Funny Wind Energy Commercial

This video has been around for a few months… and it’s been forwarded to me by several people… so maybe it's already made the rounds, and everyone’s already seen it. But just in case you haven’t watched it yet, here’s a very creative (and quite funny, in a subtle sorta way) commercial advocating my new profession. It apparently just won won the top award for "best advertising film" at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes, France.

Additional note: At least two people whom I count as intelligent have admitted that they don't "get" this commercial. Even though it may seem to be a nonsensical piece of performance art upon first viewing, there is a point (once you figure out who the goofy guy with the hat is). Hint: he's not a person; he represents a "force", so to speak. If you haven't figured out who he is by the end, then they tell you (bottom righthand corner at 1:45 on the timer).

Enjoy!

Also available here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=2mTLO2F_ERY
And in higher resolution: http://epuron.de/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-204/414_read-793/

ΓΥΡΟΣ ΑΘHΝΑΣ [Turn around Athens]

A week ago, I had another first-ever experience… but it wasn’t an experience particular to Greece. I ran in a race.
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During my Athens semester, I’ve had significantly more free time than I had during the first term in Oldenburg. We generally had one class of 3-5 hours each day, no mandatory homework, and no lab experiments/reports to do… Plus, I didn’t do any singing this semester – which might ordinarily fill much of my free time – so I devoted significant time and energy toward improving my fitness level (and trying to shrink that post-30 “spare tire”). During the first couple of weeks in Athens, I jogged two or three times per week with one of my flat-mates, François, who is a long-time runner. I also joined a gym and began exercising there several times each week. As the semester progressed, I kept up with the regular gym workouts but gradually eased off the jogging. I continued, however, jogging the short distance (~3/4 mile) to my gym each time I went for a workout. It’s not far, but at least it gives my heart and lungs a short workout every couple of days.
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A couple of weeks ago, many of my classmates started talking about an 8km (5 mile) run through downtown Athens. Lots of them are avid runners, and there was definitely a sense that this would be a “group activity not to miss.” Although I wanted to join in the fun, I wasn’t confident that I could run 8km – it sounded kind of far for a “non-runner”. But then I learned that there would also be a 3.5km (2 mile) run at the same time. That sounded doable, so I signed up.
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Ten EUREC master’s students (and one wife) – from both the “wind energy” and “buildings efficiency” groups – participated in the races (which started and finished together). I had fun experiencing all of the fanfare and communing with the tens of thousands of people there… but, in the end, it was a slightly disappointing experience for me. I expected to have difficulty and feel like I’d pushed myself to the limit when I crossed the finish line… but much to my surprise, I discovered that 3.5 km really isn’t very far. When I got to the finish line and barely felt winded, I wished I’d run the longer distance. Ah, well – live and learn.
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Since most of my pals ran 8km, I was able to arrive at the finish line early and snap photos of classmates as they finished the race. Here are a few shots from the event.
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François, my roommate, crossing the finish line
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Carlos y Carlos – і bien hecho !
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This tortoise found me while I was trying to (privately) water a tree after the race
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Ok, now what’s for lunch? (photo by F.Santodomingo-Llamas)
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L-R: Marion, Emmanuel, Fernando, Emma, Carlos, Carlos, Pierre, François, Filippo, Scott, Nora
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After the race, a few of us walked to the Olympic stadium (where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896) for some photo ops.
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On your mark, get set… (photo by C.Godard)
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Hmmm… What gender do you figure this statue was intended to be?
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Emmanuel, Fernando, & I reach for the gold (photo by C.Godard)

Don't You Worry

Okay, so this post has nothing to do with renewable energy or Europe or my experiences here... It's just something I wanna share. Early in 2007, my former a cappella group, V-Chords (http://vchords.com), was preparing to compete in the National Harmony Sweepstakes in San Rafael, CA. For the purpose of self-critique, we occassionally made audio or video recordings of our rehearsals. Following the competition, one of our members posted the following video of our rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" on youtube:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtWyF4bx8JQ

In February of this year, a student named Cheiku at Miami of Ohio University emailed the V-Chords requesting permission to sing our arrangement. He'd seen our youtube vid and hoped his a cappella group could sing it in an upcoming concert. I sent Cheiku the sheet music for the arrangement... and didn't hear back from him for a while. Then a couple of weeks ago, Cheiku sent us a link to the video of his group, The Miami of Ohio Remnants, singing our arrangement in their spring concert:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fS8oTYt5kA

It was really flattering to see another a cappella group -- composed entirely of singers I've never met -- singing my arrangement.

And on a related note: Last summer, just before moving from the Portland area, the other V-Chords guys each recorded their parts for this "Don't You Worry..." arrangement into digital recording software on my computer. Then from my parents basement in Kentucky, I recorded my solo, did lots of editing of the individual parts, and sent the individual recordings to a pro studio engineer in Chicago, Freddie Feldman (www.vocomotion.com), for mixing and mastering. In October we received the mastered recording, and in early May our recording became available for sale on acatunes.com: www.acatunes.com/album/419. Check it out!

