K's Latest Musical Performance

---


K gives the orchestra an A to duplicate at his recent concert.

K was the concertmaster at his 8th grade orchestra concert yesterday. He's downplaying his role, saying he just happened to be sitting in the front recently when their concert seating chart was created. He's so modest! It's a talented group and they played two pieces skillfully, both without a conductor.


The orchestra teacher just returned from maternity leave, with the most recent orchestra teacher filling her position while she was out. The substitute did a great job preparing the students - they were in fine form.

After the show, at which the 8th grade choirs sang, there was a dessert reception, where there were more goodies than you could shake a stick at. Or a violin bow.

---
Fun Links
How low can you go? Oktavists can go lower.

Simple, yet complex, company logos from 1940 - 1980.

Tomas Vitanofsky makes inspired sculptures from metal scrap pieces. Really nice stuff.

You can buy the plans to build Colibri. But making it is going to be a challenge most are not up for.

---

Catching Up for the Fall

---


Let's start this off with some cats. Here we can see Rigby and Mesko wondering why I won't leave them alone so they can sleep.

School started, and I stopped adding to this blog. Here are a few things that have happened in the last 6 weeks.

M

M is the sax player the to the right as you look at this picture.
M marched at the Pioneer High Homecoming football game, his first time doing so. They did a lot of practicing, and looked great.



M also went to the Homecoming dance with his girlfriend, whose first initial is O. They both cleaned behind their ears and dressed up. I promised M he was in charge of distributing pictures. If you want one, let him know...

K
K continues to play tennis twice a week with his Rec & Ed team. He's also back for another year of Math Olympiad. This year his class has 30 students, which is his largest so far. A few other parents and I grade the homework, and it's all we can do to get done before the end of class.

MATHCOUNTS has also started up again, so he's joining that group after school once a week. Add in violin and piano lessons, and he's got a full slate.


This is the Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad mascot, Weso the Owl. I'm told that Weso is a girl, in case you're wondering.
Science Olympiad planning has started up again. The event will happen on May 14, 2016. We already have schools contacting us asking for more information, but there's a lot to do to prepare. This is our new website, and it will grow as we build it.

---

Billy Joel at Wrigley Field

---


Billy's fourth concert at Wrigley Field was worthy of some custom scoreboard configurations.

Last Thursday, J and I trekked to Chicago to meet up with Mary, John, and Cheryl. We converged at Wrigley Field, where Billy Joel was set to perform.



Before the show - the Wrigley outfield is now a sea of chairs.


Hey, I know these people!


We were talking and sharing family updates when Billy Joel band member Mark Rivera stopped in to say hi to John. They know each other from Ringo Starr’s tours – Mark is the music director for Ringo’s All-Star Band. He’s also the sax player for Billy Joel, as well as playing a few other instruments. He’s been around for a long time, and we recognized him immediately. I asked him to get a quick picture with J, who's a big fan of his.


Aren't these two lovebirds celebrating an anniversary soon?


This is Gavin DeGraw, the opening act, after venturing into the audience during one of his songs.


Now you can watch Billy play without having to be on the stage with him - a camera is capturing it all on video while he plays and showing it on the many giant screens.




During the song “Uptown Girl”, Billy brought out two of his famous friends, actress Jennifer Lawrence and actress/comedienne Amy Schumer, who danced with some others on the stage for a while, and climbed onto the piano for the big finale.


Most of the pictures in this blog posting are by J - she caught a lot of perfect shots, it was hard to pick just a few.


The show's about over, so everyone's playing their best at the front of the stage.

We took the subway to the stadium, but we didn’t take it back to the hotel – there were thousands of people stacked up waiting at the station next to Wrigley. We looked at a map, and headed for a different subway stop, farther up the line, hoping to find a relatively empty car to jump into. Instead, we saw a cab that wasn’t busy, so we waved him down and got a ride back that way. It wasn’t quite what we had planned, but we did get to see Lake Michigan at night and some of the lights of the city better than if we had taken the El.


Big thanks to John for arranging this and making sure we were taken care of as far as parking, directions, and other amenities. J and I had a great time and Billy put on his usual great show. A night we'll never forget!

---

Boston

---

One If By Land
Two If By Sea
Three If By Delta Flight 188 From Detroit Metro Airport





And we're off!


The view from our hotel on Broad Street in downtown Boston.


The venerable USS Constitution, undefeated in battle. It's in dry dock being fixed up - they do this every 20 years or so. Many of the parts were removed, and the hull was surrounded by scaffolding.


Here are parts of the masts of the USS Constitution.


