Dalai-Lama in Seattle...

Even though I'm not a Buddhist and I tend to stay away from religion, there are some people which... I would feel being blessed, if I were able to meet.

Such as the Dalai-Lama. He's currently in Seattle, a place I visited a few times and where I met great friends.

(one such friend who had her marriage blessed by the Dalai-Lama no less, years ago. Such a small world. :) ).

Not a word about China nor about Tibet, nor I would expect that he would. Contrary to China leaders, the Dalai-Lama got class. :)

His conferences in the US? About compassion...

Given the hell I am going through, this topic certainly strikes a chord.

Also how the minds of kids are shaped by the experiences and early relationships.

Sigh... I wish I were in Seattle.

Cheers,

-E

PS: You can read more from the CBC web site.

Seattle by night...

These photos were taken on my last night in Seatte...

<--- 4th Avenue and Pine Street. The big Macy store.

The big shiny star is impressive!

Weather: About 45F, at 9PM, overcast.

It felt good, VERY good to have a walk in downtown Seattle. I can't imagine that I'll be in 3ft of snow very soon, back home!




<--- Lighted trees on Union street and 6th Avenue, just next to the Sheraton hotel, where I was staying.

Actually, I should be packing my stuff for my return trip tomorrow, but it was good to be outside...

PS: Do notice the tremendous amount on snow on the ground. ;)

<--- Union Street, next to 3rd Avenue.

In a distance, a life saving to any traveler: the US Post Office.

Again, have you noticed the amount of snow on the ground? ;)



<--- Carousel, on Pine Street, between 5th and 6th Avenue, sponsored by Qwest (the big telco here) and King 5, a local television station.

Those things are now rare.

<--- Just across the street, the Westlake Center, a big shopping mall and their Christmas tree.

In the far right, the Nordstrom store, a landmark in downtown Seattle.


<--- A little while later on Pine Street, heading toward Capitol Hill, trees are lighted in different colors.

PS: I hate to _really_ insist, but have you noticed the huge amount of snow on the ground, and how people are dressed? Exactly like in Montréal, right? ;)

So long... from *BALMY* Seattle!

-E

More Seattle birthday / blogfest...

Sometimes, it's tough to take a group photo. Sometimes, there are technical glitches... and sometimes *we* are the glitches who ruin a group photo. :)

In the forefront, Gird, Illjay64 and me. In the background, Illjay's beau, Dae314, Tarnaargh, Tantrika, Crowfriend, and Congueroseattle.

It appears that Tantrika had something to say to Crowfriend... for some reasons!!!

Dae314, Tarnaagh and Illjay64 saw what happened and they were laughing big time! Of course, I'm the guy who tries to be serious and who strives to elevate this photo session to a certain level of ahem... nevermind!!

I have to say on the last two photos, I was struggling to keep a straight face. :)

Behind me, the party was going on!!!

(On the table, we had Washington port, some French white wine, and California red wine. In the "peace" box, some... brownies). The curry was excellent and the birthday cake... yummy!

I think that Tantrika enjoyed her party... and I think the feeling is mutual. We were just too busy giggling and laughing! :)

Cheers!

-E

The Seattle blogfest report!

(Due to FC's inability to handle more than one photo per blog entry, I've sent to my fellow bloggers the URL of this blog)

Crowfriend and Tantrika, extremely elegant in black. They were radiating love and happiness. So beautiful to see!

Such a joy for me to see Tantrika again, and after near misses to finally see Crowfriend

So in photos, here's the report:


From left to right, Tarnaagh, Dae314, Crowfriend, and I _think_ Tantrika's hands. :)

Dae has been ahem... quite a phenomeon. We kept giggling and laughing... and it's a wise crack one after the other. (I think it's visible on the photo!)

And all this, even while being sober! If Montréal wasn't so far away from Washington State, she would do a killer job at our aptly named "Juste pour Rire / Just for laughs festival!". :)

(On the table, we had red wine, white wine, and Washington Port. The content of these bottles quickly ahem... "evaporated" in our glasses! ;) )
Time for a toast!

