Troy's Journal

Losing Our Relegion?

2009-03-17T09:03:00.000-07:00

I was just reading this great commentary by Leonard Pitts on the decline of religious affiliation in America. I think he has a very interesting and relevant point of view:

Leonard Pitts Jr.: Losing our faith
Religion seems to be driving Americans away from God
Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Where are the Maglev Elevators?

2008-03-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

Magnetic Lift Elevators.

The potential of the technology is Fantastic! It means that even very tall buildings could function with only two elevator shafts - one for up and one for down - and an elevator cab could be waiting at every level ready to take on passengers. No more long lines waiting for the only elevator cab to come back down the same shaft. More like a train, one elevator cab starts up and the next one comes along a few seconds later and follows the first.

Unfortunately - I havn't been able to find any updates since the following story appeared in the associated press on January 17, 2006:

Magnetic Elevators To Debut In 2008
Floating In Midair, Similar To Maglev High Speed Trains

(AP) The world's first elevators controlled by magnetic levitation will debut as early as 2008, a Tokyo-based company said Tuesday.

Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corp. will employ so-called maglev technology — capable of suspending objects in midair through the combination of magnetic attraction and repulsion to control the lifts, it said in a statement.

The maglev elevators will be quieter and more comfortable and will travel 984 feet per minute — not as fast as the company's conventional lifts that can move up to 3,314 feet a minute, Toshiba said.

Maglev technology has already been used to develop high-speed trains. The only passenger-carrying maglev train in the world links Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, China, to the city center at speeds of 267 miles per hour.

A maglev shuttle in Birmingham, England, was abandoned in 1995 after 11 years in operation because of technical glitches.

I am hoping they don't go the way of the flying cars we were promised in the 1950's - they were supposed to arrive by 1984!

"Mill Valley - by Rita Abrams

2008-02-01T16:45:00.000-08:00

Wow - YouTube really does have everything.. this is a video of the song "Mill Valley."

In 1969-1970, Rita Abrams, my kindergarten teacher at Strawberry Point School, wrote this song for the class to sing with her.

Eventually, the song was recorded by Rita and the then-third grade class of Strawberry Point School. It became a nationwide hit.

During the Mill Valley 4th of July celebration that year, Miss Abrams and the class performed, and a camera crew from Warner Bros. captured the event. The film was directed by, then unknown, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.

Star Trek is back in the news:

2008-02-01T15:56:00.000-08:00

Shatner Opens Star Trek: The Tour

Leslie Peek's Team In Training Page

2007-10-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

My cousin Leslie has joined Team in Training to train for the Nike Women's Marathon in October.

Did you know that leukemia is the number one disease-killer of children under 15 and lymphoma is the leading killer of men and women under 35?

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is the world's largest voluntary health
organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education, and
patient services. The Society's mission: cure leukemia, lymphoma, and
myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Please help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. Visit Leslie's website and make a small donation:

http://www.active.com/donate/tntgsf/tntgsfLPeek

Legal Glossary

2007-08-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

I have started playing around with putting together a web site of
interesting legal articles and comments about the practice of law. I did one page for a class project a while ago, it is here:

http://www.islandoflosttoys.com/LawPracticeTechnology.htm

Now that law school is over I'm in the process of expanding that one page into an entire site. Actually the whole site will be a continuing work in progress, however the first version is now online. At this time it only contains a Construction Law Glossary of Terms and a bunch of space for more articles that I will add when I can.

http://www.islandoflosttoys.com/law/glossary/

Maserati 3500 GT

2007-08-20T16:45:00.001-07:00

One of the little pleasures of living in San Francisco is seeing some really great cars on the road. This morning on my way to work I was passed by a beautiful 1961 Maserati 3500 GT, like the one in the picture below:

I was thinking that so many of the cars produced today look basically the same as most of the other cars produced today. There seems to be very little creativity and originality in the body styles dreamed up by today's car designers. The 3500 GT is over 40 years old and looks stylish and new! This is brilliant design ahead of it's time.

Perhaps the auto industry could take a lesson from the film industry and start revisiting the old classics to come up with a better variety.

Tip to GM & Ford - if you don't want to go bankrupt, why don't you start producing beautiful cars that folks actually want.

