The Ankh-Morpork Times

Last weekend I kept myself busy ;).

Friday night I attended a Céili, that's a traditional Gaelic/Irish social dance in Bern. There were about 150 people present and it was simply brilliant.

Saturday, I first wen to a Conforama to scout for a new couch and wardrobe and I did indeed find both in abundance. About four wardrobes suited my tastes and that after I have only found one in Fly, Ikea and TopTip. I should have gone to Conforama from the start! ;).

Home again I remembered that it was the Long Night of Short Stories. Browsing through the program, I noticed that most events were already over, but then I spotted something that sounded interesting. And so I ended up at the Razzia im Seefeld. This bar and place for culture was originally opened as a cinema in the 1920s with breathtaking wand murals. Over the years these have unfortunately been covered over but now it has been softly restored and some of it's old glory is shown again.
But back to topic. Joey Goebel read from his new novel Commonwealth and it was hilarious! After the reading I couldn't stop myself and bought two books to get them signed ;).

Following the reading was a party with tunes selected by Joey, who is a former member of a small punk band, and so I ended up dancing late into the night again. ^^

On Sunday I almost overslept. It being the end of daylight saving time, I dutifully changed the time on my cellphone during the night that it would wake me on time. Unfortunately, the cellphone then changed the time on its own, which meant that it was now running one hour behind! Luckily, I woke up on my own, checked the cellphone and heard the church bells at the same time discovering the discrepancy and getting up in time to travel to Lenzburg.

In Lenzburg on the castle I attended another Medieval Dance course led by Andreas Rutschmann. I've visited his courses before and they were fun and instructive as always, even though I had danced most of the pieces before.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend and I'm looking forward to the next Céili, reading by Joey Goebel and Medieval Dance course. However, I wouldn't be mad if they weren't all on the same weekend! ;)

Labels: dancing, Fun, Literature, weekend

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Gallery updated

I finally found time to update the gallery of my homepage with all the albums hosted by picasa.

This makes the Gallery your main place of call if you're looking for my pictures :)

Labels: info, metablog, pictures

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Wunderbaum LARP

Finally back in Switzerland I could resume one of my favorite hobbies: LARP-ing ^^. I signed up as an NPC (non-player character) at my first LARP in 17 months, since I wasn't sure whether I'd have enough time to prepare a new character in time. As an NPC I was assigned to the Border Patrol. They had observed strange people in the woods and have suffered severe losses recently, thus our captain sent a cry for help which was answered by 45 adventurers and various other characters.

Soon after everyone arrived, a dark magician entered the scene trying to scare the players away from his land. Subsequently, we at the border post suffered severely for this and we were attacked multiple times and the four guards were regularly outnumbered.

I suffered a bad leg wound in one of the attacks.

To make things worse, we were hit by a course which subsequently drained our powers until we no longer could wear any armor or wield two-handed weapons. Fortunately, we were able to uncover hints for a cure and by the end of the day, the players could destroy the curse and restore our strength.

At night everyone was vastly relieved and thus celebrations were in order all around. I joined the Landsknecht at their tavern.

The Landsknecht convincing a Guest to part with his mead!

But the celebrations were too early, and the evil magician made his presence known the next morning, which led to an epic, although rather short, battle in which the magician was vanquished.

Despite a short spell of bad weather, it was raining for most of Saturday, we did have lots of fun and I enjoyed meeting many old friends and making some new ones!

The Border Patrol in its entirety

More pictures can be found in my gallery.

Labels: LARP, pictures

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Goodbye USA

After three thrilling days in Las Vegas it was time to return to Switzerland. But first I had to drive back to Phoenix. That's 300 miles or 5 hours 40 minutes: Not an ordinary one-day distance for a guy from Switzerland! ;)

Thus I left Vegas early in the morning and made a pit-stop at Hoover Dam to take the full tour. I already stopped at Hoover Dam on my way to Vegas, but alas I was too late for the tour then. The tour first took us to the Power Station, which was quite interesting and then led us into the Dam itself. This was terrific. We had a small group and an extremely knowledgeable guide, she practically grew up on site and knows every nook-and-cranny! At one of the stops inside the dam we could look out through a ventilation grill and take an awesome picture of the dam itself.

Hoover Dam as seen from a ventilation grill in the middle

Driving the rest of the way back was very long, especially because I ran into rush-hour traffic in Phoenix itself, but I managed to keep my dinner appointment :).

I had no clue where to stay for the last night, so I headed towards the airport and kept looking for a motel. Fortunately, I found one after only a short bit of driving around. And the best part? It was just next to a gas station! Thus I could fuel up my car early next morning and arrive at the airport well in time.

Since I'm fond of statistics I wanted to share the following, my distances covered in cars in the last four weeks in North America:
2'236km in Pennsylvania, New York and Canada.
1'880km in Arizona and Nevada.

The return trip, with a stop at Washington DC, was very uneventful and I arrived in Zurich on time. And this time my luggage arrived completely as well.

