Field trip to the DSO

Sammy's class recently made a field trip to the Meyerson Symphony Center to attend a rehearsal of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Music director Jaap van Zweden was out of town. Ina chaperoned the kids, and made this slide show.

Falling home prices

Much of the current economic turmoil has been attributed to problems in the housing market. Falling home prices have caused many home owners to be upside down: i.e. having a mortgage debt higher than the value of their home.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index tracks home prices in 20 metropolitan areas. All of them saw the median home price fall between August '07 and August '08.

Metro Area	Median Home Price	One Year Change
Atlanta	124,820	-8.50%
Boston	162,750	-4.70%
Charlotte	132,100	-2.80%
Chicago	149,530	-9.80%
Cleveland	110,540	-6.60%
Dallas	122,900	-2.70%
Denver	132,640	-5.10%
Detroit	92,440	-17.20%
Las Vegas	150,520	-30.60%
Los Angeles	189,180	-26.70%
Miami	183,480	-28.10%
Minneapolis	141,940	-13.80%
New York	192,840	-6.90%
Phoenix	144,830	-30.70%
Portland	171,930	-7.60%
San Diego	168,230	-25.80%
San Francisco	151,420	-27.30%
Seattle	175,240	-8.80%
Tampa	174,300	-18.10%
Washington	194,860	-15.40%
Composite 20	164,570	-16.60%

The Zone

Sam and Greg had their birthday party today. They invited a bunch of friends to the Zone for some laser tag games, moonwalk bouncing, pizza, and birthday cake. Five of the guys are staying with us for a sleep over. They all want to sleep in the media room. I'm not so sure there will be much sleep at all. Good thing there is no school on Monday.

In line

I'm standing in line at the Best Buy. And it's not even holiday reason yet. But lines have been forming at every store that advertises Wiis. Legally you can only advertise something if it's in store. Sammy wants a Wii for his birthday. So i showed us at 9:30 this morning at our neighborhood Best Buy. The clerks were out to hand out tickets. I have number 5. They have 11 Wiis. I hope Sammy does not read this blog.

A $60,000 Lego gift

One of the most anticipated holiday catalogs is always that of Dallas-based retailer, Neiman Marcus. The colorful, upscale book is famous for its over-the-top fantasy presents (with their equally over-the-top price tags). Financial meltdown or not, Neiman Marcus issued their 2008 Christmas book today.

As if $2 trillion has not evaporated, Neiman Marcus offers luxury gifts such as

• A NM limited edition 2009 BMW individual 7 series sedan: $160,000
• An authentic Guinness home pub: $250,000
• All 18,400 of the 45 RPM vinyl records that were listed on the Billboard Top 100 Rock and Pop charts from Jan. 1, 1955, through Dec. 31, 1990: $275,000
• An entire Dallas Cowboys Texas Stadium end zone: $500,000
• A Jack Nicklaus custom designed backyard golf course: Beginning at $1,000,000
• An exclusive luxury wedding at The Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, California: $1,300,000
• A stable of 12-15 thoroughbred horses from the world famous Three Chimneys Farm: $10,000,000

But if you lost too much money recently, you can always buy some Lego toys for your loved one. Acclaimed artist Nathan Sawaya fills his New York studio with more than 1.5 million LEGO bricks, and he can sculpt anything out of them. Send in detailed photos and measurements, then Nathan gets to snapping a one-of-a-kind, life-size sculpture in LEGO bricks. For only $60,000.

Opryland

The Gaylord Opryland in Nashville is the largest hotel in the US. It features huge atriums with lush tropical gardens that are connected by rivers. One of the atriums has a New Orleans style street with restaurants and shops.

The hotel is next to the Grand Ole Opry, the stage that made Nashville the country music capital of the world. Live shows from the Opryland are blasted daily across the country on 24 hour TV stations like Great American Country and Country Music Television, radio station WSM, and YouTube.

Twelve

Greg turned twelve today. Hooray! Happy birthday to Greg. He got a huge Lego Star Wars ship, a telescope, a microscope, and some birthday money.

From the money, he bought a samurai sword at Third Monday Trade Days, Texas' oldest and largest flea market. It is located just five minutes from our house, but somehow we had never been there.

Ina found Indonesian pottery at a trader that buys stuff from Indonesia to sell wholesale to furniture stores.