Java with Senator Patty Murray and President Obama

Brainstorming over Java.

Making a Home in a Pyramid, 462 Feet Above Seattle

Michael Tortorello wrote a nice piece about our place for The New York Times called "Making a Home in the Pyramid, 462 Feet Above Seattle."  It came out today and the photographer Stuart Isett said I could use his extraordinary images on the blog.

Ending nuclear proliferation

Was reading an email from Mark Anderson this morning.  It was about his upcoming Future In Review conference.  He was opening the floor for speaker nominations.  The first that came to my mind was John Gilleland with Terra Power.  It would not be an understatement to say that John is solving the big problems of today's world!





This type of nuclear power ends nuclear proliferation as it runs on depleted uranium.  There is nothing leftover to make bombs.  Isn't that remarkable?  As Izhar Armony puts it, "the Terra Power reactor transforms nuclear waste liabilities into assets." June 2010 


Terra Power provides the safest nuclear power known as the plants themselves run enclosed for hundreds of years without refueling and "based on the amount of depleted uranium sitting around the U.S. right now, you could power at least this continent for about a thousand years at current rates of consumption." -Jan 2010 Eben Frankenberg.    Jaw dropping, no?


What a masterful solution to climate change. 


As if that isn't enough reason to rewrite nuclear regulation right now and put everything we have behind this...Bill Gates spoke at TED this year about how this solution is the tool he wants to use against global poverty. 





Terra Power is one of MIT’s 10 Emerging technologies that can change the way we live.  


So you are probably wondering who is behind this.  Funded by Vinod Klosla, Bill Gates, Charles River and incubated within Nathan Myrvold's Intellectual Ventures. 



Could any one technology do more for Extreme Poverty, Global Warming, Energy Independence and Nuclear Proliferation?

Making body parts and firing madly!

The sign read The Lieutenant of Inshmore contains strong language, adult themes, fog, gunshots, violence, torture, mayhem, and a lot of laughs.  I can handle a little fog but torture? Is the audience in danger?  




Can you tell what is real and what is the mold?  I'm working on our "optical illusion" halloween costumes and stumbled on these creepy creations for the Lieutenant of Inishmore.



Saw the movie RED last night and at certain moments I was able to see the crazed shooting as a color, just as comedy is a color, or romance, or lust...used to tell a story, share an idea or simply entertain. I'm getting there. Can't wait to see Inishmore. Opens Thursday!

Brunch with Margit, Ben, Sarah, Rob and Pascal or Hot Lava

Margit, Simone, David, Pascal, Ben and Naomi

The morning started in the backyard with Margit creating crowns from the giant leaves.  Ben and Naomi were doing an improvisation about a family of animals.   We seem to descend on Ben and Margit fairly frequently on Sunday mornings. 

Sarah, Rob and Simone work on the crossword puzzle.  Sarah and Rob are Pascal's parents. 

Ben and Margit are both Naomi and Pascal's godparents. 

Margit and Pascal making crowns.

Do you like my robes?  I'm a King and these are my royal garments. - Ben

Naomi is mesmerized.

Naomi and I take a walk down the street to a playground while Ben plays violin for Simone.
Lets play Hot Lava mom.

I'm stepping over a scary monster here.

I'm climbing up the mountain.

I made it.  I'm thirsty! 

We head back to the brunch.

Simone's laptop

Why are you smilin’ like a rabbit in a briarpatch?

Kevin, Simone, Elias, Liam, Simone, Drew

We are fairly frequent visitors to the CLAMS house.  Cora is 4, Liam is 5, Annie is the mom, Miela is a dog and Scott is the dad.  Like their other parties, this one was wildly fun!  The horse theme was in celebration of Cora's 4th and Lola's 5th birthdays. Lola is another part of our clan...i.e. the youngest daughter of Kevin Flick and Melissa Hartley.  Presents and a cake did happen but the dominant event was horsing around in the best way.   Why with straw, mud, ice cubes and bubbly water... Right?

Scott, Kevin, Liam, Simone

As we got out of the car, Scott (Cora's dad) zoomed by with a dozen kids 

on his heels trying to lasso him and put him in the jail out back.

