Jack Johnson Concert

Sunday night Alison, Patrick, Carol (Costa) and I had a great evening of outdoor entertainment as we went to Somerset WI to hear Jack Johnson perform. The weather was great, the music was great, the crowd was interesting, all in all a great success. It was a very laid-back event, Jack was well-loved by his audience. Kids aged 5 and under got in free, and we saw a surprising number of them. Also appearing with Jack were Money Mark, and Mason Jennings.

The event was held at the Rivers Edge Park in Somerset, which was a nice venue, though the traffic situation was potentially time-consuming. Alison estimated there were 40-50 thousand people there, the parking in a hay-field was problematic as a few cars were getting stuck... long lines to exit etc... Altogether a good crowd, mellow and pretty well behaved.

Saturday night I retrieved Carol from the airport, she was returning from her trip with her parents. After having stayed here with us for graduation, they went off to see NYC and Orlando.

We came straight back to attend a bit of Chantel's graduation party. Carol and Chantel have become good friends. They aren't always this dolled up, but they do have fun together.

Laurie's charm, nevertheless + my ramblings

I've been remiss in getting a link to Laurie's new blog posted here. As you would expect, she is much more eloquent in her postings than I, and reports on the interesting happenings in her life on the west coast, at least for a few more weeks. Do check it out. Oh, and I noticed she will need some feedback or perhaps the site will suffer an untimely demise.

Patrick is recovering well from his surgery, and properly motivated by the return of his car keys, ceased taking his narcotics yesterday. So far, so good. We're going to see the orthodontist and the oral surgeon this morning and see what they think about the road map for the future.

Today we learn prosecutors are now satisfied in their attempt to find a salesman or two at Bear Stearns to hang with some charges. The latest effort of our government to attempt to solve all our problems, usually by criminalizing something somewhere in response to all misfortune, including acts of God. Thinking back to the lingering effects of our sub prime mortgage debacle, is it actually criminal when the financially brightest folks turn their sights toward profiting, at the expense of those less experienced and less able to defend themselves. In this case, the latter would most often be our young marrieds who are looking to afford themselves that beautiful suburban home (like the one their parents now live in after 30 years of work.) Seems so similar to my reaction to the introduction of a state sponsored lottery... yippee!!! let's see if we can extract more funds from those among us who can least afford it... and we can call it good for education!

The subject of nuclear energy is back... I've maintained for a very long time that we will need to look at this seriously, an interestingly silent topic in the energy discussion till now...

From NEI:

Nuclear Energy Around the World

As of March 2008, 30 countries worldwide were operating 439 nuclear reactors for electricity generation and 34 new nuclear plants were under construction in 14 countries.

• World Nuclear Power Plants in Operation
• World Nuclear Generation and Capacity
• Nuclear Units Under Construction Worldwide

Nuclear power plants provided about 15 percent of the world's electricity production in 2007. In total, 16 countries relied on nuclear energy to supply at least one-quarter of their total electricity. Countries generating the largest percentage of their electricity in 2007 from nuclear energy were:

Country	Percent
France	76.8
Lithuania	64.4
Slovakia	54.3
Belgium	54.0
Ukraine	48.1
Sweden	46.1
Armenia	43.5
Slovenia	41.6
Switzerland	40.0
Hungary	36.8
S. Korea	35.3
Bulgaria	32.1

Additional Information

• Top 10 Nuclear Generating Countries
• The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Power Reactor Information System database
• World Nuclear Plants Country-by-Country Map
• Source Book: Soviet-Designed Nuclear Power Plants

A catch-up post...

Not necessarily in the order of occurrence...

Patrick's graduation...

Brian was again generous to act as the photographer for the day. The following slide show depicts the activities beginning at the commencement held inside the Stout Field-house, then the grads outside following commencement, and finally our little gathering at the house afterward. (clicking on the slideshow will take you to the album...)



We enjoyed having Carol's parents (Henrique & Christina) stay with us leading up to graduation. It was really something to see a 17 year old greet her Mom and Dad on June 3rd, when she hadn't seen them since flying from Brazil in August of 2007. When they first saw each other at the airport, I could feel the love... a unique moment. My estimation was accurate... if you find a delightful kid, she most likely has delightful parents. That proved to be true as we thoroughly enjoyed their company.

While they stayed with us... they got a chance to have dinner withe each of Carol's host families, made a trip to MOA, visited the Mississippi river valley - including the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN. and a visit to see the carousel at Lark Toys, toured the Cardinal Glass plant, shopped in downtown Menomonie with Paulette, attended the Ludington Guard Band Concert in Wilson Park, visited in Portuguese with Ellen Ochs, bicycled in North Menomonie, and a few more things that escape me at the moment...

Following their visit, Patrick was in to have his surgery. The procedure went well, and Patrick is resting comfortably with the aid of his medicine. He's hoping to be back behind the wheel of his car soon, which is suitable motivation to stop taking the narcotics. He reports that it isn't so much painful, but a weird sensation having broken bone in your mouth area. He's just now beginning to chew softly. Using the palate expanding device actually adds stability to his mouth which he says is a good thing.

Actually been out on the water a couple of times with the Buccaneer (Lake Wissota.) It's good to be sailing again, I've missed it. Hope the weather stops raining on the good folks to our south... heading to Milwaukee to attend Freshman Orientation with Patrick next week. We also need to find him a place to live. Laurie has five weeks left in SF, and is looking forward to being back in Menomonie for a bit this summer. It's going to be fun to have her home.

chickens crossing

Click on the picture to find a number of reasons why...

A birdie putt I can make...

A tap-in.

Yesterday's round of golf turned up some fun on the par three 8th hole. This shot marks the nearest I've ever come to making a hole in one. Someday perhaps I'll get one closer than this!

Lake Wissota Yacht Club

This week found our arrival at the new sailing home for the Buccaneer. Byron has been working diligently at helping me get her ready to go for the sailing season. She's now rigged and ready for some nice warm weather!

We're looking pretty relaxed... more sailing to come!