Latin American Day

I was riding around the National Mall this morning when I was drawn by some very nice music. A few blocks away, every latin american country was represented by elaborate costumed dancers and musicians. It was a festive interlude from the staid and formal DC museums.

Work and Play

Yesterday, we got to work around the grounds of the Jefferson Memorial. After work, it was back to the Park Hyatt for one of their tasty mint juleps.

Chartered

We arrived in Washington DC this afternoon via our chartered flight from eastern Iowa. The Saarinen terminal looked great as we taxied past. The best part was arriving at the Park Hyatt near DuPont Circle in downtown. As our wry director noted when stopped at a light on a suburban street, "There's more activity and life on this corner than the whole of where we just came". All I can say is that the bed is mighty comfy in DC.

The Girl

I seldom wish I had cable TV but this HBO Film makes me want to get it. "The Girl" looks to be a great film about Alfred Hitchcock's obsession with Tippi Hendren while making "The Birds" and "Marnie". Love the trailer. The film promises to portray the most twisted part of Hitch's twisting life. Watch the trailer here

Katie Llega a Madrid

Volleyball loving bilingual niece has begun a three year adventure in Spanish higher education. Her Mom joined her for the first week and presented a few snaps of what's new and old in this beautiful city.

Weekend Dog

Enjoying a snooze in the AC

Amis Explains

It's always interesting to see what foreigners think of the American political process. With the passing of Christopher Hitchens comes a new voice to the scene. Current Brooklyn resident Martin Amis went to Tampa to report on the state of the Republicans. In his brilliant piece for the Daily Beast, Amis' observations reminded me of why I tore through his early novels with perverse glee.

"Madamic good ole girls in scarlet ensembles, peanut-faced glozers in ambassadorial suits and ties, puns, rhymes, tinkertoy wordplay (“Give me liberty—not gimme, gimme, gimme”)..."

"With Ann Romney, the interest was human interest. Here was a woman who had submitted, no doubt with qualms, to the inevitable falsity of political display; and you warmed to her warmth, even as you realized that much of her speech, with its emphasis on “working moms,” “the couple who want another child” but can’t afford it, and so on, was plainly disingenuous." "The strugglers she claimed to champion...are the very people that her husband, if elected, will do nothing for."

"At the RNC it was Ryan’s oratory, not Romney’s, that inspired the rawest gust of triumphalism. And that rapture, we were told, would remain undiluted by the discovery, the next morning, that the speech was very largely a pack of lies."

Read the whole column here

As one of the comments states, "It's Amis being Amis and I love it"

See an interview of Amis by Slate here

Bird's Bath

Two days ago, WL was thinking we should be more kind to our feathered friends. So we drove to our favorite junk shop in Long Beach and scored a low concrete birdbath. He scrubbed it and filled it with water and this morning the birds found it. At one point 5 little ones were frolicking and kicking up a poolside party.

Mantis

A young mantis spotted climbing a tree @ sunset in the backyard.

Americans Speak

A short film we did for the DNC in NYC a few weeks ago. It was shown on the second night in Charlotte. Watch it here

Sedum

The dog has been digging on the side of the house. So taking a cue from our neighbor's driveway side plantings, we are putting in some Sedum's to deter Seven's excavations. We got one Sedum Matrona with a burgandy stalk and a regular Sedum Neon. They have a long dramatic bloom season. As they turn slowly from white to a deep purple, they have an ethereal quality that's magical. Bees and butterflies love them.

Jennifer

The most energetic speech from last night came from former governor Jennifer Granholm.. Watch her drive the crowd to it's feet here

Luminous

WL treating Seven's heat rash last night and the dog's reluctant permission

Sealing The Deal

Great shot from after last night's impressive speech. Watch the Big Dog bark here

One Last

One last graph for Labor Day

I Will Follow

Happy Labor Day

More here

The primary plight of U.S. workers isn’t their lack of skills. It’s their lack of power. With the collapse of unions, which represented a third of the private-sector workforce in the mid-20th century but just 7 percent today, workers simply have no capacity to bargain for their share of the revenue they produce. Read more here

IN the rancorous debate over how to get the sluggish economy moving, we have forgotten the wisdom of Henry Ford. In 1914, not long after the Ford Motor Company came out with the Model T, Ford made the startling announcement that he would pay his workers the unheard-of wage of $5 a day. Not only was it a matter of social justice, Ford wrote, but paying high wages was also smart business. When wages are low, uncertainty dogs the marketplace and growth is weak. But when pay is high and steady, Ford asserted, business is more secure because workers earn enough to become good customers. They can afford to buy Model Ts. Since the early 1990s, we have been mired three times in “jobless recoveries.” It’s time for America’s business elites to step beyond political rhetoric about protecting wealthy “job creators” and grasp Ford’s insight: Give the middle class a better share of the nation’s economic gains, and the economy will grow faster. Our history shows that. Read more here

Ale To The Chief

After months of clammering, the White House has released it's super secret beer recipes. The recipes utilize the honey on the grounds to make a Honey Porter and Honey Ale. There's also a nice step by step video that explains the origins of the free world's greatest brew.

Firecracker

One of the spanish lavendars along the front walk has withered and died and instead of replacing it in kind, we decided to keep to the xeriscaping plan of the garden. We planted a Firecracker Penstemon. Relatively small, it will grow about 1 foot tall and wide and then have 2 foot long flowering stalks from February to June. We are hoping it looks like the below picture next spring.

Verbena in Bloom

The lemon verbena on the front step is in full bloom with all the heat we've been having lately. It smells amazing. The most fragrant of the verbenas in the garden.