Swimming at McKeldin Park

With most local pools closed (or only open to that particular community's residents), we've had to be more creative about finding ways to go swimming in the summer. The internet told us that McKeldin Area in the Patapsco Valley State Park has a beach where visitors could swim in the Patapsco River.

We parked as close as we could and hiked down to the river. The trail had some signs with good advice--don't swim in the rapids! Maybe we would have figured that out on our own.

On the way in

A little overlook showed us the forbidden area.

Rapids

The unzoomed view

Down by the water, even the beach didn't look that swimmer friendly.

The end of the rapids

The beach area was already loaded with people. We walked farther down the path until we found a more isolated spot where we could get in the river. The shore had no beach, which was probably why no people were there.

Rocky but not rapids

Hanging out in the shade on the rocks in the water

This part of the river was fairly peaceful and had an island that was clearly frequented by geese or other birds. We could tell by the droppings on the little sand bar. We called it Goose Poop Island.

More river, no pictures of the island

We swam enough down the river that we had to get back on the trail to get our stuff. The trail was cut through the underbrush, and even through a fallen log!

Not a natural formation

The children enjoyed swimming in the river. For me, the bottom was too rocky for comfort. Maybe if I had water shoes I would have been okay. I'm not sure that we'll go back.

More river

Book Review: Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 25 by Hiromu Arakawa

Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 25 by Hiromu Arakawa

The "father" of the homunculi gathers all the human sacrifices he needs for his "Day of Reckoning" ceremony. The good guys fight the good fight but are slowly sucked in to the elaborate trap. This volume is a lot more action and getting pieces in place for the big finale. It's fun but not as enjoyable as previous issues. The end is clearly in sight and I am excited to get there.

Recommended.

Movie Review: Lilies of the Field (1963)

Lilies of the Field (1963) produced and directed by Ralph Nelson

Homer Smith (Sidney Poitier) is driving across the American southwest when he stops off to get some water for his radiator. He pulls in at a large house full of German women who offer him water and ask him to fix the house's roof, which leaks in the rain. He agrees since he's a handyman literally working his way across America. Their English is minimal and at dinner Homer finds out they are nuns. Their order had inherited the land and they came from eastern Europe (i.e. from behind the Iron Curtain) to use the land for the greater glory of God. They are farming but their real need is a chapel. The foundation is set and Mother Maria (Lilia Skala) thinks Homer (whom she calls "Schmidt") is the Heaven-sent man to build the chapel. He's more interested in getting paid for his work, though he is slowly drawn in to helping the nuns, even though he is a Baptist and a wanderer.

The simplicity of the plot lets both the story and the actors shine. The nuns rely on God to provide for their needs though they also work hard to meet what needs they can. When Homer says he doesn't want to work on the chapel, Mother Maria says that the nuns will. He offers to clean out the heavy beams from the foundation (still looking for a payday) and winds up doing much more. The local Catholic community meets outdoors for their Sunday Mass. The celebrant is a migrant priest who serves four other communities and has to travel 400 miles on Sundays in order to celebrate Mass for everyone. The priest advises Homer to move on, as does the gas station/restaurant owner who claims he's no longer Catholic. Homer agrees. When he takes the nuns to a construction company where they beg for more construction materials, he gets a job there, after dealing with the subtly racist attitude of the company owner. He's annoyed enough by his new employer to start working on the church. The subtle plot turns are really delightful and transform cringes into smiles as good starts winning out.

Poitier gives a great performance for which he won an Academy Award. He is honest, hardworking, and clever, with some ego that needs tempering. His love/hate relationship with the nuns becomes more and more loving. A beautiful scene has them sharing and delighting in religious songs from their disparate Christian traditions. Skala does well as the head nun who slowly learns more English and deals more successfully with Homer and others. Mother Maria relies on God and gives Him all the credit, which rubs both Homer and donors the wrong way. The supporting cast (including the guy who owned the Tribbles in the original Star Trek series) do a great job, filling the small community with interesting, three-dimensional people.

Highly recommended.

