Kona

Ok, I waited a week, but now I need to tell you about Kona. So I went and stayed at the King Kam. Do the same thing if you want to watch the triathletes – it was quite the spectacle. From my cheap hotel room I had neither window nor mountain view, but I had an unobstructed view of the assembly space where the triathletes gathered. And there were quite a few of those – in all shapes, ages, genders and groupings. Continue reading

Aztec Autums (G. Jennings)

Oh, what high praise was lavished on this book! It seemed the entire elite of the Nation threw itself on these few hundred pages, naming Mr. Jennings the greatest writer of history in the land. Well, not much to deserve. The story is that of a warrior in a far-off city in Northern Mexico who decides he wants revenge and decides to defeat the Spaniards who killed his father, burning him on the stake under the eyes of his (unknowing at that time) son. Continue reading

Baudolino (U. Eco)

Yet another Umberto Eco novel that plays in the Middle Ages. This one has the advantage of touching one of my dearest subjects in history, the fall of Byzantium, but otherwise, well… This is the story of Baudolino, a character that makes it from the humbles upbringing to becoming adoptive son to the greatest of all German emperors, Frederick Barbarossa (“red-beard’). Frederick needs to go on a crusade, so Baudolino does. Continue reading

The Man Who Loved Only Numbers (P. Hoffman)

Admittedly, the life of a mathematician doesn’t quite make a likely beach reading. I was surprised by myself as I packed it in my backpack on the way to Kona, but surely do not regret it. Mathematicians, as the book quotes, are all a bit out of their mind. Their make wonderfully eccentric characters that charm you even where the subject matter of their work bores you. That was the case with Alan Turing (Enigma), John Nash (A Beautiful Mind), and a lot of other mathematicians. Continue reading

Baudolino (U. Eco)

There is something that always fascinated me about Umberto Eco: he manages to remain faithful to his main theme, to focus more and more on it, to become a better writer, to accomplish more and better things; and yet he is tied to trail his own success with his first novel. “The Name of the Rose” was an admirable exercise in medieval crime novel, and was so successful that it spawned an enormous following of second and third (and fourth) tier colleagues. Continue reading

San Francisco Grand Prix

Ok, it’s late, but I am about to leave to get to the Grand Prix. Jim, a colleague of mine and apparently a quite good cyclist with AV, is there and invited me to join him. I will see to it that I get my camera with me, hoping to be able to stand somewhere on Fillmore and take pics of the pack. Too bad I have to ride my bike to get there… But maybe I can manage to get to the beach, too! Continue reading

Spectrum

Well, I finally managed to join the Spectrum ride. Of course I did so in my very own special way, having lost them at Arastradero. Somehow I managed to spend too much time in line for coffee at Peet’s in Los Altos, checking out new bikes and bikers from Alto Velo and Lombardi. Both clubs gather there before heading out to their own rides, and it’s fun to see all those bikers in their color-matched outfits. Continue reading

Another Flat

Slow day, not the wonderful Saturday ride I had envisioned. I missed Spectrum again, saw them on Canada and lost them. I am really barely able to keep up with those guys! Then, on a shorter evening ride, a flat. This one was particularly annoying: a nail that punched right straight through the tire. It stuck so deep it took me a lot of convincing to get it out. Remnant of the work they are doing at the intersection of Arastradero and Foothill. Continue reading

Hawaii the Big Island Revealed

I am taking a week off in September to celebrate my birthday by myself and chose my favorite vacation spot: Hawaii. This time it’s going to be the Big Island herself, largest mass in the Central Pacific by far. And of course I needed a good guide book. Wizard Publishing has a wonderful set of books, created and written with care (if with a tiny bit too much enthusiasm) on three of the major Hawaiian islands. Continue reading

Spectrum Ride

Another wonderful Saturday morning, and the first time I tried to get into the Spectrum ride. It’s been three weeks, now, that some Spectrum rider tells me I should join them, so I tried. Of course, I got delayed by something irrelevant (this time the discovery of friendster, the newest dating site that features degrees of separation. Check it out, I think the concept is one of the best around! Continue reading