Bastille Day Fireworks at the Eiffel Tower
I arrived in Paris on Bastille Day. Unfortunately, it meant that I missed the morning parade (and the Balls the night before). But I did get to see the Champ de Mars fireworks! (click to see large size)
Kings Cross Station & Platform 9 ¾
My friend lives right next to King’s Cross Station. So, I was super excited to fake a Harry Potter “Platform 9 ¾” Kodak moment. To my very pleasant surprise, King’s Cross Station actually HAS a platform 9 ¾! OMG OMG OMG!!! Attempting to push my cart through…. Attempting running leap! Nope, not a wizard. 🙁
“Waiting for Godot” on the West End
Continuing a weekend of great theatre, we went to see Samuel Beckett’s "Waiting for Godot" with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. Before the trip, I considered reading “Waiting for Godot,” but decided not to. In hindsight, I really wish I had – I didn’t process a lot of the play’s themes until afterwards. So, now I wish I could see it again. Another trip to London maybe? 🙂 Anyways, it was a great show. McKellan has this way of always completely becoming his characters. I loved seeing him disappear into the sensual, simple, smelly Estragon. Oh, and Patrick Stewart was …
Hamlet on the West End
After hearing that Jude Law was portraying Hamlet on the West End, I really wanted to see it. Because Jude Law is ridiculously hot. I mean… because Hamlet is my favorite Shakespearean play. 🙂 (Actually, both statements are true.) The show had been sold out for weeks, but the theatre made some seats & standing room tickets available each day at 10am. After queuing (note British term usage!) on Friday for 90 minutes, I failed to get tickets by 6 people. Arg! The next day, more determined, my friend and I got to the theatre earlier. And, we managed to …
Silverlight 3 Ships
Silverlight 3 is out in the wild!! (team-signed poster in my office) Links to all the good stuff: Developer Runtime (pc, mac) SDK (link) VS Tools (link) Expression Blend RC (link) July Toolkit (link) Some of the new Silverlight 3 features include… Perspective 3D Out of Browser Validation UI & DataForm H.264 Navigation Framework DeepZoom Smooth Streaming* SaveFileDialog WriteableBitmap Pixel Shaders DropShadow/Blur Built-in Effects ChildWindow BasedOn Styles MultiTouch Input* ClearType* Hardware Acceleration Many New Controls UI to UI Binding New REST Networking Stack* Animation Easing Functions SEO Optimizations & Deep Linking ItemsControl UI Virtualization* Mouse Wheel Support* Multi-Select ListBox * …
London, Paris, Nice
Tomorrow, I take off for Europe! The first weekend, I’ll be in London visiting friends. During the week, the plan is to train down to Paris and then meet up with a friend in Nice. I’ve never been to France before, and am REALLY looking forward to it. Plus, my friend got tickets for “Waiting for Godot” with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in London. I can’t wait. Fast Facts London 1 pound = 1.6465 USD Low 80F, Sunny Noon in Seattle = 7pm (UTC + 1) Paris 1 Euro = 1.4022 USD Mid 80F, Sunny Noon in …
Could You Resist “The Marshmallow”?
I am a “wee” bit behind on my stack of New Yorkers. However, on the plane this past weekend, I finally had a chance to read a few. Jonah Lehrer’s article, “Don’t! The secret of self-control,” about Stanford Prof. Walter Mischel’s Marshmallow Experiment was really interesting. In a nutshell, Mischel told a bunch of unsuspecting 4 year: You can eat ONE marshmallow now. Or, if you sit here quietly while I leave the room for a bit, you can eat TWO when I get back. Turns out, kids only lasted on average 3 minutes before they gave in and ate …
Memorial Day
I don’t know about you… but I will admit to often forgetting the importance of Memorial Day. It’s not just another 3 day weekend – especially given the current state of the world. While in Miami this past weekend, I stumbled on an incredibly poignant memorial. Along Ocean Drive in South Beach, thousands of paper tombstones commemorated those who have fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan (4,985 to date). Each tombstone had the handwritten name and age of a fallen veteran. Each tombstone was written by a different person. The simple symbolism, especially with the juxtaposition of South Beach during “Urban …