Just think about a trip to Tuscany in which you visit gorgeous scenery by day and retire to your elegant villa.

Now take that one step further and imagine finding the same experience just a few hours’ drive from L.A. or the Bay area. The Paso Robles Wine Country is fast becoming just such an alternative for sophisticated travelers who are often surprised to find such an exquisite getaway so close to home.

To be sure, Paso Robles is not going to become a world-class destination like Tuscany anytime soon – instead of well over a thousand wineries in Tuscany, you’ll find just about 80 in the Paso Robles area. And the overnight accommodations in the immediate area are limited compared with, say, the Napa Valley. Still, there are many inns and lodges within an hour’s drive in places like Cambria, Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo and, of course, the nearby Pacific coastline is an attraction all of its own.

Happily we discovered the perfect complement to touring the local wineries – an extraordinary hotel called the Carlton that has just been completely refurbished and re-opened for business in March 2005. This hotel is located in the heart of the wine country, taking up the better part of a city block in quaint downtown Atascadero. The first impression is the hotel almost seems out of place – it is just as upscale as the finest Napa lodgings, yet the town of Atascadero is a simple, laid-back every-day small town with nary a designer clothing store in sight.

The Carlton Hotel is a “boutique” hotel, capitalizing on the growing popularity of boutique lodgings both in major cities and – with the Carlton as a case in point – sometimes out in the hinterlands. The term has come to symbolize luxury and a higher level of personalized service than many larger hotels. Like the Carlton, most boutique hotels pay a lot of attention to detail and target business travelers as well as affluent leisure travelers.

The Carlton originally opened in 1929 and was a magnet for celebrities such as Jack Benny, Bette Davis, Fred McMurray and Dick Powell. The aging hotel was recently renovated by local entrepreneur David Weyrich with the idea that it would reclaim its past glory by creating 52 individually designed guestrooms with such features as marble bathrooms, deep whirlpool baths, oversized bath towels, high thread-count cotton sheets – well you get the picture.

From the moment we walked into the hotel, the feeling was more like a swank downtown San Francisco hotel than a country inn. Our guestroom seemed regal – period furnishings decorated the spacious interior while the luxurious draperies and bedding added to the upscale feeling. An oversized bath area offered both the whirlpool bath and shower and a dressing area larger than most. In summary, the Carlton has added the special touches that separate the “nice” hotels from the truly “luxurious” lodgings.

But we digress. The hotel was a pleasant surprise for us, but visitors come to Atascadero and nearby Paso Robles mainly for the stunning combination of wineries and picturesque scenery. We explored the rolling hills of both aras, finding wineries of all sizes. We probably are a bit unusual – we enjoy just visiting the wineries and chatting with the winery employees and do not make a point to taste in every winery we visit. But we did taste a few and found that the wine tastings were often free compared with other regions we’ve visited where every winery charges for the service.

Local winery maps will help you quite a lot as you seek out the wineries – actually they are something of a necessity considering the rolling hill topography and many country roads. Our preference was to read through the local winery guidebooks and pick out wineries that seemed especially interesting – then go directly to those. Perhaps it would be more efficient to start driving and just stop at the wineries on your way. Either way, there are wineries here of all sizes, from larger corporate entities to Mom and Pop operations that are little more than a spare room with a few wine vats.

One of the smaller wineries we visited was the Casa de Caballos Vineyards where we talked with Scott Tobin, son of the winery’s founder Dr. Thomas Morgan. While in residency at the Orange County Medical Center, Dr. Morgan experimented with fruit and berry wines as a hobby. Originally he and his wife, Sheila, just made enough wine for themselves and friends but it soon became apparent that they couldn’t drink all that they produced. This winery has now grown from an acre to six acres of grapes and, when you visit, you’ll get a bonus: it’s also part Arabian horse farm, satisfying one of Sheila’s lifelong passions.

Over at Turley Wine Cellars, visitors get a chance to taste what has become a “cult wine” – a wine that is in limited supply and often higher priced than many competitors. We learned that Turley, which produces wines elsewhere in California, bought the old Pesenti Winery in 2001 because David Turley wanted the 80-year-old Zinfandel vines on the property. The winery does small batches of 3,000 cases or so for each of its vineyards, creating an excellent variety and high demand for the product.

Pourer Kyle Coots of the Wild Horse Winery was more than happy to enhance our visit to the winery with tales about Wild Horse products. The winery started about 20 years ago and has grown to be one of the top producers on the Central Coast — seven different wines altogether. Tastings at the Wild Horse are free.

On a previous trip we stopped by EOS Estate Winery just east of Paso Robles on Highway 46, where we watched 82-year-old Stan Meltzer put on what amounted to a clinic on Paso Robles wines. Meltzer’s been doing this for 16 years and he was not reluctant to share is expertise and opinions with visitors:

“Certain wines do a far better job of cleansing the mouth for the most important thing – the next food,” Meltzer explained. “When you bother to cook something eclectic – using herbs and spices and so on – and all you taste is the wine, then you’ve worked hard for nothing. You’ve overmatched your food.”

