Saturday, December 31, 2005

New Year's Eve - Day


Took Jack for a nice walk around the neighborhood.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Gunner Palace

Last night we watched the docu-movie "Gunner Palace" which chronicles the everyday existence of soldiers of the 2/3 Field Artillery unit stationed in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces. The movie was shot in the currently popular Reality TV style, with the cameras alternately following the soldiers in action as they go on daily patrols, then switching to confessional style first person ramblings.

The editing style disjointedly jumps from scene to scene, overloading the visual and emotional senses, but the technique does a good job describing what must be the surreal existence these soldiers live in. Each day is filled with the entire range of raw human emotion: the morning may be spent dealing with a potential bomb disguised as a garbage bag left on the side of the road, with a dip in the palace pool after lunch in a vacation-like setting, concluding with a tense nocturnal raid on a suspected bomb making cell.

No matter what your politics, this is a movie which will wrench you (at least figuratively) from your comfort zone/plush sofa and transport you as close to the front lines as you'd likely want to get. For most of the general populace, including myself, the protracted nature of the war has made it almost impossible to stay emotionally involved. We just can't care as much as we did at the start of the conflict almost 3 years ago because by now we'd be drained, and we wouldn't be able to go about our daily lives. In a disturbing but non-horrific way, "Gunner Palace" tickles those numbed nerve endings and reminds us that we still feel for the thousands of men and women spending their days far from the comforts of a Starbucks or an after work cocktail. In one memorable scene, Stuart Wilf, a 19-year old specialist from Colorado, and one of the most engaging characters in the film, tends to a fire inside a drum barrel. The scene reminds me of a bonfire on the beach after a day of surfing and swimming, with Wilf dressed for the part of your average American teenager in a t-shirt and hooded sweatshirt. The tagline on the screen reads: "300 days without beer." I read that and the thought popped immediately into my head that I couldn't do it. It was at that moment that I realized how soft and cushy my life is -- that this was what brought it all home for me -- what connected me to the sacrifice being made by so many.

In a sense, it made me realize I couldn't relate to what these young, inexperienced, brave men and women called an existence. And I certainly couldn't even begin to fathom what the average Iraqi views as a normal life. What "Gunner Palace" did was to remind me that there is still a pivotal and climactic event ongoing in the world that will shape the lives of not only the thousands of American troops on the ground, but millions of people on this planet, and that we should all devote as much attention as we can - or at least as much as we would to "Joe Millionaire." For those who haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend "Gunner Palace" as a first step. For more reviews and opinions about the film, click on the movie poster above.

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Holiday Cheer, Part II


Christmas day we took a hike along one of the many Forest Service Roads in the Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest. The recent rains left the woods lush and green, with floating mist through the trees.


Jack thoroughly enjoyed himself as we had the road to ourselves. After the hike, he was particularly attentive at the dinner table. All in all, a quiet restful Christmas.

Saturday, December 24, 2005

Holiday Cheer, Part I

The day before Christmas is busy as people scour the stores for last minute gifts, get cards and packages out to distant loved ones, and motor along to their family gatherings. On this morning, Helen and I are headed to Home Depot to pick up some cedar 2 x 4's and screws because our wonderful and handy neighbor Jim is helping us fix our gate.

So my anxiety level rises a notch or two as Helen and I approach a very busy intersection in Issaquah and notice abnormally long lines of cars on all sides. Turns out the traffic light is out on this busy intersection, on one of the busiest traffic days of the year. I'm talking about an intersection with 4 lanes each way plus left turn lanes - a major piece of roadway that serves as an access to I-90 as well as Costco, two malls, and a major access up to the Plateau. There had to be 3 lanes of traffic (including turn lanes) ten cars deep on all sides.

As I ease the Subaru into the meat of the congestion, I'm imagining the worse. I steel myself in preparation for screeching tires, blaring horns, quick swerving maneuvers, flaring tempers and a distinct lack of "good will toward men."

What transpired over the next 5-10 minutes once again confirmed why Helen and I love living here. We watched and participated in an intricate vehicular ballet bred of that special etiquette and common understanding that folks around here take for granted. As each car got to the front of their respective lanes, they stopped, allowed those that had the right of way to proceed, then took their turn. Not a horn was heard, and although it took a little longer than normal without the help of advanced electronics, traffic kept moving. People made their way to Fred Meyer for that forgotten can of cranberry sauce, or onto I-90 to grandma's house.

