FareStart restaurant in Seattle

FareStart restaurant is both a school for the unemployed and a restaurant run by volunteers and students to finance their charitable programs.

Public transportation in Seattle

Public transportation is unreliable and coverage is spotty. Every morning I took the 26 or 28 to get from 7th (1 block from the hotel) to 34st and Fremont. Whatever time was on the schedule didn't matter it seems as every buses made its way at random times. It seems I never was able to wait less than 15mn for a bus...

They also have a surcharge during rush hour... It's small but why? Isn't it better to have more people taking public transportation?

In addition, the bus lines "transform" into other bus lines which can be confusing especially if bus drivers don't call it out.

On the plus side, the downtown area is in a free zone and the clientele is diversified which makes for a nicer experience.

In comparison, San Francisco buses smell like piss with many passengers who haven't showered for weeks. No one that can scrape enough money for a car would be caught dead in a bus in Silicon Valley.

We are very far from Munich and London where "regular" people take the bus...

Portage Bay Cafe

Yet another restaurant that comes with the cafe designation but works and looks like a restaurant.

The Portage Bay Cafe was referred to us for breakfast by the hotel, located 3 blocks from the hotel and it is enormously busy. Seeing the large set of people at the door we were worried that we would have to wait a long time.

The hostess told us the wait was 15mn but strangely as soon as wrote down our name she decided that we could sit down immediately. It looks like most of the people waiting were large groups.

Service was prompt but we had to wait a while for the food which wasn't unexpected considering. We ordered cinnamon twist french toast and Swedish pancakes and got huge portions (twice what we could eat)... Food is mostly from organic sources and the restaurant has a close relationship with the producers. The price is reasonable (33$ for two) considering the food quality, but the restaurant is very noisy (due to the cement ceiling) and the one stall toilet and one urinal for a restaurant that serves 191 persons is ridiculous.

The contrast in the ethnic composition is noticeable compared to Mountain View with a mostly white clientele with a few Asians sprinkled throughout and what seems to be a large amount of well-paid blue collars. The area around reminds us of the international district of Montreal just before the boom and the empty but very attractive leasing space.

Arrival in Seattle

The two hours flight with United went without a hitch and thanks to Min Lin membership in the Lufthansa/Star Alliance "Miles and more" silver status we got priority boarding and extra leg space on the flight. The only trouble was the fact that the plane left at 6h15am meaning we woke up around 4am.

Our ride from Tacoma to Seattle was with an Indian Sikh driver that played typical Indian music clip with the hypnotic dance move.

Our hotel, Pan Pacific, looks luxurious but they didn't have a room for us ready so early so we went on a 1h quest to find a breakfast place and ended up at a cafe next to the towering Space Needle.

After we ate we bought a Seattle City Pass and started by visiting the adjacent Science-Fiction Museum and Experience the music with a fun bonus Jim Henson exhibition.

We then proceeded to a Lebanese cafe on Blanchard (looks like most eating place are also cafes!) - the alternative lunch places was an endless series of brunch for weekends. The gyro was good but Min Lin's falafel were a pale and tasteless version of the excellent falafel place in San Jose that Matt made us discover.

Going down to the water on Blanchard, we are overwhelmed by the odor of urine at every corner. Undesired bonus: a used condom on the sidewalk.

Not surprisingly, the city is hostile to people with small bladder as old reliable pee stations such as Starbucks and libraries have locked toilets "for customers only". Is it worth a smelly and disgusting city? Sounds to me like businesses shoot themselves in the foot collectively...

As it is the Seafair parade, some streets are lined up with chairs since early in the morning. The parade is a huge event but we only stopped for a glimpse.

We had dinner at the Wasabi Bistro on 2nd and Bell (an area with many restaurants): king crab soup, garden roll and bay scallop roll. Very good but expensive - 46$. Luckily, Min Lin printed a 25$ gift certificate for the restaurant she got through the airlines miles program of United so the actual total was closer to 20$.

Social network "viruses"

From a friend:

Beware Netlog !!

I strongly suggest that you NOT click on anyone's Netlog sight should one come across your computer screen!! Through some highly deceptive ploy on their part, it will sign you up to join (even though you have not officially done so), and the result will be that your e-mail address book has been opened up and quite literally tapped into. Everyone in your e-mail address list will receive an "invitation" to look at your sight, thus setting off a chain reaction that taps into YOUR address book!!

