What-What?! Week of January 24th

So this is really late, because I actually slept today.  I haven't had an overabundance of sleep this past week, and finally getting some is quite nice.

Other updates;  we're on week two of Osric not using pull-ups, so it's strongly looking like I won't be buying any more.  Crazyness.

Sylvia Ballet, music by Delibes, Choreography by Ashton

Friday, I decided to watch a ballet with Saffron.  I chose this one because I've heard parts of the music before, and absolutely adored it.  The ballet follows the story of Sylvia, a wood nymph who has forsworn love, and who falls in love with a shepherd after being cursed by Eros, god of love.  Then stuff happens, as you would expect.

The story itself is not the strongest; there are certainly ballets out there that have more complex, interesting stories.  However, the choreography and music hold it together well.  In fact, Tchaikovsky himself had remarked about how much better the score was for this ballet than for his own, Swan Lake.  The theme (leitmotif, in formal terms) for the wood nymphs is among my favorite pieces of classical music ever.  You can hear it in the first act, after the prelude.

The linked version above does have commentary and captions, which is a bit annoying, but not overly so.  I linked to this version, because the only other full version I could find on YouTube was kind of bizarre in terms of costuming and style.  A bit too avant-garde for me.  It is almost two hours, though, but it can divided into the three acts if you don't have that much time all at once.

That's it for today; more stuff next week.

What-What?! Week of November 9th

This week has been good and bad.  The husband got a raise, but I spent the middle of the week terribly sick.  It was only a cold, but what a cold it was. D:

My job is going well.  The cool thing about my job is getting to look at bits and pieces of other peoples' interests.  I have now seen a lot more boutique clothes, sports equipment, shoes (lots and lots of shoes!), and obscure parts, like turntable platter mats.

Music:  Chopsticks... on a Tuba?

I ran into this piece of music through work.  It is variations on Chopsticks (the classic piano piece) as done by a tuba quartet.  A tuba quartet!  How awesome is that?!  It sounds like it should be in a cartoon of some sort.  Something with Bugs Bunny.  The piece is only 3 and a half minutes long, so give it a listen. :)

Lowe's Build and Grow: November's Science Lab

This month's Lowe's project was a science set, complete with project ideas, a beaker, and a flask.  It was a bit of a disaster at the store, because I had all three children with me by myself.  Luckily, this project doesn't have a lot of pieces to manage, and the big kids got through it.

That afternoon, the husband and kids did one of the experiments -- make a volcano.  This is pretty classic stuff, with vinegar and baking soda.  The kids used strawberry Jell-O to make the foam red... smelled good, too (better than straight vinegar, anyway).  All three of the kids enjoyed watching the foam explode out the top of their flasks, and watching to see how long it would foam for.  Corwin's flask went on for quite a while -- ten minutes, at least.  Later today we'll do another experiment.

What-What?! Week of October 5th

It is October, oh my goodness.  My daughter's birthday is at the end of the month, as well as Halloween.  I gotta get out my cutting mat and sew Saffron's dress, paint Corey's robot box costume, and figure out what I need for Ozzy's Buzz Lightyear costume (because that kid is Buzz Lightyear).  I need to start on that stuff soon, because I'm scheduled to start a new job on the 13th.  After that, I expect my free time is going to be more limited.  But money will be good, and I can put it on my resume.

News: Does a Five-Year-Old Need to Learn How to Code? via BBC News

The push to teach young children computer programming really irritates me.  This is because the fundamental skills used in programming are things children should be learning anyway; planning, logical thinking, attention to detail, and working with the abstract.  It's not special to programming.  Those skills can be learned through mathematics and language arts.  It's cool to say "oh, we're teaching children how to program computers, because we're so modern", it's superfluous.  Math and language arts is a much more direct way to teach those skills.  It's also cheaper, easier to apply to a variety of things, and has a much larger body of work backing up the methods used to teach it.  Now, I've taught computer programming to elementary school kids, and it went okay.  The kids were happy to mess around with computers, they did have a degree of understanding about it, but I still hold to my point -- spending more time on math would have had a better effect, especially over the long run.

For older kids, say from sixth grade on, I could see the value in teaching computer programming as the application of logical thinking skills.  Not as job preparation.  I'm not going to comment on whether or not learning a programming language is useful.  Languages rise and fall as technology changes, but the fundamental skills stay the same.  After you learn one language, it's vastly easier to learn another.  The thinking behind it doesn't change, and the value of being able to plan, think logically and be detail oriented doesn't change.