Breezing through Customs I immediately spotted a very special welcoming committee: Michaela, waited for me in full fantasy-armor! :)

My welcome committee

Labels: pictures, road trip, usa

Monday, September 28, 2009

Las Vegas

Arriving a day earlier as planned in Las Vegas, I first headed Downtown. After all, I had two nights booked on the strip and thus decided to check out the Fremont Street Experience.

I was lucky to find a moderately priced hotel just around the corner from Fremont Street.

Fremont Street hosts some of the oldest Casinos in Vegas. To compete with the Mega-Resorts on the Strip they covered part of Fremont Street with a huge screen. During the evening hours music videos are shown there every hour. While I was there I saw American Pie, a Tribute to Queen and a Tribute to Kiss. This was very impressive. I also tried my luck at the slot machines. However, it wasn't meant to be and I left after twenty minutes, once my five dollars were spent.

In addition to the video show, Fremont Street also had a stage where an Army Band played popular Rock songs.

Fremont Street Experience

Day 2 - Exploring the Strip

The next day I relocated to the Excalibur, one of the Mega-Resorts on the Strip which chose medieval times as a theme.

After settling in I ventured to explore the Strip. The Excalibur is situated at the South End and thus I started heading north, checking out the Resorts on the way. My ultimate goal was the Stratosphere, the highest building in Vegas; because I heard that on its top one could ride four high-thrill rides. On the way, I made a short detour through Planet Hollywood's Miracle Mile Shops and witnessed the Indoor Thunderstorm, which is very bizarre ;).

The Strip is much longer than I expected, but I finally arrived at my destination. Fortunately, there weren't too many people so I didn't have to queue up to get to the observation deck or to join the rides. The rides were ok, but not really something I would have done multiple times a day.

On the way back I checked out the rollercoaster in the Sahara. It was also rather short, so not much to write home about.

Then it was time for the big highlight of the evening: The Blue Man Group. I had organized tickets that very morning at one of the many half-prize ticket booths. The show was incredible. A mixture of light, sound, comedy, information and art which was thrilling to behold. It was definitely worth the price of admission.

My next stop was Treasure Island and its outdoor Pirate Show with two full ships and some pyrotechnic. A must-see if you are in Vegas.

On my way back to the hotel I stopped to observe the exploding Volcano at the Mirage and the Fountains at the Bellagio.

Excalibur by Night

Day 3 - Looking for Sharks

Paying five dollars extra a day as a resort fee, I thought I should at least check out the swimming pool, which was huge! Or rather, they had three different pools. One of which with short water slides! Unfortunately, my day was packed again so I didn't linger for long.

First on the program was a trip south to explore the last Resorts on the Strip. So I walked through the Luxor, which is very impressive both inside and outside and onwards to Mandalay Bay. There I took some time to visit their Aquarium. That was very interesting, especially because every visitor received an “Audio Wand", which played short sequences about the different exhibits. The highlight was of course the big shark tank located in a shipwreck.

Heading back North I went to the shopping mile at Cesar's Palace, to acquire the latest iPod Nano in the Apple Store. Nearby I stumbled into a breathtaking gallery and ended up buying the book to the exhibition.

Then it was already time again to go back to the hotel. On the way I rode the rollercoaster in New York New York. The best one I saw in Vegas, but still a very rough ride.

The highlight for this evening was The Tournament of Kings: A medieval dinner show at the Excalibur. I was seated in the Dragon section, so we could cheer for the bad guy. Unfortunately, he lost in the end :(. Nevertheless, they did an excellent job in delivering a good show and I enjoyed it a lot.

Next was a show of The Sin City Comedy Club. It was a fun event, but I was a bit distraught by two things. First, by my neighbours who ended up talking amongst themselves more than paying attention to the show. And second, the fact that every comedian repeatedly pointed out that it was all Comedy and shouldn't be taken seriously. Come on, that's supposed to be self-evident!

Even though it was a long day, I felt like going out to party. So I headed over to the New York New York and paid the Coyote Ugly a visit. That was fun. There were lots of girls dancing on the bar and some of the songs they played were actually good.

Visiting Vegas was definitely worth it, even though I ended up spending a lot of money on entertainment, food and shopping ;).

Luxor

All pictures from Las Vegas can be found in my webalbum.

Labels: Fun, pictures, road trip, usa

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Arizona - The Grand Canyon

Williams and the Grand Canyon

Williams is a tiny little hamlet which has two distinguishing features. First, it is the start of the Grand Canyon Railway and second, it is on the historic Route 66 and has a well-preserved city center.

As you might have guessed, I took the Grand Canyon Railway to the Grand Canyon. That was a very nice trip, both because we could enjoy nice views of the landscape and we received a lot of information about the railway as well as on-board entertainment.

The Grand Canyon was truly impressive and a little bit frightening. After all there were many places where it went straight down and there was nothing to keep you from falling off!

On the way back our train was stopped by train robbers! Fortunately, the Marshal was tight in pursuit and guaranteed us that justice will be done ;).

