Ice Skating

Looking forward to some ice skating tonight with the girls.

Yesterday I took them to Chuckie Cheese and we had fun. There is a large horse with a carriage children sit in, that is one of their favorite rides, they also rode on a mini helicopter, and played some keyboards and drums. Then they climbed and went down a slide for a while.

I only read one more of the Cheever stories and took a 2 mile walk outside. Would have liked to do more of a walk but it was freezing out.

I've loaded some new cds onto my iPod and am eager to listen to them.

That's all presently.

Fire: Walk With Me

Watched about half of Twin Peaks For Walk With Me last night. I had forgotten that David Bowie and Chris Isaak are in it. Very creepy film. Supposedly season two of Twin Peaks is going to be released this year. I really hope that is true.

Walked a mile at the outdoor track with the girls yesterday after a trip to the grocery store. They spent hours drawing, they went from creating "houses" to "computers". What they do is they draw tons of tiny squares at the bottom of a peice of paper and then they fill the squares in with letters to create a "keyboard", then they draw three bigger squares at the top of the page and draw picture of people and things in there, that is the "monitor". N. said hers was for A. and then she later said she was making another one for me.

They also said they need to start teaching me Polish in case I go with them this sumemr. They taught me a word which I took pronounced "shaprock" which means "bathrobe".

1984

"What you say or do doesn't matter: only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving you -- that would be the real betrayal.'

She thought it over. 'They can't do that,' she said finally. 'It's the one thing they can't do. They can make you say anything -- anything -- but they can't make you believe it. They can't get inside you.' "

George Orwell "1984"

Building a House?

N. "built" a house today out of paper- she used a scissors to cut out windows on one piece of paper, then she folded and taped a second piece to make a "roof" for the house. It's really cool.

And J. uses scissors to cut miniature bookmarks which she decorates with magic markers, on one she wrote her name and tons of smiley faces! Really cool, and she puts it on my nightstand for my books! She also made a house, she cut out small "windows" and taped them folded over, wen you unfold it, you see people that she drew there looking out the window!!!

Fantastic!

My girls are smart AND thoughtful.

Mercifully they finally had a nap today (they are growing out of their naps) and so I was able to have some free time for running and making some cds. Also watched a dvd of the Simpsons that B. burned for me. It had a Twin Peaks reference on it so I was pleased.

Getting There

OK for the first time in a while I actually ran three times in one week. I did 4 miles on Sunday, 5 miles on Wednesday and 3 miles today, Saturday. I also ice skated for 90 minutes Tuesday. I am trying really hard to slim down, my metabolism has to speed up soon before I lose hope!

Last night we again went to Applebees which was just ok as N. was in a poor mood from not having a nap.

This morning I took them to Borders bookstore and then to an indoor play area where they ran around and climbed.

Still reading the Cheever short stories which are fairly poignant and generally good.

Also making a bunch of mix cds for my sister L. today.

Sore

I have a very sore neck from sleeping without covers, and my legs and feet are sore from the increased running. But that's to be expected.

Looking forward to the weekend with N&J.

Feeling Good

Ok so I banged out 4 miles Sunday morning, well tonight after a library visit ( took our Dora the Explorer books for N&J and a collection of short stories by John Cheever for me), I gutted out 5 miles on the treadmill!

A. got the girls new hats that sparkle and they are wearing them now and happy as clams.

Feeling that runner's high and going to sleep shortly.

I feel a lot better, minor sore throat but runny nose pretty much gone, gone, gone.

:)

Gormenghast Trilogy/Twins Update

Evidently there is a great trilogy of books by Mervyn Peake, kinda compared to Tolkien's creation of Middle Earth. The books are called the Gormenghast Trilogy. I am going to look for them at the library.

Skated for an hour and a half last night. N. is really making solid progress, and J. is really exceptional. Right when we got on the ice, J. immediately started skating laps on her own! I held N. by the hand for about 15 minutes and then she was off on her own. Mainly I skate slowly behind them and watch them but when I saw they were doing fine I did do a few laps on my own really fast. The only downside to all of the skating is that my muscles right above my ankle seriously ache, kinda like lactic acid after long distance running, but a different sort of pain. It was funny because on the ice, J. asked me if I had any "pain" because I had said that repeatedly when we skated on Friday. And when I said I need to go sit down for a while, N. skated over to the window next to A. and asked "when Daddy takes a break can I still skate by myself?" That was cute.

