THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY
Had to let items accumulate during the busy week. Anyway:
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” by Washington Irving. A famous ghostly tale. Also Preface and first sketches of The Sketch Book.
The Spooky Thing, William O. Steele (jv) – Funniest thing I ever read (as a little kid), and Cubby agrees. A tall tale from Tennessee, adapted by Steele, full of exaggerations and quips that have stayed with me all my life. I often say I have double-distilled dropsy or the dry wobbles when I’m sick. But the Spooky Thing itself is quite a nasty monster!
“On the Trail of the Brontosaurus,” by “Fulann” (Captain W. Hichens) – from BFR website, originally from Chamber’s Journal, Oct. 1927. Dinosaurs, Chemosit, Nunda, and other monsters in Africa!
“Lizzie Borden’s House,” “Tatum’s Ghost,” “Ghostly Attraction,” “Comedy Store Ghosts,” “Devil’s Backbone,” ghostly segments from Unsolved Mysteries. We’re getting into the Halloween spirit, all right!
TWENTY-SECOND DAY
“The Lottery,” “Biography of a Story,” “Tootie in Peonage,” “Janice”, Shirley Jackson (ss) – finally stories by a female writer. “Biography” tells of all the lunatics who wrote in about “The Lottery”. And “Lottery” is another scary tale.
“Then I Wasn’t Alone,” “Shiver in the Pines,” M. W. Wellman (ss)
The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Robert Browning – more poetry, this effort is about a mysterious character who can control rats – and children – with his music.
How to Take Care of Your Monster, Norman Bridwell (jv) – funny book on owning a monster as a pet. We’ve seen all these monsters in Famous Monsters. Now how about movies and stories about them?
“How It All Began,” Kenneth Arnold, from Proceedings of the First UFO Congress by Curtis Fuller – Don’t usually list a single article by itself (unless Xeroxed or clipped from a magazine), but this tells us of the origin of “Flying Saucers” in 1947 (the name, at least). Much like “Ishtar Gate” is like the seed of Cryptozoology, and the Ford’s Theater clipping, telling of Lincoln being seen after death, slid us into the area of ghosts.
Lone Ranger, “The Legion of Old-Timers”
Jonny Quest, “Pursuit of the Po-Ho”
Thirty books read = 1/160 of the way through!
TWENTY-FIFTH DAY
Mazeppa, “Chinchilla Attack #2,” “Slow-Motion School”; Superman, “The Mechanical Monsters”; Zorro’s Fighting Legion, “Chapter Two: The Flaming Z”; Nosferatu (1922 horror) – We learn about vampires big time!
“The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Black Cat,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Premature Burial,” “The Raven,” and “The Conqueror Worm,” stories and poems by Edgar Allen Poe – very Halloweeny.
Whales, Dolphins, and Other Marine Mammals, George S. Fichter – a Golden Nature Guide.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
15th, 16th, 18th Days
THE FIFTEENTH DAY
Ren & Stimpy, “Ren’s Toothache,” “Nurse Stimpy,” “The Cat that Laid the Golden Hairball” plus two Powdered Toastman commercials. A bit of a jump from early, basic Warners and Disney cartoons to this, but – just felt like seeing them.
All Creatures Great and Small, “Horse Sense” – The perfect follow-up to Usborne Farm Animals. More real animals are seen, and Cubby wonders where places like Yorkshire and Glasgow are.
At Last the 1948 Show episode #1 – Ancestor of Monty Python from 1967 – John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Marty Feldman, and Graham Chapman.
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919 horror) – should have gone with “Mazeppa” airing last week. Just about the oldest horror movie.
THE SIXTEENTH DAY
“The Attempt on Everest” (London Times, Oct. 21, 1921); “The Abominable Snowmen” (ca. Nov. 1, 1921); “Abominable Snowmen: A Traveller’s Experience” (Nov. 3, 1921 p. 11) – Cryptozoological news clippings. The Howard Bury expedition gave us the name “Abominable Snowman.”
Goofy in “Giant Trouble”, Don Christensen – a Big Little Book from 1968. Part of my childhood. Odd reading Mickey Mouse and Goofy in prose.
The Lone Ranger, “The Lone Ranger’s Triumph” – third episode ends a storyline, like a mini-serial.
Jonny Quest, “Curse of Anubis” – Whatever a “mummy” is, says Cubby, don’t violate its tomb!
Biography: Ed Gein – VHS copy. Account of a weird killer. Kind of appropriate for an autumn evening.
Doc Savage #1: The Man of Bronze, Kenneth Robeson – first in the series of pulp books about the proto-superman Clark Savage, Junior and his Fabulous Five!
THE EIGHTEENTH DAY
Famous Monsters of Filmland no. 37 (February 1966) – Many years ago a little child flipped through this very issue of Forry Ackerman’s magazine in a tiny Tulsa drugstore, but his mother made him put it back on the shelf. Now Cubby has finally read it! He at least knows the names and faces of quite a number of – well – famous monsters. Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman, the Mummy . . . And like any red-blooded American lad, he wants more!
Kennedy Half Dollars, 1964-2003 – Coin collecting albums, surprisingly full. More half-dollars to go with his 2000 S “proof” coin. Coins are shiny and round . . . he might collect more of these, too.
The Avengers, “The Cybernauts” – Can John Steed and Emma Peel stop these steel automatons that go around terminating people? The talk in this programme (Brit. Spelling), about a new “circuit” that’s going to replace the transistor – computers and TVs that will fit in your pocket – is pretty amazing for 1965, and does better than some actual SF films and fiction of the era.
“Dragon of the Ishtar Gate,” an excerpt from The Lungfish and the Unicorn by Willy Ley (1941) – a chapter from the earliest cryptozoological book, which gave the world the word “Mokele-Mbembe”. Could the Sirrush of ancient Babylon and the Mokele-Mbembe of central Africa be dinosaurs? Fun to imagine, at least.
Ren & Stimpy, “Ren’s Toothache,” “Nurse Stimpy,” “The Cat that Laid the Golden Hairball” plus two Powdered Toastman commercials. A bit of a jump from early, basic Warners and Disney cartoons to this, but – just felt like seeing them.
All Creatures Great and Small, “Horse Sense” – The perfect follow-up to Usborne Farm Animals. More real animals are seen, and Cubby wonders where places like Yorkshire and Glasgow are.
At Last the 1948 Show episode #1 – Ancestor of Monty Python from 1967 – John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Marty Feldman, and Graham Chapman.
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919 horror) – should have gone with “Mazeppa” airing last week. Just about the oldest horror movie.
THE SIXTEENTH DAY
“The Attempt on Everest” (London Times, Oct. 21, 1921); “The Abominable Snowmen” (ca. Nov. 1, 1921); “Abominable Snowmen: A Traveller’s Experience” (Nov. 3, 1921 p. 11) – Cryptozoological news clippings. The Howard Bury expedition gave us the name “Abominable Snowman.”