Next to the USS Constitution is the USS Cassin Young, a World War II-era battleship. It is the last US ship to have been hit by a kamikaze pilot. This is the galley.


The USS Constitution's restoration involves replacing thousands of copper strips that protect the wood on the hull. K is shown here signing a copper strip with a vibrating engraving pen - we all signed it. These strips will be placed on the hull during this round of restorations. Our names will all be on the USS Constitution soon!


I took this picture from our tour trolley - surely this woman knew that she was standing in the right place for a picture. The statue is of Bobby Orr scoring a goal in a Stanley Cup game.


The entrance to the Boston Public Library.


Inside the Boston Public Library - this is the main staircase.


A statue on the outside steps of the library. This woman is amazed at how round the ball is.


A view from the Prudential Building's observation floor. Near the middle of this picture is a red circle I added - it surrounds a yellow stripe that goes across one of the streets. The stripe is the finish line for the Boston Marathon.


In this picture, the domed building is the original Christian Science Church. The green-roofed building up and to the left is the Boston Symphony Hall. Near the top, slightly to the left of center, are the letters "YMCA"; this is the location of the first YMCA.


The New England Aquarium was home to a giant central tank, many amazing and delicious-looking fishes, and these tiny, colorful frogs. Which are all poisonous. Just when you find a cute frog you want to hold in your hand, you discover it can kill you.


The aquarium is well-known for its giant sea turtles.


K watches the penguins frolic during feeding time, and wishes that he, too, could live the carefree life of a flightless waterfowl.


We took a harbor cruise. This picture shows the mix of new and old buildings - the steeple of the Old North Church is visible in the middle.


Speaking of the Old North Church, here is the plaza leading to it, with a statue of Paul Revere himself.


Here's the balcony and organ of the church.


This is Paul Revere's former home. Historians are divided as to whether the late-model Hyundai parked out front belonged to him.


This is Paul Revere's currrent home, the Granary Burying Ground.


This stone marks the final resting place of Mary Goose, better known as Mother Goose.


Some of these old tombstones were very wordy. This one says:

Here lies deposited the remains
of Mr. Thomas Webb
who died very suddenly much
lamented ye 8th July 1769
Aged 33 years
He was born in the city of
Glocester in England
This stone the Hand of Social Friendship rears
Whose generous Griefs supply a Parent's Tears.
Could friendly wishes stay ye transient Breath.
A Kind companion had not tasted Death




The venerable Samuel Adams' gravestone.


This is Faneuil Hall, a famous meeting place during Revolutionary times, as well as modern times.


Steps inside Faneuil Hall list the 13 colonies in the order in which they ratified the Constitution.


Alas, our short but sweet Boston trip has come to a close. This is a building on the Boston Harbor.

Explosive News!

---


This looks more dangerous than it actually is.

K and I just finished a project together - it combines a "defusable" timer K built from a kit, combined with some dynamite I made as a sort of stand for it.

The dynamite is a broom stick sawed into pieces, with red construction paper covering. The lettering was created with pencil and stencils.

K ramped up his soldering skills for this one (it's been awhile!) and is already working on another, more advanced electronics project.

---

Links
Take a few minutes and visit Paperholm. All the models are made of paper and glue.

I'm currently reading Locks, Safes, and Security. It's really big, so I'm not reading the whole thing. Just the good parts.

I really like Tom Gauld's work. His take on the biblical David and Goliath story (called "Goliath") is thought-provoking.

---

Status Report: August, 2015

---


Meadowbrook on Friday night - here to see Jim Gaffigan, one of our favorite comedians.


This is my great picture of Jim Gaffigan on stage.

Mouse and Chipmunk News
We've had mice in the basement occasionally for quite a few years, and we even had a chipmunk get into the house a few months ago (he met his untimely demise in one of the mouse traps). After talking with a pest control person about it, I put up some 1/4" wire mesh in some places where we suspected these critters were getting in.


Here is a mesh "curtain" that comes down under the fireplace and goes about 12" underground. There is a 4" section of mesh that extends out from the bottom of that curtain away from the house - that extra mesh stops them from just digging down and under the mesh.


In another area, I put strips of mesh in the corners where the mice can find small gaps to crawl in. I made friends with lots of bugs and spiders while doing this.

In the Garden

From right to left: chives, basil, and parsley.


We've already gotten some good tomatoes this year, and there are a lot more on the plant.

K's Latest Project

Here's the progress so far on K's latest electronics project - he has already completed one, and I am adding something to it. I'll post pictures when it's done.