Our Washington D.C. Trip

We are safely home and recovering from our trip to Washington, D.C.! It was fantastic. I performed in a planetarium, on the national mall, at a science cafe, and in an elementary school. We got to visit friends, some of whom we'd never met face to face before, and we made many new friends as well. And we wore ourselves out!

Here I am on stage, first act in the morning on Saturday at the USA Science Festival.

Here Evalyn and I are posing with Ben Franklin, who was thankfully willing to "sit for a portrait" (not knowing much about digital photography). We explored a lot of the booths on the mall - they seemed to stretch for miles! Evalyn made a foil boat and a solar powered car, and she foiled me at a math game that involved jumping skulls and pumpkins.

We spent a lot of time also in the Smithsonian museums - mainly the art gallery, the natural history museum, and the American history museum where we got to see the actual flag that inspired the words to "The Star Spangled Banner!" Here is Evalyn in the butterfly pavilion in the natural history museum, where she refused to leave until a butterfly landed on her.

We also got to see the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the WWII Memorial.

Evalyn bought herself a new buddy, whom she named "Washington." Here they are on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the spot where Dr. King gave his famous speech.

We stopped in Cincinnati on the way home. Here I'm introducing a song at the science cafe in Slatt's Pub.

At North College Hill Elementary the next day I did my music and movement program for kindergarten and 1st grade. Here the kids are making sirens during "Big Red Fire Truck."

Classroom Visit in Perkins

The past three summers I've donated free classroom visits to the Stillwater Public library. They give them out as prizes to kids in the summer reading program. Last Friday I visited a 4th grade classroom in Perkins. Mrs. Ebers just sent me some of the photos that were taken.

Here I'm singing "Hard to Love a Reptile" by request. I always bring my lyrics binder in case I need to sing one I haven't done in a while.

These kids were fantastic singers! They really got into every song. We had a great time together.

Posing with the class.

Posing with the prize winner!

Thanks to Mrs. Eber's students for a great visit! I hope to see you again soon!

Playing With Silly Bandz

Please let me know what you think!

But first, thanks to everyone who offered their input on the new CD cover so far. It looks like Evalyn has been out-voted, as most of you liked the Silly Bandz option. That's right, my 9-year-old actually prefers the photos. Go figure.

For those who say the Silly Bandz will go out of style, and where would that leave me, I'll ask - If you didn't know they were supposed to look like Silly Bandz would the figures still be colorful, interesting, and represent the content of the CD? I'm hoping the charm lies more in the figures themselves than in the fact they are "Silly Bandz" look-a-likes and thus the cover art would outlast the craze. Do I have a point, or am I just talking myself into foolishness?

Anyhow, I'm not totally sold on this approach, but I've been playing with the silly bandz idea and here are some possibilities...

Please let me know if you have a preference! Thanks!!

A. Similar to the original idea:

B. Has a built in balloon for clever signing options:

 C. Dino playing guitar:

 D. Silly Bandz in a bag; on the back they would be all spilled out. This one depends more on recognizing the figures as Silly Bandz, I guess.

Silly Bandz or Swirly Photos?

Howdy Friends!

I'm nearing completion of my Songs From the Science Frontier CD!! The songs are all recorded and mixed. Next they go to be mastered and then manufactured.

You can pre-order your copies now on my website at www.montyharper.com.

And you can help me out if you like - I'm trying to settle on a concept for the cover. These are just rough sketches to show a couple of ideas. Which do you like best? Any other ideas?
Thanks!