event in 2002, the country ploughed its entire tourism budget of 21.4m euros (£14.3m; $26m) into staging the contest.

Ukraine is one of the poorest countries in Europe, so it will be a struggle to foot the bill. If it does decide to build a new venue, the cost could go through the roof.

It will also be a race against time to finish what would be a massive construction project by May 2005.

But not to worry, because Ruslana (this year's winner) is on the case, having been made "a Eurovision adviser to the Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych". And she is eager to please. "In Istanbul, I wore a t-shirt which said if you come to Ukraine, I will do all I can to make sure you have a good time. I now have to keep my promise."
:: David (11:35 in Michigan, 17:35 in Paris)
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So yesterday I was supposed to meet Jason online to try out a chat program, but I forgot completely. Bad David!

Today was a real crowd pleaser - I had to skip breakfast so I could have a blood test for my health insurance people. Then the person in question had trouble finding a vein. And, of course, I got dizzy and had to take a break both before and after the blood was drawn. I hate needles! I don't know why - there's no logical reason, but there I go, lying on the floor trying not to pass out. Silly!
:: David (11:23 in Michigan, 17:23 in Paris)
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:: Tuesday, May 25 2004 ::

So the party was fun, and a success, I think. Now I just have to make it through this week, and we're off to Avignon!
:: David (18:12 in Michigan, 00:12 in Paris)
...

Knoppix has impressed me. It booted straight away, and now I am able to blog with no delay. And it is a fast browser for surfing the web, although I haven't tried to do anything tricky, like visit the BBC web page. I even have an old distribution (3.3) but nevertheless it fired right up, and even likes my laptop. Very cool!
:: David (18:11 in Michigan, 00:11 in Paris)
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Party this evening with a couple of people from work. One of them is leaving Paris at the end of the week, which is sad. On the upside, it gives us a reason to party!
:: David (13:06 in Michigan, 19:06 in Paris)
...

There was another article on the Monsanto case in The Globe and Mail, which explained why the ruling did not make Mr. Schmeiser pay Monsanto:

In an unexpected twist on Friday, however, the Supreme Court reduced the damages to zero and said each side must bear its own costs.

It said that Mr. Schmeiser profits "were precisely what they would have been had they planted and harvested ordinary canola."

Since there was no evidence that he sprayed Roundup herbicide to reduce the weeks, the majority said, there is no way to conclude that he gained any financial advantage. "On this evidence, the appellants earned no profit from the invention and the respondents are entitled to nothing on their claim of account."

which I thought was a very interesting way of looking at things. Not really that helpful, in a jurisprudence kind of way, but very reasonable.
:: David (11:27 in Michigan, 17:27 in Paris)
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You may remember me mentioning last year the lawsuit involving a farmer up in Canada who had been sued by Monsanto for planting GM crops without paying for them. He claimed that his crops had been 'infected' by the GM crops planted by his neighbors, which led to his crop producing seeds which carried the modifications. Well, the Canadian supreme court has ruled, and they appear to have ruled in favour of Monsanto, although the penalties were waived. I read about the ruling today in Wired. When I went looking for the news article, I discovered there's a website devoted to the case.
:: David (04:52 in Michigan, 10:52 in Paris)
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:: Monday, May 24 2004 ::

We're back, and other than a nasty sunburn, no problems. For those of you who heard about the thing at the Airport here in Paris, we didn't fly back until this morning, and there was no sign of anything having gone amiss (although something quite obviously did - the front pages of several papers were screaming "How could this happen?!")
:: David (05:53 in Michigan, 11:53 in Paris)
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:: Friday, May 21 2004 ::

A real gem here before we depart:

Iraqis are ready to "take the training wheels off" and assume political power from the U.S.-led coalition, President Bush said Thursday as his administration began to roll out a rough plan for the June 30 transition of authority.

Patronizing? Nooooo! We have complete faith in Iraq as peopled by a mature public! 'Training Wheels' indeed! I'm going to be so amazingly glad when that idiot goes back to his village.

OK - we're off to Ireland! See you all on Monday!
:: David (22:12 in Michigan, 04:12 in Paris)
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:: Thursday, May 20 2004 ::

Recently, to summarize our progress on our current project, I said to my supervisor "It's rollin' along!" which took me back to the days of UNIVAL, when myself and the other two project managers would have conference calls, and I would use phrases like that to describe our progress. After the call the other two would always assail me for my breezy summary of events, and occasionally they would have some trouble controlling their mirth during the calls, as was the case on one occasion when I said "let me check my calendar...", then stared at the ceiling for several seconds, then answered with a date I had completely made up. I can't imagine what it must have been like to work with me....
:: David (06:47 in Michigan, 12:47 in Paris)
...

