On Friday I went to Spokane with Weston and a bunch of Chi Alpha people to go see Switchfoot play at the Gonzaga McCarthy Athletic Center. We left at about 5 o'clock for the 8PM concert and at a little Italian place called Geno's before the concert. A band called Lovedrug ("love drug," not "loved rug" like we thought) was the opening act. They were okay, but they were very loud and it was hard to understand the lyrics. Then, after changing the stage around, Switchfoot came out and started off with "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine." They played "Lonely Nation" and "Stars" from their newest album before playing "Company Car" and dedicating it to their longtime fans (like me!).
I hadn't expected the band to sound too great, since I've heard a couple recordings of their live performances. On Friday night, though, they sounded excellent! Jon's voice and all of the instrumentation sounded just like on the albums, sometimes even better. I was really happy that they played some of their older stuff, including "Dare You to Move" and "Chem 6a." Best of all, though, Switchfoot played a new song that's not on any of their albums. It was called "Awakening" and I liked it a lot. It featured Jon on the harmonica and catchy sounding chorus. It'd be really neat to hear that song on their next CD.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Saturday, April 29, 2006
[DupyUpdate] DupyWiki
I'm hereby announcing a new Dupyshon.com feature -- the DupyWiki. Wikis are web pages that are totally user-customizable. This means that you (the user) can visit this section of my site, view what's currently there, and make any changes you like. Don't worry, you don't have to know anything about HTML or web programming. There's an easy style guide that will help you out. I am sent an email any time there's a change in the wiki, so I'll be able to moderate what goes on there.
I'm in the process of developing some ground rules. There's a short list of them here, but the permanent list will be located on one of the wiki pages.
Have fun, people.
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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 4/29/2006 08:43:00 PM
I'm in the process of developing some ground rules. There's a short list of them here, but the permanent list will be located on one of the wiki pages.
- When you make a change, leave your name. The sign-in page asks for a name, so please provide one. If you want to sign your name on the actual page as well, feel free. We'd all like to know who says what.
- Keep it clean. Pretty self-explanatory.
- Have fun with it. Dupyshon.com isn't the most serious of websites, and that's on purpose. I want this to be an enjoyable website to visit, so be creative and express yourself.
- You're welcome to reorganize pages, add style stuff, or create brand new pages altogether. Just because I'm the moderator doesn't mean I should have to do all the work to make it look good. If you feel a bunch of posts belong to their own category, maybe creating a new page would be a good idea. Just an example.
Have fun, people.
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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 4/29/2006 08:43:00 PM
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
[DupyPics] 4/26/2006 05:59:55 PM
Over the past few days, I've been consumed by the final project for my CS30 class. It's a complete ext2 filesystem, and I'm calling it the DupyFileSys. I even made a little ascii art logo for it. It's displayed on the screen every time you start the program.
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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 4/26/2006 05:59:55 PM
Sunday, April 23, 2006
[DupyLinks] Pixel noise said to create unique camera "fingerprint"
[http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/23/pixel-noise-said-to-create-unique-camera-fingerprint/]
This is a pretty cool idea. CSI will incorporate this idea into an episode soon, I bet.
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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 4/23/2006 08:57:41 PM
This is a pretty cool idea. CSI will incorporate this idea into an episode soon, I bet.
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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 4/23/2006 08:57:41 PM
Sunday, April 16, 2006
[DupyUpdate] New York Update
Ok, I've published blog posts for the first two days of our New York trip. In a few minutes, I'll have the albums up that correspond to those days.
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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 4/16/2006 05:48:00 PM
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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 4/16/2006 05:48:00 PM
Snow!?
After a week of great, warm weather in New York, it was snowing when I woke up this morning. Go figure.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
New York - Day 7
This morning we woke up and packed our things. Our last day in New York! Today we walked down to the UN building for some voting and some sightseeing. We ate breakfast across the street from the UN building at a place called the Nations Cafe.
Everyone in the WSU group took a turn voting as part of the GA Plenary. On the last day of the conference, the GA Plen reviews the reports and votes on all of the resolutions produced by the various committees. I really enjoyed this activity, because we got to see our votes up on the Big Board. We also wore the translation earpieces, even though there was nothing that really needed to be translated. It was all very official looking, though. At one point I just started poking around at the buttons on the desk and I ended up hitting the microphone button. My microphone's red light lit up and I interrupted the whole meeting! Thankfully, the chair realized that I'd made a mistake and turned my microphone off.
