Two Old Friends in Alexandra, VA

Today I had the pleasure of meeting with Lucia Sedgwick, who I went to high school.  I don't remember the last time I was with Lucia, although I have followed here posts on the website for alumna.   Lucia and I met on King Street in Old Alexandria and had some tea and bagel before walking down to the Old Torpedo Factory.

It was wonderful to reconnect with Lucia and learn about the twists and turns her life has taken.  She currently works at the Confucius Center at George Mason University.

While Lucia and I were walking around, I heard a "Mr. Rice?" voice.  Who should I walk into, but Donovan Ennevor from Breck.  He is here in DC visiting his grandmother.  His mom, is there in the background.  Great fun!

Happy Holidays

 So this Holiday break starts with 17" of snow in Minneapolis.  Here it is snowing pretty well during the middle of the day.  This storm provided lots of quality time with the old snow blower.











Here is my loyal steed, Moonie, in front of our frozen frasier fur.  Moonie is being polite and posing for the picture, but she would much prefer we leave the house so she can sneak some more from the chocolate-covered potato chip container.














Finally, here is Erik, Shiho, and Winston celebrating Christmas in Washington.  Erik is just getting over having been sick for several days before flying out.  Shiho is examining her five-bunny wash rag (somewhat disturbing).  Winston is looking thoughtful, as per usual.

Happy Holidays

 So this Holiday break starts with 17" of snow in Minneapolis.  Here it is snowing pretty well during the middle of the day.  This storm provided lots of quality time with the old snow blower.











Here is my loyal steed, Moonie, in front of our frozen frasier fur.  Moonie is being polite and posing for the picture, but she would much prefer we leave the house so she can sneak some more from the chocolate-covered potato chip container.














Finally, here is Erik, Shiho, and Winston celebrating Christmas in Washington.  Erik is just getting over having been sick for several days before flying out.  Shiho is examining her five-bunny wash rag (somewhat disturbing).  Winston is looking thoughtful, as per usual.

Happy Holidays

 So this Holiday break starts with 17" of snow in Minneapolis.  Here it is snowing pretty well during the middle of the day.  This storm provided lots of quality time with the old snow blower.

Here is my loyal steed, Moonie, in front of our frozen frasier fur.  Moonie is being polite and posing for the picture, but she would much prefer we leave the house so she can sneak some more from the chocolate-covered potato chip container.



Finally, here is Erik, Shiho, and Winston celebrating Christmas in Washington.  Erik is just getting over having been sick for several days before flying out.  Shiho is examining her five-bunny wash rag (somewhat disturbing).  Winston is looking thoughtful, as per usual.

Airborn

I picked up this read on the recommendation of a number of students.  Several gave me the report that this was a very good read, and I have to say that it did have an exciting ending.

The book is about a young-man who works aboard an airship as a cabin boy.  In the course of this novel, Matt, the main character, proves to be a very resourceful character when trying to save the ship and its passengers from air pirates and other dangers.

Last week I reached the point of being ready to walk away from the story, but I was persuaded my students to stick with the story.  Almost immediately the pace of the action picked up and the story moved along very quickly.

I would give this story three paws up our of four.  I think my only reservation with the story is that it is more far fetched than other novels that I have been reading recently.  

Not Us...

A lot of closed schools this morning, but not us.  Richfield schools are open, but Minneapolis is not.  Fortunately, the schools around us are all open - Benilde, Blake, etc...

Kids are always grumpy when this happens.  I have to remind them that teachers don't make these kinds of decisions....

Onward through the fog....

Fifth Biggest Snow Storm

This is a poor shot, but it gives you an idea of what happened to our Metrodome.  In normally looks more like a cupcake with white frosting, and as you can see, the 17" of snow we got on Friday night and Saturday collapsed the top of the dome.  Apparently, three of the panels tore and then the air rushed out and that is all she wrote.

