There was this carrot, see, and I put it on top of my carrot cake, then the carrot exploded!

 

And then there was this Italian cream cake with some weird stuff on it....



¶ 6:27 PM 5 comments

It's my professional opinion that Norwegians are goofy.

* * * * * * *
From: http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2005/04/21/

The one million download challenge of Opera 8:
Opera's CEO will swim from Norway to the USA

Oslo, Norway - April 21, 2005

An overly excited Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software, today proclaimed at an internal company meeting that if the download numbers of the new Opera 8 Web browser reach 1 million within the first four days of the launch, he will swim from Norway to the USA with only one stop-over for a cup of hot chocolate at his mother's house in his home country, Iceland. Opera's communications department could obviously not resist to make such a bold and inarguably over-confident statement public.

. . .

"I am not sure he realizes how cold the Norwegian Sea is in April," says Anne Stavnes, Human Resource Manager, Opera Software. "However, having seen Jon in his red beach attire before, I am not sure if swimming to the USA is scarier than exposing people to this sight."

. . .
* * * * * * *

UPDATE: 2005 Apr 26, 15:34:Though a gallant effort, Opera Software CEO, Jon S. von Tetzchner, didn't quite make it to the U.S. Just off the coast of Norway, the "chase raft" containing Opera PR Manager, Eskil Sivertsen, sprung a leak, requiring von Tetzchner to rescue Sivertsen from the icy waters. With the raft deflating, the attempt was aborted, and both men made it safely back to shore.

http://www.opera.com/swim/


¶ 10:12 AM 0 comments

We're coming back to work from lunch, and while we're waiting for the light to turn, there's this pickup truck that's pulled himself into the middle of the road, somewhat illegally. That's fine. Maybe a cop comes by and gives him a citation for obstucting traffic or something. Well, upon closer inspection of his vehicle from 20 m away, we see a freaking huge dent (literally 60 cm across, and 1 m tall) right in the side of the truck. So he's probably done this sort of thing before, and someone hit him in the side. Fine.

Well, the light turns, then turns red again before we get there. And right next to us at the light is that truck. I'm trying to see who this guy is, and -- What?! There's another dent, just as big, on the other side of the truck, in pretty much the exact same place! The guy driving our car inches up to get a look at the driver of the truck. He's chowing down on what looks like a quesadilla-type food item. Whatever, dude. At least he wasn't driving, eating, and talking on a cell phone all at the same time, though that's really not that much worse.

My guess is he has a history of bad driving and collisions. Mental note: stay away from this guy when you see him on the road.

¶ 1:35 PM 2 comments

I just got back from hanging out with a bunch of friends at a pub downtown tonight. We sat outside under the mostly clear skies and faint stars hovering over the skyline. A few of my friends were passing around a cigarette. The sights and smells of the cigarette launched a flurry of memories flooding back from days gone by.

I was instantly taken back to when I was a wee lad, about 8 years old. My grandfather used to smoke 3 to 4 cigarettes a day (moderate by most standards), and he would always take one around 9pm on the back porch, then head off to bed. Even in the summer the sun was completely set by 9pm, so it was very dark on that porch. There would be a chair out there in which he would sit and enjoy his cigarette. I would go out there and climb into his lap, and we'd just sit there for however long the cigarette lasted. When it got down to the filter, he would throw the butt into a small flower pot that held a small amount of water.

The smell of the second-hand smoke and old, wet cigarette butts, and the gentle glow of the cigarette always remind me of him. Somehow, he's lived to be 101 years old, and he has the strength and health to keep going. No cancer, no emphysema, no smoker's cough. It's weird. And apparently 4 years ago (at age 97) he quit. Cold turkey. He's one of my most favourite people in the world.

¶ 11:40 PM 0 comments

This past weekend, I went to the second big kite festival of the year in this area. Two days of fun in the sun and wind. I probably should have put on sunscreen for Saturday, but I did remember to put it on for Sunday. I'm not so much sunburnt as "lightly toasted". Mmm... radiation... ahhh....

The winds were plenty nice. Saturday was gusty and shifty, but Sunday proved to be much better. A stiff breeze from the South and Southeast, 10 to 15 mph. The field we were at was pretty hilly and bumpy, but with the right size of kite and those 20 mph gusts, it was no trouble getting up the hill and cruising at 35 mph to the other end of the field in the buggy. I also had the pleasure of teaching a couple of guys how to fly their newly-acquired Revolution SLE Vented. When I left them yesterday, they were well on their way to Greatness.

I think this year's kite festival circuit will be a good one. There's one in June that looks like it'll be fun. The World's Largest Kite (no joke) will be making an appearance, and on top of that it's the inaugural event for that particular festival. I'm going to try to go to that one. They say the buggy field is nice at that park.



¶ 2:40 PM 0 comments

Almost perfect fondant...
 

Almost perfect strawberry...
  

¶ 3:58 PM 2 comments

So I did a lot of thinking last night... A LOT of thinking. I decided that I really can't stand my job anymore, so I'm putting in my 2-weeks notice today, selling everything I own except for a week's worth of winter clothes, and I'm moving to Norway to become a commercial fisherman in the North Sea.

Part of the decision came from the conclusion that as long as I'm anywhere near technology, I'll be unhappy. So the best place to be would be at sea. The Merchant Marine these days sail on ships bristling with the latest technology, so I'll probably be called on to reboot the ship's servers every now and then, and I don't think I could handle that. Norwegian fisherman, on the other hand, use only sonar and maybe GPS. The other part is that I'd be able to get as much fresh fish as I want straight off the boat. Mmm... Norwegian salmon... mmm... kipper....

Farewell, friends. Farwell, America. It was nice knowing you all. Be sure to write! Or just come visit me when I'm not at sea.

¶ 10:10 AM 3 comments