Goofy in “Giant Trouble”, Don Christensen – a Big Little Book from 1968. Part of my childhood. Odd reading Mickey Mouse and Goofy in prose.
The Lone Ranger, “The Lone Ranger’s Triumph” – third episode ends a storyline, like a mini-serial.
Jonny Quest, “Curse of Anubis” – Whatever a “mummy” is, says Cubby, don’t violate its tomb!
Biography: Ed Gein – VHS copy. Account of a weird killer. Kind of appropriate for an autumn evening.
Doc Savage #1: The Man of Bronze, Kenneth Robeson – first in the series of pulp books about the proto-superman Clark Savage, Junior and his Fabulous Five!
THE EIGHTEENTH DAY
Famous Monsters of Filmland no. 37 (February 1966) – Many years ago a little child flipped through this very issue of Forry Ackerman’s magazine in a tiny Tulsa drugstore, but his mother made him put it back on the shelf. Now Cubby has finally read it! He at least knows the names and faces of quite a number of – well – famous monsters. Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman, the Mummy . . . And like any red-blooded American lad, he wants more!
Kennedy Half Dollars, 1964-2003 – Coin collecting albums, surprisingly full. More half-dollars to go with his 2000 S “proof” coin. Coins are shiny and round . . . he might collect more of these, too.
The Avengers, “The Cybernauts” – Can John Steed and Emma Peel stop these steel automatons that go around terminating people? The talk in this programme (Brit. Spelling), about a new “circuit” that’s going to replace the transistor – computers and TVs that will fit in your pocket – is pretty amazing for 1965, and does better than some actual SF films and fiction of the era.
“Dragon of the Ishtar Gate,” an excerpt from The Lungfish and the Unicorn by Willy Ley (1941) – a chapter from the earliest cryptozoological book, which gave the world the word “Mokele-Mbembe”. Could the Sirrush of ancient Babylon and the Mokele-Mbembe of central Africa be dinosaurs? Fun to imagine, at least.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Twelfth and Fourteenth Days
THE TWELFTH DAY
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “The Lorax”, Dr. Seuss – A Christmas classic and a tale of environmental catastrophe from the good doctor. They finish off the volume “Six by Seuss.”
LIFE Magazine vol. 11 no. 12 (September 2, 2011) – “In the Land of the Free,” September 11 memorial issue, updated. Didn’t intend to read it so soon, but couldn’t put it down. Cubby has seen war and murder, so he might as well see terrorism. (Don’t know what the volume number signifies. A “new series,” as old magazines often had?) This is the most recent publication he has yet come across.
Twenty-four books down = 1/200 of the entire lot. Quite a bit for twelve days! Of course, the majority are longer and more involved than Dr. Seuss . . .
THE FOURTEENTH DAY
We skipped a day! After the tumult of trying to get tons of reading and viewing and listening done early on, Cubby will settle down into a pattern. After all, real world things like work slow things down.
“Besides a Dinosaur, Whatta Ya Wanna Be When You Grow Up?”, “Lo, the Dear, Daft Dinosaurs!”, “What If I Said, the Dinosaur’s not Dead?”, “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” (sf ss) finish off Dinosaur Tales by Ray Bradbury.
“Lithobolia, or, the Stone-Throwing Devil,” excerpt from Legends of the New England Coast by Edward Rowe Snow – Early poltergeist story.
The Thing from Another World (1951 sf) – the earliest ‘50s SF movie I have starts off “Fantastic Theater.” Superman was a benevolent visitor from another planet – here’s a nasty one!
Observations after the first two weeks (a fortnight): The Cubster has seen six movies, fifteen TV episodes, and numerous cartoons and assorted bits. He’s read 25 books and many excerpts.
Science fiction he knows mainly from a few Bradbury stories, Superman’s origin, and a few TV viewings, like Twilight Zone and “The Thing”. This definitely needs improving! Fantasy – mainly juveniles so far. Horror – the Silver John stories, though science fiction shows can be scary. Mysteries – two mystery-type movies so far. Comedy comes from cartoons, Red Skelton, and the Marx Brothers. Westerns – there’s been Stagecoach and The Lone Ranger.
Some of the ghost and cryptozoology articles were certainly scary. I’d like to have more history and science before unleashing forteana on Cubby, though.
Science has come mainly from the little book Stars, as well as the NASA shows. Dinosaurs and prehistoric eras have popped up several times. History has come from Victory, NASA, and books like Discovering the World. The LIFE magazine has shows us a harsh bit of modern history. Washington and Lincoln, so far, are the names of individuals he knows best, though he has seen Churchill, FDR, Alan Shepherd, and John Glenn. The biggest need is for more female authors and historical personages.
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “The Lorax”, Dr. Seuss – A Christmas classic and a tale of environmental catastrophe from the good doctor. They finish off the volume “Six by Seuss.”
LIFE Magazine vol. 11 no. 12 (September 2, 2011) – “In the Land of the Free,” September 11 memorial issue, updated. Didn’t intend to read it so soon, but couldn’t put it down. Cubby has seen war and murder, so he might as well see terrorism. (Don’t know what the volume number signifies. A “new series,” as old magazines often had?) This is the most recent publication he has yet come across.
Twenty-four books down = 1/200 of the entire lot. Quite a bit for twelve days! Of course, the majority are longer and more involved than Dr. Seuss . . .
THE FOURTEENTH DAY
We skipped a day! After the tumult of trying to get tons of reading and viewing and listening done early on, Cubby will settle down into a pattern. After all, real world things like work slow things down.
“Besides a Dinosaur, Whatta Ya Wanna Be When You Grow Up?”, “Lo, the Dear, Daft Dinosaurs!”, “What If I Said, the Dinosaur’s not Dead?”, “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” (sf ss) finish off Dinosaur Tales by Ray Bradbury.
“Lithobolia, or, the Stone-Throwing Devil,” excerpt from Legends of the New England Coast by Edward Rowe Snow – Early poltergeist story.
The Thing from Another World (1951 sf) – the earliest ‘50s SF movie I have starts off “Fantastic Theater.” Superman was a benevolent visitor from another planet – here’s a nasty one!
Observations after the first two weeks (a fortnight): The Cubster has seen six movies, fifteen TV episodes, and numerous cartoons and assorted bits. He’s read 25 books and many excerpts.
Science fiction he knows mainly from a few Bradbury stories, Superman’s origin, and a few TV viewings, like Twilight Zone and “The Thing”. This definitely needs improving! Fantasy – mainly juveniles so far. Horror – the Silver John stories, though science fiction shows can be scary. Mysteries – two mystery-type movies so far. Comedy comes from cartoons, Red Skelton, and the Marx Brothers. Westerns – there’s been Stagecoach and The Lone Ranger.
Some of the ghost and cryptozoology articles were certainly scary. I’d like to have more history and science before unleashing forteana on Cubby, though.
