February Reads – 1995 – Bill Pronzini and more!
Novels from Bill Pronzini, Frank McConnell and Vince Kohler….
Tonight I started thinking about books that I’ve read, and decided to look at my Goodreads Bookshelf to see what books I finished in February of 1995, 20 years ago,yeah right! On February 04, 1995, I finished Liar’s Poker:A Harry Garnish Mystery from Frank McConnell, the 21st I finished Vince Kohler’s Banjo Boy and on the 25th, I finished Shackles a Nameless Detective Mystery by Bill Pronzini. Of the three Shackles was my probably my favorite. While I don’t remember all of the details I do remember that it was a great read! In fact the book was nominated for an Anthony Award for Best Novel (It lost to Thomas Harris; Silence of the Lambs, tough competition!
Philip Levine – An American Poet Laureate Passes…
Philip Levine – (January 10, 1928 – February 14, 2015)
Poet of America’s Middle Class….
When I created Finding Out! I envisioned it as kinda’ my Trivia Crack.Spin the wheel, or surf the Internet and explore things that fall into the main categories of Trivial Pursuit, the arts, science, sports, history, entertainment, and geography all things that I love, Finding Out about!
Renaissance Granddad – A new name for a New Era!
Renaissance Granddad – rejuvenating, revitalizing, and moving on!
I have been very bad about writing on this now renamed blog, so maybe I should explain why I renamed the blog, Renaissance Granddad. To start, last year was a year of big changes in both my family and life. The year started out with my employer of 34 years Lippincott and Jacobs Consulting Engineers not having any work for me. I was basically laid off, but I was on call if they had work. So for nine months I collected unemployment and worked part-time at Target. I really didn’t go out and look for a new job because I didn’t think anyone would hire me at my age (63) to do the work that I do, and certainly not at the wage I was making. So I hoped that maybe work would turn around, but it didn’t. When my unemployment benefits were exhausted in September I decided to look into filing for Social Security benefits. What I found was that, with what I would receive from SS couple with a few more hours at Target, we wouldn’t be doing badly. So we took money from my 401K, paid off our car loan and our outstanding credit card debt, and so far we’re not doing badly at all!!
The Bookwheel , what a way to read!!
The Bookwheel invented by Agostino Ramelli in 1588!
As I started browsing through Wikipedia this morning I came across a contraption invented by Italian military engineer Agostino Ramelli the bookwheel!! It was the perfect invention for all of those like us, who back in 1588 loved to read more than one book at a time! It’s just a tad bulkier than your Kindle!!
Revelation Space – Alastair Reynolds
Alastair Reynolds – Revelation Space (Book 7 of 2015)
So as I was coming to the end of Alastair Reynold’s Revelation Space when I thought to myself; which character am I rooting for?? I image that it’s supposed to be Dan Sylveste, who throughout the book has been obsessed with the Amarantin civilization. A civilization that was destroyed 900,000 years ago! Sylveste has spent a lifetime on Resurgam trying to uncover what happened to the Amarantin civilization. From what he has uncovered it appeared that The Event that destroyed their civilization occurred shortly after the civilization had achieved space flight!
The Schultüte and Thoughts of Dresden
Schultüte – the traditional German School Cone
Sometime last week my wife came across some of my old family pictures and gave them to me to put away One was a picture of my father’s mother Charlotte Frieda Meyer
. In the picture she is holding a cone that is almost as long as she is tall. So my wife set out to find out, what the cone was.
John Quincy Adams Elected by the US House of Representatives.
John Quincy Adams – elected by the US House of Representatives –
February 9, 1825!
On February 8th, I posted about the election of Richard Johnson as the ninth Vice President of th US, which occurred on that day in 1837. It is the only time that a Vice President was elected by the US House of Representatives under the provisions of the 12th Amendment to the US Constitution. On the next day February 9th, twelve years earlier in 1825, John Quincy Adams was elected President in a similar manner. At the end of the voting for President in 1824, no candidate received a majority of the electoral votes, so the Us House of Representatives voted to decide the election.
Morning Explorations: Jainism
One of my favorite all-time songs is Buffy Saint-Marie’s “The Universal Soldier”. I love both Donovan and Buffy’s version and well anyone else who sings this song. The song speaks the truth about religion and war. Here are the opening verses of the song. He’s five foot-two, and he’s six feet-four, He fights with missiles and with spears. He’s all of thirty-one, and he’s only seventeen, Been a soldier for a thousand years. He’a a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain, A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew. And he knows he shouldn’t kill, And he knows he always will, Kill you for me my friend and me for you. Now the reason that the “Universal Soldier” popped into my head today was that I was surfing around Wikipedia this morning and I went to the religion portal where I found an article about Jainism. As I started to read, I was fascinated by the tenets of this ancient religion. I knew I had to Find out more about Jainism. Mahavira (599 BCE–527 BCE[1]), also known as Vardhamana is widely regarded as the founder of Jainism, Actually, Mahavira was the twenty-fourth and last tirthankara of Jainism. A tirthankara is a person who has conquered samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth, and can provide a bridge for Jains to follow them from samsara to moksha (liberation). So Mahavira should be regarded as more of a reformer of Jainism. The first of the 24 Tīrthaṅkaras was R̥ṣabha or Ādinātha (Original Lord”), also known as the “Lord of Kesariya”)., About Jainism, from Wikipedia……
