SimplyThierry

Matthew is here

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:33:00 +0000

A new challenge faces our son Nathan: he'll have to share! It's official, we are parents again, as Laura gave birth on saturday, October 17, at 8:24 AM, to a sweet little guy named Matthew. He is a healthy baby of 8 pounds 1 once, and 20.5 inches. And the best is... he's a snoozer! His big brother -25 months old- was more prone to crying at that age.
The birth took a full night, but went very well, and both the mother and the child fared well and are recovering nicely.

Une nouvelle étape dans la vie de Nathan : il va devoir apprendre à partager, car ça y est, nous sommes à nouveau parents. Laura a accouché samedi 17 octobre, à 8h24 -pendant votre grasse matinée- d'un petit gars de 3,67 kg et 52 cm. Il est adorable, et en plus très calme. Il fait bien ses nuits avec deux pauses têtées. C'est décidé, on va le garder.

Seattle, here we come!

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:37:00 +0000

It's been over two years for me, and three for Laura, but the time has come. We are landing at Seatac tomorrow. A week in Seattle will go fast: we want to see many friends, stroll freemont's streets a latte in hand, eat dungeness crab, salmon and Thai food, rediscover microbrews, and get our fill of Northwest scenery.

We'll spend most of our month vacation in Colorado, prioritizing the family. We are currently in Denver, visiting my in-laws. It's been a while since they last saw Nathan, at least ten months for Bob and Margaret who met us in Tuscany last fall, and even more for Tom. It's good to see them enjoying each other.

Tomorrow, we'll be in Seattle, and we'll get a better chance at getting updated on friends news. We too had a few things happen to us, that will make for conversations. First and foremost: a wonderful little boy named Nathan, who doesn't tire to amaze us. Then, for his Daddy who got tired of limping for two years, a back surgery. And for his Mom, a big belly where a little sister or brother is cocooning.

Counting friends

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:46:00 +0000

Don't let the title scare you. I'm not in the process of listing up buddies I could hit for money. Despite working for banks, the financial crisis hasn't taken me down that road, yet.

The counting I refer to concerns Laura.
After years of resistance, she fell neck deep into web 2.0 But let me place that in its context.

Back in '01, before we started dating, she declined my request, emailed from Nepal, to help me out with my website. Being asked to edit my clumsy posts, she eluded with a comment to the effect that there was "a fly in her soup". Writer's humor!
Then in '06, she got more cooperative with my newly created blog -that would be the present one. All it took to convince her was.. getting married, and traveling together, this time.

But then, too many of those "you're on facebook right?" made her take the fatal step. She signed up!
First was the excitement, with it's daily quiz welcoming me home "guess how many friends I have"
Today, Laura is getting overwhelmed with posts on her wall, pokes and kisses. She's frowning her eyebrows reading names of wannabee friends "who is that person?" Also, it's hard to keep up when you have among your best friends hyper active social networkers, like Alison, and a baby that wants noting more than pulling keys off your keyboard -note to self: are replacement keys a good Christmas gift?

By the way, Laura has now 40 friends listed!

A good Fall

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 23:04:00 +0000

As we enter winter, a look back on the past season could make one think we have an exciting life here.

Autumn started with a trip to Tuscany, which required a lot of preparation work on Laura's part. Total success! The three of us met with my mother-in-law and brother-in-law Rob, and had a wonderful experience there. We highly recommend this part of Italy, despite its extensive use for chick flicks. We immerged with delight in italian renaissance, and hilly countryside. Nathan walked on the finest marble floors, like the one in Sienna's cathedral, as he was adding a fourth country to his list.

Then we received Alison's visit, who took on discovering Paris, before launching into her new career. She left us with a few nice pics of Nathan and us, like the one on this post.

About a week after she had left, one day, I got a text message from a french cell phone, saying about as much as "salut c yves" -"hi Yves here". Yes, our reverend had just arrived in the city of lights, totally unannounced. No matter when and where, it's always good to see that fellow!

Nathan walks !

