Garden View

Here's a photo just cuz.



Kubota Garden
Seattle, WA

Presidential Address To Congress

FOXNews.com AP

Okay, I need to write about him one more time and then I'll take a break. I'm watching President Obama's first address to congress right now and to me it's very moving. This man is not only a charasmatic and genuine leader and speaker, but he's so very smart and more importantly, so very wise that it's frankly a little overwhelming. His speech has just ended. He touched on EVERYTHING I've been concerned and angry about for years and his views are exactly mine - EXACTLY. The only negative for me is the fact that his magnificence casts a spotlight on the already glaring incompetence of our leadership over the last 8 years. 8 YEARS!! 8 years of idiocracy! Yes, I'm still angry about that. But besides bringing up old wounds, Obama is also inspriring me to look forward. I feel confident that this country will begin to learn from past mistakes and not repeat them over and over. God, I pray for this above all else.

A transcript of Obama's speech can be found here http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/24/sotn.obama.transcript/

Now, back to my regular scheduled blogging... my "hiatus" will be over when I get out and start photographing again. I can't say when that will be, maybe a month or so. Let's hope the weather improves and gas prices go down a little.

P.S. One last thing...

Barack Obama is arguably the best thing to happen to this country in years, perhaps decades, and this is what FOX News chooses to display prominently on the front page of their website:
(click to enlarge)



They took down the picture I used at the top of Obama beaming with hope and replaced it with a so-so image. The "positive" statements are lukewarm at best. And you count the pro and against amongst the featured arcticles here and see how they add up. Do they think we can't do simple math?? I don't have a problem with them being slanted. My only problem is this: how can they use the tagline "Fair & Balanced" in good conscience? Probably the same way Bush could run this country into the ground over 8 years while taking frequent vacations and sleeping soundly at night.

Poll: Obama More Popular Than Jesus, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

What the heck?! How badly did our last president screw this country up that people are now kneeling and praying to our new president? I know religion was part of Bush's agenda, but I don't think this was what he had in mind.


FOXNews.com

According to FOX News, President Obama topped a new Harris interactive poll that asked 2,634 Americans who they admire enough to call a hero. I shouldn't be surprised by this, but still - these pollees know who the other people on the list are right? (Okay, they weren't given a list, but still...wtf?!) I mean, is it possible that the sampling of people they polled just happened to have a high percentage of pot-head 8th grade drop-outs? Or does the result of the poll point to our self-centered nature as Americans, that we are only concerned about obtaining help for ourselves in the here and now, and nothing else matters? But then I guess if every single person who put Obama at #1 was recently laid off and struggling to survive, it makes sense.

I'm just starting to see how panicky everyone is lately and it seems like we just need to take a step back and get a little perspective. Yes, the economy sucks and the bad news seems to outweigh the good these days, but let's all sit down and watch a documentary on the Great Depression, or Holocaust, or Rwandan genocide, or read news articles about the human rights tragedies and genocide that are taking place in the world RIGHT NOW in places like the Sudan. It might make standing in the bread line or not having the right to marry a little less awful.

I'm not saying we should stop caring about our own problems, stop fighting to make things better here; I'm just saying that sometimes we need a little perspective. I know I do, I've been putting myself in check for years. Not that I don't care about others, but I have a tendency to be very self-centered, stuck in my own little world, and stuck in a rut of feeling sorry for myself. When that happens I need a wake-up call, so I read a book that's been one of my favorites since I was about 16 - it's called Alicia: My Story. It's the memoir of a girl who survived the Holocaust, barely, but lost her entire family. That's just one of many books that inspire me to step outside of myself a little and be a better person. I also watch the movie "Life Is Beautiful" - it may not be realistic but it's a perfect example of maintaining optimism in the worst of situations.

But I agree with those who say in order to make the world a better place we need to start with ourselves. We need to stem the bleeding and stabilize not just for ourselves, but so we can start improving the world for this and future generations. I hope President Obama sees it that way too.