Meltzer calls himself a wine “purest” because he closely matches his wines and foods. For example, the red zinfandels so prevalent in the Paso Robles area are best served with stews, pasta sauces, barbecue, French country chicken – Meltzer offered a long list of options, giving his visitors plenty of food for thought.

After a day of scenery and wine education, we drove back to the Carlton for dinner. As part of the renovation, the hotel has added the fine dining signature restaurant of diVINE, which was closed during our Monday visit, and the Carlton Restaurant and Grill. The latter proved to the perfect conclusion to our day in Wine Country – it’s a stylish restaurant with heaping portions of gourmet-style cuisine ranging from steaks to seafood dishes, from sushi to wood-fired pizzas. This closed the deal for us on the Carlton – this hotel definitely is a prime spot for couples who want a romantic weekend in Tuscany but may have to settle for A-Tuscany-dero.

AT A GLANCE

WHERE: Atascadero is on the Central California Coast, about half way between L.A. and the Bay area. The city has several wineries of its own and is minutes away from wineries in Templeton and Paso Robles.

WHAT: The Paso Robles Wine Country is not as well-known as Napa, but coming on strong. In addition, San Luis Obispo County has great beaches and scenic seaside villages.

WHEN: Year-round.

WHY: The area is easily accessible from L.A. or San Francisco and offers some of California’s best coastal scenery.

HOW: For more information on Atascadero and Paso Robles area wineries, phone the Atascadero Chamber at 805-466-2044 or visit www.atascaderochamber.org. For more information on the Carlton Hotel, phone 805-461-5100 or visit www.the-carlton.com. For more information on San Luis Obispo County, phone 800-6734-1414 or visit www.sanluisobispocounty.com.

Blurrness EXPOSED! – 13 Novembre 09

There is certainly one thing that I can’t deny now, not in these few months for I’ve demonstrated two terrible blur blunders. First I made a wrong booking for Japan’s accomodation. Secondly, I dropped the man’s card without knowing.

The dude that welcomed us-

We arrived at Carlton after several spins along the City’s roads and when we finally made our last breath out signifying that “we’re finally here!” The man can’t find his card inside the stack of booklet. And I thought I saw it too! The man was also pretty sure he left it inside. And we just can’t find it ANYWHERE; not in my bag nor the booklet after countless times. The polite staff invited us to have a sit inside Cafe Vic first. Finally, I took the courage to tell vampy “MAYBE I really dropped it in the car >< you wanna go and have a search?” WEll, indeed, I DROPPED IT. I felt so sorry afterwards and apologised constantly. Luckily I had a patient man with me who didnt really scold me or anything; merely teased ;p

The Japanese

Yea, and the place was really cold that I had to turn the scarfs into various forms to keep myself warm.

As a summary, Cafe Vic serves an international spread of food at its buffet. There was a section that serves Seafood which I gave it a miss since Oysters are really just not for my stomach. It has a wide range of japanese, cheeses, hot food and desserts. So much so that I don’t know if our appetite has shrunk first compared to Fullerton’s Town but i simply missed quite alot of its food.

Some other worth mentioning dishes from Cafe Vic was its Soft shell crab with mango dressing. That was awesome and I liked the springy squid salad!..

And I tried Rabbit and Kangaroo for the first time! I couldnt really guess them at first bite; apparently so! I haven’t tried them before man.. how am i gonna guess them correctly!!?

But it did tasted pretty nice i think. However sinful it may sound.

And the desserts station: It’s rare that I didnt tried all the desserts I want to. I gave up less than halfway through….

And yes, we missed this. hahas.

The man’s favourite pic? I reckon.. to cover his…………….;p

And yes, dont bring me to a buffet unless u have really a good deal. hehs! I can’t eat so much. Kills me.

hoos. happy 26months at Cafe Vic

Matt from the Nokia Daily News recently interviewed Julien Fourgeaud of the Symbian Foundation, in this interview they touched on present and future of the Symbian Foundation and they also covered the migration from S60 to SF2 to SF3, upcoming hardware, QT, and new manufacturers on board with Symbian. Enjoy!

If you’re going to plunk down some decent money for a California getaway, you have a right to expect your trip will be memorable and out of the ordinary.

One way to add that extra touch is to choose a historic lodging – a destination that conjures up another era and takes you to another place and time. We’ve discovered several such accommodations on our travels throughout the Golden State, and here are some of our favorites:

Queen Mary

With all the advertising you see nowadays for cruises to Mexico, the Caribbean, Alaska and you-name-it, it’s pretty easy to get the urge to get on a big ship and just go. But if you’re strapped for time – or cash – there is an alternative where you can get on a big ship and just stay.

The Queen Mary has been docked in Long Beach Harbor for many years and will not be taking you to exotic lands. But it really doesn’t need to – there is plenty to see and do right in Long Beach.

