donderdag 30 september 2010

donderdag 30 september 2010 Up at 2:56. Turn on France 24 and go back to bed. I hear The Morning Benders singing All Day Day Light.

They're doing a repeat of The Interview With Christopher Chu. Lots of commotion with a live news press conference with Alberto Contador. Report - Tour Winner Contador Pleads Innocence In Doping Case. Manage to doze back to sleep. Short dream about making a mess with the coffee maker. Oy! The alarm goes off. Turn on Stephanie Miller. Of course, they talk a lot about the sad story of Tyler Clementi.

Report - Rutgers Student Tyler Clementi Remembered As Distinguished Musician. "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry," Clementi wrote on Facebook before jumping to his death. Unnecessary suffering. Beef and beans for breakfast. Shower. Keep listening Stephanie Miller. Some right-wing tool calls in to argue against the hate crime laws. I'm sick and tired of the “Murder is murder” argument. Anyway... Walk up Westlake to work. 10 - Margot, Kathy, Renee and Cristin. Several groups are on the deck who enjoy watching the drill machine on the old playground. 11 - Charmaine's lunch. The 7 Seahorses are hanging out in the classroom... just freeplay. Patty takes the kids to the Bike Room while I set up lunches. 12 - Upstairs to the Moons & Stars for Erin's lunch. The 14 kids eat lunch. I hang out with Ben, Rowan, Gwen and Emily. They're interested in my Quinoa salad. On my way downstairs, Kechelle says that she's sending me a photo which she took with her iPhone.

It's me, Cristin and Darnell at a recent meeting. It's kinda funny. My glasses are always crooked. 1 - Renee's lunch. All the Starfish are sleeping... while they play It's A Big World.

This lullaby/ quiet time CD is pleasing not just for the toddlers, but the grown-ups, too. The lyrics are positive and affirming. Andy comes in to cover Cristin's lunch. He's usually carrying an interesting book. He's reading an anthology of Antoine Artaud. 2 - Patty's lunch. The 7 Seahorses are sleeping. They wake up slowly-but-surely... one-by-one. Walk to my place. Drop off stuff. Up to Harvard QFC to pick up a few things. Watch a little France 24. Nice report on Gliese 581 - believed to have the most "Earth-like" planet discovered to date. Watch some MSNBC News. Some - Outer Limits - The Special One.

woensdag 29 september 2010

hair woensdag 29 september 2010 Up at 4:13. I don't even try to go back to sleep. I have the day off. Turn on France 24. Report - EU To Launch Legal Action Against France Over Roma. Christophe Robeet is reporting live from Brussels, and he seems rather excited about the potential controversy of this. Red onion and blue cheese omelet with hash browns for breakfast. Turn on Stephanie Miller. Hal Sparks is streaming from KTLK - 1150... and it's Steph's birthday. Party! Party!

Up to Kaladi for some of Jeremiah's marvelous coffee. I actually save it at home. Shower. Start a couple loads of laundry. Switch back to France 24 for the culture show. They interview the front man - Christopher Chu - of The Morning Benders about their 2nd album - Big Echo.

I bet that the band will have fun in Paris. Next is Talking Points. The National Assembly has begun discussing a new reform of immigration laws yesterday. Among the most controversial measures is the possibility of stripping French citizenship from those who obtained it less than 10 years ago. So, the question is... French Nationality: Bye Bye "Égalité"? Peut-être, mes amis.

Up to Rudy's to get a buzz cut. No wait. Instant service. Up to Value Village to buy new clothes. Back to my place. Watch Star Trek The Next Generation - The Royale. Entering orbit of Theta 116, they discover debris of a NASA shuttle. They beam it up. "I guess that we have a puzzle on our hands, Number One."

Walk around d'town window shopping. The sun is trying to come out. Back to my place. Play a podcast of Weekday - Dreaming In Chinese: Deborah Fallows On The Rigors Of Learning Chinese. This show is fascinating. I'm so interested how culture and language mingle. But Ms. Fallows knows her stuff. I get to understand more of the phonetics of Mandarin. Next, Star Trek - Tomorrow Is Yesterday.