The Long Wait Begins

2007-07-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I finished the third and final day of the California Bar Exam. Now begins the long wait until results are posted November 16.

It's been a long summer of studying and I am looking forward actually reading for pleasure again. First - some sleep - and then - the new Harry Potter book.

Hopefully, within a week or two I'll be feeling back to normal.

So little to do . . . . so much time . . .

2007-02-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

It has been far too long since making any updates to any of my websites. It seems as though a lighter semester has been even less free time than before.

I have been terribly negligent in sending e-mails to my friends.. I'm really sorry to all of you who deserve two or three letters from me over the past few months.

School has been busy, work has been busy, home life has been busy, and it sure seems like everything is taking longer to finish than it should. I am spending what little free time I have trying to get a jump on studying for the bar exam this July. I'm a little worried about it, but basically looking forward to it. Everybody around me seems to think I'll do fine and pass on the first try.

Well, my 10 minutes before class starts is just about over . . . I hope the new year brings good things to your life.

Norton Internet Security Problems

2006-10-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

I am incredibly disappointed with the amount of time and trouble I have now had to go through to “update” my subscription to Norton Internet Security program.

Your software gave me a pop-up telling me that the subscription had expired and gave me a link to click to renew my subscription. Great! Except it didn’t work. All I got was a dialog asking for a number that I didn’t have. I could call your service phone number or use the web to update.

I chose to use the web. Your site actually worked well for choosing the latest version of the software and downloading it.

I went to install the software and the installation shut down – telling me that Norton was already running and had to be turned off before the upgrade could proceed.

Why is the installation software incapable of turning off the prior version of Norton so that it can do the upgrade?

I turned off Norton and launched the installation again.

This time the installation stopped and a pop-up told me that a prior version of Norton was already installed and had to be uninstalled before the upgrade could continue.

I thought the idea of an “Upgrade” was changing the current version of the software to a new version of the software. Of course it is already installed.

Why is the installation software incapable of getting rid of the prior version for me?

I launched the windows software install/un-install control panel and choose the “remove Norton Internet Security” option.

This time I got a flag telling me that Norton cannot be uninstalled using the “uninstall” button, I needed to start again using the “change program” button.

I started AGAIN – using the “change program” button and told it to uninstall the program.

I got a pop up telling me that elements of Norton were still running and the system needed to be restarted before the uninstall could continue.

I restarted the computer.

I started the uninstall process AGAIN using the “change program” button.

Finally! I got a pop-up telling me that Norton had been successfully uninstalled!

I launched the installer for the new software AGAIN!

This time I got a pop-up telling me that elements of the uninstalled version of Norton were still active and the system needed to be restarted before continuing with the new software installation.

I re-started the computer AGAIN!

I re-launched the installer program AGAIN – this time, FINALLY – the installation was successful!!

Then I got a pop-up telling me that the new software needed the product key.

Luckily I saved the email confirmation of the download where the product key number is located and remembered that the product key number was on that e-mail. Note that the e-mail did not mention that I would NEED this number in order to use the software! Also note that the pop-up window did not mention that the product key number I needed was located in the e-mail I had received. I was just lucky enough to put two and two together.

So now I opened up the e-mail to type the product key number into the new software.

The product key is a 25 digit alphanumeric number with NO spaces or dashes, that Symantec was kind enough to format in a 7 point font for easy reading!

After copying and pasting it into a Word document I could blow up the font size to a reasonably readable size and get it typed into the new software.

It took a few hours but now my Internet security software is up to date for 366 more days, then I guess I have to go through the whole process AGAIN!!

And this is just ONE of the 8 computers that I take care of in our office. Already another computer is telling me that it’s Norton subscription has expired and I need to start the whole process AGAIN!!

Unless Symantec can provide some guidance in making the “upgrade” process a LOT simpler! I’m thinking that I should change our office to McAfee.

Cheers,

Troy

Porsche Carrera GT

2006-10-18T18:31:00.000-07:00

It is amazing - three years of law school and I'm completely out of touch with the world of "toys for BILLIONAIRES"

I was on my way to class this evening and I was passed by a car that i had never seen before - and was very curious. Turns out it was a Porsche Carrera GT

Seems it is quite a car if you can afford the half million dollar price tag!

