Summer whites

At wine club last night, we tasted six summer whites. These all came from my cellar, so I don't have pricing on any of them, but none were more than $20 and most were quite a bit less. The six wines we tasted were:

1. 2001 Chateau St. Jean Gewurztraminer Sonoma County
2. 2003 Shaw & Smith Sauvignon Blanc Adelaide Hills
3. 2002 J. K. Carrier Glass (white pinot noir) Willamette Valley
4. 2003 Patricia Green Cellars Oregon Sauvignon Blanc
5. 2001 Lemelson Vineyards Dry Riesling Adria Vineyard
6. 2002 Chehalem Inox Chardonnary Willamette Valley

In a close vote, we liked the Gewurz and the Shaw and Smith in that order. We purchased the Gerurz at the winery a little over a year ago. Both favorite wines were about $18 each.

The Dog Days

While the political campaign is heating up, there's little else of great import happening this month, save a few winery open houses on Aug. 21-22. The political thing is getting interesting, however. I heard on the radio this morning that Kerry has opened up a 6-point lead in Florida. Today both candidates are appearing in California, which ought to be interesting. Not sure why Bush is bothering with a state he will lose decidedly.

The election looks close, but with a decided edge to Kerry right now. The big questions are what kind of boost Bush will get out of his own convention in a few weeks and what trickery he has up his sleeve for the fall, especially if he becomes more and more desperate. Kerry still seems a bit too timid. He needs to hit harder. And when are we going to see all that footage of Bush's numerous gaffes over the past four years in Kerry ads? I assume that the Demos are just holding on to the juicy stuff for the stretch run or holding onto it permanently to see how desperate the Rs become. I'm predicting a ton of mud slinging before this is over.

Then there are the debates. How exciting are they going to be? They are crucial for Kerry, but also tricky. Because Bush is so dumb, he runs the risk of looking like an intellectual elitist. He almost has to act dumb himself to not look like a show off as he runs laps around Bush's brain. Four years ago, Gore came off as mean spirited in the first debate. Kerry just needs to come off as more in touch and in command (of his own brain). Bush will undoubtedly step on his tongue enough times on his own and mangle enough facts that Kerry doesn't have to win. He can let Bush lose.

On to wine. Chehalem is having its summer tasting on Aug. 21-22 at the winery at Rex Hill. The tasting includes a number of local artists and music if you get there at the right time. Of course, the wines are superb. Rex Hill is having its 2002 pinot noir release party on Aug. 22 at the winery. Those who bought futures can pick them up. Last year, they tasted some very nice vineyard designate pinot gris as well. On Saturday, Aug. 21, Sineann is having a barbeque and wine tasting at the winery in Carlton from noon to 4. These guys are making some very interesting wines, especially if you like reds and not just pinot noir. We're going to make the complete tour on Saturday, going to Sineann first and then hitting Chehalem on the way home.

John tried the bottle of 1998 Woolridge I gave him and said it was not good. Hmmm, I opened a bottle of the 2001 Merlot last night and it was fine, though the '98 cab was better. Woolridge still has some of the cab remaining. I should get my blush pinot noir within the next week. This was the wine we found so refreshing and delicious on our tour of SO in July. It's just been so hot down there, they're reluctant to ship it now.

Another great IPNC

I know this is a bit late, but did want to say a few things about this year's IPNC event at Linfield College. As with every one I attended, this was one of the most enjoyable, informative and intesting wine experiences of my year. We tasted about 70 2001 and 2002 pinots from around the world and sampled some wonder and unusual fare to go along with it.

My friend John joined me on this one, while our designated drivers (Lynne and Amy) occupied themselves in the antique stores in Lafayette. Cribbing from John's excellent notes, here's a sampling of what we liked:


Kingston Family Vineyards, Chile
2003 Casablanca
www.kingstonvineyards.com
Domaine Marc Roy, France
2001 Gevrey-Chambertin, Clos Prieur
+33 03 80 51 81 13
Dry River, New Zealand
2002 Dry River
Liza_lanier@rowines.com (importer)
Fromm Winery, Switzerland
2002 Malanser
www.frommwineries.com
Domaine Alfred, California
2001 Califa
www.domainealfred.com
Goldeneye Winery, California
2001 Anderson Valley
www.goldeneyewinery.com
Hitching Post Wines, California
2001 Highliner, Santa Barbara County
www.hitchingpostwines.com
Skewis Wines, California
2001 Demuth Vineyard, Anderson Valley
www.skewiswines.com
Chehalem, Oregon
2002 Reserve
www.chehalemwines.com
Elk Cove Vineyards, Oregon
2002 Roosevelt
www.elkcove.com
Firesteed Cellars, Oregon
2001 Willamette Valley
www.firesteed.com
Ponzi Vineyards, Oregon
2002 Reserve
www.ponziwines.com
Sokol Blosser Winery, Oregon
2001 Estate, Old Vineyard Block
www.sokolblosser.com
Yamhill Valley Vineyards, Oregon
2000 Estate Reserve
www.yamhill.com

