Technology, Books and Other Neat Stuff

Time to fill in the travel meme for 2011, as I've finished this year's round of travels (2012's starts bright and early on January the 2^nd...). So, the usual list of places I've stayed at least one night in the last year, with a little * for those that have had more than one night. The list is in approximate order of the first time I stayed there, so some, like Las Vegas, which had multiple trips, were visited several times throughout the year.

This year had fewer long road trips, but a lot of time in the US. Which reminds me... I really must sit down with spikeiowa and plan the road trip fanzine we've been noodling for a while...



Santa Monica, CA^*
Palm Springs, CA^*
Las Vegas, NV^*
Mojave, CA^*
Paso Robles, CA^*
Campbell, CA^*
San Jose, CA^*
Orlando, FL^*
Barstow, CA^*
San Francisco, CA^*
Passe-a-Grille, FL
Anna Maria Island, FL
Bradenton, FL
Atlanta, GA^*
Santa Barbara, CA
Laguna Beach, CA^*
Santa Clarita, CA
Dearborn, MI^*
Redmond, WA^*
Anaheim, CA^*
Bellevue, WA^*
Los Angeles, CA^*
Ojai, CA
Lake Isabella, CA
June Lake, CA
Mariposa, CA
San Francisco, CA^*
Pismo Beach, CA
St Clement, Jersey
Benidorm, Spain

Airlines flown: Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America, Delta, FlyBe, Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Iberia
Aircraft flown: Boeing 747-400, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 777-300, Boeing 767-300, Embraer EMB 195, Airbus A340-600, Airbus A320-200, Airbus A321-200
Ferries taken: Washington State Ferries (Anacortes-Friday Harbor)
Road trips: Los Angeles to San Jose (via Ojai, Lake Isabella, Mount Whitney, June Lake, Yosemite, Mariposa, Fresno, Paso Robles), Orlando to Orlando (via Passe-a-Grille, Anna Maria Island, Bradenton)
Conferences attended: CES, Parallels Summit, MMS, MIX, Data 2.0, Web 2.0, BlackBerry World, Google IO, FIRe, Maker Faire, Velocity, Forward with Ford, TechEd, BUILD, AppUp Elements, MAX, BlackBerry Devcon, NokiaWorld, CA World, BlackBerry EMEA Partner Summit
Countries: USA, Spain, Jersey
Shuttle launches watched: STS-133
US States visited: California, Washington, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, Michigan
US National Parks visited: Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Mount Rainier, English Camp
Airports: LHR, LGW, LAS, SEA, SFO, LAX, MCO, ALC, MAD, JER, ATL, DTW

And now on to the next year. Where will it take us? So far it's starting with the usual January US trip for CES, Amsterdam, Florida and Jersey in February and then... Well, it'll be fun whatever, and wherever!

That census meme seems to have expanded since I did it yesterday, so I figure I should fill out more details...

Fire up the time machine!

2011 I'm married to marypcb and we're living in a three floor flat in Putney with two cats. I'm working as a freelance journalist, specialising in technology. I don't blog as I used to, but that's OK, as I've found other social media tools to use as an outlet. Also I get paid to do it in other places. My job means I get to travel a lot, and on Census Day I'm going to be in California. Amusingly that's where I was on the US Census Day last year. I'm reading lots of SF, but Jupiter is still there. I've just watched one of the last space shuttle launches from the side of a road in Florida. I still drive the black Ford Puma.

2001 I'm living with marypcb in the same flat in Putney, with one less floor and one more cat. I'm working as a consultant, building large scale IT systems for people. It's the peak of the dot com boom, and I'm working for an American consulting company that's less than three years old and has less than two years to survive. It's a job that takes me lots of places, and I'm pretty sure I was in Lisbon on Census Day. I'm reading lots of SF, but there's no monolith on the Moon. A space shuttle has just returned from the international space station. I recently bought my first new car, a black Ford Puma.

1991 I'm living in a rented room in Bath.I'm working at the University, doing research into electro thermal finite element analysis of transient electromagnetic events. It's the period of my life I describe as "designing exotic weapons for the military". I'm dating Cathy, volunteering on Welsh narrow gauge railways, and reading lots of SF. There's a space shuttle launch in a couple of weeks, but they're kind of routine now. I drive a second hand white Ford Escort estate car.

1981 I'm living in my parent's semi-detached house in St Lawrence, Jersey with my mother, my father, my brother and one cat. I'm at secondary school, studying for the first of my O-levels. I've just been allowed into the adult library in town, and am reading lots of SF as a result. The first space shuttle launches soon, and I'm looking forward to watching it on TV. I'm too young to drive.