More? Yes! Lost In Space - Follow The Leader. The mind and soul of Professor John Robinson is overtaken by an unseen alien spirit - Kanto. "My name is Kanto!" Over-baring dictator with illusions of god-hood. Many thousands of years ago - People from the planet Quasti overthrow a despot named Kanto. They entomb his remains on Preplanus.
Folks... I'm all done with the day. I'll eat some quinoa with beef for dinner. Let's end the day with some music from The Morning Benders - Boarded Doors.

dinsdag 28 september 2010

dinsdag 28 september 2010 Restless night with weird dreams. Up with alarm. Turn on France 24. The top story is about a rare meeting of North Korea's ruling party making for the eventual handover of power to Kim Jong-il's youngest son - Kim Jong-un. I love the culture show. Today, Robbie Cooper talks about Society Through The Screen. He has an interesting blog - Immersion Blog: Ideas, Bad Science And Art. I watch Ed Miliband speak to the Labour Party conference - live. So many young people.

Rice and egg for breakfast. Oh, my. It's wet outside. Walk up to Kaladi for some of Luka's lovely coffee. "A" marks the spot.

Wander around First Hill a little. Back to my place to take a shower. No Stephanie Miller today. Walk up Westlake to work. I'm into Google Earth today.

10 - Planning time for Cristin. Michelle covers for Renee. We take the 7 Starfish on a rope walk to Fairview Park. Wow! They know how to use the climber and slide. They're proficient. I call back to see if Cristin can do the lunch prep for me. I want to stay with the kids and have fun. We get back to the classroom at 11:30. I head right for the Seahorse lunches. Then upstairs at 12 to the Rainforest Kids for Justine's lunch. Darnell is with us, too. He sets up the lunches and mats while I read books. I sit with Henry, Ben, Ani and Edie to eat lunch. Darnell does potty time. 1 - Michelle is subbing for Charmaine. It's her lunch break. The 7 Seahorses are sleeping... Then... BOOM! The workers are tearing up the concrete in the playground. The kids manage to sleep through it. Patty and I talk about the heat wave in California. Her family used to live down there. 113° in Los Angeles? Patty tells me that it's 88° in San Francisco... in the most un-air-conditioned city in California. But I check later. It's 96° in Noe Valley where I used to live. That's craziness.

Walk to d'town. #73 bus tunnel to the West Edge. Walk around a little. #74 bus tunnel back to my place. Turn on KOMO News. Report - Police Searching For Missing WWU Student. I wonder how this will turn out. Watch Star Trek - Where Silence Has Lease. The Enterprise is swallowed up by an apparently dimensionless hole, and the crew are experimented on "like rats in a maze" by a powerful alien presence.

maandag 27 september 2010

maandag 27 september 2010 Up at 4:24. Turn on France 24. They do an exposé on Nabil Hadjarab - a detainee at Guantanamo (and one of the youngest). Report - France Says No Plan To Allow Guantanamo Inmate To Return. Sarkozy seems unresponsive. This is a photo of Nabil Hadjarab from 2000.

Black beans on toast for breakfast. Turn on Stephanie Miller. All the buzz is about Colbert. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said comedian Stephen Colbert embarrassed himself last week when he testified before Congress. Colbert spoke in character before members of a House judiciary subcommittee Friday to bring attention to the conditions facing undocumented farm workers. Shower. Walk up Westlake to work. 10 - Breaks for Renée, Cristin, Toni and Michelle. 11 - Up to Moons and Stars for Julie's lunch. The subject of circle time is What's In My Body. Erin helps the kids to do body posters and others make towers in the block area. I whip out my camera to take pictures of their creations. "Mike! Would you take a picture of me?" "And me!"




12 - Olivia's lunch. Easy hour. The 8 Wildflowers eat lunch and lay down for naps. 1 - Renée's lunch. The 7 Starfish sleep. Austin, Velvet and Toby wake up early. I take them to the Bike Room. 2 - Cristin's lunch. I'm still in the Bike Room with the kids. Other early risers join us. It gets pretty busy with the other kids. Before I leave, I wish Austin "Happy Birthday" and he gives me a big hug.

Streetcar to d'town. Walk over to Kress Grocery to pick up a few things. Up to the Convention Center to get my Monday Mondo Burrito. Drop off stuff. Walk up to the Madison Street Quickie-Mart to get a lotto. Meander through First Hill to my place. Play Star Trek - I, Mudd.

The fire alarm goes off. I head outside. I see J. R. and I help him with his bags. I hall them up 6 floors (since the elevators are off). Burrito for dinner. Watch MSNBC. Conk out early.

zondag 26 september 2010

zondag 26 september 2010 Up at 5:45. Turn on France 24. They do extensive exposes on Okinawa and Croatia. I think that they're fascinating. I'm all over Dubrovnik and Zagreb on Google Earth. Check out the beaches of Dubrovnik. Srđan Lakić is a fiercely proud native of Dubrovnik.

Burrito and a couple fried eggs for breakfast. Shower. Walk up to Whole Foods to get 3 bottles of Italian soda - green apple, pomegranate and pink grapefruit. It's heavy to carry home. Walk around the Denny Triangle.

Drop off stuff at my place. Catch a #43 up to Cal Anderson Park. The breast cancer walk is going down Pike Street. It feels rather muggy today. At my place, I watch Star Trek - The Apple. Kirk and a landing party beam down to what seems to be an ideal, Eden-like planet. They soon find however that the planet is ruled by a powerful computer called Vaal that keeps its local inhabitants - primitive and simple tribesmen - happy and healthy. Yet, the Enterprise needs to destroy Vaal and the paradise with its phasers.

Wow! The character Makora - Vaalian native of Gamma Trianguli VI - is played by David Soul.

Play podcast of A Prairie Home Companion. They do the show in honor of F. Scott Fitzgerald born on September 24, 1896. Watch episode of Eureka - Ship Happens. Marie Callender's Honey Roasted Chicken for dinner. Watch movie - The Dreamers. The Dreamers tells the story of an American university student in Paris who, after meeting a peculiar brother and sister who are fellow film enthusiasts, becomes entangled in an erotic conflict. It is set against the backdrop of the 1968 Paris student riots.

The family takes in Matthew. What's with the pink cigarettes?

Théo and Matthew have wine for breakfast.

Actor Michael Pitt seems to do his best scenes in the bathtub.

zaterdag 25 september 2010

zaterdag 25 september 2010 Up at 5:01. Play some Star Trek on the iPad laying in bed - The Enemy Within and Home Soil. Burrito for breakfast. Listen to some Reggae on KEXP's Positive Vibrations show with Kid Hops.

Walk up Westlake to South Lake Union Park. Wow! It's busy with visitors and activities. I see Cyrus and his dad. "Hi!" What a perfectly beautiful day to have the grand opening.

There's the Hutchinson Center in the background.

Here are some "interactive" sailboats in a pond. I'm not sure how these work.

A giant sprinkler system for the kids to play in.

Streetcar to d'town. Back to my place. Fill my tires at Velo. Ride around Capitol Hill to 954 B'way East... one of first places I lived in Seattle. I guess that Unit 100 is for sale at $399,500. I used to pay $100/month for my apartment back in the 80's. Ride down to Lake Union and cruise around the Denny Triangle. At my place again, I turn on The Hawaii Radio Connection. Turn the channel to KUOW for Rick Steves' program. He interviews the author of A Voyage Long And Strange: Rediscovering A New World - Tony Horwitz. It's fun to listen about Soto's rather aimless trek north of what today is Louisiana into Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas - which Horwitz describes as "wandering blind, deaf, and mute in the middle of the continent." Back to Star Trek - The Next Generation: Unnatural Selection. A "child" is beamed up : a young male, but barely a child, encased in styrolite.

