Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh

I'm terribly overdue for a blog post and last November I promised to tell you about our visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.  It was a blustery day with the sun ducking in and out of the clouds.  If it were warmer, we could've walked, but a taxi sufficed. 

Once we were inside the gardens, practically the first thing we saw were these enormous leaves... easily big enough to hold Big Schlepp and Herr Professor Bear.  Immediately a group of school girls saw me and I had my picture taken with all of them.

With the weather turning blustery, we thought we'd try the glass houses at the other corner of the gardens.  Our tickets got us entry into all 12 of them.  It wasn't a long walk and the entrance was the 120' high Palm House.  Truly amazing.  

 

One greenhouse led to another with wonderful plants in profusion.  Here is some variety of Spanish Moss and  a purple orchid. 

 

Farther along was an enormous indoor lily pond with 3' in diameter water lilies from Africa.  Beyond was a glass house with an entire forest of tree ferns.  

 

After we left, we wandered up the hill and had a light lunch before exploring the rest of the gardens.  On the way out, we discovered these lovely blooms.  

All in all, an exquisite day, even with the cold and wind, these gardens are not to be missed no matter what the season.  And in the worst of weather, the best is still the warm and beautiful glass houses.

Scotland

My apologies for not posting about my Scottish adventures earlier, but I've spent most of a month mollifying William of Yarmouth because he didn't go on this trip.  English bears, it seems, are not altogether welcome north of Hadrian's Wall.  That had something to do with Bonnie Prince Charlie and a little difference of opinion back in 1745. 

So back in September, Caro, Karl and I headed off to Edinburgh via first rate flights connecting through Houston and Newark.  Here I am enjoying a sip of Champagne before heading "across the pond" as they say.  I must say seating is much improved since the day we spent so much time flying to Vienna and such. 

We arrived in the Land of the Picts early in the morning, British Summer Time or seven hours off our internal clocks.  Since the hotel room wasn't yet available, we dropped off luggage, had a breakfast, and then set out for a stroll in the Scottish sunshine.  In the end we toured a lovely old graveyard and hiked up Calton Hill with its excellent views out over the city -- a wonderful way to get oriented to the city's features.  Here we are with the Edinburgh Castle in the background.  The prominent steeple is St. Gile's Cathedral.

When we returned from our walkabout, the room was ready and we found that the view from the sixth floor looked straight out at the hill we had just climbed.  The tall structure is the Nelson Monument, which has a peculiar ball on top of it that drops precisely at the stroke of 1:00 pm.  It was designed to let ships in the harbor know what time it was and they could set their chronometers. 

Our first dinner in Scotland was after a late afternoon stroll up High Street.  Caro ordered the ham and mushy peas appetizer.  Yumm!

The next day we climbed up to Edinburgh Castle and toured around inside and up on the battlements.  Here I am on the largest canon, Mons Meg. 

And here I am atop the battlements.  

We had a lovely luncheon at the castle's cafeteria and then strolled back to the Balmoral Hotel for a lie-down followed by dinner and then a wee dram of whisky. 

More to come as we explore the Royal Botanic Gardens in our next installment.

Dr. Strange Bear

For once the traveling was on someone else's shoulders:  Schlepp was at homebase in Albuquerque while the rest of the web geek's from DOE flew/drove in for this week's InterLab conference.  It was a busy time, coming right after Goen's visit from Seattle, but at least we had a 4-day weekend to prepare for the onslaught. 

Monday was the HTML5/CSS3 class followed by a trip to the Sandia Tram.  Tuesday was all day presentations followed by a banquet at the Sheraton.  Wednesday was more of the same with dinner and a tour of the Nuclear Museum. 

It was at that last event that I was able to break loose and enjoy myself, riding a few nuclear weapons and hopping onto the occasional missile. 

Here I am atop a facsimile of the Fat Man...

And atop some lethal looking missiles...

And right beside "The Gadget," the device exploded at Trinity Site.

Here I am in the "bell" or rocket engine noozle of a Titan 2.  Sheesh!  It's big!

 

And here's another hero shot of me atop some big-ass nuclear weapon.  Shades of Major Kong aka Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove.

Stand by for next month's installments from... Scotland.  Remember, you heard it here first.

Happy Independence Day!

All three of the Schlepp gang had a fun outing for the 4th -- they got to ride with Caro in the Matthew Meadow Parade.  Not only that, but there were cookies afterwards at the picnic in the park.  Even Cousin Middle Schlepp got to join in the festivities. 

Durango

A couple weeks ago was Karl's birthday and to celebrate we all took a long weekend in Durango, Colorado.  The weather was iffy, but it all worked out in the end.  Little did I know it would be a bear-ful weekend. 

Of course, the first thing we did was check out the railroad station.  I got my picture taken on the wild horses sculpture out front.

A short while later we came across a hotel full of bears, the General Palmer Hotel. 

From there on, it was one bear-filled store after another. Stuarts had a friendly fellow.  We chatted while Caro bought a leather vest and Karl got a new hat. 

We came across this huge fellow just up the street.  He reminded me of the Kober's bear in Vienna.

And in an antique shop across the street, yet another interesting, if large, fellow.

TTFN

Belarus Bears in the News

This week in the Teddy Bear News... Swedish activists parachuted hundreds of bears into Belarus. 

 

MINSK (Reuters) - Authorities in Belarus arrested and fined two journalists for posing for photographs holding teddy bears after hundreds were dropped by air on the country in a pro-democracy stunt, the Belarussian Association of Journalists said on Thursday.

Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian president, also suggested on Thursday that the Swedish embassy in Minsk had been involved in planning the July 4 escapade, in an outburst likely to widen a diplomatic rift with Sweden over the incident.

"Those who came and prepared the violation of the state border worked together with the (Swedish) embassy. We have proof of this," Lukashenko was quoted as saying by the Belarus state news agency Belta.

The journalists' arrest and Lukashenko's accusation underlined the depth of his anger and embarrassment over the stunt and his determination to punish those he views as being responsible for it.

The two journalists, Irina Kozlik, who works for Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, and Yulia Doroshkevich, a press photographer, were each fined 3 million Belarussian roubles (about $400) at separate court hearings in Minsk and released.

An official for the ex-Soviet republic's journalist association said that Kozlik, 27, and Doroshkevich, 31, were detained on Wednesday evening in the capital Minsk.

The two women were accused of "carrying out an unsanctioned protest," Andrei Bastunets, deputy head of the association, told Reuters.

The July 4 stunt, in which a light aircraft chartered by a Swedish PR firm Studio Total dropped 800 toy bears carrying pro-democracy messages over Belarussian territory, prompted Lukashenko to sack his air defense and border guards chiefs and expel Sweden's ambassador.

The teddy bear "blitz" was the latest pro-democracy stunt aimed at mocking Lukashenko's iron grip on a country he has ruled since 1994, three years after the Soviet Union's break-up.

Once described as Europe's last dictator by the U.S. administration of George W. Bush, Lukashenko has been ostracized by the European Union and United States over a harsh crackdown on opponents who challenged his re-election in December 2010.

Last summer, opposition groups staged waves of "silent" protests in Minsk in which people engaged in synchronized public clapping and coordinated their mobile phones to ring out in unison to show their disapproval of Lukashenko's style of rule.
DIPLOMATIC RIFT

With both Belarus and Sweden now pulling all their diplomats out of each other's country, the diplomatic rift has worsened Belarus's already poor relations with the West.

In comments issued by Belta news agency on Thursday, Lukashenko said Belarus still awaited an answer from Sweden and neighboring Lithuania about their role in the airdrop. The plane entered Belarussian air space from Lithuania.

"If these answers do not come according to international norms, we will find an adequate response ourselves ...," he said.

"Lithuania shouldn't sit like mice under the broom either. They have got to say why they allocated their territory for violating a state border," he added.

In a statement on Thursday, the U.S. State Department said the expulsion of the Swedish diplomats only served "to deepen Belarus' self-isolation ... We again call on Belarus to immediately release and rehabilitate all political prisoners, and to put an end to the repression of civil society and the democratic opposition."

It took more than three weeks for Belarus to formally confirm the teddy bear airdrop. It was all the more embarrassing for Lukashenko and his defense chiefs since the incident occurred a day after Independence Day, which also commemorates Minsk's World War Two defense against Nazi Germany.

Lukashenko sacked two generals, including the head of the air defenses, and told the incoming border guards chief to use weapons if necessary to shoot down any future foreign intruders into Belarussian air space.

Belarus's KGB state security agency has since charged two Belarussians, Anton Suryapin and Sergei Basharimov, with complicity in the "illegal intrusion" by the Swedish plane.

Suryapin, who is aged about 20, had earlier been identified as a blogger who was arrested after the first photographs of the toy bears were published on the Internet. In the past week, some Belarussian journalists have shown solidarity with Suryapin by posing for photos on the Internet holding miniature toy bears.

(Writing By Richard Balmforth; Editing by Rosalind Russell)

2012 INMM

It's July and that typically means Schlepp, Karl, and several hundred of his colleagues gather in one of the hottest places imaginable for the annual Institute of Nuclear Material Management Conference.  This year it was in Orlando, giving him a shot of humidity and moist heat. 

Here Schlepp enjoys the sunny pool area while Karl attends sessions inside.  Later when the afternoon thunderstorms moved in, it was wise to find a comfortable place elsewhere on the grounds.

Next year's INMM will be back in Palm Desert, CA and Schlepp is already making plans to go. 

Stuffed Critter Gets Rescued

It's always gratifying to learn that others have a soft heart when it comes to rescuing stuffed critters.  Yesterday an MBTA worker stopped an on-coming train when a little girl's "Nummy" fell onto the tracks.

Kinda reminds me of a rainy afternoon when I pulled Louie up from the inside median of I-40.  Below from my archives, Louie and Schlepp watch the storm track of Hurricane Katrina as it bears down on his home town of New Orleans.

Halfway 'round the World

This Colombo, Sri Lanka workshop really tops it for travel--48 hrs door to door with a 15-hour layover in Bangkok.  At least the transit hotel near the BKK airport was lovely.  We arrived after midnight and I was happy to collapse into a comfortable bed, even though there was a peculiar window looking into the bathroom.

After the 28 hours of flying, we slept hard and late.  Had the breakfast buffet and then headed off to explore the place.  Orchids were everywhere. 

There was a lovely swimming pool area and on the other side of the hotel, a garden with water features.  Very soothing.

We went to the airport around 4:00 in the afternoon and had an absolutely dreadful flight in coach, complete with screaming kids, uncomfortable seats, and Kent Biringer got a glass of apple juice spilled on him.  But at long last, after four hours of flying and another hour in a taxi, we got to our hotel.  The view from our room on the 25th floor was vast.

More to come...

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Yes, it's been a little while since I've been traveling.  However, this month takes Karl and me half way around the world to Sri Lanka, off the very tip of India.  It's a ridiculously long set of flights to get here from Albuquerque, but with a little luck, we got business class upgrades. 

After an overnight in Bangkok, we arrived in Colombo and set up for our workshop.  That's been going on very happily now for the past 4 days and seems to be a big success for Kent and Geoff.  Our foreign visitors have been very cordial and our local hosts have been terrific. 

Although we've been in the hotel almost all the time, Kent, Karl and I managed to get out briefly and go shopping for some of Sri Lanka's famous sapphires.  Caro will be surprised.  I'll post photos when I get home and can download them from the little Canon digital camera. 

Tonight is our farewell dinner and then we've got to be up and moving by the time the taxi comes at 4:00 A.M.  Friday will be just a short hop to Bangkok where we'll have an afternoon and an evening before an early departure to Tokyo, Los Angeles, and home. 

Stay tuned for photos in a couple days.

Nanoprotests

After a recent spat of difficulties between Russian and Belarus political protesters, organizers have turned to a novel solution--nanoprotests.  The NY Times reports that stuffed animals and LEGO toys have taken to the streets on behalf of their human partners. 

The result has been some unprecedented encounters between police and furry critters, civic authorities and stuffed toys.  An interesting photo blog from Altai, Siberia is http://ivan-krupchik.livejournal.com/11965.html.  In some cases permits have been denied because the bears are of foreign origin. 

We will continue to watch the situation and keep you appraised. 

Plone Conference 2011

Karl and Schlepp made it to the World Plone Conference this year, the first time in 3 years.  It was being held in San Francisco, across the Bay from Berkeley and south of Sonoma where we were 2 years ago.  On Saturday night, there was a party at a place called Treasure Island where Schlepp met all kinds of nice people. 

In the pictures below the lucky bear is seen at the conference party with (top to bottom, left to right) Debbie, Chrissie Wainwright, Elizabeth Leddy, Alexander Limi, and Matt Hamilton.Chrissie was Debbie's instructor, Liz was a key conference organizer, Alex founded Plone, and Matt is the Plone Foundation President this year.

They had loud music, battling robots, and this huge pink flamingo.  Not your typical bear habitat. 

Don't know where next year's conference will be, but Schlepp is already planning on attending.

Travel Schlepp "does" Aix-en-Provence

Well, it's been a busy, busy month -- first Buenos Aires, then Karl's dad, and then France.  The conference was in Aix-en-Provence, so getting there was a little longer than usual.  First there was the little hop over to Houston; then the looong flight to Paris.  Once we cleared customs, we worked our way from Terminal 1 to the railroad station in the middle of Terminal 2.  After a wait, we caught a comfortable TGV (high speed) train to the south.

