Image from rawstory.com

This week is National TV Turnoff Week. The goal is for children and adults to watch less television and turn their attention to a healthier life and community participation.

Adbusters has gone a step further and declared it Mental Detox Week. They challenge us to curtail our use of new media like cellphones, videogames, iPods and...the internet?

Just this month, Sen. Obama advocated turning off the TV and videogames as a parenting technique. I can't even believe that a Presidential candidate is saying that! Here is praise for the idea from an unlikely blogger.

I've been trying to cancel my cable since July. They keep giving me sweet deals to keep me. First it was $25/month for extended basic. I called to cancel again and they sucked me into basic cable for $8/month. Considering that Marcie makes the checks out to Comcrap, I didn't think they'd ever give us such a deal.

James E. Bradford ran for Governor in 1916, Seattle Mayor in 1918, and later for Superior Court judge. He lost all three elections but remains a tantalizing "what if he had won?" character in Washington State history.

James was born in 1868 on a farm near Rochester, Minn., the son of William and Elizabeth (Comstock) Bradford. His father was from New York, his mother from Wisconsin. He was a Mayflower descendant, a fact used in later political campaigns. As a young man he was active in sports and particularly enjoyed boxing. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1891 or 1892, where he had been a member of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity. James became, according to his obituary, "a student of the classics and a widely sought public speaker." With his new degree in hand, he set up practice in Austin, Minn.

In 1900, Bradford moved to Seattle and set up shop. At some point he found employment in the office of the City Attorney for Seattle as a clerk. He lived in a boarding house and some time after 1910 married Lavena Luther, the daughter of the couple who managed the dwelling. Eventually they would divide their residential life between the Claremont Hotel in the cold months and Bainbridge Island during the other half of the year.

An OlyBlog post was blogged about today on the spokesmanreview.com blog Eye on Olympia:

Since there are no official Earth Day events happening here in Olympia, WA, USA, Olympia Dumpster Divers will simply give a shout out to some of our favorite artists who do their recycled/upcycle/sustainable eco-art thing not just for Earth Day but all year long:

I took down Norm's thread, after contacting Norm about it, because I believe that it's best to praise in public, and reprimand in private.

Good day.

My wife does love me. She does not love chipotle, but she knows that my dalliance with all things associated with this smoked jalapeño is completely innocent. And completely inane, but it keeps me out of bars.

We have gone many rounds over the types of tortillas we buy, however. She will not abide with the mainstream bleached white flour kind adulterated with poisonous partially hydrogenated fats!

I, however, have different standards.

I factor in a variety of issues:

• cost per unit (I prefer a bag with more than 8 inside)
• diameter (I prefer a 10"er)
• thickness (this effects whether they crumble when toasted... I loathe a sloppy burrito)
• and packaging (I prefer a zippered bag, tho I will transfer tortillas from their store bag to an adopted bag with a zipper if needed). Also inane, but keeps 'em fresher!

When you're stuck in a shopping rut you'll run out of options. Each grocery store has a limited variety of brands it will stock. Since we usually shop at either Fred Meyer or the Oly Food Coop we usually see the same brands over and over again. Even though we sometimes will go to Safeway, Thriftway or Top Foods we still usually see the same main players.

Then she went to Mega Foods and brought home these Tumaro's Chipotle Tortillas... bless her heart. They're available on Amazon too! Click that sucka!

NO IVY DAY AT PRIEST POINT PARK

Olympia Volunteers in Parks is sponsoring an English Ivy removal party at Priest Point Park on Saturday, April 26 from 10am till 1 pm. Join us for this fun, pre-Procession of the Species event and help preserve and restore the forest and shoreline of beautiful Priest Point Park. Meet at Shelter #2 on the Westside of Priest Point Park. Parking is in designated spots only. Bring your favorite gloves and dress for the Weather. Snacks and tools will be provided. No need to RSVP. Contact Volunteer Coordinator Todd Smith (753-8365) with any questions.

Trish took Orion to see the Wiggles at the Tacoma dome for his birthday. We just got the pics Shannon took.

Wag the Dog, Captain Feathersword, Doris the Dinosaur, and Henry the Octopus

Look how close Orion got to the stage!

http://www.thewiggles.com.au/us/home/ 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wiggles 

Gabriel Parrish Parker

Born: 1/24/75 in Portland

Missing: 9/17/95 in Grand Canyon; Found: 4/20/96

Gabriel had the gift of helpfulness. He cared about others--especially his Gramps, he was caring and compassionate. He was generous with his affections--never afraid to say "I love you". We miss him so much.

Jean Parker Edwards

Last Saturday's Democratic Convention and Caucus seemed to be a success. Preliminary estimates announced after Saturday morning's registration period were that around 1,400 delegates and alternates were in attendance for the day's deliberations.

There was debate and dissent, passion and play. Thurston County Democrats Caucus Information

Thurston County will be sending 88 Obama Delegates and Alternates, and 36 Clinton Delegates and Alternates to Congressional District Caucuses.

Here's the TCD platform video presentation: