An interesting STEM Talk by Ros Gleadow, who leads the Plant Ecophysiology and Cyanogenesis Groups and is the coordinator of the core undergraduate science program at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UXhyDMjeF4&list=PL43_xv9rfcDTQ87gosMJHJjEUe7QsU2WK
Small House of Everything
Sunday, December 31, 2017
HYMN TIME
Fro 1968, The Blackwood Brothers, introduced by Johnny Cash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gBgO6G65LE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gBgO6G65LE
Saturday, December 30, 2017
GROAN
Today is Rudyard Kipling's 153rd birthday.
Overheard at a party:
Q: Do you like Kipling?
A: I don't know. I've never kippled.
Overheard at a party:
Q: Do you like Kipling?
A: I don't know. I've never kippled.
THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN ATOM #1 (1950)
There are Captain Atoms and there are Captain Atoms. This one comes from a Chicago outfit called Nation-Wide Publishing Corporation, which managed to publish a total of 64 comics from 1950 to 1954 -- seven or eight of them about Captain Atom. With issue #2, the title was shortened to just Captain Atom. The comic sold for a nickle at a time when most comics were a dime; perhaps this dictated the smaller size (5' by 7-1/4") than is typical for comic books. The Grand Comics Database lists 7 issues of the comic book, ending in 1951, with a separate listing as a comic book (#nn) for a single story "Secret of the Columbian Jungle" in 1952 (the story is actually one included in issue #1 and was reprinted three years later). There is no indication of who either wrote or drew Captain Atom.
Who is this Captain Atom? It seems he's just a smart dude in a funky costume -- boots, blue Speedo, white undershirt, and a red pullover with an emblem that looks like a ringed Saturn and blazing yellow lightning neckline. With the exception of young Jeff, everyone else wears regular garb; Jeff wears a miniature of Captain Atom's costume. Also, Captain Atom doesn't have a day-to-day moniker. It's just Captain Atom. Probably that was the name on his birth certificate.
From page 2 (inside front cover):
"MEET CAPTAIN ATOM!
"At 21 years, the scientific and inventive achievements of young Captain Atom, athlete, adventurer, scholar and outstanding American -- have been so remarkable that they have brought him world-wide fame and recognition. It is Captain Atom's belief -- and he has proven it time and time again -- the a thorough knowledge of the sciences can furnish man with inventions capable of solving most any problem, no matter how large or small, inventions for safety, world peace, world happiness.
"At the present time, Captain Atom's amazing career is being sponsored by Professor King, world traveler and adventurer in his fifties, whose business interests take him from one corner of the globe to the other. Among his many other activities, Captain Atom acts as pilot for the professor's custom-built luxury turbojet airliner. The Captain's personality and scientific talents have already won great affection for him in the hearts of the professor's traveling family: Mrs. King whose passion for the unique and whose glib tongue often gets the "family" into serious trouble; the twelve-year-old twins, Jeff and Carol, who were adopted by the professor when their parents were killed in an tragic accident; Jill Jordan, beautiful girl of nineteen, who acts as nurse and governess for the children -- and Rusty McQuigg, freckled-faced, bright young fellow of 25 who assists the Captain as co-pilot, navigator and radio man.
"As our first story opens, we find Captain Atom and his group on a flight into Northern Spain. As they are just passing over the famous Pyrenees Mountains and are slightly ahead of schedule -- a fact the prompts Mrs. King to make a suggestion that soon will have serious consequences for all of them....."
Notwithstanding the fact that whoever wrote the above needs a remedial English I course, we should be aware that, according to the words emblazoned on the cover, ALL APPROVED ADVENTURE STORIES -- ALL BASED ON SCIENTIFIC FACTS AND THEORIES! -- another bit that should be taken with a grain of salt.
In addition to their adventure in the Pyrenees, this issue has two Captain Atom graphic stories and a two-page text tale of the Captain. The back cover lists six of the amazing inventions that Captain atom uses in this issue.
