CurlyShavings

Keeping to the themes of Advent and simplicity, we sang four verses of O Little Town of Bethlehem and four of There's a Song in the Air.

And then we split off to the four corners of the planet as the oldest went to Scouts, the two middle ones cleaned rooms and I and my youngest picked up spare Honda parts and ate snowman cookies.

Well, I'm late posting for the last two days. On Tuesday we came together, lit the candle and sang two hymns, God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen and O Come, All Ye Faithful.

On Wednesday, I don't know that more than half of us were in the same place until after 9:00 pm and so, sadly, we skipped family worship. Cub Scout Pack 4 met in St. Paul's Episcopal Church where I found a good stack of Advent resources for taking home (which I did) and plan to utilize to expand our hymn-singing.

Tonight we decided just to sing. The five year-old decided on four verses of O Little Town of Bethlehem (again). After that, he chose four verses of O Come, All Ye Faithful (also again). The only problem is that the hymnals we are using (Songs for Christan Worship, a 1950 hymnal from the United Presbyterian Church of North America) only has three verses and the version he preferred from the Trinity Hymnal has four. The verse he wanted to include was:

God of God,
Light of Light,
Lo, He abhors not the Virgin's womb;
Very God,
Begotten not created;

and so he led us in that following the other three verses.

Cub Scout Pack 4 is camping at Stigwandish tomorrow night so no new updates until Saturday night.

Wednesday, the management team of which I am a member went out to lunch as we frequently do; this time we chose La Strada in an effort to eat through East Fourth Street.

It was a cold, gray day in Cleveland (as it sometimes is) and by the time we got there (four blocks to East Fourth) and opened the doors, our frozen senses were assaulted by the warm smell of food. I couldn't tell if it was baking bread, roasting meat or what; it was only very clear that it involved food and fire.

The hostess was also our waitress (or maybe our waitress was also the hostess) but did not fill our glasses. The interior was dimly lit, there was a loud-ish rushing air noise and the table wobbled. These, however, were the only things that diminished the experience. Except for perhaps the prices. (I must confess I much prefer an $7-$9 business lunch (or even less)—call me cheap.) On the other hand, my water glass was never empty.

After hearing the specials and being sorely tempted by clams, I settled on the first item that caught my eye on the menu: Pesto Omar for $11 (lunch price). Described as an "errorless dish", it was simplicity defined and yet very pleasing. From La Dolce Vita (La Strada's sister restaurant) website: "a blend of fresh basil, walnuts and pine nuts, parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil..."

I am fascinated with the Italian ability to create pasta in a multitude of shapes, sizes, purposes, etc. Almost like watching an Eskimo name snow. The pasta chosen for this dish was perfectly matched for catching the pesto in its many crevasses.

Errorless. Perfection. Whichever, one won't get an argument out of me. It may not be fair to rate a restaurant by a single, simple dish, but La Strada gets the "come back with my wife" rating. Come to think of it, that's probably my highest rating. I'll let you know.

In Cleveland's Key Tower elevator today I was joined by a well-dressed man clearly shivering and shuddering from the cold. Making elevator small talk, I asked "cold enough for you?"

He shuddered again and explained "I just can't get used to these winters" as the elevator doors opened to his floor.

He exited the lift and I asked "where are you from?", expecting to hear somewhere sunny.

With the doors closing he turned and replied "Cleveland." The last I saw of him was his sheepish grin.

The oldest son and I have started work on a CABBS Optimist Pram. We figure it will take us about a month, hopefully less since we intend to show it at the Cleveland Mid-America Boat Show from January 16-25, 2009 at the International Exposition Center.

We're members of CABBS and selling plans to the backyard boat-builder is one of the group's fundraisers.

We are building this boat on speculation, with the hope that someone will decide to purchase it. If you're interested, please drop me a line or post a comment!

Tonight we took the pile of wood in our garage and turned some of it into a strongback for the boat. It took us longer to clean up the garage than it did to get the strongback assembled. So far, nothing fancy was used, just a chop-saw, a tape measure, a square and a pencil. Oh, and some #8x3.5" deck screws and a cordless drill.

