Send in the Clowns

PAGE TURNER: When we went to the Queen Anne library a couple days ago, we checked out two copies of the exact same book. The kids thought it odd at the time, but there was a method to my madness. Hardly a classic, the title was "Pokemon Battle: Frontier Grovyle Trouble."

I thought it would be fun to have two copies so the kids could read them in tandem, and that's exactly what they did. It was funny, when CJ reached page 6 (the first page of Chapter 2) he said, (with a measure of disdain, like I'd tricked him), "It's a chapter book!"

Why yes it is ... So they each read the first three chapters of the book in their first sitting. Good for us. ;)

MUSICALITY: In keeping with our Friday = Music Day, we were thrilled to find that "Video Games Live" was being replayed on KCTS today. It's a concert with a complete orchestra plus rock band augmentation performing songs from popular video games of the last 20 plus years.

We watched it just a couple of nights ago, but today, instead of just watch, I brought out tambourines and maracas for the kids to play along with.

When they weren't being percussionists, they were dancing, with Annabelle directing choreography. It was great.

Tonight, we watched this YouTube video from a Video Games Live concert. You really don't even need to know all the games involved to appreciate this.


CLOWNING AROUND: Today was the start of Summer Fest in Magnolia. It's an annual summer festival with entertainment, inflatables, an art show, and vendors. I made sure we were there by 2 p.m. so the kids could enjoy a performace of Deano the Clown on the kids' stage. This kids enjoyed the show, which is great, but I walked away both angry and uneasy.
Can I just say that I'm not a fan of ANYONE picking other people's kids up and throwing them overhead? Yes (and thank god), Deano caught all the kids he threw, but a) what if he hadn't? and b) why is he touching and throwing other people's kids? No way in a million billion years would I do this, and if you're a school volunteer, a coach, a babysitter, whatever, you would know not to do this to someone else's kid. ...

I mean, I'm guessing it would be frowned upon if, say, the lemonade vendor at Magnolia's Summerfest did this. Or let's say the people operating the pony rides decided to start throwing kids overhead - would that be OK? I think not. Does the fact that it was a clown doing the manhandling make it somehow OK?

Also, might I note that I'm not a fan of a clown STICKING THINGS UP HIS NOSE (for instance, a balloon) and then basically forcing kids in the audience to handle it. Honestly, how gross is that? Exchanging bodily fluids is not my idea of a great comedic performance. It's a health hazard.

And then there's the matter of Deano sticking things up OTHER people's noses. Yeah, you read that right. Call me humorless, but I fail to find it funny that he'd stick the end of a jump rope up a child's nose and then handle it himself, ask other kids to handle it, and make jokes about it. So Not Funny.

And then there were the bits about him inviting kids up on stage to sleep under his blanket (a parachute) and him roaming the stage tickling them, as well as having kids sit on his foot on a chair at other points. Incidental contact, or someone rushing up to hug him or shake his hand, I get. Welcoming contact like that, I don't get, not at all. It just goes against every 'stranger danger' video, etc. I've ever seen. (And no, I don't think clowns get a pass on the 'stranger danger' thing.) And don't even get me started about him brusquely shoving Annabelle to get her off stage after inviting her up. And this might sound minor, but at one point he made fun of an 8 to 10 or so year old girl's sweater. Yeah, so it was probably 100 percent acrylic and maybe it was a little small on her, but why SHAME her in front of the crowd? The girl was clearly mortified and it was cruel.

Really, so much of the show was so inappropriate.

IN OTHER NEWS: The kids did have a blast in the inflatables. CJ, especially, loved the bouncy house. Watching Bee and him jump around, I couldn't help but notice how many kids couldn't sustain 3 minutes of bouncing. :/ They were tuckered out, just waiting for it to be over after a minute or two.

We saved the best for last. After the inflatables, we headed for the Real Live Pony rides! It was $6 apiece for the kids to ride for 3 minutes, but I guess that's the price we city slickers pay.
CJ and Annabelle both really Really REALLY enjoyed it. I mean, look at her face. :)

Circus Comes to Town

UP WITH THE SUN: The first words out of CJ's mouth this morning (before 6 a.m.) were, "How far did Dad get on the mod?"

Apparently CJ expects us to stay up all night hacking games. ;)

To answer his question, we're still in the research stage. "Dad" did decide that it would be better if CJ started off with something a little less daunting than Toad's Tool. He wrote in an email this morning, "Lunar Magic http://fusoya.eludevisibility.org/lm/, looks like it might be a good place to start. The first one you suggested, Toad's Tool 64, looks pretty advanced and would only be frustrating for both of us. Not that I expect Lunar Magic to be a breeze, but it should be (relatively) a lot easier. I downloaded the SMW ROM, and will do some more investigation tonight of how to get things setup and configured. There's a lot to it and it won't happen overnight. But we have started down the path."

