GimletBlog

Less than thirty days until our upcoming adventure, and I’m gathering the essentials:

Packing light is a goal (to leave room for all those souvenir macarons, bien sûr) but that philosophy doesn’t extend to leaving the iDevices empty.  I’ve been experimenting with using the iPad as a travel tool and will continue to do so on our upcoming France trip as time permits. So far, the camera connection kit has worked very well for uploading photos and storing them in Dropbox.  WordPress’ blogging app is okay, not great; the desktop interface is more visually oriented and thus quicker and easier to use, but I can code to fine tune the formatting as necessary.  I’d like more control over adjusting the image sizes as well; while I can edit my photos with Adobe’s Photoshop Touch, it would be more convenient to have all my blog post editing tools in one place, as they are in the desktop WordPress Dashboard.  We’ll see how it goes!

A few of the apps I’ve chosen for the journey:

• RATP:  Free official app for the subway and bus service in Paris.  Includes line and station exits’ maps, timetables, and traffic updates (including any demonstrations which are causing delays!).   I’ve already looked up and saved a few routes to places I hope to visit.
• SpeakEasy French:  $1.99 for the basic app (a lite version is available for free) plus an additional $1.99 for the expansion phrase packs.  Each word, expression, and phrase includes a translation to French, an easy-to-read phonetic translation, and an audio recording of a native French speaker.  I’m finding it very easy to use thus far.
• proHDR: $1.99.  For those occasions when it’s more convenient (and surreptitious) to use the iPhone instead of my camera, this app creates beautiful HDR images.  You do have to hold the iPhone still while the HDR shoots multiple images, but I haven’t had any problems doing so and the HDR pictures have turned out great.
• Wi-Fi Finder:  Free locator of free and paid wi-fi hotspots around the world.
• Kindle editions of 2012 Frommers guides to Paris, Provence, and the Riviera.  I love my bookshelves full of books, but between content being updated annually to stay current, and the opportunity to include active linking and more color photography, I think travel guides and e-readers are a natural, excellent fit.
• Paris Pastry Guide ebook by David Lebovitz.  Is any other guidebook really necessary?  I think not.

On the subject of e-readers, I have several e-reader apps loaded on my iPad but mostly use Stanza, Kindle, and iBooks.  I’m also glad to see more magazines catching the clue that paper subscribers won’t pay their subscription fee twice for mobile access, so mobile device versions of many magazines are becoming available.  The tablet editions of my favorite magazines will be a welcome diversion when I’ve finished reading the emergency card, in-flight magazine, and catalog.

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This summer Thing Two started to collect Lego minifigures.  For those who haven’t seen these yet, Lego has come up with sets of sixteen unique minifigures, individually wrapped in opaque packages.  Like the packs of Star Wars cards back in the day, these goodies pack both a cool minifigure and the thrill of mystery.  We like ThinkGeek’s name for these mystery treats: Schrödinger’s collectible.

That said, after a run of bad luck with the random choice, resulting in a soccer team, an artist colony and not much else, we wondered if there were some way to stop choosing artists and soccer players.

The very helpful folks at Math N Stuff guided us through the art of detecting each minifigure’s unique pieces inside the bag, which has worked almost perfectly.  (One notable recent incident we were sure we had found a figure we didn’t already have, but when we opened the bag, we found … a soccer player.)

If scrunching the packages isn’t good enough (or if you are looking for any excuse to play with a smartphone), yes, there is an app for that.  Mini Collector uses a combination of bar and dot codes to detect which minifigure is in the package.

We like Mini Collector because not only can we keep an inventory of the minifigures we already own, but then if the app detects a minifigure we don’t have, you can opt to keep its identity a secret, and preserve the excitement of the surprise.

Mini Collector is free to download and the support for the first three series of minifigures is included.  Series 4 (currently in our local stores) and Series 5 (coming soon) can be unlocked for $0.99 and $1.99 respectively.  We love The Oatmeal’s take on buying apps because we too are guilty of spending an unholy sum for our iGadgets, then balking at paying a whopping $1 for an app. (N.B.:  Depending on your family, The Oatmeal’s content is not entirely family-friendly; consider yourself warned.)

After seeing his big brother at work, Thing Two set up his own Trading Post in his room, complete with an open/closed sign which he carefully turns at bedtime and when he returns from preschool.  Unlike other trading posts, the customer may choose a minifigure, but the storekeeper both assembles and keeps it.  Thing One may have to teach him a few lessons in customer service.

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Just an ego-boosting note that my Emma stage play review is up on AustenBlog and linked on the Book-It Repertory Theatre web site.  After seeing last season’s outstanding production of Persuasion, expectations were high for Emma.  Check out my main review for all the details, but in short: the characters were spot-on and delightful, the pacing was brisk, with plenty of humor (important points to consider if one of you is less enthusiastic about spending an evening watching a Jane Austen play) and an ending with dancing, streamers, and just enough romance to be sweet without saccharine.

We loved the ardent and slimy Mr. Elton, Frank Churchill’s rock star entrance into Highbury, a delightfully dreadful Mrs. Elton inspecting Emma’s china and silver … and that’s not even mentioning the fabulous Emma and Mr. Knightley.  If you’re in the Seattle area, go and enjoy.  Emma runs through November 22 at the Center House, Seattle Center.

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We always look forward to our visits to Utah:  a year is not complete without eating far too many raspberry-butter dinner rolls and sweet corn at Maddox, and it’s comforting to know that the sun still shines somewhere, even if its existence is in question around the Pacific Northwest.  But better still, the Things get to see the grandGimlets and play with their cousins.

