Chaikana

2013-03-29T14:47:00.001-07:00

29 March 2013

We have a new home phone number in Paris: 01.71.20.11.40 (we're not there, nor do we know when we'll be there next.. But when we return, our old home number will no longer reach us).

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2012-01-10T01:49:00.000-08:00

10 Jan 2012

Two things!
I've redesigned my music website Check out the latest version at the-compound.org. It's got sound files and videos and everything you could ever want to know about my music.

I got accepted into the Guthman Musical Instrument Competition. I'm pretty excited. I'll have to go to Atlanta, GA to compete next month.

-Christi

2012-01-07T01:56:00.000-08:00

7 Jan 2012

I've put some photos up! Here's some pictures of the flooding on Sauvie Island this summer. Water was at 16 ft, which meant that the the base of the lighthouse was underwater, as well as the trail. I've also stuck up photos of our trip to Sri Lanka. We worked in Sri Lanka in 2004, following the tsunami, and in December 2010 we returned to visit our friends. We went to Sri Lanka via Turkey and got to spend a few days on either side in Istanbul.

2011-12-31T00:55:00.000-08:00

31 Dec 2011

Sorry that we haven't updated this is.. err.. well... more than a year. No news means we're boring. We haven't bought any islands lately, broken any bones, or added a goat to our household... Gene hasn't been shipped off at the drop of a hat to someplace in the news (he usually gets a few weeks notice now) .. we're just being boring.

We're currently in Paris, and will be here until Jan 21st. Our cell number is now 06.15.04.96.15 (we'll try and keep this one active), home remains 01.43.29.51.00, or call us from the states at 503.298.4813. If you haven't heard from us, it's probably because we've lost your number and your email address, and so you should call us.

Here's what has happened since we last updated the page: We spent August and September of 2010 in France, and then didn't visit for a year and a half. We spent a month in Sri Lanka (most of Dec 2010), visiting old friends and lying on the beach. We also spent a few days in Istanbul surrounding that trip (Gene had a conference there and it turned out it was cheaper to fly via IST). We'd love to spend more time in Turkey. That was an interesting trip, and if I get on a roll I may even post some pictures. Gene made several trips to China and probably a trip to Mongolia for work (that mostly means he continued to sit in an office, but the office was in Beijing or Chengdu or Ulaanbaatar). Christi did a bunch of music projects, including playing in the Time Base Art Festival in September and helped to manage the Electrogals festival in October. Now she's trying to find a job... but if you want to help her procrastinate on that, hire her to help you with your webpage.

2010-01-16T00:40:00.000-08:00

16 Jan 2010

Gene's headed to Haiti as part of Mercy Corps response to the earthquake on Tuesday. He has no idea how long he'll be there - probably 2-3-4 weeks. He was the first person from Mercy Corps to get on a plane (he left with 4 hours notice), so he got lots of news coverage:
Portland-area groups get help to Haiti
Interview on KPTV
Interview on KOIN

And of course:
Meet our Haiti response team | Mercy Corps
Twitter

Bonne mission

2009-12-13T00:35:00.000-08:00

13 Dec 2009

We got a dog. His name is Saha, and he's a boxer/lab mix. We got him from the pound, and they knew nothing about him except that he'd been wandering the streets of Klamath Falls.

I know, you are thinking "they can't get a dog! they are completely irresponsible!" and that is true. We're lying when we say we got a dog, we actually only got 2/3rds of a dog, and our friend Tina ended up with a 1/3rd of a dog. She gets to be responsible and take care of him when we run off.

We're completely in love with him. He's cuter and smarter than any other dog ever.

and he gets along with the cat.

(oh yeah, did we mention we got a cat? He's a terror. Want him?)

2009-08-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

10 Aug 2009

Christi's new cell number in Paris is 06.14.75.82.11, Gene's number remains 06.19.54.02.89. Gene will be in China from August 11th through August 24th. Christi will stay in Paris.

2009-07-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

29 July 2009

We're taking advantage of Christi's three months off during the public comment period, and we'll be in Paris from August 4 to Oct 1. Mostly. Gene's actually running off to China for 10 days or so of that, and we'll probably make some some trips out of town. Cell phone numbers unknown, but 09 70 40 80 43 and 01 43 29 51 00 should work. Or if you are in the US, you can reach us on our home phone - 503 289 4813, 'cause it forwards there.

2009-06-07T00:20:00.000-07:00

7 June 2009

Did we mention that we bought a lighthouse? Funny story... we had guests over for dinner one night, and something came up - living off the grid, perhaps, or chicken farming, or something, and the computer came out, rmls.com was pulled up, a search was done, and a lighthouse popped up.

