Review: "Constellations" at TheatreWorks

Today, my wife and I saw Constellations at TheatreWorks of Mountain View.

I had never heard of this particular play and thought it might be a musical, but it turned out to be entirely different.

The basic idea of the plot is to imagine a universe where all possibilities are explored sequentially. In this incarnation, the two main characters, a beekeeper (Robert Gilbert) and a Cosmologist (Carie Kawa) play and endlessly replay the same conversation (and various romantic interludes) with some subtle variations.

The Mercury News review of this play is spot on about the many possibilities explored. I sometimes felt bored with the repetition, but it was an exciting concept.

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First Day of High School

It was Alex's first day at Bellarmine College Prep, and he was very excited. After two days of orientation (Friday, August 18, and Monday, August 21), his classes finally started.

As parents, we also had to attend Parent Orientation, where we learned about all the activities freshmen attend. Bellarmine had a very nice "Parent Mixer" for us to prepare us.

For his first day of school, he was required to dress formally, with a shirt and a tie.

He has a reasonably full schedule ahead of him at Bellarmine:

1. Symphonic Band with Frank Wyant
2. Exploring Computer Science and Engineering with Chris Cozort
3. Physics 9 with Patrick Lowney
4. Hebrew Scriptures with Michael Manalastas
5. Geometry Honors with Wendy Philips
6. Spanish 1 with Rachel Shapiro
7. Jazz Ensemble with Frank Wyant
8. Homeroom with Aaron Langerman

Exp	Last Week					This Week					Course	S1	S2	Absences	Tardies
	M	T	W	H	F	M	T	W	H	F
P1(A)										.	Symphonic Band Details about Wyant, Frank Email Wyant, Frank - Rm: S-001	[ i ]	[ i ]	0	0
P2(A)										.	English 1 Details about Henry, Michael Email Henry, Michael - Rm: M-102	[ i ]	[ i ]	0	0
P3(A)									.		Exploring Comp Sci & Engineering Details about Cozort, Chris Email Cozort, Chris - Rm: S-102	[ i ]		0	0
P4(A)								.			Physics 9 Details about Lowney, Patrick Email Lowney, Patrick - Rm: C-104	[ i ]	[ i ]	0	0
P5(A)							.				Hebrew Scriptures Details about Manalastas, Michael Email Manalastas, Michael - Rm: L-103	[ i ]		0	0
P6(A)							.				Geometry Honors Details about Phillips, Wendy Email Phillips, Wendy - Rm: L-213	[ i ]	[ i ]	0	0
P7(A)							.				Spanish 1 Details about Shapiro, Rachel Email Shapiro, Rachel - Rm: OD-303	[ i ]	[ i ]	0	0
P8(A)											Jazz Ensemble Details about Wyant, Frank Email Wyant, Frank	[ i ]		0	0
HR(A)								.	.	.	Homeroom Details about Langerman, Aaron Email Langerman, Aaron - Rm: OD-204	[ i ]	[ i ]	0	0
Attendance Totals														0	0

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Practicing Tennis on the Ball Machine

I have been practicing forehand, backhand, and volleying, and have been serving at the Sunnyvale Tennis Center for a long time. I decided to record my technique using my trusty GoPro 4 Hero Silver camera, mounted on a tripod, for further review.

In this short GoPro 4 video, I am practicing my forehand and slice backhand.

In this short GoPro 4 video, I am practicing my forehand and backhand volleys.

In this next short GoPro 4 video, I am practicing my kick serve.

In this next short GoPro 4 video, I am practicing my flat serve.

The service is broken into 8 phases. I have marked the errors I observed in red.

1. Grip: Continental
2. Initial Stance: Platform
3. First Move (turn away from the target)
4. Ball Toss (using  fingertips)
5. Trophy Pose
• The racket should fall behind my right shoulder, but it's not doing so
6. Serve Stroke
• During the stroke, I should approach the ball with the edge of my tennis racket - not with an open tennis racket. This is causing a "push" stroke. The racket should open at the very last moment - during pronation. I realize that I'm not constantly gripping my racket in the correct Continental grip (I need to check my grip more often)
7. Contact
• I was releasing the pinkie finger on my tennis hand before contact. I need to correct this error!
8. Completion

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Watching the Lunar Eclipse

Today, I was fortunate to witness a Lunar Eclipse. Although the weather started out initially cloudy, it cleared up before 10:15 am (when the total eclipse was scheduled to occur).

During the total eclipse, the sky went dark in Oregon but not completely opaque in Sunnyvale.

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Biking Almaden Quicksilver County Park

Today, I decided to go for an excellent mountain biking ride at Almaden Quicksilver County Park.
Unfortunately, halfway through the bike ride, I heard a loud whistle as my rear tire lost air pressure and turned flat. Since I was using tubeless tires, I expected my rear tire to self-seal automatically, but this did not happen on my ride. My WTB Werewolf rear tire went completely flat!

I walked my bike most of the way back to the parking lot, so my trail time (generally around 1 hour and 30 minutes ended up being 2 hours). After the ride, I stopped by Silva Cycles bike shop to replace my rear tire (with a new Maxx tire).

I uploaded all of the Almaden Quicksilver trail info to Wikiloc. Which is a valuable site for recording trails.

I also tracked my progress on Strava and had an excellent recording of my progress on Relive.



I expected to return to Almaden Quicksilver soon, as it's one of my favorite local trails for an excellent 90-minute workout.

