TO BOLDLY GO: Sunday afternoon we trekked to a central Seattle park, Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park to see Hello Earth present Outdoor Trek, where the theater group performs an adapted episode from the original Star Trek series.
The play we saw was "Devil in the Dark," and it was super entertaining!
Here, Kirk and Spock are hatching a plot to stop the murderous monster killing pergium miners on planet Janus VI. And here is said monster, the Horta, making its entrance. It was cleverly fashioned over an umbrella frame!
And here, an unsuspecting red shirt meets his (predictable) doom,
Here, Spock and McCoy trade barbs as they so often do. (Kirk, Spock and McCoy were all played by women, BTW.)
And here, Spock performs the Vulcan mind meld with the Horta.
One of the things that made the play extra fun was that a friend (and sometimes babysitter of CJ & Annabelle!) played Dr. McCoy. Here, McCoy announces he/she has saved the day by closing an open wound on the Horta.
I asked the kids to write reviews of the play. Here's what they came up with, CJ first. .
We sat in our usual spot on Monday evening, up in the top row, above third base. It was a loud crowd, and about 34,000 fans on hand, which is a big crowd for the Ms these days.
The game was fun, because it was a close one most of the night. Above, Annabelle celebrates a hit by Raul Ibanez. However, the Ms couldn't string any hits together, and then after their starter, Iwakuma, left the game, the wheels fell off. Ms lose.
Perhaps the best part of the evening was as we were leaving the stadium. I knew the ISS would be flying over, and though the lights of the stadium were so bright, we managed to spot it, and pointed it out to some people around us.
But we were back for more this afternoon, because who can pass up a matinee on a sunny Wednesday afternoon in August? This time Rick and Kennedy were able to join us, so I had all four of my kids there, fun! There were 34,000 plus again today, but I'd say it was closer to a 50-50 split Ms v. Jays fans.
The game was messy. Though they got a couple of runs in the bottom of the first inning, pitcher Aaron Harang trotted out of the dugout and gave up 5 flipping runs in the top of second inning and the Jays scored another pair in the third. We sat there wondering why we were there. However, the Ms picked up one run in the fourth and in the fifth inning they rallied to score 6, taking the lead, 9-7. Mercifully, they were able to hold that lead into the ninth. Mariners win!
It took a long time to get to that score - the Mariners used SIX different pitchers, the Jays used four, each team had 11 hits and the home plate umpire got injured and a sub had to come in, which meant for a long delay. In all, the game lasted nearly four hours. We got our money's worth!
We'll be back at Safeco on Saturday night and we can't wait. There will be a special pre-game ceremony inducting Ken Griffey Jr. into the Mariners Hall of Fame. Can't wait to see "The Kid" back on the field, even if it's just for ceremonial purposes.
PARTY PEOPLE: Last night was the neighborhood block party, and our yard is always Ground Zero, because we're pretty much the only ones with a flat front yard on the hill!
I made many tasty things for the party, including some delicious little antipasti bites, two kinds of deviled eggs (wasabi and bacon cheeseburger), some amazing little organic strawberry cupcakes, some beef & bison chipotle chili, some cute and tasty kiwi mango shots and, of course, some cookies. I wanted to make something summery, and I saw some cute beach cookies on Sweet Ambs site, so we did our own take on those.
They were fun to make, and all of 'em got eaten. :) It makes me happy when people eat the cookies. Last night, one of our neighbors confessed to me she still has a sun-face cookie I made in DECEMBER for a solstice party we hosted. And a neighbor's former nanny who lives in Germany confessed she couldn't eat the Space Needle cookies I made last weekend, and is taking it home to Germany with her. 
ROCKET FIRE: At 5:30, we watched the launch of a Delta IV with a military communications satellite (WGS-6) on board. Man, it was the most fiery launch I think I've ever seen off the pad. It really lit up the night!
Tonight the kids' bed time will be pushed back a bit so they can watch a 6-minute fly over of the ISS at 9:45. We've seen it dozens of times, but every darn time it's still exciting.
ALL EARS: CJ has been on a kick lately involving him reading and talking about dictatorships for a couple hours a day. (Fun topic, no?) When I saw that the season premiere of Nature on PBS tonight was called "Cuba: The Accidental Eden," I turned it on immediately.
CJ watched the whole great and often gorgeous program. Now he knows that Cuba is a whole lot more than just about Castro.
PBS has the whole one-hour episode online if you're interested: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/video/cuba-the-accidental-eden-video-full-episode/5834/
Here's the first of seven parts
Here, Kirk and Spock are hatching a plot to stop the murderous monster killing pergium miners on planet Janus VI. And here is said monster, the Horta, making its entrance. It was cleverly fashioned over an umbrella frame!
And here, an unsuspecting red shirt meets his (predictable) doom,
Here, Spock and McCoy trade barbs as they so often do. (Kirk, Spock and McCoy were all played by women, BTW.) And here, Spock performs the Vulcan mind meld with the Horta.
One of the things that made the play extra fun was that a friend (and sometimes babysitter of CJ & Annabelle!) played Dr. McCoy. Here, McCoy announces he/she has saved the day by closing an open wound on the Horta.
I asked the kids to write reviews of the play. Here's what they came up with, CJ first. .
Outdoor Trek: "The Devil in the Dark"
Outdoor Trek is a outdoor version of some of the Star Trek: The Original Series episodes by Hello Earth. this one, specifically, 1967, Season 1, episode 25: "The Devil in the Dark".
