Allan’s Site

It’s been a while, but I wanted to write about some significant events that happened recently.

My boss, Ed Stone, was recently awarded the Shaw Prize in Astronomy.  I had never heard about the Shaw Prize until Ed won it, but it has only been in existence since 2004, while the more well-known Nobel Prize has been in existence since 1895.  However, the Shaw Prize is considered supremely important and is seen as the “Nobel of the East”.  Many Shaw awardees are also Nobel Laureates.

Oh, and the Shaw Prize comes with more money than the Nobel.

Ed won the Shaw Prize "for his leadership in the Voyager project, which has, over the past four decades, transformed our understanding of the four giant planets and the outer solar system, and has now begun to explore interstellar space.”  The prize is well-deserved, to say the least.

We held a celebration today in his honor at the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astophysics, where I work.  There was a lot of cheese, fruit, crackers, hummus, etc., plus sodas, wine, and champagne.  Brief speeches were given in tribute, and Ed spent a lot of time speaking to and being congratulated by young students and others who were probably born after Voyager was first launched.  The gathering was hosted by Professor George Djorgovski, who started out as a young assistant professor when Ed was already fully-tenured, and Professor Fiona Harrison, who is the division chair and who started at Caltech when I was still a grad student.

Also in attendance were Kip Thorne — who shared the Shaw Prize in 2016 with Ron Drever and Rainer Weiss for LIGO and later shared the Nobel Prize in 2017 for LIGO with Rainer Weiss and Barry Barish (who shared it because Ron Drever had passed away) — and Peter Goldreich — who won the Shaw Prize in 2007 for achievements in theoretical astrophysics and planetary sciences.

Peter Goldreich, Ed Stone, and Kip Thorne.

Both Kip and Peter were there to congratulate Ed.  While I and my Space Radiation Laboratory colleagues sat, chatted, and enjoyed the food, I noticed Rick Cook leaning to the side and trying to take a photo of the crowd with his smartphone.  He said he was trying to get all three Shaw Prize winners in one photo, but when I looked at the crowd, I told him that he’d get Kip’s back, Peter’s side, and the back of Ed’s head.  I suggested it would be better if we could just gather all three Shaw Prize winners together for a group photo, so I found George and made the suggestion, which he thought was a good idea.  When the three got together, almost a dozen people (probably more) took their photos.

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This is probably about as close as I’ll get to the Nobel Prize or the Shaw Prize, but there’s another award — which I’ll also never get — but which may be as personally significant to me.

About three times a year, our Boy Scout Troop holds a Court of Honor to celebrate all the rank advancements since the previous Court of Honor, and special recognition goes to those who attain Eagle Scout.  While all other ranks are recognized in groups, Eagle Scouts are recognized individually, one at a time during the ceremony.  As an Eagle Scout and his family walk slowly toward the stage, the scoutmaster announces him and reads all of his accomplishments.  He also reads special thanks from the Eagle Scout to those who have helped him in his scouting career, usually all the scoutmasters who have led our troop during his career.

A few years ago, TH, one of the scouts I had taught during the Ad Altare Dei Catholic Religious Emblem course, included my name among the scoutmasters as someone he personally thanked.  It was a first time I had heard a non-scoutmaster publicly thanked, and I was deeply touched.

A couple of weeks ago, we held another Court of Honor, and two scouts — NC and BK — were recognized for having attained Eagle rank.  Their achievement was special for me because both are W’s age, and both joined the Troop and W’s Patrol the year after W joined scouting.  They had been in another troop that was very inactive, so they switched a year later to our troop in order to get more scouting experience.  They’ve stayed with W’s patrol throughout, and when our previous patrol Assistant Scoutmasters drifted away from scouting, I became their acting Assistant Scoutmaster (and W’s).  So, NC and BK were “my guys”.  (In J’s patrol, I’m officially an Assistant Scoutmaster, although we don’t really enforce strict boundaries between patrols, as far as ASM’s mentoring scouts is concerned.  That is, I’ve mentored W’s, BK’s, and NC’s patrol throughout the years, of course, and I’ve mentored and counselled scouts from other patrols for various topics, merit badges, etc.)

I remember the times NC was given the task of leading hikes, when he was a senior scout.  I’m often the “sweep” — the adult at the end of the line whose responsibility it is to stay with the slower scouts and adults and make sure nobody gets left behind.  I’m usually a slower adult, too, but I find that if I’m at the lead, I can keep a fair pace.  Something about being at the end makes it harder for me.