So taking N&J to the library and out for skating are two things they really seem to enjoy. They really like using the computers at the library and the only thing is I need them to stop running around so much. I will see how they behave tonight.

I still have a sore throat though the runny nose is basically gone.

Red Sox started spring training, it is going to be a bittersweet year without Damon and with it being Trot Nixon's last season as a Red Sox.

Oh the other cool thing is that N. has been drawing what she refers to as "books"-where she draws a cover and then writes words inside a folded up piece of pink colored paper. SHe really has a vivid imagination, she is creative, which is good.

I would say N&J are quickly becoming good skaters, they really are smart girls and all of their drawings have happy faces so they must be happy!

More later.

Hail to the Chief

President Bush did not know that an Arab-owned company was to take over operations at major American seaports until the deal was already completed, the White House admitted today.

"He became aware of it over the last several days," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

As Republicans and Democrats teamed up in growing opposition to the deal, the administration also said that it should have briefed Congress sooner.

A growing number of politicians have said they are determined to stop the pending sale of the shipping operations despite Bush's threat to veto congressional action to stop a state-run company in the United Arab Emirates from taking over some U.S. ports.

Last week, Dubai Ports World bought London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. When the deal is finalized, Dubai Ports World will take over Peninsular's stake in terminals at six major U.S. ports in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. The Arab company will control more than 40 million tons of cargo a year.

While the Bush administration says that preventing the deal will send a horrible signal to the United States' allies, Democratic and Republican critics say that the UAE is a country widely known for its ties to terrorism. Two of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers were from the UAE. In addition, the FBI has said that money for the strikes was transferred to the hijackers primarily through the country's banking system and that much of the operational planning for the attacks took place inside the UAE.

The Bush administration said that there was little criticism when the English company controlled the ports and that Arab companies should be given the same opportunities.


Criticism From Both Sides of the Aisle

Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the UAE had not yet proven to be a trustworthy ally, and that the Bush administration had not been reliable on port security.

Birthday Party & Running

Took N&J to a birthday party today that was at a gymnastics place in Wheeling, they swung around on ropes and trapezes, jumped on trampolines, ran around and then ate cupcakes. N. had vanilla and J. chose chocolate.

Yesterday we tried hard to stay indoors and stay warm as it was -25 below with the wind chill factor. We ventured out for a quick sojourn to the local grocery store then later went to an indoor play area at a mall.

The treadmill definitely is repaired ok- I ran 4 miles on it this morning, sporadically interrupted by visits from N&J who ended up thorwing a ball around and then sitting on the couch.

I finished reading "Model Behavior", the Jay McIerney novel and was not too impressed by it. My least favorite by him.

It seems my whole family loves Applebee's- that seems to be the new place to go rather than Chili's, at least for the moment.

Over and out.

Skating

N. skated on her own finally today! We went at 12:30 rather than at 8pm tonight, for the open ice skating.

N&J did very very well and I was both surprised and very proud.

My new skates were a bit too big, and my feet and lower back are killing me now. Definitely believe that ice skating is more rigorous on my body than running ever was.

In the morning we went to the library and took out lots of books, dvds, and even an old Cocteau Twins cd, one I never heard and promptly loaded on to iTunes. Plus, B. burned me a new version of the Requiem which needs to go on to iTunes and iPod.

Tomorrow I will finally test out the newly repaired treadmill, and probably take N&J to Borders for storytime, or to the library again. Sunday afternoon after Mass they have a birthday party with the lovely promise of pizza for all.

I am reading not the latest McIerney novel, but one called "Model Behavior", so after finishing that and then the latest, I will have read all of his stuff. It is all very much the same but I tend to enjoy it. The glamour of New York city and the upper class along with the sheer decadence of his characters I suppose.

Inland Empire

Just learned that David Lynch has been filming his latest film in Poland. Will post more details when I discover any. Below is all I have for the moment.

