Not drowning in the UK (yet)

Just returned from a long weekend visit to Belgium to see Charlie (will blog about that later) and wanted to send a quick note to say we are keeping dry in Oxford. As you're seeing on the news, yep we're getting a ton of rain and having major flooding problems in England, specifically in the area we live in. Since Brian and I live in the city of Oxford, we're totally fine here. However, the county of Oxfordshire and our surrounding villages/towns are having the major floods due the rivers in this area. The Thames river goes through Oxford city, and has crested today without major problems, so that is good. And today's weather is sunny.

Here's what the BBC is saying about the flooding in Oxfordshire as of today:


"River levels in Oxfordshire appear to have stabilised, but the flood threat remains.

The Environment Agency said at 0800 BST on Tuesday the next 48 hours were crucial, after a surge expected on the River Thames at 2300 BST on Monday did not happen.

Three severe flood warnings are still in place, two for separate stretches of the Thames and the third for the River Ock from Charney Bassett to Abingdon.

More than 600 people, mostly elderly care home residents, have been led to safety in the county, where some 3,000 homes have been flooded.

A makeshift centre at the Kassam Stadium has been set to take up to 1,500 people if Oxford floods. About 50 people are already at the centre.

The historic home of the poet, craftsman and socialist William Morris at Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire is among hundreds of properties hit by flooding and is currently closed to the public. A spokeswoman for the Society of Antiquaries, which owns Kelmscott, says the 16th century house and its neighbouring barns have been very badly flooded, and the fabric of the buildings has been affected."


We appreciate the emails to check in on us with the flooding and know that so far we're doing just fine in our Oxford flat!

Gusties in Oxford

Two of our good friends from undergrad, Gustavus Adolphus College, visited us in Oxford this week. Last we saw them was not long after we graduated in 2000, and they weren't even dating then! But we knew them both as friends, and we were happy to hear when they got engaged and married since then. Susan and I were on the diving team together at GAC, and she was also in the physics department, but one year behind Brian. Larry was president of the Greek system and also in physics with Brian, the same year as us. Currently, Larry and Susan are living in Florence, South Carolina, where Larry is an Assistant Professor on the tenure track at Francis Marion College. Susan is coaching diving at Charleston University and gymnastics in Florence.

Larry was over in England the past six weeks up in Manchester, doing some collaborate research there for the summer (and escaping the Southern US heat). Susan joined him two weeks ago, and they have been doing some touring around England before they head back to the states next week. They came down to Oxford Monday, and just left this morning (Thursday). They're heading to London until Monday, and fly home Tuesday.

I met them at the train station in Oxford Monday morning, and we headed to our flat to drop off their stuff and make a lunch. We headed into town to have lunch in the park, take care of some train stuff for them, and then visited Brian at his lab.
Went to the Turf Tavern for a pint or two and then back to the flat to grill some sesame chicken wraps and hang out.

Tuesday the four of us went into Summertown, our neighborhood area, to pick up food for the evening and walk around. Then walked along the Oxford Canal into the city centre. Visited the main sights like Christ Church College, the view from St. Mary's church and the covered market. Went to The Bear, the oldest pub in Oxford, from like 1242! Grilled some shrimp and potatoes for dinner and looked over some fun travel pics.

Wednesday, Larry and Susan did some exploring of the museums on their own, then we all met up at the pub. Went to the Royal Oak (where we meet up with the physics group every Friday) for pub food, and then for some ice cream down the street. Visited the Eagle & Child pub on our way home and stayed up late visiting some more.

Was really great to see good friends we hadn't seen in a long time and just to see familiar faces and hear American accents too!

Thanks for coming to visit L & S!

Oregon Connection

I'm a little off chronologically with this post, but wanted to let you know about the visit from Brian's Oregon PhD advisor. Professor Mike Raymer was in Oxford for about 1 1/2 weeks before we left for the Royal Society Soiree. Just getting to the post about it now, because I had left our camera at a BBQ, and was behind in getting camera back and downloading photos.

