Image credit: Annabelle Kisky

STRIKE OUT: Unfortunately, we didn't participate in any formal events for Global Climate Change Strike day today. 

Instead, we gathered around the computer and talked about the event, starting with its impetus, a Swedish girl named Greta Thunberg. Best to let her tell you about how the movement started. 

Thunberg makes many important points in her TED talk, perhaps none more important than the fact that "the climate crisis has already been solved. We already have all the facts and solutions. All we have to do is to wake up and change."

Today, students and adult allies took the the streets all around the world, to draw attention to the climate change crisis. 


At home, the kids and I used an online calculator to computer our family's carbon footprint. I'm not sure how accurate or valuable that calculator was, other than it did make us think about our actions and choices and cumulative impact on the environment.

We also took a climate change awareness quiz on a CNN page. To me, the quiz was a more engaging and educational activity. I'd recommend you check it out. It only takes about 5 to 10 minutes. 

So marching raises awareness, as does talking, but as Greta Thunberg would tell you, what we really needs right now and going forward is ACTION. This short video drives that point home. 


I should probably put a plug in for NASA's climate change website here: https://climate.nasa.gov/

FLOORED: Stories from the never-ending process to update the house continue. This week, the kids and I have spent several hours down in the basement. We installed a new plank flooring system in a downstairs bedroom. It's not rocket science, but it does take attention to detail and a little brute force. 

We covered some 1962 (likely asbestos-laden) tiles with a very modern-looking pattern. It features maps and signs from subway systems around the world. 

Yes, I know it's weird, but that's why we like it. :)

While it might seem like having CJ and Annabelle help install flooring is forced labor, I honestly view it as important to their education. Knowing how to fix and build things is so important, IMHO. There's no reason to have to pay someone to do a project like this. It really only required a utility knife, a measuring tape and a hammer. (Yes, we use a jigsaw for some cuts, but could have gotten by with the knife if that was all we had.) 

One thing Annabelle learned during the process is that a ponytail is a good idea. We had to cut her out, so to speak.

We also pulled out dozens of lineal feet of molding, sanded it and painted it. We hope to reinstall that this weekend. I really, REALLY wish that I'd labeled the pieces as we pulled them off. It would have made reinstalling them a snap. Instead, we're going to have to puzzle it back together. That's a mistake I won't make again. Live and learn.

Speaking of learning, when we finished up the floor yesterday, I told the kids, "You guys could totally install a floor like this by yourselves now." And every time they walk past that room, they can look at it and know they had a hand in improving it. Super satisfying!

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC: Tuesday evening we headed down to Tacoma during a rainstorm and rush hour. Such fun! We took every country road between our place and the Tacoma Dome you can imagine. We never got on Interstate 5, if you can believe that. 

It took over an hour for what should have been a 30 minute drive, but we were parked by 7 p.m. Rather than stand in the Tacoma Dome drinking $11 sodas and such, I had the foresight to suggest we bring our own concessions. So we sat in the car and had a 'tailgate' party for a half hour before walking in a light rain toward the venue and didn't buy a single drink or snack inside. Major money saved!

It started raining seriously while we were in the ingress line. Once we finally got in, Job 1 was finding bathrooms. We walked around until we found a restroom with a shortish line. For CJ and Christian it was no trouble, of course. The women's rooms were a different story. So, Annabelle and I got 'creative' and used stalls in a men's room that had been partially commandeered by women. 

We got to our cheap/not good seats (literally in the middle of a 40-seat wide row) at 8:05. I'll be darned if Elton didn't start at 8:09. He wasn't messing around!

I'll share CJ's review of the show first. 

In September 2018, veteran English glam rock musician Elton John embarked on the Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which is scheduled to last 3 years and include over 300 concerts across at least 3 different continents. On September 17th and 18th 2019, slightly over a year after the start of the tour, Elton John played two concerts at the Tacoma Dome, one of the largest concert venues in the Pacific Northwest. We bought tickets to the show several months in advance, and, unsurprisingly, it sold out very quickly.

