Angel Waiting

BLUE WATCH:  We finished chores early today in order to head up to the roofdeck and watch for the the Blue Angels, the United States Navy's premier flying team to scream into the skies over Seattle. They come nearly every year about this time, to help the city celebrate Seafair.

A little after 1:30, they appeared in the skies to the east, beyond Queen Anne Hill, pictured below.

 Though we didn't exactly have front row 'seats,' we still enjoyed the show.

 It's not every day you see planes shooting straight up in the air ... and then plummeting seemingly straight downward.

 We especially enjoyed their patterns producing contrails we could follow.

 A couple of times they flew close enough for us to see the planes' distinctive blue and yellow paint job. 

 This formation where they fanned out as they shot down from the sky was super cool!

SPECIAL GUEST: A couple of days this week, we had a four legged visitor on campus. 

The sweet young guy is about 10 weeks old, a Doberman puppy.

He has enjoyed playing 'pecking order' with our two dogs. For the first could of days, Kirby was definitely ruling the roost, while poor little Laika's lot in life is the bottom dweller. Today, the young Dobie seemed to realize he'd already grown a couple of inches since the first time he met them and he took full advantage. Pretzel is now vying for the Top Dog spot. 

Little do Kirby and Laika realize, this 'little' guy is going to be about eight times bigger than them!

Party Time

BLOCK HEADS: Last night was the annual "Night Out" event in the city of Seattle. Neighborhoods are encouraged to register their event and get a permit to close their street and have a good ol' fashioned block party.

Because we have a flat front yard in the middle of the block, our place has been Ground Zero for our neighborhood party for many years running now. That being the case, there's a fair amount of ground work to lay in preparation. (Think tables and chairs and coolers and cutlery and a fire pit and a ping pong table and ... you name it to haul to the top of our lot.)

We also make some food to share, of course. Last night, we made an enormous crockpot full of Sloppy Joe filling. I don't think I'd had a Sloppy Joe since the Lake Shore Elementary School cafeteria in the 1970s. We saw a recipe featured on "Dine Ins, Drive-Ins and Dives" recently, and gave it a go. I must say, it was tasty, and well-received by the crowd.

We also made a few dozen bite-sized spanakopita. Mmm, always so good.

Watermelon is always in order for a summer party. We turned to Pinterest for inspiration. That's where we found the watermelon shark idea, pictured above. But, when you picture it, will you please also picture the gummy fish I forgot to add to the water and the shark's mouth before taking the photo?!

We followed instructions from a website called Sun Scholars. It was a quick and easy project. The blue Jell-O Jigglers around the bottom were lots of fun. I was surprised how many people at the party had never seen Jigglers before. 

We also made a watermelon 'keg.' 

We hollowed out a watermelon, took the innards and juiced them in a food processor, strained that and then added it to pink lemonade. We put a sun tea container's spigot in the watermelon and poured the punch in and I'll be darned if it didn't work! So cute!

Of course, we also had to make some cookies. 

I was trying to think of a theme that was current and one we hadn't done before. The viral game Pokemon GO seemed the obvious choice.

 Let me tell you, it was not the *easy* choice, that's for sure!

Don't think I'll be making any of those again any time soon!

Happy Trails

PRESS SPACEBAR TO CONTINUE:  It was a busy weekend 'round MPA. Lots of campus beautification (a/k/a yard work), we watched multiple ISS flyovers, worked on modding an old NES console to turn it into a high definition output device (until we found out the kit we ordered was missing parts, sigh), and our family put out what was almost certainly an arson fire on Capitol Hill on Sunday afternoon. No biggie ... 

We also managed to fit in some time to play a brand new old game - "The Oregon Trail." You almost certainly have to have heard of the computer game of the same name. A computer game originally developed by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger It's been around since 1971. The game was designed to teach students about the harsh realities of pioneer life back in the early 19th century. I'm here to tell you, those lessons live on.

Yesterday morning I read that Target was exclusively offering a board game version of the classic and I immediately hopped on Target.com to try to hunt down a copy. 

