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Salsa-Rueda!

Last night I had lots of fun dancing Salsa-Rueda with Michele’s class at The Ballroom Studio in Centreville. We had two guys more than we had girls, but it was still loads of fun. I also had two excellent lessons with MJ and Dan at Tyson’s Corners Arthur Murray, one solo and one with Erci. Monday I had an afternoon lesson with Missy at Arthur Murray, and a couples lesson with MJ. I think I am almost ready for freestyles.

Tuesday night was another volunteer night with the Bruce Roemmelt for Delegate campaign, and work has been a pressure cooker lately with all the server moves from Reston, though our team is nearly finished with that (yay). Have I mentioned what an awesome team I work with?

2007 09 13 snolan Dance
Fun
Local
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The Politics of Fear

So I have been seeing short spots on NewsChannel 8 (DC Area 24 hour news channel, owned by ABC and having a strong moderate conservative tone) that I am not sure are paid advertisements or public service announcements… but I smell a rat.

These are short commercials trying to point out the very laudible goal of having a plan for your own family in the event of disaster (natural or otherwise). That seems good enough, but the entire tone of the ~90 second spots is all about fear. The ad points viewers to makeaplan.org which is clearly operated by the department for home land security. I also notice that this ad, spreading fear of terrorist attack is being aired only during the Virginia political season. I smell a rat.

Are tax-payer dollars being used to fund public service announcements that have a political agenda during the election season? Is this legal or ethical? Am I just overly paranoid?

Having said all that – the clear message is a good one. Half of surviving any accident or disaster is being able to act quickly on a good comprehensive plan. I just wish I did not think we were having a repeat of those ever-changing national alert levels that only changed during the election cycles of the past…

Update: A whois search reveals the website is registered to “Emergency Management Agency” in Washington, DC. Part of FEMA and therefore Homeland Security I think.

2007 09 12 snolan Local
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Fall Freestyles this weekend

Fall Freestyles, Arthur Murray dance competitions are at Sheraton in Tyson’s Corners this coming Friday night and Saturday. We’ll be there. We are ready for Quickstep, not so ready for West Coast Swing…

2007 09 10 snolan Dance
Fun
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Another Glorious Week

It gradually got warmer and warmer here in Virginia, ending in the mid 90s on Saturday, but it has remained cooler than usual and relatively low humidity continues to prevail. The weather has made breafasts on the patio and outdoor dining a joy.

Personal update, wine, and dance after the fold…
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2007 09 09 snolan Personal Comments (0) Permalink

Political Debates Coming to PWC

If you live in Prince William County, and you don’t know who your candidates are for this year’s November election of state, county, and local officials, the PW Committee of 100 Political Forum Series is one great way to see your candidates square off against their opponents in a debate forum.

The series runs from September 13th through October 18th, and will allow the contenders for State Senate districts 29 and 39, State House of Delegates districts 13, 31, 50, 51, and 52, Prince William County Sheriff, two open county supervisor seats (Woodbridge and Gainesville) as well as Chairman of the Board of County Supervisors and Clerk of the Court offices. Mark your calendars now.

The appalling thing is that most of the debate series will not be televised, and given our horrible traffic patterns it will be a real effort to make any, let alone all of the debates in person. I’d love to see bloggers coordinate an effort to record all the debates and make them available to all voters electronically so we can view on our own time table.

Consider this a call to do just that…

Also, we can submit questions to the debates ahead of time I think, but I am still trying to find out how…

2007 09 05 snolan Local
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Three Perfect Days

Wow, three absolutely gorgeous days in a row here in Virginia. 68 – 86 degrees, low humidity, light breezes, cloudless skies, and all on a long weekend! Even better, we spent them with La Belle Compagnie friends, recruits, and members at our Summer Gathering and then visiting the Sackler Gallery of Art to see the Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries exhibit (on for a few more weeks, btw). Exhibits are beautiful and very well written.

2007 09 03 snolan Fun
History
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Firefly and Serenity Fans

How freaking cool is it to discover that your father-in-law and his wife are already huge Firefly/Serenity fans?

If you have not seen any Firefly, I guarantee you’ll love it after you’ve watched 2-4 episodes. The DVD boxed set of the series is running about $14 at Target and other big box discounters. Grab yourself a copy. It is the best television show ever made.

Watch Firefly first, and in the order of the DVD discs.

Then, if you can, watch Session 416 (aka: R. Tam Sessions) at http://www.session416.com/

There is a short comic series that takes place between the series and the movie called Serenity: Those Left Behind that is interesting to read and available through Dark Horse comics.

Then watch the feature film Serenity last. It is also available on DVD in several formats.

Trust me – you’ll love this material for the themes, the dialogue, the stories. Joss Whedon at his very best. Erci and I watch the shows over and over again.

2007 08 27 snolan Personal
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Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

We are tired, we have loads of laundry to do, and a Bailey-cat who is very happy to see us… and we are home.

Love to all – more later.

2007 08 25 snolan Personal
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Love the Bay Area

Erci‘s father picked us up in San Mateo Friday morning and took us down the coast for scenery and catching up, we followed coastal highway 1 from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz stopping briefly at San Gregorio, at Pigeon Point and in Davenport for lunch. We took longer at both Bonnie Doon Vineyard and at Storr’s Winery tasting and ordering wine at both. We checked out the new giant Whole Foods in Cupertino, which is immense, and they had a SmartCar display and test drive in the parking lot (too long a line, but they are cute cars). We headed back to San Mateo to eat at Viognier compliments of Erci’s dad (thanks a bundle), and it was yummy.

Flying home today. Looking forward to seeing friends and Bailey.

2007 08 25 snolan Personal
Travel
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Murphy’s Law

Ilima tours sent the van to the wrong hotel. United flight 74 was delayed by three hours. Security was nervous about our Tiki carving. My PDA died at the airport. I think I’ll stop touching anything today so nothing else can go wrong… at least Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card is an awesome book.

2007 08 23 snolan Personal
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