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Idaho and The Martian—Both Surviving on Potatoes

~ Julia Robinson ~ Leave a comment

Idaho greeted 2016 by dropping a potato on Steroids in front of the Statehouse.

potato in front of capital
Giant Potato ready for 2016 New Year Drop, Boise Idaho

Yes, it’s true, Idaho has a potato fixation. Thirty percent of all potatoes grown in the United States come from Idaho. The potato is Idaho’s leading agricultural crop. We even host a national bowl game, called the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (suggesting that in some other unworthy location is another football game named for a tuber).

 

To publicize the game, the Idaho Potatoes Growers  annually send The Great Big Idaho Potato Truck across America. Great Big Truck The six ton spud spent 2015 traveling to 29 cities covering over 22,000 miles.  For folks into trivia, the giant potato is comparable to 32,346 medium potatoes, weighs 1,102 times more than the largest potato ever grown (11 pounds) and could be made into 1.5 million French Fries (pass the ketchup!) The national advertising for the commission features an Idaho farmer, who has lost the truck, asking people who see the giant roaming tater to send it home. According to the President of the Idaho Potato Commission, wherever the truck goes people shout, “Go Home!” (see clip below)

Given that Idaho is known for potatoes, I was not surprised when Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) in the movie, The Martian (2015) survived on Mars by growing spuds. The movie is based on  Andy Weir’s novel (2011) of the same name. In interviews, Weir has said he tried to make the novel as accurate as possible.   The movie begins with the crew of Ares 3 collecting Mars samples  outside the spaceship. A huge sand storm forces a hasty exit. Watney, who is struck by an antenna as the crew flees to the ship, is left behind for dead. Watney miraculously survives his injuries and has  to figure out how to live on Mars,  contact NASA and contrive a way home.  A botanist, Watney knows that the potatoes available in the space station have the potential to grow.  His job is to “science the hell out of this!” until somehow help can arrive.  The main theme of the movie just like the Idaho Potato Commission advertisement for the Great Big Idaho Potato Truck is “Bring Him Home!”Potatoes and Mark.jpg

 The Martian is thrilling, funny, and age appropriate for a wide range of ages. I took my two children, a college senior and tenth grader on Christmas day and  both enjoyed it.  The movie is on the Oscar short list for Best Picture, Best Director (Ridley Scott) and Best Actor (Matt Damon).  If your family includes children ten or over and you need a family night together, watch The Martian.  You’ll have fun cheering Astronaut Watney on, you’ll learn something about solving one problem at a time instead of becoming paralyzed by doubt, and you’ll end up having more respect for the lowly potato.

 

Brooklyn—Showcases Fifities America, Land of Possiblilites

~ Julia Robinson ~ Leave a comment

Brooklyn is a 1950’s period piece with beautiful settings in Brooklyn and Ireland. Based on a 2009 novel, by Irish author Colm Toibin, the plot focuses on a young Irish girl, Eilis Lacey’s (Saoirse Ronan) journey from Ireland to Brooklyn, New York. Eilis chooses to immigrate under the sponsorship of the Catholic Church because she has no opportunities in Ireland. In Ireland, her older sister, Rose (Fiona Glascott), has a good job as a bookkeeper and encourages Eilis to go.  Rose willingly stays behind with their widowed mother.

Brooklyn dody
Saoirse Ronan as Eilis Lacey in Brooklyn

 

 

The fundamental theme of the movie is the conflicting emotional pull of home versus the rational understanding that new beginnings in a foreign country present the possibility but not the guarantee of a better future. Eilis begins life in America living in a boarding house  and working as a sales clerk in a large department store. Shop girlHer homesickness is assuaged when she meets an Italian American plumber, Anthony “Tony” Fiorello (Emory Cohen).

Eilis and tony
Eilis and Tony

The plot twist in Brooklyn is that once Eilis has begun to establish a new life in America, she is presented with the opportunity to build a life rich with possibilities in Ireland.  The question for Eilis is which will she choose: America (representing risk and the unknown) or Ireland (representing tradition and long-term emotional connections)?

