Overheard on Our Road Trip...

This year's travels took us to Nevada, Idaho, Oregon and Washington in addition to our stops within the Golden State. In total, over the course of two road trips we covered almost 4200 miles with our minivan. We travel pretty much low-tech, except for the iPod touch that the kids have finally discovered. Ryan is a good napper in the car so that'll sometimes buy us an hour or two. Naomi usually finds some way to entertain herself like by reading, although she has to be careful with that now that we've learned that she gets motion sickness. We've managed by having her wear Sea-Bands, bands worn on the wrist that work on the principles of acupressure. Ethan can spend hours in the car and not sleep. He has no problem with motion sickness. Often times, it was only me and Ethan who were awake in the car.

We participated in a road trip scavenger hunt though the Contra Costa Times for the third time. We scored all 20 items for the second time, with the mime being the most difficult find. We learned that miming is a dying art. A friend told us about a mime outside Anthony's Seafood Grotto in San Diego, but we weren't able to make it that far south. Another friend told me about mimes that she saw in Boston, but driving to Boston wasn't an option. We thought for sure there would be a mime some place in Hollywood, for sure on Hollywood Boulevard, right? But there were no real mimes in sight. So we tried asking the clerks in what must be the busiest souvenir shop on Hollywood Boulevard opposite the Grauman's Chinese Theater about even photos of mimes. Surely they must have one photo of Marcel Marceau, the most famous mime of them all. We mostly got blank stares, or "Marcel who?" It was sad.



There were unexpected finds like the rainbow. We were all set to find a Double Rainbow ice cream shop or similar establishment with a rainbow in its logo, but we found a spectacular rainbow in Montana on the drive from the Kalispell area to Florence, Montana on Highway 93. Good thing that 93 has driveways. We were able to quickly, safely pull over and get a shot!



The first leg or our road trip took us through Sacramento, Ikeda's California Country Market in Auburn, Reno/Carson City, Winnemucca, and Elko where we found our obscure historical marker. The Elko Airport was the terminus of the first air mail route in 1926 from Pasco, Washington via Boise, Idaho to Elko, Nevada. The 460-mile flight was made by Varney Air Lines which was sold to Boeing before merging with United Airlines.



We continued onto Idaho through Jackpot, Nevada having not lost a single dollar in Nevada (of course, we never wagered a single dollar either). Our only night stay in Idaho was in Twin Falls which is located adjacent to the Snake River Canyon made famous by Evil Knievel's attempt to jump the canyon on a motorcycle. We drove out of town on Highway 93 across the Perrine Memorial Bridge that offers incredible views of the Snake River Canyon.







We only hit one stretch of roadway on the entire trip where we lost cell phone coverage. This was on the stretch of I-15 spanning Idaho and Montana. We completely lost our cell phone signal from north of Spencer. Idaho until Lima, Montana. These are just places on a map mostly. We were talking with our friend John. When we reconnected in Lima, I had to explain that we did not hang up on him. We all got a good laugh.

We passed through Dillon, Montana and onto Butte, birth place of Evil Knievel and Levi Leipheimer. Levi is one of the top American cyclists going today. Levi's jersey is on display at the Butte Visitor Information Center. After Butte, the next stop was Deer Lodge to visit with Mrs. C. The kids had a vague memory of her two cats Dell and Ned, but there was no sighting of the two cats as they stayed down in the basement for our entire visit. So the kids made themselves at home and played with the cat toys. Mrs. C. demonstrated the use of an old fashion oil lantern that the kids thought was neat. It was a short, but sweet visit.





Our next stop was Glacier National Park. The weather was not that great so the mountaintops stayed shrouded in cloud cover for our entire visit, but incredible vistas were plenty. How can they not be, when the drive is on a road that is essentially carved out on the side of mountains with roadside snow in July!



Our last stop in Montana was the home of Mr. Bruder. I hadn'r seen him maybe since high school or maybe a little after that, but had kept in touch all these years. He looked the same, except for the white hair. We spent one night with him and his wife in what was a quite a roomy, comfortable house. He had a walking trail on his property that the kids hiked twice. The trail had at least seven creek crossings with bridges that Mr. Bruder had built. There was a tree that had been clawed up by a bear. There were wild turkey sightings. It was quite a different experience for our kids.

The Bear Man

John, this photo is for you.



The rest of the story...

When John and I first started going to Cal basketball games back in about 1990, we noticed the man in the picture above. He sat near us and attended nearly every game like we did. He almost aways wore the same outfit as he is wearing in the above photo. Before the start of the game and halftime, without fail he would stand or sit and read his newspaper.

Then at one point we stopped seeing him. John and I would look for him, but to no avail. So we made a bet. The first one who got definitive proof of the Bear Man would be owed a dinner. The photo above was taken at the Cal women's NIT championship game earlier this year. I told John about this, but never got a chance to show him the photo.

Here's a photo of the Bear Man reading his paper.

Eulogy from John's Service

The following is the eulogy given by John's college roommate, Geary Chun.

Childhood:
John was born in Los Angeles on December 29, 1962. He was the youngest of 3 children born to Haruso (or Harpy as he was known to his friends) and Gladys Komaru. John had two older sisters: Karrie and Leslie Komaru. Their family was always close and enjoyed many activities together. Karrie and Leslie remember taking family vacations every summer which included road trips to Las Vegas, San Mateo and Denver.

John was a collector and hobbyist from a young age. He loved collecting comic books and would seek out the rarest ones he could find. He had 3 or 4 aquariums filled with fish of all kinds and an endless number of pets including dogs, cats, turtles, mice and even a salamander.

John learned to love sports from his dad. They would often spend their weekends together watching football, basketball and baseball games. And they, along with sister Leslie, frequently attended USC football games, as it was their dad’s alma mater.
In High School, John was a member of the football team and his family would regularly attend his Saturday games. During that time, John also began his punk rocker phase and turned Leslie into a lover of the music too. Together they would head to Melrose Avenue where they could find their favorite music albums along with the clothes and culture of the punk rock era.
After graduating from Loyola High School in 1981, John attended El Camino City College. It gave him time to pursue his many passions and to hang out with his two best friends from high school. It also gave him time to think about the future and to decide what to do next.

Much to his family’s surprise, John decided to attend UC Berkeley instead of hometown favorite, USC. Leslie says it was the best decision he ever made.

College:
John spent the next 5 years attending Cal where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in City Planning in 1986 and his Master’s in Transportation Engineering in 1988. In those 5 years, John became a die-hard Golden Bear fan with season tickets to both football and basketball.

Professional:
In 1988, John began his career as a traffic and civil engineer. According to his friend Kevin, he really enjoyed solving traffic problems and working closely with others on his team. John has been described by his supervisors as technically one of the best they have ever worked with. He was one of the most respected professionals in his field by virtue of his professionalism, technical ability, and uncanny knack for making those around him feel good about themselves.

In 2005 John requested a job transfer and moved from Oakland to San Diego. The move brought him closer to some of his favorite fishing spots and closer to his dad whose health had been declining. On weekends, John would drive from San Diego to Los Angeles to be with his dad and to visit with his sisters. Together he and his dad would watch all of their favorite sports, just as they had always done when John was growing up.

After the death of his father, John moved back to Oakland in 2009 where he soon re-connected with his many Bay Area friends.