Anyway, I’ve always been irritated by those older, more athletic scouts who, when leading a hike, leave the younger, weaker scouts far behind.  I think that’s poor leadership.  Therefore, whenever NC and/or W lead hikes, I always make sure to remind them to keep the back of the line within sight, so we’re all together.  NC has always been particular solicitous of my advice on hikes, taking my guidance seriously.  I know he’s a very conscientious leader.  He served as the Troop’s Senior Patrol Leader, and he is very well-liked and admired.

BK served as Senior Patrol Leader as well, during the term before NC, and I went on many a campout not only with W but also with BK and his dad.  What I remember most about BK’s scouting career was when he went on his first trip to Camp Cherry Valley during the summer of 2014.  His mother — a very emotional, doting mom — was very worried about her “baby” being away from home for a whole week, and I was later told that BK was also worried for months about being away from home and parents for the first time.  Since W had already been there the previous summer, I knew that the boys would have a great time, and I reassured her that BK would be fine and that he would come off the boat at the end of the week transformed.  I told her that watching the scouts return and disembark the boat was like watching young soldiers returning victorious from war.  She took my reassurance to heart at the departure that Sunday, but it wasn’t until the return the following Saturday that she saw BK’s transformation:  The moment we saw his face at the boat door, we could see his very wide smile beaming at us, dozens of yards away.  The happiness and self-confidence continued to grow throughout the years, and he also grew from a small, kind of pudgy little kid to a very fit, strong young man.

Me (far left) at the conclusion of BK’s (center) Eagle Board of Review.

At the end of each Eagle Board of Review, the scout and the parents are congratulated, photos are taken, hands are shaken, and hugs are exchanged.  The Troop Eagle Advisor gives the new Eagle Scout instructions to get his Eagle portrait done at a special studio contracted for the job.  Eagle Scouts are given the honor of marching in the Tournament of Roses Parade, so if the scouts are in town at the time, they may do so.  Also, the Eagle Scouts are instructed that they are allowed to purchase special Eagle Scout Mentor pins from the local Scout store, to give to those adults who have had a special role in their scouting career.  Scoutmasters in our troop have many of them pinned to their lapels.

I sat on NC’s and BK's Eagle Boards of Review and was able to congratulate them personally.  In fact, I got the honor of putting their Eagle neckerchiefs and medals on them.

During our recent Court of Honor, NC listed me first and as the only non-Scoutmaster (though an Assistant Scoutmaster) among those adults whom he acknowledged as having had an impact on his scouting career.  I was, of course, deeply touched.  His mom asked afterward if I had been in attendance; she didn’t see me in the crowd.  She wanted me to know I was named by NC.

(This past weekend, J and I went on the Troop’s annual trip to Camp Whitsett, and NC joined us.  We had yet another hike which NC led and which I served as sweep, and it was like old times.)

When it came time for BK to enter with his family at Court of Honor, his announced thanks were kept to the Scoutmasters, but after the ceremony, he gave me an Eagle Scout Mentor pin and a framed thank-you certificate that read “A good scout master can change the troop.  A great scout master can change a life.”  (Assistant Scoutmaster counts.)

My Eagle Scout Mentor pin from BK, on my pocket flap.

At the Eagle dinner reception for BK, to which we were invited (W and J were away at Order of the Arrow Kihaawk weekend, but Hsuan and I went), a couple of our past Scoutmasters attended, and BK gave a speech thanking everyone.  He singled out me for, among other things, “moral support and wisdom” over the years.  I was deeply touched yet again.  In fact, during the dinner conversation, I told his mom and BK, separately, that I had received several honors and gifts in our Troop for my service, but that Eagle Scout Mentor pin was by far the most meaningful thing I’ve received in scouting.

The attribution of “wisdom” to me struck me as unusual, though I was, of course, very moved by BK’s tribute.  In 1991, in reference to his last Foundation series novel, Forward the Foundation, Isaac Asimov said “Today I enjoy the gift given to me by time:  Experience (some might call it wisdom, but I will refrain from such bald self-aggrandizement).”

