Vancouver, et al.: Day 8: Lake Padden and Pike Place Market (again)

This day, the last of our trip, I took a smattering of pictures. The day roughly mirrored day one in reverse: Lake Padden, Pike Place, and flying.

Di Yin also took pictures. The link goes to her first picture from this day (picture #187), the last day of our trip. If you're in slideshow mode and see a picture of the large Pike Place Market sign, you've cycled back to the beginning of the album--day one of our trip--and are seeing pictures I already linked to.

First, we drove south from Vancouver/Richmond and went through customs (easy this time). Once in Washington state, although we'd planned to picnic by Lake Padden, we didn't see the highway exit for it. (We guessed the exit must've been only on the other side of the highway.) Instead we pulled over by Lake Samish and ate. After eating, we still had the time for and desire to walk around Lake Padden so we attempted to find it by getting back on the highway and driving north. (We didn't consider walking near Lake Samish--it's huge and mostly developed and therefore less pleasant.)

Lake Padden turned out to be the next northbound exit! (It's actually the same exit as for north Lake Samish.)

Because it was a cool day, we changed into warm clothes and hiked the 2.5 miles around the lake.

From Lake Padden, we went to Pike Place Market in Seattle, where we had lunch, bought snacks, and bought supplies for dinner. I purchased some overpriced dried cantaloupe, in the process taste testing dried apples, figs, and more. I also again tasted and contemplated buying the good balsamic vinegar I spotted on our last visit. As part of lunch, I was in the mood for raspberries, but I couldn't find any organically grown raspberries at the market. (This was especially important to me because I didn't have a place to wash them.) I guess the organic movement hasn't hit Seattle as much as the bay area.

Getting to the airport and home from Pike Place was dicey. We couldn't figure out how to get to the highway we wanted. (We forgot the rental car company gave us a map of the area.) Eventually, we made it to the airport, was about to return the car, then realized we forgot to refill the gas tank. We left the airport, filled the tank, and returned. Returning was made more complicated due to some minor damage to the vehicle. As I dealt with it, Di Yin went ahead as a precaution (just like our trip to Seattle) and checked our bag. Once we landed in the bay area, we learned our bag had been misdirected to southern California. It would be delivered the following day. I was quite concerned because my apartment keys were in my luggage. Happily, Di Yin had my backups in her carry-on, so everything worked out. Plus, she got $25 to spend on emergency clothes and toiletries to compensate for the day without the luggage. So, yes, getting home from Seattle involved a number of unusual occurrences.

Vancouver, et al.: Day 7: Lots of Nature

This day Di Yin and I had different priorities, so we split up. On my own, I took a ton of pictures.

First, I went to VanDusen Botanical Garden and wandered around for two and a half hours. It's lovely, as you can see from the pictures. I also liked the garden's many educational plaques and its hedge maze.

For lunch, I headed to the Richmond Public Market. Unlike the malls throughout Richmond, this really was a market: the lower level contained produce stands, butchers, fishmongers, a Chinese bakery, a frozen dim sum place, as well as places like art shops and clothing retailers. The art store had many very good paintings, none of which I photographed because I feel weird taking pictures of paintings for sale. Upstairs was a large food court. Many places sold steam-table stuff--I avoided those and ended up having an okay (though freshly made) lunch at Tian Jing Northern Cuisine.

I grabbed a drink and drove to Granville Island to attempt again to pick up a bottle of sake for a friend, and to pick up some bagels for Di Yin and I for the following morning. (I now knew what type of sake he wanted.) I, however, was foiled--the store was closed. I did get the bagels and got some buffalo pepperoni while I was at the market. I also took a moment to stick my head in a glass art store and spotted a fish swimming in a bag of water. The fish was glass; the water was glass; the bag was glass. It's quite a feat getting all those types of glass fused together without cracking and while making it look realistic.

I headed back south through way too much traffic and construction to the Bloedel Floral Conservatory. Due to the dense, indoor, cozy nature of the domed conservatory and the sounds (and sight) of its birds, it was much more atmospheric than the botanical garden. (See the pictures.) Because it's smaller, I saw and read everything in an hour.

As the conservatory is in Queen Elizabeth Park, I decided to explore it as well. The park's vistas were pretty, though not like the vistas of water and skyscrapers one gets from False Creek or Stanley Park. The park is similar to the morning's botanical garden, just with additional open fields, as well as picnic areas and a small golf course. It would be a nice place to run. (Yes, Stanley park would be a nice, albeit different, place to run, too.)

