Archive for February 2003
Show summaries onlySeattle: Elegant, expensive, grey
The square in the middle of Seattle.
Seattle is quite an elegant city, where the buildings rather reminded me of Melbourne.
Seattle, where it’s so grey that the street lights stay on during the day.
Nordstrom, where the Australian dollar goes even less far than anywhere else in Seattle.
The “Fourth and Pike” Building, the building at, well, the corner of Fourth and Pike.
Pike Place Markets.
Pike Place Markets 2
Pike Place Markets.
Melbourne Tower, Seattle. As far as I’m aware, there is no Seattle Tower in Melbourne.
Four Seasons hotel, near Rainier Square. Microsoft had MVPs staying at five hotels around Seattle. Most of us were at the Four Seasons. It’s a charming hotel.
From Rainer Square looking down to the water, Seattle.
Seattle, WA, USA. February 2003
MVP Word-ies
Astrid Zeelenberg, Word MVP from The Netherlands
Jay Freedman, Word MVP from the USA
Bill Coan, from the USA and Cindy Meister from Switzerland
Dian~ being Dian~
Chris Pratley, Group Program Manager for Microsoft Word
Cindy Meister, Word MVP from Switzerland
Jonathan West, Word MVP from the UK talking with Greg Chapman
Suzanne Barnhill and Bill Coan, Word MVPs from the USA
Mike Maxey from the Word development team at Microsoft
Greg Chapman, MVP from the USA
Bill Coan, Word MVP from the USA
Beth Melton, Office MVP from the USA
Jamie Sloan, from Microsoft, souveniring the table decorations
Suzanne Barnhill, Word MVP from the USA
Terry Farrell, Word MVP from the UK
Thomas Gahler, Word MVP from Switzerland
Dian Chapman, Word MVP, taking a picture of me taking a picture of her taking a picture of me taking a picture of…
Redmond, WA, USA. 1 February 2003.
“We love our MVPs”
“We love our MVPS” proclaimed the big sign in the McKinley Room at Microsoft’s Conference Centre within the Microsoft campus at Redmond, outside Seattle.
McKinley Room, Microsoft Conference Centre, Redmond, WA, USA. February 2003
Bill Gates, ultra-geek
Ultra-geek: Bill Gates addressing the MVP summit
Bill Gates and Lori Moore (Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President Product Support Services) during Bill’s Question-and-Answer session at the Summit
McKinley Room, Microsoft Conference Centre, Redmond, WA, USA. February 2003
Microsoft Conference Centre
Microsoft’s Conference Centre on the campus at Redmond. All the sessions at the Summit were held on the Microsoft campus, most of them in this Conference Centre building.
600 MVPs from 55 countries spent 3½ days using about 300 digital cameras, several dozen laptops, a few Tablet PCs and a handful of hand-helds searching for the answer to one question: would Greg Chapman take off his hat?
Conference Centre Gardens
On the one clear day, we could see from the Conference Centre to the snow on the mountains outside Seattle
McKinley Room at the Microsoft Conference Center
McKinley Room at the Microsoft Conference Center
McKinley Room at the Microsoft Conference Center
Microsoft Conference Centre, Redmond, WA, USA. February 2003
MVPs at the Summit
Sonia Coleman, Powerpoint MVP from near San Francisco
Ross Pfaff, Office MVP
Can someone remind me of this man’s name?
Microsoft campus, Redmond, WA, USA. February 2003
Office dinner
Office Dinner, Monday night at the Summit
Office Dinner, Monday night at the Summit
Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft’s Senior Vice President for Office, at the Office dinner
Office building, Microsoft campus, Redmond, WA, USA. February 2003
Post-Summit dinner
Grand City Cafe, Seattle, scene of a dinner on the nightthe Summit ended
The post-Summit dinner: Jim, Tim, Jonathan, Jay, Terry and Astrid. Jonathan will remember the horseradish forever!
Grand City Cafe, Seattle, WA, USA. 1 February 2003.
All (well, most) of the MVP Word-ies
All (well, most) of the Word-ies, plus some friends.