Personal remembrances:
My name is Geary Chun. I met John in college when we were both 20 years old. We became friends almost instantly and were roommates for 3.5 years. And although it’s been about 20 years since I moved from California to Hawaii, John and I remained close friends.

I’ve spoken and exchanged emails with several of John’s friends since we heard the terrible news. We shared some stories about the good old days and wrote down some thoughts about what made John special to us. And now I’d like to share some of them with you.

The Big Kid - Cars
When you come right down to it, John was just a big, overgrown, 47-year old kid. Forget the fancy degrees and prestigious job. John was a teddy bear on steroids. And John loved what all boys love: Cars, sports, fishing, gambling, eating, drinking and hanging out with friends. Most guys might indulge in their hobbies from time to time; maybe the occasional fishing trip; perhaps an old car to tinker with now and then. Not John.

John had more cars sitting around at his house than I think I’ve had in my entire life! According to his friend Ron, John would have had more but he’d run out of places to park them. John didn’t just sort of like cars, he was passionate about them; he loved any type of performance vehicle or 60’s era muscle car. John has owned 12 or more cars and trucks since he left college, some of these included: a Hurst Oldsmobile, a 65 Mustang, and two 65 Chevy Novas. Although John had his pick of these classic cars to drive, he always had what he called a “beater” to drive to work or just beat around in. One time his beater was stolen. It was later found with parts missing, but John still drove it using a screw driver to start the car and open the trunk.

John loved to go to car shows, auto swap meets and junkyards. His trips to the junk yards started out as a need to find cheap parts for his cars. Later it turned into a time to relax or a getaway from the daily stress of work. He was always looking for some “treasure” or special part to use on his cars; or maybe something just to keep, in case he might need it in the future. John didn’t mind getting a little greasy either. One day John and Ron were in a junkyard and had split up, each looking for treasures. John came back to Ron with a little grease and one of those “John smiles” on his face. John asked him, “Do I look Mexican”!!! Ron replied “no, well maybe just a little, why”. John’s reply was, “this guy just came up to me and started talking to me in Spanish, just like I should know what he was saying”. John said that he and the man made a few gestures at each other and then he let the man use a tool that he needed. John was always willing to help other people, even if he couldn’t understand what they were saying.

The Big Kid – Fishing
John’s love of fishing began as a boy growing up in Los Angeles. John spent many hours fishing at the Redondo Pier, hoping to catch some Bonito or some White Sea Bass.

He didn’t have much time to pursue this hobby in college but his passion for it was rekindled when he met Mark Aikawa at the Centennial Engineering firm. They became good friends and soon John was a part of Mark’s fishing fraternity. John enjoyed fishing on the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean catching Salmon, Striped Bass, Halibut and Rockfish.

Soon after, John started going Long Range fishing on the Royal Polaris out of San Diego. He was immediately hooked for life. This really started a new adventure for John. It was now about catching Yellowfin Tuna, Blue Fin Tuna, Albacore, and Yellowtail. He met many new friends while going on 5-, 8-, and even 21-day fishing trips. And many of those friends are here today. As the trips got longer and the fish he was chasing got bigger, John’s house began to resemble a fishing tackle store. But that didn’t prevent Mark, Leroy and John from making frequent trips to the “Rod Rack” in Hayward. The three of them would go there even if they didn’t need to buy anything, but just hang out with other fisherman.

John had some great expressions when he was fishing. When he didn’t get a bite or wasn’t catching any fish, his lower lip would come out and that pouty face we all know would appear. When John was getting a bite, you could see his face light up with joy. When the fishing was slow and no one was catching anything, John could be heard telling stories. One day while John was telling stories and he wasn’t paying attention to his fishing line, someone tied a pair of pliers to John’s hook. Minutes later when John was winding his line in, you should have seen the look on his face when the pliers appeared at the end of his line. Everyone was laughing, even John.

John’s fishing adventures took him to Clipperton Atoll, which is a 6-day boat ride from San Diego. There John had a chance to catch his first 200 pound Yellowfin Tuna. John hooked a big one, but unfortunately the fish broke the line and got away. Of course, John was upset, but he did manage to become a proud member of the 100-lb club by landing his first big yellowfin tuna.

He returned to San Diego without the elusive 200 pounder, but was more determined than ever to catch one the next time. That summer, Mark went on a 5-day fishing trip and caught a 135 pound Blue fin tuna and got in the club too! Mark said he knew John was happy for him, but also knew that John was a little perturbed since it only took him a 5-day trip to join the club while it had cost John thousands of dollars more. Once again, the lower lip appeared. But, not to be outdone, John caught two Yellowfin Tuna of over 200 pounds. He was in heaven for he was now in the 200-lb club.

The Big Kid - Sports
As you all know, John was a sports fanatic. He grew up as a big fan of the Angels , Cowboys, Lakers.

In college, John always played on our intramural sports teams. And at work, he was also a regular on his company’s softball team. John loved playing so much that he kept playing even when the younger guys started ribbing him about his age. When he was working in San Diego, a few years ago, he proudly told me that none of the young guys could believe how old he was. They wanted to know what year he graduated from High School and couldn’t believe he was a dinosaur from the 80’s! John did look pretty young; with his black slicked-back hair and always fashionable work clothes. But I think that they were really commenting on the excitement and joy he brought to something as simple as a softball game.

But the thing I’ll remember most about John was his passion for his Golden Bears! It didn’t matter to John if the football and basketball teams were good or bad. And when John arrived at Cal in 1983, they were pretty bad. The Cal football team had been to just one bowl game in the last 25 years. And the basketball team hadn’t been to an NCAA Tournament since 1960.
But John was the eternal optimist. He’d pour through the Cal media guides looking up info on his favorite players and the latest crop of recruits. He’d refer to them by their jersey numbers as if everyone would know exactly who he was talking about.

John sent me copies of the Cal football media guide every year until it became available for free on the internet. I think it was so he’d have someone else to rant and rave about his beloved bears with. He always talked about how this year was finally going to be Cal’s year. With John, every year was going to be “the year” for something.

Last football season, John was convinced that this time, it really was Cal’s year. They were going to the Rose Bowl. They had Heisman Trophy candidate Jahvid Best coming back for his junior year. And of course, they had Coach Tedford who had saved Cal after years of mediocrity. Tedford had paid his dues and this was finally his year. This was our year!

John emailed me to see if I might be interested in travelling with him to an Away game. You see, John was kind of hoping to go to ALL OF THE AWAY GAMES! Of course, as all Cal fans know, the wheels fell off of Cal’s Rose Bowl hopes early in the season. Cal got thrashed in their first two PAC-10 games by Oregon and USC. They lost by scores of 42-3 and 30-3.

For John, it was just a minor setback. He called me about a month ago with exciting news: “Hey Geary, this is going to be Cal’s year. USC’s on probation cuz of Reggie Bush. This will be the year! Or maybe it’ll be next year. But it better be soon! USC’s bowl ban only lasts two years”

John and I had planned to go to the Cal vs. Nevada game in Reno in September. It was the perfect combo. Sports and Gambling! To be honest, they don’t look so great this year. They might even lose the Nevada game. But John would have been rooting for them loudly, celebrating every great play and complaining about every bad call. And he’d be having the time of his life. Win or lose.

How to describe John?

John’s sports and hobbies were a big part of his life. It brought him so much joy and it was a gift that he could share with his friends. But, to me, it didn’t define who John was as a person.