Paul Crookham

2006-07-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

July 26, 1908 ~ July 20, 2006

Paul Edmond Crookham, born in a sod house in Edmond, Kansas on July 26, 1908, passed away on July 20, 2006 at his home in Atwater. Paul is preceded in death by his wife Sybil, brothers Russell and Wayne, sister Norma, and daughter Barbara.

Paul is survived by his sisters Midge, Doris, and Helen, his son Richard, grandchildren Megan, David, Lisa, Tom, and John, and several great-grandchildren.

Kansas was deep into a drought when Paul was born, so the family moved to Los Angeles where his father, Don, was a street car conductor. After four years, the family of five piled onto a motorcycle and rode up to Santa Barbara where street car conductors got paid a dollar more a day and they saw the first airplane take off and land. Two years later they moved to Burbank where Paul's father built backdrops and scenery for movies in the early days of Hollywood.

In 1915 the Crookhams moved to a 20 acre ranch which is now a part of Castle Airport. The land wasn't suitable for farming so the family moved to Mariposa where Paul's dad completed the bridges on Highway 140. Late in 1916 the family moved back to the new town of Atwater, population 200, a few years after electricity arrived. Once in Atwater, the senior Crookham built irrigation pumps and put up windmills for farmers. Paul started working for Crookham Brothers in 1917.

At that time all the firemen were businessmen in town. So when his dad joined the Chamber of Commerce and fire department, Paul was assigned to the bucket brigade and collected donations to buy the first handpumper engine in 1918. When his dad retired from active duty in 1933, Paul was elected to active membership as nozzle man and was sworn in as deputy sheriff that same year.

In the meantime, Paul had graduated from Merced High, drove the school bus and was an usher at the Merced Theater. In the 20's, he was responsible for organizing the DeMolay chapter for boys and Job's Daughters Chapter for girls in Merced. His long involvement with Masonic Fraternity in both Merced and Livingston led to his election as State Rainbow Dad in 1982-83 and numerous Masonic awards such as the Hiram in 2003. Paul was also a member of the White Shrine, Eastern Star, Shriners, and Scottish Rite. Even though Paul was officially retired by the fire department after 60 years, his Lodge brothers have continued driving him to Masonic meetings in Livingston.

Dorothy Bizzini and other members of the congregation have continued to drive Paul to and from the United Methodist Church which he has faithfully attended since arriving in Atwater.

A direct descendent of Patrick Henry, Paul served over 3 years in World War II in India and Burma and was a longtime member of the American Legion and VFW. When Paul "sort of" retired from plumbing, he continued to provide homecare hospital equipment to veterans and others from 1950 until his death.

In 1937, Paul married Sybil Nye. Sybil was a teacher, principal and superintendent in Winton and member of the Merced County Board of Education until her death in 2003. She will be remembered for giving the Virginia Smith trust land to UC Merced. Which just goes to show you that behind every great woman is a good man.

To be brief, I've had to leave out many more friends and organizations that Paul loved and belonged to. Please forgive me. Paul quietly went about doing good for others. His main priorities were family and being of service to his community. He will be missed.

A visitation will be held on Friday, July 28, 2006 at Wilson Family Funeral Chapel, 1290 Winton Way from 1-8pm. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, July 29, 2006 at Atwater United Methodist Church on the corner of Bellevue and Linden with Pastor Victoria Schlintz. Following the burial at Winton Cemetery, refreshments will be served back at the United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the United Methodist Church, 2550 Linden St., Atwater, CA 95301 or to the Sybil Crookham Scholarship Fund, Merced Union High School District Administration Office, Castle Airport, 3430 W. A., Atwater, CA 95301.

Funeral Services have been entrusted to Wilson Family Funeral Chapel in Atwater.

The Simpsons Quotes

2006-07-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

The other day I came across a fun site that contains "the ultimate collection of Simpsons Quotes." Great stuff - click the "more quotes" link below to check out the site:

Random &lt;a href="http://not-a-real-namespace/http://www.thesimpsonsquotes.com/"&gt;Simpsons Quotes&lt;/a&gt;

Random The Simpsons Quotes

Filoli

2006-06-05T16:38:00.000-07:00

In May, Ailene and I spent a beautiful, sunny, Saturday afternoon wandering through the gardens at Filoli.