Some other people from our group came to relieve us, so we toured the UN building for a while. I bought some stamps at the UN Post Office (the only place in the world that you can buy international postage.) We also perused the bookstore and the gift shop. I ended up spending a lot of money on UN stuff. Upstairs, on the main floor, we took some time to look at the art and the various UN-related displays. We saw the Chagall stained glass, a Norman Rockwell mosaic, and the Foucault Pendulum. Weston and I even snuck into a couple of restricted areas. We went in one door just to see if it went anywhere. It ended up leading to a gallery over one of the large conference rooms. At another point, we were stopped by a security guard in an area which was labeled "Restricted Access: Security Clearance Required." We just flashed our conference badges and acted confidently, so she let us pass.
Before long, we had to head back to the hotel. We packed up the rest of our things and checked out of our rooms. Then we went out for lunch at Yum Yum Bangkok. It was great food! And cheap! For $6.95, we had a three course meal with appetizers, soup and salad, and a Pad Thai entree. The service was excellent, too. The waitress always kept our water glasses full and our food came very quickly.
After saying goodbye to Times Square, we piled into vans again and headed off to Laguardia. The plane ride was long, but I was able to sleep for part of it. We had a stopover in Denver before returning to Spokane. By the time we got back to Pullman, it was around 1AM. But since we were used to New York time, it felt like 4AM. That's 21 hours of straight activity.
It was a fun trip. I learned a lot about the United Nations and had a blast exploring New York City. I'm really grateful that the Honors College and WSU alumni contributed so much money to cover our expenses, because it truly was a worthwhile experience. I'm also glad that Weston came. It was nice to be able to share it all with a friend. This adventure gave me a greater appreciation for the work that the UN does, and it's made me eager to return to New York someday soon.
Everyone in the WSU group took a turn voting as part of the GA Plenary. On the last day of the conference, the GA Plen reviews the reports and votes on all of the resolutions produced by the various committees. I really enjoyed this activity, because we got to see our votes up on the Big Board. We also wore the translation earpieces, even though there was nothing that really needed to be translated. It was all very official looking, though. At one point I just started poking around at the buttons on the desk and I ended up hitting the microphone button. My microphone's red light lit up and I interrupted the whole meeting! Thankfully, the chair realized that I'd made a mistake and turned my microphone off.
Some other people from our group came to relieve us, so we toured the UN building for a while. I bought some stamps at the UN Post Office (the only place in the world that you can buy international postage.) We also perused the bookstore and the gift shop. I ended up spending a lot of money on UN stuff. Upstairs, on the main floor, we took some time to look at the art and the various UN-related displays. We saw the Chagall stained glass, a Norman Rockwell mosaic, and the Foucault Pendulum. Weston and I even snuck into a couple of restricted areas. We went in one door just to see if it went anywhere. It ended up leading to a gallery over one of the large conference rooms. At another point, we were stopped by a security guard in an area which was labeled "Restricted Access: Security Clearance Required." We just flashed our conference badges and acted confidently, so she let us pass.
Before long, we had to head back to the hotel. We packed up the rest of our things and checked out of our rooms. Then we went out for lunch at Yum Yum Bangkok. It was great food! And cheap! For $6.95, we had a three course meal with appetizers, soup and salad, and a Pad Thai entree. The service was excellent, too. The waitress always kept our water glasses full and our food came very quickly.
After saying goodbye to Times Square, we piled into vans again and headed off to Laguardia. The plane ride was long, but I was able to sleep for part of it. We had a stopover in Denver before returning to Spokane. By the time we got back to Pullman, it was around 1AM. But since we were used to New York time, it felt like 4AM. That's 21 hours of straight activity.
It was a fun trip. I learned a lot about the United Nations and had a blast exploring New York City. I'm really grateful that the Honors College and WSU alumni contributed so much money to cover our expenses, because it truly was a worthwhile experience. I'm also glad that Weston came. It was nice to be able to share it all with a friend. This adventure gave me a greater appreciation for the work that the UN does, and it's made me eager to return to New York someday soon.
Friday, April 14, 2006
New York - Day 6
Today was the last day of committee meetings! We were all pretty excited about this because the committee sessions seemed very long. In my committee we got a few more draft reports approved by the dias, for a total of ten in all. I spent a lot of the caucusing time talking with EU countries and figuring out how they were going to vote. Usually, Czech Republic simply follows the opinion of the European Union. Most of the UNHCR delegate in the Czech Republic bloc (the one's at O'Neill's the night before) weren't at the morning session. I think they didn't get much sleep because they stayed out too late.
For lunch we went to another Irish pub. These little places usually have pretty good food. I had an amazing pot pie with really flaky crust, and Weston had some kind of burger which looked pretty good. I invited the representative of Belgium (who was actually from a school in Ohio), so he came along with our little WSU group. When we got back to the UNHCR, we finally started voting procedures. All of the draft report segments passed without a problem. There were no motions to divide or to vote by roll call. Some of them even passed by affirmation, which meant that a vote wasn't even needed.
