Blockheads

PARTY PREPPERS: For the past couple of days, we've devoted some time to getting ready for our neighborhood's annual block party.

We made signs for street poles and posters to put over sawhorses, which we used to block off the street at each end. 

And, of course, we made food. We test-drove a new-to-use mac-and-cheese recipe. It was amazing (thanks, in large part, to using pounds of Beecher's flagship white cheddar cheese).

And we made some cute little caprese salad bites in the form of ladybugs. 

They sat on a base of fresh mozzarella topped by basil we grew from seeds, some grape tomatoes sliced at an angle with a black olive sliced to nestle against the tomato. The heads are held on with little dollops of cream cheese, and we tinted some cream cheese black and piped on the spots. Fresh and fun and healthy!

Of course, we also made some cupcakes (strawberry lemonade, one of my favorite recipes ever), and then there was the matter of whipping up a few rainbow star pooping magical unicorn cookies ....

I saw a tutorial featuring these cookies a couple of months ago, and had wanted to give them a go ever since. We figured the block party was a good enough reason.

The first (of many, many) steps involved making six colors of dough. They had to be chilled for six hours, with the centermost one in the form of a long rope, as it would serve as the core for the log.

Then, one at a time, each other color was rolled out and wrapped around the rope. Obviously, the rope grew thicker and more colorful with each addition.

Then came time to cut the unicorns out. Take a look at the colorful leftovers! I made some tie-dyed t-shirt cookies out of them.

The cookie cutter we have has such spindly legs and a thin horn and tail, it's not easy to get the unicorns to keep their exact shape, which is important, as each finished cookie is really three individual cookies, stacked.

In the photo above you can see the three components - a left and a right side, as well as a (legless) middle. The middle part has a little void in it, to hide the magical surprise. 

I held the layers together with some royal icing. The photo above shows the bottom and middle layers ready for the final side. (Notice the star 'stuffing'.) Getting all they layers to line up was tricky, but I got better at it as we went along.

And finally, after many hours over a couple of days, we had magical unicorn cookies!

 A friend even gave me some amazing rainbow unicorn themed boxes to put them in for people who wanted to take one home!

Here's a little video of Annabelle demonstrating their magical 'power.' https://youtu.be/bjrnrbunXH0

COOL VIEW: Neat new animated video from NASA today! It uses actual satellite images of the far side of the moon, illuminated by the sun, as it crosses between the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) onboard the DSCOVR spacecraft, one million miles from home.
https://youtu.be/DMdhQsHbWTs

It's cool seeing the (illuminated!) “dark side” of the moon that's never visible from Earth, isn't it?  In the images, taken overnight on July 16, the North Pole is in the upper left corner   
In case you're wondering, DSCOVR's primary mission involves real-time solar wind monitoring for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

CERTIFIABLE:  Today, we thought to check in with edX to see where our certificates for a class we completed weeks ago, "The Rise of Superheroes and Their Impact On Pop Culture." Usually, we get an email or something letting us know they're ready, but not this time. 

However, we were happy to learn we each got 100 percent for the course, and the certs are now filed away in the kids' portfolios.

GONZO: So, CJ's bike has been stolen. It was parked in our carport, entirely under a tarp (but not locked, sigh). 

He had pretty much outgrown it, but we'll still miss it, of course. It was a sweet, vintage Sears Spyder complete with sissy bar and banana seat.

I filed a police report on the off chance that someone, somewhere connects some dots, but I don't expect any real help from SPD as it says in bold letters on their Web site "Most cases will NOT be investigated."  (Christian was told the same thing when we had a car stolen too, by the way.)

That's right, folks, it's always open season in Seattle, and the criminals know it.

Needless to say, the purchase of a good lock will precede the purchase of another bike.

Boxer Day

SHIP SHAPE:  Saturday, we tried to visit the USS Boxer, an amphibious assault vehicle temporarily docked at the foot of our hill for Seafair. We drove down the vicinity of the ship and found out that parking was going to cost us $10. Cheapskates that we are we said, "Forget that!" and headed home, formulating a Plan B for a Sunday visit.