The Optimist Pram is a small boat; ours will end up not meeting the exact specifications required by the Optimist organization but will be pretty close. I'm told they are excellent training boats; supposedly, "at the 2008 Olympics over 85% of the medal winning boat skippers were former Optimist sailors."

So maybe, there will be some interest in our little boat. We're hoping to raise enough capital that we can fund the purchase of materials for a kayak in 2009.

Here's the pile of wood we started with. We typically buy our lumber from Terry Lumber in Peninsula, Ohio.

Terry (and Jean) let me root around in their woodpiles; over the last six years I've kept their piles neat, taken some extra board feet when I didn't need to and generally behaved like a good lumber-yard citizen. They've got the straightest 2x4s, the best clear cedar and the nicest bunch of lumberyard employees a guy can ask for.

Oh, and they can get you anything. Marine plywood, stainless fasteners, you name it. And the hardwood they stock is incredible. If you ever need some teak or mahogany or walnut or chestnut, they're the place to go.

Back to boatbuilding: we started at 6:30 and finished just after 8pm. (Again, most of the time was spent clearing the garage!) Watch this space for further developments.

We've been busy and haven't posted much recently.

On Saturday the 6th, we ended up at St. Paul's Episcopal Church's Advent Dessert Theater event. Three plays and two songs and it was wonderful. A solo alto sang In the bleak midwinter (with a little bit of piano counterpoint) and it was wonderful. A good time was had by all.

On Sunday the 7th, we lit another candle and discussed what we were symbolizing by it. The youngest boy chose a few hymns and we enjoyed those.

On Monday the 8th, we were rushing off to too many directions but did manage to choose two hymns.

On Tuesday the 9th, we sang a single carol, We three kings and then shuffled the oldest three off to bed. The youngest and Mom and I watched the Claymation version from waaay-back-when on YouTube.

Pack 4 has been meeting for three months now and last night was our Court of Honor. We minted six new Bobcats, awarded twelve Winter Fun badges, four 2008 YardCharge awards and narrowly missed awarding the coveted Golden Fork (for extreme cooking on a campout). We also made candy cane and clothespin reindeer!

It's hard to have fun at these events unless you're a Cub or parent. Let me rephrase that: I believe the Cubs and their parents had fun. The Cubmaster was too busy being a Cubmaster and Den Leader and Master of Ceremonies to really have fun. But we're working on that. Adding a couple more parents to the Pack Committee will help immensely: how about a Membership Chair and an Advancement Chair?

Oh, and better add a Cubmaster to the list, too. My youngest boy is a Tiger Scout next year and I won't miss this chance to be his Den Leader for anything!

Some four or more years ago I rebuilt the back porch of my house, moving the "powder room" and the water lines that feed the sink. In order to get everything to fit into the tiny space between brick foundation and the walls, I ended up laying the hot water line almost directly in contact with those exterior bricks.

Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Except that this hot water line consistently freezes at 15°F. No matter how much insulation I packed around it, it would freeze. The only thing that would save it was a couple of 100 watt bulbs under it all night long.

Until now, that is. Some time in October (I think it was), I moved that hot water line about eighteen inches away from the foundation and re-applied all the insulation. It wasn't until last night that we got a chance to temperature test this configuration.

When it officially hit 3°F. Unofficially, our car registered -1°F and we heard elsewhere that it was zero for a while.

Sweet success! Of course it was the cold line that was acting up this morning. Not frozen, but a little sluggish, a bit restricted for a moment or two.

So I'll check that one off the list. Of course, since that success, the list has grown by three entries already. . . .

I've been hesitant to discuss our cat on these pages mostly because google.com tells me there are some 4.5 million pages of "cat blogs" out there already.

A quick recap, then the story. Sandie is a shelter cat that we've had for a little over a year now. The first few months she spent in the basement, refusing to come up. Now she thinks she's a full-fledged member of the family.

Whenever I create a lap, she comes over to investigate, climbs up and proceeds to catnap. Most of the time she is fine, however, dinner time and laptop time are both difficult to manage with a cat in your lap, resting on one arm, peacefully purring and warming up one's middle.

