January 27, 2005
Windy bridge
The wind in Geneva has been reaching 50-100kph, with predictable results for anything downwind of the lake...
photo credit: skyandsummit
Posted by Michael at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2004
Bol D'Or
I raced in the 66th Bol D'Or this weekend, and it was one of the best races I've ever been in. Winds on Lac Leman are so variable, we occasionally had to tack, gybe and switch between Genoa and spinnaker all within one hour and all without changing direction much! Amazing, and lots of fun. Lots of wind, too, ranging from Beaufort 1 to 3. Total time in the race was 17 hours, from 9AM to just before 1AM the next morning. The last two hours of the race were spent gybing with the spinnaker in the dark, watching sail trim by the light of the stars overhead, listening to quiet commands and rippling sails from the other boats around us. Magical...
For those who are interested in such things, here is our GPS track
and here is the track of one of the top boats.
Oh, and from a friend on the boat... here's 
Posted by Michael at 05:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 16, 2003
Winter Dawn
Another beautiful morning, as winter makes its presence known in Chablais.
Posted by Michael at 02:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 02, 2003
Geneva Lake Parade 2003
The annual lake parade in Geneva is a wagon train of flatbeds covered in enormous speakers (pumping out techno, hip-hop, reggae, salsa...) and tiny dancers (just plain pumping). It is not actually possible to watch it without dancing, which is a good thing.
Pictures from the previous parade are also available.
Posted by Michael at 08:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 20, 2003
Kuala Lumpur Bird Park
Located in KL, this is purportedly the largest covered bird park in the world. I can believe it -- thousands of birds, many flying free in a giant park entirely covered by high netting.
Appropriately, there's a second set of netting above many walkways, in order to minimize spashes...
Posted by Michael at 03:19 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Malaysian sausages
You should see the buns.
Posted by Michael at 03:06 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 09, 2003
Trees
Posted by Michael at 11:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
A day at the beach
A fairly busy beach, considering it's the first week of February.
Posted by Michael at 11:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Rushes
Grass and birds in the Stadtpark in Vienna.
Posted by Michael at 10:55 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 05, 2003
Snowy morning (again)
The view from my desk this morning was particularly good for helping me ease into the day... in fact, I turned around and walked out to take a few picks from the road in front of my office...
This is what it looked like from the outside this morning. We've had a record amount of snow in the last few days, welcome indeed for all the skiiers and boarders (which is everyone)...
This is the road I walk along when I'm late and have to catch the bus to Collonge. It leads up through a beautiful little town full of stone buildings, ivy, and people who would be quite rich if they sold their homes...
...and this is the field on the other side of the road -- coincidentally the field I see every time I look up from my desk. I like this field. In the summer, it's filled with poppies waving in the wind.
Warm sunlight always makes me want another coffee. Dunno why, but there you go.
A pathway across the fields on the other side of the road from my office. Fields throughout Switzerland have these paths laid across them, perfect for comfortable wandering and biking. In fact, biking is popular enough that the national network of biking roads are mapped out in handy books, highly recommended for the cycling tourist.
Posted by Michael at 01:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 31, 2003
Check please
Still nice and snowy -- the question is no longer "will you go skiing?" but rather "when and where?". 
Many are heading for Zermatt and the Matterhorn, others for Verbier, others to France. On a day like this -- clear blue skies, birds in the air, gorgeous mountains rising up from the far side of Lac Léman -- it's important to know that in the near future there will come a time when you will no longer be sitting at a fucking desk writing change requirements which you know will never be specific enough...
Posted by Michael at 11:56 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 29, 2003
Smoking
Ah, Europe. This is the closest smoking room to my desk, a pleasant space for doing a little non-work work... as I am doing now. The photo is simply my laptop's view from where I'm sitting typing this. Four months ago, we didn't need this room as you could smoke anywhere -- but hey, I can move with the times.
Posted by Michael at 02:02 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Room with a view
The view from my office today... why am I not boarding today? I heard there is now 2m of base at Saas-Fee...
Posted by Michael at 01:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Snow
It snowed in Geneva today -- a rare ocurrence. As everywhere, a blanket of snow makes the whole world more beautiful -- and less noisy. Click here for a short film (700k) from the same location.
