HEMPFEST: Yesterday there was no post as we all were otherwise indisposed (insert a hospital visit, dinosaurs and technical difficulties here). Take your pick, it just wasn't happening here. By today, we were eager to go for a walk. We purposely took an off-the-beaten-path-but-not-far-from-home path today. Within just a couple of blocks we found a spot of great interest: An urban hemp farm, per the signs on site.
Clever use of concrete blocks, wouldn't you say? By invitation, CJ and Annabelle took a moment to take it all in.
This sign informs passersby about the differences between hemp and marijuana.
And another sign warned passersby (that's us!) about the perils of looting their crop.
I hope our neighbors are able to keep their garden green for weeks to come.
ONE MORE NIGHT: While most of North America sleeps, three humans will be falling back to Earth.
Above is a final "night shot" from NASA astronaut Terry Virts. "I will miss this view!" he declared when sharing it.
Virts, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will undock from the International Space Station at 3:20 Thursday morning, Seattle time. They're expected to touch down in Kazakhstan at 6:43 a.m. after 199 days in space. NASA TV will cover the undocking and landing activities live.
Since the trio's return date was delayed by four weeks to allow Roscosmos to investigate the cause of the loss of the unpiloted Progress 59 cargo ship in late April, Cristoforetti became the new record holder for women when it comes to longest consecutive stay in space.
Before she left the station, Cristoforetti recorded a thank you to all of the women who have supported her during her time in space. https://youtu.be/uC24qTZz7so
FRAMED: CJ and Annabelle are big MAD Magazine fans. When an issue included a special offer for a numbered Weird Al and Alfred E. Neuman print, he couldn't get his 'yes, please' in the mail quick enough. He was thrilled when this envelope showed up for him a few days ago.
And here he is with the print, suitable for framing or recycling as the accompanying letter noted.
SIGNED UP: One thing we look forward to each summer is the Seattle Public Library's fantastic summer reading (and more!) program. Last year, one of the events we went to featured singer/songwriter Morgan Taylor. Also a cartoonist, Taylor's created a character named Gustafer Yellowgold, and he has a whole host of songs to tell about Gustafer's adventures. When we saw Taylor last year at the Magnolia library, we were enchanted,and signed up on his email list. A few days ago, an email let us know he'd be back in Seattle this summer, and the visit includes a weeklong workshop called “Build A Cartoon and Musical World” Per the library's Web site, attendees will "explore multimedia comic techniques as you invent characters, create narratives and write songs about your comic with award-winning illustrator/songwriter Morgan Taylor. For ages 7-12," and advance registration is required. Needless to say, I signed the kids up post haste. I can't believe they get a week long workshop (at the Southwest branch of SPL) for free! What an amazing opportunity. You can watch a short interview with cartoonist and singer/songwriter Morgan Taylor here: http://gustaferyellowgold.com/gustafer-live-on-tv/
GRADUATION: Though CJ and Annabelle are still several years away from graduation, they had a hand in a local graduation ceremony today via helping with a cake for the occasion. I love making artsy cookies, but I pretty much dread making custom cakes because of the potential for disaster factor.
https://youtu.be/ZVvdLeRHQoQ That said, we did throw together a Dr. Seuss themed cake for a very small, very alternative school this afternoon. A couple of weeks ago we found out the theme was Dr. Seuss' "Oh, the Places You'll Go." The last published book of Dr. Seuss, the story of charting one's own course and overcoming obstacles has become a de rigueur gift for high school graduates. Making a cake like this is a multi-stepped process. The first step is deciding what you want to do. That takes a lot of thought and, of course, we Googled "Oh, the Places You'll Go cakes." That was both good and bad, as it showed us some excellent examples, but mostly showed us horrible, horrible cakes we would never want to make. And that paralyzes you with fear. ... Eventually, you have to get over that and make the da&* cake. I decided to do 'flat' characters (like they were on the page), use a few of the most apropos quotes, and center on the fun animal characters in the book. However, in it, the animals are mostly scary. Scary animals on a graduation cake are probably a bad idea, so we made happy versions of them. :) Of course, the fun, Seussian trees were also included. Getting the pastel-y colors right was important, and we decided on reproducing the conical shape on the cover of the book for our cake topper.