Science has come mainly from the little book Stars, as well as the NASA shows. Dinosaurs and prehistoric eras have popped up several times. History has come from Victory, NASA, and books like Discovering the World. The LIFE magazine has shows us a harsh bit of modern history. Washington and Lincoln, so far, are the names of individuals he knows best, though he has seen Churchill, FDR, Alan Shepherd, and John Glenn. The biggest need is for more female authors and historical personages.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Tenth and Eleventh Days
THE TENTH DAY (Oct. 10, 2011)
Stars, Herbert S. Zim and Robert Baker – This Golden Nature Guide really opens up the Universe! Now we know of stars, galaxies, comets, and other planets; we know the Main Sequence of stars, and that Antares, if placed where the Sun is now, would reach past Mars, and that the Great Comet of 1843 had a tail three hundred million miles long. One page tells us of men landing on the Moon!
Detective Comics No. 28 (June 1939), “Frenchie Blake’s Jewel Gang,” another Bat-Man adventure.
Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories, Dr. Seuss (jv).
The Lone Ranger, “The Lone Ranger Fights On” – Will the Ranger and Tonto triumph?
Jonny Quest, “Arctic Splashdown” – The Quest group has been joined by a character named Hadji.
Twilight Zone, “Where Is Everybody?” – A mysterious tale that ends up, again, with men heading into space.
“Chinchilla Attack #1,” “Dialing for Dullards,” from the local show Mazeppa Pompazoidie’s Uncanny Film Festival and Camp Meeting, starring Gailard Sartain, circa 1971. Fleischer animated Superman, “The Mad Scientist;” Zorro’s Fighting Legion Chapter One, “The Golden God.” Creating my own Saturday matinee-type show, with a funny skit, a cartoon, a serial chapter, and an old movie. Cubby recognizes Superman, at least.
THE ELEVENTH DAY
Victory at Sea, “Sealing the Breach” – those Nazi U-Boats are nasty.
NASA, “The Four Days of Gemini IV” – The world learns a new word: EVA. Although technically that’s not a word, but an acronym for Extra-Vehicular Activity.
The Avengers, “Town of No Return” – British action and intrigue with John Steed and Emma Peel.
“Why They’re Called That,” “One Other,” Manly Wade Wellman (horror ss) – more Silver John.
Strangely Enough!, Carroll B. Colby – The one true introduction to ghosts, flying saucers, mysterious disappearances, and other fortean phenomena, plus lost treasures, historical oddities, and amazing adventures!
Stars, Herbert S. Zim and Robert Baker – This Golden Nature Guide really opens up the Universe! Now we know of stars, galaxies, comets, and other planets; we know the Main Sequence of stars, and that Antares, if placed where the Sun is now, would reach past Mars, and that the Great Comet of 1843 had a tail three hundred million miles long. One page tells us of men landing on the Moon!
Detective Comics No. 28 (June 1939), “Frenchie Blake’s Jewel Gang,” another Bat-Man adventure.
Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories, Dr. Seuss (jv).
The Lone Ranger, “The Lone Ranger Fights On” – Will the Ranger and Tonto triumph?
Jonny Quest, “Arctic Splashdown” – The Quest group has been joined by a character named Hadji.
Twilight Zone, “Where Is Everybody?” – A mysterious tale that ends up, again, with men heading into space.
“Chinchilla Attack #1,” “Dialing for Dullards,” from the local show Mazeppa Pompazoidie’s Uncanny Film Festival and Camp Meeting, starring Gailard Sartain, circa 1971. Fleischer animated Superman, “The Mad Scientist;” Zorro’s Fighting Legion Chapter One, “The Golden God.” Creating my own Saturday matinee-type show, with a funny skit, a cartoon, a serial chapter, and an old movie. Cubby recognizes Superman, at least.
THE ELEVENTH DAY
Victory at Sea, “Sealing the Breach” – those Nazi U-Boats are nasty.
NASA, “The Four Days of Gemini IV” – The world learns a new word: EVA. Although technically that’s not a word, but an acronym for Extra-Vehicular Activity.
The Avengers, “Town of No Return” – British action and intrigue with John Steed and Emma Peel.
“Why They’re Called That,” “One Other,” Manly Wade Wellman (horror ss) – more Silver John.
Strangely Enough!, Carroll B. Colby – The one true introduction to ghosts, flying saucers, mysterious disappearances, and other fortean phenomena, plus lost treasures, historical oddities, and amazing adventures!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The Eighth Day/ The Ninth Day
THE EIGHT DAY (October 8, 2011)
Thistle & Shamrock #805, “A Celtic Harvest” and #806, “The Water is Wide.”
Horton Hatches the Egg, Dr. Seuss – Pretty funny, yet Horton the Elephant’s faithfulness and friendliness impressed Cubby.
Superman comic strip, “Jewel Smugglers” (3/20 – 4/1, 1939) and “The Skyscraper of Death” (4/3 – 4/28, 1939).
The Strength of Lions & the Flight of Eagles, Joe Nigg – The greatest birthday card ever, a mini-pamphlet about gryphons! At last the bird-beasts have come into their own.
“The Rocket Man,” “The Golden Apples of the Sun,” Ray Bradbury (sf ss)
Ice Age Monsters: Woolly Rhinoceros, Rupert Oliver (jv nf) – Another look at prehistoric critters. The Homotherium that attacks the rhino looks like a prehistoric werewolf (although Cubby hasn’t officially discovered werewolves yet).
Warner Brothers Cartoons: “A Tale of Two Kitties,” “An Itch in Time,” “Ding Dong Daddy.”
The Maltese Falcon (1941 mystery) plus DVD extras – It feels like Cubby has covered the basics of classic movies – John Wayne, Hitchcock, The Lost World for science fiction and monsters, and now Humphrey Bogart.
THE NINTH DAY (Oct. 9, 2011)
The Sneetches and Other Stories, Dr. Seuss (jv) – more funny stories, but those empty walking pants freaked Cubby out!
Excerpt from The Story of My Life, Augustus Hare – includes a phantom carriage, a banshee tale, and the Vampire of Croglin Grange. Pretty scary, but Cubby wanted scary stories!
“A Sound of Thunder,” Ray Bradbury (sf ss) – astounding use of language, of dinosaurs, and of time travel!
Heavener, Oklahoma – map of Heavener Runestone State Recreation Area and the general area around. A bit more of Oklahoma’s “Green Country” seen. Did Vikings reach Oklahoma and carve runes in boulders?
“Terror Reigns in Whitechapel as Jack the Ripper Strikes” – London Times coverage reprinted in A Treasury of Great Reporting (1949), edited by Louis Lee Snyder and Richard Brandon. Now we know the basics of the most infamous of killers, Jack the Ripper. Hope it’s not too scary for Cubby!
Twenty books read = 1/240 of the way done.
Thistle & Shamrock #805, “A Celtic Harvest” and #806, “The Water is Wide.”
Horton Hatches the Egg, Dr. Seuss – Pretty funny, yet Horton the Elephant’s faithfulness and friendliness impressed Cubby.