The week started off with a drive south to Provo to see a new Pride and Prejudice musical.  This year we’ve been lucky enough to see three different Jane Austen stage plays:  Sense and Sensibility at the Meydenbauer Center (so-so), Persuasion at Book-It (excellent!), and now Pride and Prejudice at BYU.  Unfortunately we saw each play near the end of its run, so there wasn’t time to publish a useful review.  As for Pride and Prejudice, the cast gave it their all and had great singing voices.  Fans of the book (and especially fans of the 1995 miniseries) would enjoy the characterizations.  It’s understood that many scenes must be cut in the interest of time, but this adaptation managed to portray or mention quite a few favorites — plenty to please fans and enough of the story was left for newcomers to follow.  If the musical visits any other community theaters around Utah, it’s worth considering for a nice evening out.

We also made a day trip to a neighboring valley to visit the home in which my grandfather grew up.  We called ahead to make sure we would be able to see inside the house, and learned that it’s open for tours most Saturdays during the summer months from 11-3.  The town is small (population about 650) and a sign on the street corner ensures that out-of-towners can easily find the house.  It was built by my great-grandparents around 1872, and modeled after the but-and-ben cottage in Thurso, Scotland in which my great-grandfather had lived before emigrating to the USA.  As the family expanded in size to eventually include ten children, the house grew as well.  Thick stone walls still keep the rooms nearly as cool as air conditioning in the summer, and massive cottonwoods provide shade in the garden.

The house and its furnishings are an excellent example of what life would have been like in Utah in the late 1800s.  Quilts and other handiwork, all made by my great-grandmother and her daughters, are displayed in every room.  The family photos and other treasured mementos were delightful to see.

A baby cradle is in the front bedroom:  my great-grandmother would rock the cradle with her foot while reading or doing handiwork.  After ten children, a small groove has been worn in the cradle’s edge.  The Things liked the upstairs sleeping porches; one year as the house was being prepared for summer tours, a baby raccoon was discovered sleeping in a crib on the sleeping porch!  The Things also enjoyed their special “cousins only” tour of the cellar.

This photo of my grandfather was taken around 1914 while he was an LDS missionary in Scotland.  (He’s the rather large gentleman in the center; click on the picture for a closer look.)  We had a wonderful visit with John, my second cousin who conducted the house tour, and soon realized that we both needed to bring members of the previous generation with us next time.

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Editor’s Note: The Gimlet has recently been heard to complain that all the recent cross stitching posts have made the blog rather too piano for his taste. Your Humble Narrator suggested that if he started remodeling the kitchen (or the bathroom, or building his tool shed), subsequent posts might be more to his liking. Since he didn’t jump on any of these great ideas, a book about tools (and monkeys) will have to suffice.

Monkey with a Tool Belt by Chris Monroe already has everything Thing Two could hope for in a story: (1) a monkey; and (2) tools. Lots of tools. But there’s more! Chico Bon Bon (and what a great name for our monkey hero) builds and fixes all sorts of interesting things for his family and friends (clocks, swings, roller coasters), until the day he’s kidnapped by an organ grinder. But the organ grinder doesn’t realize he’s dealing with a primate packing hardware. Resourcefulness and Chico’s can-do attitude triumph in the end!

The illustrations (also by Chris Monroe) are a treat: funny, colorful, and full of details to delight both children and parents. The countless gadgets and gizmos Chico pulls out of his tool belt are especially fun. Until Chico Bon Bon gets his own show on the DIY Network, enjoy reading Monkey with a Tool Belt with your favorite little tool-loving monkeys.

Aloha! Masterpiece Theatre’s Complete Jane Austen is well underway, and you can read my review of Northanger Abbey on PBS’ blog Remotely Connected. Remotely Connected is a small, diverse group of bloggers who have been chosen to present their perspectives on major PBS programs. I’m thrilled to be invited to participate! Read reviews for all the new Jane Austen films at Remotely Connected.

(And look for more posts on that aloha soon … we’re still taking and labeling photos.)

The Things have always been happy to listen to whatever music happens to be playing around the house or in the car, but when Thing Two received You Are My Little Bird as a gift, we were thrilled to be introduced to this CD of children’s music that the entire family can enjoy.

You Are My Little Bird is not Elizabeth Mitchell’s first album, but it is her first to be released on the Smithsonian Folkways label. Selections range from classic American favorites to international children’s songs to covers parents will appreciate (my favorite is the Velvet Underground track). The accompaniment is minimal (guitar, banjo, rhythm sticks) and the arrangements are pure and simple: a mother, father, and children having fun making music together.

Thing Two’s favorite is the Woody Guthrie track for which this blog post is named, but he also tries to sing along with the gentle Japanese “Zousan” (little elephant). This brings up my one nitpicky complaint: I was disappointed that the CD booklet didn’t include the lyrics to the non-English language songs, but since then have found the lyrics on Elizabeth Mitchell’s web site.

You Are My Little Bird is a lovely and lively collection which has become one of our family’s favorites.

• Visit Elizabeth Mitchell’s web site to learn more about her music, download lyrics and sample tracks
• Explore the Smithsonian Folkways label
• Read other reviews of this CD and listen to samples on Amazon.

Here’s Thing Two, engaging in a little You-Are-There-Reading: we took Corduroy Goes to the Doctor with us for Thing Two’s annual checkup. He lived the story, from being weighed and measured, to examining the doctor’s instruments, and even had a shot. (He likes fancy bandages but is wary of them, knowing full well that they are purchased with pain.) Afterwards he had to read about Corduroy’s adventure all over again, but this time with the wisdom of experience.

Three short books just out this summer are Austenland, Curios, and The Jane Austen Handbook. They’re very different from each other, and all worth a look. Follow the jump for the reviews. (more…)