We are in Spain

Earlier today we arrived in Madrid, Spain for our honeymoon and we are really excited to be here. We used the subway system to get from the airport to our hotel Mate Alicia and Amy did a great job organizing this cool hotel and the logistics to get there. After a small lunch and a nice shower we took a long nap to recover from our overnight transatlantic flight, and it was quite clear that we really needed it. After the nap we walked around to check out the area and kill time, a here you don't really eat dinner before 8pm. It is now a little bit after 8pm and we are off to check out a typical Spanish restaurant.

Here are a few impressions of the day.

We are waiting for our bags in the Madrid airport



Out of the subway and on to the hotel



Our hotel Mate Alicia is very nice and modern



The Plaza Santa Ana is right in front of our hotel



Amy on the Plaza Santa Ana



Wow, lunch and dinner is a bit later here than in the USA

Mountain bike racing on Raccoon Mountain

Well, I did not really go mountain bike racing. But Amy and I watched a few of our friends racing mountain bikes on the great trails of Raccoon Mountain here in Chattanooga and we we had a great time doing that. I also realized that I missed mountain biking a bit.
We took a few pics too, but only the static ones worked out.

Our good friends Paul and Anita



Mark McOmie and Peter Woodrow



Mike Skiles, Jim Farmer and Tom Knopp



Tab Tollett



Jeramie Hoff

Moving day

The movers are here and are packing up our stuff. It slowly feels like it is getting real. Bye Bye Chattanooga :-(

Winston-Salem here we come. :-)

No laughing matter

Goooal

Germany wins over Portugal and advances to the semi finals of Euro2008. Enough said.

Happy boy

I am actually very happy and I think this is a great logo :-)

Well it is final now

We finally got the signed apartment lease and that gives us the peace of mind that we indeed have a space to live in Winston-Salem while our house is being built. It is a bit smaller and a floor below than the one we originally thought we would get, but it is a similar style and still pretty cool. So that means the Piedmont Leaf Lofts will be our home for the next year.

Take back the Tour

Yes indeed we all own the Tour, so let us Take back the Tour. Nice little marketing effort of the Versus network, but something that is most likely close to mind of most passionate cycling fans.

Hallelujah

Well, the new 3G iPhone has been announced and will be available in about a month. Hallelujah.

Something is wrong

Seriously. :-)

Microsoft cool?

Fast Company magazine recently pondered the question "Can Hotshot Ad Guy Alex Bogusky Make Microsoft Cool?" My very fast response to that question would be NOPE.
But I would for love Alex Bogusky of Crispin Porter Bogusky fame to prove me wrong.

We can solve it

If Reverend Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson can come together when it comes to the urgency of protecting the planet, I think we all can come together too. Why not sign up for wecansolveit.org and show them that you care for our planet too. Let's make sure our kids and their kids have a beautiful planet left.

Duellanti magazine

I have never had a Duellanti magazine in my hands so I can't speak for its content, but the ads below certainly got my attention. Their site is not even up and I am still curious.

Alright Hillary

It is time to admit defeat. Seriously.

An architect's rendering

We received some better renderings of our new house in Winston-Salem and it really seems to come together now. The plan is to get it LEED Gold certified and if all goes well we should be in it by this time next year. The exterior is a mix of corrugated metal and hardiplank cement siding. Colors are not yet determined.

A view of the front



An angled view of the front



A view of the back



An angled view of the back



Our architect send us also the first rendering of the inside of our new home. Ignore the furniture and colors, but that is roughly what it will look like inside.

Great home available

As we are moving to Winston-Salem at the end of the month my beautiful home will go on the market this week. Located on the side of Missionary Ridge, this 2 bedroom, 1 bath home was built in 1961 and sits on 2 lots. Hardwood floors and tiled throughout, the home features huge windows and a very nice open floor plan. It also has a very deep garage and an unusually large driveway.







Here is the actual listing on realtor.com

Annual Memorial Day swim

I have lived in Chattanooga now for 10 years and almost every year I participated in the Memorial Day swim across the Dam. We basically swim from the beach area on one side of the Chickamagua Dam to the "Caution Dangerous Waters" sign on the other side and back. Total distance is 1.5 miles and since i am considering doing a 4.5 mile swim in mid June, I swam a bit more after the round trip. This year we were 13 swimmers and one kind support kayaker.


Me just before the swim in my new blueseventy pointzero 3+ swimskin

Winston-Salem visit

We went to Winston-Salem for the weekend to meet with the architects of our soon to be built home and also look for an apartment. The meeting went really well and we really like both Anne and Marty of Metropolis Architecture PLLC, plus it seems that we found a very cool apartment too. Yeah.