Superman comic strip, “Jewel Smugglers” (3/20 – 4/1, 1939) and “The Skyscraper of Death” (4/3 – 4/28, 1939).
The Strength of Lions & the Flight of Eagles, Joe Nigg – The greatest birthday card ever, a mini-pamphlet about gryphons! At last the bird-beasts have come into their own.
“The Rocket Man,” “The Golden Apples of the Sun,” Ray Bradbury (sf ss)
Ice Age Monsters: Woolly Rhinoceros, Rupert Oliver (jv nf) – Another look at prehistoric critters. The Homotherium that attacks the rhino looks like a prehistoric werewolf (although Cubby hasn’t officially discovered werewolves yet).
Warner Brothers Cartoons: “A Tale of Two Kitties,” “An Itch in Time,” “Ding Dong Daddy.”
The Maltese Falcon (1941 mystery) plus DVD extras – It feels like Cubby has covered the basics of classic movies – John Wayne, Hitchcock, The Lost World for science fiction and monsters, and now Humphrey Bogart.
THE NINTH DAY (Oct. 9, 2011)
The Sneetches and Other Stories, Dr. Seuss (jv) – more funny stories, but those empty walking pants freaked Cubby out!
Excerpt from The Story of My Life, Augustus Hare – includes a phantom carriage, a banshee tale, and the Vampire of Croglin Grange. Pretty scary, but Cubby wanted scary stories!
“A Sound of Thunder,” Ray Bradbury (sf ss) – astounding use of language, of dinosaurs, and of time travel!
Heavener, Oklahoma – map of Heavener Runestone State Recreation Area and the general area around. A bit more of Oklahoma’s “Green Country” seen. Did Vikings reach Oklahoma and carve runes in boulders?
“Terror Reigns in Whitechapel as Jack the Ripper Strikes” – London Times coverage reprinted in A Treasury of Great Reporting (1949), edited by Louis Lee Snyder and Richard Brandon. Now we know the basics of the most infamous of killers, Jack the Ripper. Hope it’s not too scary for Cubby!
Twenty books read = 1/240 of the way done.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
The Sixth Day/The Seventh Day
THE SIXTH DAY (Oct. 6, 2011)
The Lone Ranger, “Enter the Lone Ranger” – More cowboys and the old West. Amazingly, the map of the western USA here shows mostly the “Four Corners” area – the only part left blank by the Abe Lincoln book!
Jonny Quest, “Mystery of the Lizard-Men” – Pretty exciting! Laser beams, the Sargasso Sea, and a mention of men to the moon!
Thistle & Shamrock #692, “Hammer Out a Tune” – more great Celtic music.
Superman, “The Comeback of Larry Trent,” (2/20 – 3/18, 1939) – More of this Superman person.
The Monster at the End of This Book, Jon Stone (jv) – Lovable, furry old Grover is sure scared of the approaching Monster. (Oh, I am so embarrassed!) Cubby wants to read more about monsters. Forry Ackerman will take care of that.
When the Wolves Returned, Dorothy Hinshaw Patent (jv nature) – We learn about wolves with a vengeance! Never thought that the lack of wolves would cause the disappearance of songbirds, aspens, willows, badgers, foxes, eagles . . . but it did!
“Little Orphant Annie,” “The Fishing Party,” “The Raggedy Man,” poems by James Whitcomb Riley – since a poem slipped in with “Ghosts I Have Known,” here are some more. “Annie” is kind of creepy, with the Gobble-uns going to get you if you don’t watch out! The coming of fall puts a Halloween feeling in the air, and Cubby wants to read/see some scary stories. Well, we’ll see.
“Sunnybank’s Canine Ghost,” an excerpt from Sunnybank: Home of Lad, by Albert Payson Terhune. Now a ghost dog!
The Lost World (1925 sf) – A movie about dinosaurs still living in a distant jungle. A logical extension of Cubby’s interest in dinosaurs and monsters, and of the hints of cryptozoology we’ve seen. This movie will be the precursor to “Mazeppa” (local host who showed old horror films) and “Fantastic Theater” (which long ago featured ‘50s SF, Toho films, Hammer films, odd horror and sci-fi, etc.) After all, the brontosaur loose in London bit is the ancestor of King Kong, the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and all other rampaging giant monsters.
THE SEVENTH DAY (October 7, 2011)
Victory at Sea, “The Pacific Boils Over” – Pearl Harbor and all that. The first episode made Germany look bad; this one does the same for Japan. Cubby assumes things “got better” if something like the Japanese Fantasy Film Journal eventually came out.
NASA, “The Flight of Friendship 7” – Godspeed, John Glenn! An American orbits the earth. Neither NASA film so far even mentioned Yuri Gagarin or the Russians.
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, Dr. Seuss (jv) – prose fairy tale from Seuss. Not even wizards and wise men can explain Bartholomew’s materializing hats, so this is a rather fortean tale.
“Case of the Chemical Syndicate,” from Detective Comics no. 27, May 1939 – first a Superman, now this Bat-Man!
Knott’s Berry Farm map of Southern California – a vacation map from 1977, showing Knott’s Berry Farm (obviously) but also a lot of California – actually the most intricate map Cubby has yet seen. We’ve all heard names like Burbank, Hollywood, Tarzana, Anaheim, Azusa, and Cucamonga – names like Tujunga Canyon, Devil’s Gate, and Riverside will become important later.
Excerpts from Cow By the Tail, Jesse James Benton – Haunted stage station, giant skull, monstrous snakes, and meteorites! The old West could be weird!
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel, Virginia Lee Burton – amusing fantasy by the author of Life Story.
Monkey Business (1931 comedy) – funny Marx Brothers vehicle. The nearest Zeppo came to being one of the gang. Amazing clarity.
Eighteen books read = 3/800 of the way done.
The Lone Ranger, “Enter the Lone Ranger” – More cowboys and the old West. Amazingly, the map of the western USA here shows mostly the “Four Corners” area – the only part left blank by the Abe Lincoln book!
Jonny Quest, “Mystery of the Lizard-Men” – Pretty exciting! Laser beams, the Sargasso Sea, and a mention of men to the moon!
Thistle & Shamrock #692, “Hammer Out a Tune” – more great Celtic music.
Superman, “The Comeback of Larry Trent,” (2/20 – 3/18, 1939) – More of this Superman person.
The Monster at the End of This Book, Jon Stone (jv) – Lovable, furry old Grover is sure scared of the approaching Monster. (Oh, I am so embarrassed!) Cubby wants to read more about monsters. Forry Ackerman will take care of that.
When the Wolves Returned, Dorothy Hinshaw Patent (jv nature) – We learn about wolves with a vengeance! Never thought that the lack of wolves would cause the disappearance of songbirds, aspens, willows, badgers, foxes, eagles . . . but it did!
“Little Orphant Annie,” “The Fishing Party,” “The Raggedy Man,” poems by James Whitcomb Riley – since a poem slipped in with “Ghosts I Have Known,” here are some more. “Annie” is kind of creepy, with the Gobble-uns going to get you if you don’t watch out! The coming of fall puts a Halloween feeling in the air, and Cubby wants to read/see some scary stories. Well, we’ll see.
