Saturday, September 30, 2017

Saturday, September 30, 2017

Berkeley Potters Guild

Posted by Hippobean at 11:28 PM 0 comments
A weekend visiting the Berkeley Potters Guild studio gallery and hiking in the Coyote Hills:

Photos of the Guild art and Coyote Hills:

Friday, September 15, 2017

Friday, September 15, 2017

a streaking spark above the gas giant

Posted by Hippobean at 9:05 AM 0 comments
"It was morning on Saturn, when a streaking spark above the clouds outshone the sun."

She has become part of the planet she studied for 13 years.

of course the Hippo has to pay homage to Cassini. if she were still at NASA, she'd huddle in a room with the others (don, ryan, lisa, veronica, heather, harout, frank), tears rolling down our faces, and watch Cassini suicide as Master Maize says “I’m going to call this the end of mission. Project manager, off the net." "He removes his headset for the last time."

Her last image was the monochrome view of the planet night side, the exact location into which she would plunge. Cassini is dead. But her legacies remain.

Didnt do the Cassini goodbye party. A could have made the Cassini bellini while the Hippo brought the cassini ravioli and T could have worn his mankini. Sigh.

cassini

cassini

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Sunday, September 10, 2017

capitola 2017

Posted by Hippobean at 10:00 PM 0 comments
An afternoon browsing the Capitola Arts and Wine Festival and strolling down the wharf ... been a few years since the Hippo's been to Capitola. Gorgeously warm, sunny blue sky. Perfect weather on the Capitola beach. Even the Hip was wearing sleeveless and shorts. What a day.






Saturday, September 02, 2017

Saturday, September 02, 2017

spa at sheraton schiphol

Posted by Hippobean at 1:15 PM 0 comments

not much sleep last night. had wanted to return to the hotel early to pack and get some sleep before my 4:45am pickup to the airport. but ice cream and the short walk to the old town marina took a while and we didnt get back to the hotel till after 11PM, so didnt get to bed till after midnight. however, the sleep was uninterrupted and the pickup was very on time. the night ride to the airport past the old town was reminisced of a time long ago, same stretch of road on the hill with the adriatic on the right.

very long lines at the check-in. Back to zagreb for a while and then back to schiphol. The room at the Sheraton was available and after dumping the gear, I've spent some time at the spa in the steam room. Let all that travel fatigue born out of my body and then soaked in the enormous deep tub. invigorated, i went out to shop for the cheese slicers at the airport. 5 euros for 2 was no longer offered. never mind, got them anyway. Finished the 'I am number four' series last book in my room with the view of the schiphol control tower. Snowie again perched on the window sill to look out at the planes landing and ascending. bought a steak dinner at the Dutch Delicious (it was suprisingly excellent for airport food) and watched a bit of Harvey devastating texas on TV.

klm flight back home didnt feel long albeit the plane was packed. A dutch couple next to me, the husband most courteous. No more books to read, I resorted to watching as many TV entertainments as possible to while away the hours. Saw the skull island king kong movie, not very good. they ran out of chicken so no choice but to hork down the lousy pasta. next meal was just a pizza. sfo hit me with an unusual tremendous heatwave. hotter than the balkans.

so the balkans are almost done except for Serbia. Old yugoslavia promised as beautiful and haunting as I've expected. although a bit disappointing at montenegro for the mountains although gorgeous, expected them to be more spectacular. Very unhappy to be home.
 

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