Stuff of the Month! - March

Book: Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. It is no secret I love space exploration. This book is a great (and fun) look at some of the engineering and human difficulties encountered in traveling the great void. Such as the months spent designing a flag and flag delivery system for the moon that would fly visibly, be plantable by Neil Armstrong in low G, retrievable from its container by a thickly gloved hand, resistant to the extreme temperatures of the landing rockets, etc. Or the fact that in zero G convection currents don't exist, and your bladder fills from the outside in, rather than bottom to top, so you don't feel like you have to go until it is practically disaster time.

Movie (theater): Well, no theater movie this month, but we did see Eden Trp.'s production of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap. While my general dislike of Christie's overuse of coincidence was given even more ground for griping than usual (of the billions of people in the world, it really is the long lost [spoiler]? Really?), and I was already a little peeved with Christie for appropriating the title of the performance within Hamlet (there just is no way she can live up to the Bard, sorry), the production team put on a good low budget performance, and are even improving their ability to time sound effects. The roles stretched some of the actors, but keeping secrets from the audience in a live performance, especially somewhat bizarre secrets, while presenting a consistent character is trying even for the seasoned thespian.

Movie (home viewing): Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole. A computer animated kid's movie about a bunch of warrior owls? Some kind of Kingdom of Hedwig? I know it sounds cheesy, but it really works. The art department gets real credit for making the world real and realistic enough to not be crazy. The characters are not just believable, but people (well, owls) whose development and maturation you can really root on. Between the presentation of chivalry as far from dead, and the rather frighteningly well done aerial battles (I can't claim a great knoledge of air warfare tactics, but this area bore more in common with the John Wayne WWII movies than certain movies involving dragons and/or giant eagles), and of course my personal favorite in the form of a blacksmith owl. Good movie. Probably not recommended for the under 8 crowd.

Music: Bullitt (soundtrack) by Lalo Schifrin. Want a break from the aural pounding you can get in a lot of modern movie scores? This orchestral jazz-driven soundtrack to a really great movie provides action and relaxation, but without resorting to overdramatic buildups, and without limiting itself to just a few themes.

Household project: We have a sink cabinet in the basement which is made of, in relevant part, particle board. Combined with the damp of the basement, it has over time deteriorated in straightness to the point where the bottom of its large drawer (a thin board set in a groove on four sides) had nothing to support it in the center, and it would droop and upon placing anything in the drawer, the bottom would fall out. One trip to the friendly neighborhood T. W. Perry, a hardware and building supply store that I am coming to appreciate over a certain orange alternative, and I had a three foot long piece of threaded steel which I trimmed down to two pieces of the right size, added washers and nuts, drilled holes in the long boards just below where the bottom sits, and cinched everything tight. Result - one newly useable drawer.

Low point: The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour. I know some people like L'Amour, and I thought perhaps going outside his westerns would give me something to be interested in. The book is set in the high medieval Mediterranean, and involves a young boy's quest to find his father, who is rumored to have been sold into slavery or perhaps killed. It was a pounding adventure, in the sense that a headache can be described as pounding, up until the point where I just couldn't take it anymore. The book was very short of description, such that although set in some very beautiful parts of the world, among some of the greatest architecture of the time, and involving (of course) some of the leading luminaries of Islamic and Christian scholarship, there was little beyond bare name-dropping to give any sense of place. There wasn't a greatly developed arc to the adventures, but pretty much just jumps from peril to peril to peril without a break, like a motorboat traveling so fast it only hits the tops of the waves. (In the words of one character within the story, "If you are going to rescue every maiden in distress in Andalusia, you are going to have your work cut out for you." Had he rescued half as many damsels, he might have taken a moment to describe, say, whether at least one of them was a pleasant conversationalist). The constant motion made unreadable what G. A. Henty could have turned into a good, if predictable, story. I am (seriously) reading Austen next to try to calm my nerves.

Other thoughts: We have been down a car for several weeks due to a cascade of problems that started with a timing chain. During this time, we have seen an amazing display of love from the members of our church in helping us deal with this setback. I say with St. Paul, "[because of] your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you."

Man with a Door

There is nothing sexier than a man taking a door off a house in order to repair it.  And it was repaired before it went back onto the house.  

Attempt at Crème Caramel

Jonathan decided to buy a box of cook & serve "flan". He thought it would be an interesting thing to try sometime. He never got around to cooking the pudding, so today I decided to whip it up myself... it actually takes no whipping... just stirring forever over low heat.  This is a good early spring project.  I think it turned out nicely.  And it even tasted good.  In the first picture you can see all the steam coming off the freshly poured puddings. 

Yard Work

I acquired a splitting wedge for Jonathan when he took me to the hardware store in our new neighborhood.  He was quite pleased.  It made him happy when he was splitting wood today.  No wood can now stand up to his array of splitting tools.

