I'm back in London after my week in Font, and not having had any internet access in France I have a million emails to reply to, so here's a quick round-up of the week. Font is awesome, and despite wind, snow, rain and sleet (and the various permutations thereof), completely lived up to the hype. The BoulderBus crew were a pretty cool bunch, and although the grades were all over the shop (I had to work my arse off to send V0 - I'm weak, but not that weak), I managed to get up a few good problems. I spent more time climbing than photo-ing, but some currently undeited pics are up on flickr.
Proper update to come, after I've sent an email to mum.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
More London
I just got a text from Angus: "Lufthansa is the worst airline ever, although BA not much better. Now landing at 915 so see you about 10." Shitty.
I spent today wandering around, mostly in the vicinity of Tottenham Court Road. My 3 quid tourist guide map thingy says that the British Museum is on Tottenham Court Rd, but the interweb tells me it is in fact on Great Russell St - bastards. Anyway, I had a pretty good time, and there was sun and stuff, so it wasn't nearly as bleak as yesterday. I made the mistake of going into a record store, and walked out with Benga's Diary of an Afro Warrior, Maurizio's M-Series and Mark B and Blade's The Unknown. Some brand spanking new dubstep, some seminal minimal techno/digidub and some UK hiphop. When I asked to have a listen before I bought, the guy in the shop said that they didn't do that, but that I could return them if I didn't like them, and suggested that I listen to them in "the comfort of my own home, maybe with a cup of tea", so that's what I'm doing.
Having now experienced the London Underground, I can say that it is less inefficient than it's Hong Kong counterpart in the same way that a Wright brothers plane is less efficient than an Airbus A330. Although the Wright brothers plane may have some kind of retro charm, and charm is the last word you would use to describe the London Underground.
Tomorrow I depart for Font - did I say I was excited about that? I am excited about going to Font, it will be rad. The weather is not looking too flash, but I am optimistic.
I spent today wandering around, mostly in the vicinity of Tottenham Court Road. My 3 quid tourist guide map thingy says that the British Museum is on Tottenham Court Rd, but the interweb tells me it is in fact on Great Russell St - bastards. Anyway, I had a pretty good time, and there was sun and stuff, so it wasn't nearly as bleak as yesterday. I made the mistake of going into a record store, and walked out with Benga's Diary of an Afro Warrior, Maurizio's M-Series and Mark B and Blade's The Unknown. Some brand spanking new dubstep, some seminal minimal techno/digidub and some UK hiphop. When I asked to have a listen before I bought, the guy in the shop said that they didn't do that, but that I could return them if I didn't like them, and suggested that I listen to them in "the comfort of my own home, maybe with a cup of tea", so that's what I'm doing.
Having now experienced the London Underground, I can say that it is less inefficient than it's Hong Kong counterpart in the same way that a Wright brothers plane is less efficient than an Airbus A330. Although the Wright brothers plane may have some kind of retro charm, and charm is the last word you would use to describe the London Underground.
Tomorrow I depart for Font - did I say I was excited about that? I am excited about going to Font, it will be rad. The weather is not looking too flash, but I am optimistic.
Friday, March 21, 2008
London
I'm now in London, having shaken Vince and his new post-doc, Ming. It's cold, but that isn't exactly unexpected. I arrived this afternoon after a 6 hour coach ride from Manchester, and wandered up to look at Buckingham Palace, given that it's only a short walk away. I was underwhelmed, and remember feeling the same the last 2 times I'd seen it, but the parks around the palace are pretty cool. Tomorrow I meet up with my brother, Angus, and Saturday I leave for Font. Angus doesn't get in tomorrow until late-ish, so I plan to spend the day checking out London. I'm sure Dad would be unimpressed if I didn't check out the British Museum, but I'd also like to get to the Dali Museum.