To make a long story short, Professor Raymer used to teach and research at the University of Rochester New York before Oregon. His first graduate student was Ian Walmsley. As you've heard, Ian is now Brian's new advisor here at Oxford. To throw more fun into the family mix, there is a new professor, Matt Anderson, taking sabatical here at Oxford in the physics department. He was one of Professor Raymer's graduate students before Brian. Matt also was a postdoc with Professor Walmsley back at Rochester. And the funnest part of all, is that Matt and his family just moved into the same building that Brian and I live in in Oxford!

Obviously Professor Raymer and Brian worked a lot on collaborative work, and finished up a paper they had together from Oregon. But there was time to do some fun things as well.

On the Friday night Professor Raymer was here, we went out to dinner at Pizza Express and went to an modernized outdoor play of Shakepeare's Hamlet at the Oxford Castle. Gina also joined in for the evening and we were so glad the rain held off! Stopped at the Eagle and Child pub for a quick pint afterwards. The Eagle and Child is a well known Oxford pub where The Inklings met. The Inklings were an authors group including and discussed all important things. Authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.

Sunday night we had Professor Raymer over for dinner at our flat. It was nice to visit with him here, have some wine, and listen to his great music online. Not only do Brian and Professor Raymer share a passion in physics, but they both love guitar playing and classic rock and blues music!

Tuesday was July 3rd and Ian and his wife Kate hosted a BBQ to celebrate the 4th of July for the few of us Americans in the group. Mike was leaving on the 4th, which is why we celebrated on the 3rd. It was rainy as it's been all month, so we were inside. But had great burgers and great company. And not only do Mike and Brian like guitar playing - so does Ian and Matt! And Ian even had his guitars all set up so they could take turns jamming together. They were having a great time and I took a ton of pics.

Le Tour de France

For the first time in history, the Tour de France kicked off in London this weekend (so called Le Grand Depart) www.tourdefrancelondon.com. Saturday was a short course and time trial for the racers to see who would wear the yellow jersey on Sunday's Stage 1. Saturday's course was about 5 miles around central London and past the main sites such as Westminister, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and finishing down the large Pall Mall. What was great about Saturday was that all 189 racers raced individually, and so you could see each one go by and it lasted about 4-5 hours, as it took them 9-10 minutes to race the course.

Brian and I decided although we had just been in London Thursday, it was a great chance for us to check out the Tour and the weather was finally sunny and nice. Also, it might be the only time the Tour de France starts or goes through London (or England for that matter) as each year, the Tour starts in different cities.

We attempted many times to take some good pics of the racers as they go by. But even though we have a nice camera, our digital isn't high level enough to catch them as they whiz by. Also, there were literally millions of people in Hyde Park and around the course, and it was nearly impossible to get up to the barriers to see the racers at a closer view. It was fine for us though, as it was fun to walk along 1/2 of the course and people watch and just soak up the Tour atmosphere. In the park area, there is a big fun area with tents of food, merchandise, contests, beer, etc. So we walked that a bit, but it was really crowded and getting to be too much. Within the park, and along the course, there were nine places where they put up big screens where you could watch the race sitting in the sun. Helicopters where flying above all over, and not for security as I first suspected. But rather they were for the media feed for TV. (Here's a Madam Tussad's wax figure of Lance!)

We're glad we went for the afternoon, and then had to stop at a pub or two for a couple of pints and some pub food. Luckily we found tables on Saturday night where millions of other people were trying to go too! Saturday's in London are really crazy and especially with special events happening. Also since Wimbledon was happening (obviously these guys had been there)! But it was worth it. We did have another long trip home though as our train was delayed and we didn't get home til about 1:30 a.m. again! Needless to say we were pretty tired today!

Royal Society Soiree

I've briefly mentioned before, but Brian and I were invited to attend the Royal Society's Summer Soiree last night on July 5. And it was a black tie affair! We were looking forward to going and of course I had some shopping preparations to do this past month. (Oh darn!) We didn't really know what to expect for the event and also really didn't know anyone as well. But we figured it was be a great experience and opportunity for Brian to network with fellow important scientists. Plus, the Royal Society funds his grant and got us to England, so figured we better get our butts there if we were invited!

