Dinner and Theater

SATURDAY NIGHT: This Saturday was the fourth Saturday of the month, and for us, that means volunteering at Teen Feed, which means planning for a dinner for usually anywhere from 40-80 hungry guests. You can see what was on this month's menu below. Annabelle used our Cricut machine to cut the letters out, and then she added some other personal touches.

The hardest part of Teen Feed is you don't know whether 40 or 90 people are coming for dinner. It's drop in, and definitely not reservations. In anticipation of a big crowd (because you have to err on the side of too much), we personally made 4 dozen brownies and about 40 potatoes. There were several other volunteers, making or bringing everything from big pots of chili to shredded cheddar cheese. There were bacon bits, chopped tomatoes, green onions, olives, sour cream - oh, and butter, of course. The plates coming down the line looked phenomenal! However, the crowd was so sparse. It was so unusual. We had no idea why there were so few diners. We definitely had an over abundance of food. Especially potatoes.

Not wanting to waste food, that meant hashbrowns for days around here. There are worse things. 

RED ROVER: The (^$&%#) government shutdown definitely affected NASA operations on Earth, but good ol' Curiosity kept busy up on Mars, where, fortunately, there are no *&%^$ politicians. :) 

Look at his glorious selfie Mars Science Laboratory beamed back during the government shut down. 

The photo was taken on Sol 2291 (January 15) at the "Rock Hall" drill site, located on Vera Rubin Ridge, Curiosity's 19th drill site. 

You can see the drill hole to the rover's lower-left. (NASA notes the entire scene is slightly dustier than usual due to a regional dust storm affecting the area.)

While it looks like a single shot, in reality, the photo is composed of 57 (!) images taken by Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) - a camera on the end of the rover's robotic arm. 

The rover has been exploring the Vera Rubin Ridge since September of 2017. Now, it will trek to the "clay-bearing unit,"a trough just south of the ridge. Scientists are hoping clay minerals in that area hold more clues about the ancient lakes that helped form the lower levels on Mount Sharp.

More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/.

CINEMA STUDIES: We watch a lot of sports, almost zero 'network' TV (dramas and sitcoms), and so few movies 'round MPA. We've decided during the doldrums (post-football, pre-baseball), we're going to try to catch up on some classics with the kids. This weekend, that meant watching "Best in Show."

A mockumentary from 2000 about the world of elite dog shows, it's still *so* funny!