JB USA

Twitter

2011-05-09T20:24:00.002-05:00

I haven't been doing too well keeping up with my blog but perhaps I'll have more success with micro-blogging. Follow me @johnwevens to keep tabs on what I'm eating for breakfast.

A winter hike

2011-03-26T11:35:00.003-05:00

Technically, March 20th is still winter, so this counted as a winter hike in the mountains. It wasn't the warmest day we have had this March, but when the sun came out it was very pleasant and even during overcast spells we were easily warm enough provided we kept moving. Boudin did great. The terrain didn't seem to bother him and with everybody's encouragement he managed to keep up the pace - not that he got fatigued but if it were up to him he'd stop to smell every tree in the forest. We did the circuit from Browns Gap parking area on Skyline Drive down a fire road to the trail that takes you past Doyles River Fall and Jones Run Falls back up the the AT. After one cheeky shortcut near Dundo camping area we reckon the mileage to be about six dead.

Home from the Road Trip

2011-01-02T21:01:00.002-05:00

Sorry to any readers who were worried that we didn't make it home. The last two days were spent slogging away at the miles and I didn't have a lot of energy for blogging. Plus, not much happened! When we got awoke in New Orleans we intended to walk to Cafe du Monde for some kind of famous hole-less donut, but it was tipping down with rain. By the time we got the car, it had stopped raining, but we still drove around the block to find people queuing down the street at the cafe. OK, scratch that idea. We grabbed a McDonald's breakfast instead. By lunch we were in the region of Montgomery, so we reached for the GPS to find us a spot to get some Gulf seafood before we got too far from the coast. Three separate places turned out to be sketchy, closed or non-existent, so we had Wendy's. Things really weren't going our way.
Our last night was New Year's Eve and we were in Athens, GA. It was a fun town, and we enjoyed dinner and a drink in a cool downtown bar, but we were running on empty and retired to the hotel to ring in 2011. The next day proceeded much as the previous had. Drizzle most of the day. Attempted lunch at a Cracker Barrel, but to long of a wait, so Firehouse Subs. We just wanted to get home, and in time we were! The familiar Richmond skyline appeared as we turned a bend in the highway and our road-trip of 3110 miles, was nearing it's end. In all, we had traversed 10 States (VA, TN, AR, TX, LA, MS, AL, GA, SC, NC) and for me six of them were virgin territory. Tennessee was beautiful; Louisiana soulful and fun. But the best part of the trip was time spent with family, especially the newest addition. That, and getting home!

Trip from Texas Day ?

2010-12-30T23:51:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure if this is day one of the trip home or day eight overall. Either way it's been a good one. It was an immense pleasure to visit with Martha, Graham, Toby and Mom. We has a truly fantastic time. It is inspiring to hold Toby in my arms and also to see what a splendid job his parents are doing of nurturing the little guy! All the same, we are excited to be back on the road back to our home, our friends, family and especially our Boudin!
Talking of Boudin, we are in the land of Creole, Cajun and Bayous. We have decided that since we are in the general area, it is worth stopping in on the Big Easy. Totally worth it! We drove in via LA state route 1, which gave us a good feel for the coastal area, a mix of heavy industry and rural swamp land. Once we arrive in New Orleans, it was a whole new world. Following out GPS we suddenly found ourselves on a side street crowded with pedestrians and a brass band quartet. We would soon discover this was our first experience of Bourbon Street. All the hype you've ever heard about Bourbon St? It's true! In fact, the whole area is just awesome. A few block from party town and you are standing on the bank of the Mississippi River watching the fog roll into the city.
Crawfish cakes. Catfish Po'Boy. Jambalaya. Tres Bein.

T3 D3

2010-12-25T22:05:00.002-05:00

Tonight we enjoy the five star accommodations at Hotel White! Home cooked meals, entertainment provided by Toby Sebastian and a luxurious air mattress! We have finally arrived.
The into Hot Springs last night was a little scary along twisty, hilly roads through the forest in the rainy dark. Driving out this morning the same twisty, hilly roads were a pleasant change in scenery to the monotonous interstate. Soon we were back doing major damage on the few miles remaining between us and our destination.
We stopped for lunch at a Jack in the Box, chosen mostly by virtue of it being the only thing open on Christmas morning. I had a Sourdough Steak Melt that made me wish we had Jack back East. Shortly after lunch break we were into the Dallas area and the monotony of the last 1400 miles was soon forgotten as we navigated giant tangled spaghetti junctions with crazy drivers careening across six lane highways. The Magellan came into its own and we were glad to have an updated map in the memory to guide us through labyrinth. Once past Dallas, driving conditions dramatically improved and in no time we were pulling up outside a cute house and being warmly greeted by family.
Merry Christmas everyone!!

T3 Day 2

2010-12-24T21:10:00.002-05:00

Today felt like more of a serious driving day as we set out to conquer Tennessee and make a big dent in Arkansas. We dropped out of the mountains and things got flatter as we headed into the Memphis area. We stopped in Music City with high hopes of doing some really sightseeing but the place was pretty much shut down. What did we expect on Christmas Eve? We had hoped to take in the great Mississippi by visiting Mud Island Park which includes a concrete relief of the whole river basin, but it was closed for the season. We rode on a street car along a back street of old industrial buildings some of which had been transformed into office space for software firms, others still lay in disrepair. Alighting in Beale Street, it was possible to imagine hoards of revelers staggering beer in hand down the road in the evening Memphis sun before enjoying some live blues. But the place was deserted, the blues bars closed. We headed round the corner to a Flying Saucer for a local brew from Ghost River. On the way out of town we stopped by Sun Studios but it wasn't much to look at.

After crossing the mighty Mississippi the drive got even flatter. We've made it to Hot Springs. There's not much between us and our destination except about 300 miles of tarmac, so we'll try to make short work of it in the morning. Signing off...

Trip to Texas Day One

2010-12-23T21:49:00.002-05:00

I hope you're all following along at home! Day One: Richmond, VA to Harriman, TN (just West of Knoxville) via Abingdon and Gatlinburg. We had a fun first day on the road. After a sad farewell to all the animals we got going. The first leg of the journey took us to the Valero on Semmes Ave for gas, coffee and donuts. Then we were on the highway and immediately stuck in traffic. It was starting to look like a long way to Texas! The delay was short and we were soon ticking away the miles. By the time we were done with the first Sedaris tale we almost at Roanoke and steaming our way out of Virginia. First though, a late lunch in Abingdon, a quaint railway town in the Southwest of our home state.

There were a few flakes of snow in the air as we stepped out of the car and ran into the Ellis Soda Shoppe for a bite to eat. We walked a few blocks down the high street after lunch but it was bitterly cold so we got back in the car and soon crossed in to Tennessee. Although we had been driving through the mountains, you don't really get to see them from the Interstate, so I had been wanting to take a detour to make sure that we experienced the Smokies. Gatlinburg is not far off our route and sits on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains Park. It has this awesome space needle that I was dying to visit. As we drove in from the highway we got a great view of snowcapped mountains. You could clearly see the snowline, where the steep slopes fade from white to dark. Little did we know that would be the best thing about our detour!

Gatlinburg was described by my travelling companion as 'Virginia Beach in the Mountains'. In other words, it is a resort town full of hotels, and places for the people who stay in the hotels to eat and spend money on inane amusements, such as the space needle, a dilapidated structure that barely scrapes the low clouds (let alone space) and is accessed by a lift who's doors only close if the occupants stand in the right place (backs pressed against the wall). The only other thing we found to do in town was take a free taste of Moonshine, although I could have had the same experience for almost the same price by taking a sip of antifreeze. We exited Gatlinburg by a different route and passed through the town of Pigeon Forge, which was like Myrtle Beach in the mountains. The Christmas lights were insane. In the median of the main drag they had erected the twelve days of Christmas. Every few blocks there was another group from the song. From the direction we were coming from we started at 12 and counted down. The creators had done a good job representing each verse, although four (traditionally Colly Birds) had been difficult so they went with the variant 'calling birds' and presented us with four parrots sitting atop telephones. Needless to say we were on the edge of our carseats as we approach the imfamous partridge, only to find the smallest, least ambitious light-structure in history! Oh well.

To round off the day we had Mexican for dinner and found a Crayola in our salsa. Seriously...

Sean Castleberry @ Marty's Grill

2010-11-14T20:55:00.002-05:00

Quick blog shout out to Sean Castleberry, who entertained us at Marty's grill on Saturday night. We dig your groove. Gonjoe, loved the poetry and harp. Thaks guys.

Suntrust Richmond Marathon

2010-11-14T20:23:00.004-05:00

The Richmond Marathon course takes the runners past the end of our road. They have covered approximately 14.5 miles as they cross 28th Street. We are encircled by the course making it hard to drive anywhere without having one's route blocked by a stream of athletes! I knew of a couple of people who were taking part, so I decided to go out to watch the runners cruise by. When I got to the course, a few pros were coming through shepherded by police motorcycle escorts. The flow of bodies gradually thickened, although by this point in the race the field was already stretched out. I spent about two hours walking between mile markers 14 and 15, stopping to take a few photos and offer encouragement, with pounding feet relentlessly jogging past me. At first it was inspiring to see so many people of different sizes and ages running together. At the tail end of the field it was a little depressing to see people struggling having only just reached the halfway point. However, by the time I turned for home the trickle had all but stopped completely and ahead of schedule for the cutoff time, so all the runners I saw were still in contention for a finisher's medal.
Having competed in a 10K run, where the entire route is lined with spectators, it was interesting to see the marathon pass through a residential neighborhood and still see long stretches without any supporters. It is surprising how encouraging it can be to have a complete stranger cheer you on! I spent a good amount of time on the hill up to the Lee Bridge offering my support to tired legs as they slogged up the grade. Hopefully it did some good.
As for the photos, I was hoping to get a shot somewhere that would capture the sheer volume of people, but nothing quite came out the way I had envisioned. I stood on a trashcan to try and get some altitude! By the time I walked up the the bridge the main field had already crossed, otherwise I would've climb up on a handily place police car to capture the scene... The fall colors helped give the pictures a little more interest. I never did see anyone I recognized!

Wine tours

2010-11-07T10:41:00.004-05:00

Sometimes it pains me to blog about the fun things I do. After finding a hidden gem, it seems a shame to tell everybody. I comfort myself in knowing that the readership of this blog is very small!

I can't go within 50 miles of Charlottesville without doing a winetasting at one of the many Virginian wineries in the area. Luckily, a live 60 miles away, so I'm not there every day! The tours are so cheap, usually $5 to taste the vineyard's line of current varieties. This time I went by my usual method: used Google maps to find the winery closest to our primary destination and take our chances. This time, Chance was on our side and we ended up at the Winery open by Dave Mathews in 2000. The barn which houses the tasting room is spectacular. There was nothing I didn't love about the structure, but my favorite detail was that the floors were made with oak that used to be huge cider tanks at the Bulmer's brewery.

We didn't find any spectacular wines, but we had a lot of fun.

Monticello

2010-11-07T10:07:00.003-05:00

I'm sure there's not a single angle of Monticello that hasn't been photographed, so here's my picture-postcard view that I could've probably found in 0.47 seconds on Google. Apparently no-one can remember if I'd been to Thomas Jefferson's hilltop home before, but I can safely say that if I had visited, I was too young at the time to recall many details.

The thing about an iconic location such as Monticello is that you think you already know all. The columns, the contraptions, the collections; the self-taught scientist, architect and politician. All true, but none a reason not to set foot on the property in person and discover the history for oneself.

On the day we visited some of the house normally on the tour was closed for restoration, so we got half price tickets. I'm not much for guided tours so this suited me fine. We had about an hour before our scheduled tour time to wander the grounds. Most surprising was the variety of produce still being grown in the vegetable garden at this time of year. The garden in set on a 100 yard long terrace on the South hillside, with panoramic views of the plain below.

We also took the opportunity to explore the 'Dependancies', the sunken wings off of the main house which housed some of the industries on which the house and estate depended. I envy the beer cellar!

The house tour itself was brief but ultimately exceeded expectations. We had a Middle-Eastern party with our tour group and one a few members spoke good enough English to murmur translations to their compatriots. I found the process almost as interesting as the tour itself. The guide spoke in elevated prose mired with the witticisms one would expect of a Jefferson devotee, so one can only imagine the messages received after translation! We learned from the tour that Jefferson worked ridiculously hard in all aspects of life, and so perhaps deserves the status a American demi-god, especially as he worked the hardest on discerning the properties of his nascent nation, both in investigating the natural world that existed there and inventing the social world that came to exist.

As usual, a fuller pictorial account is available on my Flickr page. Enjoy

The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

2010-10-31T16:18:00.002-05:00

This Saturday I attended the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, an event hosted by Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The two organizers are hosts of The Daily Show and the Colbert Report (pronounced with silent 'T's ie. "the Colbear Repour"), two satirical current events programs on the Comedy Central cable network. I have always been interested to attend a political rally, and since I don't have particularly strong beliefs then this seemed like an appropriate event for my first rally.
Being comedians, Jon and Steven (who regularly lampoon politicians, journalists and pundits for just about any opinion the espouse) were wary to attach any political message to the rally. Every news outlet made some attempt to explain what the rally was about. Many concluded that participants felt that politics had deteriorated into too much rhetoric and hyperbole, and that a return to sane discourse is required for the country to progress.
To me, all attempts to explain the rally are doomed to fail. Since nobody knew in advance what the primary message was, it attracted anybody who felt a resonance with the characters of Stewart and Colbert, which is to say all those who don't take things too seriously. It was something of an anti-rally, and perhaps the real message to take home is: rallies are pretty pointless. It's clearly not difficult to persuade thousands of people to show up in a central location for a few hours on a sunny October Saturday afternoon. You don't need to have a strong or coherent message. Holding a rally doesn't achieve anything, but that doesn't mean you should do it!
I personally enjoyed the experience. I think the demographic was of people who are not rich or poor. They are educated, but they don't claim to know it all. They are reasonable people who are not easily offended or angered. It was fun to meet a few such people, and therapeutic for us all to have our own rally. Do I think even the slightest tremor will be felt in the political landscape? No, not really. But in an age of extremism, it is comforting to know that were are at least a few thousand other sane people out there.
See it on my Flickr

Boudin's first Camping Trip.

2010-10-31T15:49:00.003-05:00

OK, I should have posted about this along time ago, but never got around to it. We had an additional participant in our annual trip to the OBX this year. Having never previously travelled further than a few blocks in the car, we subjected the poor pooch to a four hour car journey down to the beach. On the whole he did very well, although he spent most of the time sitting on the back seat with his head cowed looking a little queasy. He very much enjoyed the traditional lunch rest stop at Sonic, where he made a few friends. For the most part the drive was relievingly uneventful.

Boudin is a natural beach doggy. Once we taught him not to drink the salt water, he had a grand old time. He likes the same things we like. Hanging out enjoying the view, watching the pelicans cruise past, taking the occasional paddle, walking down the beach picking up interesting shells (or in his case Mermaid's purses). He helped us dig a fire pit and stayed up late just talking, star-gazing and listening to the waves.

Boudin is also a good camper. OK, he farts in the tent a lot, but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of sleep he let us get. At the campsite he was happy to be on the long chain we got him. Being away from home didn't seem to bother him at all.

Having a dog can be scary, but it's so rewarding to do new things with them. I was worried that he would freak out. I was worried that we would feel too tied down with a dog, not being able to go to restaurants for example. In the end it worked out well. We got a great take out lunch from Austin's Fish Market.

Doggy!

2010-08-02T19:25:00.003-05:00

It's official (having been unofficial since July 3rd). We paid the lady, got the papers, need to take care of a few bits of paperwork with the city and the microchip people, but to all intents and purposes we are the legal owners of a (mostly) Dachshund, goes by the name of Boudin. A note on the name: he was apparently named after a brand of French sausage, being one of a litter of sausage dogs, but we knew nothing of his pedigree or of French cuisine when we first stumbled across his profile on petfinder. So from the start we pronounced it 'BOW-din', and, well, as a bona fide American these days I see it as a right, if not a duty to mispronounce words of foreign origin.
Having a dog is awesome. I took a lot of convincing to take the plunge, but when we met Boudin for the first time it was clear he was a smart guy who would fit in well in our household of genius animals. For me one of the best things is being on an upwards learning curve. Sure, he's chewed a few things but nothing we will miss terribly. Haven't felt this fit in a year or two. Early to bed, earlier to rise! Hell, I'm even drinking Michelob Ultra these days!
Woof.

Crab Pickin'!

2010-08-02T19:16:00.003-05:00

Hard to find a better way to dispel the Monday blues that pickin' some crabs for dinner. We tried the seafood joint in the Kroger parking lot in Carytown, but they were sold out. So we risked this slightly dodgy looking place on Broad across from the DMV. Coincidentally it's very close to my old digs on Monument and Strawberry. Used to be an ice-cream parlor, and is now a seafood shack called Cameron's. You gotta check this place out. Nothing fancy, but great prices, and they steamed their crabs just right (according to my resident expert!). It's only my second or third time tearing apart crustaceans. I'm just about over the slight sadness I feel in destroying with my bare hands a creature so cleverly designed. But hey, the poor bastard has already been steamed, so I can't feel too bad about making the best of the situation. De-licious.

Back behind bars

2010-08-02T18:56:00.004-05:00

The whole point of moving house was, in my opinion, to be closer to the James River Park System and it's variety of trails. Something about getting in the truck and driving to a trailhead never sat quite right with me. I once tried to ride the northbank trail starting from our Westend rental, but the last two miles home were absolute agony. I was chugging Gatorade and Redbull and the only thing stopping me from passing out was the pain in my legs. That was fun and all, but I much prefer being on dirt about five minutes after shutting the garden gate.
It's taken me a little while to really take full advantage of my new location. On Saturday the dog (more on which later) woke me up at about 6.30am. After wearing him out with a game of catch, it suddenly occurred to me that it was 70F and I had the whole morning to do whatever I wanted. The day before I had walked Boudin along some new trails in Forest Hill Park and wanted to try them out on two wheels. In the end the route was Buttermilk from 22nd street lot to Reedy Creek. The gravel road from Reedy Creek to Boulevard. Forest Hill Ave via the Suntrust ATM (hey, I can still run errands!) to Forest Hill Park. Rode most of the trails I know of in the park, then back along the gravel road from Reedy Creek to Belle Isle, off the back of Brown's Island to the pipeline (note: the railed section is not wide enough to ride - the un-railed section is just flippin' scary!), over Mayo's Bridge to the East section of the floodwall walk, checked out the Manchester Slave Trail (a bit depressing, but I was rather impressed that the information board alluded to the protection Sickle Cell anemia affords against Malaria), hung out at Ancarrow's landing (never been down here before, just wanted to see what the sitch was -- watched a couple guys launch a boat out the bed of a pickup!), took the other half of the floodwall walk back behind the Suntrust buildings and back along Riverside to the Homestead! Phew! Loved every second of it.