Book Review: The Odyssey by Homer

The Odyssey by Homer translated by Robert Fagles

The Odyssey is a cultural touchstone. So many images and stories have become omnipresent--the Cyclopes story, Scylla and Charybdis, the irresistible song of the Sirens, the beguiling witch Circe, the faithful and wily wife Penelope, and on and on. Going back to the source material always has benefits. The details can get hazy and need sharpening; there's a certain joy in rediscovery, like Odysseus's dog recognizing his master after twenty years of absence.

The basics of the story are familiar. Odysseus heads home after the Trojan War (chronicled in The Iliad, another classic for another time). The sea god Poseidon is set against Odysseus returning and sends all manner of trouble. Odysseus and his men get trapped on various islands facing various problems and temptations. The recurring obstacle is losing the desire to go home, which could happen when Circe turns the men into pigs or when the Sirens bring distraction to a whole new level. Odysseus, as clever as he is, is still true to his purpose and always weeps for the loss of Ithaca and Penelope. He moves on when he can, often at the intercession of the gods (especially Athena, who personally intervenes many times).

Penelope is beset by suitors who assume Odysseus is dead. They want nothing more than to feast on Odysseus's riches, to be abusive to the house staff and to Telemachus, Odysseus's son. When Telemachus searches of information about Odysseus's fate, the suitors plan to kill him. The troubles only end when Odysseus returns home in disguise (which doesn't fool his dog) and hatches a plan with the help of Athena and Telemachus to end the suitors' rapine.

The story has lasted for nearly three thousand years because the themes are timeless. Giving hospitality to strangers and treating others well is important to civilized society, a lesson we humans constantly need to relearn. Family is the bedrock for society--without it we can quickly descend into selfishness, isolation, and anarchy. The ancient Greeks grappled with these issues a long time ago; we still wrestle with them today.

There's a discussion of this story at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. The first part of the discussion is here, the second part here.

Highly recommended.

Minecraft Camp 2020

This summer, we've done a few "at home" summer camps where I did most of the camp counselor work. One day, I jokingly suggested that we should have a Minecraft camp where I was the camper and the kids were the camp counselors. They took me seriously and set about designing a camp with all the usual activities--snacks, crafts, videos, games, etc. They even made a sign for the garage door when I came back from an errand.

The door sign

As usual, the snacks were the most exciting and most photogenic part of the camp. The first day we made shortbread cookies since they use (mostly) ingredients found in Minecraft--sugar, flour, butter. We might have lost a few hearts taking the hot cookies off the cookie sheet but it was worth it.

Fresh from the oven

Finished product

Another popular food item in Minecraft is bread. We had one of the bread mix jars from an earlier Vacation Bible School. It was easy to bake as some small and delicious loaves.

Raw dough

We let these cool a bit before removing them

The crafting part of the camp involved creating and stocking a "hidey hole" in the basement. In Minecraft, it's important to have a shelter, especially at night when hostile mobs (that's mobile creatures, not large groups of pitchfork-wielding villagers) spawn and attack. We used the natural features of the landscape to make a small cave.

Putting a roof over our cave

One day we made a door for the entrance. Here's a view into the hidey hole from the door.

A comfy spot

We made a crafting table which enables players to make more complicated items. Items like a chest to store valuables or excess stuff without leaving clutter all over the hidey hole.

Crafting table and chest

We even made a bed, another important item in Minecraft. When your character dies, it respawns at its start location unless the character has slept in a bed. Then the bed is the respawn point. If you get killed in the middle of the night in the middle of who knows where, it's much better to respawn into a hidey hole than into a different outdoors area which probably has hostile mobs running around too.

The bed was not to scale for us but a stuffed animal lucked out.

A bed

We made pictures to brighten up the inside of the temporary home, though they both have hostile mobs, so how cheery can they be?

Creeper,  marker on paper (2020) by my daughter

Fighting a Creeper, colored pencil on paper (2020) by me

The hole was big enough for the kids to hang out in it, which they did.

A good spot to relax

Admiring the art

The camp was fun for children and adults alike. They managed to get me addicted to the game, which is a big win for them.

2020 At-Home Vacation Bible School

We did two at-home bible schools this summer. The one with our parish was called a "Vacation Bible Camp," and had the Mystery of the Mass as its theme. We enjoyed it a lot and learned a lot about the Eucharist and our church (it's always cool to see inside the sacristy!). For pictures, mostly we took photos of snack time. The snacks often included a crafting element. The first one we took pictures of was making a fruit-kabob. I am not sure what the connection was to the theme.

