Being half Australian, it’s important that Isla gets to know her homeland a bit! We took her out for her first bush and beach walk, just down from Orford, Tasmania, starting in Sandy Bay. She must have loved it as she stayed awake for almost half the walk! We didn’t see any wombats, but the scenery was stunning.
11 March, 2008
I’ve been a fan of Monocle magazine since I picked up the first issue in Zurich airport early last year. The cover story that issue was about bicycles, and how more and more cities are becoming bike-friendly. Thanks to the hard work of Tiia Tuisku, and the other members of Credit Suisse’s Five Senses Team, we’ve recently been featured in Monocle. Their “Euroscents” article captures some of the details about our Five Senses project, where we created the first multi-sensory branch banking experience. We also won the European Front End of Innovation Champion Award in Vienna back in January. Well done guys!
10 March, 2008
This week, my brother-in-law, Jarrod, and I took the short trip from Orford to Kellevie, Tasmania, to ride the course for the Kellevie 24hr MTB race. We weren’t doing the race, just checking out the course (you have to be crazy to be a 24 MTBer). The 10k circuit goes down as the most fun I have EVER had on a bike – it’s incredibly technical, with about 180m of climbing, through bush, rainforest, riversides, fields and the very occassional fire road. Not a momet to relax, either physically or mentally – as one of the guys who was on the course with us said, “There aren’t ANY skills that aren’t examined on this course.” Tight turns through dense bush seemed to be Jarrod’s undoing, though, as he crashed three times in three attempts at the same corner – the video above shows attempt number three (which resulted in three sliced fingers and multiple bruises)…and the video below shows some of the very tight track through the rainforest section of the course…god knows how anyone is going to do this in the dark!
10 December, 2007
My good friend, and partner in the Transalp, Jens Haasen, just put up photos from our epic ride. From the tremendous beat down we got on the Stelvio, to our high speed chase through the vineyards into Kaltern, the seven day race across the alps of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy was an incredible experience. I was lucky to have such a great teammate and, as the pictures show, we were all too pleased to have our better halves, Claire and Martina, join us at the end for the finishing party.
9 December, 2007
Although I lived in London for years, I never rode a bike there (except for the London-Brighton race, but that doesn’t really count), mainly because it seemed like an impossible task. Not only was the traffic terrible, but the bike lanes were either a) non-existant, b) filled with cars or c) too short, narrow or poorly located to be of any use. Seems I wasn’t alone in thinking that. An activist group in the UK, out of Warrington, has just launched a new book, “Crap Cycle Lanes.” It’s a collection of the 50 worst cycle lanes in the UK.
29 November, 2007
There she is – Isla Claire McQuillen comes into our world!
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Words can’t describe it. She’s here. She’s perfect. We’re joyful.
…and she’s already got a bike waiting for her!
18 November, 2007
Between two pieces of bread lies infinite space. Flexible space. Space that can expand and contract as you please. Between two pieces of bread lies imagination. Between two pieces of bread, anything is possible.
These possibilities have not been lost on the populations of most countries, where the sandwich is an important national food. The potential has certainly not been lost on the British, who have taken the empty space between bread slices to beautiful heights. Even we Americans are quite capable of doing legendary things between slices.
But then there are the Swiss. Although there are more kinds of bread in Switzerland than just about anywhere else on the planet, the Swiss just don’t seem to know what to do once they cut it up and lie two slices on the table. Unlike most exposed to the potential of the empty space, they take the bread and then proceed to make sandwiches of an undeniable mind-numbingly mundane standard.
The root cause seems to be that the Swiss just don’t get the idea that the sandwich is an expandable thing. They approach two slices of bread as if there were meant to stay close together, as if there was barely any room between them. To the Swiss, it would seem, it’s a lucky thing that you can even fit more than a bit of butter in there.
The butter, really, is where things start to go wrong. They slap the bread with butter on both sides, then press a limp pickle (gherkin) into the bread until it’s almost hidden, like a little surprise, then insert a very thin slice of egg that seems totally lost and misplaced and then…..then…perhaps a few slices of bunderfleisch. Or perhaps a couple of slices of cheese. Or maybe some of that chicken in the yellow curry sauce (if they are feeling really couragous). Then they close the sandwich. That’s it.
It does not seem to have occured them them that they could do so much more between those slices of bread. That perhaps you could put meat and cheese in there. Perhaps some lettuce. Perhaps some onions. Perhaps a pepper or two. Perhaps, thinking about it and now really getting the courage up, some mustard. There is plenty of room! Throw it all in. Bacon, anyone?
