Austin, Texas

31 July 2009

I've just returned from a whirlwind 48 h in Austin, Texas. It's the closest thing you can find to a sister city for Berkeley in the state. But it's not too close!

The purpose of the visit: to participate in an advisory committee meeting for an "IGERT" program at The University of Texas at Austin. IGERT stands for "integrative graduate education and research traineeship;" it is a major program of the National Science Foundation (NSF). As one of about 200 IGERT programs nationwide, UT Austin has funding for five years to support graduate education in "Indoor Environmental Science and Engineering."

Over the course of a long day and a half, the seven members of the advisory committee engaged with the faculty leaders and about 20 graduate students from this program.

The weather in Austin was hot (!) and humid (!!) and the schedule didn't allow for much time outdoors anyway. But I did get in a nice long walk on Wednesday afternoon along the Colorado River to Barton Springs Pool. The first and last photos were from that walk.



This afternoon, before heading for the airport, we squeezed in a quick walk around the center of the UT campus, including The University of Texas Tower. This tower was designed by Paul Cret and constructed in 1937. Here's an odd fact. The tower is 307 feet tall. UC Berkeley's Campanile, built in 1914, is 307 feet tall. Coincidence? I think not. Austin must aspire to be the Berkeley of Texas! Otherwise, they would have made a 308 foot tower!

There is a big music scene in Austin. As just one example, Stevie Ray Vaughan, who died in a helicopter accident in 1990, was a leading blues guitarist here. The bottom photo shows a memorial statue of him along the Colorado River bank with the downtown skyline in the background.

San Francisco highlights

26 July 2009

These photos illustrate part of why San Francisco is the most popular tourist city in the United States. They were all shot today on a ride from the Embarcadero to and across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was windy, sunny, and foggy. Great for photos!






I had one small mishap at the end of the day. I ride with my camera case slung over my shoulder. When I stop to take a picture, I often don't even get off the bike. Instead, I open the camera case, put the camera strap around my neck, and then take the shot. To get ready to ride again, the steps are reversed. I was back at Embarcadero late in the afternoon, getting ready to return on BART, when I stopped for one last shot of an interesting building. As I went to return the camera to the case, the lens cap popped off, bounced once on the asphalt, and then fell through a grate into the storm drain! Bummer! (I've already ordered a replacement, but it will cost me $20 for a small piece of plastic!)

Weekend afternoon at UC Berkeley

26 July 2009

Yesterday afternoon, I took a leisurely paced 33-mile bike ride along another of my favorite routes.
(1) College Avenue to UC Berkeley.
(2) Up Spruce (I usually go up Euclid) to the northwest corner of Tilden Park.
(3) Through Tilden Park to Inspiration Point.
(4) Down Wildcat Canyon Road.
(5) South on Camino Pablo and Moraga Way through Orinda and to Moraga.
(6) West on Canyon Road.
(7) North on Pinehurst Road through Canyon and up to the hill crest at Skyline Drive
(8) North on Skyline, past the intersection with Grizzly Peak Blvd, and then down Old Tunnel Road.
(9) Home via the frontage road on Hwy 24 and past Lake Temescal.

The ride has two significant climbs. Except on College Avenue and Camino Pablo/Moraga Way, the traffic is light. There are not too many traffic lights and not even many stop signs. The scenery is varied and interesting.

I made the pace leisurely by taking my camera and stopping whenever I saw something that seemed worth photographing. I took almost 50 photos. Of these, the best were from the UC Berkeley campus and I've posted a few here. At the top is a detail of the Sather Gate, which is located at the north end of Sproul Plaza. "Fiat Lux" ("let there be light") is the university's motto. This arch was recently restored to strengthen it from the corrosion.



The second photo shows in the background Sproul Hall, which is the main administration building for the campus. The fountain in the foreground is officially named "Ludwig's Fountain" and it is named after a dog! Here is the story, quoted from a website describing Bear Traditions (http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/calhistory/traditions.html):
"A Short-Hair Pointer named Ludwig became Cal's unofficial mascot in 1960. Right after the new Student Union building was completed, he would spend his days hanging around the Dining Commons but then quickly found the fountain. He became famous for spending his days playing with students around the fountain and leaving for home promptly at 5:30pm. He was so popular, in fact, that the Regents named the fountain after him in 1961!"



The third photo is taken from a large open space north of the main campus library. You can see from the scaffolding at the top of the tower that the Campanile is currently undergoing restoration. There is a running joke around campus that "UC" doesn't mean "University of California" so much as it means "Under Construction."

The final photo shows one of the many bear statues on the campus, this one on Lower Sproul Plaza, a gift from the Class of 1929. This bear is easily overlooked because it rests on a column high above the ground level.

Claremont Canyon on a Cloudy Afternoon

24 July 2009

Again, we are a family in flux, with people coming and going. Today, Ingrid and Rani flew down to LA to join Daniela. Tomorrow, all three are flying to Greece for a 2+ week holiday organized by Dad and Mom.

Meanwhile, Alexis is returning from her year in Germany on 4 August. And before she comes, I'm making a brief trip next week to Texas to participate in an advisory group meeting for a graduate research and teaching program on indoor air sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.



We've been "enjoying" cool summer weather, not uncommon here, with cloudy mornings, sunny midddays, and (often) cloudy late afternoons and evenings. Today was one of those days. I went for an afternoon walk in the Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve, part of the East Bay parks system. This land rises steeply from the southeast corner of Berkeley and presents wonderful views of Berkeley and Oakland. When it is clear, there is a terrific view of the bay and San Francisco. Today, the cloud level was too low to see beyond the bay, but it was brightly lit by the late afternoon sun. The lighting conditions presented some interesting challenges for photography. Out of the 25 or so shots I took, these three came out best.



The opening picture gives a sense, but imperfect, of the strong contrast between the dark clouds and the bright bay. The second photo shows the Claremont Hotel, the poshest resort in the area. The guy in the blue fleece in the third photo was writing in a reflective manner; maybe he's an aspiring poet.

Yale and New Haven: Light and Truth

18 July 2009

I was in New Haven, Connecticut, for four days, beginning last Monday evening. The purpose: to work on a joint research project with a colleague from Yale. The team is the two of us, three postdoctoral researchers (from China, Iran, and Japan) and a PhD student (from Germany). We spent four hours per day in meetings, teaching each other about our respective areas of expertise, exploring preliminary project data, and planning next steps. I gave four hours of lectures and with the additional time needed for preparation didn't have any extended opportunity to take pictures. So these photos only provide a small window into the sense I have of this place.

Yale University is stately with harmonious neogothic architecture. It is tightly woven into the fabric of New Haven, a small coastal city in Connecticut. The land is flat, the trees are large, and (during the summer) the vegetation is lushly green. The city streets, which are laid out on a rectangular grid, criss-cross through the university campus, so it has an urban rather than a park-like feel.

On the Yale campus and in the immediate vicinity, the overall impression I have is of a place well-manicured and genteel. But apart from the campus, the city of New Haven is not doing well economically. It is gritty and run down.

I stayed in La Quinta Suites near the harbor and walked from there to Yale (about 2 miles). Close to the hotel, I had to cross beneath a freeway where heavy construction was underway. The sidewalks were a mess; the feel industrial.

Another interesting characteristic of New Haven and Yale is that the historic Grove Street Cemetery is right in the heart of the city; in fact, it is almost in the middle of the campus. I made a brief visit there to shoot some photos. Two of the ones posted here have visual appeal. I include Gibbs for scholarly interest: he is one of the leading historical figures in chemical thermodynamics.



I encountered this billboard on the walk between my hotel and campus. Can you figure it out?

The final photo shows St. Mary's Church, which was founded in 1832 as the first catholic church in New Haven and the second in Connecticut. Amazingly, this building is adjacent to Yale's Mason Laboratory, which is where we met for work.

Summertime on the Jersey Shore

14 July 2009

I'm spending the week on the east coast, mostly working with a colleague at Yale. On Saturday, I flew to Hartford, Connecticut, rented a car, and drove to visit my colleague and friends Charlie and Lulu in New Jersey.

The plane trip was long but uneventful. On Southwest, you may not get much, but you do get what you expect!

The drive, though, was something else. There isn't a particularly easy way to get from Connecticut to New Jersey. In the rush to finish up some work before leaving, I hadn't done a good job of preparing for the drive. But, with the shaky confidence of having made it once several years ago, and after buying a map at a gas station, I headed off. The route: 91 south to Hartford, 84 west across the Hudson and into New York, the NY Thruway south and then the Garden State Parkway into midstate New Jersey.

Along the way, I was treated to fireworks in Hartford. (People pulled over to the shoulder of the freeway and got out of their cars to watch!) Next, there was a spectacular lightning display. A little too spectacular for safe driving, though! Then the rain started coming and it poured buckets for a few hours. Driving in that, late at night, on a road I didn't know, and along a route that I wasn't too confident of was tough. I did manage to avoid any wrong turns, but I had to stop a few times to make sure about my route. I arrived about 1 AM, 4.5 hours after leaving the car rental agency, but at least I made it safely.

Charlie and Lulu live in a rural (or maybe exurban) part of New Jersey not too far from the Atlantic coast. It has been a cool early summer here and after Saturday night's storm passed, Sunday turned out to be a terrific day. In the afternoon, we drove down to the Jersey shore and strolled along the boardwalk for several hours, soaking in the sun and the sights.

We started in Belmar and headed north, passing through Bradley Beach and Ocean Grove, and then Asbury Park. The beach was colorfully crowded in many places (top photo). People enjoyed strolling on the boardwalk, even covered from head to toe in black and white (second photo). Others soaked in the sun, perhaps past the point of wisdom (third photo). Families gathered for portraits (fourth photo). (I didn't stop to ask whether the man was the father of all seven of those children!)

In Ocean Grove, there is a collection of tent houses that are set up only for the summer time every year. We met this woman who showed us around hers and then posed for a photo. She's been coming to Ocean Grove for the summer for 43 consecutive years!

