zaterdag 6 augustus 2011

zaterdag 6 augustus 2011 Up at 6:31. Trader Joe's Country Potatoes and a fried egg for breakfast. Turn on DW-TV. Euromaxx interviews Tim Fehlbaum and Hannah Herzsprung at the Locarno Film Festival about the debut of the film Hell. Don't they look cute together?
But the top story is US Credit Rating Downgraded For The First Time In History. Yep. Watch my morning movie - Alexander The Great with Richard Burton. It's fun for me to study the cities and battles of ancient Greece with Wikipedia as the movie procedes. There's even a statue of him in Pella.

Cool! Another war movie - Patton with George C. Scott. No time outside. I can hear the Blue Angels. Next movie - Mission To Mars.

vrijdag 5 augustus 2011

vrijdag 5 augustus 2011 Up at 6:01. Turn on BBC News. I love the exploration of space. Report - Juno Probe Heads For Jupiter From Cape Canaveral. NASA scientist Steven Leven says, "This is a step in our path to understand our Universe all around us."
Cheese and mushroom omelet and hash browns for breakfast. No Stephanie Miller this morning. It's John Fugelsang today. Yay! He has Bible Lessons for Westboro Baptist.

Check out France 24, too. People! Seriously? Report - European Markets Tumble Amid Euro Zone Debt Fears. Shower. Watch an episode of The Planets - Different Worlds. Great CGI. Walk up Westlake to work. Easy-going day with the kids. We read Let's Look At Animal Bottoms together.
After that, we head out to the playground. I'm with the Seahorses at lunchtime, too. Mr. O leaves early, but Mr. A doesn't want to sleep. He's really wound up. Over to Starfish for my last hour. A couple wake up crying. Oy. I take one out to the playground where he meets his old Infant Room teachers. He seems happy to see them. Catch the 3 o'clock streetcar to d'town. Drop off stuff at home. #11 bus up to 15th. Shop at Trader Joe's for a few things. I think that I'm going to enjoy the Dark Chocolate Rocky Road Squares. Oh my God! There's a YouTube video about them!
Back to my place on foot. Turn on KOMO News. This report makes me sad. Some thugs beat up and robbed a nice guy in Belltown. Why the violence? Report - Help Sought Catching Suspects In Seattle Man's Beating. The thugs ran through KOMO Plaza and got filmed on the security cameras. Couscous with tomato-basil marinara for dinner. Watch Star Trek - Omega Glory. Confined to a post-apocalyptic world with a mad Starfleet captain, Kirk, Spock, and Bones must try not to interfere in the conflict between the Coms and the savage Yangs. Bad news for the Coms: these colors don't run or bleed. Here is SF Debris' Opinionated Review Of Omega Glory. "Ay plegli ianectu flaggen, tupep like for stahn –" "And to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." - Cloud William and Kirk, both reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Watch a little Hardball. I haven't seen Richard Engel is a while. He's in Somalia.

donderdag 4 augustus 2011

donderdag 4 augustus 2011 Up at 4:13. Turn on France 24. It's nice that France 24 is thinking of President Obama before his 50th birthday. At a fundraising event in Chicago Wednesday night, Jennifer Hudson led the crowd in singing Happy Birthday to President Barack Obama on the eve of his 50th birthday.

France, The World’s Most Depressed Nation? France topped the list by one percentage point. USA is next.
Couscous, tofu and some orange tomato for breakfast. Watch Morning Joe. Oh my God, Joe Scarborough! He says...

“He can’t be ‘hope and change’ this time, if he wants to get re-elected he’s going to have to destroy his opponents, because right now the economy is worse than it was.”

Joe Scarborough - Obama Can't Be 'Hope And Change' This Time (VIDEO). They bring up various articles in the NY Times. Oy! The market down another 200 today and debt at 100% GDP. Gap Between Rich And Poor - Sales Of Luxury Goods Are Recovering Strongly. Yet I doubt that Mika, Joe, Mike and the rest of the Joe crew are not that "in touch" with reality of the working class... the economic struggles of child care workers. But it's going to be a great day! The weather is gorgeous and the blue angels are in town. We dancing to the Beach Boys and movie tunes on the playground.

The Blue Angels zoom above us. The kids go, "Wow, wow, wow!" Loud!

After that, we head inside and make some banana slugs with our play-doh.
Busy day for teachers and kids. After lunch, we settle down for naps. One by one, the kids wake up. Some need to snuggle. Walk up to Queen Anne. Sit at the water park near McCaw Hall - The Kreilsheimer Promenade. Turn on NPR News. Whew! Stock markets plummeted today amid growing worries about the U.S. economy and Europe's mounting debt problems. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down more than 500 points, or 4 percent, and other indexes saw similar drops. Report - Double Dip: Is U.S. Headed For Another Recession. I'm shaking my head as I walk into my apartment. Couscous and stir fried veggies for dinner. Turn on Hardball. There it is again.
Let's imagine... Omega Glory. Imagine the fate of this planet. Compare and contrast.

woensdag 3 augustus 2011

woensdag 3 augustus 2011 Up at 12:36. Turn on DW-TV. The top story is Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Went On Trial at the Cairo Police Academy. Odd to see him in that cage. I fall back to sleep after the food segment. Beautiful restaurant near Basel in Switzerland. The Schnällenursli is actually on a working farm. Chef Nicolai Berger shows us how to prepare veal schnitzel. Yum. The table looks nice, too.