We made the Seuss characters and quotes out of gumpaste this past weekend, and baked the cake rounds on Sunday. The cakes (mocha chocolate and banana bread) were filled (chocolate malt and brown sugar cinnamon, respectively) and crumb coated last night, and then this morning they got coated in smoothed buttercream (to resemble fondant) and packed up for the scary trek to the school. Between steep hillsides and horrible HORRIBLE Seattle roads, it was a hold-your-breath trek, but the cakes made it intact. We decorated them on site (stacking, adding the characters and the trim pieces), and when we walked away just moments before the graduation ceremony, it looked fabulous. Hopefully, people enjoyed it. CENTER STOP: Midday, we headed to Seattle Center to pick up our sneak preview tickets for Jurassic World on Thursday night. While there, the kids enjoyed the awesome new play structure, and then cooled off in the fountain.
Can you spot CJ and Annabelle? Tonight, we watched "Jurassic Park: The Lost World" to help get tuned up for Thursday. The Web site for the latest JP movie is totally worth checking out. It looks like the site for any real world zoo or park. Go here: http://www.jurassicworld.com/ CARPOOL FOR AMERICA: When we were making our way home this afternoon, CJ started asking questions about carpool lanes. That soon turned to him talking about a World War II propaganda poster telling Americans that driving alone is like riding with Hitler. Yes, really.
This poster, by American artist Weimer Purcell, was published in 1943 by the Government Printing Office for the Office of Price Administration. When we got home, we hopped on the Internet to learn a little bit more about it. A page on the National Archives site talks about the Hitler/car-sharing poster, as well as other posters that exhorted Americans to salvage, ration, and/or use resources more wisely. The page includes a quote from Donald Nelson, Chairman of the War Production Board. Describing the military view of the American wartime industry, Nelson said, "Astronomical quantities of everything and to hell with civilian needs." We thought this one, called "Waste Helps the Enemy," was rather cleverly done.
The artist is Vanderlann, and the poster was produced by the Douglas Aircraft Company.
MAKING A SPLASH: It was north of 85 degrees today - the perfect time for the kids to hit the municipal pool for the first time this season. They swam for an hour and a half, enjoying every minute of it.
It's not the biggest or best slide, but they sure do enjoy it.
LITTLE ITALY: On Saturday morning, we took a very short trip to one of the more unique museums you'll ever see: The Advanced Composite Structures Laboratory for Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. (Lamborghini). It's literally in our neighborhood, tucked away in a utilitarian small warehouse next to the Quality Food Center in Seattle's Interbay neighborhood. It's about an 8 minute walk from our house, tops.
Open less than a year, and only open to the public one Saturday a month, by appointment only, the world's first carbon fiber technological museum is still an unknown to most of the world. We were thrilled to have a chance to look around!
We knew we'd found the place when we saw this beauty tearing around the block.
It was a super sunny Saturday. Poor Annabelle's eyes were closed in each of the four photos I took of the kids at the guest meeting point.
I'll let CJ tell you a little bit more about our visit.
On Saturday, June 6th, I went to a museum at the Automobili Lamborghini Advanced Composite Structures Laboratory, which makes different carbon fiber technologies for use by Automobili Lamborghini, a famous Italian sports car manufacturer. According to the museum guide*, some of the first carbon fiber technologies were made in Japan in the late 1950's. The museum guide also told us that Lamborghini got it's start in the 1960's, when Ferruccio Lamborghini made his own car to impress his neighbors, one of which owned a Ferrari. Inside the museum, there were engine covers of different Lamborghini automobiles, such as the Countach and the Diablo.What makes Lamborghini cars' engine placement interesting is that unlike most other cars, which either have the engine in the front or in the back (much like the ill-fated Ford Pinto), Lamborghini cars have their engine in the middle. According to the Advanced Composite Structures Laboratory's website, their mission is to provide research and education solutions in the field of composite materials, with an emphasis on damage tolerance, hail and lightning strike, crashworthiness analysis and simulation, and material characterization for customers in the automotive industries worldwide. At the end of the tour of the museum, the guide informed us that Lamborghini currently works with several other automobile companies using carbon fiber technology. At the end of the tour, we got to ask questions we had. I asked the guide which Lamborghini's current main rival company is. The guide replied by saying Ferrari is the current primary rival of Lamborghini.Overall, I thought the tour of the carbon fiber museum was very interesting.
