Goodbye 2009

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The probability of a white Christmas

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration created a map of the Lower 48 States showing the probability of a white Christmas. Remarkably, the southern area where snowfall by the 25th of December historically is least likely, is almost perfectly demarcated by the so-called Missouri Compromise Line, the parallel running at 36°30′ north (and forming the border between North Carolina and Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky, Missouri and Arkansas, also running close by the border between Oklahoma and Kansas, New Mexico and Colorado, and Arizona and Utah). South of that line, chances of a white Christmas are mostly below 5%, with a few 5-10% patches thrown in. Only the Rocky Mountain range in New Mexico significantly break this pattern. Those Rockies further north are practically the only areas outside of northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine with over 90% likelihood of Christmas snow.

A white Christmas

It was the first white Christmas in Dallas since 1928 according to the news. I surely don't remember that. All I know that temperatures dropped from 75 degrees (25 C) on Wednesday to 25 (-4 C) on Thursday as a massive winterstorm from Canada was coming down the Great Plains with nothing to stop it. And that's an extreme drop in temperature - even for Texas.

The snowboard dude

Greg getting ready for his first snowboard lessons. Sammy preferred skiing.

Aspen, CO

We're spending the Thanksgiving holiday in the Rocky Mountains this year. We have a nice condo in Aspen. It's a good base to explore the outdoors and to go shopping. Not many western towns have Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Zegna and Dior stores in one street.

Thanksgiving is also the traditional opening of the ski season. Greg and Sammy took their first lessons in Snowmass, and we're waiting to hear whether they want to return to the slopes tomorrow.

Northpark

Northpark Mall in Dallas is filled with art. It has Frank Stella and Miro paintings, and sculptures by Calder. They are decorated with innovative plant arrangements, mostly cacti and succulents. Like in this Joel Shapiro sculpture.

Canadian Iceholes

When Stephen Colbert decided to sponsor the US Speedskating team, I expected lots of speedskating news and jokes about the Dutch. Truth be told, the Canadians go throught the wringer first. Watch Olympic champion Joey Cheek put Canada on notice for denying U.S. speedskaters access to the Olympic speedskating oval in Vancouver.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
On Notice/Dead to Me - Canadian Iceholes
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor U.S. Speedskating

Colbert sponsors U.S. Speedskating Team

The recent bankruptcy of Dutch bank DSB left a $300,000 hole in U.S. Speedskating’s budget just a few months before the Olympics. This week, comedian Stephen Colbert came to the rescue when he proposed having “Colbert Nation” sponsor the team. He announced the move Monday night on his show, with the former Olympian Dan Jansen as his guest and with U.S. Speedskating’s executive director, Bob Crowley, ready to hand him a sponsorship agreement to sign. This will secure a good supply of skating news in the next few months. And an endless stream of jokes about the Dutch, I'm sure.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Sport Report - NYC Marathon & Olympic Speedskating
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor U.S. Speedskating

Happy Halloween

It's Halloween, and we're getting ready for an evening of ghosts, zombies, webs, spooks, goblins, Michael Jackson, spiders, rats, and lots of candy. Greg will be dressed up as Michael Myers, and Sammy will be wearing his Scream mask and outfit. But we started of today with some traditional pumpkin carving.

Sequoia Soccer Mom

They say everything is bigger in Texas. That's certainly true for the vehicles that women in Texas like to drive. Ina got a new truck this week and yes, it's huge. We traded the Jeep for a Toyota Sequoia. Good for hauling soccer teams around, and great for long road trips. But the best thing is that it actually fits in our garage.

A Fall Concert

On October 6, the Cockrill Middle School Philharmonic Orchestra performed in the McKinney Boyd High School Auditorium. They played First Scale March by Mark Williams and Fiddling-A-Round by John Caponegro. Gregory played violin.

The pegasus

The Magnolia building is one of the most striking buildings in Dallas. In 1934, the Magnolia Petroleum Company, predecessor to Mobil Oil, erected a large oil derrick on the roof that supported two red neon signs in the image of Pegasus, the flying red horse. Mobil, now part of the Exxon Mobil Corp., still uses the logo today. Mobil moved in with Exxon in Irving, but Pegasus still soars over downtown. The downtown office of our largest customer provided me with a great view of this Dallas landmark.

