Poem

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

The first edition of this poem had the line printed thus :
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep

A subtle change of meaning…

Pirate Joke

Today is International Talk like a Pirate day, and here’s the best joke I found following long (about 10 minutes) heavy duty researching (on google):

 

Long ago, when sailing ships ruled the waves, a captain and his crew were in danger of being boarded by a pirate ship. As the crew became frantic, the captain bellowed to his First Mate, “Bring me my red shirt!”. The First Mate quickly retrieved the captain’s red shirt, which the captain put on and lead the crew to battle the pirate boarding party. Although some casualties occurred among the crew, the pirates were repelled.

Later that day, the lookout screamed that there were two pirate vessels sending boarding parties. The crew cowered in fear, but the captain calm as ever bellowed, “Bring me my red shirt!”. The battle was on, and once again the Captain and his crew repelled both boarding parties, although this time more casualties occurred.

Weary from the battles, the men sat around on deck that night recounting the day’s occurrences when an ensign looked to the Captain and asked, “Sir, why did you call for your red shirt before the battle?”. The Captain, giving the ensign a look that only a captain can give, exhorted, “If I am wounded in battle, the red shirt does not show the wound and thus, you men will continue to fight unafraid”. The men sat in silence marveling at the courage of such a man.

As dawn came the next morning, the lookout screamed that there were pirate ships, 10 of them, all with boarding parties on their way. The men became silent and looked to their Captain for his usual command. The Captain, calm as ever, bellowed, “Bring me my brown pants!!

ISOC event Geneva

I’m in Geneva for 4 days, attending an ISOC event called GlobalINET. An Internet conference.

Workshops are taking place on Saturday and Sunday and Internet Society chapters from all over the world have send delegates (I’m representing ISOC England) to share knowledge. It’s the most collaborative conference I’ve ever been to – just sitting and listening isn’t an option!

Edelweiss fondue restaurant, Geneva
Chapter dinner at a Swiss restaurant

The cheese fondue was not universally popular. Most of my table were aghast at the idea of eating hot cheese and left in search of more traditional fare.