Preparations mainly involved finding outfits for a black tie affair. Instead of saying "Black Tie" they say "Dinner Jacket". So first we had to figure out what Dinner Jacket really meant (formal? semi-formal? shirt and tie?). Once that was understood, we were on the lookout for a tux for Bri and a cocktail dress for me. We decided it made most sense to buy a tux for Bri so he could own one instead of hiring each time. We realized there were at least a total of four occasions where he's need to wear one here in Oxford, so it made financial sense to buy one. It only took us a rainy afternoon in the city center to find a nice one at a good price. It took more than one afternoon for me to find a dress, but luckily found a style and fit off the rack in a high street clothes shop in the UK. And I even got it at 40% off - Marcy taught me well! Had to get some shoes and little jacket to match (since it's still rainy and cool here). We think we did well - hope you do to!

The Royal Society has been having a Summer Science Exhibition for hundreds of years. In the past, it's when all the well-known scientists get together to show off their projects and research and to teach one another. Currently, it's a similar process, but it's not the Fellows of the RS anymore, rather they invite up and coming scientists from different universities and their students to showcase their research projects. It's basically a cross between a high-level science fair and trade show. The exhibition is open to the public for over three days. Then the Soiree is in the evening of the last day. The Soiree is invite only, and this is when the really big well-known scientists of the UK show up. The exhibitions continue, and the students also get to dress up and show off their projects to the big wigs. It's a great experience for them and you can tell they really enjoy their time talking about their projects.

We left Oxford about 1 p.m. on the train to London. Arrived around 2:30 and had to take detour on the Underground (which is very typical) as there was a "person on the tracks" in one of our lines. Not sure if that is as awful as it may sound - they don't give out details. We went straight away to the RS as we had worn regular clothes, but brought our formal wear with us. We were able to keep it in the coat room, and could walk around the exhibit for a bit in the afternoon. Then we just changed in the loo (actually they were really posh with a primping area, so it wasn't so bad) and headed out to the theatre district for a pre-evening drink (or two) at the pub. We had about two hours to kill, so you can imagine we got a bit lubed up. But it was a fun little pub which Charlie Chaplin frequented much back in the day, as he performed at the theatre right across the street.

About 7 p.m. we headed back to the RS for a bit more primping (my hair wasn't working well in the evening's rainy weather) and since it started at 7:30 p.m. On our walk back, we went by the London premiere movie screening of "Hairspray" with John Travolta. Didn't have time to wait to see him, but heard a lot of screaming girls! We checked in at the RS for our name tags and received a program. Finally was able to learn about how the evening would go. We assumed it would be pretty formal with a sit down dinner and speakers, etc. But quickly realized for dressing so formal, it was a rather informal plan of the evening. Which really was quite nice. So we walked around the exhibits a bit more again, but mainly to people watch this time and take pics. The other invitees were a mix of old and young, but definitely skewed more old and grey hair. And many of the gentleman scientists had their medals on (which was also part of the attire requirement). Many well known scientists receive scientific medals for their achievements in their field from various scientific bodies across the world. And there were a lot of medals in the building! We were in the midst of many many amazing scientists and yet it was really hard to know who they were and what they had accomplished. I think Brian was in science heaven!

We visited with a few attendees and also with a few of the Royal Society staffers whom Brian has met at previous RS meetings. We visited the most with Hans, who is a German working at the RS, and is head of the international grants programs, which Brian is a recipient of. So he was kind enough to show us around, take some pics for us and eat dinner with us. The dining situation was a buffet out on the marquee under a nice big tent and it was just a seat yourself kind of thing. But that way we were able to meet and chat with a few other scientists/wives.


The most exciting part of our evening was after we had asked one of the wait staff to take our photo at the table. The shot was a bit far away, and this scientist with a huge medal on came up to us and said he'll take a few pics for us since those probably won't turn out very well. He took a couple more pics for us and they were much better. So we asked who he was/from what institution, etc. and he was really humble just saying he was just a small town bloke from Scotland, etc. But after talking a bit more, we noticed his name was Sir Thomas McKillop (Sir is bestowed on you from The Queen) and was the past CEO of AstraZeneca and current Chairman of the Bank of Scotland. He's also a prominent scientist and head of the Science Council. Now this is exciting for us since my dad worked for many years for ICI Americas and AstraZeneca, and that Sir McKillop is a prominent science figure in the UK and in the world. And he volunteered to take our picture! Pretty fun. We also had Albert Einstein's look-alike take a picture for us and I'm serious that how you might picture an English scientist - it's really how they look! Well to wrap up the evening, we had a great time and it went by quickly since at about 10:30 people were leaving. The champagne had been flowing all night, so it was getting to be that time for us too, but Brian and I like to party til the end. But we knew we had long tube/train/taxi back home so we left about 10:45.