When asked about the new film, he only would say this:

"It’s the story of a woman in deep trouble. The story also has a hidden mystery, that’s all I will say on the subject," declared David Lynch with regard to his film.


David Lynch arrived in Poland to complete filming on Inland Empire, his new film whose screenplay is still shrouded in secret. The title does not give much away – referring to the four neighbourhoods of Los Angeles close to the Californian desert.
The first visit by Lynch to Poland was in 2000 when the director was invited to the Camerimage festival at Lódz. His fascination since then for this town, headquarters of the famous film school, brought him back two years later.

Pedantic

I have yet to determine why, but for some reason, numerous posters on the Doctor Who website always use this word, as in "I don;t mean to be pedantic....but blah blah blah".

Only reason I've come up with so far is maybe because they are British?

p.s. here is the definition:

Adjective
pedantic (more pedantic, most pedantic)

like a pedant, overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning.
Being showy of one's knowledge, often in a boring manner.
Often used to describe a person who emphasizes their knowledge through the use of vocabulary.
Being finicky or picky with language

Honey-Lemon

I have been sucking on honey-lemon cough drops since yesterday and I still have a sore throat. I have been drinking so much water too, nothing is hellping, just needs to run its course.

N&J delivered valentines cards with their personally decorated envelopes last night so there was no ice skating. Tuesday and Friday nights their is an open skate, Tuesday it is at 7pm and Friday it starts at 8pm. So we are all planning on going this Friday and hopefully next Tuesday too. it is a good habit to try and keep since the twins enjoy it so much, and I love it for being such a great workout. And they all presented me with a pair of hockey ice skates for my Valentine's Day present. i was really really surprised.

Hooray for skating! I still want to find a way to swim sometimes, that is a low impact workout that would be good as well.

Matt and Ben

Longtime buddies Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are set to star in the same movie for the first time in five years. According to Variety, the two Boston natives will star in a true story about two Philadelphia lawyers who spent 15 years attempting to exonerate death-row inmate John Thompson. Affleck and Damon last appeared on screen together in Kevin Smith's "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." They are forever linked by "Good Will Hunting," which they also co-wrote.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Real Love

Another from the Boston Globe, very apt with tomorrow being Valentine's Day:

BEVERLY BECKHAM
Trapped in her body, she touches his heart
February 12, 2006

They met in Virginia in 1946. They were in their 20s. She was a Navy nurse, and he was a Navy doctor. He noticed her in the cafeteria, then on the dance floor. ''All the fly boys liked to dance with her."

He liked how she walked -- ''Lily had her own kind of gait." And how ''she could recite poetry like mad." And how, at the age of 16, ''all on her own she decided to become a Catholic."

There wasn't anything that Dr. Jack Manning didn't like about Lily Sharpe Fields.

They married at the US Naval Chapel in Portsmouth, Va., and a year later Jack Manning brought his new bride and infant son home to Taunton.

''They looked like a Hollywood couple," says Manning's niece, Mary Driscoll. ''I have strong memories of them going out one evening, Aunt Lily looking gorgeous, then splashing perfume on herself including her tongue. I asked her why, and she said she wanted to smell nice even when she was talking."

Life was good for the Mannings. They bought a small house in Fall River, where Jack worked as a pediatrician. Then they had another son. Then they bought a bigger house where Jack opened his own practice. Then Lily got polio.

It's just a word now, but in the mid-1950s polio was an epidemic. Some cases were mild -- chills, fever, muscle aches and then recovery. But Lily contracted paralytic polio. She was 33 years old the last time she walked, fed herself, brushed her teeth, hugged her boys.

''That was the toughest time, the beginning," says her husband. All the iron lungs, rows and rows of them, ''people dying left and right." He's 85 now. Lily's 83. They have been married for 59 years, and for 51 of them Lily has been unable to move.

Iron lungs were big steel drums in which polio victims lay. The ''lung" mimicked breathing for those whose muscles and nerves were paralyzed. Only a person's head and neck jutted out.

Lily was in an iron lung for six months.

Then she was moved to a rocking bed for short periods of time.

Rocking beds were like seesaws. The continuous up and down motion forced air in and out of a paralyzed diaphragm. The rocking bed made Lily seasick.

