Fun at Home (on Vacation)

This Christmas we traveled to the San Francisco area to celebrate with family after we celebrated with my family on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. We flew on Christmas Day, which was a surprisingly good experience. In California, we stayed at my brother-in-law's house. We had a lot of fun just hanging. We did all sorts of activities indoors and outdoors.

The youngest children had fun playing in the front yard. Catch was a popular activity, especially with the new football (a Christmas present for my older son, who was probably inside playing video games). At first, my littlest son monopolized his uncle's attention.

Uncle plays catch with nephew

A good catch!

Then his daughter got in on the act and doubled the fun.

A new ball and a new player (my niece, his daughter)

Two missed catches (blame the thrower, of course)

Two catches!

The yard also had a toddler bat and ball which my son loved playing with. The t-ball stand went down almost as often as the ball got knocked off!

Batting with his cousin's bat

At least the ball is moving faster than the stand

Inside, Dance Central was a popular video game to play for the girls. It uses the Xbox Kinect sensor, a camera that records players movements. In this game, the Kinect sees how close the players follow the dance moves of the characters on screen. The girls had a ball, though my pre-schooler son didn't quite keep up. He had fun none the less.

Dancing, mostly in sync

Focused players

One day, I noticed my older son was playing with my brother-in-law in what looked a game of Battleship. Two laptops were back to back and they were totally focused on their screens. A closer inspection revealed the true nature of their game--chess. The house was sadly without a chess board and they wanted to play each other. They went onto a web site to play against each other. On-line style provided some extra entertainment. They did their trash talking through the chat function, so they would read each other's insults out loud. It was fun for spectators as well as contestants.

I have already copyrighted "Battleship Chess" so don't even try to steal my IP

My daughter took pity on them and worked with her uncle to convert some cardboard (the house had plenty of Amazon shipping boxes after Christmas) and poker chips (conveniently in white and black) into a fine chess set.

A happy crafter

The set saw a lot of use at the end of our vacation.

More crafting happened at home since the girls received crafting kits as presents.

Building houses!

More from California in future posts!

Book Review: Superman: Brainiac by G. Johns et al.

Superman: Brainiac written by Geoff Johns, pencilled by Gary Frank, and inked by Jon Sibal

After a harrowing account of an attack on Krypton during which the city of Kandor is stolen, the story jumps to modern day Earth. A Daily Planet staff meeting is cut short when Clark Kent leaves to investigate a crashing space probe. As Superman, he discovers the probe is from Brainiac, an alien intelligence that has pestered him on and off through the years. The probe does nothing more than confirm Superman is Kryptonian--then it shuts down. Superman takes the probe to the Fortress of Solitude where he and Supergirl analyze it to find out why it came. Supergirl has memories of the Kandorian attack (which was Brainiac's work) and is frightened by the prospect of facing him. She's also scared of Brainiac doing to Earth what he did to Krypton. Superman decides to take the fight to Brainiac. He reverse-engineers the probe's guidance system to find where Brainiac is. He leaves without telling Supergirl so she does not have to face her childhood terror. Superman discovers more than he bargained for and, naturally, Brainiac has discovered Earth and does threaten it. So Supergirl isn't off the hook.

The story does a great job pulling in different aspects of Superman's mythology, combining them in a new and interesting way. The dialog is very well-written, blending comedy, exposition, and drama effortlessly. Brainiac is a fascinating villain and makes a nice foil to Superman. A few bits of the plot don't make sense, but not enough to drag the story down.

Recommended.

Cute Kid Pix December 2017

More pictures of events that didn't make their own blog post...

My daughter put together a solar-panel-powered car from a kit. She tried to run it in the house with no effect, so we went outside and the motor worked!

The getaway car!

My two older children had their winter school concerts. The event was held at a local high school in the auditorium.

First group playing

My daughter is in the orchestra, she plays the cello. As third graders and first year players, they had a small set to play, which they did wonderfully.

She gets ready

Teacher/conductor in action!

My son is in band, he plays saxophone. He's also new to the instrument, as are his fellow fourth graders. They did a fine job even with more pieces to play.

Two friends ready to go

Nervous enthusiasm?

Reading Challenge Review (2017) and Preview (2018)

Here's the results from my personal 2017 reading challenge. I managed to get everything in except Seven Pillars of Wisdom, which I am in the middle of right now. It's a big book and will be finished in the new year.

