We Can Rebuild It

CHRISTMAS PRESENT: Between their West Seattle-based classes today, we hit a Barnes & Noble at Westwood Village. There, the kids had no trouble finding items to buy with gift cards they received for Christmas (thanks Renee & Jim!). Guess who chose the pink unicorn? It will look cute in her My Little Pony room.

LIKE IT'S 1985: As I've noted on these 'pages,' recently CJ has renewed his interest in his retro gaming consoles in a big way. Unfortunately, a little over a week ago, his Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) just wouldn't work any more. It was glitching, blinking, or just filling the screen with snow.

In reading up on the consoles, we learned the number one trouble typically causing these types of issues is the 72-pin connector inside the units. It's the receiver for the game cartridges, and often the pins get bent and dirty over the years.

So, CJ hopped on eBay and we found a new 72-pin connector for under $10, from a guy in West Virginia. CJ estimated it should arrive yesterday. It didn't. But today, it did! He was a very happy boy!

I told CJ to find a tutorial on YouTube showing how to change the connector. He found a clear, concise video showing just that. First, he watched it by himself, and when Christian got home, they watched it again, together.

Confident they could make the swap, they started dismantling the NES.

It amounted to removing about 15 screws with a Phillips screwdriver, and then lifting out the circuit board/connector combination. 

They cleaned everything up before installing the new 72-pin part, pictured below.

Then they put the screws back in and it was time to test it out. Bingo! The Zelda cartridge CJ inserted fired up just like brand new! Sweet!

He and Annabelle proceeded to play a number of titles, including Super Marion Bros. 3 and Turtles II the Arcade Game.

ROTTEN APPLE: Reason number 326 that I may NEVER be done with the pony mural - Annabelle's exacting standards.

Yesterday, I was summoned into her room so that she could share with me her displeasure over this apple, held by the (zombie no-eyed pony) Applejack.

I was told the stem was wrong, wrong, wrong. Too green and too big. Wow. Keep in mind, to give you a sense of scale and her attention to detail, this is about a half a square inch on a mural project of about 290 square feet.

Of course, the thing is, she is right, and I knew it and already had plans to remedy it.

The good news is, she's SUPER happy with the pony chalets. ...

And today we actually started painting some of the sky!

FROM SCRATCH: In his Scratch programming class today, CJ came up with this cute little thingie ... In the project notes he described it as "Probably one of the most rAnDoM projects I will ever make on Scratch."
Learn more about this project

Annabelle recently completed her first ever animation on Scratch.
Learn more about this project
In order to do it, she used General Zoi's Pony Creator on Deviant Art to make a pony that she thinks looks like her dad. She created the pony in several different posses and took screen shots. Then, she imported the screen shots into Scratch and connected and looped them so that it would be animated. Pretty cool!

Carrot Tops

THE GARDEN GROWS: I was making a pot of chili for tonight and needed some carrots. Fortunately, I had to look no further than the top of our lot. There, carrots sown from seed last spring are still growing away. There are still dozens of carrot tops above the dirt, with orange surprises underneath.

Based on the circumference of the top of one we could see, we were intrigued.

CJ tried to pull it out by hand, but it wasn't going to give up that easily. The greens just ripped off.

So, we broke out a weeding tool and he dug the bugger out. It was a lunker, weighing in at 6+ ounces!

Annabelle had amassed a number of smaller carrots. At first we surmised that CJ's lunker might outweigh Bee's combined. But the scale tells the truth, and we were wrong. Way wrong. ...

The collection of smaller carrots pretty much doubled the lunker in weight.

And as we laid the carrots out on the countertop and compared the big one vs. the rest, it was clear that the collection surpassed the Big One.

I let the kids have their picks of the produce litter, and then the rest went into a marvelous chili (recipe from Rachel Ray - I've used every type of ground meat you can think of, from turkey to buffalo, and it's all good).

And can I just say, I love how we were able to turn harvesting carrots into a math lesson? :)

THE BLUES: Guess what? I'm still working on the *&%@ing My Little Pony mural.

The good news is, I can (just barely) see the (dim) light at the end of the tunnel. I've got the vast majority of the details painted, and we're about ready to tackle the sky. Which means we need the Perfect Pony Sky Blue. Off to Miller Paint we go - again. Yes, they know us by name now. ...