My favorites were Hitching Post -- wonderful deep and brambley fruit. I like a pinot that really stands up in your mouth with lots of dark fruit. This pinot pretty much exceeded my expectations. The Firesteed was without doubt the steal of the show. At $18, it was outstanding and more than adequate as an everyday pinot (if there is such a thing). Chehalem's Ridgecrest -- a perennial favorite of mine -- was wonderful as well.

This year's event was a little shorter -- three hours -- and for the first time in three years, I was reasonably coherent when we left (probably thanks to having John along). We all went to the Bistro in Dundee on the way home and had a perfect meal to end a perfect day.

Last Sunday, we attended the Stoller Vineyard picnic on the family property west of Dundee. They provided picnic baskets and wine and we brought our blankets. They served '01 and '02 pinots as well as the most recently chardonnay bottling. We enjoyed the '02 most, though Bill is doing a very nice chard and is a big believer in the Oregon chardonnay industry. That's super interesting because for the longest time, I just gave up on Oregon chards. They just didn't taste like chards and the excuse was always that they were made in the burgundian style. Fine, but I didn't like them.

With the arrival of the Dijon clones, that is changing quite a bit. We barrel tasted the new chard (probably the '03, but I forgot) and it was wonderful and will get better. Bill's definitely onto something. He's got about 150 acres of grapes planted now on this hillside property, 20 of which are in chardonnay. The rest is primarily pinot. Work has also begun on the new winery very near the oak grove where we picnicked. Argyle is still making some very nice chards as well. We like the reserve that sells for about $23. Lots of tropical fruits with just the right vanilla/creamy finish.

iPod your BMW

One of the reasons I bought my iPod earlier this year was so I could connect it to my 2004 BMW 330i. Adding the jack to the radio (it works on an AUX setting), was easy enough. A $35 part and $100 worth of labor later, I had the jack installed. I've been using it for several months and it works wonderfully. The iPod holds hours worth of battery charge -- long enough for my longest road trip so far -- and I can go hours without it repeating the same song while on random play.
 
However, I've noticed the new ads out promoting this and they are connecting their iPod with a different cable that apparently charges the iPod and gives you use of the audio controls on the steering wheel. I was also told that I couildn't connect the iPod to my 2002 Z4 Roadster. The iPod Your BMW web site, however, says you can. I'm going to give Scott a call and find out what's up.

It's beginning to look a lot like politics

I got a kick out of Rush Limbaugh (I only listen for amusement) this morning. He was trying to calm down his lunatic listeners who are hand wringing over the latest poll numbers, which show Kerry surging ahead. He was also trying to defend his statement that Edwards would provide no bounce. He cited a poll in North Carolina which showed Bush still ahead by 15 points. But, he failed to acknowledge that since Edwards joined the team, Kerry has moved further ahead and leads in most polls.

We also saw Farenheit 9/11 last week. I did not like Bowling for Columbine. I thought it was biased and unfair. I had a different reaction to Farenheit. I thought it was devastating for Bush. Granted there's still a lot of stuff taking out of context and distorted, but the reality is that it's really not distorted because it accurately reflects Bush's behavior as President.

This is going to be a very tight race. My prediction: Kerry takes Florida and wins the election by that margin.

Back to normal . . . sort of

Back from vacation from the blog.

We've been back from London about a week and things are starting to feel normal again. We returned just in time to leave for our annual visit to Ashland. We went down on Wednesday and returned Sunday. We saw three plays -- Comedy of Errors, Royal Family and Humble Boy. We enjoyed them all, but Humble Boy stood out above the rest. Comedy has received some great reviews and has a very interesting setting in 1960s Las Vegas. The set for Royal Family was fabulous though the play went a little too long.

