started the day with a longer run than the day before and then went to have a quick breakfast before class. it's probably good that i don't spend too much time at the dining hall. it probably means i eat less, or rather, less likely to overeat. that's not easy as you can see from the food served so far. i really think i should cut back on dessert but it's hard. so i try not to overeat the main course, as you can see from this picture.
can't recall all the things here but i think there was shrimp salad, beef tri-tip (not sure what that is), mashed potatoes, vegetables and fish. still it is quite a substantial meal.
tonight was our team night out again and this time we went to an italian restaurant Osteria in Palo Alto. it had a nice homely atmosphere and the food was pretty good.
i had the spinach salad and the ravioli special - it had veal in it. we then decided to head over to the nearest place where we could get drinks. we already had wine at the restaurant, but since we didn't drive, and the night was still young, we decided to stay in town. we found ourselves at a pub called the rose and crown. most english style pubs, or at least the ones in england, have very interesting names.
would you believe this is a bottle of beer? it's a belgian beer called chimay blue. this is a 1.5 litre bottle and no i did not drink all of it. the beer is also known as a trappist beer. trappists are monks, and chimay is one of a few belgian beers made in monasteries. or at least started that way. can't imagine monks still brewing beer these days. but someone in the group decided to try a 2005 version of the beer that costs $175!!! i have to say i think there was a difference but am not sure the difference is worth $140!
here's a group photo in the pub.
and on to the next day.
this is Ian Morris. our professor Burgelman, who is himself a really entertaining speaker, likes history and he liked Morris' book. then he found out that the writer is teaching in stanford! of course maybe he said that just to make the story more interesting:) anyway he invited him to give us a talk and it was really good. he took us through the main points but left out the end because he hoped we would buy his book!:)
in essence, his theory is that power and dominance of countries and regions are due to geography. that at any point in history, certain circumstances favour certain areas and they then grow in strength. you may then ask that well, the earth is still pretty much the same the last time anyone looked so why do some regions rise and others decline? his answer was that time and other developments such as technology, change the meaning or the circumstances surrounding the geography of the regions in question. so while previously some of the important civilisations of the past clustered around river banks, later it was more important to be near the sea because of better ships which enabled you to go further and grow and other stuff. i will have to read the book to explain it better.
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