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Practicing a Flat Tennis Serve

To improve my flat tennis serve, I recorded it with my GoPro 4 Silver during my regular serve practice and shared the footage with my coach.

The service is broken into 8 phases. I have marked the errors I observed in red.

1. Grip: Continental
2. Initial Stance: Platform
3. First Move (turn away from the target)
4. Ball Toss (using  fingertips)
5. Trophy Pose
6. Serve Stroke
1. During the stroke, I should approach the ball with the edge of my tennis racket - not with an open tennis racket. This is causing a "push" stroke. The racket should open at the very last moment - during pronation.
7. Contact
1. I was releasing the pinkie finger on my tennis hand before contact. Need to correct this error!
8. Completion

Tennis Serve Fundamentals

1.    Grip

1.    Use Continental Grip (2) loosely (with just the ring and pinkie fingers to allow for a snap).

2.    Use Boris Becker's grip (2.5) for more slice

3.    The index finger must be separated to enable pronation

2.    Initial Stance

1.    Stand a few inches behind the baseline, 3 feet from the center stripe (separating ad and deuce portions of the court)

2. The left foot is pointing at the rightmost net post (a few inches behind the baseline) to allow for an easier rotation

3.    Right foot is behind the heel ofthe  left foot, shoulder-width apart (heel-to-toe alignment), to allow the shoulders to load up

4.    Feet are shoulder-width apart (to enable easy weight transfer from rear to front foot)

5.    Hold the tennis ball with 2 fingers (thumb, middle), like an ice cream cone, to minimize ball spin during the ball toss.

6.    Lean forward until all of the weight is on your left foot (the right foot's toe should come up slightly)

7.    The racket is placed in front of your body with the ball right at the throat of the racket

8.    Turn your head and look where the ball will be when tossed (this will prevent additional head movement during the serve). Do not move your head for the whole duration of the serve

3.    First Move - Turn away from the target

1.    With the weight on the left leg and the tossing arm and racket together, turn your shoulders clockwise and separate the arms (as soon as the back ankle hits the ground on the back foot).

2.    The left tossing arm is straight and releases the ball when it reaches eyeball height. You are placing the ball on the spot where you expect it to land (if not hit). The tossing arm should move smoothly and not too fast. Only the shoulder is used, and the arm must not be bent. The left arm follows the ball as if the ball never left (pretend they are magnetically attracted to each other)

3.    All your weight is transferred from the front foot to the back foot. (The heel of your left foot should come up)

4.    Your head should not turn during the ball toss

5.    Your right arm moves slowly down

4.    Ball Toss

1.    The left arm releases the ball when it reaches eyeball height to place it at 12:30 (12 o'clock being your head) for a 1^st or 12:00 for a 2^nd serve. Once the ball is released, the left arm continues to track the ball.

2.    The left arm keeps pointing straight up at the ball with the palm facing the tossed ball. Spread the fingers on the tossing hand!

3.    Keep your face pointing at the ball (the chin should be close to the left arm), and the body should not jerk during the toss.

4.    Look at where the ball is going to be released, then switch focus to the ball

5.    Trophy Pose

1.    The body should be leaning backward (tilting) with the knees bent, the left shoulder way above the right shoulder, and the left arm pointing straight at the tossed ball.

2.    The right arm moves slowly back (straight, palm down, without any elbow bend) until it reaches shoulder height, at which point the elbow starts to bend.

3.    Your body should be tilted slightly to the left

6.    Serve Stroke

1.    When the ball reaches maximum height, you push off with your right foot and drive with your hips while also uncoiling your shoulder

2.    Bend your right elbow to move the right arm from right to left, behind your head, with the left edge of the racket gently touching your scalp.

3.    When the elbow is pointing at the ball, and the racket butt cap is pointing at the sky (behind your right shoulder), release the right arm

4.    The right arm never stops moving to ensure a smooth and powerful stroke

5.    Point with your right arm's index finger to the target! (to help pronation)

6.    When hitting the ball, the right arm pronates (rotates counter-clockwise) to hit the ball flat (while the lungs breathe out). The thumb edge of the racket should be pointing down (for correct pronation)

7.    Contact

1.    You should try to hit the ball at its peak (this is when the ball is moving slowest), above your head (on the inside)

2.    The right arm should be fully extended (not bent) during contact

3.    After contact, the right arm bends immediately

4.    The right arm lands on the left side of the body, and then the left arm catches the racket

5.    Your head should stay still, pointing at the ball (not where it's going)

8.    Completion

1.    After the serve, you should land on your left foot a few feet inside the baseline

2.    Your right arm should have your thumb down (for full pronation)

9.    Refinement

1.    To hit a topspin serve (2^nd serve), toss the ball to 12 o'clock. Your body should finish more on the right side.

2. Toss the ball to 1 o'clock to hit a flat serve. The body should finish facing forward (the net)

3.    To hit a slice serve, toss the ball to 2 o'clock (low and to the right)

10. Pro Tips

1.    Make sure your head does not turn to look at where the ball is headed; always look at where it will be tossed, and do not move it.

2.    The secret to the serve is to imagine it as a ball throw shifted upwards. The throwing arm and shoulder should all be in a line.

3.    The serve swinging motion should be continuous without any stops

4.    Think of a serve as a baseball throw.

5.    The wrist should be very loose (for training, hold the racket with just three fingers)

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