Seattle is incredibly lucky to be included as a leg on the M.I.L.K. Exhibition tour. This is an outdoor photographic exhibit that has had fairly limited international exposure. Their site explains the concept of the M.I.L.K project:

Inspired by the 1950s landmark photographic exhibition, ‘The Family of Man’, M.I.L.K. began as an epic global search to develop a collection of extraordinary and geographically diverse images portraying humanityís Moments of Intimacy, Laughter and Kinship (M.I.L.K.). This ‘epic search’, took the form of a photographic competition ñ probably the biggest, and almost certainly the most ambitious of its kind, ever to be conducted. With a world-record prize pool, and renowned Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt as Chief Judge, the M.I.L.K. Competition was conceived to attract the work of leading photographers from as many of the worldís countries as possible.

Go see it on the Fisher Pavillion roof at the Seattle Center until July 5th. It’s free, so there’s no exucse why you should miss such an epic exhibit. The photos are racially, geographically, and generationally diverse. All are amazing works in and of themselves, but put together as one exhibit almost boggles the senses. The whole concept and presentation drew out every emotion possible.

The whole concept of travelling art exhibits is one I find absolutley incredible. I first saw one by complete and utter chance late last year on a trip to Amsterdam. Photos by Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s “Earth From Above” series were on display with a setup that included quotes and statistics on humans’ impact on the Earth. It was a study in impact anaylsis through photography. We were not only lucky to stumble upon this on a random walk through the city, but even luckier that Yann himself was there that day signing copies of the book that were for sale.

The part I like so much about these exhibits is the spontaneity, the dispersement of culture, and the environment of the display. What better place to experience art, than in a place that can connect you to the same Earth that drove the photographer’s conceptual reasoning for taking the photos you are seeing. I have nothing against galleries, I just find a much more spirtual connection with these outdoor travelling displays.

Go, enjoy, cry, laugh, and come out of the experience richer and with a greater appreciation for life and it’s simple pleasures.

I’m an 80’s kid. Born and raised. I harken back to the days when Coke and Pepsi had more back and forth bantering in their commercials than a backwoods political race in October. It wasn’t traditional advertising, in that it didn’t show the benefits of THEIR products, but instead took on the tack of attacking their competitior’s.

This went on for a while until something snapped (can we say “New Coke”?) and the battle just all but disappeared.

Flash Forwad two decades to 2004. Budweiser has been proclaiming itself the “King of Beers” for quite a while. It’s a catchy slogan, and has been serving them well. One of their strongest competitiors, Miller decides to give a shot across the bows using this old technique. They ran a series of commercials last week (well, they’re still running in limited play to this day) proclaiming that they were running for President of beer. How patriotic, what with the 4th of July coming up and it being an election year. They probably had a few other spots for the same series in the can and ready to roll over the coming weeks/months.

What happens this past weekend? Budweiser comes back with a full frontal assualt (I’ve already seen two unique TV commercials, and heard another one on the radio – all using mascots from their very successful past campaigns) to point out that Miller is not even eligibile for President since they’ve been bought by South African interests.

With one broad sweep from an incredibly fast acting agency, Budweiser was able to stop Miller’s campaign dead in its tracks. Whether they had prior knowledge, or just acted faster than Marion Jones on “nutritional supplements” nobody will likely ever know.

What I am impressed with however, is the lightning reaction with which they responded. I haven’t seen trenches work like that in a LONG time.

So, raise one up and give Budwesier a cheers. Even though I don’t drink their beer, they’ve certainly earned my respect.

I’ve found myself recommending utilities to people recently, and I figured I’d take some time weekly to let everyone know about the utilities I use that make my day easier.

The first Utility is a great little one called Screen Ruler.

First off, it’s PC only (sorry Mac Fanatics).

It is indispensable for measuring pixel lengths, sizes, gaps, distances, etc. I use it daily in building pages and tweaking graphics in Photoshop. Yeah, Photoshop has it’s own tool, but it only works in Photoshop. This little gem sits on top of your apps when in use and measures anything.

*Double click it, and it goes to vertical, and then vice versa back to horizontal.
*Use the arrow keys to tweak it pixel by pixel.
*It has a one inch long little arrow that points into the ruler from where you are measuring that allows you to line up the object being measured with the measurement.

Give it a try, I hope you find it as helpful as I do!

Kelsey and I picked up Aileen at the airport last night and brought our time alone to an end. It was kind of funny; Kelsey slept through the whole ride to the airport and back. When we got home, she startled awake, looked forward, saw Aileen, and gleefully yelled, “MOMMA”. All of a sudden, I was totally forgotten. No matter, I expected this.

I found the time to clean the condo, do a full dish cleaning, do a full laundry cleaning, do a full toy clean up every day, and more. Kelsey is really such a delight. There were a few times where she utterly annoyed and frustrated me doing things she’s not supposed to do, but I don’t think she’s quite old enough to really know or remember that say climbing under my desk and playing with the power button on my backup computer is not right.

The anxiety wore off just a bit after my last post regarding this. We ended up pulling through just fine. Meals were cooked and eaten, playtime was abundant, and I was able to extract myself from worries and focus on us just being us and being together without problems.

I think sometimes it’s easier to live without everyday stress and worries when you just forget about them. Instead of worrying about what could happen, or how things might be, just live in the moment on how things are. I didn’t have to deal with any emergencies, so why spend all my time worrying about them?

Now, it’s back to life as it was, both a relief as well as a letdown.

