Telegraph

Yesterday we made a telegraph. We used a battery, paper clips, a nail, paper fasteners, a foam base, rubber bands and magnet wire. When you press the telegraph key that makes the clicker hit the nail. We also made a tin can phone. They really worked.

Dude Boy

Forces/Energy at HomesCOOL Days

Hello you all,
This week for “fun-day” I went to HomesCOOL Days at the Nashville Adventure Science Center. The theme was Forces/Energy. I went to three classes about Extreme Weather, Movie Set Magic and All Charged Up! - Static Demos. I got to see four Tesla coils! And one of them broke down. I loved Movie Set Magic. I got to see how they create special effect fires. And I got to be a volunteer for centrifugal force. I kept sliding off the chair. I got to learn new stuff and I had fun.

Dude Boy

Dude Boy took this close-up of T-Rex.

The Oklahoma Kid

Finns on Tractors!

It has been a few years since I have seen this video, but it was the favorite of mine and young Dude Boy when he was just two years old. You have to listen and watch the incomparable Finnish group JPP (Little Folk Musicians of Järvelä) doing "Puikkoristikko."

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

It snowed a dusting this morning. Wishfully thinking, Dr. J. had Dude Boy read the Robert Frost poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Apparently Dude Boy felt the need to “deconstruct” the poem, for he started taking images of the title using his new microscope. He then wanted to animate those images (that is what you see at the beginning of this video). Once that was started, Dude Boy and I decided to go all out and make an animation for the whole poem. We selected three sources to work with . . . a sound recording of Frost reading the poem and two photos we lifted from the internet (one of a winter scene and the other of a horse drawn sleigh). Dude Boy worked with me throughout the process and I fear he will soon forgo other collaborations with me. I think we have a budding film maker on our hands.
Merkin
The two source photos . . .

Creepy Close-Up of the Week . . . Snow Melt

Creepy Close-Up of the Week . . . The Snail

J-Day and the Société Anonyme

Hello all,
Yesterday for our “fun-day” and mama Jane’s birthday, we went to Nashville to go to the Frist Museum. We went to a special exhibit on modern art called “The Société Anonyme: Modernism for America.” We saw works by Duchamp, Klee, Kandinsky, Miró, Mondrian, Man Ray, etc. One of my favorites was a piece of art made with a typewriter by Stefi Kiesler. Some other favorites of mine were “The Train” by Erika Giovanna Klien and “The Red Cat (Die rote Katze)” by Heinrich Campendonk. I also went to ArtQuest at the Frist. It’s a place for kids to make art. I made lots of art. There was this one kid named Mathew that I played with. Mama Jane said, “It was an excellent birthday.”
Dude Boy

Happy 40th Birthday!