What is going on here? It may be that in a small country, the idea that space is infinite is difficult to accept. Smaller sandwiches just feel better when land is scarce. Or maybe it’s that meat and cheese living together in the same confined space is troublesome for a country struggling with diversity. Whatever it is, it deserves careful thought. For across the country, every lunchtime, millions of office workers stare into a sandwich cabinet, tearfully wondering why they can have a bacon sandwich, a lettuce sandwich or a tomato sandwich, but not all at once.
18 November, 2007
Cycling is the best way to get around big cities, and big cities are starting to get better about bikes. Sydney, which has already been working to put more separated bike lanes in place, is the latest place to make plans for a major bike rental scheme. Residents and tourists alike back the idea, but it seems there might be one stumbling block…the law that you must wear a helmet while on a bike. According to one article:
“In Paris, casual users can pick up a bike from the Velib scheme and ride away. In Sydney, though, they’d have to have a helmet with them, and if you already have a helmet with you, presumably you already have a bike. “
They’ll have to rent helmets as well as bikes if they want the scheme to work, but it remains to be seen whether people will be comfortable wearing communal helmets.
10 November, 2007
SOLD – Brandschenkestrasse 76, Zurich Enge
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We are selling a great, ground floor flat/atelier in the fantastic Hurlimann Areal in Zurich Enge. At 128sqm, there is a tremendous amount of space in an open, flexible layout which creates true loft-style living or a fashionable office. The spacious entry has a versatile custom storage unit, with coat rack, shelves and 100 bottle wine rack. The living and dining areas have large windows and plenty of room.
The main area consists of the living, dining and kitchen spaces. The kitchen has a large bar area for entertaining or reading the paper in the morning. Huge windows let in lots of light and a glass door opens out onto the picnic area. The guest room is separated on one side by sliding, translucent walls, offering privacy or opening up to make the main space even larger.
The hallway includes a floor-to-ceiling wardrobe with two sliding doors and a large amount of storage space. The bath includes a wall-to-wall mirror, large sink and tiles in the large bathtub area. The master bedroom has a large, walk-in closet with enough room for two racks of clothes and a wardrobe. In-floor heating throughout, ventilation system, laundry room. A basement storage room of about 11sqm is included.
The building offers a double entry area, elevator, bike room and common washer-dryer room. An additional large drying room is also available. A playground for children is outside, with picnic tables, water fountain and table tennis.
Price – 750,000 CHF. For more details and photos, please download the attached PDF.Brandshenkestrasse 76 Flat PDF
FLAT AVAILABLE IN SUMMER 2008 BY AGREEMENT.
Please contact me on davidmcquillen at hotmail dot com for more details or to arrange a visit to the flat.
28 October, 2007
It would, perhaps, spark more sinister talk among the SVP about how foreigners are eroding Swiss traditions, but the result is here to stay. It will never go after a small, yet well informed, group of us got together last night for the Cheese Blaster 3000 Deluxe (CB3TD) Raclette Season Opener. And, while this is a regular tradition, this season opening celebration, it was no traditional Raclette.
Rather, we decided to bring two worlds together…a symbol, if you will, of how white and black sheep can get along just fine. The humble fajita and the classic Raclette. Viola: The Incredible Mexiclette. That’s right. Mexiclette.
Rather than keep this to ourselves, license it out, make millions, we’ve done the right thing: we’re sharing it. With you. So, to do it, you’ll need a Raclette machine with a smooth grill plate on top.
Gather the following ingredients: raclette cheese (approx 200g per person), cheddar cheese, sliced peppers & onions, diced chicken & beef (sesason with fajita spice in advance), corn tortillas (cut into squares which will fit into the raclettte shovels), jalapenos, salsa. By the way, if you’re not sure about how your guests will adapt to this startling break from tradition, you may want to have some of the familiar little potatoes, pickles and bunderfleisch. It will comfort them.
Now, grill the peppers and onions on the hot plate until nice and soft. Take them off and put in a bowl. Next, cook the chicken on one side, the beef on the other, until done. Put them in separate bowls.
