So, a couple weeks back, I bid on a big ol' Casio keyboard. The minimum bid was $9.99 and I was in, despite it was untested (by them) and unseen (by me). I did zero research on its make/value/quality. Surely it would sell for more, so no big deal anyway.
Well, a few nights ago I got an auto email telling me "Congratulations! You were awarded the winning bid!"
Frankly, I'd forgotten I bid on it at all. Hmm. OK. Well, it was only $9.99 and I've guess we've got a keyboard, I thought.
Christian went and picked it up today. It didn't come with a power supply, but it did come in a sweet, expensive-ish gig bag, and it didn't smell like smoke - two HUGE pluses! It dual powers by battery, so as soon as we rounded up 6 D-cells we fired it up and ...
AWESOME!!! Seriously, it rocks the house!
Rick and Ken had an electronic keyboard growing up (thanks G&G) and it really helped them with their guitar immensely. (It was good for laying down backbeats and picking out chords, especially.) CJ and Annabelle have been tickling the (imitation) ivory all night and digging it. What a SCORE! Yay for us and Goodwill!
LAST DAY: Today marked the kids' last day of weekly classes in Shoreline until September. Annabelle brought home several art projects (pictured below are a few).
I told CJ that next year he starts middle school and that middle school is kind of like the WORST THING EVER because of all the whacked out hormonal peers at that age. He looked panicked for about 10 seconds and asked if he was being sent to traditional school in September. I told him 'no' and he happily resumed eating his Bad Albert's bacon cheeseburger. All was right in the world.
SURF'S UP: Late this afternoon we got back to the "History of Rock" class. Today's 'special' was surf music.
After listening and learning about the groups via Coursera lectures, I played some of the songs for the kids via YouTube. Imagine their surprise when they heard Dick Dale's "Miserlou." Before today, they knew that song only as a Black Eyed Peas' hit, "Pump It." Next up was The Ventures' "Walk Don't Run." Our professor reminded us the group was from Seattle. And one more instrumental that was a must was The Surfaris' "Wipe Out." (That last one makes me want to buy a drum kit!)
Naturally, we had to listen to some surf music with vocals, which meant Beach Boys and Jan and Dean. "Surfin' U.S.A." and "Surfer Girl" were obvious choices. (The video for "Surfer Girl" live on the Steve Allen show is a gem, BTW. They look so uncomfortable, screw up the lyrics, and wait for the crowd shot at the end. Priceless!)
COLORFUL: Saw a post by Scientific American today telling us of the winner for the 2014 Flame Challenge put on by The Alan Alda and the Center for Communicating Science. The challenge was for someone to explain "What is color?" to people so that a 5th grader could understand it. This year's winner is Dianna Cowern, who studied physics at MIT. She has a channel on YouTube called Physics Girl.
MAMA KNOWS BEST: Stumbled across this story today about a mother (named Kristine!) who (thank god) didn't listen to 'experts' in the special ed department when they predicted her her young, autistic son would never be able to so much as tie his shoes. Her solution? Ignore the experts, let her son study things he was passionate about, and watch him blossom. Bravo to her!
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/autistic-boy-genius-iq-higher-einstein-article-1.1340923
Jacob's story is inspiring. Einstein had similar problems as a child. Late talker for one. Thanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteJan & Dean became masters of the lip-sync after one of them was badly injured in a car wreck.