Maybe after a few more years here, we'll take this kind of stuff for granted too, but I sure hope we don't. I know from experience how a situation like this would play out in New York, and let me tell ya...it wouldn't be like it did this Christmas Eve. As we drove through the intersection I had a flashback of our trip to the Big Apple over the July 4th holiday. I still remember one balmy night when a group of us were strolling along Broadway after a terrific dinner. As we're making our way through the crosswalk, a pimped out GMC truck blasting hip-hop started "rolling" on us - that is - the driver purposely releases his hold on the brake and rolls the vehicle toward us. This is a game of intimidation that's played in big cities like New York, usually by young males with overly abundant levels of alcohol and testosterone and critical shortages of brain cells. This guy came within 6 inches as I glared at him. It's not the first time this has happened - in fact, I've been back to New York twice this year, and I've been the victim of this game each time. Like I said, it's a game - a dumb game played by dumb f**ks.

Anyway, I digress. Didn't want this story to end on such a sour note, because it really was a wonder watching the display of civility this morning. It's worth the exercise of contrasting how bad things could be to make us all appreciate how good things are. Hopefully, it tempers us to have more patience, be more aware of others, and helps us through those little snags of daily frustration. Happy holidays everyone...and good will toward men (and women).

Thursday, December 22, 2005

'Tis the season for gathering and feasting


Some of the folks that logged heavy hours over the summer and fall to help launch M3, and our lovely spouses, spent a most enjoyable evening at Sea Star in Bellevue. The food, drinks and company were all awesome -- 4 stars!

Thanks Oliver for a truly fun and memorable evening. We've got to do it again soon!

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Gastro-Histrionics

Tonight at Rich & Holly's wonderful holiday party, our friends Hunter and Monica gave us an update on their dog Ellie, who recently had to go under the knife to repair a torn ACL. It turns out that medical care for dogs can be obscenely expensive -- and thanks to Hunter's ebullient storytelling -- funny as hell.

When Ellie got hurt, the vet told Hunter and Monica they had two ways to go. They could opt for the traditional surgery which just makes the leg usable again, or...they could go with the new procedure which repairs the poor doggie's leg with the latest greatest canine medical discoveries. Of course there's a catch: the new procedure costs twice as much.

Now as you all know if you've been keeping up with my blog, our friend Hunter is an ER doc (albeit for homo sapiens) and as such he's kind of knowledgeable about the whole practicing medicine thing. So he asks the vet exactly why the new procedure costs so much, and gets the standard jargon about how the new method is a delicate process, requires more time in the operating room, and blah blah blah... And it seems Ellie also gets the most expensive type of anesthesia known to man -- one that Hunter, as a board certified surgeon...has to get special permission to use on patients!

About the time Hunter starts pantomiming the way he works with Ellie on her rehabilitation exercises by moving her paws back and forth, I'm laughing so hard the 5 course holiday meal, cookies, appetizers and 3 homemade desserts are about to explode from my stomach like the creature from the movie 'Aliens.' Hahahahahahahahahaha...

Just when I thought I had contained the beast from bursting out of my bloated belly, Hunter put me over the top with his account of how in order to make sure Ellie stays off of her still healing leg, he spends his days carrying this "shaved-butt, limp-legged, sheep-chasing creature" up and down the stairs of their house. Man oh man, Hunter, thanks for contributing more than your share of holiday cheer.

And thank you, Holly and Rich, for a wonderful and festive party.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Windy Saturday night at home


Tonight we're getting our first real taste of the Snoqualmie wind tunnel. We've had a couple of nights when the wind's whipped up some, but our neighbors who've been on the Ridge a few years have told us, "just wait and see." Tonight the wind is howling outside, with occassional gusts that actually make the house shudder.

On our first real windy night in the Cascade foothills, Helen made a fantastic chicken risotto for dinner, we opened up some wine, and curled up in front of the fireplace and surround sound HDTV. Ah, home sweet home.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Fire from the sky


Winter in the Northwest isn't nearly as dreary and rainly as people make out. The recent cold spell has actually made for some spectacular sunrise and sunsets. This morning as I was making coffee the kitchen suddenly filled with light. It was as if someone flipped on all the lights and it startled me from my comatose half-awake state.

I looked outside and the sky seemed to be catching fire, as if God had struck a giant match just over the Cascades. I grabbed a camera and quickly ran up to the bedroom to take some pictures, because the spectacular colors don't last very long. A minute after this picture was taken, the sky turned violet and then settled into the bright blue of another winter morning. Man, a sight like that makes it really easy to get energized for the day.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Thank you Ma'am, may I have another.

I've been reclused from the blogsphere since late summer, as the project at work has pulled me, along with a bunch of other poor sobs, deeper and deeper into its vortex. Now that it's finally launched - official launch party and everything - I decided to take a spin around the old blogginhood, check out the scene.

So I'm tooling around one of my favorite spots in the blogsphere, the darkly humorous and always entertaining joint run by the Drinkslinger, and HELLO! I'm greeted by this headline:

'David Lee sucks dinosaur cock'

I must have fallen off my chair a half dozen times laughing as I read the entry! Oh man I've been away too long. Thanks for caring, Robin.