Arnhem Westerbouwing

Trendy Dallas based watch maker Fossil is remodeling its store at Stonebriar mall. The boards covering the store are decorated with vintage travel images. One of them is a plane ticket to Arnhem Westerbouwing. Single fare, leaving from gate A3.

Lake Lewisville

We spent the Sunday afternoon at Sneaky Pete's on lake Lewisville, one of the many lakes around Dallas. The heat is bearable now, so there were a lot of people out. We met with a bunch of friends and the boys went swimming in the lake. I wish they had sailing boats here.

The Lego store

Never too old to play with Lego, Greg and Sammy spent am hour assembling bricks at the Lego store in Northpark mall. And they did not have the Lego watch Sammy brought from Jakarta. Good thing, it must be exclusive.

Cowboys Stadium

Chelsea and Mexican top team Club America were playing in Cowboys Stadium tonight. So I went with a few colleagues to check out the soccer stars and the brand new stadium. And yes, the new home of the Dallas Cowboys is huge.

With a crowd of 55,000 is was 75% filled, mainly with Mexican fans dressed in yellow. Many of them had picked up a brand new vuvuzela in the parking lot. Some of them even managed to bring fireworks.

We were high up. It would have been hard to distinguish the players. Luckily the stadium has the world's largest HDTV: the 600-ton Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision System. Hanging 90 feet above the field, each screen facing the sidelines is about 60 yards long and 72 feet tall.

Boat Quay

I spent the evening in Singapore on my way back to the US. I had dinner at the Satay House on Clarke Quay and walked along the Singapore river to the Esplanade. Here's a view on the river from Boat Quay with the Fullerton hotel on the right and the blue glow of the insect eye like roof of the Concert hall on the Esplanade in the distance.

Now I'm back at the airport, just took a shower, and I'm getting ready for my flight to Houston. At a distance of 9925 miles and a duration of 25 hours, SQ 62 from Singapore to Houston with a stop in Moscow is Singapore Airlines' longest flight. I'll be traveling by myself. Ina and the boys will return in a few weeks. I will miss them.

Ini Budi

Manchester United is making an Asian tour in preparation of the new season. They will stop in Jakarta for a match against the Indonesian national team. This is one of the most anticipated soccer matches in Indonesia this year. Mobile operator "3" is sponsoring the tour and launched an extensive media blitz. Billboards with MU players are all over the city.

This TV commercial shows Rooney, van der Sar, Giggs, Ferdinand, and Song learning Bahasa Indonesia. Just like for any Indonesian school kid, the lesson starts with "Ini Budi. Budi bermain bola." (This is Budi. Budi plays with a ball.)

Taman Rasuna

We moved to the Taman Rasuna apartment complex in Kuningan, Jakarta. Ina did a great job of finding an apartment to rent for one month. Four years ago, we stayed here as well, and we liked the area and the amenities of the development.

But in four years a lot has changed. Not only have two more towers been added, but there's also a huge new development under construction right next door. Builders are finishing up the 215 m, 50 storey Bakrie Tower, anchoring the Rasuna Epicentrum. Designed by the world-renowned HO+K firm, this structure is another architectural marvel in the Jakarta skyline.

We visited a minitiature of the entire development. On the picture, you can see the canceled monorail along Jalan Rasuna Said on the foreground, the Bakrie Tower in the middle with the Taman Rasuna towers to the right. Work has not started on the towers on the left, but you can sign up for a $250K condo already today.

Bubblemakers

For a few days, we made the Santika resort in Manado our base. The main attraction here are the coral reefs and marine life around the island of Bunaken. The waters of Bunaken National Marine Park are extremely deep (1566 m in Manado Bay), clear (up to 35-40 m visibility), refreshing in temperature (27-29 C) and harbor some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world.

Yesterday, the boys and I made two snorkeling trips. The first one was great, the second one was cut short by surface trash and jellyfish. To escape these in the future, we did an introductory diving course today. Greg and Sammy received their official PADI bubblemaker certificate.

Danau Tondano

Tondano lake, 30 km south of Manado, is 600m above sea level. It is popular with Manado residents who come here for Sunday lunch. Objek Wisata Remboken has a restaurant overlooking the lake, and some gardens to wander around.

