Friday Flashback

CATCHING UP: How busy have we been this past week? I'm still trying to catch up with last Friday. That's the day we left home at 9 a.m. and the kids got home at midnight. Lots to recap!

Our first order of business that day was an art session at Seattle Center.

Annabelle can tell you more about the art workshop. ...  

The “Write Out of This World” Comics workshop at MoPOP Was a 3-week experience where home-schooled students could learn from experienced illustrator and D&D player Jen Vaughn. She taught us about panel layouts, character design, dialogue, and much more within the span of just 13 and a half total class hours.

Most of our class was spent drawing in a small hidden room on the first floor of the museum, with a visit to one of the many permanent exhibits after our 30-minute lunch break. We spent a lot of time during class studying how other comics and graphic novels structure their stories and art, and took inspiration from those to develop our own stories and characters. Overall, the workshop is somewhat hard to write about because most of what we learned must be put in context or with images for it to make any sort of sense.

That being said, I think I learned quite a bit about the comic-making process and how to apply those ideas to my own art and writing.

One of the things we learned about on the last day of class was "hatching" or "cross-hatching." It's a technique often used in comic books to fill in areas.   

CJ wasn't in the class, but he came to Seattle Center with us. Between 10 a.m. and noon, he visited exhibits in MoPop, and then we three met in the Seattle Center Armory for a Subway lunch. While there, we checked out the model railroad exhibit that is a holiday fixture.   

In the afternoon, CJ went to a movie at Pacific Science Center (more on that later). Annabelle and I continued our art class, which involved visiting the Indie Game Revolution in MoPop. 

We were there to check out games' art styles and story lines.

Our class let out at 2:30, at which point Annabelle, CJ and I emplored MoPop for a bit. 

I had to visit Jimi.  

I popped into the Hendrix exhibit and, for whatever reason, it immediately made me feel melancholy. I snapped this photo of the guitar he played at Woodstock and headed out quickly. 

We three checked out the Pearl Jam Home Show exhibit. We were fortunate to see the band last summer when they played at T-Mobile (formerly Safeco) Field.  

There's also a Prince display at the museum right now. Below is the blouse he wore in "Purple Rain." 

 CJ wouldn't fit into Prince's tiny shirt, but the replica Purple Rain motorcycle fit pretty well. 

About 3:30, I walked the kids to the monorail platform. They rode the train to Westlake Center, and then walked to the Fifth Avenue Theatre.  

CJ can tell you more about what they were doing there. ...  

The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle occasionally hosts "Fridays at the 5th," a youth program where students between the ages of 14 and 18 are given "the opportunity to create the characters, sing the songs, learn the choreography, and meet with the cast and crew for the productions on our stage," according to the 5th Avenue Theatre's website. On December 6th, 2019, the 5th Avenue Theatre hosted a Fridays at the 5th event for that night's production of Mrs. Doubtfire, a musical based on the 1993 Robin Williams film of the same name.

The main focus of the Fridays at the 5th event was the students learning how to quickly switch between character roles and voices - an important function in the play. The auditorium in which the event was held was packed, apparently to capacity. One of the activities we did was singing classic Christmas carols such as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman," except that we had to change position and voice with each line. This activity grew tiring very quickly. We then repeated this activity, except with wearing gag props such as fake glasses or clown noses with each line. Right before we had dinner in the auditorium, there was a brief Q&A with the scriptwriters.

After the provided dinner, we got tickets to see that night's production of Mrs. Doubtfire. The basic premise of the musical is identical to the of the film: A divorced man poses as an elderly Scottish nanny in order to spend more time with his children. Rob McClure, the actor who played main character Daniel Hillard/"Mrs. Doubtfire," obviously had to meet a tall order in living up to Robin Williams' performance in the 1993 film. While I can't make a fair judgment on whether or not McClure lived up to Williams' performance, he certainly did a good job quickly shifting between voices.

One of the central elements of the musical was actor Rob McClure frequently shifting between the characters of Daniel Hillard and "Mrs. Doubtfire." Two other actors had to help him dress and undress during these sequences. In a brief Q&A session after the play, Rob told us that he eventually was able to shift in just 18 seconds.

Overall, going to Fridays at the 5th and seeing the play was a fun experience, and I look forward to the next Fridays at the 5th.

All in all a very busy, fun-packed Friday!

Oh What Fun

SLEIGH-ER: Last Thursday was the day. We made our way to Swanson's Nursery north of Seattle's Ballard neighborhood. It was our first and favorite nursery when we moved to Seattle 12 or so years ago.

A beautiful place, they have a lovely little cafe, a pond with enormous koi, oh, and plants and things. :) Come Christmas time, the place is rather splendidly decorated, and for as long as we've been visiting, there has been this little red sleigh. The photo below is from our first visit. Long ago, I Photoshopped a starry night sky behind the kids.