Grand Canyon National Park

Sunset Crater

The next day I backtracked to Flagstaff to visit Sunset Crater National Monument. Sunset Crater is a volcano which erupted around 1100AD (in geological terms: yesterday) and around it are magnificent lava flows and semi-barren landscapes.

Lava Flow in front of Sunset Crater

Just next doors is the Wupatki National Monument. This area contains multiple well-preserved ruins from the Sinagua Native Americans. They built their homes out of clay and often leveraged natural rock formations as walls for parts of their buildings. A very impressive sight.

Wupatki National Monument

Route 66 and Grand Canyon Caverns

On my way back West I followed the historic Route 66 for a while. The funny thing was that the route was even adorned with the old-school Burma-Shave Rhyming Ads.

The highlight, besides the road that is, on this stretch of Route 66 is Grand Canyon Caverns. A natural dry cavern system that is connected to the Grand Canyon, which is 40 miles away. When the caverns were discovered by Walter Peck in 1927 he though he found the first combination Gold, Silver and Diamond Mine! After the core samples were analyzed though, it was revealed that it was just iron oxide and selenite (a completely worthless mineral). So Peck decided to earn money by letting tourists into the caverns. And that's what survived till today, even though the infrastructure has been drastically improved since 1927. Another fun fact is that the US Government stored emergency rations and water in the caves during the Cuban Missile Crises to last 2,000 people for 2 weeks. These rations are still present in the caves today and would still be edible!

Grand Canyon Caverns

Grand Canyon West and the Skywalk

On my way to the Grand Canyon National Park, I first heard about the Skywalk, a huge glass platform which allows visitors to walk on top of the Grand Canyon, at Grand Canyon West. It was immediately clear that I had to see this ;). And so that was my next stop.

If you check reviews online you find a lot of people bitching about the terrible road leading to the spot and the high prices. Granted the road was rather bad and uneven, but they were doing major roadwork so this should improve in the future, and I was able to drive the whole way with my Ford Focus without problems. As for the price issue, everyone has to decide this for themselves. In my book it was totally worth the price of admission.

The first stop at Grand Canyon West is the Skywalk at Eagle Point, a rock formation which does look like an Eagle. For safety reasons cameras were not allowed on the Skywalk itself. In a way that was good. Because it allowed me to completely absorb the experience, the view and the other people. It was so much fun watching the other people holding on to the railing for dear life or avoiding the clear glass part at all costs! There is also no time limit on the Skywalk itself, and so I spent a good 45 minutes enjoying it.

The Skywalk

Next stop was Guano Point. This section offered a terrific view of Colorado River and had a short but neat hiking path leading up to the top of a small hill. The only problem I had, was that it was an extremely windy day. First this was bad because my hair always covered my eyes, and second because I'm not too firm when it comes to unprotected heights and then feeling the wind trying to push me over the edge was not very comforting...

David with hair all over ;)

From this I learned that I have a rational fear of heights. If there is anything between me and the abyss, even a glass window, I'm fine. If there is nothing in between I start getting uncomfortable.

All pictures from my road trip through Arizona can be found on Picasa.

Labels: grand canyon, pictures, road trip, usa

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Arizona - Around Sedona

Before leaving Phoenix I made a short pit-stop at Alice Cooperstown. The restaurant owned and sometimes operated by Alice Cooper.

Cooperstown

The next day sight-seeing started in earnest. I visited Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well, two National Monuments and former settlements of the Sinagua people. They lived there from 1000 to 1400 AD and built their houses out of clay and into the cliff walls.

Montezuma Castle

Sedona

Continuing on my way I came to the famous Red Rocks near Sedona. Most of those rocks have names such as Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock, Snoopy Rock and so forth.

Sedona is also famous for its Vortexes. A vortex is a place of energy and tourists from all over the world come to these spots to strengthen their potential.

During my second day in Sedona I first took part in a nature walk in the Red Rock State Park, this was extremely educational and we could observe many hummingbirds.

From there I went to Tuzigoot National Monument, another early settlement by the Sinagua people. This one however, was situated on top of a rock and roomed many hundreds of people.

Driving back into Sedona I noticed a lot of water on the street. Some time later I learned that they were hit by an extreme rainfall, so heavy that you couldn’t see your hand in front of your eyes. One section of town was even hit by a Spring Flood! Lucky me, that I was out of town at the time!

To end the day I joined a Hummer Tour. This brought us onto the western back roads of Sedona and offered spectacular views of the mountains. We also saw a javelina, it looks like a wild pig but is more closely related to the hippopotamus, hurrying across the road.

Cathedral Rock

Oak Creek Canyon

The route from Sedona to Flagstaff leads through Oak Creek Canyon, a very scenic route. It also offers multiple hiking opportunities and so I made a stop at the West Fork Trail. This trail leads for 5 kilometres into a side-canyon along a cute little river. The trail ends when the canyon becomes so narrow that the creek fills it completely. This hike was wonderful; very scenic and also quite shady, a bonus in these high temperatures.

At the scenic overlook at the top of the canyon, I ran into a number of old-timers: Ford motorcars from the 1920ies.