Friday, June 22, 2012

Afros and Astronauts

EVENING WITH THE ASTRONAUTS: This evening we spent a couple of interesting hours in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery at The Museum of Flight attending a "Luminaries of Space" event, part of the on-going Seattle Science Festival.

Per the promo on The Museum of Flight's Web site, the evening was meant to illuminate the inspiring topic that we are on the brink of a new era in space exploration, pioneered by spacecraft developed and launched by private companies. It did that and more.

The evening's speakers included two astronauts from the Shuttle era. One was Bonnie Dunbar, a veteran of five space flights, with more than 1,200 hours in space. Her talk was very personal and biographical. She shared she was a second generation immigrant. Her grandparents, of the Dunbar clan, emigrated from Scotland with one way tickets. Dunbar called them great explorers. The Scottish immigrants homesteaded in Condon, Ore. After Bonnie's parents married, they pitched a tent on unimproved land in Outlook, WA., and Bonnie spent her first four years living in a sheep herder's shed.

She talked about growing up on a farm and the sense of responsibility and community. She eventually wound up in the materials engineering program at UW, where even back in the '60s, they were working on engineering the shuttle of the future. Her speech was inspiring in that she came from such humble, small town roots and, thanks to following her dreams and guidance from good mentors, went on to achieve great things.

Dunbar ended her presentation with a quote from Robert Goddard, who she said is a hero of hers. Goddard, an American, dreamed of building a spacecraft to fly to Mars, and he is credited with having built the world's first liquid-fueled rocket. A visionary, Goddard was often ostracized, once by a scathing New York Times editorial in 1920. The day after the launch of Apollo 11 - and 49 years after its editorial mocking Goddard, the NYT published an apology, admitting its 1920 editorial was wrong.

Goddard's quote Dunbar used to conclude was, "It has often proved true that the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow." 

Also on the bill was George "Pinky" Nelson. With a background in astronomy, Nelson is a veteran of three Shuttle missions, totaling 411 hours in space, 10 hours of which were spent doing extra-vehicular activities (space walking!).  He was an engaging speaker, sharing his lift off, touch down, space walking and other experiences with the crowd, who soaked up every word. These days, Nelson is program director for Western Washington University's Science, Math & Technology education department. 

Nelson led the group in a mind boggling math exercise that helped make it clear just how many solar systems containing Earth like planets might be out there. He also reminded us that "those nations that stop exploring disappear," and ended his presentation with a quote from an e.e. cummings poem (1x1): "Listen, there's a hell of a good universe next door. Let's go!" 

We also heard from Mark Sirangelo, an executive from Sierra Nevada Space Systems, a private company currently developing a winged and piloted orbital commercial spacecraft. Their Dream Chaser launches vertically and lands horizontally (like Shuttle). It's set to be operational by 2015. 


Chris Lewicki of Planetary Resources (you know, that well-funded company that is planning to mine the asteroids) was the night's emcee. He did a fine job, and he also gave a 10-minute talk largely about the intriguing asteroids and why "Space Rocks!" Lewicki told us that there will be a Curiosity landing party at the Museum of Flight come August. We'll be staying tuned for more details on that, to be sure!

In addition to the speakers, there was some live entertainment. We got to hear three numbers from "The Little Prince" performed by a talented baritone from Seattle Opera.

We were also treated to a performance by Seattle Aerial Arts. Their aerialists dangled in air with the greatest of ease.

All in all, it was a FABULOUS evening. 

POLKA DOT, POLKA DOT, POLKA DOT, AFRO: We finally got around to seeing "the number one movie in the world" (at least that's what an ad on Fandango says). That movie being "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted."

To be honest, I don't think I've seen the first two "Madagascar" movies (or if I did see them, they weren't memorable). It wasn't that hard to follow the storyline, amazingly. ;) The first 20 minutes or so of the 1.5 hour movie was a chase scene. After that, things just got weird. How weird? Well, hmm, there was the lemur's love affair with a giant brown bear wearing a tutu and riding a trike. And then there was the scene with the villain, Captain Chantelle DuBois (who looked a little like a cartoonized version of Susan Sarandon) singing in French to four hospitalized police officers whom she tranquilized to arouse them from a coma. Yeah, that was weird.

But who cares what I thought? The seat was comfortable, the popcorn was good and the kids liked it. So there.
In care you're wondering, that pony keg CJ is holding is NOT filled with soda. It's water. I swear.

