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Apr. 11th, 2006 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
After the weight of the last post, this is all light things. Here's the
I've seen different versions of this with different quantities of events, but the idea is the same all around; go to Wikipedia, type in your birth day (But not year), see what comes up, post the results that msot interest you. I tried to do it as three in each category, but the first one overflowed:
Events
* 1876 - Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Colonel George Armstrong Custer.
* 1950 - The beginning of the Korean War.
* 1975 - Mozambique achieved independence.
* 1991 - Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia.
* 1993 - Kim Campbell is chosen as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and becomes the first female Prime Minister of Canada.
The last is included *because* it doesn't count. Kim Campbell was not elected, and was kicked out a few months later when the election went as predicted and the backlash against the Progressive Conservatives (Mostly based on Brian Mulroney's umpteen years, not on her few months) reduced them from the Majority party down to 2 whole seats. We're still waiting for a real female Prime Minister.
Births
* 1903 - George Orwell, (Eric Arthur Blair) British writer (d. 1950)
* 1852 - Antoni Gaudí, Catalan architect (d. 1926)
* 1963 - George Michael, English singer
One good, one I at least know, one that embarrasses me. My brother is luckier; he shares his Birthday with Shakespeare.
Deaths
* 1767 - Georg Philipp Telemann, German composer (b. 1681)
* 1976 - Johnny Mercer, American songwriter (b. 1909)
* 1997 - Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French explorer, scientist, and inventor (b. 1910)
(I felt it would be cheating to mention Custer again.)
Holidays and Observances
* Statehood Day in Slovenia and Croatia
* Mozambique – Independence Day
_______________________________________
In my last comments on books I'd read lately, I managed to entirely miss P.G. Wodehouse, "Carry on, Jeeves". This was my emergency book in my backpack, for when I would end up somewhere alone, on a long bus or in a restaurant, and needed something. (I learned some time ago that there pretty much has to be one, or I'll find the nearest bookstore and get one.)
Anyhow, I've bounced off two books so far; the Sea voyage fantasy-ish one I first passed up for Master and Commander. I nibbled a few more chapters, and so far, the mian problem I have is, in spite of the emphasis on the boat and its crew in the blurbs, so far, we've only seen them in ports, not on the journey. And the actual direction of the plot suggests this is in fact the pattern for the story. We're also seeing a whole lot of various inland political factions, some more obviously evil than others. It sounds like a story about resaisting conquest - but because some of the characters move around in a boat doing subterfuge-ish things, it's been painted as a sea story. I was not in the mood for the former, so it lost me.
It also has a very bad habit of "As you know Bob" dialogue, although more subtle than some books, and of other blunt bits of language.
The second one I can't explain why I dropped. The opening has promise, the writing is smooth, everyone who's reviewed it and shares my tastes has recommended it. But I put it done, not so much with the feeling that it wasn't any good, but that this wasn't the right time to be reading it. I either wasn't ready yet, or it was past its reading date.
That happens.
coffeeem's Bone Dance was like that. After finding and loving her other two books available at the time, I took it from the library, and bounced it back hardly read. Two years later, I picked it up again, and... wham. It's my favourite of hers.
I'd decided I was in a sort of mood for soemthign vaguely Regency/Victorian, but I wanted to save the thin-paged, compact books like Trollope and Dumas for the trip overseas, when I'd need a lot of reading material in a small space. So, naturally, I picked up the obvious; John M. Ford's Star Trek Novel, "How Much for Just the Planet?" (Yes, I own exactly one Star Trek novel, but it's the special one, that gets exemptions for media-tie-in loathers. However, in my teen years, I even had a few Next Generation ones, and read several Original Series ones.) This is a rather fun send-up of itself, Star Trek as Musical Comedy, with parodies/tributes to several other genres along the way. JOhn M. Ford is a friggin' genius. And this is a case of him using his vast powers for great evil.
A bit more in line with my apparant mood, I've begun Caroline Stevermer's A Scholar of Magics. So far, it has be interested, if not as passionately as the first book did.