Two years of this, and Lily still couldn't move. But she could talk if she saved up her air.

''I was a physician. I had seen a lot of things. Life is all not sweetness and light," he said. ''But in the beginning, I was always hoping that she'd improve."

He brought Lily home and accommodated the house for her. He set up mirrors around her rocking bed so that she could see around her. He hired housekeepers and nurses and therapists because she could never be left alone. And every night he slept on a cot that folded into a wall so that he could be with her.

His niece shares these things, because he talks about Lily, not himself.

''Lily did a lot with the house," he said. ''She took care of the insurance. She took care of the boys. She was really active on the telephone. And then there were her prayers. She prayed for everyone. She was home 48 years, and everything went pretty well."

Nearly three years ago Lily went to a hospital to have her medical equipment updated. She hasn't been home since. What polio didn't take from her, pneumonia did. She has a tracheotomy now and can no longer speak. ''She's slipping, little by little."

You say to Jack Manning: How did you do all this? Take care of a wife and raise two boys? Make a living and a difference? How do you continue to do this for more than half a century?

And he says, ''I love her. When you take your vows, you take your vows. I enjoy being with Lily even though it's not an ideal situation. And I know Lily would do the same thing for me."

He doesn't complain. He doesn't believe he has anything to complain about. He will tell you that life has been challenging -- getting help, getting things done.

He will tell you that he drives 100 miles every day to be with her. ''I have 91,000 miles on my car and it's just two years old and I only drive here. But it's highway driving, so it's not bad."

And he will tell you that Lily is more difficult now. She hates when he leaves.

And she hates when he pays attention to someone else when he's with her.

''Right now we're reduced to where we don't have much conversation anymore. I put my head on her shoulder and hold her hand. That's all I can do."

He is a man still in love. ''What is it, honey? I'm right here. I can hear you. Are you cool enough? Are you feeling the fan?"

And he talks about her with love, too. ''This isn't what I would recommend but I have no bitterness at all. I really find her to be still a good companion."

No self-pity. No why her, why me, why us?

''I have someone stay with her every night until 11 so she won't be alone."

A woman trapped in her body for half a century, she can't reach across the bed and touch his hand. But she doesn't have to. She touches his heart.

What is the ideal Valentine's gift, people are asking?

A love like Lily and Jack's.

Sandwiches

N&J helped make dinner tonight, grilled cheese sandwiches!

Wow

I had no idea that ice skating is such an intense workout. Skated for 80 minutes and my ankles have been calling me ever since. That, and I sweat more than any of the runs or walks I did during the week.

N&J love it and it is so funny how different they approach it. J. went off on her own a few times and kept telling me she wanted to learn how to skate. She is so fearless and independent! N. stayed cluthcing my hand practically always.

This morning we went back to the ice rink to register them for their second skating class, starts February 20th.

Finished "Brightness Falls: by McInerney, so have re-read all his stuff save one. And need to drop by the library to read his latest.

A little dusting of snow today and a bit of a sore throat for me, hopefully temporary.

I wish weekends were three days instead of two, it is nice to be away from work and with N&J.

Ice Skating!

Tonight we are all going to a rink where I will ice skate for the first time since about 1993, I am going to skate with N&J. Also sign them up for their second ice skating class. A. is just going to watch us.

Sign from Above?

Grieving couple gets sign from above
By Michele McPhee/The Beat
Monday, February 6, 2006 - Updated: 11:23 AM EST

In the terrible days after his 20-year-old son was killed by an allegedly drunken driver, Boston cop Dennis Thomson prayed for a sign from his slain namesake.

And he got one. It hangs over Fenway Park.

The Red Sox’s newest billboard over Yawkey Way features three guys from North Quincy knocking knuckles with Trot Nixon in 2003 after he pounded a home run in the 11th inning to clinch Game 3 of the series against the Yankees.

Joseph “Fitzy” Fitgerald is holding the home run ball he caught and is clenching it tight in his fist. His buddy, Dennis Thomson, is on his right, the brim of his Red Sox cap folded back to show his handsome face. Another friend, Neil Gavin, is screaming loud enough to reach the Green Monster.