I talked to several friends. None of us could easily sum up who John was but we all used the same adjectives to describe him. We might have chosen adjectives like smart and professional; or competitive and hard-working. John was all of those things and more. But the ones that first came to mind, the ones that really mattered were: playful and enthusiastic; kind and considerate; good-natured and generous.

Enthusiastic

Our friend Kelly wrote to me and she said:

- It's hard to describe John. You know how some people light up a room when they walk in? When I remember John from our college days, I think about how he was one of those people that would warm up the room when he walked in. He had a shy, understated way about him that, combined with his big smile and passionate talk about "boy hobbies", made you feel like you should maybe take a second look at car engines and fish guts.

I loved the way John described things too. Things weren’t good. They were awesome! If it were a restaurant, John would say something like “Hey Geary, I know this great place! They make this awesome [whatever it was]. I’ll take you there next time!” So the next time we’d go there. And the thing was, it really didn’t matter if it was good or just okay. It might have been a greasy Tommy Burger down in LA, which is just okay; or maybe a slice of Zachary’s deep dish pizza which actually is really awesome.

But the point is: if John said it was awesome, you believed it. How could you not when he got so excited about it?

Smiles and Laughter
Lots of friends reminisced about John's funny side. One time he and our roommate Wayne played a prank on CeCe and Ann, the neighbors below us in our apartment building. They lowered a weight over our balcony and used it to knock on the girls’ window pane while laughing loudly at their shrieks and screams. Another roommate, Paul, reminded me about the time we broke into our friends’ apartment and added food coloring to all of their food. In fact, John and Paul liked it so much that they started putting food coloring in our own food.

Wayne remembers John teasing me about my hair. He said that when I woke up in the morning it looked like the hair from one of those troll dolls that were popular in the 70’s. You know, the kind with the bushy hair that sticks out in all directions. But as you can see, that was a long, long time ago!

Of course, John was never malicious with his pranks or teasing. He’d always have a big smile on his face. Sometimes it was sly and mischievous, but it was always genuine.

Always had time for a friend
We all remembered how generous John was with his time. Our friend Carol reminded me that John had this old beat up Datsun pickup truck when we were in college. In those days, he was one of the few people we knew with a vehicle. Every week he would come by the apartments and one or two people from each apartment would climb into the back of the truck and he’d take everyone to do their grocery shopping.

John’s truck was our sole source of transportation for many years. We’d all pile in and John would drive us over to Fenton’s for ice cream; or to haul supplies for our annual Luau; or even to go down to Stanford for the Big Game. John was always willing to help. Anytime a friend was moving apartments, John was the first one there.

Over the years, John has helped me in so many ways. When I was planning to attend grad school at UCLA, John drove down to help me find my first apartment there. When I needed a better wardrobe, he’d take me shopping at Nordstoms. When I got married, he stood by me as a groomsman. And when I had kids he’d always remember to buy them little footballs or t-shirts or jerseys.

We weren’t able to get together as often as we would have liked. We weren’t great at exchanging emails and rarely spoke on the phone. But that never changed our friendship. I always knew that the next time I’d see John, we’d pick up right where we had left off.

The kind of person that you hope your kids will grow up to be like

I can’t pinpoint what it was, but there was always something about John that drew people in. You wanted to get to know him. You wanted to be his friend. And I think it’s because you just knew that you’d be a better person for having John as a part of your life. I’ve always considered John one of the finest people I’ve ever known. He was the kind of person that I hope my kids will grow up to be like someday.

John lived his life to the fullest. On the day of his passing, John had just returned from a 5-day fishing trip, still basking in the simple pleasure that it brought him. That’s the John I’ll always remember.

We will mourn John’s passing today and for many more days to come. But we should also remember to take time to celebrate his life. And we should remind ourselves how lucky we all were to have been a part of it.

Break Your Heart

Another video request by Ryan.

"Break Your Heart" by Talo Cruz

An Incredible Catch

Hiroshima Toyo Carp's Masato Akamatsu robs Yokohoma's Shuichi Murata of a home run on Tuesday night.


EMBED-Spiderman Style Baseball Catch - Watch more free videos

Sky High Sports

There's a new game in town. Actually, it's a trampoline-based gym. The concept apparently was hatched by two brothers from the Bay Area. Now there are several outlets including the one near our home. There are also gyms in Tigard, OR and Bellevue, WA amongst other places.

Some of the kids from our swim meet had an outing with coaches recently. Instead of trying to describe the place, check out the video below. Naomi, Ethan and Ryan all were able to attend. Follow the bouncing Ry.



Here's a picture of some of the kids with the coaches.

Words to Live By

In an article in the June 21, 2010 edition of Sports Illustrated on the subject of mental health in baseball, Ian Snell who is now in the Seattle Mariners' farm system says that he lives by this advice given to him by his family:

Life is short.
Enjoy it.
Do everything possible to make it better for other people.
Just try to laugh, have fun, and don't let anything negative bother you.

These are good words to live by.

In Memory of John Komaru

Our dear friend John passed away on July 16, having just returned from a weeklong fishing trip.

We will remember him for his smile (he always had a smile no matter what), for his passion for all things Cal (most know about his passion for Cal football and basketball, but he was a huge supporter of all things Cal), and for his ability to see humor in the smallest snippets of life.

He was taken from us much too early and we will all miss him tremendously.

The slide show includes photos also provided by Ron Freeman. If you have any photos to share, please do so and I'll add them to the slide show.

Memorial Day 2010

Ygnacio Wood Seahorses - June 5, 2010

Today's swim meet was against the Forest Hills Beavers from Martinez. Ryan swam backstroke in the medley relay, free, backstroke, and free relay. Ethan swam free and backstroke. Naomi swam free and butterfly.

Girl Scout Court of Awards

Every year the girl scout troops of our school has their annual court of awards. This gathering is to celebrate the achievements and promotion of the girl scouts. Girl scouts bridging from Daisies to Brownies and from Brownies to Juniors get to cross the lovely bridge on the stage as accompanied by an older girl scout troop. Naomi's girl scout troop was the troop that accompanied both groups over the bridge. Naomi's troop had actually bridged from Juniors to Cadettes earlier this month by crossing the Golden Gate Bridge along with approximately 4,000 other girl scouts from California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Texas.

Bear Cub to Webelo

It's the end of another cub scouting season. Ethan moved up to become a first year Webelo. Webelo stands for "We'll Be Loyal Scouts." After second year Webelo rank comes promotion from cub scout to boy scout.

The following are a few pictures from our annual graduation ceremony. The event was somewhat bitter sweet in that the leader of Ethan's den announced that he and his family are leaving to head back home to Kentucky. Our den leader and his family will surely be missed as they were quite active in our pack.

Ryan plans on joining scouting next year as a Tiger Cub provided that a den is formed for the first graders next year. The signs for this happening look positive at the moment.

"I Love Rock and Roll"

It's that catchy song by Joan Jett. It came on the radio while we were in the car this evening.

Ryan said something like, "Oh, I like this one," and then started singing.

"I love rock and roll."

"I want to play in a rock band with a UFO."

Of course, this is not the correct line.

More Neil Young

Stats Redux - May 14, 2010

Here's an update on stats first posted in November 2005, and updated on January 2006, June 2006, October 2006, March 2007, November 2007, August 2008, and January 2009. It's been quite some time since our last update on these stats

Price of Gas: $3.19 per gallon (crude oil prices are down to a three-month low of about $71 per barrel, but the price at the pump remains over $3. gallon; is it the gargantuan oil spill in the Gulf that's responsible?)

