the Ink Runway

More Beach (and pool) pictures

Isaac — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:39:42 +0000

Beach Photos

Isaac — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 02:09:28 +0000

We went to the beach after work yesterday. I brought along Anna’s waterproof camera. One of the surfers didn’t mind me taking action shots (the one in the photo below riding). Another, i called Fatty McGrumpyArse in my head, kept shooting me glares. Anyway, it did seem kinda creepy floating amongst them taking pictures so i eventually stopped – but it was still pretty cool. Just need to figure the autofocus out better.

full album: here

Comic Con

Isaac — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:30:53 +0000

In the photos of the lines you’ll see an amazing Trish (Blade Runner) and Medic (TF2). As a whole, and as disappointing as it sounds, I didn’t click – too much has changed and so much of comic con is geared at horny geeky men. Next time I’ll spend more time on panels and the Indy comics

Comic Con: community, Pictures and Video

Isaac — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:43:39 +0000

The line was huge. It snaked all around outside making me realize for next year, shades and sunscreen are a must. We had lined up 45 minutes early for the previous panel, The Guild and were part of the unfortunate few standing just outside the doors for most of the Guild panel. Though as luck would have it, both Joel McHale and Allison Brie walked right by us. We did get seats at the end for the QA. Since you can stay after each session it meant we were guaranteed spots for Community and managed to move up a smidge.

The cast of Community matched their characters so damn well. Chevy couldn’t hear and Yvette next to him kept kindly leaning over to repeat questions. Abed and Troy totally were in synch, they could finish each others sentences. I was so into it I neglected to record that bit (but linked it below). One close I did post was when the camera was on someone else, i noticed Abed and Brita were locked in a staring battle.
Intro to Community Panel

Troy (Donald Gliver) and Abed (Danny Pudi) sing Somewhere Out There.

[not recorded by me:] Troy (Donald Gliver) and Abed (Danny Pudi) talk about how they met and do impromptu rap (awesome!)

Movies

Isaac — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:54:47 +0000

We saw a few good movies this week. At the theater we saw Toy Story 3 in 3D. Quite good; an excellent finish to the series albeit dark in moments. Off Netflix we saw “Being There”, a comedy from the 70s starring Peter Sellers. It’s quite a fun premise. Finally, from torrent we downloaded The Man from Earth. it’s a low budget (200k) movie about a caveman whose lived 14k years. It’s set basically in one room and is intellectually fun; written by a former Twilight Zone writer, it feels much like an episode. The producer has publically thanked peer to peer networks for giving it publicity so go ahead a download. I like movies like that. The last one I saw like that “Ink” I ended up buying the blu ray. Side note, drove thru twin peaks today

Day 10: Nice, Birthday

Isaac — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:35:15 +0000

Today it started off pretty nasty. There were dark clouds out as we headed out towards the patisserie in the morning. The rain started as we reached the bakery and by the time we had our croissants and kiesh it was pouring, thundering and lightening.

Despite our tiny umbrellas we came back wet and hung out reading in the lobby to give time to the cleaning staff to finish our room. When the clouds broke and it slowed to a slight sprinkle we took back off for a walk. I had a blister on my heel from all the walking yesterday and I kinda limped a bit.

we walked all over, detoured up into the hills a bit, down to the shopping drag (a street that isn’t; like fremont in Vegas), saw an amazing pianists, angered a waitress, had a fantastic lunch (see strawberry dessert pic), and did some shopping. Oh, and stepped in a huge pile of dog crap left in the middle of the promenade.

late in the afternoon the clouds broke and the sun came out. We went to the shore and waded in with our pants rolled up. A group of 6 or so tourists in their 50s were there and 4 stripped to their undies and went in (one bra-less, but that’s not uncommon here: and a reason why I took so few beach pics).

