I picked up some sort of bug over the weekend which has had me at about 50% strength this weekend, even with Dad and Denise in town. Not fun. Here is some stuff that is fun:
What Does Oil Doubling in Two Years Mean? (Hint: every other time, it meant recession) (The Big Picture)
Short white guy makes his case for NCAA dunk contest. Wow. (Deadspin)
NFL and NFLPA gave themselves another week to hammer out a new labor agreement (Deadspin)
Trials bike stuff is always so cool (via Adventure Journal)
A Hill in Spain from chris akrigg on Vimeo.
Another sweet video from Early Ups (via AJ)
Late 2010 from Andrew Whiteford on Vimeo.
Showing posts with label Weekend Update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weekend Update. Show all posts
Monday, March 7, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Weekend Update: Rugby Rugby Rugby
Last weekend, I went to the Six Nations match at Twickenham and got the itch to play some rugby again. With that in mind, I got in touch with Ealing squad about playing this weekend with their social side. Turns out they needed someone to play weak-side flanker which is my favorite position.
UPDATE: For rugby info, Ealing has posted a match report
Of course, it poured rain on Friday night so the pitch was soaked. Cold and wet is apparently the only way to play here. I must have been a bit optimistic by even packing my firm ground cleats. The match was fun and my knee held up surprisingly well for the full 80 minutes. I made a couple of great plays (and even scored once) and a couple of really dumb plays. All in all, they seemed happy to have me and even asked me to play with hem again if I could. The drink up was fun and much more civil than my Wake Forestdaze days. I left from there and went to a Crossfit BBQ at CrossFit Central London.
Another tube trip across town and I met up with some friends for a drink in Notting Hill. Then, exhausted, I went home. Fin.
On the bright side, they have asked me to play again this weekend. And I don't have to practice!
On a fun note, try The Aggression Questionnaire
UPDATE: For rugby info, Ealing has posted a match report
Of course, it poured rain on Friday night so the pitch was soaked. Cold and wet is apparently the only way to play here. I must have been a bit optimistic by even packing my firm ground cleats. The match was fun and my knee held up surprisingly well for the full 80 minutes. I made a couple of great plays (and even scored once) and a couple of really dumb plays. All in all, they seemed happy to have me and even asked me to play with hem again if I could. The drink up was fun and much more civil than my Wake Forest
Another tube trip across town and I met up with some friends for a drink in Notting Hill. Then, exhausted, I went home. Fin.
On the bright side, they have asked me to play again this weekend. And I don't have to practice!
On a fun note, try The Aggression Questionnaire
Monday, February 14, 2011
Weekend Update: Six Nations Rugby
Fun weekend around London. I got together with a big group of friends for some tacos and beer on Friday night at Taqueria and then some drinks in and around Notting Hill. It went a bit later than we planned as we had a big day ahead of us.
Saturday was awesome. Stew, JJ, Burgess and I got tickets to the England-Italy match for the Six Nations rugby tournament. This was my first live international rugby match and it was a sight to behold. Twickenham is the English national team's rugby stadium and it is beautiful. Here is a stock photo. I'll try to upload one from my camera later.
Burgess and I talked rugby while JJ and Stew just took in the sights. I ended up betting a kid in front of me that the US will make a World Cup final in 12 years. I really do think its a better sport than American football. Two forty minute halves are completed with only a short halftime break. No TV timeouts, no stoppage of play. Way more spectator friendly. We just need to get the athletes to buy into it.
The only down side is that it really made me miss playing, which is not a good idea given the state of affairs with me knee.
It was a long day with lots of fun and plenty of beer. Sunday was largely recovery.
Saturday was awesome. Stew, JJ, Burgess and I got tickets to the England-Italy match for the Six Nations rugby tournament. This was my first live international rugby match and it was a sight to behold. Twickenham is the English national team's rugby stadium and it is beautiful. Here is a stock photo. I'll try to upload one from my camera later.
Burgess and I talked rugby while JJ and Stew just took in the sights. I ended up betting a kid in front of me that the US will make a World Cup final in 12 years. I really do think its a better sport than American football. Two forty minute halves are completed with only a short halftime break. No TV timeouts, no stoppage of play. Way more spectator friendly. We just need to get the athletes to buy into it.
The only down side is that it really made me miss playing, which is not a good idea given the state of affairs with me knee.
It was a long day with lots of fun and plenty of beer. Sunday was largely recovery.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Weekend Update: Norway!
I hope everyone had a great Super Bowl weekend stateside. Mine was a little different than years past as I was running around Norway with some friends of mine from London.