I guess they use steam and hot water to clear the snow off the top.  Given it was minus six this morning, that is not a job that I would want.  Fortunately, the Dome people pulled the workers off the top in advance of the collapse so that, to the best of my knowledge, no one was hurt.

No football here today, tomorrow, or maybe even next Monday versus the Bears.

Cheers.

Green Bay Packers vs San Francisco Forty Niners, December 5, 2010

Unfortunately, if you are Forty-Niner fan, all the highlights from this trip took place off the field.

First, we were snowed in on Friday night and not able to get our usual 5:30 departure.

Saturday night was capped off when Randy Fondow received a well deserved "All State" award from last year's Minnesota State Track meet.  Randy had been emailing with Dave Kust, and helping our 4 x 100 team win the state finals.  Dave, who had a great trip, put together a great ceremony.

On Sunday morning we received an text and photo from the Beck girls, Rachel and Sarah.  Out of this world....I can't figure out how to embed the audio file.  But the girls ask if we would please take their dad to Lambeau because he has been sitting outside for three hours thinking he is at a football game.  Their voices and choice of language ("dumb ass") make the audio message one for the ages.  Great stuff.

Now, if the 49er's could just learn not to jump offsides....

"B" Word

This morning we are waking up to nineteen degrees and six inches of snow already on the ground.  We are supposed to get snow throughout the morning with increasing winds for the day.  Hence, the "B" word - if the winds were to hit 35 mph then we would officially be in a blizzard.  As it is, I think we will get over a foot of snow and have it blow around all day.

Karyl has a concert tonight in St. Paul.  Let's hope someone with some brain cells cancels the event so that she would try and drive there.

I think it is time to go shovel off the back step so that we can continue to open the back door.  It is a good day to grade papers and read books.

Cheers.

Remembering Elizabeth....and too many others...

This week Elizabeth Edwards died from breast cancer.  I was wandering through the comics in the New York Times this morning and I found this cartoon by Steve Benson.  In the comment selection below the comic someone had written, "How was she any more brave than my neighbor who had cancer?"  Fortunately many other thoughtful and talented writers had responded to this irksome comment.  But after reading all the comments I am struck with how many of us have an Elizabeth Edwards in our lives.  Certainly most of the women we know were betrayed by their dumb-butt husbands on the national stage, but all too many women seem to die from breast cancer.

Elizabeth, I am sorry we didn't do better...on so many levels...

Where Do We Go From Here...

Yesterday the U.S. Senate voted down DADT, which I find incredibly depressing.  The information below makes the situation seem less dire and more like orchestrated steps in a political dance.  Here is what Andrew Sullivan had on his "Daily Dish":

After what seemed like a reckless decision by Harry Reid to put DADT repeal to a vote before reaching an agreement with Collins to allow enough time for debate, it failed. Now, Collins and Lieberman say they will bring a DADT repeal vote to the floor as a stand-alone measure, which would require House action one more time. I have no idea whether this is viable as a way to save repeal. But one does note that repeal has passed the House, is supported by the military chiefs and defense secretary, has the backing of two-thirds of the American public, and has a 57 - 40 majority in the Senate.

I don't even see how it can be legal to deny people the opportunity to participate in the military.  There must be some Congressional dictate that is a work-around from the protections of the Constitution.

I am Not So Sure....

So the sports page tells me that we (the Minnesota Twins) traded J.J. Hardy to Baltimore for a couple pitchers who throw hard.  Okay.  Interesting.  Here is the backstory.  Frank tells me that Aaron Gleeman ranked Hardy as one of the best defensive shortstops last year.  So we traded a top-flight shortstop who has a little bop, for a couple of flame throwers.  Our plan is to have Alexi Casilla play short stop, and to sign this phenom from Japan to play second base.  For sure, Alexi and the phenom are going to be faster than Hardy and Hudson, but Alexi is not the hitter JJ was.  I don't know what the phenom will bring with the bat, but we seem to have down graded in the middle infield.