Ready to skewer

Adding items carefully

A happy success

A dangerous success

Even more dangerous (or maybe he's just conducting)

Another happy customer

The next day, we made french fries into people. I didn't know you could buy french fries that had happy faces and did not shop appropriately. We were creative and substituted cookies. My youngest used a marshmallow for the head and a Nutter Butter for the body. We broke a second Nutter Butter in four pieces to make arms and legs.

A fun creation

The kids made a mobile, the sort that hangs above an infant's crib. This one was (naturally) Jesus-themed. We decided to hang the mobiles from the ceiling fan to see what happened.



Another craft had my children cutting, coloring, and gluing together some Eucharistic pictures.

Working together

Eucharistic awesomeness!

Very artfully done

The other Vacation Bible School was hosted by a nearby parish and touted as a "Stay-cation Bible School." We picked up some supplies from the church and did another round of daily videos and activities at home.

This VBS had a train theme, so the food had a transportation theme.

Traffic light rice crispy treat

Railroad crossing sign

Making a railroad track

Making a train 

The games included one where the child had to reach down and move the cardboard they used as stepping stones. Crossing the room (getting to the cross) was fun enough to do several times.

Almost there

A tossing game didn't fit the theme so well but was a lot of fun.

Dad tossing

Son tossing

A happy competitor

The VBS had a lot more activities and videos, including music videos with choreography. I did the choreography too, so there's no pictures or videos of us.

Both VBSs were fun, though not as fun as being at the church with a bunch of other people. Hopefully next year?

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Vol. 2 by C. Claremont et al.

Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Volume 2 written by Chris Claremont, art by Dave Cockrum and John Byrne

Jean Grey pilots the X-Men's shuttlecraft to safety, exposing her to the most intense solar storm in centuries. The exposure kills her, but in true comic book fashion, she doesn't die. She comes back as Phoenix, an extremely powerful mutant. So powerful, in fact, that Jean is afraid of these new abilities. She can kill almost at whim, which delights and disgusts her. She hides this truth from the other X-Men as they have various adventures against various foes. Often, they are taking a break from action only to be interrupted by by an enemy. They visit Shaun Cassidy's ancestral Scottish home for a little vacation. They are attacked by his evil brother. During a picnic at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, they are attacked by a Canadian superhero who wants to bring Wolverine back to the homeland. Heroes don't get any time off!

The stories are exciting if a bit repetitive. The real interest is Jean's character arc as she deals with what's happening to her. Her parents come to visit, creating more drama. Also, Scott (aka Cyclops) is wondering about their relationship, especially as Wolverine, the inveterate loner, starts showing interest in Jean. Cyclops and Wolverine are at odds usually (leaders and loners don't mix well). The new situation only ratchets up the tension.

Recommended.

Movie Review: Dementia 13 (1963)

Dementia 13 (1963) written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Conniving blonde Louise (Luana Anders) wants her husband John's mother (Eithne Dunn) to change her will so that her children get the inheritance rather than some charity. She eggs him on, causing him to have a heart attack while they are out rowing. Rather than report the accident (because then she couldn't inherit anything), she covers up the death, tossing his body overboard with an anchor attached. She's already at the family castle in Ireland, so she gets rid of John's things and fakes a letter saying he's gone to New York on urgent business. The other two brothers arrive to be part of the family's annual ritual mourning their dead sister. The ritual is a bit weird and the mother is a bit superstitious. Louise attempts to capitalize on Mother's vulnerability only to be horribly ax-murdered when she sets up a spooky occurrence in the lake. More deaths ensue as the family's madness runs its course.

B-movie empresario Roger Corman produced this film and it does have that low-budget, semi-exploitation feel to it. The tense scenes are ratcheted up with harpsichord music, which sounds more quaint that terrifying. One or two scenes drag out too long. The story is a little underdone and some things that happen don't make sense. At one point, they drain the pond and discover, not the husband's dead body or his sunken luggage, but a submerged monument to the dead daughter. Things get wrapped up in the end but I can't say I found it satisfying.

