Bamberg Bike Trip Route

In the planning stages of a little summer trip... The region around Bamberg in Germany is reputed to possibly be the very best bike and beer tasting area in the world.

Now Dance!

This is one of the quintessential classic french fables. It just came up in conversation with a friend and i found this excellent English translation.

Here it is, followed by the french original:

The Cricket and the Ant
by Jean de La Fontaine
translation by Don Webb

The cricket had sung her song
all summer long
but found her victuals too few
when the north wind blew.
Nowhere could she espy
a single morsel of worm or fly.

Her neighbor, the ant, might,
she thought, help her in her plight,
and she begged her for a little grain
till summer would come back again.

“By next August I’ll repay both
Interest and principal; animal’s oath.”

Now, the ant may have a fault or two
But lending is not something she will do.
She asked what the cricket did in summer.

“By night and day, to any comer
I sang whenever I had the chance.”

“You sang, did you? That’s nice. Now dance.”


La Cigale et la Fourmi
by Jean de La Fontaine
Fables, livre I (1668)

La cigale ayant chanté
Tout l'été,
Se trouva fort dépourvue
Quand la bise fut venue :
Pas un seul petit morceau
De mouche ou de vermisseau.
Elle alla crier famine
Chez la fourmi sa voisine,
La priant de lui prêter
Quelque grain pour subsister
Jusqu’à la saison nouvelle.
« Je vous paierai, lui dit-elle,
Avant l’août, foi d’animal,
Intérêt et principal. »
La fourmi n’est pas prêteuse :
C’est là son moindre défaut.
« Que faisiez-vous au temps chaud ?
Dit-elle à cette emprunteuse.
— Nuit et jour à tout venant
Je chantais, ne vous déplaise.
— Vous chantiez ? J’en suis fort aise :
Eh bien ! Dansez maintenant. »

Rock Star Get-Up

Our show at the Grog went very well.
Thanks to all our fans who came out to support us and a big thanks to D from the band Bliss who lent us his sweet Marshall amp stack when one of our amps was misbehaving.

This was our second gig with our new singer Nita and we're all getting a better hang of this whole performing thing.

We need some improvement in terms of our stage presence and showmanship. Some of us may suffer from a rock style dysfunction. So here's an idea for a new stage get-up for our lead guitarist:

Cell Phone Recycling

I'm wrapping up a cell phone recycling initiative at work.
It was a great success, we were able to collect 42 phones!
That's the magic number.

After some research, I opted to go through the non-profit Eco-cell which partners with the National Zoo for three great reasons:
- For each phone they'll contribute up to $15 to the Friends of the National Zoo which provides support to wildlife conservation programs at the Zoo and around the world.
- All phones, batteries and accessories are refurbished if possible, otherwise they are recycled under strict EPA guidelines. This complete No Landfill approach prevents the leaching of toxic chemicals and heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium and lead into the environment.
- Cellphone recycling also helps protect the lowland gorillas of Congo who are threatened by the mining of columnite-tantalite (coltan) used in cell phones.

This last point is how I actually got started on all this.
A friend's father asked me for help with mapping some areas of Congo as he was looking to acquire mining rights for coltan. Unfortunately when i researched it a bit, i found out how in Congo it is mined in the middle of endangered gorilla and elephant habitat. These animals are often killed by rebel bands of natives mining this ore. The UN reported that for the past five years, the eastern lowland gorilla population in Congo has declined by 90%.



After we met for this mapping and GIS work, I'm not sure how far he pursued his efforts but at least i have him to thank for indirectly bringing to my attention the adverse consequences of cell phones.

And why stop now, next up I'm kicking off a battery recycling initiative at work too.

Tinned Gold

The last time i came back from Morocco in 2003,
i painstakingly lugged home a whole case of sardines,
a most precious loot to be carefully aged and rationned,
my sunny childhood memories deliciously evoked one can at a time.

To my great delight, more and more great sardine brands
have been showing up at my local grocery stores.
I might soon even venture beyond my Moroccan bias
and try some of the European, Asian and American offerings.

An added bonus is that sardines are packed with B12, vitamin D,
omega-3 fatty acids and calcium. They are also low on the food chain
and fast-growing, which makes them among the safest fish from overfishing.

Iritis at the Grog and Tankard

So Decadent

At a beer tasting held in a church complex,
the ladies looove Ska Brewing's Decadent Imperial IPA,
hand carried from Durango, Colorado just for this tasting.

It's a hard job to taste all these but someone has to do it.

Having a lively discussion about the merits of triple decoction, flux capacitor yields and stuff.

If it don't fit....

In the continuing saga of my recent car issues...
I have learned a few important lessons this weekend:

- when you start hearing a flapping sound on the highway, it's a good idea to slow down presto to check it out.
- a spare tire and wheel that actually fit the car would be preferable.
- on an interstate you get a good feel for a 107 heat index, despite the nice breeze from Mack trucks zooming by a few feet from your person.
- and finally, unproperly maintained old cars mean lotsa problems such
as a thrawted trip to hike in the mountains.