Christmas Photos From Before Christmas

My daughter's American Heritage Girls troop had a "Breakfast with Santa" fundraiser. We were too busy eating breakfast to take pictures of it (pancakes, sausages, tatter tots) but we did get some snaps with Santa.

Facing Santa

Us and Santa

Adding Granny and Grandpa

Our local library had its traditional week of storytimes with Frosty the Snowman, including a fun craft for our prescholar. The craft was more interesting than the "surprise" visit by Frosty. My son was blissfully unaware and continued building his own Frosty. Later, he had no problem both waiting in line and getting a picture taken with Frosty.

Gluing a snowflake

Gluing on his nose

Finished snowman

Frosty visits the classroom

The photo-op

We put up our tree on December 9. Festive music played from our online account. We have a fake tree that we've been using for years. Putting it together is a fun puzzle for the kids (which branches are bigger and go on the bottom?). Team work on the tinsel and lights is a little more challenging. A good time was had by all.

Adding the angel to the top

Adding ornaments (and silliness)

More silliness

Making sure the back of the tree is ornamented

Final result

The library then had its traditional week of storytimes with Santa, so we went back for another fun craft and photo op. The craft was a tree with presents under it. My son's version may not look like it, but it's true.

Craft was a Christmas tree with presents

Ignoring Santa

Adding tinsel to the tree?

Finished product

They gave specific instructions for the photo op--Santa was a bit tired out from sleigh riding and couldn't have any kids sit on his lap. My boy was a bit standoffish anyway.

The photo op

Looking cute

We did our annual cookie making and decorating with my sister and niece. We had a lot of fun cooking cookies. Decorating was a little more challenging since my daughter and we parents had to go to the Court of Awards for her American Heritage Girls troop.

Rolling dough

Cutting out the dough

Ready to bake

In the oven

Out of the oven

Decorated

Displayed

TV Review: Broadchurch Series Three (2017)

Broadchurch Series Three (2017) created by Chris Chibnall

See my reviews of Series One and Series Two.

A late-40s-ish woman, Trish Winterman (Julie Hesmondhalgh), is raped at the fiftieth birthday party of her best friend. She doesn't immediately report it to the police (she is both ashamed and in shock), which causes problems for the investigation. Evidence isn't as fresh as it could be and there's a lot of ambiguity, as well as a lot of suspects. Trish is separated from her husband who isn't happy with her behavior (though he's the one that caused the breakup). She works at a farm shop on the outskirts of town and her supervisor (the owner of the shop) is a little too concerned about her. A taxi driver who was going back and forth from the party had made romantic overtures to Trish before. And fifty other men were at the party, so D.S. Ellie Miller (Olivia Coleman) and D.I. Alec Hardy (David Tennent) have their hands full.

Meanwhile, the show has a b-story line continuing the Danny Latimer drama, which I thought was wrapped up by the last series. Danny's dad, Mark, still hasn't accepted his son's death. He's estranged from his wife and two daughters and can't get the thought of revenge out of his mind. His wife, Beth (Jodie Whittaker, soon to be Doctor Who), has moved on and is now a victim's counselor/advocate. She is assigned to help Trish Winterman. So the stories start intersecting.

The mystery of who raped Trish Winterman is a little disappointing. I felt like viewers were marched through a long line of red herrings before the investigators were suddenly handed rock-solid evidence against the guilty party in the very last episode, and the ultimate culprit was pretty much unguessable until the last episode. So the mystery was a let-down.

I also found the attempt to squeeze more drama out of Danny Latimer's death unsatisfying. As I said, I thought that story was wrapped up and I found Mark's problems difficult to believe. The story does provide at least one great dramatic exchange between Beth and Mark, all the more powerful because it wasn't hysterics but complete honesty between a couple that handled the tragedy in different ways.

The other two series are very much about the community being in crisis, whether it is more important to keep secrets or to treat others with honesty and love. That theme continues here but is not as smoothly integrated. The show has a nice "take back the night" sequence that's a little corny and a beach football match that's supposed to help repair the community but winds up being an opportunity to throw out some more red herring clues. A few minor plotlines revolve around the school-aged children of Miller and Hardy, dealing with pornography and bullying. Some parents rise to the occasion; others don't. In another subplot, the local newspaper is being gobbled up by a large chain of papers, resulting in the indifferent and exploitative coverage that's more about bringing in the money and less about telling the truth or respecting people's privacy. So the show has plenty of elements on the importance of community, but they are more disjointed.

