So Long, 2016

SABERS UP: Friday evening, we headed to Seattle Center for a special send off. It was time to say goodbye to Carrie Fisher, who passed on Dec. 27, 2016. She was a phenomenal author, actress, comedienne, and fearless advocate for people with mental heath and addiction issues. Fisher was most famous for portraying Pricess Leia in the Star Wars franchise movies. That's how I first met and fell in love with her. :)

Friday evening there was a light saber salute to Fisher at (fittingly) Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center. We got there about 7:15 and milled around until the moment of silence at 7:30 p.m.

 Even the Stormtroopers had a memorial set up for the princess.

 At 7:30, the crowd of about 150 grew quiet for a time of reflection and remebrance.

 Shortly after, it was sabers up time to celebrate Fisher's life.

It was a sweat, sentimental time, with people of all ages coming together to celebrate a bright light and brilliant soul.

Members of Garrison Titan, Washington's 501st Legion, were on hand. We've seen them everywhere from the Museum of Flight to Safeco Field over the years!

TO THE ANIMALS: We had a few free passes for the Woodland Park Zoo we had to use before the end of the year, so on New Year's Eve, that's where we headed.

We entered at the West Gate, which meant we saw penguins first, as they're right inside the gate.

They didn't seem to mind the cold of the afternoon.

From there, we wandered toward the Tropical Rain Forest. Almost instantly, we encountered a jaguar on the prowl.

 It was energetically stalking around its enclosure.

This lovely creature was pacing the entire time we watched. I wished it had more room to roam, to be sure. According to the zoo's website, they have a male and female jaguar; because these animals are naturally very solitary, they are rotated in the exhibit so you will not see them together.

In the wild, they eat deer, peccaries, monkeys, tapirs, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, small rodents and domestic stock. Amazingly, they can survive on anything from herd animals to insects. At the zoo, they eat beef, mutton, chicken, rabbit, beef knuckle bones and commercially prepared feline diet, ground meat and vitamins.

In the wild, jaguars live about 11 years; in zoos, it's up to 22 years in zoos. So, a longer, but much different life, I'm sure, in captivity. 

Here are a few things Annabelle had to say about our zoo visit: "The jaguar was prowling the exhibit, and it was beautiful! It was making loops around its enclosure, and it was almost posing for photos. After that we checked out the other exhibits in the tropical rain forest area, including monkeys and very brightly colored birds. The other notable thing we saw in the jungle area was the Gorillas and the zoo’s new baby gorilla Yola. She was very playful and was walking around the enclosure the first time we saw her, but was curled up in the corner for heat when we walked around the second time."

This lovely gorilla was laying right up next to the glass, but avoiding eye contact.

Meanwhile, the one pictured below was facing the glass, looking at everyone and heavenward.

 Out of nowhere, a little gorilla appeared. It was baby Yola!  Yola is a Hausa name that means "firefly." Her mother is Nadiri, one of the gorillas at the Seattle zoo.

We didn't cover a lot of ground at the zoo. We sent more time in front of just a few exhibits. One pretty thing we saw in the Rain Forest exhibit was the golden lion tamarin monkey. It was hard getting photos, as the humidity in there kept fogging up my lens!

Outside, we loved watching a sloth bear clamber about. 

 He even stood up on his hind legs for a bit. He looked like an oversized Muppet! 

 One more gorilla (parting) shot. :)

Eyes on the Skies & Feet on the Ground

HUMAN COMPUTERS: There's a movie hitting the silver screens right now called "Hidden Figures." Based on a true story, it's about some amazing African American women, including Katherine Johnson, and how they helped NASA. 

Below, Johnson is pictured while working at NASA in 1966.

The NASA Web site has an archival story from 2008, and Johnson's 80th birthday. It noted, her accomplishments included calculating the trajectory of Alan Shepherd's 1961 trip into space, America's first. The story quotes Johnson as saying, "The early trajectory was a parabola, and it was easy to predict where it would be at any point. Early on, when they said they wanted the capsule to come down at a certain place, they were trying to compute when it should start. I said, 'Let me do it. You tell me when you want it and where you want it to land, and I'll do it backwards and tell you when to take off.' That was my forte."

From a NASA email today, we learned about a neat-o online toolkit called Modern Figures. Its activities highlight the contributions made by the African American women called “human computers," as seen in the new movie “Hidden Figures.”

The toolkit is a collection of resources and educational activities for students in grades K-12. Each educational activity and resource includes a brief description, plus info about how the activities and lessons align to education standards. Resources highlighted include videos, historical references and STEM materials. It can be downloaded here: www.nasa.gov/modernfigures-education-toolkit.

