Shake it up, Baby

FABULOUS FILM: Last night we had the pleasure of seeing the "8 Days a Week" on its world premiere day. It was only showing at one theater in Seattle - fortunately, it happens to be about 6 minutes from our house. 

When we arrived at SIFF Cinema Uptown about 40 minutes before movie time, I thought we'd be the only ones there. Wrong! A long line of enthusiastic Beatles fans already filled the lobby, waiting for the theater's doors to open. 

The movie was marvelous. We laughed, we cried, we sang and clapped along with the music. The four lads from Liverpool were a phenomenon the likes of which the modern music world has not seen before or since, 
https://youtu.be/Mj0KLrrl2rs


I'll let CJ and Annabelle tell you a bit more about the movie. Annabelle's is up first:

8 Days a Week is a film about The Beatles, detailing their years as a touring band. It mostly talked about how The Beatles were feeling behind the scenes, such as, near the end of their touring, getting tired of the screaming and pushing going on in the stands, to the point where they couldn’t hear themselves play. Touring was actually very hard for The Beatles, with massive crowds and sometimes even mobs whenever they arrived. They were playing concerts all over the world, and it was extremely tiring. The purpose of the documentary was to show that even though they were popular, The Beatles were still real live people. I thought it was really interesting, and they even included a full restored version of their concert at Shea Stadium. It was super fun to go and I really recommend the movie!

And here is CJ's take:

Unless you've been living under a rock for more than half a century, you've probably heard of The Beatles. In the event that you haven't heard of them, The Beatles were a rock band from Liverpool, England, that, in the 1960s, became the best selling-band in the world, starting with the release of the hit "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in late 1963. For seven years, The Beatles would almost always have a significant position on the charts, almost a̲l̲w̲a̲y̲s̲ being in the top 10.


Recently, we just saw a lengthy documentary about the Beatles' touring years, from 1960-1966, known as "8 Days a Week". 8 Days a Week is named after the song by The Beatles which stayed at the top of the U.S. charts for 2 weeks in March of 1965. According to Variety.com, While hundreds of thousands of people saw The Beatles perform during Beatlemania’s peak, there are only four people who knew what it was like inside the bubble — The Beatles themselves. producer director Ron Howard sought to portray that experience in his documentary, “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years,” a massive research project that took its own long and winding road to get to movie screens on Sept. 16, one day before a streaming launch on Hulu.

The documentary itself features footage and images from countless sources, only some of which are listed in the film's credits. Considering most of the footage is ~50 years old, the quality of some of it is surprising. However, the transition from modern-day interview footage with subdued colors to classic footage with Technicolor (and vice-versa) can be a bit jarring. Although there was footage from several Beatles concerts from the '60s, there were only 2 that we saw a significant portion of. The first would be the Beatles' final public performance, which happened on top of an office building in London in 1969. 

This footage was played in the background of the credits. After the main film finished, we were shown a restoration of the Beatles' iconic 30-minute performance at Shea Stadium, New York City in 1965. Apparently, the audio was restored all the way back at Apple Corps, a corporation that the Beatles founded.
SOURCES:
http://variety.com/2016/film/news/eight-days-a-week-the-beatles-ron-howard-fan-footage-1201860892/

https://youtu.be/c8I9SAHxRpI

Lucky for us, a remastered 30-minute concert movie of The Beatles' 1965 appearance at Shea Stadium was part of the evening's entertainment. The crowd clapped at each song's conclusion, as if the Fab Four could somehow hear us.

If you get a chance to see the movie, do! : thebeatlesseightdaysaweek.com

CANNED: Today we finally got around to making some green salsa with the tomatillo bounty from our garden. This year's crop hasn't been the best, but I manged to make six tiny jars of the stuff. 

And can I just say there are few sounds more satisfying to my ears than hearing the 'pings' of the lids as the jars cool on the kitchen counter top.

BACK TO THE BALLPARK:  Today's Facebook flashback reminded me that six years ago today we were at Safeco Field. 

The caption for the photo above read, "Somehow, CJ and Annabelle manage to smile through this miserable season."

Creatures of habit that we are, we'll be back at the ballpark tonight. Happily, this go 'round, the Mariners are still in the hunt for a playoff appearance. #TruetotheBlue

Of Dogs and Astronauts

DOGGY DUTY:  On Wednesdays, we have a date with a dog. His name is Pretzel and he's a Doberman puppy. Pretzel was very happy to see us. He loves playing with the kids, especially. He does not love guitars, however.



His owners told us he's terrified of them, and that he runs outside the house to escape the menacing musical instrument when he sees it. CJ and Annabelle were determined to change Pretzel's mind, so they pulled a guitar out. Pretzel promptly went to a space in the house as far away as he could to hide and pout (see above). When the kids started playing it, he ran outside.