Actually, we'd already looked at two paint places for the right blue, and struck out at both. I should have known just to go to Miller first, really.

So many blues to choose from - but it took us a dozen plus paint samples we thought were close to find one that seemed to truly be close enough. "Ariel," it was.

Hopefully we'll start laying down some sky tomorrow. Stay tuned. ... 

LIFE AND TIMES: The kids pored over an oldish (from last October) but-new-to-them edition of "Time for Kids" at lunchtime today. The cover story was about soda pop. It spoke specifically about New York City's recent ban of soft drinks larger than 16 ounces at certain businesses, including restaurants, theaters and sports arenas.

After the kids read the story, I asked CJ what it was about. He replied, "If you drink too much of this (soda), you're going to become obese within a short time. I think that can happen if you drink too much."The story had a photo of a 32-ounce cup of soda, along with the facts that the typical fourth grader would have to jog 1.5 hours just to work off the 360 calories and 100 grams of sugar in the drink. Yikes!

At the end of the article, there was a link to the Scholastic Web site to watch a video on the topic. Unfortunately  the link wasn't right, but after some poking around, we were able to find the video here: http://sni.scholastic.com/SN3/10_22_12_SN3 and then clicked on the "Watch a Video" option and it popped up.

We also checked out the "Word to Know" feature, which defined 'migrate,' 'obesity,' 'options,' 'proposed,' and 'portion,' and we also used the "Play a Game" feature.

Another article in the same issue was titled "Car Trouble in China." After reading it, Annabelle explained, "Now it say you can't drive a new car in China without a license plate ..." and then CJ interrupted her and finished, "and you can only earn a licences plate winning a lottery or an auction."

This past summer in Shanghai, the average bid for a license plate was $10,000 US $. Yowza!

I asked the kids what they thought the repercussions were for having too many cars in China. Before they answered the question, we first had to talk about what "repercussions" means, so that was a good vocab exercise.

Once they knew that repercussions an unwanted by-product or unintended consequence occurring after an event or action, they quickly chimed in with "too much traffic" and "air pollution."

I was super happy that I was able to show a very recent news item to the kids that really drove that point home. Just a couple of days ago, the NASA image of the day was a scary, stunning photo of China's recent air quality crisis.

NASA's Earth Observatory Web site has a stunning comparison photo of China's recent air quality crisis . Below, are the then and now photos .... First, the one taken on Jan. 14. ...

Ladies and gentlemen, that's not just cloud coverage, that's hardcore air pollution.

Here's a photo of the same area taken on Jan. 3, before the critical air pollution alert. ...

Looks like Beijing is pretty much Ground Zero, with the pollution from its cars and factories flowing to the south. ugh.

In the first photo, you can see the heavy haze, clouds and fog over the region. When the photo was taken (Jan. 14), the air quality index in Beijing was 341. Anything above 300 is deemed hazardous to all humans - not just vulnerable populations with heart or lung ailments. And the photo doesn't even show the crisis at its worst - on Jan. 12, when the AQI measured 775!! That is Super Not Good.

During the crisis, the Chinese government ordered factories to scale back emissions, and people were warned to stay indoors. Still, hospitals saw spikes of 20+ percent more patients complaining of respiratory issues.

I'd really encourage you to go to the NASA site to get a MUCH better contrast of the photos above and a better explanation of what's going on using their interactive feature.

Live, from Magnolia

HERE COMES THE SUN: This morning's sunrise was a beauty. As the full glowing orb appeared, there was a thin strata of clouds running along the top of Queen Anne Hill. I went out onto our new roofdeck to take a photo. I didn't think it would shoot well, since the lighting was so harsh, but this one turned out OK.

We all returned to the roofdeck a bit later this morning, because I heard helicopters hovering overhead for several minutes. I knew that meant Magnolia was making news.

The KIRO 7 chopper was easy to spot, so I hopped to Twitter and found out that a bank in Magnolia had been robbed in a 'takeover' (guess that means where the gunman orders everyone to the ground - hey, I learned something new today!). Fortunately, no one was hurt. This is the latest in a series of bank robberies in our 'quiet' neighborhood. I think we're an easy target because everyone knows that there are almost NEVER any police in Magnolia. I mean, the only time you'll see one is AFTER a robbery or burglary. ...