We had to drive all the way down to Renton to get our copy, but at least we were able to get some good Pokemon GO play in along the way.

Sunday afternoon, we cracked the box open and took on The Oregon Trail.

It started out so well. ... We were excited to strike out from Independence, Mo., for the fertile Willamette Valley We did well for a few hundred miles, then things started to go sideways. 

Broken axles, broken arms, measles, oxen dropping like flies. I was the first to go. 

Dysentery, of course. It got CJ ("Ezekial Zanderfruit"), too, and poor Bee ("Dolly") died of a snake bite somewhere east of the Cascades. Christian ("Clem") was the last pioneer in our party standing until he succumbed to cholera and typhoid. 

The brand new card game is every bit as brutal as the old computer game. And every bit as fun. 

We gave the game another go today. I think we all perished even more quickly than yesterday, despite it being our second time on the Trail. 

CJ ("Rufus") was out first. He failed to ford a river. 

I was second to exit. Snakebit. At least the end came quickly.

Annabelle ("Dorothy" or "Dot") was a victim of that darn dysentery.

Once again, Christian ("Festus")was the sole survivor, and once again, he was overwhelmed by going it alone.  Typhoid got him quicker than it did yesterday.

Bummer, Festus.

But once again, dying has never been more fun. 

We were playing the game out in public and people flock to its sight like moths to a light. So many have such fond Oregon Trail memories, it seems. It's definitely our new favorite old game. :)

Thursday Tales

 BRACE YOURSELF: Big day for CJ. He's sporting a heavy metal smile tonight. 

He's pretty uncomfortable, but he's being a good sport about it. 

Speaking of uncomfortable, yowza, orthodontia is expensive. ...

HOT SPOTS: It was a warm one today, again. Upwards of 85, I'm guessing. To help beat the heat, the kids dangled their legs in water while eating lunch at the Locks this afternoon. 

And this evening, we went down to a little rocky beach on the north shore of Magnolia. There were lots of ferries, sailboats and cargo vessels on the Sound tonight.

CJ and Annabelle launched a small surfboard.

 No surfing was done, but after a bit they managed to at least bob around in the water on it. 

 The mountain was out today, majestic as always.

NEWS FROM NASA: An email from our national space agency let us know about a new NASA Education program, 'Science WOW!' 

By signing up for weekly “Science WOW!” email, we'll be receiving science education offerings delivered “Weekly on Wednesdays.” In the announcement, NASA told us, "Science starts with a question, and so does "Science WOW!" Each week's message kicks off with a science question and a link to where you can find the answer. "Science WOW!" also highlights an awesome science education tool each week. These featured resources will include NASA apps, interactive games, 3-D printing templates and more!"

Sounds great! We're looking forward to the first "Science WOW!" message, scheduled to be sent on Aug. 10, 2016. People can register their email address and be added to the list by visiting https://www.nasa.gov/education/sciencewow/. 

SO LONG, LITTLE LANDER: Sad news from the European Space Agency. The Philae lander, which touched down on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November 12, 2014, is now in the big sleep, so to speak. 

Adorable cartoon: ESA

The end came when ESA switched off the Electrical Support System Processor Unit (ESS) on the Rosetta spacecraft, which delivered Philae to the comet. The instrument was used to communicate with Philae but, as Rosetta nears the end of its own life, it needs as much power available as possible.

Photo of Philae on the comet: ESA

Rosetta's days are numbered, as well. The spacecraft is expected to have a planned impact on the comet in September this year.

Now, though, we must say farewell to Philae. And in two months, there will be another sad goodbye as the Rosetta mission ends.

ONE MORE: The kids are still singing Weird Al songs nearly nonstop a couple of days after the concert. Today, they asked me to play this video. To the tune of Lorde's "Royals," it's called "Foil," and it's hilarious. 

Parody and Puppy

 

WONDERFULLY WEIRD: Last night, the dogs and I dropped Christian and the kids off at the zoo. You'd think they'd be there to check out the wild animals. Instead, they were there to enjoy the antics of Weird Al. 