On our way to the tube, we walked on Haymarket Street and right next to club Tiger Tiger, where the Mercedes car bomb was left last week. Since it was a Thursday night, and only a week later, there was heavy police coverage there. It must have been since we were dressed up, but one of the Metropolitan policemen stopped us to ask us if we had been in the area last Thursday and if we had seen anything or had any information. He was really nice actually about it and must have thought we were somehow related to the theatre or music area. Wow, weird to be questioned and walk by all of that. The club was open and busy as usual, so good to see Londoners regularly going about their lives.

We had to wait for the last train of the night back to Oxford, so we sat at the train station for almost an hour and didn't get back to our flat until about 2 a.m. So we are really tired today!

First Weekend in July

There were many notable things happening in England this past weekend. The largest being what you've all heard in the news about the terrorist activity in the center of London. Luckily, nothing came out of it and was caught before anything happened. It also was only two days after the new Prime Minister Gordon Brown started in office. So he's had his hands full. Also because the Glasgow airport incident was related. Airport security has been tightened and we're just glad not to be flying anywhere in the next week or so.

On more positive notes, two other events are worth mentioning. One is that on Sunday, the entire country of England went smoke-free in all indoor public and work places, which includes all pubs. It's pretty amazing being in Europe and not have to put up with so much smoke. And honestly, the English have been really accepting of the change. Some statistic I read/heard said that about 40% of English smokers want to quit. It might have been even higher than that. I remember only like 3-4 years ago visiting Oxford, there was a law to have a non-smoking section at restaurants and pubs. It consisted of one table in the back corner surrounded by smoking tables. So it was kind of a joke. Neat to see how quickly England has come around to offering healthy environments for their people and visitors.

The other is the Concert for Diana put on by Prince William and Prince Harry in London Sunday night. They wanted to celebrate her life with a memorial concert as she would have turned 46 this month and died 10 years ago. The princes had a pretty cool lineup of American and British artists including Princess Diana's favorite bands like Duran Duran, Rod Stewart and Elton John (who I was most excited to hear). The princes also invited current musicians like Joss Stone, Fergie, Kanye West, Nelly Furtado, and others. So it was a cool mix. I would have liked to go to the concert if I had realized earlier it was happening. The ticket prices I thought were reasonable and seats were left too. We listened to the concert on the radio (since we still don't have a TV) and enjoyed hearing the acts live. We missed Elton opening "Your Song" but heard his last three "Saturday Night's Alright (for Fighting)" , "Tiny Dancer" and actually I wasn't familiar with the last one. Speculation was that he'd sing "Candle in the Wind" again. He last sang that song live to an audience at Diana's funeral, and said he would never again perform it live. He didn't sing it at Sunday's concert, but still hard to know if he had planned too, as rumor is that he was cut short due to technical difficulties.

Happy Fourth of July!

Well I'm sure you're celebrating the holiday more than we are. It's a bit difficult to celebrate in England, since really America is celebrating their independence from England! But actually they do mention it on the radio a bit so that's nice. So it's just a regular 'ol day in Oxford. And cool and rainy like it's been all June. Blah. Brian and I did grill out some yummy shrimp kabobs and I made a festive looking berry tart for dessert. Had to get in some sort of red, white and blue!

Went to a 4th of July BBQ last night (so really on the 3rd of July). Brian's advisor from the University of Oregon, Mike Raymer, has been over here this past week doing some collaborate work with Brian and other colleagues in the U.K. I'll blog more about his visit. But basically Brian's current advisor Ian and his wife and kids hosted a BBQ last night for Mike and other North American postdocs in the group. So we went to their house again (like we did for Easter) and had a nice time. Ian, Mike, Brian and the visiting professor Matt, all took turns jamming on Ian's guitars. Funny that all these physicists have the same interest in classical rock and blues music! Was a good time had by all and at least some patriotism was celebrated!