Here is part of what Gleeman wrote in advance of this trade:

Hardy is certainly not without flaws and some of them are prominent, but a deeper look at his performance clearly shows an above-average shortstop the Twins could have retained without having to make a multi-year commitment. He hit .268/.320/.394, which may not look like much but is actually better than the MLB average for shortstops of .262/.319/.371. And after coming back from the wrist injury Hardy hit .302/.356/.436 in 64 games.

Among the 28 shortstops to play at least 100 games this season Hardy ranked 11th in batting average, 13th in on-base percentage, 10th in slugging percentage, and 11th in OPS, making him above average for the position offensively no matter how you slice it. Toss in outstanding defense that Ultimate Zone Rating pegged as MLB's best at 12.8 runs above average per 150 games and Hardy was one of the top 12 shortstops in baseball even while missing 60 games.

The bigger question is what to do about our outfield defense, which is below average.  Frank's thought was to give Casilla a shot in center field - hoping to use his speed to track down more baseballs.

I don't get the sense that the Twins leadership pours over secondary numbers before they make moves.  This is disturbing.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

When I first saw this out on the shelves I was somewhat skeptical.  What's Doctorow doing in the young adult section of the bookstore?  Wait - that is a different first name.  The bastard, can't even write his own book, has to come in on the coattails of a famous relative....

Then I read the first page...Hmmm.  Maybe this is worth a look after all.

I loved this book for several reasons.  First this is a scary story well told about a terrorist attack in the Bay Area and our government's response to said attack.  The characters in here are believable and the questions they raise about our rights and responsibilities are good ones.

Setting this book in San Francisco was also another plus for me.  As the main characters trooped around the Bay Area trying to match wits with the Department of Homeland Security I enjoyed going to Golden Gate Park, the Mission, Market Street, et al...

This tale isn't perfect.  At times this story travels down the well worn path of "angry young people versus moronic adults" that so many of the movies ("The Breakfast Club", "Home Alone", "Sixteen Candles") seem to employ.  Even with this minor criticism, I have to say that I enjoyed this story a great deal.  Despite a busy schedule, this title called to be read, and I finished it within a couple of weeks, which is quite rare for me during the academic year.

I would give this four paws up.

Sunrise in the Flatlands

In the summer when I sit at the computer two things are different.  First the sun is usually up by the time I plant my butt in the chair, and secondly, the sun is coming from the left of the window and shining right on the computer screen (not pictured).  I happened to notice as I strolled in way past seven thirty this morning that the sun wasn't up, and when it did com up, I wouldn't see it because it was so far south.  Hence the picture of the wall behind me and how the sun lights things up.

Somehow I don't remember sun huge swings in the path of the sun from my childhood in the Golden State.  Probably some geography and a lot of being clueless as a child.

Streams Of Babel by Carol Plum-Ucci

I picked up this bad boy last February in the book store on Fifth Street in Sonoma, while visiting my mother.  It has patiently waited for my on the night stand and this October I finally gave it a try.

This is a story of young people with advanced computer skills and the fight against terrorism.  Carol Plum-Ucci carefully captures the frustration of being young and being blown off by adults who don't think much of you.  I  thoroughly enjoyed this story and the intelligent characters who acted as one might hope.

This is a definite three and a half paws up.

Editor's Note:  If this book review seems to fall into the "Damned by faint praise" category it is because I finished the book in October, but didn't crawl down the hall to the computer room to post until Thanksgiving.  Absolute cardinal sin.

Away Too Long

Since my last post, 10,000 lifetimes ago, a great deal has changed.  Some of it good, some of it bad, but I have been away from the blogosphere more than I care to admit.

Here is a quick recap:
  - Read two books
  - Visited Dad, Winston and Shiho
  - Watched the local football team slowly dissolve
  - The great fall weather has turned in the last two weeks.  My days on a bike have been clipped by a big snow storm on the thirteenth and an ice storm this weekend.
  - There is of course more, but it is the memory thing at this point

I will do the books this weekend.