The Enterprise is en route to Star Station India when receive a distress signal from the USS Lantree, a Federation supply ship. When they arrive, they find everyone aboard the Lantree of what seems to be old age. They proceed to the Lantree's last port of call, the Darwin genetic research facility on Gagarin IV only to find that they too are suffering from rapid aging. Dr. Pulaski clash when she brings aboard one of the children from the station and in order to complete her examination, takes him aboard a shuttle craft in order to isolate him from the Enterprise crew. She is soon infected however and seems doomed to die of old age but Picard may have a solution.

Examine me, please.

Pulaski is stunned as the boy telepathically tells her his name is David.

Bye. See ya.

Burrito for dinner. Watch Star Trek - Who Mourns For Adonais.

vrijdag 24 september 2010

vrijdag 24 september 2010 Up with alarm. Turn on France 24. The technophile report is interesting - Nigeria's president announces on Facebook that he will run in the upcoming election. Also, you can find a Wifi connection anywhere in the world with Wefi.com. Rice and egg salad for breakfast. Turn on Stephanie Miller. Steph interviews Kerry Eveveld about her confrontation the other day with Senator John McCain. He goes ballistic. Report - When Kerry Eleveld Wouldn't Let John McCain Lie About DADT.

Up to Kaladi for some of Jeremiah's lovely coffee. Short walk around First Hill. Back to my place for a shower. Walk up Westlake to work. I spend almost two hours washing the snack dishes all by myself while Tracy does other work. I am proud that I get it all done and delivered. 12 - Renee's lunch. I eat my lunch with the 6 Starfish. The girls go down for naps early. The boys want to linger and leisurely eat their lunches. Piper refuses to settle down for a nap. 1 - Cristin's lunch. I'm still dealing with Piper. I give up after 30 minutes. Austin wakes up early. The kids go to the Bike Room. 2 - Patty's lunch. It's funny... Charmaine and I talk about the films that Leonardo DiCaprio did. Charmaine rattles off a few... I just couldn't think of one of them which I liked. (It's The Departed.) Walk up Westlake. Wow! All the fence's around South Lake Union Park - a new field of dreams and fun - are gone. They're ready to re-open.

Grab a burrito at Taco Del Mar. Drop off stuff. My bike needs air in its tires. I haul it up to Velo Bikes Of Seattle, but the shop is closed. Puh!

Serving Seattle since 1968... but not today. Back to my place with my bike. Play podcast of The World. Report - Obama Condemns Ahmadinejad’s 9/11 Remarks... “hateful” and “offensive.” I'm glad that President Obama refers to the candlelight vigils and the sympathy which was expressed within Iran on 9/11/2001. Watch some Star Trek on my iPad - The Naked Time and Datalore. I am impressed with Sulu's stamina with the foil... "Richelieu!"

In The Next Generation... While passing Omicron Theta, the USS Enterprise-D stops to investigate the site of Data's discovery. An entire Earth colony disappeared from the planet 28 years ago, and the whole planet appears dead. But they find an android which looks idendical to Data. He calls himself Lore.

Burrito for dinner. I'm exhausted. Fall asleep while watching District 9.

donderdag 23 september 2010

donderdag 23 september 2010 Up at 4:02. Turn on France 24. France is trying to contact Al-Qaeda to find out what it wants in exchange for the release of five French hostages kidnapped in the Sahara, after the group warned against any rescue attempt. Report - France Seeks Talks With Al Qaeda Hostage Takers. Beets and egg salad for breakfast. Play a movie this morning - Blood Diamond. A gripping, thrilling and emotional movie. I'm exhausted after watching it. DiCaprio plays a rogue, ethically challenged, illegal diamond trader who is looking to make a big score. Hounsou, who has lost his son to the rebels, has hidden an invaluable diamond which he hopes to leverage to bring his family back together. And Connelly is an American journalist who wants to expose the corruption inherent in the trafficking of diamonds.