We put the guitar on the loveseat and I sat by it, and Annabelle coaxed him into the house. The dog would up sitting on the couch with CJ and Bee, and every once in awhile I would reach over and drag my fingers across the guitar strings. Pretzel didn't like it, but he didn't bolt.


After a few minutes Annabelle picked the guitar up. Pretzel stayed on the couch, which was big progress. Then she started quietly picking out a song. And Pretzel stayed put! In fact, he relaxed to the point he was falling asleep!



We were pretty pleased with ourselves. We'll make sure to play guitar for him on future visits, as well.




TUESDAY LECTURE: As previously posted, on Tuesday evening, we had the pleasure of listening

to the always-interesting Col. Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut. Here's what the kids had to say about the event, Annabelle first.


Chris Hadfield gave a speech at Town Hall Seattle on September 13. He was premiering his new children’s book, The Darkest Dark, and talking about how he made himself an astronaut. He told everyone about how,even though when he was a kid watching the first moon landing, there was noCanadian Space Agency, but he was determined ever since he saw that firstfootstep on the moon to become an astronaut. He became a glider pilot, and thena fighter pilot. When the Canadian Space Agency finally was founded, he volunteeredto be an astronaut and was the first Canadian astronaut in many things.

But what most interested me was the book signing Colonel Hadfield did at the end. He took time to talk to everyone. When it was our turn, I asked him if it was possible to paint in space, since I want to be an artist. He told me thatit is possible, and a man named Alan Bean had done it. Ever since his visit to space, Alan Bean has put a little bit of moon dust in all of his paintings. 


When he signed our copy of The Darkest Dark, I gave him a book that my brother and I wrote (and I illustrated), named Pip and the Heart of Pluto. He thanked us and we left. It’s kind of an amazing feeling, knowing an astronaut who was the first Canadian to spacewalk, command a Space Shuttle, and other firsts has a copy of your very own book. It was very fun and I can’t wait to see him again.
And following are CJ's impressions.


On September 13, I got a chance to see a speech by ChrisHadfield, who, according to Wikipedia, is a retired Canadian astronaut who was the first Canadian to walk in space. An engineer and former Royal Canadian AirForce fighter pilot, Hadfield has flown two space shuttle missions and served as commander of the International Space Station. According to Wikipedia, Chris was born and raised on a farm in southern Ontario.Since he was a small child,Chris had dreamed (often literally) of going to space and/or the Moon, justlike the American Astronauts he saw on the television. When he was 9, he watched the iconic Apollo 11 Moon landing on the only TV set on his island, and was determined to become an Astronaut.

9 years after seeing the Moon landing, Chris Hadfield entered the Canadian Armed Forces, where he learned to become a fighter pilot(though he never actually flew on the battlefield), flying the Canadair CF-5and the McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet. In 1982, Hadfield earned a Ph.D in mechanics from the Royal Military College of Canada, and a decade later, a master's in aviation systems from University of Tennessee Space Institute.Three years later, Chris Hadfield would serve as Mission Specialist #1 on NASA's STS-74 mission, being the only Canadian in a group otherwise composed of 4 Americans.

The event I went to was the premiere of Hadfield's new children's book, titled "The Darkest Dark". The Darkest Dark is best described as a fantastical embellishment of Chris' experience watching the Apollo 11 Moon landing, with Chris starting out as a boy who aspires to be an astronaut, but is terrified of the dark (as implied by the book's title), and of the monsters he believes are in the dark. After telling his parents several times about the monsters, they warn him that if he makes a single more peep,they will be too tired to watch the Moon landing tomorrow. So Chris goes to sleep, and he has a dream where he and his dog, Albert (who, in real life,would not be born for decades after this) fly their spaceship all the way to the Moon. The next day, Chris and Albert watch the Moon landing on the TV in one of their neighbors' houses, and when Chris comes home with Albert that night, Chris realizes the "velvety, black beauty" of the dark, and decides he wants to visit every corner of the space he can see.


After Chris Hadfield's speech, we got in line to get 2 books signed, One of them was a copy of The Darkest Dark that we purchased earlier,while the other was a space-themed book Annabelle had made, known as "Pip and the Heart of Pluto", which we gave as a gift to Hadfield. When we were getting the books signed, I got to ask Chris a question. Specifically, I asked Chris if, provided the opportunity, he would rather go to the Moon, or Mars.Chris replied by saying that for him, it is less about the destination, and more about the challenge of getting there, so he would do either.





WAYBACK MACHINE: Facebook prompts people to share their memories. Once in awhile, I listen to Facebook's suggestion. Look at this 7 year old photo from the Washington State Fair. We'll be going again next week. Annabelle is considerably bigger now.

 And three years ago today, we were abroad. Part of our trip to England involved seeing some famous stones.

 Specifically, Stonehenge.

