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Favorite children's books
July 3, 2014
5:32 pm
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lunazure
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heheh to quote Groucho Marx "That reminds me of a joke so dirty I'm ashamed to think of it myself"..............

I love Geico commercials, but I cut off TV cable long ago in disgust and protest of the world in general. Life has been so much calmer ever since.......... much less drama too. Cool

Have you seen all the Shrek movies? Those make me howl, Pinocchio is a character in there, so is the Gingerbread Man ... it's all warped around fairy tales. There's another book series too that's probably at your local library, "Sister's Grimm' I highly recommend them. Aimed at 5th grade and up, but very good escape fantasy for all ages. You might even get more out of Sister's Grimm as it's set in "Old German" New England and New York area.

July 4, 2014
3:23 pm
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leslee
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Frankly, I don't think I enjoyed books until I started reading the biographies and such around the fifth or sixth grade. Are those children's books? I remember a fun one on political campaigns that told of all the dirty tricks the partisans played on each other. As for the explorers, I enjoyed reading the footnotes the best. I remember one that told of a transvestite that served as a midwife. He may have been the one who squeezed the ticks betwixt his teeth. Then, there was another one about a platform that collapsed in the middle of an important speech - like they do at rock concerts. I enjoyed reading of Lewis and Clark. One of them inspired me by his disdain for curtains and other things that gathered dust.

Here's one I just remembered: "Wes Powell: Conquerer of the Grand Canyon." He was a Civil War amputee and the geologist who - you can read the title. On his last trip, he had a rocking chair attached to the canoe. Fun! My favorite part, of course, was when they chanced upon Jacob Hamblin, who some consider a Jack Mormon of sorts. In talking to Powell's party, he said, "For I myself was once visited by an angel of the Lord." That was powerful. I believed it. God was alive and interactive. I read it over and over, and then I took it to our orchestra rehearsal when we joined with the band to play Dvorak's 5th. I wanted to combine the two most powerful things I knew. It worked for a splendid high. That was before I met the Moody Blues.

Years later, part-timing in an engraving shop, a dude turned in an order form. I saw his name was Hamblin. I asked, all groupie like, if he was related to Jacob. He was surprised, and said yes. He then proceeded to tell me he was the first in a long line of descendants to leave the faith. What a blow. I wished there was something I could say or do to bring him back for ole Jake as a favor for what Jake had done for me. There is a little bio, children's level, on Jake out there, which I devoured in a matter of hours, and quite enjoyed, too. He was a man of faith and integrity so unshakable, he was trusted by both Native Americans and white people. (I'm sure I'm failing in political correctness here.)

This is really beyond my pay grade. I was thinking it would be a whole lot easier if you asked what my favorite physics books were: Halliday and Resnick win hands-down for a basic tome. Hewitt's psychedelic texts were far out, groovy, and instructive. I liked the writings of Tesla, but despised his biographies. Deschanel had a cool book for trying to duplicate experiments. I think Craig Bohren understands EM better than anybody I've read (besides myself, of course).

July 5, 2014
6:33 pm
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lunazure
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Hmmm

Jacob Hamlin sounded interesting enough to google... so I did. My goodness, he was prolific enough to be the father of his own nation! Quite complex stuff, and he's all wrapped up in the history of Utah indeed. It was all about freedom to live as you please, in both the case of the local Natives, and the Latter Day Saints. I absolutely can't judge any of our fore-fathers, I suspect some of mine were real dillies (I had an ancestor in Scotland who staked virgins out in the rising tide if they wouldn't make whoopie with him, allegedly) but I agree, a fascinating dynamic man. Good for Hamblin, getting along with the Natives.

Mixing religion and politics is very volitile, which is why our Founding Fathers tried to dis-include that in our Constitution, and I agree with them. I'm hoping some day to meet a Mormon who had read *The Travels of Jamie McPheeters* (Pulitzer prize winner, best book I've ever read on westward expansion, sorta a "Huck Finn goes West" book) so I can get the lowdown on one of the chapters in there; they winter over in SLC. When you mix politics and religion, alas there are often good guys as well as bad guys, it turns into a power struggle. B. Young was painted as a good guy, thankfully.

Have you read *Undaunted Courage* yet? Lewis and Clark, very very good, I recommend it.

You were probably raised on a steady diet of "covered wagons and their inhabitants" makes sense.... it's the same in Oregon, and in Utah. Cultural. Me, I abhored the cover wagon routine in 5th grade.... MAN you'd think that was all there was to American history!!! :P In fact ALL my experiences with history in school stunk, right through graduation. What I know, I learned on my own, had to learn it at home or the library to get my own Native American heritage straight. All except missions in 4th grade... now THOSE were cool (I'd been to San Juan Capistrano as a very small child, and loved the place, still do). My history teachers in High School were lazy prima donnas and gave me Bs just to get me out of the class I think (my parents scared everyone). We never turned in any work, they just blathered for a solid hour and I cracked out a Heinlien novel behind my desk.

I also run screaming from Civil War history. Again, you'd think that was all there was to American history.

I'm sorry to say my physics primers were all Robert Heinlein novels, and more or less he got it straight, and presented it simply for my non math oriented brain. He used several physics concepts (such as time dialation as a funtion of speed) as plot devices.... now THAT is true science fiction! I think my poor physics teacher in High School tippled, and thus I passed with flying colors by more or less showing up for class and covering my papers with number scrawls. Got me through electrical school, enough to fix old jets..... go fly Top Gun zoom zoom.........

Man, did you never read something just for the sheer adventure and beauty of it? I've picked up *Lord of the Rings* again (comfort reading) and I'm so amazed at some of Tolkien's really nice descriptors and his way with words and visualization. I've read it so many times before, but I still find new delight in re-reading it. My mom used to read to us, really fun stuff like *Canterbury Tales* (The Miller's Tale a favorite here!) but she also read about the Three Wise Men at Christmas and that is still one of my favorites. I'm in it for the good stories, for the beauty of visualization from words, and for the adventure. Adventure is out there! And the humor too of course.

July 5, 2014
8:21 pm
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leslee
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No. I was never into covered wagons. I hated that scene. I was more into the Indians, as we called them then. I wanted to run through the woods or the desert living off nature. Then, forty years later, I realized that would have been parasitic off the hard labors of my taxpayer comrades.

I like math because nobody dies and nobody gets hurt.

Paraphrasing one of my former comrades, "Send me a jar of time dilation, and we'll talk about it."

July 5, 2014
9:17 pm
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lunazure
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Those times were wretched. I'm glad I live today in a world that has hot running water for baths. Women had to weed the corn patch. I think I meant "pioneers." Indians is ok.... don't worry about it (only snoots get fussy over it). I can say that, want my role number? No of course not. I think my exact query to my 5th grade teacher was "aren't we going to talk about Indians?" His reply was "we don't have time for cowboys and Indians"............. he really didn't like history I don't think, and man the Conestogas were BBOOOOORrring.........

Well I'd recommend tequila, but you don't do that sort of thing.... Laugh
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
some news about a certain children's book series:

JK Rowling has a new book in store for us all: *Dumbledore's Army: the Dark Side of the Demob*. There are some blurbs from it on her site Pottermore, I thought they were very cute and great for kids reading (they are holding a Quidditch cup, to coincide with the World Cup of course, but this is in Patagonia) New book due out July 31. Rita Skeeter has been on the loose again with her tabloids. Oh dear, that looks a bit familiar.

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