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:59:00 +0000

Nathan started walking a week before his first birthday, just about three weeks ago. Today, he was running like a fool, in his first shoes, gifted by his french great parents.

Nathan a fait ses premiers pas une semaine avant son premier anniversaire, il y a trois semaines. Maintenant chaussé par ses grands parents, il gambade allègrement, comme ici place Charost à Versailles, avec tatie Madeleine.

Sans les mains

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:52:00 +0000

Here is a photo this mother is very proud of, taken today (July 21).
Sometimes, when Nathan plays with his new, favorite toy (thanks Angelia!) he gets so involved that he forgets he needs to be holding on. And he ends up standing upright, for 10 to 20 seconds at a time.
Today, he did it for long enough that I had time to get the camera out and capture it on film. I think he's still got some time before he can actually walk, but its good to see he's getting the hang of that crazy concept of balance.

Je suis très fière de cette photo. C'était fait aujourd'hui, le 21 juillet. De temps en temps, quand Nathan joue avec son jouet favori, il oublie qu'il a besoin d'utiliser ses mains pour tenir en équilibre.
Aujourd'hui, il s'est tenu debout pour peut être 10 ou 20 secondes.
Bravo mon fils!

Laura

A healthy diet

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:35:00 +0000

Man, life isn't that bad in France! Not that Mommy would often agree on that, but even her would not deny the French their taste for good [and lengthy] family meals. Uncle Eugène had just brought us a couple lobsters his son caught in Brittany's waters. Right off the boat to the car, and then to our plates after a quick photoshoot. Makes little me eager to try even more types of food!

La vie est belle en France ! Bien que Maman ne soit pas toujours d'accord sur ce point, mais elle même reconnait le goût des français pour leur [excessivement long] repas en famille. Oncle Eugène venait de nous rapporter un couple de homards pechés par son fils dans les eaux Bretones. Du bateau à la voiture, et puis dans nos assiettes après une rapide séance photo. Ca me donne envie d'essayer encore plus de types de nourriture !

Meet Popeye

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 21:15:00 +0000

Troubling, no?
Etonnant, non ?

No Comment

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 21:07:00 +0000

The morphine zone

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 18:24:00 +0000

Is that the hernia? Just one of the hundred pictures I got

After months of increasing back pain, punctuated by doctor visits, various drugs, physical therapy and X-Rays, a specialist sent me for an MRI. I was in such bad shape when I met him that he put me on morphine.

It was then, about 3 weeks ago, that I entered the zone...

My previous week had been shitty, with 5 hours a night sleep at most, and pain most of the day. Then, I put on my first opium-derived patch. Specifically on a non-hairy piece of skin, which I easily found, I'm glad to report. Not sure whether I even swallowed, that day, one of the pills containing more of the precious drug. Probably did, actually. As a result, I was out for 13 hours of uninterrupted, restful sleep. Not even Nathan's shouts, on the top of his 3-week-old lungs, could wake me. Nor the hair dryer used to calm the baby - here I must say this device is used for white-noise, not as a hammer.

The problem is, you can't do much with your days while on morphine. Much less work or do other activities that require a brain. Granted, my last job didn't require much use of one, in its last weeks anyway. Good thing for them, my contract had ended the day before. Really, with 2 to 3 additional pills, spending the day watching the new Blogger Play could be satisfying enough.

Then came the day I went cold-turkey, because I ran out of patches, and chose to stop popping the magical pills, the pain being almost gone. The following day my doctor did an infiltration, which is an injection of cortisone between my back vertebrae, close to the guilty herniated disc, to sooth the inflamed nerve.

That night... I came to realize I had become a morphine addict. Bed sheets were too itchy, I couldn't stay still. Everything irritated my skin, and I was restlessly turning and shifting in bed, unable to sleep. I was experiencing my first -and hopefully last- withdrawal. In the middle of the night, I took my first pill in over 24 hours. Saving grace... 45 minutes later I was sound asleep. Following night, same thing. Only a pill in the night could appease my senses.

Still my productivity had returned to normal, during those days. I even successfully handled my first bottle feeding of Nathan, with milk mom put away for the occasion.

