Winter Solstice and The Nutcracker

These are dark days and today is the shortest one of the year for us in the northern hemisphere. In Seattle, there were mere 8.5 hours between sunrise and sunset, and since the rain stopped for a few hours we decided to chase away the blues by partaking in an outdoor festivities to mark the Winter Solstice, one of the many events at Winterfest, a month long winter celebration at the Seattle Center. Beginning at sunset with a procession to the International Fountain, the performance included a blend of music, story, fire and dance.

Later in the evening we enjoyed one of Seattle's celebrated holiday traditions, Pacific Northwest Ballet's performance of the Nutcracker. This fairy-tale ballet with a multitude of characters, wonderful costumes and an incredible set design along with a sweeping Tchaikovsky score has a way of making us remember the magic of childhood and brought smiles to the faces of young and old alike.

Inspiring Gifts That Keep on Giving Throughout the Year

87% of Americans believe holidays should be more about
family and caring for others,
and less about giving and receiving gifts.

These days when holiday shopping madness ensues even before Thanksgiving has come and gone, it's little wonder so many of us considers shopping a chore and try to avoid the malls during holiday time like a plague!

You can imagine my delight at discovering More Love, Less Stuff as I was leafing through the latest issue of Conscious Choice this past weekend. This simple but meaningful alternative made us decide to do away with conventional gift giving this holiday season. Further research turned up a number of good causes and we finally narrowed down the list to the following three choices. It makes for a short-and-sweet holiday wish list and I hope some of you will find the causes are worth supporting as well:

Vaccinations for 50 people ($50) - DoctorsWithoutBorders.org

Tens of thousands of people die every day from preventable diseases. In the developed world, getting vaccinated against meningitis, measles, polio or other deadly diseases is standard practice and a basic part of childhood health, but millions of people in developing nations cannot afford these crucial medicines. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an independent international medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters, or exclusion from health care in more than 70 countries.

Help an Entrepreneur With a Loan (Gift Certificates start at $25) - Kiva.org

Kiva.org allows one to lend money directly to aspiring entrepreneurs in developing countries. You can choose a recipient from thousands of small-business owners looking for loans through organization's groundbreaking website and the funds are then forwarded through a network of microfinance companies in developing countries. The loan recipient commits to paying the microfinacer back in a specified period of time and when the funds are returned, the lender can choose to withdraw or re-loan.

Give a goat or a sheep ($120 or a share of one at $10) - Heifer.org

Domestic animals like goats or sheep can make a lasting, meaningful difference in the life and health of a family in many parts of the developing world. Heifer is an international organization whose mission is to end hunger and care for the earth while emphasizing community involvement and sustainable agricultural production. For the past 60 years, it has worked to provide a sustainable solution to hunger by giving animals and livestock to poor people in more than 128 countries.

Three new delicious finds

This Saturday while waiting to have our car serviced at a dealership in Ballard we decided to brave the cold blustery weather but rather than gooing to the predictable Market Street establishments we had seen before, we wandered side streets of old Ballard.

We didn't have to go far when our noses led us to Señor Moose Café, one of the best authentic Mexican (not Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex or any sort of US Mex!) cafés in Seattle, whose owner spent 20 years in Mexico and makes sure the recipes are authentic. The Huevos Rancheros (tortillas, black beans, eggs, salsa, topped with avocado and cream), a classic Mexican breakfast dish, was delicious! As we left I couldn't help but think that although very simple, this was the best breakfast I have had in some time.

On the other side of Leary Avenue we stumbled on Café Fioré. While Hoon went for his usual double tall latte, I decided to be decadent and order a Sevilla (Valencia Mocha). It was delicious with a perfect amount of powerful espresso mingling with creamy foamy milk, a touch of dark chocolate and of course, a twist of real orange peel. The relaxed atmosphere and dark wood/red brick decor makes you feel like you have entered an entirely different world devoid of concept of time... like a Jules Vern fever dream the decor elicits visions of Victorian octopus light fixtures and underwater chemistry labs. The staff is as pleasurable as new best friends and the entire shop could biodegrade if necessary with their supply of corn straws and recycling bins.
Last weekend we finally got a chance to try Tutta Bella Pizzeria in Columbia City, touted as the best pizza in Seattle. This officially sanctioned provider of vera pizza napoletana (true Neapolitan pizza) makes them like God intended: with flour blended and milled in Italy, imported organic San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh herbs and fresh yeast, baked in a VPN approved wood fired oven. The result is an authentic thin pizza with a light and fluffy blistered crust, still silky in the middle... the kind I though I'd never find in the Pacific Northwest! Arry and AJ, who have recently returned from southern Italy, confirmed what my taste buds were already remembering from childhood - this was the real deal! We split a delicious Insalata di Salerno (fresh mozzarella, crunchy shaved fennel, cherry tomato halves, cucumbers, basil, romaine with dijon-balsamic vinaigrette) and ordered a variety of personal pizzas - my Regina Margherita was indeed fitting for a queen! We ended with a perfect shot of espresso (they use a Victoria Arduino hand-operated lever machine and Attibassi espresso from Bologna!) and a delicious Tiramisu! This is one place to which we will definitely return and often!

Weekend at the Cinema

The Golden Compass is based on Northern Lights (known in the US as The Golden Compass), the first novel in Phillip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials. The film is a visual feast - a fantastical journey with dazzling imagery and commanding characters (human and not), that also poses intriguing questions.

The following excerpt from Roger Ebert's review sums it up:

The film centers on a young girl named Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards), in an alternative universe vaguely like Victorian England. An orphan raised by the scholars of a university not unlike Oxford or Cambridge, she is the niece of Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), who entrusts her with the last surviving Alethiometer, or Golden Compass, a device that quite simply tells the truth. The Magisterium has a horror of the truth, because it represents an alternative to its thought control; the battle in the movie is about no less than man's preservation of free will. ...

The struggle involves a mysterious cosmic substance named Dust, which embodies free will and other properties the Magisterium wants to remove from human possibility. By "mysterious," I mean that Dust appears throughout the movie as a cloud of dancing particles, from which emerge people, places and possibilities, but I have no idea under which rules it operates. Possibly it represents our human inheritance if dogma did not interfere.

As an avid reader, in general I would be inclined to agree with the statement that books weave a magic the film versions simply cannot match, so I would prefer to read a book before seeing the film adaptation of it, but in this case the opposite is true. Although it was branded as controversial and even anti-religious by some (an eloquent viewer response can be read here), it seems to me the studio and the director have taken great pains to sanitize the author's original message in order make the film appealing to a broad audience. I for one dislike having things pre-chewed for me and even less having a watered down version of what should be a deep and soulful philosophical discussion. So I shall be patiently waiting for the book to arrive in the mail and, to quote another review, I hope the viewers of all ages will take to heart this movie which calls us to be wary of all authoritarian institutions that stifle the soul and the spiritual search for truth.

Another film I have been looking forward to for a while is undoubtedly The Kite Runner, based on a much loved novel by Khaled Hosseini. Faithful to the book, the film tells a moving story of friendship, betrayal and ultimately redemption. My favorite part of the story have always been the vivid descriptions (translated into captivating images on the screen) of the rich culture and beauty of the land, which highlight the tragedy of Afghanistan's destruction first by invading Soviet army and then by inhumane rule of the Taliban. Perhaps glimpsing it in this light, as a place that has once known prosperity and honor, will replace far too often encountered stereotypes in the heads of too many people who know nothing of this nation. The movie like the book reminds us, there is always a way to be good again.