Fast forward a few years, and the little red sled isn't such a great fit. The quote today, from Annabelle, who had to try to wedge in after CJ, was, "It hurts! It hurts!"

Hahaha - happy holidays. ;)

They do have a bigger sleigh there. It's a much better fit.

I do hope you all are noticing that CJ wore his Slayer concert t-shirt for his sleigh ride. :)

While the Christmas camels have long since retired at Swanson's, the reindeer are still around.

And the sweet train set up continues to be a favorite. We love their random figurines. Below is Rey, from Star Wars' "The Force Awakens,"  and a whole bunch of trolls. 

 Godzilla was wreaking a little havoc on a castle.

 Meanwhile, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian were chillin' by the fire.

 And Santa and some elves simply had to be included, of course.

OH MY FRIDAY: It's gonna take a few blog posts to recap all that was Friday. We left home in the early morning and were gone for 14 hours. So much to tell! For now, let's just settle for CJ sharing with you some info about the documentary he went to see while Annabelle and I were in an art class. 

Last Friday, my family had a busy day. My mother and my sister spent most of the morning and early afternoon at MoPop, in Seattle Center. They were going for a homeschool class program. I went with them, but since I wasn't in the class, I did other things at Seattle Center. One of the things I did was see a documentary at the Pacific Science Center's Paccar Theater. The documentary was Superpower Dogs, which was released earlier this year.

In its 45-minute runtime, Superpower Dogs covers several different dogs, all of which serve provide valuable public services. The first dog introduced to viewers is Henry, a dog who works in British Columbia by saving humans from avalanches. Since the start of his career, Henry has saved several different people's lives in the snowy mountains of western Canada.

The second dog I was introduced to was Reef, a Newfoundland who works on the coast of Italy. Reef is the latest of a long line of utility dogs in her family: Many of her ancestors apparently went on voyages with Italian sailors. Because Newfoundlands have webbed paws and impressive musculature, they can swim for miles at a time. Reef has helped bring men overboard back onto boats.

Two more dogs covered in the film are Tipper and Tony, two dogs that work in a village in Kenya. Tipper and Tony's duty is to locate local poachers, and help bring them to justice. Tipper and Tony are brought to the scene of poaching crimes, so they can memorize the scent of the poacher(s). Since the dogs have a much more developed sense of smell than humans, they are able to infer rudimentary details from the scents. They can follow a "scent trail" left by the poachers, all the way back to the poachers' residence. After the poachers get sent to prison, many of the local villagers express their gratitude towards the dogs, believing them to have magic powers.

Overall, Superpower Dogs was an entertaining and informative documentary, and a decent use of 45 minutes.

Stewing

IRON CHEF: Apologies. It strikes me this has turned into a food and crafts blog the last month plus. It's not that we don't do science and stuff, it just that it has been less photogenic, I guess. 

Also, as much as I'd love to post a number of the things CJ writes for his history or psychology class, I'm guessing I'm not supposed to do that publicly due to concerns about plagarism. So, while this is about one of his classes, it's about (surprise!) food! 

Last night was his last Japanese class for the quarter, and students were asked to bring food for a potluck. We surmised that to mean Japanese food. CJ mulled his options and decided to make a soup, since he's an experienced soup maker.  

I'll have him tell you a little bit about it ...

For my last Japanese class at South Seattle College this quarter, I made a stew for a potluck being held in the class. In particular, I chose to make a "sumo stew," or Chankonabe. Sumo stews are named as such because real-world sumo wrestlers often consume them on the regular, as part of a weight-gain diet.

To make the sumo stew, I got a variety of ingredients from a local Asian grocery store. There were some ingredients that we already had, such as leftover Thanksgiving turkey and bone broth, that were both used in the stew. Ingredients such as shiitake mushrooms, carrots, daikon, a leek, soy sauce, and mirin were all used to add flavor to the stew. In most sumo stew, fish is also used. However, because I don't want to eat fish, it was omitted from the stew.

And that's all he had to say about that. 

In reading a whole bunch of articles about this soup/stew, it's clear the broth is supposed to be the star. It is supposed to have umami, of course, and be multi-dimensional, for lack of a better term. We started with turkey bone broth (thanks, Thanksgiving). To that, I suggested CJ add the stems from his shiitake mushrooms (to be added much later), and let the stems steep in the broth. He let that go for a couple of hours.

 To that, he added a bonito (fish) soup base, as well as some carrots, daikon and leeks he sliced up.

That went another couple of hours, and toward the end some white miso was stirred in, plus he added a *bunch* of cooked turkey, more carrots and daikon, and the shiitakes. He also boiled udon noodles and kept them separate, to add to the Instant Pot once he got to his classroom. Garnishes he took included raw sliced daikon, chrysanthemum greens, and enoki mushrooms. 

In the end, it made a beautiful bowl.