This is the Seventh & Eighth grade football team that took second place in the "A" bracket.  We lost to a good Brooklyn Center team on October 30th at Blake.  There are some great athletes on this team, but we never were very good on offense.  This was a fun year to coach.

 During the weekend of November 13 & 14, Karyl and I flew to DC to give Shiho and Winston a few hours off duty.  This is supposed to be a picture of the world's smallest jalapeno pepper plant.  In this shot the pepper actually looks decent but it was closer to fingernail size.

Here is a shot of Dad and I before Karyl and I head back to the Twin Cities.  It is hard to believe that a man who was so alive, active and curious has gotten to this point.  Dad spends his day in this room watching television and not really tracking much of a story line, as far as I can tell.  Like so much in life, I didn't see this coming.  I never imagined the story ending in this fashion.  Dad can barely stand up these days, which raises all kinds of questions that I don't want to think about.  This fall he started calling me "Byron" again for the first time in 100 years.  Sigh.

Sunday morning I got up to head over to Dunn Brothers to meet with the guys, but after putting one foot on the back step and slipping on the ice, I bagged the trip.  This is too bad, as the Greek leaves for Hawaii this week, and now I have missed him until next spring.  I don't like that.  It is mornings like this that make me wonder why I live in a spot where I can't ride year around.  I know  people do, but on ice?  Really?  

Later that same Sunday I watched the 100th Packer vs. Viking game.  You can just barely read the score in the top left of the screen.  Green Bay 31, Minnesota 3.  There were fights between players and between coaches and players.  The Vikings are 3-7 and today they let go of the coach.  This is bittersweet for me.  I guess Childress wasn't that well liked, but I hate to see him go.  I am, however, excited to see Leslie Frazier get his shot at being an NFL coach.  My fingers are crossed that the team responds and that we begin to move forward once again.

Well, that helps a little bit.  Not so much to carry around.

The Boys of Summer Deliver Big!

It wasn't hard to hear faint whispers of Russ Hodges screaming, "The Giants win the pennant. The Giants win the pennant..." as the Giants inched ahead of Texas Rangers to win the World Series.

On Monday night, November 1st, Tim Lincecum pitched his second outstanding game to get the Giants a 3-1 win.  Edgar Rentaria had the game winning hit, a three-run homer in the sixth or seventh inning and the Lincecum kicked into another gear and it was shutdown time until Brian Wilson came in for uneventful (but tense) ninth inning.

This whole World Series was a treat, as the Giants seemed to come out of nowhere.  They eeked into the playoffs and then something happened.  The Giants beat Atlanta, and then the Phillies and Roy "No Hit" Halladay to advance.  It looked like it would be a dismal Series with the Rangers pounding the ball here there and everywhere.  But that is why they play the games....

This is the first World Series win for the Giants since they moved to San Francisco in 1959.  Now only the Cubs and Cleveland have not won a World Series.

Gary Riggs - Sarge

Last weekend my high school, Marin Academy, had a gathering and from that I learned that a classmate of mine died within the last couple of years.

Gary "Sarge" Riggs, the second from the left in this picture, was an energetic young man from whom school was not a refuge.  Gary also had plans and schemes going on, but the grunt work of academics wasn't his gig.  I never met his family so I don't know what his context was.  I got the feeling that Gary was perceived at home as not quite measuring up - but that could be all me.  Last I heard of Gary he had dropped out of college as he had heart problems with the sack around his heart swelling up.

I learned tonight that he died on the streets of San Rafael two years ago.  How do you go from private school to dying on the streets of your hometown?  This is so far beyond sad that I can't even get a handle on it.

I wish this story had a different ending.  I suspect Gary's path was pretty rough and tumble...

Damn.

20.

Twenty-Five in Hood River

The editor of the school newspaper from Hood River was gracious enough to send me this photo from distant past.

Unbelievable.

27, but not 28....and Other Thoughts....

 Yesterday, October 22 was our twenty-seventh day without rain and with above average temps.  It has been a great October.  Today the clouds are rain and real October temperatures are back....