What a great trip that was! 

Starman

SNEAK PREVIEW: This post is going to be short because it's getting late. We just got home from an evening with Canada's most famous astronaut, Chris Hadfield.

He's currently on a speaking tour in support of his newest book, "The Darkest Dark."

The picture book was just released today, so Seattle was lucky to get to see Hadfield read it aloud in public for the very first time at Town Hall Seattle.

More on his appearance tomorrow ... as well as notes from when the kids visited with him afterward!

In the meantime, here's a song he wrote and recorded to go along with the book.
https://youtu.be/0UKRjV4zaJ4

Our Waning Summer

LAST GASPS: Summer 2016 is going out in glorious fashion. We had bright sunshine and blue skies from sunrise to sunset tonight.

We knocked out a long list of chores this morning and early afternoon, and then mid-afternoon we went on a drive to south of Seattle. Specifically, Des Moines (and we're not sure how that's pronounced locally).

They have a lovely waterfront park. We walked out the l-o-n-g pier and the kids saw hundreds of small fish as they peered into the water.  This was the view from the pier, looking back toward the waterfront community.

Summer of 2016 went too fast, so we're going to try to enjoy every remaining moment while we can.

CJ APPLESEED: Judging by the number of apples on neighbors' trees this season, this is a banner year for Seattle apples. 

This evening, we ventured out to "CJ's Tree" on our lot to harvest some fruit. We'd been viewing them from afar all summer, marveling at the number and size of the apples on the not huge tree.

However, when it came pickin' time, as we approached the tree, we saw that all of its apples were super bumpy. There and then, I predicted to CJ that many, many worms had been enjoying his tree all summer long.

And then sure 'nuff, when he cut into them, well, let's just say they're not Grade A in appearance.

 In fact, we found many a tunnel from many a hungry critter.

Disappointing, but that's nature. We talked about ways to combat that in the future, and saved some seeds from the apples for future trees!

MATHS: At the end of last week, after a (too long) hiatus, we returned to the official math book someone CJ and Annabelle's ages should be using if you're doing things by the book.

The problem was, the problems. They were so poorly written. So convoluted. And the answer book was abysmal. It had the numerical answers - with ZERO explanation of how or why the answers were correct. In fact, they didn't even label the answers in units at all, which made them automatically incorrect in many instances, at least in my book.

I want the kids to a) understand and b) enjoy math, so I think we're done with that curriculum.

Until we find a better and different path forward, we'll be relying on Khan Academy to get us through.

Today we learned a bit about the origins of algebra. Part of the presentation referenced "A
Compendious on Calculation by Completion and Balancing," by Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī, a Persian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer who lived from 780 to 850. 

Al-Khwārizmī's text presented the first systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations in Arabic. He's considered the father of algebra. In fact, the word "Algebra" is derived from al-jabr, one of the two operations he used to solve quadratic equations.

https://youtu.be/_LDR1_Prveo

SUNSHINE: The kids started a new weekly guitar lesson last Friday. It's a group lesson. Right now, CeeJ and Bee make up half the group, so it's not too unwieldy. :)

The first song they started playing together was "Sunshine of my Love." Not a bad start!
https://youtu.be/zt51rITH3EA

We Have Liftoff

BENNU BOUND: Happy news! The NASA OSIRIS-REx mission launched this afternoon from Cape Canaveral. 

We watched and read lots of pre-launch coverage thanks to NASA TV and a multitude of social media posts. Talk about a good sign! I love seeing "0 Days to Launch" on this iconic sign by Kennedy Space Center. (Photo: NASA)

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket looked sharp on the launch pad. (Photo: NASA)

And the launch itself was spectacular. Lots of cameras giving great vantage points.

I was happy to know that in addition to we here at MPA watching, a bunch of other school kids were tuning in, too. This morning, I sent notices about the launch to three of my favorite teachers, and I know at least one of them had their students all watching the event. Hopefully, the rocket lit a spark with some of those kids, and they'll be interested in learning more about spaceflight.

We always enjoy watching a rocket launch, of course, but today's was extra special knowing CJ and Annabelle's names were on board. And not only that, some of Annabelle's artwork hitched a ride, too, thanks to this notice we saw months ago.

BOLDLY GOING, FOR A HALF CENTURY: Today marked the 50th anniversary of the premiere of "Star Trek," the original series, on broadcast television.

The ground breaking program took viewers on an amazing journey, and the franchise continues to do so to this day.

Series creator Gene Roddenberry was a visionary - and he had an interesting life pre-Star Trek, as well. This comic from The Oatmeal shares his remarkable story. Do yourself a favor, and take a look, here: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/plane

Rocket Watch

ASTEROID AND BACK: For years now, we've been tracking NASA's planned mission to an asteroid - and back! 