“Sunnybank’s Canine Ghost,” an excerpt from Sunnybank: Home of Lad, by Albert Payson Terhune. Now a ghost dog!
The Lost World (1925 sf) – A movie about dinosaurs still living in a distant jungle. A logical extension of Cubby’s interest in dinosaurs and monsters, and of the hints of cryptozoology we’ve seen. This movie will be the precursor to “Mazeppa” (local host who showed old horror films) and “Fantastic Theater” (which long ago featured ‘50s SF, Toho films, Hammer films, odd horror and sci-fi, etc.) After all, the brontosaur loose in London bit is the ancestor of King Kong, the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and all other rampaging giant monsters.
THE SEVENTH DAY (October 7, 2011)
Victory at Sea, “The Pacific Boils Over” – Pearl Harbor and all that. The first episode made Germany look bad; this one does the same for Japan. Cubby assumes things “got better” if something like the Japanese Fantasy Film Journal eventually came out.
NASA, “The Flight of Friendship 7” – Godspeed, John Glenn! An American orbits the earth. Neither NASA film so far even mentioned Yuri Gagarin or the Russians.
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, Dr. Seuss (jv) – prose fairy tale from Seuss. Not even wizards and wise men can explain Bartholomew’s materializing hats, so this is a rather fortean tale.
“Case of the Chemical Syndicate,” from Detective Comics no. 27, May 1939 – first a Superman, now this Bat-Man!
Knott’s Berry Farm map of Southern California – a vacation map from 1977, showing Knott’s Berry Farm (obviously) but also a lot of California – actually the most intricate map Cubby has yet seen. We’ve all heard names like Burbank, Hollywood, Tarzana, Anaheim, Azusa, and Cucamonga – names like Tujunga Canyon, Devil’s Gate, and Riverside will become important later.
Excerpts from Cow By the Tail, Jesse James Benton – Haunted stage station, giant skull, monstrous snakes, and meteorites! The old West could be weird!
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel, Virginia Lee Burton – amusing fantasy by the author of Life Story.
Monkey Business (1931 comedy) – funny Marx Brothers vehicle. The nearest Zeppo came to being one of the gang. Amazing clarity.
Eighteen books read = 3/800 of the way done.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
The Fourth Day/The Fifth Day
THE FOURTH DAY (Oct. 4, 2011)
Flying the B-17 (VHS) – great visuals of a great World War II aircraft.
Map of Oklahoma’s Green Country – Cubby sees a bit of the area in which he lives. “Oklahoma” resembles the “Indian Territory” of the Abe Lincoln map.
“R Is for Rocket,” “The Rocket”, Ray Bradbury (sf ss) – More amazing use of language in these short stories.
“The Chronic Argonauts,” H. G. Wells (sf ss) – the prototype of The Time Machine introduces another amazing concept to go with space travel – travel through time!
Discovering the World, Neil Grant (jv history) – The Age of Discovery from Columbus to Magellan to Hernando de Soto. We learn a lot about history, geography, and the countries and civilizations of the world, from Eskimos to Incas to China. Cubby could now draw a fairly accurate map of the world. The old explorers are admirable in some ways, but most were hell-bent on conquest and enslaving those they discovered! The “Pizarro” story is here repeated (first read in “Wild Animals I Have Known”).
The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, Dr. Seuss – Here is more whimsy from Seuss to me, with Little Cat A to Little Cat Z.
“Superman’s War on Crime,” comic strips 1/30 – 2/18, 1939 – introduces Lois Lane, lady reporter.
Three Comic Strips. 1/3/2000 – including the final “Peanuts” by Charles Schulz. Cubby doesn’t know Snoopy – yet.
“Monsters – American Style” – article from unidentified DC comic circa 1968. Eerie introduction to Bigfoot, a year before the Patterson film. Freaked me out as a kid, but Cubby just finds it interesting.
Heavy Metal (soundtrack cd) – Wow! Some great choices on this album! Cubby likes rock ‘n’ roll. (Note I wouldn’t show a youngster like Cubby the movie Heavy Metal!)
THE FIFTH DAY (Oct. 5, 2011)
“John’s My Name,” “O Ugly Bird,” Manly Wade Wellman (f ss) – We learn about backwoods country ways, and we meet the frightening Ugly Bird.
And To Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street!, Dr. Seuss (jv) – his first book of whimsy.
A Gryphon in the Garden, Elsa Marston (jv) – neat griffin drawings. The bird-beast has gone from a single drawing in Animal Ghosts to one character among several in Sir Toby to a starring role. But what of “real” griffins?
Disney’s Extreme Sports Fun: “Canine Caddy,” “How to Play Baseball,” “The Hockey Champ,” “Double Dribble,” “How to Play Football,” “Mickey’s Polo Team,” “Tennis Racket,” “Goofy Gymnastics.” Cartoons by someone other than Warner.
Krista Hartman letter #1, Nov. 18, 1980 – my favorite pen-pal correspondence from the times before email. Cubby thinks it’s addressed to him. We mainly discussed Andre Norton tales, so Cubby knows of an author he has to brush up on (or he’ll be all at sea).
“Ghosts I Have Known,” Vida Herbison; “Cutting the Hedge,” Magaret Stanley-Wrench (poem); “Second to None,” Wendy Wood – items from The Countryman, Vol. LIV, no. 4, Winter 1957. More on these here “ghosts”.
“Werewolves in Sussex,” Doris W. Metcalf – The Countryman, Spring 1958. And now something called werewolves, when we barely know what a wolf is. That will change.
Fifteen books down (“Mulberry” is in a multi-story volume) = 1/320 of the way done.
Flying the B-17 (VHS) – great visuals of a great World War II aircraft.
Map of Oklahoma’s Green Country – Cubby sees a bit of the area in which he lives. “Oklahoma” resembles the “Indian Territory” of the Abe Lincoln map.
“R Is for Rocket,” “The Rocket”, Ray Bradbury (sf ss) – More amazing use of language in these short stories.
“The Chronic Argonauts,” H. G. Wells (sf ss) – the prototype of The Time Machine introduces another amazing concept to go with space travel – travel through time!
Discovering the World, Neil Grant (jv history) – The Age of Discovery from Columbus to Magellan to Hernando de Soto. We learn a lot about history, geography, and the countries and civilizations of the world, from Eskimos to Incas to China. Cubby could now draw a fairly accurate map of the world. The old explorers are admirable in some ways, but most were hell-bent on conquest and enslaving those they discovered! The “Pizarro” story is here repeated (first read in “Wild Animals I Have Known”).
The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, Dr. Seuss – Here is more whimsy from Seuss to me, with Little Cat A to Little Cat Z.
“Superman’s War on Crime,” comic strips 1/30 – 2/18, 1939 – introduces Lois Lane, lady reporter.