After finishing up with the committee, we had a short delegation meeting and then Weston and I went to meet his friend Laura, a student at NYU who's originally from Issaquah. She took us out to an Italian place called Pietrasanta. The food was excellent, a culinary masterpiece. I am still amazed at how good these little hole-in-the-wall restaurants can be, especially with their limited space. We shared some tiramisu for dessert, which was a definite treat.
Then it was off to our Broadway show, The Producers. Weston picked up the tickets from Will Call and we stood in line for a few minutes until they opened the doors. I was impressed by the St. James theater. It seemed very old but also quite comfortable. We had seats on the mezzanine level toward the back, but we could still see the stage very well. The show itself was amazing from start to finish. The orchestra was brilliant. It was perfectly balanced and sounded just like a recording. The actors were superb. They were fun and exciting to watch, truly masters of their craft. The singing was flawless. The songs were easy to understand and the singers never strayed off pitch. I thought The Producers was hilarious, especially with Springtime for Hitler and Carmen Ghia. It's highly likely that I'll never see such a good live performance again in my life.
When the show got out, we found ourselves in a sea of people. They were everywhere! Times Square on Friday night is crazy, especially when all of the Broadway shows get out at the same time. We said goodbye to Laura, took some more pictures of Times Square, and went to bed.
For lunch we went to another Irish pub. These little places usually have pretty good food. I had an amazing pot pie with really flaky crust, and Weston had some kind of burger which looked pretty good. I invited the representative of Belgium (who was actually from a school in Ohio), so he came along with our little WSU group. When we got back to the UNHCR, we finally started voting procedures. All of the draft report segments passed without a problem. There were no motions to divide or to vote by roll call. Some of them even passed by affirmation, which meant that a vote wasn't even needed.
After finishing up with the committee, we had a short delegation meeting and then Weston and I went to meet his friend Laura, a student at NYU who's originally from Issaquah. She took us out to an Italian place called Pietrasanta. The food was excellent, a culinary masterpiece. I am still amazed at how good these little hole-in-the-wall restaurants can be, especially with their limited space. We shared some tiramisu for dessert, which was a definite treat.
Then it was off to our Broadway show, The Producers. Weston picked up the tickets from Will Call and we stood in line for a few minutes until they opened the doors. I was impressed by the St. James theater. It seemed very old but also quite comfortable. We had seats on the mezzanine level toward the back, but we could still see the stage very well. The show itself was amazing from start to finish. The orchestra was brilliant. It was perfectly balanced and sounded just like a recording. The actors were superb. They were fun and exciting to watch, truly masters of their craft. The singing was flawless. The songs were easy to understand and the singers never strayed off pitch. I thought The Producers was hilarious, especially with Springtime for Hitler and Carmen Ghia. It's highly likely that I'll never see such a good live performance again in my life.
When the show got out, we found ourselves in a sea of people. They were everywhere! Times Square on Friday night is crazy, especially when all of the Broadway shows get out at the same time. We said goodbye to Laura, took some more pictures of Times Square, and went to bed.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
New York - Day 5
There's really not much to write about today. I think everyone spent at least twelve hours in committee meetings and caucussing. My committee is having some problems, because the chair isn't accepting any of our draft report segments. I'm a signatory on four or five of these reports, so that's good. I'm not allowed to be a sponsor on any, since the Czech Republic is only and observer in the UNHCR. Anyway, the chair called the Undersecretary General to come talk to us and get us on the right track. Essentially, she wanted us to consolidate our ideas and efforts. We had around 20 or 25 working drafts, and we needed to have a maximum of ten. The rest of the day, then, was spent merging papers and cooperating among the groups. Finally, by the end of the night, we had our first draft report accepted by the dias. Everyone was so happy that they started clapping. It was pretty funny to me. There was even applause for the next few delegates on the speaker's list! The chair finally got us all calmed down and order was eventually restored. ("Decorum, delegates!")
For lunch today we went to a great Chineese place with the WSU gang. Everyone ordered an entree and shared. People got full quickly, though, and we had a bunch of food left over. I did what I could to help and ate a good chunk of the leftovers. We didn't have much of a break for dinner, so Weston and I swung by the famous Times Square McDonalds. I don't know of any other two-story McDonalds' in the world, and it had giant neon golden arches outside. This evening we went to an Irish pub called O'Neill's. Some of my UNHCR friends were there, and we had some fun "caucussing." I tried a little bit of Foster's, which was pretty good. We left early, though, because we have an early meeting tomorrow.