I met Di Yin for dinner at Chen's Shanghai Kitchen. It was terrific! The dumplings and buns I had were uniformly better than anything I've had elsewhere, bay area or otherwise. In addition to my pictures, Di Yin took one at dinner (pictures #186).

Vancouver, et al.: Day 6: Sidney by the Sea and Heading Back to Richmond

These pictures provide a more vivid representation of the day than the brief text below. Di Yin also took pictures. The latter link goes to her first picture from this day (pictures #154). When you see a picture of fried tofu (picture #175), you're done with her pictures for the day. I'll link to the next day's pictures in the following post.

In the morning, I hung out on the University of Victoria's campus and in its library, relaxing, while Di Yin participated in her conference.

Once she was done, we headed north to Sidney by the Sea, a town near the ferry back to Vancouver. The town reminded me of Monterey, complete with fun little stores, artwork such as statues and murals, and, not surprisingly, the smell of the sea. By little stores, in this case I mean bookstores, including one specializing in historical maps and old stuff in general.

After wandering through town and eating a good lunch, we headed to the ferry. We were delayed leaving town because we were distracted by some seals. Luckily, we narrowly made the ferry we wanted--we were one of the last cars to get on the ferry. That's saying a lot, as these ferries are huge! There are three levels of cars, trucks, tour buses, RVS, ... Thus, given their tremendous weight, it's even more surprising that they travel at a nice clip. Incidentally, the ferries are smartly designed: sliding doors between the parking levels and the stairways seal the vehicle exhaust from the interior cabins.

Once in Richmond, we wandered around trying to choose where to eat, grabbing snacks on the way. Eventually (after too long) we settled on Delicious Cuisine (urbanspoon) and had a delightful meal of, as Di Yin says, hakka-style Taiwanese food. Di Yin talked with the waiter, a delightful old man and apparently the father of the chef. The waiter admits his son is demanding, even mean: a perfectionist. As an example, he'd taste dishes before they were to be delivered to customers and, if they weren't up to par, throw them away and do them again. Perfectionism isn't necessarily a bad trait for a chef.

Vancouver, et al.: Day 5: Vancouver Island

On this day, a Saturday, we did a wide assortment of activities in the rural areas of Vancouver Island. It was a beautiful sunny day, a great day to head into nature. The activities are well documented by these pictures. Di Yin also took photos. The latter link goes to her first picture from this day (pictures #106). When you see a picture of a truck full of flowers (picture #150), you're done with her pictures for the day. I'll link to the next day's pictures in the following post.

After a brief excursion to UVic (where I easily found the bunnies), we experienced a beautiful drive north as the highway cut between rocks. On the way, we stopped twice for views. Incidentally, even though we only passed through the outskirt of Victoria, I was surprised to see many pedestrian bridges.

The first item on our itinerary was the Blue Grouse vineyard, the winery that produces the wine I drank last night and enjoyed. While I tasted wines and bought the bottle I wanted, Di Yin made friends with the winery's cat.

As we left the winery, we stopped by a field of wildflowers we saw on the way in and by a tunnel of trees we passed through. We decided, however, that some things look better from the car.

The next item on our plan-as-we-go itinerary was downtown Duncan, where we saw a sign for a market. Duncan's a small town. Probably due to the climate, the market didn't have many fresh vegetables and lacked fruit entirely; instead, we saw vendors selling jams, jellies, honey, fudge, and, interestingly, rhubarb pie. The only vegetables we spotted were peppers, tomatoes, and salad greens.

We moved on to Merridale Cidery. It was lunchtime, and we decided to eat al fresco at the restaurant, La Pommeraie Bistro, attached to the cidery. We had a terrific meal in a lovely setting.

After lunch, we picked up a map and walked the grounds, stopping to read the signs, finally finishing our tour in the distillery. We learned about the cidery's many types of apples, how they grow them organically, and how they process them into cider.