Naomi with a funnel, an upside-down filter and a strainer.

Seattle was built on the gold rush and the kids fell for it too or I could just say that the girls had fun panning for gold (beads, that is) in the mucky kiddie pool and stringing up necklaces for their horse's manes.  Okay...maybe there were no real horses...so us parents had to ante up and wear the muddy things.    

Scott, Kevin, Drew, Liam

So a hay fight erupted. It was tons of fun but it didn't stop there. Ice cubes were great to drop down pants but that too got old.  I'd say the mud was probably a bad idea but the seltzer bottles....now those were genius as, with a little shaking, they could get someone from a yard.  Oh that reminds me of that old saying...don't judge till you've walked a mile in their shoes. Pretty good advice really as you are a mile away by the time they get wind of your words and YOU have their shoes.  Back to the fight...and the discovery of a projectile seltzer.  

Julie, Naomi, Gwen

Not everybody joined in the chaotic rough-housing.  There were safe spots one could take turns swinging or (below) ...their were moms to nestle up with like Catherine and Francesca below.  

Catherine, Francesa, Julian

As one horse says to another, any pal of yours is a palomino!  Or...yelled rather loudly before stuffing someone's pants with scratchy damp hay..."Hold onto your britches, you are about to be a dripping wet scarecrow!"  Yes that line was uttered...still makes me laugh to remember it.  

Join us next time...that is if I stirrup'd up any interest.

Kim, Elias, Simone, Liam, Drew, Simone

Here is a clip with some of the action.

You're just jealous cause the voices only talk to me or "Pumpkin Head"

Outside of the grocery store was a monster pumpkin with three heads carved into it. 

Here are two of them.

A One Nation Sunday

A One Nation demonstration is happening on 2nd Ave. The girls are watching folks congregate in the street and tell me that there are a buses driving up 1st Ave bringing more people to the rally.  Then as quickly as it appeared, it vanishes.  Not a sole on 2nd Ave...no people and no cars.

Time for us to go.  We're heading over to the first gymnastics meet of the season.  Simone is uncertain about it.  She says she can't remember her routine and doesn't want to go.   I pack everyone into the van and say we might as well drive over there and root for the rest of her team.

Turned out just fine.  In fact, as we were walking out, 

Simone said, "I want to do that again. It was awesome."

It was Naomi's turn to pick whether we head to a playground or to a fashion show some friends are involved in.  Naomi chose the Harbor Steps fountain and a trip to the Seattle Art Museum.

The feet of SAM's Hammering Man

Instead of Driver's Education, Children attend Biker's Education

Just read on Truth-out that in both Utrecht and Copenhagen Driver's Education has been replaced with Biker's Education. In the 3rd and 9th grade, kids learn cyclist traffic laws, bike etiquette, agility on two wheels and safe ways to commute.  

In the picture above Simone might be doing a bit more singing then pedaling?  This is the new riding equipment we picked up on the search for an interesting reptile.  Somehow the reptile search did not result in a reptile pet but we did stumble upon horses and acquire this handy trail along at a garage sale.   Inside the yellow sidecar, Naomi is out cold.  The nap is warranted as we are at the Magnolia Seafair parade and took full advantage of the pony rides, little train and inflatables.  

If you like to ride with your kids as much as David and I do, then jump onto the kidical mass website created by Dr. Julian Davies.  Julian is dad to Drew and Luc, wife to Kimberly Hartley, pediatrician to Naomi.  AND he has a sideline.  He orchestrates wildly fun family rides throughout the year and delivers a comprehensive overview on family biking on his totycle website.  Often these kidical mass rides start at Ballard Commons and head South along the canal to Gas Works park where a gelato bike, pizza bike and other goodies await. Below are images from some of those rides. 

The yummy gelato bike is a Julian creation.  Cute as a button with its zig zag trimmed shade. 

Hot Lava

Naomi at a play ground.  "There is red lava everywhere mom." 

"Big mountain here."

"Stepped over the monster mom."

"Made it!"

Naomi at work

Naomi painting after-school. She is at her table next to my desk at Mad Cap. 

It is nice to be working together.