Bald self-aggrandizement, indeed.  Throughout my life, I’ve observed that those who frequently claim for themselves the virtue of “wisdom” seldom demonstrate such virtue in action.  Therefore, I’ve always refrained from claiming “wisdom” for myself, so I don’t wave that kind of unsubstantiated arrogance in someone else’s face.  Instead, the claim of “wisdom” should be awarded by others.  However, the old never attribute “wisdom” to the young, which is the same kind of arrogance with which the young often dismiss the old.  Instead, I think the young have the right and the obligation to judge the wisdom of the old; in particular, when the young man grows into an old man, he can look back at the way his elders behaved many years earlier and decide for himself whether his then-elders really were wise.  The young’s judgment may not — during youth — be qualified and certain, but over time, the aging young may be obliged to decide that their elders were once old fools.  Or not.  But over time, it’s the aging young who matter.  It’s why I teach my sons not only as they are now but also knowing that they will one day be older men who will — must — in the future cast judgment on me as I am now, so that they can be better men, husbands, and fathers.

So, again, BK attributed “wisdom” to me.  I appreciated his sentiment.  However, in light of the previous paragraph, I wonder if the wording came from his parents.  Over the years, I spoke to both of them at least as much as I spoke to BK, reassuring them (e.g. his mom during his first Camp Cherry Valley trip) and otherwise just talking with his dad during campouts.

They’ve all been good friends, scouts as well as parents, so I do hope I have merited their consideration.

We’ve finally settled down.  The house was finally fully cleaned about six weeks after the robbery, and we have a new safe — and nothing of great monetary value to put in it.  Or that will fit; it’s a bit smaller than the old one, though higher-tech.  Hsuan noted that we didn’t have specific insurance coverage for the lost jewelry, not having cared that much about it in the past.  When State Farm, during all her communication for getting back some money for our losses, offered to sell us additional coverage for items of jewelry, she pointed out that we now no longer have jewelry to cover.

The most important thing is that both of the boys are alive and well, and not only that, but J has shown no signs of psychological trauma arising from his experience.  He’s too focused on school.  Or relaxing after homework.  He’s smart and tough.

Last summer, W served as Senior Patrol Leader for our boy scout troop at the National Jamboree, and he did very well in such a position of high responsibility, just under the scoutmaster and other adults.  In addition to the trip itself, the scouts got fancy uniforms, backpacks, and duffel bags, specially embroidered with their identification.  W's nice, fancy (and expensive) duffel bag was one of the things stolen by the robbers, who used it to carry away the jewelry.  When that year’s scoutmaster, Kelly, found out about the loss, he, the current scoutmaster (Mike), and the current committee chair (Vince) agreed to use troop funds to replace W’s duffel.  Kelly went online and found the exact model of duffel (from eBay, I think; it’s no longer manufactured by Osprey), got it embroidered with our Jamboree troop number and W’s scout number (6), and even replaced some of the patches that W collected — including some Order of the Arrow patches.  The last bit is remarkable because, although W is a member of the OA, Kelly hasn’t been very positive toward the OA in the past.

When I asked Kelly earlier if I could get the model of the duffel bag, so Hsuan and I could replace it ourselves, he got back to me a little later and let me know that they were going to replace the bag themselves, and to keep the replacement secret from W, as a surprise.  So I kept it a secret from W, though I told Hsuan.

The embroidery was finished last week, and at the troop meeting last night, Kelly presented the bag to W.  W was very surprised.

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We love Kelly, BTW.  He’s the guy who convinced us to join this troop, and he has always had a special appreciation for W., having had him serve also as Senior Patrol Leader at Camp Cherry Valley.  He’s also been a great friend over the years.

One thing that is a point of conflict between us is that I sometimes wear my Stanford hat at troop activities, and he’s a Berkeley guy.  Well, actually, since I knew it bugged him as a Berkeley guy, I’ve been wearing my Stanford hat at almost all troop activities.  His saying is “Better dead than red” in reference to the Stanford Cardinal color.  He can’t stomach the color red, and that’s part of the reason why W’s duffel was blue (and all of our Jamboree troop’s duffels were blue, the backpacks green, etc.).

This year, I proposed a bet:  If Stanford won the Stanford-Cal Big Game this year, he’d have to wear a Stanford hat at the next campout, and if Berkeley won, I’d have to wear a Berkeley hat.  At the Court of Honor this past weekend, he sat behind me, and I noticed the score on my iPhone.  Stanford won 23-13.  I showed him my iPhone, and he replied, “I’m not stupid enough to take that bet.  We always figure out a way to lose to you guys.”

Maybe next year.

Despite their being teenagers, the boys say that the Magic Kingdom is still their favorite park, because, as J put it, “it’s the most Disney of the parks in Disney World.”  I would have thought they’d have outgrown the kiddie rides, and to some extent they have, but I sense that they still enjoy the magic and spirit of Disney that only the Magic Kingdom has.  I agree with that sentiment.