Thomson, a U.S. airman, looks absolutely ecstatic. Why wouldn’t he? For a guy who loved baseball even before he was old enough to play Little League, who later became the star of the South Shore Seadogs, what could be better than getting a high-five from Trot Nixon flanked by your best friends at Fenway?

“After he died I prayed, God give me a sign that he’s OK. Well, we got a sign all right,” said Thomas, a 39-year BPD veteran who retired last week.

“I feel like that’s my kid up there saying, ‘It’s all right, Dad. Don’t worry about me, Dad.’ ”

Thomas saw the sign for the first time with his wife, Maureen, last Saturday morning. For a minute, the couple stood in front of it, motionless. What are the chances that out of the hundreds of games, the millions of fans in Red Sox nation, this would be the photograph chosen to sell tickets?

“It scares me,” Dennis Thomson said.

Maureen could barely breathe as they stared. The hardscrabble cop clenched his eyes shut as if the sheer motion could contain tears.

They came anyway.

“We cried for a long, long time. Then we looked at each other and started laughing. We couldn’t believe he pulled it off,” Maureen Thomson said. “Leave it to him to be the life of the party even now.”

The Thomsons spoke about their son over lunch at Game On, which has now been deemed the family’s favorite restaurant. Nearly every table in the place has windows looking out onto the billboard, and nearly every member of the Thomson family has hoisted a beer to Dennis over the past week.

“I look at that and know that my son did a lot more in 20 years than other people can do in 40, 50 years,” Maureen Thomson said. “He lived life, loved life.”

Thomson was hit by an allegedly drunken driver on Oct. 30, 2004 - the same day Boston hosted a World Series victory parade for his beloved Red Sox. In fact, his father was working in the drizzle not far from Yawkey Way when he got the call that a drunken driver had slammed into his son’s Jeep, ejecting him, as he drove back to the Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida along a dark stretch of the Mississippi Gulf Coast highway after visiting friends in Biloxi.

He lingered in a coma for weeks until he died Nov. 22. The 21-year-old U.S. Navy sailor who allegedly hit his vehicle is facing vehicular manslaughter charges for driving drunk.

“I buried him in a World Series T-shirt,” Maureen Thomson said. “As distraught as I was, I bought one at the airport before I flew down. There is nothing he loved more than the Red Sox.”

I’m sure the corporate hot shots in the Red Sox sales office did not know that the company’s latest billboard would be much more than a pitch to sell tickets - at least to a Boston cop and his family.

Yeah, the cop said, it’s a sign. A divine one.

“It makes me feel a little better,” he said, turning his head away to hide the moisture in his eyes. “I haven’t been asking why so much.”

Eighth Grade Science

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 6/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

Sam's Club

WE all went to Sam's club last night after dinner. Sam's Club is a massive sore that sells mainly groceries in bulk, and they have a samll dining area where we get N&J "icees"- same thing as a "slushee". :)

We stocked up on bottled water and strawberries. I checked out the new gilette razor that instead of four has five blades. It looks cool but A. said I should get it after I have used up all of my existing razor blades for the gillete four blader that I have!

Funny part of this trip was N&J ran to the outside deck furniture section of the store and laid in the deck chairs for a while. Also, there is a tv on display that constantly is showing the latest Star Wars movie so they always watch it, fortunately none of the violent parts have been on the last few times, so we have had good luck.

We totally forgot the Grammys were on so missed them but I read today that U2 won 5 grammy awards, so hooray for U2!

Did another walk, this one was three miles, and then home to bed.

N&J woke up early to hug me and wave out the window to me when I left for work, that is always a great way to start the day. Tonight or tomorrow night we are taking them ice skating and signing them up for their second ice skating class. So after school on Mondays they have ice sakting and after school on Tuesdays they have ballet class. I love how they are four years old and yet they all ready have their own "schedules".

Unfortunatley it is getting way too cold out, the walk was not much fun because of the weather, I kept thinking how am I going to run in this cold? I've done 9 miles so far this week, I'd like to do a minimum of twelve. In re-reading old posts I know I keep going back and forth about how much running to do, I am confident that when it warms up I will run more often. And keeping a base of three miles is pretty good for February, it really isn't until May that I have to step it up.

