Comics

We wrapped up our 3-day comics program yesterday. The cool thing about this one is that most of the group decided that they want to continue to meet. They want to get the comic that they were working on as a group, to the point where they can actually publish it. We have additional meetings scheduled through the end of the year, the next one being at 1:00 pm on August 6. I really hope they stick with it. I'd love to have a few copies of their final product in the collection! Thanks Ben! If you missed this one, a few pics are below.

More Rocket Photos

Gage's dad stopped by yesterday with a CD of photos that he had taken at the rocket launch (both days). After looking through them, my only complaint was that there were too many really good shots. I usually try to narrow it down to 3-5 pics per post, but I figured why look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth? Given so many good shots, I'm just going to post a lot of my favorites and let you all enjoy them. Thanks Todd! Excellent job capturing so many of them, right as they lifted off, complete with smoke plumes!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Leonardo's Shadow

I finished Leonardo's Shadow by Christopher Grey sometime last week, but I'm just now getting around to the post. It's written from the point of view of 15-year-old Giacomo in Milan, Italy in 1497. If you aren't an art history buff, that may not mean anything to you. But if you are, you'd know that that is when and where Leonardo da Vinci was working on The Last Supper. Several years earlier Leonardo had rescued Giacomo from an angry mob, took him into his house, and made him his servant. Giacomo had fallen, and has no memory of anything before the angry mob. He is trying to find out who he is and where he came from. He also wants to become an artist himself, but Leonardo refuses to teach him, so he surreptitiously works on his own, copying some of the master's sketches. I really enjoyed this one. You get a look at life and the politics of the time, as well as how da Vinci worked, or frequently didn't work. A very good one for middle school students.

Enjoy!

Weekly Challenge July 13-18, 2009

OK, now that I finally have this week's challenge posted, let's make up for that one being late by posting next week's a little early. Here you go:

What occurs once in a second, once in a month, and once in a century, but doesn’t occur at all in a week, a year, or a decade?

Weekly Challenge July 6-11, 2009

Oops! Went to post next week's Weekly Challenge and realized that I never put this week's up. Sorry about that! It was a little crazy around here last week with the rocketry program partly off site. Anyway, this week's is a sudoku. I think everyone knows how to do these by now so I'll skip the instructions. Here's the puzzle:

Concert Vindication

Some people were questioning that decision to postpone the Garage Band Fest when it was made this afternoon. Well, we would have just been getting started and it's coming down in buckets out there. Thank you weather.com and those radar maps! Again, we're hoping to reschedule. Watch for updates. I'll post 'em here as soon as I have 'em.

Rocket Pics and Video

OK, finally had a little time to go through the pics and video from both the launch and the build. What a great day yesterday when we launched! The weather held that time, and unlike Tuesday when we only launched 2 before the deluge hit, but lost one out on 11/15, everyone's rockets survived the day. For 3 or 4 people that's thanks to those great guys who were up working on the school roof while we were launching. Unfortunately, I didn't write down the name of the company, and can't remember what it was, but those guys were wonderful! Kids were asking if we'd be doing this program again. Scheduling an instructor was tough this year. If he's available next year, we'll probably bring him back. I also have someone else that I tried to get this year. He was very willing, but his schedule was even worse. I'll see what I can do.

In the meantime, here are a few photos and videos. I may post more if Gage's dad gets some of the ones that he took, to me. Keep an eye out.

Garage Band Fest postponed

Due to a very questionable weather forecast, the Garage Band Fest scheduled for tonight is being postponed. Watch this space for updates. Also, we could probably take another band or two. If you or anyone you know is interested in playing, let me know.

Rocket Launch Update - Part 3

Ok folks, the radar map on the weather.com website is showing about as clear as it gets this time of year, for a fairly broad circle around the area. We're gonna give this one last try at noon today. Hopefully I won't be going home and wringing out my socks again.

Rocket Launch Update - Part 2

A little before noon it was sunny with just a bit of a breeze. We thought we'd get through the launch, just fine. Wrong! Just a little after noon, the sprinkles that initially looked like they'd pass over become thunder, lightning, and pretty strong winds. With everyone and everything pretty well drenched, and dark skies in all directions, we decided to bag it for today and try again tomorrow. Sure enough, it started to clear once almost everyone had left. As of right now, we're still planning to try again tomorrow. We're going for a start time of noon again. The forecast isn't great, so I'll check it again in the morning. If it looks worse we may need to cancel, so check back here around 10:00 for a last minute update. Keep your fingers crossed and do those anti-rain dances!