Great men

• English Catholic Heroes edited by John Jolliffe--a companion volume to English Catholic Heroines from last year. Reviewed here!
•  Medieval People: Vivid Lives in a Distant Landscape by Michael Prestwich--a Christmas present! Reviewed here!
• Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick--Reviewed here!
• Fearless: Stories of the American Saints by Alice Camille and Paul Boudreau --Reviewed here!
• Robin Hood by David Baldwin--Reviewed here!
• The King's Good Servant but God's First by James Monti --Reviewed here!
• Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week by Pope Benedict XVI--Reviewed here!

Books made into movies

• Rashomon by Ryunosuke Akutagawa--Akira Kurosawa put post-World War II Japanese cinema back in America with his brilliant adaptation of "In a Grove" from this collection. Reviewed here.
• Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor. Reviewed here!
• The Children of Men by  P. D. James. Reviewed here!
• The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawiz--made into "The Way Back" a few years back, following POWs escaping a World War II Soviet Siberian prison camp and making it all the way to British India! Reviewed here.
• Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence--You probably know this author as Lawrence of Arabia. 'nuff said. In Progress!
• True Grit by Charles Portis--so good those Hollywood folks made it twice! The courtroom scene was exactly the same in both movies, so I assume it will be the same in the novel. Reviewed here!

Great Filmmakers

• Something Like an Autobiography by Akira Kurosawa. Reviewed here.
• Serling by Gordon F. Sander. Reviewed here. 
• Alfred Hitchcock: A Life is Darkness and Light by Patrick McGilligan. Reviewed here.
• This is Orson Welles by Orson Welles and Peter Bogdanovich. Reviewed here.
• The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi by John Kenneth Muir. Reviewed here.

Also about movies

• Monsters from the Id: The Rise of Horror in Fiction and Film by E. Michael Jones. Reviewed here.
• Christians in the Movies: A Century of Saints and Sinners by Peter E. Dans. Reviewed here.

Oh yeah, and Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens because of Fagin the Jew. Reviewed here.


I am going to do another graphic novels challenge. Fairy Tail and Avatar are the only series that I am sure to continue with (though I will be picking up the occasional random Asterix classic ever now and then).

1. The Eternal Smile--reviewed here.
2. Troll Bridge--reviewed here. 
3. Fairy Tail Vol. 3--reviewed here.
4. Wonder Woman: The True Amazon--reviewed here.
5. Irredeemable Premier Edition Vol. 1--reviewed here.
6. Doctor Strange Vol. 1: Way of the Weird--Reviewed here.
7. Fairy Tail Vol. 4--reviewed here.
8. Black Widow: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Most Wanted--reviewed here. 
9. Ultimate Spider-man vs. the Sinister Six--reviewed here.
10. Avatar: The Last Airbender: North and South Vol. 2--reviewed here.
11. Invincible Iron Man Vol. 1--reviewed here. 
12. Avengers: Endless Wartime--reviewed here.
13. Fairy Tail Vol. 5--reviewed here.
14. Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Battles--reviewed here.
15. Captain Marvel: Earth's Mightiest Hero Vol. 2--reviewed here.
16. Irredeemable Premier Edition Vol. 2--reviewed here.
17. Miss Fury Sensational Sundays Vol. 1--reviewed here.
18. Brendan and Erc in Exile Vol. 1--reviewed here.
19. Fairy Tail Vol. 6--reviewed here. 
20. Brief Histories of Everyday Objects--reviewed here.
21. Deadpool Killogy--reviewed here.
22. Vote Loki--reviewed here. 
23. Fairy Tail Vol. 7--reviewed here.
24. Avengers vs. X-Men--reviewed here.
25. Wires and Nerves Vol. 1--reviewed here. 
26. Avatar: The Last Airbender: North and South Vol. 3--reviewed here.
27. Fairy Tail Vol. 8--reviewed here. 
28. Wonder Woman Vol. 2 Year One--reviewed here. 
29. Smash!--reviewed here. 
30. Hostage--reviewed here.
31. Irredeemable Premier Edition Vol. 3--reviewed here.
32. Fairy Tail Vol. 9--reviewed here.
33. Geis Vol. 1--reviewed here.
34. Zita the Spacegirl Vol. 1--reviewed here.
35. Rise of the Dungeon Master--reviewed here.
36. Spill Zone--reviewed here.
37. Batman vs. Two-Face--reviewed here.
38. Fairy Tail Vol. 10--reviewed here. 
39. The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up--reviewed here.
40. Amulet Book One--reviewed here.
41. The Baker Street Four Vol. 1--reviewed here. 
42. Fairy Tail Vol. 11--reviewed here.
43. Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"--reviewed here. 
44. Amulet Book Two--reviewed here. 
45. Spider-man/Doctor Strange: The Way to Dusty Death--reviewed here. 
46. Fairy Tail Vol. 12--reviewed here.
47. Amulet Book Three--reviewed here.
48. The Walking Dead Vol. 27--reviewed here.
49. Doctor Strange: Last Days of Magic--reviewed here.
50. Fairy Tail Vol. 13--reviewed here.
51. Amulet Book Four--reviewed here.
52. The Creeps--reviewed here.
53. Fairy Tail Vol. 14--reviewed here.
54. Amulet Book Five--reviewed here.
55. Firefly: No Power in the 'Verse--reviewed here. 
56. Fairy Tail Vol. 15--reviewed here.
57. Runaways Vol. 1--reviewed here.
58. Amulet Book Six--reviewed here.
59. Fantastic Four/Inhumans--reviewed here. 
60. Fairy Tail Vol. 16--reviewed here.
61. The Goal: A Business Graphic Novel--reviewed here.
62. Amulet Book Seven--reviewed here.