Well, thank goodenss the government is here to protect us yet again. The Eastside Journal reported about a fire code that will prohibit propane and charcoal grills on flamable decks in the ENTIRE state beginning July 1, 2004 unless there is an operational sprinkler above it.

In a stroke of genius, the same volume also bans cut Chirstmas trees in public places unless covered by a sprinkler as well. Apparently, there is too much art hanging on walls in schools, as that gets an axe of sorts here as well.

We don’t have a deck or balcony at our condo, but we did quite enjoy taking advantage of the ones that Trendwest has at the WA resorts we trip to. I wonder how they’ll respond??

I guess they’re just looking out for our safety, but come on, we’re not idiots, OK? When will the government just let us be?

I guess I’ll have to return that new Bobby Flay book my wife just got me…

Kelsey had her three month check up at Children’s to check on her blood counts. Dr Wright (her Doctor) and Dr Park (the head of the HEMONC clinic) came in at the end of the appointment to ask us a question. They proposed taking Kelsey off of her shot for 2 weeks, when we’ll return for a follow up visit to see if we can take her off the Nuepogen longer term.

Right now they’re thinking that at least for the summer she should be good off of it, and if all goes well over the next several months, she may be off of it for good.

She has been wonderful about th ewhole experience and very cheerful throughout it, no longer crying for her shots or blood draws. She’s been such a trooper!

Whereas it’s been a mixed blessing in that I got to become a SAHD (stay at home dad) as a result, I do wish for the health of my daughter above all else.

These next few weeks, while you’re lighting candles, praying, meditating, or whatever you do for spiritual guidance and cleansing, please take a moment to keep Kelsey in your thoughts. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to come back here soon and post that she is no longer Nuetropenic. She hasn’t had the nasty run of illnesses that can come from this, but being considered “cured” means we would no longer need to rush her to the Doctor/ER when her fever spiked over 101.5F. This would make her life so much more enjoyable and worry free.

Well, 13 hours into my4 day dance with disaster, everything has gone wonderfully.

Kelsey and I dropped Aileen off at the airport this morning to much sadness on everyone’s part. I don’t think Kelsey really knows what happened yet.

I was worried that my shoulder (which I hurt horribly playing softball the other day) would impede me from being able to do this myself. I was “this” close to asking Aileen to take Kelsey with her and have relatives watch her while Aileen went to the wedding. I know this is awful, but on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning I couldn’t even lift her. I was worried about how I could get her into the stroller or car seat so we could leave the house.

Then I decided that it didn’t matter what shape I was in. AIleen deserved some time off and I would just have to find ways to deal with situations. Thankfully, the Ibuprofen has been doing its job and I can use my right arm again. It still hurts after quite a bit of typing, so I still need to beg off on work, but I can at least single tap emails and blog entries on my PDA…

So far today I was able to rock her to sleep for an early nap (she hasn’t let me do that in months!), give her Thursday Nuepogen injection to her by myself, dress us both in the morning, and get her to take her post dinner nap. All this and a trip to Pioneer Square! Whew! Now if I can get her to fall asleep tonight, I think I’ll feel a lot more confident.

I have to thank Julie Leung for her kind words and encouragement in her comment to my last post on this. It helps for others to point out that I’m not really the hapless dad I may seem to think I am at times.

Tomorrow we have a trip to U Village, the Ave, UW, and Children’s for her 3 month appointment lined up. Maybe I’ll pin down the timing well enough to catch up from a hot spot in the U District while she’s napping.

This can’t be the first time that someone has done this, but it is the first time I’ve seen it. I got a mocha dowtown this past weekend, and there was an ad on that little cardboard insulating huggy that keeps the coffee cup from burning your hand.

Advertising to a captive audience, how brilliant is that! Even more brilliant is the relevance of the ad, which was for Tylenol PM, and had the tagline “Not getting enough sleep? …wake up refreshed.” Now, not all coffee drinkers drink coffee to wake up, but enough do that this ad campaign ranks up there in terms of good thinking. Add to that the free sample that was attached, and this is darn close to being as Seth would call it, a Free Prize Inside.

  

I saw this in Amsterdam last fall on a recent visit, and most recenty in December in Portland right outside the downtown Powell’s Books.

Parking spots that require payment, but without the use of meters. Pioneer Square now uses a new parking system where you pop the money into one central machine and place a sticker it dispenses on your car’s curbside window.

Meter maid collectors will still be needed, they just can get more machines in less time. Never again will you run into a machine that is full (well, not necesarilly, I think I did tonight…) The great parts are: 1) you can pay with a credit card. No more carrying cash, and an instant receipt for that business deduction; 2) If you have time left, you can move your car to another area that uses the system and use your unused time. BOO YA! Once the system is up across the city this will be amazing! No more plugging every dang meter, you get to keep all the time you pay for; 3) if a machine IS full, you can use a credit card.

Yeah, it IS a bit confusing, and you DO have to walk to a pay station, but all in all, I think this is a boost for the downtown corridor.

What does Seattle Parks and Recreation’s cash strapped agency need to do more than anything else? Why, create a bocce ball pit in Occidental park of course! See the above pictures for this laughable travesty.

Wheras it is nice that parks in the dowtown corridor are being improved with new features, it would be nice to funnel some of that money being used to create NEW features to instead maintain features that already exist. Like maybe fixing the dang public bathroom stall down there so the door closes and the thing stops beeping non stop…