Disneyland is pretty much just a different version of the Magic Kingdom.  It’s smaller and much more densely crowded than the Magic Kingdom, it has all of the same iconic rides, but it is also less hot and humid in the summer.  I enjoy the rides at the Magic Kingdom, but it’s mostly the sense of being “in Disney” that makes it special.

My focus on Wednesday (8/8) was to do everything that James wanted, taking advantage of the nighttime Extra Magic Hours to squeeze in everything he could want.  First thing upon arrival, in Tomorrowland, we rode Buzz Lightyear on standby (when the line was short), the Tomorrowland transit Authority People Mover (outdoor and elevated, but shaded; I got GoPro video), and the Carousel of Progress (which was indoor and air conditioned).  We also got a family photo on the Memory Maker.  After making some minor rearrangements early in the morning, I had also scheduled FastPass+ reservations for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (the Magic Kingdom’s newest ride), Splash Mountain (always a crowd favorite in the heat and humidity), and Pirates of the Carribbean (also an air conditioned, indoor favorite in the heat and humidity) early in the morning, not only to avoid long lines but also to make room — once the initial three FastPass+’s were used — to add more FastPass+’s later in the day.  We also rode the Haunted Mansion right after Seven Dwarfs, while the standby line was relatively short, and we had lunch at the Columbia Harbour House right before Splash Mountain and right after the restaurant opened.

In the afternoon, we rode the Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster using the standby line (which was about 45 minutes), watched the Country Bear Jamboree, watched the Festival of Fantasy Parade (outdoors and hot and humid! I got GoPro video), watched Philharmagic (indoors and air conditioned!), rode the Jungle Cruise (new FastPass+), watched the Enchanted Tiki Room (indoor and air conditioned), and climbed the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse to kill time before dinner.  (On the way up, I heard an African American woman say “Whose idea was it to climb all these stairs?”)  Before the Jungle Cruise, we tried meeting Gaston near Gaston’s tavern, but the 4 PM line was closed by the time we got there, and we didn’t have time to catch the 5 PM line between the Jungle Cruise and our dinner reservation for 5:55 PM at the Jungle Navigation Company Skipper Canteen in Adventureland.  We had light snacks from Gaston’s Tavern and killed a little time in a gift shop before returning to Adventureland for the Jungle Cruise.

BTW, in the men’s room near Rapunzel’s Tower in Fantasyland, I was charmed by the Tangled theming, and I noticed that the walls at the sinks were adorned by cast iron frying pans instead of mirrors.  “I have got to get me one of these!"

All in all, though, we had a pretty full afternoon at the Magic Kingdom, well on our way to filling J’s intent to do everything that he was interested in.

At our last visit to the Magic Kingdom a couple of years ago, we ate for the first time at the Jungle Navigation Company LTD Skipper Canteen, a then-new table service restaurant themed on the Jungle Cruise ride with much of the same sense of humor.  The food is hearty and flavorful, albeit not of the signature fine dining style (and not of that expense, either). 

The only signature dining restaurant in the Magic Kingdom is Cinderella’s Royal Table, which is also character dining.  We’ve never eaten there, and I couldn’t get a reservation at Be Our Guest at any time, although we weren’t really eager to eat there, having already done so in the past.  However, we did enjoy our previous visit to the Jungle Navigation Co., so I had made dinner reservations here.

When we were shown to our table, our escort said, “Your server will be Frank.  Good luck with that.  I can’t guarantee anything.”  When Frank later inquired if this was our first time, we said no, and he said, “And you survived?  Welcome back!”  As I said, Jungle Cruise humor.

J and I had a steak (and I had a couple of beers, Blue Moon), W had the sustainable fish, and Hsuan had the steak salad — that kind of fare.

After dinner, we went back to Tomorrowland to watch the Laugh Floor show, pausing on the way for a family photo in front of Cinderella’s Castle.  Then we stopped by the Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert (pre-show) Party.  I always enjoy the Magic Kingdom Fireworks evening show, the best fireworks show of any park in or out of Disney, but I’m always frustrated by less-than-optimal viewing locations.  This time, I purchased (weeks ago) reservations for the dessert party, which is held in the Tomorrowland Terrace before the fireworks show and then allows attendees access to a special fireworks viewing area inthe Plaza Garden between the castle and the Tomorrowland Terrace.  At $79/person (if I recall correctly), it wasn’t cheap and it wasn’t refundable, but given my past experience, I felt it worth the expense.

I really hate it when a really tall guy stands in front of me and then puts a little kid on his shoulders.