And I've been reading tidbits of guidebooks on Malta, but I haven't been reading them almost right through, as Colin seems to sometimes do.
___________________________
Things on my walks home that have made me smile:
- the little girl sweeping about in a fake-velvet black cape, hopping onto the back bar of her sister's bright pink tricycle and whirling herself about their yard.
- the river's height worries me, as it ought (And I did see that the back of a friend's apartment building had to be sandbagged), but ducks paddling about the thin branches of the undergrowth, between massive elms -- that just looks wrong in a way that is so right.
- Green shoots trying to peep out amid duller green foliage left from last year, and dead yellow bits. Even though some of them are dandelions.
- It's nice to see the sparrows getting mroe active after their winter shivers, and nicer to see the grackles and the robins back. But on Edmonton street, there's a parking area under a church auditorium, with knee-high mesh-covered windows near its cieling, looking out onto the sidewalk. Walking past, it sounded as if the entire lot had to be filled not with cars but with sparrows, their calls rebounding and redoubling hollowly for every passerby.
____________________________
For those who want real news, we attended a wedding on the weekend, a James Bond theme, more tastefully than you'd think considering. I knew one person there besides Colin (I'd met the Bride & groom, but only once), and I wasn't really willing to go out onto the dance floor alone, so I'm just as glad Colin begged off due to tiredness and ear infection. Evidence later that night suggest he also caught a bit of the stomach flu that kicked me for about one evening and a day last week.
Our own cake, flowers, and music man are now set. And now we have the estimate of costs for the reception, and... eek. I missed one major payment issue, and failed to take another into account. I need to talk to Dad again. I really don't want the bulk of this to fall on Mom. She's talking about taking out another loan. Of course, it's now too late to decide to back off on things I earlier felt were "Musts" for this so-called special day. Besides, the biggest cost was people,a dn there's nobody i would cut from the list, and aothers I'd be tempted to add.
I've begun my planned Easter Weekend cleaning early, with a serious bout of washing -- finally doing all the hand-laundry except one sweater. My Salwar Kameez are both ready to go again. Although I need a new one for Mark & Tammy's Wedding in June. I'm getting addicted to these outfits.
I've seen different versions of this with different quantities of events, but the idea is the same all around; go to Wikipedia, type in your birth day (But not year), see what comes up, post the results that msot interest you. I tried to do it as three in each category, but the first one overflowed:
Events
* 1876 - Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Colonel George Armstrong Custer.
* 1950 - The beginning of the Korean War.
* 1975 - Mozambique achieved independence.
* 1991 - Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia.
* 1993 - Kim Campbell is chosen as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and becomes the first female Prime Minister of Canada.
The last is included *because* it doesn't count. Kim Campbell was not elected, and was kicked out a few months later when the election went as predicted and the backlash against the Progressive Conservatives (Mostly based on Brian Mulroney's umpteen years, not on her few months) reduced them from the Majority party down to 2 whole seats. We're still waiting for a real female Prime Minister.
Births
* 1903 - George Orwell, (Eric Arthur Blair) British writer (d. 1950)
* 1852 - Antoni Gaudí, Catalan architect (d. 1926)
* 1963 - George Michael, English singer
One good, one I at least know, one that embarrasses me. My brother is luckier; he shares his Birthday with Shakespeare.
Deaths
* 1767 - Georg Philipp Telemann, German composer (b. 1681)
* 1976 - Johnny Mercer, American songwriter (b. 1909)
* 1997 - Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French explorer, scientist, and inventor (b. 1910)
(I felt it would be cheating to mention Custer again.)
Holidays and Observances
* Statehood Day in Slovenia and Croatia
* Mozambique – Independence Day
_______________________________________
In my last comments on books I'd read lately, I managed to entirely miss P.G. Wodehouse, "Carry on, Jeeves". This was my emergency book in my backpack, for when I would end up somewhere alone, on a long bus or in a restaurant, and needed something. (I learned some time ago that there pretty much has to be one, or I'll find the nearest bookstore and get one.)
