Shaking Hands with Olympic Gold Medalist (by William)

Splash!!!  That was back in 1976 Montreal Olympics when swimmer John Naber set world records.  He backstroked 200 meters in less than 2 minutes.   He won 5 medals from this Olympics - 4 gold an 1 silver; how astonishing! He was the Michael Phelps of his time and also the king of the US Backstroke.
 

Last Wednesday, mom, dad, and I went to an event at the Crawford Family Forum @ KPCC.  The event was the 2018 Olympic Day celebration.  A few Olympians were there to talk about their experiences in competitions.  They also talked about personal hardship encountered in their life.  

Alyssa Anderson, a 2012 London Olympics gold medalist, talked about her childhood and how swimming changed her life for good.  She said "When I was young, I was a skinny, short child.  After I started swimming my body grew more fit.  I was glued to TV whenever the Olympic swimming competition was on."  

Wyomia Tyus won 100-meter sprint gold medals in both 1964 Tokyo Olympics and 1968 Mexico City Olympics.  She is the first ever athlete who claims back-to-back Olympic 100 meter title.  She said she loved touring the Olympics.  When she was in Tokyo in 1964, she loved the Japanese food so much that she gained five pounds.  But later she had to shed the newly-gained weight for the competition.

 

Not only did I enjoy the talks, but also liked the refreshments there.  There were sandwich rolls, cookies, popcorn, and a nice variety of drinks.  Of them all, the popcorn was the fanciest.  John Naber's friend has a popcorn factory in Chicago.  Once he learned about the event, he overnighted freshly-popped popcorn to the event.  The next fanciest thing was the various Coke products.  The Coca-Cola Co., an official Olympics sponsor, recently released four new flavors of Diet Coke.  With their presences in the event, I was able to sample them.  My favorite was the Twisted Mango flavor.  

After the talks, we met with Mr. Naber to express our gratitude.  I told him that I was also a swimmer.  He smiled at me fondly and said "Work hard and you will be capable of being the next Olympian."  He turned to my parents and said "Thanks for coming."  Then he shook my hand vigorously.  I thought I felt renewed energy from a hand once holding an Olympic gold medal, to a hand with strengths that are merely stirring.  I will never forget this special Olympic moment of my life.

 

 

Farm Animal Pillowcase (by William)

A few weeks ago, mom and I went a lookin at Jo-Ann, the fabric and craft store.  We were looking for a suitable large piece of velvet to cover my piano.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any velvet with a suitable width.  I suggested that we should look around the store.  Mom (with her eagle eyes) spotted a fabric selection.  She called out to me and I (with my eagle hearing) rushed to see what the attraction was.  It turned out to be a really cute piece of fabric.  There were many farm animals.  Both of us liked the fabric and mom (with her kindness) bought it.  We decided to make the fabric into a pillowcase.

I was so excited to make a pillowcase out of the farm animal fabric.  Mom explained to me that I first need to learn the process of making a pillowcase, then make the pillowcase by myself (with her assistance).  Only God knows how many times I stared at the fabric, longing to make the pillowcase.

Finally the big day to make the pillowcase arrived.  I looked fondly at the pigs, cows, ducks, and chickens before mom started her lecture on the process.  She explained simple steps –

 

1. Pick the fabric based on design, material, etc.

2. Measure, cut, and rip (need 1 or 2 inches extra for folding in)

3. Set the sewing machine and select appropriate stitch pattern

4. Get ready, fold the side that needs to be sewed, and sew from inside

5. Step on the pedal and pull the fabric so the line runs smoothly

8. Sew all sides and you are done

 

The process is honestly harder than it looks!  When I started the sewing machine, I was surprised by the resistance of the fabric.  What was my result?  A nice line of stiches?  No!  Instead, I had a tight little knot.  Mom helped me pull the tight threads out of the machine.  The same thing happened on my 2nd and 3^rd attempts.  I was starting go get seriously discouraged.  Mom encouraged me to try again, and on my 4^th try, I mastered all my strength to pull the fabric back.  This time, the result was a line of stitches.  I continued this process until all sides are sewed together.

 

With this new pillow case, I feel that I sleep better and longer.  Also, I have been getting lots of good dreams.  Maybe when I am sleeping better, the BFG aka Big Friendly Giant aka Royal Dream Blower has more chances to gallop to my house to blow more splendid phizz wizards to me.

 

PIXEL BREAKTHROUGH! (By Ethan)

If you've ever seen a Samsung Galaxy Tab S sitting screen up, turned on, and white-screened on the stage of a microscope, and looked through the eyepiece, you would've seen this:

SGTS subpixels, x200

Most people would've gone, "Whaaaaa... what are all those bars and boxes doing?" They are what help produce light and color on the screen; an assortment of little tidbits of light called subpixels, some red, some green, and some blue. One red, green, and blue subpixel make up a pixel. On many devices, you can see the pixels as little blocks of color, buuuut they are actually colored subpixels scrunched up so that there is only a tiny bit of space between them, thus creating the illusion that a pixel with all three subpixels lit is white. If you hold a high-power magnifying glass up to your computer, you can get the basic idea of what pixels look like. Also, most TV subpixels are so colossal, you can see them with the naked eye!!!