We did what the locals do. We rented a car and took Ina's mom, and her cousins Lian and Tien to the lake. It was a beautiful drive through the mountains with lush forests of banana and coconut trees.

The koi pond

The koi pond in Singapore's Changi airport is a quiet place to sit and enjoy a moment's respite from today's fast paced life. It is designed to take time to ponder the enormity of life itself, or the microcosmic perfection of a single koi fish. That is, until Gregory walked in to disturb the peace and stir up the koi pond...

The koi reigns surpreme among cold water fish held in captivity. Japan is undoubtedly the koi capital of the world from which the Nishikigoi, or koi gains its name.

Farrah Fawcett

This Farrah Fawcett swimsuit poster is an icon from the seventies. It sold 12 million copies. I never hung it on my wall, but I vividly remember it. And while Farrah Fawcett was not my favorite angel, I never skipped an episode of Charlie's Angels.

Farrah Fawcett passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer. She lost her big hair, but she kept her smile.

We'll probably also remember yesterday as the day Michael Jackson died. The child star that turned into the King of Pop only to become Wacko Jacko.

ATL - DFW

Gregory returned from a week long trip to Georgia today. He visited his best friend Mason, who lives in Alpharetta. Greg was traveling by himself on Airtran.

For a week they skateboarded, played Xbox 360 games, celebrated Mason's birthday, and caught up with what had happened over the last year. It must have been a lot of fun.

Thanks so much to Mason and his family for hosting Greg and making this an unforgettable week for him.

The tarantula

There are a lot of critters around here. We've seen rabbits, toads, skunks, coyotes and snakes. This morning, we found a tarantula outside our patio window. They're poisonous, but not deadly, and they look fearsome.

We caught it in a glass jar, and after studying it for half an hour, we released it in the greenbelt near our home. Hopefully, there's no nest in our yard.

Goal

Sammy and Greg already enjoyed their first week of summer vacation. It's hard to believe they have 10 more weeks to go.

They both got a reward for their report cards and their promotion to 7th and 4th grade. Greg chose a new fishing rod, and Sammy wanted a soccer goal for the backyard. Hopefully that will keep the balls from flying over the fence.

Ring roads of the world

I've been looking for ways to compare the sizes of cities. Amsterdam is small and very compact, while Atlanta and Dallas are spread out and cover vast areas. I still have not found an easy way to compare city sizes, but I came across two size comparisons of subway and road systems in various cities.

Fake is the new real plots 36 subway systems of the world, all presented on the same scale. It shows that London is large and Paris is small. Not sure that that's accurate.

More recently, the Rice shool of architecture in Houston created a poster comparing ring roads of 27 international cities and layered them all at the same scale. As it turned out, Houston has the largest system, Beijing was second. Well, we should probably call Beijing first. Not only are there 6 ring roads in Beijing, but also is Houston's third and largest ring road still under construction.

The best city size comparison I found on a website of the Dallas based After Image Photograph Gallery. It shows a newspaper clipping from a 1983 Dallas Morning News article, confirming what I had figured already: Amsterdam is tiny and Dallas is huge.

Hagaparken

This is koppartalten in the royal Haga park in Stockholm. I took a walk here this morning before returning to the US.

Happy feet

While we were out shopping for fishing gear last night, Ina treated herself to a foot massage. She went to one of those Asian places, where the tv blasts in Chinese and no one speaks English, But where the massages are much better than in the high end spas around town.

Gone fishing

Greg and Sammy have a new hobby. They bought fishing rods and bait. They forgot to bring some patience though. They did not catch a fish yet. Carly is the only one interested in their bait.

Texas Roadhouse

Greg, Sam, and I had dinner at Texas Roadhouse, where the floor is littered with peanuts and all men wear hats. Ina was not feeling well and stayed home. And the Lions drafted Matt Stafford.

Health food

Stopping by for a chicken strip basket with fries but without the toast and the gravy. All that and two cans of soda pops feeds a family of four for 5 bucks. So many calories and so little nutrients.

Top Gear

Tonight, Sammy and I were watching Top Gear, the car show that's interesting for non car lovers. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May race cars against planes or tanks, turn cars into boats, find out which cars are indestructible.

