Dear Evan Hansen

AT LAST: Wednesday evening we made our way downtown to the Paramount Theater to see a show we've been anticipating for many months. "Dear Evan Hansen" won the Tony award for best Broadway musical in . The Washington Post called the show “One of the most remarkable shows in musical theater history." 

The show features a super minimalistic set, and only eight actors (plus a live orchestra that's hidden from view). The lovely, historic Paramount theater sparkled like a jewel, as usual. Unfortunately, also, as usual, the sound wasn't great. It's an ongoing problem. Most concerts I've seen there, including, most recently Greta Van Fleet, the sound is super muddled. Last night, the volume was so quiet that the theater's HVAC system could be heard as loudly as the performers, and we could even hear freeway noise, as well. That was a first for a show at the Paramount.

I don't know who's running their sound board there, but they need some help.

If you want a taste of what it sounds like (when you can actually hear it!), check out this clip

You can expect reviews from CJ and Annabelle soon.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH: February 1 marks the first day of Black History Month. Obviously, it's not just for people of color. It's a great chance for us to learn a lot more about our nation and our fellow citizens and stories about people who history has too often forgotten.

Today, we watched a BrainPOP video about the Tuskegee Airmen. We'd all heard of them - the African-American military pilots who fought in World War II as the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces. The black military pilots trained at Moton Field, the Tuskegee Army Air Field, and attended Tuskegee University, located near Tuskegee, Alabama. 

The BrainPOP video was a great introduction to the airmen, and we used it as a springboard to go learn more. 

For instance, from the BrainPOP video, we learned that one of the Tuskegee Airmen, Robert W. Diez, was featured on a Treasury Department "buy bonds" poster. 

The poster was the work of Betsy Graves Reyneau, a white artist who painted portraits of many prominent African Americans, including George Washington Carver, Joe Louis, and Thurgood Marshall.  (Interesting side note, Reyneau was a suffragette. In 1917, she was one of the first woman to be arrested and imprisoned for protesting Woodrow Wilson's stance on women's voting rights.)

But back to airman Diez. ... We did a little research and learned that Diez was born (1919) and raised in Portland, Oregon. He attended Franklin High School there, and set records in the 100-yard dash, the 220-yard race and relays, and also won accolades on the University of Oregon track team. Diez enrolled in the Civilian Pilot Training Program after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Civilian Pilot Training Act into law on June 27, 1939. 

We also watched some video featuring a Tuskegee reunion in 2004 held on Memorial Day weekend on the National Mall in Washington, with Lt. Col. Lee A. Archer Jr., chairman and CEO of Archer Associates; Thomas Lowery, a drum and bugle corps Army enlistee transformed into a engineer, electrician, and pilot; and Col. Charles E. McGee, a command pilot with more than 6,100 total hours and flew fighter aircraft in Italy during WWII.

Rock On

GETTING TWIGGY WITH IT: Tuesday night we headed to the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle for a rock show in a small club. The headliners were The Lemon Twigs. Super talented, it's surprising they weren't playing a larger venue. It was also surprising to see a van with a small U-Haul trailer attached to it parked next to to the club. Not sure if it was the Twigs' or opener Jackie 

The Lemon Twigs are a band from Long Island, New York, headed by brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario. Their musical style is rather unique and hard to describe, though some have likened it to Wings (of Paul McCartney fame) or John Lennon. Their singles "These Words" and "As Long as We're Together" seem to be the most popular and reminiscent of this musical analogy.

When we first heard of The Lemon Twigs, we had already bought tickets to their show at the Columbia City Theater at the recommendation of a friend. We listened to a few of their tracks and decided it was worth going to see. The theater, though small and devoid of seats, was just the right size for the production they had going. 

All in all, it was a small, yet enjoyable, concert. I can't say much about the opening act, due to the fact we weren't present for most of it, but The Lemon Twigs themselves did a great job engaging the crowd and seemed to be very tight and coordinated in terms of playing their songs. You can listen to their songs on YouTube or check out their website at https://thelemontwigs.com/, which has links to most of their social media.

CJ had quite a bit to say about the show. 

In a musical climate where rock music has become scarce and desperate for relevancy, various groups have sprung up (most notably Michigan rockers Greta Van Fleet) in an attempt to re-new interest in the increasingly venerable genre. Among them is The Lemon Twigs, a band from Long Island, New York, fronted by two brothers: Michael D'Addario, and Brian D'Addario. The Lemon Twigs formed in 2014, and have since released two studio albums Fans of The Lemon Twigs include famous singer-songwriter Elton John (as noted in this 2016 New York Times interview.)

My mother learned of the band's existence through a Facebook friend she met on a Queen fangroup. Said friend was near-obsessed with the band, and otherwise had a good taste in music, so her adoration for The Lemon Twigs boded well for them. We discovered that The Lemon Twigs were coming to the Neptune (a Seattle Theatre Group theater with a capacity of ~1,000 people) in January, and we eventually bought tickets. To our surprise, the event was later moved to the Columbia City Theater (a small venue with a capacity of ~350 people, most notable for hosting legendary Seattle musician Jimi Hendrix early in his career) due to a lack of ticket sales. Apparently, The Lemon Twigs didn't even fill the Columbia City Theater.

Before The Lemon Twigs began performing, opener Jackie Cohen played for approximately an hour. However, we didn't come in until a half hour into her show, so I can't really make a fair judgment of the quality (or possible lack thereof) of the first half of her show. However, I can say that while Cohen seemed to, at the very least, have some interesting musical abilities. The Lemon Twigs didn't start until 9, after which they played for two hours.