Dan and I flew into Oslo Friday night. Chris and Ana had beaten us there by a few hours. Nothing exciting Friday night as Saturday was going to be a long day. On Saturday morning, we hopped on the metro rail to Voksenkollen. This is what is amazing about Oslo. We were on a commuter train for 20 minutes and were walking distance to a ski resort. Many of the locals we talked to said they go there multiple times each week. Pretty cool lifestyle. A map is worth a thousand words:
View Larger Map
I'll post some pictures later, but the views were amazing. I had only cross-country skied once before, but this was on an entirely different level. When I had tried XC in Utah, it was on a snow covered golf course; not alot of elevation to gain. Skiing here involved going up some fairly extended pitches for 1km at times and then kind of steep downhill segments. On those little classic XC skis, hilarity ensued. Chris and I had each been on these types of skis once before, whereas Ana and Dan were entirely new to the concept. Dan had actually never been on skis before at all. Pretty impressive really.
Our best guess is that we covered about 12-15km the first day with almost none of those being flat. There were moments where we felt entirely alone in the woods and then moments where we were reminded that we were 20 minutes from a major city. Lots of people out skiing with their kids, dogs, spouses, etc. Just a great environment: beautiful scenery and really friendly, fit people everywhere.
We also stopped by to check out the somewhat famous ski jump in Holmenkollen. I had never really gotten a sense for how massive/steep these structures are when you watch on TV, but it is somewhat awe-inspiring. Very slim chance I would go anywhere near that thing on skis.
On Saturday night, we went to the waterfront area of the harbor in downtown Oslo and had some of the local fare. I had 'Roast Beef of Whale' and 'Fersk Torsk' with a local pilsner. The whale was fantastic. The cod? Not so much. We also tried a local variety of chowder that was good. The whale was like a really tender beef and was not as fatty as you might imagine. I'd highly recommend it.
Sunday was more of the same: wandering around a wilderness area with a vague notion of what we were doing. By the end of the day, we were all fairly proficient at cross-country skiing as well as pretending we knew which way we were going.
We negotiated our way into a lukewarm soap-less, towel-less shower at a hostel and then headed to the airport to catch our 9pm flights, but not before grabbing some nachos and pizza to celebrate Super Bowl Sunday on the way. Flight landed a little after 10pm in London and I was asleep well before midnight. Stew stayed up and watched the game (which was apparently great), but an 11pm kickoff is a bit much for me.
In summary, it was a fairly cheap, impromptu trip to a beautiful city. I spent almost every hour of daylight outside and my soul is much better off for the effort. I'll post some pictures later in the week. If they are half as good as I think, there should be some memorable ones worthy of a desktop wallpaper.
skål! ("skoal")
Dan and I flew into Oslo Friday night. Chris and Ana had beaten us there by a few hours. Nothing exciting Friday night as Saturday was going to be a long day. On Saturday morning, we hopped on the metro rail to Voksenkollen. This is what is amazing about Oslo. We were on a commuter train for 20 minutes and were walking distance to a ski resort. Many of the locals we talked to said they go there multiple times each week. Pretty cool lifestyle. A map is worth a thousand words:
View Larger Map
I'll post some pictures later, but the views were amazing. I had only cross-country skied once before, but this was on an entirely different level. When I had tried XC in Utah, it was on a snow covered golf course; not alot of elevation to gain. Skiing here involved going up some fairly extended pitches for 1km at times and then kind of steep downhill segments. On those little classic XC skis, hilarity ensued. Chris and I had each been on these types of skis once before, whereas Ana and Dan were entirely new to the concept. Dan had actually never been on skis before at all. Pretty impressive really.
Our best guess is that we covered about 12-15km the first day with almost none of those being flat. There were moments where we felt entirely alone in the woods and then moments where we were reminded that we were 20 minutes from a major city. Lots of people out skiing with their kids, dogs, spouses, etc. Just a great environment: beautiful scenery and really friendly, fit people everywhere.
We also stopped by to check out the somewhat famous ski jump in Holmenkollen. I had never really gotten a sense for how massive/steep these structures are when you watch on TV, but it is somewhat awe-inspiring. Very slim chance I would go anywhere near that thing on skis.
On Saturday night, we went to the waterfront area of the harbor in downtown Oslo and had some of the local fare. I had 'Roast Beef of Whale' and 'Fersk Torsk' with a local pilsner. The whale was fantastic. The cod? Not so much. We also tried a local variety of chowder that was good. The whale was like a really tender beef and was not as fatty as you might imagine. I'd highly recommend it.
Sunday was more of the same: wandering around a wilderness area with a vague notion of what we were doing. By the end of the day, we were all fairly proficient at cross-country skiing as well as pretending we knew which way we were going.