A lot to catch up on

2010-08-02T18:55:00.000-05:00

Where we're going we don't need roads...

Lulu's

2010-05-16T17:14:00.002-05:00

Now that we have moved a whole swathe of dinner options are now more available to us. The mortgage of course means we are being more careful about how often we eat out, and having a more spacious kitchen and dining area makes dining at home more of a pleasure. Our dishwasher, however, is 'a piece', as the expression goes, so going out is often justified by a fatigue of doing the dishes. The roundabout destination of this sunday afternoon ramble is to make the point that we have visited a number of extremely fine establishments recently, which I may blog about in series, beginning today with Saturday evenings choice; Lulu's.

We'd had been to Lulu's once before to see our favorite Richmond Blue's duo do their thing. I think it was a Sunday night or something, because the food was serve yourself buffet style straight from the kitchen. It was, um, dodgy. Perhaps the management has changed since then (I know they are now owned by the same people that run Millie's, a popular brunch spot). Richmond.com had a positive review of the place and suggested that the prices were reasonable, so we decided to give it another try.

When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised by the appearance of the place, which had definitely smartened up since out last visit. The menu was a printed on a single side of paper, and given the class of the place the prices were relatively reasonable. OK, I thought the prices were steep, but I'm a cheapskate. At least to portions turned out to be generous. We got a table near the kitchen, which is still very open plan with respect to the dining area; a couple of metal shelving units separated me from the head chef. To one who enjoys such shows as Top Chef and Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares it was fun to be able to see the kitchen in action.

The food was good. I won't bore you with a long description of what we ate. We ordered seafood, of course, and some red meat. From our selections I think it would be fair to say that the menu is original, without pushing most diner's comfort zone. Everything was well cooked. Service was prompt and personable. Will I go back? Possibly not, but that's just because there's so many other places to try!

The kittens

2010-04-18T17:00:00.004-05:00

Yes, our other big news is that we have kittens. Just two this time! We'll try to update with photos as they grow. CLICK HERE!

May-1: Flickr set has been updated with a portrait of each kitten at about three-and-a-half week old.

May-4: The kittens get their legs! Last night in the wee hours I heard a lot of mewing, murmuring and purring. I wouldn't exactly call it a commotion but as I drifted in and out of a peaceful sleep I got the impression that something was happening. Apparently Juno had decided that it was time to move the kittens from their shelf in the sewing room and decided that under the bed would be an OK spot for their new home. I'm not sure if it was because it was too hot in the previous location (we had the fan going in the bedroom) or if the move was prompted by the mess the kittens were making on the shelf (kibble everywhere). Nevertheless, the little balls of fluff now have a bit more independence to go exploring at will. When I got home from work today they were ready to pose for a few shots as they strutted their stuff. Enjoy!

Our House

2010-04-18T16:53:00.001-05:00

For all the people who have heard we bought a house and want to see pictures, here they are.

It's still OK to have fun.

2010-04-01T21:19:00.003-05:00

Alright, so I didn't manage to post for the whole month of March, but we have been a little busy with the process of buying our first home. Overall it went very well until the last week which was messier than we'd hoped but the end result was satisfactory. Since getting hold of the keys we have been putting in long hours to get ready for the move-in this weekend. Exhaustion was starting to set in, so when the opportunity presented itself to relax for an evening there was really no argument.

Our company traditionally allows two hour early departure on days before a holiday such as today, and some friends of ours had suggested that we use the time to travel out to the Charlottesville area for some recreational activities. The first activity was to visit a vineyard (of which there are many in the area) where for a small fee you can sample the various varieties and vintages currently on sale. After indulging in the full selection, and taking a short stroll around the ruins of the old estate we went down into Charlottesville itself for some dinner. Having a little time before the eating hour we elected to enjoy the gorgeously warm evening to meander through the downtown mall area to work up our appetite. Then it was on the the Wild Wing Cafe for copious quantities of wings.

There is a chain of bars called Buffalo Wild Wings. The Wild Wings Cafe has nothing in common with that chain. The wings are in a completely different strata in terms of quality and flavor, without even mentioning the beer selection. We ordered a platter of fifty wings, ten of each of five flavors. I won't lie, I went to town on those delicious chicken morsels and have no regrets in my actions.

Right now I am about to drift into a pleasurable chicken coma, so I will sign off with the promise of lots of post about our new residence. Chicken..., chicken..., chicken..., chi.....

An Ode to my Landlords (and Ladies)

2010-02-21T13:25:00.002-05:00

We have recently taken some big steps on the way to owning a home. After a few months of looking, my brain has not yet registered the fact that the looking is over. I expect it won't truly sink in until some time after signing that big cheque on closing day. Part of the mental transition occurred today, as I thought back on all the landlords I have had the pleasure of doing business with, in light of the fact that I may never have to answer to a landlord again!

For the most part they have been a reasonable lot. One can't expect a great deal of trust to be bestowed upon oneself as a student, or the only slightly more respectable single, male, 'young professional'. But as long as they get the rent on-time every month then, most will be cordial and might even negotiate leaving dates or return some of the security deposit.

Who knows, maybe one day I'll be a landlord myself...

Cardinal reports most snow since records began

2010-02-06T10:33:00.003-05:00

You may have noticed the dearth of posts here, the reason for which being that I have been trying at all costs to avoid an article regarding the snowfall. The circumstances conspire to lead me to this point of defeat on the subject, the chief conspirator being that we are stuck in the house for the third weekend this winter, and the second consecutive Saturday on which the weather restricts our freedom of movement. Also inspiring me to finally break my silence on the frozen precipitation is the report for the news channels that we are now approaching record breaking levels of accumulation (although this largely applies to areas north and west of Richmond). As a still relatively recent arrival on these shores, I would really have no idea what a severe winter storm feels like. Midwesterner's no doubt remain mildly amused at the east coast's incapability to adapt to what they expect to be an annual event. Still, a State must organize their infrastructure with respect to the expected, thus Virginia finds itself in the position of having spent 94% of it's snow removal budget in December, only to awake under an additional foot-deep covering.

We should have expected this, of course. A poll in England, where residents are also experiencing unusual amounts of snow, found that there has been an unprecedented increase in public skepticism of anthropogenic global warming. Yes, there was Climategate, and yes, it is snowing a lot, but humanity's ability to ignore personally inconvenient signs of impending danger to the collective still astounds me. To paraphrase the logic; this extreme weather is proof that we can't possibly be experiencing climate change?

Ask yourself this: does it have to be colder than usual to cause more snow. The answer is of course no. Temperatures in Virginia this winter no colder than usual. The difference is that it is wetter (that is, we are experiencing more precipitation). As I say, we should have expected this based on one fact (the wettest November on record), and one prediction (that climate change may result in increased precipitation).

Oh well

iMac part deux

2010-01-10T18:28:00.002-05:00

Oh, you guys actually wanted to hear about my experience with the new iMac as a computer, not just as an expensive item in a nondescript brown cardboard box?

I must caveat this post by explaining that my office is by far the coldest room in the house (which is itself a rather drafty residence in the winter months), so I have not spent the time with my new toy as I might have if I could situate it in warmer climes. All the same, I am very excited to teach myself the ways of the Mac, so I'm putting on a brave face despite my chilly toes.

First of all, maximum points are awarded for out-of-the-box simplicity. Since the mouse and keyboard are wireless, and the monitor and machinery come in one sexy package there is but one lead to connect, namely the power cord. Admitted I tore my office apart slightly so I could have an initial hardwire connection to my router, but was quickly able to restore order as setting up a wireless connection was merely a matter of remembering where I kept my WEP key (hot tip: it's printed on the side of the router!!)

Apple products, of course, also score highly on attractiveness, and the new iMac is not exception, not only in terms of the shiningly white hardware but also the fancy graphics they bombard you with when you start up for the first time. If the set up process was blisteringly fast, I confess progress has been much slower after an initial burst of success. I am a lost soul at sea, forever trying to right-click a mouse with only one button (not even one, really, more like half, but oh! what a magic button...). Needless to say this has nothing to do with the limitations of MacOS, so much as my shameful servitude to Microsoft for so many years.

Thankfully, almost every application comes with a tutorial. A video tutorial, no less. The iPhoto tutorial just about blew me away with the potential of the software to bring a little most organization and professionalism to my photography. But before I can even hope to realize that potential, I will have to reconfigure the mental picture I have of how an operating system is built. For example, I was easily able to import a picture from my digital camera's SD card to iPhoto, and then from iPhoto I effortlessly uploaded the picture to Flickr. But when I want to include it in a blog post, I prefer to upload by using the blogger photo tool to browse my hard drive and select the picture. Could I find where the picture had been saved? Of course not! In the end I was lucky enough to find a 'recently imported' folder.

So, there is a lot to learn about how the pieces fit together, but it is making me feel young again to engage my cognitive gears at get to grips with a new technology. but if anyone wants to tell me where the photos do go, or why when I downloaded Skype it exists as a 'disk image' rather than an application, or whether there is a key that does what the 'delete' key on a PC does, or....

iMac

2010-01-09T18:23:00.003-05:00

I have been meaning to commence my blogging for Twenty-ten, but there has been one particular event I have been waiting for, namely the delivery of our new iMac. Thanks to the generosity of many friends and family at Christmas we were able to assemble the necessary funds for just the most basic, entry level iMac, which is still one serious piece of kit. However, getting the equipment from Apple HQ in California to Evens HQ turned out to be quite an ordeal.

Clearly such a valuable package required a signature on delivery, but since FedEx drivers like to do there work the same hours as everyone else, there was no chance of us crossing paths. I didn't like the idea of my brand new high-dollar computer being left on the doorstep on the freezing cold, either. So the final option was to go to the FedEx depot and pick up the package in person. I had done this once before for an even more valuable purchase (Kristal's engagement ring) so I set out this morning to run this simple errand.

On arriving at the FedEx office I was told I was in the wrong location.
"I'm in the wrong place?" I asked. Sure enough, I was soon in possession of verbal direction to another FedEx location a few miles yonder. As I recall, the final instruction was 'the FedEx office is right in the back', which the first indication that I would probably never find the place. I arrived in the general vicinity, a large business park near the Hanover municipal airport, and hunted through the heavy equipment dealers and hardware outlets for a FedEx building. I searched in a two mile radius from the last reliable landmark (a Sheetz gas station) but to no avail. I called home for some remote internet guidance but even Google maps couldn't find this mythical location.

Then all of a sudden, a sign. Literally, a small sign by the side of the road with the unmistakable green and purple livery of FedEx ground. For a brief moment I let myself believe my fortunes might be changing, but as I approached it was apparent that this wasn't the type of warehouse that customers pick up their packages from. Although I was told the office was closed today, the gentleman at the desk kindly buzzed me in. He took the door tag, told me to take a seat and stalked off to a back room to find, I hoped, my precious iMac.

Time passed, but eventually the man returned with a map directing me to yet another location where he assured my my parcel would be waiting. This was beginning to feel like some kind of scavenger hunt, each clue leading me tantalizingly closer to my goal, but yet I could never quite reach the end. The third location was only slightly more promising than the last, but lo and behold after presenting my door tag the nice lady dutifully produced my just reward!

And boy was it worth it.

Video Blogging

2009-12-05T16:49:00.003-05:00

I'm not planning on starting my own YouTube channel just yet, but while watching the rapids cascading past Hollywood cemetery today I got the urge to add commentary to a few videos of the river. You really can't encapsulate the frightening force of the churning brown deluge in still photography. I'm not quite as eloquent in speech as I try to be in writing, but I hope you enjoy these!

Uploading video to Blogger isn't too bad. Today my upstream speed tested at about 3.5mbps, and it only took about 20 seconds to upload the video clips, then blogger 'processes' the video for about two minutes. Not a prohibitively painful experience, so maybe I'll try a few more video posts. I'd love to hear your opinions. Please comment!

An Urban Hike

2009-12-05T16:28:00.003-05:00

Today I was hoping to take a trip to Shenandoah National Park for a day hike, and to try out my new boots. Unfortunately the weather forecast reported a 100% chance of rain, possibly turning to snow. Not the type of weather for spending time in the mountains. Instead, I revised my plans and went hiking on the Northside and Buttermilk trails in Richmond. I've cycled these a lot, but when its wet biking on the trails is too dangerous and damages the trail too much. I wasn't sure how far I would be able to get on foot, but reckoned that hiking couldn't be that much slower than mountain biking on technical terrain. I set off from the Texas beach parking lot and headed towards Tredegar St. Since the river was reasonably high I wanted to check out Hollywood Rapids up close, so continued over the footbridge to Belle Isle. Once I had gone that far, it seemed silly to retrace my steps, so I returned on the buttermilk trail to Boulevard Bridge and cut behind Maymont to get back to the truck.

It was raining when I left the house, so I donned full waterproofs. However the trails are mostly through wooded areas and the trees break up the rainfall enough that it is not depressingly drenching. My new boots fit me well, which gave me a sense of confidence of the slippery rocks covered in wet leaves and the wooden bridges that are lethally slick in the rain. By the time I was on the return leg my feet still felt warm and relatively dry. It really wasn't a bad day to be out for a walk, but I was apparently the only one who thought so. I had been on the trail for almost three hours and hadn't seen a single soul (except for a group of foolhardy Kayakers). While crossing Boulevard Bridge I did encounter a couple of joggers, but nobody else was out on the trails. Ironically, conditions on the bridge were the worst I encountered, as the rain was blowing down the river about 10 degrees from the horizontal and the wind was bitingly cold.

As I write this, the meteorologists have been proved correct. The rain has turned to snow. I doubt it'll settle, but I'm still happy I'm not out in it!

Blogging

2009-12-03T21:13:00.005-05:00

I've written my fair share of apologetic posts seeking forgiveness from my neglected readers, so it is a pleasure to congratulate myself on a recent run of regular blogging. With 12 posts, November was my most prolific month to date, helping 2009 already exceed previous years with a good month to go, averaging about six posts a month. In comparison with the blogosphere's most successful voices (who frequently make a dozen posts in a single day) I obviously have a lot of space for growth. Those bloggers were clearly born loving the sound of their own mindless babbling, whereas I am rather quieter by nature and have a hard time believing that people really want to read about what I'm thinking and doing. I want to extend a huge 'thank you' to everybody who has offered encouragement along the way. I wouldn't have stuck at it if it hadn't been for you, and I'm glad somebody is finding this interesting!

In three-and-a-half years of authorship I have certainly been on a considerable journey. When I made my entrance into the online world my stated aim was to keep a record of my progress in the USA. I could never have imagined in what direction that progress would be. Two-Thousand-and-Nine was the most exciting year yet, what with the wedding and all! Stick around to find out what happens in Twenty-Ten (think of it like the next installment of a teenage vampire series).

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-12-03T20:57:00.002-05:00

This week I turned 26. My wonderful wife did many thoughtful things for me, making it a very happy birthday indeed. She made the fantastic banner you see me pictured with above, which is much better than the tacky single use affairs you buy at the dollar store made from silvery grocery bag material. She baked a Guinness cake using the recipe posted on my sister's blog. It sunk slightly in the middle but was deliciously moist. We don't like terribly rich desserts, so this cake was perfect as it is neither too sweet nor too chocolaty. The best thing is there's still three cans of Guinness left!
Thanks to all who sent me birthday wishes, especially my mates back in England - I miss you all! Hopefully see you again before 27 rolls around...

No Smoking Ban

2009-11-30T18:54:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow, on my Birthday, Virginia enacts a new law that will prohibit smoking in bars and restaurants (except in separate rooms with independent ventilation). News Channel 8 reports the story with this opening paragraph:

"Tuesday, Virginia's no smoking ban in most bars and restaurants will take effect. The ban will snuff out a tobacco tradition more than 400 years old."

It begs the question, what it a no smoking ban? Perhaps the Commonwealth of Virginia has decided it is time for all it's residents to contribute to the tobacco economy. From hence forth, all those wishing to dine out will be required to end their meal with the mellow taste of a cigarette. No smoking is hereby banned.

Despite the local news agency's poor grasp of applicable syntax, additional restrictions on where and when you can light up are due to go into affect at 11.59pm this evening. I was given a sneak peak into what a smoke-free pub would be like when we visited England almost a year ago. There, a smoking ban (that is: a ban on smoking) was introduced in 2007. It was...not very different, but I'm sure a breath of fresh air to those who detest cigarette smoke. Really it just allowed the smells of spilt beer, BO and vomit to shine through. A pub is still a pub.

I've always been relatively impartial to smoking. I spent most of my school years (16 year-olds can legally purchase tobacco products in England), my University years and beyond surrounded by smokers, and it has never really bothered me. I am of course aware of the dangers of passive smoking. Roy Castle was something of a hero of mine as he hosted 'Record Breakers'. He died of lung cancer, blamed on his playing trumpet in smoky clubs.

While I am not opposed to smoking, I have always tried to offer at least a little quitting encouragement to any friend who smokes. Undoubtedly one of the most difficult barriers to breaking the habit is the inextricable link between drinking and smoking. I'm sure the smoking ban offers a little incentive to making another attempt at quitting.

As for those who decry the erosion of freedom in this fair state, well, it's just pathetic, isn't it? This legislation in no way encroaches on anybody's freedom. If you wish to smoke, you may certainly do so at home, in your car, outside or at a private club, and I daresay at least a dozen other places if you put your mind to thinking of them. As it happens, I would rather like to smoke on the very day that the ban comes into affect. Being my birthday, it would be pleasurable to enjoy a fine cigar, with perhaps a glass of scotch or brandy. Maybe now is a good time to join a private club. Or better yet, establish one!

