Switch to Rain
We’ve had several glorious sunny days. On Friday, Mom and I ran some errands, and spent about an hour sitting down by the beach. Saturday – another glorious day, hot and sunny. Sunday morning – oooohhhh, there’s a change. There’s a wind blowing. Around ten, it starts raining, and then – raining and blowing.
On my way to my Mom’s, I am in a parking lot and the place is JAMMED. In Seattle, if it’s raining, it’s shopping weather! All those empty stores, now full of shoppers. It’s a shock.
In front of Babies are Us, a totally disgusting, very non-Seattle sight:
Here is a very Seattle-style bumper sticker:
The Way I See It #21
Most mornings, even as a visitor here, I make my own coffee. On this Sunday morning, however, fresh from church, I allowed myself an early morning stop at a nearby Starbucks.
I don’t know if they are doing this in Kuwait, but here, I saw a quote on the side of my Grande, non-fat, no whip Mocha:
“People need to see that, far from being an obstacle, the world’s diversity of languages, religions and traditions is a great treasure, affording us precious oportunities to recognize ourselves in others.”
Youssou N’Dour
Musician
Oh Deer!
AdventureMan and I keep ourselves sharp by exploring new areas. As I was looking around in a newer housing area, I found that the old residents are still hanging on. Deer can be a problem – the nibble on your roses and sweet peas, they cause a lot of damage . . . but don’t they have a right to forage for a meal? Weren’t they there first?
Blog Action Day October 15: Poverty
Many Kuwait bloggers participated in last year’s Blog Action Day, and this year the topic is a painful one, and one highly visible in the ultra-rich country of Kuwait: Poverty.
We have two months to think about our entry for October 15th. If you want to join the list of bloggers participating in Blog Action Day, you can go to Blog Action Day by clicking on the blue text in this paragraph.
The Perseids are Peaking!
This is a very good article I came across today on AOL News. If you click on the blue type you can read all the good parts I left out! 🙂
Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Tuesday
By Joe Rao, Space.com
(Aug. 8) – Every August, just when many people go vacationing in the country where skies are dark, the best-known meteor shower makes its appearance.
It is also the month of “The Tears of St. Lawrence,” more commonly known as the Perseid Meteor Shower.
(The squeamish might want to skip this paragraph)
Laurentius, a Christian deacon, is said to have been martyred by the Romans in 258 AD on an iron outdoor stove. It was in the midst of this torture that Laurentius cried out:
“I am already roasted on one side and, if thou wouldst have me well cooked, it is time to turn me on the other.”
The saint’s death was commemorated on his feast day, Aug. 10. King Phillip II of Spain built his monastery place, the “Escorial,” on the plan of the holy gridiron. And the abundance of shooting stars seen annually between approximately Aug. 8 and 14 have come to be known as St. Lawrence’s “fiery tears.”
Viewing prospects
In 2008, the Perseids are expected to reach their maximum on Aug. 12.
The exact time of maximum should be about 7:00 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) Aug. 12, according to Margaret Campbell-Brown and Peter Brown in the 2008 Observer’s Handbook of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. If so, the timing is very good for meteor watchers observing before dawn in North America, especially in the western states. And that morning, the waxing gibbous moon sets around 1:30 a.m. local daylight saving time, leaving a dark sky for the next 3 hours.
Take full advantage of that moonless period. Next year, a last quarter moon will illuminate the after-midnight sky with its light and will hinder observation of the Perseids.
. . . . . . . . . .
When and where to look
Typically during an overnight watch, the Perseids are capable of producing a number of bright, flaring and fragmenting meteors, which leave fine trains in their wake.
On the night of shower maximum, the Perseid radiant is not far from the famous “Double Star Cluster” of Perseus. Low in the northeast during the early evening, it rises higher in the sky until morning twilight ends observing. Shower members appearing close to the radiant have foreshortened tracks; those appearing farther away are often brighter, have longer tracks, and move faster across the sky. About five to 10 of the meteors seen in any given hour will not fit this geometric pattern, and may be classified as sporadic or as members of some other (minor) shower.
Watching for the Perseids consists of lying back, gazing up into the stars and waiting. Perseid activity increases sharply in the hours after midnight, so plan your observing times accordingly. We are then looking more nearly face-on into the direction of the Earth’s motion as it orbits the Sun, and the radiant is also higher up. Making a meteor count is as simple as lying in a lawn chair or on the ground and marking on a clipboard whenever a “shooting star” is seen.