I do know one thing - none of this is going to happen soon enough for CJ. :)

At 6:30 a.m. he asked when his dad would be home from work. I told him it would be 10-plus hours, to which CJ replied, "When he gets here I'll say, 'It's time for hacking!' This is going to be some kind of hack," he assured me. "I'll make some levels hard, some levels easy. ..."

CJ dreams of a day somebody plays his hack and posts it on YouTube. Tonight, Christian did download the Lunar Magic program for CJ and he (and Annabelle) did start messing around with it.

Speaking of hacks, today we learned that Halo, one of the most visually stunning games to date, has been remade (by Microsoft programmer Ed Fries) in an Atari 2600 version

BOOTCAMP: This morning the kids and I did a SparkPeople's cardio kick boxing
workout. It's only 10 minutes. Really, we should do it every day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. ASTRONAUT: Today is Neil Armstrong's 80th birthday. To celebrate, we watched BrainPop's movie about the Apollo Project.

We also watched a great NASA video about Apollo 11. Since there are so many stunning photographic images of the mission, I was very surprised to find this video was animated in kind of a Marvel comic book style. However, maybe kids these days would find it more engaging than grainy video. It was was informative and entertaining.

To the right is the very first photo Armstrong took upon setting foot on the moon in 1969.

GETTING CENTERED: This afternoon, we headed to Seattle Center. There, we finally saw the Pacific Science Center's temporary circus themed exhibit.

Much to my horror, there were clowns and clowns' accessories everywhere. There was a trapeze feature, as well as an overhead tightrope, but the lines for both were oh-so-long. So we skipped that. The kids spent most of their "circus" time in the exhibit's center, where there were dozens of circus themed costumes for them to try on. Annabelle stuck with animal themed costumes, while CJ was more interested in humanoids (muscle man, ringmaster and clown).

We also took in a live science show. It was about snakes, but really most of the focus was specifically on boa constrictors.

The audience was overflowing and the presenter was unmic-ed and hard to hear. She said she couldn't wear a mic because of the snake being wrapped around her. I get that. But I don't know why she couldn't have used a boom mic or a mic on a stand. I mean, c'mon, it's the science center. Embrace technology!

We spent a fair amount of time exploring the musical exhibits (in the upper lobby of the Imax theater, which was amazingly empty this afternoon). One of the things we checked out was a cool theremin.

We also spent a good half hour in a corner of the science center dedicated to the fine art of video game design - something CJ has a wee bit of interest in. ;) The gamers control center had interactive displays concerning artistic elements (colors, contrast, etc.), math elements (vectors and such), and more. CJ was in heaven.
Later on, we checked out the butterfly exhibit. It was enchanting, as always.

After the science center, we ended up meeting Christian for a cheap dinner at McMenamins on Queen Anne, then heading back to the center for some fountain action.

First, there was the smallest fountain imaginable - just a long sidewalk with a section where a steady stream covered the pavement. It's right by the Pacific Northwest Ballet HQ.

From there, it was on to the big guns - the fountain in the center of the Center. That fountain is SO frickin' awesome - its spray pattern is complex and dramatic and it sprays to a soundtrack (everything from Santana to World Music).
Our last stop was a wading pool/fountain near the Vera Project and Key Arena. It's a great place for young kids on a hot day, as it's only a couple of feet deep so it's relatively safe, and there are some neat little fountain features and plenty of nooks and crannies to explore.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love living in Seattle?

WHO YOU GONNA CALL?: One of the gems unearthed during the Great Basement Purge a couple weeks back was the vintage Ghostbusters jumpsuit that Rick practically lived in from age 4-6. It's too small for CJ, but Annabelle fits in it.

Angels Overhead

BACK IN THE MIX: I don't know what you were doing at 9 this morning, but we here at MPA were making royal icing.

Why, you wonder? Good question, considering we made a boatload of it yesterday to decorate cookies for our block party. However, yesterday's frosting and cookies were for the masses (and they lasted all of 5 minutes out on the table, might I add). Last night I promised the kids they could make their very own cookies today, and so, by gum, we did.

We mixed meringue powder, water and some powdered sugar to get our icing. It's a good exercise in patience, as it takes about 8 minutes to get the peaks to form. They took turns on mixer duty.

Then we divided the icing into four bowls. I let them each pick two colors. CJ picked red and black. Bee picked fuchsia and electric purple. She didn't stop adding drops of color to her icing until its color matched the swatch on top of the food color bottle.