We negotiated our way into a lukewarm soap-less, towel-less shower at a hostel and then headed to the airport to catch our 9pm flights, but not before grabbing some nachos and pizza to celebrate Super Bowl Sunday on the way. Flight landed a little after 10pm in London and I was asleep well before midnight. Stew stayed up and watched the game (which was apparently great), but an 11pm kickoff is a bit much for me.
In summary, it was a fairly cheap, impromptu trip to a beautiful city. I spent almost every hour of daylight outside and my soul is much better off for the effort. I'll post some pictures later in the week. If they are half as good as I think, there should be some memorable ones worthy of a desktop wallpaper.
skål! ("skoal")
Monday, January 31, 2011
Weekend Update: Berlin and Tough Guy
Friday morning, I caught a flight to Berlin for the World Money Fair. Basically a convention for anyone that trades monetary items in physical form. Lots of different aspects represented from people that trade in rare fiat currencies to numismatic collectors to sovereign mints (UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, etc). Almost purely a business trip, but I did manage to see (and touch) a piece of the Berlin wall.
My overall impressions of Berlin, which shouldn't be taken too seriously because of the nature and duration, is that is very much an industrial city. I guess its good to have seen a little bit of it, but overall I greatly preferred Munich.
On Saturday afternoon, I caught a flight back to London in order to get my kit together for the Tough Guy (www.toughguy.co.uk). I met up with the guys from Thames Crossfit (not Central London, where I normally workout) and we drove for a few hours North to Wolverhampton in the tiniest station wagon I've ever seen.
I am going to do a separate write-up for the Tough Guy, but in brief: it was miserable. The most fun I NEVER want to have again. They have perfectly figured out how much suffering and abuse a human body can take and that is exactly how much you go through. Hopefully, they will post action pictures in the next couple of days for me to share.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Weekend Update: Exhaustion Edition
I'll spare the details, but here is the executive summary: 24 hours of travel for 48 hours in Dallas. I acquired 6 hours of total sleep and an iPad for my troubles. It was good to touch base with everyone at NTR HQ and even get to make a few unexpected, social guest appearances.
I'll be home again in 12 days or so. Platinum status here I come.
I'll be home again in 12 days or so. Platinum status here I come.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Weekend Update: Turkey Feast
Unfortunately, the limeys don't celebrate our pillaging of North America like we do back in the states, so that left me in the office for all of last week. On the bright side, I get the bragging rights of having been a producer on Thankgiving (I'm clearly searching for the silver lining, cut me a break).
On Friday, however, I was invited to a friend's house where he and his wife cooked up a Thanksgiving feast worthy of anything back in the states. Three heaping plates of tryptophan-goodness later and I was happy. One guest mentioned he had never seen one person eat so much in his entire life. Full of good food, bourbon AND the center of attention? Brad = happy. Definitely missed the family and friends at home, but this was certainly a great substitute.
Friday night (after the feeding frenzy) we went to a friend's housewarming party, met some cool folks and stayed out late. My food coma would not be denied forever and I eventually made it home to collapse. Saturday and Sunday were fairly typical: gym, college football, borough market and church.
LSU-Arkansas was a highly entertaining football game AND Wake beat the venerated Commodore-mats of Vanderbilt. Not exactly bowl-bound, but I'll take the W. Nothing made me happier than Nevada beating Boise State though. I sent at least 4 people text messages that read only: NEVADA!!!!! Anyone else getting excited for Auburn-Oregon?
Monday, November 22, 2010
Weekend Update
Nothing too special last weekend. Normal routine as the weather gets colder and colder.
We did go to a pretty neat cigar lounge somewhere near Baker Street. Nice outdoor patio with a turbo-version of the outdoor heaters. A Montecristo #2 and some bourbon and I was feeling much warmer.
Sorry I don't have anything more exciting to report.
We did go to a pretty neat cigar lounge somewhere near Baker Street. Nice outdoor patio with a turbo-version of the outdoor heaters. A Montecristo #2 and some bourbon and I was feeling much warmer.
Sorry I don't have anything more exciting to report.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Weekend Update: Jumping Out of a Perfectly Good Airplane
Long story short: I successfully jumped out of a perfectly good airplane at 13,500 feet without anyone attached to me. More importantly, I successfully landed without injury or issue a few minutes later. I'll do full debrief that you can read after the jump
Not me in the picture, just wanted something to break-up the text. This is what a level 1 jump should look like:
Not me in the picture, just wanted something to break-up the text. This is what a level 1 jump should look like:
Monday, November 8, 2010
Weekend Update
Matt Veal flew in from Atlanta to visit for the weekend. It was good to see everyone's favorite overachieving investment banker again for the first time in over a year. Friday night included plenty of tequila and some pseudo-Mexican food, but no 'special London chants' from the visitor.