The other twenty seven but not twenty eight is the Rangers beat the Yankees last night to go to their first World Series.  Great fun, but not for Maura.

Moonie turned nine this week.  Maura was good enough to email us and let us know.  It made Karyl and I sad, as Moonie is now on the downward slope of aging, but join the crowd...Keep moving forward.

So why get up at the crack of dawn and ride a bike nine miles to work.  There is your answer.  That is a great way to start any day.  This is looking east over Lake Calhoun.

Well, you can tell what my next project is going to be.  It is great and cloudy outside, so it is a good time to find my desk again.  Long overdue.

Here is Brian Wilson, the Giants closer, after making a save.  I have no idea what this gesture stands for, but I would love to find out.  What a goof...

Go Giants...

Don't Let the Door Hit You in the Butt.....and Other Sensitive Comments

I have two responses to this.  My first is, "Thank God" this joker is gone.  I think he should have to pay back the millions we have given him, but then I live in an alternate universe...

My second response is "there but for the grace of God go I".  I have had some jobs where I performed in a manner that probably had parents wishing that I would be sacked right away.  The coach in me does feel a tiny bit for this guy who got in way over his head and just floundered.

The athletic director, who did hire Tubby Smith to save our basketball program, needs to do much better.  I still can't fathom how the AD saw fit to give Brewster an extension last year.  Brewster can talk, talk, talk, but he has never been a coordinator or a head coach.  Boy, what was Joel Maturi thinking when he made that hire.

Blue Lights and a Body Bag

Last night I was biking home at 8:45 p.m. when I saw several blue lights flashing down by the railroad tracks between Wood Lake and Cedar Lake.  As I got closer the bridge on the west side was taped off, so I had to backtrack and ride in the street.  As I got to the light, and waited for it to change, I saw the authorities wheel a body bag out from the path on the Cedar Lake side across to where all the cars had gathered on the southwest side of the bridge.  If I had to guess, I would say that someone met their end on the railroad tracks last night.

It was such a sad juxtaposition - a warm October night, almost windless so the lakes looked like a sheet of glass, and were beautifully reflecting city lights.  It is hard to believe that in a month where we have had five or six days in the 80° and a bunch of 70°'s that someone could be so down as to meet a train....I suppose I shouldn't rush to judgement, as I don't know what really happened....

Here is a horrible shot from the south end of Lake Calhoun yesterday morning.  I didn't have the correct camera.  In real life, the water was perfectly still and you could see the reflections from the north end of the lake.  Very beautiful.

Sigh....

******
The article at the top was posted later today in the paper....Another 46....

Keep Your Eye on the Ball...

Yesterday the Wisconsin Badgers pounded the Minnesota Gophers.  Late in the game, with a 25 point lead, the Badgers decided to go for two points after scoring yet another touchdown.  This caused quite a bit of conversation over the radio broadcast and in all the post-game commentaries.  My take, if you don't like the Badgers going for two points, then don't let them score touchdowns.  How about developing a football program that isn't the anchor of the Big Ten?  Tim Brewster is our coach and he will be fired at the end of this season, as will the Athletic Director, Joel Maturi - who had the wisdom to reward Brewster with a contract extension at the end of last year.

Brewster's best line is after losing several games against lessor opponents he said, "We are just a couple of plays from being 3-0."  There is being optimistic, and then there is being delusional.  Brewster has been a very poor hire for the U.  No matter of spinning can change that reality.

Twins Done in Playoffs - Yankees Win Again

Brian Duensing pitches Game Three 

So the Minnesota Twins waltz out of the playoffs again.  One-Two-Three, one-two-three, one-two-three and we are done.  

There was lots of talk around the coffee shop this morning about the collapse.  Some people think we don't have a dominant #1 starter and that our pitching staff is a collection of third and fourth-spot starters.  There may be some truth to it, but I am not buying.