I highly recommend taking an afternoon to enjoy the gardens on a nice sunny day in spring or early summer while many of the flowers are in bloom.

I have finally added the photos to my Island of Lost Toys site at the following address:

http://www.islandoflosttoys.com/filoli.htm

TROY’S GUIDE TO GETTING GOOD GRADES

2006-06-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

ASSIGNMENTS

Read the assigned reading, do the assigned writing or projects! Don’t wait until the last minute and skim through the reading. Take time to carefully read through the assigned reading a few night before class and then re-skim through the assigned reading a few hours before class.

ATTEND/ATTENTION

Go to Class! When you’re in class, be there both physically and mentally. Listen and pay attention to what the professor is saying. Pay attention to the questions that the other students are asking and the answers to those questions. The professor is giving you the wisdom of the universe on a silver platter – take it!

ASK THREE RELEVANT QUESTIONS EACH CLASS

When you are doing the reading, write down three relevant questions that relate to what you have read. Preferably questions that are not actually answered by the reading itself. At appropriate times during the course of the evening’s lecture, ask your three questions.

ASSIMILATE

Make sure you are incorporating and absorbing the material into your consciousness. Try one or more of the following:

Check your understanding of the material by having a brief discussion with classmates about it in the next day or two following the lecture.

Send a follow-up email asking your professor to verify an aspect of your understanding of the material.

Try to explain the concept to some friends who are not in the class.

Write a paragraph summary of the concept.

APPRECIATE

Admire, value, and be thankful for the knowledge you are gaining. Surround yourself with positive energy, enthusiasm, great expectations, hopefulness, and optimism by being positive, enthusiastic, hopeful, optimistic, and full of great expectations. As John & Paul once commented, "in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make"

Oh my... it's been really busy!

2006-02-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

I would like to keep this blog more current - but this semester has really been busy. I'm doing at least two papers a week - generally 3 or 4, plus keeping up on my reading, trying to put in some billable hours at work . . . maybe over spring break I'll have a few minutes to get all my sites updated. til then . . .

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-21T17:25:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays, joyous season and a blissful politically correct greeting for the winter solstice to all.

I am happily finished with finals for the semester and looking forward to a few weeks break in law school. I thought it would be a good idea to update my online spaces a bit – if I manage to make some free time in the next week I’ll try to get a few updates on my drum site and if I’m really feeling inspired I want to give the island of lost toys site a mini makeover.

My car is starting to fade quickly and I have been looking at a few of the fun new cars out there. I need something that will be a good “commuter” car for at least the next two years. I had been talking to Ailene about the Mini-Cooper “S” She rented one for me for a couple of days this week and I had a great time putting it through its paces through the hills of Woodside and up the coast. What a great little car! I love it, but I don’t want one now that I have had a chance to live with it. You could throw your back out trying to get a stack of law school books out of the back seat of that car. Although I am sure if the Mini had been available ten years ago I would have bought one instead of the BMW. I think I will focus my attention on something with four doors.

Hope the holidays treat you well..

Could You Pass 8th-Grade Math?

2005-10-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

Fox Television is asking "are you smarter than a 5th grader?" and most of the contestants are not!

President Bush’s "no child left behind" campaign has most of the states implementing standards for academic achievement. The news reports low pass rates on the standardized testing, but reports from the younger generation in my family is that these tests are truly MINIMUM standards.

Do you want to see what kids expected to know? Here is a link to the Illinois State Board of Education's math test for 8th-graders.

Could You Pass 8th-Grade Math?

Kitchen Remodel Photo

2005-09-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

Ailene and I have pretty much finished up our Kitchen remodel. We ended up replacing all those old 70's press board cabinets with some nice contemporary maple cabinets.

We also added new marble countertops, new lights, new sink, new paint, bigger pass-through hole into the dining room, new shelf for glasses & mugs, and a new carpet.

We are very happy with the way it turned out. It is so much lighter with the bigger opening into the dining room, and it just feels like a nice place to cook now.