 

the choice

Brooklyn is drenched in fifties culture and provides an exquisite view of the possibilities or lack-their-of for unmarried, young women in both Ireland and America. Marriage to a man with a future is  the safest road to a secure future but education that provides a skill is another pathway. Brooklyn captures the transformation of one young woman through a transition of clothes and hair styles from an insecure newcomer to a self-assured young woman who has chosen her own future.

dody
Saoirse Ronan as Eilis Lacey in Brooklyn

 

The brightness of Eilis’s future shines through in a movie leaving this viewer feeling better about the world.

 

Brooklyn polished

A transformed Eilis returning to Ireland

 

 

Talking Barbies Terrorize Household

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Water drenched dolls keep singing even in the trash!

Source: Talking Barbies Terrorize Household

Students receive apology for failed origami cat

~ Julia Robinson ~ Leave a comment
Black model which now has directions
Black model which now has directions

In another post script to the Origami Community Education class, students received the following email today: Hello ORIGAMI students, We are so sorry that your handout was less than perfect for class.  Jeanette brought an edited version of the “cat” page, in case you wanted it for a future project!  Happy Origami!

For Directions click here: Origami Cat

Original post: https://julierobinsonblog.com/2015/10/09/there-are-worse-things-in-life-than-making-a-blue-penguin/

Cats Desimate Paper Skull

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His Highness Satch and willing vassal, Angel had a busy night.  The origami skull described in the last post was found destroyed this morning.  The other pieces of  origami scattered about the house had been shredded.  Obviously, a night raid had been successfully planned and executed.  All Halloween origami is now gone from 775 N. Ashtree Way.

Joy Rising–Balloons over Boise

~ Julia Robinson ~ 1 Comment

It’s 6:45 on a clear, cool morning early September morning.  A perfect morning for ballooning. The air is absolutely still, gray skies as the sun rises and folks slowly gather along the dusty ridge above Anne Morrison Park.  The voice of well known TV personality Larry Gephart,  wafts through the trees.  “ A great day to be in Boise…The sun will be coming up soon….”

We can hear the propane fires starting up that lift the balloons.  Each balloon makes a loud roaring sound when the propane burner  is lit. The folks on the ridge don’t see anything yet, we get excited as we hear the high pitched growling of the flames filling the balloons. The promise of balloons launching soon.

There are exclamations of surprise as the first balloon, red white and blue peaks above the pine trees below.  In just minutes, the sky is full of balloons and more are rising out of the trees.  The woman next to me is counting out loud with her boys.  We are up to 32 and finally 48 total.

Boiseians have seen the balloons driving to work and school. They pull their cars over and crowd up along the barrier bounding ridge joining the pre-dawn  spectators.  The balloons are in the air for only minutes, timing is everything.   But for a magical moment, all of us on the ridge stand in awe, glad to be alive, outdoors and soaking in the colors, sunrise, and truly understanding the beauty of the earth

I love the balloons.  Boise, the balloons and I have a long tradition.  When I first moved to Boise in 1996, my son Scott was just a little over two years old.  He is 21 and half now.  I remember right after we moved  we were living in a very small house in West Boise. I was very lonely for my friends I’d left in Wyoming. I was in the kitchen making breakfast and Scott was in living room watching TV. Scott ran in grabbed my hand and shouted,  “Ba-loon, Ba-loon”, literally pulling me into the living room. There in the front yard of our rental house was a balloon coming down.  Amazing–a total surprise, a true delight, from out of nowhere.Balloon 2015

We moved to the foothills soon after.  While Scott was  in preschool, we would rise early,  go down to lower foothills and watch for the balloons.   We would chase them in the car as they flew through the air and watch them land.  One year we caught the pink energizer bunny, another year Scott was swallowed in the jaws of a ferocious-looking green T-Rex as it collapsed to the ground.  Scott was delighted when he emerged from its jaws unscathed.

On clear days, from my kitchen window, I frequently see a single balloon out floating far off in the distance.   I have been up in a balloon once and found the experience exhilarating.  I understand these solo adventurers seeking perspective on life, experiencing a rare sense of freedom because they are truly from desks, phones, offices and traffic noise, sharing the skies with feathered creatures, but mostly riding alone.

Mammoth homes have been built on the foothills where Scott and I would sit. My son has gone off to college.  Alone now,  I jump out of bed in my sweats to get down to see the balloons rising.  Every year during the Boise Balloon Festival, I experience pure joy that I am alive in Boise, Idaho and able to experience this exact moment.