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.