The new year's reading plan is a mostly like previous years. The graphic novels challenge is moving to Facebook so it will be a little easier to for me to post my accomplishments. I'm thinking of switching from Fairy Tail to another manga, maybe Attack on Titan. Anyway, I plan for the 52 in a year plan, though for 2017 I exceeded that number.

For regular books, I have some new focuses (i.e. not all movie-centric):

Fiction

• The Christus Experiment by Rod Bennett--a time travel novel where the travelers plan to visit and possibly kidnap Jesus Christ!
• The Bradbury Chronicles edited by William F. Nolan and Martin H. Greenberg--an anthology of stories written by sci fi and fantasy writers inspired by and in honor of Ray Bradbury. 
• After the King edited by Martin H. Greenberg--an anthology of stories written by sci fi and fantasy writers inspired by and in honor of J. R. R. Tolkien.
• Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset--I found this classic at the church rummage sale for a dollar. I've been meaning to read it for a while, and at 1100+ pages I will be reading it for a while.

Science

• Seven Ideas that Shook the Universe by Nathan Spielberg and Bryon D. Anderson--this has been sitting on the shelf for a while.
• Christianity and Extraterrestrials? by Marie I. George--another long resident of the bookshelf that bridges nicely into the next category.

Faith

• Spiritual Excellence: How to Make Progress in Prayer and Love by Alban Goodier, S.J.--it's got to be helpful, right?
• Essays of a Catholic by Hilaire Belloc--Belloc was back in the day with Chesterton, so this should be really good.
• A History of the Church in 100 Objects by Mike Aquilina and Grace Aquilina--highly recommended by Happy Catholic
• Crossing the Goal: A Saint Goes Marching On by Danny Amramowicz--football and faith?
• Saint Joseph: Shadow of the Father by Andrew Doze--my patron saint, so this is obvious.
• The Life and Times of Fray Junipero Serra by Msgr. Francis J. Weber--tied to the next book...
• Saint Junipero Serra's Camino by Stephen J. Binz--also recommended by Happy Catholic!

Board Games

• Dice Games Properly Explained by Reiner Knizia--Knizia has a doctorate in mathematics and has published over thirty board games. 
• GameTek by Geoff Englestein--From the Dice Tower podcast, a bunch of essays on gaming with a scientific bent.

 Other Stuff

• Your Child's Writing Life: How to Inspire Confidence, Creativity, and Skill at Every Age by Pam Allyn--my kids are getting interested in writing, so this should be good.
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
• News from Tartary by Peter Fleming--brother of Ian Fleming (creator of James Bond) who had a life just like his brother's superspy hero.
• Cabinet of Curiosities: My Notebooks, Collections, and Other Obsessions by Guillermo del Toro and Marc Scott Zicree--a lot of the chapters are based on movies, so I will probably read a chapter and watch a movie.
• Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence--might as well get credit for it!

I'm sure I'll read other stuff, including the occasional A Good Story is Hard to Find book!

TV Review: Glitch Season Two (2017)

Glitch Season Two (2017) created by Louise Fox and Tony Ayres

See my review of the first season here.

The stories continue for the five remaining people who crawled out of their graves without any memories of who they were. Over the first season, memories slowly came back and a few of them were able to piece together at least some of their previous lives and why they died. The piecing together continues in this series, providing closure for at least three of them. Those stories are more of the same mid-level melodrama as they were in the first series.