Saturday started with a visit to Borough Market and introducing Veal to a little bit of CrossFit. Then we setup on the couches with great beer and alot of meat and watched some great college football and played some video games. Highly reminiscent of our time spent senior year at Wake. LSU-Bama was a fantastic game, even to the point of taking the edge of my otherwise shutout weekend: Wake lost to BC, Texas lost to Kansas State (???), Stars lost, Mavs lost and Cowboys got embarrassed. Moral of the story: don't let me root for you in any way, shape or form.
We also watched the first two parts of The Pacific. Awesome.
Veal left early Sunday morning for his journey home, so I did my normal Sunday routine.
Saturday started with a visit to Borough Market and introducing Veal to a little bit of CrossFit. Then we setup on the couches with great beer and alot of meat and watched some great college football and played some video games. Highly reminiscent of our time spent senior year at Wake. LSU-Bama was a fantastic game, even to the point of taking the edge of my otherwise shutout weekend: Wake lost to BC, Texas lost to Kansas State (???), Stars lost, Mavs lost and Cowboys got embarrassed. Moral of the story: don't let me root for you in any way, shape or form.
We also watched the first two parts of The Pacific. Awesome.
Veal left early Sunday morning for his journey home, so I did my normal Sunday routine.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Weekend Update: Live Band Karaoke and Attempted Skydiving
Friday night, Stew and I met up with a few other guys for SoulBrew Live Band Karaoke. Its a live soul band that plays once a month at a bar near Liverpool street. It was a lot of fun and we managed to only cause minor problems.
After about 3 hours of sleep, I woke up to catch an early train to Netheravon Parachute Center (near Stonehenge, I'll go next time). Its a military base (open to civilians on the weekends) in southwestern England. Train took about an hour and a half to get there. When you want to go skydiving, you have three options:
1. Static line - much like you see in WWII footage. You jump out of the plane at about 3500 feet and your chute is automatically deployed. Get to guide yourself into the drop zone under canopy.
2. Tandem - you are strapped into a harness with a qualified instructor and are basically along for the ride. Jump out between thirteen and fifteen thousand feet, freefall to six thousand and then the instructor pulls the chute and controls the ride home.
3. Accelerated FreeFall Level 1 - You get to jump from around 15,000 feet unattached to anyone or anything and freefall to 6000. There are two instructors that jump right next to you to help guide and protect against disaster. This requires about 6 hours of pre-flight instruction as you are ultimately responsible for doing everything on your own. There are 8 different levels en route to full skydiving certification.
I, of course, opted for the third choice. Spent all day going around the parachute center and practicing different scenarios, took multiple verbal and one written exam and got all suited up. We were placed on a weather delay for a few hours and were told we likely wouldn't be able to jump. Then, at the very end of the daylight hours (literally 5 pm here), the wind let up and the clouds parted. We were going to jump! There were three other AFF level one students looking to get their first jump.
Somehow, I ended up being the first student selected to jump. The others might not make it in time because fo daylight restrictions for novice jumpers. I rushed onto a plane with my two instructors and about 6 static line jumpers. We were going to climb to 3500, drop the static line guys and then continue to 15,000 and I would be able to jump. I was surprisingly calm given how may times over the course of the day it had been put off then back on an off again.
We got to 3000 feet and received word from jump control on the ground that it had gotten too dark and we were not going to be able to jump. I was visibly annoyed. I tried to be polite, but my disappointment was obvious. I could either setup my sleeping bag in a bunkhouse and try again in the morning or go home to London. The forecast for Sunday looked crappy and I wanted to do my Sunday routine, so I hitched a ride to the train station and caught a train home.
At least I had seen some sunshine and spent most of the day outdoors. That part of the English countryside was a nice change of pace from The Big Smoke. Lots of trees changing color and rolling hills. I bet it would look even better while falling at 120mph...
I watched the new Russell Crowe version of Robin Hood on the way home. Long but entertaining. Not an inside favorite for any Oscars though.
Sunday was relatively uneventful. Church, gym, errands, video games, reading and cooking. Matt Veal comes in town next weekend from Atlanta. Should be fun. I'll try to get my first jump in the weekend after that. Luckily, I won't have to repeat all the instruction portion.