*Our tour guide was Dr. Paolo Feraboli, the lab's director, and also a professor at the University of Washington. You can see an interview with him here: https://youtu.be/nhPKgyaY0-A
Annabelle also has a few thoughts to share about the ACSL.
On June 6, I went to the Lamborghini Advanced Composite Structure Lab. At the lab, they experiment with materials to make Lamborghini.
The first Lamborghini took a long time to make and sometimes even had Lamborghini
lose money every time they made one. The process was so slow they only made
about 20 cars a year.
Today, one of the most prominent materials used is carbon fiber,
which, when combined with resin, can be strong and light. Almost everything on
display was made of carbon fiber! The carbon fiber has been used in many of
their cars and other products since. The design of the Lamborghini has changed
a lot over the years from a bulky car to a streamlined one, and even race cars!
There was one car they made completely out of carbon fiber after Ferrari said
they could make a car under 1,000 pounds. The carbon fiber car was so light,
they had to put a block of lead in the back to make it exactly 999 pounds. They
also displayed golf clubs and snowboard bindings made of carbon fiber. The tour
was fun and it was really cool seeing what Lamborghini uses in their cars.
Inside, the lab, a couple of photos were permitted. Mine (taken with a cell phone, in a dark space) are terrible, but at least show we were there.
UFO SPOTTED OVER HAWAII: Today, NASA conducted another test flight of their Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) over the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii. A vehicle to test new technologies that will help NASA land heavier payloads than current technology will allow on the surface of planets including Mars, LDSD is saucer-shaped vehicle.
Today, the saucer was taken to about 120,000 feet aloft by a balloon. Upon release, an engine fired, rocketing it to 180,000 feet, where tests could be conducted simulating Mars' thin atmosphere. The craft is designed to test entry and descent technology using a donut-shaped airbag and a supersonic parachute that can be deployed while the vehicle is descending to its landing point, traveling several times the speed of sound.
Unfortunately, today's test was cut short when then a parachute problem presented itself. The vehicle will be recovered, and engineers will certainly be trying to figure out what went wrong.
MMM, DONUTS: If you were on the Internet or watched the news today, you probably already know that it's National Doughnut Day.
The kids have enjoyed Doughnut Day for several years running now.
However, it wasn't until today that we learned there's actually a pretty neat story behind the 'holiday.'
Turns out it started in 1938, with very noble intents. According to an article on TIME magazine's Web site, during World War I, women volunteers for the Salvation Army made doughnuts to send to soldiers serving overseas as a way to help boost morale.
The Chicago branch of the Salvation Army launched the first Doughnut Day as a fundraiser for their organization, and as a way to raise awareness of the women volunteers doing what they could to help with the war effort.
During World War II, the American Red Cross picked up the doughnut campaign.
LAST NIGHT: With the days getting shorter this time of year, it seems like the International Space Station is only visible in the dead of the night lately. Fortunately, last night was not one of those nights. It was the bottom of the ninth, and as we watched the Mariners lose their sixth (or is it seventh?) game in a row, there was a lovely, six-minute fly over of the ISS.
Next Thursday (June 11), three of the people who zipped cross the sky over our house will be coming home. NASA's Terry Virts and Flight Engineers Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) and Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos will have been in space 199 days and traveled more than 84 million miles since their launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 24.
photo: NASA
LAFF O' THE DAY: Did you know you can't run through a campground? You can only RAN, because it's past tents.