We'll be seeing "Hidden Figures" this week, and it's nice to have this real life info on hand before we see the dramatized version!
https://youtu.be/5wfrDhgUMGI


DO THE MOON WALK: Ever wanted to do the moon walk? Or maybe "just" walk to the moon? Mission X is the way! The multi-agency program encourages students of all ages to pursue a healthy lifestyle by training like an astronaut. The mission includes six- to nine-week "challenges" each fall and spring, schools and student groups from around the world complete Mission X classroom-based science lessons and physical education activities.

It sounds like something MPA could certainly use, so I tried to sign us up (just before the program's Dec. 31 deadline, might I add).

For the "Walk to the Moon" challenge, we will have to help move "Astro Charlie" the 478 million steps (238,857 miles, or 384,403 kilometers) it would take to walk from Earth to the moon, a feat it would take one person about nine years to complete, per NASA's calculations.

Registration and more details here: http://trainlikeanastronaut.org/wttm, and the application to be part of Team USA is here: http://trainlikeanastronaut.org/usa_application. We filed our application tonight. I was kind of surprised it isn't an open-to-all-comers proposition, but it is what it is. Hopefully we make the cut. ...

For 2016, Mission X involved students in 30 countries and more than 53,000 participants. 

LOOKING FOR THE LIGHT: Oh how we here at MPA long to see the Northern Lights. We watch for notices about possibilities of them appearing, and have gotten up in the wee small hours in hopes of seeing them, but they have eluded us to date.

Perhaps it's no wonder that news of NASA's 'Aurorasaurus' Project for citizen scientists grabbed our attention. Per the notice we saw about it, "Aurorasaurus is the first and only citizen science project that tracks auroras around the world via online reports, mobile apps and social media."

Reading more, it turns out the Aurorasaurus project gathers real-time data about aurora sightings and sends out notifications to users when the northern or southern lights are potentially visible in their area. Registered users can get location-based notifications and a real-time monitor of space weather activity, and project participants can help verify tweets and search for real sightings. The Aurorasaurus website also features answers to science and aurora questions. You can check it out here: http://www.aurorasaurus.org/.

We registered for the program, and I already spent a few minutes verifying whether or not tweets mentioning "aurora" were of sightings about the Northern Lights. (So far, all other ones I've seen were about anything *but* the lights!)

USE THE FORCE: Everyone here has a cough or cold, so aerobics seemed like a bad idea, but I thought it would be good to get moving in one way or another. Enter "Star Wars Yoga for Beginners." At least that was the title of the video we found on YouTube.

The instructor was pleasant enough and her instruction was clear and sound, but can we just say that wearing Star Wars leggings and supposedly breathing like Darth Vader doesn't really make it Star Wars yoga in our book. ... It's just yoga, with a couple of quick Star Wars references.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpFV5afUrwU

Here and Gone

CHRISTMAS VACATION: We've been away from the blog for about a week, caught up in Christmas-y doings.

On Christmas eve, we hosted 20 or so people at our place. We had lots of food and fun and watched the Seahawks (lose, on the last play, might I add).

But it's only a game and we had a great time with family and friends. And, unlike the game, the gingerbread didn't leave a bad taste in our mouths. ;)

ALL GONE: In many ways, 2016 has been a cruel year. The world has lost so many icons. It started back in January, with the passing of the magical, irreplaceable David Bowie. I don't think I'll ever get over that. Also gone this year, Prince, a musical phenom, the remarkable Leonard Cohen, and entertainer George Michael, a gifted and long-suffering soul with a philanthropic heart.

But it's not just musical maestros that have passed. Last week, we lost Pier Sellers, a space shuttle astronaut and climate scientist. Sellers was on "our" shuttle flight - STS-132. We got to see him hurtle space-ward, in a column of fire and smoke, from the NASA Causeway in Cape Canaveral in May of 2010.
       CREDIT: NASA

Sellers' death came just under a year after he shared he had Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. I remember reading the announcement in a poignant editorial he penned for The New York Times. He wrote about how his prognosis added a sense of urgency to his work on climate change, and shared that he had decided he wanted to spend his remaining time with people he loved, and doing the work he was passionate about. 

When he was selected to the elite astronaut corps in 1996, Sellers was the project scientist for Terra, NASA's flagship Earth observing system, Terra. He took a part of Sir Isaac Newton's famous apple tree to space with him. 

All totaled, Sellers spent 35 days, 9 hours and 2 minutes in space. He also had the rare opportunity to be a spacewalker, amassing more than 41 hours on six extravehicular activities. 

On Christmas morning, Earth lost another pioneer. She wasn't a household name, but astronomer Vera Rubin's work led to the theory of dark matter. That's a pretty big deal. 

As a child in Washington D.C., Rubin was fascinated by the stars. Her father helped Vera build a telescope and encouraged her studies. In 1948, Rubin graduated as Vassar's only astronomy major. In subsequent years, Rubin pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates. 

