Blog Contributors

Searching through my mail to see what I missed over the last few weeks I ran into this:

apparantly im not a contributor on this blog, and it seems i have two accounts, one being a mac account that my mac computer decided to create by itself, and i dont want a stupid mac account because mac is annoying, i would like to create a one single blog account and be a contributor with absolutely no mac or apple affiliation just gmail and this is really pissing me off because i can't post anything i don't think. what do i do, i need to be invited to be a contributor.

thanks, really appreciate it.

sincerest regards,

****,

angry.


Im glad that was all worked out (no names mentioned) :)

"and a hot dog every month and a half "

Im glad we're off the red meat wagon:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/health/28brod.html

on a related note (that made me hungry until I read the preceding article)=

"Same Cow, No Matter How You Slice it"
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/dining/29beef.html

"The Denver was invented after meat and marketing experts spent more than $1.5 million and five years on the largest study anyone had ever done on the edible anatomy of a steer." wow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oghj7y4hluU

peter, I found a new musical group for you to join, combining all of your interests into one: sitting on rocks, singing baritone,  and getting in touch with nature. 

Damn birds!

Well I was just going to show you a scenic shot of our Vancouver mountains when this damn bird flew into the picture and spoiled everything.

When historians look back on our blog, they may conclude that the last week of April 2009 was uneventful. Not so! I planted raspberries.
Watch the blog for weekly time-lapse photos of the raspberries -- including late summer fruition close-ups.

Paris

Hi Everyone,
Ive spent that last few days leisurely exploring Paris. Each day I try to go to a museum and site or two, see a different area of Paris (usually for the vantage of my Velib' (what's a Velib'? scroll further) and eat an icecream or a nutella waffle or a crepe, or on special occasions, like sunny days, all of the above. Today I went to the musee d'orangerie, named for being the worlds first greenhouse and the place where Napolean got his oranges. It has Monet's eight waterlilies paintings as well as a collection of renoir, soutine and souzanne paintings, I think it's my favourite museum so far. This Soutine character was especially interesting.


foreign mode of transportation of the day= Velib'
description: a bike
why its sweet= just a bike you say? not so. The Velib' system in Paris has hundreds of bikes parked at stations across Paris. Just swipe your card and you're off!
culture shock to prepare for= One rides a Velib' sans un helmet!! ("without a helmet" for you anglophone readers)
features of the Velib= a bell, a surprisingly roomy basket up front, a seat designed for comfort but build for speed and a light that runs on pedal power amongst other things.
things to watch out for= swishy sounds when you're getting comfortable on the seat of your Velib'. Odds are its bird poo. Two for two so far.
colours= gray

how's Lucy?

Andrew

Morocco Pictures

I posted my photos from Morocco and Berlin: http://picasaweb.google.com/andrew.sudmant

went to the Louvre today, I really missed doing side-of-mouth impressions of mom's art critiques with you Adam. "Notice how Bertrand uses bright colours...the birds...the direction of the feet.. what do you think he was trying to tell us boys?" :)

how's Lucy? is she going in the woods again?

Paris

Bonjour tout le monde!

I had a really exhausting but exciting trip in Morocco, I'll hopefully get some pictures up soon. Besides Julian I travelled with Lucas, who is also from UBC and studying at Science Po in Paris, and Jordy, who is taking a year abroad at science Po from the university of Melbourne. Our plan was to meet a guide in Marakesh and travel to M'hamed to see the desert. Unfortunately an unnanticipated transit stike forced us to make new plans. instead, we travelled by "scab" bus inland through the mountains from marakesh eventually making it to ozarate where we went on an overnight camel trek in the desert. I got lots of sweet stuff, I dont want anyone back home getting too excited.. but lets just say that I have you covered if youi're in need of anything fossil or bookstop related (or fossil-bookstop related). Unfortunately one persons givft was smashed by easyjet but luckily I decided (or more accurately was forced by its size) to carry my most prized aquisition on the plane. It was quite amusing, without giving it away, what i bought is reasonably identiable even wrapped up, so i got a few knowing nods and thumbs up from other tourists (who were less ambitious or decided to risk checking their luggage).

interesting Morocco fact: Morocco has a king! who'd a though eh? His name is Muhammed six (no typo there, that's Muhammed Six, not "the sixth") and his face is on pictures and billboards eveywhere-businessman muhammed in the cities, good muslim muhammed in the medina, army muhammed by the palace, baby muhammed in someone's house, "ballin" muhammed with a rolex like a sundial near a mall... he's apparently quite popular and has brought quite a lot of reform to morocco, including making women equal citizens in the early 2000's.

foreign food (to avoid) of the day: dates
discription: prunelike, very sweet
common mistake: assuming they will be really good because you've seen them being grown all morning on the bus and everyone in the market is eating them
tipoff: all the flies

I hope the big 1 9 went well Adam! dont worry about your port hours. they only have 2 weeks posted so far (not a month) and it doesnt look like there are many cruises for some reason. you also arent trained yet, so training will be three or four consecutive days and once youre trained and have completed your shadowing shifts you'll start getting more regular work.