Pulling up to this giant ship ready to board with your suitcase-in-hand is reminiscent of that scene in Titanic where excited passengers are scurrying on board while the well-heeled are having their trunks portaged and their automobiles lifted onboard. While the Queen Mary is small by today’s cruise ship standards, it looks mighty big from the parking lot.

Up the elevator and along the gangplank you go, just like you’re boarding the Love Boat headed to the Mexican Riviera. But once on board, the first thing you notice is that the Queen Mary is historical – it’s like entering the lobby of a fine old hotel with its antique furnishings, although many aspects of the ship and its quarters have been updated to the 1960s, the ship’s later years.

Long Beach really has quite the festive waterfront with many restaurants and tourist attractions, along with top hotels. It’s well worth carving out a morning or afternoon to go see the Aquarium of the Pacific, just across the harbor from the Queen Mary.

For more information, go to www.queenmary.com or phone (562) 435-3511.

Historic Mission Inn

If you’re like many California people, the most you know about Riverside is that it’s a seeming metropolis that passes underneath the I-215 freeway in that vast extension of back-to-back cities that stretch eastward from Los Angeles. But get on down off the freeway and you’ll find one of the most unique getaway experiences in the state – an experience that transports you to Early California through architecture and through the efforts of city fathers to preserve Riverside’s past.

Just inside the ivy-covered adobe archway of the Historic Mission Inn, we walked through a courtyard of lush landscaping before getting our first glimpse of the majestic lobby area. Spectacular chandeliers and giant wood beams complemented the elegant flower-patterned carpet to create a sense that this building was at once luxurious and historic. The lobby’s grand piano is the only piano made by Steinway for the1876 Centennial. But this was only the beginning – the Historic Mission Inn is like a fun house for those who marvel at historic and creative architecture. There is something fascinating or unique around every corner.

The Historic Mission Inn at first gives the feeling it might have been a real mission or monastery, what with its 239 guest rooms, including 28 suites. But upon closer reading of its history, this palace-like inn was actually built by Riverside town father Frank Miller, who had taken the original Glenwood Tavern, built in 1874, and converted it to an inn that opened in 1903. Today, the inn is situated on an entire city block and has a total of 320,000 square feet. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a State of California Historic Landmark

For more information, go to www.missioninn.com or call 800-843-7755.

Carlton Inn

Imagine a trip to the vineyards of Tuscany where you will drive through a sun-drenched region with vine-clad hillsides, stopping off to visit wineries where fascinating local craftsmen toil at their labor of love.

Now imagine driving just a few hours from Los Angeles or San Francisco and finding much of the same experience. The Paso Robles Wine Country is fast becoming just such an alternative for sophisticated travelers who are often surprised to find such an exquisite getaway so close to home.

And, happily, we discovered the perfect complement to touring the local wineries – an extraordinary hotel called the Carlton that has just been completely refurbished and re-opened for business in March 2005. This hotel is located in the heart of the wine country, taking up the better part of a city block in quaint downtown Atascadero.

The Carlton Hotel is a “boutique” hotel, capitalizing on the growing popularity of boutique lodgings both in major cities and – with the Carlton as a case in point – sometimes out in the hinterlands.

It was back in 1929 that the Carlton firsts opened its doors. It attracted such famous people as Jack Benny, Bette Davis and Fred McMurray. With its recent renovation, the hotel now has such features as marble bathrooms, deep whirlpool baths, oversized bath towels, high thread-count cotton sheets – well you get the picture.

Our guestroom seemed regal with its period furnishings, luxurious draperies and many special touches that separate the “nice” hotels from the truly “luxurious” lodgings.

For more information, visit www.the-carlton.com or phone 805-461-5100.

Glorietta Bay Inn

If there is one place where Southern California charm, history, style, beaches and sun all converge, it has to be on the 7.4 square miles of ground you’ll find at the west end of the sweeping, skyscraper-high Coronado Bridge.

No question, the grand dame of Coronado is the Hotel del Coronado but, surprisingly, the “Hotel del” as locals call it, is not the only game in town. Whether because of price or a desire not to be staying smack in the middle of all the activity, many visitors opt for one of several other lodging options on the island. While the price wasn’t necessarily lower, our stay at the Glorietta Bay Inn was quite a different experience from the Hotel del, even though the grand dame is located right across the street.

Staying at the Glorietta Bay Inn was an opportunity to experience a historic San Diego mansion – the one John Dietrich Spreckles construted. He was a well-known figure in the city and he played a major role in developing San Diego during the late 1800’s and after the turn of the century. He bought the utility company, street car system, water company and eventually he controlled even the Hotel del Coronado.

