The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion
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Croissants, Coffee & Tea -- Part the Eighth
Since we are reading
The Children's Book
, some of you may be interested in the following exhibit, "Century of the Child" at the MOMA, NYC:http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/ex...
http://www.momastore.org/webapp/wcs/s... Catalog description of the display
http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhi... pictorial of the exhibition
http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhi... bibliography
Unfortunately, the exhibition closes November 5. I just learned about it and saw it yesterday. In some aspects, its coverage is quite political and disturbing. A beautiful but troubling Klimt of a pregnant woman is on loan for the display. Part of the exhibit is fun for evoking memories of one's own and one's children's childhoods. Films of environments range from schoolyard folk dancing by immigrant children to regimentation in Italy in the '20's and '30's to orphanage conditions. It is wide ranging in tone and materials displayed. The closing pillar summarizes the exhibit with a saying to the effect "play will be to the future as work has been to the industrial revolution." (paraphrase)
This piece on the US and climate change may be of interest:-http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment...
Madge, I never had a chance to post earlier, but you had mentioned that Obama did better in the last two debates, but you were worried about the numbers.The numbers are strange and a bit skewed this time around.
Romney's numbers are moving slightly highly nationally, but a lot of his support comes from the Deep South where he has I believe a 22% lead over Obama. Not so in the rest of the country. That's why Obama is leading in many of the swing states, which are outside of the South.
And since the Electoral College is key, we might have a situation where Romney wins the popular vote, but Obama gets the Electoral College.
People are just quessing; we won't know until late November 6.
But that's why the polls are hard to read right now.
MadgeUK wrote: "This piece on the US and climate change may be of interest:-http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment..."
We're seeing climate change in action in my neck of the woods.
Two years ago, record snow - 7 feet where I live.
Last year, a freak October snowstorm - power out for millions, some up to 11 days.
This year, a hurricane coming up the East coast almost in November. Unheard of.
If I lose my power again for 7 days, I will weep and weep and weep. I cannot stand losing power. It was awful last year. I can't believe just one year later, I might have to go through that ordeal again!
Are you in New England, Lynn? I'm in MA, and last year I was at a Halloween party during the blizzard! We lit a lot of candles and carried on. When the power came back on, we were shocked to find that it was almost 3 in the morning! At least there were hardly any cars on the road when I drove home! My power was still out when I got there, though, and it was out for two days. Of course, then we got hardly any snow at all during the rest of the winter!I really hope that the hurricane doesn't hit us too hard. Right now they have no idea.
Yes, I'm in Connecticut. Right now, it looks like Delaware and southern New Jersey (which will include my beloved Wildwood) may be where the storm hooks left. We'll still get wind and lots of rain though. But not the brunt.I'm preparing though for the worse. Already had the batteries and flashlights. Got the food and water today. Will get gas tomorrow, and do all the laundry on Sunday. Cell phone and Nook will be fully charged before the storm hits on Monday.
Hoping for a miracle, and that the storm goes out to sea...where it belong! :-)
I hope you will all be OK in the bad storm that is forecast. Thank goodness the UK does not have such disasters although climate change might, of course, bring them.......:(:(
Oh dear, keep safe, Lynn. I hope the storm passes you by.
MadgeUK wrote: "I hope you will all be OK in the bad storm that is forecast. Thank goodness the UK does not have such disasters although climate change might, of course, bring them.......:(:("Weren't there massive floods in the UK earlier this year?
Yes, but nothing like those experienced in the US - they were soon over and dealt with. We are getting more floods due to climate change though.
Lynnm wrote: "Yes, I'm in Connecticut. Right now, it looks like Delaware and southern New Jersey (which will include my beloved Wildwood) may be where the storm hooks left. We'll still get wind and lots of rai..."I've tucked myself away in a rehab hosp, where I get free food and don't need gas. Clever, huh?
Good for you Rochelle - stay there as long as you can!How is the knee?
MadgeUK wrote: "I hope you will all be OK in the bad storm that is forecast. Thank goodness the UK does not have such disasters although climate change might, of course, bring them.......:(:("Last night we were trying to think of places that didn't have weather catastrophes ... England came to mind. Yes, it showers a lot, but that doesn't result in severe pain-in-the-buttness. ;)
Yes, we don't have hurricanes and the occasional tornadoes we have are very little ones, which we have to be told about because we don't usually know they have happened:)
Lynnm wrote: "Rochelle - Very clever. :-)"Too bad I don't have my camera--hosp gown, sneakers and yellow baseball hat. Excellent Halloween costume.
Medicare pays for only a week, but you get 2 sessions of PT a day.
Mod
The Children's Book
, some of you may be interested in the following exhibit, "Century of the Child" at the MOMA, NYC:
http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/ex...
h..."
So glad you posted this. I leave for NYC on Friday, so I'll be sure to stop by first thing. I'm there until the 9th.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment..."
