Cello Concert

The last major composition by the Englishman Edward Elgar, this cello concerto was written after the end of World War I, when the Victorian world of his childhood had been forever replaced by a war-torn hell. The contemplative, somewhat somber tone of this piece didn't go over well with audiences and was forgotten until the 1960s.

Here you can enjoy a new recording by Martha Sprague, accompanied by pianist Kevin Johnson, performed in Spring 2018 at the University of Washington.

http://richardsprague.com/podcasts/MarthaElgarCello.mp3

Merry Christmas

Here's the iTunes version of our Christmas greetings:

http://richardsprague.com/podcasts/SpragueChristmas.mp3

Episode 2: Special Guest

This is an exciting podcast because today we have a special guest. Can you guess who?

http://richardsprague.com/podcasts/RichardEpisode2.mp3

 

 

New Podcast

You can subscribe in iTunes, then download the first test episode here:

http://richardsprague.com/podcasts/RichardInnauguralEpisode.mp3

 

 

 

Fireworks for sale

This is what Beijing looks like today, with fireworks sellers lined up all over the city, selling last-minute supplies for people who will light up the city for the next ten days in honor of the Chinese New Year.

Why this blog has been empty

Is it good to have public, online view of my family? I try hard to keep this URL private: it's not searchable from Google, it's a relatively obscure name, it's not linked from anywhere else, and I only give it to people I know. Note too that I never post last names and I even avoid posting first names too. If you don't know these people, then you won't be interested.

But some people are nervous about such an open display of our lives. Sure, I can track this site to tell how many people are visiting, their geographical location, and more, but is that enough protection if somebody, somewhere decided to stalk us? The risk is super-low, and arguably lower online than offline thanks to the ability to track, but I'm not going to do something that makes people nervous.

Anyway, we have plenty of news and you can get a good sense of what's happening by simply reading my blogs, either personal or work.

If you want to see videos, we regularly post tons of videos here too:
http://soapbox.msn.com/?user=4049526045870138919

Many of these are viewable on Youtube as well: if you search for "Mercer Island", you'll see my username and can quickly find all my posts. I also have a private, family account on Youtube which I'm happy to share with you if you email me.

(Another) snow day on Mercer Island

You saw them enjoy sledding down our driveway last year.  Well, this year we did it again:

Video: Snow Day 2007

 

 

Math Night

Here's Nathan in his classroom for Math Night

 

Video: Math Night

Is Richard at his desk?

click here to see a live webcam view of his office.

Maine Vacation 2006

Here's an updated video of our trip to Maine in August:

 

Video: Maine 2006

December News!

While you're at it, get Leah's December News too!

November News!

It's here! Click to read the November News!

Mercer Mess

Mercer Island has been without power since a Thursday night storm left us with downed trees and powerlines.

This collection of trees fell like dominos, landing just inches from a neighbor's front window.

Our own backyard was not spared. A tree crashed through our fence in the middle of the night, leaving a mess but fortunately no damage to our house.

You're probably wondering: "where's the video?" Please be patient. Our DSL works, but only on a backup battery supply that we're trying hard to conserve. Hopefully the electricity will be back by early in the week and we can have a normal Christmas. Until then it's heavy sweaters, hats, and mittens -- and early bedtimes (daylight is from 8am to 4pm this time of year).
 

Storm damage

A tree fell in our backyard. No power today.

Nathan won round 2

At an all-day chess tournament.

Belt test

Snow Day for Mercer Island

Icy roads, snow, and brrrrr cold are good reasons to cancel school, but doesn't stop the kids from playing outside.

Watch the 1-min video here:

Mercer Island Snow Day 

Thanksgiving in Portland

If you want to know what we did this weekend in Portland, watch the 9-min video:

First we ate our Thanksgiving meal at Jake's, a famous restaurant here.  The kids ate turkey, we ate fish.  We watched the Portland Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in the rain, though a nearby hotel was kind enough to offer us front-row seats. Then we did Christmas shopping, followed by an amphibious tour of the city on the disappointing Portland Duck.  We also enjoyed daily dips in our hotel pool: watch how Martha is now close to swimming without her floatation jacket!

Conclusion: we love Portland, but wish it would stop raining.

 

 

Our visit with Tony

We had dinner at a nice Lebanese restaurant with my cousin and his girlfriend. 

Chinese Garden in Portland

It's our first day in Portland, a rainy, rainy day, but the Chinese Garden is only a few blocks from our hotel so we braved the weather to see a beautiful place in the middle of the city. Click here for a short video:

Chinese Garden