The mansion itself is an impressive piece of architecture – Italian Renaissance style, all white, multi-story with dramatic lines. Inside, the wide marble staircase was our pathway to Room 126 – the Albright Room, a spacious second-floor with an open, airy feel and views to the yacht harbor, the Coronado Bridge and, in the distance, the mountains east of San Diego. Decorated in a French Country motif, the room featured flowers, tasteful paintings and floral bed quilts with matching drapes. Almost the size of a suite, this room was furnished with classic furniture reproductions befitting the era in which the house was built.

For more information, go to www.glorietabayinn.com or call 800-283-9383.

Bridge to the garden

Fall has been a really busy time here. Since I last updated, we had a harvest festival complete with hundreds of pounds of sweet potatoes, a 90th birthday party, impromptu dance parties in the kitchen, a protest at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, a huge Thanksgiving celebration, new refugee families, many visitors and lots and lots of English classes.

Coffee, celebrating her 90th birthday

Eating groundnut stew at the harvest festival!

Making sweet potato biscuits... you can put sweet potatoes into literally everything.

Sometimes it feels like all the leaves fell off the trees at once and summer suddenly disappeared, but when I think back to all the things we’ve done, I know that can’t be true.

Carlton visits. I'm hilarious and this picture proves it.

Carlton came to visit for Thanksgiving this past week, and it was nice to see this place through the eyes of someone new. Even though I’m still very new on the spectrum of people who live here, it is easy to take things for granted, and so it was nice to see him getting excited about things.

The Karen Choir singing at the Thanksgiving service.

It was also good to show him all the things I’ve been talking about for three months, and I think that he wasn’t disappointed. Plus, along with the traditional Thanksgiving celebration which brings many former volunteers and refugees back to Jubilee, this year marks the 30th anniversary of the community’s founding, so there were even more people here than usual. I think the total ended up being about 260 guests, and we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect November day for everyone to come celebrate and give thanks.

The line for Thanksgiving lunch going into the k-house.

With less than one month to go at Jubilee, the reality of leaving is starting to sink in, and even writing this has made me nostalgic for things that just happened. Today I started panicking thinking about grad school applications, finding a job and moving. Normally, I’m kind of prone to that sort of thing, but it is much less common since I’ve been here so it is more notable I guess.

There are so many parts of this life here that I want to take with me, it would be easier just to stay, but I know that’s not an option for me right now.

Hands, hands, hands, thank you God for hands...

For more information…

More of my pictures

School of the Americas Watch

Making sweet potato biscuits

The Jubilee Partners October newsletter

Isak’izay misy fisoloan’ny mpitondra dia manaraka ho azy koa matetika ny fanoloana ny sary any anatin’ireny biraom-panjakana ireny. Matetika dia ireo mpomba ny filoha vao miditra eo amin’ny sehatra, (raha vaovao izy io) no manao an’izay fanovana izay. Fotoana mampiedinedina tokoa izay fotoana izay, ary somary ireharehan’ny sasany mihitsy aza rehefa vita ilay fanoloana ny hoe:

efa nosoloinay ny sarin’i prezidà tao amin’ny birao

Fa ny zavatra tonga tampoka ato an-tsaiko izao dia ity: tokony mba handramana avondrona izy telo mirahalahy filohan’ny tetezamita, dia miaraka maka sary, ary iny sarin’izy telo lahy miaraka iny no asolo ireo sary rehetra manerana ny biraom-panjakana mandra-pahavitan’ny Tetezamita. Angamba amin’izay mba tena ho hita soritra tokoay ilay hoe fiaraha-mitantana, ary mba hino ny olona fa tena miara-miasa tokoa ry zareo. Fa tsy hoe mampiantso filankevitry ny minisitra ingahy Andry RAJOELINA dia tsy tonga ny hafa, Ary mivory ao amin’ny Carlton r’ingahy Fetison RAKOTO Andrianirina, dia tsy ao ry Andry R.

Toa lasa kilalaon-jaza mantsy ny fijery ny zava-mitranga ankehitriny.

Tsetsatsetsa tsy aritro iny fa am-bava homana, am-po mieritra.

Esse monstro tem me consumido.

CREDITOS: MONGOTECA

WHO is this e-mail from? The writer says he is going to “FB” me in the evening. What? My nether regions begin to twitch.

Happily, it turns out to be a former colleague from 25 years ago who wants to chat on Facebook. Ah, FB. So glad it wasn’t someone intent on pulverising the tip of their Doc Martens with a soft part of my anatomy.

New acronyms, words and even phrases are appearing all the time. Take drivers who weave all over the road. If they have had a few bevvies, they are said to be intoxicated. But, if it is because they are reading or sending messages on their mobiles, they are now intexticated.

Another new one, unfriend, is the word of the year. It’s when you delete someone from your list of friends on Facebook or Bebo. They are no longer your online friend because you have unfriended them. Get it?

They have lists every few years of new words and phrases that have made it into the English language. Recently inserted are retail elephant, auto dentist and late plate.

