Need I say more?
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Sad about Michael
Since the very tragic news of Michael Jackson's passing I have found myself somewhat melancholy. After hearing all of the tributes I realized how much of the music he made was there when I grew up. We showed the kids a bunch of videos from YouTube including Thriller, Billy Jean and Bad just to give them a sense of some of the music he had.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyJbIOZjS8
Good by Michael, may you find peace in heaven.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyJbIOZjS8
Good by Michael, may you find peace in heaven.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Diversity much?
Julia's 3rd grade teacher Miss Lee just sent out a photo of Julia's class from the last day of school. Clearly our neighborhood isn't lacking from the cultural diversity standpoint. See if you can tell which one is Julia.
This is btw something that we are very happy about and think will serve Julia well as a digital native in the increasingly small world.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Graduation pre-k to k, 1 to 2 and 3 to 4
Well they are all moving up! I was just reviewing the end of year report cards and both Julia and Lea did very very well!
Based on mid-year testing Julia has been accepted into the local GATE program which stands for Gifted and Talented Education. We are of course very proud of her and to go along with that she has also been accepted into the 4 th/ 5th combo class next year. Only the top 4th grade students are recommended for this class because they are exposed to much 5th grade material and it is more challenging. Again we are beaming with delight!
As for Lea she had outstanding grades and appears to exceed expectations in nearly every area! She also happens to be excelling in athletics, so much so that the teacher noted it.
Way to go Julia and Lea (and Nicolas) as you finish out the school year and have a well deserved summer break. I remember the feeling of being out of school for 2.5 months like it was (ahem) yesterday!
Of course not to be forgotten is master Nicolas who is more than ready to tackle kindergarten and looking forward to being in school with his sisters!
Based on mid-year testing Julia has been accepted into the local GATE program which stands for Gifted and Talented Education. We are of course very proud of her and to go along with that she has also been accepted into the 4 th/ 5th combo class next year. Only the top 4th grade students are recommended for this class because they are exposed to much 5th grade material and it is more challenging. Again we are beaming with delight!
As for Lea she had outstanding grades and appears to exceed expectations in nearly every area! She also happens to be excelling in athletics, so much so that the teacher noted it.
Way to go Julia and Lea (and Nicolas) as you finish out the school year and have a well deserved summer break. I remember the feeling of being out of school for 2.5 months like it was (ahem) yesterday!
Of course not to be forgotten is master Nicolas who is more than ready to tackle kindergarten and looking forward to being in school with his sisters!
Signing up for a 1/2 marathon!
There I've said it.
For me currently a 5K (3.2 miles) run is a quick jog and a 10k (6,4 miles) run is a nice long morning run but not my longest this season. So, I've decided to sign up for the San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon! This is a pretty cool race that many people I know are doing. The way it works is that there are bands set up along the course, 20 in fact so more than one per mile, to spur the runners on.
Several of the folks I train with will be doing this race so I won't have problems with training partners or motivation.
I am actually looking forward to it and hoping to finish in under 2 hours. Now for the training!
For me currently a 5K (3.2 miles) run is a quick jog and a 10k (6,4 miles) run is a nice long morning run but not my longest this season. So, I've decided to sign up for the San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon! This is a pretty cool race that many people I know are doing. The way it works is that there are bands set up along the course, 20 in fact so more than one per mile, to spur the runners on.
Several of the folks I train with will be doing this race so I won't have problems with training partners or motivation.
I am actually looking forward to it and hoping to finish in under 2 hours. Now for the training!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Julia's Big Concert
This week Julia had a really cool experience through her violin playing which I think had a very positive impact on her. She was able to play with 388 other budding elementary school students in the 17th annual Santa Clara Unified School District Concert.
The concert was was this past Tuesday and started with an all day practice for the evening performance.
The concert was held at Buscher Middle School down near Santa Clara University. When I showed up there were lots of people and kids running around trying to get organized. There was no signage and it was hard to identify the organizers but we were able to figure out the pattern and Julia saw a couple of girls from her school orchestra who were there.
Everything appeared chaotic but underneath I think it was pretty well managed. They played for about 1/2 hour with the band and orchestra alternating songs and they also played a few together which was fun.
They actually sounded pretty good and I was impressed with our school districts commitment to the arts. We are very grateful that she had the experience.
Below are some videos I shot during the concert, you can see just how packed it was in the gym and I am sure there must have been 1500 people there total. Julia is pretty easy to pick out. All pics from the back with her short Blondie bob haircut =) It was an extraordinary experience for her!
The concert was was this past Tuesday and started with an all day practice for the evening performance.
The concert was held at Buscher Middle School down near Santa Clara University. When I showed up there were lots of people and kids running around trying to get organized. There was no signage and it was hard to identify the organizers but we were able to figure out the pattern and Julia saw a couple of girls from her school orchestra who were there.
Everything appeared chaotic but underneath I think it was pretty well managed. They played for about 1/2 hour with the band and orchestra alternating songs and they also played a few together which was fun.
They actually sounded pretty good and I was impressed with our school districts commitment to the arts. We are very grateful that she had the experience.
Below are some videos I shot during the concert, you can see just how packed it was in the gym and I am sure there must have been 1500 people there total. Julia is pretty easy to pick out. All pics from the back with her short Blondie bob haircut =) It was an extraordinary experience for her!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Bay tour - by plane
I had a fun and unique experience last weekend I thought I would relay. A friend of ours named Simon called me out of the blue on Saturday and asked if I wanted to go for a little flight with him. Simon got his private pilots license last year and puts a surprising amount of time into flying and practicing (I say surprising because he has 2 kids). He suggested we try for a "bay tour" which is a local code word for air traffic controllers which informs them that you would like to fly around the bay past all of the sights.