The lighthouse is called Warrior Rock lighthouse. It's on Sauvie Island, (about 10 miles north of downtown Portland), and it's Oregon's smallest lighthouse. It sits close to the northern point of the island. Sauvie Island divides the Columbia from Multnomah Channel, and the lighthouse is on the Columbia River side, on an apparently especially treacherous point. It's still in use; there have even been a few recent (and not so recent) shipwrecks out there.

Now here's what we've really ended up with: It's 1.65 acres, on the Columbia River, with a US Coast Guard-maintained lighthouse sitting on it. It's a popular hiking destination. The lighthouse is surrounded by 12,000 acres of the Sauvie Island Wildlife Reserve, which means that it's a 3 mile hike in from the trail head on the island, or a half mile boat trip from downtown St Helens. There's a beautiful beach with public access for hikers, kayakers, fisherman, whatever.

The area never became part of the reserve because it had the lighthouse keeper's house on it. And a barn, and a dock, and all that. But it all burned down in the 80's and we're left with a chimney and a couple of posts in the water. It even had power poles out to it from St Helens. But no more; now we've got a chimney, a foundation, and a couple of unknown structures.

it's entirely off the grid from water and power (don't panic, your cell phone works fine), and it's in a flood way, which is similar to a flood plain, except that they assume, for engineering purposes, that the water won't just be high, it will be moving. Very rapidly. So the US Army Corps of Engineers gets to be involved in any building permits. The land is zoned both recreational and historical, Oh, and it's in a riparian zone.

What this all means is that it's essentially unbuildable (don't worry, we knew this when we bought it), and what we have is a really cool camping spot. With our own bay, a shipping channel in front of our noses, our own sea lion (his name is Monty), and a lighthouse.

We have random plans for the site - gene wants to build a picnic table, christi wants to build a dragon. The biggest issue right now is that everything that is not the beach or the lighthouse is covered in blackberries. We've been making progress with clippers, machetes, and beer. You can get a grant from the state to control noxious weeds in riparian areas, and we're considering going after that. We want to know everything about the place - the history (lighthouse and pre-lighthouse), the plants, the soil types, and we've been looking into that (and to that end, we got warriorrock.com, to post our findings).

View Warrior Rock Lighthouse in a larger map

And sorry to those who have been looking for us as of late. We've both been a bit out of touch - both of us have just crawled out from under huge work projects, and we're looking forward to rejoining the human race.

2008-11-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

23 Nov 2008

Gene will be in Chengdu for the first half of December, and back in Portland for Christmas. Then we both plan to be in Paris from about Dec 26 - Jan 26th, and then Christi returns to Portland, and Gene gets to spend a few weeks in Mongolia before returning to Portland.

Our french phone number has changed to 09 70 40 80 43. It still reaches us in the US. Or wherever.

2008-09-20T19:32:00.000-07:00

20 Sept 2008

Christi's back in Portland, following 7 weeks in Chengdu and two weeks in Paris. Gene's returned to Chengdu, but should be back to Portland on Sept 26th.

2008-06-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

27 June 2008

We'll be in Chengdu, China for one month? two months? starting July 7th. Gene ended up as the Program Director for the Sichuan Program for Mercy Corps.

You should still be able to reach us via our home phone number - 503 298 4813 or 08 70 40 80 43 (time change is +15 hours from Portland or -7 hours from France. I think) or email (although gene doesn't check his..)

We need a housesitter in Portland... or our plants will die.

2008-06-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

1 June 2008

New pictures up! The Pacific Northwest

2008-05-29T01:01:00.000-07:00

29 May 2008

et déjà vu: si vous avez besoin d'un endroit pour rester à Paris email nous svp.

2008-05-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

26 May 2008

Gene came back from Liberia and then left for China to help Mercy Corps launch an emergency program in Sichuan. He'll be there until June 20th. He plans on getting some sleep some time next year.

Christi is writing an environmental impact statement about invasive plants in Oregon. Her broken back is healing nicely. Sam Adams, the City Commissioner that she was working for, was just elected Mayor of Portland.

Our apartment in Paris needs a renter. 300 euros a month, downtown Paris. Let us know if you need someplace to stay!

2008-04-23T01:02:00.000-07:00

23 April 2008

New pictures up of our house in Portland. Let us know what you think of the shiny new format.

Gene is in Liberia and Ghana until May 15th. Feel free to call Christi and entertain her.

2008-04-04T01:02:00.000-07:00

4 April 2008

Yes, we are back in Portland. I will post more (and put up pictures) after April 10th (I have a concert at Holocene on April 10th).

Nous sommes retournés à Portland. Je poste plus (et photos) dans quelques semaines.