1971 I'm living in the same house, with the same people, though we'd only just moved in. I'm in my first years of primary school, and having been reading long enough to know what SF is. I do covet a friend's Dinky toy Thunderbird 2 though, so I assume the die has been cast. They're still flying to the moon, and are starting to design a space shuttle.

Time to fill in the travel meme for 2010, as I've finished this year's round of travels (2011's starts bright and early on January the 1^st...). So, the usual list of places I've stayed at least one night in the last year, with a little * for those that have had more than one night. The list is in approximate order of the first time I stayed there, so some, like Las Vegas, which had multiple trips, were visited several times throughout the year.



Springdale, UT ^*
Las Vegas, NV ^*
Mojave, CA
Paso Robles, CA
Cambria, CA
Campbell, CA ^*
Orlando, FL ^*
Cincinnati, OH ^*
Ashland, KY
Lexington, VA
Sparta, NC
Brevard, NC
Charleston, SC
Saint Augustine, FL
Melbourne, FL
Laguna Beach, CA ^*
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA ^*
Santa Monica, CA ^*
Atascadero, CA
New Orleans, LA ^*
Barcelona, Spain ^*
Calais, France
Dublin, Ireland ^*
Bellevue, WA ^*
Kirkland, WA ^*
Furnace Springs, CA
Palm Springs, CA ^*
Palm Desert, CA ^*
San Francisco, CA ^*
St Clement, Jersey ^*
San Jose, CA ^*
Mariposa, CA ^*
Lee Vining, CA ^*
Malvern Wells, Hertfordshire
Hay-on-Wye, Powys
Los Angeles, CA ^*
Portland, OR ^*
McMinnville, OR
Coos Bay, OR
Eureka, CA

Airlines flown: Virgin Atlantic, BMI, British Airways, FlyBe, Delta, Jet Blue, Southwest, FlyBe, Virgin America
Aircraft flown: Boeing 747-400, Boeing 737-500, Boeing 737-800, Airbus A340-600, Airbus A320, Embraer EMB-195
Ferries taken: Condor (Poole-St Helier-Weymouth), P&O (Calais-Dover), Washington State Ferries (Clinton-Mukilteo)
Road trips: Cincinnati to Fort Lauderdale (via the Blue Ridge Parkway), Las Vegas to Palm Springs (via Death Valley), Seattle to San Jose, Perpignan to Calais
Countries: USA, Spain, France, Ireland, Jersey
US States visited: Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Utah, California, Ohio, Florida, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Washington, Oregon, Louisiana, Missouri
US National Parks visited: Zion, Death Valley, Blue Ridge Parkway, Canaveral National Shoreline, Yosemite, Great Smoky Mountains, Alcatraz Island, Mount Rainier
Airports: LHR, LGW, LAS, SFO, LAX, SEA, PSP, BCN, MCO, CVG, FLL, LGB, SJO, STL, MSY, PHX, DUB, JER

And that is, as they say, that...

A rather interesting meme, which shows just how many different things I have eaten over the years. One thing about my job, I get to go to interesting places and have interesting meals with interesting places.



So, to the dining room we go...

