SHOW TIME: Today we had two main items on the agenda. First and foremost was get the kids' songs dialed in for the show tonight. Second was making treats to share this evening. The cookies and deviled eggs part was easy. You don't have to be in the correct pitch and tempo for those. ;)
At one point today, I wished the kids had picked less ambitious songs. Perhaps something by Everclear or Green Day - you know, something with two or three easy chords. But no, that was not their path. Instead, it was something a tad (well, light years) more ambitious for their public debut - Imagine Dragons and Pink Floyd.
It was cool that Rick and Kennedy were able to come to the show and serve as stage techs. :) They couldn't ask for more experienced hands!
Annabelle was up first, singing "Radioactive."
She did a great job. :)
CJ came up after with the even more ambitious 'Time' by Pink Floyd. Get this - we got to the performance venue a little early tonight, so we went to a nearby place for a quick snack and drink. While we sat there, what song of all songs in the history of everything came on? "Time," by Pink Floyd. The song CJ would be performing in a few minutes. Talk about Kismet. Crazy, isn't it? I mean, in the history of all songs EVER, that's the one on in the Shoreline diner? What are the odds? (Wait - sounds like a good math problem to us! Stay tuned!)
Here's a still shot of CeeJ, and here's his performance.
As he listened to it, he ran into the room and said he was embarrassed how bad it sounded. We told him not to fret too much - it was recorded on a crappy cell phone microphone.
I'm glad he cared how it sounded. That's the whole point. ...
At one point she got stuck and set it aside for a few hours, but I encouraged her to backtrack if need be and work through it. Within five minutes her troubleshooting paid off and she was the proud owner of a new bee bracelet.
PRACTICE MAKES SOMETHING: The kids had several music practice sessions today. They are scheduled to perform tomorrow night. Ideally, they'd be stone cold ready. However, I think some finger crossing is in order this go round. :/
I found myself repeatedly using sports analogies today as they were practicing. We talked about the point of practice (to try to improve), and how bad practice is probably worse than no practice, because it just reinforces bad habits instead of ingraining good ones. I told the kids the Seahawks certainly didn't get to go to the Super Bowl just because they wanted to. It took weeks/months/years of practice as individuals and then together, as a team.
At one point today, I noticed CJ doing some odd stuff with this head/mouth and so I had Annabelle go get a mirror and hold it up so he could see what was going on.
They'll certainly practice more tomorrow before the evening's show. Here's hoping things magically come together...
Meanwhile, I'm neck deep in cookies to take to the event, which is why today's post is super short. I'll be glad when Thursday is over.
RIVETING: This afternoon, we took a field trip down to The Museum of Flight. It's been too long since we've been there, and every time we're there it's a) enjoyable and b) we see something we've never seen before.
As soon as we walked in today, I noticed that the movie "Space Junk" was playing (in 3D!) in less than an hour. We bought tickets to see that (just $4 apiece), and then spent 50 minutes wandering about. We almost always head to the WWI and WWII wing, but today, we veered the other direction, heading for the Great Gallery, which we tend to visit least often. As we headed that way, I remembered that the Museum's recently-acquired Electra was now on display there.
We'd watched the gorgeous Electra fly in back on Sept. 20 of 2013.
How that silver bird gleamed in the sun!!!
It's one of only three of its kind still in existence, and this one has been restored to look just like it did when Amelia Earhart flew it on her final voyage.
Now, its wings are clipped and it's a museum piece. A super shiny museum piece.
It makes for an excellent mirror.
Here's CJ, studying a map of Amelia's final flight.
It's impossible to get a good shot of the whole plane, so here's an iso of part of her tail.
After the Electra, we made our way back to the refurbished theater. We were the only four in attendance for the 2:50 showing of "Space Junk."
If you don't care about anything ever getting off planet, this movie would not interest you in the least. If you are interested in spaceflight and exploration, you'd find it all extraordinarily unsettling. I won't go into great detail, instead, I'll just share the trailer (http://youtu.be/-hl28A9NfU4)
One of the major events the movie covered was the February 10, 2009, destruction of Cosmos 2251 & Iridium 33. It marked the first major collision of two satellites in Earth orbit. The operational Iridium satellite was destroyed, as was the non-working Cosmos. As a result of the collision, there are more than 100,000 pieces of debris in low Earth orbit (LEO). If you've seen the movie "Gravity," it gives you a good idea of just how awful space debris can be for those trying to work and live in LEO.