Here's a (too short) snippet from Annabelle about the event. ... 

At the Woodland Park Zoo, as part of their ZooTunes program, Weird Al Yankovic played a show as part of his “Mandatory Fun” tour. The show included many classics, such as “Perform This Way”, “Party in the CIA” and, of course, “The Saga Begins”, but it also included a few songs I haven’t heard before, such as a parody of Piano Man about Spiderman. It was a fun concert even though we were somewhat far from the stage. We brought our own chairs and a blanket, so we were comfortable. It was great, because we had a view of the stage from where we were. The show has fun and I would encourage you to go see him, or see a concert at Woodland Park Zoo!

CJ had a bit more to say. ... 

Rarely, our family visits the Woodland Park Zoo, which, as its name implies, is a zoo with several animals on display (however, several animals there are *not* from the woods). However, when we visited last night, we went to the property for another, very different reason. We were going to see "Weird Al" Yankovic.

According to their website at thezoo.org, the ZooTunes concerts at the Woodland Park Zoo is a tradition that has been going on for more than 30 years. Attending the ZooTunes concerts will supposedly help "save animals", though I don't understand how. At this year's ZooTunes event, there were around 9 different artists performing, one of which was "Weird Al" Yankovic, who performed on the 26th and 27th. Dad, Annabelle and I went on July 26th, and we stayed for about 2 and a half hours.

Before the performance started, there was a clip show featuring small bits of unrelated shows and media. This lasted for a bit before the show actually started. When Weird Al performed the first song on the setlist, "Tacky," a parody of Pharrell Williams' "Happy," he actually walked on the trail to the stage while performing the song, like he did in the music video. After he was done performing the song, there was another clip show, except this one was a little different. Instead of just random clips put together, the clips in this one had a common theme: Weird Al was in all of them. Afterwards, he performed "Lame Claim to Fame," which, according to Wikipedia, is a " Style parody of Southern Culture on the Skids." The concert was very fun, with several parodies of famous songs, but it's a shame that the Mandatory Fun Tour is going to end on September 14.

Helpful links:http://weirdal.com/tour/http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/weird-al-yankovic/2016/woodland-park-zoo-amphitheatre-seattle-wa-4bff6b46.htmlhttp://www.zoo.org/zootunes#.V5ko8IMrKUl

Both of the kids agreed that "Word Crimes," a play on the mega hit "Blurred Lines," was their favorite song of the night. It really is pretty brilliant. 

PUPPY LOVE: We have a new member of the extended family. His name is Pretzel. He's eight weeks old, and he's adorable. We met him today.

 The kids rolled around on the floor with him for the better part of an hour.  CJ for scale. ;)

I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, the pup or the kids. :)

When he's not busy playing, Pretzel just sits around being cute. 

 It's nearly a full time job.

 Those puppy eyes!

 Heart melting, no?

Fun and Games

COMING THROUGH!:  A Facebook post by the Hiram Chittenden Locks a couple of days ago let us know the estuary would have an unlikely vessel coming though this morning. Specifically, it was the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) ferry Sealth.

When it's in service, the 328-foot ferry can carry up to 1,200 passengers and 90 cars. Named after the Chief of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes who befriended early settlers in the 1850-60's and signed the Point Elliot Treaty of 1855, the ferry dates back to 1982, and it was heading through the Locks to a dry dock, for some maintenance and repair.

Thinking it would be cool to see it heading through the channel by our house, first thing today, we hopped in the car, dogs in tow, and headed for the Locks, about 1.5 miles to our northwest. 

We parked on the south side of the Locks and walked to the channels where the locks are lowered and lifted. It was a bit after 8, and we'd read the ferry was expected at 8:15. We heard a Locks worker tell a co-worker the vessel was expected "in about an hour," and we thought we were going to miss out. (We couldn't stick around that long due to an appointment a bit later). And so, we started the walk back to the car. As we approached the parking lot, the railroad bridge lifted. 