Back row, left to right: Dian Chapman, Doug Robbins, Bill Coan, Jonathan West, Chris Pratley, Thomas Gahler, Jay Freedman.
Middle row: Terry Farrell, Astrid Zeelenberg.
Front row: Greg Chapman, Mike Maxey, Cindy Meister, Suzanne Barnhill.
Microsoft Campus, Redmond, WA, USA. 1 February 2003.
Des Moines
Anthony’s restaurant at Des Moines harbour. I recommend the clam chowder.
Sign at Des Moines harbour. So you can’t read the sign, and you can’t tell what kinds of birds are on top of the sign. But the colours are pretty.
Des Moines harbour, near Seattle, WA, USA. 7 February 2003.
Later entries from February 2003
Show full text of these entries.Sunset at Des Moines harbour Des Moines harbour, near Seattle, WA, USA. 7 February 2003.
What is it with sunsets? Why do they fascinate us so much? This one is at Des Moines harbour, looking across Puget Sound to Vashon Island. ...Museum of Glass, Tacoma Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA, USA. 8 February 2003.
Museum of Glass, Tacoma Museum of Glass, Tacoma Tacoma Court House, near the Museum of Glass These blue glass sculptures are at the entrance to the Museum of Glass. The Court House is in the ba...Red apples at the Museum of Glass Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA, USA. 8 February 2003.
Museum of Glass, Tacoma Museum of Glass, Tacoma Museum of Glass, Tacoma ...Linda at the Museum of Glass Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA, USA. 8 February 2003.
Linda at the Museum of Glass. ...Fort Nisqually at Point Defiance Fort Nisqually, Point Defiance, near Seattle, WA, USA. 8 February 2003.
Fort Nisqually was created by the Hudson’s Bay Company in the 1830s. Two of the original buildings have been moved, and others re-created in the park at Point Defiance, near Tacoma Fort Nisqu...Wooden wheel Fort Nisqually, Point Defiance, near Seattle, WA, USA. 8 February 2003.
So this is a bit of indulgence. Hardly a postcard-style pic. I just liked the look of the wooden wheel against the wooden wall of the building at the fort. ...Friends Lake Burien, Seattle, WA, USA. 8 February 2003.
Lake Burien, Seattle. Lake Burien, Seattle. Lake Burien, Seattle. Len, Linda and Robin. Batman ...Around Seattle Puget Sound, near Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Beach on Puget Sound. House overlooking Puget Sound ...Caproni CA20 Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
It’s hard to know which is more fun: the Museum of Flight in Seattle or the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. I confess I’ve been more than once to both o...Early passenger aircraft Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
The early commercial use of aircraft in the US seems to have been about carrying the mail. This early passenger aircraft could take one passenger. ...DC-3 Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
DC-3, 1940. Everyone seems to love DC-3s (although, if I’ve never flown in one, I was too young to remember it). This one was built in 1940 for American Airlines. ...Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair. 1945. A navy fighter-bomber flown from aircraft carriers in late World War II and the Korean War. ...Air Force One 707 Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Specially-built Boeing 707, 1958. The first jet airliner used as Air Force One. This plane was used to carry US presidents from Eisenhower to Nixon. The sophisticated 60s communications technology ins...Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II, 1966 used by the US Navy’s Blue Angels aerobatic team. ...McDonnell F-4C Phantom II Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
McDonnell F-4C Phantom II, 1964. Note the “shark” painted on the radar-guided missile under the fuselage of the Phantom, and the shiny Sidewinder missiles under the wing. I was assured t...Apollo Command Module Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Apollo Command Module made by Rockwell, 1968. This one did not get into space: it was used for training. ...Lunar Roving Vehicle mockup Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Engineering mock-up of a Lunar Roving Vehicle made by Boeing, 1971. At the risk of stating the obvious, no used Lunar Roving Vehicles are on earth. ...Rock Bottom Rock Bottom, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
About 10 Australians and New Zealanders made the trek to Seattle for the MVP Summit. Before the official start to the Summit, some of the ANZ-ers caught up at Rock Bottom, a bar not far from our hotel...Jessica Garcia and John Green Rock Bottom, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Jessica Garcia, from Microsoft in Sydney, is the Australian MVP Lead. John Green, Excel MVP, is also from Sydney. ...John McGhie Rock Bottom, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
John McGhie, an MVP from Sydney. No-one is ever quite sure whether he is a Word MVP or a Macintosh MVP. He tries to be both. ...Bill McCarthy Rock Bottom, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Bill McCarthy, VB MVP from Victoria. Bear in mind that in these parts, VB stands for Victoria Bitter, as well as Visual Basic. ...Rob Chandler Rock Bottom, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Robert Chandler, MVP for HTML Help, from Melbourne. Robert maintains the page that lists all the Australian and NZ MVPs, complete with pictures, specialities and links to their web pages. ...Rod Gill Rock Bottom, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Rod Gill, Microsoft Project MVP from Auckland, New Zealand. ...Sandi Hardmeier and Jessica Garcia Rock Bottom, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Sandi Hardmeier, MVP for Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, from Perth, with Jessica Garcia. ...Doug Robbins and Suzanne Barnhill Microsoft Office building, Microsoft Campus, Redmond, WA, USA. 10 February 2003.