Price of Milk: Down to $2.99 for a gallon at Trader Joe's (not that different from the price in January 2009)

Bridge Toll: $4 since January 1, 2007 on all Bay Area bridges except Golden Gate Bridge (which is $6 cash and $5 FasTrak as of 9/1/08), but tolls are set to rise on July 1, 2010 to $5 on all State bridges (with Bay Bridge prices going to $6 during morning and evening commute peaks, $4 other weekday times, $5 on weekends and $2.50 toll for carpoolers)

Today's High Temperature: 74 degrees F (overnight low of 51) and sunny/clear skies

Dow Jones Average: 10,620.16 close today (up almost 1600 points since January 2009)

Shopping Days to Christmas: 223 days (http://eclecticesoterica.com/xmas_cnt.html)

Dinner Tonight: Dorothy and Naomi are gone for the weekend, but here was a discussion from earlier today that led to today's dinner:

Ryan: Can I have Wendy's for dinner tonight?
Mom: You're going to have to take this up with dad tonight; I'm gone.
Ryan: But I know that he'll say, "No."
Mom: You'll have to check with him.
Ryan: McDonalds is okay too.

The Wendy's is still closed for remodeling so we went to McDonalds in downtown Walnut Creek.

Average Commute Time: just over an hour in mornings including pick up/drop off times (down to a 2-person carpool TU through FR; 3rd member of our carpool was a casualty last summer of slow economy; no carpool on MO because my carpool partner telecommutes)

Cost of Area Homes: median price of area homes is just over $400k

Movie Ticket: tough times means new, lower prices for movies of $8.25 for adults; last movie that we saw as a family was "How to Train Your Dragon" in 3-D (add $3 to prices)

Time with My Kids: played Connect 4 with Ethan while Ryan was at his friend Gabe's bowling birthday party; I was able to win only half the time (apparently, he and 3 friends have a Connect 4 game club at school for rainy days when they have to stay indoors)

Ryan just had a Star Wars themed 6th birthday party complete with a Death Star pinata!

They Give You This, But You Pay for That

Pinewood Derby Car Races - 2010

This is a video from our Cub Scout Pack's recent pinewood derby car races. We all had a great time as you can see from the video.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

It was a birthday weekend as our Ryan turned 6 this past week. We decided on a "Star Wars" theme at home. Let's just say that we survived. As one of the other parents said, "Imagine if these eight were your own." We tried to keep them occupied with games and activities. Started with a gathering activity (making Star Wars masks) as the party goers arrived. We had a Star Wars obstacle course, a Star Wars "pin the tail" game, an asteroid scavenger hunt, and a Death Star pinata. Here's what Ryan had to say about turning six:

The Wedding Entrance to Beat All Entrance

This is a video that went viral maybe a year or so ago. It was long ago now that the NBC show "The Office" even did a spoof of it on a recent episode. The original and the spoof are below.

I've encouraged my kids that if they are going to get married one day that this is what their wedding entrance should look like.

The song is Chris Brown's "Forever."

Pink Glove Dance to Promote Breast Cancer Awareness

Here's a great video to promote breast cancer awareness made by the staff of Providence St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. Got the link from my sister.

Speaking of Fireworks...

There will be a Seattle 4th of July fireworks show after all! Most of the effort to save the fireworks is owed to Dave Ross, a KIRO radio show host, and Tom Douglas owner of Seattle area restaurants featured on the Food Network. Here's a video clip about his donuts from Lola. His other Seattle area restaurants include: Palace Kitchen, Dahlia Lounge, and Etta's.

Anyway, back to Seattle fireworks. After searching for 15 months, One Reel, the nonprofit responsible for organizing the annual Lake Union fireworks, announced on March 31, 2010 that the fireworks show would be cancelled. They had been unsuccessful in reaching agreement with an entity to underwrite the cost of the $500,000 show. The previous local funder was Washington Mutual bank. Chase, which purchased Washington Mutual, funded the fireworks one year, but announced that they would not fund the fireworks show again. You would think that JP Morgan Chase would be able to spare $500,000. Chase had an ad campaign running that said, "Chase picks up the tab." "Your morning mocha could be on us." But I suppose your fireworks cannot be on Chase.

Chase is on the list of banks that received bailout money from the federal government, but not on the list of donors that ended up putting up money to fund the Seattle fireworks:

Microsoft $125,000
Starbucks $125,000
Vulcan Inc. $50,000
Nordstrom $25,000
Merrill Gardens $13,950
Charlie's Produce $10,000
Seattle Bank $10,000
International Parking Management Inc. $5,000
KING 5 $5,000
Northwest Administrators $5,000
Stewart & Terry LLC (Aspira Apartments Seattle) $5,000
Taco Time $5,000
Tom Douglas $5,000
Turner Construction $5,000
Underdog Sports $5,000
Red Mill Burgers $3,000
Berschauer Phillips Construction Co. $2,500
Cristal Charters $2,500
Ewing and Clark Inc. $2,500
Hales Ales $2,500
Novastar Development $2,500
Point B Inc. $2,500
BNI-Western Washington, Inc. $2,000
Filco Environmental Services $2,000
Key Bank $2,000
Neighborhood Grills $2,000
Pacific Urethane Recycling $2,000
Renton Concrete Recycles $2,000
Heidi McBain $1,500
Brian Hartman $1,250
All Systems Electric $1,000
Anchor Bay Charters $1,000
Anita Yearley MD $1,000
Beecher's Handmade Cheese $1,000
Blue Moon Burgers $1,000
Blue Rooster, Inc. $1,000
Brewe Layman p.s. $1,000
Brian Cartenuto $1,000
Capital Management $1,000
Cascade Federal Credit Union $1,000
Catherine Budbill State Farm Insurance $1,000
Claudia, McClain Insurance in Everett $1,000
Continental Van Lines, Inc. $1,000
Cutter & Buck Inc. $1,000
Dave Ross $1,000
Dearmin Fogarty PLLC $1,000
EmeraldSkySports.com $1,000
Findwell Real Estate $1,000
Fusiontek $1,000
Futurepoly $1,000
Geocaching.com $1,000
Greg Hunicutt $1,000
Gunning, Stenson & Price, P.S. $1,000
Heidi Heineman Aflac Insurance in Kent $1,000
Heston Technical Inc. $1,000
Hollywood Lights Inc $1,000
Homestead Book Company $1,000
Hy-Security Gate, Inc. $1,000
Jana Helmuth CPA $1,000
JK Fabrication $1,000
John Hanson $1,000
Legal Media Experts $1,000
Lenati LLC $1,000
Lucius Hill $1,000
Marty Rood, Mr. 99 & Associates, Inc. $1,000
Max Technology $1,000
Medina Hair Design $1,000
Meriwether Partners $1,000
Minor & James Medical $1,000
NELLA CUTLERY $1,000
Next Door Media $1,000
Northwest Gourmet Foods $1,000
Northwest Yacht Brokers Association $1,000
Nursecall Northwest $1,000
Paddy Coyne's Irish Pubs $1,000
Pamela Hinckley $1,000
Pennys Salsa Inc. $1,000
Phoenix Mailing LLC $1,000
QUEEN CITY PLATING, INC. $1,000
Read Products, Inc. $1,000
Reconstructed Clothing Company $1,000
Rite-Line Tax Service, Inc. $1,000
Santamaria and Sons $1,000
Schumacher & Co., P.S. $1,000
Seattle Ferry Service $1,000
Security Imaging Corporation $1,000
Sequoyah Electric $1,000
Sharron & Gary Deibert $1,000
Silver Cloud Inns and Hotels $1,000
Smith Brothers Farms $1,000
Sprague Pest Solutions $1,000
Sweetwater Investments $1,000
Tricia Rendina $1,000
Ventana Construction $1,000
Ward's Cove $1,000
West Seattle Blog $1,000
www.saspcrecycling.com $1,000
In Play Films $500
MCW Events $250
Turnure Telecom LLC $250
Dancey & Cassady, L.L.P. $100
FloorPlanOnline.com $100
The Frenchy Bee $100

These donors stepped up after Tom Douglas went on Dave Ross's radio show to pledge the first $5,000. After his appearance on the radio show, Tom Douglas went back to his office and started making calls. Microsoft and Starbucks pledged that they would match amount pledged by others meaning that $250,000 would be needed. Within two days, the entire amount was raised. Talk about grassroots efforts!