From left to right, Taarnagh, a laughing Dae (she's been like that all night long. I never laughed so much in an evening!), Crowfriend and Tantrika going for a toast and Gird.


Again from left to right, humble moi (!), Illjay64 and her boyfriend, Taarnagh, Dae, and the hands belonging to Crowfriend and Tantrika. :)

I was the only one who has brought a digicam. So I lent my digicam to Gird who took a couple of pictures, including this one.

This picture speaks for itself, I think.

Cheers!!!!!

-E

The joy of the Slingbox: Being in Montréal by proxy !

Greetings from Seattle! It's about 9AM Pacific time when I'm typing these lines. We're having a mix of sun and clouds (not bad, considering they usually have lots of rain!)

For about a month, I have a Slingbox. What it is? well you can watch TV... on your computer. Any computer that is plugged to your internet router. A router with Wi-FI, it will make a laptop shine.

To keep an ear on Keith Olberman's Countdown when I'm doing my dishes, it's kind of cool. :)

But it can also work... over the internet. I had to fumble a little bit, as it was the first attempt to do so... 5000km away from home... and Bingo! Of course, the images aren't as sharp as at home, but who cares! I'm in my hotel room in Seattle, and I had Montréal on my laptop!

(I think that I'll repeat that stunt in January when I'll be in Paris with my family. I'm the computer geek, so a computer geek has to impress his host with geeky stuff. Right? Right. :)

Here are some computer screen snapshots, as they appeared on my laptop. I'm watching MétéoMédia (The French-speaking side of the Weather Network).

I was there, watching their images in complete disbeliefs. 40cm up to 50cm of snow for today, Sunday (that's 14 inches to a 16 inches of new snow on top of what we already have!).

One word:

WHAT ?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

(Sound of jaws being dropped here!)

Gee whiz, great timing for leaving Montréal! Supposedly, Seattle is extremely rainy at this time of the year. So far, it has rained a bit, but we had a bit of sunshine too!

Temps are in the mid 40s, (between 6 and 8 Celsius) and of course no snow on the ground. Heh!

Look at the screen shot on the left. Hint: -12 Celsius is in mid 10s Fahrenheit.

All in all... I maintain my words:

Ahhhh!!!! Balmy Seattle!!! :)

(At the blogfest, one asked me: You must had quite a dose of special brownies to utter Balmy Seattle. Gee whiz, our winter has been so crazy so far, I wish I had those brownies!!! That's the point!)

Cheers!

-E

Balmy Seattle!

I'm in Seattle!

And I took some pictures, just for you guys, stuck in the snow, and shivering in the cold.

I'm thinking a lot about you guys. Really! :)

Here, it was cloudy most of the day, with temps around 45F. About 7 or 8 Celsius.

Sweet o sweet, if you ask me. :)


The first two photos are taken on 4th Avenue, near Columbia Street. Notice how the trees look like and the absence of snow on the ground.

(In case you haven't noticed. ;) )



The 3rd photo is the famous Utilikilts store, 1st Ave and Cherry Street, in Pioneer Square (further south, from the downtown core).

See? There are some "landmarks" that are MUST see in Seattle. Such as the kilt store. :)



Finally some Christmas lights that seem very lonely. No snow on the ground. Heh!

I can say that I had just my spring/fall jacket, and I had to partly unzip it. That gives you an idea how warm it was in Seattle.

Do I regret winter? The cold stuff and the snow you're all having...

You really want the true, or you want me to be polite, nice... and not being *too* ahem... cruel? ;)

You know what I'm going to say!!!!

So, I'm enjoying my stay in Seattle. Every minute, of it, heh! :)

Cheers,

-E

Seattle bound ? Maybe...