Like right now, for example.

Silly cat. You'd be warmer by the fire or the radiator. And you wouldn't have to put up with me moving my arm every so often.

For lease: One small, 3"x3"x1.37" blue "Tiffany & Co." jewelry box with suede pouch.

Upgrade any sterling jewelry instantly with this iconic blue box—she'll think you shopped at Tiffany's and you'll get a significant savings. Double bonus points!

For only seven dollars a week* (plus round-trip shipping), you can lease this beautiful blue box, its pouch and the original padding. That's only a dollar a day! (Return in mint condition at the end of your lease to have your $55 deposit fee refunded.) Please note that you may need multiple weeks to sneak the box back from your wife.

*Offer good only until the original contents are paid off.

Note to trolling lawyers: This blog posting is a spoof. A funny one, but not one I expect to be taken seriously! If you insist that I take it down, I'll consider your argument below in the comments. But I think I'm covered under the "parody is free speech" stuff. (By the way, my relatives all thought this is how I got the box in the first place—I have a receipt around here somewhere. . . .)

We missed Prince Caspian at the theaters this year and waited until it arrived under the tree this Christmas (thanks Grandma & Grandpa!) before seeing it. We had attempted to see it in the theater a few times but didn't make it. When World Magazine reported some of the departures from the book, we gave up our theater attempts and decided to wait for the DVD.

We broke it out of the cellophane today and as an action-filled, fantasy movie, it scores well. As an interpretation of C.S. Lewis' book Prince Caspian, it misses the mark. By a wide distance.

Let's not get caught up in what needed to be done to adapt the story to the screen. Leave out the red dwarf versus black dwarf conflict. Leave out Caspian's nurse, the confusion about Cair Paravel being on an island rather than a peninsula, the Beruna bridge being stone, Bacchus and Silenus and all the other minor details involved in taking a detailed story onto the screen.

What I'd like to take aim at are the major items.

Peter's character

Why does Peter get involved in the scuffle at the train platform? That's our first clue that the Peter in the film isn't the Peter of the books. He has forgotten that to be a knight of the Order of Aslan is to forgive the slight; there is no dignity or valor in scuffling with a school-boy on a train platform. From there, his character never really recovers.

While it is true that early in the book Peter is quarrelsome and leads them astray, he acts as though being High King is a responsibility and not a privilege. It isn't until they all see Aslan and Peter receives his breath that he fully becomes High King again. Until then, he's been struggling just to move forward.

High King, but not the King. It is shortly thereafter that he responds to Caspian's "Your majesties are welcome" with "Your majesty is welcome" and "I haven't come to take your place, you know, but to put you into it." It is important to note that attitude from the book because Peter never shows it in the film and the film is sorely lacking because of it. I believe it muddles the whole plot because it is missing.

Peter's job in the book is to right wrongs. He provides continuity from Old Narnia and acts as an agent of Aslan to bring Prince Caspian to the throne. As soon as he arrives on the scene he supports Caspian's position, strengthens his fortifications and stalls for time, time for Aslan to move.

Susan

Susan never falls for Caspian and never leads Narnians into battle. She, like Lucy, attends to Aslan and is safely out of harm's way when sharp objects start flying. No doubt the film Susan appeals more to today's "modern" teenager. And perhaps it doesn't matter since by the end of the Chronicles, Susan doesn't remain a friend of Narnia.

Aslan's primacy

The film Aslan is just another character rather than being the character. Perhaps that's how Hollywood wants it. He seems an uninvolved lion, disinterested in his creation, his country and his creatures. Hollywood would probably prefer he didn't exist, even the book's "not a tame lion".

Overall

Overall, the movie makes a good movie. Unfortunately, it fails as an interpretation of the book. Disney announced this past week that they are pulling out of the next/third movie (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader), largely because they didn't make enough money on Prince Caspian. One wonders how many more millions could have been made if their movie had not strayed from the book. Imagine what they could have done had someone at Disney just read the book.