The Happily Ever After fireworks were scheduled for 9:15 PM, and seating began at 7:45 PM.  We arrived a bit late, around 8:30 PM.  The desserts at the buffet were small but plentiful.  Clouds were above, and rainfall was in the area, according to Weatherbug on my iPhone.  There was a little drizzle outside, and I was seriously wondering whether the fireworks show would proceed.  Just after 9 PM, we put on ponchos and got an escort to the Plaza Garden viewing area, where I staked out a little place to take video.  Light rainfall continued, and an announcement of a delay went out.  However, at 9:26 PM, the show began, and we all got a great view (despite the light rainfall).  I got video.  (Oddly, iMovie shows the video starting at 7:26 PM, which isn’t the correct time for either the East Coast or the Pacific Coast.  It shows the incorrect time zone for the PSP launch attempts later, too.)

The fireworks would have been a fitting end to our visit to the Magic Kingdom, but J was still on a quest to do everything he was interested in, so we went immediately to ride Buzz Lightyear again (on FastPass+, which I had reserved at dinner).  I got over 300000 points, and when I tapped my Magic Band to get our photos, a young woman asked me “How did you do that?  I was riding behind you, and I saw your score.”  I told her to shoot the targets farther away to get a higher score.

We followed in standby lines with Peter Pan’s Flight (with its remarkable queue), It’s a Small World, and the Tomorrowland Speedway (W and J only, while H (who was in one of her bad moods) and I watched from the stands).  Before W and J drove back, one of the cars started burning oil and putting out a lot of smoke, so it was removed from the line by a couple of the girls running the ride.

That was it for J, and on our way out, we stopped in front of Cinderella’s Castle for one last family photo.

For our second day at Animal Kingdom Park, on Monday (8/6), we didn’t do the morning Extra Magic Hours, but we did make an early stop at the Kilimanjaro Safari ride to see the animals.  It’s usually a far more popular ride late in the day, when people are tired and just want to sit while being driven around the animal enclaves.

Afterward, we immediately went on the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail (formerly the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail).  The highlight for the crowd was watching a couple of young gorillas playing vigorously with each other, but they got tired in the heat and eventually fell asleep.  I liked watching the big silverback in another section.

We then returned to Harambe for lunch in the Harambe market (using the mobile ordering feature on my My Disney Experience app), then saw the noon showing of UP! A Great Bird Adventure, and took another ride on Expedition Everest, because J really wanted to (and is no longer afraid of that particular roller coaster).

After Expedition Everest, we took a walk along the Maharajah Jungle Trek, where the highlight for me — by far — was getting some zoomed photos of a tiger keeping cool in a pool.

Afterward, in quick succession, we had a return viewing of Festival of the Lion King (2:30 PM arrival with FastPass+), another great ride on Flight of Passage in Pandora (using our FastPass+), and a wet ride on the Kali River Rapids (FastPass+).  I got some nice footage with my new GoPro Hero on that one.

Dinner was at Tiffins, the new signature/fine-dining restaurant at Animal Kingdom, and first of its kind in the park.  I had made reservations weeks before.  I even passed by a restroom to dry off from the Kali River Rapids and change into a fresh shirt.

The meal, as is becoming usual at Disney World fine dining, was exquisite.  We got the meal package that gave us special seating at the Rivers of Light show later in the evening.  Our waiter, Giancarlo, gave us some excellent recommendations, which we took.  The dining is very eclectic, worldwide, and the theming and decor mirror the Animal Kingdom park itself.  For appetizer, Hsuan and I had the asparagus-leek soup with lump crab, W had charred octopus, and J had the Tiffin Signature Bread service (which we shared).  For the main course, W had the whole fried sustainable fish, J had the beef tenderloin, and Hsuan and I had the surf and turf (lobster and beef tenderloin).  I had an Argentinean Malbec that didn’t seem to show up on the bill, now that I look at it.  For dessert, Hsuan had some sort of dessert sampler, J and I had the chocolate ganache, and W had the whipped cheesecake.

After another stellar dinner, we returned to Pandora.  Why?  In the movie, the plant life starts to glow after nightfall, and Pandora in Animal Kingdom didn’t disappoint.  Almost everything either glowed or had tiny points of light come on after sunset.  It was clear that many, many people in Pandora were there precisely for the light show.

Speaking of lights, the Rivers of Light show afterward was nice but otherwise not memorable.  I’d rather see World of Color at California Adventure (from which Rivers of Light took some lighting effects).