But, there's something very odd about the image. Why are the red and green subpixels shaped like the classic boxy ones, however the blue counterparts shaped in a strange dash-pattern?

I looked through my microscope at the colors and there were a lot more colors that had various shades of blue. I formed a hypothesis that the shape was altered so that more blue could fit on the screen.

History of the Pixel

What is a pixel? The word “pixel” is formed when the words “picture” and “element” are meshed together. This is how “pixel” is formed from the two words “picture” and “element”: Pic(x)ture element

The history of the pixel, or most anything to do with pictures, spans a long time. Way back in 1839, the daguerreotype, invented by French Louis-Jaques-Mandé Daguerre, was introduced. The first available, practical form of photography, and it contained a bunch of metals like gold and silver and a whole lot of other substances. But it was NOT easy to get or use.

One started with polishing a silver-coated copper plate, then sensitizing the plate to light in specialized, light-proof boxes with iodine and bromine. The plate would then be transferred with a light-proof holder to the camera. The picture would be etched onto the plate, but not with a chisel, with the light. Since dark and light colors give off different wavelengths of light, thus the plate would show dark and light spaces when the light hit it. This would form a latent image, which is an invisible image created this way. Later, the latent image would be made visible by blowing the plate with hot fumes of mercury vapor. Then the light sensitivity was removed with a solution of a substance called sodium thiosulfate, and the plate would be given a thorough wash with distilled water. Finally, the plate would be gilded or toned with gold chlorine, dried lightly with a pump, and sealed in glass to protect it.

Then, in 1861, the first permanent color photo was taken, by projecting three black/white images taken through filters of red, green, and blue back through their respected filters over each other, and the image became colored.

In 1926, the first televised, moving images were produced. They used a mechanical television set with a scanning disk that spun very, very quickly.

One year later, Philo T. Farnsworth demonstrated the first cathode ray tube television (CRT TV). It worked like this: there’s a sealed glass tube, with an electron gun at one end. It does exactly what its name sounds like; it is a gun that shoots out a stream of electrons in various patterns, which are then steered by a powerful magnet, and then the electrons land on a phosphor-covered screen, which forms the picture.

Color TV was introduced in the 1950's. In CRT TVs, there was only one electron gun that shot out a stream of electrons to form a picture. In color TV, there were three electron guns, one for red, green, and blue, the primary optical colors. These electron beams would hit arrays and patches of phosphorous, a highly light-sensitive substance. The patches were called triads. They were the closest ancestors of modern pixels. Also, these TVs had pictures made of horizontal lines, up to 512 lines on a screen.

But then, in the digital age, these lines were spliced into rectangles, thus creating the pixel in the year 1965. The founding father of the digital image was scientist Russel Kirsch, who took a picture of his baby son and scanned it into a computer. Kirsch had the computer break up the image into many tiny squares, and assigned each square a binary color of black or white. This technique is closely related to how the ancient Greeks made mosaics: they would glue together many different-colored, very small squares of glass or stone onto wet cement at just the right spots to create the mosaic. If you stand right up close to it, you see little squares. If you stand far away, then you see a very clear image.

How do Pixels Work?

A pixel is made up of one red, green, and blue subpixel. A pixel can come in all sorts of sizes, shapes, and colors. The light type varies too. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S pixels are LED lights. The acronym means light-emitting diode. A diode is this device that only allows the flow of electric current in one direction, so it's sort of like an electric one-way road. LEDs give off light when activated. They also release little crumbs of energy many times smaller than an atom, called photons. The photon may be slow or fast, depending on how much energy it has, and this determines the color of the LED. But the subpixel LEDs need only give off three colors, the optical primary colors of red, green, and blue.

When you combine different intensities (brightnesses) of red, green, and blue light, you can achieve just about any color you wish. In fact, a single pixel can generate about 2^24, or 16,777,216 distinguishable colors!! There are 256 intensities for each color. To demonstrate this, I went to Photoshop and experimented with different colors. There was a background-color choosing tab that I used to do so. At the bottom of the tab, there were three textboxes, each one labeled with either R for red, G for green, or B for blue. In the textboxes, there was a number, always between zero and 255, inclusive. If the value in a textbox was zero, that meant the color was turned all the way off, or completely absent in the final color created by the red, green, and blue. If the value was 255, that meant the color was turned all the way on, or completely present in the final color. The following is a color pallet showing all the primary and secondary colors, plus some other basic colors.

