Home Sweet Home

Home sweet home. I've had a great time in California, but it is nice to be back home again. The snow is crisp, the air cold, and frost is clinging to the trees. The trip home was pleasantly uneventful, and jetlag horrible as ever. I wanted to take this time to thank my hosts and all my friends in the Bay Area that has made my visit all it was. Thank you, and don't hesitate to give me a call if you ever want to visit the land of snow and furry animals. Here are some pictures a sunrise and sunset (which are a few hours apart this time of year), and some of the scenery in campus and downtown Umeå. Have fun!

Deadlines

Deadlines are bad for blog update frequencies. As things are starting to round up here (I plan to be walking on snow in about three weeks), things that need to get done are piling up. I have two upcoming paper deadlines, one this Wednesday and another one the following Tuesday, and lots to do. That doesn't mean other things are slowing down, just that I'm less inclined to report them in blog format. Yesterday was the day of the Big Game, the annual football match between the Stanford Cardinals and the California Golden Bears. And the day of the biggest thunderstorm I've experienced since I got here, possibly one of the bigger ones I've ever seen actually. See how nicely I transitioned out of mentioning the game score? Watching the game from the couch with a Cheeseboard pizza in my lap was not a bad decision. Speaking of food, I've also experienced my first thanksgiving dinner this weekend. Sweet potatoes, turkey, cranberry sauce, jams, stuffing, beef, mashed potatoes with gravy, apple and pumpkin pie, corn bread, and purple carbonated liquid ice cream. Not bad, not bad at all. Here are some completely unrelated pictures from a trip to the Sutro Baths ruins in SF a couple of weeks ago, highly recommend running or walking the trail from the baths to SF. Spectacular.

Politics

Apart from Halloween and the World Series (Go Giants!), the last couple of media weeks have been dominated by the US mid-term elections (house of congress and senate elections held in the middle of the Obama presidency, as well as a number of local governor, mayor, school board, etc. elections). The US political process is something to behold. The amount of time and energy people invest in it is only matched by the money spent. And not always offsetting the latter. The republican governor of California candidate Meg Whitman reportedly spent $160 million on her campaign. Supposedly most of it her own. Have to say it has been interesting, being here during the election. Berkeley is a very political place, and a stronghold for democrats (Obama had 89% of the popular vote in Berkeley in 2008). But also, it's kind of nice it's over. Some of it gets quite ugly. If we ever get negative attack ads back in Sweden, I will stop voting. Here is a very happy guy holding a sign that says "you're perfect", a really cool old (commercial) mural, and an eternal message inscribed in the pavement up the street.

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Oops, almost forgot. Here are some pictures from the annual pumpkin carving contest, bake sale, and a teller at LBNL. Yes, that is a flying Spaghetti monster on the left.

Happy Halloween

Halloween is here. The magical bridge between this world and Halloweentown opens and everyone wears masks to ward of evil spirits. Or something to that effect, I haven't read up on Halloween lore, but I have done some field studies on how people celebrate it. People really get into it, all weekend long people wear masks, dress up, decorate houses, and of course (only on the 31st) go trick or treating. Here are some pictures from the street; house decorations, carved pumpkins, ghosts, spiderwebs, an outdoor screening of game four of the 2010 World Series (SF Giants stepped up and extended their lead to 3-1), and a couple of shallow graves. Happy Halloween!