Californication

Ben maandag (namiddag) goed en wel in Belgie gearriveerd. Dinsdagochtend om 6 uur opgestaan teneinde mij tijdig in Brussel aan de US ambassade te kunnen presenteren – een ietwat overdreven inderdaad, maar ik heb hierdoor een goede ochtendwandeling doorheen Brussel op mijn actief kunnen brengen. Lunch met Natalie op het dak van het muziekinstrumenten museum (nabij Kunstberg, en een Victor Horta-gebouw); gorgeous uitzicht over de Stad in de aanwezigheid van sprankelend gezelschap, goede spijzen en drank; niet te versmaden. En het is mooi weer! Gisteren dan: een mtb tocht met mijn pa nabij de Kluisberg. Mijn fiets heeft de vliegrit goed doorstaan – er waren enkel een paar uit de kluiten gewassen krassen op de case – maar de bike zelf is onaangeroerd. Straks: terug naar Brussel en de ambassade…

...so no time to post anything here. Though I have some nice pics from my trip last week to the Carrizo plain. Anyway, today I managed to put my bike in the air cargo case that I bought; see how that will work…

The wandering Palo Alto mountain lion – aka a Puma at Large (only Olve-alumni will understand this one) – has found its end by the hand of the Palo Alto police department. This particular mountain lion must have been mentally challenged, or extremely lazy, since rather than preying on deer or rabbits in the vast Santa Cruz mountains and the land surrounding it, he was spotted yesterday in downtown Palo Alto (Embarcadero and Middlefield for those who are curious)! Perhaps small pets and dogs or little children looked more attractive or an easier kill to the big cat? I lean towards the mental issue theory, since apparently a geriatric dog had chased it into a tree. The Palo Alto police force, eager of getting a break from their parking enforcement and dog poop ticket routine, arrived on the scene and promptly shot the poor cougar. The officers were probably drawing lots to determine who could be the one pull the trigger. Yes, in Palo Alto the world problems sometimes seem far away…

Since I started about it in the previous post: the festival of Cannes, started a few days ago, features ‘The Motorcycle diaries’, a movie about the bike trip Che Guevara made with Alberto Granada through South-America, that I will absolutely have to see! I own the books, but haven’t gotten too far in them yet. Che is played by upcoming Latin star Gael Garcia Bernal (of ‘Y tu mama tambien’ and ‘Amores perros’ fame).

<Joshua Tree foto’s gepost gekregen. Ik wou er eerst een soort Anton Corbijn-geinspireerd art project van maken maar heb mij gelukkig enigszins weten in te houden en een en ander tijdig af te handelen.

Check out my Joshua Tree pics / motorcycle diaries.

I gave away my last Gmail invite so no need to send me any more requests. The winner turned out to be not someone I know, but is a friend/co-worker of a friend (yes, a case of the loathed ‘friend-of-a-friend’ syndrome) I had given another Gmail invite to. And he did present me with the most compelling argument I’ve received: he was suffering intolerable pain due to the continuous bragging and uber-geek elitism displayed by the other guy (who happens to be his office mate).
So to all the other strangers who applied: better luck next time, but congrats with finding me (no way I could have had a high Pagerank with the original post).
Update: it seems Feedster was instrumental in finding it (at least for the runner-up in my little contest).

Completely missed it; snooker is unknown and unloved here in the US, even my well-educated American coworkers are unaware of its existence. This doesn’t take away the fact that it’s the greatest game, one of the few things I would be willing to stay home and watch TV for. I’m so longing for the days of the thundering baritone of Ted Lowe on the BBC, in all his theatrical brilliance. The second best extra-curricular thing about snooker (after Ted’s commentary) are the nicknames of the players. Hurricane Higgins, Jimmy ‘the Whirlwind’ White (Lowe: “The Wind is bloowwing agaaainn!”), Steve ‘the Nugget’ Davis, James ‘Thaifoon’ Wattana, the Maltese Falcon, etc etc.
So Ronnie ‘the Rocket’ O’Sullivan won the title this year. Good; he’s my second choice, after the perennial Jimmy White of course, who’ll most likely never make it.
O’Sullivan is also a worthy successor of Alex Higgins. I do prefer his earlier nickname though, ‘the Essex Exocet’.

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