For lunch today we went to a great Chineese place with the WSU gang. Everyone ordered an entree and shared. People got full quickly, though, and we had a bunch of food left over. I did what I could to help and ate a good chunk of the leftovers. We didn't have much of a break for dinner, so Weston and I swung by the famous Times Square McDonalds. I don't know of any other two-story McDonalds' in the world, and it had giant neon golden arches outside. This evening we went to an Irish pub called O'Neill's. Some of my UNHCR friends were there, and we had some fun "caucussing." I tried a little bit of Foster's, which was pretty good. We left early, though, because we have an early meeting tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
New York - Day 4
This morning we got up and went to breakfast at a little cafe. I had a crossaint and some orange juice. Then we strolled over to St. Patrick's Cathedral, a very old and historical church. One of the popes visited here. Next we went to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, probably the most famous hotel in the world. It was very nice inside, although all we got to see was the lobby. It's located on Park Avenue, which is a very well-groomed street. There are wide medians in the middle of the road, and they have tulips planted in them. Central Park is only a few blocks away, so we spent some time walking through the park. We wanted to see the chess players, but they were nowhere to be found. After lunch at a pizzeria, it was back to committee meetings. In the UNHCR, there was still a bunch of pointless discussion about speaker times, but we finally started to do some work. We all got into our blocs and started some ideas for drafting report segments. I met up with weston for dinner, and we ate at the Trolly Cafe. I had a burger bacon and sauteed onions and some Red Stripe beer. Two thumbs up for Red Stripe. After one more committee meeting, which lasted for about three hours, we went to Ben and Jerry's for dessert. Oddly enough, we saw a guy there wearing a Tumwater golf club t-shirt. It was a tiring day, so we went to be pretty early (and by that I mean around 12:30).
[DupyUpdate] New York, NY
Ok, I realize that all of you are anxious to see some New York pictures or blog posts or anything that lets you know what I've been up to. The thing is, though, that I'm a little too busy to be working on my website. We've been going nonstop ever since getting here. In short, we've been having a lots of fun, going lots of places, eating lots of food, being very good diplomats, and taking a bunch of pictures. (Between Weston and I, we've taken well over a thousand pictures so far.) So after this week, and after I get a bit caught up from missing a week of school, I'll make some blog posts and picture albums for everyone to see. That's all for now, I'm off to a UNHCR committee meeting.
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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 4/12/2006 11:00:00 AM
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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 4/12/2006 11:00:00 AM
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
New York - Day 3
We got back to the hotel a little past midnight and headed to the bar for a birthday drink. I had one of their signature cocktails called The Producers. We got a great table right next to the window, and the bar was on the eight floor overlooking Times Square. Not many people get to celebrate their 21st birthday with such a great view. Then we went upstairs and went to sleep.
The next morning we got up early to take a tour of the Empire State Building. We walked down there in our suits because we wouldn't have time to change before going to the Czech Mission. We stood in various lines for about an hour before finally riding the elevator up to the 82nd floor. The observation deck was pretty nice, and we were able to see all of the city. It was a little hazy that morning, but the visibility was still around five miles. Weston and I both got some good pictures.
After returning to the hotel, we met all of the other WSU people and rode the subway up to the Czech Mission to the UN. The Czech ambassador greeted us and talked to us for about 40 minutes about the Czech Republic's role in the United Nations. It was very helpful information, a first-hand account of how international diplomacy really works. He was very nice, complimenting our position papers and taking questions.
For lunch a group of us tried to find a certain cafe that the returners had eaten at last year. We looked for a long time but couldn't find it. (Turns out that it had recently changed its name.) So instead we ate at an Irish pub. Pastrami on rye.
The next item on the agenda was going to the UN building for the conference's opening ceremonies. We had to wait outside for more than an hour, but we finally got in and were seated in the General Assembly room. It's quite an impressive place, especially considering all of the history that's been made there. The decor is very outdated, though. The UN building hasn't had a major renovation since it was built, so there were a lot of puke greens and browns that people used to think were pretty stylish. We listened to a few speeches, using the famous earphones, and then we left to walk back to the hotel.
After grabbing a quick bite to eat along the way (pizza), we all split up and went to our first committee meetings. I was the Czech representative to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The first thing each committee does is set the agenda. This orders the list of topics that the committee will discuss, and it is an important task because committees almost never make it through all of the topics. Surprisingly, there was consensus among the delegates in the UNHCR, and we were able to get started on the first topic rather quickly.
One of the big issues during the first night of the conference is setting the speaker's time. We entertained countless motions to change the speaker's time. Finally, everyone seemed to agree that one minute and thirty seconds was the right amount of time for each speech. Beyond that, we didn't accomplish much else on the first committee meeting.