Sunday morning, about 11:20, we drove our car to the top of our hill and parked at Ursula Judkins park, at the south end of the bluff. From there, we walked down, down, down the Galer Street Bridge to Terminal 90, a bit of a hike, but one with a gorgeous view. We arrived at the terminal at about 11:40, and then the wait was on. Standing on hot asphalt in unseasonably hot weather. 

To pass the time, we watched a pair of osprey who seem to call the terminal their home. They had 'satellite' perches atop light posts ...

 but their big nest was on a multi-headed light stanchion. 

 Beautiful birds, they were. 

Speaking of flying things, we also got to see some Blue Angels while waiting on line for an hour. One of my favorite moments was having the Angels and an osprey in the same frame. 

Eventually, we FINALLY got on board the ship. 

How about I let Annabelle tell you a little bit more about it ... 

On August 2, 2015, I went to terminal 90 on a tour of the USS Boxer, an amphibious US Navy assault ship. The USS Boxer is very big, and I got a chance to tour almost the entire thing. The first thing I noticed about the Boxer is that they had a lot of vehicles on display. They also had a lot of rifles that you could pick up and examine. One of the things I saw was some fire equipment, in case of emergency. They even let you try it on to see how heavy it was. After looking around the main deck, we briefly headed down to a lower deck, where they stored more vehicles. After that, we went up to the flight deck, which was in my opinion, the best part. I thought it was the best part because we got to sit in an Osprey, which is a hybrid of a helicopter and a plane. Our tour ended after taking a look around the flight deck. The tour was fun but I wouldn’t go again.

Having been there, I can totally understand and agree with Annabelle's assessment about every doing it again. It was a tremendously (needlessly) long wait to get on board, and once we were on board it was pretty much a free for all - frankly dangerously so, IMHO.

For instance, while CJ and Annabelle were up top a Humvee, some other young tour taker STARTED the damn vehicle. For real. I don't pretend to know if military Humvees have keys or what kind of ignition system, but I'm thinking ones in the belly of the ship, open to tour should not be 'live.' And speaking of live, there were many, many weapons for tour takers to take a look at ... and handle. I really wasn't keen on kids/adults/anyone hoisting enormous arms (we're talking bazookas/grenade launcher size and more) and pointing them at my head and my kids' heads or anyone's heads and taking selfies and/or pretending to shoot them. That is SO contrary to safe arms handling. Ugh.Horrible. 

But other that that, it was swell ... :/

We certainly did appreciate the chance to check out an Osprey up close!

 And we even got to go inside!

 CJ's version of our visit ...

On August 2nd, 2015, we went on a tour of the USS Boxer, which, according to Wikipedia, is a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship of the Navy. When we visited, the Boxer was docked at Terminal 90. Inside the main room, there were several different, mostly triangular flags hanging from the ceiling. When I asked one of the servicemen who worked aboard the ship if he knew what they represented, he said he honestly didn't know.

During our visit, we where shown multiple vehicles used by the Navy, including different tanks and planes. In one of the tanks, we were allowed to climb in, and we were able to hold an (obviously turned off) gatling gun mounted on top. I asked one of the servicemen if it would be possible to take it off the tank and hold it. He proceeded to tell me that although it couldn't function on its own, it could be taken off and mounted on anything that had the appropriate mount. Afterwards, we were brought to the top of the boat, where we got to sit in some helicopters, including the Osprey.

One detail I noticed about the Boxer was there were multiple different colored "E" symbols on the ship. The different colors on the Es represent different categories, and the stars above them apparently represent how good it is in that category.

Overall, I think it was very interesting visiting the USS Boxer.

Whirlwind

HOPELESSLY BEHIND: It has been busy, Busy, BUSY for us for the past week plus. Friday I neglected to post because it was the kids' last day of music camp  ...

and we had to run straight from there to a wedding, literally changing clothes in the car along the way.

A wedding highlight for the kids was taking a 'shot' of Skittles. Taste the rainbow!

Saturday we took a nice walk in Discovery Park, keeping on the interior trails in the shade, because it was another scorcher out.

We worked around our yard afterward, and started a bit of prepping for the annual block party, which we're helping organize this year. Annabelle designed some flyers and we posted them around the neighborhood.

That afternoon, we took a break from all the work and action and played a couple of games, including the fun Sleeping Queens (which I won two out of two times, I think it important to point out, ha!).