So I had wondered about the location of the castle mentioned in one of P G Wodehouse's books, but I was unable to come up with anything. Perhaps what I really needed was a massive geological database and two bored Ph.D. students.
:: David (05:39 in Michigan, 11:39 in Paris)
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There's something liberating about being at work when noone else is here. I wandered in, walked up to my office through an empty building, sat at my desk, went and got coffee, and saw noone. Nice. Quiet. It's OK if you talk to yourself when noone can hear you. So long as you aren't hearing responses when you pose a question....
:: David (03:20 in Michigan, 09:20 in Paris)
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:: Wednesday, May 19 2004 ::

Tee hee! My friend Care, who is now with the ACLU in Ohio, just won her first solo case, intervening in a dispute between an expelled student and a school board. Go Care! I had to write and ask, tho, if she felt odd being involved in something like that - for me, I still feel like a student when I go to a high school. Maybe that says something about me....
:: David (14:22 in Michigan, 20:22 in Paris)
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So the last post offers proof that I had completely forgotten (completely!) the fact that I wasn't supposed to eat or drink anything last night or this morning. Whups! As part of the 'welcome to the country' package, I get to have a blood test (rumour has it one has a blood test all the time here, basically every time you visit the doctor). Well, I forgot, so when I was there she asked if I had eaten or drank, and I said 'oh!' and she said 'on ne peut pas.' Too bad, come back on Monday. Perhaps this time I shall remember.
:: David (03:40 in Michigan, 09:40 in Paris)
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An evening out with some friends from work yesterday. We went and sat in the park next to the lake (I felt bad, as I had not been aware of park or lake, despite the fact I work quite near them both). After, drinks and chatter until midnight. A long day, and I ended up getting less sleep than I absolutely prefer, but good stuff nevertheless.
:: David (03:37 in Michigan, 09:37 in Paris)
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:: Tuesday, May 18 2004 ::

Lots of alcohol. Must sleep!
:: David (18:30 in Michigan, 00:30 in Paris)
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Sonia Gandhi turned the job down! I'll be darned. They're now saying an economist might be the next PM of India. The markets were upbeat on this news.

I've always had respect for people who can let go of things, who can say 'I don't want this job' or 'now is not the time for me'. I'm truly glad that Al Gore didn't run this time. Maybe he'll learn something and come back in 2008. If ever there was a man who needed to find himself before becoming president, it is he.

On the subject of people becoming world leaders, there's a great article on the BBC where they interview random people on the street in India and ask "What if you were Prime Minister?" The responses are very interesting. Note the number of people who mention corruption. I wonder if there has ever been a government whose people did not think it was corrupt?
:: David (11:42 in Michigan, 17:42 in Paris)
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An amusing story Sasha forwarded me about Japan's gangsters' (Yakuza) use of prosthetics. As you may or may not be aware, the loss of some or all of one's pinky finger is a frequent result of involvement with the Yakuza, and this can be difficult to conceal when one wants to return to the regular world. Thankfully, someone is willing to help!
:: David (04:06 in Michigan, 10:06 in Paris)
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We got the most amazing letter this morning from Natka and Janna, two friends of Sasha's from Wellesley, with whom we stayed when we were in Boston two summers ago. They were apparently one of the couples who applied to be married in the rush which started at midnight Sunday night/Monday morning in the state of Massachusetts. It sounded absolutely amazing, with tons of well wishers and loads of newspapers and camera crews and somesuch. Apparently images of them were broadcast worldwide by the BBC, and they were interviewed by reporters. Very, very fun and exciting stuff! It looks as though Sasha will be in Boston when they have the ceremony, if we have understood everything correctly, so that will be great, too.
:: David (03:21 in Michigan, 09:21 in Paris)
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To begin this morning, a pet peeve of mine - if there exists a word, use it. Especially if you're only going to replace it with something stupid. In this story on MSNBC, which talks about Michael Moore's new film, the writer talks about the origins of the name of the film:

The film takes its title from Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451,” which refers to the temperature needed to burn books in an anti-Utopian society. Moore calls “Fahrenheit 9/11” the “temperature at which freedom burns.”

Anti-Utopian? If MSNBC cited its authors, I would write this guy directly to smack him or her. The word is 'dystopian'. Learn it. Use it. Love it. Argh!
:: David (03:01 in Michigan, 09:01 in Paris)
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:: Monday, May 17 2004 ::

Other than the occasional news story, we have been partaking of the end of season 2 of Babylon Five.
:: David (16:23 in Michigan, 22:23 in Paris)
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Apropo, the stories keeping me on my toes include the assassination of the head of Iraq's governing council and the rout of India's stock market after the election of Sonia Ghandi.
:: David (16:20 in Michigan, 22:20 in Paris)
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Back to work. I work too much. I'm glad this week is almost finished. Even though it's only begun!
:: David (13:51 in Michigan, 19:51 in Paris)
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:: Sunday, May 16 2004 ::