I love this Carnegie Institution 1965 photo of Rubin taken at the Lowell Observatory.

We've been reading some Rubin quotes over the past couple of days. Here is a favorite: 

"I live and work with three basic assumptions:
1) There is no problem in science that can be solved by a man that cannot be solved by a woman.
2) Worldwide, half of all brains are in women.
3) We all need permission to do science, but, for reasons that are deeply ingrained in history, this permission is more often given to men than to women."

Also, Rubin was a voice for scientific literacy at all levels. In a commencement address she once said. "We need senators who have studied physics and representatives who understand ecology." 

Amen to that, Vera!

Space Needle Santa 2016

HOLLY JOLLY: Santa is everywhere this time of year, and he pops up all over Seattle, at malls, Macy's, you name it. However, our favorite place to catch up with the jolly old elf is at the Space Needle. After all, it doesn't get much more Seattle than that!

We caught an elevator up this morning, shortly after 11 a.m. The photo below is of the Pacific Science Center Arches the the Chihuly Garden of Glass through smudged glass doors.

On the way up the escalator, there are graphics on the wall, chronicling the iconic landmark's history. Like most other brilliant ideas, the Space Needle's genesis was a sketch on a cocktail napkin. 

One thing we learned today is that way back when (1962), there was a torch atop the Needle! I can only imagine how cool that looked! I wish they'd bring it back!

 Instead, there's just flashing bulb atop it now.

We also learned that the Needle's rotating restaurant is spun by a one horsepower motor. Wow! How is that possible?

Up top we had a view of one of our favorite playgrounds in the city, the space just west of the former Experience Music Project (now MoPOP).

Naturally, we had to take the obligatory photo toward our neighborhood. The foreground is the roof of Key Arena, In the distance is Magnolia, our 'hood.

 Christian caught a shot of this Coast Guard ship being tugged across Lake Union. 

Later, I found this photo (below) from the Ballard Locks of the big ship, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro, moving through, on to Puget Sound

On our way away from Seattle Center, we had to stop by the Center House to check out the annual model railroad display. 

STATION TO STATION: This afternoon, a friend shared a link to a site that let you hop around to live broadcasts from radio stations circling the globe. 

Called Radio Garden, all you have to do is click on any of the little green spots/stations around the world to listen in to what they're broadcasting.

We clicked on all sorts of countries - Japan to Iceland to Greenland to Russia and beyond. What was interesting to us was how many of those stations were playing "American" music, with English speakers/singers.

Finland seemed to be an exception; the stations we 'visited' there were all non-English. 

We did listen to some Russian sports radio. We were guessing they were talking about hockey, but who knows?

We totally encourage you to give Radio Garden a test drive. Much fun!

December Doings

DRAMATIC DEPARTURE: This NASA photo (by Bill Ingalls) is a stunning capture of the send off for Mercury, Apollo and STS astronaut John Glenn. His casket was on display in the Ohio State House prior to his memorial, which was held on Saturday, Dec. 17. 

The archival video of the service can be viewed on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RfrAmFaNBgc


GAMEY: As anyone who reads this blog regularly knows, we love to play games. All kinds of games, including tabletop strategy games. Solving problems, working cooperatively, facing challenges and being flexible, games are honestly probably the bulk of our math/logic education here at MPA. 

Last week, we tried a simple, fun game called "Repeat or You're Obsolete." A very not catchy title, the game is mostly about being able to remember lists. 

Here's a YouTube video from the young man/game inventor explaining it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22_MP7tq6W0

It was fun and challenging and easy/quick to learn. However, at the end, we all concluded we weren't looking forward to playing it again, so we'll pass it along.

We also just recently took our first go at the long-awaited "Labyrinth" board game, based on the 30-year-old movie starring David Bowie as the Goblin King. I pre-ordered it months and months and months ago. This week, we finally got to give the game a go.

It's fun - and confounding! We've played it twice and were nowhere near beating it either time. We aren't giving up, though!

ELFISH: Tis the season of holiday movies, and one of our very favorites is "Elf."

In fact, it's such a favorite that CJ was the title character from the movie for Halloween. 

A local, independent theater shows the film each holiday season, and this year we finally made it out there to see "Elf" on the big screen. Of course CJ recycled his Halloween costume for the occasion! 

Imagine our delight when we entered the theater an hour pre-movie and a song from the Pee Wee Herman Christmas Special was playing!

 And things got even better when Elvis from the '68 comeback special came on, with him singing "Blue Christmas."

It was *so* much fun seeing the movie on the big screen, and everyone in the theater sounded to be a big "Elf" fan- laughing uproariously at certain scenes, and singing along at the end. Big fun!