The Duck Song

I have to apologize for this.  This song will get stuck in your head.  You will wake up in the middle of the night humming it.  It's not that I hate you or anything... but it's so darn catchy.  There are at least two follow up songs, but really, you only need to listen to this one.  It will haunt you enough by itself.  Sorry guys, the duck made me do it. D:

The Weekly What-What?! Week of December 22nd

I haven't done much else this week.  I did publish a new article on Yahoo! Voices -- 3 Ways Businesses Can Use Behavioral Economics to Increase Sales and Profit.  So there's that.  I looked at graduate schools some; not sure about that yet.  We're not doing a Christmas tree this year, but we now have the stockings up.  You can see our (somewhat sad) setup here:

Music:  South Valley Symphony's Winter Romance

Last Saturday, the husband and I went to see the South Valley Symphony (SVS) perform, which we've done a few times in the past.  Since taking music history in school, I've developed a love of classical music, which my husband happily shares.  On Saturday, the SVS did its Winter Romance set, which was largely exciting and unusual (you can check out the full program here).  The more conventional pieces that they played, which were the Overture to A Merry Christmas by Wendel, and the Christmas Overture "Vom Himmel Hoch" by Klein, were well-orchestrated and beautiful, but it was truly the other pieces that made the evening.  My favorite piece was the Emperor Waltzes, op. 437 by Johann Strauss II; this piece begins with a lively march, and then moves into a fun, bouncy waltz.

The Suite from The Fantastic Toyshop, by Rossini and orchestrated by Respighi, was interesting partially for its history, but also partially for its form: unlike many other suites from ballets, this one had very abrupt, definite breaks between scenes.  The history of this piece is pretty hilarious: Rossini became tired of writing operas, so he wound up writing a series of piano pieces instead.  He titled the collected work "Sins of My Old Age", and the titles of the pieces themselves ranged from "The Harmless Prelude" to the most hysterical, "Gherkins".  A beautiful piano piece about gherkins.

Respighi took a selection of these pieces, orchestrated them, and arranged them into the story, The Fantastic Toyshop.  Which is also pretty ridiculous:  The story goes that the pride and joy of a toyshop is this pair of clockwork can-can dancers; one is bought by one family, while the other is bought by a different family.  The families pay the toymaker and leave, planning to return the next day to pick up the dolls.  That night, all the toys come alive, and decide that the dancers must stay together, so they hide them away in the shop.  The families come the next day to pick up the dolls, and when the toymaker cannot find them, the parents start beating the poor toymaker.  The toys come alive again, and kick the families out of the shop, firmly closing the door (with the wonderful BOOM! of a drum) behind them.  The toymaker and toys then celebrate.  The end.  That's it.  My husband dubbed it "every retailer worker's dream" -- being able to throw out unruly customers.  If you'd like to watch a ballet version, there's one in four parts on Youtube.

Sorry for the short post this week; I did do some reading, but haven't seen anything interesting enough to post here.

What-What?! Week of September 22nd

Unfortunately, since I am now gone for dinner five days a week, I haven’t had much time to cook anything interesting.  My husband, on the other hand, has done a great job in my absence.  He has made the most delicious mushroom and onion sauce, cooked in a red wine reduction, served over breaded pork chops and baked potatoes.  Somewhat an odd mix of flavors, but delicious nonetheless.

Talk Like a Pirate Day
This past Thursday, the 19th, was Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is a brilliant holiday celebrating all things piratical.  In honor of it, before I went to work, the husband and I did some fun games and crafts with the children.

First up, we played Ship Captain, a game that worked out far better with my kids at home than my class at work.  The kids particularly enjoyed running around when there was a shark, or an island with treasure (my middle son pretended to carry a giant treasure chest back on the boat).

 

Then, we did a pirate character craft; at first, my son wasn’t interested in it, and instead made a ship with pirates on it.  My daughter, though, was all for it, and quickly put together a face.  We used q-tips for the crossed bones on the hat, and simple construction paper for everything else. (Saffron's is left, Corey's is right).

The last thing we did was have “sailboat sammies” for lunch, which were simple turkey sandwiches with cheese “sails”.  This is one of the few times recently that my son has eaten a turkey sandwich without complaint, and may lead to this entering the regular rotation.  Next year, I hope to be a bit more extravagant with the activities, maybe even being a bit factual and teaching the kids some history.

News: 3 Ethical Ways to Boost Positive Online Reviews via Entrepreneur
This article features three vignettes showing strategies that companies have taken to increase online reviews, and the benefits of increased consumer trust, notoriety, and success.  The only thing that I dislike about this article, that the comments section points out well, is that one of the companies recommends not responding to negative comments in public.  In my opinion, that is just backwards.  When I see a review on Amazon (or Yelp, or wherever), if someone from the company has taken the time to reply to a negative review, even if it’s just a “I’m so sorry, please contact me at…”, it tells me that the company actually cares.  That someone has a job monitoring comments, and that feedback is appreciated and important enough to garner a public response.

