Are You Ready to be a Traffic Engineer?

Check out this game from the University of Minnesota to see if you have what it takes to be a traffic engineer. Of course, in most cities the timing of signals is controlled by a computerized system.

Ygnacio Wood Seahorses - 2009

Where's Naomi and Ethan in the photo below. The team photo was taken before Ryan was on the team so he is not in the photo.



The coaches naturally had to cool off after their hard work in lining up 130 or so swimmers for the photo session.

Ethan Hits His Mark

Ethan has found a comfort zone with karate. Things do get more difficult as one moves up, but Ethan just this past weekend passed the belt test to make it to the purple/blue belt level in the Dragons Program at Bay Mountain Martial Arts here in Concord. We have been very happy with the programs at Bay Mountain. The instructors are terrific with kids and although cramped, the place has a family atmosphere.

Here's Ethan with Sensei Alex at his recent belt test. These tests are fairly involved affairs that could take well over two hours to complete depending on the number of kids testing.

Ryan Promoted to Swim Team

Ryan was okay with making the swim team next year, but with the 6 and under boys often unable to have enough kids at meets to field a relay team there was a need for more team members. So Ryan made the team and took part in his first meet last week. The requirement to make the team in mid-season is to be able swim the full 25-yard length of the pool unassisted. Swimming against boys who have been swimming all season, he won his first race. At this point, he can only swim free style, but swimming this season means that he will have a leg up on next year.

The Juggler's Assistant - Twice!

One able-bodied juggler's assistant wanted. No experience necessary. Any takers?

Juggler: Here, can you hold my glasses? [hands his 1980s style sun glasses to Ethan]

Ethan: [turning to me] What do I do with these?

Me: Just hold them, I guess, until he asks for them back.

The juggler starts his ball juggling routine and finishes with a four-ball flourish.

Juggler: Who has my glasses?

Ethan: I do!

Juggler: Come on out here and put them on me.



Juggler: I need another volunteer.

Ryan: Pick me! Pick me!

Juggler: [points to Ryan] You kid. Come on out here!

Juggler: What's your name?

Ryan says something that most of us can't hear. Apparently the juggler dude didn't hear too well either...even though he was right next to Ryan.

Juggler: What's that? Frank? Okay, everyone please give a hand to Frank!

Ryan stands quietly with a somewhat sheepish look on his face. Thought cloud here. [Ryan: He's messed up my name.]

Juggler: Does he understand English? [looking in the general direction of our family]

Dorothy: Yes, he does and his name is Ryan!

Woman in Audience: That sounds better. Who names their kid Frank these days?

Kismet On the Road

We finally made it to Seattle on the 4th day after spending three days in Oregon, most of it on the coast. Our overnight stops in Oregon included Medford, Coos Bay and Newport. Each year, Medford seems to be the first stop no matter what time we leave our home. Call it kismet.

One year I think we finally left the house around dinner time. I'm not sure why we bothered to leave, but we did. This year we managed to finally shove off right after lunch. At least we wouldn't have to stop to eat.

On first glance our scavenger hunt checklist looked daunting. Town mascot? Our first thought was Grants Pass, Oregon because of all of the painted bears that they had on display a couple year ago. Surely, the bear must be their town mascot. Little did we know.

Traveler from our team assisting a street performer? We are adventuresome, but volunteering for a street act is usually not in our repertoire. Ryan to the rescue! Actually, both Ryan and Ethan got into the act.

Statue or art made entirely of edible food? Having not checked this one off by the time we arrived in Seattle, we resorted to home made art made of food. Yuki baked up a cake shaped like the U.S. flag for the 4th of July. It was a grand effort, but we still felt maybe it was too much cake and not enough art especially when we tried to hold up the cake pan to take a picture and the flag part of the cake slid down the pole part to half mast. We were saved later when we came across art made of food while on a visit to Pike Place Market. Kismet again.

So the road trip rolled on. We ping ponged around. Learned that the Lake View Cemetery is where many of the founders of the city of Seattle are buried. This is also where Bruce and Brandon Lee are buried.

U.S. Side's Prayers Answered!

In the Confederations Cup tournament underway in South Africa, the U.S. had no business shutting out the Egyptians let alone advancing to the semi-finals. After the first two games of the group stage, the red, white and blue clad Americans found themselves as the bottom shelf team of Group B. No wins, and having scored a single goal while giving up six. Back to the drawing board.

This is what the Americans needed in their game against the Egyptians on Father's Day to advance to the medal round of what is a tune-up tournament for the World Cup next year:

1. A win against Egypt who had earlier shut out the Italians 1-0.
2. More than a win, a win by at least 3 goals to overtake the Egyptians on the goals scored differential tie-breaker.
3. A loss by the Italians against the Brazilians.
4. More than a loss, a loss of 3-0 or a loss where the Italians are out scored by 4 or more points.

On this Father's Day, the Americans did exactly what they needed to win. My treat to myself was a little bit of time to watch not only the U.S. versus Egypt match, but also the equally important match between two of the world's most elite teams, Brazil and Italy.