I would like to add one note on air conditioning. I haven't researched this exhaustively, but the average bar HVAC system is likely to perform about 10 room air changes per hour. It's unlikely that these are outside air changes, so the same air is filtered, heated or cooled, dehumidified and returned to the bar. But still, progress in air handling in recent decades has almost certainly reduced the risk and unattractive scent resulting from large congregations of smokers.

Decking the Halls

2009-11-29T18:14:00.005-05:00

Before Thanksgiving my coworkers were giving me a hard time for planning to not erect a Christmas Tree this year. We spend most of the holiday at the homes of various relatives, and this year we're not expecting to play host at any time, so really what's the point? But then Tasha kindly gave us an ornament tree as an early Christmas present, and once you get a little decorating momentum going it's rather fun, isn't it?

The festivities were nearly cut short when we discovered that our ornament collection amounts to a slightly uncomfortable looking sideways angel and a fish with my name on it. We picked up a few baubles at Target. The tree still looks a little bare, but hey - it's a start.

I also strung some lights up inside and out. They're all white. It's very classy looking. In other words completely out of character with the rest of our street which adheres to a redneck fabulous style of inflatable Santas and my perennial favorite the polar bear playing on a seesaw with a penguin. Is there anything more Christmas-y than that?

'Forever' Kanji

2009-11-29T18:06:00.002-05:00

'Forever' Kanji, originally uploaded by evens.john.

A Kanji is a Chinese character used in modern Japanese writing. Our friend Kyle is living in Japan these days and gave us this Kanji as a wedding present. The character symbolizes 'forever' but it's also cool because it looks a little like a J and K.

Ever since we got it I've been wanting to frame it to prevent damage and protect the perfect white background from greasy fingerprints. We found this shadow box frame at Ben Franklin that makes it look like an rare artifact in a museum which I think really brings out the beauty of the brushstrokes. Thanks again, Kyle!

Cleaning gutters

2009-11-27T20:09:00.005-05:00

One of the best things about the Thanksgiving holiday is that there is a ton of yard work to be done in the Fall, so a couple days off work are ideal to make some headway on the accumulation of dead leaves. Since we moved in our gutters have been horribly clogged. When it rains (which it has been doing a lot of this month), water pours in a continuous waterfall along the entire width of the house. The gutters are thoroughly failing in their purpose. The weight of the sodden rotten leaf matter is literally pulling the gutter off the front of the house.

I could probably have persuaded my landlord to take care of the problem, but cleaning gutters and raking leaves are hallowed parts of the patriarchs yearly cycle, so I figured I would get some practice in. To this end I borrowed a ladder from my grandfather, climbed up it and covered myself in dripping wet decomposing leaf matter. Once all the crud was cleared out I nailed the gutter back in it's proper place. Should hold for a good month, if it doesn't snow.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T19:17:00.002-05:00

One of the things I've noticed about myself is that I'm becoming more excited by American national holidays. This is clearly a result of me identifying myself as an American a little more each year. While I don't feel the change on a particularly deep level, on the face I things I reside in this country and so I participate in it's customs.

It's taken me a long time to understand the two major American Holidays, Independence Day and Thanksgiving. The thing is, they are just as grotesquely commercialized as Christmas and Easter, but since they don't have the same religious foundations there is no reason to feel badly about this fact. Actually, since they are primarily celebrations of Americanism, it is fitting that the typical festivities include overconsumption, sloth and shopping. The redeeming feature of Thanksgiving is that almost everybody is firmly committed to indulging in said activities with one's family.

I consider myself very lucky to have got to spend Thanksgiving with some of both sides of our family without having to leave Richmond. Undoubtedly the worst part of the holiday is the prospect of traveling long distances at the exact same instant that the entire rest of the country is also try to do the same. I also got off very lightly on responsibilities this year. A minimal role in making deviled eggs and some dishwasher loading. Perhaps this was why I was genuinely looking forward to Thanksgiving this year, rather than with a growing dismay at the disproportionate hype. In fact the hype seemed positively low key this November, even in relation to Black Friday.

There comes a point in everyone's life, often during their student years or shortly after. At one particular moment, having spent all your money on beer, pizza and DVDs, it occurs to you that a little moderation would go along way. I may be getting ahead of the game here, but there is a distinct possibility that the collective American consumer has had just such a moment thanks to the so called recession. People will still spend their hard earned cash on hopelessly tacky crap, but they'll buy slightly less. Today was Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when stores open at 5am and entice shoppers with ridiculous sales. The shoppers dutifully turned out in good numbers, but seemingly without the ravenous frenzy that is usually associated with this day. They came, got a good deal, and went home quietly happy that a decent sum of money had been saved. Old ladies were not trampled. Pram-pushing mothers did not rugby tackle each other for the last of the door buster stock. I went to a shoe store at around 10am and there were only about three other customers.

So, maybe I have changed, maybe America has changed (probably a little of both), but the leftovers haven't yet been exhausted and I'm already looking forward to next Thanksgiving.

Texan Wildlife

2009-11-22T18:34:00.002-05:00

When I was growing up there was a TV commercial for Dime Bars. A Dime Bar some kind of crunchy almond toffee covered in milk chocolate. Thus, it was smooth on the outside, and crunchy on the inside. "Arrrrmadillooooo!" Harry Enfield would cry in the advert. "Smooth on the inside, crunchy on the outside!" In comparison to the armadillo, the Dime Bar therefore makes a better snack.

We didn't see a single armadillo in Texas. Indeed my sister has been on the lookout for the entire time of her residence there and is yet to spy one of the crunchy creatures. We even went to the Zoo, which even had an entire section dedicated to native Texan wildlife. No Armadillo. Still, I hope you'll agree that what we did see comes close to making up for the local absences of tanks on legs.

Our encounters with the indigenous fauna begin at the Fort Worth Nature Refuge. Located North of the city on the shores of Lake Worth it is home to some remarkable refugees. We were practically tripping over cool wildlife. I can imagine the place is infested with Mosquitoes in the summer months, but we had short-sleeves weather and no bugs. The main attraction of the refuge is the buffalo. I mean bison. Well, I don't really know what I mean. Everyone in the car agreed that Bison was the proper name for them (Martha even offered that their Scientific name is Bison bison). Despite this, it appeared that everyone called them buffalo, and none of us knew why science had gone out on it's own with a name nobody uses. After entering the park the road takes you through sparsely wooded prairie, with large metal fences on either side. As Graham drove (slowly for once!) we all tried to peer through the trees hoping to spot Buffal-ison but were disappointed. We parked up and set out on foot, almost immediately coming across mammals at the other end of the size spectrum. A little way along the footpath through an opening in the hedgerow we were greeted with a panoramic view of a prairie dog metropolis. A prairie dog is basically a squirrel with social skills, and sans the bushy tail. Their behavior verges on exhibitionism, as they run from mound to mound kissing and hugging one another. We spent a good amount of time watching them go about their business. Then just as we began to move on a large, dark shape caught my eye in the far distance. At that range it was impossible to tell if it was massive boulder or a huge pile of straw, but through a pair of binoculars it was clearly a buffalo. It really was staggeringly enormous. I was convinced that such a large silhouette must comprise more that one animal, but it was just one very big bull sitting there. As we returned to the car later, we saw presumably the same animal, but standing up and slightly closer. Needless to say, he didn't look any smaller!

Having ticked off two major attractions we thought we might also be lucky enough to spot an alligator, so we chose some of the trails that follow the bank of a river. While we saw no gators, we did still spy several deer, a kingfisher and the snake pictured above. We had stopped to consult map and were all standing in a loose huddle when Graham happened to look down and see this snake curled up in the grass at our feet. After posing for a few photographs it slithered off into the water and swan away. Later at the visitor center we saw a poster that identified the snake as a cottonmouth, a venomous species with a potentially fatal bite. However after consulting more literature and closely examining the picture we took I think it was a mostly harmless water snake. Still, they camouflage so well it would have been easy to step on it.

Return of the Space Cowboy

2009-11-18T18:29:00.004-05:00

This is the return / Of the Space Cowboy / Interplanetary good-vibe zone

One of my favorite parts of my previous trip was visiting the Stockyards. There isn't much left to give you an impression of the volume of live meat that used to pass through this place. While some of the history has faded away it has become a social and commercial center for the more authentic residents of this part of Texas, and of course a tourist attraction. On this visit we perused the shops in the train station. The tea and spice store is the only good one, but I also like to step into the record store, as it is the most surreal experience to be surrounded by so much music and know none of the artists! My taste is pretty eclectic, but when it comes to true Country & Western I am completely ignorant.

For dinner we grabbed a burger at the Love Shack. Chef Tim Love has been on Top Chef as a judge a few times, and also a contestant in their 'Masters' series. A Fort Worth local, he seems like a cool guy. Love Shack is a chain of burger joints he has opened to cater to the average Joe. To be honest I wasn't too impressed. Nobody likes a dried out burger, but you have to cook some of the grease out! By the time I was nearing the end the remains of the bun were saturated with fat.

After surviving the Love Shack we had just enough time to enjoy a quick pint at the White Elephant Saloon. I'm rarely disappointed by beer, and we all got some brew with a dark hue and an unpronounceable name. Every time I've been to the White Elephant (which is now twice) the bartender has been attempting to reach a new low in friendliness. It's very refreshing. The service is swift. You get the right change. You get a beer. You don't get fake and insincere familiarity.

Then it was Rodeo time. Rodeo gets to the roots of what being a cowboy is all about. All of the events reflect skills that a cowboy would use on the job. The best thing is that you can tell some of these guys (and girls) really do work on a ranch to scratch out a living. They ain't pretending. Oh, and the talent is blinding.

As the proceedings began they had a distinctly old-school flavor, similar to the atmosphere you get at the Byrd, a traditional single screen movie theater in Richmond. As with any American sporting event, great deference is paid to the military. In this case Veterans of Foreign Wars participated in the opening flag ceremony. The national anthem was sung in two part harmony by two women and ranks among the best renditions I've heard.

The events showcased are as follows: The Bull riding entails men attempting to stay on the back of a bucking bull. Whether they succeed or fail is largely irrelevant to the entertainment value of the event, which lies in the point at which the rider dismounts, involuntarily or by choice when eight seconds has elapsed. Either way, the chances of him being stamped on, gored, or simply face-planting into the dirt are virtually certain. It is a question of if not when.

The roping events all involve lassoing a calf. For the men, the aim is to loop the calf from horseback, then jump down, turn the calf on it's back and tie a fore leg and both hindlimbs to disable the creature. What is impressive is that the most skilled ropers will be halfway off the horse before the noose has even tightened around the targets neck. But again the real amusement comes from watching a man try to throw a calf. The maneuver know as calf flanking clearly has a knack to it, like those tricks people do with zippo lighters. Get it right on the first try and it looks very impressive. But should your hand not find a firm grip under the calf's hind leg, or should you not get the flick of the knee quite right to invert the hapless beast, then the sheer weight of the stock registers in the cowboy's arms on on his face. Suddenly the task appears insurmountable. Valuable time ticks away, and all that is left to fight for is a shred of pride.

Cowgirls compete in breakaway roping, whereby once the noose has fallen around the calf's neck the rope is released and the animal does not have to be halted or flipped. Women also take part in team roping, which employs older cattle (teenagers?). One rider ropes the horns or neck, then tries to position the calf so that the second rider can aim a noose around the hind legs.

The final event was barrel racing. Girls on horseback ride around a course indicated by three barrels, in the shortest possible time. I have tried to describe their route as a triangular figure eight, and drawn confused looks. Use your imagination. The horses attain a thrilling lean angle more commonly associated with the MotoGP as they make each turn around the barrel.

Overall it was a very educational event for me. It is always heartwarming to watch competitors being strongly supported by their friends and family, which was in evidence at the rodeo. I had imagined an almost comedic show, but these men and women were true competitors and their talent gave great honor to their culture and heritage.

I would like to add that Rodeo seems blissfully untouched by health and safety regulations or disproportionate animal rights concerns. Long may it continue to be so. Clearly organizers realize that competitors or animals coming to any harm is not in the interest of the sport. If any of the events were safe to the riders there would be no challenge. Not to mention the most striking thing of the whole proceedings is that while the bovines appear to be panicked, angry, scared, struggling or demented when the clock is running, as soon as the heat is over they calmly trot out the gate at the end of the pen serene in the knowledge that a snack awaits.

Traveling (without moving)

2009-11-17T19:22:00.004-05:00

I know all we're doing / is traveling / without moving ( heh yeah )

They say it's the journey, not the destination. For some reason the transit portions of any trip hold a great deal of interest for me. I love to fly. I have many fond memories of railways. Buses invariably give me the impression that all hope is lost of arriving at the intended destination.

On the return leg of our honeymoon, we were conveyed from the ferry to the airport on St Thomas by a taxi driver called Freddie. He gave us strange berries to eat, soothed us with soft rock gospel music that reminded me of Hillsongs, and gave us marital advice. On hearing the circuitous flight plan we had ahead of us (via Newark) he strongly recommended that I leave all future ticket purchases to my talented wife. However, since our Texas trip was to visit my relatives, at some point I was left in charge of selecting appropriate flight times. Of course, I blew it.

One thing I did learn from our honeymoon travels is that U.S. Airways have their act together right now. Their local hub is Charlotte, NC and it usually works out quite well to fly through there. Even 1-stop is a tad unnecessary given the proximity of RIC and DFW, but it was much cheaper. Once I had agreed the dates with my sister, I had in mind that we should aim to arrive at a decent time of day so that we could maximize tourist activities. It only occurred to me the night before our departure that this entailed leaving the house at some unearthly hour of the morning. Thus we arrived in Fort Worth at nine in the morning feeling like it was already mid-afternoon. This was brought home to us as we were strolling around downtown and considered refreshing ourselves with a margarita, then realizing that it was before the drinking hour. The rest of the day was a bit of a blur and involved us familiarizing ourselves with Wii.

The trip back was even more of an adventure. Owing to moderate consumption of beer on the last night, it slipped our minds to get the full details of how to reach DFW by train. We awoke on a Monday morning feeling certain that railway travel in Texas would be a walk in the park, but immediately came unstuck when attempting to find the train station. Let me clarify: we were not lost. we knew exactly which building the train station was in (we had a helpfully illustrated map). We stood now in front of the Texas & Pacific Railway building, but where the hell was the station? The T&P building was in the process of becoming condominiums, and it transpired that to reach the platforms one had walk around the side by the dumpsters and enter at the rear.

A train was awaiting us, but the illuminated sign indicated that the next depature was in almost two hours. This would not do. We would miss our flight. Luckily after finding some rail company personnel we ascertained that this train would be leaving in just a few minutes. And yes, we should purchase a ticket, although no further details regarding what kind of fare to buy or how the infernal ticket machine worked were not offered. After wrestling with the touch screen menus for sometime, trying to answer questions like 'Would you like to be fleeced for every penny you possess?', and enlisting the aid of a exceedingly kind, helpful but unmistakably senile lady I gave up. Shortly after reboarding the train it pulled away from the station with much hornblowing, bell ringing and general fanfare. We traversed several miles of the nothingness that exists between Fort Worth and Dallas at a good speed, stopping occasionally a nondescript commuter station that appeared to be miles from civilization. As the train slowed on the approach to our stop one of the friendly but not very informative staff came down the carriage. Did we have a ticket? Er, no. I began to explain my travails with the ticket machine, making it clear that I was more than happy to pay for our tickets at any outlet which provided the simple courtesy of giving change. We were asked which station we were traveling to, and I replied that we were for Centreport, the next stop. From the ticket collector's response I gathered that the standard penalty for dodging the fare was to be ejected at the next stop, but in this case it made no difference. The man strode away shaking his head.

Momentarily we arrive at Centreport, which despite its important sounding title is the epicenter of absolutely nowhere. We understood that the next step in our journey involved a bus ride, and there being only one bus in the parking lot we boarded and hoped that no-one asked to see our tickets! I wasn't completely sure if it was the right bus, but the alternative was to allow both the bus and train to depart, leaving us stranded in this wilderness. It transpired that this bus ride was free, and would take us to the airport remote parking lot. By this point it was becoming almost second nature to arrive at some distant outpost, disembark and search for the next vessel to transport us one layer closer to the object of our travels. In this case another bus carried us to our terminal, driven by the smallest asian women who, once shed had adjusted the seat to the further forward and highest position, turned out to be an adequately competent chauffeur.

Happiness is a Sausage Sandwich

2009-11-10T20:53:00.006-05:00

OK. So we got back on Monday from visiting my sister and brother-in-law in Texas. My ever efficient sister has already written are charming post on some of our activities, but I have been struggling to get anything down on paper, as it were. This is largely due to going straight back to a hectic schedule at work. It is also because after a few attempts at condensing the trip into a single post I have decided that is impossible! We did a few of the same things as my last visit, plus a raft of new things as we had a little more time. In short, we did a lot. And I have an opinion about every last detail. Hopefully work will calm down this week and I will have the energy to put out a series of posts. For now I leave you with an appetizing example of real Texas food. Enjoy!

Night Blooming Cereus

2009-11-02T20:27:00.001-05:00

Nightflower 022, originally uploaded by evens.john.

One of the many pass-along plant we own, our Night-blooming Cereus sits in the front bay window in a pot that we acquired from a friend who was moving. The plant itself is a disaster to look at. Apparently it is a species of cactus, but one that is trying to look more like a regular houseplant. And failing. The distinction between stems and leaves is hard to make. New leaves bud out the side of larger leaves. The stems sprout in a haphazard manner. Half the leaves are brown at the end and have large chunks missing. Despite it's poor appearance the Cereus has amazing blooms, and last night the flower opened and proved it's worth.
It started to bud a few weeks ago, which alerted me to the fact that I probably hadn't watered it for ages. The bud grew and grew, looking like some alien bio-pod, then began opening around 9pm. It really is a stunning bloom, the kind you only usually see in botanical gardens. I have heard that the scent is as astounding as the appearance, but neither Kristal or I have a great sense of smell, so we thought the aroma was much like any other flower. Maybe with more than one bloom we would have experience the room-filling scent that we'd read about. Nonetheless we were excited to have witness the bloom this year. I was worried that it would happen while we we out of town this weekend and we would miss the whole show. Now we are experts we can expect to see a bloom every year. All you have to do is completely ignore the thing for the entire month of October!