2008-03-02T01:06:00.000-08:00

2 March 2008

We'll be in Paris for a month, starting March 3rd. This is a change from our previous post - Christi broke her back, but she's fine. If you want to call us while we're in France, you can reach us on our VOIP phone at 503-298-4813

Gene's temporary job as a Program Officer for Mercy Corps' Africa desk has turned into a full-time real honest-to-god job.

In celebration of this, gene and christi are planning on moving to the suburbs and procuring 2.5 children, a white picket fence and a dog. She's already mastered the art of vacuuming in high heels.

oh wait, we already have a house in the suburbs.

Gene's been spending his free time leading the All China Youth Federation on tours around Portland, and remodeling the bathroom (which is now on hold). We now have the world's largest sink. We don't know why.

Christi is about to start on another project for the Bureau of Land Management, writing another environmental report. She's been spending some of her time as an Arts and Culture Policy Associate for Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams.

And we've both given up on sleep.

merge is being played at the Spark festival in Minneapolis, in addition to a whole bunch of other places, and christi/we are working on some other stuff that we?ll post when it's done.

Nous serons de retour à Paris pour un mois commençant le 4 Mars - Un changement - Christi s'est cassé une vertèbre le week-end dernier. Notre numéro de téléphone (à Paris) est le 01.43.29.51.00.

Maintenant, Gene travaille pour MercyCorps au Desk Afrique et refait la salle de bain.

Christi travaille pour Hôtel de Ville (sur les politique des arts et la culture) et elle travaille pour le service des forêts (sur les politique des espèces envahissantes)

(you know, if gene wrote the french versions, they'd be much longer...)

2008-02-13T01:07:00.000-08:00

13 Feb 2008

We'll be back in Paris for a month or maybe a little less starting 26 Feb. Much more news about what we've been doing / what we are doing will coming soon... as soon as it's all official.

Nous serons de retour à Paris pour un mois commençant le 26 Février. Plus de news à venir bientôt!

2007-10-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

4 Oct 2007

You know how we told a bunch of you that we'd be back in Paris in late September as soon as Christi's job was over? We lied. Were not back in Paris. We're still in the states. But we have lots of news - Gene got a job with Mercy Corps. He'll be a Program Officer for Africa for the next three months. Mercy Corps is based in Portland, so we'll still be right here (visit!). Christi's job finished up, and she started a small business with her father - Denton and Denton Environmental. They're currently doing part time work with another business on an environmental impact statement for a National Forest reserve in Northern California. And that video that we did back in January? It's being played on Flasher.com.

More pictures and the French version of this coming.. some day.

2007-03-14T01:09:00.000-07:00

14 March 2007

We're back in the states.

Désolé. Je suis trop paresseux pour penser en français en ce moment

2007-01-26T01:11:00.000-08:00

26 Jan 2007

We put a video up on Christi's music website. We both worked on the film and Christi did the music. Let us know what you think!

Vous pouvez trouver une nouvelle vidéo de la musique de Christi sur sa site Web. Nous avons fait le film et Christi a fait la musique. Dites nous ce que vous en pensez.

2007-01-06T01:10:00.000-08:00

6 Jan 2007

We're in Paris, probably up until the start of March. If you need a place to stay in Paris any time between April 19th and Sept 1, email us and let us know. And I fixed the portland house links.

Nous sommes à Paris jusqu'au début mars. Si vous avez besoin d'un endroit pour rester à Paris n'importe quand entre le 19 avril et 1 septembre, email nous svp. Et j'ai réparé les liens a la page d'images de la maison de Portland.

2006-12-27T01:17:00.000-08:00

27 Dec 2006

We leave the US on the 1st of Jan and arrive in France on the 2nd of Jan.

If you want to call us from the US and reach us in France, we have a skype number - (503) 298-4813 which works when our computers are on. (You can also reach us via the phone lines too - see the contact page for land and cell numbers in france.)

I've finally responded to my backlog of email that I hadn't really looked at since august. If you've written to me me or to the general mail account and you haven't heard back, you were eaten by the spam filter and you should try again. If you've tried to email gene, note that his charter and csi accounts are dead and he hasn't checked his chaikana mail in more than a month. (He's good at the phone though...)

2006-12-26T10:15:00.000-08:00

26 Dec 2006

We aren't actually in France yet - we're finishing the drywalling of our attic. I'll post pictures at some point. We'll be in France because the document that I was working on is being sent out (again) for public comment for three months. We be back in the states in Spring to finish up the document, and then we'll move on to our next project... (whatever that is)

Ingrid asked for new pictures of the Coos Bay house. Et Voilà.

Hope everyone had a good holiday season.