After about 3 hours of sleep, I woke up to catch an early train to Netheravon Parachute Center (near Stonehenge, I'll go next time). Its a military base (open to civilians on the weekends) in southwestern England. Train took about an hour and a half to get there. When you want to go skydiving, you have three options:
1. Static line - much like you see in WWII footage. You jump out of the plane at about 3500 feet and your chute is automatically deployed. Get to guide yourself into the drop zone under canopy.
2. Tandem - you are strapped into a harness with a qualified instructor and are basically along for the ride. Jump out between thirteen and fifteen thousand feet, freefall to six thousand and then the instructor pulls the chute and controls the ride home.
3. Accelerated FreeFall Level 1 - You get to jump from around 15,000 feet unattached to anyone or anything and freefall to 6000. There are two instructors that jump right next to you to help guide and protect against disaster. This requires about 6 hours of pre-flight instruction as you are ultimately responsible for doing everything on your own. There are 8 different levels en route to full skydiving certification.
I, of course, opted for the third choice. Spent all day going around the parachute center and practicing different scenarios, took multiple verbal and one written exam and got all suited up. We were placed on a weather delay for a few hours and were told we likely wouldn't be able to jump. Then, at the very end of the daylight hours (literally 5 pm here), the wind let up and the clouds parted. We were going to jump! There were three other AFF level one students looking to get their first jump.
Somehow, I ended up being the first student selected to jump. The others might not make it in time because fo daylight restrictions for novice jumpers. I rushed onto a plane with my two instructors and about 6 static line jumpers. We were going to climb to 3500, drop the static line guys and then continue to 15,000 and I would be able to jump. I was surprisingly calm given how may times over the course of the day it had been put off then back on an off again.
We got to 3000 feet and received word from jump control on the ground that it had gotten too dark and we were not going to be able to jump. I was visibly annoyed. I tried to be polite, but my disappointment was obvious. I could either setup my sleeping bag in a bunkhouse and try again in the morning or go home to London. The forecast for Sunday looked crappy and I wanted to do my Sunday routine, so I hitched a ride to the train station and caught a train home.
At least I had seen some sunshine and spent most of the day outdoors. That part of the English countryside was a nice change of pace from The Big Smoke. Lots of trees changing color and rolling hills. I bet it would look even better while falling at 120mph...
I watched the new Russell Crowe version of Robin Hood on the way home. Long but entertaining. Not an inside favorite for any Oscars though.
Sunday was relatively uneventful. Church, gym, errands, video games, reading and cooking. Matt Veal comes in town next weekend from Atlanta. Should be fun. I'll try to get my first jump in the weekend after that. Luckily, I won't have to repeat all the instruction portion.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Weekend Update: Nada Mucho
Nice slow weekend around London. It was cold, but saw a little sunshine. Ran some errands, read, played video games, went to the gym, bought all my grass-fed and exotic meat for the week, etc. Good to have a weekend like that every once in awhile.
Woke up at 4am Saturday morning to watch the last few innings of the Rangers beating the Yankees!! Also, went to the London ski show, which was just a bug tease since the season doesn't even start over here until January. Still provided good fodder for the imagination and wanderlust.
Met up with some friends Saturday night at an ESPN-zone type sports bar (Sports Cafe) to watch LSU-Auburn. Cam Newton is a beast. It'll be interesting to see who comes out of the SEC this year as likely national title contenders.
...And the Cowboys suck. Romo broke his collar-bone last night. Maybe now he'll have more time to focus on his passion: being a full-time Dallas playboy. He's better at that than football anyway.
With the GBP/USD strengthening, the price of gold is down significantly in terms of GBP on relatively little news. I guess markets like the UK's austerity approach more so than the US's hyper-focus on QE and stimulus. Something about spending your way to prosperity or borrowing your way out of debt... Anyway, it's killing the pace of business, so most positive momentum has been scrubbed out and now its back to me trying to grind out a little profit every day.
Woke up at 4am Saturday morning to watch the last few innings of the Rangers beating the Yankees!! Also, went to the London ski show, which was just a bug tease since the season doesn't even start over here until January. Still provided good fodder for the imagination and wanderlust.
Met up with some friends Saturday night at an ESPN-zone type sports bar (Sports Cafe) to watch LSU-Auburn. Cam Newton is a beast. It'll be interesting to see who comes out of the SEC this year as likely national title contenders.
...And the Cowboys suck. Romo broke his collar-bone last night. Maybe now he'll have more time to focus on his passion: being a full-time Dallas playboy. He's better at that than football anyway.
With the GBP/USD strengthening, the price of gold is down significantly in terms of GBP on relatively little news. I guess markets like the UK's austerity approach more so than the US's hyper-focus on QE and stimulus. Something about spending your way to prosperity or borrowing your way out of debt... Anyway, it's killing the pace of business, so most positive momentum has been scrubbed out and now its back to me trying to grind out a little profit every day.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Weekend Update
A purposefully slow weekend in London. As much traveling as I have done and have coming up, it was a good chance to catch up on sleep, errands and chores.
