The 3 D's = Drama, Dining and Disney

Hello there once again. After a couple of days to relax and catch up on sleep, I am quite pleased to be sitting here and looking out at Beacon Ridge and seeing the lovely colors of autumn. It is a far cry from last week and zinging around Copenhagen and getting an earful from people about how they view Americans. Now mind you, yesterday’s headline of Barrack Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday, which was a shocker heard around the world. The comments shared have been all over the board. Mine are that it was an amazing honor that might be too soon and yet will need to be earned in marked actions so as not to be written off. Am I hiding behind a safe review? Perhaps, but one that has been tamed in the 24 hours as I have talked to friends coast to coast and see better how broad a view this country has of its’ President.

But I got off course a bit…I wanted to share thoughts of how people outside America view us (the Drama). These are not wrong views or all views…just some views that make you go hmmm.

First, why do we feel we are the only country to know what it is to get hit by Terrorists? So often we react like other countries have no clue and yet they were right there with us in 2001 as they had been hit by horrible experiences in their countries. It was our leadership that displaced that sympathy to a back burner and ignored the need for a global community. Even now, many in this country have a “we are the world” view and it is just not that way any longer. We are PART of the world and need to be more aware of what others are doing. Countries though out Europe and around the globe live in much more dramatic conditions than we do. Somehow we have fallen into a comfort zone of where shoes being scanned and keeping containers to 3oz. On carry on will make us safe. Oh how naïve we have become. As one man said, a gun can be made out of a bar of soap and a plane can be taken down if so desired. How I pray this does not happen, but I do fear we need to be better at being more real and concerned in our day to day actions.

Second, other countries are more front and center. Look no further than China and India. With Brazil winning the Olympic bids and Africa issues becoming more serious by the day we cannot pretend the world is only top heavy. As I sat there listening, it is amazing to hear conversations go from Pakistan to Afghanistan to the horrible storms and earthquakes. There is discussions of trials of public servants and pirates still being a problem but this is no where to be found in much of the American media. Again, talk fills how we only address world issues in 30 second sound bites and that is often true. When was the last time you sat and watched 60 minutes of news without commercials or read a newspaper from start to finish? Don’t count the “entertainment” section as hard news for a change. Many networks are looking at the morning news shows as entertainment now and the nation’s newspapers are shuttering their doors at an alarming rate. Mind you, I am not some saint here. I used to read the paper daily and now find I am an internet news junkie. We want it faster and splashier than the old black and white TV or paper. USA Today is now considered a go to paper of record…how and when did that happen?

Finally, it is accepting that we are a democracy and full of freedom and yet it is a place called Washington DC where two parties are now more like a party of Yes and a party of No that anything else. There is no longer discussion and compromise, but rather “What do I get out of it?” The current health care initiative is a perfect case in point as we have what the “public” wants being ignored due to the amazing donations and contributions by the health care industry. Just in the past year $49.7 million has been put in coffers according to Bill Moyer’s Journal last night and that is what we know about. If that kind of money had been saved look how many people could really have been helped. Issue after issue is being glossed over and the public is becoming so banal to it all. Why try and change anything? Is there hope? From an outsider’s view, there is hope…but it is fading. Outsiders truly envy America and all we stand for, but slowly the tarnish is covering over all that has shined. We so need to grow up and see that the rose colored glasses need to come off.

A lot of what was just written was compressed from conversations with people and will be one of the few political items I share. My blog is about experiences and happenings and yet we are looked at with a vision of WAKE UP PEOPLE! If you have a chance to travel internationally do! You get to see perspective and yes, the rest of the world is not perfect and they are not claiming it as such…but how often we do and are smug about it. We need to learn to be more humble and part of the answer and not always THE answer.

So there you go in a way and so now I am into the afternoon of a lovely day here in the state of Washington. Tonight I get the benefit of being taken to one of my favorite restaurants in all Seattle. It is called The Brooklyn Seafood, Steak and Oyster House (The Dining).

Of course, service is important and the atmosphere is great. Often sit at the two chairs at the counter and watch the action happen, but tonight there are 3 so this will not be happening…Love my oysters and well hello Kumamotos; they were tiny and sweet and perfect but I can only share how a hungry 6'4" guy might just want to inhale them so going at Happy Hour for the oysters might be a good idea. Want to try their caprese salad and the day boat scallop with foie gras – some will claim overkill, way too rich, too much gras and the fois, and way too sweet with the figs, deep and heavy, but sometimes life is about excess! It is one of my true indulgences when I go! From there who knows but a cocktail or two might be enjoyed and Curt is bringing two bottles of wine…what a treat it will be. To get more information: www.thebrooklyn.com/

I will do a full wrap up tomorrow in that I get the joy of a day of leisure – which is rare as the best house cleaner in the world just called and since I have been gone more than here is going to pass tomorrow. What joy…but I do get to see a dear friend from Portland days, Chip Saturn will be stopping by early afternoon for a beverage and to catch up. Get to share the lovely foliage views of what I call Beacon Ridge (but is really just the side of Beacon Hill – so I like drama!).

And finally, my sister sent this along and the place opened the day I left for Europe, but I plan to go back (the Disney). Got to see a local special in San Francisco on it and it looks to be quite interesting. And hey, it is another reason to return to the city by the bay...

Learn Disney's past at new S.F. museum

You'll be able to get a taste of Disney in San Francisco starting Oct. 1.That's when The Walt Disney Family Museum opens, with 10 galleries focusing on different chapters in the life of Walt Disney himself, from his early years in Kansas City to his arrival in Hollywood in the 1920' to his technological innovations, like synchronizing sound to a cartoon.Displays will include the Oscar statuettes awarded to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"--one full size and seven little ones--along with the earliest known drawings of Mickey Mouse, and concept art and animation cells showing Bambi and Pinocchio.The museum consists of three historic buildings in the Presidio, a former Army base with sweeping views of the Golden Gate Bridge.The museum will be open every day except Tuesdays, 10 a.,.-6 p.m. Admission is $20 for adults and $12.50 for kids 6-17, and will be by timed-entry ticket, available online at www.waltdisney.org up to 60 days in advance.

In my next post I am going to share a few laundry list items about making a comment as several have been challenged and a few other bits and pieces. Cheers!