A retail elephant is a business that dominates or monopolises an area. So the Lewis Crofters is the retail elephant of Island Road in Stornoway and the Cearns Shop is the retail elephant of, er, the Cearns. An auto dentist is someone who fixes dents on cars. Of course.

And a late plate is a train running behind time? Nope, it is a dish served coolly to a person who returns from the Carlton Bar, or some such fine establishment, well after the evening meal has been served.

In Gaelic, the process for integrating a new word or phrase is slightly different. New words and combinations that have never been used in a school or in a fank on a Saturday afternoon can be firmly installed in the Gaels’ consciousness by 9am on Monday.

If anchormen Donald Morrison and James Macdonald use a word on the 7.30am Gaelic news show, that’s all it takes. The power these people have is terrifying.

Even medical conditions can suddenly make it into our lexicon. Take thymestic syndrome, for example. This is when someone says they can forgive but they cannot forget – literally. Such is their power of recall about everything that they spend their lives thinking about silly little things that the rest of us forget in a day or two.

It is an actual medical condition. As a Maciver, I should really suffer from this terrible malady because our clan motto is Nunquam Obliviscar – I Will Never Forget. If only that were true. I can’t even remember why I brought this up.

Oh yes, new words. Like baggravation. That is something you suffer from when you fly from Glasgow to Stornoway, for example, and you realise that your bags are not on the carousel because the handlers at Glasgow could not be bothered as they were on a tea break.

In extreme circumstances, a bad bout of baggravation can go on for days when, as happened to a member of the Gaelic mafia travelling to London, a holdall containing two black puddings, 6lb of gigot – and, for all I know, a horse’s head – ended up in Italy.

However, it never, ever happens on the Stornoway-Glasgow route. And that is because Roddy Macleod and the guys at Flybe in Stornoway are just so very, very professional. They are all so polite and helpful, too. What an asset everyone in that office is to the airline.

And did I mention they are all very professional? Good. Because they are. Very.

Meanwhile, I need a new word for a rare medical condition that has wrecked the life of my good friend George Gawk Campbell. He is suffering from a puzzling phobia that is not in any medical books. Yet.

He had a letter delivered and, like all of us, he looked for clues about the sender.

No address on the back. It was just a white window envelope with a second-class stamp. That worried George.

Individuals do not send window envelopes. So, despite his recent efforts, it was not a love letter. Only businesses, he reasoned, send those envelopes. That is so an invoice, for example, can be folded so the recipient’s address is visible.

The crofter, oil worker and Labour Party activist from Back put the unopened envelope high up on a shelf and began to agonise over who would be demanding cash. If he opened it, he would be morally obliged to pay it, he decided. But who sent it?

The postmark was unclear. It wasn’t the council or the taxman, as they have brown identifiable envelopes. Must be a local company. Oh heck.

After a few days, the strain got to poor George. He stopped going for a pint. He stayed in, fretting.

Then, the other morning, at 3am, he snapped. Bolting upright in bed, he realised he had to end his torment. He paced the floor for a while then, pouring with sweat, he grabbed the envelope and ripped it open.

It was a shock demand, all right. It was a note asking him to fill in a survey about which party he was going to vote for at the next elections. It was signed by our SNP MP and MSP Angus MacNeil and Alasdair Allan respectively.

How ironic the SNP pair had, through no fault of their own, made George Gawk suffer the worst few days of his life. Don’t laugh, but George concedes he may have an extreme fear of . . . window envelopes. How else do you explain what happened?

My researches have found details of the condition known as defenestraphobia, an irrational fear of windows, but nowhere is the variety of the ailment associated with stationery mentioned in medical texts or learned papers. So we have to invent a term. Gawkenvelopophobia, perhaps?

To those of us who know him well, that George Gawk is an enigma pushing the boundaries of medical science is really no surprise at all.

esterday I had a most lovely time in the CeeBeeDee, after coffee at Brunetti’s in Carlton. Dim Sum at Shanghai Dumpling, a look at the NGV and photos at the Ian Potter Centre.

Whilst in Federation Square, I was having a lil’ shufty at the book market (note: secondhand books at $20 do not a bargain make), I came across some beautiful books by illustrator Shaun Tan.

Shaun says he spends mots of his time writing and illustrating children’s books, but his website includes a whole host of other interesting projects.

The Red Tree by Shaun Tan

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Am I the only person who didn’t know that Carlton from Fresh Prince was hosting a lame-looking show  on a network I’ve never heard of? I caught a brief glimpse of a commercial for it when I went to my water cooler and, frankly, wish I didn’t even know. Though for a minute I thought he was just in the commercial, and  that was even more sad.

Do you Remember Emoze?  that great little email client that we review a few month back? well My good friend Jeb Brilliant and his Emoze friends has just opened a new blog to help you keep up to date with all the latest emoze  news, everything from new features, clients and supported devices to worldwide activities and a lot more, will be covered on the new emoze blog, and to welcome the new emoze blog we will be  giving away not one but two emoze Pro account codes!! and the best part is how easy it is to win one of these codes, all you have to do is leave a comment saying “why do you like/need push email?” that’s it!  just do that and i will pick a random winner and send you the code via email! Good Luck!

you can also get the free version of emoze from: this website but you can only receive emails from one email account but with the Pro version can get from multiple accounts!

Yesterday I read two articles, one stating that GenY men are becoming more metrosexual than ever, spending ridiculous amounts of money on cosmetics, waxing and tanning. The other article was about a couple who got told by the court to put a damper on their loud sex.

Theses two stories have absolutely nothing in common, but I interesting none the less.

The first one pissed me off…soooo much money…the only thing that popped into my head was ol Chopper’s Harden the Fuck Up!
Then I saw the new add campaign for Carlton DRY. called Cartlon Dry: Dry Dreams. Brilliant!! Here are 3 of the adds so far:

That must at least show that there are some who stay clear of the cosmetics and metro-shit.

The second story can be read here…but basically it is about a couple who’s sex life was so loud, it sounded like someone was getting murdered.

The only reason I found this interesting/funny is because I can tell a similar story….no… it wasn’t me.

I was awaken one night back in South Africa hearing someone scream. This is Sandton right, middle of the night and I heard screams close by. My instincts kicked in and I reached for the phone to call the coppers. I knew they wouldn’t react to a single phone call at night about screaming somewhere in Sandton so I though I would listen and try to figure out from which direction it came (no pun intended) from at least. The screaming was really brutal, but I decided to go back to bed and try to plug my ears. The problem was that the screaming (loud and proud) was rhythmic…yip..rhythmic…

So either some one was having very loud sex or someone was getting butchered for 20 minutes and only allowed  to scream to a rhythm.

I’d put my bet on the first one.

Nokia gave out hundreds of n900 to blogger around the world in October to try and get as much feedback as possible before the they release it in November and as far as i can see most if not all of the feedback has be positive, everyone that i have talked to seem to love the n900, one person has even called it “the iphone with a real QWERTY” and in more ways then one that is what it is, not forgeting the 5MP camera and the 32 GB of storage features which the n900 have over the iphone. Moving on the n900 really does look like nokia’s best flagship device this year, some would even go so far to say it is what the n97 should have been but that it not what i think.

I was talking to my friend Matthew Bennett from N-Series-Us and the n900 popped up in the conventions and i asked him if the n900 was the best phone he had ever used and he basically said yes and that “Maemo is the future” during the conventions i said that “the n900 looks like its going to be a big hit” and he said its not the n900 that is the big hit but maemo, and  i though about a what he say for a while in fact i’m still thinking about it now, the question that i want an answer for is this ” what are people more interested in the n90o (The hardware) or Meamo 5 (The Software)? is it the 5MP camera or the smooth animations and the razer shape graphics? is it the side-out QWERTY and the kickstand or the powerful new maemo browser? and the big question if the n900 ran s60v5 and not maemo 5 would you still want one? which ever one it is the future looks bright for nokia

i don’t have an answers but if you do please free feel to share it with us in the comments.

Carlton Lindow Jr

Near Future as in 2010; thankfully the designers are not dating it like 2050 or 2200 for this concept! Anyways we are talking about the Persian Delight: Nokia CLIPit Concept Mobile Phone. Brushed steel and Persian turquoise stone encrusted, this phone proposes a bevy of features like finger print as your SIM, Touch pad-Dot matrix screen, hands free clip on design, and a combo of Philips Lumalive and conceptual “Smart fabrics” to blend out a 12”screen!

Design features of Nokia CLIPit:

• Finger print as your SIM.
• CLIPit has all the cell phone’s data web based and you can reach not only by CLIPit but from multiple devices like other cell phones, disposable cell phones, your car kit, your home phone and so on. The key is your finger print.
• On top of the CLIPit you have a steel touch screen made by a group of small Light Emitting Diodes installed in the steel touch pad. So you have dynamic buttons and can dial, send and receive SMS and navigate your music easily.
• You don’t need to hold the phone in your hand or use any other device like Bluetooth hands free. When you have a call, just pull down the clip and CLIPit becomes a hands free.
• The ear phones of CLIPit have two sockets. You can hang your CLIPit around your neck with them when listening to the music. Like a beautiful necklace made by turquoise and steel.
• The way to connect with other devices for CLIPit is to Clip it to them. You can clip it to so many things to have connection with them. For example back panel of public bus seats.
• You can clip the phone to any part of your clothes or your bag. You can hang it around your neck with its earphones. You can wear it like a Bluetooth hands free. And also it is enough small to put it in your pocket.
• PHILIPS has developed a new technology called “Lumalive”. They have fabricated some kind of cloth that has internal OLEDs and is quite a color fabric screen. The design team used a developed form of that technology in the CLIPit and has two fabric screens. The 3- inch screen is just a formable, flexible cloth that has a “Lumalive” screen as the upper layer. You can clip your CLIPit to this 3-inch screen and have a mobile phone with a 3-inch color screen. It is quite BIG for a mobile phone. But the 12-inch screen is a combination of “Lumalive” and a concept fabric called “Smart fabrics”. “Smart fabrics” are cloths with a net of sensors between its layers for touch sense. The net is cut able and the fabric can be cut or sewed. In fact smart fabrics are touching sensitive cloths. This fabric is combined with “Lumalive” and to become a multi-touch color screen. Clip your CLIPit to it and you have a folding pocket 12-inch laptop.
• The 12inch touch screen is also a medium for CLIPits to share their data with each other. Quite easy. Quite funny.

Designers: Ziba Hemmati, Mohammad Zamani, Mir Kazem khalifezadeh, Rasul Shokrani & Ali Khajuee

(via)

I make a daily ‘to do list,’ do you? I’d lose my mind if I didn’t write down the things I needed to accomplish daily or even the things I need to buy while grocery shopping. Ever shop while you’re hungry? You buy more, right? Well, I buy more if I don’t have my list! Yes, I know I’m crazy, but you just never know when you’ll need that extra box of confectioners sugar…Anyways, while blog-hopping to one of my favorite blogs, Oh Happy Day, I noticed Jordan had made a ‘30 things to do before 30’ list and thought about my last year’s list and how everything on it basically went unaccomplished…I’m ashamed to be honest. My list was simple! My list was even realistic and included such things as ‘clean your car, you slob!’ and yet somehow a lot of these ‘to dos’ went unaccomplished! Yes, not only am I crazy, but I’m lazy and can easily get distracted with shiny things… Since I just turned 24, I thought I’d make a ‘25 before 25’ list for this year in high hopes to do a lot of the things on it. Now you’re probably thinking: “Why does she have a list??!! She’s only 24??!!! It’s no big deal!!!” And yes I really have no real reason to make such a list, but I’ve had all sorts of ‘to do’ lists since I was 22 and graduated from college. I have to say, they gave me something to think or plan ahead about and for and even maybe to dream about…(I did end up having that wedding that was on top of one of my ‘to do’ lists. I’ll also be going to Paris for a romantic excursion, which happened to be on one of my ‘to do’ lists as well!)! So here is this year’s list!  I wonder what it’ll read when I do approach 30, then 40, 50, etc…I can only hope it gets more simplified and filled with sappier things…

1. Make lots of items for my etsy shop and enjoy doing it (I only sometimes get in the mood to make the items…how inconsistent of me!)
2. Read 100 books (MY choice)
3. Buy 10 pairs of shoes (that might be too realistic for me)
4. Go to Paris, see Eiffel tower, kiss Jeff in front of it (scheduled 3/2010)
5. Go to Australia, hold koala, maybe sneak it home (all but latter, tentatively scheduled 8/2010) (Addition to this: kidnap Hugh Jackman!)
6. Cut hair again in another completely different non-Celia look…I like my last one (now, at least)
7. Take obese cat Carlton for a walk (he seriously could use one, pictured below)
   
8. Cook 5 ‘good’ meals for Jeff, maybe actually using a cookbook or something…course, can anyone really go wrong with lots of butter??
9. Not shop for a month
10. Clean car
11. Lose 5 pounds, just five and I’ll be happy
12. Not drink coffee for a month week…
13. Feel like every room in my house is “decorated” (Swiped from Oh Happy Day)
14. Visit dentist (another swipe)
15. Date night once a week (yet another swipe, I’m telling you, her list is good…)
16. Catch the Cherry Blossoms in DC this year…
17. Visit the Zoo two more times
18. Clean out closet and donate twice a year
19. Visit NYC, since we live so close (tentatively scheduled 12/09)
20. Get the TV stand we keep talking about…
21. Learn how to make good martinis (mine apparently come out ‘disproportionate…’)
22. Eat a piece of fruit and maybe veggies a vegetable once a day
23. Walk every other day vs. every so often (did this for 4 days straight this week!)
24. Work on those ‘freakish runs’ and make it so that they’re not so freakish (I have freakish ‘energy spurts’ where I feel like running once in awhile, where I’ll do it, enjoy it, and then don’t do it again for weeks…thus, these are called my ‘freakish runs’)
25. Visit Maine (the flights are usually low enough, but why aren’t we going??!!)  AND Harry Potter-Land (Harry Potter-Land tentatively set for Fall 2010!)

We were in the city recently and decided to satiate our craving for Malaysian food at Nasi Lemak House.

Nasi Lemak Traditional

Nasi Lemak Traditional comes with coconut rice, fried anchovies, fried peanuts, cucumber, sambal, fried egg, papadam and deep fried drumstick. It’s definitely good value for money seeing this place is located near the city and the portion is generous. The only complain we have is the sambal. Back in Malaysia, the sambal would have been spicy but yet sweet whereas this is spicy and towards the sour-ish side. The chicken is so much better than the one in Rich Maha. The meat is still moist and the size is bigger as well. You can always add another piece of chicken for just $2.50.

