Julien's fuzzy blog

Last Thursday I went to my MSc graduation ceremony in Hull. It was nice, with all these people wearing different colourful costumes depending on their level, some of the members of the congregation carrying sceptres. Add the pipe organ, an over-formal speech, constant acknowledgments with the hat and the ceremony looked nearly religious ! At the middle of the ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor started a discourse about the university commitments by a 5-minute speech about the G8 and the global warming. That was nice, but a bit strange at this point. Ceremony was closed by the national anthem
Pictures coming soon (I hope).

I don't say nice things about British railways system very often, but this time I have to, so listen well The Hull Trains are just great ! The seats are huge, with largely enough room for my knees and large headrest with wings on each side, which are necessary to sleep properly. I don't think there's as much room even in the 1st class of the French high-speed train (TGV). Toilets are outrageously large and clean, with a nice female voice reminding you to lock the door if you forgot ...

This morning, there were several explosions in the London tube and buses. The situation is still very confused. Don't worry for me - I'm fine.
BBC
Sky

This was the 100th entry of my blog.

I now have 2 months to take at least 3kg (1/2 stone), in order to have enough stored energy for the ultra trail. It's quite a challenge ! And hiking the GR54 in the French Alps between July and August won't help with that matter... Thanks to you all that offered to give me some of yours, but the exchange may be a bit complicated ... Let me say 2 things to the ones that told me or thought I was underweighted (*):

1. It's not an easy thing to hear. On one hand, overweighted people are quite protected because nobody dares telling them. There's a kind of social taboo behind that: overweighted people already suffer enough, it's not their fault or whatever. You can't decently tell to somebody he(she)'s fat. But on the other hand you can easily make fun of skinny people. It doesn't seem to be a real problem, they're not supposed to suffer because of that. It seems assumed that they could put on weight if they want. It's just fun...
Can you tell me the real difference between a skinny person that can't put on weight and a fat one that can't loose any, both being angry with their scale ?

2. If you believe it's so easy to put on weight, send me your recipe at recipe@vosgesrandos.org. I'm already eating 4 meals a day plus snacks. I'm having plates of 250g of pasta with loads of full-fat cheese and crême fraîche (32% fat). But I guess you think it's not enough, don't you ? So let's make a deal. If your recipe schedule is balanced enough (I don't want to finish like Morgan Spurlock in "Supersize Me"), I promise you I'll try it for two weeks. And we'll see ...

(*) I'm not underweighted: at the moment I'm at my minimum weight and still have a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 20.3 - normal BMI being between 20 and 25.

I've taken my old CD case and found this album of genesis, Mama. If my memory is good, it's one of the first vinyl I've listen to when I was a kid. I remember very well looking at this yellow game cubes on black background for hours...

This is the end of the lyrics of the last song of the album, It's Gonna Get Better.

If it's gonna get better, it starts with a feeling If it's gonna get better, it's gonna take time If it's gonna get better, we've gotta start now Cos I know, everybody can feel it And I know, everybody will see it Cos it shows, and that shows I'm not dreaming Cos you know, and I know, it's time for change

This week-end I went to Manchester to visit Venetia and Bertrand. The journeys went ok, no delays in tube or train (in which case they keep on repeating "this train is on time" during the travel). The weather was quite nice too.
We cooked nice food: bacon and cheese soufflé, gratin Dauphinois ... Desserts served with a Tokay Pinot Gris vendanges tardives 2000.

I couldn't get a digital picture of Venetia and Bertrand to show you. I eventually found one. It's a bit old now, it was the last day in Hull for Thibault and me, we went to the bowling.


Camera: Abdullah - Author: unknown

left to right (back): Venetia, Bertrand, Julien, Farad, Thibault, Hussein
left to right (front): Anne, Yan, Abdullah, Luli

The album I've listened the most this month: Incubus - Make Yourself.

enjoyincubus.com incubusonline.com

Yesterday Rachel dragged us to the Spitz to see (and listen ) a gig by Me and Bobby. Actually she knows the Norwegian singer - Nan - that you can see on the picture. She has an amazing voice. The concert was really lovely. We all had a very good time. You can download a couple of their songs on their blog, but honestly it's completly different in live !

This was the title of many e-mails I've received last months (special thanks to Tbo). Now you can directly post your comments on the blog !
I've enabled the comments for a while to see if the experience is enjoyable. Please let me know if you experience any trouble.

For those who still don't believe I enjoy swimming in the North Sea in mid-April ...

 

Thank you Luli !

Today we went to the French Restaurant "Lou Pescadou" for lunch. It was quite good, and not so expensive. I ordered a black pudding with apples. The maitre d'hotel kindly refused to speak French with me, arguing that I was in London to learn English . A last treat before the marathon...

But now I'm free as a bird
As I walk out that door
You have my word
I won't bother you no more
Yes I'm feeling OK
As I face the brand new day
As I face the brand new day

Supertramp

On Saturday I went to Southend on Sea to visit Yan and Luli. It was cool ! The weather was quite nice. A bit cold on the waterfront, so Luli lent me one of her sweat shirt - I don't tell you more about how I was looking ...
It's such a long time I've not swum (since last summer in Loch Lomond, I think), so I decided to have a quick bath. The water was quite cold ! I just stayed 1 minute, the time to swim 10m and put my head underwater.

I listen quite a lot of Supertramp and Pink Floyd at the office since a couple of days. Don't know why... If you have the answer, please send me an e-mail.

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

Yes that's not a legend, I saw a fox while running this morning. To be more precise it was in Kensington Gardens, between Palace and Queen's Gates. It was running full speed (and believe me, foxes are really fast) from the Kensington Road to the Flower Walk. Don't know what it was doing there at nearly 11am, whilst the park is already crowded. Maybe hunting some pigeons or squirrels...