Good Bamboo

Let the Christmas season begin!

2006-11-25T11:55:00.000-08:00

Now that Thanksgiving has past, the Christmas season has begun. We participated in some of the "Black Friday" festivities, helping Michael's and Fred Meyer to have a profitable quarter. I starved myself for most of the day in order to ready myself for the meal I've waited all year for--a home made Club Sandwich. Four slices a of bacon, three slices of sourdough bread, leftover turkey, and what seemed to be at least a quarter cup of mayo. I ... felt ... sleepy ... in ... 5-4-3-2-1 minutes.

The evening was finished off with a beautiful fire and a family viewing of Wizard of Oz.

Today, the tacky inflatable Santa's are going up ...

Season's Greetings!

Can you hear me now?

2006-05-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

Last night, as I was listening to late night radio on KEX 1190, the reception started to fade. I did my usual tricks--move the radio, touch the radios, stick the antenna in my ear--but the reception kept fading. Among the crackling, I heard the announcer state the station number as 1180. So adjusted the station from 1190 to 1180 and it came in clear except the news and weather seemed different. After about 30 minutes, the announcer provided the weather for Kalispell, Montana ... 500 miles away.

So, if you're ever in Kallispell, tune in to KOFI 1180, for the latest news, talk, and oldies.

Robot birthday cake

2006-02-19T07:45:00.000-08:00

Max loves his Light Bright.

From far away the picture looks like a robot.

Up close, it's a birthday cake.

Reading with Grandma

2006-02-19T07:40:00.000-08:00

Zöe loves to read with Grandma Barbara. She won't still still for more than 10 seconds with us. But she'll put in marathon session of sitting and reading with Grandma Barbara.

As a result, Zöe is now doing some full-blown talking with words like sunshine, Cookie Monster, money, and I want this.

Our special visitors

2006-02-19T07:33:00.000-08:00

We had special visitors last week: Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Canon.

They arrived into one of the first sunny days in a long, long time. The rather brisk winds blew away the clouds to reveal a bright blue sky. With temps in 50s, I was tempted to wear shorts.

Soon after their champagne greeting at our house, our guests were Laurelhurst Schools' guests. It was, coincidentally, "Grandparents and Special Friends Day" at the school. Grandma Barbara was bursting with excitement, "I hope they ask who came the farthest."

After the greetings, the principal stood up and asked, "Who came from out of town?"

"Beaverton!"

"Salem!"

"Ohio," my mom shouted with a volume I last heard when the gerbils escaped from their cage when I was 12.

The gasps were audible. Especially from the grandparents from Eugene who thought a two hour drive had cinched their special place in history.

From there we were treated to a presentation of "The First Snow," performed by Jack's first grade class. Jack's performance was Oscar worthy for supporting actor in his portrayal of a bird. He informed me later that he even said a line that all the other birds forgot.

After that we returned home for a little relaxation before the next event. Dinner at Poor Richards.

Justice prevails!

2006-01-30T16:41:00.000-08:00

As I noted in my last post, I had a date with the traffic court today. It began with a little hiccup this morning. Power was out in parts of downtown, including the courthouse. Only after waiting 30 minute to get hand-scanned for metal (I had hidden my little Leatherman at City Coffee) waiting for 30 in line for the clerk was I informed that the power failure halted the wheels of justice until after lunch.

Upon returning to court in the afternoon, I waited in line get assigned a courtroom and then waited some more for the judge. He seemed like a good egg, so I figured that I wouldn't have lay it on too thick. There were two charges: driving without insurance and improper display of tags. I got out of the first charge by showing him my proof of insurance. I was ready to cop to the second one because my tags had been expired for about 8 months. Rather than hear my story, he asked if I had registered the vehicle. "Yes, sir."

"Well today is you lucky day. I enter a plea of guilty, but I'll waive the fine."

"So I guess you don't want to hear my sob story?"

"Not unless you want to pay the fine ..."

I said my thanks and beat a hasty retreat.

Max's birthday and more

2006-01-28T10:11:00.000-08:00

Meegan covered much of Max's birthday already. The day was eventful for me, too.