Trombone Solos in Jazz

2005-08-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

I was listening to the local Jazz station last night on my way home. The song featured a trombone solo. There is something that troubles me about trombone players.

I understand that it takes great skill to play lightning fast scales & articulate scales on a trombone. I understand that a great player might like to show off the skill of being able to play such lightning fast and clearly articulated scales. But it is very disappointing to me to hear such folly in a trombone solo.

The trombone is one of the very few instruments in the orchestra that is capable of a beautiful, slow glissando up & down several notes. And yet, seldom does a trombone player take advantage of showcasing, in a solo, the wonderful, slow slides from note to note.

The pedal steel is another instrument that is capable of such melodic potential. Pedal steel players are usually quite skilled at creating the beautiful, slow melodies for which their instrument is so well suited. Trombone players don't seem to have this sensibility. This makes me sad. I would like to hear trombone players who use their solos to show off the true beauty and nature of the instrument.

Kitchen Remodel

2005-07-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

My brother Lee is coming down this lovely 4th of July weekend to help me get started on some long overdue remodeling of the kitchen in our little Redwood City condo.

I will be VERY happy to finally get rid of the "vintage" 1970's vinyl coverd pressboard cabinets that were past their prime several years ago.

Ailene and I have picked out some appropriate maple cabinets and some nice marble for the countertops that will make the place look much, much nicer!

I will post some photos when I get the time.

Birthday Jazz Performance

2005-06-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled to take a break from law school this summer and actually play drums for the first time in two years.

I was asked to sit in on a performance of Claude Bolling's

"Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio"

The show was quite a success. One happy audience member commented that he thought we sounded as good as, if not better than, the original CD performed by Claude Bolling and Jean-Pierre Rampal. What a fabulous compliment!

Ailene, my brother Lee, and my Grandmother all came for the performance in downtown Los Altos - and then we all went out to dinner to celebrate my birthday.

Spring Cleaning

2005-06-12T20:42:00.000-07:00

Oh the little pleasures of spring cleaning. I've been cleaning house today, going through the boxes of stuff "to be filed" and getting rid of the stuff that I really don't need to be keeping. I still have sales receipts from music equipment that I got rid of years ago.

In with all the good and bad, stuff to be filed and stuff to be trashed - I found an old Calvin and Hobbes cartoon that I love.

Here is a scan of it so you can share the laugh with me.

Summer is here!

2005-05-12T20:42:00.000-07:00

Last week I finished up final exams for the semester. I'm looking forward to having the summer off and getting a chance to sleep a little. I think it will be a few days still before I am feeling back to normal again after the stress of preparing for finals. I'm really not looking forward to the bar exam in two years. I only hope that during the next two years I can feel more and more comfortable with the subject matter. A lot more reading and talking about the law and such and I should be in good shape.

For the next few weeks though, I am happy to not have any required reading. I'm looking forward to catching up on some reading for fun. I just finished the new Star Wars – Revenge of the Sith – not too bad, though I suspect the movie will suffer from the cliché too much action, shoddy computer animation, and not enough story. In spite of being terribly disappointed with George Lucas in general with the way he has bungled the series, I am still looking forward to the next movie at the end of the month.

The next book on my list for summer reading is "The Testament" by John Grishm.

End of the Golden Gate View?

2005-04-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

A very small, but extremely vocal, group of folks are once again campaigning heavily to have a suicide prevention barrier installed on the Golden Gate Bridge. Personally I believe a suicide prevention barrier on Handguns would be a much better idea.

Since opening day on Thursday, May 27, 1937, MILLIONS of folks have enjoyed the spectacular views from the Golden Gate Bridge.

On a sunny day, the view from the center of the Golden Gate is glorious: Angel Island to the left, Alcatraz straight ahead, Treasure Island, dividing the long gray span of the SF/Oakland Bay Bridge, and of course, the celebrated hills of the city itself - San Francisco.

"Matchless in its Art Deco splendor, the Golden Gate is also unrivalled as a symbol: it is a threshold that presides over the end of the continent and a gangway to the void beyond."