T. I. A. "This is Africa." Archer is laying there dying.

Shower. Walk up Westlake to work. Working with kids lifts up my spirits. It's a fun day. The kids watch the excavator dig up the old playground.


I'm upstairs most of the day... wearing my Gromit t-shirt. "Why is the dog in jail?" "I watch Wallace And Gromit at my house!" I see Nate and Melody hanging out together... building with widgets.

I hang out with my old friend Ryan and we build things with the snap blocks.

I get a big thrill taking the Moons & Stars to Fairview Park. It's raining pretty good. But we don't care! We're Seattlites! Margot tells the kids about the rules... "If you are wearing rain pants, you may slide down the slide. It's going to be very slippery since it's wet." With that, the 4 kids wearing rain pants going sliding. Wow! They practically fly off the slide. Some of the kids want protection under my little umbrella. Back to the classroom for lunch time. The kids get a little silly... And when I take my break, they get crazy. Erin doesn't sound happy with them. 1 - Michelle's break in the Starfish. All 5 Starfish are napping, but Piper wakes up early. She is curious about the meeting Misti is having with Cristin. Then Austin and Velvet pop up. 2 - It is not a magical nap time with the Seahorses as I give Patty a break. Evanan wakes up early. I can't get him back to sleep. He gets silly and wakes up everyone else. Uff da! Streetcar to d'town. #212 bus tunnel to Uwajimaya. Get some onion fried tofu and fried rice. #316 bus tunnel back to my place. Turn on France 24. Luke Brown gives the top stories. Buffalo hot wings and fried rice for dinner. Watch movie - War Of The Worlds.

woensdag 22 september 2010

woensdag 22 september 2010 Up with alarm. Solid night's sleep. Turn on Stephanie Miller. Of course, they talk about the retrogressive homophobia-pandering douche-nozzles Republicans in the Senate. Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked an effort by Democrats and the White House to lift the ban on gays from serving openly in the military, voting unanimously against advancing a major defense policy bill that included the provision. Chili on toast for breakfast. Shower. Walk up Westlake to work. Hey! I'm Kitchen Help for Tracy today. My first time with Tracy. She plays some Depeche Mode while I wash the dishes. Tracy's taste in music seems rather Postmodern.

I finish early, so I help set up Starfish lunches and mats. The Starfish go out in tie-dye and bare feet to paint the wall on the deck. Austin! There's paint on your nose!

They use the BIG BRUSHES! Go, Starfish!

My paint is lumpy.

12 - Charmaine's lunch. I spend lunchtime with the Seahorse. Patty shows them and lets them touch the buckeye's they found on their walk on Westlake. The twins have a conflict with the mat situation. No, mine! No! MINE! They're all sleeping by 1:00. 1 - Elaine's lunch. It's quiet with the 7 Dolphins sleeping. 2 - Patty's lunch. I think that the kids will sleep through the whole hour, but nooooo! Evanan wakes up with this little precocious smile and says... "I think that I'm going to scream!" He doesn't scream, but he really talks out loud. Turn on The World. There's an interesting story about the Jewish settlements. Americans For Peace Now Have A Google Map Of Them. Walk to d'town - University Street Station. It takes me 40 minutes. I pass by a chess game in Westlake Park. I've never seen this before.

I think that I'm going to watch news, but I turn on YouTube. I love it. More from that cute Brit Boy about how to make balloon animals.

And, of course, Ren and Stimpy.

Turn on MSNBC. Kinda of a tear-jerking story... especially after watch Shelter. Florida Stops Ban On Gay Adoption.

C'mon, people. Now! Smile on your brothers.


Watch Star Trek - Arena. I am telling you. Don't go to Cestus III Outpost... unless you want to disintegrate into a blazing glow of red.

Chicken and asparagus for dinner.