On the up side, the show deals very well with the impact of the rape on the many characters, providing views from a variety of viewpoints. Other, earlier crimes come out and each victim has different ways of handling her situation. The various men who are suspects show various levels of responsibility and willingness to take it seriously. At one point, Hardy says, "I'm ashamed to be a man." Some of the characters are insensitive but the show, while shocking in parts, is never graphic or gratuitous. The detectives' dogged determination wins the day. This series would be a great starting point for discussions, especially in this post-Harvey Weinstein era.

The acting is very good, especially Coleman and Tennent in their characters' professional and personal lives. The cast manages to make up for weaknesses in the script.

Recommended, though not nearly as good as the first two series (which were great drama).

Book Review: Christians in the Movies by Peter E. Dans

Christians in the Movies: A Century of Saints and Sinners by Peter E. Dans

Peter Dans takes a personal look at the depiction of Christians throughout 110 years of cinematic history. His survey begins in the early 1900s with the old black and white silent films. The Bible was a frequent source for movie-making, being both popular and out of copyright. Filmmakers took Christianity seriously and depicted it sympathetically. Dans traces the generally positive view of Christians, and Catholics in particular, through the 1940s and 1950s. Priests and nuns were heroic people who helped out during World War II or in tough New York City neighborhoods. Bible stories were treated with reverence, occasionally to the point of corniness.

In the mid- to late-1960s a change came. The Hays Code, which regulated controversial content in movies prior to the late 1960s, was replaced with the Motion Picture Association of America's ratings system, which vaguely reports controversial content in movies. Also, the National Legion of Decency (created by Catholic bishops but also included Jewish and Protestant clergy) had originally forbade Catholics to see movies it rated as Condemned, an economic death sentence for many films. The Legion of Decency came to be ignored and the Catholic bishops established the National Catholic Office of Motion Pictures to provide a new rating system. Movies had gradually become more permissive in depicting sex, violence, and the mockery of religion. Things went from questionable (e.g. Godspell) to bad (e.g. Agnes of God) to worse (e.g. The Magdalene Sisters) as the decades went by. A shift did happen in 2004 when Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ showed that a serious film appealing to a Christian audience was economically viable, even in spite of the undeserved controversy around the film.

Dans hits all the highlights from the various eras with films like Going My Way or The Ten Commandments. He also discusses more obscure films that he managed to see on Turner Classic Movies and such sources. The movies are wide-ranging but not comprehensive (the book would probably be three times as long if he included every possible film with religious content). He cites critics like Roger Ebert and Pauline Kael, sometimes agreeing and sometimes disagreeing with them. His opinions are definitely his own and he's not above lambasting a movie he find particularly offensive or tasteless. Reading is always entertaining if not always scholarly. He has reviewed enough movies that readers who have seen a good portion of the movies will have a sense of where they agree and disagree about movies they haven't seen. I've certainly added some to my list of stuff I want to see and crossed some stuff off my list to see.

Recommended.

Book Review: The Goal: A Business Graphic Novel by D. Zimmerman et al.

Eliyahu M. Goldratt's The Goal: A Business Graphic Novel script by Dwight Jon Zimmerman and interior art and design by Dean Motter

Based on the business novel of the same name, The Goal tells the story of a manufacturing plant that is behind on its deliveries and under threat from upper management. The bosses will close the plant if things don't improve in three months. Al Rogo, the plant manager, was brought in six months ago to solve the problems and now is under the gun. A chance run-in with a former mathematics teacher opens Rogo's eyes to new ways of thinking about business and organizing work flow at the factory to make the needed improvements. Rogo analyzes the plant's processes, identifies bottlenecks in the production line, and develops systems to maximize productivity. Since this is a "business novel," clearly the plans will work out with a happy ending for everyone.

The point of the story is to introduce the Theory of Constraints. The original novel was published in 1984 and started a revolution in the manufacturing industry. According to the theory, the purpose of a system needs to be properly identified. For example, the factory's purpose is not to build things but to deliver goods to customers, i.e. make money. Anything in the system process that is a constraint (an area with a set level of production or capacity) is identified. Then, the rest of the system is modified to use the constraint to its maximum level. In the novel, one constraint is a robotic machine that process 25 parts in an hour. The production point directly before it averaged 25 parts an hour but fluctuates from 19 to 32 parts. If the previous production point only delivers 19 parts for processing, then the robot that could process 25 an hour only processes 19 for that specific hour. The workers reorganized their work flow to guarantee the maximum flow to the robot, thus generating maximum output. Once the system's flow is improved, workers can look for ways to elevate the constraint. In the novel, the old machinery used before the robot is put back in service in order to supplement the robot. The final step is to identify any new constraints and refine the system.