Anyhow, I've bounced off two books so far; the Sea voyage fantasy-ish one I first passed up for Master and Commander. I nibbled a few more chapters, and so far, the mian problem I have is, in spite of the emphasis on the boat and its crew in the blurbs, so far, we've only seen them in ports, not on the journey. And the actual direction of the plot suggests this is in fact the pattern for the story. We're also seeing a whole lot of various inland political factions, some more obviously evil than others. It sounds like a story about resaisting conquest - but because some of the characters move around in a boat doing subterfuge-ish things, it's been painted as a sea story. I was not in the mood for the former, so it lost me.
It also has a very bad habit of "As you know Bob" dialogue, although more subtle than some books, and of other blunt bits of language.
The second one I can't explain why I dropped. The opening has promise, the writing is smooth, everyone who's reviewed it and shares my tastes has recommended it. But I put it done, not so much with the feeling that it wasn't any good, but that this wasn't the right time to be reading it. I either wasn't ready yet, or it was past its reading date.
That happens.
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I'd decided I was in a sort of mood for soemthign vaguely Regency/Victorian, but I wanted to save the thin-paged, compact books like Trollope and Dumas for the trip overseas, when I'd need a lot of reading material in a small space. So, naturally, I picked up the obvious; John M. Ford's Star Trek Novel, "How Much for Just the Planet?" (Yes, I own exactly one Star Trek novel, but it's the special one, that gets exemptions for media-tie-in loathers. However, in my teen years, I even had a few Next Generation ones, and read several Original Series ones.) This is a rather fun send-up of itself, Star Trek as Musical Comedy, with parodies/tributes to several other genres along the way. JOhn M. Ford is a friggin' genius. And this is a case of him using his vast powers for great evil.
A bit more in line with my apparant mood, I've begun Caroline Stevermer's A Scholar of Magics. So far, it has be interested, if not as passionately as the first book did.
And I've been reading tidbits of guidebooks on Malta, but I haven't been reading them almost right through, as Colin seems to sometimes do.
___________________________
Things on my walks home that have made me smile:
- the little girl sweeping about in a fake-velvet black cape, hopping onto the back bar of her sister's bright pink tricycle and whirling herself about their yard.
- the river's height worries me, as it ought (And I did see that the back of a friend's apartment building had to be sandbagged), but ducks paddling about the thin branches of the undergrowth, between massive elms -- that just looks wrong in a way that is so right.
- Green shoots trying to peep out amid duller green foliage left from last year, and dead yellow bits. Even though some of them are dandelions.
- It's nice to see the sparrows getting mroe active after their winter shivers, and nicer to see the grackles and the robins back. But on Edmonton street, there's a parking area under a church auditorium, with knee-high mesh-covered windows near its cieling, looking out onto the sidewalk. Walking past, it sounded as if the entire lot had to be filled not with cars but with sparrows, their calls rebounding and redoubling hollowly for every passerby.
____________________________
For those who want real news, we attended a wedding on the weekend, a James Bond theme, more tastefully than you'd think considering. I knew one person there besides Colin (I'd met the Bride & groom, but only once), and I wasn't really willing to go out onto the dance floor alone, so I'm just as glad Colin begged off due to tiredness and ear infection. Evidence later that night suggest he also caught a bit of the stomach flu that kicked me for about one evening and a day last week.
Our own cake, flowers, and music man are now set. And now we have the estimate of costs for the reception, and... eek. I missed one major payment issue, and failed to take another into account. I need to talk to Dad again. I really don't want the bulk of this to fall on Mom. She's talking about taking out another loan. Of course, it's now too late to decide to back off on things I earlier felt were "Musts" for this so-called special day. Besides, the biggest cost was people,a dn there's nobody i would cut from the list, and aothers I'd be tempted to add.
I've begun my planned Easter Weekend cleaning early, with a serious bout of washing -- finally doing all the hand-laundry except one sweater. My Salwar Kameez are both ready to go again. Although I need a new one for Mark & Tammy's Wedding in June. I'm getting addicted to these outfits.