Been a while again, slacking as usual.
Must admit I've been up and about for quite a bit of sports. Running once a week and now pick up soccer games. Lotsa fun for sure!
Found this funny TV ad for "March of the penguins"
Go check that documentary out if you haven't already!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non Riverentum
We were called to the forest,
and we went down.
A wind wind blew warm and eloquent,
We were searching for the secrets of the universe,
we rounded up demons and forced them
to tell us what it all meant.
We tied them to trees,
and broke them down, one by one.
On a scrap of paper they wrote these words:
And as we read them, the sun broke,
through the trees.
"Dread the passage of Jesus, for he will not return."
Then we headed back to our world,
and left the forest behind,
our hearts singing with all the knowledge of love.
But somewhere, somehow, we lost the message,
along the way,
and when we got home, we bought ourselves a house.
And we bought a car that we did not use,
And we bought a cage, and two singing birds.
And at night we'd sit and listen to the canary song.
For we'd both run right out of words.
Now the stars they are all angled wrong,
and the sun and the moon refuse to burn.
But I remember a message,
in a demon's hand,
"Dread the passage of Jesus, for he does not return."
...he does not return
...he does not return
We were called to the forest,
and we went down.
A wind wind blew warm and eloquent,
We were searching for the secrets of the universe,
we rounded up demons and forced them
to tell us what it all meant.
We tied them to trees,
and broke them down, one by one.
On a scrap of paper they wrote these words:
And as we read them, the sun broke,
through the trees.
"Dread the passage of Jesus, for he will not return."
Then we headed back to our world,
and left the forest behind,
our hearts singing with all the knowledge of love.
But somewhere, somehow, we lost the message,
along the way,
and when we got home, we bought ourselves a house.
And we bought a car that we did not use,
And we bought a cage, and two singing birds.
And at night we'd sit and listen to the canary song.
For we'd both run right out of words.
Now the stars they are all angled wrong,
and the sun and the moon refuse to burn.
But I remember a message,
in a demon's hand,
"Dread the passage of Jesus, for he does not return."
...he does not return
...he does not return
Monday, August 07, 2006
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
CogSci/Vancouver trip
Monday basically was a lazy day. Got up very late, went to stroll around the shops in Vancouver and spent a lot of time in the HMV. That's a big CD/DVD store so yes I couldn't resist the urge to buy something.
Bought the Criterion edition of Mike Leigh's "Naked".
That's one of my fave movies of all time and even though it was 50 Canadian dollars it most definitely is worth every penny.
Got up at 4:15 am on Tuesday to catch my 6:30 am flight out of Vancouver to Chicago.
Since I tried to carry on my 3 piece luggage in Pittsburgh and was sent back to check 1 bag in, I decided to check in one bag right away.
Asked them if I should pick up the bag and re-check in at Chicago but no, I could pick it up in Pittsburgh.
Right.
I spent most of both flight dozing so that's brilliant but when I landed in Pittsburgh and wanted to pick up my bag.
Taadaa.
No bag.
So make a report and filled in a form to which they said the bag would be delivered later that night (yesterday night).
Got home and waited but no one came by to drop off my bag. Called the info phone number and a very friendly computer informed me I should wait with complaining until after 12:30 am.
Around 11:17 pm I got a phone call from the company who works for United Airlines to deliver all the lost baggage, and they asked me if it would be okay if the bag was delivered the next morning between 10 and 12 am.
To which I kindly said no cause I need to go to work (duh), and asked whether they couldn't deliver it last night. To which the guy agreed and just before 1 am I was finally reunited with my bag.
Happy happy joy joy.
And FUCK United Airlines.
Bought the Criterion edition of Mike Leigh's "Naked".
That's one of my fave movies of all time and even though it was 50 Canadian dollars it most definitely is worth every penny.
Got up at 4:15 am on Tuesday to catch my 6:30 am flight out of Vancouver to Chicago.
Since I tried to carry on my 3 piece luggage in Pittsburgh and was sent back to check 1 bag in, I decided to check in one bag right away.
Asked them if I should pick up the bag and re-check in at Chicago but no, I could pick it up in Pittsburgh.
Right.
I spent most of both flight dozing so that's brilliant but when I landed in Pittsburgh and wanted to pick up my bag.
Taadaa.
No bag.
So make a report and filled in a form to which they said the bag would be delivered later that night (yesterday night).
Got home and waited but no one came by to drop off my bag. Called the info phone number and a very friendly computer informed me I should wait with complaining until after 12:30 am.
Around 11:17 pm I got a phone call from the company who works for United Airlines to deliver all the lost baggage, and they asked me if it would be okay if the bag was delivered the next morning between 10 and 12 am.