Oh, and in case you have somehow managed to avoid the earworm up until now, the reason for the heading on this section is this ...


BRICKYARD: After the movie we went to Alderwood Mall. That's right. We went MALLING two days in a row. Ugh. I think we've exceeded our mall total for all of last year in the last 48 hours.

After wandering around a bit (tortuous to me) through the mall, we found the spot where the big LEGO build we learned about yesterday was going on. Mercifully, it was well organized. We checked in with a young man who directed us to a table (one of a dozen plus) where there were bins of LEGOs and instructions for what we were to assemble. Because we were there early on Day 1 of the big build, we were working on the base upon which LEGO Yoda will eventually stand. So, we each had a khaki colored brick to build.
I finished mine post haste, and Annabelle finished shortly thereafter. CJ was a little frustrated. Why? I have no reason - it was a simple, straightforward build and much easier than the builds he did in LEGO class all year long. A LEGO Master Builder (yes, there is such a thing) came over and gave him some words of encouragement, telling him there was no time limit and not to fret. CJ settled down and got his block done.
Here the kids are with their contribution to the project and a mini version of what's being built. The big build one will be about 8-feet tall. For their efforts, CJ and Annabelle were given a slip which we had to take to the new LEGO store in the mall to get a certificate. However, we couldn't set foot in the store as it was so busy they were assigning entrance times and the wait was 2 hours when we were there. I told the kids the LEGOs would certainly still be good next week, after the grand opening hubbub is over. 

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Raptor Rapture

PHOTO: NASA (an osprey over KSC)
BREAKFAST WITH THE BIRDS: Via the good ol' Facebook feed, about the first thing I saw today was news of a live Web cam on an osprey nest in Sandpoint, Idaho. Well at that, I pretty much had to cancel all the day's plans. ...

Just kidding - I wasn't quite that obsessed, but I will cop to spending waaay too much time watching osprey today.

The nest is on a light stanchion at War Memorial Field. From time to time, you can catch glimpses of the baseball field and players below.

According to the Web site hosting the camera (The Sandpoint Osprey Cam), the nest was relocated to the top of the new lighting standard in autumn of 2011. It's just one of two nests at the field and in early spring, the ospreys return following their migration from Central and South America. They'll head south again in the fall.

Today we learned that osprey are the only raptors that eat fish exclusively, and they do not regurgitate their food for their young. Rather, they rip off chunks and offer it to the wee one(s).

While CJ and Annabelle were eating breakfast, we watched the parental raptors feed the two day old bird in their nest. We also noticed an unhatched egg. In reading the comments on the site, it's believed it might not be viable, but they're still hoping and waiting (and so are we!)


PITCHING IN: Though their classes are still officially over, today the kids and I headed up to their Shoreline science classroom to help clean up. We cleaned tabletops, the kids used a vacuum for the first time (hey, we have hardwood floors!) and Annabelle even dusted the flag (patriotically and politely, I assure you). 

FEELING BLUE: We went to (gasp, choke) a MALL today. Annabelle was so excited. Hope she enjoyed her 12 minutes there. ;) Our reason for going was to hit a GameStop store in hopes of finding some second hand used Just Dance titles. Just Dance for Wii is probably CeeJ and Bee's favorite form of exercise, so I have to support that habit, right? 


GameStop had had 'em all, but we only got one - the original Just Dance 1. Oh, and we picked up the Smurfs Dance Party, which is in the same genre. It's not as challenging or sophisticated as the Just Dance titles, but the kids like it - and it was only $8! 


So, this afternoon, we got Smurfy and danced along with Smurfette, Papa Smurf, Gutsy, Brainy, Clumsy, and the gang. I have to say, the Smurfs' arms and legs are so stumpy that it's kind of hard to follow their moves sometimes. 


BTW, while we were at the mall today, we saw a sign featuring a LEGO Yoda. Seems Alderwood Mall is adding a new LEGO store (it opens tomorrow) and to celebrate, they're having some LEGO Master Builder come and build a big (8-foot tall) brick Yoda. The public can get in on the action, and building helpers will receive a certificate of achievement for their efforts. We might just have to go check it out. You can see how thrilled the kids look at the prospect!!!
SILLY SONGS: Our soundtrack for the car today was a CD accompanying a book. The songs featured Lisa Loeb (of "Stay" fame, for early 90s music fans).
Silly Sing-Along: The Disappointing Pancake and Other Zany Songs


Based on the number of re-play requests, I'd say "Fried Ham" was CeeJ and Bee's favorite song in the CD. Here's Loeb performing it awhile back. ... 





