Where have you been?

My motto is "don't be a racist, hate everyone equally". My new favorite thing to hate, however, is not an icky minority group but cold showers. You heard me, cold showers. Strange thing to hate I know, but let me explain. There is on-going construciton near our Apartment block and it is apparently necessary (four times this Summer to be exact - two with notice, two by suprise) for the warm water to be completely shut-off. The most recent loss lasted four days. There would be no problem if the water was simply cold. Our water, however, comes from the deep, dark places of the world where it is stored at slightly above freezing temperatures. Ever hyperventilate in the shower? Not fun. Fortuntely Winter is coming soon so most construction projects will end leaving us with all of the warm water we need. It will be freezing outside but hey, you can't have everything...

A photo of Coinsbrough Castle. This castle is special because it is build of magnesian limestone which is also know as Dolomite. Its the only example of its kind in England. I myself am partial to the medieval kite near the entrance.

I love this picture. When I get motivation I am going to frame it. The photo is a composit of three separate images take from with-in Magdalene College looking towards Downing street.

Unfortunatley I haven't found a good place to print photos yet. In Cambridge I used the University's Photography and Illustration Service. Its cheap yet they print on high quality photography paper, even in matte. You can FTP your photos as well and then pick them up a few days later. They do normal 35mm film (and slides, larger format, etc) too. The people were really friendly as well which is always nice. If you live in Cambridge and want some photos printed then forget about Boots, its all about PandIS!

Sorry posting has been slow this past week. I had several things going on but now things are calm again so let the posting begin. These photos were taken in the Yorkshire Dales National Park in northern England. The roads there are wonderful for motorcycles as they go up and down and left and right. They are not very wide but if you know how to ride...

As time goes on I have to stop occasionally and think of friends I have know and the experiences I have had. I have lived many different places and have made many, many good friends. I will, however, always miss home in California most of all. If all of us could live there togehter enjoying the sun and the surf things would be perfect. But life is always on the march and even my best friends from California do not live there anymore. Some day I will be back but until then I will have to be happy with my memories. (sorry, I don't have photos of everyone)

Thank you to everyone who sent me special wishes on my 32nd birthday. I love you all.

This picture shows an original fresco in Malbork Castle that was covered after it was compleated in the 14th century but re-discovered in the mid-19th century during restoration. I tried to find information about it online but there seems to be limited resources about this castle. Anyone have any more details?

I don't have a lot of time to add text today but I wanted to be sure to post some photos of Malbork Castle. As I said the tour sucked but the castle itself was interesting. The history is very interesting as well and more informaiton can be found at Wikipedia as well as the Malbork Castle Museum website itself.

Watching TV last night I caught part of the USA France FiVB World League match. From the standings USA seems to be doing okay but the other groups have what look to be more dominant teams. In Poland ther are three leagues (A, B, and Cup) each for men and women. I'd provide the links for the Polish leagues but I can't find english versions...

Another photo from the Singto Muay Thai Network. This one features two youth fighters going for glory and honor in front of a packed house. As always ref Ryan Rudkin is on top of the action.

A good way to judge a society is by the sports they broadcast on television. America, for example, has many "World" series, champions, etc, that are only open to American teams. Not only that but during the championships of said world leagues stage shows with frequent "wardrobe malfunctions" and hit songs from the 1980's often take precedence. Rather then marketing and the bottom line sports on Polish TV seem to focus on sports at which Poles excel.

For example the Met-Rx World's Strongest Man competitions (and associated local events) are frequently shown on TV here because last years champ, Mariusz Pudzianowski, is Polish. A popular winter sport is Ski Jumping because one of the best ski jumpers (if not the best) is Poland's Adam Małysz. They are both so famous they have Wikipedia pages!

Another sport with massive TV time is men's Volleyball. This is not beach volleyball with babes running around in small bikinis. This is rough and tumble indoor volleyball where every player is at least 6 foot 4 inches and can pancake a weak defense on every set. I can usually find a Polish or European league match just about every day and several at the weekends. I don't know any of the big teams but the stadiums always seem to be filled to the brim and some of my students claim to have a favorite team.

Volleyball seems to hold the status many other European countries put on football. One of my student pointed out that the volleyball players in Poland are professional while football here is amateur. The professional footballers go play elsewhere...

A still life photo of my winter gloves from Germany and my Sony Ericsson phone from the UK. I like the way the color of the two items contrast.