Recommended only if you are a Corman or Coppola completist; otherwise there's not much to see here. Move along.

Book Review: You Look Like a Thing and I Love You by Janelle Shane

You Look Like a Thing and I Love You by Janelle Shane

Computer artificial intelligence is an interesting topic because the possibilities seem full of endless promise. The actualities of AI are a lot more eye-opening in their successes and failures. Computer scientist Janelle Shane has written a book chronicling the past ten or fifteen years of work in the artificial intelligence field, focusing on how weird and unexpected things turn out.

The main challenge for computer AI is that it is designed by humans. Humans craft questions or challenges for a computer and the computer does its best to reply. If the question is not worded carefully enough, a solution is often inappropriate or unhelpful. The computer solves the problem of preventing people from choosing the left fork by killing all the people who try to take the left fork. Or another AI succeeded in never running into a wall by standing still. Often, AIs work in a simulation of reality designed by humans. The simulations often have flaws that the AI exploit in achieving a solution. Another AI was tasked design a body with arms, legs, torso, and head that could go from Point A to Point B. The AI stacked the body parts so that when the body fell at Point A the top end of it landed on Point B. That's a solution that works...in the simulation. Humans need to design questions, challenges, and environments carefully to get workable solutions.

Another problem for AIs is the sample data they are given. The author designed an AI to come up with pick-up lines (where she got the title for the book). The suggestions are hilarious because they look like a parody of real pick-up lines. She gave the computer lots of examples of pick-up lines and the data set led to some natural consequences (maybe pick-up lines are inherently ridiculous?). A more serious problem is found with AIs that screen employment applications--often they mimic the prejudices that go along with historical hiring practices. An application with "Harvard" or "Cambridge" on it will move up in the ranks; an application with an address from "the wrong side of the tracks" will move down. Computer scientists have recognized these flaws and tried to adjust with mixed results. Flawed data leads to flawed conclusions whether you are an AI or a human.

Computers are brilliant at working through hundreds and thousands of iterations to get better and better at performing tasks. The future is indeed full of possibilities; it's important to know what is actually possible.

Recommended.

Lake Anna State Park Geocaching

We visited Lake Anna State Park in Virginia to do some geocaching while my son was camping with friends.

Our host was kind enough to take us there by boat, which meant that we were able to find Rock Anna, a geocache hidden on a small island just off the park's beach and pier. This cache was our first five-star difficulty find. The range of difficulties run from one-star (accessible by wheelchair) to five-star (requires special equipment to get to the cache). The motor boat got close enough for us to jump onto the island. A few minutes of walking took us to the cache, which was not very well hidden (except for being on the island, of course).

View from the boat

The island was pathless

Looking around

The find

The rehide

Looking for a pickup

On shore, we first hunted down VSP Get L.O.S.T. at Lake Anna State Park, which was placed by the park rangers. The park is part of Virginia's state park system and if geocachers find multiple caches in multiple parks, they can get special prizes (see their web page). This cache's coordinates led us to a building on which the cache was hidden. Luckily we had our phones with us because a critical clue is in the cache's description. After deciphering that, our group was able to open the container and get the find.

At the park

A suspicious box

The log in the box

Heading for the next cache

Our second "on land" cache was another one hidden by the park rangers, though it was subsequently adopted by another geocacher. VSP Lake Anna Tree-mendous Adventure has a great hiding spot, a very unconventional stump in the middle of the forest.

The trunk

Swiveled open

Ammo box inside!

Further up the hill is JQ015- Lake Anna (75th Anniversary Adventure) which was a little easy to spot (after hiking into the woods).

Another suspicious spot

Heading out after the find

We headed for another cache, only to find a visitor hiding out among the fallen leaves!

Can you spot him?

Cutie close-up

On the trail along the lake is a cache hidden by some Girl Scouts. Lake Anna Hidden Treasure was easy to find. We signed the log book only to discover a second log book in the cache! I left a note online for the cache owner to come and take the first (almost full) log book home. We found an aerosol can inside (bug spray) which is an item not good for a geocache. We took it out to keep it from potentially exploding the cache.

Not so well hidden

While at the last cache, we put the call in for the boat to come back and pick us up. The ride back was a lot of fun.