Sailing in the Cyclades

I returned a week ago from my first-ever sailing trip. A group of six of us – skippered by an Italian wind energy classmate named Filippo – sailed for 7 days in the Aegean Sea. The trip was during our 12-day Greek Orthodox Easter vacation. We visited – some to a greater degree than others – seven islands in the circular chain of islands called the Cyclades to the southeast of Athens. Except for the first two days (cold, overcast, rainy), the weather was mostly warm, beautiful, and sunny… But there wasn’t always lots of wind for blowing the sails, so several of our traversals were only made possible by the boat’s diesel engine. The boat was equipped with four sleeping cabins, two toilets, a kitchen/common area below the deck, and a seating area aboveboard.
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As I mentioned, Filippo was our captain – he’s been sailing since he was a wee lad. Nora (Filippo’s Irish wife) has been sailing with Fil for several years. Thanos (our only Greek) earned his sailing license a couple of years ago. Fernando (Spanish) and Carlos (Mexican) had each been sailing a few times but not overnight or on a boat as large as the one we'd rented. So I was the only complete novice in the group. I’d drifted up the Nile in Egypt on a 4-day “felucca” trip four years ago… and our boat had been equipped with basic sails, but they were rarely used… and when they were, they were operated completely by our Nubian guides. Needless to say, I had lots to learn about the somewhat complicated art & science of sailing. I can’t yet say I’m a sailor, but I definitely picked up some basic techniques… and whetted my appetite for more.

Our route through the Cyclades is shown below, with each circled number representing a day:

Here’s a brief summary of our itinerary in words:

• April 26 – Sailed from Piraeus (SW Athens) port to Kea (Vourkari port); overnight in Vourkari
• April 27 – Spent day in Kea (due to weather concerns); visited famous Kea lion; overnight in Vourkari
• April 28 – Sailed to Syros (Finikas port); hiked/climbed rock cliffs lining sea; overnight in Finikas
• April 29 – Sailed to Delos; swam in bay at Delos (brrrr!); sailed onward to Mykonos (new port in Mykonos town); danced late into the morning; overnight in Mykonos
• April 30 – Sailed to Delos & visited archaeological site; sailed onward to Paros; overnight in a cove near Paros
• May 1 – Hiked in the morning; sailed to Serifos (Livadi port); swam at Livadi beach; onboard opera concert in evening; overnight in Livadi port
• May 2 – Sailed to Kythnos; swam in bay; sailed onward to Sounion bay, just beside Poseidon’s Temple
• May 3 – Woke at 5am to sail back to Athens/Piraeus for 9am boat drop-off

And here come the photos. Sorry if you prefer short, sweet posts, 'cause this one's a whopper -- just too many images I wanna share from our odyssey...

Day 1: Our boat, “Valassia”, waiting for us in Piraeus port

Day 1: Cap’n Filippo steering us into the wind (photo by F.Santodomingo-Llamas)

Day 1: Carlos enjoys a turn at the wheel

Day 2: Entering town of Loulida in search of Kea Lion (photo by C.Godard)

Day 2: Interesting Easter bunnies in a Loulida shop window

Day 2: Carlos & Fernando meet the Kea Lion (carved in 7th century BC). Legend has it that the lion wears a smug smile, because he successfully chased off the "nymphs" who were killing local women.

Day 2: Vourkari port (Kea) sunset

Day 3: Arriving at Syros port (hey look: wind turbines!)

Day 4: Mykonos beach

Day 4: Central Mykonos

Day 4: Mykonos from above

Day 4: Catch-o-the-day

Day 4: Famous Mykonos windmills (non-functioning, I think)

Day 4: Mykonos port by night

Day 4: Boogie down, Filippo!

Day 4: Crazy tourists (Thanos, Carlos, & Filippo)

Day 5: Delos archaeological site from the mountaintop

Day 5: Ancient cistern at Delos

Day 5: Mosaic floor at Delos

Day 5: Dropping the anchor in cove near Paros (photo by C. Godard)

Day 6: Hiking on Paros

Day 6: Made it to the top (Paros)

Day 6: Churches, churches everywhere (actually this one’s apparently a lighthouse)

Day 6: Lonely Valassia (our boat) in a cove near Paros

Day 6: Onboard breakfast

Day 6: Arrival in Serifos (Finikas port)

Day 6: Opera concert on neighboring boat (random, huh?). Actually, this Swiss guy -- Hans Peter -- is singing lieder [German poetry set to vocal music, not opera] from Schubert. We got invited to the concert because the Irish man on the singer's boat befriended Nora when we arrived and he heard her Irish brogue.

Day 6: Dinner out on the town (Finikas on Serifos)

Day 7: Morning view of Finikas town (Serifos)

Day 7: Thanos takes a spin of the wheel (as Valerie, our mascot, supervises)


Day 7: Carlos strikes a poetic pose

Day 7: The whole gang (L-R: Scott, Filippo, Fernando, Nora, Thanos, Carlos)

Day 7: “Cap’n, they’ve all gone stark raving mad!”

Day 7: Poseidon’s Temple from Sounion bay

Day 7: Nice sunset at Sounion

Day 8: Awake since 5am

Day 8: Piraeus port in view. 9am -- just in time