Bear Down Chicago Bears

It was the 10-4 Chicago Bears versus 10-4 New York Jets at Soldier Field in Chicago. The snow was blowing and the quarterbacks were throwin'. Exciting game. Wonderful outcome. Bears win 38-34. Yeah! Hopefully there is a playoff game in our future.

Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas. We had Dinner on Christmas eve with with Tom's parents. The annual Bouillabaisse was especially good this year. Then for Christmas Dinner we went to Diane's brothers house. Lynnea made a great beef roast.

Bart got a new cell phone.



Alex had a very Lego Christmas.


Diane got a cool ring with all of our names and birth stones on it.


I was very excited to get an iPad. Its pretty cool. Great toy during travel.




The Hope and Brown families exchanged gifts.


Kayla got to cut the beautiful cake she baked.

Happy Holidays

ILL-INI

Today was the annual Illini Basketball game in Chicago. Usually at the United Center. Many great games over the years. We have been to 9 Chicago games in the past ten years. Last year we lost to a ranked Gonzaga team in overtime. This year it was University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana vs University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Got two Bachelors degrees from the former and was a professor at the latter for 5 years. Big differences in experiences between those two schools. Grew up in one and worked at the other. Make no mistake, I am an Illini fan. We were going into the game ranked 12 in one poll and 14 in the other. UIC has not been very good this year. They were 4 wins and 7 losses. The Illini were 10 - 1. Look at all the orange in the stands. It was a home game atmosphere.



We were getting together with with two old friends from both institutions to go to the game. All were Illini fans. The Illini got off to a sluggish start. But the Illini rebounded and led 49-41 with about seven minutes to go. However, UIC's "Flames" fought back to even it up as the game wound down.




The term the kids use today is "Fail", I guess I would call it choking. Anyway, the Flames beat the Illini 57-54. No Illini fan was happy. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This picture of Diane at the end of the game says it all.

Go BEARS!

Bears vs Patriots. Snow and wind. It was a classic. I was very proud of the family. No complaining about the cold. It was nearly perfect, except that Bears got pounded. Ackkkkkkkk!

The year of the aquariums- Seattle

There were a couple vaccine meetings in Seattle. The biggest meeting was held by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Gates talked with the researchers. He was pretty impressive because he knew what was going on. At the end of the Gates meeting we had a dinner at the Seattle Aquarium. 2010 was the year of the aquarium with visits to the Atlanta, New Orleans, and Seattle Aquariums. Man, my blackberry takes crappy pictures.



We have had a big crop of acorns this year. That has really brought in the deer. Here is a big buck on the edge of our yard.

Happy Thanksgiving

Once again the family gathered at our house for Thanksgiving. Its always such a wonderful time.



My cousin Kathy always makes home-made candy. Fudge and turtles. Looks like the turtles are almost gone. Better grab one while you can.

Sequoia National Park

Had a chance for a free weekend in SF and Diane let me take advantage of the situation. Teamed up with Greg and Dan for a short visit to Sequoia National Park. Big Trees and beauty. There are a bunch of lovely hikes that one can take. It was off season and everything was pretty mellow. Very big change from the last visit in summer 2008 (although it was still awesome). Here is a picture of the Sherman Tree, the biggest in the world! You can see some very tiny people at the base of the tree.



Winter had arrived in the Sierras. We were at about 7500 feet. Patches of snow on the ground. In the 50's during the day. Teens at night. That is the Sherman tree in the middle from a distance.



Dan and Greg at the base of the Sherman Tree. Its a BIG tree!



The three of us at the base of the President Tree. I love this spot because there is another monster nearby. Its Chief Sequoyah, which you can see behind and to the left of the President tree. These two trees have been growing within a hundred yerds of each other for more than a thousand years. Its also a couple miles from the parking lot so there are not many people.



Greg and Dan at the base of Chief Sequoyah.



Here I am in a cluster of Big Trees called the Senate.



That evening we were bathed in a most amazing alpine glow.



The woods turned red.




Quite an amazing sunset looking west from the Sierras.



The next morning we went to Kings Canyon National Park and a visit to Boyden Cave. Its official! I love caves. This is a little one, just 750 feet long. But it was quite nice. A marble cave with a number of nice features.



Here are some tube formations hanging from a crack in the ceiling. They are hollow.



Some nice drapery formations.



Greg gives a nice perspective for the size of the cave. Small but sweet.



Here are some interesting curtain formations. Very nice little cave.




Here is a nice image of the Grant Tree, the second biggest tree in the world. It is much younger than the Sherman Tree, but only slightly smaller. Someday it will be the biggest and stay there for about a thousand years. Unfortunately, our 40 hours of fun were over. Back to SF. Have to work tomorrow.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was on Sunday this year. Alex went out trick or treating with some of the kids in the neighborhood. Alex was War Machine from Iron Man 2. Bart said he was too old to go out for candy. But he did in the end in Elmhurst. He was dressed as a teenager. Typical.