I finally got the the Pathfinder registered. It took only nine months and one ticket sufficiently motivate me to get the air quality testing station, pay the required $75, and put the stickers on. Now I'm ready for my date with the traffic court judge. I took care of the car registration on the way to talk to Dr. Hoang Le about my herniated disk.

From there, I went to work. I'm working on several projects currently. One involves wage negotiations between a labor union and the contracts who hire them. The other project is for an investor who is trying to change zoning to allow him to construct a luxury hotel in Oregon's wine country. I also have some construction-related litigation work in the pipeline, but that work seems to be wrapping up.

For his birthday, Max requested spaghetti. That is easy. When I was growing up, one of my birthday requests was fondue. Ahh, fondue. We'd have both steak and chicken, fried in peanut oil, and served with a variety of dipping sauces. Great for an kid, work for parents. In contrast, spaghetti is a godsend: cheap and easy.

At 7:00 the family party started. I was exhausted and in pain, so I spent much of the time sitting in a chair taking it all in. The cake selected by Max was a chocolate lover's fantasy--chocalate cake, chocolate filling, chocolate icing, topped with chocolate grenache. I loved it. I finally checked out at 10:15, leaving everyone else downstairs. Jack and Max fell asleep around 11:00 in Meegan's lap.

Friday was Part II. Max's friend's party was at Rainbow Park & Playground. It's a warehouse-showroom for outdoor play equipment--very nice outdoor play equipment. The marketing geniuses there also rent out the warehouse full of demo equipment for parties. The kids love it. Max had 16 friends and their siblings from preschool and elsewhere. Despite the range in ages (from 4 to 11), everyone got along and seemed to have a blast.

Almost immediately after that, Jack had "hit the pin" night at his school. Hit the Pin is a modern version of dodgeball where teams throw balls aimed at knocking over two bowling pins on their opponent's side. Teams are supposed to protect their own pins. However, if a player is hit by an opponent's thrown ball, he or she is "out." Jack's P.E. teacher ran the tournament which was divided into grade level groups as well as moms group and a dads group. Turnout was huge, there must have been 30 moms and 50 dads playing in their respective groups. Jack had fun while he was playing, but the late night before and the afternoon activity at Rainbow wiped him out. We left after about an hour.

In praise of Chuck E. Cheese

2006-01-23T19:07:00.000-08:00

For the boys, Sunday was a bit of an emotional roller coaster. The night before Jack arranged a play date with his best friend, Isaac and his sister, Max's friend Eden. When we went to bed that night, he informed me that it was only 12 hours and 20 minute until Isaac would come over. First thing Sunday morning, I informed them that it was only two and a half hours until the playdate. Only Christmas morning elicits such as quick shift from sleep to action. As I made the cinnamon rolls, I was asked alternately, "How long until the cinnamon rolls are ready?" and "How long until Isaac and Eden come?"

Halfway through the pan of cinnamon rolls, the phone rang. Daddy intuition knew it couldn't be good. And it wasn't. Isaac and Eden were queasy and would not be coming over. Jack was speechless. Max was befuddled.

One solution quickly popped in to Meegan's mind: a trip to ~~Target~~ Chuck E. Cheese.

While Jack slowly warmed up to the idea, Max lept with glee, "We're going to Chuck E. Cheese! We're going to Chuck E. Cheese!"

The place was packed. I counted no fewer than six birthday parties. (I later learned that they even turn people away on some weekends.) No matter, the kids didn't care. They played a few video games, had a slice of pizza, and ran around 'til they were drenched in sweat. Despite the crowds, the kids were safe and the only tears were when we had to leave.

Random niceties

2006-01-21T14:54:00.000-08:00

As I was standing on the side porch listening to the local jazz station, a random walker stopped to thank me for always playing such nice music all time. I sheepishly admitted that the reason is that I usually forget to turn the radio off when I go inside. She implored me to keep it up regardless: "I walk by at night when its raining and I hear the music and it just makes me happy."

Blowing the stink off

2006-01-21T07:58:00.000-08:00

Our family has a saying: "Go outside and blow the stink off."

