Happy Mother's Day

The kids helped make a video for CINCHOUSE in honor of Mother's Day:

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[Moblog] Kids' Road Mile

Man-Cub participated in this morning's road mile at the Univ of Tennessee, sponsored by the Knoxville Track Club. This race, on a moderately flat course near UT's Tom Black Track, featured more than 100 kids aged 3 to 15.

The overall winner was a 14 year old boy who clocked a 5:34 mile, and an 8 year old boy next to us at the start had recently run a 5k in 26:19 (his mile time today: 7:19).

While the 8 year old competition was stiff (the photo above was Man-Cub pacing an 8 year old at the finish), our J-Man's 8:25 time - a Personal Record for the mile - was good enough for a gold medal, 1st place finish!

Now we're off to a baseball scrimmage, then a friend's birthday party (appropriately at a "Speed Racer" screening), then to tonight's AA-league Smokies baseball game against Huntsville with the little league team.

[Moblog] Speed Racer

Hmmm... Immediate reaction (at 0230 after the midnight screening of Speed Racer) is that the Wachowski Brothers -- of Matrix fame -- have started to emulate Stanley Kubrick in their artistry.

F/X, as expected, were extraordinary. And the "campiness" factor was preserved (though the panning head-shot scene transitions got tiresome after the 57th time). At 138 minutes, there were some way-too-lengthy "character development" scenes that could have been pared down.

All in all, a fun movie that was true to the spirit of Tatsuo's original animated series. Some of my first memories are of watching Speed Racer at my Grandpa's house with my cousins. The Wachowskis did those memories proud.

[Moblog] Go Speed Racer Go!

I just arrived at the Regal IMAX in Turkey Creek (West Knoxville) for the 12:01am showing of Speed Racer. More details after "The IMAX Experience"....

[Moblog] Scientists' Day

Today is Scientists' Day at Linden Elementary School in Oak Ridge, where dozens of scientists and engineers tour through the school giving demonstrations to the kids (K-4th grade).

Last year, Eldest of Oz was a fourth grader - so I talked "nuclear" for the more advanced students in that class. This year, Man-Cub is a 1st grader - so I brought the 5" Maksutov-Cassegrain and talked astronomy.

We have some smart kids in this school, who quickly grasped the concept of "Doppler Shift" (and easily refuted my test hypothesis that, based on simple observations, the sun goes around the earth).

More than half of all students (K-4) participated in this week's Science Fair, too. Since it was optional for K-2, I see this as a very promising indicator of the science savvy of our next generation!

[Moblog] NBC Live at Five

Man-cub's Cub Scout Tiger Den visited WBIR's "Live at Five" news studio in Knoxville. WBIR is east Tennessee's NBC affiliate, and today's show featured a guest appearance by country supergroup "Lonestar". A great visit, thanks to Den Leader Matt (who's daytime job is as a reporter and photographer for WBIR).

Update: Russ and Beth introduced our Scouts after a commercial break:

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of México's victory over Napoleon III at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Though it is virtually ignored in México (other than in the state of Puebla, just east of Ciudad de México), it has been celebrated for more than 140 years in the U.S. state of California.

While Cinco de Mayo is not México's "Independence Day" (that date is September 16th), in America it has become the cultural equivalent of St. Patrick's Day: a celebration of heritage and culture of our southern neighbor.

So tonight, raise your cerveza or your margarita and honor México!