I want to re-watch Good Will Hunting when time permits. I wish my teeth were as white as Matt Damon's!!!

BAHHSTIN!

Mu Uncle Tim sent me this and I think it is hilarious so posted it:

For those of you who have never been to "Bawstin", this is a good guideline.
I hope you will consider coming to "Beantown" in the near future.
For those who call New England home, this is just plain great!

Information on Boston and the surrounding area:

There's no school on School Street, no court on Court Street, no dock on Dock Square, no water on
Water Street.

Back Bay streets are in alphabetical "oddah": Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon,
Dartmouth, etc.
So are South Boston streets: A, B, C, D, etc. If the streets are named after trees (e.g. Walnut,
Chestnut, Cedar), you're on Beacon Hill.
If they're named after poets, you're in Wellesley.
Massachusetts Ave is Mass Ave; Commonwealth Ave is Comm Ave; South Boston is Southie. The South
End is the South End.
East Boston is Eastie The North End is east of the former West End.
The West End and Scollay Square are no more; a guy named Rappaport got rid of them one night.

Definitions:
Frappes have ice cream, milkshakes don't.
If it is fizzy and flavored, it's tonic.
Soda is CLUB SODA. "Pop" is Dad.
When we want Tonic WATER, we will ask for Tonic WATER.

The smallest beer is a pint.

Scrod is whatever they tell you it is, usually fish. If you paid more than $6/pound, you got
scrod.


It's not a water fountain; it's a bubblah.
It's not a trashcan; it's a barrel.

It's not a poor boy or a "grinda" or a Hoagey or a Gyro or a hero, it's a sub.

It's not a shopping cart; it's a carriage.
It's not a purse; it's a pockabook.

They're not franks; they're haht dahgs. Franks are money in France.

Police don't drive patrol units or black and whites they drive a "crooza".

If you take the bus, you're on the "looza crooza".
It's not a rubber band, it's an elastic.
It's not a traffic circle, it's a rotary; and the first guy there has the right of way.

"Going to the islands" means Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket.

If something's good, it's "pissa". If something's really good, it's "wicked pissa".

The Pat's = The Patriots
The Sox = The Red Sox
The C's = The Celtics
The B's = The Bruins

Things not to do:
Don't pahk your cah in Hahvid Yahd .. they'll tow it to Meffa (Medford) or Slumaville (Somerville)

Don't sleep in the Common. (Boston Common)

Don't wear Orange in Southie on St. Patrick's Day.

Things you should know:
There are two State Houses, two City Halls, two courthouses, two Hancock buildings (one old, one
new for each).

The colored lights on top the old Hancock tell the weatha':
"Solid blue, clear view...."
"Flashing blue, clouds due...."
"Solid red, rain ahead...."
"Flashing red, snow instead...." - (except in summer when flashing red means the Red Sox game
was rained out)

Route 128 is also I-95 south. It's also I-93 north.

The underground train is not a subway. It's the "T", and it doesn't run all night
(fah chrysakes, this ain't Noo Yawk).

Order the "cold tea" in China Town after 2:00 am you'll get a kettle full of beer.

Bostonians... think that it's their God-given right to cut off someone in traffic.

Bostonians...think that there are only 25 letters in the alphabet no R's).

Bostonians..think that three straight days of 90+ temperatures is a heat wave.

Bostonians...refer to six inches of snow as a "dusting."

Bostonians...always "bang a left" as soon as the light turns green, and oncoming traffic always
expects it.

Bostonians...say everything in town is "a five-minute walk." pronounced " wok")

Bostonians...believe that using your turn signal is a sign of weakness.

Bostonians...think that 63-degree ocean water is warm.



Send this one to your friends who don't live in Boston!
Bostonians...think Rhode Island accents are annoying.

How to say these Massachusetts city names correctly:
Gloucester: Glawsta
Leicester: Lesta
Woburn: Wooban
Dedham: Dedim (like denim)
Revere: Re-vee-ah
Quincy: Quinzee
Peabody: Peabuddy
Waltham: Walth-ham
Chatham: Chattum
Haverhill is properly pronounced Hayvrul

Polar Bears Redux

I am not at all happy about this(See below). I really think polar bears are cool, and I have many fond memoris of going to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago and watching the polar bear there swim around and entertain N&J.