HAWKING: Everywhere you go in this town, the Seahawks are front and center. Such was the case on the way in to the Museum of Flight.
There are billboards next to the highway ...
(I couldn't help but notice the WA. state, King County and city logos on this billboard. Our tax dollars at work? I love me some 'Hawks but ...)
ONE AWAY: This weekend we were in full on Seahawks mode, what with the home team being just one game away from the Super Bowl.
We had a houseful of friends over on Sunday, and suffered our way through four quarters of tense football. It wasn't until there were 22 seconds left in the game until I felt not miserable. And a minute or two later, I felt great. Seahawks to the Super Bowl, for the second time in their history!
LOOMING: Today, Annabelle finally broke out the Rainbow Loom she received for Christmas and set about learning how it works.
Christian helped her a bit and before long, she was cranking out bracelets. She was Most Pleased.
WAKE UP CALL: Today was a huge day for the European Space Agency. For the past 31 months, their Rosetta - a comet-chasing spacecraft - has been in slumber.
Launched in 2004, Rosetta is headed for a meeting with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta went into slumber in June of 2011, operating on solar energy alone. Today, per schedule was wake up day!
Graphic: European Space Agency
Naturally, there was a fair amount of excitement surrounding waking up a spacecraft after a 2.5 year slumber. Needless to say, ESA officials were thrilled when Rosetta woke up exactly as scheduled.
If Rosetta connects per plan, it will be the very first space mission to rendezvous with a comet, land on a comet’s surface, and the first to follow a comet as it swings around the Sun. To me, that sounds like trying to thread tiny moving needle! As of today's Rosetta is about 9 million km from its target.
Upon wake up, @ESA_Rosetta's Twitter account declared, "Hello, World!"
Here's a short video about Rosetta's wake up call.
GAME ON: This afternoon, we finally got around to trying out one of Christian's Christmas presents, Star Trek Catan.
COMPLICATED game. The set up and learning curve took us about an hour.
We finally hit our stride, and CJ was today's victor.
RALLY TIME: I'd known for a couple of days about a Seahawks rally set to take place at Westlake Center in downtown Seattle today.
Naturally, I was interested, but we have a lot on our plates right now, and I thought maybe taking four hours out of our Friday to travel to and fro and enjoy the festivities might not be prudent.
Yeah, well to heck with prudence. It's the Seahawks playing in the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP. How often does THAT happen? Only twice in my lifetime. "I think we better do this," I reasoned. That, and we live IN Seattle. For most of my life that was not the case, and I'd only dream about being able to attend events like this. If we didn't go, shame on us, right?
I told the kids 'round 9 am we could go to the rally if they rallied and got stuff done this a.m. that we needed to. That was all they needed to hear. By 10 a.m., we'd knocked out a complicated genetics lecture, they'd tidied up 'round here, and and I'd baked 3 batches of cookies. Good enough, we were out the door.
We rode to the rally in style - via monorail! We parked by the Queen Anne McMenamins, walked to Seattle Center, and made our way to the monorail.
I was surprised there weren't more rally bound passengers. A couple of businessmen on the dock ahead of us made sure CJ and Annabelle got on first and urged them to take the front row. How very kind.
They had a great view, and chatted with the driver.
After a quick, 2-minute ride, we stepped off the monorail at Westlake Center, right next to the plaza where the event was being held. One of the first things we saw was this sweet car. I think it's so funny, the kids spontaneously posed like this in front of it.
It was about 11:45 as we made our way to the plaza, with the official program start set for noon. The place was already packed and I started sizing up a good spot for us. I saw the climbing structure and told the kids we'd be headed for that.
Above, you can see CJ in the white jersey, perched atop the climber. Meanwhile, I was busily scoping out a spot we'd actually be able to see the stage despite the thousands and thousands on hand. I zeroed in on a park bench adjacent to the press pool. That was as good as it got, I thought. I staked out our space.
It was a good call. We could see the stage just fine, not to mention the colorful crowd.
There were people way up high, on the building adjacent to the plaza.
And there was a good crowd gathering across the way, on the Westlake Plaza balcony.