We're seeing climate change in ac..."
Not to mention the two earthquakes we had in the northeast that were again unheard of.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment..."
We're seeing climate change in ac..."
Lynn - I'm right there with you. We were out for 6 days last year. I'm hoping we skirt the issue this year. If you want to send me your phone number privately, I can call you if we have power. You can come hang out with us.
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Rochelle - You are one wise woman ;-)
Deborah wrote: "'Century of the Child' at the MOMA, NYC: http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhib...So glad you posted this. I leave for NYC on Friday, so I'll be sure to stop by first thing. "
Deborah, if you are going to be at MOMA, take the time to see Munch's "The Scream", too. It is much lovelier than the reproductions. On the wall behind is a print of his sister, dying of tuberculous, that he considered one of his finest works. Very haunting. These are one floor down from the "Century of the Child" exhibition.
http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/ex...
http://www.moma.org/collection/object... -- The Sick Child
http://www.moma.org/search/collection... -- All of Munch
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Deborah - I was sitting at my computer for one of those earthquakes, and the chair starting shaking. I was like, what the heck? Got on to FB, and a couple of my friends posted about it so I knew I wasn't imagining things!Thanks for the offer! I have family in Boston as well though so if things get bad here, I'll head up there. The Boston area isn't supposed to get much.
And I really don't think we are going to get much here either. They are mostly talking about a rain event. I'm a little concerned about the cellar, but hopefully the sump pump (spelling?) can keep up.
We are getting reports of all your troubles here - hope GR folks are OK. I hear NY is going to be affected by floods - hope Rochelle and Lily will be OK. :(:(
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I have just seen on TV that the Mayor of New York is announcing evacuations of thousands of people - I do so hope that Rochelle & Lily are OK, especially as Rochelle has just had a knee operation and may not be very mobile:(
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I am concerned about trees in the rain and wind. But, have food in house, going now to get a couple things more, have a full tank of gas in car, some firewood for fireplace is in the garage, water supply is here, but will put water in tubs in case electricity and water are not available for some period of time, candles and matches are on kitchen counter, have working flashlights, will pack a small bag tonight in case I decide I need to travel at any point (undoubtedly will be much safer to stay where I am), have clothes washed, ebook is charging, will do same with cell phone tonight. A few things outside to pull into the garage when I get back from grocery shopping. With luck, won't lose power and will be able to stay in touch with world. My battery radio is operational and I have back-up batteries. (If I have missed anything obvious, ding me.)
Worst of all is probably going to be being alone as the wind howls and the rain lashes, unless a tree goes down across the house, which is probably my greatest worry point. (I do sit pretty much on top of a mountain.) In general, I don't have trouble with water in the basement or any of the other concerns of so many in nearby areas. At least more leaves are off the trees than last year, and this is not predicted to include snow in this area, although the colliding Nor'easter makes everything tenuous. Then there is some air mass that supposedly is sitting over the Atlantic, preventing Sandy from moving out to sea! Bah, humbug.
The prediction is for probable stormy weather from as early as ~4am Monday for as long as possibly until Thursday. The sky overhead is filled with heavy clouds, but no rain yet, although it feels damp and is getting colder. Not sure whether the clouds are Sandy or the Nor'easter.
My daughter-in-law returned from vacation to doing plans in case there need to be evacuations at her hospital along the East River. She and my son live in an Area B evacuation zone of Manhattan. They were fine during Irene. Public transportation into the subs will send out its last trains at 7 pm tonight and the subways in NYC will close.
Reports are that many utility crews have been moved into the 8-state area to help speed recovery.
This is one time both Republicans and Democrats want to look good, so hopefully they will work together!?
Madge -- this may interest you: http://gis.nyc.gov/oem/he/index.htm
Enter:
550
1st Ave
Select Manhattan
The map that appears will be large and you can move it around. Google can give you smaller versions for the whole area. (That address is for NYU Hospital.)
You seem well prepared Lily - I'm impressed but not surprised:)Can't pick up that link.
I always find the howling of wind very disconcerting, especially as I have an old flat, felted, roof which really needs replacing! Also, I have always lived with cats (except now...) and they are always 'edgy' during high wind. So I hope we don't get the tail end of what is happening in New York, as we so often do! Keep it to yourselves please:)
Can anyone tell me about Cousera.org - a higher education outfit operating, I think, out of Stanford U. My grand-daughter's boyfriend is enquiring. Do their courses have a good reputation and has anyone taken any of them? And are their degrees comparable with other universities?
MadgeUK wrote: "Can't pick up that link..."Try Googling "NYC evacuation areas" (avoid the PDF download). What you get probably won't be as detailed, but may show more of the area on a single screen. Try more than one if the first one isn't particularly clear.
MadgeUK wrote: "...So I hope we don't get the tail end of what is happening in New York, as we so often do! Keep it to yourselves please:)"It's bah, humbug to me, but that air mass that supposedly is sitting over the Atlantic preventing Sandy from moving out to sea will probably protect you.