This coming Friday, I will leave for Copenhagen for a Crossfit competition. A new European city and something for me to compete in? Should be fun.
The weekend after that (Oct 1-3rd), I'll be in Munich with Will Watters checking out Oktoberfest. Stew was there this weekend, so I should get a good scouting report.
This coming Friday, I will leave for Copenhagen for a Crossfit competition. A new European city and something for me to compete in? Should be fun.
The weekend after that (Oct 1-3rd), I'll be in Munich with Will Watters checking out Oktoberfest. Stew was there this weekend, so I should get a good scouting report.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Weekend Update
What a whirlwind weekend.
I left London on Friday and landed in Raleigh that afternoon. Two of the other guys in Andrew's wedding picked me up and we fought Labor Day traffic all the way to Greensboro. A 4 hour drive took about 6-7 hours. The bachelor party took place at the Rumbling Bald Resort in Lake Lure, NC. It is a beautiful mountain golf community with two Nicklaus courses. The weather was gorgeous and we had a blast (the cold beer helped).
Nicole drove all the way out to pick me up on Sunday. I got to finally meet our new Rhodesian Ridgeback ("Deacon") and drive back to Winston for the night. I was also able to see Nicole's parents for awhile, which is always fun. I can't wait for our Costa Rican Christmas this year.
Sadly, I had to catch my flight yesterday afternoon out of Raleigh. At first, the flight seemed benign. We were a few minutes late leaving, but no big deal; I had an empty seat next to me and slept straight through. Upon landing, I received an email from my roommate that all of the London Underground was going to be shut down today for labor strikes. Read the WSJ article about this here.
Before I could even get that far, however, I spent two solid hours waiting in line to clear immigration into the UK. Not how I wanted to start the week. Fortunately, its a short one and I get to see Mom in Italy this weekend.
I left London on Friday and landed in Raleigh that afternoon. Two of the other guys in Andrew's wedding picked me up and we fought Labor Day traffic all the way to Greensboro. A 4 hour drive took about 6-7 hours. The bachelor party took place at the Rumbling Bald Resort in Lake Lure, NC. It is a beautiful mountain golf community with two Nicklaus courses. The weather was gorgeous and we had a blast (the cold beer helped).
Nicole drove all the way out to pick me up on Sunday. I got to finally meet our new Rhodesian Ridgeback ("Deacon") and drive back to Winston for the night. I was also able to see Nicole's parents for awhile, which is always fun. I can't wait for our Costa Rican Christmas this year.
Sadly, I had to catch my flight yesterday afternoon out of Raleigh. At first, the flight seemed benign. We were a few minutes late leaving, but no big deal; I had an empty seat next to me and slept straight through. Upon landing, I received an email from my roommate that all of the London Underground was going to be shut down today for labor strikes. Read the WSJ article about this here.
Before I could even get that far, however, I spent two solid hours waiting in line to clear immigration into the UK. Not how I wanted to start the week. Fortunately, its a short one and I get to see Mom in Italy this weekend.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Weekend Update: Summer Bank Holiday Edition
Here's what is going on in BradWorld:
Today is the Summer Bank Holiday. Yes that is a real thing. I have the day off, but markets are open everywhere else in the world, so www.bloomberg.com/tv will be on in the background all day.
Summer is pretty much over here. Days are rapidly getting shorter and the highs for the day are in the low 60s for the next few days. That's 19 for those of you worldly enough to use the metric system (better men than me).
The Notting Hill Carnival is going on yesterday and today. It's kind of like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but in London and with less nudity (apparently). What it definitely does is bring many of the less desirable citizens of London into my quiet little neighborhood. Fortunately, there are policemen every 50 yards or so, but that doesn't entirely stop some vandalism and general mischief. I took a rain check on the festivites this year.
I'll spend most of today reading One Good Trade (book), The Economist, and The WSJ plus the usual blogs and such. BUT, I'll do it from my couch in sweatpants! Also, lots of paleo-friendly cooking (learned poached eggs this morning) and probably a nap or three.
I also managed to watch yet another terrible movie: Date Night (Steve Carrell and Tina Fey). I love bad movies and this was terrrrrrrible.I'm on a bad streak right now after In Bruges.
Further proof that cricket is a terrible, terrible excuse for a national pastime (and that Pakistan just can't catch a break): Pakistan threw their match against England and got caught via an undercover investigation.