JohnAndKristal.com

2009-11-01T17:39:00.003-05:00

We created JohnAndKristal.com to share information about our wedding. Since we the subscription lasts a year I thought I would try to put it to good use and improve Kristal's and my online presence. Obviously it's a work in progress, but please go check it out and let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks!

Rainy Weekend

2009-11-01T17:12:00.007-05:00

It's been raining an unbelievable amount recently. I really didn't believe it could possibly continue to rain all weekend, but it did. The problem with this is I have been stuck inside for day and would love to have spent that time blogging, but as I have hardly left the house there is precious little to blog about. Actually we had a fairly eventful weekend. Went to a local wine shop for their free Friday wine and beer tasting, during which the hyperactive proprietor showed us the blown acrylic wine aerators he had been working on. Apparently his friend has a studio with a furnace where he makes items for head shops. as far as I could tell, Dude is planning on selling his pieces for 250% market value, although he never adequately explained why his work would be worth so much! Saturday was Halloween so we went to a friend's house for a few drinks. Since there were very few trick-or-treaters we binged on candy too.
I was determined that Sunday wouldn't be a complete loss so I pulled on my waterproof gear and went to feed the ducks at Crump park.

As you can see, the majority of the ducks are actually geese, who will happily fight the ducks for every last scrap of bread. The ducks hang out at the back and you either have to be good at throwing small pieces of bread over long distances, or divert the geese with a handful of crumbs to give the ducks a chance. The ducks looked pretty fat to me, though, so they must not have a problem finding food. I still feel bad if they don't get their fair share. The rain has also turned what are normally mere drainage ditches into fast flowing rivulets. I tried to take a walk in the woods, but the paths we basically one big puddle that occasionally widened into a small pond. The sheep had managed to find shelter (although when I took a picture of them they spooked and ran out of the barn, only to find that it was barely raining anymore). The cattle unfortunately had no roof over their heads to stood in the field looking soggy.

Declaration of Independence

2009-10-24T12:16:00.002-05:00

On display at the Virginia Historical Society was a 1776 copy of the Declaration of Independence. Such copies are known as Dunlap Broadsheets. Around 200 were printed up on July 4, 1776 (by a guy called John Dunlap) and sent across the 13 States to be read publicly. Only 26 are known to survive. This particular example was found folded up behind a painting, which is a rather cliched circumstance of discovery, but makes it no less amazing that this 233 old piece of paper remains in almost mint condition. The Continental Congress commissioned the more familiar calligraphied versions of the Declaration, such as is on display in Washington D.C., which were not completed until August 2. Although the Dunlap Broadsheets are less visually stunning, you can't help imagine a town crier or army officer receiving this document and after announcing it's message, carefully folding and tucking it into a coat pocket for safe keeping, while others became lost in a pile of papers or forgotten on some noticeboard.
Seeing an artifact from any historical event also brings the story into the realm of reality. History easily becomes a myth, but casting your eyes on the physical evidence reminds you that merely human people were involved. This becomes even more evident when you take the time to read the words in their entirety. One would be forgiven for thinking that the Declaration of Independence is an eternal essay on human freedom and a blueprint for revolutionaries of any time and place. It certainly has it's highlights, for example: "We hold these truths self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness". Actually, that about wraps up the universally applicable highlights. The rest of the document is specific to the circumstances that the colonies found themselves in with respect to the crown. In fact the Declaration goes as far to say that in most cases civilizations are best served by striving to making a bad system of government better, rather than overthrowing an administration for 'light or transient causes'. Sound advice indeed in these trying times.

Around the Yard

2009-10-10T17:05:00.006-05:00

The yard is beginning to look attractively autumnal. Writing that makes be wonder: is there an adjective form of Fall? I tried to think of one but couldn't so lapsed into Real English™. This delightful clump of mushrooms has sprouted in the front yard. I am enjoying a break from mowing and they grabbed their chance. In the rear, however, one plant is fearlessly holding out against the onset of Fall. Another donation from Pappy McKelvey, I stuck this guy in a soggy spot 'round back. It has been boringly green (although that's better than dead brown), but now has burst into color with these happy, daisy-like flowers.

The back yard is becoming somewhat off limits as the neighbors have a new dog that barks relentlessly whenever we step out the back door, and starts trying to bite through the fence. I extended an offer of friendship in the form a a stick to play with, but pooch was not buying it. Up close his yapping is earsplitting. Saddest of all is that the neighbors also have a St Bernard puppy which I am dying to cuddle - he is adorable and probably soft as a cloud. Unfortunately, until I find a way past pyscho puppy, shy Bernie remains hopelessly out of reach.

OBX: An Anniversary

2009-10-06T17:24:00.002-05:00

Kristal has been my woman for a little under three years, and we've been married a little over two months. Ergo, we must mark the occasion with a trip to the place where it all began. The NPS campsites close in October, so this time of year we try to fit in one last visit to the beach. We pitch a tent in the dunes, sit out on the beach and enjoy a bottle of wine in the glow of a full moon. On previous trips we have been caught out by campfire bans, too many trucks on the beach and terrible weather. This weekend, everything seemed to come together perfectly for a serene vacation.

You're not in the Outer Banks until you make a stop at a Brew Thru. For the first time ever I managed not to speed past the first one in Kitty Hawk, which is the only one on the right side of the road as you drive South. For some reason I view this as a minor triumph and an omen of good things to come. Beers acquired, we also made a pit stop at Mulligans for fish tacos and steamed shrimp, clams and oysters. After lunch it was on to the campsite, just a few miles outside of town. To the beach! The birds were good this year. I can positively identify the American Oystercatcher, which with its orange beak is strikingly beautiful. Aside from that, the other beach waders fall under the category of assorted Sandpipers and Sanderlings. The brown Pelican was of course also well represented.

On Sunday we drove a little ways down Pea Island. We had never actually stopped at the Pea Island Nature Reserve visitor center before. There is a short trail reunning between two man-made lakes on the lagoon side of the island, from which we saw some huge turtles, Redwinged blackbirds and a Yellowlegs. Also some diminutive form of Heron and several unidentified fish that kept jumping six feet out of the water.

U2 360

2009-10-05T20:25:00.002-05:00

I know it's about the music, but sometimes you have to mention the engineering. U2 are touring to support their new album, No Line on the Horizon. The music was great, especially when they dipped into Joshua Tree, but what stole the show was the visual experience. The show was opened by Muse, and during their set the huge cylindrical screen meant we could get a close up of the band from way up on the hill. But when U2 took to the stage they really opened up all the stops. Being cylindrical, the width of the screen is essentially infinite, but somehow every member of the band could be seen all at one time without any obvious breaks in the image. Then, almost imperceptible, the bottom of the screen begins to extend downwards. After a few minutes the hexagonal units have completely separated and the screen displays full length images of an aging Bono, rocking out. In the center of the stage is a tower, the lights of which stream through the gaps in the screen creating the most awesome effect. Just when you thought it could get any more staggering, the screen begins to contract, from the top! Once the pieces have come back together again, the cylinder hangs just a few feet about the heads of the band. Did I mention the music was good?

State Fair

2009-09-30T20:35:00.008-05:00

While I'm on the subject, the other highlights of the State Fair included:

Cute animals:

Christmas present ideas for John:

Cute animals:

Quilts:

Scary animals:

And the Heritage Village, which hosted an interesting variety of historial farm equipment.

Urban Agriculture

2009-09-30T20:01:00.005-05:00

You've seen enough posts here about my attempts at vegetable gardening to know I have an interest in producing my own food. I think the urban agriculture movement is gathering momentum as it becomes more difficult to source honestly produced food at affordable prices. Urbanization recently crossed a threshold and now half the world's population lives in urban areas. While I fall into the urbanized half, my current locale has few barriers to growing crops and keeping livestock on a small scale. Many of my neighbors tend well developed vegetable gardens, and a few miles away a man raises guineas and other small fowl. Unfortunately I doubt I will expand my agricultural efforts while I remain in rented accommodation.
My interest in urban agriculture was recently revived by a visit to the State Fair. You may think that a festival of everything rural is a strange place to find inspiration for suburban farming, and indeed there was no direct mention of urban agriculture at the Fair. However is was clear from the Fair in which direction the rural community is headed. It is not 'up'. The traditions of the past are kept alive by an aging population and their barely-willing offspring, and an overtone of the inevitable demise seems to permeate the festivities. Coming into contact with the rural community also made me aware of just how suburban I am. I may enjoy digging around in the dirt, but I didn't grow up on a farm and no amount of book-learnin' will make up for my metro upbringing. However attractive the idea of living in the country, I will probably remain shackled to a job in town and a long commute goes against everything I believe in. The solution, therefore, lies in harnessing the organic sustainability of the rural lifecycle on a micro scale in suburban environment.
On this subject the State Fair provided plenty of inspiration. Obviously small livestock such as chickens and goats would form the backbone of any urban agriculture effort. Beekeeping is also gaining popularity with suburban growers as bees are a vital component in the web of life that enables cultivation of any crop. The beekeepers had a large presence at the fair than the infamous Virginia vintners! Taking things to extreme, the mini-Hereford cow is held as an example breed ideal for people farming on a small scale!

Potatoes

2009-09-21T19:05:00.003-05:00

I was really disappointed when I got home from my honeymoon and discovered that the potato plants had withered and died in our short absence. They had been doing rather well with very little attention but a spell of very hot weather wiped them out before they had a chance to bear fruit. I was reminiscing about this sad loss to Kristal the other day and gosh darn it, she said potatoes grow underground! So I takes me fork an' digs around in the sod and by Jove there's spuds all over! No, seriously, I did know they grew underground but somebody had mentioned that they don't mature 'til fall and the buggers died the first week of August so I wrote them off. When I pulled up the plants I figured it'd be obvious if there were any potatoes attached. They've all been sitting there under an inch of soil and a good layer of mulch! Big 'uns, too!

I think I'll make soup.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens

2009-09-07T12:55:00.008-05:00

Looking back through my Blog Archives I realize I've never really posted about Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. I did do a short piece about Grovin' in the Garden '07 where I was first introduced to Son Volt. Somehow I missed blogging about seeing a band of men wearing and playing gourds there way back in '06. Well, today I will atone for my past neglect of this gem of Richmond culture by giving an glowing account of our visit there this past Sunday.

The main attraction is an exhibition called ButterfliesLIVE. The event is being held in the North wing of the greenhouse and features a variety of exotic butterflies and moths. You enter through an air-lock style staff-controlled doorway and receive stern instructions not to step on any priceless specimens! Entering the butterfly sanctuary you really do have to remember to look at your feet from time to time as your eyes are irresistibly drawn to the vibrant fluttering wings filling the air. Signs helpfully remind you to watch your step. In fact this one sign was incredibly accurate! When the butterflies close their wings many species to an incredibly good job of blending into the surroundings. The result is not only are they had to see against the paving stones, but in fact the longer you spend looking around, the more and more creatures you spot sitting on every leaf or branch. Each time I thought I was ready to leave, my attention would be caught by another variety.

One of the most amusing things about the exhibit was watching the photographers. Obviously the Botanical Gardens draws many budding camera enthusiasts and we are no exception having brought Kristal's dSLR. Taking a picture of a butterfly in flight, in an open room, is like the ninja catching the fly with chopsticks. But people will make themselves dizzy trying. Certain folks, who have accepted the futility the airbourne shot are instead focusing intently on a perched individual. It is a large specimen. The underside of it's wings are a drab brown so it is inconspicuous as it rest with wings folder together. Occasionally, the wings will open as the butterfly stretches and yawns. This is the moment we have been waiting for, as the upper side of the wings are electric blue so intense the color-junkie viewfinder-cowboys go weak at the knees.

Also in the greenhouse are the garden's collection of orchids. Again, a very popular destination for photographers as the shapes and colors are exquisite. However the greenhouse is a very small portion of what the garden has to offer. Between the main building and the greenhouse they have a herb garden that explains the medicinal properties of the various plants. We were particularly struck by the black ornamental pepper. Then as you wander down the hill from the entrance you enter a veritable maze of paths winding through different habitats and themes. The Japanese gardens transition into a wetlands bursting with carnivorous pitcher plants. At the bottom of the hill there are areas for all the family including a kiddies garden. We were very keen to see what autumn crops they had growing. It turned out they had collards, cabbage, broccoli and even a few carrots poking up.

Torn

2009-09-07T12:47:00.002-05:00

On Saturday I took my mountain bike out for a ride and found the best spot on the James River in the Richmond area. I mean, two other people there on a glorious sunny Saturday. So I'm torn. Should I post about it on my Blog and risk everyone finding out about this secret paradise. Well, luckily nobody very much reads my blog. As far as I know it hasn't yet become the 'Time Out' of RVA. I think it's probably safe to give everyone this snapshot of the locale.

Pulled Pork

2009-09-02T19:03:00.002-05:00

We're talkin' serious bone suckin' sauce here, people. My amazing multi-talented wifey put the new crock pot to good use today to make some homemade pork barbecue. After 10 hours of simmering it was just a big plate of flaky, juicy, pig goodness. With coleslaw, and beans. A little slice of Southern Heaven.

Kittens!

2009-09-01T18:29:00.002-05:00

Climbing Kittens, originally uploaded by evens.john.

For at least six months now we have been the home away from home for our next-door neighbor's kitten. She first came to us as the runt of the litter, desperately hungry because her brother would scarf all the food. We would take pity on her and supply a handful of kibble or a few cat treats, but her small size and speed meant she could easily slip in the house a steal half of Barry's dinner before he knew it was happening. Eventually we gave up trying to keep her out. She and Barry got along fine and she never made a mess in the house. Her friendly temperament is rivaled by few cats I have ever met and one has to admit she is a fine looking specimen.
Just over a week ago, after final putting together the clues (round belly, huge appetite and conspicuous nipples) we realized our precious girl was no longer a kitten! One of the rotten neighborhood cats had had his wicked way with her! Now, you may notice that heretofore the feline in question has borne no name. Sadly the neighbors never christened the poor lass, but in light of this new development we felt obligated to provide her with a title. 'Juno' came to mind as a befitting name.

We were desperately worried that Juno's small size would be an impediment to her carrying and successfully delivering the kittens (of number, unknown). The neighbor seemed unconcerned, and we fretted as to whether we should take her to the vet for a check up, and pay out of pocket. In the end, events took care of themselves. We returned home on Sunday afternoon and Juno followed us in as usual. However, this time her mood was noticeably different and her agitation wasn't simply caused by hunger. It quickly became apparent that kitten birth was imminent, and moments later Juno had disappeared into our bedroom closet.

As the first kitten was making its way into the world backwards, the neighbors arrived home from wherever they'd been. I delivered the news that the kittens were on their way, and I wasn't sure how well it was going. The neighbor told me he thought it was funny that his cat was giving birth in my bedroom, but I wasn't particularly amused and returned inside to check on the progress. Thankfully, nature was taking it's course and two kittens had soon been delivered, cleaned and nudged in the direction of a nipple.

The action appeared to have died down, so Kristal and I went out to a friend's house for dinner. Upon our return, we discovered the kittens had multiplied! There were now four new lives in our closet! Two calico, one black-and-white and one with the same coloration as it's mother.

The deed had been done in the bottom of a cardboard box with little time for preparation. It was now more-or-less covered in bodily fluids so the first order of business was to transfer mother and litter to cleaner surroundings. We set a towel and some paper shreddings in a large Tupperware and managed to get the whole family situated. On Monday evening the neighbors apparently decided they should take some responsibility in this situation so took the whole kit-and-kabodle back to their place. Hope I get my Tupperware back.

We were sad to see them go. Juno is practically a member of the family, and while we didn't do much but let her get on with it, we are proud to have been able to provide an environment where she felt safe to house her new family. She did an admirable job for such a small girl. We hope that the neighbors keep and eye on the new arrivals, although we will probably be over there ourselves on a frequent basis to check the kittens' (and mother's) progress.

Honeymoon Chapter 6: Remembering St John

2009-08-22T17:14:00.003-05:00

I sit here today a married man for exactly four weeks. We just received our official wedding photos so it is time for me to wrap up my blog posts about the honeymoon and start working on sharing with you all some of the wonderful memories from the big day itself! Our trip to St John will of course always remind me of the happy day that Kristal and I publicly and permanently declared our dedication to each other. But for me when I think of St John I will also always remember Dribbles. What can I say - I'm a cat person. It is a great comfort to know that while we have returned to less-than-tropical Richmond, Dribbles is still happy as can be, chillin' out on his Caribbean Island. We will return.

Pony Pasture, Aug 16th

2009-08-17T20:56:00.004-05:00

Fish, Clouds, Wading, Leaf

Honeymoon Chapter 5: Sunrise

2009-08-15T16:58:00.001-05:00

Sunrise, originally uploaded by evens.john.

This post needs no words other than to credit Kristal with getting up at 6am and capturing this amazing shot

He loves it!

2009-08-15T16:45:00.001-05:00

He loves it!, originally uploaded by evens.john.

Kayaking the Z-dam

2009-08-13T18:21:00.004-05:00

The Saturday before my folks returned to England my Dad and I went out on the James in a couple of sit-on-top kayaks. We'd intended to make it down to Reedy Creek from just above the Huguenot Bridge. One obstacle stood in our way: the Z-dam.

I know there are signs telling you not to do it, but I've always wanted to boat through the hole. The river was just above 4ft at Westham, so I knew not much water would be going through. Turns out it's a bad idea no matter what the conditions are.

So, here's a tip: Don't boat the Z-dam.

(According to this blog, river was at 5.3ft when this video was shot.

Honeymoon Chapter 4: Drink and Food

2009-08-11T19:37:00.004-05:00

"I traveled all the way to St Thomas to not get a haircut!"

When we were done sitting on the beach for the day we would go in search of a bite to eat. Food prices in the grocery stores are extortionate, but bars and restaurants charged little more than similar joints in Richmond, so we opted to eat out most nights. The closest place to our cottage was called Shipwreck Landing and it was the first place we tried. I think we just stopped in for a drink. On their specials list was a strawberry banana pina colada and it was sooo good. Its wasn't very busy so we got chatting to the barmaid and got some good tips about beaches to visit. I think every time we went there we found some nice people to talk to.

