Bengals: 14, Browns: 0....Crowd: freezing at 15 below

Even though they have had a dismal season and were on their 3rd string quarterback, I convinced my sister Melissa, my step-dad Al, and my someday brother in law to accompany me to the Browns game and sit in 15 below weather in the small hope of a Christmas miracle. Sadly, we sat in 6 layers of clothes and got frostbitten fingers for nothing. Not only did they not even kick a field goal, but when we left (7 minutes left in the 4th quarter....hey we stayed as long as we could!) they were on their 4th string quarterback. Well, like they say, there is always next year!

2008 Expo Weekend

Hi all! Here are the 2008 Expo weekend pics, as promised. The first two are courtesy of Kent Fields and the remainder are courtesy of WCN volunteer and friend Marty Varon. The weekend went like this. Friday we had an intimate donor reception, safari themed!, for our top donors at the private stables of Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki. Below is a shot of Akiko's adorable daughter on a zebra to show you the decor a bit and a picture of Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants thanking the guests for their support. Remember, you can always click on an image to enlarge it!


The next set of photographs is from the Saturday Expo, which is our event for public education. Approximately 600 people attended to enjoy a day of lectures, fair trade shopping, and perusing the informational tables of over 40 different environmental nonprofits. The first is me at the PDC table chatting with one of my favorite volunteers, Lori Komejan, and Amy Gotliffe, a friend from the Oakland Zoo.

This is Pepin, a dog that came from Working Dogs for Conservation (one of the guest speakers this year). He pretty much stole the show! These working dogs sniff out scat and other biological materials to help conservationists determine where a species occurs, what they eat, etc... He was so well behaved!

Just some more shots to show you the lay-out. We have two auditoriums that run simultaneous 30 minute presentations throughout the day and then each of the 18 speakers (11 WCN conservationists and 7 guest speakers) set up a table where they sell fair trade items from their country, display information, and accept donations.

Me and Sherry Paul, one of WCN's biggest donors and a really cool lady, hanging out. The Expo is in its seventh year and is like a well-oiled machine. The AMAZING volunteers we have just rock the day and I basically stand around with my clipboard and deal with the few emergencies and problems that arise.
So then on Sunday, we held the Garden Party at Charlie's (my ED) home in Los Altos Hills. This is a really relaxing, but long (12-9pm) day of live music, delicious food and wine, and live cats. The donors seem to like this event best because all the conservationists attend and it is the best chance to catch them for some 1:1 conversation. You can see many of the conservationists in the second picture below. We have them give two minute elevator speeches (that ran for about seven minutes each and messed up my schedule!) and they are waiting in line to give that speech in the picture below.

London Weekend: Random Pictures, part 1

Big Ben. (Don't forget you can click on any picture to enlarge it!)



A couple of shots of Millennium Bridge, which the locals call Wobbly Bridge and refuse to walk across. The cucumber looking building in the first shot is called the Gherkin for obvious reasons!


A replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre


The London Bridge....is SO boring looking that it should fall down and soon.



Trafalgar Square. Legend says that if Big Ben ever strikes 13:00 the lion statues in the square will get up and walk around.


Westminster Abbey. I also paid to tour this church and it was well worth the money. No pictures allowed but I got to see where so many Kings, Queens, and famous people were buried and memorialized. It is pretty amazing how many dead people they fit in there! All jokes aside it was pretty amazing how much history this one building holds.


This is me being a goofball and trying to take a picture of myself. I am in the green with the camera in my face, if you can see me. I am on the top deck of the tour bus I rode around in for one of the days I was there.


The Tate Modern with Millennium Bridge in front.


The Marble Arch near Hyde Park. Excuse the bad framing as I was zooming by it on the bus!


Speakers Corner at Hyde Park.



A newly built statue of Nelson Mandela


Good Old Winston Churchill

London Weekend: Random Stuff, part 2

As if London doesn't have enough statues, here is a man pretending to be a statue and doing a darn fine job of it. He fooled me at first!


The oldest remaining statue of Queen Elizabeth I


Just thought it was funny.......



The Royal Mounted Guards on display next to a sign that reads "Beware. Horses may kick or bite." Guess they don't like their jobs!




The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. See how dark it is? That is because it rained all day both days I was there. Any sunny pictures you see were taken Monday morning before I left for the airport because, of course, the day I am scheduled to leave the sun comes out. How rude! It was kind of fun to see London in the doom and gloom though because it adds to the historical effect.




The London Eye which I didn't ride due to the weather.




St. Paul's Cathedral


My hotel, The Strand Palace, was in a great location along the main roads and near a lot of attractions. I was always able to find my way back to it with ease. I stayed in the tiniest little hotel room I have ever seen though.


The Jubilee Bridge

London Weekend: The Tower of London and the Tower Bridge

The Tower of London! I payed the exorbitant fee to tour the entire complex and it was AWESOME! I love this historical stuff. I got to see where Anne Boleyn was beheaded, where Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned, and where Kings and Queens for centuries stood and slept!


Carvings on the Tower's prison walls done by the captured men and women, many who were there because of religious beliefs or false accusations. They were all so hopeful and inspiring even though their creators were waiting to die.


The memorial that rests on the site where Tower prisoners, including Anne Boleyn, were beheaded.





Inside this building is housed the crown jewels. You couldn't take pictures but there were some darn impressive jewels on display. It is hard to fathom the wealth that the English Crown possessed.




Traitor's Gate....people who were imprisoned in the Tower were brought in by boat. This is how a young Elizabeth I was brought in when she was imprisoned here.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this beautiful bridge. In the second picture above, you can see the lifts going up to let a ship pass.