Romanesco Brocolli

Vegetarians and mathematicians alike will be excited to read about my new discovery: Romanesco Brocolli. I saw this beauty at a market in Dublin. The pattern is a fractal, and has the property of self similarity. That means that when you zoom in on a bit, it looks the same as it used to. Cool, huh? I bet it tastes good and is nutrious, too. Super vegetable? I think so.

Dublin was deadly.

10-Nov-07 to 12-Nov-07

Last weekend was spent in Dublin, Ireland, just a 40 pound, 45 minute flight from Edinburgh . There was no loss of life or limb; 'deadly' is Irish slang for really good or cool. Sights were saw, roads were walked down, Guinness was drank.


That's the second stamp on my third passport. Woo hoo!


Standing guard in front of the Dublin castle.


Mmm, baked goods. Drool.


Being my bad self in front of the Bad Ass cafe. Rock on, dudes.


Dancing in front of The Clarence, 'Bono's hotel.'
Uno, dos, tres, catorce! (wtf, U2)

Science!

07-Nov-07
We Are Scientists, American indie rock band, performed at Potterow, one of the student unions.

Bonfire Night

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I know of no reason

Why Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

Bonfire Night fireworks, as seen from Calton Hill.

Pipes and Drums

These Prince's Street performers are my absolute favorite. I stop and watch them every chance I get. Completely amazing, and worth the couple of pounds I chipped in when they were finished.

Chipper at the Chippy

Nothing is more British than fish and chips. Ok, so I don't like fish. But I had a burger and chips and topped it off with an IRN-BRU, Scotland's best selling soft drink (more than Pepsi and Coke!!).

Did you know that Scotland is the second fattest country (the USA is first)? Allow me to hypothesize why:

Battered and fried fish, burgers, onion rings, sausages, and everything else. Hello, heart disease!

Ceilidh (I bet you mispronounced that word)

02-Nov-07

Iain's 21st birthday party ceilidh (pronounced "kay-lee"), celebrated like the Scotsman he is, was a lot of fun. For those of you who aren't familiar with this traditional British (Irish and Scottish, mainly) dance party, here is a sample of the goings on.

Gammy Eye (and other ailments)

That week when nothing was fun.

More contemporary art: Picasso

Continuing with my last minute exhibition-going, I took a break from being ill to see the Picasso "Fired with Passion" exhibit at the Royal Museum. This exhibit was neat-o and quite unexpected; not what comes to mind when you hear "Picasso." One thing I learnt whilst there: Picasso's love life was c-o-m-p-l-i-c-a-t-e-d. Let's just say he wasn't a one-woman-man. More like five or six.

It was raining quite hard when the museum closed, so we dashed to the (now world famous, alleged "birthplace of Harry Potter") elephant house to escape the rain.

No J.K. Rowling sightings this time, but I'll keep an eye out.

I Want to Ride My Bicycle!

22-Oct-07

People and Planet bicycle day.

I love bikes. I didn't realize how much I loved them until my mom bought me an awesome cruiser at the end of my freshman year. It was big and beautiful and shiny and white. I loved to feel the warm breeze in my hair as I lazily pedalled around campus. And then it was stolen :-(

But enough about that. At the People and Planet meeting last Monday, we learned all about bikes! There was a tandem, a unicycle, another one that you had to keep pedalling (I forgot what it was called), and lots of cool old bikes. We learned about bike routes all through the UK and basic maintainance. Now I can change a flat tire!