The most fitting end was the goal by Clint Dempsey to make the score 3-0. The announcers of the game mercilessly hounded the play of Dempsey, pointing out every misplay of the midfielder. Even almost begging for Dempsey to be subbed out. I thought this hounding was somewhat unnecessary. Then in the 71st minute, what would be the semi-final berth clinching goal was scored on a thread-the-needle header by #8. There would be no more calls for the removal of Dempsey from the game after this goal.

Now it was score board watching time. Since the Brazil - Italy match was a few minutes ahead, the Americans knew exactly their position relative to making it into the semi-finals. With the final score locked in as 3-0 Brazil, the U.S. knew all they needed to do was to protect their 3-0 lead to advance to the medal round. This would be the most improbable of outcomes. Happy Father's Day!

Here come the red-hot Spaniards now. With no one giving the Americans a chance to win, their only hope is probably to play for a scoreless tie and rely on penalty kicks. Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Incredible Surfing Trick

Don't Try This at Home

Got this off YouTube. His name is Josh Womack. He was originally drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 2002 in the second round (pick #69) right out of Crawford High School in San Diego.

This is the same draft that produced current major leaguers B.J. Upton (#2), Zack Greinke (#6), Prince Fielder (#7), Jeff Francis (#9), Jeremy Hermida (#11), Joe Saunders (#12), Khalil Greene (#13), Scott Kazmir (#15), Nick Swisher (#16), Cole Hamels (#17), James Loney (#19), Jeff Franccoeur (#23), Joe Blanton (#24), Matt Cain (#25), Micah Owings (#50), Jon Lester (#57), Jonathan Broxton (#60), and Fred Lewis (#66) all before Josh. Seems that this was a loaded draft at least in the first few rounds.

After Josh these players were picked: Curtis Granderson (#80), Josh Johnson (#113), John Maine (#166), Scott Olen (#173), Joel Zumaya (#320), Dana Eveland (#469), Jacoby Ellsbury (#674), and Brad Ziegler (#938) who are also current major leaguers. In all, there were 1482 players selected over 50 rounds, but I'm guessing that only Josh Womack knows this trick:

Conversation With Ryan

Ryan who's 5 yrs old made a special card and insisted on placing a family picture in the middle.

Ryan: Mom, you make sure you keep this and look at it to remember us when we're gone.

Mom: Where are you going?

Ryan: Well, Mom, one of these days Naomi, Ethan and I will be living in another house...not together...I'll have my house and Naomi will have her house and Ethan will have his house. Because one of these days we'll find a girl to marry and live in a different house with.

Mom: Naomi, too?

Ryan: Naomi will find a boy to marry....someone who's not taken. I'd marry you, but you're taken.

Mom: Who's got me?

Ryan: Casey.

(pause)

Ryan: Maybe I'll marry Naomi because she helps me...she helps me take care of the guinea pig.

Mom: Brothers and sisters don't marry each other...they find other special people.

Ryan: Oh.

Swim Season is Here!

Swim season is underway once again for the Ygnacio Wood Seahorses of Concord, California. Naomi and Ethan are swimming once again and Ryan could make an appearance when he is ready.

Ethan's been working on his dives. That's him below starting his leg of a recent free relay race.



Ethan's favorite stroke is the breast stroke.



Naomi's been making strides too swimming this year with the 9 and 10 year olds. This is the first age group where the swimmers have to swim two lengths of the pool (50 yards) in their races. Here's Naomi going out in a recent 50 yard free style race:



Here she is going for the finish in the same 50 yard free style race:



However, perhaps the best part of recreational swimming is the time spent with friends. There are not many activities around that involve the participation of kids 4 years old up to 18 years old at the same event.

Planting Trees for the City

Our Boy Scout den volunteered to help plant trees for the City of Concord this past week. It made for a hectic day since it was on what was also the last day of school this past Wednesday.

The kids got in a photo-op with Laura Hoffmeister, the mayor.



In case you were wondering, here's what was on the flag behind us in the picture above.



Yes, the City of Concord has been designated as a Tree City. What does this mean? Here's what the Tree City web site says:

The Tree City USA® program, sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters, provides direction, technical assistance, public attention, and national recognition for urban and community forestry programs in thousands of towns and cities that more than 120 million Americans call home.

Basically, I guess this means that we care about our trees.

Scout Day with the A's

This past weekend was Scout Day at the A's game. Just Ethan and I went last year, but this year the entire family participated. The highlight of the game for the scouts is a chance to walk around the field before the start of the game.

Naomi: Wow, the pitcher's mound really is "moundy." I could get hurt if I fell off that.



Ethan: We even had our very own flag, but for some reason it was not on a pole. Here we are with our fearless Den leader Louis.



Here's the last out of the game that was won by the A's over the Orioles 3-0.

Mr. Steinbrecher

The first word association for Mr. Steinbrecher is girls' basketball coach for most of us from Sand Point, but he really is more than that. This is borne out by reading the CaringBridge web site set up to allow us keep in touch with the Steinbrechers in their battle with cancer.

