The Dean Website. AKA The Exploded Micro-Family

Here are the pix from that race, there are some 300 or so uploading so it will take a while, esp if the bugger crashes

Jacob doing the rounds being chased by Hu Chen in the Trek Xcross 6th edition

Now that version 2.5 of WP is out, it seems that we can integrate pictures into the pages. Finally!! This may prove to be the breakthrough needed

I know there are zillions of places out there about eating in Beijing and how great it all is. So I keep on asking myself why is it that when asked ‘where do you want to go and eat tonight?’ I have *no answer*, I just don’t feel like there is anywhere that I can say – ‘yes let’s go there’. Nothing where you can eat reasonably good food, that is not more than 75 kuai/person (and let me tell you that this is a *lot* of money for most Beijingren who will eat for about 10 kuai or preferably less, usually max 20 kuai, including beer), that is not (ab)using oil that has been thrice recycled or taken from a sump, and where MSG and salt are used sparingly.

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Quick rant about our Xmas dinner at Feichang Thai (Very Siam) here in Beijing as it justs sucks to have to eat such fake thai when the place *was* so good in the past. Nothing is permanent here, and here is further proof of Beijing’s rapid descent *down* the culinary scales as people forgo authenticity in lieu of crass and in your face ‘trendyness’. It seems it is easier to make money selling crap wrapped up in gold leaf rather than making the effort of doing the real thing.

My wife asked me soon after we ordered ‘why are there so many dongbeiren serving us here?’ and it all clicked into place. I was the only paleface in the joint, last year it was full of them. It has changed its target clientele and is now aiming for the clueless hip ‘nouveau riche’ chinese and serves up Thai dishes that taste as if designed by a Dongbei chef. From the deep fried mandarin fish in sweet and sour sauce that looks and tastes exactly like a poor man’s song shu gui yu (but it ain’t cheap) to the Tom Yum soup that is tasteless and totally lacking in anything except maybe the name of the packet that it came out of to the masaman curry that is just totally weird and bears no relationship to the real thing. Oh and the ‘vietnamese spring rolls’ even had a layer of sugar to crunch on and no mint at all. Looked and tasted just like pillows. For 360 kuai per couple (and with only 1 beer! imagine how much if you buy drinks for two!) it is just a total waste of your money. Cool for dating clueless Dongbeiren though Looks nice, but it is all so shallow.

If you want real thai in Beijing, try somewhere else! (Purple Haze?)

This site is getting very slow. This is nothing to do with the provider, but all to do with me. So far MT has proven pretty good for my current modest usage of it, in particular it allows much better customisation of the PHP/Apache interface, so you can actually use a php.ini or .htaccess file with most of the options. SSH access is great and works very well, only pity is I could not find a way to bulk FTP my old site across using the default MT tools.

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Looks like the transition to Mediatemple is going ok If you see this page it is because the DNSes have updated.

More later as we proceed to install new things…

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Now playing: Goran Bregovic – Mesecina
via FoxyTunes

I was asked to take pictures of this event by Jan Nemec of MTBS.cz and so I took up the challenge with my Nikon D80. Here are the results, I will post the writeup here over the next few days..

Christophe Sauser has en entry in his website about the event, it looks like he enjoyed himself very much

Ook bedankt aan Rogier van Mountainbike.nl!

The official GLB 2007 MTB website is here. I can’t get the videos to work..

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Now playing: Kult – Jezdzcy
via FoxyTunes

Check this out, running and food for free . Register with them and let them know how you plan to get there – there are fee shuttle buses from GuoMao, Kempinski and Lido…
This is organised by LuChin Mischki of the Pride Institute – trying to get Beijing shipshape and spittle free for the olympics…
More here this is the flyer for the event

Catch Olympic fever! Come and join us for a run and enjoy all the fun with your family while we support a good cause and build a better community! This family and sport orientated event is a great way to warm up for the 2007 Beijing Marathon or just enjoys the fresh air alongside the scenic Wenyu River.
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Apparently to ‘Notification Dept’

<<Sir/Madam,

CONGRATULATIONS: YOU WON 1,500,000.00 USD.

We are pleased to inform you of the result of DAYZERS NL, which was held on

the 24th, August  2007.>>

thank you dayzers. nl or whatever it is. I like this:

<<

This program is sponsored by CFI to compensate

faithful internet suffers around the globe

>>
Yes, we suffer. especially from this kind of garbage. Dear Dayzer, please attach winnings for:

e-ticket number:07-80-77-45-44 (02-07)

to this post for e-collection. Thank you.