The best restaurant on the quiet side of the island was undoubtedly Aqua Bistro. It was a bit on the pricey side but the servings were big enough to give us a decent lunch the next day too. The food was just great and the chef was kind enough to share his recipe for coconut curry pasta sauce with us. Towards the end of the trip we went back and sat at the bar in the evening. The bartender was hilarious because he got caught up in a conversation with one guest (mostly about his kayaking business) and completely neglect the rest of the bar! He was a really nice guy though, and on the island you don't really complain about slow service!

Our favorite place was Skinny Legs. For one, the drinks were ridiculously cheap (vodka pineapple for a dollar) and they pour them strong. Secondly, a lot of cool people work there. One afternoon we stopped in for a quick drink. We sat at a table but didn't get any service right away so decided to snag a couple stools at the bar. Just as we started on our second (and last) round, Rodney arrives. I never quite ascertained what Rodney's position was at Skinny's, but he was clearly well enough involved to climb into the roof space to fix the Ipod connection. Anyway, his story is that he went over to St Thomas to get a hair cut. After waiting in line for a couple hours he gets fed up and comes home. No hair cut. And now he needs a drink. Beth, the barmaid obliges, and before we know what's happening we all have shooters in front of us. I did the first one out of politeness, but the next two I did because they were so damned tasty. I couldn't help notice that Beth had a system going on. She makes up a shaker of "Beth-ikaze", pours five shots, and the rest goes in an empty water bottle. We soon discover why: As Rodney waves goodbye she throws him the now-full bottle of liquor for him to enjoy at home! Needless to say we liked Skinny's. That night we got chatting to the grill chef, so went back later in the week for a couple burgers and a few Presidentes.

The last joint I want to talk about is the Tourist Trap. It deserves a mention because the food was really good, and it came out of a shack by the side of the road. OK, the portions were a bit small for the money, but they had just recently opened up so they deserve a chance. And it's run by ex-cons, so what do you expect?! No seriously, the entire time we were there the staff kept mentioning their parole officers. The place is run by Mary, the cooking is done by Larry, and the old stoner hanging around was called Gary. It was like 'Cheers' but in the Caribbean instead of Boston.

Wake the #@%! up

2009-08-09T13:05:00.001-05:00

Wake the #@%! up, originally uploaded by evens.john.

We went to Meadow Farm this morning to take some pictures of the Mariner's Compass Quilt that Kristal made as a wedding present to ourselves. I got this great picture of a cockerel in mid crow!

Honeymoon Chapter 3: Beaches

2009-08-09T12:22:00.004-05:00

"Isn't there meant to be a beach around here somewhere?"

The Island of St John has more beaches, bays and coves that I care to count. With such a wide range to choose from we felt duty-bound to sample as many beaches as we could. Thus we dedicated the majority of our vacation time to simple sitting on the white sands and swimming in the clear waters.

I'll try to cover the locations we visited in more-or-less chronological order. Be sure to check out my flickr photostream for photos tagged "beaches".

On our first day we headed out to our nearest beach on the South-East shore of St John. Salt Pond Bay involved a short hike down from the parking area. Even early in the morning the sun beats down hot and relentless. I was desperate to finally get to the ocean.
"Isn't there meant to be a beach around here somewhere?" I grumbled. At that exact moment we rounded a corner to find the most pristine cove you can imagine! We both gasped in amazement of the sheer beauty we were faced with. I was definitely worth the hike.

The Bay is so name because there is a shallow pond there separated by a thin spit of land. Obviously it's proximity to the sea means the pond is very salty, and is a unique habitat within the confines of he Virgin Islands National Park. There was a flock of Least Terns nesting on the shore of the pond.

Our favorite beach of the trip was probably Maho Bay. It's the last beach you get to on the North Shore Road from Cruz Bay. The road runs right next to the beach so you literally step out of the jeep and you're there! Despite it's convenience it was never crowded.

We only visited one other beach on the North Shore, which was Cinnamon Bay. These beaches are basically full of all the tourists who ride taxis out from Cruz Bay. For some reason it was too hot, too windy and we lasted about 15 minutes before going back to Maho!

On Thursday we rode out to the East End and stopped at Haulover Bay. This was a rocky beach, so boasted some of the best snorkeling of the trip.

Friday saw us visiting Lameshur Bay. As soon as we got there it started raining, so we retreated to the VIERS site to visit the exhibition about the Tektite project that took place right in Lameshur Bay. By the time we came out the weather had cleared up. We were relaxing on the beach when a large shadowy object appeared under the waves. It was a nurse shark swimming right in the shallow water! I followed it as it swam the length of the beach. There was a rocky outcrop at the East end of the beach so I climb up on the rocks about ten feet above the water. I was looking down into a deeper pool below the rocks as the shark glided in and I got a great view of it lazily swimming around in the crystal clear water.

Honeymoon Chapter 2: The Cottage

2009-08-08T16:09:00.004-05:00

"The view is to die for."

Sago Cottage is located at 18°19'45.70" N 64°42'32.62" W so go look it up on Google Earth! The elevation is about 515ft, which might not sound like a lot until you consider that the road at the bottom of the hill is at 30ft above sea level, so it's quite a climb up a gnarly dirt road. We really got lucky finding this place. Simple surroundings to spend our honeymoon in, and as everybody in the guest book agreed, the view is to die for.

Honeymoon Chapter 1: Getting There

2009-08-08T15:40:00.003-05:00

"...Passengers may disembark using the rearward door at their own risk."

Having been cooped up in this cigar tube for far too long already, we jumped at the chance to escape even a few seconds sooner. As we stepped out of the stale air into the ocean breeze and azure blue sky we knew our Caribbean honeymoon had finally begun.

Of course getting to this point in time was not such a smooth ride. The wedding had gone wonderfully, and we got home in time to open all the cards and read the kind words that so many people had written. Finally we began to come down from the excitement of the day and the tiredness crept in. Just before drifting off I drowsily programmed an alarm on my phone. The next thing we knew, my parents were knocking at the door to take us to the airport. It was 4.30am and I'd set the alarm for the afternoon! Luckily the packing was almost complete, so we threw some clothes on and hurried out the door. I hardly even bothered to wake up as I was confident we would soon be on a plane to Newark and I could catch a few z's.

Five hours later we were preparing to board a plane to Charlotte! Unfortunately our plane to Newark had suffered an incurable mechanical difficulty so we were re-routed on another airline. Thankfully US Airways took good care of us, even serving us an unexpected lunch on the flight down to St Thomas. Soon we were making our final approach over the deep blue waves and dark green hillsides of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Our delays of course threw the rest of the days schedule off a little. The airport in St Thomas is like no other I have been to. Small, of course but insanely busy and bursting with tropical color and heat. When we got to the baggage claim the crowd around the carousel was three bodies deep and there was no indication of which flight's luggage had arrived. Surely all these people couldn't have come on our plane an the one other aircraft parked at the gates?

I located a payphone before I plunged into the baggage collection melee, and got in contact with Juancito, our substitute taxi driver on St Thomas. He was right outside and came into meet me. It actually didn't take long for our bags to appear and we were led to our awaiting chariot. All the tourists ride around in these converted pickup trucks with open safari-style awnings bolted to the bed and bench seats. It wasn't the most luxurious ride, but like being on a motorcycle it was a good way to connect with our new surroundings. Our route to the ferry took us along the St Thomas Bay shoreline and then up into the mountain roads to get to the East End and the Red Hook ferry port.

We had just missed a ferry and they departed hourly. That gave us just enough time to enjoy a well-earned island drink before boarding yet another form of tranport for the final leg of our journey to St John.

Mystery Melon

2009-06-23T18:59:00.002-05:00

When I planted cucumbers, only one came up, so when I found a similar looking volunteer sprouting in the compost I transplanted the little guy in there with what I thought was his big brother. However, the volunteer has now begun bearing fruit and they are most certainly not cucumbers. They look like some kind of melon - almost watermelon-ish. Anyone have any ideas?

Daiquiri

2009-06-23T18:49:00.003-05:00

The weather is fine outside, so Kristal picked up this small table at Target so we can sit in the yard for the odd meal or afternoon beverage. I think she had intended for us to mainly use it in the back yard, but there is too much shade, and we are not shy people. So we sit out on the front lawn dining on clams and corn. Or in this case enjoying a frozen strawberry daiquiri! Good times!

Camping at Loft Mountain

2009-06-08T17:42:00.010-05:00

The situation was so dire I was threatening to make us camp out in the back yard.

Normally by the time June rolls around Kristal and I have already taken at least one foolhardy camping trip. Just because the sun is shining on Friday afternoon doesn't mean that the water is warm or that the weekend won't be drenched in rain. But we both grew up with camping and its a therapeutic exercise of getting away from the stresses of everyday life. Life is far from everyday for us at the moment with our wedding day racing closer, so we just hadn't found the time to haul the tent out of the shed and take a trip. This weekend looked like it would also be consumed with wedding preparations, but at the last moment we got an invitation from Melissa and Joel to camp in Shenandoah, and we both thought it would be a great idea.

We set out on Saturday morning, stopping for lunch in Waynesboro. The town is tiny and we almost thought we wouldn't find a place to eat when we came upon and book and soup shop. Yes, you read that correctly! Someone had turned this gabled house into a bookshop that also served soups, salads and sandwiches. Kristal got the ham and brie ciabatta and I opted for a bean salad and they were both delicious and reasonable. We decided that we would move to Waynesboro, and soon had everything planned except for what we'd do for money...

Sadly leaving our imaginary future hometown we were soon on Skyline Drive winding our way towards the campsite. On our arrival we miraculously met up with Melissa and Joel without the aid of cell phones. We decided to ease ourselves in gently to the hiking and chose to stroll the Frazier Discovery Trail that gives some impressive views of the Shenandoah Valley to the North-West. The hills were a slight shock to the system but when we returned to the campsite we still had a couple hours until dinner, so we hiked a section of the Appalachian Trail as it sweeps around the campground. We found we had acclimatised quickly, which is to say we had learned to take more frequent rest breaks! While taking a quick breather I discovered that a tick was burrowing into my leg. Ticks are notorious for carried Limes Disease, so it is important to pull them out promptly, ensuring the the whole head comes out too. I admit I was a little scared when I first spotted it but the fear was soon replaced by the thrill of getting my first ever tick.

This time when we got back to camp we had definitely generated an appetite and so gorged on snacks while I got a fire going. We had to wait for the blaze to die down to some hot embers so we broke out the travel scrabble. I'm going to shamelessly brag here for a second, because I spent my childhood being the youngest in my family and thus roundly thrashed by ruthless and uber-literate relatives whenever we played scrabble. I had hoped that my years away from home would have leveled the playing field, but alas I was made fun of for taking too long on my turn and ended up making some hasty word choices that let to an all too familiar downfall. You can imagine my excitement then to actually win a game of scrabble, against worthy opponents, without even having to persuade them that any made-up words were British variations.Thankfully the fire was now ready for cooking so there could be no rematch to knock me off my pedestal (although I did have a few disastrous rounds of Hearts after dinner). We got to cooking meat and marshmallows and ate until we felt we had negated the days exercise. The sun began to set so us boys went off to point our SLRs at the sunset.

I had a fitful night's sleep, desperately wishing I could doze off long enough to dream about my pillowtop mattress back home. At around five in the morning I gave up and went for a dawn stroll around the campsite. Venus shone brightly as the sky began to light up and I tried to pick out birdsongs I recognized in the morning chorus. I ran into several rabbits and three deer hanging out at the dumpsters. I returned to the tent and got in a couple hours of good sleep to prepare for the hard day's hiking ahead. After a light breakfast we hiked down to Doyles River Falls. There had been a lot of rain during the week so an impressive amount of water was coming over them. We climbed around for a while finding good angles to take a photograph from, before tackling the grueling slog back up the hill. We estimated an elevation change of about 700-800 feet which translated to an average grade of about 10%. We then regretted having done our estimation. It turned out to go a lot quicker than we expected, as we'd spent a lot of time on the way down admiring the views, inspecting the insect life and carefully threading our way down slippery section which we traversed with far more confidence on the uphill return. We got back to the car in good time and went in search of a cheeseburger. Then it was time to head back to town. After a couple hours in the car, the toll on the legs became apparent as we groaned in agony trying to get out the door. Still, it was well worth it (especially as it was such a cheap deal) and I hope to make it back to the park for some more challenging hikes. Maybe someone will even get me to do an overnighter one of these days!

Ms McKelvey at the table

2009-06-01T16:17:00.003-05:00

Ms McKelvey at the table, originally uploaded by evens.john.

My cousin and her lover are in a band who are just starting to break into the gigging scene. Being the good cousin that I am I try to show up and support them from time to time. One of the main advantages is that we discover new bars and pubs in Richmond that we might otherwise never had heard of. First was Northside Grille which has become something of a regular haunt for us. Then it was Side Pocket, a pool hall not two minutes drive from where I work, but hidden behind a Holiday Inn so you'd never know it was there. Pitchers of Bud were $7 and we played three or four games of pool (at a very slow pace because we're out of practice) for about eleven bucks. You can't really beat that for a cheap night out.
The rules of American 8-ball (so called because there are 15 balls on the table) a similar to those of UK pub pool that I grew up on, except you never get two shots. Like pub pool, there are several situations where no-one is exactly sure what the rule is, and in the interests of having fun it's usually better to do whatever makes the game most exciting/last longer.
It was a Saturday night and we easily got a table at around 8.30, so I'm thinking we might be spending a little time at the Side Pocket in the near future...

Soon I will post about something other than gardening

2009-05-17T16:00:00.009-05:00

But not this time. Now, I'm not trying to be competitive, I'm just very proud of how my garden, in both the American and English meanings of the word, are doing. My tomatoes are completely unrecognisable from the midgets I photographed for the previous post. Everything in the square gardens is a little stunted because the boxes aren't very deep. I lined the bottoms of them with that black roll to keep the weeds down and it definitely helped prevent the wiregrass from taking over. But now that I'm sure all the grass underneath the soil is long gone, I think the black stuff is holding back my vegetables. Consequently the plant flower when they are very small. I was picking off the flowers from the tomatoes until they got a bit bigger, and now I think they are a sufficient size to do their thing. We have tons of flowers; lets hope that converts into a good crop of fruit. The peas are producing well right now. I'm slightly embarrassed by my diminutive peas, having seen various people's pea plant in Mathews which reached a good two or three feet. Mine decided that eight inches was tall enough and started flowering. Tha'ts fine by me, since we are getting a decent number of peas. I think we'll have a few with dinner tonight.

Remember than small lonely potato plant peeking up through the leaf litter? Several of his friend decided to make an appearance, including some volunteers from the compost which I transplanted. Fortunes are varied for these guys. A few are doing really well, while others are having the living daylights eaten out of them by some agent unknown. I'm just going to see how it goes. To be honest if I get a single potato out of this endeavor I'll be rather happy.

Another plant that is doing well is my single pickling cucumber vine. As instructed by the seed packet, I planted a 'hill' of five or six seeds, expecting to thin the seedlings to the best two plants. But only one seed plucked up the courage to show itself above ground, so he was selected by default. I also scavenged a volunteer maybe-cucumber (its hard to positively identify from two leaves) and but him in the pot too. Clearly the extra depth for root growth is benefiting the resident cucumber, but the newcomer's life still hang precariously in the balance, and if he doesn't put on a growth spurt soon his bigger brother may well seal his fate.
Moving on to the other type of garden my rose bush, as predicted, exploded into a sea of red. However, these rose bushes are found all over the place in our locality, so they must be a hardy variety. I can take too much credit for its success. Other recent additions from the McKelvey's include a honeysuckle that we wrapped around the banister of our front stoop; several varieties of violet than went in the front bed and window box; a lily that I put in next to a stump at the end of the drive, and broke my gardening fork in the process! This further confirms my theory that someone is introducing cheese into the steel supply. I was levering softly against a stubborn root, and two prongs bent them snapped right off. Pathetic - and the second fork to meet it's demise at my hands at Fruehauf Rd. Maybe I'll add that to my wedding registry!

My other garden is a vineyard

2009-05-05T17:23:00.002-05:00

In my dreams I am a rich landowner, living in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, and I spend my days tending to my vines and making world famous wines. To feed this fantasy, it is occasionally necessary to visit the vineyards of the real rich snobs and sip their wine imagining it to be my own. Our plans this weekend changed at the last moment and presented an ideal opportunity to visit Shenandoah National Park and fit in a couple wine tours.

We left with a picnic lunch packed an no particular plan in mind. We figured on reaching Skyline Drive and seeing what hiking spots presented themselves. There are so many trails it can be a bit overwhelming, but we picked one that looked like it went somewhere, and did a short loop that took us to a rocky outcrop with a breathtaking view. To the West of the ridge the weather was fine and sunny, but as we carried on up Skyline drive we crossed over to the Eastern side of the mountains and became enveloped in low misty cloud. Another glance at the map revealed an obvious path home along Rt 33, which would fortuitously take us past the Barboursville and Horton Wineries.

Barboursville was bustling with students who had recently completed their semester at UVA, so we stayed long enough only to decide that the recent crop of wines there was nothing special. We did take the opportunity to visit the ruins of a house designed by Thomas Jeffeson for the local governor, which had unfortunately burned down one Christmas Day. Moving down the road to Horton, we arrived just ahead of a Coach-load of wine-tourers, but had time to enjoy our tasting in peace before they burst into the main hall. The wines at Horton were much more to our liking, and we enjoyed the Stonecastle White (a blend of Viognier and Chardonnay) so much that we bought a case for the wedding. They also have a selection of fruit wines that are very sweet but like nothing else you'll ever taste. I tried the cranberry variety, and will remember it for next Thanksgiving.

Latest Garden News

2009-04-26T16:35:00.006-05:00

Apparently I've had a request from a very dear reader of JB USA for some pictures of Kristal's and my Garden, so here they are. In the fist plot we have the spinach that I painstakingly nurtured through the late snowfall we had here on the East Coast. It was all worth it as we had a bumper crop and it keeps coming. Its really the first thing that we've successfully harvested from out gardening efforts. Last year we got a cucumber or two, some inedible tomatoes and about three peas. Talking of peas, we have about a dozen or twenty pea plants climbing up the netting. One has started flowering, and I might be to do some manual pollination to ensure we get some peas from them. In between we have some lettuce from Joyce, which finally looks like its all well established so we might be able to pick a few leaves soon. In the other spaces I put in a couple mounds of Crook-neck Squash seeds. Four have come up, but I'll need to do some thinning so we might end up with three plants. I also put in some pickling cucumber seeds but only one showed up, and he's in a big pot all to himself so I'm expecting great things!

