http://www.ruudvisser.com Ruud Visser's homepage and weblog — The chemistry of stars, planets and baseball Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:06:15 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Back in October, when I defended my thesis, I had tea and coffee with a few guests in the university's Faculty Club prior to the start of the ceremony. The waiter said they had my contact details, so rather than paying directly, they would send me the bill to be ... http://www.ruudvisser.com/2010/02/04/we-take-our-time-but-you-cant/ The second batch of pictures from my US tour is up for viewing (or at Picasa Web). This batch covers the Los Angeles area, including Hollywood Boulevard, Dodger Stadium, Beverly Hills, Topanga and Malibu Creek State Parks, and Santa Monica. http://www.ruudvisser.com/2010/01/26/second-batch-of-us-pictures/ I've put the first batch of pictures from my US tour online, covering Austin and Phoenix. Click here to view them within my website, or here to view them at Picasa Web Albums. I didn't take any pictures in Ann Arbor, so you'll have to take my word for it ... http://www.ruudvisser.com/2010/01/23/first-batch-of-us-pictures/ Following a beautiful morning in Austin, TX (sunny, 20+ °C), I flew into a major storm in Phoenix, AZ. For a while, it actually looked like I wasn't flying into Phoenix at all, given the weather conditions. But we did, so I got to experience what it feels to land ... http://www.ruudvisser.com/2010/01/22/storm-in-arizona/ My tradition of visiting the United States in January continues into the new decade. As the years pass, the number of destinations increases. In 2008, the business part of the trip only included Granville, OH. Last year, I also visited Columbus, OH and Ann Arbor, MI. This time, the two ... http://www.ruudvisser.com/2010/01/18/back-in-the-states/ My two Foggy Forest pictures are in the top five of most viewed items on this website. Thanks to a website called Jigsaw Planet, you can now play both of them as an online jigsaw puzzle. You can upload any image on that website and have it cut into puzzle ... http://www.ruudvisser.com/2009/12/21/foggy-forest-jigsaws/ Yesterday, I caught part of a television quiz between two kids of around 11 years old. One of the questions was on the topic of blue blood: What is true about blue blood? A. It does not exist. B. It is blood containing no oxygen. C. Only noble people have it. The first kid answered ... http://www.ruudvisser.com/2009/09/24/blue-blood/ I've got a date for my PhD defense: Wednesday October 21st at 3pm. It's a strange idea: in less than two months, I'll be a doctor. http://www.ruudvisser.com/2009/08/25/defense-date/ It's a Friday night and the weather's nice. There's still a ton of work to do on the last chapter for my thesis, but not right now. Instead, I grabbed my camera and biked over to a little marshy area north of town to. There was a family of swans ... http://www.ruudvisser.com/2009/07/31/swans/ There was definitely no shortage of offense in the game I was umpiring today between Zwijndrecht and RCH/Pinguïns. I didn't get the total number of hits, but it must have been at least forty. Zwijndrecht slugged five homeruns, and RCH/Pinguïns sent another three balls over the fence. Two of the ... http://www.ruudvisser.com/2009/07/12/slugfest/