Post 351: The Sequel to the 350th Post

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SpongeBob celebrates more than seven years and 350 posts of mostly family stuff, a lot of links, and boatloads of related words, pictures, letters, and numbers taking up space on a Google server somewhere.

This Is My 351st Post
I know almost none of you are counting at home, but my last post was the 350th time I've posted something for public consumption on The DEB Log. We'll celebrate this momentous occasion by moving on to post #351. Keep reading.

Men In Black
J and I went to a costume party a few weeks ago dressed as agents from the movie "Men In Black". The Men In Black protect the universe from aliens, who (as far as the movie is concerned) live among us in relative anonymity. In the movie, the agents have devices called neuralizers that flash like a camera, causing nearby people to lose their memory of any alien activity they might have witnessed.

As part of our costumes, I made two neuralizers out of toilet paper holders, a light, a battery, and a switch. Here is the finished product, followed by some of the parts.





Fun Links
This guy is off the charts of skill and creativity. This video is a must-watch for anyone who works with wood.

This is a changing measuring spoon. And it's a snap to clean.

If assembly is required, check out Assembly Magazine.

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"For the first time, introducing your 2017 Symphony Band Drum Major, M!"

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M makes his first public appearance as the future Pioneer High School Marching Band Drum Major.
He and this year's drum major, Max, were co-leaders of the band last night, and M will take the lead next year.


First Impressions of M as Drum Major

M, left, and Max prepare to lead the marching band procession from the band room to the stadium.


M, right, leads the procession to the stadium.


M (left drum major) and the marching band at the pre-game show.


M is on the ladder, conducting the combined bands at halftime. The song was "The Sound of Music".

Video Evidence
You can see M in action below.

Here is a video of the pre-game band show. When the drum majors split up, M is the one on the left of the screen.



Here is the halftime show. M conducts the first song ("The Sound of Music").



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K's High School Orchestra Debut

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The Pioneer Concert Orchestra

K's High School Orchestra Debut
Grandma B visited Ann Arbor on Thursday to watch K and the Pioneer High School Concert Orchestra. She didn't know until she got there that K had been selected as Concertmaster of his orchestra.

He's worked hard to learn the violin, and has made a good impression on his teachers and fellow musicians. We're really proud of him!


K shares his A string with the group.


K and his fellow violinists make their way through a complicated section.


Mr. Glawe, the conductor, leads the group through their final piece.


Grandma and K after the concert.

Marching Towards Ann Arbor

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Marching with the Band

M's enthusiasm for marching is infectious.

Last Friday, hundreds of lucky Pioneer High School football fans were treated to the musical stylings of the marching band, starring M and a cast of dozens.


The marching band graces the field at Pioneer.


M is the middle saxophone in this picture. And by the way, I didn't say so before, but in case you didn't know already, M is going to be the Drum Major next year.

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A New Work Building


This is the sidewalk to what was formerly the main entrance to our building in Dexter.

After 22 years in the same building, my company is moving to a new Ann Arbor location. Most of my coworkers have already moved, and the rest of us will move this weekend.

I'll miss the old building, although it is time to move on and drive a different direction in the morning. The new building is a little closer to home than the Dexter office, so I will save a few minutes each day.


I'll also miss Cameron Balloons, one of the few companies in the world that makes hot air balloons. Here's a picture I took a few days ago behind their building - they're running a fan to fill the balloon with air, and the guy sitting on the ground looking at his phone is holding a rope or cable of some kind that's attached to the top of the balloon. To keep it from flying away, I guess.

As we have been moving out of the old building, we have been throwing out the junk that's accumulated over the years. Some of the items go onto tables, where they will either be recycled or grabbed for use by another employee. I found an old pair of speakers and thought I'd do a project with them.


Just your run-of-the-mill computer speakers.



I took the speakers out and replaced them with computer case fans. The idea was to have some fans that looked like speakers, and the transplant was successful. However, the mesh covering the fans blocks a lot of the air from the fans, and the vibrations of the fans in the light plastic casing makes them fairly noisy. So, the experiment didn't really work out, but it was worth a try.