In the second plot we have our herbs (or at least those that made it through the winter - the others are DEAD. No, really...they are completely DEAD). I think we have Sage, Thyme, some kind of Garlic and the Chocolate Mint Tea. When we were last in Mathews a guy was selling tomato starters in his front yard, so I put those in and they're doing well. Kristal started some Cilantro in some little pots and it was doing really well until today in the heat. We put in in the ground and watered it a bunch so hopefully it will make a comeback! Finally we have our Potato plot to the side of the house. I was worried that I had planted the potatoes too deep, but I just noticed that three have poked their heads above ground, and maybe more will follow. I don't know much about growing potatoes, but that patch of ground in the riches soil we have as it's always covered in clover, so it'll be interesting to see if it produces any spuds worth eating. Other small successes around the yard include the Rose bush and Hydrangea that I pruned. Too early for flowers yet, but I was just excited that they survived the process. We also have a pair of shrubs in the front bed that looked completely dead, but a few twigs put out leaves. I cut away all the dead wood, and they turned out looking really pretty. I think they are Pink Cloud bushes, Kolkwitzia amabilis.

I'm getting married in three months!

2009-04-24T15:17:00.007-05:00

In exactly three months tomorrow I will be uttering very serious words of commitment to my fabulous fiancee. For those of you who like numbers and dates, tomorrow will also mark exactly 13 weeks until our wedding. We mark the anniversary of our first date on October 13th, so this month we celebrated two-and-a-half years together.
There is, of course, a website you can visit, although certain areas are password protected for invited guests only: you can't be too careful on the internet these days. However, if you really must cyber-stalk us, then I suggest you visit the blog which will have a blow-by-blow account of the planning process!

Many Cormorants

2009-04-10T14:31:00.001-05:00

Many Cormorants, originally uploaded by evens.john.

I had the day off from work today. It feels like forever since the last time there was a holiday. Luckily the weather was nice so I took my mountain bike out for a ride. Normally I would throw the bike in the back of the truck, but I'm tired of doing that so I set off from home under pedal power. It's been a long time since I was last riding regularly because of all this damn running I've been doing, so now I'm paying the price for trying to do 35 miles on & off road. Still, I had fun for the first 25 miles!
I was cycling along the floodwall at one point and saw that every rock in the river was covered in Cormorants. It was an impressive sight so I pulled up to take a picture and notice a couple of Heron's standing close to the nearside bank. Then I saw another, and another, until one was spooked by my presence on the floodwall above them and no fewer than six Great Blue Herons took flight right in front of me, with another two standing their ground. In the small stretch of rapids there much have been at least a dozen of them.

DUI Guy

2009-04-03T17:38:00.009-05:00

OK, the DUI Guy's insurance company has paid for everything, so I think I'm safe to post on the internet the details of his magical mystery tour into our front yard. On March 6th I was sitting on my couch watching some crappy TV when I heard a huge crash outside. I jump up and despite being in bare feet dash outside to see and SUV parked in my front yard and resting against my truck. I rush to the driver's door of the striken vehicle not sure if I'm going to have to administer first aid or corporal punishment. The front wing panel is sufficiently mangled that it takes some effort to pry it open, at which point this guy strumbles out mumbling, "I'm sorry, I messed up. I'm sooo drunk".

Well, I'm dumbfounded. I reach into the smokey cab (I think mostly the result of the air bag deploying). I don't remember if his car was still running, but for some reason I felt the need to take his keys out of the ignition! By this point Kristal has joined me outside and I tell her to call the cops. I'm trying to make sure DUI guy is not injured, but he has wondered across the street to talk to my neighbors. I soon realize why. The reason he arrived in our yard at all is because he first collided squarely with my neighbor's Cadillac which was parked in the street. After spinning the Caddy 100 degrees and shunting it 20 feet down the road, he's swerved towards out house, cleared our drainage ditch, cleaved several limbs from our Crepe Myrtle, mercilessly avoided out mailbox and continued up our driving way to his final resting place on the quarter-panel of my Tacoma.

Soon enough a police cruiser arrives. Then another. Followed by an officer in a SUV. This is standard operating procedure for Henrico cops, and I have always thought is was over kill. But actually, it takes three officers to take care of everything. The first guy on the scene gets the honor of making the arrest. The guy in the SUV is clearly the most senior, so he takes the easy job of directing the tow truck guy to tidy up the crash scene, and the poor junior officer runs around taking statements, exchanging insurance details and filing a report. His name was officer Stonestreet, and I'm sure I recognized him from somewhere, and I'd like to publicly say what a great job I thought he did.

Two or three weeks later the insurance company has finally got it's act together and I take my truck into the shop for minor repairs. They even pay for a rental car, which is nice, although I end up with this honkin' great Nissan!

Unimagined

2009-03-29T10:27:00.003-05:00

I'm always interested to read or hear about the experiences of other Brits who have traveled to the USA for more than just a vacation. While browsing the BBC News website on Thursday, I spotted a magazine article entitled "Hello America, I'm a British Muslim". It was the story of a man named Imran Ahmad, who had written a book about his life as a Muslim living in the Western world. His family had moved from Pakistan to England when he was very young, and he'd also traveled extensively in America on business. Having recently been made redundant from his corporate day job, he seized upon the idea to follow up the launch of his book in the USA with a speaking tour, starting in Chicago and proceeding over the course of 50 days in a clockwise road trip, giving his talks at local Unitarian Universalist churches.

Out of curiosity, I followed the link to his website to see the locations and dates of his events, and it turned out that he was coming to Glen Allen on Saturday! It so happens that one of the offices he regularly visited on business is located right in Short Pump, so of course Richmond had to be on the list of stops.

The audience numbered about 25. Other than myself, the only visitors were a couple of Imran's previous colleagues, the rest being members of the local congregation. Still, the Unitarians are an accommodating lot. Imran came on and started talking in a rather despondent tone about the current tension between Muslims and the West. It would have been depressing had it not been for the interesting viewpoint that he offered. Growing up during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, he remembers the Muslims and the Christian West being on the same team, on the side of good, against the evil Godless Communists. It then came as a huge shock when in 2001 all that was forgotten and he found that now the Muslims were being characterized as the 'bad guys' by the West.

While interesting, the historical summary of geopolitics was really just a preamble to set a context for why Imran came to write a book. The main part of his talk centered on how he eventually persuaded himself to sit down and write, as well as the circuitous tale of how he finally got the book published an publicized. While his sense of humour was undoubtedly British in its self-deprecation, he certainly knew his audience in a way that few British entertainers would and had the whole room in fits of laughter at times. I may have been the only person who truly understood his quips regarding Ann Widdecombe, but other than that he cleverly explained critic terms so that we could all enjoy the punchline.

Interestingly the moral of his story of trying to get published was carefully but not obviously suited to the Unitarian Universalist mindset. On the speaking tour website he mentions that the events are not of a religious nature, and this was certainly true. I would say there is room to argue that not UU event is of a religious nature! Nonetheless, he spun a tale of an author initially focused on the potential for money and fame who, through a combination of good luck and sheer bravado, eventually becomes a published author but never achieves the fame and riches. However, he discovers that the real joy is in the creative process of writing, and also in the many friends and frankly unique experiences he has been blessed with as a result of writing the book. The on-a-whim tour of America is simply the latest mad adventure!

10K time

2009-03-28T13:31:00.002-05:00

This morning was the Monument Avenue 10K, am I'm pleased to say I achieved my primary objectives of getting out of bed this morning and running from start to finish! Considering the preparation I managed this time around, anything else was going to be a bonus. I put in an unofficial time of just under 50 minutes, which is about a minute slower than my last attempt. The conditions were also more challenging this year. The roads were wet with puddles, and it was cool but humid. This time I found it harder to find a space to run in and so it took me longer to get in a rhythm. For the first time this year they required a qualifying time to be in the front starting waves. I think this put a lot of people further back than they wanted to be, so there was a lot more overtaking and it was a bit hectic. Anyway, enough with the excuses!

James River Scramble 1: Recon

2009-03-22T14:49:00.003-05:00

There is now less than a week before the Monument Avenue 10K. For my final phase of training I am sticking to non-running cardio exercise, as I think I have the legs to run a decent time, but my pace will probably be determined by how hard I'm breathing! In that vein, I dusted off my mountain bike and went to survey the James River Scramble course.
The first thing I would like to say is that it feels like a lot further than 10K! Just the thought of running some of those sections is enough to scare a man. The second thing that struck me is that the trails are going to get pretty congested at certain points, what with 1250 runners crowding through there. I hope people are good natured because an over eager competitor could easily push someone off a cliff.

The start is harmless enough, although the first half click probably has more terrain than the entire Monument Ave race. It's smooth sailing over the Mayo Bridge, then the first real pain strikes shortly after in the form of the staircase up onto the flood wall. Thankfully running along the top of the floodwall provides another section a flat terrain. As if to make you pay for how easy you've had it so far, the course then heads straight up the side of an old railway embankment, kicknamed the 'Mayan Ruins'.

At this point there is a slight reprieve as you come out on Riverview Drive for a while, then across the railway, down the spiral staircase and onto another flat section of fireroad. I've just realised I misread the map when i was out on the trail. I had thought the course took in a section of Buttermilk trail, which would have been lethal, but actually it loops back on the footpaths next to the river. This way you come out on the rocks to the South-West of Belle Isle and have to rock-hop to get over to the island. Therein lies probably the worst section of the course, on the interior of Belle Isle. "Gnarly" is the only way to describe it! You'd have thought it would be smooth running back to the Start/Finish line, but I have no doubt the undulating footbridge under Robert E Lee will claim some casualties.

Sheeps!

2009-03-22T14:40:00.003-05:00

The lambs have hatched at Meadow Farm, so of course we had to go take a look. They must have had a busy lambing season, as there were probably close to two-dozen lambs altogether. Head on over to my Flickr for the entire set (Kristal was behind the camera and took a multitude of shots).

Asland Coffee & Tea

2009-03-21T15:16:00.002-05:00

It seems as though the best times in life occur almost by accident. It has been a long week for both of us and we couldn't wait to unwind on Friday night. Kristal suggested we go up to Ashland for dinner and some drinks. It's a cute town with a lot of character, as the railway line passes right down the high street. Living in Glen Allen, we're really very close to Ashland, but it feels much more like the country.

We decided to dine at the Smokey Pig, a BBQ joint on Route 1 that we have often driven past with curiosity. As one would expect, it was a friendly place serving good, honest food. One item on the menu was slightly unusual, which was the apple puppies. Of course I had to order them! They turned out to resemble hush puppies (fried dough balls) but the batter was sweeter and included finely chopped apple. They were served covered in a lemon sauce than strongly reminded me of lemon meringue pie filling. In any case, they were a bit sweet, in my opinion, to be served as a side to the main course, so I saved them to the end of the meal!

After dinner we headed on in to the center of Ashland with the intention of have a drink or two at Ashland Coffee & Tea. As the name suggests, it is a coffee and tea shop, with sofas and books and the comfortable atmosphere that Starbucks wishes it had. The adjoining room, however, is the famous 'listening room', a distictive music venue where we hoped to catch a decent band. As luck would have it we arrived exactly as the show was about to start. The entertainment for the night was provided by a bluegrass outfit called Some Assembly Required. I thought they did a fine job, especially the banjo player who had mad banjo skills, and the mandolin player who had some funny stories up his sleeve. The beers of choice turned out to be from an German organic brewery called Pinkus. I enjoyed a bottle of their Jubilate Lager, and then their Pilsner. All in all a very relaxing evening, without hardly planning at all.

My Nipples Hurt

2009-03-14T17:44:00.003-05:00

Is that an over-share? Hey, at least there are no photographs accompanying this post! I could take one right now if you like? Actually, it is only my right nipple that is slightly sore. The Monument Avenue 10k is in two weeks, so there is no respite from the training, even on a rainy Saturday morning. Nipple chafing was inevitable. I completed my 8.2km circuit in light, steady rain, clocking a time of 41 minutes. I had hoped to be on track to break my personal record of 48 minutes but I never quite got going with the training until the end of February. Really the Monument Avenue is my warm up event to participating in the James River Scramble this year. If I am able to complete that event I will happily retire from my brief running career. It's bad for the knees. After that I will only run to compete in a Triathalon, but that would require me to learn how to swim! I mean, I can stop myself from drowning, but covering 1500m is beyond my body's propensity to sink like a stone. Anyway, hopefully my nipple will recover in time to resume training and put in a good time on race day. I hope to blog my Scramble training, so watch this space.

Birdwatching

2009-03-14T16:45:00.006-05:00

We've had a bird feeder in the front yard since we moved in. You might think the birds would be at risk from the large population of neighbourhood cats, but so far I haven't any frisky felines try to grab a snack. Barry, I know, is far too slow to ever sneak up on anything more alert than a dead twig. I'd expect the new kitten from next door to have a go, but he has extra toes so maybe they get in the way when hunting!

I have finally given in to my curiosity to know what all the different nondescript little brown bird are that frequent our feeder. Now, anyone from my family will tell you that I hold a fairly dim view of bird classification. I enjoy spotting birds, but if I can't tell you what it's called, that's fine by me. A bird is a bird, and they are marvelous to watch without naming them. But like I say, after a year my curiosity has gradually grown and now I would at least like to have some idea of how many different types of bird we have in the area.

It starts out easy. The bright red ones, with the black face, orange beak and sharp haircut? That's a (Northern) Cardinal and since it's the State bird, it would be a cardinal sin for me not to know it! Straight away we run into the first pitfall of bird watching, because the brown ones? Also Cardinals, but they're the ladies or the kids! Still, the distinctive tuft is enough to single them out, and the bright beak is another strong clue.

Next up the Blue Jay. Another crested variety, it's showy personality makes it easy to spot. These guys are never shy and tend the throw their weight around. The only other bird about the same size as the first two is the (Northern) Mockingbird. The poor Mockingbird is easy to ignore, dressed in a rather dull gray, but the white flashes as it flies makes it a cinch to ID.

Once we get on to the smaller species I have to say I start to struggle. Sure, from the pictures in the book it looks like it should be a piece of cake to tell them apart, but out there on the feeder, flitting back and forth between the trees, never sitting still, never exposing the perfect left profile for comparison to the plate it's another matter. Before long, I start picking out dark caps, breasts, wing bars and so on. Then it is a case of leafing through the bird book attempting to locate a drawing with all the features present. Unfortunately I have no idea how they ordered the plates. I mean, I've narrowed it down to the garden birds section, and then I would've expected them to go in size order, but apparently this is not how it's done.

Despite this frustrating lack of logic, I reckon I have positively identified a House Sparrow, a White Throated Sparrow, a Dark Eyed (Slate Colored) Junco, a House Finch, and some kind of Chickadee (I think probably the Carolina variety). We also have a Red-bellied Woodpecker in the area. These birds are all, of course, exceedingly common, but in a time when garden birds are said to be have a hard time I'm glad we see so many.

Update: Still no Grackles but the Brown-headed Cowbirds have arrived en-masse. The Woodpecker turned out to have a friend, so there's two of them. We saw a Bluebird (very exciting) and we also have a pair of Mourning Doves in residence.

Snow Day

2009-03-02T18:01:00.001-05:00

2712, originally uploaded by evens.john.

It started snowing late in the afternoon on Sunday. Really big flakes of the stuff that were settling right away. As far as we can tell it snowed all night and was still going this morning. We woke up to find the world blanketed in a soft layer of white cold. The best thing of all: work was closed due to (as they say around here) 'inclement weather'! I was really happy to get the extra lie-in this weekend.
I can never make up my mind whether I like snow or not. I'll have to admit I acted like a bit of a kid at times today, running and jumping in the snow. I mean, this stuff was piled up so thick but so powdery and soft it was like being in a padded cell or something. I also enjoyed some manly activities like shoveling snow of the driveway, even though I only had a 1' x 3' piece of chipboard for the task.
In the end, though, I was boring and spent some time doing some filing, organising my online identity and generally getting around to that menial, low priority stuff which normally falls of the bottom of my to-do list at the weekend.

FiOS

2009-02-14T17:42:00.010-05:00

This post is coming to you from a super-fast Fiber Optic internet connection. It won't make things any quicker at your end, I know, but hopefully me having faster upload times will encourage me to post more frequently, more imaginatively and with more photos. Lets start by recalling the process of having FiOS installed.

The 3Mbps down and 1Mbsp up I was getting with DSL was probably sufficient for my needs, but then Verizon screwed up my account and I got stuck with 768Kbps which really sucked. Then my landline inexplicably packed in and I decided it was time to upgrade to the 21st century. I canceled all my previous Verizon services and signed up for FiOS online. I was pleasantly surprised to find that a technician was available two days later to come set up the service. He arrived right in the middle of his allotted window, at 3pm. I showed him around the house and he seemed to think it would be a simple job getting me hooked up.

The thing with FiOS is that they don't tell you about all the hardware you're going to need until you already confirmed your order. The next thing you know, you get an email that explains what you have to do before the technician arrives. This includes running Verizon's virus and spyware scanner on your PC, and also finding a location in your home for the terminal power source. You see, the Optical Network Terminal (ONT) they install has to plug into a regular three-pronged outlet. This turns out to be a tricky proposition since the obvious place to put the ONT is where your existing telephone terminal is, but since telephone don't need a power supply, the telephone terminals usually aren't conveniently located near an outlet. I get the feeling that how smoothly your installation goes depends on how inventive your technician is. I sussed out the situation a little beforehand, and with my suggestion and his ingenuity, we came to an easy solution that looked like it would work well.