Once they had colors they were satisfied with, they drizzled the edible paint over their butterflies, and then dragged a fork through the colors to blend them. Naturally, there was some sampling along the way. I'm sure it was for quality control measures.

Question: How does one get frosting on their forehead, anyway?

FAMILIAR ROAR: Shortly after noon today we heard the roar of jet engines and knew instantly that it was the Blue Angels. By the time I pulled the sun-blocking window shade up, they were out of sight - they move that fast.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy/Blue Angels.
But we know it won't be the last time we hear them over the next few days. This weekend is Seafair, and the Blue Angels will be roaring overhead several times over the next few days. I'd better keep my ears open and my camera by our big eastward-facing window.

AAARGH: "I got Rickrolled!" CJ exclaimed with disdain this afternoon. He had clicked on some Mario vs. Luigi link on YouTube and it was really a link to the Rick Astley video. Too funny!

FYI, CJ's in good company. An April 2008 poll by SurveyUSA estimated that at least 18million American adults had been rickrolled. I'd have to guess that number is well over 18 million by now, two years later.

BIG BEN: After our sugar fest ended, we read "A Picture Book about Benjamin Franklin," part of author David A. Adler's biography series.

We learned lots of interesting things about Franklin. For instance, he was one of 17 children (yikes!), and the 10th son born in his family. His dad wanted him to be a minister. Young Ben only attended formal school for two years - from the age of 8 to 10 - because that was all his family could afford. He worked in his brother's printing shop during his teenage years and later founded his own printing company, which was extremely successful.
This great 1914 Charles Mills painting by the Detroit Publishing Company, depicts Benjamin Franklin at work on a printing press.

He retired from printing in his mid-40s and thereafter devoted his life to his experiments, inventions and public service. Really, we're all lucky he was such a successful printer - if not, we wouldn't have benefit of his amazing innovations and statesmanship.

After reading the book, we hopped over to BrainPop and watched their Franklin video and the kids took a comprehension quiz. One of the things we discussed today was that Franklin did not invent electricity, he investigated and experimented with it. I think that's an important distinction. He did invent the lightning rod.

Did you know: Benjamin Franklin (the first postmaster of the U.S.) was on the first US postage stamp?

MOD SQUAD: This afternoon, CJ declared (for the umpteenth time) his desire to do a "mod" (short for modification, I presume) of Mario 64. In order to do so, he said he needs to download Toad's Tool 64. According to its Web site, "Toad's Tool 64 is the first and only graphically oriented Super Mario 64 level editor."

There's a video about the tool on YouTube. Also on YouTube are dozens of mods Mario 64 fans have made.

In reading the comments under the YouTube video, I'm a bit, well, concerned, that I won't be able to make this work. It sounds like it's pretty hard to use, and the people making those comments are hardcore gaming geeks. But I feel like we have to at least TRY to help CJ realize his dream of joining the ranks of the "mod" squad.

Stay tuned. ...

HEAD EAST: This afternoon, looking to mix things up a bit, we went over to the Queen Anne library. It's very close to home (5 minutes), and though it's small, it offers some diversity instead of just our good ol' Magnolia branch.

It's a great old building - a Carnegie library, one of 2,509 libraries worldwide made possible thanks to Scottish American businessman Andrew Carnegie's generosity. The QA branch was funded in 1911 and opened on New Year's Day 1914. There are high ceilings, lots of leaded glass and golden oak. We found a dozen plus DVDs the kids were interested in, as well as a number of books (yes, books!). After we had our haul, instead of making a beeline to the check out, I let the kids play around (quietly, of course) for awhile. They solved puzzles and messed around with the beads-on-wires type toys.

OVERHEARD: While in the library today ... a little girl was looking at the nonfiction books in the children's section, clearly interested in what she was seeing. Her mother came over and steered her away, saying, "Those aren't kids' books" and herded her back toward the fictional picture books. Lame.

AN INTERESTING READ: Today I read an opinion piece entitled "How do we teach kids independence in a fear-driven world?" I found myself agreeing with a lot of it (for instance her ending statement - "you need to give your kids freedom or they'll never have the skills nor the confidence they need to explore the world safely.") But I really disagree strongly with other parts of it - for instance, the author sending her 5 year old and a same-aged friend to go have a sword fight in a toy and bookstore while she ate in a nearby restaurant. (Frankly, the part that bugged me most about that scenario was thinking about the bookstore owner or employee - it's not their job to watch the author's squirrelly 5 year old while she lunches. I can't stand parents who do crap like that.)

Party Animals

BLOCKHEADS: All day today was about getting ready for our annual block party, held in conjunction with the city wide Night Out program.

We had so much to do. Our list: Make deviled eggs, decorate some pretty butterfly cookies, make some pseudo sushi, make a Greek pasta salad, make some Reuben roll-ups and some hot wings. That and clean the house from top to bottom (so we could show a few neighbors what we've been up to). Yeah, just another relaxing day.

We hit Fred Meyer bright and early for a few grocery items. As soon as we got home, the corned beef went on to cook and then we set about decorating the butterfly cookies (which I'd made yesterday, thank god).

Annabelle helped whip up the royal icing and color it. Then we drizzled it on the cookies and dragged toothpicks, knives and forks through the frosting to create designs.

Next up was turning slices of Twinkies wrapped in green apple fruit roll-ups into pseudo-sushi. We used dried apricots, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, mangoes and more. It was quick and fun.PONY TALES: At about 4 o'clock it occurred to me I hadn't turned on the TV at all. The kids had (mercifully!) been playing together really nicely all day. One exchange they had this afternoon cracked me up. Bee wanted CJ to play My Little Ponies with her. CJ was soooooo not interested and Annabelle knew it. "Too girlish," he chauvinistically declared.

Annabelle decided to try to sweeten the pot. "There could be lots of destruction ..." she said, tantalizingly.

CJ took the bait.

Immediately, Annabelle began to weave a tale of destruction involving a lava river and ponies getting stranded. However, in her pitch, some Super Hero Pony swept in and saved the day.

That didn't sit well with CJ.

"Is it OK if they have a not-so-happy ending?" he inquired.

Annabelle was open to the idea.

"So, they get trapped in the cave forever and get eaten by a crocodile. Does that sound boy-ish?" he asked.

It did, observed Annabelle.

End of pony play.

Annabelle spent some time in solo play, too. This scene I happened upon cracked me up. ...

PARTY TIME: At six, people started dragging tables, chairs and food out to the street in front of our house. Things didn't get really rolling until around 7 though. And from 7-9:30 it was a good ol' hootenany. Lots of good food, and familiar faces and lots of new faces tonight - neighbors from beyond just our one block, which was nice. Eventually our neighbors, the Morgans (a/k/a The Cutters), busted out some instruments and made some nice music. Annabelle joined them, providing percussion and dancing an Irish jig. (Sorry the photo's blurry, but she was getting down and the sun was going down.)
At the end of the night, there were marshmallows by the fire.

Maiden Voyage

ANCHORS AWEIGH!: Christian has been working hard on getting our "new" boat ready and today, we finally got it in the water!
We launched just east of the Ballard Bridge at about 3 this afternoon.

We puttered eastward, toward Lake Union - under the Fremont Bridge, under the Aurora Bridge, around the perimeter of the lake and under Interstate 5.

It was a lovely afternoon and there were tons of vessels out on the water. We saw working boats (barges, tug boats, cargo ships) and motorized pleasure crafts of all shapes and sizes. We saw tourists riding the Duck boats, an Argosy cruise ship and people in rental boats. We also saw paddlers in canoes, kayaks and those newfangled stand-up-and paddle boats.

One of the Duck boats we passed today was packed full of men dancing and singing in unison - we don't know what language it was but it definitely was of the African continent.

Mercifully, the boat's motor started on the first pull and ran like a champ the whole time. We've dubbed our vessel Explorer -I, after NASA's first earth satellite. Both our boat and the satellite were born in 1958.

BY GEORGE: We started our morning off with some history. We had "A Picture Book of George Washington" by David A. Adler from the library. It came with a companion audio CD, so the kids read along. I figured any day is a good day to learn a bit more about the man our state was named after.

The book was well written - I learned a few things about our first president that I didn't know before!

After finishing the book, we hopped onto BrainPop and watched their video about George Washington, and the kids took (and passed) a quiz about him.

RICKROLLED: This morning CJ was reading a magazine and asked, "What's 'Rickrolled?' " I told him it's a bait-and-switch trick, for instance, when you trick someone into watching a bad music video from the 1980s. I asked him if he wanted to see the video that spawned the phrase, and he did, of course.

Apparently CJ didn't mind being Rickrolled. "It sounds funky!" he declared.

Later in the day he was talking about "Chocolate Rain." Too funny.

IN CONCERT: Tonight I was flipping through the channels and came across some lovely orchestral music on KCTS (the Seattle affiliate of PBS). Turns out it was "Video Games Live" in concert. On its Web site, the event is described as "an immersive event created by the game industry featuring the best game music performed by top orchestras and choirs combined with synchronized lighting, video, live action and audience interactivity."

Um, yeah, the kids might like that. ;) They watched the whole 90-minute concert on TV, pretty much using it as a soundtrack to augment their play together.

In checking out the tour dates, it looks like Video Games Live will be in Seattle next January. You know we'll be there!