Well, I thought it would be great to show you the one of the final days of our trip to Geneva, and take it outside.

Monica lived in an apartment a little ways on the French side of CERN, and we took her out to get a little of her running(She is a triathlon-er).

So, how do you film someone running? For starters, clear out the back of your car, and firmly place the DP in a secure position, tying him down with as many seatbelts, gaff tape, rope, or leather-bondage-gear-you-just-happen-to-have-in-your-car-that-you-are-holding-onto-for-a-dear-friend-with-some-issues-and-should-in-no-be-considered-yours. Safety first.

 

Start car. Start running. 

Voila. Instant movie magic.

So, we did that for a good amount of time. Then, a Vineyard…

That’s right, kiddies. Daddy had some French wine grapes, straight off the vine…

… which was the exact point that Martin decided to let me know that what I was doing could not be considered, well… legal.

*Ahem*

SO… we did a little rolling on the CERN tower, as viewed from the vineyard.

Now, I must admit, I was a little busy (apparently I was not hired for my dashing good looks or quick wit), so I handed the camera over to Joachim.

If you ask nicely, you might be able to pay Joachim a great deal of money to get action shots of you, too.

So, that’s that, kids! I’d love to end this the (Michael) Bay Way, with interdimensional portals opening hundreds of feet below the Earth, Lovecraftian Demi-Gods slopping out to rule this pit of a planet, and EXPLOSIONS! EXPLOSIONS! EXPLOSIONS!… but I got nothing. Just a transformational and rewarding experience, a chance to talk with some of the most intelligent people in the world, the space I occupied at the foot of the greatest science event of our time (which, don’t kid yourself, is yet to come), and enough paté to kill a goat.

CERN is going to close down for the winter (which it does annually, don’t believe the hype), so with any luck, we’ll be going back in the Spring for some particle collisions! In the meantime, I have some pretty interesting stuff coming up, and I’ll be posting as I go. Rock on, brothers and sisters. Let’s chat soon…

-J.

Kind of a bad-news-good-news scenario. My site shut down because of exceeded bandwidth, and that was for the crapper. On the other hand, it’s because so many were looking at the pics, so that’s pretty cool! I’ll be finishing up on the CERN blog on Monday, with a little re-cap. Then… well, just wait and see.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. As you’ve surmised from the continual existence of life on Earth, the Beam was both successful AND created no black holes. Ridiculous as the media coverage was from the beginning, one has to learn that maybe, just maybe, the most brilliant minds on our planet might know what they are doing. What can I say about it? Simply this. This is a machine which has been under construction for the past two decades, making it the modern-day equivalent of the Great Wall of China. Imagine thousands of people, finally coming to test this monolith for the first time, with that much history behind it as well as the knowledge that some in the room have dedicated their lives to it. One would expect there to be champagne and toasts, hugs and handshakes, tears and moments alone for such an occasion as this. There was that, to be sure. But what was unexpected was how short this lasted. No all-day parties, no vacations, but rather the immediate desire to to test it. People pointing out to diagrams on walls with projected data, exited physicists running around crowded control rooms, exclaiming like a kid at Christmas “Look at this Map! Look at it! WE HAVE DATA!”

The surprising thing was that this wasn’t an end to two decades of work. This was only the beginning. 

I do have some pictures, but since the team has returned from Geneva they have been going at full speed in preparation for the IFP this week, and for myself, I’m still trying to figure out what time it really is. I’ll have some additional posts up this week, wrapping up the two-and-a-half week shoot for Particle Fever. 

Oh, and currently, my computer clock says it is 5:10 in the morning. I’ve been up for two hours. Any jet-lag advice you may have, PLEASE post soon. I am going to go crazy…

So, here I am in Geneva. Now, I have traveled a bit, for work and otherwise. Admittedly, this has mostly been in the U.S. So a certain cultural misunderstanding of one’s environs is to be expected. You usually expect:

1.)        Wireless Internet in the rooms

2.)        A Gym

3.)        a coffee maker

4.)        An alarm clock

These are simple necessaties in the States. So, when I got none of these in Geneva, it was a quick slap to the forehead and improvisation that saved the day.

