Last weekend Kortney and I went up to Vancouver to see a few events at the 2010 Winter Olympics. We drove up Friday afternoon, slipped across the border with only a few cars in front of us and headed downtown for the evening. We checked into the Corkscrew Inn, a cute bed and breakfast in Kitsalano, about 20 minutes by bus to anything we were interested in seeing. After a small complication with our tickets, we roamed around the pedestrian areas that had been blocked off, and watched the opening ceremony while we dined at the Glass City Café. Later on we happened across Wayne Gretzky carrying the Olympic torch in the back of a pickup as he was transported to the cauldron.

Vancouver is dressed in Olympic garnish from head to toe. The signs and banners are all consistent, vibrant, and very well designed. All of the volunteers are uniformed in the same coats, hats, and occasionally snow pants. It was really impressive to see such a large city with such homogenous decoration.

Saturday morning we headed to the University of British Columbia to watch Sweden and Switzerland compete in women's hockey. Kortney and I rooted for the Swiss, but it was for nothing; Sweden shut them out 3-0. We headed back downtown and strolled through Chinatown, Gastown, and finally to Granville Island where we watched women's freestyle moguls while eating at Cat's Socialhouse. The Canadians were thrilled when they took the lead, and disappointed, but good spirited when we took the gold from them.

Finally, on Sunday we went up to Cypress Mountain to watch men's freestyle moguls. This was the highlight of the trip. We spent 4 hours, outdoors in the low 30ºs, but enjoyed the entire time (except the hour+ waiting in the concession line). The crowd erupted when the final skier, from France, got his score placing him in 6^th, and it was confirmed that Canada had earned its first gold on its home soil.

Afterwards, we got in the car and headed home. We took a rural back road to a smaller border crossing without any lines. We made it home around 10:30, exhausted but still with the glow of Olympic fever.

With a full four days off, it seems like a good time for a "what am I thankful for" post.

Kortney

Kortney has been massively supportive in the past several months. I don't tell her enough how much I appreciate her and everything she means to me.

The End of Grad School

When I started taking classes part-time in January 2006, graduation seemed really far away. Thankfully (only in this instance), time flies by faster as you get older! I'm a fan of learning, but I'll be taking a break from classes for a while.

Stability

Kortney and I scrutinize over our budget and she is rigorous about finding where every penny goes. Despite that we often feel like we're not moving in some directions (financially) as quickly as we'd like. In reality though, we're both blessed with stable jobs in a rough economy.

Free Time

This week I turned in a book review for iPhone SDK Application Development. That process was really fun to be part of. Next week, I'll get the last of my paperwork signed for ASU. After that, I feel like I have December off (with the exception of work, I suppose).

Family

The Grays have welcomed done such an awesome job of making me feel like part of their family, which makes big family get-togethers all the more fun. I've gotten to talk to both sides of my family a lot more recently as well (but I need to do a better job at that).

Travel

This has been a pretty incredible year: My dad and Joan came out at the beginning of the year, and my Grandparents a few months later. Kortney and I went to San Diego at the end of May. I got to stand up in Ben's wedding in June. In July we spent three weeks in Europe. In October we spent a week in Texas visiting family and spending time in Austin. With several trips to Payson, AZ, and a few miscellaneous trips sprinkled around, Kortney and I put on a lot of miles this year.

That's not the entire list, but it is a good start. If you need to reach me today, you'll probably find me hovering around the pecan pie.

Switzerland was the last stop on our trip, and we really saved the best for last. The Alps were, by far, my favorite part of the trip. Kortney agrees.

Our first stop in Switzerland was Luzern. We came in with beautiful weather and great views of the surrounding mountains. Most of the rest of our time there was spent under an umbrella. We quickly swept through the old town and were limited to the things we could do within walking distance. We managed to get to the other side of the lake and found a theater where we almost saw Hancock. It was an almost, because it had already been translated into German, so we decided to skip it.

We decided to take an early train from Luzern and make our way into the heart of Switzerland, more specifically Lauterbrunnen in the Jungfrau region. Lauterbrunnen is lesser known, and much smaller than Interlaken to the north or Gr?ndelwald in the neighboring valley. If I could only pick one place to return to from this trip, Lauterbrunnen would be it. From our room's balcony we could see three waterfalls. The guidebook told us there were 79 throughout the valley.