If I recall correctly, most of The Lemon Twigs' setlist was songs from Go To School (their sophomore album,) with songs from Do Hollywood (their debut album) also appearing at various points. I was disappointed that there weren't more songs from the debut, as I consider it superior to their sophomore effort. Throughout the entire concert, The Lemon Twigs' musical influences (or, depending on who you ask, peers) clearly reverberated, from Supertramp to Stooges, Wings to Ween. Notably, the brothers had decidedly different "auras" surrounding them. Brian D'Addario, the brother who stood on stage left, sung on the more "Beatle-esque" songs, often evoking the psychedelic, baroque atmosphere of late Beatles records. Meanwhile, Michael D'Addario, the brother who stood stage center, had a very Mick Jagger/Iggy Pop "thing" going on, in particular with elements such as fashion, singing style, and movements.

Overall, The Lemon Twigs was a very enjoyable concert, and I'm kind of shocked that they couldn't even sell 350 tickets. Chances are, if they had even a minor hit, even the kind that could be sandwiched between a dozen-year-old MGMT song and whatever single Imagine Dragons just grunted out on KNDD, they could maybe step up to a bigger, better venue.

 As the kids noted, the theater was tiny. We stood in the 'far' back (I thought it would be nice to have a wall to lean against, and it feels safer than being in the sea of humanity). However, we were still plenty close to the action. In fact, for most of the show, the kids stood behind a bar that wasn't open, and had a nice, clear view of the stage.

The Lemon Twig brothers were only 17 and 19 when this live set was filmed here in Seattle at KEXP in 2016. (They have since picked up a drummer, and the drummer in this video now stays up from, sharing lead singing duties with his brother, the guitar player.)


CRAFTERNOON: Monday afternoon, Facebook let me know there was a craft session for teens at the Burien branch of King County Library System.  We headed west and arrived there a little after 3 p.m. The project for the day was making mini art canvases.

This was accomplished by using a portable printer of the library's to produce a couple of images. Those were then affixed to a tiny canvas via Mod Podge. 

CJ chose to do a self portrait and a photo of his favorite Instagram-famous dog, Walter Geoffrey. 

Annabelle chose a couple of random, cool looking photos she found online. 

It took a couple of hours for the Mod Podge to dry, but when they were done, they made for cute little keepsakes (they're about 1-by-2 inches, if you're wondering).

RUNWAY STROLL: We're trying to squeeze a walk in every day, and haven't been meeting that goal, unfortunately, as much as we'd like to this past week. We did manage to take a stroll around the perimeter of the Museum of Flight on Tuesday afternoon.  That meant we got to see a number of planes of various sizes take off from Boeing Field, and we checked out items of interest parked around the museum's plot. 

One thing we got a close look was an old MiG that looks like it's undergoing some major restoration.  

We wonder if they'er going to adopt a paint scheme like the one in the photo below of the sign next to the old fighter.

Blockheads

BRICK  BY BRICK: It's nearing the end of the month, so the kids and I are working on our monthly birthday bulletin board. This month's theme is LEGO. We decided to build three LEGO structures, which will be populated by an assortment of LEGO 'minifigs' (little LEGO people).

There was a lot more math involved than one might think. We wanted to make sure to get the scale correct. 

ONWARD: This morning we took one last quiz and then the unit test on the topic of linear word problems for our Khan Academy Algebra course. We all passed with flying colors, though one of the pupils had to give it a few gos. ... For whatever inexplicable reason, CJ (unbeknownst to me) took the test three times WITHOUT USING PENCIL AND PAPER. Yeah, well, that doesn't work so well when the test is about graphs and tables, let me tell you. I mean, he passed the test, but he likes to get 100 percent, so he wasn't pleased it wasn't perfect. I compelled him to do it with the proper tools, and writing things down and drawing things and lo and behold, 100 percent. Hopefully he learned from the experience. 

ON YOUR MARKS: We had to run to Bellevue today to pick up our 'race' packets for the Tunnel to Viaduct 8K that is taking place this Saturday. During the event, we'll be among the first to walk from Seattle Center through the new Highway 99 tunnel under the city, and then back to Seattle Center up and over the soon-to-be-demolished Viaduct. 

I'm not worried about walking the 5 miles. I am worried about the throngs of people that will be there. It was cRaZyToWn busy just picking up the race packet, and people have all week to do that. I can only imagine what it's going to be like on race day. 

RI-DICK-ULOUS: On the way back from the running shop, our navigation software sent us across Lake Washington and down Interestate 5 (instead of back down 405, on the east side of the lake). I hadn't really planned on being in Seattle today, but when we were sent there, I mentioned to the kids that it is Dick's Drive-In Restaurant's big birthday celebration today, featuring 19 cent burgers. I asked if they wanted to stop. Of course they did. The Capitol Hill location was our nearest one.

Naturally, it was a madhouse. I dropped the kids and then went to find parking (which, mercifully, was surprisingly easy). What wasn't easy was making one's way to the front of the line. Why? Well, because people kept spontaneously forming lines in front of the place. There were only three windows open. There should have been three lines (or one long one, that splits when you get to the front). Instead, there was just a mosh pit, and from the pit, several lines extending out, with new lines forming alongside those all the time). I told the kids I wasn't 'feeling' waiting that situation out, and so off we went, no 19-cent burger.

One consolation for everyone was that on our way back to the car, we discovered a cool candy and soda shop, Rocket Fizz, where one can find all sorts of crazy candy and soda pop.

CJ was pretty tickled to find "Doomsday Lemonade," which has a label urging people to "Taste the Apocalypse," it was ''bottled in honor of the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-Un. May world peace prevail."

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!