Oh, yes, and those of you from Alaska that make the trek to Seattle on a shopping trip might consider taking some of your business to those on the above list.

KFOG KaBoom

If you can't wait for the 4th of July fireworks, check these out. These were the fireworks from the 2009 KFOG KaBoom live music event. The venue opens at 1pm with fireworks at 9pm this year.

2009 KFOG Kaboom Fireworks from KFOG Radio 104.5/97.7 on Vimeo.

A Day at the Beach ... Sort of

We spent a day visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium during this spring break. One new exhibit was on pink flamingos. The river otters have been replaced by sea turtles. Got good pictures of Ryan up close and personal with the turtles.

Another new one was about the retreating ice and advancing water in the north in places like Alaska. The video focused on Shishmaref, Alaska.

Other sightings include sea horses, spotted jelly fish, sea otters, sharks (no great whites though}, a shy sunfish, penguins, giant tunas, and skates.

Most of the final pictures of the ocean in the slide show below were taken by the kids while we ate dinner at the Paradiso Trattoria on the Monterey water front. If you're looking for a bargain, be sure to ask for the three-course meal menu.

Cal Bears Women's Basketball Wins WNIT!

It's a rare year to be able to see two teams cut down the net. For those of you not familiar with basketball, the "cutting down the net" ritual is part of winning a championship. Usually this happens after winning a league championship or after winning a tournament.

Earlier this year, the Cal men's basketball team clinched the Pac-10 conference championship by winning their last home game of the season. I wrote about this earlier on this blog. This was their first conference championship in 50 years so it was only fitting that they clinched the crown at home and had a presentation after the game that included the team cutting down the net.

We decided to attend a Cal women's basketball game for the first time yesterday. It just so happened that they were playing at home for what was the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) championship. The women's games are general admission meaning that the seating is first come first serve so we got seats four rows behind press row across the Bears' bench.

Harmon seats about 12,000 and usually fills up once or twice each year for men's games. The men's games draw about 9000 or 10,000 people on average. The women's games usually draw fewer than 1000, but on this day the announced crowd was about 2500 although there were times that the place got loud enough to feel like more than the announced crowd. I think that this speaks for the passionate, loyal fan base that the women's team has. Kind of reminds me of the old days with the men's program when Harmon only seated 6600 and had a waiting list for season tickets.

If the men's games had the same kind of boisterous fans on the alumni side of the court as at the women's game, we'd probably have to wear ear plugs for the game. At men's games, often times it takes something really special for the alumni side to give a standing ovation. Not so at women's games. The difference probably is the general admission seating. Perhaps at men's games they should consider making all seats available to anyone in attendance after half time. It's a shame to see empty seats closer to the court.

The women's program seems to have a bright future. They started four freshmen for this game and the first player off the bench was also a freshman. They have another top recruiting class coming in too. With the ticket prices being in the $6/$12 range, I can see more people attending their games in the upcoming years.

Happy Easter!

We've annually attended Dan'a annual Easter egg hunt at his place. Until this year it was known as Megan's Easter Egg Hunt. Megan is his daughter who has probably not attended one of these events in a few years since she no longer lives at home and is either attending school or working now back east. This was the first year that it was called "Dan's Easter Egg Hunt."

Uncle Mike's Visit

Taylor Swift Fan Amongst Us

... and it's not who you think it is!

And here's the favorite song of the moment.



Lyrics to You Belong With Me :
You're on the phone with your girlfriend, She's upset
She's going off about something that you said
She doesnt get your humour like I do

I'm in the room, its a typical Tuesday night
I'm listening to the kind of music she doesnt like
And she'll never know your story like I do

But she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming bout the day when you wake up and find
That what you're lookin for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me
You belong with me

Walkin the streets with you in your worn out jeans
I cant help thinking this is how it ought to be
Laughing on the park bench thinkin to myself
Hey isnt this easy?

And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town
I havent seen it in awhile, since she brought you down
You say you find I know you better than that
Hey, Whatcha doing with a girl like that?

She wears high heels, I wear sneakers
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming bout the day when you wake up and find
That what you're looking for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me

Standin by, waiting at your back door
All this time how could you not know that?
You belong with me
You belong with me

Oh I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night
I'm the one who makes you laugh when you know you're about to cry
I know your favorite songs and you tell me about your dreams
I think I know where you belong. I think I know it's with me.

Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you?
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me

Standing by or waiting at your back door
All this time how could you not know that
You belong with me
You belong with me

Have you ever thought just maybe
You belong with me
You belong with me

The Romantics

This is for Ryan so that he can check out the drumming.

2010 Pacific 10 Conference Champs

Here's one last video for Cal fans out there.

Hip! Hip! Jorge!

Talk about your proverbial taking the team on your back and willing them to victory. This is exactly what Jorge Gutierrez, the lightly recruited super sub sophomore guard out of Las Vegas' Findlay Prep did last evening. This is the same school that produced the much heralded Avery Bradley who laces them up for the Longhorns, but on this evening I would've wanted to have Gutierrez on my team over any of the other more sought after recruits.

With chants of Hip! Hip! Jorge! raining from the rafters, much as the blue and gold confetti would after the Bears' hard fought 62-46 win, it was Gutierrez that showed the team the way to a grinding victory. Montgomery might not have his prototypical beefy inside-oriented team yet, but he has one player who can lead his team to play like the prototypical Montgomery team.

Monte Poole of the Bay Area News Group wrote an article about Gutierrez. Montgomery was quoted as saying, "He's a very quiet kid, unassuming, with a great a sense of how to help in any way he needs to. He'll make a great play that others won't make."

And so it was with the game's outcome still up for grabs with 11:49 left, coming out of a media timeout that Jorge in his own unassuming way put the Bears on his back and figuratively said, "Follow this." The "follow this" was a smooth gliding slash to the basket that ended in the most unbelievable of dunks. I turned to my friends and said, "Wow! Where did that come from?" as the Harmon crowd got to its feet for yet another standing ovation.

After this basket, ASU's McMillan nailed a left wing three to make it 44-42 Bears when Gutierrez was not able to switch out in time. Jorge clearly knew that that one was on him, but did he hang his head? No. On the very next sequence, Jorge made amends by scoring on what could only be called a circus shot that would've made even "Circus King" proud with the ball kissing high off the glass while he was getting shoved out of bounds by Jeren Shipp. Only Pete Newell and others in basketball heaven know how that shot went in. After his free throw completed the three-point play, and another miss by the Sun Devils on a desperation heave as the shot clock was expiring, Jorge drove the key and assisted on a basket by Boykin with 9:48 left in the game. This only gave the Bears a 7-point edge, but for all intents and purposes the outcome of the game would no longer be in question. This was perhaps the most important two minutes in the last 50 years for the Bears from the point of winning championships.

Montgomery took Jorge out of the game at this point to what could only be called the loudest ear-piercing ovation of the evening. It was a well earned rest for the unlikeliest of leaders.

Indeed the Sun Devils would not recover from this onslaught. They would remain stuck on 42 points for another two and half minutes when the Bears had built their lead to 53-42. Then ASU would not score another basket until there were but 31 ticks left on the clock and all of the subs were in the game.

The other half of the story is what Jorge did on the defensive end where he was matched up against the much taller and larger Trent Lockett. ASU's delight at seeing the smaller Gutierrez on Lockett resulted in repeated attempts to post up Lockett. These attempts would only turn to frustration with Lockett even taking a swing at Gutierrez with the officials missing this action because it was at the back end of the play. If Randle is the "Bulldog" on offense, Jorge is the "Bulldog" on defense.

There are certain players that come along who are just fun to watch. These are players that make the game enjoyable for whatever reason. Jason Kidd was the first such Cal Bear for this writer. Lamond Murray for his prolific dunking from passes from Kidd. Shareef Abdul-Rahim for his coming out of nowhere to dominate the Pac-10 as a freshman. Same for Ryan Anderson. Jerome Randle was the next in line for the "Fun to Watch" tag. Now the baton has seemingly been passed onto Gutierrez. Hip! Hip! Jorge!

Bears Win Pac-10 Championship

We headed to the Cactus Taqueria on College Avenue near the Rockridge BART station after the game. What started as a late lunch turned into a single-course la comida. I don't think any of us wanted to let the feeling of the Bears winning their first Pac-10 title in 50 years leave too quickly.

During a break late the game, AD Sandy Barbour presented the Bears' clock operator, John Mahaffey, with an honorary jersey and game ball. The number on the jersey was 58 to signify the number of years Mr. Mahaffey has been the clock operator at Cal basketball and football games. This was his last game. One of my friends remarked, "He's probably the only one in the building who saw Cal win their last men's basketball championship."

Tayshaun Prince, who was in town because his Pistons had a game later in the evening against the Warriors, was court side to root for his godbrother and fellow Compton native Patrick Christopher. Christopher walked over to bump fists with Prince before the opening tip.

Scott Fujita, former Cal Bears football walk-on and current member of the Super Bowl champion Saints, was also on hand to soak in the electric atmosphere. Kevin Johnson attended with his wife, mother and other family members and also received a loud ovation when he was introduced to the crowd. Others in attendance included Sean Lampley, former coach Dick Kuchen, current head football coach Jeff Tedford, and other basketball alums. It was a night that would not be soon forgotten.

It was an aligning of the stars and ironies no doubt. A game being played on the day after the anniversary of the Bears last conference championship 50 years prior. Senior Day that was seeing off five popular senior players. A match-up of current conference number one versus number two. A match-up of centers who were once roommates at Duke. The first home sell-out of the year. A Cal win would mean that they could be returning to Stanford next week under the leadership of former Stanford coach Montgomery for a chance at an outright Pac-10 championship.





For more on the game, see this link.

Thanksgiving 2002

One silver lining of our PC crash was discovering old photos and video clips that we had forgotten about. Here's a video from Thanksgiving 2002.



In case you're wondering, the two dancing kids are Naomi and Ethan.

Crash!

Okay, maybe that's too over-dramatic. It was probably more like a whimper in the night. I woke up early a couple Saturdays back and noticed that the computer was left on overnight. It wasn't the blue screen of death that greeted me, but a black screen asking for a boot disk. This didn't bode well either.

Turns out that the hard drive had stopped working. A good friend tried to help me revive the computer enough to retrieve some data, but it wasn't meant to be. We do regular back-ups so we didn't lose much data, but since the automatic back-ups are set for Sunday night we had lost about a week's worth of files. This wouldn't have been too bad, but this particular week included Ethan's science project.

In the end, we recreated Ethan's hard work. This was after we loaded the OS and software on the second hard drive which was still working. We're going to see how much more we can squeeze out of this PC, but we've taken additional precautions like buying an external drive on which we are storing much of our data because we really don't trust the second hard drive after what happened to the first one.

We still may go out and buy that laptop that we've been talking about getting. And we still do have our really old PC that is older than Naomi. A couple years back we upgraded the OS from Windows 98 to XP on this relic of a PC. It only has a 13 GB hard drive so it's really not much use. The kids were using it, but the CD-drive on it failed last year. I bought a replacement drive, but have not installed it yet.

Express Lanes

This is a concept that we are preparing to test out where I work. The project is to provide solo commuters the option to use carpool lanes for a fee. This allows more people to be able use the freeway without having to widen the freeway.

On Winter Wind

I came across this poem that a friend sent to me several years ago. It's called "On Winter Wind" and was written by Bertha Wilcox Smith.

A chestnut mare on a snow-filled road
Pushed on toward the rider's far abode;
Scourged by the gale, in the dark, unsure,
Stung by the ice on flailing boughs
She carried one who would not arouse.

From the somber sleep that claimed his form
As she reached a shelter from the storm;
She had borne him on, a well-loved weight,
And entered at last by a barn's wide door
To stand and grieve on a strawy floor.

Epics are sung on winter wind,
Tumultuous, undisciplined;
In silent, dusky-shadowed woods,
Where lean and ashen trees reach high
To scrawl dark runes on a parchment sky.

I don't know anything about the author, but thought that I'd share it here. I wonder if the sender, who is one of our readers, remembers sending this to me?

Sights and Sounds from the Holidays

This is not exactly timely, but thought that we'd share nonetheless.

=============================================
Ryan: (At bed time) Don't spread the cold blankets on top of me. I want to hold them! The cold blankets are his two favorite blankets. They are "cold" blankets because they feel cold to the touch when first picked up.
Mom: Okay here are your cold blankets.
Ryan: (He holds the blankets up to his face.) They smell like ojiichan and obaachan's.
Mom: Is that a good thing? Do you want me to wash them?
Ryan: No, I like them that way.

=============================================
Ryan: Let me whisper it to you Ethan (leans in to whisper to Ethan).
Ethan: Okay, but you don't have to spit in my ear.

=============================================
We were at a restaurant over the holidays in Seattle. It was one of those restaurants where they serve drinks with straws with only the top of the straw cover intact. I looked over at Ethan drinking from his straw. He had only removed the top of the paper straw cover so that he could get his mouth on the straw.

Dad: What do you have there?
Ethan: What?
Dad: Did you know that you're suppose to take all of the paper covering off the straw?
Ethan: (slightly embarrassed) Ohhhhh, Daaaad.....

==============================================

Ryan Anderson in the NBA

Video clip of former Cal Bear Ryan Anderson who is a reserve for the Orlando Magic.

Ryan Anderson (Jan 2 & 9) from ieeeBear on Vimeo.