We did some wine exploring as well and stocked up more than we planned for the new wine room. Our top find of the trip was Woolridge Creek Vineyard. It's way out in the boonies past Jacksonville. They are doing a bunch of reds -- all of them very worthwhile to tastey. The Pinot Noir Rose is the most interesting with its creamy/vanilla finish that tastes like strawberries and cream. Yummy as a summer refresher. We thought the cab and the merlot were exceptional as well and especially for the price. The winery has new, young, aggressive winemakers from Fresno State who did some amazing tricks with a big batch of late harvest chardonnay that was well on it's way to oxidizing. Greg led us through an intimate discussion of each of his wines and his plans for the future. The vineyards, whose fruit is also sold to other wineries, range in elevation from 1,400 feet to 2,000 feet. If these guys stay around -- and they are building a while new winery now -- this could become a real diamond on the rough.

All in all, the Rogue wine culture is growing up. A lot of people are working very hard to turn some awesome fruit into great wines. On the way home, we stopped off at Abacella -- still our favorite -- and bought some Grenache because it reminded us of Chateau Neuf du Pape. Then, we did some more exploring and hunted down Hillcrest Vineyards. It's the oldest winery in the state and is under new ownership. The new owners have roots in Napa and tutored at Pine Ridge and Mondavi. Some credentials. Right now, they selling off some very old salvadged wines (they dumped tons). They have big plans and a big job. They already had to rip up old vines and begun to replant. This should be a place to watch. We bought some 1990 Reisling.

When we got home, we got the wine room put back together. The racking worked out well. I found some furniture at Pier 1 and we moved the rug from the living room in. The fish tank is now in the living room, but we'd love to get rid of it altogether.

A final day in London

This was our lst day in London and a lovely day it was. No rain and some sun. We were up in time to attend the eucharist at St. Martin's in the Fields at Trafalagar Square. This was a traditional Anglican service with great music and quite a change from the services we attended at Holy Trinity Brompton earlier in our stay. They were having a cake sale after services, so we bought some almond-raspberry tarts and took them with us to Cafe Nero where we had great lattes. The coffee there is Italian and better than Starbucks.

We took the tube to Liverpool Street and walked to Spitalfield Market, not far from the station. It's a big Saturday Market under a roof. It rather looks like a big train station. Liverpool Street is quite a progressive area, lined with new office buildings, quite a strange site around here because so much of the architecture is centuries old.

We met Claire, Rod and Carolyn at the office and went to Brick Lane for Indian food and a farewell dinner. It was within walking distance of where we were earlier today. Really good food and a nice French Sancere. Carolyn drew pictures of us all and we tubed it back to Holborn. She's a great little gal and fun to be around. We said goodbye to Rod, Claire and Carolyn and headed back to the hotel.

Lynne's upstairs packing and I'm updating this blog on the wireless network in the lobby while watching the Euro Cup 2004 final on big screen. We're about 25 minutes into the game and the game is still scoreless.

Back to London

We arrived back in London last night about 10 p.m. after hauling way too much stuff with us on a two-change ride from the airport. We still have the drum from TechEd, and hope it'll make the full journey home. We managed to get back into the Kingsway after losing our reservation.

After a slovenly week in Amsterdam, I got back into the exercise groove today and did about seven miles on the Thames. It was a nice morning with a little sun and not too much wind.

Today, we walked to the Imperial War Museum on the south side and spent about three hours there. The Holocaust museum is amazing and they have other very interesting stuff, including a replica of "Little Boy," the first atomic bomb dropped on Japan in WWII. They also have the V1 and V2 missles that terrorized the population of England during the Blitz.

That left us at what is becoming our favorite haunt here, Cork and Bottle, at 4:30. Lynne and I each had a glass of Collard (Oz). She had the Sauvignon Blanc and I had the Cabernet. Both amazing wines.

Tonight, we're headed out to partake in one of the recommendations from Jennifer, near Kennsington Park.

Oranje Wat Jammer

We seem to be the jinx for Euro Cup contenders. Where ever we go, the national team gets knocked out. First England and now Holland, which also fell to the more aggressive Portugese on Wednesday night. The score was 2-1, but it wasn't nearly that close. Holland's lone goal, after trailing 2-0, was an own goal by Portugal. The headline in the morning Telegraph screamed, "Oranje Wat Jammer." Or, for the rest of us -- Holland What a Shame. (If that's not close enough, ask Silvia!)

Continue goodness on the TechEd front. Lots of coverage and all of it every focused on growing the ecosystem through innovation and working with partners. Very position feel here.