It took four days to be freed from the drug.
Though I still have a 15 days supply of patches and pills, in case of a new crisis...

Citizen Nathan

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 13:10:00 +0000

I wonder if I should rename that blog SimplyNathan... oh well, he deserves the attention!

Anyway, today was of significance for Nathan, as he became American! Our little one became US Citizen in exchange for a couple hours of our time, a few forms and $147.

By the way, funny how it works. Consider for instance the birth certificate: you give away a French original, obtained graciously, and voila, in return you receive a single US birth certificate. That for only $64.99 (actually $65, but I think they should do the '.99' thing, that sounds much better).

Though the administration officer had the nice gesture of giving Nathan a small US flag, which touched Laura.
American friends, please welcome our son among the 303,035,698 of you.

Our son has now dual citizenship, and will travel with both passports.

Je me demande si je ne devrais pas renommer ce blog SimplyNathan... bon, après tout il mérite bien toute notre attention.

Aujourd'hui était pour Nathan une importante journée, car il est devenu Américain ! Notre petit est devenu citoyen des Etats Unis en échange de quelques heures de notre temps, de quelques formulaires et de 147 dollars.

D'ailleurs, c'est amusant comment cela fonctionne. Prenez le certificat de naissance comme exemple : vous donnez un original Français, obtenu gratuitement, et voila, vous recevez en échange un certificat Américain. Cela pour le prix modique de 64,99 dollars (en fait 65 dollars, mais je trouve le ',99' plus accrocheur).

Toutefois l'officier consulaire a eu le geste touchant de donner à Nathan un petit drapeau des Etats Unis, ce qui a émut Laura.
Amis Américains, veuillez accueillir un nouveau parmi les 303,035,698 que vous êtes.

Notre fils a la double nationalité, et voyagera avec deux passeports.

Busy time

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:11:00 +0000

The last few weeks were packed with events. Laura was almost at full term as we were finalizing arrangements for Margaret and Rob, her visiting mother and brother. A nice furnished apartment close to ours solved the accomodation issue, and a three day tour provided Rob with a chance to get out of Paris.

We rushed a bit the baptism to take advantage of Laura's family presence. Thankfully my parents were a huge help in getting things organized. Alas, Laura's mother fell and broke a wrist, which added an interesting twist to their visit, and deprived a first-time grandmother from holding her grandson.

Bout d'chou

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:21:00 +0000

Nathan a 2 jours

Il me faut bien l'admettre, même si j'en suis le premier étonné : me voila gaga ! Bien sur j'attendais cela des grands-parents de notre petit Nathan, mais sans me demander comment je réagirai, dans cette nouvelle responsabilité de papa. Je me découvre comme je ne l'avais jamais imaginé, m'émerveillant durant de longues moments à le regarder dormir, à observer ses expressions et mimiques en voulant y voir des sourires, et à trouver 'mignon' ses bodies, turbulettes et autres gigoteuses (vocabulaire d'ailleurs nouveau à mon répertoire).

Donc, le petit Nathan Alexandre a daigné quitter le confort du ventre maternel le lundi 10 septembre à 9 h 25, à Versailles, après avoir donné à sa maman 13 heures de travail. A 3,720 kg c'est un beau bébé qui a nécessité beaucoup d'efforts, et même l'usage d'une ventouse (alternative aux forceps) maniée par le gynéco pour amener à l'air libre cette adorable frimousse.

Et la maman ? Ravie, soulagée, exténuée, concernée, épanouie, stressée, ébahie... bref, elle va très bien ! Laura prétend ne pas savoir s'y prendre, malgré les nombreux cours, livres (certains en français, pour comparer) et conseils d'amies et proches. C'est avec sa détermination journalistique qu'elle a creusé, étudié et détaillé le sujet. Mais je vois l'instinct maternel à l'oeuvre, et cette tendre complicité entre le nourrisson et sa maman, qui laisse le papa encore plus gauche que d'habitude.