BACK AT IT: Another day, another post from Safeco Field. Tis the season, I suppose.
Wednesday we were at the field earlier than ever - by 10:15 a.m. - for a special event. It was the Mariners' annual Weather Education Day. About 5,000 kids bused in from local schools for the event.
Weather experts from KOMO were on hand, including Steve Pool.
The event started with a Trivial Pursuit-style game show, with all the questions being about the weather, of course. There was also a segment on life jacket safety, featuring some Coast Guard members and a local swim team. KOMO's weather writer and blogger Scott Sistek showed a cool video all about weather, with clips ranging from beautiful to terrifying. After the weather program, we went and warmed ourselves by the fire for a bit. It was a chilly morning!
Annabelle, as always, had her sketchbook with her and produced lots of artwork.
The game itself was (yet another disappointment). Annabelle's moose face says it all when the last out was recorded.
Ms were swept at home, by the blasted Yankees. Ugh. SUMMER COMING: Today was the kids' last day in a couple of their classes (art for Annabelle and social studies for CJ). They have really enjoyed the classes and are sorry to see them ending. While at the learning center, we dropped off some summer-forever inspired cookies for a travel-loving teacher who is retiring.
THROWBACK THURSDAY: Check out this lovely snapshot of our home planet, taken on this day (June 4) in 1965 by an astronaut on board Gemini IV.
Image Credit: NASA The photo is of the Florida Straits and Grand Bahama Bank. It was taken the day after astronaut Ed White's historic first American spacewalk.
DAMN YANKEES: Monday evening, we decided (kind of last minute-sh) decided to go to the Mariners' game. King Felix was going to be pitching and the Yankees were in town. The Ms had a special - a $20 ticket in the "King's Court," complete with t-shirts and "K" (strike out) towels.
We got there a bit early and watched batting practice. We stood right by the Yankees' bullpen and watched their starting pitcher, former Mariner Michael Pineda warm up, and visited with a family from Alberta, Canada, and a Yankees fan from NYC.
While we were watching and waiting for the game to start, I told the kids the long, sad story of Alex Rodriguez, a whiz kid with the Mariners back in the 1990s. I told them how Alex was so naturally gifted, and he had a reputation for being a hard worker and polite. And then ... something happened. He left the Mariners, saying it wasn't about the money (it was), and his personal downhill slide started in a big way. His ego was a runaway train, and he, at some point, decided to start cheating, taking steroids. He was caught, repeatedly, and defiant rather than apologetic. He became one of the most hated men in the game, unpopular even with his own team, now the Yankees.
The kids heard A-Rod roundly booed with each at bat. Annabelle, who always has a sketchbook with her at he game, drew an A-Rod inspired pony.
Unfortunately, the Mariners' pitcher struggled mightily Monday night, and the game was a runaway about mid way through. We decided to leave our lofty seats and make our way down to the concourse. Imagine our surprise when we happened upon a group of gentlemen who were My Little Pony fans (some articles of clothing gave them away). Annabelle gave the Bronies (male MLP fans) a couple of her drawings. They were THRILLED! They thought her Pay-Roid pony was hysterical.
At the end of the game, we wound up visiting with another Yankees' fan. There all by himself, he was in the midst of a multi-city dream trip, following the Yankees on the road. He was impressed with all of the hubbub surrounding King Felix and the King's Court shirts and asked how he could get one. We told him he would have had to buy a ticket for the King's Court for the game ... and then proceeded to give him one of our shirts. He was VERY grateful for the cool keepsake from Safeco Field. So, overall, though the game was miserable, we managed to have a lot of fun and a memorable evening. FIT TO BE DYED: CJ attended a pizza and tie dye party last Friday evening, and this weekend, he undid the rubber bands cinching the shirt up.
We washed it (alone, of course, with some vinegar to help set the colors), and boy was he happy with the finished product!