Today's a first day of rain and it's pretty heavy out there right now. Lynne and I are buttoning up at the Rai center before catching the Van Gough museum and getting on a plane for London tonight.

Last night we had a chance to unwind a bit on the town after three pretty hectic days here. Joel, Claudia, Lynne and I hit some of the local haunts, watch Greece beat the Czech Republic in overtime and had many good laughs about the week. I sampled a local spirit that tastes something like gin, but watered down quite a bit. I wouldn't recommend it.

Over the hump

Yesterday was just too frenetic to post, so this will likely be a gush of news.

As usual, I barely slept the night before the opening on TechEd. Too many irons in the fire and anticipation over the business press coverage. Over a quick breakfast, I scanned the IHT and FT. No coverage. Yikes.

Claudia and I cabbed to the Rai. My notebook wouldn't boot fast enough for me to get to the NYT site. The story is up and it's good! We're off and running.

Off to the keynote. Hmmm, I can hear the drumming as I enter the massive hall. The drums are cool. There are a half dozen drummers in African atire on stage leading the drumming. It's fun. People are joining in. Ten minutes till 10. I bolt for the press center to grab my new Olympus camera. Gotta capture this for the troops back home. Just in time to grap a couple of quick snaps. The keynote goes well. It's a little more casual than in the states, but the demos are good and the 1.5 hours passes quickly. Grab an extra drum for Hippie.

On to the press conference. Some tough (annoying) questions, but Jonathan does a masterful job. Perfect tone and manner without backing down. This is another win. Coverage rolling in (slowly), but it's looking good, remarkably on message and consistent. Still waiting for more from Europe. The press room is a beehive.

I've gotta say something about the VoIP phones available here. They rock. I've made calls all over the world and they just work. Fast, easy and super good quality. My news project when I get home is to sign up for this service. Another great way to extend the value of your PC.

The press party is at the Maritime Museum (sorry about the language), not far from our hotel. As we walk in, we're told it's the most beautiful building in Amsterdam. It is very nice and very relaxing. Good food and music. Nice wines from Italy and, of course, Heineken. Woosh, suddenly it's 11 p.m. The end of an exhuasting day.

Lynne has been scoping out venues for sightseeing later in the week and collecting gifts to take back. The weather here has been remarkably good all week. More coveraging rolling today -- still looking good.

Tonight's the big game, Holland vs. Portugal. Still scouting out venues for where we'll watch. Claudia, Heather and I will finalize our plans later today. Wearing my orange (oranje) shirt today in support of the Dutch. That's especially for Silvia, who has been very helpful with ideaas on what to do here as well as other don'ts. :)

Where have I been?

No blog entry for a couple of days...just cramming for my trade show in Amsterdam, which is where I am today. Nice weather here as I look out the press room windows at all the international flags in front of the RAI Congress Center. Dawn and Kim arrived today, too, as did Rob, Joel and Anna from the UK office.

We did a walk-through of the facility here, which is great and very functional. The wireless in the pressroom even works! IT got us up and running. Lynne's back at the hotel, contemplating a visit to the Van Gough Museum later this week.

We arrived at our hotel about 2:30 today after losing an hour on our flight from London. We immediately wondered out of the hotel seeking a) a bank machine; and b) food. We immediately wondered into this area of canals lined with buildings and sidewalks. No teller machines or the right food. But, we did wander full-blown into Amsterdam's famous red light district. It's legal and licensed here and is plunked down in the middle of a prime tourist area. Pretty interesting. I won't go into more detail and don't have photos :).

Tomorrow is Day Zero, but still lots of prep work to do. Everything is going wonderfully. Claudia got a Holland team jersey (bright Orange) that she's wearing around the press room. Holland is in the semifinals and plays on Wednesday which will be huge here.

I didn't cover the England loss to Portugal. It was too tragic. As one of the tabloids said: Idiot ref costs England. England scored with minutes remaining, but the referee disallowed it because of alleged goalkeeper interference. It wasn't. Then the game went to overtime. Portugal scored in the second extra period, but England countered. So, it went into a shootout. It was still tied after five shootout chances, but Portugal's goalkeeper stopped the sixth England try and then the goalkeeper made his kick for Portugal.

The Play's the Thing

We squeezed in a play last night so we won't have to tell people we went all the way to London and didn't see a single play. While it certainly wasn't the calibre of Anything Goes, Tonight's The Night was enjoyable although a little on the lightweight side. Simplistic plot, but lots of Rod Stewart songs. A little too much auidence involvement for my tastes.