At first, we couldn't see why the bridge was lifting. There wasn't a boat in sight. However, as we rounded the corner, we spied ferry Sealth in the distance.  

 Tugs were on both sides of it, and they were starting to push it toward the Locks!

 It wasn't super fast, but soon enough, the ferry made its way under the railroad bridge.

 First time we've seen a ferry there, for sure!

 The blue sky and clouds helped make the scene even more striking. 

 And here, the ferry is being carefully piloted into the Locks for its trip to a dry dock in Lake Union or Lake Washington.

We're so happy to have been able to see the ferry's passing!

Another local with a camera took a video of the ferry passing under the Fremont Bridge (it's further east than the Ballard Locks.

https://youtu.be/g2EqfDTvgtM

WEEKEND REWIND: Saturday and Sunday, we had the pleasure of attending the Seattle Retro Gaming Expo. 

Conveniently located at Seattle Center (less than two miles from our home), we were able to attend for awhile both days. 

I'll let the kids tell you more about it. CJ's review is up first. ... 

For a couple years by this point, my family has gone to the Seattle Retro Gaming Expo, a geeky convention hosted in various places in Seattle. According to their website, The Seattle Retro Gaming Expo is an organization dedicated to creating a network of gamers in the Seattle area, and providing outlets for us to express our passion for all facets of the geek culture in general, and classic videogames in particular. At SRGE, there are usually several stations, often selling video-game themed art and other memorabilia. Sometimes, a particular station will be selling "reproduction carts", or a game that was never originally released or localized being put on a cartridge, usually having been translated beforehand. One station that stood out to me was a station actually advertising a new game for the NES, known as "Mystic Searches". Mystic Searches is going to be an action-adventure game set in a fantasy world. More can be read about Mystic Searches (and the documentary being made about it) at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1316851183/the-new-8-bit-heroes-new-nes-game-and-creation-doc/posts/1622766.

On our second day at SRGE 2016, Annabelle and I checked out a copy of Battletoads, the next-to-impossible-to-beat beat 'em up game for the NES. As with most playthroughs of the game, we did not make it past the 2nd stage, the "Wookie Hole", where we descended down a mile-long pit with everything and its brother trying to kill us. Sometimes, when trying to attack an enemy, we could end up hitting each other and wasting a life. But that is part of what makes Battletoads, well, Battletoads.

Here's Annabelle's take on the event. ...

Seattle Retro Gaming Expo, or SRGE, is a convention based around- you guessed it- retro video games. The convention this year was held in Seattle Center’s exhibition hall. The main focus of the expo was the merchandise. You could buy games, plushies, Perler Bead artwork, and many more geeky things. We bought a few Ken Griffey Jr. Games, and on the second day, Pokémon Stadium. There was also a large selection of games to play. The expo had quite a few arcade games, but the main part of the gaming section was the consoles they had. You could rent games at a table and play them on the available consoles. We played games such as Katamari Damacy, Ecco the Dolphin, Battletoads, and many more. It was a fun experience and I think the weekend passes we bought were worth it, even if we only played Battletoads on the second day.

THE KID IS IN: Sunday morning, we blanked our calendar to make room for a very special occasion, the induction of Ken Griffey Jr. into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

Junior is the first player to go into the hallowed hall as a member of the Seattle Mariners. Regardless of the uniform he wore, he's arguably the best to have ever played the game. He was elected on the first possible eligibility ballot for him, with, by far, the highest percentage of 'yes' votes of any player, ever.

Of course, we had to have a little party for the occasion. We made some baseball cake pops (pictured below). 

We also had a number of Griffey video games to play pre-ceremony.

The induction ceremony was wonderful and moving. We're so lucky to have had front-row seats to Ken Griffey Jr.'s career. 

Ready, Set, GO

ON PATROL:  A mixed bag for MPA today. The kids did math (for the first time in what seems like months), I taught them how (and why) to make a reduction sauce (teriyaki in this case), the dogs had a spa day. and, of course, we fit in some time for getting outdoors and hunting some Pokemon GO!

