Jeff's Lunchbreak

It's the first full week of December, so I figure it's a good time to kick off the Christmas season with a blog post. I've written quite a few Christmas related entries over the years, and posted various comics and memes. So this year, I decided to gather up all the best stuff into one post - mostly with links, but with a bit of content in this entry. I know this is recycling, but it's still good stuff, especially if you've never read it before.

Jolly Posts

	A Plane Christmas Greeting This is a poem written by my late Uncle Bud. We both shared a love of aviation. This is his version of "The Night Before Christmas" (or "A Visit from St. Nicholas" for you pedants), with an aviation twist.
	An Early Christmas Present - Koch Snowflake Christmas Ornament 3D Printer STL Files This is a brand new post this year. I played around with making snowflake ornaments for my 3D printer. But since I'm a nerd, they couldn't be any old snowflakes. These are fractal snowflakes.
	Merry Secular Christmas 2017 - Buy White Wine in the Sun, Support Autism Society I have a tradition of posting a video of this song every year around Christmas. This year was no exception. Go give it a listen, and donate to the National Autistic Society while you're at it.

Curmudgeonly Posts

	War on Christmas This was my first War on Christmas post. It covers a bit of the history of Christmas in the U.S. ("a nightmarish cross between Halloween and a particularly violent, rowdy Mardi Gras"), the Pagan origins of so many modern Christmas traditions, and in general why it's silly to get upset over an imagined War on Christmas.
	Yes, Virginia, There Are Liars I've never particularly liked lying to kids about Santa Claus, nor the whole mindset around Christmas time that kids should suppress their doubts and critical thinking skills. Playing pretend with kids is one thing, but lying is something else.
	When Happy Holidays Isn't Good Enough This was an incident a few years ago that still stands out in my mind - a Salvation Army worker getting physically punched for wishing somebody a 'happy holidays' instead of a 'merry Christmas'. I included a meme that shows the appropriate response to any holiday greeting.

Should I Donate to _____ Charity?

Since so many people start thinking about donating to charity around the holidays, here are a couple entries on charities.

	The Salvation Army - To Give, or Not to Give? As much as they try to portray a completely wholesome image, the Salvation Army isn't without their controversies. I'm not actually going to advocate that you do or don't donate to them (but if you don't, please donate to somebody else), but you should at least understand some of the activities they engage in that you may not agree with.
	Debunking an E-mail on Charities This was written in reply to one of those email forwards, decrying all the supposed waste from certain charities, and suggesting you donate your charity money to other, more worthwhile charities. Well, suffice it to say, since it was an email forward, it wasn't particularly reliable. Granted, it's been a few years since I've looked into each of these charities, but it still gives you a sense of how legitimate various charities are, and provides links to a few watchdog groups.

Christmas Memes & Comics

You may have to click to embiggen to read this one.

Source: Calamities of Nature (via the WayBack Machine)

Source: Master Marf (no idea if that's the original creator)

Source: Meme GeneratorMeme Generator

Christmas Tree Image Source: Free christmas Tree Backgrounds

Posted by Jeff on A, Dec 5 | Permalink | Comments (32) | TrackBacks (0)

I've had a 3D printer for a little while, now. While I mostly experiment with printing out various concept aircraft, I figured that for Christmas, I'd print a few Christmas ornaments. But with me being the nerd I am, I couldn't just print out any old random ornament. It had to be something a bit nerdier. So, after reading a post on Scientific American Blogs, A Few of My Favorite Spaces: The Koch Snowflake - A look at the most festive fractal, I was inspired to print a few tangible interpretations of the fractal. And I've shared the STL files below, for anybody else who might want to make them.

But first, here's a really cool animated gif from that Scientific American article, originally from Wikimedia Commons, showing the development of this fractal.

And here are the STL files. I've put a preview of each model. Clicking on the thumbnail will show a higher resolution image. To download the STL, use the actual download link.

	Download Koch_Snowflake_1.STL
	Download Koch_Snowflake_2.STL
	Download Koch_Snowflake_3.STL

And here's a photo of the completed products.

Posted by Jeff on A, Dec 5 | Permalink | Comments (30) | TrackBacks (0)

In a yearly tradition for this blog, it's time to post one of my favorite Christmas songs, White Wine in the Sun, by Tim Minchin. But more than that, this is a chance to support the National Autistic Society. For the past several years, Minchin has donated all procedes from sales of the song around Christmas time to the National Autistic Society (more info). So, if you don't own a copy of the song, yet, now's a perfect time to buy it. And if you do already own a copy, you can always go to the National Autistic Society and donate directly.

If you've never heard the song, there's a description on Minchin's site from 2010, "This is a captivating song and a beautiful and intelligent exploration of why Christmas can still be meaningful even without religious beliefs. There's just the right amount of sentiment and some very gentle humour illustrating Tim's feelings about Christmas and the importance of family and home. It is a heart-warming song and may make you a little bright eyed."

So, with all that out of the way, here it is, White Wine in the Sun:

If you want to sing along, here are the lyrics.

Posted by Jeff on A, Dec 4 | Permalink | Comments (31) | TrackBacks (0)