I'm on my way to one of the famed Gordon Research Conferences, scattered throughout New England every summer. This one is "nuclear chemistry" (really: low-energy nuclear physics), at Colby-Sawyer College near New London, New Hampshire. I've never been to one before, though I have heard of them for years. Donna went to at least one years ago.
En route, I took a red-eye via LAX to Boston. I never can sleep on planes. So I drank 3 cups of coffee and now I feel all buzzy, and not in a good way. Boston is rainy; the temperature is tepid.
I'll keep you all updated. Next week I go on to East Lansing, Michigan, for another conference; in between I'll be visiting my friends Athena and Peter in Boston.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Back Home
I'm home. Relatively uneventful trip. Just about 24 hours door-to-door, but I've had a good night sleep and ready to get back to work.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Oslo Harbor and Fjord
Yesterday was my last full day in Oslo. The conference broke up around 1 pm, but I had a coffee and a chat with one of the local theorists and then headed downtown.
The first thing I saw was the Oslo Opera House, only built in the last 10 years. A beautiful modern building on the water's edge, people can walk up to the roof and even have picnics there. Interestingly, I noticed they are doing a production of Britten's "Peter Grimes" (which we missed two years ago in San Diego because I was on sabbatical in Seattle). But unlike San Diego productions, which tend to have very international casts, this looked to be mostly Scandinavian singers.
After the Opera I walked to Aker castle, an old fort built by Norwegian kings,
most notably Christian V.
After the castle I went down to the harbor, and along a boardwalk called Akers brygge. I had an early dinner, red mullet, and then took a cruise of the harbor and out into the Oslo fjord, where I got another view of the castle.
There are dozens of islands and pennisulas and many houses. A Norwegian tradition is the bathhouse, which juts out into the fjord a little way to allow a quick dip in the water in the summer, and for people to chat with their neighbors. Apparently, during a brief period of Prohibition during the 1930s, the bathing houses were also used by smugglers. imagine that.
The Oslo fjord, at least the parts I saw, is not one of the spectacular, sheer-cliff fjords seen in many pictures, but despite the day starting out cold and rainy the late afternoon and early evening (it's light until 11 and never gets fully dark this time
of year) were lovely, a perfect day to go out on the water.
And now I head back home, via Newark and Houston before touching down in San Diego Saturday night.
The first thing I saw was the Oslo Opera House, only built in the last 10 years. A beautiful modern building on the water's edge, people can walk up to the roof and even have picnics there. Interestingly, I noticed they are doing a production of Britten's "Peter Grimes" (which we missed two years ago in San Diego because I was on sabbatical in Seattle). But unlike San Diego productions, which tend to have very international casts, this looked to be mostly Scandinavian singers.
After the Opera I walked to Aker castle, an old fort built by Norwegian kings,
most notably Christian V.
After the castle I went down to the harbor, and along a boardwalk called Akers brygge. I had an early dinner, red mullet, and then took a cruise of the harbor and out into the Oslo fjord, where I got another view of the castle.
There are dozens of islands and pennisulas and many houses. A Norwegian tradition is the bathhouse, which juts out into the fjord a little way to allow a quick dip in the water in the summer, and for people to chat with their neighbors. Apparently, during a brief period of Prohibition during the 1930s, the bathing houses were also used by smugglers. imagine that.
The Oslo fjord, at least the parts I saw, is not one of the spectacular, sheer-cliff fjords seen in many pictures, but despite the day starting out cold and rainy the late afternoon and early evening (it's light until 11 and never gets fully dark this time
of year) were lovely, a perfect day to go out on the water.
And now I head back home, via Newark and Houston before touching down in San Diego Saturday night.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Scupture park and dinner
Today we had the excursion for the conference, which was to the Vigeland sculpture park. Apparently Gustav Vigeland convinced the city of Oslo of his genius and got them to provide him with a house and stipend and in exchange he donated all his sculptures, as long as they displayed them publically in perpetuity.
It's a very nice park and some interesting statues. The guide said he made all his statues nude because he didn't want them tied down to an era. Now, I'm no expert, but many of the statues seemed to me very emblematic of his era. At the end of this post I'll reveal when he was working at the height of his powers.
Vigeland's most famous statue, apparently (I'm no expert in Norwegian art) is this statue of a child throwing a tantrum:
After the park we went to dinner. The main course was reindeer, served with turnips and potatoes, very Scandanavian. A lovely time was had by all.
ANSWER: Vigeland died in 1943 (the obelisk below is his memorial to those who died during the Nazi takeover of Norway). Most of his work was in the 1930s.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Conference proceeds
The workshop is going fairly well, although I have jetlag so I nod off even during interesting talks.
Here is a scenic part of the University of Oslo, Blindern campus.
In Norwegian, Blindern isn't pronounced as an English speaker would. Instead, the 'l' is kind of a spice on the vowel, and the 'd' is worn away to a kind of glottal pause (like the glottal stop in the southern pronounciation of 'Baton Rouge' only softer).
Here is the view out the window of my hotel room... at the rest of the hospital ("Sykehus" which means, of course, "Sick-house".)
Finally, for all you physics fans out there, a gamma-detector array at the University's cyclotron. The cyclotron is smaller than the one at Davis where I trained decades ago, but they do a lot of radiochemistry, very much like Davis.
Here is a scenic part of the University of Oslo, Blindern campus.
In Norwegian, Blindern isn't pronounced as an English speaker would. Instead, the 'l' is kind of a spice on the vowel, and the 'd' is worn away to a kind of glottal pause (like the glottal stop in the southern pronounciation of 'Baton Rouge' only softer).
Here is the view out the window of my hotel room... at the rest of the hospital ("Sykehus" which means, of course, "Sick-house".)
Finally, for all you physics fans out there, a gamma-detector array at the University's cyclotron. The cyclotron is smaller than the one at Davis where I trained decades ago, but they do a lot of radiochemistry, very much like Davis.
Monday, May 23, 2011
In Oslo
Made it to Oslo.
A hectic trip, but no disasters--just lots of hustling from gate to gate. San Diego to Houston to Frankfurt to Oslo. A number of people seemed to be significantly unhappier than I was, so I guess that means I was in good shape.
It was raining in Oslo last night, when I met up with some of the other attendees of the workshop. I am staying at a hotel that is near the university but is part of the hospital, including it appears intensive neonatal care. The hospital/hotel is on Kirkeveien, which means "Church Way".
Today is sunny and beautiful, but right now I am in a dark room listening to a talk about using huge lasers to create neutron sources...
I'll try to post some pictures later, although I don't have much.
A hectic trip, but no disasters--just lots of hustling from gate to gate. San Diego to Houston to Frankfurt to Oslo. A number of people seemed to be significantly unhappier than I was, so I guess that means I was in good shape.
It was raining in Oslo last night, when I met up with some of the other attendees of the workshop. I am staying at a hotel that is near the university but is part of the hospital, including it appears intensive neonatal care. The hospital/hotel is on Kirkeveien, which means "Church Way".
Today is sunny and beautiful, but right now I am in a dark room listening to a talk about using huge lasers to create neutron sources...
I'll try to post some pictures later, although I don't have much.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Off to Norway
I'm off to Oslo, Norway for a Workshop on Level densities and gamma strenght (don't worry what that means) for a week. I will update when I can, including pictures if and when I can.
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