Sun, Here it Comes

MORNING STROLL: This morning brought patchy blue skies and dappled sunshine. Lovely! When I hopped online this morning, my Facebook feed, I could tell from others' photos that Mt. Rainier was more visible than usual today. 

I wasted no time in telling the kids (and dogs) to get their acts together, we were going for a walk. And I knew exactly where I wanted to go. Thousands and thousands of times we have driven across the "Magnolia Bridge"  - the bridge leading to our neighborhood's southernmost part. It's a long, high span, sloping upward to the peak of our hilly 'hood. 

We parked at Ursula Judkins Park, which overlooks the city ... We hadn't been out of the car 1 minute when we were buzzed by a bald eagle. I didn't even have my camera out yet! :/

The park has a great view of the city ... 

and the bay.

The bridge we walked offers a view of Mt. Rainier ranging from 'barely there' to 'which is why I wanted to go there. What with the recent cold and rain, I figured the mount would be covered in a think blanket of snow, and that it was.

Gorgeous!

As we walked down the bridge, we had a good view of the former Port of Seattle net yard that going to be turned into a park in the not-too-distant future. 

It's not much to look at now, but it will be a great waterfront spot once it's developed.

Here's a Port of Seattle photo (by Don Wilson) shooting back toward the park - and the bridge we walked today. As you can see, there's a narrow stretch of park by the seawall, but that flat area behind it is screaming for a makeover. :)

When we got the bottom of the bridge, over the cruise ship terminals, we found a dedication sign for the bridge. Officially named the West Garfield Bridge, it was built in the fall of 1929/1930. 

The bridge was damaged in the Nisqually/quake in 2001, and it's scheduled to be replaced - but there's no funding for it. Made us a little nervous ever time a truck or bus would go by and we could feel the bridge shake beneath our feet!

On our way back up, we got to watch two ferries pass as they crossed the Sound to and fro.

And near the bridge's highest point, we stopped to ponder a couple of memorials. I had to explain to the kids that the bridge is a magnet for suicidal people because it's high and over pavement and jumpers can be pretty confident they will accomplish what they set out to do. Our three-doors-down neighbor did that about three years ago (just a few months after her young adult daughter hung herself at their home). Ugh. 

We noticed that the "Kory" reference on the bridge had a date of 9/11, 2014. It will be 10 years since Kory last enjoyed the view we had today. 

And as we drive the bridge nearly daily, I notice how often the decorations beneath Tony's name are changed. His demise had some question marks associated with it. Though his body was found under the bridge and people initially assumed suicide, the coroner found that physical trauma was not his cause of death. I read one interview with a family member a couple of years ago detailing his disappearance and it sounded very much like he might have been a crime victim. 

We were just a couple minutes from the car when I noticed a small plane flying over downtown, with a banner behind it.

Neither the kids nor I could read it with the naked eye, but I zoomed in as close as I could with my big lens, hoping we'd be able to read it in Photoshop. 

If I'm not mistaken, the banner read "STOP PUTIN SAVE UKRAINE"

So it wasn't all sunshine and fun today on our walk.

SUN DANCE: Ol Sol was acting up in a big way yesterday. A sunspot (AR1990, specifically) shot out a big ol' blog o' plasma. Check it out in this video.
Credit: NASA/SDO/Mash Mix: Space.com

http://www.space.com/24802-the-most-intense-solar-flare-of-the-year.html

HARD DAY'S NIGHT: We finished up the Week 2 lectures and took our test today in our Beatles' music class. A lot of the material was on the album "A Hard Day's Night." W elearned John wrote 8 of the album's 11 tracks, with Paul writing 3, and the two of them co-writing one.  

Our professor mentioned that George played a brand new 12-string Rickebacker on the album, and you can really hear it in the very first chord (a flat seventh chord, in case you're wondering!) of the title track. Love this music video (from the movie of the same name) of that song. http://youtu.be/venzPNvge18

John was making an attempt to write more serious lyrics for Hard Day's Night, and some of his songs were "Loser," "No Reply" and "Don't Want to Spoil the Party." 

CJ said he'd "worry about the mental health of" a bandmate writing a bunch of dark songs. I told him John's songs were sunshine, lollipops and rainbows compared to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, who penned tunes like 
"I Hate Myself and I Want to Die." I also reminded CJ that John Lennon didn't commit suicide (Cobain's fate), he was murdered, outside his home at the Dakota Building, which we saw on our trip to NYC last fall.

ROCK REPORT: Exciting news today out of England. In a Scientific American article, we learned scientists claim to have found the exact source of Stonehenge's smaller bluestones. (The SA article was based on findings published in the February issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science.)

A team of scientists looked at minerals which are part of the crystallizing structures forming in the original magna, such as chromium, nickel, magnesium oxide and iron oxide. Based on what they found, they determined at least 55 percent of the dolerite bluestones came Carn Goedog, about 140 miles (225 km) away from Stonehenge.

If the stone I.D. is correct, the question remains, how were the stones transported to their current location? Researchers are looking for evidence of humans working in the Carn Goedog area 5,000 years ago. Theories about transportation include dragging the stones downhill and floating them to the site by sea, and them having been carried close to Stonehenge by an Ice Age glacier. 

Naturally, the story made us think back to our visit to Stonehenge last September. 

All of our photos, and CJ and Annabelle's fanciful fiction about how Stonehenge was created are available in an earlier blog post: http://magnoliaprep.blogspot.com/2013_09_29_archive.html

Building

                                        
FUN & GAMES & WORK:  Our weekend was a mixed bag. Saturday found us back in West Seattle, going on round 38 or so with Rick's 80 year old, abused wood floors. We made our final patches, one painstaking square inch at a time.

The stain was a lovely, dark color called "Kona" per the Varathane label. Once the staining was done, it was time for the (stinky) polyurethane. Rick was pretty much on his own for that. That meant we had Sunday off!

We decided to play a few board games to relax and unwind. We headed to Chuck's Central District to do just that.  First we played Dixit Jinx, which is fun, fast paced and requires sharp communication skills.  I won that game. :)

Next up it was Pass the Pigs: Pig Party. On each turn you roll 'dice' that are actually little plastic piggies, and you get X number of points depending on how they land. You can keep rolling as long as you like (at the peril of losing all points accumulated during your turn), or stop when you want.

We were playing to 100, and my strategy was trying to get 20 points a roll. I was plugging along, and Annabelle had a similar strategy. CJ was having not such great pig rolling luck, and then there was Christian, would would run up serious points on each turn, only to have them wiped out when he rolled a 'pig out' (pigs land on opposite sides). However, Christian's Big Gamble paid off, and he ended up being the big boss hog!

The last game was Jenga (photo at the top of the blog). We built our tower pretty darn high, but eventually Christian made it fall down go BOOM!

Today, the floors shiny and new looking, we were back at Rick's. We installed base moulding in the living room and kitchen, hung some artwork, hung drapes, and brought furniture (thanks G&G) into the front room for the first time. 

It's starting to look downright homey! 

BY GEORGE: We continue to enjoy our Beatles' music class. One of the things the professor covers is who wrote and who sang what. Sometimes we get surprised. We often hop to YouTube after lectures to listen the songs just covered. Yesterday, that sent us on a George Harrison kick. We would up listening to Beatles' tunes, as well as some of Harrison's post-Beatles' music. 

I was shocked when I stumbled upon "Crackerbox Palace." I loved that song as a kid, and would have sworn it was a Pal McCartney and Wings song. What's funny, is when I sent my sister a link to it last night saying,  "Wow, it's not Paul, it's George!" she immediately replied with an "I thought it was Ringo!" I played it for CJ and asked him who he thought was singing. "John Lennon," he said, without hesitation. Poor George, we thought it was everyone BUT him. http://youtu.be/IOvnG-WTDXw

We also spent some time watching George Harrison's final known (kinda) public performance, in the VH-1 studio, back when they actually played lots of music. Harrison was there with Ravi Shankar, promoting the sitar player's new album. However, as the interview wore on, someone slipped a guitar into George's hands and he played a few tunes. 

http://youtu.be/fdSb4zddOzo

Mars, Music & MLP

Image Credit: 

NASA/JPL-Caltech

IN REVERSE: A shadow-selfie, here's a photo taken by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. The pic was taken with the left-eye camera of MSL's stereo Navigation Camera (NavCam).

Recently, project managers decided to have the one-ton rover drive in reverse, in hopes of reducing excessive wear on its six metal wheels. which have been taking a beating over the last few months. Curiosity completed its first long backward drive on Feb. 18.

Curiosity is slowly making its way to the base of 3.4 mile high Mount Sharp. It should reach there by June. Right now, it's in the Moonlight Valley region of the Red Planet. 

MUSIC MAKERS: We listened to a couple of lectures today for our Beatles' music class. The kids are really enjoying it. It's easy for them to understand, they're rather familiar with The Beatles catalog, so they know most of the music being referenced, and the subject matter is a lot easier than physics. :)

As usual, Annabelle has been employing her cartoon-note-taking approach.

  

EARLY RISERS: While most people sleep in on Saturdays, that's the day of the week CJ and Annabelle get up earliest. Their favorite show, "My Little Pony Friendship is Magic" is on at 7 a.m., so they're up around 6:45.

Annabelle churns out several ponies a week - and sometimes several a day - in crayon, chalk, and on computer. Here's one she made in MS Paint recently. Its name is Partly Cloudy. 

In Bloom

       

ROCKET FIRE: Today marks the anniversary of John Glenn's 1962 flight aboard the Mercury "Friendship 7" spacecraft. It was the United States' first manned orbital mission. After launching form Kennedy Space Center, Glenn completed a successful three-orbit mission around the earth, reaching a maximum altitude of approximately 162 statute miles, an a velocity of 17,500 miles per hour (the same speed the International Space Station maintains to stay in orbit at the present). Glenn's flight was a total of 4 hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds.
                                
GRAPHIC: NASA History

Fast forward 52 years, this evening we sat and watched (online) the launch of a Delta IV rocket from KSC. On board was a satellite for the Air Force.

We happened to be at one of our favorite hang outs when the launch went down, Chuck's on 85th. I will admit, we're guilty of making a little ruckus when it lifted off. "Sorry. Rocket launch," I explained to the people in our vicinity.

EIGHTIES BABY: CJ has recently become semi-obsessed with the movie "Tron." He became aware of it via some online games he plays. We tracked down a copy of "Tron" through Seattle Public Library and today, we picked it up. He quickly set about watching it.  I remembered the movie as being plodding and not engaging. Well, that's not how he saw it. CJ was captivated from first frame to last despite the dated technology. Ironically, he kept raving about how good the animation was given its age. Go figure.

ARTSY: While at the library, as luck would have it, while the kids were in the library picking up Tron (as the pups and I waited outside), it turned out  'Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii" was also ready for pickup. We watched that this evening. Trippy. Very analog.
                                              
Filmed in 1972, although it's filmed in an ancient Roman amphitheater, there is no audience, which only serves to make it more ethereal. The amphitheater was closed for six days for the filming.     
I LOVE this Roger Waters' quote (via Wikipedia from another source) about the experience ...

"Are you happy with the filming?"
"What do you mean, happy?"
"Well do you think it's interesting?"
"What do you mean, interesting?"—Roger Waters, being interviewed by Adrian Maben in 1972 

It honestly reminds me of something(s) CJ would say.

IN BLOOM: We went on a nice long walk today, a couple of miles, at least. We saw crocus popping up, some small petals on some heather-like plants (complete with bees) and tiny buds on a few roses. Spring is a comin'!

The kids enjoyed a couple of playgrounds along our journey.

And we enjoyed a lot of lovely scenery. Here's a glimpse of Puget Sound through some trees at a (shade) dark park. 

 We spied a kite caught in a tree in a wind-whipped park along Elliott Bay. Note to kite flyers: seek wide open spaces.

Speaking of 'in bloom' (the sub head of this section), today would have been Kurt Cobain's 47th birthday. What a tortured, talented soul he was. Love this video for "In Bloom," clearly a tribute to The Beatles on Ed Sullivan

Wednesday

Photo: NASA
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: A day after being dispatched from the International Space Station, the first operational Orbital Sciences Corp. Cygnus resupply craft re-entered Earth's atmosphere today and burned up over the South Pacific Ocean. The fire was by design - Cygnus is not recyclable. Along for the fiery end were 3,250 pounds of ISS trash, opening up some elbow room on the orbiting research lab.

LIVE! FROM SEATTLE: Here's a link to a Web cam up high on the Space Needle -
http://www.spaceneedle.com/webcam/  Yes, a lot of times clouds are going to obscure your view, but on some days, including today, it's a lovely view.

DEBATABLE: This evening, we watched some of the debate between Bill Nye ('The Science Guy') and Ken Ham, founder and CEO of Kentucky’s Creation Museum.  (The Web site for that museum is an eye opener, BTW. Yowza.)

About 10 minutes into it, I heard CJ mutter, "He's insane" when Ham tried to explain that animals were vegetarian pre-Noah's ark times. (Bill Nye begged to differ, pointing out that, for instance, lions' teeth were clearly not designed for grazing on broccoli.) CJ face palmed so many times, I think he probably has a sprained wrist. Or a sprained face.

Lots of sites have parts or all of the debate online, including MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-live/watch-now-bill-nye-debates-ken-ham

YES, AGAIN: We spent hours in West Seattle working on wood floors again today, and that's all I'll say, except that my body is getting used to construction and I'm not as hobbled as I was, which is awesome!

STING AND SIMON: Tonight,We the adults in the household had a field trip close to home, to Key Arena to see Paul Simon and Sting perform. The place was nearly sold out, and it was a Baby Boom crowd, for sure. I felt like a spring chicken for a change. ;)

They're each immensely talented entertainers, and together they made some magic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt5YSZOqyUg

Fourteen Hours

HERE COMES THE SUN: I wanted to start off with something pretty, and I'd say this photo taken by an Expedition 35 crew member on board the International Space Station in May of last year certainly works.

When it was taken, the ISS was 27.4 degrees south latitude and 110.1 degrees west longitude, a few hundred miles east of Easter Island.  When you're on board the ISS, you get to see 16 sunrises in 24 hours! 
HIGH FIBER DIET: Nothing to see here, move along, move along ... That's what happens to a blog when you spend 13 hours working on wood floors in a day.

As I was on my hands and knees in hour 12, inhaling the off gasses from oil based stain with the scent of polyurethane wafting in from the other room, I contemplated how many brain cells I'd killed today. Probably too many to count.

I told Rick that I was liable to be weaving on the way home. Fortunately, I did make it home without incident.

Tomorrow should be easier, because WE ARE DONE SANDING. As I sit here, I can feel wood chips in my mouth, I kid you not. And was WITH being fastidious about wearing a mask. But as of tonight, the master bedroom is sanded, stained and polyurethaned, the living room is sanded and stained, and the kitchen is sanded. By tomorrow night, the living room will be poly coated and the kitchen will be stained and sanded. Hoo-RAY. And then, I will have more compelling things to share. Hopefully.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: A friend shared with me this photo today ...

The gentleman looked vaguely familiar ... but I couldn't put a name to the face. Can you? 

It's Stephen Hawking. I love seeing this photo of him. Until now, I've never pictured him in any other way than as a brilliant but withered man in a wheelchair.  His life story is so amazing. Some doctors told him to drop out of college, because it would be a waste of his time to finish, because he'd never live to earn his degree or work in any meaningful way. Here he is, decades later, considered one of the world's preeminent theoretical physicists of all time. 

AABA:  We took our first quiz tonight for out Beatles class.  A few of the questions had to do with the AABA song format, not to be confused with ABBA, the '70s sensational band from Sweden who churned out hits like "Dancing Queen" and "Fernando." ;)

AABA is verse, verse chorus. Most all of The Beatles' early songs followed the formula, like 1963's "I Want to Hold Your Hand," which we watched tonight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MHkgwA8t-g

We have "Abbey Road" in heavy rotation in the car right now. Their last recorded album, from 1969, it is definitely a lot more adventurous.

Knock on Wood

ROCK ON: Saturday night the family went to Bothell to see Bottleshock, the band Rick and Kennedy are in. This was the first time CJ and Annabelle have seen them play in years, because they usually perform at a bar/club, where it's 21 and older.

The show was fun and there was a good crowd. Above, Annabelle holds up a candle during their take on "Purple Rain."

LONG AND HARD: Saturday, Sunday and Monday, we spent hours and hours and hours in West Seattle, working on refinishing Rick's hardwood floors (with the emphasis on HARD!)  They'd been abandoned and abused for 80 plus years, but we think they have a little life left in them.

We had to patchwork the kitchen floor together, stealing boards from here and there to get a (mostly) solid floor. Here's what it looked like pre-sanding.

Speaking of sanding, Annabelle gave it a shot. CJ wasn't interested in trying.

The living room floor is looking pretty darn good at this point - pre stain.

And tonight around 9:30, Rick and I finished staining the bedroom floor a color called "Kona." It's a nice, rich brown (this photo makes it look a little reddish).

We'll be back at it tomorrow, a bit more sanding and a whole lot of staining to do!

GOLDFISH DRIVING: I'm beat, so that's it for now, but I leave you with this ...
http://youtu.be/YbNmL6hSNKw