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"A thing of beauty is a joy forever" -- my grandfather.

Hola amigos, I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya ... and no excuses.  Things have indeed been pretty busy around here, but really the main reason I haven't made any updates to the blog is just plain laziness.  Not a whole lot to say, really.  And, you know how it is: put it off for a little while; then you start feeling bad that you didn't do it when you should have; which makes you not want to do it; which makes you put it off some more; which makes you feel even worse; etc.  Kinda like bathing.  Anyhow, it is starting to look like my days in la Suisse may be numbered, so I figured I should sort of empty the metaphorical hopper of all the stuff I haven't posted yet just so that it will be there for all.  Seeing as how I talk to most of my "readership" personally (Hi Mom), most of you have probably heard of or seen a lot of this, so you'll have to wait for even later updates for some new info. The Jura, redux No other place on earth offers m...

Springtime is here!  Sort of!  Although the weather has been decidedly un-springlike for the last couple weeks (gray, rainy, and generally yucky), there have been occasional patches of sunshine and happiness and I have tried my best to make the most of them.  A couple of weeks ago it was particularly nice around here so I decided to take a brief trip into the nearby woods on a culinary adventure.  As always, my first thoughts were directed to my readers and their entertainment, so I made sure to document the trip for posterity.  It is with that in mind that I bring to you part two in my " Highlights of Swiss Cooking ." Bear's Garlic Salad Step 1: Go to a nearby wooded area.  It doesn't have to be a particularly large place, but it probably has to be in Europe somewhere and it helps it's only lightly wooded so that the underbrush gets direct sunlight.  I chose the small wooded area on the northeast side of EPFL. Step 2: Look for a patch of ail des ours ...

Hockey fever is here!  Did you know that Switzerland has not one, but three  different hockey leagues?  The top rank is the Ligue Nationale A, just below that is Ligue Nationale B, and below those are the regional leagues.  The LNA is one of the oldest hockey leagues in Europe (going back to 1916) and is considered to be one of the top European leagues, behind Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic and Russia.  In fact, during the NHL lockout, several NHL players came to Switzerland to play, including perennial playoff choke artist, Joe Thornton.  Jumbo Joe must have hit the fondue pretty hard, though, as he managed a paltry 54 points in 40 regular season games.  I also note that Thornton scored a ridiculous 24 points in 14 playoff games, which should be compared to his more representative 53 points in 76 NHL playoff games.  Maybe the Sharks can have their home games moved to Switzerland to inspire Thornton to show up for the post-season... not that I'm ...

I am a little bit late on this (technically, it's only 3pm in California right now, so it's not so bad), but I just want to use my vast internet influence to say something very important: Happy Birthday Veronica! Alas, it was but one year ago today that Veronica, aka Baby Girl, entered our lives and what better time to celebrate! As is becoming some sort of a tradition around here, I have made a video to commemorate the occasion. You can find see it by clicking right here (or down below!). Baby Girl First Birthday Tribute By the way, yes, I know I'm not a particularly good singer (this really became apparent when I had to listen to the video over and over as I was compiling the clips), but I'd like to think that the weakness of my voice is masked by the non-stop cuteness of the photos. Also, thanks a lot to Vince and others (I think) who took most of the photos -- I would have more of my own photos of Veronica, but they disappeared along with my crummy camera somewh...

Just a quick update: there is a pretty cool Google Maps "mashup" at www.mapfrappe.com which allows you to easily compare the relative area of two different parts of the world. I'm sure that this will be a shock to no one, but I made a little map comparing the relative areas of the Stanford Campus (not including the Dish or SLAC) and downtown Lausanne . I don't know why, but I found the results sort of surprising and kinda cool. Anyway, check it out for yourself.