What my room DID come with was a kitchen, with some utensils. Still, the prospect of making one of my world-renowned cup’o’joe’s was slightly outside of the abilities that the tools presented me with. That, and the corner store didn’t have any filters.

So. How to Make Tea.

STEP ONE:

Fill a pot (or other appropriate culinary receptacle) with water. Preferably hot, to sepped up the boiling process.

 

STEP TWO:

 Place pot on burner, set to high.

 

STEP THREE:

Gaze at passer-by’s, wondering about intimate details and events in their lives, and if you could ever be friends.

 

STEP FOUR:

Pick a tea suitable to your tastes. Earl Grey is a personal favorite of mine. Since the corner store didn’t have it, I settled for his wife.

 

STEP FIVE:

Take water off heat, and submerge tea bag in pot.

Cover and wait.

 

STEP SIX

Eat a banana (optional).

 

STEP SEVEN:

Remove Tea Bag, discard.

STEP EIGHT:

Pour tea into cup. Add milk or sugar, to your preference.

 STEP NINE:

Pour over the first draft of your feature script, and come to the horrible realization of how much more work you have yet to do.

 (Optional)

Now, on my first post concerning the doc shoot, Particle Fever, I posted some pics of our director, Mark Levinson, and our DP, Wolfgang Held. I was also able to squeeze in our gaffer friend, Joachim. But there is one man, no, MYTH that I have not introduced you to. Ladies and gentlemen, Martin de Buck…

Name: Martin de Buck

Occupation: Being a Rock Star.

Seriously, Martin and Joachim have busted ass every day so far, and showing no signs of letting up.

Now that I have appeased the Gods of production with the customary Rite of Introduction, let me show off a few of the people we have been talking to.

Name: Sotiris Vlachos

Quote: “I became a scuba instructor because I was tired of the blank stares people would give me when I told them I was a nuclear physicist.”

Name: Martin Aleska

Quote: “The amount of data that will have to be recorded is equivalent to every person in the world talking on the phone at once. Times ten.”

Name: Albert de Roeck

Claim to Fame: If a life devoted to science isn’t enough for you savages, how about this: He was the advisor to the production team of Danny Boyle’s Sunshine.

(P.S. Beautiful movie, if you haven’t seen it)

(P.P.S. … you savages)

Which finally leads us to this. I know that all of you have been missing me dreadfully, and have been contemplating suicide as a result thereof. To stay off your imminent self-executions, here’s a pic of me.

Satisfied? I’m the sour-looking guy in the corner, swearing at various noise-makers and instruction-ignorers throughout the warehouse.

Tomorrow: Making Tea in Geneva.

If, for nothing else, the sheer beauty of it. It was a bright, beautiful Sunday morning, and I felt the need to take a look at this place. I started with the Lake.

  

Crowded with boats and skiers, fishermen and sun-bathers, Lake Genevé is the center around which a lot of the social life in Geneva happens.

 

Despite it’s urban development, you find yourself seeing things that you either miss, or just plain aren’t around in American cities. I saw a woman go swimming with her dog…

 …Water that I could actually see through…

 

 …And a woman teaching a child how to walk…

 

 

All in all, a wonderful day, traveling around. While at night, the place is just as bright as anything I’ve seen in New York.

 

…on the other hand, there were a few things I couldn’t quite grasp.

 

 And, seemingly, Daniel Radcliffe’s contribution to classical sculpture…

 

Despite the quirky sculptures (which are probably more an understatement of my ignorant American sensibilities), Geneva’s a lovely place. But tomorrow, back to work. I’ll be posting a few stills from the set, and on Wednesday: “How To Make Tea Without A Kettle Or Any Idea What You’re Doing”. And on that note, my new favorite beer…

 

Feldschlösschen. You mis-said it right…