As a kid after hours of watching Kids Are People Too, Bugs & Daffy, Scooby Doo, and Thundar the Barbarian, I'd roll around on the floor and moan about how bored I was. "Why don't you go outside and blow the stink off, then?" My mom would say. Although it started with a "why" and ended with a question mark, it really was more of a gentle command than a question.

Last week, we went outside to blow the stink off. Now, this is no mean feat. Portland has seen steady rain for something like 30 of the past 33 days. We had just a narrow window in which to operate.

I don't mind going to see what we can see. Meegan, on the other hand, needs an objective. Our objective this time: a printer/scanner.

As we were walking out the door, Max ran over to one of the rhododendrons and starting climbing it. This is remarkable because this is not the sort of physical activity I would expect from Max. A few branches up the tree, he yelled, "Hey Daddy! Look at me. Take a picture."

So we hopped on the MAX train and went downtown to Office Depot, where we bought our brand new HP printer/scanner. As we were walking past Pioneer Square, Max climbed on top of a beaver and shouted, "Hey Daddy! Take my picture." Jack climbed on and shouted, "Me too!"

From there we stopped at Rock Bottom for a snack. As we left, it started raining sprinkling again. In my meteorological wisdom I prophecied that the MAX train would beat the rain to our house. Just as we walked up the sidewalk to home, it began sprinkling again. Within minutes of hunkering down at home, the house was bombarded first with hail then torrential rain. It was almost poetic. In fact it was poetic:

The sun is shining,
The sky is blue.
But I can't write that
Because it's not true.

Not only did we blow the stink off, we nearly washed the stink off, too.

Rainy night wishes

2005-12-28T09:30:00.000-08:00

It was raining hard last night. After reading to the boys, we lay in bed and heard the rain on the roof. I asked, "Do you hear the rain?"

Jack responded, "I thought it was Santa on the roof and candy was falling out of his pockets."

Christmas Dinner

2005-12-27T11:30:00.000-08:00

Our family has an unwritten rule that if you do something once, it becomes a tradition. This includes "big" things like Cabel bringing a Buche de Noel (Christmas Log Cake) and "little" things like Santa setting up the train under the tree.

Our traditional "big" Christmas meal is on Christmas Eve at Meegan parents. We feast on ham, cheesy potatoes, green beans, a "steakhouse" salad, and a veggie platter. It is such a rich and delicious meal that if I had it more than once a year, I'd be what my doctor would call "morbidly overweight."

Regardless, since Christmastime is family time, we try to have the family over for a (light and subdued) Christmas Day dinner. This year it was going to be just Meegan's parents.

I mumbled that I'd like to do a roast beef, but it was so expensive and I'd never done one before. Meegan chimed it that her grandfather always did a roast beef. Well, that cinched it. Roast beef it was.

What to have with the roast beast was easy: Yorkshire pudding, potatoes (in case the pudding didn't turn out), parsnips, and creamed spinach. I set off to Fred Meyer in search of meat. Fortunately for me, the butcher was setting out some rib eye roast just as I began searching. Unfortunately for him, I barraged him with dozens of questions. How long do I cook it? How do I know it's done? How do I serve it? I ended up with a 7.5 pounder and finished the rest of the shopping.

The next days were filled with many, many Internet searches and cookbook consultations on how to cook my $38 purchase.

Then, I talked to my Uncle Doug, the Ultimate Barbecuer, about all the conflicting information. He almost hung up when I told him I was going to roast the beef in the oven. His advice was to get the Weber as hot a possible, put the beef on indirect and check the temp after about an hour and a half. When I said that all the guides say that if I want medium rare to take the meat out when the meat thermometer reads 145 degrees.

"I don't care what your guides say, 145 degrees is too hot. Take it out when it read 125 degrees. The people who like their meat ruined (i.e., well done) can get the ends, and the people who like it red get the middles."

He was right.

I convection roasted the beef for 2 hours, when the meat thermometer read 120 degrees (I was worried that it was in there too long). That gave me about 35 minutes for the meat to set and to cook the rest of the food.

The result was better than I could have ever expected. The beef had a temperature for each of us--from well done to rare. The Yorkshire pudding was sublime. Creamed spinach added an elegant touch of green. And parsnips are just about my favorite veggie, so I couldn't go wrong there.

