Rango

John and I are really enjoying having my parents in town. Last night we visited Simon and Seafort's for Happy Hour and then went and saw Rango.

Rango was super cute... a great homage to the desert, witty, and well done!

Flight Status

I'm a sucker for accurate data/statistics. If I want to know a flight's status, I love using Flight Aware. It's free and it has a little map and tells you how high the plane is and its speed. I first used it when Kyle went to Europe with band... I think they gave it to all the parents so they wouldn't worry and I watched over Mom's shoulder.

Woo Hoo

Mom and Kerry get here tonight :)

The Last Train Home

Tonight we saw the film The Last Train Home. It's about a migrant family in China and the family dynamic that emerges from their rural-urban divide. It was interesting, and I'm particularly curious as to others' insights.

Postino Yumminess

Postino is one of my favorite places to dine in Arizona. And, my favorite item is the bruschetta. John and I like to get the brie and apple, prosciutto and figs, tomato jam, and salami with pesto bruschetta. Mmmm... my mouth is watering. So, while I can't take advantage of this offer that was emailed to me, many of you can... and I thought you might want to :) Happy Monday!

Scared Scriptless Coolness

Tonight was John’s first Scared Scriptless show. It was awesome!!!! We feel so supported here in Anchorage. Three of John’s co-workers and two of my co-workers PLUS their guests all came to support John. Then, John, and really the whole troupe rocked the show. Congrats John! I’m so proud of you.

Air Pressure

When I taught sixth grade science I taught about air pressure. I taught that cold air is high pressure (we visualized people who were cold crowding together for warmth) and warm air is low pressure (when you’re hot, you want people to get far away from you).

I posed the challenge question—“Why can’t you fly a hot air balloon in Phoenix in the middle of the day in the summer?” The answer is that the outside temperature has to be cold in order for the air blown into the balloon to be lighter/lower pressure than the regular air and to float.

Tonight I swung by Fred Meyer to get John a “congrats” balloon for his big debut. I carefully chose this particular balloon because it was fully inflated. By the time I got to the car, there was a full inch of depression and sag. What the heck?!

I realized that the cold air was compressing the balloon and the low pressure helium. How wild!

I left the balloon in the car and, by the time we got back to the car from the show, it looked like a 4 day old balloon. By this time, though, I’d figured out what was going on and told John. As soon as we got in the house and the balloon hit the warmer air, it filled right back out. You could hear the foil crackling as it expanded. I wish my 6th graders (who are now in high school!!) could see this :)

Fur Rondy Carnival

John took some neat pictures of some classic carnival rides, including the dreaded Gravitron. I loved the Gravitron when I was a kid UNTIL I rode it at the Mill Avenue New Year’s Party. I think I was about 10 and Mom let Kyle and I each choose 1 way over-priced ride before we left. I chose the Gravitron, which I’d been on before. Unfortunately, the ride operator decided to take a smoke break and left us on for over 10 minutes. By the time I got off the ride, I literally could not see. Mom had to come up the stairs to get me. Alas, no more Gravitron or serious motion rides for me… but the pictures are still great!

Fur Auction

The crux of Fur Rondy, theoretically, is the fur auction. Here are a few pictures from our brief visit there.

Incidentally, auctions are engrossing and, thankfully I don't have an excess of disposable income available to purchase furs... but, it brought back memories of my brother's Boy Scouts' cake auction. My dad and brother supposedly baked and decorated a cake (a dinosaur in a Boy Scout uniform--which I think my mom did most of the work on) and then it was part of a cake auction. My parents gave me authority to bid to a certain dollar amount and Kyle and I sat in the front and bid. Ahhh... adrenaline... I was ready to buy a wolverine and a blue fox and... thankfully John was there to rein me in ;)

World Championship Dog Sledding Races

Today we watched part of Day 2 of the World Championship of Dog Sled Races. Here are some pictures from the event:

What to Wear to Fur Rondy... to stay warm

The obvious answer to what to wear to Fur Rondy is fur, which is clearly what the people pictured here had in mind. (If you could see it from the front, the one's pelt actually has the face of a wolf and the other the face of a bear.)

John and I were about as comfortable as we could be without a Balaclava mask...

*I was wearing a thin sweater shirt and a down jacket, a hat with ear flaps (and occasionally, I had my hood up), sun glasses, a scarf, thin exercise pants with jeans over them, wool socks, a good pair of calf-high winter boots, and leather gloves. Changes I'll make for next week-- ski gloves that have more insulation and double socks.

*John had on an undershirt and hoodie, a cashmere coat, a hat that covered his ears, khaki pants, regular socks, winter boots, and leather gloves. He doesn't think he'll make any changes.

(You can tell from the difference of what we wore who the winter wimp is!!)

Oh, yeah, and lip balm... definitely lip balm, especially if it's windy.

Fur Rondy

Fur Rondy, which stands for Fur Rendezvous, is a giant festival. It used to revolve around sports competitions and fur sale, but now involves all sorts of fun events.

It started this past Thursday and will continue through next weekend. John and I checked it out today and can hardly wait for Fur Rondy part 2-- the start of the Iditarod, the Running of the Reindeer, and the Miners and Trappers Ball-- all of which we'll enjoy with Mom and Kerry!

Oscar Shorts

They were good... fun was had by all :)

My predicted winner: Day and Night

My favorite: tie-- Madagascar, because it was beautiful artistically, and The Gruffalo, because I enjoyed it the most


Day and Night--


Madagascar--


and a clip of... The Gruffalo--


Honorable Mentions (including the film shown as a "highly commended" but not actually nominated)--

1) A clip of "Let's Pollute," a nominees--


2) A clip of "The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger," one of the highly commendeds--

An Honor

My student's father is an Alaska Native of the Inupiaq tribe and an experienced guide who has developed a book of his photography. He ordered a proof book, which arrived today.

At 4:45pm, my student's father came into my classroom with his book in his hand. He's headed to Seattle soon to pitch it to a publisher, and I'd hoped to see it eventually. Instead, he brought the proof in and asked me if I'd look at it. He was eager to share it and it was an honor to be invited to look at this book. He showed me and the librarian. We were some of the first people to see it. This was an incredibly welcoming gesture that helped me feel a part of the Alaska community.

If you'd like to know more about the Inupiaq tribe or see a video from my student's father (it's in the "watch video" section to the right), you can click on this link.

Oscars Coming Soon

Today my friend and co-worker, Lori, told me about the Out North Art House. Apparently each year, Out North screens the Oscar-nominated short films. I've seen "Day and Night," but not the other films. John and I got tickets and are excited to see the shorts! I'll let you know how they are.

P.S.--I'm not sure of what the "rules" for Oscar short films are... however, if you haven't seen it, you can watch the uber creepy "The Millhaven Curse" from one of my earlier posts. I would have thought it Oscar-worthy-- so we'll see how tomorrow's films compare.