The next day we set out to explore and came across a lovely outside cafe.  Here I finish off a bowl of penne with pesto.  (It also had sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and prosciutto, but I finished that stuff off straight away before Karl could photograph it.)

A while later we stopped by the carrousel on the other side of the central traffic rotory by La Fontaine de la Rotonde. As almost always is the case, the horses were quite friendly. 

On Monday evening after a full day at the conference, we went out with Karl's colleague, George Baldwin, and had a nice meal, again outside.  The weather was a little cool after dark, but that doesn't bother us bears.  After dinner I had a cup of the famous French coffee, which I must admit is very good. 

On the way home we passed by several fountains for which Aix-en-Provence is famous.  I think this is Fontaine d'Eau Chaude, a thermal fountain whose warm waters nourish a healthy ecosystem of moss and ferns.

Along the way back to the hotel on Tuesday evening, we met this French bear.  Very friendly, of course.

Later on we came across the Fontaine du Roi René.  Of course, down at bear height you can't see Good King René standing on the pedestal at the center of the fountain. 

With the conference over by noon Thursday, we took a stroll to the north side of town and another nice restaurant.  As with almost all our meals in Provence, we had the local rosé, always excellent.   

Later on as we roamed farther north, we came across an unusual stuffed critter--a lama, I believe, but possibly an alpaca.  Either way, it gave me a lift on the way to the Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur, an amazing church. 

Here's an interior photograph looking up into the marvelous cupola of the cathedral.  The rest of it was a magnificent mixture of ancient and medieval.  Perhaps tomorrow I'll upload some photos to Picasa.

 

Next stop, Paris....

Came Ye o'er frae France?

Just back from Buenos Aires in time for a rough week with Dad passing on. Karl's brother Paul was here to help out and he's staying on in Albuquerque to take care of Mom.

That means Caro, Karl, and a certain teddy bear can go to the ESARDA-INMM meetings in France. The trip was planned months ago, but with Henry's health so fragile, we weren't sure who if anyone would be able to go.

So tomorrow bright and early, it's off to Houston for a connection to the trans-Atlantic flight. Once at CDG Saturday morning, we'll catch the bullet train from the airport to Aix-en-Provence. Once there we'll settle in at the Hotel Roi René and enjoy the French cuisine and fine wines.

Expect updates in the week ahead.

Southern Cross

I'm writing this from the Southern Hemisphere. In fact it 's the first time Karl and I have been below the equator. We're in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Karl is presenting at The Materials Research Society symposium on The Scientific Basis for Radiological Waste Management.

That was finished late this afternoon and tomorrow we fly home. It's been a long trip for such a short presentation. Right now we've finished off all the e-mails and the last of Karl's single malt Scotch.

"Now fill to me the posting glass. Goodnight and joy be with you all."

Nine Eleven 10 Years Later

Ten years ago Karl was in Bonn, Germany with his friend Debbie and colleague David Betsill.  David was part of a GIS workshop while Debbie and Karl were presenting a knowledge management workshop.  The participants were all from the Middle East and were taking part of Sandia's regional engagement program.  

I remember distinctly that late in the day one of the German hosts opened the door and announced that an airplane had struck the World Trade Center in New York.  I thought some idiot in a Cessna had messed up.  But some time later, she returned and said a second plane had struck the second tower.  Now we were truly puzzled. 

The workshop adjourned around 4:30 (remember, Germany was 6 timezones ahead of New York).  By then all the televisions in the conference facility were showing the awful events.  Karl and I ate dinner alone in a daze--Debbie and David understandably didn't feel like eating.  

We spent the rest of the evening in front of the TV in Debbie's room.  Fortunately, the vending machines on our floor had wine and beer.  By late that evening we had emptied them.  

Karl and I returned to our room and, of course, couldn't sleep.  At some point Karl thought to document what was obviously a world-changing event.  The photo above shows me glued to the TV as the terrible tragedy was replayed over and over again.  With all the airlines to the U.S. shut down, we had no idea how or when we'd get home.

E-mail messages instructed us to call Sandia's emergency operations center and our managers at their homes, since the Labs were closed.  You don't want to know what the phone bill was by the time it was all over. 

Debbie and David would finally be able to fly home several days later -- that was it's own kind of adventure.  Karl and I were eventually authorized to continue on to Vienna for another two weeks of work with the Action Team.  The world would never be the same again.