For dessert that night, Weston and I went to a little cafe in Times Square and had brownies ala mode. They were very good, and we had a chance to watch some very drunk people falling off their barstools and smashing their drink glasses. Then we went to sleep.
The next morning we got up early to take a tour of the Empire State Building. We walked down there in our suits because we wouldn't have time to change before going to the Czech Mission. We stood in various lines for about an hour before finally riding the elevator up to the 82nd floor. The observation deck was pretty nice, and we were able to see all of the city. It was a little hazy that morning, but the visibility was still around five miles. Weston and I both got some good pictures.
After returning to the hotel, we met all of the other WSU people and rode the subway up to the Czech Mission to the UN. The Czech ambassador greeted us and talked to us for about 40 minutes about the Czech Republic's role in the United Nations. It was very helpful information, a first-hand account of how international diplomacy really works. He was very nice, complimenting our position papers and taking questions.
For lunch a group of us tried to find a certain cafe that the returners had eaten at last year. We looked for a long time but couldn't find it. (Turns out that it had recently changed its name.) So instead we ate at an Irish pub. Pastrami on rye.
The next item on the agenda was going to the UN building for the conference's opening ceremonies. We had to wait outside for more than an hour, but we finally got in and were seated in the General Assembly room. It's quite an impressive place, especially considering all of the history that's been made there. The decor is very outdated, though. The UN building hasn't had a major renovation since it was built, so there were a lot of puke greens and browns that people used to think were pretty stylish. We listened to a few speeches, using the famous earphones, and then we left to walk back to the hotel.
After grabbing a quick bite to eat along the way (pizza), we all split up and went to our first committee meetings. I was the Czech representative to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The first thing each committee does is set the agenda. This orders the list of topics that the committee will discuss, and it is an important task because committees almost never make it through all of the topics. Surprisingly, there was consensus among the delegates in the UNHCR, and we were able to get started on the first topic rather quickly.
One of the big issues during the first night of the conference is setting the speaker's time. We entertained countless motions to change the speaker's time. Finally, everyone seemed to agree that one minute and thirty seconds was the right amount of time for each speech. Beyond that, we didn't accomplish much else on the first committee meeting.
For dessert that night, Weston and I went to a little cafe in Times Square and had brownies ala mode. They were very good, and we had a chance to watch some very drunk people falling off their barstools and smashing their drink glasses. Then we went to sleep.
Monday, April 10, 2006
New York - Day 2
This was our big sightseeing day, since we had nothing scheduled until dinnertime. We woke up pretty early were out of the room by 7:30. We ate breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts (a very New York thing to do, we thought), and found our way to Rockefeller Center. We saw the ice rink there and the entrance to NBC Studios. The Today show was being shot live there, and we saw Katie Couric, Matt Lower, and Al Roker when they were visiting the crowds outside.
Then it was on to the subway station. We had a lot of ground to cover today, so we figured that an all-day subway pass was the way to go. The subway system in New York is surprisingly intuitive and easy to use. There are stations near all of the important places we wanted to see, so that saved us a lot of time. First we stopped off at the Brooklyn Bridge. I suggested checking it out on a whim, but it's a good thing we decided to see it. There's actually a pedestrian path on the bridge, so we were able to go out on it and get some pretty good pictures of both the bridge and the city. New York City Hall is right next to the bridge. We tried to get in there to talk to Michael Bloomberg, but the security guard said that there was nothing to see in City Hall.
Wall Street was next. The station there is right next to Trinity Church, which is an impressive building. It was visited by the Queen of England once, a plaque said. Wall Street has the New York Stock Exchange building and one of the Trump towers, but not much for a tourist to really be excited about. They stopped giving tours of the NYSE after September 11. Our next mission was to find the Wall Street Bull. Weston really wanted a picture of him "grabbing the bull by the horns." It took a while to find, but we finally did. That was a good photo-op.
I was surprised that Battery Park was so close to Wall Street. Battery Park is located directly across the water from both Ellis Island and Liberty Island, which is where the Statue of Liberty is located. We had considered riding a boat around to both of those islands, but the line was almost a two hour wait. We were able to get some good pictures, at least.
Next stop was Ground Zero, the former site of the World Trade Center Buildings. It's a strange thing to be walking around downtown New York City and to suddenly see a gaping hole in the skyline. I was impressed at how much work has already been done on the sight. Construction is moving forward. There is a sort of informal memorial off to the side, and I took some pictures.
