I hope young Audris, Rube Goldberg, is very proud of his ability to catch monsters in the most complicated of manners.

Audris Rube Goldberg Monster Trap – YouTube.

Saturday’s performance was meant to be the culmination of a full week of workshops, rehearsals, and set preparation at Stagecoach Theater Camp. The costumes were ready, the kids knew their lines, songs were memorized, blocking locked down. Friends and relatives cleared their schedules for performance day. Everyone was ready to break a leg – until we got to the theater and saw a rusty old chain locked to the front gate. Due to a custodian error, the school – and the theater inside – was locked shut.

Now, this easily could have turned into a case of no theater, no performance, a bunch of disappointed kids and pissed-off parents. But it didn’t. The ever-resourceful, composed, and positive principal of the camp, Beth Kent, had somehow secured another performance space – that morning. I don’t really want to know what favors she had to cash in or strings she had to pull, but she directed the little performers and their parents to a nearby space in the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims.

As the parents arrived at the new location, I noticed something unusual. No one was angry or grumpy or tossing a fit (adults or kids). They took Principal Kent’s lead and stayed positive despite the unexpected change of plan. Chairs were hastily arranged in a gym space there and the show began – not without a few more little hitches. The CD player worked, but the outlet didn’t, then the outlet did, but the player didn’t. The four and five-year-olds opened the performance with the a capella accompanyment of their counselor, Cassi, who single-handedly sang and directed the entire opening number of Barnyard Moosical.  Finally,  the CD kicked in – saving Cassi from singing the entire soundtrack, though she gave a lovely and energetic performance.

The crowd of friends and parents who came to watch the 4-16 year olds were in for a treat as the numbers rolled forward – an energetic rendition of Fat Sam’s Grand Slam Speakeasy, a rousing dance – conga line and all – to Hot Hot Hot, and a gripping piece of comic book drama with Captain Nuclear – the story of a girl who happens to have superpowers but is really just trying to fit in – brought to you by WHEATIES!

I couldn’t help being totally inspired – by the counselors and the kids. It didn’t matter that their costumes and sets were locked away. It didn’t matter that the stage blocking they had rehearsed had to be rearranged in short order. Or that they were performing in a gym instead of a theater. It might as well have been Carnegie Hall given how each of the kid gave their best. You could tell that some of the shyer kids were breaking out of  their shells. Some of the hams got their moment in the spotlight.  And everyone gave it their all – all the way to the show-stopping big finish, their version of Glee’s version of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing. I never thought I could actually cry to a Journey song, but there you have it. At least I wasn’t the only camera-toting dad having to “wipe his lens”.

My kids learned a lot that week,  but the biggest lesson of theater camp came on that unexpected Saturday lock out.  In theater and in life, things don’t always go as planned. But its how you handle them that matters. In less cool and calm hands (Beth Kent for President!), the lock out could have been a disaster. Instead, it was a triumph. As the campers head to school this fall, they can tell their friends about “the big performance day lockout!”  Then they can tell them how the show most definitely goes on – even when you are five and the theater is locked.

I am late to the game on this great site (and internet phenomenon) that encourages people to send in new pictures having inserted an old one from the same spot. Kids change so quickly, I do find myself getting nostalgic for events that were just a year or two ago. The boy in this photograph is all grown up with two kids of his own.

What a wonderful idea – an interesting way to track time and changes in the landscape and architecture around us.

Dear Photograph

Why read in bed when you can read your bed? Turn the pages when you feel a bit chilly or too warm. I love this design by Yusuke Suzuki that opens up a ton of possibilities for storytime.

Book Bed – Neatorama.

This is the best way ever to get from one floor to another. Not the first or most extreme architectural slide, but its definitely cool. But what else is a Pro Poker player to do with his two East Village Penthouses.

Pro Poker Player Builds Slide to Connect East Village Penthouses – Adventures in Interior Design – Curbed NY.

Dad hero of the week goes to Mike Cooper who spent ten hours making a playable Angry Birds birthday cake for his son Ben’s sixth birthday. He posted full instructions on Electric Pig.

Came across this very cool cardboard playhouse made by architecture firm Super Colossal based in Sydney.

This colossal cardboard play palace, isn’t built to last forever. You’ll want to recycle it after the first rain.

Still, what a fun piece of cardboard design.

Super Colossal.

And the award to the best dad project ever goes to… Luke Geissbuhler who sent a camera and iPhone into space teathered to a weather balloon. The video is amazing, the project unbelievably cool.

For more information, go to the brooklynspaceprogram.org.

Sign me up for the next mission! He’s working on a book as well for any adventurous people who want to repeat the experiment. I hope he sells a million copies of the book and tons of t-shirts to support it!

Homemade Spacecraft on Vimeo on Vimeo (via NY Mag)

I was a bit late to this Gizmodo post. I would like one installed, but add the water feature to make that concrete more slideable.

Gizmodo: Slide Into Home.

This Nerf gun will sense your presence and start shooting you. Then it won’t stop. No kid required. Hats off to the most extreme Nerf hack we’ve seen to date.

Congrats to Rick Prescott who outfitted his Nerf Vulcan with a thermo sensor and won the Make Magazine Gadget Freak Contest.

Make: Online : Gadget Freak Design Contest winners!