1. Venison - A regular on the grill pan.
2. Nettle tea - Not on its own, but as part of spring soup made with cleavers...
3. Huevos rancheros - You can't go wrong ordering this in Cora's Coffee Shop in Santa Monica.
4. Steak tartare - To be honest I wasn't impressed.
5. Crocodile - There's a South African restaurant just around the corner that does crocodile appetisers. Alligator tastes better.
6. Black pudding - The hear of a full Irish (along with white pudding). And I was in Dublin this week...
7. Cheese fondue - Surprisingly part of the canapes selection at a Sony press event yesterday!
8. Carp - As part of a mediaeval banquet in a inn near Seattle.
9. Borscht - Cold, with a dash of sour cream...
10. Baba ghanoush - Ah, the delights of the aubergine...
11. Calamari - When in Spain, you have to have this as part of a tapas spread!
12. Pho - From the San Francisco Mission District.
13. PB&J sandwich - Tried it with the J, prefer the PB...
14. Aloo gobi - That reminds me, I haven't had Indian for a couple of weeks.
15. Hot dog from a street cart - At the end of an evening on George St in St John, Newfoundland. Don't forget the cheese sauce!
16. Epoisses - What's not to like about a good soft French cheese?
17. Black truffle - My favourite take on this had it grated onto steak and eggs at Todd English's Olives in the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes - Lurgasahall Winery FTW! Their rose and silver birch wines are lovely...
19. Steamed pork buns - A Chinatown regular.
20. Pistachio ice cream - Fine enough on its own, but best as part of cassata. It's the synergy (and the candied fruit peel!).
21. Heirloom tomatoes - Wonderful in the tasting menu at The Green Goddess in New Orleans.
22. Fresh wild berries - An end of summer tradition back on Jersey was the blackberrying trip up to Jardin d'Olivet or Portlet Common.
23. Foie gras - Goose and duck. Goose is smoother, duck more flavourful. For a molecular gastronomy approach, Baume in Palo Alto does a liquid nitrogen foie gras ice cream that's really quite out of this world.
24. Rice and beans - I prefer the Caribbean approach to this over the US southern...
25. Brawn, or head cheese - Arbutus in London does a really good brawn starter.
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper - I'm not really a chilli pepper fan!
27. Dulce de leche - Oh yes. Oh yes. Even the Hagen Daazs ice cream...
28. Oysters - I prefer them baked to raw.
29. Baklava - Lots of good middle eastern restaurants in London!
30. Bagna cauda - We have a pair of great Italian restaurants here in Putney. And hey, it's Mr Garibaldi's favourite dish...
31. Wasabi peas - Good, but wasabi tempura seaweed is so much better!
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl - In San Francisco and on a plane!
33. Salted lassi - Nice enough, but I prefer sweet.
34. Sauerkraut - In Germany... and in many other places.
35. Root beer float - Worth trying at BLT in the Mirage in Las Vegas.
36. Cognac with a fat cigar - Cognac and armangac yes, cigar no...
37. Clotted cream tea - There's clotted cream and jam in the fridge right now...
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O - A waste of good vodka. And of mediocre jelly...
39. Gumbo - Conference food in New Orleans...
40. Oxtail - My grandmother always served this as part of her cold cut selection.
41. Curried goat - It's a pity that our local Caribbean restaurant closed a few years back. It did a great goat curry as part of its buffet.
42. Whole insects covered in chocolate - I had a chocolate ant once.
43. Phaal - Too hot for me.
44. Goat's milk - Nice in cereal...
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more - I have friends with good taste.
46. Fugu - Sadly illegal in the UK, and I've yet to make it to Japan...
47. Chicken tikka masala - In its home, the Leeds/Bradford conurbation.
48. Eel - One of my favourite bits of sushi! Jellied isn't too bad though...
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut - There's a hot light on New Malden!
50. Sea urchin - Tried as sushi once, not really to my taste.
51. Prickly pear - Refreshing on a hot summer's day.
52. Umeboshi - Pickled Japanese plums!
53. Abalone - Both Pacific and Atlantic. I know that I'm biased being vrai Jerri, but I do think the ormer (the Atlantic variant) tastes the best.
54. Paneer - More reminders that I need to order an Indian takeout soon!
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal - You have to slum it every now and then.
56. Spaetzle - In Stuttgart, and in San Jose.
57. Dirty gin martini - Not really a martini man...
58. Beer above 8% ABV - That ale needs to be real.
59. Poutine - Or as they call it in Newfoundland, chips and gravy!
60. Carob chips - I'll stick with real chocolate!
61. S'mores - Disassembled as part of a tasting menu!
62. Sweetbreads - Rocky Mountain Oysters at The Fort in Denver.
63. Kaolin - This is the trick question. Yes, I've eaten apples!
64. Currywurst - Try it in the converted S-bahn carriage at Berlin Tempelhof airport...
65. Durian - From a street market in Hong Kong...
66. Frogs' Legs - In a Parisian bistro near Notre Dame.
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake - Cafe du Monde in New Orleans for beignets, though you can't really beat a bag of Des Mervelles...
68. Haggis - But not tinned!
69. Fried plantain - Lovely as part of a Brazilian churrascaria de rodízio
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette - in jambalya and in the fondue at Artisan in Paso Robles,
71. Gazpacho - We keep a tin of cherry tomatoes in the fridge ready to make gazpacho at a moment's notice. Still, the white almond Gazpacho at The Green Goddess is the best I've had yet.
72. Caviar and blini – Ah, the high-end press conference canape of choice.
73. Louche absinthe - sadly yet to have this.
74. Gjetost, or brunost - Hasn't everyone been to a Norwegian room party at a SF convention?
75. Roadkill - You've not had roadkill until you've eaten one of tanais's Frankenstein pheasants. Four legs, three wings and six breasts...
76. Baijiu - I've managed to avoid this so far...
77. Hostess Fruit Pie - You have to be joking! This isn't food...
78. Snail - The best were the basil fed snails at The Green Goddess. Have I mentioned eating there enough yet?
79. Lapsang souchong - Oh that smoky tea.
80. Bellini - Both peach and pear. Though it's really only peach. Still, when it comes to champagen cocktails I prefer Kir Royale.
81. Tom yum - Not a big fan, but there you go, we can't like everything. Also my local Thai has gone...
82. Eggs Benedict - Mmm. Cafe Kevah on the Big Sur does a really nice lump crab eggs benedict.
83. Pocky - It's chocolate on a stick!
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant - Ah well, can only aim for this one. Two stars is the best I've managed so far.
85. Kobe beef - The kobe hot rock sampler at Sushi Samba in the Plazzo in Las Vegas is really rather good....
86. Hare - A very tasty meat. Had it at Locanda Locatelli in London.
87. Goulash - Mmmm...
88. Flowers - Nasturtiums in salad, rose in tea, and fried courgette flowers. Oh, and of course artichoke.
89. Horse - Pony kebabs while working in Switzerland.
90. Criollo chocolate - Surprisingly good!
91. Spam - I have a mounted tin in the office, from an IT security conference!
92. Soft shell crab - Spider rolls and in ginger sauce from Hong Kong street restaurants
93. Rose harissa - A little on my tagine.
94. Catfish - Another southern favourite, breaded or blackened.
95. Mole poblano - A favourite.
96. Bagel and lox - But I prefer cream cheese...
97. Lobster Thermidor - I've even cooked it.
98. Polenta - In so many different ways.
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee - Good, but not as good as single estate organic Kona.
100. Snake - Rattlesnake in the US, and soup in Hong Kong.