CJ's Japanese professor was impressed (per Christian, who helped carry it all in and out). She said that the stew could be sold in any restaurant in Japan. So that was gratifying!  

CJ said she also told the class about the history and importance of sumo stew. One interesting fact is that you don't want to put any four-legged animal in the broth - that's considered bad luck (sumos should be up on two feet, not down on all fours).

I was really glad CJ took a huge pot of soup (and bowls, and spoons and napkins), because as it turns out, he was the only student who brought something to the potluck. :0 The only other food was brought in by the professor. Wow.

FRUITY FUN: While at Uwajimaya (a Japanese grocery store) yesterday, we couldn't help but notice a sign in the produce section touting pink-on-the-inside apples. 

We bought a couple and the kids each had one for breakfast this morning. 

They were really and truly pink!

The kids report they taste somewhat like a Granny Smith.

As an educational note, once upon a time, Washington state exported lots of apples to Japan. However, nowadays, Northwest growers haven’t exported to Japan since the 2000-01 season. This is  largely due to that country’s high (17 percent) tariff and high export costs. Earlier this year, there was talk of a resurgence in Washington apple exports, but the inroads are slow so far.

According to a press release from Washington Senator Maria Cantwell's office, Stemilt Growers has shipped 86,000, 40 pound-boxes of apples to Japan in the last three years, and they were planning to ship 15,000 to 20,000 earlier this year. These exports ended a 16-year lull in U.S. apples to Japan.  It is noted that Stemilt was shipping the apples at a loss, in hopes of generating interest for Washington state apples in Japan. 

CUT IT OUT: Annabelle's Cricut machine has been working over time. Yesterday afternoon she made these festive place cards for a party her grandparents are having later this month. 

This morning she made me a new decal for my pressure cooker. Naturally, it's Freddie and Bowie, "Under Pressure."

And she also designed and cut out a ton of vinyl stickers to transform a boring one white mixer into an R2-D2-themed beauty.

Here's the before. ...

 And a work-in-progress shot.

And here's a side shot of the finished product!

 I love it!

Thanksgiving Scenes

TURKEY REPORT: We hope everyone in the U.S. had a pleasant Thanksgiving break. Ours wasn't the greatest, unfortunately.  CJ and Annabelle were both pretty sick with a nasty cold. It made us change our plans and stay home on Thursday (and for most of the weekend, for that matter).

However, that didn't stop us from sending our gelatinous blob (see previous post) out into the world. We delivered it to Kennedy, who took it to a family gathering up north. I asked him to send photos, and that he did. Below, he readies to plop it onto a plate.

 And there it was in all of is unmolded 'glory.'

 A top shot. Yes, those *are* hard boiled egg whites. 

Ken was kind enough to even send some short videos to us. Let's just say the mold was met with shock and awe and revulsion. They laughed so hard they cried. And choked. #MissionAccomplished.

We also sent along a much more benign little mold - a can of pineapple rings encased in green gelatin.

Compared to the other monstrosity, it was actually kind of pretty.

On Saturday, we had a couple of friends over for a Friendsgiving. (Poor coughing CJ was confined to his room for the 'party'.)  

We didn't make another big blob, but we did decide to do another pineapple 'treat.' I love the look on Annabelle's face as she's trying to coax it out of the can.

 Easy does it ... 

 And, voila! Look at those glistening gelatinous gems! So festive! ;)

Speaking of festive, I went ahead with a Star Wars-inspired table setting, because nothing says Thanksgiving like Star Wars (ha ha).

Our friends were bringing a smoked turkey and pastrami, so we cooked up a bunch of side dishes. They included butternut squash souffle, wild rice and shiitake mushroom stuffing, deconstructed green bean salad, mashed potatoes and gravy (of course) and rustic rosemary scones.

For dessert, it was harvest ale cupcakes, German chocolate cheesecake and some gingerbread people. 

Annabelle and I had fun decorating those. There was the requisite Seahawks football player, plus a girl in a poodle skirt. One of the cookies had a bunged up leg, so Annabelle cut it off and made the cookie look like it was part eaten. Very cute. 

 I wasn't sure what to do, but within a couple of minutes, I found myself making a Freddie Mercury. And then another Freddie. And another, and another. ... 

 After five Freddies, I ran out of cookies. I could have gone on and on!

(The Freddies were a hit with the Official International Queen Fan Club, by the way. I posted the photo there and it had over four hundred likes in a few hours.)

Food wasn't the only thing we did over the weekend. The weather was pretty decent, so I encouraged everyone to get outside and get some fresh air for a bit.

I also encouraged them to gather up dead stuff from the driveway strip.

The photo below made me chuckle. The way they're standing, the kids kind of look like those goats you can rent to help clean up your property. :)

I'm impressed that we're in December, and there are still a few blossoms in the yard, including this bright yellow beauty.