June 2, Hold your horses, today we found out that the person living in the apartment decided to stay there so we won't get it after all. :-(

That Jordan Rapp

Pro triathlete / slowtwitch web master Jordan Rapp does some pretty impressive diving and wins some nice cash for effort. MC for the event is 2000 Olympic Triathlon Champion Simon Whitfield. Go Jordan.


Via: Simon Whitfield blog

My bachelor event

I just realized that I never posted an image of my bachelor event and I feel a bit guilty. After all several friends made a great effort for it to happen.

The event was a Rod Dixon run that required participants to run 6 miles and drink a beer after each mile. Each runner was allowed 11 minutes for each mile and in that time they also had to finish their beverage of choice. Most common was Pabst Blue Ribbon or Coors Light etc, but 2 hearty souls brought Guinness. As I don't drink, I was "allowed" Busch NA. :-)

Custom event numbers were made for this bachelor run and all participants who were not YET bald, wore bald caps in my honor.

The gang



The groom

The world united by Bush

While many people seem to think that George Bush divides folks, others clearly think the opposite. According to Ivan of creativebits the ad world seems to be especially united when it comes to the portrayal of George.

Below are some examples but check out the complete listing on creativebits

Some of the wedding guests

Kate and Dave from my old Philly days



My host mom Bev from Philly, my mom, my brother Manfred and my aunt Maria



Susan Herin with Jamie Simpson (secret agent 1) lurking right behind her



Eric Buck (secret agent 2) returned from Miami for the event



Martin Finnegan had his hands full with Bex and Jill as we had courted his wife Janelle Simpson as a photographer

We are married

Amy and I got married on Saturday, May 3rd at Cloudland Canyon State park. We had a wonderful wedding and are now very excited to spend the rest of our lives together.



More pictures on our wedding blog

What is in a logo?

Sometimes logo changes are very small and subtle and other times they are quite large or even graphic. I actually really mean that.


Presenting the logo for the Office of Government Commerce in the UK.




Imagine now what you would think about that logo when you look at it with your head tilted to the left. Still thinking about the Office of Government Commerce?

Via: theregister.co.uk

The Chattanooga cable wars

Comcast just sued the Electric Power Board (EPB) again over their plans for a new fiber optic network that could offer an alternative cable tv solution to Chattanooga residents by the end of 2008. According to Comcast "Our intention is to ensure that EPB complies with the Tennessee Cable Act and that Comcast be allowed to compete in a fair environment. Due to this pending litigation, we cannot comment further." Say what?

As far as I know, Comcast has a big monopoly and is not competing with anybody at this time.

I hope EPB continues to pursue this issue and maybe they'll give us better service, more choices, a fairer price and ideally some better tv ads too. It is quite sad that a media company like Comcast currently has some of the worst tv ads in town.

Hello Centro

My new Palm Centro phone arrived a few days ago and I do like it quite a bit. It has a bit of an iPod feel and is just the perfect size. The buttons are smaller compared to my Treo 680, but that seems to be no issue. Battery life seems to be better so far.

Congrats Jordan

My buddy Jordan Rapp had an amazing race at the the 2008 Ironman Arizona and finished 3rd overall in 8:35:04. His 4:32:42 bike split was the fastest of the day and he still had enough power left to run a 3:02:33 marathon. Plus unlike many others, he actually knows what to do with the bubbly.


Pic courtesy Jay Prasuhn

Blackbird

My new Jamis Xenith T1 TT bike is ready to ride and it is an amazingly stunning machine. It looks like a stealth bomber and weighs in at 16.22 pounds without pedals. Bamm. I lovingly call it Blackbird. :-)

I am a bit worried

Sometimes my friend Eric worries me a bit, but usually it is all fairly harmless. But more recently his marine biology studies seem to have taken him to a different universe. :-)

New phone, new phone service?

My Treo 680 died a sudden death the other day, actually very shortly after my last blog entry. What should have been a simple warranty thing turned out to be a major AT&T customer service nightmare. Palm products are no longer on my shopping wish list and AT&T should be out too, but apparently all phone companies have no clue about customer service. So what do do other than continuing to use my ancient Sony Ericcson backup phone?
Wait a few months until the new 3G iPhone comes out and then worry about getting a new phone then? Or wait a few more months for the Garmin Nuviphone to show up?

My new phone assistant

Sometimes when I am on the phone, my personal assistant Silvie keeps me company. :-)