Sleeping Beauty

I doubt there's anything more beautiful than a sleeping child. Poor Ing has had "the cold" that's been going around and even complained of her ear hurting. This week is winter break so there will be no school. Let's hope she's feeling better after a week of rest :o)

Mt Vernon

Today is President's Day and tomorrow is George Washington's birthday. Just for fun, I thought a picture of his home, Mt. Vernon, with me and my sis in front would be fun. I have no idea on whose lap I am sitting , but as you can see, I am not at all pleased. Looking at my size, the year must have been 1941.

My other sis and I visited Mt. Vernon again about 20 years ago with our two youngest and it was fun to finally see the inside and the grounds, though not so much fun experiencing the hot, muggy July weather.

Skagit and Kalama

Here's the brand new passenger ferry "Skagit" in her original colors in 1989. She and the "Kalama" were built in New Orleans for 5 million dollars for the state of Washington and when they arrived in the fall of 1989, they sat idle because there were no funds to run them.

The Loma Prieta Earthquake in San Francisco finally put the boats to work. Loaned to the city while the bridges were down, the ferries proved their worth--and it would turn out to be their finest moment. Returning to Puget Sound, the ferries went into serivce...and soon after, the complaints began. Recently the two boats were sold to Tanzania for $400,000. Here is a little history about the two.

Body Language Speaks

Ayer ví al Maestro Abreu, a quien he admirado por largos años, en una foto con el déspota Hugo Chávez, un asesino, un corrupto y un hombre lleno de odio, quien ha destruído al país. Abreu no lo está abrazando, no lo está alabando, simplemente está allí con él, avalando con su presencia todo lo que el desequilibrado representa. Abreu lo hace porque no quiere ver su sistema destruído, no quiere ver como su puente sobre el río desaparece, aunque para lograrlo tenga que plegarse al enemigo.
That says it all in the language spoken by the author.
Daniel's Blog from Venezuela says more in english.
The three above are Hugo Chavez: Dictator of Venezuela. Antonio Abreu, who in 1975 founded El Sistema, formally known as the Foundation for the National Network of Youth and Children Orchestras of Venezuela and Gustavo Dudamel: music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and artistic director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela.
Their body language, as they stand beside Hugo speaks volumes, but they have learned long ago that to get what they need for their youth is worth suffering the embarrassment of standing on stage with their cruel and corrupt leader.
On top of that...look at Hugo's shoes !!!!!!!

Fun Cam

You know me and my passion for cruise ships...well here is a fun live "stream with sound" cam in Port Everglades, Florida. Click on the link and you'll no doubt see cruise ships in port, planes taking off from the nearby airport, plus boats of every shape and size sail past.
Move down to the bottom of the page and you'll see the marine traffic site. If you hold your cursor over the colored markers, it will tell you the name of the vessel. Click on the colors and you may get a picture etc.
I also love to see what's going on in the Panama Canal, Cabo or even Friday Harbor.
No wonder I can't get enthused about traveling when I can see so much of the world from my cozy living room.

Iranium

This hour long video is a must see.
And, when the Iranian government tries to stop people from watching it, it makes folks even more interestd in seeing what it's all about.

Glenn Gould

Thanks to one of my favorite bloggers, I discovered someone very interesting and had to share.
In 1957, a 24-year-old Canadian virtuoso pianist named Glenn Gould visited the Soviet Union on an official mission of cultural exchange. Gould’s presence made such an impact among the Russians who heard him play that, fifty years later, it is still possible to interview people for whom the encounter with Gould is still one of the most significant events of their life. Have a listen.

Understanding Obama

I got a kick out of this picture...Obama from a warm climate and Palin from just the opposite. This piece by David Horsey in the PI today was an interesting read.

Now if we could only find his birth certificate.

Neville

Oh good grief...it's all my not even two years old yet, grandson, Jacob's fault. I had never heard of Thomas and Friends until he showed up one day clutching a tiny train engine in each hand. Now I know all about Thomas and his gazillion little friends and I am totally hooked !! Yesterday while shopping for things I truly needed, I made a huge error in judgement and took a shortcut through the toy department, of course past Thomas and his little buddies. For who knows what reason, Neville caught my eye. Maybe because he is so drab, I took pity on him, worrying that no one would want him. He now has a new home at my house with Thomas, Spencer, Toby, Percy, Edward, their coal cars and definately not enough track for them all. I don't worry about drinking too much or gaining weight from over eating, but this Thomas nonsense could spell real trouble.

Octopus

The Octopus, owned by Paul Allen of Microsoft, is one big boat. On the bow and stern of her 414 feet sit helicopters, a tender on the side and somewhere among all those decks, a swimming pool . Last we heard, it's in Argentina and there was a problem with one of the helicopters going kerplunk into the sea, but according to the news, the pilots are okay.

He must be either headed to the Antarctic, or on his way home, though I doubt he will have to endure the entire long haul. Must be nice to have a crew take your boat where you want to go, then just fly in for the fun part. I doubt he is one of those global warming freaks or he'd not be runnin around pumping out CO2 by the boat load :o)

Sumthin tells me Paul Allen isn't concerned with the cost of his health insurance...but the latest decision on Obamacare is explained quite well here.