The story part of this book is interesting. Plant manager Rogo has a home life that is effected by his work but also helps him to solve problems. He takes his son's scouts on a hike but has a hard time keeping the group together on the long trek because of one slow kid. After dividing up the slow kid's overloaded pack among other boys and putting the slow kid in the lead, the hike makes it to its destination on time and in good spirits. So the theory applies not just to manufacturing plants but also in many other areas. The story, while it is used as a framework within which to explain the Theory of Constraints, is interesting enough to make good reading while learning.

Highly recommended.

Hagley, Smithsonian Affiliate

In 1802, E. I. du Pont set up a gunpowder plant on the banks of the Brandywine River. Many of the buildings have survived to today and the 200+ acres are known as Hagley. The name did not originate with du Pont, who bought the Hagley estate just south of his initial Eleutherian Mills in 1813. The previous owner, Richard Dawes, probably gave it that name after the village in England. The area is now a museum to technology past and present, as well as home to a library covering business, technology, and innovation. Hagley became an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution in 2014. We visited on one of their Science Saturdays in 2017.

Our first stop was the visitor center, the 1814 cotton spinning mill (they invested in more than just gunpowder!).

Back of the visitor center

The visitor center has three floors of exhibits. The first floor shows the early history of Hagley and how the du Ponts used water power to make gunpowder.

The Brandywine River

Pre-du Pont artifacts

The original workers used the river's strength to mill many different things in many different ways. Their early-nineteenth century technology was on display.

Milling flour

Using gears for mechanical advantages

Different types of water wheels

A water turbine!

Making bricks

Gunpowder mill

Upstairs is a display of twentieth-century du Pont contributions to life through technology. A favorite of my children was the race car, for which du Pont is more than just a sponsor. Many of the parts and safety equipment are made from their products.

du Pont mobile

Almost tall enough to reach the pedals!

Tall enough to reach the wheel

Ready to turn left

An older car

Displays also describe the various synthetics the du Pont company produces and their use in everyday life.

The versatility of nylon

Another favorite display was the space suit. A small staircase lets shorter visitors show the right stuff!

A serious astronaut

Houston, we have a problem!

My first daughter in space

A happy astronaut

Other interactive displays let visitors guess whether a fabric or material is natural or du Pont-made. The comparison is a lot trickier than you would think!

Wool vs. microfiber and other challenges

We also tested the elastic properties of other synthetics, seeing which would bounce better. The testing display is enclosed, so the balls don't go all over the room!

Bouncing balls

We left the visitor center and walked down the path toward the "Easy Does It!" building. Both young and old are encouraged to try out the simple machines are on display.

Random water power

Easy Does It! Building

The kids really enjoyed the various gizmos and gadgets.

Pulleys!

Cranes!

Gear shifts!

The buildings are situated close to the river, though that didn't stop the workers from diverting water even closer. The mill run let the workers control the flow more and power more machines.

Walking between the mill run and the river

Mill run with river in distance

Thanks to Science Saturday, we had plenty of opportunity to learn about simple machines and applied mechanics from local high schoolers volunteering at Hagley.

Learning about telegraphs

Trying out pulleys, seeing how size matters

Pulleys making weights weightless!

We walked up a small hill (really more of an inclined plane) to the Power Plant, where the main activity was building trophies!

Power Plant (not the fanciest building ever)

The trophy challenge was to situate a ball on top of the highest structure (the trophy) a child could design. Our preschooler needed some help with his, but managed a respectable size.

A tennis trophy almost as tall as me!

My daughter was more ambitious and took more time.

Working on a softball trophy

Adding a little flourish

A final product?

Using foundations and properly balanced loads was the scientific part of it but I think the kids were mostly unaware of the science they were doing. My daughter had the tallest softball trophy so far that day.

Rankings at lunchtime

We saw some fancy gears on the wall too, though never saw the power plant in action.

Gear wall

The estate also has the black powder mill and supporting buildings, the Workers' Hill area showing the lifestyle of the nineteenth-century workers, and the Eleutherian Mills, where the du Pont family lived. We didn't see any of these but will definitely go back at some point to learn more history, use more science, and have more fun!