The morning after we arrived we took the first cogwheel train to Jungfraujoch, a low point between the Jungfrau and Eiger summits (about 12,000 feet). At the top is an observation deck and restaurants designed for tourists, but it also serves as a launching point for climbers and glacier hikers. In an unexpected sign of bravery, Kortney agreed to walk about 500m with me across the glacier to a hut where climbers and researchers occupy. The winds were intense and the environment was stark, but the promise of a kitchen stocked with hot chocolate kept us focussed. It was not the kind of trek you should make in tennis shoes (but that was all we had), so we were both glad we doubled up on socks before we left that morning.

By the time we made it back into the valley, we had caught mountain fever. Doris, who was keeping track of things at the hotel for most of the weekend, informed us about an easy downhill hike from M?rren on one of the mountains rims just southeast. The next day we took a cable car to the top of M?nnlichen and hiked down past Klienesheidegg. During our walk we heard a thunderous crack, like if you snapped a cedar in two, and saw a new waterfall form from a low patch of snow. That afternoon we were hit with rain again, and walked to covered glacial waterfalls, which serve as the outlet for all of the melting glaciers in the region.

From Lauterbrunnen we headed to Zermatt, about two hours southwest. We were greeted with a clear day and spectacular views of the Matterhorn. Kortney's impeccable travel planning skills put us in a room with another incredible view. Zermatt sits at a much higher elevation than the Jungfrau valley we had enjoyed. It wasn't as green, the mountains appear rockier, and the tree line much closer to the town below. Unfortunately, Kortney began to get a sore throat, so our second night there was cut short.

The next morning we took the train to Lugano, well into Switzerland's Italian region. When we left the Alps, the atmosphere changed almost as rapidly as the scenery. No more snow capped peaks, and no more Swiss-German dialect: everything was written in Italian, everyone spoke Italian, and the architecture had much more Italian influence than anything Germanic. After two and a half weeks of German immersion, the Italian region was, for me, culture shock. And to top it off, I had started to come down with the same thing Kortney had.

There isn't much in Lugano itself. The town, appropriately, sits on the Swiss side of Lake Lugano. Ferries allow you to get to other towns scattered around the lake and were free with our Swiss Pass. After an afternoon in Lugano we decided the next morning we'd catch a bus to Italy and spend the day at Lake Como.

Until this point in my life, my most frightening experience as a passenger took place on the Apache Trail in Arizona. The bus ride from Lugano to Menaggio quickly eclipsed my previous experience, and I would imagine that anything more terrifying would involve serious injury or death. On the one hand, the bus driver would enter blind turns without slowing down, just a couple taps on the horn to alert drivers who might be coming the other direction. On the other hand, the two-way road often shrunk to barely the width of two compact cars, often with a sharp cliff and a lake the only alternative to collision, if those were the only available choices.

Remarkably, we made it in one piece, and had a relaxing time. Bellagio is a cute town with tight alley ways, cheap gelato, and quite a few gigantic estates. My favorite stop was Verenna, a much quieter town across from Menaggio.

Our ride back to Lugano didn't seem as death defying, but by that time, my sinuses had taken control of me, and I just wanted some to relax in bed with a constant supply of cranberry Ricolah.

Finally, we headed to Zurich, our last stop and point of departure. My throat and nose kept me in bed for most of the day, but Kortney and I were able to walk around the city later that night. From what I saw, Zurich seemed like a wonderful city, similar to Heidelburg or Luzern in its old-european charm but at the same time hip and active.

We caught a red eye from Zurich to Amsterdam, where we had a five hour layover. Several days earlier I had suggested to Kortney that we take that opportunity to spend a few hours in the city, but in my condition I just wanted to find a place to take a nap.

Amsterdam airport has several areas filled with high back, reclined lounge chairs: a comfortable place for any traveler with a long layover. The chairs we passed were all taken however. Kortney suggested following signs which pointed to a "meditation room". Upon arrival, I found a hidden stash of lounge chairs behind the meditation room, with enough open that we could take our pick.

From Amsterdam we flew into Minneapolis and finally back to Phoenix, tired and happy to be home. Our three weeks was incredible. Kortney's travel planning skills are second to none. I've tried to cover the basics of the trip, and Kortney's put them in her own words as well, but there are far to many experiences, stories, and memories to try to describe. To quote Dr. Arroway, "They should've sent a poet."