First of all, I want to say that I was really surprised when I saw that my babysitter, Shaina, played Dr. Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy. Also, I noticed that there were some men playing women & vice versa. But I don't think it really matters as long as they do their roles right.
Outdoor Trek has been made by Hello earth since 2009, and it doesn't look like it will stop anytime soon, with another episode: "Tribble Trouble" coming up in Portland, Oregon. "The Devil in the Dark" was premiered on Tuesday afternoon on 8/4/2013.
"The Devil in the Dark" was hosted at a stage at 2100 S Jackson Street, Seattle, Washington. At the stage, it was pretty hot, so before the show, Rick & I cooled off with some popcorn in the shade. Also, just a note, the seats were made of rock, but we were comfortable anyway.And Annabelle's take:
Hello Earth is a nonprofit organization Dedicated to making outdoor play productions. Which, are surprisingly greatly adapted from TV to the stage. Overall, I would give Outdoor Trek: "The Devil in the Dark" a 10/10!
*SPOILER ALERT*
Outdoor Trek is a local theater brought by Hello Earth, and we just recently saw a play of the episode "Devil in the Dark". In this episode, they find many silicon capsules (which they destroy), and there is a mysterious monster apparently killing miners! It turns out that this creature (which calls itself a "Horta") was really just trying to protect its babies- the capsules were eggs! At the end, the miners make a deal with the Horta- the Horta digs tunnels, is left alone by the miners, and the miners collect the uncovered minerals.
Our good friend/babysitter, Shaina, played Dr. McCoy in the play, and I think all of the actors did a great job!
Overall, it was a great play, and I hope to see another Outdoor Trek soon!TWO IN THREE: We have gone to two Mariners' games in the last three days, both v. the Toronto Blue Jays. I guess I've never gone to a Blue Jays' game in Seattle before because I wasn't prepared for what we saw. As we approached the stadium Monday night, it was pretty clear that Mariners fans were outnumbered by Toronto fans by about a 2-1 margin. That's right, we'd been invaded by friendly, baseball loving Canadians! :)
We sat in our usual spot on Monday evening, up in the top row, above third base. It was a loud crowd, and about 34,000 fans on hand, which is a big crowd for the Ms these days.
The game was fun, because it was a close one most of the night. Above, Annabelle celebrates a hit by Raul Ibanez. However, the Ms couldn't string any hits together, and then after their starter, Iwakuma, left the game, the wheels fell off. Ms lose.
Perhaps the best part of the evening was as we were leaving the stadium. I knew the ISS would be flying over, and though the lights of the stadium were so bright, we managed to spot it, and pointed it out to some people around us.
But we were back for more this afternoon, because who can pass up a matinee on a sunny Wednesday afternoon in August? This time Rick and Kennedy were able to join us, so I had all four of my kids there, fun! There were 34,000 plus again today, but I'd say it was closer to a 50-50 split Ms v. Jays fans.
The game was messy. Though they got a couple of runs in the bottom of the first inning, pitcher Aaron Harang trotted out of the dugout and gave up 5 flipping runs in the top of second inning and the Jays scored another pair in the third. We sat there wondering why we were there. However, the Ms picked up one run in the fourth and in the fifth inning they rallied to score 6, taking the lead, 9-7. Mercifully, they were able to hold that lead into the ninth. Mariners win!
It took a long time to get to that score - the Mariners used SIX different pitchers, the Jays used four, each team had 11 hits and the home plate umpire got injured and a sub had to come in, which meant for a long delay. In all, the game lasted nearly four hours. We got our money's worth!
We'll be back at Safeco on Saturday night and we can't wait. There will be a special pre-game ceremony inducting Ken Griffey Jr. into the Mariners Hall of Fame. Can't wait to see "The Kid" back on the field, even if it's just for ceremonial purposes.
PARTY PEOPLE: Last night was the neighborhood block party, and our yard is always Ground Zero, because we're pretty much the only ones with a flat front yard on the hill!
I made many tasty things for the party, including some delicious little antipasti bites, two kinds of deviled eggs (wasabi and bacon cheeseburger), some amazing little organic strawberry cupcakes, some beef & bison chipotle chili, some cute and tasty kiwi mango shots and, of course, some cookies. I wanted to make something summery, and I saw some cute beach cookies on Sweet Ambs site, so we did our own take on those.
ROCKET FIRE: At 5:30, we watched the launch of a Delta IV with a military communications satellite (WGS-6) on board. Man, it was the most fiery launch I think I've ever seen off the pad. It really lit up the night!
Tonight the kids' bed time will be pushed back a bit so they can watch a 6-minute fly over of the ISS at 9:45. We've seen it dozens of times, but every darn time it's still exciting.
ALL EARS: CJ has been on a kick lately involving him reading and talking about dictatorships for a couple hours a day. (Fun topic, no?) When I saw that the season premiere of Nature on PBS tonight was called "Cuba: The Accidental Eden," I turned it on immediately.
CJ watched the whole great and often gorgeous program. Now he knows that Cuba is a whole lot more than just about Castro.
PBS has the whole one-hour episode online if you're interested: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/video/cuba-the-accidental-eden-video-full-episode/5834/
Here's the first of seven parts
Watch Cuba: The Accidental Eden on PBS. See more from Nature.
It seems like "Arena" would be very adaptable.
ReplyDeleteQuite a menu for the block party. How many showed up?
Arena would be THE BEST. That's probably my favorite ST episode, mostly for all the wrong reasons.
DeleteI think there were probably 50-60 at the block party.