Happy 100th Birthday Memere!

Jim's Grandmother Lena Demers, who passed in July 2004, would have turned 100 this Saturday, April 28. I just wanted to say Happy Birthday Memere! We think of you often and miss you.
Love, Jim & Irene

Too much to ask

Is it too much to ask if I want cheap but good food in Seattle? I usually pack a lunch for work, but on a rare occasion I won't. Today I couldn't decide what to eat so I headed over to Pike Place Market to see what would catch my fancy. I stopped to get a char sui bao (or humbow, as Seattlites call it here) at Mee Sum Pastry. To my dismay, it was $2.25. Yes, it was alittle bigger than the ones you might find in Chinatown (or the International District as Seattlites call it here), but $2+ is quite alot to pay for a pork bun. Still hungry, I wandered over to DeLaurenti for a pizza slice. They don't do round pies; they're actually rectangular but I'm not quite convinced you could call it a Sicilian pizza (you know what I mean if you've ever had pizza in New York City). The slice was only $2.45 for plain cheese. It wasn't bad but the crust was hard and alittle tough to chew.

Life would be so much better if Seattle could offer decent inexpensive food. At least I can't complain when I pack my own lunch.

Will I ever visit London again?

The British Pound is now equal to $2.00 US. It's been almost five years since Jim and I have been in England, but I remember that it was expensive then too. A single trip (cash) on the London tube is £4. Of course it's cheaper buying a fare card, but still that mean it's $8 for a single ride! Even on our trips to Europe, Jim and I avoid connecting through London because the airport taxes are so high. London connections typically add about $50 to your ticket price. Plus you'll have to exchange money into £ which is useless everywhere else in Europe (except Northern Ireland). I sadly don't see a trip to London for us in the near future.

Are we clueless?

My sister, Helen must not think Jim and I are smart. She may have misplaced a cable for her digital camera while visiting us earlier this year. She was nice enough to include an image in her email, just in case Jim and I had no idea what cables were.

We found the cables as instructed.

Federal Judge Laplante

This article from last Saturday's Manchester Union Leader is about Jim's old Georgetown roommate, Joe Laplante:

Federal prosecutor tapped to be U.S. District Court judge

CONCORD – Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph N. Laplante of Nashua has been selected to be the next U.S. District Court judge for New Hampshire.

Laplante, 42, is set to succeed Judge Joseph DiClerico who assumed senior status last month after 15 years on the federal bench. Federal judges are named to a lifetime appointment.

The New Hampshire Union Leader confirmed yesterday through U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg's office that the White House has given Laplante initial approval. Gregg submitted Laplante's name to the Bush Administration for its consideration.

Laplante must still go through a final vetting process that includes review by the FBI and the American Bar Association, then a confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate.

Laplante is second only to U.S. Attorney Thomas Colantuono among New Hampshire's federal prosecutors. He oversees the U.S. Attorney's Office's criminal, civil and administrative divisions and is lead state prosecutor for the New England Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.

Colantuono said yesterday, "I think Joe Laplante will become an outstanding federal district court judge and I'm very happy for him." Laplante has also been a prosecutor with the state Attorney General's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Major Crime Unit in Boston and the U.S. Department of Justice's campaign financing task force.

Before he joined the state AG's office for a five-year stint, he was in private practice at Wiggin & Nourie in Manchester from 1990 to 1993.

Laplante's was one of three names that Gregg submitted for consideration.

Others were Concord attorney Sherilyn Young, president and co-founder of the Rath, Young and Pignatelli firm, and Superior Court Chief Justice Robert Lynn of Bow.

LaPlante graduated from with a BA from Georgetown University in 1987, and from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1990. He lives in Nashua with his wife and three children.

The confirmation process takes months and is expected to wind up sometime this summer.

In the meantime, DiClerico's senior status means he will remain on the bench with a reduced caseload.

The rematch of Ichiro and Daisuke

It was exciting to see Daisuke pitch to Ichiro; even the Red Sox fans were on their feet for the first few pitches. (It was a bigger night for Felix and his one-hitter.) If you didn't watch the game tonight, check out the highlights.

World's Largest Dog!