Another of the songs on the CD was a total blast from the past for me: "Found a Peanut." I hadn't heard it in 40 plus years, but remembered every word when Loeb started singing it. A macabre song, in a way. I'm probably going to have nightmares. 

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Hello, Summer!

HERE COMES THE SUN: What a rare delight. Summer started today and the sun was actually out and shining brightly for most of it!

I thought a diamante poem was in order to mark the occasion, so we hopped on the Read, Write, Think Web site and decided to write a synonym style poem (where the first and last word are or mean the same thing). That decided, it was simply a matter of using their fill-in blank approach to write each line. (Subject, two adjectives, three -ing words, a phrase or short list of nouns linking the topic, three more -ing words, two more adjectives and then the subject again.) It works every time. :) 

Let's start with Annabelle's take:
Summer
Nice,sunny
Walking, playing, sliding
in summer there is lots of sun
Shining, reflecting, lighting
Big hot 
Sun
Here's CJ's spin:
Summer
Hot sweat
Playing, sweating, swimming
Beach, sand, shells, swimsuit
Tanning, blinding, soothing
light, warm
Sunshine


And I decided to write one, too:
Summertime
Easy breezy
Playing laughing lounging
Baseball, beach, and barbecue beckon
Relaxing, living, loving
Short, sweet
Summer

Late morning we headed out to the Shoreline campus where they took LEGOs and science classes this year. Today was the annual field day/barbecue. Kennedy was kind enough to tag along with us.

We didn't stay too terribly long, but the kids (all three!) did manage to get some play time in on the playground.  
And CJ and Annabelle enjoyed a sno-cone. I think it's the first sno-cone either one of them has ever had. There were lots of flavor choices.
 Annabelle went with a mix of pink lemonade and cherry. CJ wasn't too sure about the whole thing, but went with strawberry, as he likes real live strawberries. They both ate the whole thing.
I also sent CJ and Bee off to run a lap around the track. They did pretty well, never stopping or slowing measurable. CJ ran all the way carrying a couple of Pringles chips. Wonder if he managed to work those calories off during the lap. 
Amazing how tiny those two look next to the towering evergreens!

We came home for awhile, but then it was right back out this afternoon to Discovery Park, where we hit (and missed) a few dozen tennis balls. Naturally, the zipline and swings got some action, as well. 

MEANWHILE, FAR BEYOND PLUTO: Today we were reading up on Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, thanks to a friend of mine who recently went to an open house at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California - where the Voyagers were built.  She sent us a neat poster about the spacecraft, with a large graphic on the front and the back is filled with Voyager facts and related suggested learning activities.
Twins launched in 1977, they have been heading away from Earth and to the far-reaches of our solar system ever since. They're now three times further from the Earth than is Pluto. Wrap your noodle 'round that! 

The artist's concept below shows NASA's two Voyager spacecraft exploring a turbulent region of space known as the heliosheath, the outer shell of the bubble of charged particles around our sun. After more than 33 years of travel, the two Voyager spacecraft will soon reach interstellar space, which is the space between stars.
This artist's rendition of Voyager's voyage at the present shows our sun giving off a stream of charged particles that form a bubble around our solar system. That bubble is our heliosphere. The part of our solar system that's shown in dark blue is where solar winds travel at supersonic speeds until the wind crosses a shockwave known as the termination shock. 

Voyager 1 crossed the shock line in December of 2004, with Voyager 2 coming along in August of 2007. Past that blue line is an area (shown in gray) called the heliosheath. There, the solar wind drops off dramatically and heats up. Beyond the heliosphere and heliosheath awaits an area dominated by interstellar wind. As the interstellar wind blows toward the heliosphere, NASA says a boy shock forms (the bright yellow arc in the illustration). 

In a story posted on NASA's Web site last week, Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, said the latest data from Voyager 1 indicates, "We are clearly in a new region where things are changing more quickly. It is very exciting. We are approaching the solar system's frontier."

It's not the "final frontier," per Star Trek fame, but I can't help but think of Star Trek in conjunction with Voyager, as (the fictitious) Voyager 6 probe played a major role in that movie.

To date, Voyager 1 has traveled over 11.1 billion miles (17.8 billion kilometers). An amazing feat for which NASA deserves major props.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Pioneering

HAMMER TIME: Today we continued framing on the addition to our house. We're adding a living room and bedroom to the south of our existing structure. In fact, see that window to the left of Bee on the ladder? That's what I gaze out intermittently while I'm blogging. That window will be going away, as that space will be the open area connecting the old and new structures. 