Up with alarm. DW-TV is still playing. Hi, there, George Clooney.

Turn on KOMO News. I really don't pay much attention to it. Just the weather report. All 50 states hit record highs in July. And they're still hot. A light onshore flow keeps things pleasant in Seattle. Rice and beans for breakfast. Watch Star Trek - A Private Little War. Streetcar to work. 10 - Kitchen duty. Wash dishes. 11 - Olivia's lunch. Hang out with the Starfish and Seahorses on the playground. Christin does the lunch prep. 12 - Anne's lunch. "Good-bye, Anne!" the kids shout. I eat my hummus sandwich while the 5 Seahorses eat mac & cheese, strawberries and other stuff. 1 - More dish washing. 2 - Toni's lunch. The Seahorses are sleeping. Quiet time... for the most part. Streetcar to d'town. I love The World. They do a fascinating story about The Tribune Tower in Chicago - A Building Embedded With Famous Stones.

Drop off stuff. Change clothes. Short walk around d'town... down to the box the Space Needle came in - Safeco Plaza. Then back up to my place. Watch KOMO News. I guess that the Blue Angels arrived this morning for Seafair. Hi, there!
Turn on Rachel Maddow to catch up from yesterday. Report - U.S. Doomed To Repeat History? Watch movie - MST3K: Night Of The Blood Beast.

dinsdag 2 augustus 2011

dinsdag 2 augustus 2011 Up at 3:08. Turn on DW-TV. Here's the front page. Chose your crisis. Al-Assad Kills Freedom With Tanks.
The world is watching. Germany is talking. Global markets are rocking. The DAX is down. The heated debate over the US debt ceiling focused almost exclusively on cuts in social security and raising taxes. But a main item of government expenditure was hardly addressed at all: The rising cost of the wars.
Sesame noodles and an egg for breakfast. Turn on Stephanie Miller. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) calls in to talk about the debt ceiling deal and the Dems’ reaction to it. I feel very frustrated. Most of the population suffers through life, barely surviving, disappointed and confused day after day, hopeless, wondering what happened to their strong and beautiful country. Somehow, we need to restore, if not some of our quality of life, at least a bit of our peace of mind. Here's Bernie's reaction - Immoral, Grotesque, Unfair.

My radio is tuned to ABC News while the vote is taken. I sit in the park... It's a done deal. The senators voted 74 to 26 to pass the Budget Control Act.
Breaks for Pam, Sharon and Tanja. 11 - Olivia's lunch. Hang out with the 7 Starfish on the playground. Cristin sets up lunches. 12 - Anne's lunch. Just a banana for my lunch today. The 6 Seahorses munch with me. 1 - Tony's lunch. The kids are napping. 2 - Summer Camp for their very restless Rest Time. Listen to The World on my walk to my place. I like the report about the Indoor Farming PlantLab In The Netherlands.

Change my clothes. Walk through Freeway Park on this sunny day... Busy Bees.

Back to my place. Watch The Nightly News and Hardball. Rice and beans for dinner. Turn on The Randi Rhodes Show. She says...

Well, the bill to raise the debt ceiling has finally passed both houses of Congress—and with almost 12 hours to spare! Really, guys, what was the rush? The past few days have not been pretty, but at least there was one upbeat moment. Yesterday, with about 2 minutes left in the voting on the bill in the House, Gabrielle Giffords returned to the House floor for the first time since being shot in January, and voted for the bill.

Fall asleep while watching Wall-E.

maandag 1 augustus 2011

maandag 1 augustus 2011 Up with alarm. Turn on Stephanie Miller. She is in a wee bit of a snit. The debate in Congress has worn her out. Read Paul Krugman’s thoughtful assessment ominously entitled The President Surrenders and realized my gut reaction was right on point. Bean on toast for breakfast. Shower. Play with FM Forums. Walk up Westlake to work. Patty signs me up to cover for some planning time. Hang out with the 4 Dolphins on the playground. A crow is cawing at us. Fairly easy-going day with the Starfish and Seahorses. Some kids wake up sad from their naps. Listen to NPR News. The House Approves Bill To Raise Federal Debt Limit. I hear that it passes. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., appears on the floor of the House of Representatives for the first time since her shooting earlier this year, attending a vote on the debt standoff compromise.
Turn on The World. Report - Europe Reacts To Debt Deal. All the partisan squabbling in Washington has made many Europeans nervous. They must think that America is really really crazy. Streetcar to d'town. Train to Uwajimaya. Pick up a lot of stuff. $42 of it. Whew! Train back. Watch KOMO News. The Space Needle is announcing 2012 Space Race.
I finally watch the Frontline video about Chim Pom. I like the 100 cheers. Report - The Atomic Artists.

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

Chicken and rice for dinner. Watch movie - Wild Target. Ah, Rupert. You find a cat. How sweet!

zondag 31 juli 2011

zondag 31 juli 2011 Up at 8:11. Listen to A Prairie Home Companion and The Vinyl Cafe. He does the show from the Place Des Arts – in Montreal, Quebec. This is Stuart’s hometown and today on the show he tells us all about what it was like to grow up in Montreal, and he attempts to pay tribute to the city that will always be ‘home’. Featuring musical guest Reid Jamieson. I like Reid. Watch Star Trek - Friday's Child, The Deadly Years and Obsession.