Junior

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:38:00 +0000

A contribution from Laura

Just wanted to let everyone know that Nathan Alexandre finally arrived! He was born after 13 hours of labor on Monday, September 10, at 9:25 a.m. at the same clinic that his father was born some 37 years earlier. Mother, Daddy and son are doing very well; though mother is a wee bit upset that her son's favorite activity seems to be crying.
Mother is hoping that the frantic, 2 a.m. readings of "The happiest baby on the block" will help eliminate this problem (thank you so much, Phillippa, for loaning it to me!).

I must say that I am very happy to not be pregnant anymore...I was really amazed to realize how much I missed having a body that could actually carry heavy things besides the bean. Speaking of which; he is sleeping now, which is my cue to do the same!

Please let me know if one photo isn't enough...I assure you, I have about 100 others I can send...and he's only eight days old!

Laura

Americans in Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:55:00 +0000

If visiting friends in Seattle was a lot of fun, meeting some of them in France soon after was like frosting on the cake (or "cherry on the cake" in French).

Just days after our return, René and Michelle treated Laura and I to a very enjoyable dinner in Paris. I won't go into details about how pleased I am to see those friends together, in case they venture to this page ;-) Funny to consider I could have been the one introducing them. But I don't see a future for me in becoming a matchmaker.

Then Dave W. landed in Europe for 2 weeks, 4 countries, many kilometers and a detour to the top of Western Europe, the Mont Blanc.

Thanks to him (and his great patience with me) I got some altitude in. Although this photo gallery could leave you thinking that we gained 3808 meters (12,500 feet), for the sole pleasure of getting pictures of us taken. We clearly locked down on weather! Not on transportation though, as the cable car wasn't running, which made us start at 1000 m (3,000 feet), and made us spend 4 days on the mountain.

Restless in Seattle

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Fri, 25 May 2007 23:30:00 +0000

The anticipation of seeing old friends propelled this short visit to Seattle, my home for 7 years. Actually my hiking/skiing accomplices John and Emiko threw in an extra bone, in the form of a permit to climb and ski Mt St Helen. An offer I couldn't refuse. I was feeling good about this impromptu NW detour on my way to Laura's cousin's wedding in Chicago.

My new electronic passport got its first stamp from Detroit US immigration. By the way, I'm really pissed at a French new law that took my old passport away from me as I renewed it before expiration, to conform to current US (post 9/11) regulations. Those stamps from over 15 countries where like a time log of fun journeys. Anyway, one cannot fight the administration, so the obvious result from this dumb rule is that many might "lose" their old passport, instead of turning them over for destruction.

The flight from Detroit to Seattle was spent talking to an interesting guy. Kenny, a history teacher from Rochester, who has an extensive, world-traveler background, was invited to a deaf poet slam. Although he didn't have this disability himself, he enjoyed the physical expression necessary to this art, and discovering that poetry subtleties could be conveyed in sign language blew me away. What an excellent mind opener!

My Seattle stay was filed with gatherings of friends, allowing me to see many people whom I have been missing, and to appreciate all the changes that 14 months can bring. Some lost a dear one; others have new kids or are pregnant. Some divorced, others got married or entered long-term relationships. Amazing! By comparison, a few new high-rise buildings in the city skyline were not a surprise to me.

And yes, the Mt St Helen outing happened, with much borrowed equipment (sweet splitboard, Dave!). As usual our skills were challenged by variable snow as we skied down the South slope of this erupted volcano. Though the weather didn't quite cooperate, and the day ended with the 3 of us soaked to our underwear by uninterrupted rain and snow, there were no regrets. A little wetness is not always foreign to fun times in the NW.

My overall feelings about Seattle are mixed, but really not that different from when I first left a little over a year ago. I--and Laura even more so--miss the reassuring routine we have established, our dynamic lifestyle that was based on a comfortable income, our good friends and the beautiful region we came to love. On the other hand I was ready for a change, and I needed to move closer to my family. Seattle is definitely a nostalgic time in my life. Even if we move back--quite a possibility in a few years--many things will be different, and that I must keep in mind.