Below is the full arcticle from FOXNews.com.

Poll: Obama More Popular Than Jesus, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
FOXNews.com
Saturday, February 21, 2009

John Lennon once claimed the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Now President Obama has evidence that he's more popular than both.
Obama topped a new Harris interactive poll that asked 2,634 Americans who they admire enough to call a hero.
Jesus came in second on a list that includes God, Mahtma Gandhi and George Washington.
Other historic or notable figures making the top 10 were Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Abraham Lincoln, John McCain, John F. Kennedy, U.S. Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger and Mother Teresa.
Participants named the heroes randomly instead of being shown or read a list of people to choose from. The poll was conducted online between January 12 and 19, 2009.
At the 16th spot in the poll, George Washington, Bill Clinton and Colin Powell tied.
Other politicians who made the poll's top 25 include Hillary Clinton (12), FDR (13), Condoleezza Rice (12) and Sarah Palin (21).
God ranked 11th, between Mother Teresa and Hillary Clinton.
Of the multiple reasons participants gave to explain their choices of heroes, the ones most cited is, "Doing what's right regardless of personal consequences" with 89 percent, "Not giving up until the goal is accomplished" with 83 percent and "Doing more than what other people expect of them," with 82 percent. Also popular were "Overcoming adversity" and "Staying level-headed in a crisis."
In the first Harris Poll asking this question in 2001, Jesus came in first, followed by the Rev. King, Powell, John F. Kennedy and Mother Teresea.
Obama joked last year at a roast that contrary to rumors, he was not born in a manger but on the planet Krypton. Apparently, Obama is even more popular than Superman, who didn't make the cut.

P.S. You know, I've been writing about Obama a lot lately and it's strange because I'm not usually this political or soap-boxy. In fact, I stopped talking about politics and current events altogether for years. Only recently have I felt compelled to say something. This blog may seem random, a little schizo even, but it's a pretty true representation of where I'm at. One week I'm obsessed with photographing Mt. Rainier, the next week I may plunge myself into music (in which case I don't blog much, but update my playlist at the very bottom of this blog), and the next week I might be writing about Obama, who knows?? I do jump around a bit but in any case, there's sure to be some recurring themes.

New Blog

Since this, my first blog, has become a mish-mash of sorts and is functioning more as a diary these days than anything, I've created a 2nd blog. The new blog is called The Washington Traveler and focuses only on traveling and sightseeing. I will still continue to post the same random thoughts and photo-journal entries of my travels on this blog. The new blog is going to be tailored to be more informative, for my own knowledge, but useful to others as well.

I'm always hearing about new new places to visit. But since my memory isn't what it used to be, I've been scribbling it all on post-it notes, e-mailing myself notes, bookmarking links, etc. And as I visit these places I've been telling rambling stories about it on this blog, but haven't been keeping track of useful info I may need if I ever want to visit again. So the new blog will be a central location to keep all this useful (or useless, depending on how you see it) information I've gathered.

It's still a work in progress but check it out http://thewashingtontraveler.blogspot.com/

West Coast Rumblings

For those who haven't heard, seismic and volcanic activity has increased in the Northwest lately. Since I find this stuff endlessly fascinating, I've been following the news and here's what I've learned thus far.

- Seattle experienced a 4.5 magnitude earthquake on 1/30/09. It happened at 5:25am and unfortunately I was sleeping and missed it. (I've never experienced an earthquake before). I didn't tell my mother, no need to add to her list of reasons to worry - she's still worried about me getting eaten by a bear out here.

