Blog Archives: May, 2006
Summer Eights
At Merton College with Caroline, Emily, and Paul My last stop on last week’s European adventure was Oxford. After meeting up with my former housemate Caroline in London on Friday night, we went up to Oxford on Saturday. We met Paul and had lunch with him at his room in Merton College, where he is a Junior Research Fellow (post-doc). After having coffee with Mark Schaan (who I met at Waterloo), I went down to the river for the aforementioned Summer Eights boat races, where I met up with Caroline and Paul as well as another former housemate, Emily (we’re all pictured at left). This year it rained, so it was less busy than the last time I was at Eights.
Crowds along the Isis The rules for Summer Eights are simple enough. Thirteen boats are lined up one after another with about 1 boat length between each of them. Each boat’s goal is to “bump” the boat in front of them (the boats don’t have to physically touch, you could just pass the front of your boat past the rear of the next boat). If you bump, you both pull out of the race and switch positions in the next race. There is one race a day for four days, and positions carry over from year to year.
Pembroke rowing Because the river is long and winding, and because the boat houses are only at the end of the race course, you often don’t see much of the race and many boats may have bumped by the time the race gets to you. So no one really ever knows what’s going on. The only way to even know who’s rowing past you is to look at the pattern on their blades. I only found out who won after getting home and checking the results on the Internet. In the Men’s races, Magdalen maintained their status as Head of the River (first boat), and my college (Pembroke, at left) moved from third to second.
After a relaxing night in Oxford, I flew out of London and returned to Waterloo. A quick and tiring trip: 4 cities in 6 days. No more traveling for a few months now. Time to relax and get some research done. No, really, I will.
I’ve also posted photo galleries from the Belgium and England trips.
Another night, another bed
Our journey continues in England. I’ve moved across town from the Hyde Park area and the glamourous hotel below to a little bit north and a little bit central to stay with my former housemate Caroline. We’re headed up to Oxford tomorrow to meet up with our other former housemate Emily and to take in Summer Eights and, of course, some Pimm’s and lemonade.
Casablanca Nights
Casablanca Nights, Pavillion Hotel UK My arrival on Wednesday night in London was inauspicious: delayed flight, late arrival, rain. Though it was sunny yesterday, while I was inside most of the day at the conference, it continues to rain today, now that the conference is done, of course.
Curtains, Casablanca Nights, Pavillion Hotel UK The past two nights I stayed at the Pavillion Hotel, a “rock-and-roll/fashion/glamour” hotel that I found through a list of unusual hotels of the world. My room, as you can see in these pictures, was the Casablanca Nights room, complete with leopard print bedcovers, red and blue walls, and funky chandeliers.
Bed, Casablanca Nights, Pavillion Hotel UK Though it was raining this morning, I made good use of the dry (meaning lack of rain) weather yesterday by going for a run through Hyde Park, located just a few blocks from my hotel. While running through the park, I saw all kinds of tourist sights (including the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, which I hadn’t seen before) and the band for the Changing of the Guard practicing. 
Stairway, Royal Society Incidentally, the changing of the guard seems to be going on right now, for I can hear the band going past The Royal Society where the conference has been held. It’s a grand old building with marble everywhere. I think this afternoon I’ll visit the Tate Museum and then tomorrow I’m off to Oxford. It will be nice to go back to Oxford, but I’m also tired and it will be nice to get home on Sunday.
In Brussels
Shops on Grate Markt I’m in Belgium right now, attending a workshop on Post-Quantum Cryptography, which is exploring what classical cryptography will be like if we have quantum computers. I arrived yesterday afternoon and had a couple of hours to visit Brussels. 
Flags outside the European Parliament At left is one of the old guild halls on a main square in the old part of Brussels, and at right is the European Parliament in the new part of Brussels.
Kasteel Arenberg, Leuven The conference is in Leuven, about 45 minutes outside of Brussels. Leuven is a university town and the university seems to have a castle on the campus (left). My supervisor are heading off to London for a quantum cryptography workshop, and then on Saturday I’ll be in Oxford for the Summer Eights boatraces.
New York, Philadelphia, and Washington
Gloria at Independence Hall Last month I went to Philadelphia to visit my friend Gloria (picture at left). Gloria has been working on a Masters in Public Health and Masters of Medical Science (Physician Assistant) at Arcadia University in Philadelphia. She’s been there for three years now and leaving soon, so I decided it was time to visit her. Of course, she’s never come to visit me in all my years at Waterloo, but I guess I’m just a better friend than she is.
Here’s a travelogue for my voyages, and pictures are available in my picture gallery.
Taxicabs in Manhattan On Saturday, we went to New York City. I hadn’t been to New York City in probably 15 years, so it was great to visit. We wandered around lower Manhattan, visiting the former site of the World Trade Center and Wall Street. Moving north, we toured the Guggenheim Museum on the Upper East side. It was actually a bit disappointing. The exterior of the museum was under reconstruction, and the main exhibit in the museum was a seemingly never-ending series of sculptures by David Smith, all of which were approximately the same.
Times Square at night After the Guggenheim, we met my friend Ryan for coffee. Ryan and I went to high school and university together, and now have met up in 4 foreign cities (San Francisco, London, Oxford, and New York). After coffee and dinner, Gloria and I managed to score tickets to a preview performance of Disney’s Tarzan on Broadway. The music of Tarzan has always seemed a bit weak to me, but the staging of the show was spectacular, with some really great wire work.
Exterior, Carpentar's Hall After a long day in New York, we spent a more relaxing Sunday in Philadelphia. Gloria showed me around the town that’s been her home for 3 years and graciously took me to all the tourist sites, even though she’s probably been a dozen times or more. We went to the Liberty Bell (which has been moved indoors because of “terrorism”), Independence Hall. For lunch we had a Philly cheese steak at Geno’s complete with actual Freedom Fries.
Korean War Memorial Gloria had to work on Monday, so I took the train to Washington, DC. Total time in DC: 5.25 hours. Total distance walked: 15.6km. I walked from the US Capitol down past all the museums, up to the White House, the Washington Monument, World War II, Vietnam, and Korean War Memorials, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Jefferson Memorials, took a tour of the US Capitol, 
Model of the USS Enterprise and visited the National Air and Space Museum. I particularly enjoyed the Air and Space museum, where I saw nuclear missiles, a replica of Sputnik, got to go inside of a SkyLab, and see the original model of the USS Enterprise. After so much walking, I was glad to relax on the train ride back to Philadelphia for the flight home.
Tomorrow I’m off to Brussels and London for some conferences, so I’ll try to post some pictures from the road.
South Park Douglas
Me as a South Park character A while back I had a picture of me as a Lego character, and now I’ve found a site that allows you to create a picture of yourself in the style of a South Park character. So here’s me, as a short boy from a small little mountain town in Colorado.