Sunday, we spent most of the day visiting a Navy amphibious assault ship, the USS Boxer, which was docked at the bottom of our hill.

I'm going to save most of the reports and photos about the Boxer for a future post, as the hour is late, our Internet was down all evening, and I'm exhausted from making 3D rainbow unicorn pinata cookies for tomorrow's block party. 

Until tomorrow ... 

Thursday Fun

SING A SONG:  Here, finally, is some proof that the kids are actually in music camp this week!

They're attending a Monday-Friday afternoon session at the Southwest Branch of Seattle Public libraries with singer songwriter animator Morgan Taylor of Gustafer Yellowgold fame.

The group of kids (about 20, from ages 7-12) are working on original characters and songs. Their main character is a squirrel named Christopher Acorn. He's storing nuts, but the stash goes missing. That's what the song below is about. 

She's off camera (thanks, CJ! ;) ) but Annabelle is playing the electronic sounding instrument (specifically, a stylophone, a miniature electronic synthesizer invented in 1967, per Wikipedia).
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Blf1X8o6Xkk?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
https://youtu.be/Blf1X8o6Xkk

Here's what the kids have to say about the camp so far, Annabelle first:

Starting on July 27, 2015 I started a 5-day summer camp called “Build a cartoon and musical world”, taught by Morgan Taylor, the singer-songwriter/artist for the “Gustafer Yellowgold” series. The camp included plenty of other kids, even though I didn’t count the actual number. The summer camp started with making a character and a song. Our first song was titled “Pig Up!” and was about standing up for yourself.  The character we ended up making was “Christopher Acorn”, a squirrel.

The story we settled on for Christopher was that he had his acorn stash stolen, so he goes on an adventure to find out who stole them. First he goes to a hawk, who tells Christopher it was the fox. In the end, the culprit turns out to be his sister all along. The camp has been fun so far and I can’t wait to finish our story. 

And here's what CJ has to say ...

On July 27th, we started going to a daily camp from 3:30 P.M. to 5:30 P.M, which will last until July 31st, in the Southwest branch of Seattle Public Libraries run by Morgan Taylor, the artist and musician behind the Gustafer Yellowgold music videos. Morgan Taylor has played Gustafer Yellowgold shows all across the nation, including one we went to in Magnolia a while back. At camp, our goal is to create a story, drawings, and songs to represent our character and their adventures.

In class, the character we created was Christopher Acorn, a squirrel who lives in a stump and wishes to be a pig (as bizarre as it may sound). So far, songs we have written include "Pig Up", a song that goes into more detail about Christopher's desire to be a pig, "R.O.D.E.N.T", or "Rodent-Operated Daring Elementary Nut Training", which is both the name of Christopher's school and its anthem, and "Calvin", which tells a story about Calvin, a brown-feathered hawk who steals Christopher's acorns.

Recently, we each drew three-panel comics about something that happens to Christopher, beginning with the words "I woke up this morning and I could not believe my eyes.." Examples of different comics we drew included a scenario where Christopher wakes up to find that somebody has made him breakfast in bed, and one where he discovers that R.O.D.E.N.T's Nutball team has won in the regional competition.

So far, I've had fun in Morgan's class and wish to be able to see him again.

They each worked on some cartoons yesterday, too. Everyone was challenged to start with the thought "This morning I woke up and I could not believe my eyes ... " 

Here's CJ's panel 

And Annabelle's interpretation ...

MORNING ROUNDS: This morning's dog walking destination was Discovery Park. We didn't head for the beach, though. Rather, we explored a couple of interior loops. The first was Wolf Tree Trail, a new-to-us-one. Basically, it's paths through swampy areas. I was instantly regretting the fact we forgot bug spray.

Anyway, neat plants to be seen in the swampy area, including these with Jurassic Park sized leaves.

We also did the loop around the beaver pond, except there wasn't a sign of any recent beaver activity now, and no ducks were about, either. The pond looked super stagnant. Annabelle likened it to a golf course green.  

On the Waterfront

LOW TIDE: We took a stroll to the end of a road in Magnolia this morning. When we arrived we found it was low tide. The kids combed the beach while I stood back with the dogs, who watched them and worried that their humans were too far away.