The Golden Gate Bridge Building and Operating Committee - succumbing to the anguished pleas of the few – has authorized a new $2 Million, two year long study of, and preliminary design for a suicide barrier on the bridge. The barrier itself would cost in the ballpark of $20 to $30 Million to install and naturally this cost will be passed on to all of us that use the bridge on a daily basis.

They want to destroy my favorite view! Why? Because in the past 68 years roughly 25 people a year jump to their deaths from this idyllic location.

There is a concept - "the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few" – which apparently is not is not embraced by this small group of folks supporting the idea of a barrier. Because of their personal grief - having lost one of the 1300 that have jumped in the past 68 years – they want to take away the view from the rest of the Millions who have enjoyed it each year.

There is a suicide prevention barrier at the top of the Empire State Building – being up there feels like being inside a prison. The view is gorgeous if you can look past the heavy steel bars.

The views from the Golden Gate are as open and enjoyable today as they were the day the bridge opened in 1937.
People walking, jogging, riding bicycles, or driving all share these fabulous, unencumbered vistas. Please, do not let the misguided efforts of this small group of 'barrier supporters' destroy the panorama that we are ALL able to enjoy.

I urge to your write to the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District Board of Directors and let them know that many of us want the keep the Golden Gate Bridge the way it is today. The address is:

President of the Board
Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District
P.O. Box 9000, Presidio Station
San Francisco, CA 94129-060

DistrictSecretary@goldengate.org

"Nu-cu-ler" Energy & More Oil!

2005-03-16T20:42:00.000-08:00

I was listening to the President in a speech on the radio today. He said the U.S. needs to be less reliant on oil from the Middle East. I agree completely. Then he went on to say this is why we need to drill for oil in Alaska and build new "Nu-cu-ler" energy plants. I couldn't disagree more.

It is NU-CLEAR not "NU-CU-LER" - if you can't pronounce it correctly you have no right to demand more. Although I am wondering if "NU-CU-LER" energy is some magical, new technology that is a top secret project of the government. Nuclear energy has proven to be quite dangerous - remember Three Mile Island and Chornobyl' in north-central Ukraine. In case you forgot, Three Mile Island almost blew-up and Chornobyl' did!

The production of Nuclear Energy results in large quantities of highly toxic leftovers that need to be buried in giant concrete bunkers with 20 foot thick walls, and stay safely away from all possible contact for the next 10,000 years. Not exactly the brightest idea in energy production if your ask me.

What a shame that the President is so absolutely clueless to the concept of simply reducing our consumption of oil. Auto manufacturers have successfully produced hybrid vehicles that get DOUBLE the gas mileage of the average vehicle on the road today. Why not simply demand that within the next few years all car manufacturers must substantially increase their production of hybrid engine technology. Perhaps require that the average fuel consumption of all new cars is doubled within the next 3 years. This would cut fuel consumption dramatically!

I should think that dramatically cutting U.S. fuel consumption in such a manner would quickly reduce the U.S. reliance on oil from the Middle East, and we wouldn't have to drill a single hole in the Alaskan wilderness nor build a single new "Nu-cu-ler" power plant. Everybody could be paying less at the pump too as they would be filling up less often. It's a win-win except for the oil companies who would be selling less gas.

Aren’t we supposed to have a country full of brilliant business entrepreneurs and politicians? Why can't one of these brilliant folks figure out a simple plan to make reduced oil consumption profitable for the oil companies too?

These are the things that keep me awake at night.

The Gates Project in New York

2005-02-12T20:42:00.000-08:00

Ailene and I had a lovely time visiting "The Gates" project.

Christo & Jeanne-Claude's saffron colored river appearing and disappearing through the bare branches of the trees and highlighting the shape of the meandering footpaths of New York's Central Park. "The Gates" project was simply wonderful.

The weather was chilly, brisk, but very pleasent. The sun came out enough on both Saturday and Sunday to shine through the ceiling of fabric along the walkways and create warm shadows and intricate variations in the color.

During the weekend - with my brother Lee and our good friend Steve Jones - we also traveled to the top of the Empire State Builiding, celebrated Chinese New Years in Chinatown, walked down Wall Street, Broadway, enjoyed the lights in Times square, rode the Staten Island Ferry had great food and listened to great music.

All in all, we thought it was a very pleasent way to spend a weekend.