Lazy, lazy day. A visit to the Louvre to see an exhibit of Middle Eastern art - they have a number of works, which they have augmented with some really nice pieces from the New York Metropolitain Museum of Art. After, a coffee along the river and home. Lazy, lazy day. And I have a short work week, which is good, because I fear a full five days this week might kill me.
:: David (16:51 in Michigan, 22:51 in Paris)
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Well, the BBC has their Eurovision story up, and they say (or quote someone as saying) the biased voting was 'worse than ever'. I thought it went pretty well, in terms of who should have been at the top, but only because everyone took equal shots at each other. It evened out.
:: David (19:12 in Michigan, 01:12 in Paris)
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:: Saturday, May 15 2004 ::

Anyone reading this first, please note that I blogged Eurovision 2004 as it was happening, so go to the bottom and read upward or it won't make any sense!
:: David (18:07 in Michigan, 00:07 in Paris)
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For those who don't know, the winners of the Eurovision contest get to/ have to perform their song and dance again after they win. So we watched it again, and they danced it again. They looked whipped. No pun - we had both forgotten at the end they break out whips as part of their dance. Tee hee. Very fun evening all the way around!
:: David (18:06 in Michigan, 00:06 in Paris)
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Apparently the award for winning is a huge block of solid glass or something - there was some fear the poor woman who wan was going to drop it while trying to hold it aloft.
:: David (18:02 in Michigan, 00:02 in Paris)
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Ukraine, with their crazy Xena looking folks appear to have won Eurovision 2004. The big question is who comes in second. And it was Serbia and Montenegro. Wacky wacky stuff!
:: David (17:56 in Michigan, 23:56 in Paris)
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Then again, the next country tried to give points to Slovenia. Who aren't in the running. Maybe they aren't really paying attention - after all, there's only several hundred million people watching....
:: David (17:52 in Michigan, 23:52 in Paris)
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12 points to serbia herzegovinia. oops. Serbia Montenegro. Well there's a faux pass for you!
:: David (17:51 in Michigan, 23:51 in Paris)
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I had forgotten just how political the voting in this can be - Greece gives points to Cyprus, Cyprus to Greece, and they both ignore Turkey, just as an example. But it's still fun, and the contest is actually quite close, with two of the fun ones being in the running.
:: David (17:41 in Michigan, 23:41 in Paris)
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My goodness, the voting just goes on, and on, and on...
:: David (17:38 in Michigan, 23:38 in Paris)
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Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. I wondered what the FYR was....
:: David (17:05 in Michigan, 23:05 in Paris)
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There is a definite delay between the time you hear someone say 'Olivia Newton John' with a French accent, and the time you understand what they have said and react with horror.
:: David (16:50 in Michigan, 22:50 in Paris)
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Lots of random dancers and somesuch while we wait for the voting to close. Meanwhile, the announcers here talked about the politics of Turkey hosting Eurovision, given their desire to enter the European Union.
:: David (16:44 in Michigan, 22:44 in Paris)
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5 minutes until voting is in!
:: David (16:40 in Michigan, 22:40 in Paris)
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And, finally, the Swedes - of course, the announcers referred to Abba in the introduction, and there is certainly a touch of Abba in the song, but also think every 80's solo woman. I dunno. We were momentarily disturbed by what she was doing to the mic stand. She's a good singer, but overall I don't find the song anything special, and other than her antics with the mic stand there haven't been any special visuals, either.
:: David (16:34 in Michigan, 22:34 in Paris)
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Rumania - leather clad woman singing a song with just a touch of middle eastern to it. It's pseudo xena. The song itself is totally unmemorable. But the dancers were fun.
:: David (16:30 in Michigan, 22:30 in Paris)
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Turkey - the host country, so the crowd seems pumped. With a ska band. Who knew? Tempo changes, a gratuitous peace sign sewn into the inside of his coat (I think that may have been illicit). Certainly as much fun as any of the bands thus far. And a sexy dancer with the shirt "Turkish Delight"! Excellent!
:: David (16:27 in Michigan, 22:27 in Paris)
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Cyprus - standard ballad with female singer. Sasha is unimpressed by her scary long fingernails. Her voice is quite good, and she's followed some interesting chord changes, but the song is just plain dull.
:: David (16:21 in Michigan, 22:21 in Paris)
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The UK, unless I am sadly mistaken, has a country music song for their entry to Eurovision. I can't even begin to speculate why.... Anyway, think more candle waving, and nothing by way of good music by me.
:: David (16:18 in Michigan, 22:18 in Paris)
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Poland - wow - woman, wearing a tremendously odd outfit, three man line of brass - I think she may be the mexican singer, because at one point they counted to three in Spanish. It's a fun song, and more than slightly bizarre, think latin drums with a plain old lead line. But more amusing than many. Blue Cafe - I may look for them...
:: David (16:15 in Michigan, 22:15 in Paris)
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Ireland - I don't have any hopes, because this one was apparently written by a westlife guy, but we'll see... Guy, suit, ballad. Nope.
:: David (16:11 in Michigan, 22:11 in Paris)
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Iceland - Guy, suit, ballad. No Bjork-like sounds. Just candle waving crowds, and nothing special.