Enjoy.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=70597&b=i
Who is this Captain Atom? It seems he's just a smart dude in a funky costume -- boots, blue Speedo, white undershirt, and a red pullover with an emblem that looks like a ringed Saturn and blazing yellow lightning neckline. With the exception of young Jeff, everyone else wears regular garb; Jeff wears a miniature of Captain Atom's costume. Also, Captain Atom doesn't have a day-to-day moniker. It's just Captain Atom. Probably that was the name on his birth certificate.
From page 2 (inside front cover):
"MEET CAPTAIN ATOM!
"At 21 years, the scientific and inventive achievements of young Captain Atom, athlete, adventurer, scholar and outstanding American -- have been so remarkable that they have brought him world-wide fame and recognition. It is Captain Atom's belief -- and he has proven it time and time again -- the a thorough knowledge of the sciences can furnish man with inventions capable of solving most any problem, no matter how large or small, inventions for safety, world peace, world happiness.
"At the present time, Captain Atom's amazing career is being sponsored by Professor King, world traveler and adventurer in his fifties, whose business interests take him from one corner of the globe to the other. Among his many other activities, Captain Atom acts as pilot for the professor's custom-built luxury turbojet airliner. The Captain's personality and scientific talents have already won great affection for him in the hearts of the professor's traveling family: Mrs. King whose passion for the unique and whose glib tongue often gets the "family" into serious trouble; the twelve-year-old twins, Jeff and Carol, who were adopted by the professor when their parents were killed in an tragic accident; Jill Jordan, beautiful girl of nineteen, who acts as nurse and governess for the children -- and Rusty McQuigg, freckled-faced, bright young fellow of 25 who assists the Captain as co-pilot, navigator and radio man.
"As our first story opens, we find Captain Atom and his group on a flight into Northern Spain. As they are just passing over the famous Pyrenees Mountains and are slightly ahead of schedule -- a fact the prompts Mrs. King to make a suggestion that soon will have serious consequences for all of them....."
Notwithstanding the fact that whoever wrote the above needs a remedial English I course, we should be aware that, according to the words emblazoned on the cover, ALL APPROVED ADVENTURE STORIES -- ALL BASED ON SCIENTIFIC FACTS AND THEORIES! -- another bit that should be taken with a grain of salt.
In addition to their adventure in the Pyrenees, this issue has two Captain Atom graphic stories and a two-page text tale of the Captain. The back cover lists six of the amazing inventions that Captain atom uses in this issue.
Enjoy.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=70597&b=i
Friday, December 29, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: THE OLD MAN DOWN THE ROAD
John Fogerty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbSGMRZsN4Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbSGMRZsN4Q
FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE MOUSETRAP AND OTHER PLAYS
The Mousetrap and Other Plays by Agatha Christie (1978)
Eight of Dame Agatha's murderous plays are included in this collection.
The title play (based on Christie's short story "Three Blind Mice," which, in turn, was based on a short 1947 radio play) opened on London's West End in 1952 and has been running continuously ever since -- over 27,000 performances! It is the longest running initial run of any play in history. Thater-goers are asked not to reveal the twist ending. Per Agatha Christie's instructions, only one other production of the play is allowed to be performed each year and the short story "Three Blind Mice" is not allowed to be published in England until the play has been closed for six months (although it has been published in the United States in the collection Three Blind Mice and Other Stories.in 1950, two years before the play opened. The Mousetrtap was based on the real-life case of Dennis O'Neill, who died at the hands of abusive foster parents in 1945.
Ten Little Indians (1943), is a classic Christie story that was adapted from her 1939 novel. The play, like the novel, had the (unfortunate) original title of Ten Little Niggers; it was later changed to And Then There None; and finally to the present title. Christie altered the ending for the play.
