Friday, November 24, 2006 Thanksgiving Another fantastic Thanksgiving courtesy of my sister and her husband (and everyone who brought something along). Great food and family all around. Plus we had a birthday this year, extra cake for everyone! Although Ryan had a serious go at most of it. You can see the photo's by clicking on the badge above or clicking here I still recommend clicking here and selecting slide show on the right. You'll get a nice clean presentation that way! Alternatively, just flip through. Any questions, let me know. We're all very blessed to have Thanksgiving's like this. Here's to many more. Thanks V & B. posted by Liam Wen at 11/24/2006 0 comments    Wednesday, November 15, 2006 Argentina According to my guidebook, Argentinian's are blessed with a healthy attitude for Argentina. The saying goes, everything is 'the greatest' in Argentina. After spending some time there I have to agree. I was down there for a few weeks with my cousins and we had fantastic time. We started in Buenos Aires. It's great city that reminded me very much of Barcelona. It has it's own unique flavor which includes a fair amount of salsa for the tourists - if you are into that kind of thing... After arriving, we headed up to the North to a province call Corrientes. It is said that one gaucho from Corrientes equals 15 from any other province. At least that's what the gauchos told us there. We spent a lot of time in the saddle in Corrientes. Some days we did over 40km's. Suffice to say, there is no workout I am familiar with to prepare one for this. Cycling certainly didn't help that much . . . and btw, leave the cycling shorts at home. Trust me on this... One day we finished the day with a polo lesson and a terrifc game of polo. This was followed by drinks as the sun set out in the fields. It was stunning. After just a few days I was beginning to understand the Argentinian need for superlatives. The views were breathtaking in every direction. It really is fantastically beautiful there. The food is incredible, the hospitality, out of this world. After over a week riding we sadly headed back to Buenos Aires. But Buenos Aires had its own surprises and we had a blast. We went out a few evenings, late, very late as dinner appears to start around 11:30pm. We enjoyed incredible cocktails, frozen Mojito's! Wow! They were delicious. We also had one of the best steak dinners I have ever had a at tiny restaurant for under 15 dollars - for all three of us! After a couple of days we headed to Barriloche. It's a ski town in the southwest (near Chile). The change was incredible. All of a sudden we have gone from a place like Barcelona to an Alpine town that combines the best of Switzerland and Western American ski resorts. It was a beautiful town nestled in the mountains on the side of a picturesque and undeveloped lake. It is also filled with chololate shops and delicious restaurants. At the airport in Barriloche we had picked up a car and from here we drove across country to a small town called San Martin de los Andes. It's another ski town about 4-5 hours by road and below a great looking ski area. The drive was absolutely breath taking (and the roads in amazingly good condition). In fact, if you are reading this from Utah . . . it is one of the few drives that actually beats Provo Canyon. Really. It is that beautiful and it extends for HOURS. It runs along beautiful rivers and huge empty lakes. The drive alone was an incredible experience, punctuated by stops every few minutes just to take in the sheer beauty of the landscape. The last time I had to stop so often to appreciate the view was in New Zealand and as far as vista's goes - Argentina is a strong competitor with New Zealand for natural beauty. San Martin de los Andes is a small town that really reminded us of Austrian ski towns. It is picturesque and sits on the side of another large lake. The architecture is so 'euro-alpine' that we had to keep reminding ourselves we were actually in Argentina. Of course one bite of another award winning steak for dinner was quite a reminder. BTW - we had some great Argentinian wines. I had only a passing familiarity with Malbec's prior to this trip. I will be buying more. One added bonus for Katie here, as it was the end of the Argentinian ski season everything was on sale and she picked up a terrific ski suit for less than 1/2 of what it would cost at home. After a few days we had to head back to Buenos Aires. We got to retrace our fantastic drive back to Barriloche before flying back. Argentina is the 8th largest country in the world - who knew? These flights saved a lot of time and they were still a few hours. Once back, we did some shopping, enjoyed some more food and some ice cream/sorbet. There seems to be ice cream places on every corner. Did you know you can get ice cream DELIVERED here? How civilized can one get? Finally after touring around the city we had to head home. It was with heavy hearts and we are already planning our next trip. If you want to go, let me know. We really want to go during ski season, which will be a summer holiday! Summer ski holiday in Argentina '07? I hope so! PS. I had to include this picture of the sisters in front of the volcano on the way to St Martin. We felt this way most of the time we were there! :-) PPS. If you want to see more pictures (We took over 800!) take look at Technovian Photos you'll see a lot more. Labels: Travel posted by Liam Wen at 11/15/2006 0 comments    Saturday, October 28, 2006 Argentina bound I'm in Argentina for the next few weeks riding