We just didn't hit.  Each game it got worse.  Cuddyer did a nice job of homering in the first game of the series, but nobody else answered the bell, and the further we went in the series the more we pressed and the less we hit.  When I think back to the great Twins teams of the past we had four or five guys who hit twenty or more homeruns during the season.  This year we had Thome hit 25, and I think Delmon Young hit over 20, but that was it.

I am not sure if taking off the last ten games of the season where we lost 8-10 helped us prepare for the playoffs either.

Sad.

10-10-10

Cool.  It is a beautiful day here.  Sounds like a great day to do something special.

Really....That's How the Story Ends....

I picked up this title three weeks ago on the recommendation of Drew from Wild Rumpus Bookstore.  I have enjoyed reading it; it has a lot of great features, but the ending is not one of them.

I have heard that knowing how to end a song is the hardest part (Erik disputes this claim) and this book supports that claim.  This book doesn't have an ending, the story just stops, which I find very irksome.  I know there is a book two and perhaps even a book three, but I don't know how inclined I feel to dive in after I feel taken advantage of by the "to-be-continued" ending.

On the positive side, I like the concept of "Noise", the ability to hear the thinking of others, and the main character, Todd.  The surrounding characters are all interesting and helped pull me into the story.  The female lead who is quiet, but slowly learns to trust Todd.  Todd's great dog, Manchee, who has some great lines throughout the story.

On the Tex scale I give this three paws up.

O-2 In the Mill City....

The baseball playoffs are two days old and we have already managed to lose two games to the Yankees.  We are supposed to match up on paper, but we seem to be a key hit here and there away from being able to push the issue.  Tip of the cap to Andy Pettitte for a gutty pitching performance, again, against the Twins.

Our outfield of Young, Span, and Kubel is not terribly adept at fielding the ball, and they have been contributing much of anything with the bats either.

Let's hope for some magic on Saturday.

September's Missed Opportunity...Mouse Abatement at 6310....

September came and went, and I didn't do a good job of keeping up with the daily tugs of life.  I have missed blogging.  I aspire to do better this month....

*********

Exhibit B

One morning not long ago, I woke up, let the dog out, and started to have some cereal for breakfast.  I noticed what seemed to be mouse droppings in with the silverware (Exhibit A - didn't think to go get a camera)  -- but we have three cats, so how could that happen?  

Later that morning I ventured into the drawer with spatulas and such and saw some bright green plastic shavings in the measuring cups.  Please see Exhibit B.  Yes, indeed we have mice.

Karyl then took the kitchen apart and found other evidence of wandering mice.  Since that time we have set traps and had lots of peanut butter disappear and a couple of mice.  The problem seems to have stopped, but we remain wary.

Our cats are on administrative leave pending investigation as to how they let this happen.  Their water dish is a mere three feet from where the mice were frolicking around in the cupboards.  Karyl, Moonie, and I have had to endure the indignity of public humiliation.  As we walk around the neighborhood people point and say, "There goes the family with cats and mice".  Sigh.

Maura's cat, Lizzie, which only leaves her room semi-annually, has lawyered up.  Lizzie is threatening to sue if we don't remove her name from the "Disgraced Cat List".  Saying that, "I never leave Maura's room and the kitchen isn't my territory."  Bubbles and Maxie have refused to comment (Bubbles looks confused and Maxie is asleep on our bed and refuses to be bothered with anything).

Fun Day at the Farmers' Market

Here we are off across the Stone Arch Bridge to the Farmers' Market by the Mill City Museum.  Moonie is very excited about this outing.

St. Anthony Falls - From the Stone Arch Bridge

This is the new Mill City Museum.  It is a former flour mill that blew up.


Minneapolis started off as a sawmill town and the became a place where grain was turned into flour.


I love the name Mill City.


Here is the what is left of the mill from the inside the museum.

Stone Arch Bridge





Wow.  Beautiful.

Table runners the likes of which I have never seen.

Here is the market with the new Guthrie Theater in the background.  Great day had by all.