Dude set to work installing the power supply and battery backup in our bedroom closet. He did a really nice job of stapling the power cord to the base board and up to the outlet. That accomplished be went out and installed the ONT on the back wall. I was quite impressed that he took the old AT&T terminal off, since the evidence suggested that all previous technicians had left old, obsolete hardware in place. He used an existing Coaxial run to get from the ONT to the router. I realized too late that the router didn't need to be in the bedroom as well, but dude had seen the coax there and I guess jumped at the chance to make the install job as easy as possible for himself.

Once it was all hooked up, we connected my laptop to the router with an Ethernet cable and begun the software side of the installation. Dude plugged a USB dongle in to run the setup program. I respected the fact that the technician unselected most of the dumb stuff that Verizon tries to install on your computer at this point. It went really smoothly, and the router comes WEP enabled so that reduces the hassle of trying to set up wireless security yourself. Once the internet connection was up and running the job was done and dude went on his merry way. I made sure to ask some ambiguous questions about what would happen if certain items were powered down, just so I could play around with them if I wanted. This morning I moved the router to my office, which involved opening the ONT and swapping over the coax. I had to go under the house to find the right cord, and was shocked to discover that dude had screwed my crawlspace hatch shut. Not only that, but he had snipped off the head of the screw, making it virtually impossible for me to open the hatch. I don't know if this is common practice, but it pissed me off. In the process of trying to open the door, I snapped the handle off, but in the end my tenacity and a variety of levers got me in.

I was very please to find that once I hooked everything back up and powered on the router, my connection was instantly restored. All my other experience with cable company-supplied router is that they are totally unreliable. Verizon supplied the Actiontec MI424, which I've never heard of, and is kinda big and ugly, but as long as it works. I can probably find someone to give my old D-link router to.

New Flag

2009-02-09T18:57:00.004-05:00

The year is 2009 CE. Virginia is entirely occupied by the Americans. Well, not entirely...one (very) small village of an indomitable Brit still holds out against the revolutionaries.

Just call me Mykingdomforanos.

The flag that Kris bought me for my one year anniversary in the States was beginning to show it's age. Sun, wind and rain had put a serious dent in the color intensity. Plus I invested in these clever anti-furl flag holders that are meant to rotate all the way around the pole. But the dowel became swollen by moisture and the free rotation was lost. The flag would wrap around the pole, snag on the wing nut on the bracket and start to tear. So, it was time for a new one. The old flag has been retired to our tool cupboard, where it now helps hide the hot water tank.

Marine Corps Training Exercise

2009-02-08T19:30:00.007-05:00

I've been meaning to post these photos for a while now. They were taken from outside my house on January 11th. For several days these scary looking aircraft would come skimming over the trees in pairs. One day they came over for three consecutive passes, right over our house! In fact, I saw them all over the city. You'd here them long before you ever saw them, particularly given the low altitudes they were flying at. Unfortunately I never had my camera ready at the best moments but still got a few shots. I later heard that some kind of Marine Corps training exercise was going on in the area, which makes sense given the models of aircraft involved.

The first picture is a rather distant but beautifully framed shot of a Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion. It's the largest helicopter in the US Military inventory, and is used by the Marine Corps as a heavy lift helicopter. I was disappointed not to see it flying over with a M198 Howitzer slung underneath, but I guess there are some safety concerns when operating over friendly residential areas.

The second aircraft pictured in a V-22 tiltrotor aircraft. These things are scary to behold, I think because they can drone around at low altitude like a helicopter, then tilt the rotors forward and take off over the horizon like a regular aeroplane. The Marines use the MV-22 variant, and were the first to deploy them in combat in Iraq.

Bass Pro Shops

2009-02-07T17:37:00.003-05:00

Recently opened near Ashland is Richmond's new Bass Pro Shops store. While it is essentially just another store for outdoor activities with an emphasis on fishing and hunting, we had heard that it also had quite the theme park atmosphere going on. In other words, despite the fact that we had no interests in buying any outdoor equipment, it was worth going to take a look around simple for the entertainment factor.

You know something is different when you have to go through a turnstile at the main entrance. At least they don't charge an entry fee! We arrived around lunchtime, so decided to have a bite to eat at the attached Islamoranda Fish Restaurant. There was a short wait for a table and we begun to browse the store. Its really a Mecca for all that's tacky about rednecks. I don't have a problem with the redneck lifestyle. Nor do I even object to 'weekend rednecks' who live in the city but go huntin' and fishin' in their spare time. But neither group really has any need for recliner furniture upholstered with forest camouflage print fabric! But then you knew the chain dedicated to the commercialization of outdoor activities when you saw the alcove dedicated to NASCAR.

Lunch was very pleasant. The dining room had a huge reef-themed fish tank (although the coral fake) which helped you forget that the view out the window was I-95. I got a Smoked Wahoo Wrap, although I still have no idea what a wahoo is. After lunch took a closer look at the main attraction of the store, a huge indoor freshwater pond full of local varieties of fish, complete with cascading waterfall that comes down from the ceiling. The pond is built above the floor with a plexiglass front so you can see all the fish, and every so often a member of staff does a quick educational session about the different species.

Next we headed upstairs to check out the camping section, which is all we would seriously be interested in. Unfortunately they don't really cater to real outdoors types. The first thing you are confronted with is their range of huge gas and charcoal grills, fryers and other cooking equipment. It's all ridiculous technology that is in no way easily portable - more for the type of people that go camping out the back of their F-150. The only thing we saw that we liked was a two person kayak.
For the fun of it we wandered over to the hunting section. I'll admit it: I like to look at guns and fantasize that I have some legitimate use for one in my life. In fact, not just one, but several, such that I would need a $3000 gun safe in my office for my extensive arsenal. But I don't, so I have to be content with watch other people who don't need guns try to buy one despite having no criteria for choosing a weapon other than which one looks the coolest. Or on the case of one gentleman, without the proper ID. "Don't worry" says the salesman, "We'll get you squared away".

Stem Meme

2009-02-02T20:32:00.003-05:00

In the news today the possibility that President Obama may reverse his predecessor's ban on stem cell research. I considered writing a piece on the science behind stem cell research and the possibilities that would open up if and when the ban is removed. But another story caught my eye, that Geron, a biotech company in the US, has been given approval by the FDA to proceed with a clinical trial treating paralyzed patients with stem cells. What really stood out for me was that the proposal document was approximately 21,000 pages long. The BBC reports that this is the largest application on record.

Herein lies a challenge for scientific progress, as the boundaries of research stretch into ever more complex territory. I would contend that most of the controversies science is facing, in the fields of stem cell research, climate change, evolutionary biology and other, emerge because the topics are so complex that most contributors to the debate are barely able to scratch the surface of understanding. I could have written a short piece about the possible benefits of extensive stem cell research, but in order to summarize such a complicated subject, the facts necessarily become watered down.

Clearly scientific progress in the modern era relies on public support, which in turn requires that the public have some understanding of what they are supporting. But is this feasible? Obviously good communication between the science lab is key. When, though, is someone completing the arduous education required to practice stem cell biology expected to find the time to also become a master communicator?

Ultimately, with such a large public body to communicate to, memes become a vital tool. A meme is a package on knowledge in the same way that a gene is a package of genetic information. Memes are replicated when one person tells another, and like genes, they are subject to 'natural selection'. Successful memes become an ubiquitous part of our culture. For example, everyone knows that Neil Armstrong said "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" as he set foot on the moon. This meme is successful because of the inspirational nature of the message, because the words are cleverly arranged, but simple and because of the way it has been communicated: that video clip of the man in a space suit, complete with the beeps and whistles of the comm system.

Memes, like genes, are also prone to random mutations. People make mistakes when they re-tell the story, or deliberately change the facts to make the story more appealing. The success of a meme has nothing to do with how true it is, only how well it is spread throughout a group of people, and eventually the entire population of a country of the world. Think of the show Mythbusters, who every week deal with successful memes that often turn out to have no basis in fact. Richard Dawkins, who coined the phrase 'meme', contends that religion is the most successful meme of all human history, and in his opinion, is completely false.

Back to stem cell research, how can the researchers control the stem cell memes that proliferate? Is there some way to selectively breed a meme that is not only robust and successful, but also true!? Unfortunately, sound scientific knowledge isn't easily transfected into a popular meme. Scientific fact is not usually catchy, universally inspirational or expressed accurately in a poetic form. We shall have to see how the population of memes changes now that the POTUS looks set to throw his support behind this valuable and interesting line of research.

Feeling chipper

2009-01-27T19:27:00.002-05:00

This past Thursday I got home from work and was browsing Craigslist. As usual, there were no interesting motorcycles or guitars for sale. I meandered into the farm and garden section, as its always interesting to see what animals are available to buy. There are often goats and chickens, horses of course, but rarely sheep. It disappoints me that there aren't more sheep, really. Anyway, I was scrolling down the page and there it was. My chipper. I have been looking for a decent chipper for ages to clear the ever growing pile of dead wood accumulating behind my compost station. That pile recently put on a big spurt, as a result of me chopping all the dead and dying limbs from our three gigantic Crepe Myrtles out front. In fact, I pruned (in some cases razed to the ground) several shrubs around the yard a few weeks ago. So I needed a chipper, but all I had seen before were chipper/shredder/leaf vacs that only took very skinny limbs, or these monstrous chippers that will devour entire trees and need to be towed behind a lorry. This little guy was perfect for my needs. A 5hp engine, 2" diameter capacity. And he looked to be in good condition.

The key with Craigslist is to act fast. When I bought my punchbag no fewer than three interested parties called while I was there collecting it. I wasted no time picking up the phone to find out if my quarry was still available. Yes, it was, and yes, I could come right round to take a look! The gentleman owner had just used it a few times clearing some brush at the back of his yard, and it had been sitting a while since then. This, of course, meant that it would start, but he assured me it ran well and it was too good an opportunity to pass up. The deal made, I loaded it into my truck and headed for home, trying not to speed despite my excitement.

On Saturday I took to task getting my boy running. Earlier attempts on previous evenings suggested that the gas was bad, the carb was gummed up and the throttle/choke didn't seem to be operating too well. I drained the carb and sprayed a ton of carb cleaner in. I replaced the air filter, but the spark plug looked in good condition. Still the engine wouldn't quite get up to speed. I poured out most of the old gas, and diluted down the rest with freshly pumped fuel. A bit better this time, but still just barely turning over. I was just about to concede that I just don't know enough about small engine maintenance when I decided to take a screwdriver to a sprung screw on top of the carb. The spring levered against the throttle link and the engine soared to life! If I'd thought of that earlier I could probably have saved myself an hour or so soaked in gasoline, but no matter: Now we were in business.

Chipping is fun. I love to chip, especially the really fat chunks of wood that almost kill the engine as they get eaten and subsequently spit out in neat chips. The cool thing about my chipper is you can feed the big limbs into one chute, and the smaller twigs, brush, leaves and anything else soft into another chute on the other side for shredding. I basically spent all day out in the yard feeding whatever I could find into the hungry jaws of the chipping dragon. I jammed it twice. The first time was with a short length of Crepe Myrtle branch. It wasn't very thick, but that stuff is hard, and it got wedged between the impelled and the housing. Taking the chute off isn't really a one man job, but where there's a will there's a way. Soon I was back making mulch, this time being more careful about chipping even the smaller branches. It wasn't long before I got over ambitious again and this time jammed the chipper. That was an easier fix, though, as the chipping chute is small and attached with fewer fasteners.

Saturday was a gorgeous day, and by the end of it I had about ten big buckets of mulch that I spread on my front beds. I was also completely covered in sawdust.

Duckpin

2009-01-19T20:23:00.002-05:00

If you live in Richmond, please check out my future brother in law's blog to read about Duckpin bowling at Plaza Bowl. You NEED to know about Duckpin bowling.

Part 4 - "London, Baby!"

2009-01-19T18:18:00.004-05:00

When the Friend's crew went to London back in 1998 they were too early for the London Eye. That's too bad from them, because it is easily one of the best things to do in a city that has a lot to offer. We made it our first stop after arriving at Waterloo station. The ride takes about half an hour, and by sheer luck the sun came out for that exact period, giving us a stunning view of the city. Despite the low clouds, we were still clearly able to make out the arch of Wembley Stadium. But the real treats are much closer by: Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are right across the river. Buckingham Palace peeks from behind the trees at the end of St James' Park. Every time you turn around a new attraction has appeared as the wheel continues it's steady process. Since we only had a day in London, it was a great way to see as many sights as possible in a short space of time.

The sun stayed out long enough for us to walk across Westminster Bridge and get a closer look at the attractions around Parliament Square. By the time we had made our way into St James' Park, the heavy gray clouds had returned, and after our brief stop at Buckingham Palace, we walked back through the park in a snow shower. For Kristal a big highlight was the collection of rare wild fowl in the pond. They didn't seem to mind the cold, even though they were more often walking on the surface of the pond than swimming in it. The exotic ducks, geese and pelicans looked out of place in the snow, but were impressive all the same.

By the time we reached Trafalgar Square it was time for some lunch, and we ducked into a traditional pub on Whitehall for a bite to eat. As usual, the best thing about the meal was the beer. The food itself was hit (delicious sausage sandwich) or miss (dry, well done burger). At least we we able to warm up. Next we took a trip on the Tube to get to the Oxford St area, so that Kristal could visit Liberty of London, and experience the lavish fabric selection. I have to say, it was quite an experience for me too. I had never been in a department store that had an Oyster and Champagne Bar!

Another quick trip on the Tube brought us to St Paul's Cathedral, but our real destination was right across the river. Crossing the Millennium bridge to the south bank we headed into the cavernous main hall of the Tate Modern art gallery. The building itself is a work of art that trumps a lot of the modern art nonsense in the galleries, but I was exciting to see some really famous pieces "in the flesh". It's always a surprise to find out how big (or small) a painting you've seen in pictures a hundred times is. Matisse's Snail is huge, and so is Sea Roses by Monet. The video installations are as always deeply disturbing, but my favorite artwork was an entire room of silverware, silver plates and other silvery items like trumpets flattened with a steam roller and suspended a few inches above the floor on fishing line. The effect was mesmerizing, as small air currents generated as the crowd shuffled through would make the items swing almost imperceptibly.

Once we seen all the art we could take, we wondered down the South Bank a little ways, past the reconstructed Globe Theatre, hoping to experience Borough Market. It was closed. So, it was time for another ride on the underground. We ended up in Leicester Square, and tried to find somewhere to eat, but we didn't know what we were looking for and only had a little money left. Whilst we enjoyed meandering around the theater district, we had no luck finding a place that looked good for dinner, so we headed back towards Waterloo. However, I happened to know of a little strip behind County Hall that has a bagel shop, a sushi place and a noodle bar, and the thought of noodles captured our appetites.

Then it really was time to get back on the train, and before we knew it, we were back on a plane crossing the ocean and leaving wintry England behind. We had a blast, and will return. Sometime. Soon...ish.

Sick Leave

2009-01-15T17:12:00.003-05:00

I almost achieved the great feat of blogging about my entire holiday on consecutive days, but unfortunately the illness that has been bugging me since my return finally caught up with me and I have been taking it easy in the evenings until I recover. In all honesty, I haven't been that sick, but I firmly believe that I suffer from the dreaded Man-flu, an apparently minor affliction that nonetheless renders me unable to perform any household chores, prepare food for myself, or locate medication without assistance from the amazing woman in my life.
In any case, I am not one who reaches for the pills at the first sign of a cold. It would seem to me that many medications treat the symptoms (headache, congestion, cough, etc) but do nothing to treat the cause (bacterial or viral infection), and speed recovery.
Still, to prevent me from taking out my frustration at being unwell on those around me, I will at some point reach for a random blister pack of caplets lying at the back of the medicine cabinet, covered in dust. On Tuesday my search produced a half-full box of Aleve, cold and sinus. These contain a mixture of Naproxen for the pain and fever, and Pseudoephdrine to relieve congestion.

Naproxen is a Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID), which means it inhibits the Cycloxygenase (COX) enzymes that produce the biological substances called prostoglandins. This group of chemicals mediates inflammation (among many other things) and thus by blocking their production, NSAIDs reduce swelling and the associated discomfort. I couldn't find any evidence that Naproxen has any advantages over Ibuprofen. They have very similar chemical structure and appear to carry the same risks and benefits. Naproxen was developed almost twenty years after Boots Co. formulated Ibuprofen.
Psuedoephedrine (available on it's own as Sudafed) has a much more interesting chemistry, as it can be readily converted to Methamphetamine, the recreational drug.
Sudafed works by activating alpha-adrenergic receptors, having the effect of reducing swelling and mucus excretion in the nose and throat. The molecule has two chiral centers, which allows for four different configurations of the drug. Sudafed is comprised of (-)-Psuedoephedrine, where both chiral centers are in the left-handed configuration. It is this form that can be converted into the psychosimulant drug. Interestingly, Pfizer hold the patent for (+)-Psuedoephedrine (which when converted to methamphatamine is in a form not active on the central nervous system and found in Vick's inhalers), but for some reason they have decided not to produce and market the compound.
I didn't precisely follow the instructions on the Aleve packet. They prescribe "1 Caplet every 12 hours". I took 1 caplet. That was it. I prefer to rely on natural remedies.

Don't worry, I'm not about to proclaim that druidic formulations are more effective that pharmaceuticals. But a cup of lemon ginger tea makes me feel better, and doesn't come with the risk of stomach bleeding. I also occasionally wear a magnetic bracelet (by Bioflow), although I would struggle to explain why. I don't believe it has any specific physiological effect, but it didn't cost me much, and I like to keep people guessing.
Hopefully I will soon be well enough to conclude the tale of our adventures in England. Tonight I will be using the most powerful medication know to man: Chicken Noodle Soup. Complete recovery is almost guaranteed!

Part 3 - Brizzle

2009-01-12T18:23:00.002-05:00

Our final major excursion was to Bristol, where Martha and Graham were holding their 'We ran away to Hawaii to get married' party. The family drove down early in the day so we could get in a spot of sightseeing. One of my favorite spot in probably the whole country is the Clifton Suspension Bridge. It always strikes me as exactly the right bridge for the setting, spanning the Avon Gorge. On one of the adjacent hills stands a camera obscura at the top of a short tower, and it's fun to go in and watch the cars crossing the bridge.
We were soon in need of some lunch, and the man manning the dark chamber suggested we find a pub in Clifton Village. We stumbled across the Portcullis, run by a friendly young chap who actually came out the front door to gain our custom. In the end, I'm not sure the fare was to everyone's liking, but I rather enjoyed the experience. As you may have guessed, this was because the barman served beers from small, local breweries. He had selected which varieties to have on tap and was able to recommend and talk knowledgeably to those of us to desired a fine ale.
After lunch we popped into the City Museum, which pretty much took care of all genres of history in a very small space. I took in some Natural History (including a hedgehog), Egyptian history and some ornately decorated pianos. They were also displaying the entries from a nature photography competition. The room was very crowded, and many of the pictures, while stunning, were your usual nature photography cliches. The standout for me was a shot of a lopsided mushroom in the rain. I think most people would have completely overlooked that mushroom, but the composition is great.