The Genomes to Systems Conference was good. There were some incredibly interesting talks, and a number of talks that showed that just because you have a swag of Nature and Science papers, or even a Nobel Prize, doesn't mean you'll give a good presentation. Masaru Tomita presented on the basis of this paper, and basically said: "Yeah we have a shitload of data, but don't really know what it means". And they do have a shitload of data - and equipment. He put up a slide that outlined what MS based machines they have, and there were roughly 100! Given that a GC/MS costs in the vicinity of $100,000, that is a ridiculous amount of stuff.
As always, this conference was a real eye-opener as to what people can do. From a more useful point of view, the European Bioinformatics Institute ran some workshops on some of the tools they have available, and there's much more than I was ever aware of. They're doing a training course in June at Cambridge, so I've decided to cut my time in Germany a little short and attend that. I suggested to Vince that it might be worth getting them out to do some training days in Sydney, so we'll see about that when I get back.
Probably the most important thing to come out of the conference though was the discovery that 2 of My Favourite Genes show haplo-insuffiency in continuous culture when grown in grape juice. This finding came out of work done by Steve Oliver's group, so I'm in a perfect position to take advantage of it. Booyah.
The Genomes to Systems Conference was good. There were some incredibly interesting talks, and a number of talks that showed that just because you have a swag of Nature and Science papers, or even a Nobel Prize, doesn't mean you'll give a good presentation. Masaru Tomita presented on the basis of this paper, and basically said: "Yeah we have a shitload of data, but don't really know what it means". And they do have a shitload of data - and equipment. He put up a slide that outlined what MS based machines they have, and there were roughly 100! Given that a GC/MS costs in the vicinity of $100,000, that is a ridiculous amount of stuff.
As always, this conference was a real eye-opener as to what people can do. From a more useful point of view, the European Bioinformatics Institute ran some workshops on some of the tools they have available, and there's much more than I was ever aware of. They're doing a training course in June at Cambridge, so I've decided to cut my time in Germany a little short and attend that. I suggested to Vince that it might be worth getting them out to do some training days in Sydney, so we'll see about that when I get back.
Probably the most important thing to come out of the conference though was the discovery that 2 of My Favourite Genes show haplo-insuffiency in continuous culture when grown in grape juice. This finding came out of work done by Steve Oliver's group, so I'm in a perfect position to take advantage of it. Booyah.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Manchester
I'm in Manchester for the Genomes to Systems conference. It's cold, but Manchester is not a bad looking city in a fairly industrial kind of way.
Also, if you're wondering why I put all my Castle Hill pics up on flickr, it's because I was testing the Flickr Uploadr. Thanks Joel!
Also, if you're wondering why I put all my Castle Hill pics up on flickr, it's because I was testing the Flickr Uploadr. Thanks Joel!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Shiny baubles
These are the baubles that set me back a mere $730HK, although you can't see the peace, of course. The response to that story has been varied - to the people who pointed out that I'm an idiot, I realise this, thank you. I wasn't expecting to get fleeced by a Buddhist monk (although I'm willing to concede now that he may not have been a monk, as such), and I'm wise to those shifty fuckers now. Peace indeed!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Last day in Hong Kong
"Yesterday" doesn't really mean that much after 13 hours in the air, but my last day in Hong Kong was awesome. I was unsure whether the guys I was hoping to go climbing with had got my email, so I decided to just turn up at the ferry wharf and hope that they did too, which they did. Sweet. Bon, Jose and Kev (with Geordie joining us later) took me to Tung Lung Chau, volcanic seacliff climbing on an island outside Hong Kong harbour. It was a great day, despite the fact that I was climbing like shit. Kev sent his 7c project, Jose sent his 8a project and Bon had a good lash at his 7b+ (it'll go next time mate). Apparently Hong Kong will be a greasy sweat-fest before too long, so it was a good time to get projects ticked.
After a good days climbing, and a cruise home under a smog enhanced sunset, we repaired to Hong Kong Stuey's house, that Bon was minding while Stuart was out of town. Given that my plane didn't leave until 11.55, Bon and Jose helped me kill the time with some beers and climbing videos. Good times. It makes you realise how good the climbing community is when you can just turn up in a foreign city and meet up with people for a day out.