Since he was outside working I decided that it was finally dry enough to sweep the patio. I am excited that soon we will be able to eat out in the yard.

Something in which to Sleep

Putting it all back together.

Now the Dog and the Bear have a bed.

Looking Back at 2002

Someone needs a haircut and a shave!

Someone else needs a haircut and contacts!

Tuned Piano

Someone very kind gave us a piano recently. The instrument is about sixty years old and has not been tuned in about that long. We are so thankful for the gift. Jonathan loves the piano and is quite good on it. It is also quite good for him, since he needs something as complicated as his brain to keep up with him. He started playing it each and every day.  Remember, it has not been tuned for three score years.

Then, Jonathan's grandparents gave him a piano tuning kit for his birthday. For this gift I will be eternally grateful and with it he will be eternally engrossed.

Yesterday, I told him that if he did not get around to actually tuning the beastly thing soon he would have to take the piano and the as yet still unused tuning kit out to the shed if he wanted to keep playing the mournful monster every day.

So, today he settled down to the task with his implacable determination and inexhaustible patience.

Three hours later - fortunately, I only had to endure the last ten minutes of the process - we have a piano that sounds like a piano and responds almost exactly as anyone who knows about pianos would want it to respond. There are a few items left to be done to make it better, felt under some keys, poor little flat keys that the previous owners' children carved to bits, and one string that has a sustain problem, but overall we are quite pleased!

Now I get free and euphonic concerts every evening!!  We are all quite pleased with the outcome.

Birhday Dinner

After a day of successful shopping with Ceil we all headed out to Tuskies for dinner.  The food was scrumtious and the atmosphere charming.  The evening was completely wonderful, thanks to my two dears.

Man Loose In The Kitchen

For my birthday Jonathan made a special meal: waffles with nutella, and fresh strawberries.  For the morning beverage we enjoyed Coffee Punch - which is coffee, chocolate and vanilla ice cream, and cream well blended.  It was a marvelous way to start a birthday!

In sympathy with husbands of pregnant wives everywhere:

Stuff of the Month! - February

Book: Khan: Empire of Silver by Conn Igguldun. The 4th book in the Mongol historical fiction series by the co-author of the Dangerous Book for Boys follows beautifully in the footsteps of its predecessors. With the Mongol empire dealing with the death of its founder Genghis, the solitary purpose of conquest is diluted by court intrigue and questions of authority based on blood or merit. The book describes how Ogedai Khan worked through the politics to launch the campaign that smashed Russia and could have spelled the end of Europe.

I can't end without also mentioning Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. Without providing a full review of this incredible story of a downed Pacific airman, which can be found elsewhere, what sets this book apart was the decision not to end the book with the defeat of Japan (as V-J Day approached and there was a quarter of the book left, I was wondering what the author was doing), but instead deal with the post-war consequences to the individuals of their prison camp experiences, and even to include a visit by Billy Graham and attempts to meet the abusive captors.

Movie (Theater): The King's Speech. Without adding to the critical accolades heaped on this film, one thing I really liked about it was the presentation of people taking responsibility where they were without complaining about how they weren't prepared for what they had to do and hadn't asked to be stuck with the job.

Movie (home viewing): Shining Through. A Michael Douglas film from a few decades ago, this WWII spy romance was a surprise Valentine's Day success. Although I had, ahem, of course anticipated that the romantic plot would be as strong as it was (who wouldn't want to be carried by Michael Douglas in slow-mo with bullets whizing by?), it provides enough dramatic interest on the espionage front, coupled with a stellar complex performance by Liam Neeson as a family man Nazi that you aren't sure whether to associate with Captain Von Trapp or Amon Goeth, to keep both halves of the couple happy.

Music: Dark Passion Play by Nightwish. Thanks to my brother for introducing me to this band. Those who know my tastes probably wonder why it took so long for me to discover orchestral metal. The complexity of this music is beautiful, and one of these days I will tear myself away from the notes and actually listen to the words. Bad habit of mine.

Household project: linen closet shelves. The previous owners had removed several shelves from the closet but left up the brackets. A simple but decent project involving sawing, planing, and routing the wood took an interesting turn when I hadn't noticed a piece of trim sticking out that forced me to take an extra 3/4" off the back of the boards. Not having a table saw and wanting the cut to be straight, I did it with a single flute bit on the router. I probably could have done it just as quickly with a pocket knife. Live and learn. And buy more tools.

Low point: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. The video game tributes were often funny. They do not a movie make. The over the top graphics gave a very disconnected feel to the film, without the ability of the viewer to take a controller and make it his own. If you want a good FPS/RPG feel to a movie, try Zombieland instead.