Today is (once again) rainy and cloudy. The weather is wrecking havoc with Wimbledon, but what's new? Erica's brother-in-law is trying to get us tickets. We don't have many free days, but maybe this will work out nicely. Thanks Erica!

Received this e-mail today:
I’m sure your aware, a tube and train strike is planned for next Tuesday from 6.30pm to Wednesday at 6.30pm. Many are away for TechEd next week, but those that are around, we need to make alternative arrangements in advance. Some of us may be able to work from home, but if you need to be in the office, maybe we can arrange a taxi pool or for extreme cases book a hotel. Can you let me know if you need to come into the office and I can look at altertative transport.

Argh, talk about making it hard to do business! Fortuntely many of us in the office will be at TechEd and won't be bothered by this.

England goes through

Mondays here are intersting because for the most part, it's still Sunday back home. So, there's time to catch up on late Friday mail and mail over the weekend (unless you did that on our Sunday, like I did this week). So, Mondays can be somewhat mellow, depending on the level of activity. Clients usually don't show up until mid-week. The TechEd team here is working hard and buttoning up the final details and briefings for the show, which begins Monday. Most of us will fly over on Sunday.

Wimbledon has begun, which is a huge news event in London, but the talk of the town continues to be the lads in Portugal. England faced its first sudden death threat last night (they needed a tie or a win) and came through with flying colors. After falling behind 1-0 in the first five minutes, the Brits came back to eliminate Croatia, 4-2, and claim the No. 2 spot from Group B in the Euro Cup. This is the first time that England has gone through to the knockout rounds in 23 years and the first time ever on foreign soil. The football team here is the source of enormous pride and the city comes to a halt during the cup games. Wayne Rooney again is the toast of the town, boy wonder, etc. He's even being compared by some to a young Pele! He has risen to fame over his last two performances in which he has scored a total of four goals and is now the leading scorer in the tournament.

England goes on to the quarterfinals where eight teams vie for the cup on July 4. England plays (they would say play here) Portugal on Thursday evening. The game is again at 7:45 p.m. local time, which means I might have to miss it because of calls back to the U.S. that night.

Sunday Brunch

Lynne arrived on Friday, but without her bag. It apparently didn't make the transfer in Vancouver to the British Air flight. I took the tube to Heathrow to meet her. She joined us for drinks at the pub after work on Friday. Friday afternoon there was a noisy parade in front of the office in which divorced fathers marched for their custody rights.

Saturday was Lynne's birthday, so we had a wonderful meal at a nearby French restaurant along with a fine bottle of Chateau neuf du Pape. We've picked up a couple of bottles at the local grocery stories and had decent results. We are leaning toward the South African Pinotages, which taste a little like Pinot Noir. Today we had brunch at the Belvedere in Holland Park. More great food and a nice bottle of French rose.

The weather has decidedly turned. Cool and lots of rain today. We went by the Portabella Road Market on the way home and got caught in quite a shower.

In football tonight, Portugal beat Spain, 1-0, to knock Spain out of the tournament and was the first competitive wine for Portugal over Spain ever. Greece also came through in Group A despite a 2-1 loss to Russia. Tomorrow England plays Croatia and needs at least a tie to go through to the next round. The streets here will fall quiet about 7:30 tomorrow as people crowd into the pubs and gather around TV sets to watch the match.

Game Day

Some of us sneaked away from the office a smidge early today to take in the Big Game at the Square Pig down the street. By the time we arrived a couple of minutes into the match, the place was jammed and rocking with England fans. (I showed up decked out in my England team polo.) Caroline, Julie, Tillman and Sean all showed up for all or part of the match.

As opposed to the massive disappointment on Sunday against France, this one was sweet revenge for the Brits. They crushed the Swiss, 3-0, are now in position to move to the next round IF they can tie or beat Croatia on Monday. No small task, however, since the Croats tied France yesterday after leading much of the way. That will be another crucial game and the pubs will be even more jammed because it starts at 7.45 here.

The result made front page news in all the local papers. The Times' headline: Baby elephant brings the house down, in reference to Wayne Rooney's two goals. A new star is born as Rooney became the youngest (18) player to ever score in a European Cup match.

The weather is finally turning cooler here and we even saw a sprinkle this morning.