Three Comic Strips. 1/3/2000 – including the final “Peanuts” by Charles Schulz. Cubby doesn’t know Snoopy – yet.
“Monsters – American Style” – article from unidentified DC comic circa 1968. Eerie introduction to Bigfoot, a year before the Patterson film. Freaked me out as a kid, but Cubby just finds it interesting.
Heavy Metal (soundtrack cd) – Wow! Some great choices on this album! Cubby likes rock ‘n’ roll. (Note I wouldn’t show a youngster like Cubby the movie Heavy Metal!)
THE FIFTH DAY (Oct. 5, 2011)
“John’s My Name,” “O Ugly Bird,” Manly Wade Wellman (f ss) – We learn about backwoods country ways, and we meet the frightening Ugly Bird.
And To Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street!, Dr. Seuss (jv) – his first book of whimsy.
A Gryphon in the Garden, Elsa Marston (jv) – neat griffin drawings. The bird-beast has gone from a single drawing in Animal Ghosts to one character among several in Sir Toby to a starring role. But what of “real” griffins?
Disney’s Extreme Sports Fun: “Canine Caddy,” “How to Play Baseball,” “The Hockey Champ,” “Double Dribble,” “How to Play Football,” “Mickey’s Polo Team,” “Tennis Racket,” “Goofy Gymnastics.” Cartoons by someone other than Warner.
Krista Hartman letter #1, Nov. 18, 1980 – my favorite pen-pal correspondence from the times before email. Cubby thinks it’s addressed to him. We mainly discussed Andre Norton tales, so Cubby knows of an author he has to brush up on (or he’ll be all at sea).
“Ghosts I Have Known,” Vida Herbison; “Cutting the Hedge,” Magaret Stanley-Wrench (poem); “Second to None,” Wendy Wood – items from The Countryman, Vol. LIV, no. 4, Winter 1957. More on these here “ghosts”.
“Werewolves in Sussex,” Doris W. Metcalf – The Countryman, Spring 1958. And now something called werewolves, when we barely know what a wolf is. That will change.
Fifteen books down (“Mulberry” is in a multi-story volume) = 1/320 of the way done.
Monday, October 3, 2011
THE THIRD DAY (October 3, 2011)
Usborne Mysteries & Marvels of the Animal World, Karen Goaman and Heather Amery (jv nature) – more information about real animals – they don’t act much like they do in Dr. Seuss. Mentions Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster and rats raining from the sky – another step towards fortean phenomena.
The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss (jv) – more whimsy from Seuss.
Usborne Book of Farm Animals, Felicity Everett (jv) – companion to Marvels & Mysteries. Now we learn of sheep, cows, goats, horses, pigs, chickens, ducks, etc. Even cats and dogs.
Sir Toby Jingle’s Beastly Journey, Wallace Tripp (jv) – A man with armor and a sword is a “knight”. A child’s glimpse of medieval times, castles, dragons, and such. There was a drawing of a gryphon in Animal Ghosts; here we find a well-drawn gryphon character. And, after the Usborne books, Cubby knows that cats, foxes and wolves don’t normally talk.
“The Fog-Horn,” “The End of the Beginning,” Ray Bradbury (sf ss) – Our first proper short stories show an amazing use of language. The first gives us more in the dinosaur arena; the second could accompany the NASA film.
Superman: The Dailies, 1939-1940: Introduction and “Superman Comes to Earth” (1/16 – 1/28, 1939) – This was easy for Cubby to understand: Krypton was a tiny disk floating in space, like Earth in LS, and the “supermen” evolved beyond earth people as LS showed fish, reptiles and mammals in succession. The Big Idea, though, is: there may be other planets out there in the dark universe with inhabitants of their own!
The Lady Vanishes (1939 thriller) – Early Hitchcock mystery. The first real (and model) trains Cubby has seen, though Wile E. Coyote tends to get hit by them in cartoons. They look like fun! And he spotted a young (but balding) Hitchcock. Baseball is “Rounders”, eh? No cricket? Americans have no sense of proportion . . .
Twelve books read = 1/400 of all books. Cubby’s advancing in leaps and bounds, or so he thinks.
The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss (jv) – more whimsy from Seuss.
Usborne Book of Farm Animals, Felicity Everett (jv) – companion to Marvels & Mysteries. Now we learn of sheep, cows, goats, horses, pigs, chickens, ducks, etc. Even cats and dogs.
Sir Toby Jingle’s Beastly Journey, Wallace Tripp (jv) – A man with armor and a sword is a “knight”. A child’s glimpse of medieval times, castles, dragons, and such. There was a drawing of a gryphon in Animal Ghosts; here we find a well-drawn gryphon character. And, after the Usborne books, Cubby knows that cats, foxes and wolves don’t normally talk.
“The Fog-Horn,” “The End of the Beginning,” Ray Bradbury (sf ss) – Our first proper short stories show an amazing use of language. The first gives us more in the dinosaur arena; the second could accompany the NASA film.
Superman: The Dailies, 1939-1940: Introduction and “Superman Comes to Earth” (1/16 – 1/28, 1939) – This was easy for Cubby to understand: Krypton was a tiny disk floating in space, like Earth in LS, and the “supermen” evolved beyond earth people as LS showed fish, reptiles and mammals in succession. The Big Idea, though, is: there may be other planets out there in the dark universe with inhabitants of their own!
The Lady Vanishes (1939 thriller) – Early Hitchcock mystery. The first real (and model) trains Cubby has seen, though Wile E. Coyote tends to get hit by them in cartoons. They look like fun! And he spotted a young (but balding) Hitchcock. Baseball is “Rounders”, eh? No cricket? Americans have no sense of proportion . . .
Twelve books read = 1/400 of all books. Cubby’s advancing in leaps and bounds, or so he thinks.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
The Second Day (October 2, 2011)
Warner Brothers cartoons, “Zip ‘N’ Snort,” “Ready, Woolen, & Able,” “Beep-Beep!” “To Beep or not to Beep” – More funny cartoons.
Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss – pretty funny
Adventures of George Washington, Margaret Davidson (jv bio) – a book focusing on a single important person. We see a map of New England (the thirteen colonies), with Virginia Burton’s Massachusetts in the upper right-hand corner. The world grows!
Meet Abraham Lincoln, Barbara Cary (jv bio) – another bio. The map here shows the whole future USA and names Massachusetts. The Washington map is totally subsumed. Washington was Lincoln’s hero, so there is a bit of continuity.
Little Golden Book of Dinosaurs, Jane Werner Watson – Dinosaur book for young people. I remember it from second grade.
Thistle & Shamrock #673, “Tributes” – great Celtic music, with fiddles and bagpipes.
Stagecoach (1939 western) – Cubby’s first movie. These cowboys don’t dance and sing, and these “Apaches” don’t like them too much.
Japanese Fantasy Film Journal #5, ca. March 1970 – ancient, torn, stained fanzine, tossed in at random. Now we know a little about one “Ghidrah” monster: Godzilla! Cubby has seen more Japanese names now than English ones.