Shortbread cookies and hot chocolate made up dessert.

I think now we've added yet another traditional meal to our slate. It's a tradition I'm looking forward to.

Population boom on the Island of Misfit Toys

2005-12-27T11:22:00.000-08:00

Jack has a great imagination, it is boosted by a desire to believe in the imaginary, but bounded by his knowledge of reality. It is in this dichotomy that Jack told me that there are only two cartoon stories that are real: Santa Claus is Comin' to Town and Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. I asked him if Frosty the Snowman is real.

"No, a hat can't make a snowman come to life."

"How do you know that?"

"Daddy, next time it snows, I'm going to build a snowman and put a hat on his head. Then, you'll see that it doesn't come to life."

On Rudolf's adventure, he is diverted to the Island of Misfit Toys. These are toys that have minor or major flaws that diminish their appeal to children. One is a Charlie-in-the-Box, another is a train with square wheels, and a third is piggy bank without a slot. Jack is keen to note that most of these flaws can easily be remedied: nothing's wrong with Charlie's name, square wheels can be replaced, and someone can cut a slot in the piggy bank.

Jack's #1 Toy He Had was a two feet tall Transformer named Starscream. The kids' commercials have been relentlessly hawking Strarscream and his two colleagues since Halloween. (Here's the ad--don't click unless you have broadband.) It sure looks cool in its two feet of plastic and hype.

Something that the commercials don't tell you is that the Transformers come from a planet that is not bound by the rules of gravity. The advertisers have you believe that Starscream can fly and fight in ways seen only in Jackie Chan movies.

Jack was ecstatic when he unwrapped Starscream--the toy he always wanted. The One Toy he told Santa he wanted. "Quick, Mom! Open it up!"

Pulling Starscream out of the box, Jack set him standing up on the coffee table. Like tree felled by Paul Bunyan, Starscream fell backwards on the table. After repeated attempts, Jack concluded that Starscream couldn't stand up on his own!

Dad to the Rescue!

Surely the toy engineers at Hasbro wouldn't design a $50 toy that couldn't stand up. I swooped in and declared that I can fix Starscream.

I bent this leg this way, that leg that way, and tilted his torso in ways only my physical therapist has seen before. Gently lifting my hands away, Starscream was standing. Success!

"Dad? He's not looking straight ahead."

Normally, I would chalk this up to Jack's fastidiousness, but he was right. Starscream was looking up like a rapturous pilgrim on St. Peter's looking for the Pope's blessing.

At that point, Meegan told Jack that Santa spent a lot of money on Starscream and that Target would lets us exchange it for something else and send it to the Island of Misfit Toys. So, I packed up Starscream for his ignominious trip to the Island.

PS: As a contrast, Max got a $10 Cool Toys robot from Target that walks, spins, fires a gun, and makes enough noise to drive any adult crazy. We opened the box, set it on the ground (he stands!), pushed a button, and it did its stuff. Now, that's value for money!

Santa came! Santa came!

2005-12-27T11:18:00.000-08:00

After a long, long night (and an even longer night for Meegan), I woke up around 7:00. In the foggy haze of morning, I shuffled downstairs to start the coffee and, more importantly, make sure the camera was charged and ready. As I turned the corner into the living room, it was obvious that Santa graced our house with a visit.

Just as I was sitting down with a cup of coffee and the Sunday paper, I heard pitter patters sounds punctuated by Max's cat-child sounds that signal an excitement overload.

We woke up Zöe, opened the presents that Santa left upstairs, ate a few chocolates, and headed downstairs.

The boys were beyond belief. Jack noticed immediately that Santa set up the train set around the tree. Zöe grabbed the stuffed bear that was too big for Santa to wrap. And Max pointed out to Meegan the her new (to us) iMac.

We took turns opening our presents, which drew out the process into hours. There were enough toys, however, to entertain during the periodic breaks to eat, have a glass of champagne, and take a few phone calls. When all was done, everyone was satisfied ... except Jack, whose #1 Toy He Had to Have suffered from severe design flaws that did not comport with Jack's exacting specifications (to be continued).