Some new complications arise in this season. A newly resurrected person shows up and starts hunting down the others. His intent is clear though his purpose is rather vague. He also has some inexplicable powers that no other resurrected people have. Those powers are mystifying and are never satisfactorily explained. His character seems to exist solely to make the story more dramatic. Unfortunately, he also makes it less sensible. I was hoping by the end of the season there'd be some answers, but it's all left frustratingly vague.

Another complication that seems to be introduced only to heighten the drama is the border beyond which the initial resurrected cannot pass without dying again. The border begins to shrink while at the same time the newly resurrected people (there's more than the executioner) are not effected at all. Why some are limited and some are not is also never explained and it's hard to come up with a reason to explain it. The whole process of resurrection is given a veneer of science, but it's so unconvincing that it becomes distracting and unsatisfying.

The show was already just barely above average in the first season. I was sad to see it slip down as the second season went on. I hoped that things would make more sense by the end but that hope was unfulfilled.

Not recommended.

If you must watch it, the series is streaming on Netflix. It's not available on DVD in America.

BSA and AHG Report for December 2017

Here are some updates from my son's Cub Scout pack activities and my daughter's American Heritage Girl troop activities!

My son's Webelos den went to a local fire department as part of the First Responder requirement. The fire fighters who were supposed to give us the tour got called out two times! The first time they were back in less than five minutes--a false alarm. The second time it was more like fifteen minutes. The boys had fun looking at the trucks and exploring the station.

The lockers and equipment area

My son, maybe making a face?

My son, definitely making a face

The fireman pole

Naturally, the boys asked about the pole, especially if they could try it out. The firefighter said he had been working for six or seven years and this was the first station he saw with a pole. Most stations have phased them out due to the hazard of actually using the pole. Most stations have stairs (this station has stairs right next to the pole). He said one station had slides for the firefighters to get downstairs quickly. The station we were at has the bunk rooms on the first floor, along with the kitchen and recreation facilities. Upstairs is only offices and storage, so the fire fighters are hardly ever up there. The pole hardly sees any action.

The tour was great, well worth the wait between calls.

Later in the month, the pack participated in Wreaths Across America at the Laurel City Hall and Ivy Hill Cemetery. The event was a cross-over opportunity, since my daughter's American Heritage Girls sang the National Anthem as part of the ceremonies before the wreath laying.

City hall

The AHG chorus

Presentation of colors (and boy with bright idea)

The girls sang after the colors were presented. Part of the ceremony had members of different military branches putting up wreaths and saluting them in town hall. The mayor also spoke briefly.

Wreath for POWs and MIAs

Laurel mayor

The delivery of wreaths didn't make it, so one of the city workers went and bought eighty wreaths from a local nursery. The groups that were there each took one wreath so that everyone would get a chance to participate. We then followed the colors across the street to Ivy Hill Cemetery, where veterans from as far back as the American Civil War are buried.

Following the colors

A small parade

My son

For our scout pack, my son picked the grave we'd put the wreath on and the other boys helped lay the wreath. Since the cemetery has so many flat headstone, they gave us a stand on which to put the wreath.

Grave of Pvt. Hoyt Hutchinson

Putting down the stand

Putting the wreath on the stand

Another group

 Since my daughter sang, she got a key to the city! It's actually a pin, but still pretty cool.

Key to the City of Laurel

They were so good at singing the National Anthem that they did a repeat performance at the Court of Awards/Christmas Party for their troop. My daughter was happy to sing again and to get awards.

The AHG singers

Receiving awards

Tenderhearts who earned awards

My daughter and her new patches

Book Review: Fairy Tail Vol. 17 by Hiro Mashima

Fairy Tail Volume 17 by Hiro Mashima

The battle between the Oracion Seis guild and Fairy Tail's alliance of guilds continues as both groups search the woods for the source of Nirvana magic, an ancient and mysterious power. Wendy, who is a healer for the good guys, has been kidnapped by the Oracion Seis. Erza has been poisoned by one of the Oracion Seis, so the number one priority is to recover Wendy to heal Erza. Turns out the bad guys kidnapped Wendy to heal someone else...Jellal from the Tower of Heaven story arc! He's revived, Wendy is recovered, and Erza is healed. Meanwhile, the Nirvana magic is also activated. It has a nefarious effect--it turns good people into bad and bad people into good. Can the Fairy Tail team succeed without getting corrupted? The story isn't finished in this issue but is exciting with a strong cliffhanger ending.

Recommended.