Book Review: Tintin: King Ottokar's Sceptre by Herge

Tintin: King Ottokar's Sceptre by Herge

Tintin takes Snowy for a walk in the park and discovers a briefcase. Looking inside for whose it is, he discovers the owner, Professor Alembick, lives nearby. Alembick is a sigillography expert. He collects and studies seals, like those used in medieval times to seal important documents. He has found a rare seal of Ottokar IV, a king of Syldavia. Alembick will travel there and do research at the national archives. Something odd is afoot--when Tintin leaves, someone secretly takes his picture. Tintin follows the man to a Syldavian restaurant where more suspicious events happen. A mysterious conspiracy revolves around Alembick. Tintin decides to travel with him to Syldavia. At the national archive, King Ottokar's Sceptre, symbol of the Syldavian king's authority, is stolen. It's up to Tintin (with bumbling help from Thomson and Thompson) to aid current King Muskar XII in recovering the sceptre.

This adventure is fun and well plotted. The action proceeds through several localities and gives Herge a chance to draw bigger, more detailed towns, cities, and castles. The back of the book has about twenty pages of supplemental material on Herge's life and inspirations for the story (including some fascinating guess work on where Syldavia is in Europe). The editor includes photographs from Herge's collection that match drawings in this book. The book is a fun adventure and is educational!

Sweet Pea Cupcakes

After the success of our "blue food challenge" (featuring blueberries in various recipes), we started a "green food challenge" (featuring peas). One unusual recipe we tried was pea cakes, which is a terrible name in our humble opinion, so we renamed it Sweet Pea Cupcakes. We adapted this recipe.

We cut it down to make 6 cupcakes (small enough to bake in our toaster oven on a hot day).

• 3/4 cup frozen peas
• 4 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• zest and juice from 1/4 of a lemon
• 3/4 cup cake flour (or all purpose flour)
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt

1. Preheat the (toaster) oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line tin with cupcake papers. Microwave frozen peas until thawed and warm (about 2 minutes, with stirring in between). Drain and rinse with cool water. Place peas, vanilla and lemon juice in a food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside.

Not sure about this ingredient

Visualizing whirled peas

Getting some zest with our special tool

Juicing what's left of the lemon

2.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine.

3.  Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, and then add the pea mixture and lemon zest. On low-medium speed, add the flour until  just incorporated.

Using hand-shaped whisks

4.  Spoon into cupcake papers. Bake for 20 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test. Cool cupcakes completely.

Uncooked

The results were perfect.

Cooked

To make the cakes more presentable, we made some simple lemon icing (butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest) and sprinkled green sugar on top.

Icing

Finished product

The most important part of the cakes is, of course, the taste. After that horrible face in the first picture, what will my daughter's reaction be to the final product?

Taking a bite

Mmm....good!

Book Review: Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel

Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love by Dava Sobel

Among his other accomplishments, Galileo Galilee had three children out of wedlock. His son was eventually "legitimized" by the Grand Duke of Tuscany; the daughters, probably unmarriageable due to their illegitimacy, became nuns in the convent of San Matteo in Arcetri, a town that was basically a suburb of Florence, Italy. Despite the situation, Galileo was a devoted father and kept in touch with his children, eventually living in a villa around the corner from San Matteo. His eldest daughter was called Virginia but changed to Maria Celeste when she took her vows. The name was a tribute to Galileo's celebrity as an astronomer. He had improved the telescope and used it to discover moons around Jupiter and spots on the sun. As his career took off, he corresponded with Maria, who wrote as often as twice a week. She was well-educated, hard-working, and intelligent. She ran the apothecary at the convent, so she was able to make pills and other medicines for the nuns and for Galileo's various aliments. She also managed his Arcetri home when he was out of town.

He was out of town for quite a long time because he ran afoul of the the Holy Office. He published his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which the pope found offensive. The dialogue represents the pope's position with the naive Simplicio, who comes off rather badly. The controversy is covered in detail with the typical modern bias in favor of Galileo, though the author is more even-handed than many contemporary pro-Galileo accounts. The book focuses on the relationship with Maria Celeste, providing some insight into convent life in the 1600s, which isn't as cut off from the world as one might expect. Unfortunately, after Maria Celeste died the mother superior was concerned about controversy and destroyed Galileo's letters, so the book quotes only the letters Galileo received from his daughter. The author has plenty of other sources to draw upon, so the story is not half-missing.

The book is entertainingly written and gives a very human face to both Galileo and his daughter. The book tells Galileo's life story with a special emphasis on his relationship with his daughter. As such, those opposed to Galileo are often given short shrift, which I found a bit unsatisfying. I'd be interested in reading a book that gives both sides of the controversy their due. This isn't that book but is still well worth reading.

Family Holy Hour, St. Louis Church, Clarksville Maryland

Our church has a monthly family holy hour on Friday nights during the school year. My son and I attended the last one held in late May. It was held in the old chapel, about which I blogged about back in Christmastime.

Chapel of Saint Louis the King, built in 1889

The holy hour started with a procession by the children, who brought up candles and roses to lay at the altar. As they processed, a boys' choir sang a hymn. A deacon from the church presided, starting with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. We sang O Salutaris Hostia, which brought back happy memories for me from when I was an altar boy and served during exposition.

