Another random pic

Lake O'Hara, Yoho National Park, Canada. Yoho is an indian word for WOW! I hope this got rid of some daily stress.

Sky Kids

When Brian visited, Mike broke out the playstation and our collection of old games. Mike played sky kids with Brian until 4 AM. After Mike went to bed, Brian continued to at least 5 (I woke up and saw the light on). Brian controlled Mike's character with his foot on the other controller. Who says low tech is not fun? Here's a link if you are not familiar with sky kids.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Kid

Nature Part 3

Anita (my sister in law for those who do not know her) spotted a large and healthy black bear in her backyard today. I guess he was not spooked by her in the house and hung out for quite a while. I will be sure to make plenty of noise when I am outside at her house.

New Yawk, part 3

Sunday was a maritime day. We did circle line and since it was fleet week, we toured a amphibious assault ship. See below.

USS Kearsarge (LHD 3)Amphibious Assault Ship - Wasp Class
USS Kearsarge returns to New York City, having served as the primary Navy unit participating in the 1995 New York City Veteran’s Day activities, which marked America’s tribute to the 50th Anniversary of the end of World War II. Kearsarge is the fourth ship in the history of the U.S. Navy named for Kearsarge Mountain in New Hampshire. The name is one of only two United States ship names mandated by Congress to be used more than once.
The largest of all amphibious warfare ships, amphibious assault ships resemble a small aircraft carrier in that they are capable of launching and landing helicopters and certain other types of aircraft. These ships also contain a well-deck, enabling the use of Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) and other watercraft to support U.S. Marine ground force amphibious operations. With a length of 840 feet, a beam of 106 feet and a displacement of 40,500 tons fully loaded, Wasp Class amphibious assault ships can reach speeds of more than 22 knots.

Brian was so inspired, that he asked us to take him to the marine recruiting station and he immediately began training. I think that he has the drive and heart for the job!

And they needed a poll?????

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060528/ap_on_re_us/impatient_nation
I have no idea why they needed to study this.

New Yawk Part 2

We all went into the city late yesterday. We drove in and did the Empire State Bldg, Times Square, and saw STOMP! Brian has been patient with the Subway amateurs! As usual we saw the sites as well as some interesting people.
I am going to call Brian eagle eye from now on due to his powerful observational skills.

New Yawk, New Yawk

Brian is in town. I picked him up on Thursday night, and we sat in a huge traffic jam in Queens. Yesterday we hit some museums since the weather was a little iffy. We did the Met, Guggenheim, and the MOMA. I think his favorite was the Guggenheim (haha). They were putting in an installation and repainting the outside, so you could not walk around the main area of the museum. Not to mention it looked like somebody was moving in! I am not sure the museum impressed him.
We did sushi last night and ice cream. We were going to walk on the sound by Playland, but it started storming.

Random Pic of the day

See if you can find me in the picture! This is a natural bridge over a canyon in Banff!!!!!!

Montauk

I finally got out to Montauk. I have been there 3 times before, but it was at the end of a bike century (100 mile ride). My neck would cramp looking at the ocean, and I was too tired to pedal another 12 miles to go the the point and light house. The funny thing is that the ride was on Sunday, so we saw all of the tired bikers rolling in.
We camped with Tracey in Hither Hills State Park. The campsites were right on the ocean (just seperated by a bluff). For the high season, you need to reserve a year in advance! There were a lot of surfers out, but it was pretty cold. There are some dunes there called the walking dunes. The dunes are moving, and the area around them are forested. They keep finding old trees that were buried by the dunes, but now are seen again due to the shifting sand. Here is Mike and Tracey on the dunes.

CO2 is good for YOU!!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060517/us_nm/environment_ads_dc

Global Warming--What me Worry!

Your brain

Radiolab has done it again. I was reluctant to get out of my car and see my patient while listening to it. Maybe I was drawn to this one due to it's focus on the brain/body connection, but you do not have to be a PT freak to appreciate it.

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2006/05/05

Can you Retire???

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/retirement/

We caught a Frontline last night that was interesting. It was about the shift of regular pensions to 401K programs. It was an eye opener.

Lake Louise

Here is a pic of Lake Louise. It was really peaceful. I kept thinking that when my grandma came there, it was dark. She got up early in the AM, and this is the view that greeted her. A great way to start the day.

Nature Part 2

Mike and I saw a fox tonight on our walk. Maybe that is why we are not seeing any bunnies in our backyard yet!
Our baby robins are still in the nest in the backyard, but they will be gone soon.
Spring is here!!!

Speaking and Singing

I heard this very fascinating series today on Radiolab about speaking and music. I will not mangle it here, but you can visit the website to hear it. The sound as touch was really cool and the segment before it (I can not remember the name, but it was a professor talking about tone and language). Enjoy!

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2006/04/21

In other music related news, Mike and I ended up singing the blues last night in guitar class. We did not want to refuse and upset our teacher. So I think that we will be expected to sing the rest of the classes---oh no!! We had to make up blues lyrics to some chords. Pretty funny schtuff.

Nature!!!

We have new Robin babies in our backyard again. It is the same nest under the deck from last year. I check on it and the fledglings always leave much faster than I expect. They grow up so fast!

On the other note, I keep seeing Turkeys all over the place. I think that they are taking over. I saw one in my neighbor's backyard (early AM, I backed up the car in case I was not fully awake to verify), crossing a busy street in Rye, and as roadkill! Maybe it takes one to know one. What I want to see is a Owl, but no luck so far. I learned what to look for last year, but no luck. I will have to keep looking for the "white wash".

Rainy day

The pollen has been washed from the air hooray! Rainy days make me so much more productive. I did my monthly trip to do laundry, and it was not as unpleasant as usual. I am always cranky in the laundromat. We usually do it at night, and we have to listen to the John Tesch show being cranked into the speakers. During his show he likes to give advice that he reads out of women's magazines, and it drives me crazy. The only thing worse than John T telling me how to flush the toilet was when the Doo Wop show was on! It sounded like dogs howling.
This is my last lazy weekend for a while. We have a busy schedule coming up. Montauk next weekend (camping at Hither Hills), Brian coming out Memorial day weekend, camp, end of school, and Michigan vacation with the family. whooooooah!!! I am looking forward to it all.
It is a good day to blast music, clean, and try to practice my lefty guitar. I need to start sounding like I have been taking lessons for the last year!

I am thinking about Mariliza and Joshua today as they are travelling to the Phillipines. This is a pic from the best day hike I ever had!!!
It is a comfort to know in these days of video games and TV that kids still love to play with ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Cool Radio

I finally discovered a suitable replacement for Big Sonic Heaven. I have been mourning this show since I moved out to NY (land of horrible radio) and since the show ended. Finally some cool music to sink my teeth into!

http://www.auralgasms.com/Radio/Schedule.aspx

The Big Sonic show is called Auralgasms.

My idea of heaven!!!!