Newspaper clipping from the Tulsa Daily World, Sunday, May 2, 1976 – This ancient yellowing clipping has three stories: actor Jim Backus hates Mr. Magoo, the nineteenth century ax murders of Smuttynose Island, and strange noises and sights in Ford’s Theater. Like war, there are murderers out there ready to send people back to the darkness on Page One. More importantly, Lincoln seen a hundred years after his death (plus weird lights and phantom footsteps) give us the first inklings of life-after-death and fortean phenomena. These immaterial images of dead people are apparently called “ghosts”.
Observations on the second day: “Indians” are mentioned in the Washington and Lincoln books. It is acknowledged that white civilization intruded on their land. “Stagecoach” shows just how much one native nation (Apache) resents that.
More dinosaurs have been seen, and we have another progression from my favorite poster to a magazine devoted to Japanese fantasy films. Forteana grows, with ghostly phenomena added to the cryptozoological.
Odd coincidence: Life Story’s last night takes place on a May 5, running into May 6. The book was published in 1962, so probably in manuscript form in 1961. Perhaps that is the year Burton was reviewing. Alan Shepherd became America’s first man into space on May 5, 1961 . . . go figure.
Eight books out of the estimated 4800 = 1/600 read.
Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss – pretty funny
Adventures of George Washington, Margaret Davidson (jv bio) – a book focusing on a single important person. We see a map of New England (the thirteen colonies), with Virginia Burton’s Massachusetts in the upper right-hand corner. The world grows!
Meet Abraham Lincoln, Barbara Cary (jv bio) – another bio. The map here shows the whole future USA and names Massachusetts. The Washington map is totally subsumed. Washington was Lincoln’s hero, so there is a bit of continuity.
Little Golden Book of Dinosaurs, Jane Werner Watson – Dinosaur book for young people. I remember it from second grade.
Thistle & Shamrock #673, “Tributes” – great Celtic music, with fiddles and bagpipes.
Stagecoach (1939 western) – Cubby’s first movie. These cowboys don’t dance and sing, and these “Apaches” don’t like them too much.
Japanese Fantasy Film Journal #5, ca. March 1970 – ancient, torn, stained fanzine, tossed in at random. Now we know a little about one “Ghidrah” monster: Godzilla! Cubby has seen more Japanese names now than English ones.
Newspaper clipping from the Tulsa Daily World, Sunday, May 2, 1976 – This ancient yellowing clipping has three stories: actor Jim Backus hates Mr. Magoo, the nineteenth century ax murders of Smuttynose Island, and strange noises and sights in Ford’s Theater. Like war, there are murderers out there ready to send people back to the darkness on Page One. More importantly, Lincoln seen a hundred years after his death (plus weird lights and phantom footsteps) give us the first inklings of life-after-death and fortean phenomena. These immaterial images of dead people are apparently called “ghosts”.
Observations on the second day: “Indians” are mentioned in the Washington and Lincoln books. It is acknowledged that white civilization intruded on their land. “Stagecoach” shows just how much one native nation (Apache) resents that.
More dinosaurs have been seen, and we have another progression from my favorite poster to a magazine devoted to Japanese fantasy films. Forteana grows, with ghostly phenomena added to the cryptozoological.
Odd coincidence: Life Story’s last night takes place on a May 5, running into May 6. The book was published in 1962, so probably in manuscript form in 1961. Perhaps that is the year Burton was reviewing. Alan Shepherd became America’s first man into space on May 5, 1961 . . . go figure.
Eight books out of the estimated 4800 = 1/600 read.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
THE FIRST DAY (October 1, 2011)
Islands, Mike Oldfield (cd) – The perfect music for an “awakening”. The first section sounds like a dawning, the middle consists of soft instrumentals, and finally we reach vocals.
Warner Brothers cartoons – “Fast & Furry-ous,” “Gee Whiz-z-z-z-,“ “”Operation: Rabbit,” and “Hook, Line, & Stinker”. Colorful, loud Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons (“Operation” actually features Bugs Bunny). Easy to follow, no dialogue (except in “Operation”), and, of course, mindless violence.
Life Story, Virginia Lee Burton (jv nature; hereafter LS) – The perfect manual for a newly awakened consciousness. It starts off with a two-page spread of solid black, representing the darkness and emptiness before the universe. On the following pages, a timescale spirals out of the Unknown. “Life Story” touches upon the beginning of the universe, the Sun, the Earth; it shows us the earliest life forms, dinosaurs, Ice Ages, Mankind, and finally ends up on Burton’s back porch at 5:33 AM on May 6. All this in a juvenile book by the author of Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel!
Go, Dog, Go!, Phillip D. Eastman – Early reader; I loved all the different-colored dogs and their race cars as a preschooler, and so does Cubby.
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Dr. Seuss – Early reader; all the bizarre but friendly creatures are fun to see.
Animal Ghosts, edited by Claudea Clow – More dinosaurs and extinct animals, plus the first touch of cryptozoology with the suggestions that ground sloths, pterodactyls, and the like might still exist!
“Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster” poster – Why not? Greatest movie poster I ever saw. Cubby’s now interested in the monsters depicted. They look a bit like the dinosaurs in Life Story to the nth degree.
Kitsune statuette – the pseudo-ivory white fox statue I found, just because it’s pretty.
2000 S Kennedy half-dollar – have a vague idea of getting back into coin collecting. I love half-dollars, and this “Proof” one is so – shiny!
54 holiday snaps – photos from vacation trips, mostly from Farley’s Dinosaur Park in Arkansas. Life-sized concrete dinosaurs, cave men, and bison! Can’t do better than that!
Revolver, the Beatles (cd) – Soft introduction to rock’n’roll.
Classics Illustrated, “Wild Animals I Have Known,” Ernest Thompson Seton – Our first comic book shows more realistic animals. Dogs and wolves mostly, with horses, rabbits, and sheep also seen. The time period is given as the 1890s, and Victorian and cowboy clothing are seen. Prose pages give a bio of Seton, a bio of Francisco Pizarro, and Noah’s Ark from Genesis.
Victory at Sea, “Design for War” – This strange new world isn’t all beer and skittles! War sends many back to that Utter Darkness on page one. Cubby really worries about this Hitler guy.
NASA, “Freedom 7” – humanity tries to reach the stars from which all things spring. Since the date given was twenty years after “Victory”, things must have turned out all right.
Wild Kingdom, “King of the Beasts” – We see real animals here instead of anthropomorphic ones. Cubby sees a bit of the real world. Strangely, while there were narrations for “Victory” and NASA, the first person Cubby actually saw speaking was Marlin Perkins!
Red Skelton, “Lillian Martin,” “Pledge of Allegiance,” “Red at the Reno Rodeo” – A comedy to round off the first day. The “cowboys” here look a bit like the folks in “Wild Animals” – except they dance and sing. “Pledge” makes you proud of these here United States, though Cubby only has a cloudy idea of “nation”.