Andrew

Adam*s Birthday

Happy Birthday Adam!!!!!

im sorry i cant be there but theres something should be coming in the mail any time now qnd i hqve some surprises from morocco. I just returned from a cqmel trip in the desert; it was really unbelieveable. im really strugglin with this computer/internet crashing; but i zill try to send a better updqte soon.

food of the year= chicken tangine
description= chicken potato herbs and spices qre combined and cooked in a tangine; in a clay pqlte with bowl type thing over top.
important fact=everything about the dish is hot
best part=getting to see the chicken you eat
worst part=getting to see the chicken you eat
most delicious part= dipping bread in the sauce

Special News

As I am now an official contributor to this blog, I'd like to take this moment to announce some very special news: Steely Dan is starting a new tour. They are going to the United States again after their european tour, to begin their Rent Party 09 tour. I am extremely excited, and their site has also mentioned the announcement of other "exciting new developments". As the tour is called "Rent Party", my theory is that this is a foreshadowing of the release of a new album! As their last album was "Everything must go", the announcement of a "Rent party" signals the re-emergence of the "business", and their rent party is the tour that will kick it off. I am checking the site each day, and once they announce their concert date in or around Seattle or Vancouver, I will be sure to make another post. Thanks Walter and Don!

Cage match

K.D. Lang's Hallelulah
or
Jeff Buckley's Hallelulah
^
^
^
Vote up over here, on the right margin, where the Sudmant family poll collects votes --^

marseille

Hi All,

after a grinding journey (Berlin to Basil, basel to Beil, beil to Geneva, geneva to lyon, lyon to marseille), i am now in marseille. tomorrow im off to tangiers morocco.


foreign food of the day: Rosti
description: bits of potato formed into a pancake like shape, can include cheese or bacon amonst other things.
common foreigner mistake: calling it a potato pancake
similar canadian foods: potato pancakes
origin: switzerland
main eating demographic= university students (this is highly acecdotal)

thanks for posting my photos Heidi :)

Andrew

Best Hallelujah?

Mom asked me to post Cohen's Hallelujah covered by Katie Lang. I did, but, I have to say, of all who've covered this song, I think this is the best, Jeff Buckley. It won't let me post here, so you have to click the link, please do!

Hallelujah

Berlin

Hi Everyone,

Ive had a fairly eventual last few days. Monday night I stayed at Heidi's and Tuesday i took a day trip to Luzern, a really picturesque midevil farming town on lake zurich. heidi has an amazing apartment, its on a hill about a 20min walk from downtown zurich and from her porch you can see the entire city. i uploaded photos arent her computer but didnt ahve time to put them up. originally I was planning on staying at Heidis and doing several more day trips before traveling to Marseille... but I had a change of heart and decided to hop on the night train to Berlin tuesday evening. Berlin is amazing, i definitely want to come back here in and spend more time. yesterday i took a walking tour and saw most of the major sites; sections of the berlin wall, the reichstag, the brandenberg gate and checkpoint charlie amongst others. today i went to museum island and saw one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the gates of babylon. the highlight of my day though was 'aquadom', a touristy private aquarium with a massive fishtank that has an elevator that goes through it. i leave tomorrow for a day in lyon then sat i get to marseille.

foreign food of the day= currywurst

description= a bratwurst sausage sliced up and slathered with curry sauce served with a bun
origin= indo-germanian
flavour= curry point meets jacksons. delicious.
most common tourist mistake while eating currywurst= not knowing how to use to bun to sop up extra sauce
texture=chewy

ps anything that comes in the mail is for sharing (unless it was sent to 'andrew' in which case it is onlz for 'andrew' :) )

new photos!

Dear dedicated readers,

at long last I have finally added new photos (or I hopefully will have in 18mins if I have correctly understood how to use picasa in german). These photos are of Switzerland where Sarah and I ahve been travelling for the pat 8 days. I ahve no time for captions, but the photos are of Laussane (the home of the olympic headquarters), the jungfrau region (featuring the revolving restaurant from the 1960`s James Bond movie), Geneva, Zermatt and Zurich; where we^ve been staying with Sarah^s extended family for the past day.

the photo can be found here= http://picasaweb.google.com/andrew.sudmant

just had authentic fondue. fantastic stuff. going to the Lindt factory tomorrow, then Heidi`s.

all the best,
Andrew

PS check your mail in the coming week or so

More on Saturna

Yesterday we had the inspection of the Saturna place. It looks good, but one thing still remains: there is a small part of the ceiling insulation which may contain asbetos. We are waiting for it to be tested -- not likely, and if it is we'll get it removed (don't worry, I won't go up there and vac it up with the electrolux).

Meanwhile, here's a big set of pictures for you to look at the whole thing. I clambered down to the water -- proving it is indeed waterfront. Lots of work for all, as we build the path to the water front and start work on the dock! Note, it is actually very close to the government dock for boating.

What do you think, sudmantfamily? post your comments.
Picassa link to "inspection day on Saturna"

Hey Walter

Hey Walter, how do eagles catch those little fish?

Well, they circle around using their eagle eyes, then they dive -- but, here's the important part -- they dive down faster than gravity. Its amazing, and only the most perspicacious photographers ever capture the force-dive of the hungry eagle. I did.