Someone had left the game "Bottle Imp" on the stack of communal games. Christian read the directions for the 'trick taking' game, and tutored us through it.
The game is named after a short story by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. The tale was originally published, in Samoan, in 1891. That explains the artwork on the cards, which definitely had an island/Polynesian flair. In 1917, the story was made into a silent movie!
I read on Wikipedia tonight that in the story, the bottle is cursed; and if the holder dies bearing it, their soul is forfeit to hell. Hmm. Bummer for me. I had the bottle when the game ended.
Then again, as I think about it, "Sweetie Belle" was holding the bottle almost the whole game. She's doomed for sure.
HOBBIT HOLE: When I saw this photo of a round door this morning, my mind immediately turned toward the Hobbits. Anyone who has read the books will recall, "It was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle."
This porthole is blue, not green, and since it's open, we can't tell if there's a shiny brass knob in its center.
Credit: NASA
However, based on its size, I'm pretty sure it's not for Hobbits! In fact, what is pictured is the largest thermal vacuum chamber in the world, "Chamber A." It's where the Apollo mission space capsules were tested, and it's where the James Webb Space Telescope will be tested, at Johnson Space Center. It was recently upgraded for that duty.
Chamber A is 90 feet tall and 55 feet in diameter. Its hydraulic door weighs 40 tons. There's a neat video all about it here ... http://youtu.be/q2wvFSE8OqM
INDEPENDENT STUDY: This morning, the kids spent a couple of hours doing 'research' on their own. The topic? "The Most Powerful Characters in Gaming Ever." It's a YouTube series of videos about, well, the title is self-explanatory. The creator of the series (whoisthisgit) has 934 or so videos on YouTube (mercifully, not all on the same topic).
The kids are enjoying the series. You can see episode 1 here, if you are so inclined ...
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