The Quest

I am on a quest ... for something I don't even know the name of in English. Anybody know what to call this widget? It's for the plastic-thingy-for-scrubbing-your-scalp-in-the-shower - thank goodness for the internet.

cité de l'espace

I'm in Paris for the 3rd time this year - this time for the IAF Symposium Celebrating 10 Years of the International Space Station.

(go to the album by clicking on the photo)

Over the 2-day event, I had time to catch up with a couple classmates from the ISU summer session '05 and meet a few new contacts in human space flight. I was introduced by the President of ISU to the former president of the Canadian Space Agency, Mac Evans .I chatted with cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev who flew to the ISS a Soviet and landed a Russian. And I met Dr. Ron White, an expert in Mars mission health issues from the USRA.
New JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa tells me the hardest part of astronaut training is 48 hours extreme cold survival training in Siberia - I hope surviving 8 years in Edmonton counts :-D

After noshing down with the notables in the 7th floor reception (looking out on sunset over the Eiffel Tower!), I had a few free hours to explore another neighbourhood of Paris around l'Abbée de St. Cluny. The Musée National du Moyen Age in the abbey is hosting an exhibit 'Reflets d'Or' on metallic ceramic coatings thru the middle ages.

The best part was laying back with a baguette next to a fountain in the shady midaeval courtyard. Ah, Paris.

(click for more pics)

Visitor from Space

This weekend, my friend Maria visited me from Leiden, Holland, en route to Sweden! We ate (home-made Caribbean shrimp soup) and walked around sunny SB and ate (Belgian pommes Chez Tin Tin) and talked about work and ate (whole grilled fish and plantains at the Africa Bistro in my neighbourhood.)





We even went Nordik walking with the usual Sunday gang, stopping on the way home at a mariachi festival where we ate fresh burritos ... to grill Norwegian salmon on a Canadian cedar plank.

... and still had room to eat roast marshmallows :-)

What a great end to the week - I also made it to Round 2 of the Great Canadian Astronaut Search.