Star Trek

Movie Review

I took Sam, Ammon and Ben to see Star Trek. I was a little anxious about the new crew playing old roles-though I understand that the remaining members of the original cast are aged a bit past playing action roles. I was really worried about Zachary Quinto as Spock, because I don't like him much in "Heroes." He did a good job, though, and I quickly forgot about his other roles. Chris Pine was fine as Kirk, and didn 't chew the scenery nearly as much as William Shatner. Zoe Saldana as Uhura is amazing and lovely and perfect. Leonard Nimoy did fine as the older Spock. The adventure was good and exciting, the special effects were not out of control but supported the plot and action. A very solid movie, 4 stars (of 5) and I recommend seeing it. The theater was full, we had done well to get there a little early.

Ice Cream with Lura and Joshua

I took Sam and Ammon out to see Star Trek, which is a little to old a movie for Joshua and Lura, so I took them out to DQ for ice cream. You can see that Lura's approach is a bit neater than Joshua's. I appreciate that Sarah dressed Joshua up in new clothes before we left-I should've gotten a "before" picture. He really enjoyed the ice cream, but after a short time it was dripping off his wrists. I'd never seen that before!

Ben's Family Garden

Ben and his family have planted a nice garden in raised beds. When I visited today, Sam and Joshua harvested the first radishes and they planted some lettuce, spinach, beans, peas, sunflowers, pumpkins, and arugula. Yeah, they're elitist arugula planters too, just like the Obamas. Ben built a small green house with plastic sheets and tubing. Because they're close to an old smelter in Tacoma, they have to plant in raised beds (high levels of arsenic in the native soil). In the greenhouse, they have tomatos and peppers as well as first crop radishes. You can see this great head of red lettuce, really big and beautiful. They're excited to harvest later in the summer.

6 by 6

OK, I don't completely understand this stuff, but here it is, a picture from Lukas' birthday party.

A Day in Three Parts

Part 1-Soccer

I drove up to Whidbey Island today to spend some time with Becky's family, but the main reason I came up TODAY was see one of Lukas' soccer games. So I arrived on time and we drove out to the school yard where the soccer game was to be played. And the other team never arrived. There was some confusion about the schedule and they weren't coming. So, no soccer game. I hadn't expected the World Cup, but this was a bit of a disappointment. For me. The kids, 5 year olds, they didn't really notice, except one boy who was upset because he didn't get his treat.

Part 2-Filipino Food

Becky had told me that there was a new filipino restaurant in Oak Harbor, so we went there. The place is called Tura Tura Island, and the food was great. The waitresses were wearing T-shirts that said "Got Lumpia?" and that was enough for me. We started with lumpia, and then had pancit, bbq chicken, chicken adobo and lechon pork. All very good. There was Halo-Halo on the menu for dessert, but we were all too full!

Part 3-The Beach

Then we went to the beach. It was a beautiful day, mild temperatures, sunny, days that don't happen in May in Washington. The kids found water to play in and Emelia kinda tried to make a sand castle. Lukas got very wet. Zack was just pleased with himself for no clear reason. It was nice and warm and fun. No Boracay, but pretty good!

My Heart-Under Attack?

Given the name of the blog, this is an odd name for a post but, in this case appropriate.

On Tuesday afternoon, on my way home from work, I began to experience severe chest pains. I got only as far as Sixth Avenue when I had to stop and I called 911. The Seattle Fire Department arrived promptly and took me to Virginia Mason Hospital. They started treatment in the ambulance, where I received 4 baby aspirin and 2 doses of sublingual nitroglycerin. My chest still hurt, it felt tight and I felt short of breath.

In Virginia Mason, I received more nitro--another pill and a chest patch--as well as morphine. My pain began to ease. I was admitted to the hospital. I called Nathan and Mary and asked Nathan to move my car, which was parked illegally (or at least I thought it was) on Sixth Avenue. This was my first night in a hospital. The staff at Virginia Mason was great, very attentive, very caring and wonderfully professional. Actually, even the hospital food was pretty decent. I settled in for overnight, wired, on oxygen and very nervous.

They did several tests; an ultrasound of my left leg (to see if the chronic swelling there was related to a blood clot), a cardiac catheterization, and a CT scan of my aorta. All the tests were negative. After the cath, the doctor told me I had the "arteries of an 18-year old." So, I was discharged home with a final diagnosis of "Atypical Chest Pain," which means they don't know what was going on.

While I was in the hospital I had great visits from Sarah and Gary, from Becky and Mike along with Lukas, Emelia and Zackery and from Nathan and Mary. I got phone calls from Ben, Mom and Steve as well from Rubie, Janet and Amy. All the visits and each of the phone calls was a real boost and I appreciate the concern. The kids were a great distraction while we waited for the call to the catherterization lab, which was about a half hour late. Sarah showed them how to make balloons from rubber gloves. Finally, you can see from this picture of Emelia how things turned out in the end!

Lukas Rides His Bike

Lukas is quite the bike rider already, age 5. He's playing soccer, he's signed up for kindergarten, he's growing up! This was Mother's Day on Whidbey Island. Mike made some wonderful pulled pork--slow cooked for 12 hours--and we had a great day. Emelia changed outfits at least 5 times (that I counted, while I was there). Zack enjoyed playing with us all for a while, but then was off for a nap. Grandpa was jealous!

Becky is such a terrific mother. I really enjoy watching her with her kids. They're a handful--Emelia is a handful by herself--but Becky is just unfailingly outstanding with them. I hope she enjoyed her Mother's Day. I was happy to be there.

G. Washington on Treatment of Prisoners

These were the instructions of General George Washington to troops under his command after the Continental Army captured several thousand Hessians at Trenton:

"should any American soldier be so base and infamous as to injur[e] any [of them]... I do most earnestly enjoin you to bring him to such severe and exemplary punishment as the enormity of the crime may require. Should it extend to death itself, it will not be disproportional to its guilt at such a time and in such a cause." Any officer who failed to heed this direction, he said, would bring "shame, disgrace and ruin to themselves and their country."

"Shame, disgrace and ruin..."

Pretty strong words. We were in a much more basic and existential conflict then than we are now, but Washington knew that our honor, our self-respect and the very nature of our nation was on display in how we treated prisoners.

SOCIALISM!--Or, "Now You Have Cholera"

Follow this link to a wonderful video highlighting the dangers of socialism. We all need to be alert to this encroaching menace that threatens our American Way of Life. As the man in the video says, "we don't want our government doing anything for us." Soon we can all say, "I have cholera," the cholera of FREEDOM!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QDv4sYwjO0&feature=player_embedded