The target is asteroid Bennu, and finally, launch date is imminent. The launch window opens at 4:05 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday, Sept. 7.  (Photos above and below are credit NASA.)

Recently, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will carry OSIRIS-REx to space rolled from the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral to the launch pad. 

After a two-year journey, the probe will retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. Per NASA, "The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth."

We found this great overview about the mission online https://youtu.be/3194ROG7VCE
This morning, we watched a pre-launch briefing (archival version available here: 
https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/09/06/video-atlasosiris-rex-pre-launch-and-mission-science-press-briefings/)

Annabelle sums up OSIRIS-REx below ... 

OSIRIS-REx, an acronym for Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer, is a space probe that will be launched towards the Bennu asteroid, starting tomorrow. The mission of OSIRIS-REx loosely mirrors the story of the Egyptian god Osiris. The god Osiris had a knowledge of agriculture and brought life to the world. OSIRIS-REx is going to be the first probe to actually bring samples back to earth, allowing us to study some of the fundamentals that our solar system was built on up close. It will be groundbreaking if the mission succeeds. The OSIRIS-REx mission will also track the trajectory of Bennu, to see if it is a potential hazard to earth. It will launch on an Atlas 5 rocket tomorrow, with a launch window of 7:05 pm to 9:00 pm EDT. I’m excited to see what valuable results OSIRIS-REx brings back!

CJ has this to share ... 

In recent years, you have likely heard stories about the Philae spacecraft landing on "67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko", a Jupiter-family comet. Philae was carried to its destination by the Rosetta spacecraft. According to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's website, upon reaching its destination, Philae achieved the first-ever "soft" (nondestructive) landing on a comet nucleus. A similar mission is about to be carried out:

On 9/8/16, the "OSIRIS-REx" mission will begin, and a special lander will start making its way towards a very special comet, known as "101955 Bennu". The OSIRIS-REx mission is special in that while Philae sent to 67P/C-G with the intention of just analyzing the surface of the comet and sending the data back to Earth, the OSIRIS-REx mission plans to get to Bennu (which won't happen until 2018) and actually collect a sample of Bennu's regolith (see below), which it will have brought back to Earth by 2023.

If you're wondering, according to Wikipedia, regolith is a layer of loose, heterogeneous superficial material covering solid rock. It includes dust, soil, broken rock, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, Mars, some asteroids, and other terrestrial planets and moons. One of the important reasons why the scientists at NASA want to take a sample from an asteroid like Bennu is because if humans want to go out and colonize larger comets and terrestrial bodies in the future, we will have to know what materials can be found up there (for example: Silver and water), and where we can find them. Maybe it's in a comet!

A reason why the operators of the OSIRIS-REx mission chose the comet Bennu is because Bennu might be one of the Solar System's earliest comets: Likely existing before the Great Bombardment, an ancient event where countless asteroids hit Earth's surface and significantly altered Earth's surface and atmosphere. In an informational video I watched, Bennu was described as being sort of like a time capsule: A valuable look into the past, showing us *what* exactly the ancient solar system was like, and how the ancient solar system was different from the present-day solar system.

I am very excited for the OSIRIS-REx mission, and I can't wait for the regolith sample to come back to Earth.

Far Afield

CAMPING TRIP: We took a 6-plus hour trip down toward the Oregon Coast this weekend for a big family camp out in Siletz.

The scenery was gorgeous, with trees turning toward their autumnal colors, but some flowers still in bloom.

A pretty picturesque setting for a tent, wouldn't you say?

 A blue tent gives the background to this lovely dahlia. 

 Look at these lovely yellow roses, in September!

I actually rather fancied this dahlia in the middle (below). Sure, it's past its prime, but I love the fact that it gave it its all.  

We pitched a tent of a size that would make the Ringling Bros. jealous. However, the first night it was sited on a slight slope, and some ambient noise helped me not sleep, so volunteers helped pick it up intact and move it to a flat, quiet spot. Perfect! 

PARK HOLIDAY: We spent a good chunk of Monday at Safeco Field, enjoying a Monday afternoon matinee that turned into a slugfest with a football-esque final score, 14-6. Fortunately, the Ms were on the upper end of that scoreboard.

We bought cheap tickets for the game off of Stubhub. For about $11.50 after fees apiece, we each got in the door. We hung out in the bullpen for awhile, waiting for Mariners' ace Felix Hernandez and then watching him warm up.

After the bullpen action, we started walking the main concourse, heading toward the loooong escalator that would take us up to our third-tier seats.

However, there were so many empty seats on the lower level. It seemed a shame to let them all go to waste. And so, we sat. Just inside the right field foul pole, specifically.

About the seventh inning, we walked over toward the kids' favorite fro-yo stand and spent the rest of the game near the left field foul pole.

Fortunately, the Ms were victorious and Felix got the win. He seemed pretty excited about that.