The good life

Something that wives aren't knowing for saying to their husbands: "You need to drink more beer." I have a good wife.

Let the examination begin

Today I had the first of my comprehensive exams. Although I didn't come away from the exam feeling particularly brilliant or that I had done all that well, at least I came away with a box of girl scout cookies (thanks Martin!). This experience brings back painful memories of my undergrad days: 5 exams during finals week each semester. The unfortunate difference is that then I was rewarded by a month or two of vacation. There'll be no such reward this time around.

spill the beans

Piirustusblogi 550 drawings on ollut olemassa jo jonkin aikaa. Blogi on huhtikuussa syntynyt yhteistyöprojeti, jossa minä ja ystäväni Liisa yritettiin piirtää jotain joka päivä. Tavoite on vähän kärsinyt, mutta blogi päivittyy silti epäsäännöllisen säännöllisesti. Projekti päättyy ensi toukokuussa, jolloin piirustukset ovat esillä Fairbanksissä.

++++++

Some of you have already found out that I have a drawing blog, 550 drawings. This is a collaborative work between me and my friend Liisa. Our original idea was to draw something every day, but we are both lagging behind. I decided to draw objects that have somehow been used during the course of the day. The blog updates irregularly (when either one of us have an access to a scanner). The project will go on until next May, when the drawings will be exhibited here in Fairbanks.

Media reports

The paper that I've been working on is now accepted for publication. The media seem to have discovered it; in the past week I've had correspondence with 5 different journalists who either want to talk to me about the paper or want to use our timelapse videos. It's crazy and is starting to take up a fair amount of my time, but I try to enjoy it while it lasts. The first articles to come out can be found here and here. Both articles have mistakes in them but they are generally correct.

hidden among sponsor angels

Last Friday we went to see Calo Flamenco. Before the show started I was leafing through the pamflet (it mostly detailed the performace and thanked all-the-people-that-make-this-sort-of-thing-possible and gave them funny names based on how much money they donated). Amist the explanations of how to behave (they encouraged jaleos - encouraging shouts - and palmas - rhythmical clapping - during the performance) I found the following disclamer: "Calo Flamenco assumes no responsibility/liability for injuries resulting from attempting to follow the palmeros during the show. Possible risks include dryness/cracking in the palm of your hand, muscle fatigue and other physical injury to you or the person sitting next to you. If you decide to follow the palmeros and steal their work, you will not be paid for your services and cannot deduct your services on your tax return as a charitable contribution."

Made me snicker.

Rewinding to Ireland

I was in Ireland for a meeting a little over a month ago. Before the meeting I met up with some friends and their rapidly growing children (ages 6 months to 3 yrs). It was fun to catch up with everybody and to practice shooting photographs of people. Children make nice targets, since they don't move too fast, are emotional, and don't always notice when you're taking a photo. It's even better when they are children that you know, so that you don't feel like a paparazzi when you're taking photos...

Here are my favorite photos from that trip. I've thrown in a couple of scenery shots just for fun.

Lena, if you can't see us then we can't see you.

If only bubble wrap could help me focus with such determination.

Emilie, the "raspberry monster", apparently likes blackberries as well.

Sonja the Alaskan, who after spending a year in Switzerland still wanted to show her Alaskan pride (this was before she knew that Palin would be McCain's running mate).

The Cliffs of Moher, western Ireland. I really like the motion of the flowers. Makes you feel a little bit queasy.

The last two photos pretty much summarize Ireland: flowers, fences, and ruins.

whittier secret operations and its aftermath

Last August, while Jason was busy travelling in Europe, I had my share of fun in Alaska. My oldest friend (all the way from the first grade) came to visit me with her boyfriend. We loaded up the car and travelled from Fairbanks to Whittier and back again. Short version of the trip: 1200 miles (out of which 2.2 miles in a tunnel), a wolf, a pod of belugas, four brown bears, two eagles, numerous ground squirrels, one deserted army barrack, one small day hike, several glaciers, several sea otters, one ulu, five hotels, one lawn, two campgrounds, and quite a bit of rain.

Interesting tidbit from Whittier: the town used to be a secret army harbour, sealed from outsiders. The only way to get in was through a railroad tunnel or by boat. During the height of the secret operations, there were over 2000 soldiers living in Whittier. In 1953 the army built "the largest building in Alaska" at the time, "a city within a city" to house and entertain the soldiers. Mere seven years later, in 1960 the army left the town, and only 100 civilians stayed behind. They did not need all the housing that was constructed, so Buckner building was left uninhabited. This huge abandoned barrack overshadows the city, large enough to fit a cruise ship inside. Asbestos contamination prevents the demolition of the building (or rather, no one wants to pay for the cost of dealing with asbestos) and in true Alaska fashion, the building is just sitting there.

Today, 90% of the inhabitants of Whittier live in the Begich Tower, used to house soldiers, and the remaining 10% are in the apartment complex build for the officers. In other words, all the inhabitants of the city are living in just two buildings.

Presidential impressions

I've had some fun watching the debates over the past week. I was mostly watching them for entertainment value, as I had made up my mind months ago. I was really impressed with the ability of all four candidates to avoid questions that they didn't want to answer and to consistently tell lies and half-truths.

After the McCain-Obama debate, I read through the bipartisan website factcheck.org and learned that, not too surprisingly, many of the statements by both candidates were "simply not true". What surprised me, though, was that Palin and Biden repeated the same lies and half-truths one week later. You'd think that they'd do their own fact checking.

I wonder if we'll every have high-ranking politicians that are completely honest and unwilling to fabricate stories to get elected. What I find really amazing about politics is that politicians can spend an hour and half arguing with and making up lies about each other, and then afterwards shake hands and congratulate each other for doing a good job. That must be such a weird work environment.

Other things I learned from the debates:
1. McCain knows a lot of people from small towns around the world.
2. McCain isn't a very good listener.
3. Obama is naive and just doesn't get it (if McCain says it enough times, it must be true).
4. Obama has always been on the correct side of arguments (if he says it enough times, it must be true).
5. Palin sounds like a MinnesOHtan. I was going to write an entry about it, but the Minneapolis Star Tribune already beat me to it.
6. Biden talks a little bit like Garrison Keillor, but more quickly. I think he'd be a good story teller, and I bet he could fill in for Garrison Keillor on the Prairie Home Companion if he ever needed a week off.