This is from cnn:

Polar bears may get endangered status

Wednesday, February 8, 2006; Posted: 9:49 a.m. EST (14:49 GMT)


Polar bears under U.S. jurisdiction are found only in Alaska.


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Amid concerns that global warming is melting away the icy habitats where polar bears live, the federal government is reviewing whether they should be considered a threatened species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday that protection may be warranted under the Endangered Species Act, and began a review process to consider if the bears should be listed.

The agency will seek information about population distribution, habitat, effects of climate change on the bears and their prey, potential threats from development, contaminants and poaching during the next 60 days.

The decision comes after the Center for Biological Diversity of Joshua Tree, California, filed a petition last year that said polar bears could become extinct by the end of the century because their sea ice habitat is melting away.

The group, joined by the environmental groups Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace, also filed a federal lawsuit in December to seek federal protections for the polar bear.

"I think it's a very important acknowledgment that global warming is transforming the Arctic and threatening polar bears with extinction," said Kassie Siegel, lead author of the center's petition.

Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Bruce Woods said the petition "contains sufficient information to convince us that we need to do a more thorough analysis of the polar bear population worldwide."

Polar bears under U.S. jurisdiction are found only in Alaska. They spend most of their lives on sea ice, but the center said if current rates of decline in sea ice continue, the summertime Arctic could be completely ice-free well before the end of the century.

There is some disagreement about whether polar bears are actually being threatened.

Federal wildlife officials report healthy populations of polar bears, and are working on a hard population count. However, the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center, NASA and the University of Washington said last fall that there was a "stunning reduction in Arctic sea ice at the end of the northern summer."

If the polar bear were listed as a threatened species, federal regulatory agencies would be required to consider how their decisions affect polar bears.

A listing could affect industries seeking permission to release greenhouse gases or decisions such as setting fuel economy standards for vehicles, Siegel said.

Fun, Fun, Fun & an Orange Hat

After dinner took N&J to an indoor "play area" where they ran around, played with other little girls, and climbed. Funnily enough, their highlight was spending about half an hour talking to a little new born and her Mother.


When we returned home we found that A. had bought us all small gifts, I got an orange hat for running, it is really cool, it is by "Helly Hansen" and says HH on it, never heard of it but the tag on it says they make technical sporting clothing and I love that it is orange, it has a kinda brown and black camouflauge pattern on it. The girls got new multi colored underwear. Not sure yet what A. got for herself.

I am off now to do a 2 mile walk, I had considered another run but the cold and my sore muscles are two huge reasons against a run. I will however, don my new orange hat!

Oh and I had one of those rare lunches with B. where it is just the two us and that was cool. We are planning on seeing a movie next Tuesday but are undecided as to what. B. has seen practically everything.

Garden State/ Zach Braff

I love the movie "Garden State" and the soundtrack is amazing. I just discovered Zach Braff has a blog site of his own, it is pretty cool, check it out if you want:

www2.foxsearchlight.com/gardenstate/blog/

Here are three of my favorite parts in the movie:

when he tells Sam(Natalie Portman) he really likes her, and she stands up and does a dance.

when he is taking Sam out for a date and her mom hugs her goodbye and he stops and says "I could use a hug" and she hugs him

when he finally confronts and talks to his Dad about his Mom's death and more importantly, about THEIR relationship with each other

I could go on but time does not permit. This movie and Good Will Hunting, the emotional impact is what I really find moving and helps me work my own foibles out. IS foibles the right word to use? Possibly. At any rate, rent it, watch it, enjoy it, and check out the music, it has great songs by the Shins and a really great haunting acoustic song by Colin Hay ( the singer from Men At Work). And Natalie Portman is excellent too.

Here is some info on garden State from the imdb database:


Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff) is a struggling Los Angeles actor living in a zombified state due to anti-depressants and his icy family (Ian Holm), who reside back in New Jersey. When news comes to Largeman that his disabled mother has drowned, he returns to his home state for the funeral, reconnecting with his mostly deadbeat friends (including Peter Sarsgaard) along the way. Experiencing his first weekend of a chemical-free life since he was a child, Largeman stumbles into the world of Sam (Natalie Portman), a young epileptic, who helps Largeman confront his feelings toward his family and himself.