I agreed and I met him at a small airport in south San Jose called Reid-Hillview. We went up in a 4 seat Cessna that was owned by the flying club that Simon belonged to. He had flown that very plane just a few weeks earlier and went through the detailed pre-flight procedures with a serious attention to detail (which made me feel relaxed). We covered safety procedures etc. and then rolled the plane out (you manually pull the plane into the taxi way), started the engine and away we went.
The weather was warm and the sky was clearing from the morning marine layer as we took off easily. Our first destination was to fly over to San Jose international airport and execute a "touch and go". Simon was in contact with local air traffic control at all times since the bay area is one of the busiest air spaces in the country. We both had head phones so I could listen to all of the communications plus we could talk with each other. The San Jose tower had us fly right over down town San Jose which according to Simon was rare. It was cool view of the city for sure.
The big runways at San Jose certainly look even bigger when you are coming in in a Cessna. We landed on the 3rd and smallest runway they have and as soon as the wheels touch the ground Simon powered up and away we went again. He has a habit of speaking the procedures as he is going through them which may be for his own benefit but as a passenger you are put at ease as he does this. (or at least I found it reassuring).
Our next destination was to see how far up the peninsula we could fly with the receding marine layer. Air traffic control (ATC) directed us to fly at 2500ft and to the west of 101 so we had a great view of the towns as we worked our way up the bay. I was able to pick out many local landmarks etc.
Simon let me take control and fly the plane along the way and I flew for probably 10 minutes including turning towards Woodside and over the big houses in Atherton etc.
Since we could not go further North Simon asked if I wanted to do an "instrument approach" to half moon bay. Now in the summer Half Moon Bay is completely socked in by the marine layer and it was last Saturday. I was fine with it since I knew that Simon also had his instrument license and had practiced in tough conditions. Still I had to admit I was a little nervous as we flew over the mountains and towards the white layer of clouds that backs up behind it.
We went on instruments and Simon skillfully dialed in all of the necessary way points into the navigation system. We were told that the marine layer started at 3000ft and went down to 1600ft so that meant we would be in the clouds and blind for about 2 minutes during decent. We entered the clouds and it was an strange feeling staring out at the white nothingness knowing that there was ocean below and mountains to the east. Simon and I both watch the altimeter and sure enough right at 1600ft we came through the bottom and I could see the shoreline far below.
We executed what is called a "planned missed approach" which means we never actually touched down there rather got down to about 800 ft right at the airport and then pulled up and back to about 3500 ft again above the clouds and in the bright blue sky.
The rest of the flight was uneventful and we vectored almost directly back to Reid-Hillview. I had a great time and hope to get another chance to fly with Simon or to have Melissa go up as the views are awesome.
I agreed and I met him at a small airport in south San Jose called Reid-Hillview. We went up in a 4 seat Cessna that was owned by the flying club that Simon belonged to. He had flown that very plane just a few weeks earlier and went through the detailed pre-flight procedures with a serious attention to detail (which made me feel relaxed). We covered safety procedures etc. and then rolled the plane out (you manually pull the plane into the taxi way), started the engine and away we went.
The weather was warm and the sky was clearing from the morning marine layer as we took off easily. Our first destination was to fly over to San Jose international airport and execute a "touch and go". Simon was in contact with local air traffic control at all times since the bay area is one of the busiest air spaces in the country. We both had head phones so I could listen to all of the communications plus we could talk with each other. The San Jose tower had us fly right over down town San Jose which according to Simon was rare. It was cool view of the city for sure.
The big runways at San Jose certainly look even bigger when you are coming in in a Cessna. We landed on the 3rd and smallest runway they have and as soon as the wheels touch the ground Simon powered up and away we went again. He has a habit of speaking the procedures as he is going through them which may be for his own benefit but as a passenger you are put at ease as he does this. (or at least I found it reassuring).
Our next destination was to see how far up the peninsula we could fly with the receding marine layer. Air traffic control (ATC) directed us to fly at 2500ft and to the west of 101 so we had a great view of the towns as we worked our way up the bay. I was able to pick out many local landmarks etc.
Simon let me take control and fly the plane along the way and I flew for probably 10 minutes including turning towards Woodside and over the big houses in Atherton etc.
Since we could not go further North Simon asked if I wanted to do an "instrument approach" to half moon bay. Now in the summer Half Moon Bay is completely socked in by the marine layer and it was last Saturday. I was fine with it since I knew that Simon also had his instrument license and had practiced in tough conditions. Still I had to admit I was a little nervous as we flew over the mountains and towards the white layer of clouds that backs up behind it.
We went on instruments and Simon skillfully dialed in all of the necessary way points into the navigation system. We were told that the marine layer started at 3000ft and went down to 1600ft so that meant we would be in the clouds and blind for about 2 minutes during decent. We entered the clouds and it was an strange feeling staring out at the white nothingness knowing that there was ocean below and mountains to the east. Simon and I both watch the altimeter and sure enough right at 1600ft we came through the bottom and I could see the shoreline far below.
We executed what is called a "planned missed approach" which means we never actually touched down there rather got down to about 800 ft right at the airport and then pulled up and back to about 3500 ft again above the clouds and in the bright blue sky.
The rest of the flight was uneventful and we vectored almost directly back to Reid-Hillview. I had a great time and hope to get another chance to fly with Simon or to have Melissa go up as the views are awesome.
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