When we got on the subway after that, we weren't exactly sure where we were going next or what we wanted to do. Weston and I were able to cover a lot of ground quickly today, and we had crossed off everything on our list by 12:30 or one o'clock. We ended up just jumping on the first train that came by. It ended up taking us underneath the East River and letting us off in Brooklyn. We weren't prepared for this and we didn't know exactly where we were, so we got lost in Brooklyn for about an hour. Finally, we got our bearings and decided to go to Coney Island. It was a long train ride, but it was worth it.
Coney Island seems like a place that's past its prime. I bet it was really exciting back in the '50s and '60s. Today, though, all of the amusement park rides were closed and the souvenir shops weren't high quality. The presence of Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs made the jaunt worthwhile, though. Nathan's sponsors the world hot dog eating contest each year, and it was a treat to be able to try out their signature wieners. Coney Island also has a pretty cool beach. We walked around in the sand for a while and watched some high school kids trying to play football. They were very bad a football. I mean very bad. They couldn't punt, pass or kick of their lives depended upon it. My favorite attraction a Coney Island was a game called "Shoot the Freak." Apparently, the contestant shoots paintballs at live human targets as they run around in a maze. Too bad it wasn't open for business while we were there.
We still had a few hours before we had to meet up with the rest of our group, so we decided to cross the East River to get a look at the UN building from afar. We rode the subway and met a nice girl who attends City University in NYC. She talked with us for a while and gave us good directions. We got off the train and found a park with a great view. We stayed there for a while taking pictures and enjoying the amazingly nice weather. On our way back to the Marriott, we saw the famous Bryant Park. It's really nice, it has a big lawn and many small tables with chairs. It is located right next to the New York Public Library, and there were a lot of business people there taking a break from work.
For dinner we went to a Brazilian restaurant called Charrascuria Plataforma. It was so good! Probably the fanciest restaurant I've ever been to. To start off, we were seated and had a chance to meet our alumni hosts. Then we went through the salad bar, which had enough variety, quantity and quality for a whole meal itself. At this restaurant, when you're done with the salad bar you turn your drink coaster over from the red side to the green side. Then the waiters know to start bringing you the meat. They carry the meat around on these big huge skewers, and they come around and slice off pieces onto your plate. I must have had about twelve different kinds of meat on my plate at once, all cooked to perfection. When you couldn't eat anymore, you turned your coater back to the red side. I'm sure that this was a very expensive meal, probably upwards of $70 per person.
After filling ourselves to the brim, we decided that we needed some cheesecake for dessert. A subset of the group went to a place called Ben Ash with Bill Smith. We each ordered a different kind of cheesecake, and each one tasted great. Most people couldn't finish their dessert because dinner was so intense. I finished mine, but I was very, very full afterward.
The night was still young, so Weston and I decided to check out Chinatown and Little Italy. By the time we got there, most places were closed. It was still fun to walk around and explore, though. A lot of the cafes were still open, and we looked at their exquisite pastries and desserts. One place had a chocolate Easter Egg that was at least a foot long. After a bit of exploring, we went back to the hotel.
Then it was on to the subway station. We had a lot of ground to cover today, so we figured that an all-day subway pass was the way to go. The subway system in New York is surprisingly intuitive and easy to use. There are stations near all of the important places we wanted to see, so that saved us a lot of time. First we stopped off at the Brooklyn Bridge. I suggested checking it out on a whim, but it's a good thing we decided to see it. There's actually a pedestrian path on the bridge, so we were able to go out on it and get some pretty good pictures of both the bridge and the city. New York City Hall is right next to the bridge. We tried to get in there to talk to Michael Bloomberg, but the security guard said that there was nothing to see in City Hall.
Wall Street was next. The station there is right next to Trinity Church, which is an impressive building. It was visited by the Queen of England once, a plaque said. Wall Street has the New York Stock Exchange building and one of the Trump towers, but not much for a tourist to really be excited about. They stopped giving tours of the NYSE after September 11. Our next mission was to find the Wall Street Bull. Weston really wanted a picture of him "grabbing the bull by the horns." It took a while to find, but we finally did. That was a good photo-op.
I was surprised that Battery Park was so close to Wall Street. Battery Park is located directly across the water from both Ellis Island and Liberty Island, which is where the Statue of Liberty is located. We had considered riding a boat around to both of those islands, but the line was almost a two hour wait. We were able to get some good pictures, at least.
Next stop was Ground Zero, the former site of the World Trade Center Buildings. It's a strange thing to be walking around downtown New York City and to suddenly see a gaping hole in the skyline. I was impressed at how much work has already been done on the sight. Construction is moving forward. There is a sort of informal memorial off to the side, and I took some pictures.