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet - Trailer HQ

"Michel Gagné was born in Québec, Canada. He studied animation at Sheridan College School of Visual Arts in Ontario, Canada and in 1985, began a highly successful artistic career. "

http://www.gagneint.com

http://michelgagne.blogspot.com/

Its Time for Real / Eat Local, Eat Real

Home: documentaire disponible jusqu'au 15 juillet

Home: un documentaire à propos de notre maison à tous.

An inspiring women: Mary Lou Jepsen

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733754_1736211,00.html?iid=chix-sphere

Jepsen is a veteran of the MIT Media Lab, where she co-created the world's first holographic video system in 1989—back when computer imaging meant straight lines on a cathode screen. In 2005 Jepsen and Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte launched the nonprofit, open-source One Laptop Per Child program, which, as the name suggests, was an attempt to get a computer to every child in the world who needs one. The machines would have to work in extreme climate, amid spotty power and Internet connectivity, and be readable in direct sunlight.

[...]

Within two years they succeeded, creating a computer that can run on solar power, with five times the screen resolution of other laptops and a wireless system that creates its own network. The $100 price point has not been met, but $188 has. Jepsen did all that 12 years after receiving a diagnosis of a brain tumor in 1995 that had gone undetected for five years. She beat the disease but must take a dozen pills every day to keep her hormone output stable. Something of a self-taught expert on hormones, she now offers her insights to others who are diagnosed with the same illness. Jepsen is known among her friends as the "light lady" for her work with computer imaging. But the kind of light she's shedding goes far beyond the screen.

Soy Story

http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2009/08/is_soy_healthy

So what's the bottom line? If you're a woman who has been diagnosed with or has a family history of breast cancer, it's probably safest to avoid soy. Men hoping to father children should probably limit the amount of soy they eat, and parents would be advised to follow the Israeli guidelines in serving soy foods to their kids, especially infants and toddlers.

[...]

When it comes to soy and health, there isn't much consensus. But there is one thing that both the anti- and pro-soy camps seem to agree on: Fermented soy is good for you.

How to Find Work You Love and Live the Time of Your Life

"Do what you Love and the Money will follow!" ==> "Do what you Love and Life will follow!"

"Why do you Love your job?" ==> "No correlation between income level and loving your job"

"Life can follow any income level"

"What is happiness?"

"Define success without a dollar sign"

Further reading: Passion at Work

Another good inspiring talk: Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Delicious lead... Délicieux plomb...

WARNING: The Red Wine Vinegars and Balsamic Vinegars on these shelves contain lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_65_(1986)

I still bought a big bottle of balsamic vinegar...

J'ai quand même acheté une grosse bouteille de vinaigre balsamique...

Best of Mountain View 2009

We've voted for Best of Mountain View 2009:

Restaurants
Best Chinese restaurant: Chef Liu's
Best coffee house: Neto Cafe & Bakery
Best Mediterranean restaurant: Mediterranean Grill
Best sushi/Japanese restaurant: Sushi Tei
Best vegetarian restaurant: Passage to India

Services
Best massage: Massage Envy

Food/Drink
Best noodle place: Ramen House Ryowa
Best pizza: Madonaldo's Pizza
Best place to buy fresh produce: Mountain View Farmers' Market
Best small (non-chain) grocery store: Mi Pueblo

Retail
Best bike shop: Performance Bike
Best new business: 99 Ranch Market

Fun stuff
Best entertainment: Computer History Museum

Theme Category
Best place for a Hero-Villain battle: Castro street
Best rooftop to shine the bat light from: Mountain View City Hall
Best superhero headquarters: Googleplex

Really, 64% for Public Enemies?

ROTTEN TOMATOES: Movies - New Movie Reviews and Previews!

64%


Public Enemies

I like to rely on Rotten Tomatoes because they gather and summarize the rating of many critics.

On opening night, Public Enemies had 64% so we decided to go see that.

Although the acting was good and the cinematography was great, it wasn't entertaining or emotionally appealing.

I think Rotten Tomatoes still works, as long as you look for something that has >75% (3/4 of critics like it).