Back in Pasadena. You tend to forget how fantastic the drivers are down here in sunny SoCal. No driving in the fast lane at 55mph. Hell no... not if you want to make it to the next day of working for THE SWISS. This seems to sum up my minion's attitude in the land of lutefisk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBgIvH0tu6Y

Mama Coleman's birthday today. Got yelled at for getting her some flowers. Blamed it on her grand children. Ha! No more fruity outfits for them from Talbots.

Well, she likes to go to out flamenco dancing and cruising for Armenian men once a year, so I'm off to act as her wing man. C'est la guerre.

Bahooka tomorrow. Thank God. Best place on the planet Earth. Should involve Moran, Lewis, & Peterson. Brain Trust:
http://www.geocities.com/bahookarestaurant/welcome.htm

The Baron Returns...

I find it increasingly difficult to manage The Ballard. Much like Afghanistan, it continues to be a cake walk managing the lowlands, however, the second I take my family into the wilderness of Phinney Ridge things change... The tribal areas are ruled, sporadically, by the Adams clan and security controlled through the Emmens. I brought along my new ministers of commerce and foreign affairs (pictured above). Frankly, I don't remember which is which.

Last night saw near death by pork products, projectile vomiting and every child crying at some point. Fantastic evening, but relatively normal for this time of year.

In Pasadena checking on the crops. Back soon.

More Entertainment

More Pics

Wrap Up

OK. OK. OK. I'll post pics later. All the remaining pics are stuck on Sr's computer, which I doubt he will ever be able to send to me...

Well, back in the land of socks and sandals...

So, 48 hours ago we wrapped up Shanghai w/ our final event-Nigeria vs Belgium. Great environment, however, not much of a game as the Nigerians stuck it to those silly chocolate eaters.

So now back home-Shanghai to Narita to Vancouver to single engine plane to Bellingham to car ride back to Seattle. Just got up after 10 hours of sleep. I have no idea where I am.

More pics to wrap up later. Any insights desired can be asked of me over various alcoholic beverages. Time to go back and stomp the stock market.

Shanghai Shuffle

OK. Out of Beijing and down south to Shanghai. Hotter, wetter, and smoggier than Beijing. This place is like the set of Blade Runner. Crazy ass buildings, huge electronic signs every where, and usual Asian chaos. Beautiful city-weird mix of European style along the river (The Bund) and modern Asia.

So got into town and crashed. I haven't slept on a bed the last eleven days, so I upgraded to a pull-out. Much nicer. Did the dazzling urbanite thang and then crashed for 12/13 hours.

Today we walked down to the National Shanghai Museum and quickly ran thru as we had a driver waiting to take us thru the city. Great spot. We did not appreciate it. So next was off for a tour of the city. First the Jade Temple, a working Buddhist Temple in the heart of the city. Lots of monks mixed w/ random tourists and lots of incense. Very cool. Next to the Bund. Hot, sweaty and a long stretch of brown water. Ehhhh. Nuf said. Finally we headed over to the antique mart, which is code for "Get in the Haole's Face and Try to Sell Him a Fake Rolex." Usual fun. Bought some crap for the Hoi-Poloi at home. Came home and hit the Bing Pea Jo (cold beer). Big meal and then crash.

Tomorrow is our final event-Soccer/football in the afternoon. Nigeria vs Belgium. Should be cool. Never seen a big-time football game. Sam Sr is a known soccer hooligan.

OK. Need to eat. In the mood for a bloody steak (shifting our views back West).

Next update may be back in Seattle...

Tour de Beijing

Hey. Been running all around Beijing yesterday as we only had tickets for the evening track and field events.

We started off the day taking our bikes and going through all the old neighborhoods and busting into various homes. Old homes in the hutongs are built around a central square. Usually they continue to build into the squares as families expand. These are quickly disappearing in Beijing and China. Of course when you are with the Bossarts you just walk into random peoples' homes and hope it is not some Chinese Party member or a Serious opium dealer. Also allot of the people have these little friggin' Pekingese dogs that are vicious and have been spared the chopping block.

We ended our ride at one of the urban lakes at a local tea house. Did the whole tea ceremony thing, but, as usual,the heathen that I am had me drinking beers at the end.

We ended the afternoon by pedaling over to "Snack Street." A street lined w/ 200-odd food vendors. Everything you want-dumplings, noodles, any flavor beef, chicken, fruits, and of course the stuff you should be afraid of: scorpions, larvae, bugs, starfish, the usual. Note stupid pics of us eating scorpions and big beetles. Nice.

Ended the evening at the National Stadium (Bird's Nest). Saw the women's shot put medal (sexy ladies) and the men's 100m finals (Usain Bolt/Jamaica/ world record). Very cool evening and a good way to end Beijing.

Off to Shanghai...