Korea to Cuba

PICTURE PERFECT: We headed downtown this morning for a special event at Benaroya Hall. Following, CJ tells you a bit about the one-hour presentation.

On the morning of May 15 at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle, there was a National Geographic Live event titled "A Rare Look: North Korea to Cuba." The event was about the photography work of David Guttenfelder, a photographer for National Geographic Magazine.

Guttenfelder stated that he was born in 1969 in rural Iowa. For most of his twenties, he worked as a photographer across the continent of Africa. During his time in the continent, he witnessed several different conflicts, such as civil wars. From 2001 to 2013, Guttenfelder extensively covered the War on Terror in Afghanistan.

According to the event page on Seattle Symphony's website (linked above), in 2011, Guttenfelder helped the Associated Press open a bureau in the totalitarian state of North Korea. During his presentation, Guttenfelder showed us several pictures he has taken inside of North Korea. Apparently, he is one of the only Americans allowed regular access to the country, often referred to as the "Hermit Kingdom" in a derogatory fashion.

On Instagram (a popular social network website), Guttenfelder's account has over one million followers. In addition, Guttenfelder acts as the curator of Everyday DPRK, an account featuring several pictures submitted by photojournalists from inside North Korea (legally known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, abbreviated DPRK).
Guttenfelder's photography portrays a variety of different settings, situations, people, and places across the world.

During his presentation, Guttenfelder showcased a diverse array of his pictures taken over the years, from his 1980s ventures across the continent of Africa to much more recent pictures taken of Cubans using cell-phones, in Cuba's first park with Wi-Fi. In Cuba, most citizens don't even have internet connections in their homes.

Guttenfelder has also ventured to Cuba for photography. Notably, he was present in Cuba shortly after former dictator Fidel Castro died in 2016.

It was a compelling presentation. As we walked back to our car afterward, I said to the kids, "I think (Guttenfelder) has the most awesome job in the world." 

The photographer is an eight-time World Press Photo Award winner and a seven-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Additionally, in 2016, a photograph of his made in North Korea was named among TIME Magazine's "100 Most Influential Photographs Ever Taken."  (You can see them all here: http://100photos.time.com/. A direct link to Guttenfelder's photo is here: http://100photos.time.com/photos/david-guttenfelder-north-korea#photograph

ULTIMATELY: Saturday morning, Annabelle had an Ultimate Frisbee game out at Magnuson Park. It was against a team they beat 11-10 in a nail biter a couple of weeks ago.

This time it wasn't at close. The Cascading Saucers (the team Annabelle's on) won handily, 11-4. Here are the teams in a post-game 'spirit circle,' where they share compliments and comments. (I am pretty sure Annabelle is hidden in this photo.)

There's just one more game to go in the season, which means it's nearly time for the end of season party, which means it's time for some coaches' gifts. I had the idea of turning a Frisbee into a clock for their coaches, to thank them for all the time they devoted to the team this year.

We started with these blank discs.

We ordered a clock movement kit from Amazon, choosing the white hands, as we thought they'd "pop" in front of the green. Christian drilled a hole through the disc's center and installed the movements.

Then, Annabelle used her Cricut machine to make the numbers. We chose a font that matched the words on the disc, and a blue foil material that matched the disc perfectly!

 We were super happy with the finished product!

We had a number of other fun goings-on this past weekend, but will save those for tomorrow's post.