During the show, the jungle gym filled up with young Hawks. :)
It was fun looking 'round the crowd. Loved these signs about Marshawn Pinch from the Seattle Aquarium, a hermit crab with a Seahawks' shell.
We listened to the Blue Thunder (Seahawks drumline) and the SeaGals perform. There was also a contest between a young Seahawks fan and the lone Niners fan in attendance.
The Niners fan lost, big surprise. ;)
Steve Raible, the voice of the Seahawks, served as the master of ceremonies. He opened with the obligatory (and hopefully oft-heard, come Sunday), "TOUCHDOWN, SEAHAWKS!!!!"
Raible introduced and interviewed a number of Seahawks alumni. Here he is talking to Hillary Butler, who played for the Huskies AND the 'Hawks!
And how cool was it to see Norm Johnson, the Seahawks' you-can-count-on-me kicker from their early years. Below, Johnson poses for a selfie with Raible! Epic!
I learned today, Johnson partnered with Dick's Brewing Company to produce the tasty 12 Man Pale Ale. One of the business partners of 12 Brands, LLC, Johnson was smart enough to secure the trademark of the 12 Man Pale Ale a couple of years ago.
And how I loved seeing my favorite Seahawks of days gone by, Manu Tuiasosopo! The Tuiasospo family has become a NW sports dynasty!
We also got to hear from certain-to-be-first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Walter Jones!
The official program ran about a half hour. Right afterward, CJ and Annabelle were interviewed by KOMO TV.
It was so funny, CJ screamed, "Let's go Hawks, let's DESTROY the 49niners!" into the mic. It was as guttural as I've ever heard him!
The segment showed a lot of sights and sounds from the rally, but KOMO reporter declared her "personal favorite" Annabelle's wings. :)
I haven't been able to find a link to the video online, but we did happen to catch it on the 6 pm news and I grabbed Rick's phone off the desk and quickly filmed it. You can't hear the TV very well, you can mostly hear me screaming at CJ to come see himself on the TV and then CJ freaking out that he was on TV. ;)
I love hearing Annabelle's explanation regarding her wardrobe choice. It was in the "Duh, Ralph" vein.
The ride back to Seattle Center included a number of the same passengers as our trip to Westlake.
We took advantage of a few photo opps at Seattle Center. For instance, we had to get a photo of the 12th Man flag top the Space Needle.
The kids were hungry post-rally (all that cheering apparently works up an appetite). Rather than eat at the Center, we headed back to Magnolia. The kids had a fro-yo lunch at Menchie's. Annabelle left some artwork in our wake.
I simply HAD to take advantage of Starbucks' offer for 12 cent coffee for 12th Man fans. When I walked in, the young man working the counter asked if I wanted a Seahawks coffee. I couldn't help but wonder aloud what a Seahawk tasted like. "Salmon, perhaps?" I mused, figuring you are what you eat, and surely Seahawks eat salmon.
The coffee didn't taste like salmon, but it was delicious. Certainly the best 12 cent cup of coffee I've ever had.
Oh, and we worked on genetics and music today, too. It wasn't all about silly football, I swear.
BACK AT IT: We started our Thursday with another "Introduction to Genetics and Evolution" lecture. Today's topic: Generating a gene map using three or more genes. It had to do with things like parental phase and recombinant offspring. We learned to calculate map distances, and how to identify a "double crossover" offspring.
It actually made sense as we were listening to the lecture, and we were able to correctly complete some related homework, so that's good. Hopefully it sticks!
Turns out Education Portal is yet another avenue via which to take college level courses for free online. It was founded by a couple of Cal Poly State U. classmates, Adrian Ridner and Ben Wilson, two classmates at Cal Poly State University. They started by founding an online textbook exchange, and that grew into offering classes, as well. The courses are made up of 10-minute video lessons. Education Portal reports more than a million students have used their site.
We've got our hands full with Coursera and other classes right now, but we'll certainly be back to Education Portal in the future to learn more about what they have to offer.
