RSSAmplifier

Blog

Patrick Lam

Recent content on Patrick Lam

patricklam.caRSS feed ↗288 posts

Latest posts

July: photos post

Some weekend trips in July, and processing the ensuing pictures, as well as others from the backlog.

Thoughts about lift-served skiing

I used to ski a lot, but not anymore. (Hard to go skiing from Waterloo, for instance). What do I think about it now?

June: another super normal month, actually with 0 travel.

Unusually, I didn’t leave town all month! Furthest I got was the Kapiti Coast.

Submission on the NZ Conservation Amendment Bill

This time, I oppose the Conservation Amendment Bill.

June: photos post

No travels but fewer pictures processed than May, maybe due to reading more books.

Review: Into the Light: A History of New Zealand Photography, by David Eggleton

Lots of words in this book on the history of photography in New Zealand.

May: just a normal month.

Pretty much no teaching. Working on papers, and a weekend trip to Christchurch.

May: photos post

A more reasonable May, though still a fraction of photos processed numbers compared to late last year. Backlog under two years. Last Cascade Saddle set; Travers Sabine 2024; and one more TMB day.

April: no more classes, but still a bunch of teaching admin

Not quite done with teaching in April; that would be May. Two papers in progress and a trip to Montreal.

March and April: photos post

Neither took nor processed many photos in the last two months, but that still means that the backlog extends further back in time.

March: teaching and no trips to Aotearoa NZ but instead Edmonton, Vancouver, and Peterborough

Last month of classes and two trips to referee in the West.

February: teaching and a trip to Aotearoa NZ

Yet more course prep, a trip to Pohara and Angelus, and Quebec for Christmas.

Email to Minister Chris Penk about glacier renaming

Of all the reasons to not correct historical misspellings…

Trip report: Finally Cascade Saddle, February 18 to 25

Everything came together for us on this Cascade Saddle walk, on the last possible day. The saddle was a spectacular 11-hour day.

Letter to Wellington City Councillors about bike lanes

There’s talk of pausing new bicycle infrastructure in Wellington to save rates increases. That would be a terrible idea.

(January and) February: photos post

Oops, back to 2 years of backlog, though barely. Better do something about that.

January: teaching

Yet more course prep, a trip to Pohara and Angelus, and Quebec for Christmas.

December: Wellington, Pohara/Angelus, and Quebec

Yet more course prep, a trip to Pohara and Angelus, and Quebec for Christmas.

December: photos post

Still less than 2 years of backlog, though January will be slower for sure, with 3 courses of teaching.

November: Wellington

Time for course preparation, plus another paper submission.

Trip report: Angelus Peak Thrice in Three Days, December 5 to 9

I lost my phone near the summit of Angelus Peak, but recovered it on the second try (oof).

November: photos post

Less procrastination in November, though also no travel, so still a high number of photos processed. Notably, the oldest unprocessed set is now December 2023, so less than 2 years of backlog.

October: Wellington, Ontario, and Whitehorse

Mostly NSERC Discovery Grant editing, plus a Wilderness First Responder recert and the Ontario Open.

Submission on the NZ Fast-Track Approvals Amendment Bill

Back to the negative submissions about NZ legislation, this time about an underhanded attempt to modify the Fast-Track Amendment Bill by claiming it’s about supermarkets.

October: photos post


 In October I was working on my NSERC Discovery proposal, so I may have procrastinated sometimes by processing pictures. I selected way more pictures than in any recent month (1330 versus 846 in July), and the total number of pictures in the pool was 16% higher in July (3883 versus 2642). July did include a large collection of Estonian bird photos (710) and a walk up to Apostolidis (528).…

September: South Island and Auckland, as well as Wellington

Some domestic NZ travel (more skiing than usual) and then just work (research and service) as normal.

September: photos post


 September was down again in terms of number of pictures processed, but
I was not at a computer for many days in September. (I wonder if I
could correlate the number of travel days with the number of pictures
processed). There are only 9GB of new pictures from September, so maybe
not adding too much to the backlog. Desperately trying to have less
than a two-year picture…

August: Europe, Canada, then back to New Zealand despite an Air Canada strike

Grenoble, Montreal, Beaver Valley, stuck in Ontario, and then Auckland. Master’s graduates +1. Lots of service and volunteering.

August: photos post


 I took some more pictures in August, but not as many as July.
I also somehow had less time to process pictures. Plus, there
are a couple of sets that I’m not posting here. I don’t know
if I dug myself deeper into a hole. Caught up a bit
with some May and July photos, as well as some August phohtos.
Anyway, less than July
but more than June.

More flight shenanigans: late August / early September with Air New Zealand

Not out of the woods yet. Weather and other issues (but mostly weather) causing flight issues in New Zealand.

July: more travels and some scholarly outputs

Mount Olympus (Greece), the Tour du Mont Blanc, and a VSTTE submission.

Trip report: Tour du Mont Blanc, July 21 to August 1, 2025

The Tour du Mont Blanc, 170km of walking around Mont Blanc (and some cable cars).

Trip report: Seven Summits Project, Mount Olympus, July 9 to 13, 2025

Attempted some summits on Mount Olympus. Got the big two: Stefani and Mytikas. But not the whole set.

Me and the Air Canada Flight Attendant Strike

How I managed to fly to New Zealand as soon as possible after the Air Canada Flight Attendant strike, oof.

Submission re: Amendment to the Devil's Glen Provincial Park Management Plan

Yay! A submission wholly in support of a government initiative (Ontario) which legitimizes climbing at Devil’s Glen Provincial Park (and hopefully others in the future).

July: photos post

Managed to do a lot of photos despite two big trips (Olympus, TMB) in July, including a quick turnaround on the bulk of the Olympus photos.

June: more travels and some scholarly outputs

Trips to Gold Coast and mostly Seoul (also Shanghai and Narita); submitted a paper.

June: photos post

In June, more travel, fewer photos posted and lots of photos captured. Pictures from Montreal, Wellington, Estonia, Calgary, and barely Seoul.

May: exams and travels

First month of Spring term; off to Montreal, Estonia, Calgary, and New Zealand!

PLDI 2014 or 2024?



 There are 10 paper titles which come from either PLDI 2014 or PLDI 2024. (Year drawn at random, then paper.) Can you guess which is which?

Trip report: Estonia, May 2-12 2025

Research visit to Tartu, passing through Tallinn. First time back in Europe since 2019.

May: photos post

Returning to normal service with lots of pictures processed in May.

April: exams and travels

Still had exams to give but was able to start moving on with my life this month.

Trip report: Lima (and Paracas), April 11-18 2025

Referee seminar in Lima plus a side trip to Paracas and Isla Blanca.

Review: Les Groseilles de Novembre by Andrus Kivirähk

Classics of Estonian literature: Days of our Lives for not-so-great feudal villagers.

April: photos post

March was a doozy, so here are the two sets I processed in March, as well as April’s pictures.

March: last bit of the term (a doozy)

I guess it’s accumulated work catching up with me towards the end of the term, such that, despite having no trips longer than a weekend, free time was at a premium.

February: still teaching three courses, plus a hiking trip to Japan

OK, this month had a trip to Japan. Aside from that, I got to Toronto once, and to Kingston just at the end of the month. February is a short month, though.

February: photos post

Moving right along, I’ve now posted the Around the Mountain Circuit from 2023, and the next big set is August 2023. I added to the backlog with 2000 pictures from Japan though.

Judo Québec Referee Stats 2000-2025

An analysis of referee retention for the Judo Québec provincial roster from 2000 through 2025.