Observations after a single day: Cubby crammed quite a bit into one day. He has at least a vague idea of the Universe, dinosaurs, real animals, and music (lots in the background of the TV episodes as well as the two albums). Oddly, the first human being he actually heard speak was Marlin Perkins! He understands life and the beginnings of things (like his own slow awakening that morning), and death appeared as soon as Life Story got going (the end of many prehistoric species). Death, as seen in Victory at Sea, he thinks of as returning to that darkness at the beginning of Life Story.
He saw ships, planes, and vehicles in Victory and in NASA. Crowd scenes in both showed him that there are many people out there. Excepting women glimpsed in crowd scenes, his knowledge of the female of the species was limited to a photo (and self-portraits) of Virginia Burton – until we reached the Red Skelton episode with Jane Russell as a Western dance-hall singer! A brother and sister appear in One Fish . . ., so he knows children, too.
He knows there was an “Egypt”, a “Greece”, a “Rome”, and medieval times. Indians appear in a single painting of LS, then come the “settlers”. WWII began in 1939, and Alan Shepherd became America’s first man into space in 1961. Such is his grasp of history.
The World: seen in little globe-maps the size of a quarter in LS. Maps of the Atlantic Ocean seen in Victory, surrounded by lands with names: Canada, Greenland, Iceland, England. World maps seen in the background in NASA and Wild Kingdom. LS exaggerates Massachusetts when we shrink down to see life there – bear that in mind.
Dinosaurs are cool, seen in LS, Animal Ghosts, and “holiday snaps.” The monsters of Ghidrah are dinosaur-like, so he likes them, too. The first glimpse of forteana comes in Animal Ghosts, with the suggestions that some prehistoric creatures might still live – somewhere.
It’s amazing how much literature and media for young children concentrate on funny animals. More serious versions will wait for the future.
Four books read out of 4800 = 1/1200 of the way done!
Warner Brothers cartoons – “Fast & Furry-ous,” “Gee Whiz-z-z-z-,“ “”Operation: Rabbit,” and “Hook, Line, & Stinker”. Colorful, loud Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons (“Operation” actually features Bugs Bunny). Easy to follow, no dialogue (except in “Operation”), and, of course, mindless violence.
Life Story, Virginia Lee Burton (jv nature; hereafter LS) – The perfect manual for a newly awakened consciousness. It starts off with a two-page spread of solid black, representing the darkness and emptiness before the universe. On the following pages, a timescale spirals out of the Unknown. “Life Story” touches upon the beginning of the universe, the Sun, the Earth; it shows us the earliest life forms, dinosaurs, Ice Ages, Mankind, and finally ends up on Burton’s back porch at 5:33 AM on May 6. All this in a juvenile book by the author of Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel!
Go, Dog, Go!, Phillip D. Eastman – Early reader; I loved all the different-colored dogs and their race cars as a preschooler, and so does Cubby.
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Dr. Seuss – Early reader; all the bizarre but friendly creatures are fun to see.
Animal Ghosts, edited by Claudea Clow – More dinosaurs and extinct animals, plus the first touch of cryptozoology with the suggestions that ground sloths, pterodactyls, and the like might still exist!
“Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster” poster – Why not? Greatest movie poster I ever saw. Cubby’s now interested in the monsters depicted. They look a bit like the dinosaurs in Life Story to the nth degree.
Kitsune statuette – the pseudo-ivory white fox statue I found, just because it’s pretty.
2000 S Kennedy half-dollar – have a vague idea of getting back into coin collecting. I love half-dollars, and this “Proof” one is so – shiny!
54 holiday snaps – photos from vacation trips, mostly from Farley’s Dinosaur Park in Arkansas. Life-sized concrete dinosaurs, cave men, and bison! Can’t do better than that!
Revolver, the Beatles (cd) – Soft introduction to rock’n’roll.
Classics Illustrated, “Wild Animals I Have Known,” Ernest Thompson Seton – Our first comic book shows more realistic animals. Dogs and wolves mostly, with horses, rabbits, and sheep also seen. The time period is given as the 1890s, and Victorian and cowboy clothing are seen. Prose pages give a bio of Seton, a bio of Francisco Pizarro, and Noah’s Ark from Genesis.
Victory at Sea, “Design for War” – This strange new world isn’t all beer and skittles! War sends many back to that Utter Darkness on page one. Cubby really worries about this Hitler guy.
NASA, “Freedom 7” – humanity tries to reach the stars from which all things spring. Since the date given was twenty years after “Victory”, things must have turned out all right.
Wild Kingdom, “King of the Beasts” – We see real animals here instead of anthropomorphic ones. Cubby sees a bit of the real world. Strangely, while there were narrations for “Victory” and NASA, the first person Cubby actually saw speaking was Marlin Perkins!
Red Skelton, “Lillian Martin,” “Pledge of Allegiance,” “Red at the Reno Rodeo” – A comedy to round off the first day. The “cowboys” here look a bit like the folks in “Wild Animals” – except they dance and sing. “Pledge” makes you proud of these here United States, though Cubby only has a cloudy idea of “nation”.
Observations after a single day: Cubby crammed quite a bit into one day. He has at least a vague idea of the Universe, dinosaurs, real animals, and music (lots in the background of the TV episodes as well as the two albums). Oddly, the first human being he actually heard speak was Marlin Perkins! He understands life and the beginnings of things (like his own slow awakening that morning), and death appeared as soon as Life Story got going (the end of many prehistoric species). Death, as seen in Victory at Sea, he thinks of as returning to that darkness at the beginning of Life Story.
He saw ships, planes, and vehicles in Victory and in NASA. Crowd scenes in both showed him that there are many people out there. Excepting women glimpsed in crowd scenes, his knowledge of the female of the species was limited to a photo (and self-portraits) of Virginia Burton – until we reached the Red Skelton episode with Jane Russell as a Western dance-hall singer! A brother and sister appear in One Fish . . ., so he knows children, too.
He knows there was an “Egypt”, a “Greece”, a “Rome”, and medieval times. Indians appear in a single painting of LS, then come the “settlers”. WWII began in 1939, and Alan Shepherd became America’s first man into space in 1961. Such is his grasp of history.
The World: seen in little globe-maps the size of a quarter in LS. Maps of the Atlantic Ocean seen in Victory, surrounded by lands with names: Canada, Greenland, Iceland, England. World maps seen in the background in NASA and Wild Kingdom. LS exaggerates Massachusetts when we shrink down to see life there – bear that in mind.
Dinosaurs are cool, seen in LS, Animal Ghosts, and “holiday snaps.” The monsters of Ghidrah are dinosaur-like, so he likes them, too. The first glimpse of forteana comes in Animal Ghosts, with the suggestions that some prehistoric creatures might still live – somewhere.
It’s amazing how much literature and media for young children concentrate on funny animals. More serious versions will wait for the future.
Four books read out of 4800 = 1/1200 of the way done!
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