Counts should be made on several nights before and after the predicted maximum, so the behavior of the shower away from its peak can be determined. Usually, good numbers of meteors should be seen on the preceding and following nights as well. The shower is generally at one-quarter strength one or two nights before and after maximum.
A few Perseids can be seen as much as two weeks before and a week after the peak. The extreme limits, in fact, are said to extend from July 17 to Aug. 24, though an occasional one might be seen almost anytime during the month of August.
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York’s Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.
Dale Chihuly
Dale Chihuli makes my heart go pitter-patter. No, AdventureMan has nothing to worry about, it is a pure love, a love of great and beautiful pieces of glass spun from this incredible man’s imagination. I want you to go, right now, to this website and take a look at some of this breathtaking creations:
Dale Chihuly
Be sure to wait while the photos on this site change, or you will miss some spectacular pieces. How can anyone give molten glass such spirit?
Here are some pieces I found on display today:
From his biography, you will know that his influence is strongly felt in the great Pacific Northwest:
Influenced by an environment that fostered the blurring of boundaries separating all the arts, as early as 1967 Chihuly was using neon, argon, and blown glass forms to create room-sized installations of organic, freestanding, plantlike imagery. He brought this interdisciplinary approach to the arts to the legendary Pilchuck School in Stanwood, Washington, which he cofounded in 1971 and served as its first artistic director until 1989. Under Chihuly’s guidance, Pilchuck has become a gathering place for international artists with diverse backgrounds. Over the years his studios, which include an old racing shell factory in Seattle called The Boathouse and now buildings in the Ballard section of the city and Tacoma, have become a mecca for artists, collectors, and museum professionals involved in all media.
Chevy’s Revisited
I told you all about Chevy’s Fresh Mex about a year ago, and since I can’t tell you a whole lot about what I am doing right now, I will tell you more about what we are eating: more Chevy’s Fresh Mex.
Here are my fish tacos, which I ate with Chevy’s fresh made salsa, yummmmmm. Yes, Purg, it is too much food. We don’t eat all of it. Like I only ate the tacos.
My dinner companion had the grilled chicken fajitas – and said that they were also YUMMMMMMMM!
This is not real Mexican food. It is kind of a California-ized kind of Mexican food with a lot of lettuce and really fresh ingredients. It is kind of Mexican-lite. 🙂
Tsunami Signs
Tsunami Evacuation signs are everywhere in the area where we are staying. Is there anyplace in the world that is safe? Florida has sinkholes, and hurricanes. Seattle has earthquakes. Only in Oregon have I seen Tsunami Evacuation signs, but . . . would Kuwait be vulnerable to a Tsunami? If there were a tsunami, where would we run to? Where would we be safe?
In one place, on a high hill, we saw a sign saying Tsunami safe haven, but it was a long way up that hill and you are supposed to run, not drive, because they are afraid of gridlock with people trying to drive to get away. I am thinking a lot of people would probably die trying to run up that hill!
Here’s a sign you’ll be happy to see:
Teriyaki Flank Steak
I keep meaning to post some food photos for Puratory but the problem is we get everything on the table and we start eating. Mariner Man has been the best at documenting our meals; I only think to take a photo too late, and the camera is far away.
Finally, I remembered, just in time for Teriyaki Flank Steak, my Mother’s speciality that everyone loves. She bought three huge flank steaks, put them into plastic bags with the marinade and froze them. They thawed as we drove to the beach, and were ready for the grill when we got there:
Here is my Mother’s marinade recipe for Flank Steak:
Teriyaki Flank Steak Marinade
Most recipes will tell you to marinate a flank steak for an hour – we thing overnight is even better. Sometimes two or three nights, or marinate it in a plastic bag and freeze until needed:
(per 1 – 2 lbs flank steak)
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup sake or sherry (optional)
1 cup pineapple juice (use two if you don’t use wine or sake)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbs sugar
1 large chopped onion
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 t. shredded fresh ginger
Grill flank steak until there is no red in the middle; some people like no pink in the middle. Slice thinly against the grain and serve.
Here is a platter of the finished flank steak:
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