After wading through the sea of humanity in and outside of the venue to get to our seats, we waited until 8 P.M. for the concert to start. After emerging from backstage, Elton John opened his set with Bennie and the Jets, one of his most famous songs. It was... odd, to say the least. The tempo was noticeably slowed down from the original recording, Elton appeared to have difficulty enunciating parts of the song, not helped by the Tacoma Dome's terrible acoustics, and the performance of the song was overall pretty underwhelming. Interestingly enough, some of the first songs on the setlist (including Bennie and the Jets) were some of his biggest hits, among them I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues and Tiny Dancer. Some of the songs (especially in the middle of his set) were deep cuts, particularly from his 1973 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road LP.
As with the very first song on the set, throughout the concert, the general vibe of the performance seemed to be very "uneven" (to quote my mother). I can only wonder if Elton John's difficulty with enunciation was a one-off fluke of the concert we went to, or if this has occurred for the rest of the tour prior. Nevertheless, it was pleasant to hear him perform classic hits like Rocket Man and Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (even amongst self-indulgent numbers like Indian Sunset.)

While the concert was enjoyable overall and I'm definitely glad I went, it was a shame to see many of the underwhelming aspects of Elton John's performance.

Here's what Annabelle had to say about the show. ...

Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour recently made a stop at the Tacoma Dome for two nights. My family and I went to one of these shows a few days ago. The weather outside was terribly rainy, which made standing in line a bit unbearable. Once we were inside, we noticed that the show was completely sold out. There were people packed into every section, which was to be expected with how big of a name Elton John is.

Once the show proper started, it became exceedingly obvious that Elton John didn’t have the same ability to sing that he used to. Certain songs sounded like much slower versions of themselves and any held notes were delegated to the backup vocalists. The music sometimes even drowned out the lyrics, which made things even harder to understand. Picking up the slack in the musical category were the percussionists, who did a spectacular job with both showmanship and staying on tempo (aside from one out-of-place tambourine solo that came out of almost nowhere, but that was the only deviation). The visuals on the stage screen were definitely confusing and didn’t seem to match the song at times, but others made up for it with good editing and eye-grabbing colors. Overall, the concert was somewhat mediocre and just a bit below expectation. The years have certainly been getting to Elton John, but he continues to tour with some of the same band mates he’s had since the '70s and playing to sold out stadiums.  

Tough critics, those kids. ;) 

My thoughts? I have mulled over a one word summation to the performance. I have settled on "uneven." (The Seattle Times' review was much more generous.)  The concert got off to a terrible start, IMHO. Sir Elton opened with Bennie and the Jets. It was a real clunker, to my ear. The timing was off, it was out of tune at times, and there were plenty of incoherent lyrics. IIt felt like a bad cruise ship version of Elton John or something. ... I was seriously questioning my reasons for being there and wondering how long I wanted to stay. There were some things I'm still trying to figure out, like why the hit "Daniel" was played with a happy reggae beat whilst the image of a dying soldier gasping for breath was projected on the screen along with World War II footage. It just didn't compute. Other times, the super high def, super big screen was a wonderful tool, including contemporary dancers during "Philadelphia Freedom," and campy dueling drag queens during "Bitch is Back."

Fortunately, as the show progressed, things improved. That said, it was clear which songs Elton wanted to do, and which ones he'd prefer to never sing again. At times, it felt so forced. Almost like a political rally. Elton would get through a song and stand up and point at various places in the audience, expecting them to applaud adoringly in return (they did). That seemed so perfunctory. 

There were 'moments' though. Like when Elton was talking about his sobriety, and his AIDS foundation. He actually cried real tears when talking about retiring and what he'd miss, but stressed that his family came first now.

One big plus: The backing band was *fantastic.* I thought it was cool that they were all 'mature adults,' (guessing 70-plus) like him. 

Regarding the 'scene,' the place was PACKED. I've never seen the Tacoma Dome like that. Fortunately, our immediate neighbors were mostly tolerable. I still will never abide annoying people who apparently think they're in their living rooms and can talk loudly the entire show, like no one else is around. So freaking self absorbed.

Overall, I'm glad we went for $59 apiece, plus &^*$% Ticketmaster 'service' charges. I would not be so glad if I'd paid much more than that.

GAMEY: I don't post about it much, but we continue to play board and card games on a regular basis. Yesterday, we gave the game "Goosebumps" a go for the first time.

It's based on the popular R.L. Stine spooky novels for young readers. The game play was sort of like Candyland meets Sorry, where you try to progress your character on a path, often knocking other characters back along the way. 

It was semi-entertaining for the first five minutes, but as we continued to slog along, all of us were just wishing it would end. Overall, I think 'repetitive and frustrating' is how I'd describe this game. It's not one we'll play again. 

Entertaining

DO THE PUYALLUP: Summer is going out at a sprinter's pace for us at MPA. Seems like we're always on the run these days. 