MadgeUK wrote: "I have just seen on TV that the Mayor of New York is announcing evacuations of thousands of people - I do so hope that Rochelle & Lily are OK, especially as Rochelle has just had a knee operation a..."I'm not in NYC, and we're expecting very little in Westchester.
From the Guardian on Hurricane Sandy:Hurricane Sandy: 10 statistics that place this powerful storm in perspective
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/...
MadgeUK wrote: "Can anyone tell me about Cousera.org - a higher education outfit operating, I think, out of Stanford U. My grand-daughter's boyfriend is enquiring. Do their courses have a good reputation and ha..."I was going to take one of their courses. The courses are all from very reputative universities but they aren't for credit - it is for people who want to increase their knowledge for knowledge sake.
Most of the people who take the courses are from developing nations who may not be able to take those same courses at traditional colleges.
Some of the courses they have are fascinating. I definitely will take a couple when I'm not so busy.
And Yale and Harvard have a version of coursera. But with Yale and Harvard, you only watch the videos of the lectures - you don't have to do any coursework. In coursera, you have to do coursework. It is mostly reading with short papers which are peered reviewed by other classmates.
Interesting to see how these free courses are going to affect traditional higher education. My quess - not much. Lectures are just the first step to learning (and coursera and Yale Open Courses, etc are great first steps). But you need to have that interaction with your professors for higher level critical thinking.
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Also, it was easier to interact because there are no interruptions per se.
Deborah wrote: "I finished my degree through an online program. I have to say I learned more through that than I had in a traditional program. Not only did I learn from my professors, but also from the students ..."The traditional online programs are different than the free courses like coursera.
There is interaction between the facilitator and the students and the classes are small. And I agree that they are good. Same coursework as a traditional class; they are just held online.
The free courses have unlimited unrollment. They have a far different role in education than traditional online programs.
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And from northeastern MA - also high winds and rain. The power blinked a few times at about 2:30, but nothing since then, so so far, so good! I've got the heat up high so if the power does go out, it will stay warm a bit longer (and turned the refrigerator and freezer up for the same reason), but I just had to change from a sweatshirt to a t-shirt! But if it does go out, I will be glad I did it.
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I did the same thing with the heat, and am now sweating in my sweatshirt. I didn't think to do that with the fridge. Off to do that now.
from southern NYS:Rain and wind. I don't have a TV in here, but wunderground.com reports flooding in low-lying areas. If my refrigerator quits, I'm out of luck. I overstocked it for my return.
My roommate makes phone calls that go on for many hours, in Russian. What could she possibly have to say, cooped up in a hospital for 2 weeks? And my ear plugs aren't enough.The room next door is occupied by a very loud woman who stays on the phone literally all day. I don't think nurses think they have any authority to say anything, so I visited her yesterday, telling her she was keeping everyone awake. Most of the patients here watch TV most of the day, while I'm taking walks through the halls, so I'll be a lot less stiff when I get out. They're carrying out the same tiresome routines they have at home.
This is where I am.
http://www.burke.org/
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It's the same kind of rudeness and disrespect to privacy that incessant cell phone users have. Lynne Truss, Talk to the Hand. Funny book!!
Frances wrote: "Poor you-I get tired of overhearing inane conversations on cell phones for the length of a bus ride-I can't imagine being stuck listening to them all day. (I guess an overheard conversation in a la..."I guess I could have asked for one of the empty rooms, but it makes major changes and possibly a screw-up in their computer system.
I wanted to sit in the lounge today, but someone in there had her cell phone going. I know where to find quiet, hidden corners where I can read for hours.
I'm just venting. I could have a lot worse problems in here, but everyone says I'm doing well.
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The room next door is..."
I'm sorry to hear this. Last time I was in hospital my room mate had extended family who were very loud and crowded around her bed. In fact, they had pushed themselves so far into the dividing curtain that they were almost sitting on me. I was very tempted to give them a pinch in the butt.
LOL Deborah:D.It is good to hear from you Rochelle and good that you are doing well despite the problems you cite. Loud cell phone conversations are a problem everywhere:(:( We have carriages on our railways which are 'quiet' so I always travel in them but elsewhere you cannot get away from the darn things:(
It's more than just the loudness, it's that they have no regard for their own privacy or yours. Old story, dada, dada....The web was down here for a day, and I'm thrilled to write everyone in all my groups today.
Privacy seems to be a very old-fashioned word as everyone 'lets it all hang out' these days. I have frequently been embarrassed by the personal details overheard in phone conversations and I once travelled long distance next to a man who recounted his life story on phone between Cornwall and Scotland - I could have blackmailed him afterwards with the details he revealed!
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The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910
Books mentioned in this topic
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Don Quixote (other topics)
The Rifle in America (other topics)
The Buccaneers (other topics)
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Sending healing thoughts, Denise.