Witness for the Prosecution (1953) is based on 1925 story "Traitor Hands." The story got its present title in Christie's 1933 British collection The Hound of Death; it appeared in the United States in the 1948 collection Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories. The story is perhaps best known for the 1957 film version with Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich, and Elsa Lanchester. The play won the New York Drama Critics circle Award as best foreign play.
Three of the plays are based on Hecule Poirot novels, although the stage adaptations omit the little Belgian and his magnificent gray cells. Appointment with Death (1945) is based on Christie's 1935 mystery and takes place in Jerusalem and a traveler's camp in Petra. The character of Miss Price was created by Joan Hickson, who would go to play Christie's Miss Marple 39 years later. The Hollow (1951) is adapted from her 1946 novel and deals with the murder of a self-centered doctor during a weekend party on an estate; an unintentional death closes the play. Go Back for Murder (1960) comes from the 1942 novel Five Little Pigs (U.S. title Murder in Retrospect). In the play, Poirot is replaced by a young lawyer, Justin Fogg.
Towards Zero (1956) is based on Christie's 1944 novel -- the last of three to featured Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard and concerns the murder of Lady Tressilian and a fiendish plot to destroy another.
The one original play in the collection is Verdict (1958). Unusual for a Christie play, the murder actually takes place onstage. Dame Agatha said, "I still think it is the best play I have written with the exception of Witness for the Prosecution."
It's interesting to see how the author manages to make to transformation from novel or short story to the stage. All eight plays make for enjoyable reading. Christie still remains the queen of them all.
Eight of Dame Agatha's murderous plays are included in this collection.
The title play (based on Christie's short story "Three Blind Mice," which, in turn, was based on a short 1947 radio play) opened on London's West End in 1952 and has been running continuously ever since -- over 27,000 performances! It is the longest running initial run of any play in history. Thater-goers are asked not to reveal the twist ending. Per Agatha Christie's instructions, only one other production of the play is allowed to be performed each year and the short story "Three Blind Mice" is not allowed to be published in England until the play has been closed for six months (although it has been published in the United States in the collection Three Blind Mice and Other Stories.in 1950, two years before the play opened. The Mousetrtap was based on the real-life case of Dennis O'Neill, who died at the hands of abusive foster parents in 1945.
Ten Little Indians (1943), is a classic Christie story that was adapted from her 1939 novel. The play, like the novel, had the (unfortunate) original title of Ten Little Niggers; it was later changed to And Then There None; and finally to the present title. Christie altered the ending for the play.
Witness for the Prosecution (1953) is based on 1925 story "Traitor Hands." The story got its present title in Christie's 1933 British collection The Hound of Death; it appeared in the United States in the 1948 collection Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories. The story is perhaps best known for the 1957 film version with Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich, and Elsa Lanchester. The play won the New York Drama Critics circle Award as best foreign play.
Three of the plays are based on Hecule Poirot novels, although the stage adaptations omit the little Belgian and his magnificent gray cells. Appointment with Death (1945) is based on Christie's 1935 mystery and takes place in Jerusalem and a traveler's camp in Petra. The character of Miss Price was created by Joan Hickson, who would go to play Christie's Miss Marple 39 years later. The Hollow (1951) is adapted from her 1946 novel and deals with the murder of a self-centered doctor during a weekend party on an estate; an unintentional death closes the play. Go Back for Murder (1960) comes from the 1942 novel Five Little Pigs (U.S. title Murder in Retrospect). In the play, Poirot is replaced by a young lawyer, Justin Fogg.
Towards Zero (1956) is based on Christie's 1944 novel -- the last of three to featured Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard and concerns the murder of Lady Tressilian and a fiendish plot to destroy another.
The one original play in the collection is Verdict (1958). Unusual for a Christie play, the murder actually takes place onstage. Dame Agatha said, "I still think it is the best play I have written with the exception of Witness for the Prosecution."
It's interesting to see how the author manages to make to transformation from novel or short story to the stage. All eight plays make for enjoyable reading. Christie still remains the queen of them all.
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