2nd ultrasound

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:04:00 +0000

Here are a couple pics from the second ultrasound. That was a good way to make my birthday special. The surprise of the day was hearing the sound of blood flowing through the main artery!!

Unfortunately we didn't get a good 3D picture of the face. That technology is too cool, so hopefully next time. But the good news is, the kid has a brain.

Voici quelques photos de la deuxième échographie. Un cadeau simple et mémorable pour mon anniversaire. La surprise du jour était d'entendre le flot du sang dans l'artère principale, très impressionant !

Malheureusement nous n'avons pu obtenir une bonne image en 3 dimensions du visage, peut être la fois prochaine. Mais la bonne nouvelle est que l'enfant a un cerveau.

My Floueur II

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 15:27:00 +0000

So many anecdotes never became blog entries, so many updates about our new life in good ol' Europe were never shared online, but here is, at least, first-hand blogging material!

Besides our world trip, the move to France, my new job and Laura's pregnancy, the new and exciting thing is: I got to play again with Playmobils.

Those toys are not as popular in the US, but here any kid born since the '70s has memories of long hours spent creating worlds with them.

And now it is my delightful niece's turn. How could a responsible godfather like me, deny the little Marie, on her fifth birthday, the pleasure of sharing new playmobil adventures?

My mom has kept many toys of my spoiled youth, carefully boxing and tagging them, in the hopes of a grandchild. The wait has been long, very long, I hear her say. But last weekend the time had come to bring my pirate ship and its crew out to the 21st century!

Laura was amused by my very approximate English skills as an 8 year old, which made me name a boat "My Floueur II" as an homage for... the Mayflower.

My niece busted Laura and me on Sunday morning for playing with some of the pirates after she had put them to sleep for the night. Thankfully, my mom was quick to defend us, with the clever answer of a dedicated grandmother, "Is the boat's anchor down, Marie? No? Well, that is why some sailors have to stay up, to control the ship."

bean a comin'

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 09:52:00 +0000

A contribution from Laura:

Hello,

I'm guessing no one else visits my favorite trash website, "I'm not obsessed," but one of its regular features asks you to guess the celebrity based on pictures of parts of their face. Well, now you can play the same game with the Slavik-Fortin bean, currently estimated to be 2 and a half inches long and due September 5 (assuming all goes well; send your good thoughts our way). The following pictures were taken at our first ultrasound yesterday; we got to hear the heart beating, too. What a great way to spend Valentine's Day!!!!

Hoping all is well in your life,
Laura

Season Greetings

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 10:45:00 +0000

Laura and I were too busy Christmas shopping (exhausting task indeed, especially for procrastinators like us), therefore we lacked time to send out season wishes.

We spent a fun Christmas with the Fortin family, with champagne, good food and the laughter of little Marie, my niece (almost five year old, as she reminds us).

We wish you a joyful end of year, and the best for 2007.

As a bonus, enjoy this silly site http://pimpmynutcracker.com

Laura et moi étions tellement débordés par les achats de Noël (tâches d'autant plus difficile pour des procrastinateurs comme nous) que nous n'avons pu envoyer à temps nos voeux de fin d'année.

Nous avons passés d'agréables fêtes de Noël avec la famille Fortin, avec du champagne, de la nourriture excellente et les rires de la petite Marie, ma nièce (qui a presque 5 ans, comme elle nous le rappelle).

Nous vous souhaitons une joyeuse fin d'année, et tous nos voeux pour l'année 2007.

Et en bonus, voilà un site comme on les aime http://pimpmynutcracker.com

Our hood

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 16:46:00 +0000

Here we are, see, on that picture, right below the green arrow. Google maps and Google Earth give pretty cool aerial views of our neighborhood, especially of the Chateau de Versailles and the geometric shapes of its gardens "à la française". Not quite a bad suburb and, as our stay there is temporary, we try to enjoy the surrounding parks.
Kinda...
Okay, we haven't been running in a while, but we did run in that park say... three or four times already (in about as many months)!