Cousin Lynne Turns 50

We went to Paw Paw Michigan for Cousin Lynne's 50th birthday. As you can see it was a Halloween Party. It was fun to spend time with family.

Another meeting, another aquarium

The NHP meeting was in New Orleans. I got to go for a day. The Banquet was at the Aquarium. BP had a big exhibit on how oil drilling platforms are so good for sea life in the gulf of Mexico. Unless there is an oil spill, I guess.

Another Teenager in the House

Alex's 13th birthday. We had dinner at Maggiano's. Alex loves their calamari!

Fall Fishin' at Silver Lake

It was the fall opener for trout at Silver Lake. 2800 trout were stocked at the start of the month. We got there about 7am and everyone was catching trout. We got in on a bit of the action as you can see. Once the sun hit the lake the bite slowed tremendously. We need to get there earlier next Spring when they do it again.

Quality Family Time!

It was Columbus Day weekend. The fall is such a nice time we have been doing some kind of family outing over this three-day weekend. Last year it was Mammoth Cave in Kentucky (see blog Oct 2009 "Mammoth Weekend"). This year were we not up for a big tip but wanted to do something fun together. So on Saturday we went to Six Flags Great America. It was FrightFest. Lots of Halloween Fun! Although the haunted house that Bart and I did was not very scary. This guy was pretty hilarious.



Here is Bart and Diane on the Big Drop.



We got home late and woke up on Sunday in time for football. The Bears beat the Panthers (Yeah, they are 4-1)! We have 4 games coming up. On Monday I came home early and we went to Brookfield Zoo. We loved the new Bear Wilderness Exhibit. We also got some wonderful fall colors.

WHALESHARK!

The HIV Vaccines meeting was in Atlanta. There was a banquet at the Atlanta Aquarium. Very cool. I think they have the largest tank in the world. Holds 2 whale sharks about 15 feet long. The boy would have loved it.

Back in Japan

I was able to visit Nara, the first capital of Japan. It was founded in 710, which makes this the 1300th anniversary of Nara. 1300 years, thats a long time and the city is celebrating. Nara is also notable for two other thing, its concentration of ancient Buddhist temples and its deer. The deer are believed to be angels sent by god. No hunting here There are hundreds of deer around the temple ground of Todaiji. As you can see the deer are very friendly. I don't think I would like to pet the deer in our back yard like this.




My guides for the trip were Ken Kono, his wife Kay, and 3 year old son Leo. Ken had spent 3 months in my lab spring of 2010. It is so nice to visit interest sites with locals. They were wonderful hosts.



A nice picture of the main temple at Todaiji. One of the most popular sights to see in Nara.




In the main temple at Todaiji is located the largest Buddha in Japan. Known as Daibutsu or "Great Buddha" it was built in the 700's and is almost 50 feet tall. It is still one of the largest Bronze statues in the world. An amazing sight to see.



As you can see in this short video the deer act a bit like pigeons. Vendors sell small cookies to feed to the deer. They seem to love them. I am surprised that more people don't get hurt



A picture of me making the movie above. Swarms of deer.



Two of the structures at Horvuji Temple. Location of the oldest wooden structures in the world. The building on the left is about 1300 years old. The 5 story Pagoda, although partially original was rebuilt in the 1400's. Very amazing structures. There were also beautiful gardens and a museum full of old statues and art. Much of it more than a thousand years old. Sorry, no deer here.



Here is Leo and Sento Kun. The mascot of the 1300th anniversary of Nara. Notice the Northwestern tee shire. It was a wonderful day of culture and history.



In Tokyo I visited NIH Japan. After I gave a talk at NIH a fun group went to a Yakitori bar. The food and company were excellent!

Bear Down Chicago Bears

On Saturday evening we went to our annual preseason Bears game. They played the Arizona Cardinals. They lost to the Cardinals. Good thing its just practice and doesn't count. Sure hope they are good this year. It will be fun if the Bears can generate some excitement for Chicago this year.

Strait wind update

On June 24 the neighborhood got pounded with a 100 mph strait wind. Its mostly cleaned up. I found recent satellite shot taken after the storm. You can tell by the blue tarps on many of the roofs in the neighborhood. Anyway on the left is the old shot with all of our beautiful trees. On the right after the storm and cleanup. Our house is in the center. WOW! What a difference in the arial view. You can see so much more of our yard. Before the storm it was almost completely covered in trees.

Something Stinks

Our neighborhood is a bit of a zoo with abundant wildlife. Deer, coyote, raccoons, woodchucks, possum, and a bazillion squirrels and chipmunks. This summer there is a bumper crop of skunks. Here is a picture taken out of a widow of one of the little stinkers enjoying some mulberries that fell onto our driveway.