I promise this is not going to turn into the 'we-caught-this' Pokemon journal. But like so many other things in life, there are educational aspects to most everything, including Pokemon GO!

For instance, CJ has researched the history and origin of the viral game. Here's what he has to share.

Chances are, if you've been outside in the past 2 weeks, you've seen several people staring down at their mobile phones while doing things like crossing the street or seemingly aimlessly walking around the block. In the past, these people were most likely texting, but today, they are most likely playing Pokémon Go. According to Wikipedia, Pokémon Go is a free-to-play location-based augmented reality mobile game developed by Niantic for iOS and Android devices. Although Pokémon Go was first released in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States on July 6th, 2016, the concept of an augmented reality mobile game where you must travel in the real world to accomplish tasks in a competitive fashion dates back to at least 2010, with the announcement of Shadow Cities.

However, Shadow Cities ended up being unpopular, so it was closed on October 7th, 2013, with little notice. Niantic, a developer group inside Google, was working on a similar game known as Ingress. Ingress was released on December 14th, 2013. Players of Ingress will likely recognize multiple aspects present in Pokémon Go (and vice versa) such as the stops where you collect useful items (named "Portals" in Ingress, "Pokéstops" in Pokémon Go), and the usage of the phone's camera. Several of the Pokéstops in Pokémon Go are re-used portals from Ingress.

For April Fools' Day 2014, Google altered their Google Maps service to actually include an augmented reality system where you could catch Pokémon on the map and trade the Pokémon with other players. While this event only lasted for one day, it would set the stage for what would become Pokémon Go. Eventually, Niantic split from Google, and became their own San-Francisco-based-company. In 2015, Nintendo, owners of the Pokémon franchise, announced a partnership with Niantic, and announced Pokémon Go.

SOURCES: http://microfloppy.net/2014/08/13/ingress-vs-shadow-cities/ http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/31/5566854/pokemon-google-maps-april-fools-2014

And Annabelle offers this explanation of how to play the game. ...

Pokemon GO is an app you can download for free on your phone. The game utilizes your GPS signal to place you on a map of your area. If you look around, you can see and capture your very own Pokemon! At first, you are introduced to Professor Willow, who tells you about things like how to catch your first Pokemon. By swiping your finger to “throw” a pokeball, you can catch your starter Pokemon- Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander, or, if you walk away from those three, Pikachu! After the tutorial, you can walk around the map. One of the first things I recommend doing is finding a small blue thing on the map near you. These are called “Pokestops”. When you walk near it, it should grow to tell you you’re in range. If you tap on it and “spin” the image, you’ll get rewards! Pokestops refresh every few minutes, so make sure to come back!

One very important feature of the game is catching multiple Pokemon. Pokemon appear randomly on the map and you can tap on them to try and catch them! If it’s too strong or there’s something else you need to do, you can always run away, so there is no need to worry. When you successfully catch a Pokemon, it will be added to your collection and you are rewarded with candies of that Pokemon's type. You can use these candies to power up and even evolve your Pokemon to make them as strong as can be! At some point, you will be prompted to join 1 of 3 teams- Valor, the red team; Mystic, the blue team; and Instinct, the yellow team. The team you choose does not effect gameplay much, so choose whichever you prefer.

By now, you should also be able to challenge a gym! These are the large silver structures on the game map. The color of the gym corresponds to what team “owns” it. If you are on the same color team as the gym, you can train there by tapping on the gym and pressing the small boxing glove icon in the lower right corner. If you are on a different team, you can attempt to take it over by doing the same thing. To battle, rapidly tap on your opponent to deal damage. If you take over a gym, you can also place your own Pokemon to become the leader of the gym. If there is a gym with the same color as you owned by someone else, you can place your own Pokemon there to support it.

Pokemon GO has a fun premise and I would say it’s definitely worth the download. Beware, though, as it requires GPS, visual, and sometimes camera data, so it can drain your battery very quickly. If you have enough time and are willing to be out and about, download the game and “Catch ‘Em All”!