- An eruption of Alaska's Mt. Redoubt is imminent. I'm monitoring it partly out of fascination and partly because it will impact my job at Alaska Airlines. They are expecting a rather large ash plume that is guaranteed to affect our flights. I've been checking the USGS website as well as watching live webcams here: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webcam/webcam_multi.php?cam%5B%5D=Redoubt+-+Hut&cam%5B%5D=Redoubt+-+CI&refresh=1&size=medium

- I've heard there's been steam sighted coming out of Mt. Rainier and that geo-thermal/volcanic activity has increased there but I can't find anything to support that online. Here's is the latest status on the watch levels from the USGS:

2009-02-13 08:40:55 Cascade Range Normal Green (This includes Mt. Rainier)

Redoubt Alert Level=WATCH. Aviation Color Code=ORANGE. As of Feb 17, 2009, 11:00 ADTSeismic activity remains elevated. Likelihood of an eruption remains.(Change to current status occurred on Jan 25, 2009 02:10 ADT from Alert Level ADVISORY and Aviation Color Code YELLOW )For more information see http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php

That's all the info I have for now. If you come across something interesting, shoot it my way! ang3553@yahoo.com

The Religion of Common Sense

I've been following our new president since he took office (not literally, calm down CIA and point your satellites elsewhere) and it seems I grow more impressed each day. It's like he's held a mirror to our country's problems and is vocalizing everything we've either been screaming or silently cringing in disgust over for years. It's like he crawled inside my head because he seems to want to fix everything I think is broken about this nation and he is saying just the right things. In fact it seems every time he opens his mouth his words are sweet music to my ears. But maybe that's just because he's been paying attention these last 8 years, heck 50 years even, and has some damn common sense in his head. Something the last administration had in short supply.

I tell you, I have more faith in this country every day. I'll admit I was feeling very, well... the only word I can think of to aptly describe my view of this country is "nausea". Not just because of its problems, which are many, but because of the fact that I didn't feel I had a right to be unhappy with the status quo. Over the last 8 years I've been shocked into near mortal fear and submission and told the world is basically ending, then told by those same bullies that everything is okay when I try to speak up - which is akin to being slapped whilst being told I'm not being slapped. And when that doesn't pacify me I'm essentially told "Shut up and eat this with your vegetables young lady because it's good for you. You're going to swallow it and you're going to like it because I said so". At least to me that seemed to be the tone set by the powers-that-be. "Dissenters" have been villainized as unpatriotic liberal loonies. There are people out there who genuinely love this country and only want to make it better, who are symbolically burnt at the stake for having differing views. Make no mistake, if these were more barbaric times we lived in, if it didn't "look bad" to do so, there would be a political crusades and people WOULD have been burnt at the stake.

Even though the witch hunters didn't wait very long after the inauguration to start painting Obama as a 'heretic' (essentially for rejecting the 'Bush Doctrine' right?) I couldn't care less because he has the power to make positive change and I feel confident he is going to use it. He's not afraid to declare "You're not imagining things people, the system IS broken and we ARE going to fix it." He stands up for the little people in the face of corporate greed and worse and I'm starting to see why so many people see him as a 'super hero' of sorts. I won't ridicule them or begrudge them the worshipping of their 'savior', this world could using a little saving right now and we all deserve some optimism and hope. Amen.

Letter To America

I'm still on hiatus, I'm not really here this is just a figment of your imagination...

I logged onto MySpace for the first time in ages (I'm not much for social networking sites) and found this hilarious letter I had posted on my blog there. Ah, still funny after all these years. Pretend it's 2004 and enjoy.

John Cleese's Letter to America

Dearest Citizen's of America,

In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (excepting Kansas, which she does not fancy).

Your new prime minister, Tony Blair, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters and the suffix ize will be replaced by the suffix ise. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up vocabulary).

Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as US English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize. You will relearn your original national anthem, God Save the Queen.

July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline)-roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.

You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as Good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty Seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).

Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.15% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.

You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776). Thank you for your co-operation.

John Cleese

Hey, what are we if we can't laugh at ourselves a little? If you find this letter hilarious, then you and I might just get along.
I hear John Cleese didn't really write this but can't you just hear him saying it?! LMAO, I can't read this and not hear his voice-over narration in my head.