One 'must do' to check off the list was making it down to the Washington State Fair before it closed. Monday was the day to make that happen.

The forecast was iffy. Thirty percent chance of rain, but the hour-by-hour forecast said it would hold off until 2 p.m. We figured if we could get to the fair when the gates opened, the kids could get three hours of rides in before the rains came.

The 'little kids' rides open at 11. We were standing there waiting for the clock to strike the time.  Highlights from the tamer ride included some swinging. 

 It also included a little spinning.

There was also a little sliding.

We checked out the new rides at the fair, including this elephant themed one for tots.

 It was quite colorful.

We looked at haunted houses and fun houses from afar. This barn-themed one cracked me up.

 Below is "Cob Marley." That's just so weird.

The kids rode classic rides like the Scrambler.

And dared to experience this centrifuge-like spinner.

They floated through air with the greatest of ease.

 And they hopped on board a few coasters, big and small.

CJ was a speed demon on the bumper cars course.

 Annabelle dished out a few hits ...

 and took a few!

We marveled at the fair food, but didn't have a single bite or sip of any.

While the kids weree riding, I just stood around soaking up the crazy sights and sounds of the fair.

This, of course, includes doing some people watching. For some reason, this family felt compelled to bring a political poster to the fair. Interesting choice. 

About 1:30, the skies started looking threatening. And while the kids were on the Ferris wheel at 1:45, the clouds opened and started dumping rain.

Within moments, most of the fair was shut down.

 During the deluge, we huddled under tents on the midway, where the games were. The kids each had two 'free' games with their wristbands ($45 apiece, if you can believe that!). They decided to try to win one of these fine creatures. I call it a furmaid. ;)

Lo and behold, they came home with one (thanks to a kind carnie, mostly).

On our way to the car, we managed to spy a ride that was still running, for some reason. 

 The kids hopped on board.

All in all, a fun day at the fair. I am kind of ashamed to admit we didn't check out all the farm animals, the educational exhibits, the art ... nope, none of that. It was all about the thrills of the rides for the kids this year.

SATURDAY NIGHT: Of course, this week included a concert. That seems to be the norm these days. This time, it was the Melvins who were the main draw. CJ can tell you all about it. ... 

In their nearly 40-year career up to this point, the Melvins, a band from Montesano, WA, have influenced countless other bands (particularly in the alternative rock genre) and are often credited with pioneering the style known as "sludge metal," later expanded on by bands such as Eyehategod, Crowbar, and Iron Monkey (though that's another can of worms), and inspired multiple different notable grunge bands (including Mudhoney, Nirvana, and Alice in Chains). In 2019, the Melvins embarked on a U.S. tour, along with Redd Kross, another band that started in the 1980s, and one that also influenced grunge. Toshi Kesai, a Japanese noise (or rather, Japanoise) musician, was brought along as a special guest for the tour.

On September 13th and September 14th of 2019, the Melvins played shows at Neumos, a venue in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. The first night was for ages 21 and older, but the second night (the one I went to) was all ages.

The concert started at 9 P.M, with Toshi Kesai, hidden behind a bed sheet, playing electronic music that was largely improvisational, with seemingly little to no planning beforehand (nothing against his work). On the bed sheet, a laser from behind projected a small light show, for the audience to see. The lights moved in sync with the music, though the audience was seemingly losing interest in the show by the time Toshi Kesai's 20 minutes were up.

After Toshi Kesai's show, Redd Kross, alternative rock veterans from California, began their hour-long set. Unfortunately, Redd Kross appeared to lack energy during their set (my dad didn't agree with me about that), though I'll never be quite sure as to what the cause of that was. Interestingly, Redd Kross' current bassist is also the Melvins' current bassist, so he stayed on the stage in between Redd Kross' and the Melvins' sets.

At 11 P.M, the Melvins, the show's headliners, finally came on stage, starting their set with songs with titles such as "Sesame Street Meat" and "The Kicking Machine," followed by "Anaconda" (not to be confused with the Nicki Minaj song of the same name). Throughout the rest of their set, the Melvins voyaged through over 30 years of material, going back to 1989's Ozma (their sophomore album). It was also during the Melvins' set that a mosh pit formed in the audience, which, as I learned pretty quick, became very chaotic and fast-paced. The Melvins were on point with musicianship, and were much more energetic and engaging than either of the previous two acts. I honestly wasn't expecting a chaotic mosh pit to form in what seemed like a hipster-ish audience, but I'm not complaining.

