Jun 30 2008
Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn is one of the beautiful properties under threat from the wildfires raging along the central California coast. According to this article, the inn was evacuated on Sunday, and the fire was so close that a burning log rolled into one of the rustic cabins, although it was quickly extinguished by fire [...]
Jun 28 2008
Via Giulia, one of my favorite streets in Rome, turns 500 this year. According to this New York Times article, via Giulia is named after Pope Julius II, who commissioned the street as part of a plan to square off the streets around the Vatican. That’s fairly odd, as it’s not all that close to [...]
Jun 26 2008
That’s why Martine and I finally drank that other bottle of 2001 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Sante Lancerio. We had it with a nice two-inch thick strip loin steak, done Florentine style. Sorry, no pictures.
Jun 23 2008
Happy St-Jean Baptiste day! I took this photo during the St-Jean Baptiste Day parade some time in the early 90s – possibly 1990 – and it had languished in my archives of transparencies for many years. I found it about eight months ago, and promptly scanned it. I’ve been waiting since then, for the fête [...]
Jun 20 2008
Unless you’ve been living on the moon, you’re aware that we’ve recently seen the end of a five year battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to secure the Presidential nomination for the U.S. Democrats. (OK, it was actually about 16 months, but it felt like five years.) Although the campaign itself was excruciating and [...]
Jun 16 2008
There’s a new hotel/condo building in downtown Montreal, on the corner of Boul. René Lévesque and rue de la Montagne. It has got to be the shiniest building I’ve ever seen. It’s like the whole thing is made of glass and 18/10 stainless steel. I look at it every time I’m sitting on a certain [...]
Jun 14 2008
My current digital camera lacks the “panorama assist” feature that I enjoyed so much with my previous one. The feature helps you line up successive shots so it is easier for panorama stitching software to get good results without awkward overlaps or misaligned edges. It’s not strictly necessary to have the assist feature, but it [...]