After a few days of struggling with Flickr+iPhoto, then running up against my upload limit, I've chosen to just post the photos on hohle.net for now. The entire gallery consist of 226 pictures which I thought were represented of our trip as well as interesting to look at.

All of these were taken with a Panasonic DMC-FX500 that we got just before we left. It replaces the Canon G3 we had primarily been using since we were married. Not only is it an ultra-compact, but it has a wider and longer lens than the Canon. I don't know how the FX500 compares to Canon's SD1100 (one of the other cameras I had been looking at) in terms of image quality and usability, but the FX500 served us really well in Europe. It's much more convenient than my G3, that's for sure.

I have a half written Switzerland/Italy post I still have to finish as well, but that will have to wait a little while longer.

On our way out of Austria, Kortney and I boarded what appeared to be an un-airconditioned train car. After an hour of dealing with the hot, stuffy car, we were able to find open seats in an unfilled private car. Our spirits were immediately lifted.

We enjoyed our time in Salzburg immensely. The altstadt is quaint, and the roads are pedestrian only. We paid admission to the Festung, with mixed results. The fortress has been expande several times since the 1400s, each time expanding its area (and the protection of the religious leader living there). The castle was never taken by force.

Down in the old town, Mozart has his name on everything. You can visit his Geburtshaus (birthplace), hear a concert of his music (which I can only assume are performed daily), or purchase an uncountable number of souvenirs bearing his likeness, the most famous of which is the Mozart ball. (We found the best price for this delicacy outside of Salzburg, in Hallstatt.

The best part of our stay in Austria, however, was Hallstatt, a small mining town. It takes two hours to get there by train, but the trip is worth it. The town is built on the side of the mountain, its opposite border, a glassy, swan-filled lake surrounded by mountains on all sides. The town had been used since at least 400 BC as a support for the salt mines which are estimated to be 7000 years old. The salt mine tour is fun, but a little over the top. The most fun part of the tour is sliding down a wooden slide that miners use to get in between levels of the mine. On the second slide, I clocked 33 KPH, the fastest we saw in our tour group. Hallstatt's cute town, amazing setting, and the fact that its not complely overrun by tourists make it a place to return to (if we're in this neck of the woods).

Kortney and I have made our way from Frankfurt to Berlin, and down the Romantische Stra?e to M?nchen. My German is extremely rusty; Kortney joked when a <2 year old was speaking more fluently than us, but I can still order a K?sebrot, Breze, Bier, W?rste of all kinds, Sauerbraten and everything else we've needed to stay alive.

Wireless internet is fairly ubiquitous in all of the major cities. At all of our hotel rooms, I've been able to pick up nearly a dozen access points. But unlike America, they are all locked! No piggybacking for us. I had wanted to upload pictures as we went, but that will have to wait at least until we leave Deutschland.

This is the first time I've operated a non-US keyboard layout, and I must say, the US layout is much better for special characters (and English typing in general).

Kortney and I have been practice packing for our impending trip to Europe, and we've agreed to go without a computer. Well, that's not entirely true, I'll be bringing a Nokia N800 which will allow us to browse the web, download local maps and driving directions, and upload the mountains (pun intended?) of pictures we're sure to take.

We bought a Panasonic FX500 in preparation for this trip. Both of our old cameras were much larger and had less focal range. I have an unwarranted fear that our camera will be stolen, so I've come up with a contingency scheme for making sure we don't lose any more pictures than necessary. At any of our stops where we have WiFi access, I'll rsync the camera's memory card with a computer back in the US using the N800. I've been testing this at home and it works really well. I'm hoping that the speed is reasonable across the pond.

Besides the internet tablet, a still camera, and a video camera, I've given up any other tech luxuries while we're on the road. No cell phone, no Mac. All together, everything fits into two backpacks - one for each of us. We're trying to stick as closely as possible to the Rick Steve's travel and packing philosophy: "Don't pack for the worst scenario. Pack for the best scenario and simply buy yourself out of any jams."

I'm hoping to finally use my Flickr account, and I maybe I'll even post updates if I wake up before Kortney.