In the photo, Annabelle is driving a nail to help secure one of the ceiling joist hangers. 


We're not breaking any land speed records on the construct, but it is plugging along and we're not paying anyone else to do it, so that's a good thing. 


BLOCK PARTY: Yesterday evening we came home and found a special delivery - the MINECRAFT inspired LEGO building kits we ordered months and months ago.
The kids tore into them right away. I could tell their experience in LEGO building class this year helped. They each plugged away at the kits with no questions and no problems.
RHYME TIME: I picked up a tiny book of Jack Preulutsky poetry at the Shoreline library last week, thinking we could use it to inspire our creative writing.


In it, JP wrote a poem where every line started with "I Don't Want to ...". So, I asked the kids to write a similar but opposite poem, using "I want to" at the start of each sentence. Also, I told them they had to adhere to the ABCB rhyme pattern, so, of course, we spent some time talking about what that was.  Afterward, here's what CJ came up with ... 



I Want To Go to the Mariners game
I Want To get rally fries
I Want To see them win
I Don't Want To see them cry

I Want To Play my new game
I Want To have fun
I Want To have it hard
I Want To get it done

I Want To get my candy
I Want To get more
I Want To be satisfied
I Want To get them at every door



Annabelle wrote this ...
I want to play computer
I want to do my math
I want to play a game
I want to take a bath
I want to eat some cheese
I want to run
I want to draw
I want to eat a bun!
I want to look around
I want to play with a ball
I want to walk
I want to go to the mall




They were both surprised at how quickly and easily they were able to complete the poems. 


P SQUARED: This evening we had an unexpected visit with a couple of longtime friends from out of town. They were checking out the sites to see in Pioneer Square so we met them down there. Here are CeeJ and Bee in the heart of the Square, in front of the Pioneer Building. It's at the northeast corner of First Avenue and James Street, just north of Yesler Way. Designed by architect Elmer Fisher in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, its construction was completed in 1892. It was considered a new building following the Great Seattle Fire of 1889.
We met our friends for happy hour at The Central, Seattle's oldest saloon, dating back to 1892. I think that counts as a history lesson, right? It is located next door to J & M Cafe, which, forever, had claimed to be Seattle's oldest bar, but it closed a couple years back. It has since re-opened in the same space, with the same name, but I'm guessing The Central must be the oldest continuously operating saloon now. 
Here's a neat ivy-covered building we passed on the way back to our car. ... 
On the way home, the Space Needle's "Galaxy Gold" top was nicely framed by blue skies, puffy white clouds and some vintage brick.


Monday, June 18, 2012

On the Move

We covered LOTS of ground this weekend. Take a a deep breath and off we go ...

BRAIN BOOST: Saturday night we had the pleasure of attending a lecture in the Seattle Science Festival's Luminaries series. Evolution was the theme of the evening. On the bill were Dr. Jack Horner, the paleontologist who is perhaps best known for inspiring a Jurassic Park character; Dr. Leroy Hood, a dude who knows volumes about DNA; and the headliner was none other than Stephen Hawking. SO amazing that we had a chance to see him in person! Don't ask me why, but I only took ONE photo of the kids outside and as you can see, it's not exactly the greatest ... 
The show started with the very entertaining Baba Brinkman, a Canadian who raps about science and evolution.  (Intrigued, check out the "Rap Guide to Evolution" Web site! According to their "about us," it's a "hip-hop exploration of modern biology.")

By far, the kids' favorite rap Brinkman performed was "I'm A African." Rapped to the tune of the Dead Prez's song of the same name, it was a brilliant take on how, at least from an evolutionary standpoint, we are all Africans. The audience full of science geeks on Saturday night raucously sang along with Brinkman. I'd encourage you to check out the video:
Up next was Dr. Jack Horner of the Museum of the Rockies in Montana. He strolled the stage in his cowboy boots, sharing his dream of hatching a new old dinosaur. He made the point that we don't have to make new dinosaurs, since they already exist in the form of birds. So what Horner et al are trying to do is look for throwback traits - called  atavisms - and find away to bring them to fruition again.

After Dr. Horner, a dance troupe performed. For a long time. They were talented dancers. And they danced a really, reeeeeally loooooooong time. 

Finally, after intermission, it was back to some hard science. Dr. Leroy Hood, founder Seattle's Institute for Systems Biology shared an approach to health care he calls P4 - predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory medicine.