MORE EARTH MOVING: In science class, the kids had fun playing with water and sand again, learning about erosion, land formations. Here, they have a couple meandering rivers which, over millions of years, might form canyons.

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: Annabelle set up her print-for-sale station again last night. This morning, when she got up, she found one of her pieces of artwork gone, and some $ and a note left behind.

Later today, we got photographic evidence that it is now on display. ...

GADGET GURU:  CJ has amassed quite a collection of gaming consoles and peripherals. Sometimes, he likes to try them in odd combos, to see if they'll work. Here, is a Frankenstein he came up with today. ... 

On the bottom is a SupaBoy, made by Hyperkin. It's an after market portable gaming console which will play Super Nintendo and Super Famicom games. Into it, CJ inserted his Super Game Boy. That device allows people to play Game Boy games in their Super Nintendo consoles. Atop the Super Game Boy, is a backward Game Genie. That allows players to hack Game Boy games by entering 'secret' codes. In the Game Genie, he has inserted a Game Boy game cartridge (in this case, "Kirby's Dream Land"). So, in effect, he has 'tricked' an aftermarket device meant to play standard Super Nintendo games into playing a hacked Game Boy game. Pretty cool!

HOPES AND DREAMS: As I've oft lamented here, there's no Apollo, there's no Shuttle program, there's no way other than a Soyuz rocket to get U.S. astronauts beyond Earth's gravitational pull right now. Yes, private companies, like SpaceX, are ramping up to handle low Earth orbit duties, but what about to infinity and beyond?

That is, hopefully, where Orion comes in.  Today, NASA released and artist's rendition of what the capsule Orion might look like atop a European Space Agency Service Module after it's launched by a NASA Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

The press release said this is supposed to go down, er, up, in 2017. Fingers crossed. ... 

TEN YEARS AGO TODAY: These fine people climbed in Orbiter Columbia at Kennedy Space Center. It would be their last day on Earth. Though they completed their mission aboard the ISS, on their voyage home the shuttle and all on board were lost.

                                 Image credit: NASA
Here's a iink to an interactive slideshow about STS-107 and it crew from NASA's site. ...
http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/sts107/index1.html

Art, Park, Mars & More

SIGHTSEEING: Every once in awhile we like to play tourists in our own city. The sun made a valiant effort to come out today, and when it did, we made a beeline for one of the city's number one tourist destinations - Kerry Park. Atop Queen Anne Hill, with great vistas to the south, it's a great place to be on a sunny day. Above, the kids play around on "Changing Form" by Doris Chase. It was added to the park in 1971, a gift from the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Sperry Kerry, Sr., who donated the park to the city in 1927.

We got a good look at the Space Needle's relatively new green paint job. Interesting. ... I liked the Galaxy Gold much better, I have to admit. 

MORNING ON MARS: At 10 a.m. we tuned in to a live press conference about the latest Mars Science Laboratory activities and what's up next for Curiosity. Much of today's talk walk about the drilling that the rover will be doing in the days to come. 

    Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS 

The photo above shows a patch of veined, flat-lying rock. It will serve as the first drilling site for MSL. It's been named John Klein, after a former deputy project manager for Curiosity who died in 2011.

Per a JPL/NASA press release, this is what you're looking at: "Enlargement A shows a high concentration of ridge-like veins protruding above the surface. Some of the veins have two walls and an eroded interior. Enlargement B shows that in some portions of this feature, there is a horizontal discontinuity a few centimeters or inches beneath the surface. The discontinuity may be a bed, a fracture, or potentially a horizontal vein. Enlargement C shows a hole developed in the sand that overlies a fracture, implying infiltration of sand down into the fracture system."

The image has been white-balanced to show what the rocks would look like if they were on Earth.

TABLE TIME: We spent a lot of time with pencils and paper today. First up was a rather tricky math assignment involving figuring out areas, then the kids had some worksheet from their weekly Math Detectives class to complete. That was followed by science homework, reading a story about the Grand Canyon and answering some comprehension questions afterward. 

We also had some quiet reading time today - an activity. The kids each read tons all day long, but most of it's articles of their own choosing on the Internet. I want them to get more literature under their belts, especially the classic kids' books. To that end, I picked up E.B. White's "Charlotte's Web" and "Stuart Little" at the library last week.