Kortney and I are taking off this morning for a whirlwind trip to America's Finest City. Its business for her, and I'm just tagging along for the ride (and free hotel room). It will be a nice break from the normal 9 to 5.

Now that school's out, I've been trying to spend more time writing for my Mac development blog, with some success. Writing a topic specific blog allows me to focus and target a very specific audience. At the same time, I feel pressured to bring in enough readers for it to be worth while.

Kortney and I were doing our grocery shopping at Walmart today, when we came across not one, but two grossly expired food items.

The second was a large container of McCormick Chili Powder. We seem to use chili powder in a lot of our recipes, so we decided to get the big container. I'm sure spices have a shelf life much longer than other foods, but to me that means its life on my shelf not the stores shelf. Not one, but all of the large chili powder containers expired in August of 2007.

Prior to the chili powder we were looking to buy a delicious jar of pickles and found some bread and butter pickles that fit the bill (along with another jar of whole Kosher dills). Kortney checked the expiration date, and was so shocked, she asked me to confirm. Best if used by: February of 2006!

Finding one seems like a fluke, but finding 2 different products seems absurd. In both cases, the containers seemed new. They weren't dusty or beat up. Perhaps they were part of some inventory that had recently been discovered.

John August has linked to a great interview with Jim Cameron discussing 3D. Here's a choice quote from August's blog, "James Cameron is the Steve Jobs of filmmakers". I couldn't agree more. Historically, Steve Jobs has had a longer career of making sure he gets what he wants, but Cameron has never seemed shy about getting in people's faces to make sure things are right*. And in both cases, the results are visionary, compelling, and exist in a class that few others in their domain can match.

The idea of stereoscopic filmmaking has come up time and again in conversations with my friends and there seems to be a mix of trepidation and excitement. Cameron describes the 3-D movies that I would be interested in: 3-D to enhance the story, not for the sake of 3-D.

Unfortunately, I see two downsides to this approach: elegant 3-D movies won't be first to market, meaning gimmicky, poke-you-in-the-eye movies will set audience expectations (50 years later, studios still don't understand) - and - many audiences won't understand the benefits of 3-D if it isn't explicitly in their face.

Cameron describes 3-D in ideas that are reminiscent of the last several years of interface design:

It needs to be firing on all eight cylinders whether it is conceived as a 2-D or a 3-D film. As a result, a 3-D film when screened in 2-D, on a screen of any size, should still deliver. The 3-D should always be thought of as a turbocharger, an enhancer, to a work whose raison d'etre is vested in its story, its characters, its style, etc.

This is how the truly great programs behave as well, just replace story and characters, with functionality and workflow. For example, Flip3D in Windows Vista is analogous to poke-you-in-the-eye 3-D; it serve no purpose other than eye candy. Contrast that to Expose which provides potentially less visual stimulation, but serves a purpose and function that only direct clones have been able to match.

I'm going to say right now: this is what 3-D will be like in movies. When you go see a 3-D classic, you'll walk out and say: "That movie incredible! What an amazing story!" You wont say: "Did you see all that crap flying at your face!" When our children see movies, they'll say, "What do you mean everything was flat?". They won't ask, "What do you mean you never had to duck out of the way of something coming out of the screen."

Don't get me wrong: attempting to get the audience to duck is in itself not bad in the context of a well written story. For example, during the shootout scene at Cyberdyne in Terminator 2, Dyson's breathing slows and the weight of his own creation becomes to much for him to handle. One last breath, the weight drops, click, and BOOM! Cyberdyne's facade explodes showering the police force on the ground in glass and metal. I was on the edge of my seat and now I should be planted firmly at the back of it. 3-D will only intensify such a scene.

But that's the obvious use of 3-D. The masters will take tight shots, and make you feel like you're a third part to a two person conversation. They'll put you in the crowd at a rally of protestors. They'll give you claustrophobia. The revolutionary 3-D won't remind you that its even there. It will slip into your brain and make your experience all the more real and immediate.

I don't think we've seen even a taste of what stereoscopic movies will be able to achieve. I'm look forward to Avatar and hope that 3-D is embraced as a method of story enhancement, not shallow entertainment.

* There's a great scene in an Aliens documentary where Cameron can't get the face hugger operator to get the creature to move as he'd like. Cameron kicks the guy out of his position, and operates the face hugger himself, until he's satisfied with the result.