And much to the crowd's delight, next up was The Stephen Hawking. Squeeee! Here's a really awful photo, taken illicitly, in the dark, with my cell phone. But it's the best I have to offer. ...
Hawking had lots to say, and all of it was said through a high tech device that is able to convert  twitches in his face into a synthesized voice. Though the process is a little slow, and there were some delays, Hawking was able to communicate clearly and he had lots of mind blowing ideas to share.  

CJ's take on the evening: 
Evolution was an event that happened on June sixteenth, two-thousand twelve. (6/16/2012) In Evolution, it talked at first about how all of our descendants came from Africa, with the song "I'm A African" made by Baba Brinkman. In Evolution, you would get to meet Stephen Hawking. It talked about a lot of intresting things, like how some snakes have legs, some humans have tails, and even how Chickens are related to Dinosaurs.
The "Chicken-Saurus" was interesting. They said it would require altering the D.N.A of a chicken. They showed that before, scientists already figured out how to give chicken teeth. They said the next step would be altering the chicken tail.
The final speech was done by Stephen Hawking. In the final speech, Hawking talked about M-Theory, the theory to everything. If M-Theory is correct, that will mean every particle has a superpartner.
And here's what Annabelle has to say about it: 
Stephen Hawking, a scientist, one of the most famous people on earth, was at the Seattle Science Festival to talk about the world we live in, and another dimension, both on what we call a Brane. The Brane, like i said, holds one single dimension. Our Brane seemed to be leaking gravity, having the neighboring Brane, holding "The Shadow World" which had planets with no star for them to orbit around, used the gravity to make the planets with no star like our sun, act like our solar system!

Stephen Hawking is possibly the smartest person on earth. He is very smart. Trust me.
At the conclusion of Hawking's lecture he told us he wanted to plug his latest book. A children's book co-authored with his daughter Lucy, it's called "George and the Big Bang." It's the third in a series. had no idea Hawking had written children's books! We'll definitely be hunting a copy down!


I realize I've done a somewhat crappy job of recounting the evening, especially the Hawking part, as there was more than a little bit in his presentation that I didn't just couldn't fully wrap my mind around at first introduction. Fortunately, there is an EXCELLENT review of the show on MSNBC.com's Cosmic Log: I'd encourage you to check it out.


RETRO-RAMA: Saturday morning we headed to Bellevue for the second annual Seattle Retro Gaming Expo. We've been looking forward to it for about a year - since the last/first SRGE.


The event Web site clearly said that the gaming room would be open to all at 9, as did the official program at the event, and so when we arrived a few minutes after 9 a.m., we were surprised to find a long, non-moving line way out the door. We finally started creeping forward, only to be told once we nearly reached the front that the event wasn't open until 10 a.m. for people who hadn't pre-registered. Grrrr. Nothing like making the rules up as they go along. After handing over a wad of cash to a guy, we finally got in a few minutes before 10 a.m., and even then the game play room was nowhere near being ready for show goers. So, we meandered through the vendors area and saw approximately 3,238 things CJ and Annabelle wanted to buy. We settled for just three or four "new" things, however, including a Toy Story game for GameBoy for $1, a Super Famicon Dragonball Z game for $8, and the big ticket item was a super cool new SupaBoy - an aftermarket device that's a portable gaming console that plays old Super Nintendo and Super Famicom games. Sweet!


The free play room was finally open after 10:30. We were surprised to find the number of consoles to play was less than 1/3 there were last year and the first and supposedly smaller show. Curious. But CJ and Annabelle each got to play some classic games, and CJ and another young gamer were like two peas in a pod, speaking their own language while playing River City Ransom and Contra on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. 


In our couple hours there, Annabelle was THE ONLY young girl (say under 20) I saw.
And CJ was definitely the only one wearing a Famicom Disk System t-shirt (that got a LOT of comments from classic game gurus, all of whom were even more shocked to hear that CJ actually owns and plays the rare console). 


SUNDAY AT THE SAFE: For Father's Day, we headed to SoDo, for a date with the Seattle Mariners. Rick and Ken joined us, which was nice, and we met one of the kids' cousins and his parents there. Tons of fun for everyone! 


The sun was shining and the roof was open. It was a glorious day for a baseball game. 
King Felix was pitching and the King's Court was in session, just to the left of our seats. It was fun watching and listening to their ruckus. 
The Mariners pulled off a bottom of the ninth miracle and actually won - an all too rare occurrence as of late.