A running mate

I'm writing this on Thursday morning because yesterday just turned to be too long a day (another). But at least it didn't have to do with work. Annette, Alison and I went to "Anything Goes" at the Theater Royal Drury Lane. It was really an enjoyable and relaxing evening of fine music, dancing and comedy. (The only drawback was the theater, which was like a sauna. Hint to self: Lose the tie and sport jacket next time!)

I took a new route for my morning run on Wednesday. This time I went west from the Waterloo Bridge, up the Victoria Embankment toward Westminster and on to the Vauxall Bridge, then back along the south embankment, past the London Eye and on down to the Millenium Bridge. Part way along the run, I hooked up with another runner who seemed to be going the same way and at about the same pace. Turns out he is an IT pro with Coopers. He knew about TechEd Europe, but wasn't going. He served as my unofficial tour guide of the waterfront.

The weather has turned cooler here -- finally. It could even rain. Wednesday was an incredibly busy day in the office with out-of-town visitors and lots of clients bustling through. Today's a little more laid back as everyone's jamming to get their work done in time to leave a bit early (5.00) for the Big Game -- England vs. Switzerland. As Gary, the doorman, told me today, "If we can't beat a bunch of volunteers, we don't deserve to be there." He was referring to the fact that the Swiss don't have a professional league on the caliber of other European countries. The team is apparently made up of club players, not highly paid professionals. Hmmm,they played pretty well in their first game, tieing Croatia 0-0.

Picnic in the park

I missed my first day of blogging and am somewhat embarrassed about that, but I had a good excuse. I did take time out for dinner with Claire and Alison, but still had to return to the steamy confines of the London office to complete some critical work before midnight Monday. Too pooped to do the blog.

Another whirlwind day in the electrified atmosphere of the London office. Time just flies by here. You get into the office. Boom, it's noon and then 2 and zowie 4 and the West Coast is stirring. This was a good day. Made progress on the uber messaging and other key nitty gritty. Today turned out not as warm as predicted (good). Alison discovered the Pret (baugette, brie, tomato and basil).

Claire, Caroline and Rod invited Annette, Alison and I out to their cozy place at Holland Park. We walked the short distance to the park and partook in some wonderful French whites and tastey goodies. We heard the operat, but did not attend. Caroline ran Rod and I through our cricket courses.

Claire also steered me to a secret place that I'll write about later. Rod and I are going to run on Saturday. Gary, the doorman, has mapped out a new route for me tomorrow. I'm going west on the embankment from Waterloo Bridge towards Westminster, then back along the south embankment.

I took the tube there because I was late (proactive call). I much prefer the tube to the ultra expensive cabs here. It's how the people get around and it's fun. I took a bottle of Bergstrom Pinot Noir that I carried from Oregon. We returned to the hotel about 11 p.m. I'm writing from my favorite spot in the hotel bar where the cubans are good and Rui, the bartender is accommodating. He is Portugese and hoping for a better result from his boys tomorrow. We (Come On England) play Switzerland on Thursday at 5, which means the office will empty early. Germany and Holland tied today, which is a bit of a surprise. the Dutch were favored. Ladbrokes (I forgot to be last Sunday) still has the Brits at 8-1 and fourth favorite to win the Euro Cup.

Running out of steam . . . and time.

Terrible!

In a word, that’s the mood of a country overcome by football fever tonight as England loses to France, 2-1, in its opening game of the Euro Cup 2004. As I was walking back to the hotel, that’s what a young Brit muttered as I passed by. Another young woman stopped to asked the score and then replied, “Oh, my God, really?” The game was played n Madrid and was a crusher for the passionate English fans.

It was worse than the score as England led 1-0 into the final minute before the French scored on a free kick and then again in extra time on a penalty kick. I decided to really experience this, so I set out to find a suitable pub from which to watch the game. I ended up in a pub at Leiscester Square where I sat by a Croatian who now lives in Las Vegas and a woman from Surrey wrapped in a St. George’s Cross flag. What started out quiet became boisterous when England scored off a free kick late in the first half to stake the English to a 1-0 lead. As more people packed into the tiny pub, it appeared the They were on their way to a major upset. But it wasn’t to be and they have David Beckham, who missed a penalty kick in the second half that surely would have sealed the win for England, to blame. Not everyone is a football fan here, but it’s huge and the nation’s No. 1 sport.

The English loss was the topper on an otherwise wonderful day. It turned out warm and sunny. I headed off for Holy Trinity Brompton, down the road from Harrod’s for services. HTB is one of the most progressive Anglican churches in London and the home of a worldwide evangelical program known as Alpha.