Doug Robbins, Word MVP from Brisbane, with Suzanne Barnhill of Alabama, USA, at the Microsoft Officer dinner. ...Everett 13 February 2003.
Forty-five minutes’ drive north of Seattle along I5 is the local county airport, Paine Field, at Everett. But Paine Field is no ordinary county airport. On one side is the Boeing factory that ma...Boeing 747/777 factory at Everett, near Seattle Boeing Factory, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
I’ve wanted to visit the Boeing Factory in Seattle for years. After the MVP Summit, and before my flight home, I had my chance. It’s an interesting place to visit, but not a great place fo...World’s biggest building Boeing Factory, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
It’s a warehouse, right? Wrong! Don’t let the perspective deceive you. See the six big sliding doors? You can drive a 747 through each of them. ...Air mail? Boeing Factory, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
The side of the factory from the highway, complete with a huge replica of a stamp bearing a Boeing 747. ...New 747 Boeing Factory, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
A 747 being prepared for delivery. This one is being built for Air France. The silvery coating is a plastic protective colour, which will come off before the aircraft is painted. ...Museum of Flight’s Restoration Center at Paine Field Museum of Flight Restoration Center, Paine Field, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
The Restoration Center is part of the Museum of Flight, which is located in Seattle itself. Volunteers work at the Restoration Center working on planes of various kinds and ages. Some are to be restor...Comet Museum of Flight Restoration Center, Paine Field, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
A major piece of work going on at the the Restoration Center is to restore this old Comet. The Comet was the first commercial jet aircraft, produced by De Havilland in the UK and flown around the worl...Boeing 247D Museum of Flight Restoration Center, Paine Field, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
The Boeing 247D. Boeing claims that the 247 was the first ‘modern’ aeroplane. At the time, Boeing and United Airlines were the one company, so United was the only airline to fly 247s. The ...Boeing 727 Museum of Flight Restoration Center, Paine Field, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
Remember 727s? Boeing made 1,832 of them. This 727 is the very first 727. It was made in 1962 and is now on the tarmac outside the Restoration Center. ...Chance Vought F7U Cutlass Museum of Flight Restoration Center, Paine Field, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
I had no recollection of what kind of plane this is, but Greg Chapman has filled in the gaps. It’s a Chance Vought F7U Cutlass. This one hasn’t had its wings re-attached yet. ...Stanley Park, Vancouver Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada. 14 February 2003.
Lion’s Head Bridge, Vancouver, from Stanley Park The Royal Canadian Navy establishment near Stanley Park, Vancouver Rod contemplated a swim in Vancouver harbour, but was dissuaded onl...Robson Street, Vancouver Robson Street, Vancouver, Canada. 14 February 2003.
Every time I visit Vancouver or the north west of the USA I am astounded to see so many wooden buildings. Multi-storey wooden buildings, in particular, just seem so strange to me. I doubt ...Going home Robson Street, Vancouver, Canada. 14 February 2003.
Rod re-reads the bus timetable. We got concerned that the bus would never arrive to take us to the airport. ...