We've just been discussing the fact that noone has really been terrible this year. This may be in part becasue this was the first year there was a semi-final round which got rid of the worst (one hopes).
:: David (16:07 in Michigan, 22:07 in Paris)
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Greece - with a name like 'shake it' it has to be good! There's a greek feel to the song, but only just. Apparently this guy is the tipped winner, but I can't really see the reason why. The tear-away white suits the women were wearing were nice. It seems he was wearing one as well. He certainly brought the energy level up, but I wasn't overwhelmed. Probably as good as any of the other good ones we've seen.
:: David (16:04 in Michigan, 22:04 in Paris)
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F.Y.R. Macedonia - just a touch of middle east (the falling violins, if you'll forgive my terminology), and some seriously bizarre lyrics. Sasha suggested black box theatre, what with the opening 'dance' sequence. The other people on stage appear to be doing some kind of interpretive dance. Nice outfit, weird dance/whatever, but the song was rather unmemorable.
:: David (15:59 in Michigan, 21:59 in Paris)
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Russia - four acrobatic guys, each painted a different color (blue, red, purple and yellow-green), one female lead singer. The singer got some of the body paint on her during the opening sequence, which is kind of amusing. The song is un-memorable, but the guys are incredible - the tumbling and stuff is amazing.
:: David (15:55 in Michigan, 21:55 in Paris)
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Belgium - in English, interestingly (as the French announcers were commenting). Seriously good hair on the guys - not quite a mohawk, but close. Full on dance song - big bass and drums, good female vocalist. Nothing special, but nice. Very high energy, and not too repetitive.
:: David (15:52 in Michigan, 21:52 in Paris)
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Halfway there. Maybe the winner will be in the second half....
:: David (15:48 in Michigan, 21:48 in Paris)
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Bosnia-Hertzegovinia - ginormous disco ball, and Billy Idol comes out. Except he is the campest Billy Idol ever! Tee hee! And a dangly earring to round things out. Wow.
:: David (15:45 in Michigan, 21:45 in Paris)
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Croatia - lounge singer. Guy, suit. Sadly, he is following the Ukraine's cavepeople, and the change of pace (this is a slow song) is just too much. He's got a good voice, but it's not exciting.
:: David (15:41 in Michigan, 21:41 in Paris)
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Ukraine - cavemen? Or Xena. Big flame columns in the background. Whips! Lightning! And the dancing! Holy cow that was bizarre! But the most fun we've had thus far. The French announcers called it Conan the Barbarian, female version.
:: David (15:38 in Michigan, 21:38 in Paris)
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Albania, the country Sasha picked ahead of time, to win, is represented by a 17 year old girl. Guitar Solo!!! Yes! Overall she's a good singer, but the song is bland. The background singers look like programmers dragged straight from the cubicle, which is fun. Overall a fun little song - not totally embarrasing for Sasha to have chosen....
:: David (15:34 in Michigan, 21:34 in Paris)
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Germany - soft vocal jazz. We spent the whole song trying figure out what song it sounded exactly like. Nice enough, and a change from boy bands.
:: David (15:30 in Michigan, 21:30 in Paris)
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Netherlands - my first reaction was 'oh no! Not doo-wap!' but in fact it is more your standard guy with a guitar singing sensitive ballad. Plus doo-wap. Not so bad, although Sasha thinks he may have been too long in the tanning salon yesterday. Amazing falsetto. Overall, it's, ah, weird.
:: David (15:26 in Michigan, 21:26 in Paris)
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Malta! Ha ha ha ha ha! Ha! Ha ha! Think showtune. It's a well done showtune, no less. The male singers leather pants are causing some distress, and she looks kinda Maria Carey-esque, but overall not awful.
:: David (15:21 in Michigan, 21:21 in Paris)
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Serbia and Montenegro - bonus points for being the first ones to even pretend to play their instruments - and quite a collection too - they've gone with a traditional/arabic feel, leading in with some kind of cool flute. Very cool!
:: David (15:18 in Michigan, 21:18 in Paris)
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France gets my WTF? vote - Sasha says they've done the best job with the visuals, and I have to agree, but it's all pretty bizarre. Actually, it's just that the song is one of those ballad-type things, and the dancers are just not meant for a ballad. One of the dancers is a dark skinned woman with a shaved head on stilts. I can't even begin to explain....
:: David (15:14 in Michigan, 21:14 in Paris)
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Norway = "Who does he remind me of?" "Bran Adams?" = ouch! That said, he kind of reminds me of the newer songs of Elton John, and he does fairly well in that genre. But ouch, nevertheless.
:: David (15:10 in Michigan, 21:10 in Paris)
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Austria - they're mostly in tune. 3 boy band. And when I say boy band, I mean "boy band". Ouch!
:: David (15:05 in Michigan, 21:05 in Paris)
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Spain gets points for the dancers (men in white suits) but none for originality - excepting possibly the long haired drummer (the only musician on stage, interestingly - the lead singer pretended to play guitar for about five seconds, then gave up and just sang).
:: David (15:03 in Michigan, 21:03 in Paris)
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Last year's winner had some serious pipes - I believe she may have deserved to win!
:: David (14:56 in Michigan, 20:56 in Paris)
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Oh lord, let the madness begin. Live from Istanbul, it's Eurovision 2004! Thanks to France 3 we'll be typing our way through the chaos, which has already had gold lamé!
:: David (14:54 in Michigan, 20:54 in Paris)
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Sasha and I refreshed our memory on how to play backgammon today, after a wander about the city, and a pause to get a mobile phone (we both have them now - I'm not going to put the number up so ask if you want them). It's mostly so we can coordinate when we meet, and so people who visit can reach us. In addition, a tasty lunch and a wander through a couple of markets.