Cal Bears Holiday Wishes

Holiday wishes brought to you by Jamal Boykin (the artist), Brandon Smith (the freshman), Patrick Christopher (the starting guard by way of Compton, CA), and Markhuri Sanders-Frison (the junior college transfer by way of Portland, OR).



* Patrick does apologize for the red jacket at the end of the video.

Homemade Family Photo Shoot

We decided to make our own family photo this year. It took a few takes to get an acceptable shot. Here's what the shoot looked like with a few fun captions added for good measure.

2009 Holiday Season in Pictures

Hope that your holiday was a good one. Ours was a lot about being with family. We did a little cooking and baking. Had a few laughs. Exchanged a few gifts. No snow this year, but no complaints here.

"Hey Soul Sister" by Train

Hopefully, like the character in this video, 2010 has all the right moves.

A Christmas Riddle

This is for our cousin Tetsuya who lives in Japan and is a fan of riddles.

Q: What goes "Oh, oh, oh"?

A: Santa walking backwards.

Christmas Lights Hero

Herói das luzes de Natal @ Yahoo! Video

Let it Snow!

What an odd sight this morning seeing cars driving down Ygnacio Valley Road in Walnut Creek with snow piled on their roofs. Here's a photo of one of these cars.

Okay, the picture quality is not too great, but there were several cars that drove by with about two inches of accumulated snow on their roofs. A couple cars had snow covering their back window as if this were a red badge of courage. I'm sure the drivers of these cars could not see anything out the back.

We still have some vegetables growing in our back yard that we have covered. The next storm is due in on Wednesday or Thursday.

It's only appropriate that the Japanese Word of the Day on our blog is "yuki" which means snow!

Let's end this entry with a little Vienna Teng.



The Last Snowfall lyrics

If this were the last snowfall
No more halos on evergreen
If this were the last glimpse of winter
What would these eyes see?

If this were the last slow curling
Of your fingers in my palm
If this were the last I felt you breathing
How would I carry on?

This is not the last snowfall
Not our last embrace
But if I were that kind of grateful
What would I try to say?

Cal Basketball Game

We made it a family affair this past weekend when the Cal Bears played the Princeton Tigers. The Bears won the game rather handily, but perhaps the highlight for our kids was seeing a couple of their Ygnacio Wood Seahorses swimming coaches (current Coaches Brian and Anna and former Coach Matt) at the game. It turns out Anna's brother is a starting guard on the Princeton team. So naturally his family and friends were in attendance in number under the name "The Marcus Fan Club."

After the game, we went courtside to say hello to Anna because we saw her sitting courtside during the game. That's Anna on the left in the photo below.



Back to the game. We had two tickets because Uncle John was not attending. Then when we were buying our tickets we scored a freebie so we only had to buy two tickets. What a deal!

Here's a photo after the game from near where we sit. It shortly after this photo that we turned around and Ryan was flying down to the court to say "hello."



Here are a couple more photos from the game.

Don't Stop Believing

Here Comes the Train!

We were finally able to set up the train track set that we got from Ojiichan and Obaachan a couple years ago. It's a set with Disney characters painted on the sides of the cars.

2009 Pictures of Autumn

We have kept a busy schedule during this 2009 autumn season. The weather has cooperated for the most part. Not much rain and moderate temperatures.


Starting from the upper left: Ryan as a construction worker helping to clean up the back yard; Ethan with friends Ben (wearing Cal sweat shirt) and Cal at Chabot Observatory school field trip; the three kids with their pumpkin carvings under the gazebo; Ethan at Karate belt test; Ethan as clone trooper, Ryan as an army man and Naomi as a witch; Ethan and Naomi with Auntie Betty and Uncle Alden; Naomi as "Jupiter" in School House Rock musical at school; Ethan with Den Leader Louis and Nate on Scouting for Food; and Naomi in group photo after piano recital.

Cal Bears Spoil Roses for Cardinal

Ethan had a belt test today at Bay Area Mountain Martial Arts & Fitness, where he was going for his blue belt in their Dragons Karate program. Ethan's belt test was as good as the Bears' game today.

Yes, today was Big Game Saturday. The underdog Cal Bears against the red hot Cardinal. The game was a late afternoon game on the Farm with Rose Bowl hopes on the line for one team.

Cardinal Colors Man: Do you think your team will do it?

Cal Bears Man: I don't know, but that's why they play 'em.

Cardinal Colors Man: I think that Stanford team will take it. They look pretty good.

Cal Bears Man: They look good, but it's the Big Game. You kind of have to throw all the stats out.

This was an exchange immediately after the belt test. The game was not available in my cable package. To get the game, I would have to upgrade to a digital package costing about $20 per month more. So by the time I remembered the game and looked it up on-line, the Bears were already down 0-14 and they were not out of the first quarter. I could picture the Cardinal side of the house already hedging their bets and placing calls for hotels rooms in Pasadena.

Those hopes were dashed when Stanford's young QB Luck who came into the game leading the Pac-10 in QB rating threw an ill-advised pass under heavy pressure from Cameron Jordan. This is the the same Cameron Jordan who was ragged (from afar and beyond hearing distance) by a couple of my friends at a recent Cal Bears basketball game. "You should not be here. You should be studying film on your next opponent." The Bears would go on that week to get dismantled by the Beavers. Bears are not suppose to lose to Beavers.

The not so Luck-y pass was intercepted near the goal line and the Bears' 34-28 win was preserved. This was a play that was not so dissimilar to the one by Riley two years ago against the Beavers. Young QB under heavy pressure who folds when his team was on the verge of winning or at least extending the game with greater spoils around the corner. How sweet it is!

Fall Piano Recital 2009

Naomi is really enjoying her piano playing. She has a great teacher who is generous enough to offer multiple opportunities for her students to play in public at recitals, senior homes, etc.

In this Fall's recital, Naomi played two pieces.

The first was "Go Tell Aunt Rhody," a American folk song set to music from a French opera by Rousseau called "Le Devin du Village" from 1752. That's Naomi's teacher next to her. Ethan shot this video.



The second was a duet playing of a song called "Carousel" with her friend Natalie. Mom shot this video.

Legos for Legos

We have a friend who has been blogging about shedding and culling stuff. We've had this same discussion about making room with our kids recently.

We say "making room" because invariably the Christmas season will bring more toys, games, and other "items to amuse us" for our kids. The sense of clutter blankets the boys' room more so than it does Naomi's room. And really it's the amount of Lego pieces in their room. They have buckets and buckets of Lego pieces, each piece at one time being a part of some set, now all cruelly mixed together. "Help, I'm missing my elbow piece," says a former Lego robot. "I'm over here with the Lego car pieces," says the elbow piece. It's funny, they don't want to give up any pieces, but we parents seem to care more about pieces being out of place.

So Christmas will come and go, and the prediction is that we have Lego pieces being replaced by other Lego pieces. Something has to give, doesn't it?

Time for a Family Bike Ride

Ethan spent time this afternoon on our street practicing his bike riding. Within an hour or so he was riding on his own. Maybe this will distract him from his talk about wanting to build a fort in our backyard.

His bike a hand-me-down from Naomi. He agreed to take it if we painted it so we spray painted it from its original purple color to blue. We took off the dog spot decals too. We still have to replace the seat which has the matching purple with dog spots theme.

He's added his own touch to the bike by taping a tissue box to the front of the handlebars so that there would be a spot for his teddy bear.