Finally, we returned to the main building to taste ciders, which was our main purpose in coming here. We got to sample seven of their eight ciders, all of which are 7-15% alcohol. I'm not going to post my tasting notes here because we received a pamphlet describing each cider in detail and I only wrote down my observations that weren't already printed on that sheet. As that sheet doesn't appear to be online, I'm not going to bother typing everything up. Nevertheless, I can reveal my final conclusion: as Merridale is a respected producer of English ciders, I guess I just don't like English apple ciders. The more ciders departed from the traditional normandie, the more they appealed to me. The only one I would go out of my way to drink again was the cyser, and it appealed to me because it reminded me of good quality honey wine. Not only did it taste like it, it felt silky and yeasty and rested on the back of my tongue like honey wine. I tried to buy a bottle, at which time we were surprised to observe that the ciders are sold in plastic bottles. Di Yin, however, recalled that the ciders required refrigeration and reasoned that it'd be impossible for me to keep something refrigerated for a day during this vacation, let alone all the way home. I made a note to check when I returned home how I could acquire some cyser. It turns out it's impossible to buy or ship outside of British Columbia. Ah, well. (I had high hopes, as I don't know where to get good quality honey wine--or anything that tastes like it--, and there's so much bad stuff out there.)

Next, after a bit of searching, came Cowichan Bay, a tiny town with a few artisanal vendors that my research suggested we visit.

Our final major stop was the town of Chemainus. Chemainus is a small town with a cute downtown, much nicer than Duncan's. My guidebook commends it for its Victorian homes and many murals. The Victorian houses, small and boring, weren't even worth driving past. The murals, however, were cool, and there were an astounding number of them. I ran around town trying to take pictures of every one. I must admit my attempt to be comprehensive was a bit crazy, but look at the pictures and you'll appreciate my efforts.

Over the course of the day, we picked up some food for a picnic. As we drove south back to the apartment where we were staying, we stopped by a grocery store to round out our selection, then stopped in a park at twilight and ate in the car.

Vancouver, et al.: Day 4: Travel to Vancouver Island and Sooke Harbour House

One nice thing about staying in someone's house instead of a hotel is that, at least in this case, it's in a residential part of town and therefore a nicer area in which to run. Thus, this morning we got up and went running.

Then we checked out, briefly stopped by a mall so I could buy a memory card for my brand new camera, tried to go to a particular dim sum joint which turned out to be closed, and ended up having brunch at #9 Restaurant. We'd eaten there before and I stand by my conclusion from last time: it really is a diner.

Speaking of pictures, the smattering of pictures I took this day are from my new camera. Di Yin took a few pictures too. The latter link goes to her first picture from this day (pictures #85). When you see a picture of a painted rock doorstop (picture #105), you're done with her pictures for the day. I'll link to the next day's pictures in the following post.

After lunch, we drove aboard the ferry to Vancouver Island. On the way, we stopped by the quay adjacent to the ferry landing. There's a gelato stand inside with some artistically sculpted tins of gelato. (See Di Yin's pictures when I link to them.)

The day was sunny and pretty and thus the ferry ride, first passing through open water then dodging islands as we neared Vancouver Island, was pleasant. We had a picnic lunch on-board.

When we drove off the ferry, after passing many ugly, tacky billboards, we got to see Vancouver Island proper. It's very green, with lots of tall trees and tons of wildflowers. We checked in the home where we were staying for the next few nights. Then we went to the University of Victoria so Di Yin could check into her conference, and I wrote in my notes beneath "very green" that "UVic even more so." When she returned, she told me stories about the bunnies on campus and showed me some great pictures. I hadn't seen any bunnies on campus, but I went looking for them the next day and didn't have to look far to get some pictures of my own.

Finally, we drove to our dinner destination. We missed the final turn into the restaurant/hotel and ended up at a very nice park on the water. As with all the rest of the day's commentary, refer to the pictures.

For dinner, I took Di Yin to Sooke Harbour House, a famous restaurant that emphasizes fresh, local, sustainable ingredients. They grow many of their own herbs in their garden. The setting was stunning, and, although the first few dishes didn't stand out, the meal got better as it went along and ended fairly well overall.

My dessert, a huge chocolate and cream sculpture, combined with the chocolate after-dinner treats was enough chocolate to keep me awake the whole ride home. Indeed, it was too much chocolate; even the next morning, I simply didn't want to think about eating chocolate for at least a week.

On the ride home, we passed many hitchhikers. I guess that's one way teenagers get into town (Victoria, the only reasonably large town anywhere nearby) for a night out.

Vancouver, et al.: Day 3: Stanley Park, Museums, and Food

I took a smattering of pictures this day. They accompany the narrative, but there's a lot that happened that I didn't photograph. Di Yin took more pictures. The latter link goes to her first picture from this day (pictures #54). When you see a picture of Di Yin at the Museum of Anthropology (picture #73), you're done with the pictures she took while I was with her. (She and I split up for part of the day.)

