Neil's small step

Frank Fujimoto
What's Up

Another day, another notable anniversary. Today marks 40 years since Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon (seen in partial eclipse in the picture to the left, from 2/2008). One could say that was the culmination of the engineering and sweat that was launched when JFK issued his challenge of "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth" in his special message to a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961. However, it was also the start of what some still consider the glory days of space exploration.

Traveling and flat tires

Frank Fujimoto
Oral History, Vacation

Melody and I are heading east to Spokane this morning to see not only her relatives and friends there, but to meet up with the Knopefls from IL, who are there this week too. We've been fortunate enough to have seen them all within the past couple years (Brian and Frances last year, Kevin, Joanna, Jenny, and Hans the year before) but don't want to miss an opportunity to see them again.

Safeco Field turns 10

Frank Fujimoto
Hobbies, In the News

This must be the month for notable anniversaries. Ten years ago today the first pitch was thrown at Safeco Field, the new home for the Seattle Mariners. I had only attended one Mariners game in the Kingdome, but it definitely didn't fell like a ballpark. Most years I've been to at least one game at Safeco, and it feels right, with the open air and great views all around. Even when high against the upper railing behind home plate (nose bleed territory) we could still see everything that was going on.

Time to fill up the car?

Frank Fujimoto
Oral History

Even though we fill up the car perhaps once a month, we need to do more planning than you would think at first. For example, this past weekend we were thinking that the car was pretty low on gas and we should fill it up, but we're planning on going to Spokane next weekend. We decided it was low enough that we should fill it, and it'd still be close to full by the time we leave. But that's not where it ends.

iTunes Weekly Rewind

Frank Fujimoto
Listening, Music

If you like expanding your musical horizons beyond what's on the radio or want to learn new connections between various songs and artists, the iTunes Weekly Rewind is a great podcast. Every week they take a look at some of the songs which have been playing on the radio, on TV, in movies, even in ad spots. But more than just giving a name and artist to a song you heard just fleetingly, they also use songs, artists, or events as springboards to not only go into depth, but to point out both what influenced an artist and whom that artist influenced. There are a lot of music geeks out there, and these guys rate right up there. As they should, since they're on the team which compiles the iTunes Essentials collections.

Project 365 - A photo a day

Frank Fujimoto
Photography, What's Up

Kellen decided he wanted to document his 20th year by doing a Project 365, where he will take one picture each day and post all of them online. I asked what he thought about Tynor and me doing it along with him, and he said it would be great. So we can look at all of our pictures side-by-side, I've also set up a Fujimoto Project 365 page, optimistically labeling it as 2009-2010; I figured we may do it again sometime in the future.

Photo - Fireworks

Frank Fujimoto
In the News, Photography

Being July 4th, I thought it would be appropriate to post a photo of fireworks. This was taken in 2003 at Gas Works Park in Seattle. You can just make out some of the original gas works machinery at the lower left, and just some of the tens of thousands of people in the park on at the lower right.

Radiolab

Frank Fujimoto
Listening

There are many great science shows around, NPR's Science Friday being one of them. However, I find WNYC's Radiolab to be more of a must-listen because of they way they are able to find an over-arching story from seemingly disparate interview clips or even show segments, for the extra content they inject into the podcast, and how they are willing to go beyond science towards topics such as art.

Photo - Cat boarding

Frank Fujimoto
Photography

As I was walking up to this cat boarding building I saw a cat walking around the corner, which struck me as humorous. My first thought was either the cat had escaped or was looking for a place to stay. Or perhaps this is that particular cat's accommodations?

Cutting boards

Frank Fujimoto
Hobbies

I needed some small gifts for this month so I went to an old standby, cutting boards. They're relatively quick to make, offer lots of possibilities for variation, and usually end up looking pretty nice.

Photo - Groundcover

Frank Fujimoto
Hobbies, Photography

A couple years ago we had some flagstone installed for paths in our front yard. That fall we planted groundcover, each smaller than the size of a quarter and about a foot apart. We weren't sure how well they'd do, but it was a relatively small investment.

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