<--- Downtown Seattle, Pine Street near 5th Avenue, July 2007

Well.... it is not a sure thing, but it appears that I maybe in Seattle around December 15th for a couple of days. :)

If you aren't checking news at FC, December 15th is the birthday of TantrikaGoddess, and invitations have been sent.

It coincides with a lull in my work, before things pick up madly during the Christmas holidays. (Yeah I know, a bummer, I'll be working. On the other hand, I'm happy to still have a job!)

So to compensate for having to work during the holidays, I've been already thinking of traveling (well, I do so in January, visiting my family in France)... but I might be able to squeeze in a few more days in December. Seattle... why not?

Masochists. Being laughed at my pathetically attempt to converse in ASL. Oh well. :) Tantrika is good sport. I should see Crowfriend too.

I'm wondering... anyone willing to fly with me to Seattle? Hehehe...

- Ladies, I can show you where is that famous FlueVog store in downtown Seattle,

- Guys, I know you're shy, but I can escort you to that famous kilt store in Pionneer Square, the Utilikilts. ;)

Funny, I have never understood why guys are so shy about wearing kilts. Wimps. I do wear a kilt. The proper way. Ayup. Be a man, do it! :)

I'd bet they're even more shy to shop for a kilt, -in person-, at a kilt store. Hey, it's just a clothing store, not a sex shop! Oh well... They don't know what they're missing. ;)

(Last summer, there was an hilarious event happening while I was at the kilt store. I've blogged this at FC, but one of these days I'll repost here. It's just too funny).

So, that's how it goes. I'm VERY tempted to access the offer. I'm checking whether it's feasible (work, parents, flights, and hotel room).

Would be fun if I have a travelmate, there is that. Oh well... Catch the guy with the kilt!

Cheers,

-E

Dance is in the air? A strange sense of déjà vu...

This is my monthly transit pass... for the month of October, soon to expire...

... which reminds me that I haven't bought my pass for November yet. You read it right. $87 per month . "TRAM" stands for TRain, Autobus (bus) and Métro. The Zone 2 means that I can ride the commuter trains up to the West Island.

No sane Montréaler would dare to say that where I live is on the "West Island", but to the bureaucrats... and their not so subtle way to pump more money, I do. :) For reference, commuters in the immediate North Shore and South Shore of Montréal pay $103 and it can go all the way to a whopping $207 per month as they get further from Montréal, with dismal transit service to the city. :)

Do they really want to promote the transit system... and get cars off the roads? One wonders. :)

Anyway... the drawings on this month pass caught my attention. It looks like steps. You know, dance steps.

And I knew that somewhere somewhen, not too long ago... I've seen this, I have the mental picture of it... but dang... if you are a visual person like me, you have probably felt the frustration of being unable to put a name.

Tonight... EUREKA! A search on my laptop, I've found the photo... *AND* my travel notes.

Welcome to Seattle! This is the photo of the sidewalk on Broadway Street between Pine and Pike Streets in the Capitol Hill district.

It looks pretty much like my monthly transit pass. Eerie, isn't it?

If this was up to me, I'd be in Seattle, or anywhere else these days...

Cheers,

-E

Test post with images

From my west coast trip. The first image was taken in Seattle. At various places throughout the city, you'll see this on the sidewalk. They'll teach you how to dance. This photo was taken on Broadway street, in the Capital District, near Pine Street.

The second photo was taken during the Canadian portion of my west coast trip.

A town that has (almost) my name on it... must be a nice town, right? Maybe. :)

Esquimalt is across the harbour from Victoria. There's a beautiful blue-cobalt bridge that gets there. Gentrification is going on everywhere on Vancouver island, and Esquimalt is no exception.

There are several shipyards, a Canadian naval base, and like in Vancouver on the mainland, lots of high rise condo buildings. Lodging is a problem on the island. At the time I was around, there was less than 1% vacancy. It is as expensive, if not even more expensive to live around Victoria than in Vancouver on the mainland.

Anyway, for a test, this should be enough. :)

Cheers,

-E