In the morning, we brought to Stanley Park some food we'd bought at Granville Island, had breakfast, and explored the park. Because we'd both been there before, we decided to go off the beaten perimeter path and ended up walking by Beaver Lake, in the process spotting many types of flora and fauna:

  • birds: crows, ducks (both adults and babies), mandarin ducks, a black bird with a large stripe on its wings that was only visible when it was flying, herons, robins, and seagulls.
  • rodents: black squirrels, and regular baby squirrels.
  • plants: daisies (including one with a violet fringe), roses, and berries (orange/tan--we couldn't figure out what these were).
After a brief lunchtime dessert snack, we left the park and I grabbed a quick, poor lunch at Connie's Cook House on 4th Avenue in Vancouver's neighborhood called Kitsilano. Then, I dropped Di Yin off at UBC's Museum of Anthropology (which I'd already seen) while I headed downtown to the Police Museum.

The Police Museum is by the main police station in an appropriately seedy part of town near Gastown and Chinatown. On the way there, I passed a few shelters, a detox facility, the salvation army, and a courthouse.

The museum is small, taking me only fourty minutes (yes, I intentionally spell it that way) to explore at a slow pace. Although the science/forensics exhibits didn't have anything I didn't already know, there were a few exhibits I kind of liked (see the pictures). I also liked one t-shirt they sold in the gift shop: "Cops: The World's Largest Street Gang."

Next, I drove over to the Vancouver Art Gallery. It's like a museum with no permanent exhibit. I skipped it on my last trip because I didn't like the descriptions of any of its then-current exhibits. This year one exhibit sounded interesting enough, KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art, that it enticed me to pay the high entrance fee to explore the gallery. The gallery, housed in a former courthouse, has a nice interior and central dome.

I liked the exhibit I came for. It was a comprehensive look at comics, anime, manga, cartoons, and video games, and how these media evolved over time. As I explored, I built a list of comics, cartoons, and anime that I should read/watch.

In the comics section, I found interesting the display about how comics can be used as a revealing personal essay. Examples included Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary by Justin Green and One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry. This section also had some great New Yorker covers.

The anime section had some great discussions on themes in groundbreaking anime (e.g., Patlabor 2, Paprika -- these immediately went on my list of movies to watch).

In the cartoon section, I liked the layout showing the process of making a computer-animated film: focus control, camera placement, color selection, etc. They used Over The Hedge as the example. They also had some Wallace & Gromit sketches, using that film and television episodes as examples as well.

The video game section was especially extravagant, with many screens, projectors, televisions, and video game systems that were actually available to play. I thought it was particularly interesting to read about what games the curators thought were groundbreaking and why. They chose Pac-Man, Civilization, Super Mario World, The Sims, The Legend of Zelda (Wind Walker), Grand Theft Auto, Quake, and Spore (not yet released). Most of these I've played, and agree with their arguments regarding their importance.

The special exhibit also had minor displays that entertained me: cosplayers (people who dress up as anime/manga/etc. characters), and onomatopoeia (e.g., how comics use words like BLAM, SHTOOM, VISHH that sounds like what they're supposed to mean).

Finally, somewhere in this exhibit, I saw a quote which amused me greatly. It reflects, at an intellectual level, the frustration I feel with museums (including this gallery) which prohibit photography:
The museum can only confirm the primacy of its images when it denies the legitimacy of all other images.

I also visited the gallery's other exhibits.
  • Zhang Huan has coordinated some strange events. For instance, he brought some (naked) people to the top of a mountain, had them lay in a mound, and claimed he raised the height of the mountain, at least temporarily. He also paid many immigrants to stand in a pool, enough to significantly raise of level of water. (I forget what he claimed it signified.) Furthermore, he's photographed himself wearing a bloody pig's ribcage, and he's built things out of ash.
  • Rebecca Belmore makes experimental work that's just not for me (even more not for me in general than Huan's).
  • Canadian Women Modernists: The Dialogue with Emily Carr reminded me that "modernists" does not mean modern art. This exhibit basically showed Emily Carr and other female Canadian artists who painted in a wide variety of modern styles including pointillism and impressionism. (In this context, modernism seems to be anything that's not strictly representational.)
After independently browsing museums, Di Yin and I met up and headed to Guu in Gastown. Though it took us awhile to find it (during which time Di Yin took two pictures: 1, 2), once we did, we had a good meal.