Next, take a piece of corn tortilla and grill until a little crispy. Place it in your raclette shovel. At this point, what happens here, is down to your own personal style. You can put the raclette cheese down, then the onions and peppers, then the meat, then the jalapenos and then grill. Or are you a cheese on top sort? Go with how you feel – nothing is wrong – ignore any raised eyebrows – you must believe in yourself and what you are doing. Remember, Mexiclette is a new art. For that reason, we are all in a period of self-discovery. Scrape onto your plate, cut up, enjoy and repeat.
While white wine is “the raclette drink,” drinking a Fendant or somesuch seems like nonsense with the Mexiclette. We poured glasses of Zinfandel, finishing the evening off with chili chocolate ice cream and Tasmanian Pepperberry Liquour.
No. Go on. It’s getting colder. The season is upon us. Break with tradition. Meld two worlds. Create the Mexiclette.
21 October, 2007
They do put on a fine bike race, the French. And now, like the those who live in Copenhagen or Zurich, there is a network of city bikes that anyone, anytime can pick up and ride from here to there. The system in Paris is different than the others, however, in that it’s automated (Copenhagen is coin-based, like unlocking a shopping cart at Migros, and Zurich has personal attendants). According to the New York Times:
The Vélib system is simple. You swipe a credit card in a kiosk that is located beside a row of parked bikes and purchase a one-day, one-week or one-year subscription. (The system also takes a 150-euro deposit authorization to ensure the bike’s safe return.) The machine prints out a card with your code number and you enter a personal password. You tap in this code and password to unlock a bike and ride off.
21 October, 2007
Choosing Sheep – Swiss Elections
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Switzerland’s current affairs don’t make the global radar very often. Rather, Switzerland has an enduring presence in the world’s collective conscious of peace, neutrality, beauty, chocolate and skis. Today, though, the Swiss go to the polls for the national elections. What has happened in the lead-up to those elections, and who will most probably be in (even more) power tomorrow has the potential to significantly erode Switzerland’s squeaky clean image.
The right-wing SVP’s campaign with white sheep kicking a black sheep out of the country, the billboards with “Stop the foreigners” and the growing xenophobia of the population are drawing the attention of the world’s media. They are surprised, a little taken aback that such a wonderful place could be dangerously drifting further to extremism and, it seems, a little delighted that Switzerland has got problems just like everyone else.
The British media picked up on things first, with their “Europe’s Heart of Darkness” articles, and now the New York Times is covering the story. They’re portraying a country that is concerned, and a little surprised itself, at what is happening:
The poster (of the white and black sheep) is disgusting, unacceptable,” Micheline Calmy-Rey, the current president of Switzerland said in an interview. “It stigmatizes others and plays on the fear factor, and in that sense it’s dangerous. The campaign does not correspond to Switzerland’s multicultural openness to the world. And I am asking all Swiss who do not agree with its message to have the courage to speak out.
As foreigners ourselves, and among the 20% of Swiss residents who are not citizens, the elections are being watched with keen interest.
14 October, 2007
There are many things that Scott Paquette, my sister’s partner, can teach me. In fact, there are many things that Scott can teach all of us, being the sort of guy who could build a house with his bare hands, dismantle and rebuild a jeep blindfolded and then go hunting for his dinner. I, on the other hand, struggle to solve even the most basic of Ikea challenges. Ashamed of my clear lack of Real Man Skills, I asked Scott to show me how to use a chainsaw last time I was in Colorado.
13 October, 2007
I’ve started swimming again. I’ve taken a couple of months off exercise, really, since finishing the Transalp. It felt like I needed a break from the relentless training, and it was good not to have that pressure. But now it’s time to start moving and, although I love Mountain Biking in the fall, I felt like my body needed something other than the bike. So, back in the pool. And, while my mind remembers the technique, the body is struggling. The hidden complexity of swimming requires concentration that can distract you from the fatigue, but after 1400m today, I feel worn out. But good. I hope to keep up 1400-1500m 3x per week for the next four weeks, and then start to move up to 2000m. I’d like to be up to 3000m by the time we head to Tassie in February.
7 October, 2007
Hi – It’s all new and a little wobbly
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If you’re here, you probably weren’t looking for this. Or, rather, you were, but you expected to find the old site. After months of thought (and at least a year of neglect), I decided to take the original site down. Sigh. It had been up for about five years, and was looking a bit like a museum piece. So, here we are. Looking at each other, not knowing what to do. I’ll tell you what. Give me a bit of time and then come back. I know, that’s not a very nice customer experience, but, seeing as I know you and we like and respect each other, I’m sure you understand that these things take time.