Back to France

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 14:51:00 +0000

Here we are, back to the homeland (for me that is; while Laura starts her life as an expat). Mom and Dad are feeding us well, very well that is, and we spend time visiting the family and working on our new situation.
We haven't been overly stressed yet about our lack of job. Still, we are quite conscious of how much work is to be done before we get established again (and that includes a few loads of laundry).

The picture is of Saint Sulpice de Favieres, a village of barely 300 souls where we are officialy settling for now, precisely a year after we got married in that same church.

From China with love

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 13:29:00 +0000

We are now in Northen China, in an amazing little fortified town named Pingyao, placed on the UN World Heritage List, that comes right out of medieval times.
In addition to its obvious attractions for tourists, we love it for being a small town, the first one under a few million inhabitants since we entered the country.
China has surprised us again and again. Our expectations and preconceived ideas have been blown away, in proportions not matched by any other countries.

Major constructions seem to compete everywhere. We saw impressive brand-new highways with just a few cars on them, new buildings, and not to forget the publicized projects we won't have time to see, like the Three Gorge Dam (largest in the world; 1.5 million people relocated) and the recently completed railroad to Tibet (a feat of engineering, great PR for China, although may be not that good for Tibetans). Beijing is said to be under major work for the Olympics of 2008.
Cities are huge, with broad modern avenues that make one wonder how many people were relocated to create that (I saw this sad reality in Lhassa, Tibet, a few years back; how an old historical city can be defaced. Of course, the Baron Haussmann was both hailed and lauded for doing the same to Old Paris). For instance the town of Xi'an, famous for its terra-cotta army, has now within its ramparts a broad avenue that reminds me of Paris' Champs Elysée, with most luxury brands present. That in a country that massively produces cheap copies of all products displayed in their windows. Who here can afford the originals?

More to say, but I won't bother you with it. I will just finish this post by mentioning that the language barrier sucks! Although one nice aspect of "Chinenglish" is found in signs like the ones posted here.

Photos from Cambodia

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 14:14:00 +0000

(En Français plus bas)
We are in Hanoi, back from three relaxing days in the magnificent Ha Long bay.
Since Vietnam's capital itself is nothing relaxing, and we already spent too much time here to obtain our chinese visas, we are very much looking forward to crossing the border tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, here are our pictures from Cambodia.

Nous sommes a Hanoi, de retour de la magnifique baie de Ha Long ou nous avons passé trois jours très reposant.
La capitale du Vietnam n'étant absolument pas reposante, et puisque nous y avons déja passé trop de temps pour obtenir nos visas chinois, nous sommes prets a franchir la frontière demain. Malheureusement, il ne nous reste qu'une douzaine de jours pour visiter cet immense pays, donc nous serons tres sélectifs.

En attendant, voici nos photos du Cambodge.

Vietnamese Big Brother

noreply@blogger.com (Thierry) — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 15:09:00 +0000

It's been about a week since I was last able to view my blog. I can still post new entries or edit existing ones, but that's all.

As a basic end-user, I could only blame it on these lazy computer guys at Blogger.com who don't seem to realize the seriousness of my predicament. What about my numerous readers who, no doubt about it, await with anguish my prose?

Then it came to my mind to check other blogs at random. None of them could be viewed either. It downed on me that the censorship had struck!
My parents confirmed it by viewing as usual the SimplyThierry page, from their vacation house in Normandy.

The way it works is that entries are done on Blogger.com, whereas the viewing is on Blogspot.com (don't ask me why), and the later site seems to have been blocked about a week ago by the Vietnamese authorities.

Although I know Blogger.com can't do much about this, the ironic thing is, I shouldn't expect much sympathy from them, since their parent company Google has been bashed again recently for its support of governmental censorship in China, along with its competitors Yahoo and Microsoft.

I thought about using Anonymizer.com to circumvent the blockade and view my blog, but unlike Iranians who are in the thoughts of the US government, the Vietnamese people don't have this option.

Update 18/08/06
Not sure who is playing with the plug, but now Blogspot is viewable again in Vietnam... We'll see how it goes in China.