Today is the Summer Bank Holiday. Yes that is a real thing. I have the day off, but markets are open everywhere else in the world, so www.bloomberg.com/tv will be on in the background all day.
Summer is pretty much over here. Days are rapidly getting shorter and the highs for the day are in the low 60s for the next few days. That's 19 for those of you worldly enough to use the metric system (better men than me).
The Notting Hill Carnival is going on yesterday and today. It's kind of like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but in London and with less nudity (apparently). What it definitely does is bring many of the less desirable citizens of London into my quiet little neighborhood. Fortunately, there are policemen every 50 yards or so, but that doesn't entirely stop some vandalism and general mischief. I took a rain check on the festivites this year.
I'll spend most of today reading One Good Trade (book), The Economist, and The WSJ plus the usual blogs and such. BUT, I'll do it from my couch in sweatpants! Also, lots of paleo-friendly cooking (learned poached eggs this morning) and probably a nap or three.
I also managed to watch yet another terrible movie: Date Night (Steve Carrell and Tina Fey). I love bad movies and this was terrrrrrrible.I'm on a bad streak right now after In Bruges.
Further proof that cricket is a terrible, terrible excuse for a national pastime (and that Pakistan just can't catch a break): Pakistan threw their match against England and got caught via an undercover investigation.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
London Can Be a Cool Place to Run
To interrupt my marathon session of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on my brand new (to me at least) Playstation 3, I threw on my Vibram FiveFingers and went on an aimless run. Ended up running for an hour.
In that brief period I was able to run through: Hyde Park, Kensington Palace & Gardens, Buckingham Palace, Green Park, The Wellington Arch, Horse Guards Parade Grounds and around St. James Park. I was about 100 yards from Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. All in the span of an hour, on foot.
In Dallas I would have seen... Highland Park and the Katy Trail. Check it out:
View Larger Map
Kind of cool that in mid-August I can run for an hour at 4pm and not have any heat issues here as its only about 70 degrees outside.
In that brief period I was able to run through: Hyde Park, Kensington Palace & Gardens, Buckingham Palace, Green Park, The Wellington Arch, Horse Guards Parade Grounds and around St. James Park. I was about 100 yards from Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. All in the span of an hour, on foot.
In Dallas I would have seen... Highland Park and the Katy Trail. Check it out:
View Larger Map
Kind of cool that in mid-August I can run for an hour at 4pm and not have any heat issues here as its only about 70 degrees outside.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Weekend Update
The power was out at the office for 6 hours on Friday. That made for some fun calls on the mobile and me reading a book between repair appointments by the light of our lone skylight. I was alone in this as my flatmate, Stewart, was in the US for a wedding. Weird Friday to say the least.
Friday night, Nicole and I saw Toy Story 3. It. Is. Awesome. Seriously, a great movie. We both thought that it was way more for adults than for kids (not that its inappropriate for the youngins, just that it was complex and well written).
Saturday, it was time for Crossfit (10 reps down to one rep of 100kg back squat mixed with one rep increasing to ten reps of chest-to-bar pullups). It's a little workout I made up myself and it huuuuurts. That's 55 squats at 220 pounds and 55 big pullups in 13 minutes. Ow ow ow. Then, we explored the Borough Market. It's like a huge well organized farmer's market. We picked up plenty of Paleo food that will serve as delicious meals for the near future. Ostrich filets, venison, pork and wild boar burgers with lots of fresh veggies.
Speaking of Paleo, Saturday night was our cheat night! Since it's Nicole's last weekend in town she treated me to dinner at a local, highly acclaimed, authentic pizzeria. I had wine, she had Prosecco. Our pizzas were enormous, delicious and served by the half-meter (seriously) on wood planks fresh from the oven. We devoured that, thanked our hardly-English-literate-waiter and then went looking for dessert. After stopping at two bakeries, we had the correct combination of a cookie, a carrot-cupcake, and two brownies. Of course, I felt awful on Sunday morning and now understand why the concept of a cheat day can be so powerful: I want nothing to do with sugar, starch, dairy or alcohol for awhile. We'll see how long that lasts.
Ed. note: If you're confused by any of this "Paleo" talk, check out the book, wikipedia page or the everydaypaleo blog that I look to for delicious recipes.
So far today, we went to early service at the beautiful St. Mary Abbots (Church of England). Its current structure is only 130 years old and the stained glass, columns and vaulted ceilings are gorgeous. A great, quiet place to worship. Then we went to a free workout one of the other Crossfit gyms hosts in the park on nice Sundays. We ran to the locale, did a 13 minute intense bodyweight workout and then ran home. Lucky for me, the workout included more squats! (no weight this time though). Ouch again.