Vancouver, et al.: Day 2: Granville Island and More

Given that both Di Yin and I are huge fans of Granville Island, it's no surprise we spent much of the day there and it dominates the day's photos. Di Yin also took pictures. The latter link goes to her first picture from this day (picture #26). When you see a picture of the insde of Agros Cafe (picture #53), you're done with her pictures for the day.

To start the day, we grabbed for breakfast a light snack at a local Asian mall and food court (Parker Place in Richmond). Then we caught a bus to Granville Island to browse the countless shops and markets. We mostly spent our time in the food market, assembling a complex and tasty lunch. Granville Island is as cool as I remembered. Incidentally, on the north end of the island, I spotted countless residential towers--recall that Vancouver has many modern skyscraper apartment buildings--overlooking the market and was jealous of all the people living a short walk/boat ride away.

On a friend's request, I visited a sake producer to pick up a bottle for him. However, they were out of what I thought he wanted--the premium blue label (Junmai Nama Nigori)--so I didn't buy him anything. While there, I tried the red label sake (Junmai Nama); its taste changed over time and ended with an unpleasant vodka-like finish. While I tasted, the woman at the counter complained about the number of licenses they needed to open the distillery on the island and provide tastings to customers. They have a stack of licenses framed on the wall.

I spent some of the afternoon browsing the Model Train and Ships Museum, a museum that I was sad I didn't have time to visit during my previous trip to Vancouver. It was decent, with one remarkably large model train layout, but nowhere near as impressive as my memory of the massive model train setup I saw years ago in Victoria.

After I went to the museum, Di Yin and I met up again, sat and snacked in a cafe for a while, then decided to go downtown to kill some time before dinner. We walked across the bridge to Vancouver proper and found a cool Korean mall with a large Korean grocery store (H-Mart). From there, we headed west down Robson through downtown's main shopping street. Finally, we returned along Granville Street, walking past clubs, bars, xxx places, and joints selling food for drunk people. Granville Street had more beggars than Robson Street.

As we headed back to a bus stop, we peeked inside a restaurant advertising "Hedonistic Nocturnal Feasting" and "Foodgasms til 1:30am."

Once back where we parked our rental car in Richmond, we went to Seto, a reasonably good Japanese restaurant. The decor was unusual for a Japanese restaurant (at least judging by the states), having many secluded booths with high walls.

We intentionally ate a small dinner so we could head to No 9 Restaurant, a brightly-lit, 24-hour Chinese diner that Di Yin likes. There, I had a reasonably good bowl of won ton soup.

Vancouver, et al.: Day 1: Traveling and Pike Place Market

Getting to my flight to Seattle was confusing. Though Di Yin and I took the bus I always take straight to the airport, we had trouble finding my flight. Apparently my domestic Virgin America flight was to depart from the international terminal! By the time we figured this out, it was too late for me to check our baggage; instead, Di Yin checked our bags for us. (She flew on a different flight which left slightly later.)

This was the first time I flew Virgin America. I enjoyed watching their safety announcement, done in the form of a wry cartoon. The flight itself was comfortable: the seats were leather; we each had a row to ourselves; every seat had a personal video screen.

Once Di Yin and I landed in Seattle and picked up our luggage and rental car, we drove to Pike Place Market. Seattle was overcast. On the way to the market, we got views of downtown. Also, we passed a harbor with many cranes that reminded me of hobby-horses and a literally countless number of shipping containers.

Once in Pike Place, I started taking pictures. Di Yin did too. The latter link goes to her first picture from this trip. When you see a picture of Di Yin with Hainanese chicken (picture #26), you're done with her pictures for the day. I'll link to the next day's pictures in the following post.

Pike Place itself was pretty impressive and similar to, though much larger than, I remembered. I like the plaques with old pictures of the market. I'd forgotten there were many additional stores underground. Admittedly, most of them sold clothing, or non-artisan and non-food products, so they interested me less than the part above ground. Incidentally, the area where we parked off a highway near the waterfront wasn't pleasant, but Pike Place is fairly insulated from the highway.

The fish-throwing stand was still there, exactly as I remembered. I spotted a variety of other neat items for sale at the market such as unusual vegetables like morel mushrooms and rhubarb. I also tried a variety of very good balsamic vinegars and vinegar-and-oil mixes from a place in Napa. Although I didn't buy any, partially because Di Yin thought the vinegars were too sweet and partially because I didn't want to buy a bottle of already mixed olive oil and vinegar, it got me in the mood to try more vinegars.

