was in Dublin last week on business and who would I run into walking into my hotel but Anton Shihoff. Anton is now busy with the recent floatation of his company Finavera Renewables, an alternative energy concern. Anton and I were roommates in Blackrock when I first moved to Ireland back in 2002. I knew you when buddy!
ay and Rachel Koch brought their family to visit us a couple of weeks back. Jay and I actually went to first grade together so many years ago I don't even want to think about it. (Let's just say decades.) They have two adorable children Eleanor and Carter. We took in a few sites around Toronto including Niagara Falls, CN Tower and the Zoo. Thanks for a fantastic birthday present! Check out more photos --> here.
Ben's birthday party,
Family, friends together.
Thank God Ben is home!
oday is Ben Osborn's birthday. Actually, the surprise party was Saturday in Minneapolis. Ben is a very good friend that I met playing ultimate frisbee along the Han River in Seoul, South Korea back in 2002. We spent quite a few weekends hiking in the mountains, discovering buddhist temples and drinking inordinate amounts of Korean makgeolli (막걸리). Since then he has fathered two children (Tuscan and Kyan) with his wife Malie and completed a tour of duty in Iraq [1], [2], [3]. I am so glad that I was able to make it.
Below: (L) Me and Ben, (R) Tuscan, Malie, Scott and Kyan
Above: Todd, Lionel, Ben and Me
Above: (L) Ben standing on "frozen" Lake Calhoun, (R) Ben blows out the candles!
e spent New Year's Eve at home with close friends. Terry is here visiting from Dublin and Adam Millard is home visiting from London. Adam brought his brother Michael and a plethora of joy including Alexi who I met Dublin. I met Michael when he was working with Adam on Shakespeare by the Sea [1].
Above: Sarah, Terry, Michael, Jinny, Adam and Catherine. See all the photos --> here.
inny and I spent Christmas at Langdon Hall in Cambridge Ontario. Built in 1902, Langdon Hall was the summer home of Eugene Langdon Wilks, the youngest of the seven children of Matthew Wilks and Eliza Astor Langdon. Eliza was a grand daughter of John Jacob Astor, the immensely wealthy fur trader and real estate magnet from New York. Astor has the distinction of being the first millionaire in the United States. [1]
We spent a few days indulging spa treatments and sumptuous meals with Wendy and Terry, new friends of ours from Toronto. Fortunately, Langdon Hall is pet friendly (the property has it's own pair of Bernese mountain dogs, Teddy and Miss Wilks) so we brought Chilbok (our Sheltie) and Wendy and Terry brought Brody, a golden retriever. See all the photos --> here.
Above: Jinny, Chilbok and Miss Wilks at Langdon Hall
Above: Me, Jinny, Wendy and Terry at Langdon Hall
eg came to visit in the last 10 days. I know Reg from my days in Houston. They both now live in San Francisco. We have been spending quite a bit of time with David Miller at the Drake Hotel on West Queen. The photo is an unfortunate shot of Reg on the patio upstairs. Click <here> for all of the photos.
ast night we were hosted by Jamie and Ainsley for dinner. Jamie lives across the hall. Jamie is in insurance and Ainsley investigates financial fraud. Well needless to say Jason prepared the most amazing pulled pork butt barbeque ever! (Who said French Canadians can't cook Deep South comfort food?) He also whipped up a pureed pear soup that was out of this world. As soon as I get the recipes I will post them. Thanks guys for the fabulous evening!
y friend David Cope came to visit from Hong Kong. Actually he was here for a training course. We met in Hong Kong during the SARS epidemic at the beginning of 2003 (see my previous post Fear and Dread in HK). Also my friend Stefan Brennan is leaving Toronto to go to Saskatoon. All in all it's been a pretty tough week for Fred's liver!
Above: David, Tara and Alan at BluePoint. Below (L->R): Stefan at Insomnia.
ctober has been an exciting month for us. Unfortunately, our very good friends Stefan, Nikki and Atule are leaving to go out west. But we certainly had one great last blow-out at Smokless Joe, our local oyster haunt. In addition, our friends Sharon and Brad announced their engagement--at last! They hosted a fantastic get together at Insomnia. Finally, I made a trip home to Montgomery to see my friend Adriane. I also stopped by Atlanta to call on Carl and Geoey. Thanks everyone for filling our life with wonderful friends. See all the photos --> here.
Above: Geoey lookin' a little Soprano at Front Page News in Atlanta
Above: Nikki and Tina @ Smokeless Joe in Toronto
Above: Sharon and Brad's Engagement Party @ Insomnia
erry, Anthony and Yoon have come to visit us from Ireland. We have been having a wail of a time. Click here to see all the pictures. Below (L->R): Yoon, Jinny, Anthony and Terry.
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