The rest of the day has been filled with prepping for Monday (including reading the WSJ about the SEC charging the Wyly brothers) and watching Mad Men on iTunes. I'm seriously addicted. We've plowed through about 16 episodes since Wednesday. I don't like TV, but its a great show that about half of you have recommended and I'm sure the other half have meant to. You were right.
The big news going into tomorrow, is that I should be fully functional for trading! Fingers crossed that there isn't yet another unforeseen circumstance and that I'll be decent at what I was sent here to do.
Of course, the other news of note is that Nicole is heading back to the states on Tuesday. We've had soooo much fun and I'm really sorry to see her go.
Best,
Brad
Friday night, Nicole and I saw Toy Story 3. It. Is. Awesome. Seriously, a great movie. We both thought that it was way more for adults than for kids (not that its inappropriate for the youngins, just that it was complex and well written).
Saturday, it was time for Crossfit (10 reps down to one rep of 100kg back squat mixed with one rep increasing to ten reps of chest-to-bar pullups). It's a little workout I made up myself and it huuuuurts. That's 55 squats at 220 pounds and 55 big pullups in 13 minutes. Ow ow ow. Then, we explored the Borough Market. It's like a huge well organized farmer's market. We picked up plenty of Paleo food that will serve as delicious meals for the near future. Ostrich filets, venison, pork and wild boar burgers with lots of fresh veggies.
Speaking of Paleo, Saturday night was our cheat night! Since it's Nicole's last weekend in town she treated me to dinner at a local, highly acclaimed, authentic pizzeria. I had wine, she had Prosecco. Our pizzas were enormous, delicious and served by the half-meter (seriously) on wood planks fresh from the oven. We devoured that, thanked our hardly-English-literate-waiter and then went looking for dessert. After stopping at two bakeries, we had the correct combination of a cookie, a carrot-cupcake, and two brownies. Of course, I felt awful on Sunday morning and now understand why the concept of a cheat day can be so powerful: I want nothing to do with sugar, starch, dairy or alcohol for awhile. We'll see how long that lasts.
Ed. note: If you're confused by any of this "Paleo" talk, check out the book, wikipedia page or the everydaypaleo blog that I look to for delicious recipes.
So far today, we went to early service at the beautiful St. Mary Abbots (Church of England). Its current structure is only 130 years old and the stained glass, columns and vaulted ceilings are gorgeous. A great, quiet place to worship. Then we went to a free workout one of the other Crossfit gyms hosts in the park on nice Sundays. We ran to the locale, did a 13 minute intense bodyweight workout and then ran home. Lucky for me, the workout included more squats! (no weight this time though). Ouch again.
The rest of the day has been filled with prepping for Monday (including reading the WSJ about the SEC charging the Wyly brothers) and watching Mad Men on iTunes. I'm seriously addicted. We've plowed through about 16 episodes since Wednesday. I don't like TV, but its a great show that about half of you have recommended and I'm sure the other half have meant to. You were right.
The big news going into tomorrow, is that I should be fully functional for trading! Fingers crossed that there isn't yet another unforeseen circumstance and that I'll be decent at what I was sent here to do.
Of course, the other news of note is that Nicole is heading back to the states on Tuesday. We've had soooo much fun and I'm really sorry to see her go.
Best,
Brad
Monday, July 19, 2010
Weekend Update
Nothing too exciting from here. Nice relaxing weekend around London.
Watched (and were inspired by) the Crossfit Games via a surprisingly high quality video internet feed. If you want to see something impressive, check out their final WOD (works best in Google Chrome, use the drop down at bottom left to select an archive feed). They had no time to prepare and were briefed on the workout on-the-fly with a 30 second rest between three 7-12 minute workouts. Looks like a fun kind of pain.
Also, the Tour de France is heating up. With 6 stages to go and after 68 hours of riding, Andy Schleck holds only a 30 second lead over last year's champ Alberto Contador.
I should be getting some good news regarding banking this week which would make me officially open for trading! Fingers crossed...
Watched (and were inspired by) the Crossfit Games via a surprisingly high quality video internet feed. If you want to see something impressive, check out their final WOD (works best in Google Chrome, use the drop down at bottom left to select an archive feed). They had no time to prepare and were briefed on the workout on-the-fly with a 30 second rest between three 7-12 minute workouts. Looks like a fun kind of pain.
Also, the Tour de France is heating up. With 6 stages to go and after 68 hours of riding, Andy Schleck holds only a 30 second lead over last year's champ Alberto Contador.
I should be getting some good news regarding banking this week which would make me officially open for trading! Fingers crossed...
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