Hanson...Yes, I said Hanson

My darling friend/coworker Cathryn is from North Carolina. She is an avid Hanson fan. I truly don't think I can convey the extent to which she loves Hanson. Yes, I'm talking about the 3 brothers, "Mmbop"-singing, instrument-playing Hanson. Did you all know that Hanson still tours and records? SURPRISE! Cathryn has not missed a Hanson concert yet. The issue that Cathryn has found is that it's difficult to find friends to accompany you to a Hanson concert, but that it's also not fun to enjoy alone. So, Cathryn has some friends who like her enough to accompany her to Hanson concerts. Last weekend, that someone was me and Susanna. Kathleen met us for dinner, but she moved to Indiana a couple days later, so she had to return home to pack (I don't want to talk any more about that...).

So Susanna and I attended the Hanson concert at Club Nokia with Cathryn. Words cannot express the events that ensued that evening...

More pictures to come as many were on Susanna and Cathryn's cameras. I'll pass them along as I get them.

Movember

Movember is a tradition originated by some men in Australia. In order to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer research, they do funny things with their facial hair for the month of November. That is why it's called "Movember" -- mustache + November = Movember.

So, in light of this tradition, for the second consecutive year I'll be participating in Movember. To see what I did last year, click here. This year, however, I decided, with my wife's misguided consent, to grow only a mustache.

Since Halloween is the day before Movember began, I first had a bit of fun with my facial hair, rocking the walrus-style fu manchu. Goose Gossage would be proud!

The following day I shaved off the bottom portions, and moved my sideburns up a bit too. So now I'm sporting the "I look way too much like my dad at this age" facial hair do.

Last year I did this to raise awareness for autism (click here to read more about that). This year, however, I want to shed light on another issue: namely, child mortality. While the rates of infants and under-five children who die in the US are relatively low (6.3 and 7.8 out of 1000 live births respectively) [SOURCE 1, 2], there are many places in the world where this is not the case.

In fact, there are five countries who have under-five mortality rates at or above 20%. Those countries and the number of under-five death per 1000 live births are Mali (199.7), Liberia (205.2), Angola (230.8), Afghanistan (235.4), and Sierra Leone (278.1) [SOURCE 1, 2]. Here is a map [SOURCE] which highlights well the areas of our world that are struggling with this issue the most (dark red indicates the highest rates):

What are the causes of death for these children? Lots of things, many of which are preventable, such as infections, diarrhea, malaria, measles, and malnutrition [SOURCE]. In other words, with the provision of medication and educations, some of these deaths could be prevented.

In the remaining days of Movember I am going to be thinking about how I can get involved in the solution to this issue. I hope you'll join me on this journey!

For more information on child mortality, I recommend the World Health Organization's website as a starting point.

Halloween ends and MOVEMBER begins

As many of you know, I LOVE Halloween!!! I think it's so much fun to get all dressed up and welcome autumn into our lives. I've always lived in the south, and Halloween usually is the time when Indian summers are over and the cooler weather comes along (except, of course, in LA, where we only have 2 seasons--really really hot and slightly less hot). I love love love chilly weather!! I know there is much religious tension wrapped up in Halloween, but I choose not to get fussied up in that aspect. I love celebrating the fun that can be found in pumpkin carving, scarecrow decorating, dressing up, and eating candy! Growing up, my parents always made it about fun and family. I have lots of fond memories of Halloween. I could go on and on about my love affair with Halloween, but I'll spare you.

This year, we attended the Crossroads Halloween party at Hai's house. There were some fun times, yummy food, and creative costumes. Matthew and I decided to go as hippies, complete with Matt's facial hair. We also decided to implement an act of improvisational hippy singing. It was quite excting, I'm sure.

Mummy Dogs I made for the party

Joe and Ginger as rockers (Bono and Fergie-ish), in honor of the U2-Black Eyed Peas concert

Elizabeth the peasant

Nick as Superpoke

Postman Hai

The Nishizaki's as Japanese tourists

Carol and Mike (he's not so into Halloween)

Our hippiness

Our improvisational singing...

November 1 also marks the beginning of Movember. Matt's coming along with another blog about this, so just stay tuned...