Ayn, Neal and the world around me...

[chrisco37]

I used to be a fairly avid reader. Don't get to do it as much as I'd like to anymore.

 

I never had multiple books going at once (except when I was in college and had multiple literature courses). But, I always did have a stack of them. In my free time in school, I read alot of the "classics". I took an American Lit course in my second year and, when the professor handed out the syllabus, I had read every book on the list. That was pretty nice. When I took my Shakespeare course, I had read nearly every play one the syllabus for that course as well.

 

That's a pretty good list of stuff you've got on your plate. I need to revisit Huck Finn as it's probably been near 15 years since I read it.

 

Never could get into Gaiman (except for his comic book stuff). I don't really do the sci-fi/fantasy genre.

 

You've probably read it, but if you haven't, I highly suggest "The American Political Tradition" (Hofstader). I think you'd find it interesting. He's a little "dry" but it's well worth the read.

 

 

[dover]

You've probably read it, but if you haven't, I highly suggest "The American Political Tradition" (Hofstader). I think you'd find it interesting. He's a little "dry" but it's well worth the read.

 

http://www.amazon.com/American-Political-Tradition-Men-Made/dp/0679723153

 

I believe you are right; I will find this interesting. I already like the brief write up on someone I detest with great passion:

 

 

The chapter on Franklin Delano Roosevelt is fascinating as a study in political pragmatism. Roosevelt ran on a Democratic Party platform for 1932 which rivals one of the most conservative doctrines ever put on paper by an American political party. He initially criticized incumbent President Herbert Hoover for spending too much money in dealing with the Depression and its related effects. Once in office he changed his mind and forged a government activist agenda embraced by progressive reformers.

 

Abraham Lincoln is studied in detail as well within the framework of a very astute political figure with his eye squarely on success in that arena from the beginning, where the "railsplitter" image played well with voters. He purposely straddled the fence on the slavery issue since there was much controversy surrounding the issue even within the fledgling Party which he joined after the Whig Party folded, despite its reputation for being an essentially anti-slavery party.

 

Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson are evaluated as two important political figures who perpetually juggled conservative basic instincts against the need they believed existed for certain progressive systemic reforms. For Roosevelt this meant anti-trust legislation and conservation, while Wilson, whose traditional Virginia conservative roots left him unwilling to budge in the field of race relations, nonetheless undertook mighty electoral reforms embraced by William Jennings Bryan and the populist movement. Bryan is another figure covered in the book.

 

The chapter of Herbert Hoover is also fascinating. Hofstadter envisioned him as the last of the laissez-faire American presidents. In the wake of the great upheavals occurring in America, particularly related to the Great Depression, a political pragmatism later advanced by Roosevelt to stem the tide of unrest was eschewed by Hoover.

 

 

 

Thank you.

[TupennyConan]

All caught up.

[greggy]

[dover]

 

You're killing me.

 

Vettel, two years in a row.

 

Hamilton, and his team, making mistake after mistake.

 

I can't, just can't root for that plain white bread Button.

 

 

 

I do hope we get a group for Autsin F1 race. I have to go, I need a new McLaren hat.

[dover]

Famliy adventure took us to Reed Gold Mine today.

 

The Reed Gold Mine in Cabarrus County, site in 1799 of the first authenticated discovery of gold in the United States, held out the initial golden promise to the people of the Piedmont and the nation.

 

The story of North Carolina's Reed Gold Mine reveals the amazing accidents, drama, and ironies of history that, with variations, occurred in connection with gold rushes around the world. It is the story of an illiterate Hessian mercenary from Germany — an illegal immigrant — who deserted from the British army in Savannah and made his way to backwoods North Carolina, where he settled near Meadow Creek in Mecklenburg County, married, and raised a family. It is the saga of a twelve-year-old boy who went fishing one Sunday and found a seventeen-pound rock that served as a convenient doorstop for three years before being sold to a merchant for a mere $3.50, although it was gold worth a thousand times that modest sum. It is the account of an impoverished slave who found a twenty-eight-pound nugget of gold in a creek while doing part-time mining for his owner. It is the report of a rich mine that was closed for a decade while its owners argued over a hunk of gold in legal battles that reached the state supreme court. It is the topsy-turvy tale of a mine whose last original family owner went broke and sold the property at auction, only to see it resold ten months later for an 800 percent jump in price. It is the narrative of a mining company that, despite tens of thousands of dollars and the latest technology, equipment, and management, failed within a year. It is the legend of a woman murdered by a family member and shoved down a mine shaft. It is the tale of a mine only twenty miles from Charlotte abandoned and kept for a private hunting retreat for seventy years, only to wind up preserved as a state historic site.

 

It is close to our home, free and just another fun little history tour we like to take combining learning with fun and family. You can even pan for gold!

Our son found a small piece as well. The kids of course had already planned on finding a big chunk and just what they would buy.

 

Enterance:

 

Some of the tunnels:

 

Looking up one of the loading shoots:

 

 

Everything was done by hand and hammer. Gun powder was used and measured with this device. Blasting happened at the end of the day so that dust could settle over night:

 

 

A three story high steam drvien rock crusher and automated sifter:

 

 

 

Marker of one of the nugget finds:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dover]

 

 

 

Ayrton Senna De Silva

[Doc Joe]

...and at the far end of the gold mine...a little table with Matt Nelson and a T-shirt press...

[dover]

...and at the far end of the gold mine...a little table with Matt Nelson and a T-shirt press...

 

I think we saw him there. I remember being so naive 6 years ago when I first learned of CGC, then found CLink and started selling my collection. If only I knew then what I know now about pressing. Of course the time travel thing is an endless loop, I know.

 

I still wish I kept my virgin (unpressed) GL 76 CGC 9.2

 

I am sure there are no more in existence.

 

 

 

 

 

[dover]

http://www.clarrissegill.com/videoclips/amazing_grace.php

 

I have always been a sucker for this song.

[dover]

 

I have determined with research gathered in domestic and international venues that it is in fact impossible to run in an airport and look cool at the same time; just cannot be done.

 

I had one subject come close but only becuase they did not have bag of any kind, but still, overall not cool.

 

Just an observation.

 

[dover]

 

 

[dover]

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.

 

One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.

 

His bed was next to the room's only window.

 

The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

 

The men talked for hours on end.

 

They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation..

 

Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

 

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

 

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.

 

Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

 

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene.

 

One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by.

 

Although the other man could not hear the band - he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

 

Days, weeks and months passed.

 

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep.

 

She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

 

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

 

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.

He strained to slowly turn to look out the window besides the bed.

 

It faced a blank wall.

 

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.

 

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

 

She said, 'Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.'

 

Epilogue:

 

There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.

 

Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.

 

If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy.

 

'Today is a gift, that is why it is called The Present .'

 

 

[TupennyConan]

I read that.

 

It was good.

[dover]

It was wonderful, so close on the heels of Eli.

[dover]

 

Flash Farrell, Neal Adams circa 1966

 

I liked it so much, I bought two more.

 

[scooter99]

Flash Farrell, Neal Adams circa 1966

 

I liked it so much, I bought two more.

 

 

So cool! Precursor to the Hot Wheels comics he did.

[dover]

Flash Farrell, Neal Adams circa 1966

 

I liked it so much, I bought two more.

 

 

So cool! Precursor to the Hot Wheels comics he did.

 

Could be. Neal did a lot of advertising work back in the day and even later. He is more than just a comic book artist, for sure.

[dover]

Hamilton P1

 

Red Bull string broken.

 

[greggy]