To hurt your head, just as an aside, if you can find the video of Kimera's "The Lost Opera", do so, watch it, and then call your therapist.
:: David (14:38 in Michigan, 20:38 in Paris)
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Have I mentioned how cool I think Yann Arthus Bertrand is? I originally saw a travelling photo exhibit of his in Denmark, and now I think he is quite well known. If you go to the website, be sure to see the photos of French people, which has great photos of random people in random professions (including the former French president).
:: David (05:04 in Michigan, 11:04 in Paris)
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:: Friday, May 14 2004 ::

There are 36 unique hits when searching for Pelham Grenville (P.G.) Wodehouse over at project gutenberg. This is wonderful - all the early 1900's literature I can consume, and it's even easier than going to a library. Isn't the internet a wonderful thing?
:: David (18:35 in Michigan, 00:35 in Paris)
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An amusing article on those brainy ravens, from the Economist.

I should note, here, that I always find it amusing when the Economist has a story like this, which is terribly interesting, but not even remotely related to the title of the magazine, which one would think is also its subject.
:: David (14:15 in Michigan, 20:15 in Paris)
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Hm. Maybe the clock on the server is off... maybe it's my clock that's off. Anyway, it will be 7:30pm soon!
:: David (13:17 in Michigan, 19:17 in Paris)
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Going for a new record for myself - it's now 7:30pm and I haven't left work yet....
:: David (13:15 in Michigan, 19:15 in Paris)
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:: Thursday, May 13 2004 ::

Every day, something new. We found the data files I had generated for the publication were all wrong, so I'm here at 7pm still churning out the output. I love it! I also got a fun email concerning another little boo-boo I made - it read in part "I guess you commented it out in the 2001 version ('out of whack' must be you!) and removed it from the 2002 one so both will need editing." It's hard to argue when someone knows what your comments look like!
:: David (12:34 in Michigan, 18:34 in Paris)
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...and speaking of wacky, I found out yesterday that if I wanted to, I could ship all my stuff over here on my employer's dime. Despite the fact that I'm already here, they will pay to have my boxes and boxes of whatnot shipped over. We have pretty much decided not to avail ourselves of the 'shipping over' part of the offer, but when we rent an apartment this summer, we may get an unfurnished place, then collect lots of scary French merchandise (furniture, etc.) and ship it all home. Sasha has been saying IKEA a little too much, but I'm thinking a bit more upmarket. Of course, the next question then becomes what to do with it all if I don't rent a nice place in the states, but rather just a small apartment. I'm sure my folks would be even more excited to have even more junk in their basement! I don't look forward to moving again (or rather, I don't look forward to moving again, if I'm doing the moving. Having movers come to the rescue is just fine!)
:: David (03:08 in Michigan, 09:08 in Paris)
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I don't understand France at all sometimes. There is a strike today, but apparently everything was planned well in advance, because the newspaper has all the details on which lines are running, and at what percentage of capacity. Wacky, wacky stuff!
:: David (03:03 in Michigan, 09:03 in Paris)
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:: Wednesday, May 12 2004 ::

Finally got around to putting up some pictures of Troyes, the cool old city we visited on a random weekend sojourn (when I was first starting to get stir-crazy staying in Paris every weekend). Lots of fun stuff to see, and I even put a small blurb (which, let's face it, is still not a description of every picture. But I'm working on it!)
:: David (18:14 in Michigan, 00:14 in Paris)
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I put up some pictures from our trip to London. No subtitles, just another series of shots, but the pictures from Brighton are fun, and most of the photos from London are the sort of generic tourist shots. The pictures from the British Museum were a way of killing time before heading back (via Eurostar) - we had our luggage with us, and it was too much to carry, so we checked it at the museum and spent the day wandering among lots of old stuff. Well, Sasha spent the day, and I spent part of the day (the part where I wasn't standing in lines for French visas).
:: David (17:42 in Michigan, 23:42 in Paris)
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:: Tuesday, May 11 2004 ::