Annabelle completed "Charlotte's Web" in a couple of sittings. Here's what she had to say about the book's title character.

Charlotte is a grey spider that saves Wilbur's life in Charlotte's Web by writing messages in her web that express the pig as being "some pig" "fantastic" and "radiant". Charlotte is a half main half side character, as she is not talked about throughout the whole book, yet when she appears she becomes a main character. Charlotte is described at first "sight" as bloodthirsty and clever but later becomes Wilbur's friend, and as quoted by Wilbur himself: "Charlotte, when I met you, I thought you were bloodthirsty and sneaky!" (not exact words, as I've read the whole book and can't remember some parts that well). Charlotte helped the main character, Wilbur, throughout almost half the book, when she appeared at almost the half-way point. Charlotte loves weaving her web, so she is happy to help Wilbur by writing on her web. Since she helps Wilbur so much, her name is part of the title. Overall Charlotte is a nice character though depicted mean during her appearance.

CJ read Stuart Little quickly. I asked him to write about any character in the book. Here's what he came up with. ...

Margolo was a female bird in the 1949 book Stuart Little. In the book, she was depicted as liking to whistle. During the later events of Stuart Little, (*WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!*) it is told that two cats, Snowball and one anonymous cat, are planning to kill and eat Margolo.

However, in the book, it is said that one other bird was listening to Snowball and the anonymous cat, and he sent a note to Margolo reading this: “BEWARE OF THE MYSTERIOUS EVIL CAT THAT WANTS TO EAT YOU AT MIDNIGHT.” Of course, this frightens Margolo, so, she hid under the refrigerator that night in the book.

(*WARNING! Spoilers end here.*) However, for the rest of the book, Stewart can not find Margolo.

Interesting, and kind of obscure, character for CJ to single out. 


ART ONLINE: Annabelle spent a fair amount of time online today, creating art. She drew a flying dragon in Paint, and posted it to deviantART.

She also used General Zoi's Pony Creator to make a pony with Sponge Bob as its inspiration. Very clever. 

MAS MURAL: The painting of Ponyville continues in Annabelle's room. I've made some good progress over the last few days. Today, we even started putting finishing touches on some of the elements. Like here, Annabelle adds berries to a bush.

Agony, Ecstasy, Agony, Oh Well

'HAWKS NEST: Sunday the homestead turned into Seahawks Central, as we hosted yet another Seahawks' playoff party. 

We shopped and prepped food on Friday and Saturday, and come Sunday we were ready for the hungry masses and playoff football. 

What. A. Game. The first half was so abysmal. And the second half was so amazing. In the end (and by 'the end,' I mean the last 15 friggin' seconds), the Seahawks lost. 

I'm disappointed, but that's sports. Although it uses bad grammar, this graphic about sums it up for me. ...

There's always next year, ya know?! :)

OLD SCHOOL: Lately, CJ's interest in retro video games has re-emerged in a big way. So today, as our 'field trip' we decided to go visit Another Castle, a video game retailer and arcade in Lynnwood, WA. There, we got our Kong on, for starters. ...

The kids also played some Simpsons, Ninja Turtles, pinball, House of the Dead, Dig Dug, and other classic arcade action. 

While the kids were playing games, I was sizing up the options and couldn't help but notice this first-person shooter equipment. ... 

Immediately, I thought, "That's brilliant marketing." Normally, girls don't gravitate toward these types of games... but what if there was a pink gun. ... I immediately predicted (to myself) that Annabelle would be drawn to it because of the color of the hardware. I didn't point it out to her, I just watched and waited. 

Sure 'nuff. ... 

LATEST, GREATEST: Want to know what's going on on Mars? Make sure you tune in to a press conference tomorrow (Jan 15) at 10 a.m. Pac Coast time. We'll be tuning in on NASA TV, for sure!

I DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR: I mentioned last week that we're in the midst of a 'beef-up-our-knowledge-of presidents' campaign here at MPA. Today, I discovered a great resource with tons o' inauguration resources. It's on the White House's Web site, called The Our White House Inauguration Celebration Kit for Kids.   The kit contains non fiction stories, poetry, articles and art about presidents and the White House. 

We'll definitely be resourcing it in the days to come - especially the games "Inaugural I Spy" and "Pin the President on the Presidential Timeline."