Anyway, I'm now in Manchester, which is grey and cold, trying to get my body to understand that it's lunch time. Maybe eating some food would help in that respect.
After a good days climbing, and a cruise home under a smog enhanced sunset, we repaired to Hong Kong Stuey's house, that Bon was minding while Stuart was out of town. Given that my plane didn't leave until 11.55, Bon and Jose helped me kill the time with some beers and climbing videos. Good times. It makes you realise how good the climbing community is when you can just turn up in a foreign city and meet up with people for a day out.
Anyway, I'm now in Manchester, which is grey and cold, trying to get my body to understand that it's lunch time. Maybe eating some food would help in that respect.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Looking at stuff
I suspect that I'm not particularly good at being a tourist. I get bored just wandering around looking at things, and after 2 days have gotten bored of touristing already. Hong Kong is an odd city, I keep wondering how on earth all these shops stay in business. Surely there isn't that much demand for mobile phones?
I am struggling to find decent coffee too. I'm sure it exists, but I just can't find it and hence have today sullied myself by drinking both Starbucks and McDonalds coffee. What would the coffee cart guys say?
I was going to go and check out the light show thingy on the harbour tonight, but can't really be bothered. Some friends of Mitch's offered to take me climbing tomorrow, so hopefully I hear back from them and can check out some granite with them.
Uploading mad flickr photos while typing this, so check it, yo. Word.
I am struggling to find decent coffee too. I'm sure it exists, but I just can't find it and hence have today sullied myself by drinking both Starbucks and McDonalds coffee. What would the coffee cart guys say?
I was going to go and check out the light show thingy on the harbour tonight, but can't really be bothered. Some friends of Mitch's offered to take me climbing tomorrow, so hopefully I hear back from them and can check out some granite with them.
Uploading mad flickr photos while typing this, so check it, yo. Word.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Reality gives no quarter
So I made it to Hong Kong. The toughest bit of the flight over was watching the guy two rows in front of me trying to play Tetris. Dude sucked at it even more than Mitch sucks at chess, which is saying something. Anyway, after watching Michael Clayton, American Beauty, and episodes of Flight of the Conchords, Scrubs and Arrested Development, I landed in Hong Kong. After obtaining money and a train ticket, I boarded the ridiculously efficient Airport Express and headed to town. I found my way to Tsim Sha Tsui without any dramas, but finding my hostel proved a little more difficult. Being waylaid by a dude outside the building who told me he was the manager of the place I had booked (I knew the manager was a she, so I don't know why I followed him) didn't help, but long story short, I found where I was meant to be. After dinner and a bottle of water, I crashed.
Today was spent cruising 'round and checking stuff out - and spending money. I bought a160gb iPod , a pair of 5.10 V10 climbing shoes (you can't even buy them in Australia, and they cost about AU$70 - score!) and a pair of "Oakley" sunglasses (given that they cost the equivalent of AU$15, I am a tad sceptical about their authenticity). I also got a tricam keyring. If anyone would like one of these bad boys, or a hex keyring, email me and I'll grab you one, if I have time.
I also spend a large amount of money that I was not intending to, after being taken for a sucker. After purchasing my ever-so-bling ipod, I went for a wander around the city, and headed to the Wan Chai ferry wharf to get a ferry back to Tsim Sha Tsui. While wandering around, a buddhist monk came up to me and thrust a shiny thingy at me and said "Peace!" I took it, thinking he was just spreading love and happiness, but he then thrust a notebook at me and told me to write my name. This was when he told me that my peace was going to cost me HK$500. This is roughly AU$80 or so. Me, being somewhat bewildered (I blame lack of caffeine), handed it over. He then handed me another little card and exclaimed "Peace for your mudda! Peace for your mudda!" Still somewhat bewildered, I tried to explain I had no more money (he'd seen my wallet when I gave him the $500), but he was having none of it. He thrust a beaded bracelet onto my wrist and repeated: "Peace for your mudda!" I'm still unsure exactly how, but he ended up extracting the remaining $200 that I had, neatly obtaining all the money that I had intended to use for the next 3 days. I had, however, obtained two shiny cards and a beaded bracelet, and peace for myself and my mother. I'm fairly certain that mum would obtain more peace if she knew that I wasn't giving all my money away to every motherfucker who pressed shiny baubles upon me, although she would probably not express it so crudely.