When we got on the subway after that, we weren't exactly sure where we were going next or what we wanted to do. Weston and I were able to cover a lot of ground quickly today, and we had crossed off everything on our list by 12:30 or one o'clock. We ended up just jumping on the first train that came by. It ended up taking us underneath the East River and letting us off in Brooklyn. We weren't prepared for this and we didn't know exactly where we were, so we got lost in Brooklyn for about an hour. Finally, we got our bearings and decided to go to Coney Island. It was a long train ride, but it was worth it.
Coney Island seems like a place that's past its prime. I bet it was really exciting back in the '50s and '60s. Today, though, all of the amusement park rides were closed and the souvenir shops weren't high quality. The presence of Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs made the jaunt worthwhile, though. Nathan's sponsors the world hot dog eating contest each year, and it was a treat to be able to try out their signature wieners. Coney Island also has a pretty cool beach. We walked around in the sand for a while and watched some high school kids trying to play football. They were very bad a football. I mean very bad. They couldn't punt, pass or kick of their lives depended upon it. My favorite attraction a Coney Island was a game called "Shoot the Freak." Apparently, the contestant shoots paintballs at live human targets as they run around in a maze. Too bad it wasn't open for business while we were there.
We still had a few hours before we had to meet up with the rest of our group, so we decided to cross the East River to get a look at the UN building from afar. We rode the subway and met a nice girl who attends City University in NYC. She talked with us for a while and gave us good directions. We got off the train and found a park with a great view. We stayed there for a while taking pictures and enjoying the amazingly nice weather. On our way back to the Marriott, we saw the famous Bryant Park. It's really nice, it has a big lawn and many small tables with chairs. It is located right next to the New York Public Library, and there were a lot of business people there taking a break from work.
For dinner we went to a Brazilian restaurant called Charrascuria Plataforma. It was so good! Probably the fanciest restaurant I've ever been to. To start off, we were seated and had a chance to meet our alumni hosts. Then we went through the salad bar, which had enough variety, quantity and quality for a whole meal itself. At this restaurant, when you're done with the salad bar you turn your drink coaster over from the red side to the green side. Then the waiters know to start bringing you the meat. They carry the meat around on these big huge skewers, and they come around and slice off pieces onto your plate. I must have had about twelve different kinds of meat on my plate at once, all cooked to perfection. When you couldn't eat anymore, you turned your coater back to the red side. I'm sure that this was a very expensive meal, probably upwards of $70 per person.
After filling ourselves to the brim, we decided that we needed some cheesecake for dessert. A subset of the group went to a place called Ben Ash with Bill Smith. We each ordered a different kind of cheesecake, and each one tasted great. Most people couldn't finish their dessert because dinner was so intense. I finished mine, but I was very, very full afterward.
The night was still young, so Weston and I decided to check out Chinatown and Little Italy. By the time we got there, most places were closed. It was still fun to walk around and explore, though. A lot of the cafes were still open, and we looked at their exquisite pastries and desserts. One place had a chocolate Easter Egg that was at least a foot long. After a bit of exploring, we went back to the hotel.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
New York - Day 1
Today Weston and I went to New York. We are part of the National Model United Nations this year, representing the Czech Republic with WSU. There are thirteen people in our contingent, and we'll be staying until next Saturday.
We woke up this morning at 3AM for the drive up to Spokane. We'd spent most of yesterday packing and planning for the trip, so we were able to just get up and go. We picked up Erik Dahl and piled all of ourselves and our belongings into Weston's car. The drive up wasn't too eventful; we missed the exit for the airport but that was pretty much it.
After parking Weston's car in one of the airport lots, we took a shuttle to the terminal. The driver was pretty nice, but he let us off in a really funny place. We were flying Frontier Airlines, so he dropped us off in front of their ticket counter. The thing is, there aren't any doors there to walk through. So by trying to help us out and get us as close to our destination as possible, he made us walk more.
We waited for everyone to show up to the airport because we were the first ones there. The WSU and UI delegations eventually all showed up, even though Kristin Simmler (our head delegate) was late because she misplaced her ID. While we were waiting, Samuel L. Jackson walked into the airport, went to the ticket counter, and got checked out through security. Someone said he's been doing a movie in Spokane for the past few weeks. It isn't often you get a little brush with fame in the Spokane Airport.
The flight to Denver wasn't too eventful. Weston traded seats with someone so we could sit together. Bill Smith (our advisor) and his wife sat behind us. There was a short layover in Denver before we caught a flight to Laguardia.
After arriving in New York, we were picked up by two shuttle buses. The drivers in New York are fearless. The go flying down narrow roads and pay no attention to staying in their own lanes. Our driver gave us a sort of tour of Queens. There were fenced-basketball courts just like you'd expect, and there are also a significant number of very large, very old cemeteries. We took a toll road and a tunnel that went under the East River, I think, and before you knew it we were in Times Square. We checked into our room at the Marriott Grand Marquis on Times Square, which has a great view of the big video screens and neon signs.