I wondered if I had managed, in all the excitement of a full blown computer crash, to omit the fact that I succeeded in getting a visa. So now, finally, after a goodly amount of time, I am a semi-legal person. I still have to do the second phase of paperwork, but for the moment, I am as legal as I have ever been. And that makes me happy. It only took an hour of queueing outside the French visa place in London, followed by a few minutes waiting while paperwork was filled out. I'm still a little bit in shock that it all worked out. Given the quality of the info I provided, a less desirable outcome was most certainly possible.
:: David (17:58 in Michigan, 23:58 in Paris)
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Found my mail, called my mom. Another day of small but measurable success. Re-installed all the old, familiar apps like FireFox and ThunderBird, along with random video drivers and somesuch. But as near as I can work out at this point, I lost exactly zero info. Of course, I haven't tried to update my web site yet - that will be another gauntlet of missing files, et cetera, but for now, things are happy. I can sleep.

Tomorrow I meet with the HR person to become a 'real boy' at the OECD. No more wondering when my last day is - now I'll know! It's one year from May 1st! Or something like that. Lots of paperwork, and worst of all, a ride out to La Defense during rush hour. Ack!
:: David (17:55 in Michigan, 23:55 in Paris)
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Argh! My telephone code to the states doesn't work anymore! Dag burn it all!
:: David (13:26 in Michigan, 19:26 in Paris)
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Well, the computer is 65% functional. It'll have to do, all things being equal. Mother's day - I keep forgetting and remembering. I'm going to do something about that right now!
:: David (13:23 in Michigan, 19:23 in Paris)
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Made it back to France, turned on my computer, and found that the OS had gone the way of the dodo. I've a suspicion I've fallen prey to one of the more evil of the various virii and worms floating about, although I did a scan recently and even made extra sure I wasn't vulnerable to Sasser, but, sadly, the computer died anyway. So, since I've been meaning to do it anyway, I reinstalled Windows (although I can't find my disks, which means I had to use Sasha's, so I'm not sure but that I might have to reinstall the OS again if I ever find my disks. Frustrating! So no email from me for a while, I'm afraid.
:: David (03:04 in Michigan, 09:04 in Paris)
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:: Friday, May 7 2004 ::

A while back, the question arose, "just how much fuel does a jumbo jet use?" Now, the BBC has inadvertantly answered that question. In an article today about the Airbus A380, the BBC stated "Airbus also promotes the A380's environmental credentials -- it does 95 miles to the gallon per passenger." Earlier in the article, they noted that "The size of the A380 means it can take a third more passengers than a jumbo jet, about 555 people". Ignoring the bad grammar, we divide 95 by 555 to get the mileage of an A380 - or rather, the gallonage. It takes 5.84 gallons (22.2 litres) to move the plane one mile. And this is the newest, most fuel efficient version!

According to a slideshow given by a representative of Boeing in June, 2003, second generation planes use 0.3 litres per kilometer per passenger. For a 1600 kilometer journey (as they show), that would be 126 gallons per person to do the journey. That's 50,000 gallons for a 747 holding 400 people, and 1000 miles, so the math is easy - 50 gallons to the mile.

On the other hand, another site said that in 1955, mileage was 20.9 mpg/pp for international flights, which would be 26 gallons per mile.

The long and the short? It takes a heck of a lot of fuel to get you from point A to point B, driving or flying.

I know, I know, now you're thinking "what about the train?" So am I, but I can't find any information. So, I'll sign off, head to London, and let you all search on your own. All the information I've been able to find suggests high-speed trains are much more fuel efficient than either cars or planes, but until somebody shows me the numbers, I'll hold off on making a decision.
:: David (11:38 in Michigan, 17:38 in Paris)
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:: Thursday, May 6 2004 ::

Lots of good French instruction today - first, an impromptu meeting in my co-worker's office in French, and then in my French class I was the only one who showed, so we just chatted. Good stuff! Lots of practice! I'm looking forward to speaking French a lot better before the year is out. Maybe that can be my 30th (not 29th!) birthday present to myself - semi-fluency in a second language. It's a nice goal, anyway!
:: David (10:22 in Michigan, 16:22 in Paris)
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There was another interesting article cited in the bibliography of this recent study titled "Inequities in Health Care: A Five-Country Survey" which has some very interesting results which compare attitudes and reactions to health care across the same five countries (AUS,NZL,US,UK,CAN), separated by income level. Once again, the results for the US are... interesting, to say the least.
:: David (07:22 in Michigan, 13:22 in Paris)
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There's an article that has been published this month in the journal Health Affairs which has raised quite a stir in news circles because it compares the health care system of five big English speaking countries - Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada and the US. The article has raised eyebrows not only because it shows that in the US health care is not "the best in the world" but because it points out that in achieving our mediocre results, the US spent quite nearly twice as much as everyone else. "[S]urveys have shown that the extra spending is probably not buying better experiences with the health care system, with the exception of shorter waits for nonurgent surgery." Also very interesting were some of the individual results that the US scored poorly in, such as transplant survival rates. I think, had I been asked, I would have said the the high-tech procedures (like transplants) would have been where the US excelled. Instead it is things like smoking and cancer screening. It has been clear for a while, and this paper simply emphasizes, that the US is in dire need of a new way of dealing with health care. I do not, sadly, expect the current administration to notice.
:: David (07:17 in Michigan, 13:17 in Paris)
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A couple of amusing things I ran across in the New York Times today:

First, Thomas Friedman, on the current state of world opinion concerning the United States, stated

It's no wonder that so many Americans are obsessed with the finale of the sitcom "Friends" right now. They're the only friends we have, and even they're leaving.

Which is an excellent summary, I think, of any number of things - not least foreign policy and American's awareness of it (although he might not have meant the second part).

The other thing this morning was an article, a book review actually, titled How Much Does Information Technology Matter? which reviews the book, based on the article (I believe) of a similar topic. The article gives a good summary of the basic premise:

His basic point is straightforward. At one time, information technology was so expensive and so difficult to manage that companies could make large amounts of money simply by being able to make systems work. (Think I.B.M.)

Companies that lacked the skills to manage information technology effectively suffered compared with competitors that had mastered those skills. But over the years, as information technology has become cheaper and more manageable, this source of competitive advantage has been reduced and perhaps eliminated. Hiring knowledgeable employees is much easier than it used to be, and the tools to manage this technology are far more powerful than they were a few short years ago. Nowadays anybody can set up a Web server, or an accounting system, or an inventory management system.

the reviewer goes on to point out, quite rightly, that advantage now lies in how one uses the tools. But I have to say, both the author and the reviewer seem to overestimate the basic savvy of organizations when it comes to IT. Something as 'simple' as a web server, or an accounting system, still stymies far more companies than they seem to be allowing for. Basic infrastructure is not yet in place. And I think the reviewer hits the nail on the head in some ways when he compares I.T. to the assembly line - both are basic tools which are now used to make business happen. The difference is that with the assembly line, people have worked out how to make things go, for example, from one conveyor belt to the next. The basic concept of making parts go from point A to point B has been pretty well trodden. There are still refinements (ergonomics, for example) but basically, the parts go from beginning to end, and it's a value-add process - at the end of the day, you end up with a finished product where you started with a shell.

I.T., even with something as basic as, for example, ERP software (a piece of software that lets you manage employees and money for your business), still has trouble working out where the begin and end are, and what points in the middle add value. It is astonishing, but it is fact - most companies, and most companies designing this sort of software, still haven't worked out who adds value when in companies, even when they cheat by focusing on a specific sector (higher education, for example). Now, I admit, 'building' an employee, or a business, is not the same as building a car. But until the basic paradigm of this new business management software is worked out, I.T. cannot be considered a commodity, to be turned on and off like water from your tap. It is still something you get, and then you tinker with, perhaps excessively, until it works. Mostly. More like a Model-T.
:: David (03:27 in Michigan, 09:27 in Paris)
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:: Wednesday, May 5 2004 ::

Good Lord! I just sat down and read a romance novel from cover to cover. ack! But with a title like Single White Vampire how could you resist, honestly? Every now and again I do that - just plow through a cheesy book in an evening. Good for letting the brain unwind in a serious way! It was clever, this book, and I give two points for clever on any occasion.
:: David (18:04 in Michigan, 00:04 in Paris)
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I find it really amusing that I keep forgetting I'm going to London this weekend. It's just that it's a business trip, and there's no particular thing I want to do, no particular place I want to see. I do hope to get out of the city a little bit - perhaps I'll see what sort of road trip can be arranged on short notice - Canterbury is always a nice town to visit, for example. And I bet Sasha could tell me lots of things I didn't know about the city....
:: David (07:10 in Michigan, 13:10 in Paris)
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I am informed that the last, best chance for a resolution of the WTO farm subsidies dilemma will occur here in a week or so. Since we are having a meeting of trade officials from several countries, Reuters is saying that they will use the opportunity to hammer out a deal:

Trade officials and diplomats from the United States, the European Union, Australia, Brazil and India, will meet on May 12 and 13 to try to tackle complex technical issues which must be settled if ministers are to decide anything, they said.