with the gauchos (and my cousins). I'll be in Patagonia, Buenos Aires and the lake district. I'll be online sporadically and will try to post a few pictures. I'm looking forward to the wide open spaces, the food and the people. The saddle sores . . . not so much. posted by Liam Wen at 10/28/2006 1 comments    Friday, October 27, 2006 The Human League made me do it When I did the recent post on the Human League I went to YouTube to find the video I linked to. While I was there I discovered a treasure trove of 80's videos. Currently I am a bit addicted to Regina Spektor. But since my 80's YouTube discovery, I find I am increasingly watching things like this... A bit sad I admit. But I am enjoying it. ;-) BTW - for something more contemporary, here's Regina Spektor. I should add if you are a musician, she posts all her sheet music on her site. Yes, there is something 'Sledgehammer - esque' about this. I think this women is headed places. PS. Don't share my enthusiam? Be thankful I wasn't posting during my Lily Allen phase in the spring. ;-) posted by Liam Wen at 10/27/2006 0 comments    Wednesday, October 25, 2006 A trip to the aquarium My apartment in Boston is right by the harbor. Thanks to the near completion of the 'big dig' this area getting nicer and nicer. One feature that has been here since I was a child is the New England Aquarium, I can see it from my window. I make it there every few months, usually with Ryan who loves it. We went a few weeks ago. There are seals in a huge glass tank right outside. Usually, Ryan is quite interested in them. Today however, the pigeons flying around the seals were more interesting... I considered volunteering here a while ago. I then discovered that one duty volunteers have is, coming in on Sunday morning and cleaning the penguin poop off the rocks. :-/ I've smelled penguins and based on that, I'll be sticking with donations for now. Although, if I can go diving in the shark tank . . . . Like all good attractions these days, its pretty hard to leave without a trip through the gift shop. There are some fun things in there. I really like this picture, it's a great example of the kind of shot I was missing due to poor lighting, shutter speed or lack of control on my old camera. (all these were taken with my new Nikon D80) posted by Liam Wen at 10/25/2006 0 comments    Thursday, October 19, 2006 Don't you want me baby? I was in London and Wales last week. Wales is simply beautiful. If you get a chance, go there. It was my first time in years and I had forgotten just how gorgeous the landscape is. Lots of majestic castles on the coast and lush green farmland all around. Highly recommended. I'll post some pics soon. When I was in London I was lucky enough to get an invite to a private party (courtesy of Wendy) where the band was 'The Human League'. I was a huge fan and didn't find out until the day before. I have to admit I have 'Human League' albums... They are still a great live act, with the original frontliners which is great. I shot some footage (along with a lot of other people, camera phones appear to be the concert lighters of the 00's). The quality is a bit dodgy ... but you get the idea, they covered all their big hits which was fantastic. Thanks to YouTube - here's a classic video of theirs if this got you in the mood. :-) BTW - their new stuff is great, I'm picking up the new album. posted by Liam Wen at 10/19/2006 0 comments    Monday, October 16, 2006 I am not a number, I am a free man! When I was a kid I watched reruns of The Prisoner with my Dad. I loved it. It was a British programme made in 1966 that had everything. Gadgets, action, mystery and secret high tech bunkers hidden under a bizzare place called 'The Village'. The show starred Patrick McGoohan. He had previously been in Danger Man (Secret Agent Man in the US) and was asked to be James Bond before Sean Connery and turned it down. The show only lasted 17 episodes. If you haven't seen it, get it. It was way ahead of it's time. The title of this post is the show's 'catch phrase'. While I was in Wales this week I finally took a trip to Portmierion. This is the location that starred as the village. It was the fulfillment of a boyhood dream - although sadly the village appear high tech bunker free. That said, it was well worth the trip and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Wales. Portmeirion is the vision of one man, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis. It is an amazing place that he built to prove a place could be built that tied architecture to the beaty of the natural surroundings. It is all the more amazing because many of the buildings and features are old building that were going to be demolished during the UK's post war period. Instead they were removed piecemeal and rebuilt here on the coast in Wales. Take a look at what he accomplished in 50 years. The whole area is quite compact. Every building is unique and as you can see the location is spectacular. The whole area is spectacular. Williams-Ellis obviously had a keen eye for detail. If you watch the series you'll understand how thrilled I was to stand here by the stone boat (which is behid me, read the links for more details :-)). Out on the dunes 'Number 6' was chased by the Rover (an automated sentry that looked like a weather ballon - because it was a weather ballon!) What a special effect. This is a view from within the village. Being the 'fanboy' that I am, it was amazing to stand in this location. The village really is amazingly beautiful. I understand why McGoohan picked