In tonights episode we first saw how the Stick set a new speed record in Swedish supercar Koenigsegg. Then we watched them ride a Soviet Minsk, a Honda 50 Super Cub and a lovely aqua scooter from the south of Vietnam to the north.

A broken toe

Gregory broke his toe on Monday. He kicked in the ground when playing soccer in the driveway. Not the right technique, and not the right attire... He wasn't wearing cleats, he was wearing Crocs. His nail tore and there was a crack in a bone in his big toe. What a way to start spring break.

Happy feet

Greg is wearing a shoe with a rigid sole for his broken toe. Sammy is showing off his new Under Armour sneakers.

Sammy threw a rock

Today I made a sad choice that affected others. This is what happened:

I accsedently threw a rock at the window. I was trying to put it somewhere else, so knowone would trip.

How did this sad choice affect others?

By people seeing the broken window.

What do you think you are going to do about this?

I was going to agoligise for what I did.

Monkey finds bannanas

By Sammy T.

Paul the monkey was climbing a tree. He found a bannana. He smelled it and tried to find out how to eat it. Paul got a kockanut and hit it. He tried other stuff but nothing worked. Then he bit on it. The sun was setting. Paul brought the banana he found earlier.

The next day he asked his mother to open it. It seems nobody could open it. Paul squirt it but nothing. He went crazy. Then he uses his 

hand and peeled it. It was a mirical. Paul had told everybody how to open it. Soon everybody had a bannana. At night they said Paul was king of the jungle.

Paul bult a kingdom out of pails of rock, leaves, and brances. It was filled with bananas!!!! THE END.

  

What's the authers purpouse?

1. to make us laugh
2. to teach a lesson
3. to show how dumb monkeys are
4. to make us bord 

About the auther.

Sammy is in third grade. He is 9 years old and loves to play soccer, football, and enjoys reading books. That's why he makes books.

 

Monkey finds a bannanas. Paul tryes to open a bannan but he can't. He finds everybody to try, but nothing...

Porkopolis

I woke up in the city formerly known as Porkopolis. Would Porkopolis be the North American equivalent of Poggendam? No, it's Cincinnati which once was the world's major pork processing center. Poggendam, of course, is the nickname of the town of Varsseveld in the Netherlands. Who doesn't know?

Cincinnati owes a great deal of its rapid growth and prosperity to the pig. Hog processing plants and their by-products were responsible for the founding of many of Cincinnati's nationally prominent industries. Procter & Gamble, Kroger, Macy's and Chiquita are all headquartered in Cincinnati.

Celebrating its 200th birthday in 1988, the city commissioned British sculptor Andrew Leicester to create a 300 foot, narrative piece on Cincinnati history and the importance of the Ohio River to its growth and economy. There are 17 major elements, including winged bronze pigs (reflective of the city's dependence on the pork industry), set atop tall columns of riverboat stacks topped with crowns (in reference to poet Longfellow's description of Cincinnati as the Queen City of the West in his poem Catawba Wine).

The winged pigs have gone to heaven, though. Cincinnati is no longer a center of pork industry.

Greg's recital

Greg played an allegro last night at a recital at Cockrill Middle School. Tomorrow he will play solo at Faubion Middle School.

XLIII

It's half time at Superbowl XLIII. The Steelers just ran back an interception on the goal line for a 100 yard touchdown in the last 7 seconds of the first half. Just as the Cardinals were looking to take a lead.

And even though Bruce Springsteen told us to put down our guacamole dip and chicken wings, a Superbowl is as much about food as it is about football and music. But of all the horrific economic news, maybe the worst news this week was a chicken wing scare. Supposedly, there would be a shortage of chicken wings right before the Superbowl. It turned out to be a false alarm. So we had Buffalo wings, hamburgers, fajitas with guacamole and salsa. Just like millions of others around the country.

Here's Stephen Colbert on the chicken wing scare:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Countdown to Atomic Disaster - The Wing-Ageddon

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Paul McCartney Appearance

Funny Political Videos
More Funny Videos

Obamicon

Create your own image in a style inspired by Shepard Fairey's iconic poster at Obamicon.me

Felix the cat

A new dye

Sammy has been dyeing his hair lately. I'm sure his new hair color is going to look cute.

Happy New Year from Sammy