My friend Larry (AKA Booter, Boot Guy, etc) is working on a book about the history of the Guinness Book of World Records and has been sending me weekly emails of interesting records he's come across. He sent me this one today:

Hercules: The World's Biggest Dog Ever According to Guinness World Records Hercules was recently awarded the honorable distinction of Worlds Biggest Dog by Guinness World Records. Hercules is an English Mastiff and who has a 38 inch neck and weighs 282 pounds. With "paws the size of softballs" (reports the Boston Herald), the three-year-old monster is far larger and heavier than his breed's standard 200lb. limit. Hercules owner Mr. Flynn says that Hercules weight is natural and not induced by a bizarre diet: "I fed him normal food and he just grew"... and grew. and grew. and grew.

Looks kinda fake I know, but if it's good enough for Guinness it's good enough for me.

Bacon on my mind

I'm blaming Martha Stewart for putting bacon on my radar this week. She did a segment on candied bacon -- a mixture of brown sugar and black pepper sprinkled liberally onto bacon, and then baked. I've had these once at a party thrown by Mark and Audrey. They were oddly addictive.

Now I hear about bacon ginger cookies!? The bacon ginger cookies use bacon fat instead of butter. What?! I think one stick of butter is required for a dozen cookies. I wonder how much bacon fat are we talking about here? They're serving these cookies at the Purple Cafe and Wine Bar. There's one in downtown Seattle, so I'll have to give it a try. Stay tuned for an update.

Now that I think about it. Shirley is to blame for the bacon/pork on my mind. We had a honey-baked ham Saturday night, and bacon for Sunday brunch. She also gave Jim the bone from the ham so Jim could make black bean soup (which we had last night -- YUM).

100 Million iPods Sold

Apple announced this week that 100 million iPods have been sold worldwide. Jim and I alone have purchased 3 iPods (the first one actually died on us), and 2 iPod shuffles. I'm not complaining; I love my iPods and so does Jim.

Jeff Weaver era begins in Seattle

M's fans - get used to this picture:

Happy Easter

We're down in West Linn, Oregon for a quick visit with Shirley and the rest of the Baltazars. Sometimes a three hour drive seems so far. We haven't been down to the Portland area since Helen's visit in early February. We've been busy or too tired -- simply put, lame.

Two weeks from now, the Look sisters will all be in New York for our cousin Elizabeth's wedding. I'm looking forward to the trip, and being in NYC. Martin will be the only male representing the family. Jim will be in San Anselmo, CA watching our nephew's baseball game, and possibly seeing the SF Giants. Bob and Ryan are stuck home, enjoying the silence with Emily gone.

It's sad that we don't all see each other as much as we would like. This summer there'll be small gatherings of the Martels in Seattle and New Hampshire. I plan to be get better about posting photos.

Irene's Reading List for February and March 2007

March
Hannibal Rising by thomas Harris
Rumo and His Miraculous Adventures by Walter Moers
The Empire of the Wolves by Jean-Christophe
“Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” by Beverly Daniel Tatum

February
The Lucky Ones by Rachel Cusk
Everything You Know by Zoe Heller
The Stone Council by Jean-Christophe Grange
Chinatown Beat by Henry Chang
Blood-Red Rivers by Jean-Christophe Grange

Grace Morton!

Our friends Kate and John Morton had a baby girl yesterday:

Grace Allison Morton was born this morning, April 4th, at 10:45am Central Time. She tipped the scales at 7 pounds one ounce and stretched 19 and three quarter inches. She is perfect. If you don't believe me, check her out at http://graciescrib.blogspot.com/

Congrats to the Morton family!

And yes, Gracie's dad is the same Morty who burned his hand on the grill in his state of delirium after the Hoyas beat UNC, as documented here.

But don't worry...I'm sure he'll be much, much more careful with the baby.

In other news: The Hoyas did not win the Final Four, as had been predicted by a few people around here, especially me. Oh well --- it was a fun trip anyway and I'm glad I went. Pete Kouretas (AKA Kroter) and I got to check out the practice round at the Masters on Monday before going to the finals that night. That was completely Pete's doing, he rented the car & practically dragged me there but I'm really glad to have gone.

Next year: Final Four is in San Antonio! woo-hoo!
my advice: Start booking flights now if you don't want to pay a grand to get there