The intensities of the subpixels are presented in their corresponding Photoshop R/G/B information on the left. The "H/S/B" on the top means "Hue/Saturation/Brightness"

 As you know, almost all light sources give off visible light, but they can feel very different. Try sleeping next to five flashlights and then five campfires and you will agree that the flashlights will feel very different from the campfires. Which feels better, a 100-watt lightbulb shining in your eye or the soft glow of a nightlight shining in your eye? Which do you prefer to read under, the sun or the moon? Which light do you think would suit your disco party? Colorful, not-too-bright LED lights or the type of light given off by bioluminescent mushrooms? All of these light sources produce various brightnesses and levels of light with various capabilities. Some strain to make even several handfuls of light, others shine almost instantly. We use a special ratio to describe the ability of these light sources to produce the light we see. This ratio of luminous flux to power is called LUMINOUS EFFICACY. The blue subpixels have less of this, so when the pad was manufactured, the shape was altered to fit more blue subpixel, so balancing out the light of the screen.

What If (by William)

In the past few days, I had a lot of “What IF” questions with negative assumptions.  The bombarding of negative assumptions in my head never turned out to be true.  After these incidents happened, I learned to prepare for the worst, and hope for the best. 

Some of the What Ifs were when friends come for sleepover and share my room, what if I can’t sleep?  What if my sleepover friends snore and drool all over?  What if my grandparents can’t vote since they forgot to bring their IDs for the California Primary?

 

On the night of the sleepover, I found out that my sleepover friend Peter is a very sound sleeper and neither of us snored.  About three minutes after he fell asleep, I visited the restroom, then as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was fast asleep.  Just like Peter, I slept very soundly.  I didn’t even get up once during the night.  In the morning, both Peter and I were well rested.  On the day of the Californian Primary, my grandparents didn’t realize they forgot to bring their IDs until we walked into the polling station.  Fortunately after we explained to the poll workers at the voting booths, they checked my grandpa and grandma’s names and address on the registration booklet and allowed them to vote. 

Later on mom and I discussed how to change negative assumptions into positive.  What if I fell asleep too quickly, what if Peter sleeps very soundly, and what if Grandpa and Grandma can still vote without IDs.  Other than being positive, I tried to be flexible as well.  I was supposed to share the MC job for part of a piano recital, but consider the number of performances to introduce, I yield the opportunity to my friend.  Lady first, and I can wait for future MC opportunities. 

 

 

 

The Journey of a Cello Duet (by William)

What a success!  Our school had our music concert last Thursday.  Many parents were there to watch us perform.  At the end, Ms. Talbott, our music teacher announced that there was a special treat.  She introduced that Seoyoon and I were going to play a duet.  I took a deep breath and nodded at Seoyoon, then we started to play the cello.  Once we finished playing, the audience roared and we took a blow.  I felt very relieved that our duet went smoothly. 

 

During the preparation of the duet, I slid up and down on my mood ladder.  Sometimes I was disappointed and sometimes I was optimistic.  The duet “Springtime” was a very interesting piece to play.  When I first learned about this intriguing song, I was thrilled to play it for the concert.  My trusty partner Seoyoon, told me that we would have to practice a lot with emotion to make the duet perfect. 

The problem was, I didn’t practice.  And so… when Mrs. Talbott asked me if I practiced, I honestly replied that I didn’t.  She said if I were not to practice, she would cut the duet off the concert.  I felt very anxious and disappointed because I was hoping to play the song with Seoyoon, and worst of all, I let Seoyoon down.  I panicked and once I got home, I immediately pounced on my cello and began furiously playing Springtime.  I told mom and dad about my worries that night.  They encouraged me to carry on and suggested ways to improve. 

As always, the hard work pays off.  I practiced every single day after Ms. Talbott’s warning.  To top all of that work off, I even went to Seoyoon’s house to practice with her.  Her mom is a piano teacher and she gave us very helpful tips.  I benefitted double from visiting her house twice.  I also spent all my allowance to pay my piano teacher so she coached me on playing this cello piece.  From those days on, I was flooded with hope.  As I expected, Mrs. Talbott was happy and decided to put Springtime back on the concert last Monday.  This made both Seoyoon and I cheer.  Our goals were reached with hard work.

I was pretty nervous on the day of the concert.  We had three assemblies, Gaelic, Kabuki Dance, and Rockin’ Strings.  After those pieces, we were ready for Springtime.  Through the journey of this cello duet, I learned many lessons.  Seoyoon is a true friend.  When I dragged her down, she never complained, instead she helped to find a solution.  With her encouragement, we both took the performance seriously and we succeeded.  I also learned when there is a challenge, faced it bravely and try to solve the problem.  Lastly, be persistent and don’t give up easily, impossible may turn into possible.

