Saturday, July 26, 2008

Wilderness Nicole

We have it good authority that Nicole is goin' camping for a few days next week. We sure hope you know what you're is doing; even under the best of circumstances spending days in the wild requires careful planning because you have to carry all your own food. Forget about the edible plants manual -- one sticky page and you'll end up like that "Into the Wild" guy.

Listen -- you are going to get tired of dehydrated macaroni and cheese in about 15 minutes. And you will also need to figure out some way to pass the time in what will otherwise be a repetitive slog through natural beauty, star-studded night skies and the kind of silence you cannot even imagine and are unable to adequately describe.

Here's a thought -- how about some wilderness gourmet cooking! Your welcome!

We know you are too busy so we've done some research on your behalf (we flatter ourselves that you are reading this. Maybe Samer will tell you about it) and found this incredibly thorough, perfectly-time article on NPR.

In it some chick in SF writes all about the things you will need to know. We are sure your comfort level will increase just by reading this:
Escaping into the wilderness doesn't have to mean leaving good food behind. A little preparation before hitting the trail makes dishes like penne pasta with vegetables a cinch.
Boy, this girl really does know her trailmix. Witness:
Years of backpacking in various parts of the United States have taught me that while a box of organic macaroni and cheese is easy to prepare after a long day of lugging a heavy pack up and down mountains, it's not nearly as satisfying as quinoa chowder or fresh vegetables roasted over a fire.

These days my pack is filled with a small container of olive oil, dried herbs, salt and pepper and fresh fruit rather than packets of dehydrated beans and rice or bags of quick-cooking oatmeal flavored with desiccated strawberries.
Our pack would contain 3 GPS units, a sat phone and Glock 19 -- you can get lots of food and even have it prepared and served to you with a Glock - but that's just us.

We have to admit we really didn't read the article too closely or bother to Google the author, whose name escapes me, but it's on the internet and must be true. Anyway there's a nifty companion podcast where the incredibly well-prepared author lays it all out in a way even we can understand. We were captivated.

So, Nicole, do your homework (your welcome!) -- and be safe! No Lord of the Flies stuff, OK!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Samer's Adventure Begins in Mere Minutes


Samer tweets that he is through IAD security and has had a hearty breakfast "but I'll probably regret the mountain of cheese and bacon once airborne." So might you seat mates, mate.

The Boy Wonder will arrive in Tokyo tomorrow afternoon after a flight scheduled to take about 14 hours. His big regret seems to be that he won't be able to drink a
caipirinha "for a good long time. My guess is I won't even be at a bar that has cachaça until at least Germany."

We'll be tracking his flight in real time at flightstats.com.

We're happy for the lad to have this dream assignment (engineer at the Bejing Olympics) and for his dexterity in creating a travel itinerary around it. But I have a dilemma. Who am I going to ask random questions at strange hours about astronomy, mechanical engineering, Apple shortcuts, unix programming and cookery? Well, as least I have a reliable source for that last one a much more manageable three time zones away.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Feeling lucky, punk?


Feeling lucky, punk? originally uploaded by John C Abell.

Yes, sir, Mr. Farha sir.

Occasionally, very accurate. Wonder who he was thinking of during those shots ...

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Our Prayers Have Been Answered


23,501 originally uploaded by Samer Farha.

That meat blog thing was sort of OK, I guess, but we asked for it (two years ago) and now we have it:

Samer is blogging for real again.

The reason? Boy Wonder is about to embark on a trip of 23,501 miles that begins with one step. Work beckons him to the Beijing Olympic Games and he's making about 47 pre-, post and side trips.

The itinerary:

  • Tokyo
  • Hong Kong
  • Beijing
  • Dubai
  • Beirut
  • Frankfurt
  • Berlin
  • Brussels
  • London
  • Reykjavik

And Samer has procured exactly what a young, single man passing through so many port of call needs ....

A telephoto lens. What did you think?