My image of Mr. Steinbrecher on the basketball court was someone who was a battler. If someone would've asked me, "Can you pick out the former football player on the court?" This would be easy if Mr. Steinbrecher was on the court. His play was not pretty, but it was usually very efficient, very no nonsense. He moved like a blocking tackle. If he got established in the low block, he was not going to be moved.

It is amazing what he has endured against this very aggressive cancer. Most people would've given up long ago.

Below is a copy of their posting from May 9 that mentions Yuki and Hillary's visit to Minnesota to see the Steinbrechers. There really are so many of us pulling for Roger and Noreen. Please keep them in your thoughts.

Saturday, May 9, 2009 4:18 PM, CDT
Hello Everyone!
We had 2 very long days in Rochester on Thurs. & Friday. Chemo on Thurs. went well and we went back to the hotel and Roger slept the rest of the day. Friday we tried to sleep in but the room was very warm and with the windows open we heard the sirens all night. Not a great night's sleep. We met with 4 of Roger's surgeons that afternoon. We would have liked more encouraging news but that wasn't to be. There is reconstructive cosmetic surgery that could be done for Roger's lips & face but with so much cancer all over his face and neck they feel that nothing would heal properly and would be very stressful for him so they are leaving things as they are. Not sure if the chemo is helping right now or not but it is the course we are on for the time being. My thoughts are that we will contact those surgeons in a year or so when we beat this cancer and schedule reconstructive surgery then! We had a wonderful visit with Yuki K. and Hillary S. (both were Roger's basketball girls and my music students from Sand Point, AK back in the 80's.) They flew down just to visit. It was Great!! Talk about uplifting! It meant a lot. We looked at new pictures of the island, old photos , old yearbooks and got caught up on everybody. Roger slept the whole next day after they left. Thanks you two. We are spending this weekend in the cities near the girls for Mother's Day. Nothing special planned, just being together. Have a great Mother's Day everyone and enjoy each and every day! Love, Roger and Noreen

Aleutian Tweeters and Bloggers

Perhaps on a per capita basis, there are as many tweeters and bloggers in the Aleutians as any place on earth. AlaskaPen provides links to many of these sites under its Rants page. The total population of the Western Aleutians and the Aleutians East Borough that covers most of the Aleutians has a population of about 7500. On AlaskaPen's list there are about 20 tweeters and bloggers in this area (with most based out of Unalaska). This calculates to about one tweeter or blogger for every 375 people. Not bad.

Biking and Scootering

It looks like the worst of hay fever season is over. No more sneezing and runny noses. This made it a great time this weekend for outdoor activities like biking and scootering.

Here are the kids lining for a race:


Here's Naomi cruising on two wheels:


Ethan on his scooter and Ryan on his bike:


One...two...three...Go!

Pop Star = Rock Star

We first learnt about this video from a friend's music compilation on CD a couple years ago. When we showed this to Ryan he insisted that the artist was singing about a Rock Star in Spanish. Eventually he came around to admit that it was pop star and that the song was in Japanese.

Ryan's been practicing his own lip synched version of the song.



wanna be a pop star kimi wo motto muchuu ni sasete ageru kara ne
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge mahou wo kakete ageyou kimidake ni

kimi ni deaeta yorokobito, kimi ni aenai samishisa no
ryouhou wo te ni irete, koi wa hashiridasu
sora mo tobenai boku dakedo, kodoku wo utau yoru dakedo
sono hoho ni, hohoemi wo ataerareta nara
hajimete kimi wo dakishimeta shunkan ni
kamisama ga boku ni kudashita shimei wa kimi dake no Hero

i wanna be a pop star kimi wo motto muchuu ni sasete ageru kara ne
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou
i wanna be a pop star kimi wo gyutto, dakishimete ageru kara oide
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou, kimi dakeni

kakushite itai kurayami mo, kimi wa sotto hiroi agete
taisetsu na boku nanda to, dakishimete kureta
hikari eto tsuzuku, michi aruite yukou
kizu kabau, kono migite wa, kimi to te wo tsunagu tame ni

you're gonna be my pop star boku wo motto muchuu ni saseteyo hohoende
kirakira no pop star sono hitomi de, boku ni mahou wo kakete
you're my only pop star boku wo gyutto, dakishimetara mou hanasanai
kirakira no pop star sono hitomi de, boku ni mahou wo kakete ima sugu ni

koi ni ochitara daremo ga dareka no pop star
kamisama ga bokuni kudashita shimei wa kimi dake no Hero

i wanna be a pop star kimi wo motto muchuu ni sasete ageru kara ne
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou
i wanna be a pop star kimi wo gyutto, dakishimete ageru kara oide
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou, kimi dakeni

Rocket Cars

These cars were able to cover about 200 feet in just a few seconds, which translates to something like 25 to 30 mph. The cars were all quite fast.

Human-Powered Merry-Go-Round

Although our cub scouts were able to test out the rocket cars that they built, most of them may have had the most fun on the human-powered merry-go-round that the host Boy Scout pack had assembled. Check out this video:

From 2009_05_RocketDerby

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

We had a not so common windy day this weekend that was perfect for kite flying at Arbolado Park. The park has a bowl shape with a higher rim perfect for launching kites.