2015 Middle School Honor Band

Here is a performance from the School District's Middle School Honor Band.  You can make out the top of Ethan's head just to the right of the conductor.

Cal Commit Jaylen Brown and Shareef Abdur-Rahim

There are some interesting connections that link Jaylen Brown with Cal. Brown is a product of Wheeler High School in Georgia. Not a usual locale for Cal to find basketball players, but this is not first highly regarded recruit to commut to Cal.

Shareef Abdur-Rahom, who might've been the first and maybe only one-and-done player to play hoops at Cal (even Jason Kidd played for two years) was also from Wheeler High. Now Cal could have two such players from the same high school in Georgia (if Jaylen Brown does turn pro after only one year at Cal as expected).

The other school connection between that Shareef team and today's Bears' team is the University of Tennessee. Cuonzo Martin, Cal's current coach only ended up at Cal because of Tennessee did not want him. The other key player on that Cal team led by Shareef was Ed Gray who was a transfer from Tennessee.

 

Cal Students Perform "Uptown Funk"

Seahawk Video

What a Quarter by "Trey" Thompson

Klay Thompson scored 37 points in the third quarter of last night's Warrior's game to turn what was a 58-58 game-in-doubt against the Kings into a laugher.  The 37 points in a quarter broke the team record that was held by Wilt Chamberlain and also the all-time NBA record of 33 points in a quarter that was shared by George "The Iceman" Gervin and Carmello Anthony.  He actually scored his points in 9 minutes and 45 seconds of the quarter that works out to about one point every 15 seconds, including scoring 19 points in row and finishing the quarter scoring the final 18 points for the Warriors.  Amazing!

2014 Christmas Family Video

Here's a video of family activities through the end of the year.

Ryan's 2014 Christmas Dance

Here's Ryan's 2014 Christmas dance...

Ethan in Jazz Band - Chili Pepper Solo

Ethan had a trumpet solo in his middle school jazz band's playing of a song titled "Chili Pepper."

Naomi's Art

One of Naomi's hobbies is art.  She likes to draw animals but has branched off into on-line art and photography as well.  here's a sample called "Play the Wind."



To see more, follow her at: http://loneecho.deviantart.com/

No Soup for You!

...because it's a meat pie!!!

2014 Christmas Feast

We had another successful Christmas evening feast at Chuck and Yuki's house.

The menu included the following:
Turkey
Roast Chicken
Lasagna
Mac and Cheese
Sachiyo's Popular Chow Mein
Obaachan's Popular Scallop Casserole
Beef Stew
Sweet Potatoes
Stuffing
Mash Potatoes
Rice
Garlic Green Beans
Green Salad
Corn Casserole
Garlic Bread
Cranberry Sauce
Mango Sticky Rice
Sachiyo's Popular Egg Rolls
Homemade Gravy

And for dessert we had apple and cherry pie with spumoni, peanut butter and chocolate and/or strawberry ice cream.

And before the meal, our intrepid bakers came bearing several types of cookies.

And before that there were countless bags and plates of chocolates.

Here is collage with proof of the food carnage. Okay, so there wasn't much carnage.  Mostly just happy eaters.  We are still eating left overs today.



But alas, our hosts opted to stick to just sweet potatoes...



After dinner and dessert, all manner of card games and a viewing of everyone's all time Christmas favorite "Pacific Rim" ( a story of robots doing battle with monsters) was had by some.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the California Emotos

Okay, so we didn't get our cards out in time for them to arrive before the big day for many of you. So in its place, we'd like to electronically send you this greeting.



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

from,

Casey, Dorothy, Naomi, Ethan and Ryan

Science Experiment Video

In high school, not only do you get to do science experiments, but you also get opportunities to make videos of your experiment. Here's Naomi's latest.

Ryan's Surprise

Sometimes when Ryan uses the bathroom it takes a while. Maybe this is too much information, but let's continue the story. On one recent occasion, we decided to surprise him by turning out the lights and hiding to see what he would do. This video shows what happened. The room was fairly dark. The image has been lightened so you can see his reaction.

Chili Pepper - Ethan Plays a Trumpet Solo

Here's a recent jazz band concert where Ethan had a trumpet solo.

Beast Mode Strikes Again!

Marshawn Lynch does it again. In tonight's Seahawks-Cardinals game, he ran through and over the Cardinals defense to his longest TD run of his career. Here's the radio call of the run by the Seahawks radio broadcast team:
 
Here's the video clip:


Another incredible run by the former Cal Bears running back!

Sketch of Dudley

. Sketch of Auntie Barbara's dog Dudley drawn by Naomi.

Life in a Walk

Last year, a new show ran on the Pac-12 network called "The Drive." In the show, two Pac-12 football teams were followed for the entire season and the Cal Bears was one of those teams. Unfortunately for Cal, they were featured in a season where they only won a single game and had a historically poor season by anyone's definition. The person responsible for the show was a former assistant coach with USC from back in the Pete Carroll days, Yogi Roth.

His latest creation is a film called "Life in a Walk" based on a trip that he took with his father, the premise being that life is too short to not spend more time with the people that mean the most to you. From this has sprouted a movement based on this same theme. Check it out.

 

Forever Young by Alphaville

Here is one of the songs in the previous Seahawks video.

Time to Defend...

Listen to what they were saying about the Seahawks before their Super Bowl win.  Wonder what the pundits have to say this year?