Montréal: Swimming Under The Biosphère

Today in Montréal we visited the Biosphère, the geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller and built in 1967 for the Montréal Expo. We started on the top of the museum in the Planet Bucky room, and took the water tour (Exhibits and activities) and learned about their water treatment system and wind turbines. After the water tour, we went to the Parc Jean-Drapeau Aquatic Center for a swim. There’s a nice long outdoor lap pool, with a kiddie pool on the other side. Julie and I learned some French from a loquacious little girl named Gaelle while Max and Blake played with the water toys.

We came back to the Biosphère and checked out the Water Wonders exhibit, which the kids loved. We finished our day there (and closed the place) with the hilarious “Brain Shaker” video, where you rest your chin on a little rack and your face is digitally inserted in an animated video and projected onto a big screen for the audience.

Montréal: The Biodome And Olympic Stadium

Max took us on the speed tour of the Montréal Biodôme, which is the Olympic Velodrome, converted to a museum of natural habitats, from the rain forest to Antartica — including penguins! Then, off to the Olympic Stadium where we took the cable car up the side of the tower to see a great panoramic view of the city.

Unchecked and Unbalanced

I just finished Unchecked and Unbalanced: Presidential Power in a Time of Terror, by Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr. and Aziz Z. Huq. It’s a chilling review of the current administration’s coordinated abuse of our Constitution. I have to wonder if I’m on some kind of watch list because I checked this out from the library and then posted this to my blog. These are scary times for anyone who believes in the importance of open government for the people.

WiFi for Dinner

Dinner at Panera’s again, and dessert is a taste sampler from my blog universe. Panera’s: the sandwich shop for the 21st century. Nothing tastes better than free Wifi.

My new Tumblelog has gotten me excited about blogging again. One by one, I’m updating my blogs and feeding them to Tumblr, which then gives me a nice overview of my production at the keyboard. I like it because I can keep my blogs focused, yet have a single point to review my recent work. Also, friends and family only need to remember one URL!