This story does not end here. Continuing upon my walk, I was bailed up again, this time by an Indian gentleman, who proceeded to perform a half-arsed magic trick (I see better each week at trivia, and for free), told me not to cut my hair or fingernails ( I just shaved my head - no shit) and gave me a shiny rock. He then proceeded to relieve me of the remaining HK$30, and AU$25 that represented all the cash that I had left, bar about HK$2.10 that I had in my pocket. I decided that I was being much too polite, and that having learnt a very expensive lesson, I would stick to what I knew best and be surly and rude. A decision that I put into practise when a hairing-impaired woman tried to thrust some plastic thingy into my hand.
Despite this, I'm really enjoying Hong Kong. It is super busy, but also super efficient. The amount of camera bling everywhere is ridiculous - I came this close to buying the Sigma 170-500 today. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that it is MASSIVE. If I have any money when I'm coming back through here in June I may consider it then, but it really needs a tripod. I took some ok photos today, I'll post up on flickr tomorrow.
Peace to your mudda.
Today was spent cruising 'round and checking stuff out - and spending money. I bought a
I also spend a large amount of money that I was not intending to, after being taken for a sucker. After purchasing my ever-so-bling ipod, I went for a wander around the city, and headed to the Wan Chai ferry wharf to get a ferry back to Tsim Sha Tsui. While wandering around, a buddhist monk came up to me and thrust a shiny thingy at me and said "Peace!" I took it, thinking he was just spreading love and happiness, but he then thrust a notebook at me and told me to write my name. This was when he told me that my peace was going to cost me HK$500. This is roughly AU$80 or so. Me, being somewhat bewildered (I blame lack of caffeine), handed it over. He then handed me another little card and exclaimed "Peace for your mudda! Peace for your mudda!" Still somewhat bewildered, I tried to explain I had no more money (he'd seen my wallet when I gave him the $500), but he was having none of it. He thrust a beaded bracelet onto my wrist and repeated: "Peace for your mudda!" I'm still unsure exactly how, but he ended up extracting the remaining $200 that I had, neatly obtaining all the money that I had intended to use for the next 3 days. I had, however, obtained two shiny cards and a beaded bracelet, and peace for myself and my mother. I'm fairly certain that mum would obtain more peace if she knew that I wasn't giving all my money away to every motherfucker who pressed shiny baubles upon me, although she would probably not express it so crudely.
This story does not end here. Continuing upon my walk, I was bailed up again, this time by an Indian gentleman, who proceeded to perform a half-arsed magic trick (I see better each week at trivia, and for free), told me not to cut my hair or fingernails ( I just shaved my head - no shit) and gave me a shiny rock. He then proceeded to relieve me of the remaining HK$30, and AU$25 that represented all the cash that I had left, bar about HK$2.10 that I had in my pocket. I decided that I was being much too polite, and that having learnt a very expensive lesson, I would stick to what I knew best and be surly and rude. A decision that I put into practise when a hairing-impaired woman tried to thrust some plastic thingy into my hand.
Despite this, I'm really enjoying Hong Kong. It is super busy, but also super efficient. The amount of camera bling everywhere is ridiculous - I came this close to buying the Sigma 170-500 today. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that it is MASSIVE. If I have any money when I'm coming back through here in June I may consider it then, but it really needs a tripod. I took some ok photos today, I'll post up on flickr tomorrow.
Peace to your mudda.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
If you have a blog and nobody reads it...
Why do you keep doing it? Given that I sent out the url for this bad boy to like 80 people today, there is a chance that one of them may read it. Possibly.
Anyway, I should be packing for my trip, but instead I am pissing about on the intarwebs. So very unlike my usual behaviour. After singing the praises of my massive Sennheiser headphones to Seb at futsal yesterday, and recommending them on a forum, they broke today. Boo. However, I went to Surry Hills to empty my brothers mail box, and found myself walking past Billy Hyde's drum shop, and picked up a sweet new pair of Koss headphones. They sound good, are hella comfortable and I don't have to turn sideways to go through doorways - what's not to like? I am currently rocking out to The Heliocentrics. They are good in a weird sci-fi, jazz and funk kind of way.
Anyway, the reason for this whole self-indulgent malarky is that I'm going away for a bit. My itinerary looks something like this:
12-15th March - Hong Kong. Chilling, hanging out, maybe doing some climbing and buying of stuff.
16th-19th March - Manchester. Genomes to Systems conference.
20th-21st March - London. Angus (my brother) gets in late-ish on the 21st, but I have a bit of time to hang out and spend vast quantities of cash.
22nd - 29th March - Fontainebleau baby! For those of you who don't climb, Font (if you're of Anglo extraction) or 'Bleau (if you are a Frenchie) is a world renowned climbing destination, and it's been on my list of places I must go for years. It will be rad.
30th March - June 5th. - Cambridge, working with the ridiculously talented people in Steve Oliver's lab.
June 5th-19th - visiting Johann Thevelein in Leuven, then trundling around hanging out in Germany. Tom is in Berlin, Lincoln is in Berlin, Captain Chaos is in Germany somewhere. Euro 2008 is on in Austria during that time, so I may head down for that. I'm really looking forward to Berlin, and I turn 26 at some stage during this period. I'm flying out of Frankfurt.
Oliver Jones is in Oxford, so I might try and visit him, and Jette is going to be in Brighton, so I might try and check out Russ Dewbury's club night there. All in all, it should be eighteen different flavours of awesome, and I'll hopefully be able to not totally fuck things up and sort out some kind of job type arrangement at the end. I am, it has to be said, quite excited. I should probably pack, eh?
Anyway, I should be packing for my trip, but instead I am pissing about on the intarwebs. So very unlike my usual behaviour. After singing the praises of my massive Sennheiser headphones to Seb at futsal yesterday, and recommending them on a forum, they broke today. Boo. However, I went to Surry Hills to empty my brothers mail box, and found myself walking past Billy Hyde's drum shop, and picked up a sweet new pair of Koss headphones. They sound good, are hella comfortable and I don't have to turn sideways to go through doorways - what's not to like? I am currently rocking out to The Heliocentrics. They are good in a weird sci-fi, jazz and funk kind of way.
Anyway, the reason for this whole self-indulgent malarky is that I'm going away for a bit. My itinerary looks something like this:
12-15th March - Hong Kong. Chilling, hanging out, maybe doing some climbing and buying of stuff.
16th-19th March - Manchester. Genomes to Systems conference.
20th-21st March - London. Angus (my brother) gets in late-ish on the 21st, but I have a bit of time to hang out and spend vast quantities of cash.
22nd - 29th March - Fontainebleau baby! For those of you who don't climb, Font (if you're of Anglo extraction) or 'Bleau (if you are a Frenchie) is a world renowned climbing destination, and it's been on my list of places I must go for years. It will be rad.
30th March - June 5th. - Cambridge, working with the ridiculously talented people in Steve Oliver's lab.
June 5th-19th - visiting Johann Thevelein in Leuven, then trundling around hanging out in Germany. Tom is in Berlin, Lincoln is in Berlin, Captain Chaos is in Germany somewhere. Euro 2008 is on in Austria during that time, so I may head down for that. I'm really looking forward to Berlin, and I turn 26 at some stage during this period. I'm flying out of Frankfurt.
Oliver Jones is in Oxford, so I might try and visit him, and Jette is going to be in Brighton, so I might try and check out Russ Dewbury's club night there. All in all, it should be eighteen different flavours of awesome, and I'll hopefully be able to not totally fuck things up and sort out some kind of job type arrangement at the end. I am, it has to be said, quite excited. I should probably pack, eh?
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