'Garden State' marks the debut of writer/director Zach Braff, who is better known as the lead character J.D. on the hit NBC show, 'Scrubs.' A film school graduate, and now an actor with serious Hollywood connections, Braff unleashes his first film on the world. A tale of guilt, romance, and a thinly veiled look at the life of an actor who returns to his childhood home, 'Garden State' is the quintessential 'first film' from a young director: it's packed to the gills with overreaching themes and relentless style.

Because the film is such a hodgepodge of rhythms and aesthetics, 'State' isn't the searing portrait of dreary New Jersey rebirth quite as Braff imagines it. The film is entertaining, occasionally roaringly funny, and often poignant with Largeman's arc of trying to come to terms with his mother's death. But Braff the writer is trying way too hard to make impression, through some pretty ambitious plotting, attempting to scrape together quirky sights and sounds to the New Jersey world that haven't been put on film before. One sequence, set between the walls of a hotel where men pay money to watch (through peepholes) the sex acts that go on in the rooms is greatly indicative of the material where Braff derails himself. Largeman's story floats away while Braff works out his quirky itch and 'State' loses dramatic integrity, which was threadbare to begin with.

Braff the director also gets in over his head through the abundant use of style. 'State' is the distant cousin of the Hal Ashby/Wes Anderson school of highly controlled visual poetry, which Braff takes very seriously. 'State' is a beautifully shot film (by Lawrence Sher), but Braff often tosses in needless tricks (including slo-mo for little reason or effect) and visual symbolisms to induce interest in the confused story, which accomplishes very little. 'State' is a fairly scattershot film, and Braff's over-reliance on style only exacerbates this problem.

Where Braff excels is in his evocation of the stilted lives of Largeman's friends, as they circle the bottom of the barrel through heavy drug use and questionable moral choices. You can literally feel the weight of these dark lives during the movie, as well as the tight bond explored between Largeman and Sam. Braff does great work getting these two characters together in way that isn't overtly quirky or unbelievable. Braff also manages to reclaim Portman's charisma, which was effectively buried by George Lucas's 'Star Wars' films. A cheerful, funny, deeply felt performance as the troubled Sam, Portman is superb in a way that hasn't been seen since her loose childhood performances in 'The Professional' and 'Beautiful Girls' (a film that 'State' shares similar themes with).

If 'Garden State' is imperfect is a multitude of ways, it's so with a heart and desire for individualism that is completely endearing. Braff has exorcized his film-making demons here, and now, hopefully settling down, we could be seeing the birth of a great filmmaker.

Raw

Ran at 9pm last night outside, it was really raw and cold out and I could not find my gloves, I did wear a hat this time though.

N&J have been working on their Valentine's Day cards, and they are drawing picture of animals and people on the envelopes, it is fun to watch them.

I just re-red two Jay McIerney novels, not sure why, just saw them on the shelf and zipped through them.

It is getting cold out here in Illinois again.

Danger Mouse

N&J watched Danger Mouse the British spy cartoon this weekend and they adored it.

Sunday morning at mass N&J went for the first time with the other children away for "the children's liturgy of the Word", which, as near as I can tell mainly involves getting handouts to color in later, which they did with great pleasure.

Grew back the goatee, have been trying to clean up the basement, go through old stuff, donated some items to the Salvation Army.

Down to running just on Thursdays now though took a nice long walk Saturday evening. I figure when it gets warmer out I will run more often, and of course in the summer when family travels to Poland my training will increase.

Finished the new Stephen King "Cell", it was average. It has been a while since he has written a suspenseful vivid story in my opinion.

Pause

I am planning on refraining from posting for a while for personal reasons.

Just a temporary pause.

Yellow Pajamas Pants

N&J have these yellow pajamas pants they have been wearing recently that are so soft, whenever they hug me and ask me to pick them up I just want to fall asleep. I need a blanket woven from this material, it is wonderful. For some reason I was rambling on last night about how I really want a soft quilt. Basically I just love sleep.