it. The Prisoner has it's own fan club (I am not a member . . . yet). You can find them here for more info. Evidently a new Prisoner series is in the works! I can only hope. Be seeing you. ;-) posted by Liam Wen at 10/16/2006 0 comments    Saturday, October 14, 2006 Walk on/over water I read about this interesting art installation on Boing Boing a little while ago. I was in London last week and decided to visit it with my friend Wendy. That's me in the video. :-) Artist Michael Gross flooded a London church-turned-gallery with water. The 'lake' hides a system of mechanically-moving steps that enable visitors to walk on water. The installation, titled Bridge, is up until October 29 at Dilston Grove. From the gallery's description: "Each step emerges one step in front of you and disappears back underneath behind you as you go. This 'bridge' is purely mechanical, the weight of the person on it depresses each step a little, this force activates a submerged mechanism which raises the next step. The public are invited to walk out on it as if walking on water, eventually reaching the middle of the lake, thirty steps and twelve meters from the shore. There they will stand alone and detached, stranded in the middle of a plane of water until they choose to return the way they came. For some people this experience of being cut off and surrounded by water will be peaceful, for others terrifying. For some walking across the water will be pure childish joy, whilst others will be too scared to try." For me, it was definitely childish joy and curiousity. Although I was a little bummed they made me wear a lifejacket. ;-) posted by Liam Wen at 10/14/2006 1 comments    Tuesday, October 03, 2006 Nikon D80 & Baby sitting I decided a few years ago I would upgrade digital cameras in increments of at least 2 megapixels. My first camera was an Olympus D40 (4MP). Next I bought a Canon S70 (7MP). Just recently I bought a Nikon D80 (10 MP). The Nikon is a significant step as it is the first digital SLR I have purchased. In fact, it's a step towards a more serious photography committment. The last time I really used a SLR was 1992. Of course I was only a toddler myself at that time. :-) Here's a picture I took this week when I was with my nephew. The D80 ships with a very nice 18 - 135 lens. I've already started eyeing the 18 - 200 VR, but I think it may be a while. posted by Liam Wen at 10/03/2006 1 comments    Sunday, September 24, 2006 The Dana Farber Cancer Walk Last weekend my sister and I went on the annual Jimmy Fund walk for cancer. The walk follows the path of the Boston Marathon and is 26.2 miles long. It took us about 7 hours complete along with 6000+ people. We had great weather and a terrific walk. This video was shot using the '30 seconds of video' setting on my digital camera (a Canon S70) and assembled using iMovie HD on my new MacBook. The camera's lack of dynamic light metering, combined with the reduced quality from putting it on the web, give it what can best be called - an 'artistic' feel. :-) Enjoy. posted by Liam Wen at 9/24/2006 1 comments    Sunday, July 02, 2006 Galapagos from the Cachalotte 2006 I've got a lot of pictures and video from the last 18+ months on the road. This is from my latest trip to Ecuador. I was on a live aboard to tour the Galapagos Islands. Highly recommended. :-) I tried YouTube, but the video quality was awful. I think Google Video looks a lot better. Thanks to Wes Anderson for the musical inspiration. We did swim with penguins, seals and numerous fish. We saw sharks, but sadly missed Steve Zissou's Jaguar shark. The animals on land were just as amazing, if a little less interactive. Enjoy. posted by Liam Wen at 7/02/2006 2 comments    Saturday, June 10, 2006 That's right, I'm Abe Froman. 1st time I've ever taken one of these 'internet quizes' for something to put on your blog. But this one caught my attention as it appealled directly to my inner 80's teenager. It arrived in my email today and I'm still laughing about it. You can take the test yourself by clicking the link at the bottom. Ferris Bueller's Day Off Your life most resembles Ferris Bueller's Day Off. You are crazy and love to live life to its fullest. Your friends love you because you always figure out crazy schemes to get them out of doing stuff. Take this quiz posted by Liam Wen at 6/10/2006 0 comments		Previous Posts Thanksgiving Argentina Argentina bound The Human League made me do it A trip to the aquarium Don't you want me baby? I am not a number, I am a free man! Walk on/over water Nikon D80 & Baby sitting The Dana Farber Cancer Walk Archives You can reach me at: paul[at]technovian[dot]com About Novian News Novian News started as a project to teach myself about blogging while I was on a course in Europe for a few months. Lately I have had a renewed interest in Novian News and am working on a redesign. Specifically I'm planning on including video, photos and other 'projects'. Come back sometime, you may find something interesting. About Me About Me Name: Liam Wen Location: London, Westminister, GB After 15 years in tech I'm taking a sabbatical. So far I have taught skiing in Austria and travelled on six continents. After this . . . who knows? Nuff said! View my complete profile Diversions Disclaimer This site was built to provide updates on my whereabouts, courses, etc. As a first try, expect it to be sporadic. I'll try to keep it interesting. Your milegage may vary. All content licensed by Technovian under the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Creative Commons license