USE THE FORCE: This afternoon on my Facebook feed, notices started popping up from various friends about which Star Wars character they are based on a (very scientific, I'm sure) personality quiz. Naturally, I had to give it a go. It's fast and fun - here's a link if you want to try it: http://www.zimbio.com/quiz/Ukldm8Pi5Ub/Star+Wars+Character
I was a little, um, disturbed by my test results. If they're right, I need to get fitted for a black helmet and cape. :o
In better news, the Seahawks player I'm most like is the strong, silent, devastatingly awesome Earl Thomas, per the Seattle Times' personality quiz "Which Seahawk are you?"
I can say I have officially taken more online personality quizzes today than I have taken in the past 12 months!
BLUE FRIDAY: If you live in Washington state, put on some Seahawks' colors and head to any participating Starbucks on Friday, where you can get a cup of coffee for just 12 cents, in honor of the 12th Man.
Lomabardi statue via: http://www.flickr.com/photos/katieharbath/ SAY WHAT?: We're already planning for this weekend's Seahawks' party (because that's, like, a full time job right now - just kidding - kind of). We want to make something to represent the team the 'Hawks are playing against. For instance, last week we had jambalaya when they played the New Orleans Saints. This week, I am NOT making Rice-a-Roni when they play San Francisco (although that is, of course, the first thing that came to mind).
Gharadelli chocolate is from San Franscico, but I can't 'make' Gharadelli chocolate, that's what THEY do. The other night Kennedy informed me that fortune cookies originated in San Fran. Well how 'bout that?!
Though most all Americans' fortune cookie experience comes when getting a handful along with an order of Chinese food, I had heard that fortune cookies were not of Chinese origin. Apparently, the cookie's roots reach back to Japan, but Makoto Hagiwara of Golden Gate Park's Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco is reportedly the first person in the USA to serve a modern version of the cookie, at his tea garden in the 1890s or early 1900s. Hagiwara's cookies were made by a San Francisco bakery, Benkyodo.
I have made fortune cookies a few times before, and have the scars to prove it. (Seriously, pardon the double negative,but there's just NO way NOT to get hurt making fortune cookies by hand.)
I thought it would be fun to make football fortune cookies, with inspirations sayings from coaches, etc., for the game. So first, we need the quotes. I asked the kids to hop online and find me some quotes. That turned out to be such educational endeavor - history, philosophy ... turns out there's lots to be learned by making fortune cookies. ;)
We talked about the late, great Vince Lombardi, of course. Lombardi was the granddaddy of great football quotes!
Other quotes about football came from everyone from John Madden to Dwight D. Eisenhower to Hunter S. Thompson, so we did some learnin' up on all sorts of individuals. Amazing where a quest for 'inspirational football quotes' can take you!
Of course, it was also a fun exercise in understanding what, exactly, these quotes meant. For instance, I posed Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz's quote to them: "Don't tell me how rocky the sea is, just bring the ship in," and asked what they thought it meant.
Annabelle didn't hesitate in saying it means, "Don't tell me about how hard it is, just get the touchdown!"
BINGO! Or, as our favorite Archie McPhee saying goes ...
Another one of my favorite quotes today: “Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.”
Amen to that, Coach Lombardi.
When I worked for the state of Washington as a job counselor for the unemployed, I used to keep on of Lombardi's quotes prominently displayed in my cubicle for job seekers to see: "The harder we work, the luckier we get."
I believed that then, and I believe it now.
RIDDLE ME THIS: Questions. All day long, I field questions. I feel like my life is one big press conference. But my inquisitors aren't the press, they're CJ and Annabelle. And frankly, mostly CJ. He is a question posing machine. It starts before 7 a.m., and it doesn't stop until he's forced to go to bed, about 15 hours later.
One of these days I'm going to write down EVERY question he asks me, I think, just for 'fun.' Today my favorite was, "What is the proper action to take if your doctor diagnoses you with the bubonic plague?"
The funny thing is, he'll often be in the middle of doing something completely unrelated when he'll ask the question (for instance, today he was playing a cartoony, kid friendly video game when the bubonic plague came to mind).
It's entertaining. And exhausting, because I try to answer each and every question. ...
CLIMB ON BOARD: Come one, come all! Let's go to the asteroid Bennu together!
NASA and The Planetary Society are inviting people to submit their name for a round-trip ride to Bennu, a 1,760-foot wide asteroid.. If you're up to the mission, you're going to launch in 2016, hitch a ride to the asteroid, hang out there for 500 days, and return to Earth in 2023. Sounds like fun, right?
