Turtles Can Fly

Our movie night selection was Turtles Can Fly . It's a movie about the lives of children in a small city near the Iraqi-Turkish border right before the US troops arrived. It makes you think about the mess left behind after military operations (refugees, land mines, orphans, etc.). There are bittersweet moments and harsh reality moments.

Climate

Well it isn't all just a climate conspiracy theory. Subtle suppression (and occasionally editing) of climate change findings does happen. Some earth scientists are brave enough to speak out to Congress about this. If people really believe climate change is bogus, why do they want limit funding for climate research? If you are certain global warming doesn't exist, why not encourage researchers (i.e., give us research grants) to prove you are right that much faster?

Hurrah!

Hurrah! Paseo has reopened! I've blogged about this Fremont restaurant many times. What you may not know is they close down the restaurant for a month over the winter break. Well the hiatus is over and you know we were waiting in line for opening day. Last year, a reliable source told us they sold out of sandwiches on opening day. I wonder if they did this year too?

If you've never tasted one of their mouth-watering napkin-requiring sandwiches, we will happily take you over there. I hope my friend, Pam, from nerdseyeview.com takes us up on the offer. They have a fish sandwich which would be perfect for Fish Wednesdays. Anyway, if you come to visit us in Seattle. Make sure you avoid the Paseo month off because really what is the point of visiting Seattle and not eating at Paseo.

Paseo Tips: We've learned from experience that Paseo is only open Tuesday - Saturday, it's cash only, seating is optional, and take-out is your friend. Address 4225 Freemont Ave N.

Movie night

We watched a documentary called "Jesus Camp" last night. I would argue it's a pretty good and unflinching documentary. They put in some bias, but pretty much leave you to make your own interpretations. You will either watch it and say "I agree with the camp organizers' perspective" or say "I agree with the radio host's perspective". You can decide. It's nice to watch with friends and then you can discuss the movie together.

Wikipedia

I love checking out Wikipedia for random facts and information. They try to keep public relation firms and political staffers from posting and putting propaganda on the site. However, sometimes some hanky-panky goes on. Case in point: today there was an article in the news about Microsoft paying people to tweak Wiki posts (see article from the Seattle Times).

Tsk-Tsk-Tsk

Thursday movie night and Friday Crepes

Thursday night we watched "Shaun of the Dead" a romantic comedy set in zombie-infested London. We had a good turn out for movie night: 10 people + 1 baby. Apparently zombies really bring out the movie fans. I highly recommend the movie if you are in the mood to laugh and don't mind the zombies much.

Friday night was a bit more mellow. We got together with some good French friends from OSU and their 2 year old son and went to eat galettes and crêpes. Galettes, for those who've never had them, are basically savory crêpes with buckwheat flour instead of regular flour. The restaurant we went to was Café Darclée. It's right by the Space Needle so it wins points for the brightly lit skylines on the drive there. The place was really nice and comfortable. You felt like you were in an intimate setting -- somewhere you can catch up with old friends and not feel like we were disturbing others. I think it's much more crowded in the summer, so go visit in the winter. I'm not sure B would say the gallettes were authentic Breton galettes but they were definitely tasty. Authentic Breton galettes are less fancy but super-delish. They are usually stuffed with ham, cheese, mushrooms, crème fraîche. The galettes at Café Darclée were stuffed with more exotic ingredients. I definitely recommend a bottle of cider to go with the galettes and crêpes and when you leave check out the selection of imported European chocolates and candies that they have for sale. If you are homesick or just love chocolate, it's a nice pick-me-up. Café Darclée is also open for breakfast and lunch and they are located on 100 4th Ave N, #165.

Snow, Snow, Snow

Yet another day where we have just enough snow to 1) make everything look incredibly beautiful 2) make the commute to work highly unsafe and 3) close down almost everything in Seattle. I love the weather but it would be nice to have it snow on the weekends and clear up in time for the work week. That way one can work calmly and know that you'll have a winter wonderland to enjoy at the end of the week.

Be careful driving out there!

Addendum: Despite rain, sleet, or snow graduate students will always be expected to show up to work. (Thanks to www.phdcomics.com for such accurate portrayal of grad student life.)

Delurking Week

This week was Delurking Week. This is a new concept for me, but basically it's a call to everyone who reads a particular blog to post a comment. If you have your own personal blog please post the link. I'd love to check out the blogs of people who check my blog. If you don't have a blog, just say a quick hello and let me know you are out there somewhere.

I'm off to go enjoy the snowy landscape here in Seattle. Cheers!

Science-a-gogo

I stumbled across a cool science news website/forum, Science-a-gogo. What's neat is that they have alot of climate articles as well as articles about natural science, physics, space, health, technology. I just read an interesting article about ExxonMobil spreading disinformation about global warming using the cigarette-company-cancer-disinformation approach.

Movie night

We are starting up movie night again. This Thursday we'll be serving up Japanese Anime Miyazaki-style. The name of the movie is Castle in the Sky (movie summary below). If you want to join, just drop us a line. If not, it's a cool flick and I highly recommend it. If you like other Miyazaki films like Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, etc., you'll like this one. I'm not sure what food pairs best with Japanese Anime... I think white wine and French chocolate should work.

About the movie (from RottenTomatoes.com):
Hayao Miyazaki's CASTLE IN THE SKY is a rousing adventure that follows an orphan named Sheeta as she eludes the clutches of a secret agent named Muska while trying to discern her family's history. After her first escape from Muska, Sheeta meets up with a young boy named Pazu, whose father, a photographer, was disgraced after he took a picture of the legendary flying island of Laputa and had it dismissed as a hoax. When the two realize that a family heirloom Sheeta carries allows them to levitate, the two begin a search for the lost island, trailed by Muska, who is also searching for Laputa.

Canadian ice shelf broke off

A large piece of the Canadian ice shelf broke off 16 months ago. Scientists only noticed now by analyzing satellite images (see article). Apparently the shelf broke apart in less than an hour. This is a good example of how semi-constant features on our planet that are slowly modified in our lifetime can suddenly reach a breaking/tipping point and experience rapid change on timescales that we notice. There used to a be an ice shelf there, an hour later floating island of ice.

Jet Lag and Green New Year

We are back in the States and recovering from all of our travels. Our flight back was delayed and we missed our connection from JFK back home. The downside is that we got home a day later than expected and are still combatting jet lag. The big upside is that we got to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Manhattan. Bonus!

To start the year off right, I'm revamping our financial plan/budget. Pretty tedious. The exciting part is that I revised our energy plan and join Seattle's Green Up program. It's something I've been putting off and thought I should go ahead and start 2007 with increased energy conservation. Basically you are paying an additional premium to support the development of green power (wind, hydroelectric, solar) resources and move away from less-clean methods.

Similar programs probably exist all over. I found one in Florida from Florida Power & Light called the Sunshine Energy Program. Check out your local energy provider to see what alternative energy programs exist. If they don't have them, bug them about it.

Best wishes for 2007

We ended 2006 with B’s family in France and said hello to the 2007 under the haze of many terrific bottles of wine and champagne. My in-laws treated us by opening a 1971 Bordeaux, 1978 Bourgogne, 1985 Bordeaux, 2004 Coteaux de L’Aubance, etc. Today we finished some of the leftovers (the amount of leftovers you ate inversely proportional to the amount you drank last night) and just relaxed around the house. Hope you started off 2007 in superb form and didn’t overdo the festivities last night.

Happy New Year, Prospero Año, et Bonne Année!