Questions and More Questions

Kids are really good at stalling when they don't want to do something. They are also very inquisitive. Here's what happened this evening at bedtime:

Ryan: What color are germs? [he's lying in bed]

Me: I guess it might depend on the type of germ. You might see different colors with a microscope.

Ryan: What's a swine flu?

Me: It's a type of flu that came from pigs.

Ethan: What's a swine? [leaning near the edge of his loft bed]

Me: It's another name for pigs. Okay, it's time for bed now.

Ryan: No, no, no. I have another question.

Me: Okay.

Ryan: Are nails harder than wood?

Me: Yes, nails are harder. That's why you can hammer nails into a piece of wood.

Ethan: So why do nails bend, but boards don't?

Me: That's a good one. Now it is time for bed. [later Dorothy told me that Ethan and Cal were hammering nails into boards the other day over at Cal's house]

Halloween 2009

That wraps up another Halloween. The perfect weather (last year it rained) probably had a little to do with it, but we had the most trick-or-treaters in all the years that we have lived in our current place. There seemed to be more kids from outside our area walking our neighborhood.

This year Naomi was a witch, Ethan was a clone trooper from Star Wars, and Ryan was an army guy. They met up with friends and spent about two hours walking the neighborhood.

Auntie and Uncle visited afterward to end the evening, bringing over some goodies for the kids. They reported that a larger number of kids than last year came by their house too.

Songs Played After MLB Home Wins

Before the 2009 season is over, let's salute all those wins across MLB stadiums. Some teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants have played the same song after home wins over several seasons. These songs have come to become synonymous with the team. For a few teams, I was not able to identify a song.

Boston Red Sox – “Dirty Water” by The Standells
New York Yankees – “New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra
Baltimore Orioles – “Orioles Magic” written by Perfect Pitch Inc. (did they play this in 2009?)
Toronto Blue Jays – ????
Tampa Bay Rays – “Feel the Heat Rays” by Living Under Venus

Cleveland Indians – “Rock and Roll All Night ” by KISS
Detroit Tigers – “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang
Minnesota Twins – ????
Chicago White Sox – “Sweet Home Chicago” by The Blues Brothers
Kansas City Royals – “Kansas City” by The Beatles

Oakland A’s – “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang
Seattle Mariners – “Kernkraft 400” by Zombie Nation
Los Angeles Angels – “California Angels A-OK” by Dick and Shirley Winslow
Texas Rangers – “I Like Texas” by Pat Green

New York Mets – “Takin’ Care of Business” by BTO
Philadelphia Phillies – “Goin’ Back to Philadelphia, PA” by Bobby Burnett
Washington Nationals – “Beautiful Day” by U2
Florida Marlins – ????
Atlanta Braves – ????

Chicago Cubs – “Go, Cubs, Go” by Steve Goodman
St. Louis Cardinals – Not sure if there is one song, but the organist often plays “Beautiful Day” by u2
Houston Astros – ????
Milwaukee Brewers –Not sure if there is one song, but Jasen Roby the saxophonist under I-94 plays the “Rocky” theme song after wins
Cincinnati Reds – ????
Pittsburgh Pirates – ????

San Diego Padres – “Rock and Roll Part 2” by Gary Glitter
San Francisco Giants – “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” by Tony Bennett
Los Angeles Dodgers – “I Love L.A.” by Randy Newman
Colorado Rockies – “Rocky Mountain Way” by Joe Walsh
Arizona Diamondbacks – “D-backs Swing” by Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers

Those Darn Raccoons!

We have raccoons tearing up our lawn. This is a new experience for us - one that's been ongoing for a couple of weeks now. Our neighbors actually saw them one evening. She said it looked like a mom and maybe two or three little ones.

They have visited us three or four times now, each time digging up the same part of the lawn. We understand that they are just foraging for food. This happens in the fall when all of the hills are dry and brown, and lawns are not.

We sent an email to Gary Bogue, a newspaper columnist with our local paper, who has assembled a pamphlet on tips for dealing with raccoons. We've added a link to Gary's web site to the Links section of this blog for anyone interested.

We've tried leaving the outdoor light on near where they've been digging. We were told that we could kill the grubs in the lawn that they are after, but we haven't done this yet. We changed the time when the sprinklers come on hoping that they would find the wetter than normal lawn to not be to their liking. Who are we kidding, these are animals that will forage through almost anything. We probably really should turn off the water and dry out the lawn. We'll see what happens.

Jeremy Cohen

Yes, we had quite the musical weekend. On Saturday, we took the kids to see the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra. Besides the price being right, it was also a chance to see Naomi's piano teacher play. The treat of the night was the playing of violinist Jeremy Cohen. He was the starring musician in a set featuring a Duke Ellington medley. It was quite a riveting piece.

Jeremy Cohen is a member of Quartet San Francisco. Here's a link to the video page at their web site that includes a video of the quartet playing "Libertango" by Astor Piazzolla amongst other compositions.

Jeremy Cohen's set that featured the Duke Ellington medley really did steal the show. It even had the kids' attention. After the intermission, the orchestra played the story of "Peter and the Wolf." The idea of a story through music sounds interesting, but Ryan did not see it the same way as he soundly slept his way through the entire number.

The Story of Billy McLaughlin

Billy McLaughlin was the guest musician at our church this weekend. He demonstrated his unique method for playing the guitar. The story about his battle with a neuromuscular disease called focal dystonia was shared, but it was only after checking out his web site that the extent of his battle was really apparent.

The Very Definition of Inspiration

What if Wynton Marsalis played a set with your high school jazz band, and it was entirely unplanned? This is exactly what happened to the Vaca High Jazz Ensemble at this past weekend's Vacaville Jazz Festival.

The story goes that Wynton Marsalis was driving down I-80 on his way to the Monterey Jazz Festival when he saw a banner for the Vacaville festival. He of the nine Grammys and a Pulitzer Prize quietly joined the high school band on stage. His time included one solo (see video below). As quickly as he joined the band, he was gone after a handful of songs, some autograph signing and other pleasantries.

This is probably something that these kids and their parents are going to remember foe quite some time.

Ichiro Gets 2000

Ichiro got his 2000th Major League Baseball (MLB )hit today against the A's. If you combine this with the hits that he got in 9 years playing professional baseball in Japan (starting as an 18 year old) before joining MLB, it would be enough to place him 12th on the all-time MLB list just 5 behind Willie Mays' 3283 hits.

Pete Rose leads the hit parade with 4256 career hits in his major league career. He got a hit about every 3.3 times at bat. Ichiro in just his MLB career has averaged a hit every 3.0 times at bat. If you add his Japanese baseball stats, then it's one hit every 2.93 at bats.

He's made it to 2000 faster than anyone not named Al Simmons who went on to finish with 2927 hits. He'll be 36 when baseball starts next year, when he should have about 2040 hits. By the time he finishes his first season as a 40 year old five years from now, he should be at about 3140 hits.

At one point, it was thought that Ichiro's stats in Japan would be needed to help him get into the MLB Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. This is no longer the case. He's gotten 200 hits in all 10 years in the majors. Pete Rose did not get his 10th 200-hit season until his 17th season. Ichiro also has been a Gold Glove fielder each year in the majors. He's broken the all-time single season hits record. He led the Mariners to their record 116-win season. Now it's just a matter of how many more stats he will amass before he decides to hang up his cleats for good.

Ponyo

We went to see this movie with my mom during her visit with us. Now I'll find Ryan humming the theme song from time-to-time. So here is the song with lyrics.