Nasi Lemak Kelantan

Nasi Lemak Kelantan is exactly like Nasi Lemak Traditional but without the sambal. Instead, the chicken is covered with a sweet and sour sauce with a bit of spiciness in it. I definitely prefer this to Nasi Lemak Traditional as the sauce is really appetising.

Indie Wine Foundation
Pre-Thanksgiving Tasting Event

If you’re not already heading to the Willamette Valley for Pre-Thanksgiving weekend, here’s a reason…

We’re excited to announce the first annual Indie Wine Foundation Pre-Thanksgiving Tasting, a fun opportunity for you Indie fans to continue discovering unique, hidden gems to add to your collections, or snag that perfect bottle to share with friends and family at upcoming holiday gatherings.

For only $20 (or $25 if you’d like to keep your tasting glass), you’ll be able to taste wine from 14 alumni of the nationally acclaimed Portland Indie Wine Festival. Make sure to add this new Indie event to your pre-Thanksgiving wine tasting plans!

When:
Saturday, November 21, 12pm-5pm
Sunday, November 22, 12pm-5pm

Where:
Brookside Inn
8243 NE Abbey Rd
Carlton, OR 97111
Want to make a weekend of it? Rooms are available at the Brookside Inn. Reservations can be made from the Inn’s website, or by calling 503-852-4433.

Cost:
$20 at the door to taste the wines of all participating wineries (or $25, which includes a keepsake Indie tasting glass). Proceeds will benefit the Indie Wine Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to sustaining and promoting the biodiversity of craft winemaking.

Participating Wineries:
Ancient Cellars
Capitello Wines
Christopher Bridge Wines
Et Fille Wines
Helvetia Winery
J. Scott Cellars
Kathken Vineyards
Laurel Hood Wine
Madrone Mountain
Quady North
Resonance Vineyard
Ribera Vineyards
Rizzo Winery
Viento

This is one of my favorite articles about teaching todays learners.  Written by Mark Carlton in the Chronicle of Higher Education http://chronicle.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/article/The-Net-Generation-Goes-to-/12307/

By ASHLEY BROWNE

A few thoughts about what we like, and what we don’t like, about the just-released 2010 AFL fixture.

What we like

- The floating final round. Fox Sports won’t like closing out the season with Port Adelaide v Richmond, but it makes sense in every other respect. The shame is that TV deals prevent all eight games being played at the same time, as they do on the final weekend of the Premier League.

- Carlton and St Kilda on a Monday night. Will prove very popular with Melbourne’s Jewish community.

- Essendon and Hawthorn twice, and both in prime-time and both at the MCG.

- The Friday night schedule. Melbourne and Richmond make one token appearance each, but otherwise it is laden with big-name match-ups.

- Bye-bye to the themed rounds. A great idea idea at the time, but we agree that it is the match-ups that need to be hyped, not an entire round. And besides, which club really has a heated rivalry with the Western Bulldogs?

- Collingwood’s draw. At the risk of being accused of having a foot in both camps, we hate the Pies having 18 games at the MCG but at least they play five of this year’s top eight twice – Geelong, St Kilda, the Western Bulldogs, Carlton and Essendon – as well as perennial nemesis Hawthorn.

What we don’t like

- We’re happy to join in the chorus of complaints that we have to wait until round 13 for the grand final rematch between Geelong and St Kilda. We don’t necessarily believe they have to play in the season opener, but there are plenty of opportunities early in the season for such a highly-anticipated match. By round 13, one or both clubs could be racked by injury and poor form, meaning the match could become a damp fizzer. Why is it more important for Collingwood, Essendon and Carlton to play each other twice than for St Kilda and Geelong?

- By the same token, if the Saints and Cats were the two best sides in ‘09, then the Western Bulldogs weren’t far behind. The Bulldogs and the Cats don’t meet until round 20.

- Fremantle not playing at the MCG all year. Granted, the Dockers are nobody’s idea of a marquee attraction and we can’t imagine too many MCC members have declared Freo as their team of choice, but every club should play at least once at the home of football.

- Collingwood’s dream run. We understand that everyone wants to draw the Pies as a home game because of the significant coin they generate, but seven straight MCG games in the run home to the finals is just a bit soft. The AFL could have thrown in an interstate game somewhere over the final month of the season.

- Carlton on free to air TV 19 times. They’d want to keep on coming to justify such exposure, although as one wag has already suggested on SEN, that means 19 games on delay. By contrast, North Melbourne has 13 games on Foxtel.

- One game in Canberra. Once an AFL haven, it is now an AFL ghost town. A rare defeat for the AFL in a developing market.

- The Cats only get seven games at Skilled Stadium. They’re building yet another new stand down at the Cattery, but won’t get that many chances to fill it.

New image in the big and small photography contest

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Carlton II Carlton III photography picture