Overall, the Melvins put on a great and engaging show (though I can't really say the same of the openers).

CJ has one blurry photo to share with you.  As you can see, he was close to the front.

Meanwhile, in a decidedly quieter venue (our living room), Annabelle and I enjoyed a really special movie. I'll have her tell you more about it. ...

"Song of the Sea" is an animated movie produced by GKIDS studio that was released in 2014 to critical acclaim. With a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Picture. The movie is deeply rooted in Celtic myth, mostly focused on the mythical species known as Selkies. Selkies have the ability to transform from human to seal, but only if they are wearing their special seal-fur coat that’s with them since birth.

The animation style of the movie is very unique, almost looking painted or drawn in chalks at times. The characters’ movements are fluid and interesting to watch, with great use of shape in the designs. They’re drawn in a slightly different style to the backgrounds, but not so far apart that they look out of place. The plot of the movie is just as interesting as the visuals, though speaking of it too much here would be a large spoiler. It touches on some heavy ideas, though as a whole the movie is very family friendly and I agree that it deserves the amount of praise it gets. Whether you’re looking for a fantasy adventure or more interested in drama and action, "Song of the Sea" has something for almost everyone.

Here's the movie's trailer if you'd like a sneak peek.

Waylaid

DUWAMISH WAY: Playing catch up here. This post was supposed to go down last week. Logging in today I noticed it was waylaid. Oops.

Friday middday, we wanted to get ourselves and our dogs out into the sunshine. We decided to head down the hill about two miles to the west to check out a park we've driven by dozens of times. Yesterday, we learned it's called the Duwamish Gardens Project.

The park's tiny, 5-car parking lot is right under the light rail line. It was cool to watch the trains whiz by, overhead.

We headed down a pathway near the park's northern border. Before long, we encountered an art installation. 

The art was multi-sensory: Pretty to look at, and it played soft chiming music as the light breezed moved its elements. A nearby sign explained that the sculpture was supposed to be evocative of the method the Coast Salish used to preserve salmon they'd harvested.

The park is full of native plants, many of which were blooming during our visit. This is the viewpoint looking back toward the parking lot/light rail track, at the western-most border of the park. Can you spy the solitary fisherman?

It's a pretty little park, and a spot we'll visit again, but it wasn't a great place to go for a walk, given the short trail. So, we stopped at another, nearby park on the way home. There, we found these beautiful flowers (dahlias?) in bloom. No filter on the photo below - their color was amazingly vibrant!

SOMETHING BREWING: This morning, Annabelle and I updated our kombucha brewing operation. Kennedy was handling it while he was here, but he has moved on, so it's up to us to keep the mother alive.

Not gonna lie, every time I have to look at or work with the mass of bacteria, it grosses me out. I mean, ewwww.  Hard to believe that something that looks this terrible produces something that is supposedly good for you (kombucha is chock full o' probiotics).

The finished product looks slightly less sinister ...but to my eye, it does kind of resemble a specimen jar you might find in a lab in Area 51 or Dr. Frankenstein's castle.

EXPANSIVE: I had the kids read a really interesting article on Space.com about the Bigelow Aerospace B330 habitat that's being tested by NASA right now. I've long thought the Bigelow approach of building inflatable/expandable habitats makes so much sense.

One of the most interesting parts of the article to me was a photo where you could see the words "does not exist" on certain parts in the habitat. What the label meant was that, for instance, the steel walkway wouldn't be present in a space habitat, because in near zero-gravity, no one's needing a walkway in the habitat!

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING: I don't usually post political news on the MPA blog, but a headline today was just too much to pass up, so the kids and I read it. The article in The Hill was titled: "Trump on energy-efficient light bulbs: 'I always look orange' "

Last week, the Trump administration finalized the reversal of the Obama administration's efficiency standards on light bulbs. A compelling reason for this anti-environmental action: Trump blames the bulbs for showing him in an unflattering light, literally.

At a recent rally in Fayetteville, Trump claimed, "I'm not a vain person. ... But I look better under an incandescent light than these crazy (LED) lights that are beaming down."

And in a speech to Republican House members, Trump told the group, "People said, 'What's with the light bulb?' And I said 'Here's the story,' and I looked at it. ... The bulb that we're being forced to use, number one, to me most importantly, the light's no good. I always look orange."

So there you have it, an illuminating look into the inner 'workings' of the mind of the man that is the current President of the United States of America.