MUSICAL: It was day three of the music and animation workshop the kids are enrolled in this Monday through Friday. CJ actually took a video of the song the group came up with today (about a hawk named Calvin who is accused of stealing nuts from a squirrel, Christopher Acorn. When I walked in the room, Annabelle was playing a solo on a little theremin-type instrument she'd brought along. It sounded good! CJ's video needs some heavy editing. Hopefully I'll be able to post it tomorrow.

SHIP SHAPE: When we came home from West Seattle this evening, we were thrilled to see an enormous Navy shop parked at the foot of our hill! And on board are at least a couple of Boeing Osprey. Sweet! We made a mental note to walk down the Garfield Bridge in the very near future. We would up doing it shortly after dinner.

Below, the ship kind of blends into the gray building in front of it. ... 

But we closed in for a closer look.

Per the Seafair Web site, the ship is Amphibious Assault Ship USS Boxer (LHD 4): "USS Boxer stretches 844 feet in length and is the largest of all amphibious warfare ships; resembling a small aircraft carrier. The ship is not only capable of conducting aircraft operations but it also capable of supporting watercraft operations in its well deck. This class of ship provides the Marine Corps with a means of ship-to-shore movement by helicopter in addition to movement by landing craft. LHDs, like Boxer, have been participants in major humanitarian-assistance, occupation and combat operations in which the United States has been involved."

 The ship's so enormous, the Osprey, a tank and other vehicles on board like kind of small!

The white structures visible below are cranes in the Port of Seattle.

We could see soldiers working on board.

They appeared to be readying some flags.

Mount Rainier has been making itself known the last couple of days.

And we had to get a shot of a nearly full moon and the Space Needle.

PERLER PROJECT: The kids are already working on a thank you for their workshop leader, Morgan Taylor. They're making one of his characters, Gustafer Yellowgold, a creature who comes from the sun, out of Perler (a brand name) beads.

First, we had to find a good photo of Gustafer's head online, then we used a program to make a cross stitch pattern of it, in effect. And then, it was a matter of putting tiny, tiny beads in the right place.

The kids worked together, with CJ spending a lot of time picking out the right colored beads.

Here's the almost-finished pattern.

Once that's done, you take an iron to it and melt the beads together. 

Run Amok

TO BOLDY GO: Busy weekend here at MPA. One of the most memorable activities was attending 's Hello Earth's production of Outdoor Trek. Each year they stage an episode from the original series of Star Trek, and this summer it was "Amok Time," the classic where Spock and Captain Kirk end up in a battle to the death as part of a Vulcan mating ritual. 

Outdoor Trek is always great fun. The sets are sparse, but inventive. For example check out the 'bridge' of the USS Enterprise above. It's just some office chairs, but it worked!

And bedazzled hula hoops were used for low tech but hilarious transporters!

The orchestra was great, performing the familiar soundtrack music, as well as a couple of surprises, including a cool version of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" during a set change. 

The fight scene was nicely choreographed, though poor Kirk came out on the losing end.

Fortunately, there was a happy ending for all. 

Apologies for the crappy photos. I was using my cell phone, and didn't take my good camera to the show because rain was in the forecast. Fortunately, the forecast was wrong.

The actors in Outdoor Trek said a few things that made us think this might be the end of their 'five year mission' (to borrow a Star Trek quote), and that Trek in the park might not be back next season. If not, we will truly miss it, but are happy to have had a chance to see it when we did.

HAPPY CAMPERS: Monday through Friday this week, CJ and Annabelle are attending a workshop with award-winning illustrator/songwriter Morgan Taylor, creator of the popular Gustafer Yellowgold series.

During the workshop, they are exploring multimedia comic techniques and inventing characters, creating narratives and writing songs. In Monday's session, after much discussion, the group came up with a character named Christopher Acorn, a squirrel. They also collaborated to write an original song, "Pig Up." I'll have to get the kids to sing that and I'll post it later. 

Here's a little sample of some Gustafer Yellowgold music. Pretty wild stuff!
https://youtu.be/DQuEEXtcGO4

BLUE MOON: The second full Moon of July is just around the corner and, according to modern folklore, that makes it a a "blue moon."
https://youtu.be/XyBp-EYrwTA

Visit http://science.nasa.gov/ for more.