Having had our fill of sightseeing for the day, we checked in to the Travelodge and made ourselves pretty for the party. Well, we did our best considering the Travelodge was the grimiest place I've ever stayed in! We arrived at the hotel and met Martha, looking stunning but a little chilly in her wedding dress. Soon other family and friends began arriving and the party got started. Everyone was very interested to hear how I was getting on in America, and more importantly to meet my gorgeous fiancee. We had to spread ourselves thinly to get around everyone and still get some dancing in! It was great to see so many people again, albeit far too briefly in many cases.
We were treated to a short speech by the bride and groom, and the best man did a grand job of digging up some of Graham's embarrassing past, as is the British custom! Graham and Martha wowed us on the dancefloor, and will probably never live down the fact that their 'first dance' was to ABBA!
Soon the party was over, and ever the old folks had made it through to midnight. In the next installment: One final day in London before we bid farewell to Blighty.

Part 2 - Belly Dancing

2009-01-11T16:41:00.007-05:00

When we got back to Reading, Martha and Graham had arrived chez Evens, having visited with his family oop North. We all went up to Henley-on-Thames to take a look around. Braving the cold, we took a walk down to the lock and weir, then strolled around the town and did a spot of shopping.

We stopped for a beer in Wargrave at the George and Dragon, which appeared to have changed owner again and got a complete facelift in the process. Still, they had some pretty decent beers on (although the local brew was tapped out to the disappointment of Graham and I - we both like to sample something brewed nearby when we can). After a round of drinks we headed on down to Twyford, where I used to live, to find a curry house. For some reason, Twyford has a large selection of Idian restaurants, the most famous of which (in my opinion), is the Gaylord. You wouldn't believe the places I've been where when I mention I lived in Twyford someone mentions the Gaylord. And not just because of the humorous name - lots of poeple rate it as one of the best Tandoori places around. So of course we had to try it.
It didn't start off too well. It smelled a bit funny, and the poppadoms didn't come with the cucumber/yogurt dip that I like. Still, we knew we were in for an authentic experience as we could understand a word the waiter was saying, nor did he comprehend us. Always a good sign. When the main dishes came out, they were excelent. Kristal sensibly opted for a mild chicken tikka masarla which was one of the best I'd ever tasted. I tried to find something middle of the road, heat wise, but it turned out slightly hotter than I'd anticipated. Delicious, though.
The best part came at the end of the meal. The waiter came round with two Baileys and two scotches, and when we tried to explain that we hadn't ordered any drinks he said, 'On the house'! Not only that, but the ladies got complimentary roses. So there you go: If you fancy a curry tonight, go to Gaylord. It's on the High St opposite Waitrose.
After a short stay in Reading it was time to hit the road again, this time down to Guildford, where I was at University. We left around dinner time on the 30th, and spent the evening at Corinne and Pete's flat, with almost all my old uni mates. Was great to see all you guys! We had a bit more fun that we had intended, so spent most of the next day resting in preparation for the big one in London.
It was awesome riding the limo up to London, mostly because it was really quick and we got dropped off right next to the restaurant. It was so quick that we were early for our booking, and we were a bit worried that we would have to go wait in another pub, but it turned out that they sent us straight to our table and started bringing the food out!

The restaurant was Moroccan themed and the food was out of this world. We had just about got done with the appetizers when the belly dancers came out for their first routine. This girl was clearly a professional - I mean it takes skill to shake your hips like that! I was happily enjoying the show (purely as an art form, you understand), when she beckons for me to join her on the floor. Well, some invitations one just can't refuse. Needless to say, I am not a professional. If you haven't seen the photos yet, they you must have been hiding in a cave, because people have been commenting on them since New Year's day when they hit facebook!
The rest of the night was basically awesome, just hanging out with some good friends, smoking the hookah, drinking extortionately priced cocktails and generally having a good time. The announcement that 2009 had arrived was a bit, err, non-existent, but somehow we got the message an engaged in the requisite kissing and hugging etc.
The next day we did a quick driving tour of Guildford High Street, UniS, the cathedral and most of the places I'd living during my studies there. Then is was time to head back to Reading once more. Next time: the "Main Event" - we celebrate the marriage of Martha and Graham.

England Part 1 - The Cotswolds

2009-01-10T09:57:00.002-05:00

I slept for 12 straight hours last night. I was beginning to struggle as soon as I got in from work, but by the time dinner reached the table I couldn't keep my eyes open and had to retreat to Bedminster. Hopefully that took care of the jetlag.
Our first real expedition of the trip was to visit our friends Chris and Rowie in the Cotswolds. OK, actually not quite the Cotswolds, but everyone laughs at me when I enthusiastically mention Swindon. We visited Cirencester, an historic Roman town. We visited exactly none of the attractions from the Roman period, because it was Sunday and everything was closed. Really the most interesting thing we saw was St John's Parish church which was undergoing major renovation. In the afternoon we drove out to some smaller villages. Burford high street runs down a hill and is full of cute shops. We stopped in the country clothing store, where the only item we could afford was the possum fur willy warmers! In the sweet shop I found some adorable chocolate hedgehogs (they were also very yummy!). Kristal of course sought out the needlework shop...
Once it started getting dark we went back to the car and traveled to Lechlade for some local brews. The first pub we went into had just started their own range of microbrews, and although only one variety was yet available, it was delicious. The pub was very popular, and was definitely the authentic English pub experience, with open fires, agricultural implements stuck on every wall and a good crowd of locals enjoying fine ales.
The same could not be said of the next spot we chose. We were hoping to sample some of the beers from the Arkells brewery, which is big in that area. Unfortunately the pub we chose only had their basic beers on (not the seasonal ales we were hoping for), and they were absolutely disgusting! Up til now I don't think I've ever met a beer I didn't like. Sure, some have strong flavors that can be an acquired taste, but these ales smelled like vinegar and I was sure something must be wrong with them. I asked the barman (who by this point was tucking into a revolting chicken curry (the house specialty), but after a quick taste be assured me the 'musty' aroma was normal. None of us could stomach them and I was glad I chosen a cider.
On the way home we picked up a few bottles of the seasonal brews, a Christmas ale and an organic one which were both delicious.
The highlight of our trip to Swindon was definitely the food. On the first night we went round to the local fish and chip shop and picked up cod, chips, jumbo sausage, cornish pasty, mushy peas and garlic mayo. It was a huge feast, and for Kristal I think it was love a fist bite! It's definitely the best comfort food on a cold winter's night. Our second night there was bangers, mash and beans, to prove my point that sausages and baked beans in the UK are far superior to anything you can find stateside. Case closed.
Next time: I return to my university town, and we head into London for New Year's!

Evens Family Christmas

2009-01-08T16:40:00.003-05:00

Our final act before departing from Dulles International Airport, Washington DC was to have one last Mexican! Terminal building restaurants are, ironically, interminable. We stopped in for a quick bite, but were left watching other diners (who had arrived after us) tuck into their meals. Eventually Kristal said something, and our cheese quesadillas were then quickly produced. The small discount offered by way of apology was, well, small. We tipped appropriately. Still, it was good preparation for the kind of service we could expect once on British soil!
Thanks to my imaginative planning, we arrived fresh from eight hours of no leg room and precious little sleep to a crisp Christmas Day dawning on the green hills of Berkshire. In fact, our flight had been very pleasant. I have to give credit to Virgin Atlantic, who did a great job on the food and drink. The cabin crew seem to have mastered the fine art of plying the clientele with booze while keeping us suitable hydrated: a careful balancing act that make the entire experience much more bearable.
Fortunately a sedate Christmas had been arranged at the Evens household. I lasted long enough to enjoy some kind gifts and festive foods, before completely and suddenly crashing into a deep sleep! I really don't remember what happened the rest of the day. I know I was woken in the early evening, and presumably further eating and making merry took place, but apparently my brain was in no state to form memories!
By Boxing Day we were sufficiently revived to take a trip to Windsor to see the Castle, the River, the green parakeets. We got a good taste of the type of weather we could expect over the next two weeks. You may notice that in all the photos we are peeking out from behind hats and scarves, doing our best to stay warm (although I recall only about two occasions that I really achieved that!).
Tune in next time to hear about our adventures in British food during our stay in the Cotswalds.

McKelvey Family Christmas.
Yes, I have noticed that there is one Christmas account missing from this Blog. No doubt the McKelveys are incensed that I've omitted them. Well, too bad! There just wasn't the time with all the packing and preparations going on. However, we had a wonderful time (I particularly enjoyed winning at the Applesapapples game), and if I'm completely honest the roast was probably the best food we had all season, and thus beat Grandma's Oyster stew (shame on you!). Y'all know where the photos'll be. Peace.

I was back in the UK. Sorry if you missed me!

2009-01-08T16:11:00.005-05:00

We have just got back from a cold but very enjoyable holiday back on my home turf in the South of England. A huge thank you to all those who made our trip what it was. It was absolutely fantastic to catch up with so many friends and family. I have uploaded all the photos to flickr so go ahead and browse through them. Also expect more posts here detailing the highlights of our trip, of which there were many. However, we can honestly say that it feels great to be back home! Back to a nice soft bed instead of various futons; back to sunny winter's days in the high 40's; back to our precious, attention-starved kitty cat!
I worried that I would find England a strange, foreign land that I didn't understand anymore. On the other hand I feared that I would find I had been missing English things so much it would be painful when the holiday ended and I would have to leave again. But as it turned out, England hadn't changed that much. Sure, it was great to indulge in some true British cuisine, and fun to see the place again (both the usual tourist spots and the locations that only mean something to me), but there are no burritos and that clinches it for me.

Blake Family Christmas

2008-12-20T16:55:00.001-05:00

Blake Family Christmas, originally uploaded by evens.john.

The photo's are up on my Flickr. One down, two to go. The Oyster stew is a hard act to follow!

2008-12-10T20:03:00.006-05:00

I lied. There are several pictures from around my birthday that I want to share. I just hadn't taken them yet. On the left is our advent calender (expertly crafted by Kristal).

The most expert thing about it is that it is filled with Lindor truffles! Ithink there are five different varieties but we threw away the package and can't remember what the colors mean. One of them, we reckon the orange wrapped ones, are peanut butter flavor. I don't know why everyone insists on producing a peanut butter variety these days. Perhaps Reese's patent ran out. nevermind, all the other flavors are delicious.

I've always liked the fact that my birthday marks the start of advent. My mom kept up the tradition this year of giving me an advent greetings card on my birthday, which is perfect for me to display at work where a chocolate filled calender would contravene health and safety regulations!

This year, the procession through the calender windows also marks the countdown to are trip to England! Two weeks to go!

Since we won't be at home for Christmas, we are doing minimal decorating. However, I got these lights for cheap at Target the day of Halloween. I did a hopeless job of putting them up the first time, and they kept falling down and tangling up the screen door. On Black Friday I bought myself an early b'day present of a step-ladder, so I was able to hang them properly. Down the street there is a yard with the full compliment of inflatable winter festival characters, and they even blare out festive music. I also discovered a life sized Santa's sleigh and reindeer 'flying' in a beautiful arc a few feet off the ground of another neighborhood yard. I'f I can get a picture of it I'll post it up on Flickr.

On turning 25

2008-12-08T21:00:00.003-05:00

Sorry for any readers who have been waiting for a post about my recent Birthday. As followers of this blog will know, I usually like to start off my posts with a photo or two, but for some reason there hasn't been much camera use lately. I completely failed to get any shots of our enormous Thanksgiving feast. Nothing much exciting happened on my birthday actual. Then in the happy chaos of celebrating my birthday AND engagement on Saturday with a night of bowling, the camera once again stayed in my coat pocket.
Since there are no pictures to display, I shall have to fall back on entertaining you all with scintillating prose. So what can I say about clicking over the quarter century mark?
The first thing that comes to mind is that my birthday marked exactly two and a half years since my arrival in this great land. I honestly can't believe it has been so long. Despite being now well integrated into society and having perhaps developed a passable urban Virginia accent, I still frequently feel like a foreigner. While undoubtedly my understanding of the American people has deepened immensely (especially after living through the longest Presidential Election in history with them) I know I will never be fully American. At twenty-five it so happens that I am probably as close as I ever will be to being truly half-and-half, not just by birth but in culture also.
Secondly, becoming engaged has certainly reversed my perspective on age. If there was any fear that I would start to feel old when I reached 25, that was all swept away when I put a ring on my young lady's finger. Now if anything I feel far too young to be taking such a grown up step. However, I'm certainly not too modest to say that I'm very proud of Kristal and myself for taking this step together, and the timing in both our lives feels though it could not have been better.
During a conversation at the bowling alley, we were pondering what age we might live to see. Somebody born at the end of the 19th Century would never have imagined they would live to be 115, but that is exactly what Maria de Jesus dos Santos has done. Who can how old the super-centenarians of the 22nd Century will be, and if any of us will be among them?

In case you haven't heard...

2008-12-08T20:54:00.003-05:00

...Kristal and I will be getting married! For the full story on how this came about, head on over to Dawn Stiches.
We are both very happy, excited and in love. Thanks to everyone who has already passed on their message of congratulations.

Neuschwanstein Castle

2008-11-22T21:02:00.002-05:00

We final finished this 2000 piece puzzle! We bought it to celebrate having a coffee table to do a puzzle on, so we must have started back at the end of September. The castle was completed fairly quickly, then it was slow going until I spent a couple of evenings tackling the sky. We took a long break around Halloween as the puzzle got moved into K's sewing room so we could entertain in the living room. Recently we returned it to pride of place on the coffee table and I have been grinding away on finishing the foliage. The last pieces slotted into place this evening, just in time to take it apart to make way for Thanksgiving!
The lesson here is, don't try to do a 2000 piece puzzle on a coffee table. It was the only design I really liked at Target, which is why we chose this one instead of a more sensible size. Of course when we got it home we discovered it wouldn't fit on the table! Luckily K had a table pad from her Grandmother that was only about a quarter inch short, and worked fine except that it folded in three so was never completely flat at the creases and was a pig to move...
I am accustomed to having enough flat space to lay out all the pieces and maybe have enough room to move them around, but since the puzzle didn't even fit we were stuck hunting through the box, picking out interesting pieces. Very frustrating. When I was working on the sky I was convinced I had all the blue ones, but it took another half dozen searches to eventually track them all down. For a time we used the box and lid to transfer pieces back and forth as we hunted. I found a big sheet of, er, something white and rigid, so I could lay some pieces out and organize them, which helped a lot. But yeah, next time we're getting the 250 piece puzzle that's a picture of kittens...

The Nat'l

2008-11-13T19:58:00.004-05:00

The National is an old theater house that recent re-opened as a music venue. I was invited a short notice to go see Conor Oberst and Ben Kweller, and as my faithful reader will know, I need turn down an invitation to a random event. Besides, I'm completely out of touch with the local (and national) music scene.
Since none of us had been to the Nat'l before, we showed up shortly after the doors opened to make sure we didn't miss anything. And wasn't is lucky we did, or we wouldn't have been treated to Rig 1. My best guess would be to label them an Indie Rap Group, if that genre even exists. The front man reminded me of Dider Revol in Son of Ranbow. I wasn't totally convinced by an outfit that produces only a small portion of their music live (mostly Dider 'rapped' over a backing track with disorted fills from his guitarist and bassist), and his a cappella number was like being at some strange trippy poetry reading. At least they solved the question of whether I was going to drink or not. PBR on tap? Oh, why thank you...
They seem to have their game together at the National, because the wait between acts seemed refreshingly short. Before long, Ben Kweller came skipping on stage. At first I thought there had been some mistake. The voluminous dirty blonde curly hair; the denim vest; the cute as apple pie voice? There was no way this was a dude. But a dude he was, and proceeded to launch into a set of what I'm calling 'punk folk' for want of a better description. For me the star of the show was pedal steel, played by an older gentleman in thick black-rimmed glasses (my associates disagreed). Basically the whole experience was making me think I was in Greenville in 1973, but what the hey.
After Ben had warmed us up it was onto the main event. Advertised as Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, I was expecting something along the lines of Newgrass, but was way off!
Again, words fail to really describe the odd arrangement of musicians assembled on stage. Perhaps this is the truest use of the term Indie. There wasn't really a band on stage, rather several individuals playing in concert. The most individual of them all was Conor himself who fits neatly into the category of arrogant prick. Technical prowess was hard to come by from any member of the group, who seemed to be centered around Conor's poetic lyrical meanderings. Personally I much preferred when he let one of the other band members take a song.
Well, some of the tunes were likable enough, and three PBRs in I was ready to get my groove on, which brought disparaging remarks about the quality of English dancing from my acquaintances. Most of the rest of the crowd stood there with their arms crossed, but clearly they were enjoying themselves more than they were expressing, as the calls for an encore were energetic and appreciative.
The band returned after just enough time for a few rounds of shots chased with a beer. After a few more numbers indistinguishable from the rest of the set, Conor invited Ben out on stage, announcing that this was Ben's last date on the tour with them. Ben, who had clearly spent the entirety of the headliner's set with a bottle of Jim Beam, staggered on stage for a rendition of Kodachrome, which they made a good job of, actually. After this point I don't really remember a lot of the music. Ben and Conor were climbing all over the stage equipment, kicking over drinks and throwing mics around. Conor tried to skip rope with the microphone lead, but got it tangled, first on Ben's guitar, then on a mic stand, before finally making a full rotation and drawing disproportionate applause from a highly entertained audience.
So, in the end a good time was had by all. It was just what I needed as an antidote to a crap week. I'm not hurrying out to buy their latest records, but they sure know how to put on a show, so Kudos to Ben and Conor.