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.