We dried off a bit and on our way back started to comb the shore for beach glass. We found a bunch and got wet all over again. On our way back we realized dinner would be tricky as most restaurants closed by 6 as well as the grocery store. In the end, we had my birthday dinner at the hotel and enjoyed a bit of chocolate cake for dessert.

we finished our packing, checked our flights and set our devices to charge and were in bed by 10:00. Tommorrow we have to get up at 4:15 to get to the airport in time for our morning flight home.

Day 9: Nice

Isaac — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 07:57:35 +0000

We took a long walk in the morning to downtown Nuce from the hotel. There were two older (but not ancient) churchs to check out. Unfortunately by the time we returned to switch into swimsuits the sky had clouded over. We had picked up a towel/beach mat but that didn’t soften the rock beach enough and I cut my knee and bruised my heal trying to swim/lie down. We made it work though and got a few minutes of sun in. For dinner we had pizza again and watched a few episodes of Breaking Bad back at the hotel.

Day 8: Antibe and Nice

Isaac — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:02:06 +0000

Today was tough. We had to pack up and say goodbye to the house and hills in Brannoux and drive 4 hours or so southeast to Nice. On the highway we passed a smart car coupe, yes that sounds ridiculous (merits adding the photo below). We ran into some trouble at the tollbooths; seems their new system has kinks (like identifying which lanes don’t take cash/credit).

we decided to lunch in Antibe, an old port on the Mediteranian Sea near Nice. As we approached we could see signs of affluence (like more Mercedes and a Ferrari on the autoroute). We passed by the church on the coast and saw huge boats ranging in size up to cruise liners moored off the shore. In the marina, the one that caught my eye was a mean looking Pershing 72 in gunmetal gray (it’s twin engines have over 1800lbs of thrust and can top out at 45knots/54mph on the open water).

Lunch was good, but interesting. The sausage was a bit unique (consisting of pig stomach). The waitress told me “now you are really French!”. I enjoyed a good beer, great view and lemoncello with my folks and wife for a combined birthday/fathers day lunch. My dad even gave me yet another gift, a fountain pen to replace the one nearly empty at work.

After we checked in at the Ibis we parted ways and took a slight nap. We walked the promenade way up the beach and stood barefoot in the ocean. For dinner we had pizza from a small delivery place with a window for sidewalk customers. Tonight I enjoyed a couple beers while getting my net on and enjoying the hotels wifi.

Photos from France

Isaac — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:43:17 +0000

Now settled in at the Ibis in Nice, I’m getting all our photos uploaded to my skydrive (here).

Day 1: Nice/Ales/Brannoux (complete/descriptions done)
Day 2: Uzes (uploaded/descriptions done)
Day 3: Church (uploaded)

Day 7: St Jean du Gard, Anduze

Isaac — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:40:14 +0000

We trekked out to St. Jean du Gard today enjoying a nice picnic en route. At some point in Anduze we stopped in time to watch a coal-fed old steam engine depart with tourists. Had I been alone I would have jumped on board not knowing its destination; old trains are just so damn cool to watch. The city was scenic and small with a bubbling brook running through it. We watched trout swim in clear water from the one lane stone bridge and had coffee and desert by the centre. The remains of a 12th century “tower” (not that tall) is there attached to a church my Dad will be guest preaching this Sunday.

Upon returning we had a quick swim then my dad and I smoked our last pipe together this trip looking at the hills and clouds rolling in at dusk (I read the Stephen King short Blockade Billy in that hour, good but awefully brief).

We had a marvelous supper, a chicken/squash/potatoe/broth dish from an old family recipe and we uncorked the Chateau Neuf du Pape 2005 to celebrate my 32nd birthday. It was the quietest but most relaxing birthday I can recall; a great meal, desert and wine with family.

Tommorrow we depart to Nice for the last 3 days of our trip here and that’s where we’ll part with my parents who have been tremendous hosts and guides. We also greatly appreciate our hosts here where we are staying but will abstain from mentioning names for their sake.