To which I kindly said no cause I need to go to work (duh), and asked whether they couldn't deliver it last night. To which the guy agreed and just before 1 am I was finally reunited with my bag.
Happy happy joy joy.
And FUCK United Airlines.
CogSci 2006 report part deux
During the eye movement workshop I recognized someone whom also started psychology in the same year as I did and soon I met several other Dutchies as well.
Lunch was always on our own according to the conference schedule so we always went out and walked around in downtown Vancouver for a nice place to eat lunch and talk Dutch.
On Wednesday evening there supposedly was fireworks scheduled but we weren't sure where exactly it would be. When we finished dinner and walked out of the restaurant it seemed like the entire population of Vancouver was walking into our direction to the beach.
Being the deductive researchers we are, we figured the fireworks were to take place right there.
So we waited and watched in amazement (Belgian PhD student Ben) and amusement (me) how the cops poured a whole tray of beer cans they had confiscated into the gutter.
The fireworks were cool and organized by Italy, to be followed by China on Saturday.
On Thursday the conference kicked off with keynote speaker and lots of interesting sessions of which I wisely chose Learning to be the main topic to attend.
Since they didn't leave any room between the talks and the posters sessions (three sessions, Thursday night through Saturday night 7pm-10:30pm) I skipped the last session prior to the first poster session and got some tasty McDonalds food.
Yum.
But at least I didn't starve to death cause there was no food whatsoever during the 3.5 hours I represented my dissertation poster. Had some good reactions, interesting and entertaining conversations and got rid of the 5 copies of my dissertation I brought with me.
Totally exhausted at 10:30 pm I bought (yes, bought) a card at the reception of the Sheraton to go online and check my e-mail.
Oh, in between all this I also checked what happened with the payment and the exact same girl who checked me in said she forgot all about it.
*Insert condescending bitch bashing rant here*
So I kindly asked her to check and it appeared all had worked out just fine.
Friday consisted of more talks and work things. Even went to the 2nd poster session while I didn't have a poster. I hooked up with colleague Dr. Phil and after a good healthy walk we found a good Indian place and had an excellent dinner. Afterwards we went to a place called Little Amsterdam. Guess what was going on in there.
Yes it smelled just like home.
And no, I was completely sober throughout the entire evening/conference.
When Saturday kicked in I was getting conference fatigue and I knew I would have my 2nd poster from 7 pm till 10:30 pm. So I decided to skip the sessions after 3 pm and went to the indoor pool and whirlpool to chill out.
There was less crowd left for this 3rd poster evening session but I still had some interested folks to explain my research so all good.
Around 10 pm I hooked up with some other Dutchies and assorted other nationalities and went out to see the Chinese fireworks. Which was cool as well but seemed shorter than the Italian.
Afterwards we lost track of each other but found most of us again at a central point we'd agreed to meet. Though the police (on foot and on horse) did their best to clean the streets ordering everyone to piss off.
Sunday was my first day off and after a long and comfy sleep I hooked up with (surprise surprise) Dutchies in Stanley Park. After lunch they had to get ready to catch their plane and I went off to the Aquarium.
Cool place and I love taking advantage of my CMU faculty card acting like I'm still a student. What can I say, discounts bring out the best in me!
Afterwards I went to the Vancouver Lookout which has an amazing panorama on the city, the mountains and the harbor.
Also went to see "Superman returns" and it simply rocks. It's popcorn Hollywood stuff all the way but I love it!
Lunch was always on our own according to the conference schedule so we always went out and walked around in downtown Vancouver for a nice place to eat lunch and talk Dutch.
On Wednesday evening there supposedly was fireworks scheduled but we weren't sure where exactly it would be. When we finished dinner and walked out of the restaurant it seemed like the entire population of Vancouver was walking into our direction to the beach.
Being the deductive researchers we are, we figured the fireworks were to take place right there.
So we waited and watched in amazement (Belgian PhD student Ben) and amusement (me) how the cops poured a whole tray of beer cans they had confiscated into the gutter.
The fireworks were cool and organized by Italy, to be followed by China on Saturday.
On Thursday the conference kicked off with keynote speaker and lots of interesting sessions of which I wisely chose Learning to be the main topic to attend.
Since they didn't leave any room between the talks and the posters sessions (three sessions, Thursday night through Saturday night 7pm-10:30pm) I skipped the last session prior to the first poster session and got some tasty McDonalds food.
Yum.
But at least I didn't starve to death cause there was no food whatsoever during the 3.5 hours I represented my dissertation poster. Had some good reactions, interesting and entertaining conversations and got rid of the 5 copies of my dissertation I brought with me.
Totally exhausted at 10:30 pm I bought (yes, bought) a card at the reception of the Sheraton to go online and check my e-mail.
