Message 886

Yesterday I went to Los Gatos in the afternoon to celebrate Ellie's birthday with Vanessa and her kids. Ellie is seven years old now and in the first grade. Thus, in a few days it will be seven years since Sally died. Time flies. We all had dinner at Live Oak Kitchen and afterwards went to Sweet Retreat for ice cream, where we gave Ellie her presents. Both Ellie and Beech asked for quarters for the junk machines instead of ice cream. A good time was had by all.

In the evening Mimi and I watched a DVD of the Chinese movie The House of Flying Daggers. It is a martial arts movie comparable to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. The filming and scenery were absolutely beautiful. I give it four stars.

Message 885

Yesterday I watched the Vikings beat the Cardinals in Arizona in overtime. I was glad to see Arizona lose, because if the 49ers ever get their act together they will need a better record than Arizona. Also, I like to see Brett Favre win. I then watched the Raiders beat the Chiefs, again in overtime. The Raiders have gotten their act pretty well together now, even if they did lose to the 49ers. In the late afternoon Mimi and I went to San Mateo and had dinner with Julian, Vanessa, and the kids. In the evening I watched Sherlock Holmes on Masterpiece Mystery.

Message 884

Yesterday I drove down to Los Gatos and watched Ellie's soccer game and then Caroline's soccer game. Jason and Susan are doing heroic work with the coaching. Afterward we had lunch at Live Oak Kitchen. In the late afternoon I watched Stanford beat Arizona in football. It looks like Oregon will be the only team to beat them this year. In the evening I watched the Sharks beat Tampa Bay 5-2 in hockey. Joe Thornton has been suspended by the league for two games because of a questionable call by the NHL. In the game against St. Louis he stepped out of the penalty box and was run into by a Blues player, who went down and stayed down for a long time. Joe was given a game misconduct penalty, and the Sharks lost the game 0-2, with the second goal being scored later by the player who supposedly was hurt so badly he could not get up for a long time. How could he have been well enough to re-enter the game and score a goal a few minutes later? I suppose Ethan and Julie and Alex have a different view of this incident. Anyway, I got most of The Economist read yesterday too.

Message 883

Mimi and I met Vanessa and Annie at Starbucks this morning. Helen and Jim were volunteering for the women's NCAA golf tournament at Stanford, so they could not join us. Last night Mimi was not feeling well, so she went to bed early and I read some more on my Kindle. I am about a quarter of the way through The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo now.

Message 882

Yesterday I watched the Sharks lose to St. Louis 0-2. The last two years were such downers when they had the best record in the NHL and then fizzled out in the playoffs, that I find it hard to take them seriously now. I guess the Giants are the only success we will be able to enjoy. The Warriors seem like they may be more competitive in the NBA this year, but I will have to wait and see before I pay too much attention to them. The Raiders are sold out this week, so I will get to watch them play for a change. The 49ers have a bye this week.

Last night Mimi and I watched a DVD of the movie made in Manila called Oh My Ghost. It was a silly but dark comedy. I thought it very amateurish, so I give it 1.3 stars.

Message 881

I just got back from having breakfast at Heidi's Pies. There were 5 of us at the table today since Henry is back in town for this week and Vanessa was able to join us. Last night I watched PBS shows about new information about an Egyptian Tomb and The Big Apple Circus. I also read some more on my Kindle.

Message 880

I read the NY Times this morning before writing this message, so I would know the election results. I am proud that California mostly did the right thing. In particular they voted for Brown for governor and Boxer for senator. They also voted against the Texas oil ballot measure to repeal of green emission standards, they voted for reducing the majority to pass the state budget to a simple majority instead of two-thirds, and they voted to keep redistricting out of the hands of elected representatives. Pot legalization lost, but it is already non-criminal on the state level. It is a relief to me that the election is now over and I can stop fretting about the extent to which insanity is prevailing. At least we still control the senate and Obama is still president. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Yesterday Joshua came over to get my advice on how to vote on the state propositions and to watch the Sharks game. Unfortunately the Sharks lost 0-1 to Minnesota. Mimi and I went to Avanti Pizza for dinner. Afterward we watched a DVD of the Philippians' movie The Spirit in the Glass. It is the first time I have seen a movie from that country. It was strange to hear them speak their own language with so many English words and phrases thrown in. The movie was terrible though. I give it 1.4 stars.