Computers and Construction

COMPUTERS COME TO LIFE: This afternoon, we took advantage of free tickets from Seattle Public Libraries' museum pass program to visit the Living Computer Museum, in Seattle Sodo neighborhood. 

We'd visited the place before, last summer, but it was on a special festival day and right before a Mariners game, so the place was packed and we were in a hurry. We've been meaning to get back there ever since, and today was the day!

I'm not going to share our entire visit with you until tomorrow, when the kids have had a chance to write a review. That, and while we were pulling out of the parking lot, I said to Annabelle, "That made me want to see 'The Imitation Game,' " an Oscar-nominated movie about Cambridge mathematics alumnus Alan Turing (played by Benedict Cumberbatch). Turning was recruited to crack purportedly impenetrable Nazi codes during World War II. So we've got a movie to watch tonight.

I've been wanting to see "The Imitation Game" ever since I made a cookie about it for an Oscars party. Below, you can spy part of 'bombe,' Turing's electromechanical device used in decoding. My bombe is in flour and sugar form.

CENTERED:  A couple of bonus points left over from yesterday's field trip to Seattle Center. First, let's talk about Monorail Man!

We were taking a short cut from the Space Needle to the International Fountain through the Armory/food court, which mean cutting across the western edge of the monorail station's platform. Out of the corner of our eyes we spied a robotic like feature and, of course, had to go check it out.

Turns out the feature is named Monorail Man, and he's made from spare parts of Seattle's mid-century modern transportation option.

What's funny that you can't see in the photos above is that while the kids were standing next to Monorail Man, a loud whistle went off scaring the heck out of them. I wish I had a photo of them jumping!  We're still not sure what set him off ... if he has a motion detector, if the alarm is on a timer, or if someone in the toll booth on the platform nearby pushes a button to startle unsuspecting children. We'll have to do some more investigating. 

We also had the chance to check out progress on the new play park adjacent to the Experience Music Project.  Our jaws dropped when we saw how much has been done since we last looked in.

Doesn't it look amazing?!  We can't wait to climb up those ropes and slide down that tube!

And won't clambering across the suspended bridge pictured above be fun?

It is going to offer some great views of the Space Needle, that's for sure.

The labyrinth the kids love to work their way through has even been repainted.

A sign on site says the park opens on May 22. You know we'll be there!