Ocean Grove wasn't all about the tent houses, though. Here we also saw some special Victorian houses, as shown in the photo below. At the top end of the walk, we saw some classic old buildings of Asbury Park, including the casino shown at right.

Yesterday, I said goodbye to Charlie and Lulu and made the long return drive to Hartford. I dropped off the rental car at the airport and took a shuttle to New Haven. More about Yale and New Haven later.

Inspiration Point

5 July 2009

A terrific aspect of living in Oakland is our access to the East Bay Regional Parks system. Tilden Park, which forms the eastern border of Berkeley near the ridge line of the east bay hills, may be the jewel in the crown.



Along the eastern edge of Tilden Park, where Wildcat Canyon Road meets East Park Drive, is Inspiration Point, which offers nice views of San Pablo Dam and Briones Reservoirs and Mount Diablo to the east.

Inspiration Point is also at the trailhead for Nimitz Way, a paved multiuse trail that runs northward along the ridge line. To the east are terrific views of Contra Costa county. To the west, weather permitting, you can enjoy nice although distant views of the San Francisco Bay and Marin County, including Mount Tamalpais.

Nimitz Way winds through a variety of vegetation, including wide open grasslands, a eucalyptus grove and mature stands of evergreens.

Even though it is July, it has been cool these past few days in the East Bay. Today, Rani, Ingrid and I walked along the Nimitz Way for a good six miles. The wind was brisk and the sun peaked in and out of the clouds blowing in through the Golden Gate.

Independence Day in Berkeley

4 July 2009

Berkeley is not known for its patriotism. But as the only city in the United States with its own foreign policy, it certainly is a great place to celebrate Independence Day. This afternoon, Ingrid, Rani, and I rode down to the Berkeley Marina (celebration central) to check out the scene. We didn't need to lock our bikes -- the East Bay Bicycle Coalition had a bike parking system that wasn't too different than valet parking.

Wandering around the marina, we saw these young adults building a raft. I asked, "How will it stay afloat?" The reply, "It's Tupperware!" (Duh!)

We saw bits of three performances. A troupe of belly dancers dominated the stage for well over an hour. One of the numbers was hip-hop belly dancing. The capoeira troupe somehow didn't get stage time, but they were impressive performing in the parking lot anyway.

The third performance was by a balloon-dog-making, stand-up comic, fire juggler, magician. Here, he is doing a card trick with two audience members.

Of course, being the 4th of July, barbeque is a requirement, with lots of meat and smoke involved. But this is Berkeley, so don't forget the "organic, thin-crust, wood-fired pizza." We didn't stick around for the fireworks, but it was still a fun afternoon. And very Berkeley.

Old Tunnel Road

2 July 2009

About five years ago, I started a new exercise practice. Every day, I aim either to walk 5 miles or bike 15 miles. The discipline of trying to do something every day works well for me. It helps that walking and biking can easily be combined with other needs, like commuting to work. The one other "trick" that I find motivating is keeping a detailed record. On my computer, I have a spreadsheet with a day-by-day account of my exercise for the past five years. Here are the totals as of June 30, 2009: walking -- 8,374 miles; biking -- 10,695 miles. Just goes to show what you can do by putting one foot in front of the other! (Or by pushing on those pedals.)



We live in the middle elevation of the Oakland hills, about 500 feet above sea level. There are no flat rides from our house. Really, there are two main options: head down to the flats and ride around in the city or head up into the hills. I prefer the hills because there is much less traffic, no traffic signals, and very few stop signs. My favorite route (when I don't have time for a longer ride) is out and back to the Fish Ranch saddle, via Old Tunnel Road.



After leaving our neighborhood on Broadway Terrace (0.5 mi), the route leads past Lake Temescal (1.0 mi) and then up a frontage road along Hwy 24. Crossing an overpass (1.8 mi) just before the Caldecott Tunnel, the route then begins up Old Tunnel Road (2.0 mi), so named because, before the Caldecott Tunnel was built, there was a tunnel higher in the hills that carried the main traffic from Oakland to Orinda and beyond. Where Old Tunnel Road becomes Skyline (3.7 mi), about halfway up the hill, is the abandoned tunnel site. However, there remains no clear evidence of the tunnel. At the top of Skyline (5.2 mi), take a left turn onto Grizzly Peak Boulevard and enjoy a fast, relatively flat ride out to the saddle (7.5 mi). Then, double back for the return trip. The scenery all along the route is fantastic, especially on Grizzly Peak Boulevard. On a clear day, there are terrific views of San Francisco Bay to the west and of Contra Costa county and Mount Diablo to the east. (The second photo, taken on a clear day from a similar vantage point in Berkeley, gives the idea. Today it was too hazy to enjoy the view.)



The four photos:
(1) View looking backward from mile 7 along the ridge.
(2) View of the SF Bay from the Berkeley hills.
(3) The nearby hills looking east just after reaching Grizzly Peak Boulevard.
(4) The Fish Ranch saddle.

Enjoy the ride!