Story from the city, story from the sea*...

Once upon a time,

(...) Climbing a mountain of air during the Red Bull Air Race in Rio de Janeiro - April 2007

Pilot: Nigel Lamb (?)

Picture source: www.redbullairrace.com

then descending a 35ft mountain of water at Mavericks (Half Moon Bay), Northern California - December 1994.

Surfer: the late and legendary Jay Moriarty (1978 - 2001).

Picture source: a still from the movie Riding Giants (2004)

* With apologies to PJ Harvey!

Embracing Geekdom and Nerdiness in (almost) equal parts

Picture: Jane Austen Heroes T-Shirt, featuring (clockwise from top) - Mr. Darcy, Mr. Knightley, Edward Ferrars, Henry Tilney, Captain Wentworth and Edmund Bertram.
Source: http://www.cafepress.com

I swear my intention was to take the sophisticated and very proper "Classic Dames Test" which I had seen a while ago at Susan Hated Literature but then this other one sorta happened...

Your Score: Modern, Cool Nerd

52 % Nerd, 60% Geek, 30% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

"You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd.

Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)!

Congratulations!"

(errr... thanks?)


THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

Bliss for some, nightmare for others

Here's one weird thing about me: I am scared of pigeons. They don't merely disgust me (which they really do), they freak me out. They are the enemy, the kryptonite. Just like the character in that excellent Patrick Suskind book, I am a fully fledged pigeon phobic.

So when I compare notes with fellow phobics (the vast majority seem to suffer from arachnophobia - they are so lucky!) I usually say I'd rather plunge into a pool of jellyfish than attempt a stroll through Piazza San Marco. Of course jellyfish phobics probably think I am crazy - but give me a good wet suit and watch me dive into that pool whereas no amount of protective gear (ok, perhaps an army tank) could see me advancing towards those Venetian pigeons.

It turns out I might not even need the wet suit to prove my worth. In Palau, Micronesia (one of the best diving sites in the world, according to "1,000 Places to See Before you Die") there is a natural pool of friendly, 100% sting free jellyfish one can swim through. In the video below they look so peaceful and harmonious - but almost unearthly too. More like my kind of freaky creature...

And they lived happily ever after...

...or did they?

Click to enlarge picture

Taken from "The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker'

Slimy Little Creatures

I was browsing for Youtube videos featuring Japanese patisseries or "Wagashi" - one of my favorite things - and instead I stumbled upon one of Mr. R's (aka my better half) favorite things: Freshwater Eel or "Unagi".

In this video, which I believe is part of a lighthearted series about Japan called "Oh! Wanderful (sic)", the presenter Nathan attempts to catch and handle these slimy creatures and make a meal out of them. Did Mr. R or, indeed, anyone else besides Julia Roberts in Mary Reilly (think the scene with the ginormous eel...) have any idea that this process was so... errr... "hands on"?

By the way, the video is in Japanese - but I am sure we don't need to understand what is being said...

Follower of the Followills

Sometimes I will vehemently dislike a debuting band only to fall madly at its feet later on. Mind you I even dared not to like Pearl Jam - eternal Zeus in my Olympus of bands - when their first single Alive came out. But this was only a momentary lapse and I promptly recovered after crossing paths with Even Flow.

It took me a lot longer to warm up to the Kings of Leon and their southern moods...

I initially dismissed this "3 brothers + 1 cousin" act as over hyped and was not impressed with them opening for The Strokes in 2003 (they sounded cold and monocordic). But when that singular second album "Aha Shake Heartbreak" came out I was conquered. First by "The Bucket", an addictive-as-chocolate song about being a young rock star ("fresh off the plane in my fuzzy rush") and then by tracks as irresistible as their names, "Milk" and "Soft".

Now with even more singular - and arguably less accessible - 3rd album "Because of the Times" my adoration for the Followill family seems to stand the test of time. KoL's uniqueness lies not only in sounding fresh and retro at the same time, but in singer Caleb Followill's deliciously ugly voice, a perfect conductor for their whimsical-but-no-nonsense lyrics.

Here are examples of KoL's paradoxical voice and lyrics - both taken from reggae infused new track Ragoo:

"Either way you caught me whilst a lying
You caught me whilst a lying
You caught me with my pants down"

Well, they sure caught me.

May Day

Here's one I wrote to commemorate today:

Picture source: whttp://beinecke.library.yale.edu

City Dwellings

9 am on Monday morning,
Inner struggle and much yawning

As meetings lead to sheer frustration,
In thought I plan my next vacation

Sun, sea, nature, pure delight,
To save me from this laboring plight

Of contracts, shares, fees and Wall Street,
All of which just seem so bleak

When compared to ocean, canyon, forest and lake,
Oh quit bemoaning thy self-inflicted fate!