Message 521

I just got back from having coffee with Helen and Jim and Joan and David at Starbucks. Beech and Annie joined us until Julian came after his haircut. I did not watch a DVD last night because I watched the Sharks win their game with Colorado 3-1. After that I watched the news because I had not seen it at dinnertime, which is my usual custom.

Message 520

This message is setting a record for lateness. It is now about 9 PM PDT. Susan and her mother have flown back east for a family funeral. Jason brought all four girls up last night for a dinner at Ten Fu. Walt Umbach was also able to join us. Caroline and Ellie were out of school today so they spent the night with me. We had breakfast at El Cerrito this morning. After that we went to San Mateo to attend the Halloween Party at Beech class. In the afternoon Vanessa joined us to go back to the school to watch the Halloween parade. It was like watching the Normandy invasion. There must be a thousand students at Beech's school. Beech's class was the first to march out and around the field before taking their place in the middle. Beech's costume was Maximus Prime. He refused to tell the nurses at Packard yester what his costume was going to be. I confess I had never heard on Maximus Prime, and I was impressed that Jason knew who it was when it came up in the dinner conversation. Each of the other classes followed in their footsteps. When it was over, Beech joined Caroline and Ellie and me to spend the rest of the afternoon in Los Gatos. Shortly after we arrived I went to pick up the twins at their school. When Jason got home from work we all went to Live Oak Kitchen for dinner. I had liver and bacon and onions as usual when I go there. I am home now after taking Beech home. I caught the last few minutes of Washington week, and now I am watching the Sharks play Colorado while I write this. Ryan Clowe just scored his first goal of the year just a few seconds before the end of the second period. The Sharks are thus ahead 1-0 during the second intermission.

Message 519

Yesterday I finished reading Science. In the afternoon I took Annie to Nealon Park for a couple of hours while Vanessa took Beech to his therapy. Today I am going with Vanessa to take Beech to Lucile Packard Hospital to have new ear tubes put in. He has been getting lots of earaches again, so they need to replace the ones that fell out again. I did not watch a DVD yesterday. Instead I watched the Sharks beat Los Angeles 2-1 in an overtime shootout.

Message 518

Yesterday I finished reading The Economist and started reading Science. In the evening I watched a DVD of another Italian movie by the same writer/director as Cheeky! that I watched the day before. The Italian title of this one id Cosi Fan Tutti, the same as the famous Mozart opera, but the title for the DVD version is All Ladies Do It. This one is shot in Italy and has the same style and themes as Cheeky!, but is less light-hearted and is less successful. I give it 2.8 stars.

One of the guests on Charlie Rose last night was a Berkley professor named Alison Gopnik. I highly recommend that you watch her on the Charlie Rose web site. Her interview is only about eleven minutes long, but it deals with babies brains and how they work, a subject that has long interested me. I think all of you would find it interesting.

Message 517

Yesterday I read some more of The Economist and worked a little more on my memoirs. In the evening I watched a DVD of the movie Cheeky!, which is the English version of the title. It is an Italian film shot in London but with an Italian cast speaking Italian. In spite of the need to read subtitles, it was a light-hearted bit of fluff with not much plot, but it had lots of nudity and was fun to watch. I give it 3.7 stars.

Message 516

Yesterday I watched the 49ers lose to Houston. They were 21 points behind at the half , and they finally got their act together and came close, but by then it was too late. In the afternoon I watched the Sharks beat Philadelphia in a very good game. It seems they are learning how to play consistently at a high level. In the evening I watched PBS.

Message 515

Yesterday I was not able to join Helen and Jim for coffee as usual because I went with Maureen and a couple of her friends to see the Charlie Rose roundtable discussion at Stanford. It was fun to see Charlie do his thing in person. The six people in the discussion included some I had seen before, and they were mostly Stanford people. They talked about the economic recovery, and most of what they said I have heard before. In the afternoon Joshua came over and watched the Sharks game with me. They beat Atlanta 4-3. Josh went to Santa Cruz for a concert in the evening.

Last night I went with Larry and Judi to see a late show at the movies. It was a BBC film with an all British cast that I did not know. The title is An Education. The story is about coming of age and loss of innocence for a young girl who plans to go to Oxford. I thought it was very well done and had an upbeat ending. I give it five stars.