The 2018 LACC Spring Retreat (by William)

“Honk!  Honk!”  Yay!  Our bus was finally here!  After spending about an hour in the courtyard at LACC, our late bus was ready to take us to the OC Music & Dance.  The OC Music & Dance is owned by the SCCC (Southern California Children’s Chorus).  LACC kids were going to meet SCCC kids today.  We re-formed into our chaperone groups.  I found out that I was in Group F.  Our group boarded the bus last so I had to sit next to a girl.  Her name was Sarah Lee.  She gave me a talkie as a truce treaty.  After that, I just stared at the scenery outside of the window.
 

Time really passed by!  We arrived at the Studios in a flash.  When we met up with the SCCC kids, we were asked to introduce each other.  I chatted with a boy named Leo.  I also asked him who Bena was.  Bena is the daughter of my mom’s coworker.  We met each other two years ago at a birthday party.  I would see her again as one of the SCCC kids.  During our break time between warm-up and the clinic with Ms. Carol, I said hello to Bena and introduced myself.  I included that we met at a birthday party.  She replied that she didn’t remember me at all.   I gave her a gift capsule with two animal erasers, and she said thank you. 

(Photo from SCCC website)

Soon the clinic with Ms. Carol began.  Ms. Carol is a close friend of Ms. Landis.  We sang O Jesus Be Our Friend and Guide, An den Mond, and Al Sholsha for her. She said we need more expression in the songs. The SCCC also sang for her. She said they need more focus. After the clinic, both choirs sang a mini concerts to each other. We sang the Jasmine Flower song, Seal Lullaby, and The Merry, Merry Heart. The SCCC kids sang a bunch of humorous western songs.

We then had to leave for our next stop, the Santa Ana Zoo. I said goodbye to Bena and boarded the bus again. Yes! We are now in the zoo. The zoo manager led us to the lunch area where three animals were waiting for us. I quickly devoured my two sandwiches and met the animals. There was a python, an armadillo, and an owl. The python was coiled around a zookeeper’s neck, the armadillo kept trying to crawl around, and the owl was flying in circles.

When lunch was over, Ms. Landis bought us tickets for the train ride. The train chugged along at 3 miles per hour. We passed a duck pond and the geese kept squawking at us. A bunch of kids got excited when they saw a person blowing bubbles. The train entered the tunnel. The tunnel was full of noise. Hammers pounding nails, screwdrivers winding in screws, and electricity buzzing through wires.  After the train ride, we paraded into our chaperone groups again.  We decided to go in a maze, which I got lost in.  I tried several times and finally found a way out.  By then, many of my group members were already waiting for me.  Suddenly, we heard a screech.  Our group wanted to investigate.  We rushed past a bald eagle named Sprit and stopped in front of an exhibit with a few monkeys in it.  Here were all chattering loudly at each other.  One swung from a vine onto a platform.  Another crawled onto a tree branch.  The monkeys were very, very active.

About 30 minutes later, Ms. Landis gathered us at the zoo entrance.  She said it was time to leave and with that, she ushered us all onto the bus. When we were on our way back, I discovered that I didn’t eat my cheese string and a banana.  I gave the banana to Max and the cheese to Angle.

Finally we arrived back at LACC.  The chaperones gave us candy and I spotted mom.  “Did you have fun,” asked mom.  “Of course, I did, of course.”  I replied as we walked to our car together.  Through this trip, I now know my LACC friends better.  I have been to the Santa Ana Zoo before.  I feel going with LACC was more fun than going with my dad. 

Unheard L.A. (by William)

Unheard L.A. is National Public Radio’s (89.3 KPCC) In Person community storytelling program.  My dad and I went to the live show hosted in Baldwin Park.  It starred local people with their personal stories to share.  The stories were all different but every one of them were so vivid.

Elis Noemi talked about her childhood in Guatemala.  Whenever her family had reunions, which was every weekend, her grandma would make hundreds and hundreds of tamales.  Yes second, yes third, yes more.  Elisa would eat until her chair was pushed back from the table, and her buttons pop off.  Her grandma was not an affectionate woman, so Elisa was afraid to ask the recipe from her.  Unfortunately, her grandma died with her secret.  Elisa grew to be confident and learned how to make tamales from her mom.

Another lady in the program told her story about her career.  When she was young she decided to try woodworking.  When she joined the class, she saw rows and rows of saws.  She wondered, “I didn’t apply for sawing fingers off!”  She cautiously slid a piece of wood into a saw.  “Phew, no fingers lost… yet!” She said.  The next person helping her was named Joe.  When he put a hard hat on her head, she jokingly said her peanut head was too small and short for it.  It left her half blind.  In the end, she completed a stool and it now sits in her kitchen. 

I laughed a lot during the one hour and 30 minutes that I was there.  Every person has a story, maybe next time, I can sign up to tell my story at Unheard L.A.