On the way back, I wondered through St. James Park where the veterans of the Normandy invasion were commemorating the 60th anniversary. That tied into a visit to the Cabinet War Rooms, which have been restored to the condition they were during World War II. I visited the Cabinet War Rooms in 1985 when they first opened, but the tour has been enhanced and greatly improved. It’s not as well known as many of London’s attractions, but highly worthwhile. I happened by Buckingham Palace as the Queeen’s Guard was heading out for the Normandy veteran ceremony and parade, providing a colorful and unexpected treat.

A quiet Saturday

This was a nice day to relax, sort of. I slept in and then went for a five-mile along the Thames. Same route I took the other day. This time I got my Garmin GPS watch to work, sort of. It didn't kick in right away, but finally started working on the south side of the river. I had the time set for Portland and that might have had something to do with it. The trees and buildings didn't help either.

It was a nice day here and a big one for the Royals. The Queen celegrated her birthday. It's not really her birthday, but she celebrates it today because the weather is usually better. They have this parade thing called the Trooping of the Colour. When I got back from running, it was on TV. It was pretty cool. Lots of bands, marching and horses. The Queen looked good in a yellow dress.

I went on an eight-hour exploring trip starting at Covent Garden, where I picked up a Cuban cigar. Cigars are expensive here because of the tax -- which makes everything expensive. A 17.5% VAT is built into most purchases. On to Picadilly Circus where I picked up an England football shirt marked down at Lillywhite for tomorrow night. I visited Jermyn Street, my favorite haunt for shirts. I especially like the Thomas Pink store. On to Carnaby Street and crowded Oxford Street. I swear there must be lots of disposable income in this country because there's nothing but retail and restaurants around here and they always crowded.

Pub food tonight. I went to the Freemason's Arms down the street to watch the Spain-Russia Euro 2004 match on the big screen and down a couple of lager and limes. Spain won with a goal in the second half, 1-0, but Spain totally dominated the game. Portugal, the host country, was shocked by Greece earlier in the day. Of course, the big match is tomorrow evening when England takes on Spain. Most stores and pubs have visible displays of support for the locals. Big banners hung along Picadilly imploring: Come On England. It'll be a sad day Monday if they lose.

Finally Friday!

Today wasn't too sweet, having stayed up a little past my bedtime, lost in mail and blogging. Claudia, our EMEA client from Paris was in for the day and Joel and I spent time with her working on TechEd details. Claudia remided me of days past when Tektronix was a client and she was working for Rob Stewart, the marketing manager. We didn't actually work together, but we remember each other. Running all day, skipped lunch. It was cooler today, but the expected rain didn't arrive.

Left the office early (9:30 p.m.). I waited for Erica and since we were the last ones out, we had the joy of figuring out how to lock up from Julie's instructions. A little bumpy, but we managed it. The alley in front of The Ship was busier than ever on this Friday. I joined Caroline, Tillman, Joel, Aaron and others for a pint.

Erica and I had a late (very) dinner at Poon's an excellent Chinese restaurant on Leicester Square. We had a helluva time find it, but it was definitely worth it. Thanks Erica and John for the wonder recommendation. Lynne and I will return there.

Tomorrow is a day to relax mostly even though I have some work to do. I'm going to get a good long run in during the morning and then explore the neighborhood. Nothing special, just do some walking around to ge my bearings and checking out the local shopping scene. Erica's headed for Stockholm on business.

Finally, a "normal" day . . . and Fish & Chips

Finally got the sleep I was craving. I also got in that first run here. Gary, the doorman at the hotel, helped me with an interesting 5.7 miler along the Thames. Down Kingsway to Allywch, across the Wellington Bridge and up the South Embankment to the Tower Bridge and back along the North Embankment. A nice run, but lots of discovery following the ins and outs of the Thames path along the river. Went by the Starbucks across from the hotel, but ordered -- drumroll -- tea and milk. There's something about how they make it over here that's just better.

Joel and I had a lunch meeting at The Ship, but we eschewed the pints (lemonade and Diet Coke). It was a good day in the office. First call with an EMEA client. We went over the TechEd press conference and he liked our recommendations. Claudia comes tomorrow from Paris so we vet our plans with her. I'm seeing the value that can be added by having this kind of integration with the U.S. teams. We broke a few rules in the office today (after Claire went home). The air goes off in the office about 7 p.m., so us working fools get hot and there's no way to override it. Opening the windows is verboten, but we did it anyhow. Joel and I had a conference call back to the US at 7:30 GMT so I brought up pints from The Ship to help us battle the heat and freshen us up.

Josh and his friend Sibylle dropped by shortly afterwards and we all went to The Rock & Sole Plaice for dinner. Dined outside on the street with the guy in the priate hat who was putting the big make on his girl. Shaun from the London office, who's leaving tomorrow for holiday in Cypress, joined us.

The news here is about today's local elections and fretting over England's first match in Euro Cub 2004. This is like a very big deal. England plays France on Sunday night and every pub in the city will be rocking. I visited Ladbrokes to check out the odds. There are odds on everything, but England is the underdog. It's like the fifth or sixth favorite. It's not as big as the World Cup, but fairly close.

So, now for the pics . Attached find pics of my hotel, the office, The Ship and a strange place across the street from the hotel called the Leisure Exchange that I think is a video game parlour.

I'm posting this from the hotel bar (again) and cringe to think about how late it's getting. The Cubans, which you can smoke indoors here, are superb. But gotta log onto mail to do a smidge of work.

Are we having fun yet?

After barely surviving my first day here I'm still running on fumes. Fixing the sleep deprevation problem tomorrow, however. I was up until midnight last night and then up again this morning at 6 to catch the train to Cambridge where Microsoft has a research facility. They were having an Open Day, which is short for a press/analyst day. I attended the morning sessions and stayed through lunch. The Webber Shandwick folks were propper hosts though I'm sure somewhat unnerved by my presence. The presentations were quite consumer focused, which was a bit of a surprise. The facility is very nice and the people all seem very smart.

Cambridge is about an hour's train ride (the fast train!) from King's Cross station (21.70 pounds return fare). I was able to catch up on e-mail on the way back. Was in the office from about 3-9 and now recuperating in the hotel bar, which has wireless. Nice, but strange. It connects to the internet and even our intranet, but not our e-mail. Can't find the UK server, which is a block away! I was on the expensive cell phone to 3CP trying to debug, but to no avail. Travis worked hard on this, but still a myster. Josh can come over here tomorrow and we'll get it working, I'm sure. Maybe it's God's way of telling me I'm working way to hard.

It's a bit addictive. Catch up on overnight mail in the morning and then work realtime and have meetings from 3 p.m. onward. My Spot watch doesn't work here so I'm not bothering to wear it. Bummer. Gotta get a new cheap one because I can't live without a watch. The weather wasn't as bloody hot and humid today. But I also wised up and wore a short sleeve shirt.

I'm in the hotel bar where the wireless is free (sans e-mail :)), I can have a drink and catch up on personal e-mail, pay bills :( and do my blog entry. Signed up for smugmug, so tomorrow maybe pictures.

Had a nice Chateau neuf last night at dinner with EricaG of MapPoint fame and her Brit client. We chanced getting mad cow because we were all starved. Tonight Erica and I shared Thai takeout from the joint next to The Ship Pub downstairs from the office and continued to work.

Tomorrow's projects: getting in a morning run along the embankment, buying a watch (Swatch most likely) and sleeping in! That's a bit of a conflict with running, but I gotta get some decent rest.

Tomorrow ... pictures (maybe).

Here in one piece

I arrived in London today, touching down at 11:30. I decided to be adventuresome and took the tube from Heathrow. Only problem is they're having a heat wave here and nothing is air conditioned. I was dripping wet on the train with my long sleeve shirt and sport coat. I made it to the hotel and checked into a very nice room and headed out to find the office, which is a matter of two blocks (or less away). I've been in meetings most of the day since I got to the office about 3 p.m. If I can stay awake may be going out to a pub tonight. Had one good wine on the plane -- Chateau de Landiras 2002, Graves Blanc Sec. Not sure what it is, maybe a Sauvignon Blanc. Anyhow, it had wonderful citrus overtones and the nose reminded me of orange creamcicle. Maybe I can find some more of this stuff in a wine bar around here. More later...

World traveler

I leave later today for London where I'll be spending the better part of the next four weeks, working on a special project and staying current on my work here out of our London office. People have asked me if I'm excited and I've said, yes, if I had time to think about it!

This all has been quite rush, rush. Plans have only been confirmed for a week. But, I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I love London and I'll have a chance to visit Amsterdam and perhaps take a side trip to Florence.

I'm buttoning up some final details before getting ready to head for the airport. My flight leaves tonight at 6:30 and gets me into London at noon tomorrow.