Busy, Fun Two Weeks With Peter

Andy dances to the rhythm on Tito's feet. He's going to miss his Tito. So will we.





Whenever Pete's here, we eat well. He cooked a spectacular dinner, which included: Barbeque Prawns stuffed with Italian parsley and mined garlic; skewered chicken soaked in a mild cumin, pimento sauce and grilled; squid, grilled eggplant, peppers and tomato sauce over baked polenta; lentils cooked with apple smoked bacon and topped with a balsamic vinegar reduction; carrots swimming in olive oil with diced garlic; and roasted beets with balsamic vinegar. Topped off with some really wonderful Spanish, Portugese and Argentine wines. Sylvia even got into the act and ate itsy-bitsy pieces.


































Mixed weather makes for a beautiful sunset.






ngentili@ccat.sas.upenn.edu>

Sylvia can now ride the horse (below left)
Primo seats at the Mariner's game courtesy Gregg (right)
There goes the bottle! (below left)
Whose Tito's favorite girl? (below right)
Fishing, forget the fishing, bring on the gin! Men on an outing. (below right)





We had some very fun family time with Peter, who just spend two weeks vacation with us. It was great to have him here for a little longer than usual, but still, he was busy the who time and we still didn't get everything done we wanted to. Here are some photos from the past two weeks.

Seattle International Film Festival 2008

Peter and I managed to get to a great documentary by Alex Gibney, who Peter had met in Philadelphia because Pete's been involved in the University of Philadelphia's film festival, has taught film, and is good friends with Niccola who is head of UPENN's film studies department. In any case, this particular film -- Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson -- is well worth seeing. I'm glad to have been part of a time when people questioned their leaders and demanded answers. But then I believe in political and social activism.

Yesterday, Tom, Peter, and I attended the tribute to Sir Ben Kingsley, and viewed his newest work, Elegy, which stars both he and Penelope Cruz. The movie is based on a Philip Roth book about a professor having a fling with a woman 30 years his junior and was so so. But afterward, Kingsley was interviewed on stage for over an hour and he was wonderful -- gentle, kind, intelligent. They showed a chronological montage of clips from his movies and then discussed each period of his career.

At the end of the talk a tall, thin, exotic woman swept passed me and was later identified as his wife -- 30 years his junior, a very tall Brazilian beauty, and ex-waitress he met and married last year, his fourth marriage and one of a string of beautiful wives. My image of Kingsley just didn't match this reality. But it certainly did seem a lot like his character in the movie. In any case, he is a great actor and I have just ordered several of his movies from Netflix, including War, Inc., Sexy Beasts, and The Wackness.

I also plan to see Werner Herzog's Encounters at the End of the World and just ordered several of his films from Netflix (can't remember all of them) but I would highly recommend Fitzcarraldo one of the most remarkable films and also the Making of Fitzcarraldo which is also amazing.

SIFF runs through June 15 and Peter has circled a few more must sees. I plan to. SIFF tickets can be purchased on line at www.siff.net.

The Four Amigos

When Pete's in town he always manages to spend quality time with his high school (junior high school, and elementary school) buddies -- Gregg, Adam, and Rob. We joined them at a Mariner's baseball game followed by a barbeque at Adam and Whitney's home afterward. The weather was warm and muggy. We felt honored that they invited Tom and I and enjoyed just being there.

Tito's in town, Folklife Festival, Grand Start to Summer

Strangely, I reversed the sequence of events -- scroll down to the bottom of this post and work your way up to make sense of it.

After Andy tried his hand at break dancing (he has the moves) we all rested on the lawn while listening to a blue grass band. Good day for all!

After the fountain we headed to the amphitheater to enjoy lunch as we listened to a great youth group play marimbas and the Raging Grannies with their really funny songs against the war, bailing out banks, and other current issues. I think I've found my calling -- where do I sign up.
Peter and Shawn even got a dance in with Andy and Sylvia.



Pete is in town and we've been having great family fun. Andy loves his Tito and enjoyed dragging him into the fountain at Seattle Center during the Folklife Festival. The day was warm, sunny, and beautiful. The crowd mellow. (We later heard that someone was shot in an altercation but we were long gone by then.) Andy got completely wet, Sylvia complained at the first drop of water that hit her arm. So we safely watched from a distance.

Amazing Andy

Irrepressible, smart, sweet, scans the horizon, always thinking -- Andy.

Ode to Sylvia

The best way to see shots of the grandkids is to visit my daughter's blog, but I've taken some from her site to show on this blog. First some favorite recent shots of Sylvia.

Corporate welfare under attack

Once again I was struck by an article in the Wall Street Journal, Companies Take Big Hits on Relocation as Executives' Homes Languish on Market. Qwest loses $1.8 million on CEO's house; angry shareholders are seeking recourse. (May 14, 2008, by Joann S. Lublin) The article talks about corporate policy that allows executives to dump their expensive homes on their companies when they relocate which then must sell them, often at a substantial loss. About 68-percent of 203 surveyed companies reimburse some or all of a staff member's loss on a home sale, according to data cited in the article. One CEO stuck his company with two homes for sale and "is getting housing allowances from the company" for both. We aren't talking $500K homes, but $8, 9, 10 million dollar homes.

But the a quote is what struck me most -- "The perquisite is 'a dramatic example of corporate welfare for the top brass.'"

Nuff said.