More Than Just Classical Music

MacGyver and RD were listening to this the other day.  I heard bits and pieces of it and wanted to see the whole video.



I hope that that I am able to make some people's eyes shine and remember to never say anything that could not stand as the last thing I say to someone.

Have a good day, everyone!

(It's the last day of my two week leave.)

Addictive Math Game

Who would have thought that 2+2 could be so addictive?

2048 -- I am sure you have heard of this game before.  The game is simple enough, within a 4x4 grid, put 2 and 2 together to make 4, put 4 and 4 together to make 8, put 8 and 8 together to make 16, and so on and so forth until you manage to get 1024 and 1024 to make 2048.

Easier said than done.

I had heard the kids talking about this game several months ago however there was no compelling urge for me to download the game and try it.  It was not until GI came home last week and said that he was seated beside someone on the bus who was playing this game and he told her (he actually TOLD her) (yes, she was a total stranger), "I think you are playing it the wrong way."

I don't know if he gave her any constructive suggestions on how to get 2048 but his story made me want to find out how easy or difficult the game was.  I knew it was doable because the kids have managed to get 2048 at one point in time or another.

So I downloaded the game last week and tried my luck.  I showed MacGyver the game and he was hooked.   He spent several days and nights playing the game, trying to get the magic number.  

I think because the concept is so simple, one feels the solution should also be simple.  Well, let me tell you now ... it is not.  

Let me tell you something else.  The game is addictive and time consuming.  Don't even get started.

I have a friend that has reached 4096 with a score of 48,960.  Eldest Sis's kids have downloaded the expanded version of the game.   Jersey Girl's high score is 56,896.  I can only assume that 2048 is just too easy for them.  
 

For me and MacGyver, it was a real challenge to get 2048 but we finally did it.

MacGyver got 2048 last Saturday

 and I managed to put 1024 and 1024 together tonight.

Now we can get on with our lives.  

(Unless the objective is to get 2048 in all the devices where we've downloaded the game.)

Photos In and Around the Musical

Ready for their first performance.

During the intermission...

More Musicians in the Family

We watched the kids perform last night.  Oh!! I was so proud of them!   (Thank goodness for those musical genes from MacGyver.)

I have never tuned it to the orchestra more than when watching last night's performance.  I heard RD play the accordion part during "Be Our Guest" and I managed to hear MyGirl playing all throughout the musical.   Both were very impressive!   (I admit I couldn't tell when RD was playing the synth and  I also couldn't discern the trumpet which their first cousin was playing.)

We took some pictures during the intermission.

Here is my bass guitarist with her dad...

... and my accordion/synth player laughing at a joke his brother was telling him. 

Beauty and the Beast

The two younger kids happily surprised me by getting themselves involved in their school musical, Beauty and the Beast.  RD got recruited to play the synthesizer as a secondary piano, and was later tasked with playing the accordion, and MyGirl joined soon after to play the bass guitar. Prior to the school musical, these kids had not held these instruments before.  Apparently the fact that RD plays the piano well and MyGirl is pretty good at the guitar was enough to land them parts in the orchestra.  OK, it was mainly because the orchestra conductor is RD's piano teacher and MyGirl's music teacher in year 7 who was in dire need of musicians to join the orchestra.

The accordion RD uses belongs to a friend of the conductor. I never realised that an accordion is a huge instrument.  When I first saw the case, I couldn't help but think of my grandmother's sewing machine.   

It has a beautiful sound, though.  And apparently, it takes a person with long arms to play.

The musical is scheduled for the second week of June so the kids are practising more often now.  Some days they have rehearsals for the whole day. They even have musical practice on Sundays.  Last Sunday, MacGyver had work on Sunday so he reminded me that I had to drive the kids to school in time for their 10 AM practice.  I had no problems with that.  The school is less than ten minutes away.  

I woke up bright and early on Sunday (not as early as MacGyver who was out of the house by 5 AM) and did some chores.  I looked around for the accordion which is usually in the middle of the living room when RD brings it home.  I couldn't find it.  

I checked RD's room, just in case he had practised upstairs, but it was not there.  I was hoping against hope that it was not in the car which MacGyver had brought to work.  

At about 7:00, I sent him a FB message, a G-mail chat message, a text message, and I tried to call him twice.   No answer.

I was starting to get worried.  We had been in the general area of MacGyver's office the night before for dinner with some friends but I was in the passenger's seat and obviously not paying attention to the directions, the correct lanes and the turns to take.  We had talked about driving together to his office so that I could be confident to accompany GI there and back but never got around to doing so.   (As a learner, GI needs a certain amount of driving time practice in order to be eligible to take the driver's test to move him to a P-plate.  Only when he has his P-plate can he drive on his own.  We figured driving to and from MacGyver's office would rack up his miles, so to speak, since the office is about 18 km away from home, approximately 20 to 30 minutes drive.)  The farthest I've driven from home is less than 10 km.  The local mall is about 2 km away and I would rather walk than drive.

So there I was, MacGyver at the office, kids still asleep, no accordion in sight, and time running out.

At 8:00 I decided to wake RD up and ask him if they had brought the accordion home the Friday before.  It was entirely possible that the accordion was in school and there was no need to worry.  Sadly he confirmed that MacGyver had picked them up from school that Friday and that they had put the accordion in the car.  

RD was still half-asleep so he did not realise the implications of his reply until I said, "Yes, the car that is with Dad?" 

I rang MacGyver up on his office landline.  He was away from his desk when I called so for me that meant he would have a chance to see my messages and missed calls.  When we got to talk, he apologised for forgetting to off load the accordion and gave me additional instructions on where to meet.

We managed to meet up (after I got lost because I missed a turn), so RD was able to make it to practice on time with an accordion.   

Thank goodness for second cars, GPS, mobile phones, and my trusty navigator RD (who interpreted the GPS and would yell, "That's not yet the turn, Mom.  Go straight!  Go straight!)

========

We decided to get MyGirl a second hand bass guitar so that she could practice playing at home.  

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would see MyGirl playing a bass guitar and RD an accordion.

So I would like thank their school, their teacher, and of course

Beauty

and

the Beast.

(I love you, RD!)

Note : RD knew I had taken a picture of the two of them and that I was drafting this blog post.  I told him that the original title was "The Things You Do for Love" but was about to rename it as "Beauty and the Beast."  When I teased RD about the final title in conjunction with the two photos I was about to post (Beauty ... and the Beast), his response was "That's so rude to MyGirl!"    Let it be known that he vehemently objects that this blog post is not reflective of his envisioned photos to match captions .