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A Drawing, Some Links, and a Quote

I love the artwork of Mattias Adolfsson, as you already know from some of my other blog posts.

September Linkfest
Not a whole lot of news from my house, other than school starting. M is marching in the band, K is playing JV tennis, and school is in full swing. I have a few links to share, so let's get to it.

If you haven't seen Grit Laskin's guitars, especially his inlay art, you've been missing a lot.

A self-balancing stick. I wasn't sure whether this was real, but it seems to be.

The National Beard Championship.

If you're ever in a rainstorm and need a light, I suggest this lighter in a waterproof case. There are many beautiful items for sale at this site as well.

It's still part of a Kickstarter campaign, but I'd like two, please. One to fidget with all the time, and a backup in case that one breaks.

Over and Out
I'll leave you with a quote from Maya Angelou:

“This is a wonderful day, I have never seen this one before.”

JHS 30th Anniversary Reunion

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Old friends Margaret Medina Clark, me, and Gary Lykins. If you see Gary or me, ask us about the $10 bet.

Even though I'm not nearly old enough to be 30 years removed from high school, I attended my recent class reunion in Jackson. About 100 alumni gathered at Grand River Brewery, where we squinted at each other, trying to make out faces, and took quick glances at nametags to help dust off our memories. Some people looked exactly like they did in high school, some had less (or grayer) hair, but most of us looked similar enough to our senior pictures that it only took a second or two to remember each other.


Left to right: Rob W., a first-grade classmate, me, Mary C., who was in one of my preschool classes, and Denise B., one of my best high school/college friends. Lots of history!

As Grand River Brewery was closing for the night, many of us went east to Hard Knock Grill, where the band Smoke and Mirrors was playing. One of Smoke and Mirrors' guitarists is a fellow '86er. Great music!

The night before the reunion, JHS had a football game at home, and I drove down for mini pre-reunion reunion. After the game, we went to The Hunt Club to catch up a little more and renew some old friendships.

Dennis, Laura, me, Scott, and part of Jeff at the pre-reunion Jackson High football game.

It was fun to catch up with people I hadn't seen in so many years.

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Over the course of a few weekends, I slowly cleaned and reorganized the workshop area in the basement. Here's a panoramic picture of it, which makes it look really big.

It's clean - now I have to do something with all those flat surfaces...

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Interlochen 2016

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Both of the boys went to Interlochen this year for Pioneer High music camp. M participated in his third camp, and K completed his rookie year.

M has been practicing all summer to try out for the drum major position. He and 8 other drum major candidates (also known as "DMCs") practiced 5-6 days per week, 2 hours at a time, in the weeks leading up to their Interlochen trip. On Saturday of band camp, they auditioned in front of the combined bands. All DMCs are Juniors: the newly-selected drum major will act as an assistant of sorts this school year, then will take the official role next year as a Senior.

Their work this summer was exhausting, sometimes sunburning, and even bee-stinging, and their muscles and characters were built over the course of their practices.


The combined bands performed a marching demonstration for all the parents, family, and friends who showed up Sunday to cheer them on.


During the marching demonstration, the DMCs were introduced and recognized for their hard work and perseverance. DMCs will be expected to take leadership roles in the band for the next two years, sometimes doing the less-fun chores, like cleaning up after the band, putting away uniforms, or moving equipment.


M takes his turn leading the group at the marching demonstration. Each DMC led a portion of the program.


All orchestra students participated in ensembles with their fellow musicians. Here we see K and his group getting ready to play their piece, Scherzo by F. David.


These are all the cellos waiting to walk onto stage at the Kresge Auditorium at Interlochen. The band, orchestra, and choir campers represented all the different music groups at the school, and covered a wide range of experience and talent.



My high school held band/orchestra camp at Interlochen way back in the day. I stayed in this cabin each of the three years I was up there (1983-85).

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