Posted by Michael at 01:57 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 27, 2003
Big men
If you're going to play chess outdoors in the winter, it's a good idea to make sure you move around a bit to keep warm. Also, if you move the pieces by kicking them then you won't have to put down your cigarette.
Posted by Michael at 06:11 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Grey streets
A street scene in Geneva -- typical for a winter evening on a Sunday. We were delighted to find the Japanese place open on this block -- they do a very nice Tempura, with a light batter and a surprising variety of veggies & seafood. Plus, they provide pots of wasabi and ginger on every table -- oh, yeah.
Posted by Michael at 06:09 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Grey Skies
The view from my apartment in Eaux-Vives. We have the ugliest building, so we get the best view -- everybody else has to look at us. The sky, as usual in Geneva in winter. is grey. Grey, grey, grey.
Posted by Michael at 06:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 22, 2003
Easy wait
Swiss medicine is a wonderful surpise after the US -- I arrive early for an appointment, and the doctor comes out to apologize, asks me to wait a few minutes and points the way to the coffee.
We've never met.
(moblog #1 just for Taco)
Posted by Michael at 02:46 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 15, 2003
Sign of the times
Posted by Michael at 05:07 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 14, 2002
LOW CLOUD REFLECTED IN VANCOUVER RESERVOIR AFTER WATER LEVELS ROSE FROM NEEDED RAIN
Low clouds drifting through the trees are reflected in the still waters of the Capilano Reservoir in North Vancouver, November 13, 2002. Water levels have steadily begun to improve following a week of rain in the lower mainland of British Columbia. From June to October 2002 Vancouver recorded the driest season since record keeping began in 1937 resulting in the water levels in the reservoir dropping to dangerous levels. The reservoir is one of the main sources of the city's drinking water.
Photo by Andy Clark
Posted by Michael at 05:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 24, 2002
spidey
Spiderman was a really fun film. Credits to Leslie Harpold.
Posted by Michael at 11:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 26, 2002
A day in the Juras
Spent Sunday visiting various areas of the Jura mountains. Expecially wonderful were the Jurassic Park
, Cheek Lake (Lac Joux)
and the little town of Le Pont 
at its end. Let us not forget the many beautiful alpine meadows and pastures 
along the way.
Posted by Michael at 06:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 25, 2002
Jurassic Park
Took a nice walk in Jurassic Park
Posted by Michael at 09:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 14, 2002
The Fête de Gèneve and the Lake Parade
Each summer in Geneva, there is a celebration called the Fêtes de Gèneve. It's been running since 1947, and has evolved somewhat from its original state...
Thursday, August 1 was the Swiss national day. National tradition has it as a fairly quiet celebration, group dinners and bonfires in each small commune. We wandered down to the lake, and played on the beach as the sun set. Families began to show up and set off fireworks, and looking along the lakeshore I could see an apparently endless series of lakeshore bonfires and fireworks. A beautiful evening, and a heartfelt but low-key celebration.
The Saturday Lake Parade was a little different. I expected decorated floats with costumed people on them. Instead, I spent the evening dancing in the streets with thousands of other folks as flatbed trucks full of DJs, sound equipment and scantily dressed people rolled slowly by. The parade lasted for hours, and even in the intermittant rain the celebration was intense and fun.
The trucks all ended up just outside of town on the shore, where stages had been set up and the music and the party could continue all night.
A nice addition to the floats in the parade were the beer and condom vehicles. If you wanted beer (or a condom), you just walked up and asked for one as a truck or car went by. Beers you generally had to pay for, although there were also 'beer exchange' trucks which would give you a free soda for an empty beer bottle. Guess they wanted to minimize hangovers by keeping fluids up...
The revellers on the street were dressed just as wildly as the dancers on the floats, with whom they occasionally traded places. For a sample of images from the parade, have a look at my pictures
... or, you can also see others at this site.
Looking forward to the next fète...
Posted by Michael at 09:20 AM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2002
photos of flowers, in case you like them
Posted by Michael at 08:50 PM | Comments (0)