Done with Pike Place, we drove north on highway 5, heading to Canada. Highway 5 was often beautiful, driving between massive walls of pine trees. Because the area was so beautiful, we said, "we should find somewhere to stop and enjoy the sights." After the next bend in the road, we saw a sign for the Lake Padden recreation area and exited. It was nice. We walked around a bit. (See the pictures.)

Given the vast acres of forest we passed, I'm not sure what I think about the timber logging camps we saw at times on the drive.

The sun came out like blazes when we were a mile from the Canadian border. :) How's that for symbolism?

Once in Canada, we checked into our hotel, which was a traditional bed and breakfast (without breakfast). Located in a residential neighborhood, we stayed in a family's house (in their guest room) and paid in cash. Throughout the trip we always stayed in places like this. Not only was it cheaper than a regular hotel, we also had the added privilege of being able to use the fridge and utensils, handy for preparing for picnics.

We then had a pretty good dinner in Richmond at Top Shanghai Cuisine Restaurant, a restaurant I never heard mentioned during my previous reading about Vancouver. We were hungry.

Vancouver, Richmond, Seattle, and Vancouver Island

A friend of mine, Di Yin, was to present at a conference in Victoria. Always looking for an excuse for a trip, I joined her for the excursion, which lasted from June 10, 2008, to June 17, 2008. We mainly spent time in four places:

  • Vancouver. I still really like Vancouver and think it's a well designed city. I entirely agree with my previous impressions (second paragraph). While in Vancouver, I took the opportunity to see a few of the places I didn't see during my last trip, and returned to some places I really liked, such as the Granville Island market.
  • Richmond (the suburb just south of Vancouver). I ate a ton of great Chinese food! I'm told and believe that Richmond has the highest density of good Chinese restaurants of anywhere in the world. (Yes, a greater density than even cities in China! Richmond's populated by people who had the money and resources to leave China, meaning the standard of living is much higher than China's. Thus, Richmond doesn't have all the eateries China has that are just there to provide calories to the poor.) We stayed in Richmond for much of the trip.
  • Vancouver Island (which includes Victoria). We spent two days there, allowing me to briefly explore beautiful nature, eat very fresh fish, and observe the lack of non-white people. Di Yin remarked that she likes Vancouver Island more than Vancouver. Regardless, as I didn't see downtown Victoria, Vancouver Island deserves another trip.
  • Seattle. We visited Seattle briefly at each end of the trip, reminding me how cool Pike Place Market is.
Incidentally, while in Canada we noticed a large number of Boston Pizza restaurants, a chain which apparently has no connection to Boston. They chose the name because Boston is "big league." (And yes, the chain does serve pizza.)

Di Yin also took pictures during this trip.

Interesting Articles: January-March 2008

First, let me say that I'm no longer subscribed to Science News, nor do I have the time to read articles online. Thus, I'm not going to post any more Science News articles here. Yes, I know this was my bread-and-butter (along with On The Media) for many of these "interesting articles" posts. You're on your own to hear about scientific advances.

Media & Journalism:
* Bugging Out (WNYC's On The Media via NPR) or Hmm. Tiny, Evil -- And Everywhere? (Washington Post). A new version of "if it bleeds, it leads"? Or, how alarmist journalism is as hard to kill as urban myths.
* Prank Calling (WNYC's On The Media via NPR). Alan Abel serves as a good reminder of how not everything you hear on the news is true. I'm going to try to track down the associated movie.

Design, Politics & Culture:
* Character Matters (WNYC's On The Media via NPR). An interesting article about the typefaces various campaigns use for their political logos. It resonated with me because I saw a movie recently that talked about the importance of typefaces, especially Helvetica.

Technology & Culture:
* Search Terms (WNYC's On The Media via NPR). How do you think about the contents of your hard drive?

Sociology & Culture:
* We don't hang out with our coworkers (American Public Media's Marketplace). The workplace sees the bowling alone effect. (My first thought was, "vacation with coworkers? Crazy." Then I realized I'd done it.)

Crime & Statistics:
* Immigration Has Little To Do With California Crime (Public Policy Institute of California). I'd like to do statistical analysis like that in this policy-influencing study.

And, although it's not an article, here's a cool flash mob event: Time stops at Grand Central.

Carmel

On July 3, 2008, Di Yin and I drove again to Carmel. I took a few pictures but did not upload them. Di Yin took more; here are her pictures. (You'll know you hit a different section of the album when you see both of us dressed up for a different activity. You're done with the Carmel pictures then.)