Oh, in between all this I also checked what happened with the payment and the exact same girl who checked me in said she forgot all about it.
*Insert condescending bitch bashing rant here*
So I kindly asked her to check and it appeared all had worked out just fine.
Friday consisted of more talks and work things. Even went to the 2nd poster session while I didn't have a poster. I hooked up with colleague Dr. Phil and after a good healthy walk we found a good Indian place and had an excellent dinner. Afterwards we went to a place called Little Amsterdam. Guess what was going on in there.
Yes it smelled just like home.
And no, I was completely sober throughout the entire evening/conference.
When Saturday kicked in I was getting conference fatigue and I knew I would have my 2nd poster from 7 pm till 10:30 pm. So I decided to skip the sessions after 3 pm and went to the indoor pool and whirlpool to chill out.
There was less crowd left for this 3rd poster evening session but I still had some interested folks to explain my research so all good.
Around 10 pm I hooked up with some other Dutchies and assorted other nationalities and went out to see the Chinese fireworks. Which was cool as well but seemed shorter than the Italian.
Afterwards we lost track of each other but found most of us again at a central point we'd agreed to meet. Though the police (on foot and on horse) did their best to clean the streets ordering everyone to piss off.
Sunday was my first day off and after a long and comfy sleep I hooked up with (surprise surprise) Dutchies in Stanley Park. After lunch they had to get ready to catch their plane and I went off to the Aquarium.
Cool place and I love taking advantage of my CMU faculty card acting like I'm still a student. What can I say, discounts bring out the best in me!
Afterwards I went to the Vancouver Lookout which has an amazing panorama on the city, the mountains and the harbor.
Also went to see "Superman returns" and it simply rocks. It's popcorn Hollywood stuff all the way but I love it!
Back in town
Back from Vancouver where I visited the CogSci 2006 conference. I did try to leave a message the day before I left but this blogsite crashed and I figured 'fuck it'.
Short report:
Conference was good, my 2 posters had a fair share of interested people, the Sheraton hotel sucks, Vancouver is a very cool town and I ran into a whole bunch of Dutchies.
The only pic of the conference:
More pics HERE.
Long report, part 1:
On Tuesday July 25th I left Pittsburgh at 6 am and spent most of the day travelling with a lay over in Chicago.
I arrived at the Sheraton in Vancouver in the afternoon. Upon checking in I got the response that my credit card didn't work. To which I replied I only have a debit card since I'm a foreigner working/living in the USA and as such do not have any credit history.
Then she tried my card as a debit card but for some reason she could only deduct $600 from it, prompting her to say I was only good for 3 days and that she would try again later and leave me a message.
After dropping my bags in my room and refreshing I went out for a walk in downtown Vancouver and really liked the atmosphere. Lots of shops, people up and about but not too crowded.
I also had to buy some shaving cream since I forgot to pack it.
On Wednesday morning I decided to get some breakfast and had 1 cup of tea, 1 jus d'orange, a croissant and a piece of bread. Total cost $15.
Lesson learned: go to Starbucks which is in the hotel as well, one floor lower and costs for a Blueberry muffin (yumyum) and a drink are substantially lower.
Shortly after the breakfast experience the conference started with a day long workshop on eye movements and we got a good and interesting overview of the current state of research on this topic.
Note: no drinks were supplied during the afternoon break. By mistake?
Short report:
Conference was good, my 2 posters had a fair share of interested people, the Sheraton hotel sucks, Vancouver is a very cool town and I ran into a whole bunch of Dutchies.
The only pic of the conference:
More pics HERE.
Long report, part 1:
On Tuesday July 25th I left Pittsburgh at 6 am and spent most of the day travelling with a lay over in Chicago.
I arrived at the Sheraton in Vancouver in the afternoon. Upon checking in I got the response that my credit card didn't work. To which I replied I only have a debit card since I'm a foreigner working/living in the USA and as such do not have any credit history.
Then she tried my card as a debit card but for some reason she could only deduct $600 from it, prompting her to say I was only good for 3 days and that she would try again later and leave me a message.
After dropping my bags in my room and refreshing I went out for a walk in downtown Vancouver and really liked the atmosphere. Lots of shops, people up and about but not too crowded.
I also had to buy some shaving cream since I forgot to pack it.
On Wednesday morning I decided to get some breakfast and had 1 cup of tea, 1 jus d'orange, a croissant and a piece of bread. Total cost $15.
Lesson learned: go to Starbucks which is in the hotel as well, one floor lower and costs for a Blueberry muffin (yumyum) and a drink are substantially lower.
Shortly after the breakfast experience the conference started with a day long workshop on eye movements and we got a good and interesting overview of the current state of research on this topic.
Note: no drinks were supplied during the afternoon break. By mistake?
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