What fun! Perhaps I'll get the chance to hobnob next week.
:: David (07:07 in Michigan, 13:07 in Paris)
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:: Tuesday, May 4 2004 ::

I can usually resist, but I'll pass this one along - it's a Harry Potter music video. Professor Snape may actually be this cool...
:: David (13:14 in Michigan, 19:14 in Paris)
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Full lunar eclipse tonight - I hope I can get the camera to stand still long enough to take some pictures!
:: David (13:02 in Michigan, 19:02 in Paris)
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Have you ever wondered why all ancient statues seem to be broken? Perhaps it happened during a drunken stag night.
:: David (12:54 in Michigan, 18:54 in Paris)
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The word for the day - 'snazzitize' - what was actually said was along the lines of "Do you want me to make some snazzy titles?" but what I heard was "Do you want me to snazzitize it?", which I thought was a great word. So now, your mission for today is to use it seven times, so it becomes part of your vocabulary.
:: David (07:04 in Michigan, 13:04 in Paris)
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I hate the fact that the Times doesn't let you link to their stories online. There's an absolutely brilliant opinion piece written by Libby Purves which talks about the uproar concerning the torture of Iraqi prisoners, in which she points out that more than likely, not every sentiment of disgust expressed by the military is political calculation. It's a nice article because it walks the fine line between respect for the tough job the military have with acknowledging that they are not perfect. The only difficulty I had with it was the idea expressed, via a quote from Kipling (!) - "Making mock of uniforms that guard you while you sleep". I wonder if it is still fair to say that the military guards us, if "us" refers to the US or the UK. I know, I know - heresy and all that. But the fact of the matter is, when it comes to national security, intelligence and special forces have really become the tools of the modern age. It isn't a nice thought, really - the idea of the military is at least nice in that you knew where you stood - and where the other guy stood. A platoon of tanks is obvious, compared to a guy in a suit (which conceals a weapon). But now the military is increasingly being sent abroad to protect others (something, by the way, I fully support when done correctly), rather than 'protecting us while we sleep', at least in the traditional sense.
:: David (03:29 in Michigan, 09:29 in Paris)
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:: Monday, May 3 2004 ::

Thank goodness! Shelby read the DaVinci code, and thought it was so-so as well. We are not yet inundated.

My favorite story involving this book involves the guy at Shakespeare and Company, a local English bookstore/place to crash if you're broke, who tried to talk the woman out of buying the book. She just wants to give him the money and leave, and he's like "I can't let you buy this book!" It amused to no end.
:: David (17:35 in Michigan, 23:35 in Paris)
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I read a fun article in the Guardian on the way home today, talking about how your white bread got so white. Called our daily bread, it't the second in a series of book extracts from a book called Not on the Label by Felicity Lawrence, which talks about all the bizarre things people have done to mass-produce food. It's really interesting, especially given the recent rise in 'background noise' I've been hearing about just how unhealthy white bread might be.
:: David (17:25 in Michigan, 23:25 in Paris)
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I have a new office mate. Yes, Desney has moved away, and in her place is Dominique. The reason I have a job is because Dominique left to go have a baby, but now she's back, and I have a real job. Apparently. More or less. The documents concerning my real job were somewhat scary - five pages on the new job, thirty pages on how the US government wants me to pay taxes. Too bad, I say.

Also, today, was the mad booking of flights. We're scheduled to go to London this weekend, then Ireland, then Avignon the last weekend in May, first of June. Lots of crazy stuff. It makes up for the fact that I have stretched myself quite a little bit recently. Hopefully, once the paper goes out it will settle back down to a more normal pace. But even if it doesn't I'll still be travelling like a mad fool!

I think, because I have changed jobs (again), that I have gotten a raise (again). They've been doing it, quite unintentionally, about once a month. Entering in December is a great way to make you feel good about your job. Sadly, however, they appear to have messed up the paperwork (again), so I'm not really sure if I've gotten a raise or not. But, quite honestly, I don't care, so long as I get to keep going on holiday every weekend!
:: David (17:17 in Michigan, 23:17 in Paris)
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:: Sunday, May 2 2004 ::

I put up a few photos from the weekend, two of the bizarre egg I mentioned earlier, and two of the famous (why?) peeing statue. You can see them here.
:: David (16:55 in Michigan, 22:55 in Paris)
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It is imperative that you all visit the BBC's week in pictures this week, to see how the Polish police keep busy!
:: David (14:52 in Michigan, 20:52 in Paris)
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OK - we're back. And the first question I want all of you tech people to find the answer to, somewhere on the internet or elsewhere if you have resources, is why there is a man in a nest attached to the side of the 20th floor of the Panasonic/Technics building in downtown Brussels. Very disturbing!
:: David (14:31 in Michigan, 20:31 in Paris)
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:: Saturday, May 1 2004 ::

Mornings. Yuck! We managed to wake up at the appointed time, and although it's may 1st, the RATP website reports only one 'manifestation', so it looks as though we'll be able to take the metro to our Train. And then, Brussels!
:: David (01:04 in Michigan, 07:04 in Paris)
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