Music: Captain Bogg and Salty’s Waltz of the Waves via Youtube.com

I was re-listening to the Emphatical Piratical album and think that it’s probably the most grownup song on there.  I read one review of the album that described this song as “wistful”, which is very apt for this romantic view of the pirate life.

'Til next week!

What-What?! Week of September 15th

This week I officially started my position as an after school leader with the local YMCA.  It is somewhat of a bumpy ride; the location for my class is poor.  The situation is temporary, but at the same time makes working with the kids difficult.  I’ve been coming home quite spent.  As it is, I am waiting to see if the situation remedies itself, or if I need to apply some pressure to get things put right.  Thursday, I came home from work very sunburned.  I hope not to repeat that in the future.

I haven’t written an article in a while – or actually, I should say, I haven’t published an article in a while.  Two are just sitting about, waiting for me to decide where to put them; I’m unhappy with Yahoo! Voices, but at the same time, there aren’t a lot of other notable options.  Now that I’m working, I’m not sure how much I’ll be writing other than this blog; because I’m missing the baby’s naptime, it makes it hard to find uninterrupted time.

News: Carmel Dinosaur via The Monterey Herald

This is one of those special local issues; Carmel is an upscale town in the Monterey that is particular about preserving property values.  The town hosts few (or no?) chain stores, and many people vacation there.  So, having a giant dinosaur in your front yard is not well looked upon.  I think it’s awesome (though I’m not sure I’d want it in my neighborhood, along with this family's display).

News: Chinese Chicken Processors Are Cleared to Ship to U.S. via The New York Times

Companies will soon be able to export slaughtered chickens to China for processing, which will then be imported back to the United States – and will not be required to be labeled as such.  This is honestly pretty off-putting.  In recent memory, Chinese companies have poisoned infant formula, dog and cat treats, sold rat meat as mutton, and had cases of bird flu in live poultry.  No way do I want to eat poultry processed in China, and for that matter, I’m not excited about raw meat being shipped that far before it even gets anywhere near my dinner table (risk of spoilage, anyone?).

To add insult to injury, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has brought up serious doubts about the legitimacy of domestic inspections, since the USDA is expanding a pilot program that would allow companies to use their own employees as inspectors.  The GAO claims that the USDA didn’t accurately examine the effectiveness of this program before deciding to expand it.  This would most likely reduce the USDA’s overhead, but the question remains if this is furthering their goal of protecting the American people.

Music:  Lyle Lovett – In My Own Mind via Youtube.com

After writing last week’s post, I had to go look up this, which is far and away my favorite Lyle Lovett song.  Sometimes, to me, this song is about The Secret Life of Walter Mitty:  The secret fantasies and other lives that we live when no one is looking.  Other times, the song is about perspective: What happens in your life is colored greatly by how you view it in your own mind.

I love that he pronounces foyer properly.

(images via The Monterey Herald and Simply Fresh Cooking)

 

What-What?! Week of July 28th

This week, my eldest ruined my couch.  Then my youngest threw himself off of it.  We no longer have a couch, and I'm not sure what we'll replace it with.  Possibly floor cushions, or bean bag chairs.  Maybe we'll make the living room into a giant ball pit?  It'd keep the kids busy, that's for sure.

News: Firefly Videogame Announced via Kotaku
I like Firefly.  I named one of my children after a character from it, I have a rare piece of paraphernalia from the original fan ‘site (that Nathan Fillion frequented, oh yeah!), and so on.  However, the headline that most summed up my feelings about this game was: “Firefly is Getting a Video Game, But Not the One You Want”.  This will be a multi-player online social game specifically for cell phones and tablets.  The setting of Firefly would make a wonderful action roleplaying game, a first-person shooter, even a card game, but not this.  While there is the possibility of this social MMO being good, it’s pretty slim – Fox never understood Firefly before, and it doesn’t look like that’s changed much.

Product Review: Chex Vanilla
My family eats a lot of cereal, and that’s actually one reason that we tend to eat new cereals as soon as they come out – through coupons and sales, these new varieties are usually what I can get the cheapest.  This past week, I bought a few boxes of General Mills’ Chex Vanilla, because the other specialty varieties of Chex we’ve tried (Apple Cinnamon, Honey Nut) have both been pretty good.  The first bowl of this Vanilla variety I had blew me away.  It is so sweet.  Looking at the nutrition label, this is what I found: 8 grams of sugar for a 30 gram serving.  Cheerios have 1 gram of sugar for about the same serving size.  Eating this dry is like eating “puppy chow” – you know, during the holidays when you douse cereal with chocolate and powdered sugar.  It’s not bad if you consider it as an indulgent snack, rather than a breakfast food.  However, the vanilla flavor is sadly lacking, so mostly it just winds up being sweet.  Overall, I think General Mills had a miss with this one.

Review:  Captain Bogg and Salty’s Emphatical Piratical via Amazon
Emphatical Piratical is Captain Bogg and Salty’s most recent album, self-published in 2009.  Unfortunately, there is little on the internet available for this band, so I actually had to buy the album (spend money, what-what?!).  The husband and I really liked this album, and my children very much liked it as well, though I will say that I probably wouldn’t have bought it if I’d heard it first.  It is kind of odd, but entertaining, mildly historical, and a good, fun romp.

Luckily, I was able to find the song Emphatical Piratical on YouTube, though without a video:

At this point, I would like to point out the word “paralogical”, which means:

Paralogical:  Of or relating to a form of reasoning that does not conform to the rules of logic.

I think that this term is itching for a comeback in modern use.  I hereby pledge to use it more often in my everyday speech.

The other song I found on YouTube is from their 2005 album, Pegleg Tango, titled “Pieces of 8ight” – my kids especially liked this video.

If you imagine a hybrid of these two styles, that’s about what the rest of the album sounds like.

Portland’s Pirate Festival
In researching Captain Bogg and Salty, I stumbled upon Portland’s Pirate Festival.  Most years, it is a fine festival full of music, and so on.  However, this year the event has been canceled, due to a member of the crew passing away, and the group’s replica pirate tall ship (the Royaliste) having had been almost completely destroyed by the Portland Sternwheeler (though these events were not inter-related).  The group has my sincerest condolences, and I hope they are able to repair their ship.  They are planning on having the event next year, which I would love to attend, though that will have to wait until the children are older.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to work on my scone recipe (kept forgetting to buy flour), but hopefully I’ll be able to work on it this coming week.

What-What?! Week of February 3rd

This week has been busy again.  I still haven’t cooked anything interesting, mostly because we’re still cooking soft foods for the poor husband.  He’s been getting better, but slowly.  It doesn’t help that we are also hitting the end of the month, which means pickings are a little slim.  Happily, my mother-in-law gifted us some ground beef from a cow she had slaughtered, so that gave us some more options.  Also, this beef is seriously good; you don’t realize how un-beefy the stuff from the store tastes until you eat the real deal, so to speak.

As for school, that’s going well; my capstone team is complete, and our client will be Monterey Language Services.  We had our first meeting on Friday, which wasn't so good, but the owner is very excited and helpful, so I think it will still work out well.

After the semester is over, I might contact the Old Monterey Business Association and see if they’d be interested in an intern or something.  They need a new website, which I could possibly work on.

On Writing: Squidoo

This week, I posted up an article about the Mountain ViewFarmers’ Market.  Not much else happened, as I’ve been busy working on school papers.  I wrote one paper that was a history and overview of myself, which was kind of painful.  There was lots of editing, and eventually I started throwing out entire sections to get it down to the allotted three pages.

Local Life: MY Museum

 

This past week, we went to a children’s museum in Monterey, called MY Museum.  I really wish I’d known about this place before we got a membership to the San Jose Children’s Museum.  It’s much smaller than the San Jose museum, but at the same time, it didn’t have that packed kind of feeling.  I felt a lot more at ease; at the San Jose museum, I have to watch the kids like a hawk, but because this place in Monterey is so small, it’s a lot easier to see where a child is running off to without losing them.

At MY Museum, there are lots of different displays for the kids to play on; both the kids enjoyed the kitchen and cooking area, which had a real cash register, all kinds of play foods, menus, and fake money.  Saffron also enjoyed the “dollhouse”, which had a huge Melissa and Doug dollhouse on the inside, complete with wooden dolls and clothing.  She had a great time changing their clothes, and having tea parties with the other little girls.  The craft area at MY Museum is also a lot more manageable, so I took Saffron over there, where she had a good time crafting a picture of a dress.  While we were there, this kid showed me his craft, which was covered in white glue.  I was like O_____O “that’s very nice, now why don’t you take it over there, where there’s more space, hm?”.

News:  Small Businesses Say LinkedIn Works

I thought that this was a pretty interesting finding; I am not so surprised that Twitter doesn't work, but I honestly would have expected that FaceBook would be on top.  What I will say, though, is that I think this probably depends somewhat on the kind and size of business you run; a "small business" can mean that someone is working out of a garage alone, or it could mean someone who employs 50 people.  Like anything else in business (and life), your milage may vary.

Music: The 60s, Yo’

After going to MY Museum, we headed out for dinner, where we heard this awesome song.  It’s titled “Dandy” by Herman’s Hermits.  It's worth a listen: