Basketball Dribbling Five Year Old

Here's a video of a 5-year old from San Leandro here in the Bay Area who has advanced basketball dribbling skills for her age. She attends something called the Triple Threat Academy. We first saw her as part of a halftime show at a recent Cal men's basketball game. Ryan has expressed an interest in wanting to learn how to dribble a basketball so we had actually inquired into their program. The rates were not too bad, but we haven't signed up.

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a nice little Thanksgiving dinner at our place this year. It was a smaller gathering than most years so we were able to get all of the adults a seat at one long table. The kids got their own separate table. The menu included: turkey, ham, stuffing, mash potatoes, corn casserole, bok choy and mushroom, green salad, fruit salad, an appetizer platter, winter melon soup, and rice; and then there was sparkling juice, wine, sodas, apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake. There certainly was enough food and even more for doggie bags for those wanting to take a little home.

Oh, yes, and Ryan got the larger half of the turkey wishbone this year.

Tinkerbell

We've had a guest for the past week in our home. Tinkerbell, the pet guinea pig from Ryan's preschool classroom.



In the photo below, Tinkerbell gets a treat on Thanksgiving Day.

What in the World Do I Do?

Friends back home have asked me what I do for a living. Sometimes it's not easy to explain.

Check this out though. Here's a link to a newspaper article on freeway improvements that was forwarded to me by a friend:

Fixing I-880: the never-ending story

So now you know that my work involves freeways. So how did someone who grew up in a small Alaskan town with no traffic signals and traffic signs used more for target practice (are they still?) get to work on freeways?

The Bears Tribute to Pete Newell

The Bears postgame show with Roxy Bernstein featured stories about Pete Newell who passed away yesterday at the age of 93. Here is a sample:

The first 5 times that Coach Newell coached against John Wooden he went 0-5 against the Wizard of Westwood. UCLA was still not quite the powerhouse that they would become, but nevertheless losing to the south state rival Bruins didn't sit too well with Coach Newell. The story goes that before the Bears' 6th match-up under Newell against the Bruins, one of the Bruins' players provided bulletin board material. Something about the Bears not being able to beat the Bruins. Well, in their next 8 games, the Bears went 8-0 against the Bruins. Pete finished his coaching career with a record of 8-5 against Coach Wooden. How many other coaches can say that they finished their career with a winning record against Wooden?

Did not know that former Bears assistant coach (and now head coach at New Orleans) Joe Pasternack held a special spot with Coach Newell. About 3 weeks ago, Joe traveled out to San Diego for a couple days to visit with Coach Newell before the season started. After Coach Newell's passing, if Joe didn't already know it, he learned just what Pete thought about him. One of Pete's sons called and in their conversation, Joe learned that Pete felt especially close to three coaches: Coach Knight, Coach K, and Joe.

A few years ago during a Bears game against SDSU in San Diego, Pete sat next to Roxy who called the game solo. Pete sitting next to Roxy was not planned. Anyway, Pete spent the game scribbling notes that he would pass onto Roxy (who was next to the Cal bench) to pass onto the Cal coaching staff. The notes were about possible adjustments that Cal could make. The Bears would go on to win the game.

Now onto the game...

The Bears won 87-74. Cliche warning! ...but the game was much closer than indicated by the final score. In fact, the Dons scored 11 straight points in the middle of the second stanza to take a 60-59 lead. Fueled by a Randle 3-pointer that put the Bears back up, the Bears ran away with the game on the strength of a 16-2 run.

It was only fitting that the first game on Newell Court after the passing of one the most respected coaches in college basketball history would be a game between two teams once coached by the Coach. Prior to the game, a tribute to Coach Newell was displayed on the video board followed by a moment of silence.

The game ended quite anticlimactically with the Bears up comfortably. The final box score will only show that the final Bears' basket was a jumper scored by Patrick Christopher. What the box score will not show is how and why the jumper was scored. The Dons were not fouling with the outcome of the game decided, and the Bears were content to wind down the clock. At the end of clock, Randle set up Christopher for a baseline jumper. Nothing remarkable on the surface, but it spoke volumes about Randle's command and control of the game - quite a contrast to how the season unfolded last year.

Oh, by the way, Randle tallied 25 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists with just 2 turnovers.

The Bears are going to need to find some toughness inside. Although they are now 2 for 2 with the rebounding battle, it is a little surprising that this is the case. Perhaps, this is because they have been guilty of giving up rebounds that seem to turn into points. Max Zhang will need to be able to play more minutes, especially against the beefier teams. It seemed that when Max was on the floor, USF was quite aware of his presence and made it a point to not challenge on the inside.

Next Game: 11/20 (Thursday) against the Texas-Pan American Broncos.

New King Cove - Cold Bay Roadway

Having flown into King Cove on several occasions, it's understandable why an option to be able to fly into and out from Cold Bay is being sought. However, it does not seem that this is a black-and-white issue.

There have been recent stories on the proposed new roadway in the local papers in Alaska and also in papers here in the Lower 48. It's one of those locals versus outside environmental groups where both sides have valid points for and against the project. The articles have included quotes attributed to: president of National Wildlife Refuge Association (against the project), mayor of the Aleutians East Borough (for the project), and other people of note. The articles have mentioned Shell executives (presumably for the project), Fish and Wildlife Service (for the project), Governor Sarah Palin (for the project), the New York Times (against the project), and others.

So what are the opinions of the local people regarding questions and comments like those below?

1. This is really not about the roadway providing a needed safety valve for medical emergencies. It's about taking one step toward future oil and gas exploration in the area.

2. The hover craft system that is in place is too costly (running a deficit of about $500,000 per year) to operate for much longer.

3. How can the new roadway be a much better option when it could take two or three times longer to drive on the new road than it does to take the hover craft to Cold Bay?

4. The hover craft has limitations like not being able to operate when wind speeds are over 30 mph. Is this limitations of the hover craft really an issue?

5. The new roadway will have detrimental impacts to one of the most valuable wetlands in the world.

6. Locals have traveled the area for years on trails and dirt roads for years without an impact to the local wildlife.

Here's a story from the point of view of project opposers.

Here's story from the point of view of project supporters.

The following is a video from those supporting the project and includes local people that some of you may recognize:

A Historic Election

In his concession speech although John McCain looked a little tired, it was one of his finer moments of the campaign. His speech sounded much more genuine as compared to his campaign rhetoric down the stretch to the finish line. The results seem to indicate that the race was not so close.

Obama's speech was full of hope, but he's got a difficult task awaiting. Here are some steps that he should take:

1. Prepare and implement a plan to move our country toward energy independence.
2. Remake government so that it can really make a difference in the lives of ordinary people.
3. Set a tone of accountability; be willing to own up to mistakes.
4. Offer John McCain a seat in his Cabinet.

And finally...

Ryan says, "You rock Obama! I knew that you could do it!"

The Voters

Tomorrow's the big day. Then there is what kids have to say about what tomorrow means.

Me: Who's McCain? How about Obama?

Ethan: Yeah, they're those voters.

Me: What do you mean?

Ethan: You know, those people that you vote for.

Me: So are you saying they need us?

Ethan: Yeah, the voters need us to win.

Ryan (in the background): Yahoo! Go Obama! (over and over)

Halloween 2008

We had a soggy Halloween this year, but this did not deter our kids from making the rounds. Let's see now... Naomi was Sacagawea, Ethan was a clone trooper from the Star Wars stories and Ryan was Mater from the movie Cars.

California Academy of Sciences

We got a chance to go check out the remodeled California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco that reopened on September 27, 2008. We were able to visit the weekend of October 3 when Obaachan visited.



The message that this is a "green" building is everywhere. Not to nitpick, but we found one way that they could become even greener (get rid of the requirement for kids under 6 who are free to enter to purchase a paper ticket - something about needing this to keep track of the number of visitors). There were a couple of items from the old building: the Pendulum and the seahorse railings. We missed the over-sized Gary Larson "The Far Side" cartoons.

At the end of the day, we asked the kids if they preferred the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Two of the three said that they did prefer the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Maybe it was the fact that we stayed at a hotel on the beach the last time we went to the Aquarium.

There's No Crying in Cutting Onions

The Food Detectives hosted on the Food Network by Ted Allen (former food and wine specialist on Queer Eye and current judge on Top Chef) had a segment where they investigated methods for tear-free onion slicing and dicing. They tested four methods: a piece of bread between your teeth, cutting onions in water, having a lit candle nearby, and chilling.

A piece of bread is suppose to be able to offset the sulfuric gases emitted from a cut onion by soaking up the gases before they reach your eyes. No dice. Did not work.

Submerging the onion in water while cutting is suppose to be able to dampen the effects. Onions float. The cut pieces end up floating and emitting gases. Again a thumbs down.

The flame from a lit candle is suppose to oxidize the gases, but again this did not work. Perhaps a romantic setting with a thousand candles would work.

A chilled onion is suppose to slow down the release of the impacting enzymes. Eureka, it works! So the next time you are going to cut onions put them in the fridge crisper for about an hour before slicing and dicing.

Better to Have Sweet Dreams than "MareNights"

Our Ryan has been fighting his second bout with a cold since the start of the school year.

Last night he woke up not soon after going to sleep because of a nightmare. I asked him this evening if he remembered waking up. The answer was, "No."

This evening when Dorothy was saying good night to him they had this exchange:

Mom: Okay, Ryan, have sweet dreams tonight.

Ryan: Yeah, I don't want to have any mare-nights.

Earthquake!

Wow, we just had an earthquake! Sitting here blogging and a quake rattled the house right at 9am. The reports are saying that it was a 4.0 quake about 7 miles south of Concord centered near Danville (that's where Ryan's friend Brooksie lives). I ran over to the bathroom where the kids were washing up and found them huddled with Dorothy in the doorway.

We're all okay, but it was a decent size temblor that lasted for about 15 seconds. It just rolled through peaking twice.

Is Politics Ready for the Internet Age?

The answer is, "Apparently not." See video below.

For some, this hypocrisy does not matter. The only issue that matters for these people is that a candidate is anti-abortion. What the candidate says, and how consistent they are on other matters does not matter one bit, as long as they are anti-abortion.

By the way, Wasilla is not the second largest city in Alaska. It is not even a third of the third most populous city, Juneau, that has a population of just over 30,000. Fairbanks is second with a population of just over 34,000. I don't think that it needs to be mentioned that Anchorage is number one. Here's one link where this information is available: http://www.citypopulation.de/php/usa-alaska.php

Last 2008 Summer Mini-Vacation

We took one last trip to Monterey before summer was over. Here are some pictures from the trip. Enjoy!

The Olympics in Review

Can't say that we watch an overwhelming amount of the Olympics. Too often, we knew the results before the actual telecast. The coverage was not exactly scintillating either. The third strike was the endless parade of commercials.

The following is a recap of the Olympics by number provided by Jay Weiner of The Sporting News:

204: Record number of nations participating.
132: Olympic records set.
87: Nations that won medals.
80: Ratings share in China for the Opening Ceremonies.
43: World records set.
43: Percent of competitors who were women, highest ever.
40: Olympic-bound athletes popped for drug use BEFORE the Games and barred; six caught during the Games . . . so far.
8: Gold medals for U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps.
4: Nations winning their first-ever medals (Afghanistan, Mauritius, Tajikistan and Togo)
3: Gold medals for Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.
3: Nations winning their first-ever gold medals (Bahrain, Mongolia and Panama).
2: Batons dropped by U.S. 4x100 relay teams.

The extremely commercial nature of the Games and the competition by nations to be the host nation are somewhat of a turn-off. I don't think that this is what the Greeks had in mind with the Olympics.

What would be more interesting and engender more of a united nations of the world atmosphere would be an Olympics that had the following:

1. All events would be team events
2. Any nation that wants to send athletes would be allowed to do so.
3. Once at the site, the athletes would allowed to sign for events.
4. Teams would be selected for each event by randomly drawing names of signed up athletes to form teams. Each team made up of athletes of various nations would compete against one another.
5. To ensure balance on the teams, the athletes would be given a score based on past performance that could be used for the random draw (e.g., each team would have the same number of top tier athletes).

This would be global athletics.

The Swing

Tired of watching superhuman feats being performed by Michael Phelps and the other Olympians? Here's a cure for you from the Round Mound of Rebound who redefines the phrase "having a hitch in your swing."

It's That Little Man Again

Let's set the time and place: It's prime time on our couch as the Olympics are getting underway. For some reason, it's only Ryan and me watching.

Ryan: Who is that?

Dad: That's Bob Costas (he's reporting from Tiananmem Square)

Ryan: Why is he so small?

It's been said that Costas is not a tall guy. There was one on-line site that listed his height at 5' 7". Other references about him note him being no more than 5' 5". Do they pad heights for reporters like they do for athletes?

He did look small. Was it the expanse of Tiananmem Square? Or was it because of the camera angle (the camera seemed to be pointed down on him)? I thought that the camera angle was kind of strange. Aren't there rules against shooting downward on someone who is already short in stature?

So now when we are watching the Olympics and see Costas, Ryan always says, "There's that little man again!"

How to Elect the Next President

We can have lots of fun with the next presidential election. No worries about hanging chads, unless we have a guy named Chad who can dunk a basketball and hang from the rim. No worries about hacking into electronic voting systems, unless the hacking is of the basketball variety. No worries about ballot stuffing unless it's another guy named Chad that can dunk.

I present to you the Presidential decathlon. Here are the 10 events:

1. A game of H-O-R-S-E. Obama might have this one in the bag (see video).



2. Be the first to be able to take a jet to mach 1 (maybe a McCain event?)

3. A game of horseshoes (a very American event)

4. Hot dog eating contest (SJSU's Joey Chestnut would be the favorite if he were old enough to run for President)

5. A debate contest using random topics (Nader might be the odds on favorite with this one)

6. A driving test (appropriate for a nation in love with its cars)

7. A cannonball contest (most water on pool deck wins!)

8. An essay on "Why I want to be President" (judges would be top 10 finishers in Scripps National Spelling Bee Contest)

9. Talent contest (judged by Dave Attell and staff from Comedy Central's Gong Show; our next President will have to have a sense of humor)

10. U.S. citizenship test (this would be a timed event; most points for fastest finish)

Most total points is next President; runner-up is Vice President.

Seahorse Coaches' Performance

One of the highlights of Spirit Week leading up to the League Championships is the coaches' performance. Here's this year's rendition to the sounds of Thriller and Hammer Time.