For dinner we met up with the rest of the WSU delegation and went out to a Thai restaurant. To get there, we walked down Times Square and ended up crossing through Grand Central Terminal. It's an impressive building which reminded me a lot of Union Station in Washington, D.C. The food at the restaurant was very good, especially considering that it was free. The Honors College paid for the whole thing: appetizers, main courses and desserts. (Honors, we're that cool.) The Thai tea, fried bananas, and green tea ice cream were all good.
After dinner Weston and I took a little walk around the city to see what we could see. First we tried going into the Chrysler building, which is probably the coolest looking skyscraper in New York. It isn't open for tours, though. Then we wandered over to the Empire State Building. We decided to pay the $16 to go to the top during the daytime so we could take pictures. On the way back to hotel we crossed 34th Street (of movie fame) and Macy's. When we got back to the room, we spent some time planning our adventure for tomorrow.
We woke up this morning at 3AM for the drive up to Spokane. We'd spent most of yesterday packing and planning for the trip, so we were able to just get up and go. We picked up Erik Dahl and piled all of ourselves and our belongings into Weston's car. The drive up wasn't too eventful; we missed the exit for the airport but that was pretty much it.
After parking Weston's car in one of the airport lots, we took a shuttle to the terminal. The driver was pretty nice, but he let us off in a really funny place. We were flying Frontier Airlines, so he dropped us off in front of their ticket counter. The thing is, there aren't any doors there to walk through. So by trying to help us out and get us as close to our destination as possible, he made us walk more.
We waited for everyone to show up to the airport because we were the first ones there. The WSU and UI delegations eventually all showed up, even though Kristin Simmler (our head delegate) was late because she misplaced her ID. While we were waiting, Samuel L. Jackson walked into the airport, went to the ticket counter, and got checked out through security. Someone said he's been doing a movie in Spokane for the past few weeks. It isn't often you get a little brush with fame in the Spokane Airport.
The flight to Denver wasn't too eventful. Weston traded seats with someone so we could sit together. Bill Smith (our advisor) and his wife sat behind us. There was a short layover in Denver before we caught a flight to Laguardia.
After arriving in New York, we were picked up by two shuttle buses. The drivers in New York are fearless. The go flying down narrow roads and pay no attention to staying in their own lanes. Our driver gave us a sort of tour of Queens. There were fenced-basketball courts just like you'd expect, and there are also a significant number of very large, very old cemeteries. We took a toll road and a tunnel that went under the East River, I think, and before you knew it we were in Times Square. We checked into our room at the Marriott Grand Marquis on Times Square, which has a great view of the big video screens and neon signs.
For dinner we met up with the rest of the WSU delegation and went out to a Thai restaurant. To get there, we walked down Times Square and ended up crossing through Grand Central Terminal. It's an impressive building which reminded me a lot of Union Station in Washington, D.C. The food at the restaurant was very good, especially considering that it was free. The Honors College paid for the whole thing: appetizers, main courses and desserts. (Honors, we're that cool.) The Thai tea, fried bananas, and green tea ice cream were all good.
After dinner Weston and I took a little walk around the city to see what we could see. First we tried going into the Chrysler building, which is probably the coolest looking skyscraper in New York. It isn't open for tours, though. Then we wandered over to the Empire State Building. We decided to pay the $16 to go to the top during the daytime so we could take pictures. On the way back to hotel we crossed 34th Street (of movie fame) and Macy's. When we got back to the room, we spent some time planning our adventure for tomorrow.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
[DupyPics] 4/08/2006 09:49:52 AM
This picture is from spring break. I guess the News Tribune had a bunch of Seahawk stuff for the Super Bowl.
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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 4/08/2006 09:49:52 AM
Monday, April 03, 2006
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Saturday, April 01, 2006
[DupyPics] 4/01/2006 09:40:23 PM
Weston is developing a restaurant menu for one of his classes. It's a high class steak and seafood joint, which he wants to call Stover's Steak and Seafood. His group probably won't go for that name, but I'm guessing they'll love this little logo he drew up.
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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 4/01/2006 09:40:23 PM
[DupyLinks] Google Romance
[http://www.google.com/romance/press.html]
You can always count on Google for a good April Fool's joke. This one is very funny, with "contextual dating ads" and the tagline "love is just another search problem."
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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 4/01/2006 12:26:07 AM
You can always count on Google for a good April Fool's joke. This one is very funny, with "contextual dating ads" and the tagline "love is just another search problem."
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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 4/01/2006 12:26:07 AM
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