Venture Capital Panel at Bell Harbor or "Due Diligence Live"

David Allen, Troy Hartzell, John Otter, Petra Franklin,
Alan Smith, John Cook

This morning was a fun Venture Capital Panel at Bell Harbor Conference Center for ZINO.  Six of us reviewed twenty companies competing for two  $50,000 checks and about $400,000 more in follow-on investments.   The twenty presenting companies ranged from sports equipment to software to real estate to an hydrokinetic turbine application for rivers.


Banshee Bungee
BedRock Hotels
BuiltBurger
Cloudpak
Daddy-O Productions, Inc.
Emergent Detection
Enroute Systems Corporation
FiatLux Imaging, Inc.
Flux Drive, Inc.
Harbor Wing Technologies
Hydrovolts
IMOS
Indie Vinos, Inc.
Mobile On Services
Moprise, Inc. 
NanoICE, Inc.
Open Mobile Solutions, Inc.
Orbiter LLC
Vioguard LLC 
Wine Valet, Inc.

And the winners were... Banshee Bungee and NanoIce.  Exciting! 

David Allen, Troy Hartzell, John Otter, Petra Franklin, Alan Smith

Naomi & Annabel on their First Day at Evergreen School

Naomi is sitting on teacher Judith Hart's left in a red shirt and ponytails.  Next to her is Annabel in fuscia.  This is the Pre-School class at Evergreen with Judith Hart and assistant teacher Melissa Norby.  Simone had Judith back in 2008.  Here is an older post where Simone's PS class went fishing at Twin Ponds on crazy hair day.  Judith often takes the class into the woods and on this first day of school they went to search for a fairy house in the woods and found one at the base of an old growth tree.  They each left a present there.  They'll return in a few days and find pencils that the fairies left for them.

Simone and Naomi have been pals for a couple years. In 2009, they went to Global Gardens PreSchool every Thursday and Friday morning.  Above is a picture of their last day there. It was June 17th, 2010.

Claudette & Susan do Seattle

Claudette and Susan arrived in Seattle with a purpose.  

They wanted to visit the Sea Otters. 

The Scuba diver has arrived to feed the fish in the giant window on Washington tank.  

Each tank in the Seattle Aquarium has an upper viewing spot as well as a lower viewing window.  

Skates and Sturgeon prowling the underwater dome. 

Simone and Claudette watching the Skates and Sturgeons in the underwater dome.

In the Tuffed Puffins and Auklet house. 

The divers talk via speakers to the kids and answer questions.

We learned that the glass is about 12 inches thick.

The girls started to droop.  David can still carry both of them!

Back to the tower for dinner and to hear about the Victoria trip.

Great catching up.  

The girls were thrilled to give Susan a tour.

Susan and Claudette do the Experience Music Museum.  What a space! 

Shall we tape a music video?  Lets call ourselves "Otter Wild."

One of the fun things you can do at EMP is create a rock band and karaoke style, tape a song in front of a faux screen of an eager audience. Claudette on the keys, Simone on drums,  Susan on guitar, David as lead singer and Naomi with me on back-up.  It is set up so that you can't actually hit the wrong notes. 

Decided to "Ride the Duck" around town and into Lake Union.

After the ducky tour, Susan, Naomi and I went to see the Freemont Troll. He lives under the Aurora Bridge and holds a real Volkswagen bug in his hand.

At one point during our visit, we started talking about gardens and growing pumpkins.  I shared that we had tried for three years to grow pumpkins on our office decks with no luck.  Lots of flowers but no fruit.   It dawned on her that our decks are 7 and 22 stories up and perhaps not frequented by pollinators. She suggested that Naomi and Simone try using a paint brush to pollenate.  

Success.  We have pumpkins and squash aplenty!  

The Troll is great for climbers and geocachers.

Hurrah!

Naomi - "I'm really big. Can you see?"

Dan Lahaie and family joined us for dinner at the tower on the second night. 

Naomi, Billy, Brooke, Justin and Kristin chill on the couch 

while David, Claudette, Susan and Dan share family stories.

Simone sitting in the window with her bear watching the ferries come and go on the Sound.