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you've eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

The usual visited places list:

Williams AZ, Tuba City AZ, Kayenta AZ, Blanding UT, Bicknell UT, Las Vegas NV*, Barstow CA, Cambria CA, Pacific Grove CA, San Francisco CA*, Paso Robles CA*, San Jose CA*, Sunnyvale CA*, Palm Desert CA*, Kirkland WA*, Aberdeen WA, Pacific City OR, Brookings OR, Barcelona, Cincinnati OH*, Orlando FL*, Los Angeles CA*, Palm Springs CA*, San Diego CA, Coronado CA, La Jolla CA, Escondido CA, Santa Monica CA, Campbell CA, Willlows CA, Eugene OR, Kailua HI, Hilo HI, Boston MA*, New York NY*, Santa Barbara CA, Scottsdale AZ, Flagstaff AZ, Gallup NM, Trinidad CO, Grand Junction CO, Elko NV, Cameron Park CA, Mountain View CA*, Jersey CI

As always * denotes a place with more than a one night stay.

Countries: USA, Spain, Jersey CI.

Airports: SFO, MCO, LAS, LAX, EWR, CVG, BOS, JFK, HNL, ITO, ONT, SJC, JER, BCN

Airlines: Virgin Atlantic, FlyBe, JetBlue, Alaska, Southwest, Delta, Iberia, Hawaiian Airlines

Aircraft flown: Boeing 747-400, various 737 variants, Boeing 717, McDonald Douglas MD-80, Airbus A320, Airbus A321, Embraer EMB-195, Airbus A340-600

Trains taken: Acela (Boston-NYC), London Underground, LA Metro, NJ Transit, NY MTA, BART

(Phew.)

...here's a take on the bus slogan generator meme that's going around...



Magritte has a lot to answer for, you know...

Take a picture of yourself right now. Don’t change your clothes. Don’t fix your hair. Just take a picture. Post that picture with no editing. (Except maybe to get the image size down to something reasonable. Don’t go posting an eight megapixel image.) Include these instructions.



Three hours out of my timezone, in a Moscow hotel, underslept and just out of a conference keynote session. Taken using the built-in web cam on my laptop and the video portrait tools in Skype.

Spotted in various places:

The rules are simply to note those places where one has stayed away from home for a night or more. If you have stayed somewhere more than once, with a gap between, mark it with a star.

So here's my list:

Williams AZ, South Rim AZ, Las Vegas NV*, Mojave CA, Cambria CA, Campbell CA*, Munich, Everdon, Jersey*, Hurricane UT, Springdale UT, Ruby UT, Orlando FL*, Pasadena CA, Los Angeles CA, Paso Robles CA, San Diego CA, Cincinatti OH*, Fort Myers FL, Palm Beach FL, San Jose CA*, San Francisco CA*, New York NY, Kirkland WA, Mariposa CA, Cary NV, Barcelona, Berlin.

We've visited many more places, of course, with our May trip hitting 10 US states: AZ, UT, NV, CA, CO, IN, OH, KY, FL, TX.

I can also add in the usual list of aircraft:

Boeing 747-400, various models of 737 (mainly -500 and -800), my first 717, a couple of 757s, and a BBJ.
Airbus A340, A320 and A319
Dornier 228, 328
Eurocopter EC 134

Not as much Europe as many years, but a lot of US trips. Beijing would have been on the list, but family circumstances forced us to cancel. We'd have also been in Malta if we hadn't been ill. Next week it all starts again, and should see us clocking up some new places in Arizona, too.

In one of those memes that goes around, swisstone asked me to explain seven of my user icons. ( So here they are. )