After a period of quiet prayer, the deacon read that day's gospel reading, Mark 10: 1-12:

Jesus came into the district of Judea and across the Jordan.
Again crowds gathered around him and, as was his custom,
he again taught them.
The Pharisees approached him and asked,
“Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?”
They were testing him.
He said to them in reply, “What did Moses command you?”
They replied,
“Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce
and dismiss her.”
But Jesus told them,
“Because of the hardness of your hearts
he wrote you this commandment.
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together,
no human being must separate.”
In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this.
He said to them,
“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another
commits adultery against her;
and if she divorces her husband and marries another,
she commits adultery.” (taken from the USCCB)

The deacon then gave a fine reflection. He asked us if we were docile in the full sense of the word, i.e. able to learn when taught. The Pharisees weren't looking to learn something they didn't understand, they were trying to trip up Jesus with their question. In contrast, the disciples sincerely sought what Jesus meant. We prayed for the blessing of understanding and acceptance.

Then we prayed the Chaplet to the Holy Family, similar to the rosary in form but shorter.  Each section was led by a different child, giving them a chance to participate and the deacon a little break! The prayer is quite beautiful in its simplicity and its focus on spiritual and practical aspects of family life.

We concluded with Tantum Ergo, the Divine Praises, and one of my favorite hymns, Holy God We Praise Thy Name. After the deacon processed out, the organizer had the children come up for a picture.

Holy Hour May 2016

The evening was beautiful and we will definitely go back again.

Book Review: Captain Marvel Vol. 2: Down by K. S. DeConnick et al.

Captain Marvel Volume 2: Down written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Christopher Sebela, art by Dexter Soy and Filipe Andrade et al.

This volume has two stories. In the first Captain Marvel (aka Carol Danvers) is helping out a retired superhero friend named Monica investigate some missing boats in the Gulf of Mexico. Ships sailing out of New Orleans have been vanishing. Monica has found the spot where they sank but doesn't want to get in the water. So Carol puts on a scuba tank and finds more than just boats--planes dating back to World War II also populate this sunken graveyard. Like many a superhero story, this ends with a big battle between the two friends and a huge enemy. The best part of the story is the repartee between Carol and Monica, providing both humor and some character depth.

The second story finds Carol with a medical issue. Carol's been having headaches (which she has blamed on calls from Tony Stark!) and has felt her power weakening. Her doctor tells Carol she has a lesion in her brain. So she can't fly, which is a hard thing for an ex-pilot who now has the Superman-like power to fly. Things get even harder when an old, air-born bad gal shows up to fight Captain Marvel. Sadly, the story isn't finished in this issue.

The second story is much more interesting than the first. I like the idea that a superhero would have an everyday doctor. Oddly enough, the art is better in the first story. Happily, Carol doesn't don some skimpy swimsuit when scubaing down to the wreckage, she's in her regular superhero jump suit. The second story does not get visually exploitative, the art is just less polished than in the first.

Cute Kid Pix May 2016

The school had an Enrichment Fair one night in May. All the children showed off their classroom creations and the Gifted and Talented classes had displays in the school's media center (i.e. the library).

My daughter reads one of her book reviews

Various crafts/projects she did

My son copies a book by hand

A picture of us visiting the classroom a few months ago

Toddler is so excited he's drooling!

One home activity we do is make the "ultimate tower of mega-power." Typically, we build a tower as tall as possible with regular blocks. Using the Wedgits, someone made an impressive tower. The toddler did eventually get his hands on it and give it the Godzilla treatment.

Ultimate tower of mega-power

With the coming of summer, we decided to get a kiddie pool for the kids. The toddler was very enthusiastic to try it out. He obviously disregards most cautions about using the pool, e.g. not using electronics in the pool (happily there was no water in it since he violated another caution, namely to use the pool outdoors!).

Fun with a flagrant disregard for practical advice

Movie Review: Odd Man Out (1947)

Odd Man Out (1947) directed by Carol Reed

Johnny McQueen (James Mason) has been hiding out for six months since breaking out of a Northern Ireland prison. He's an Irish nationalist and has been planning a big heist to finance the nationalists' activities. His friends (including his new girlfriend) try to convince him not to go on the heist since he's been out of the action for so long. He goes anyway. Things go awry during the getaway and Johnny is left on the streets of Belfast with a bullet in his shoulder. As he tries to get back to the safe house, he runs into a variety of people who have a variety of reactions to him and his predicament. Some want to help him out, some want to sell him out, some want nothing to do with him. His girlfriend and some of the other nationalists are also looking for him. The cops have all the streets blocked and are ready to bring him in, if only they can find him.

The movie is not at all a political diatribe for either side of the issue. Johnny is a dying man who is more of a pawn than a player. The story moves a little slowly at points but the stark noir visuals and the constant introduction of new characters who could be allies or betrayers keep viewers paying attention. The details of their personalities are quite rich and evocative--one cop isn't interested in whether people are good or bad, only in their innocence or guilt; a Catholic priest wants to help but the only payment he'll offer is faith. The actors, even in small roles, do a good job (William Hartnell, the First Doctor, plays a saloon owner!).

I certainly wouldn't describe this as a fun movie, nor would I call it a tense thriller or a great heist/chase movie. It is an interesting look at a desperate man at the mercy of the people around him and how those people treat him. I found the ending unsatisfying but understand it narratively.