Whale Talk

Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher
$6.99 at Amazon.com
ISBN: 0440229383
A delightful short novel from the teen section. Chris Crutcher has long been a favorite of mine, most of his books are about athletics of some kind. This one involves a high school swim team.
TJ Jones is our young hero. TJ is actually short for Tao, making his name a delicious pun. He's a seventeen year old boy of mixed race in a town that's almost entirely white. He's cool, he's edgy, and he's organizing a swimming team for a high school which has no pool.
This is only the first of his obstacles. His team is a rather odd assortment: one of his teammates is over 300 pounds, another is missing one of his legs, and a third is brain damaged. Not a cast of Olympic hopefuls, surely, but what they lack in talent they make up for in commitment.
If you enjoy playing sports, as I do, you'll relate to the camaraderie the boys share. Their trips to their meets on a school bus mean as much to the kids as the competitions themselves. Plenty of back-slapping male bonding, in other words.
There are some serious issues in here as well: abusive parents, racists, and over-bearing high school jocks who think sports should be limited to football and baseball, the only games that "matter" in this town.
The motley cast of characters is as lovable as can be; the plot is engaging and, at a trim 219 pages, is a good choice for the beginning reader in your life. What seals the deal is Crutcher's non-preachy method of getting his messages across. Good sportsmanship. Seeing things through to the end. Sticking by your friends when things get tough. All very manly virtues.
That's what the story is about: it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game. This group of teenage friends is on their way to becoming great men.

Eye Candy

Quotations

Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Be a craftsman in speech that you may be strong, for the strength of one is the tongue, and speech is mightier than all fighting.
Maxims of Ptahhotep (c. 3400 BC)

Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another.
Marquis de Condorcet (1743 - 1794)

Storms make oaks take deeper root.
George Herbert (1593 - 1633)

Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.
W. Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965)


We do what we must, and call it by the best names.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

It is certainly desirable to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.
Plutarch (46 - 120)

The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr.
Mohammed (c570 - 632)

Eye Candy

The Dangerous Book for Boys

The Dangerous Book for Boys, by Hal Iggulden
$14.97 at Amazon.com
ISBN: 0061243582
When The Dangerous Book was recently featured in an article in Time magazine, my curiosity was piqued. This could be the most exciting new book of the year. Jammed with fun and interesting information for boys of any age, this is a must-have for the guys in your life.
Beautifully lettered an illustrated, like an old-school Boy Scout Handbook (without the controversy), this book recalls a boyhood before cell-phones, remote controls, and Playstation 3.
This idyllic youth may sound boring, but there are actually a lot of fun things to do! Create your own electromagnet, build a tree house, construct your own flashlight, or send your friends messages in secret code. There's all kinds of fascinating information in here besides the fun and games: sure to make you an intelligent and well-rounded boy.
There's a beautiful section of full-color photos for identifying insects. There's also a nice section on astronomy: how to identify the planets and constellations. Trees, famous heroes, important battles, dinosaurs, and a host of other masculine topics are represented.
My favorite section, surprisingly enough, concerns dealing with girls. I was shocked at how good the advice was! Check it out (I quote verbatim):

Be careful with humor. It is very common for boys to try to impress girls with a string of jokes, each one more desperate than the last. One joke, perhaps, and then a long silence while she talks about herself.

Genius.
This is not childish, lots of adult guys are totally into it. I also absolutely love that this book is indeed "dangerous". This is not for the nerds: there are coin tricks, instructions for building a catapult, tips on how to play poker, and lots of other ammo for the scamps and hell-raisers out there.
The holidays are coming, and I seriously encourage this as a gift for the guys in your life, especially if they're not big readers. The cool pictures capture one's attention quickly, and the synoptic format means he won't have to concentrate too long or hard.
Lots of wholesome boyhood fun, with just the right touch of mischief, and plenty of handy facts sure to turn your boy into a worthwhile man.
Don't miss it!

Eye Candy

The History of Civilization

A new kind of post I've decided to try. Let me know what you think.

Chapter One: The Neolithic Revolution

How old is mankind? Not an easy question to answer. Primates resembling humans have existed for about 8 million years. These earliest human ancestors were called Australopithecus. Lucy, the most famous Australopithecus (right) is one of the only near-intact skeletons of early man ever discovered.

There were several other species of human-like creatures: Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal man are the most famous examples. Finally, about 200,000 years ago, modern man was born.

For the vast majority of this time, humans have lived like animals. The discovery of sewn clothing allowed them to move out of the Tropics and into the Temperate Zones. Pottery allowed them to spread all over the map: it was no longer necessary to live directly next to fresh water.

Stone Age man had the ability to make crude stone tools such as arrowheads for hunting, and axes for cutting meat off of carcasses. They had also developed some spoken language: for example, giving each other names. Language is completely unique to humanity: there's nothing like it anywhere else in the animal kingdom.

But people stilled lived as nomads, wandering from place to place in search of food. During this period they could only survive by hunting and gathering wild fruits and vegetables. One of the most important developments of the later Stone Age is the Neolithic Revolution, when people stopped wandering.

The discovery of agriculture (farming) made this possible. No one really knows what ancient genius discovered agriculture, but a reliable food source meant that people could settle down in one area. This has several advantages: You can only have one child at a time as a nomad: you need to be able to keep up with the group. Settling down allowed our ancestors to have larger families.

This also allowed economic specialization: instead of providing for all your needs yourself, you could rely on the rest of the community for some of your needs and become very good at one job.

To be continued...

Interested in the Stone Age and ancient humanity? There's a great book called Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond

Eye Candy

Death: The High Cost of Living

Death: The High Cost of Living, by Neil Gaiman
$10.39 at Amazon.com
ISBN: 1563891336
Death: The High Cost is a comic book, or "graphic novel" as it's called when it costs more than five bucks. It's worth every penny, though, in this outrageous tale in which a sixteen-year-old boy gets to spend a day with Death. Who, as it turns out, resembles a sixteen-year-old girl.
Renowned for his Sandman comic book series and for the popular British tv show Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman is the "author" I cite here. His writing is enriched by the artwork of Chris Bachalo, Mike Buckingham, Dave McKean, and a host of other talented people necessary to create a comic book this awesome.
The hero of our story is a young man named Sexton. Like most adolescents, he's depressed all the time and thinking about killing himself. While wandering through one of New York City's many trash piles, he's nearly crushed by a discarded refrigerator, and rescued by a girl who calls herself Didi. She offers him some antiseptic for his wounds in her nearby apartment, and Sexton gratefully accepts. So our peculiar tale begins.
Didi claims she's the living incarnation of Death, or something to that effect. Naturally Sexton thinks she's a nut-job, but grateful to her for rescuing him and tending his wounds, so the two spend the day together.
What's surprising is that Gaiman's created a story that's all about death, but it's never depressing. Didi is sweet and friendly, but has a lot of strange things happening around her. This makes Sexton suspicious that there may be more to her story than simple lunacy. For example, local vendors keep giving her their services for free. She has acquaintances in the neighborhood, but apparently no family. Weird.
There's also a creepy old blind man living in a basement, and an obviously insane old hag named "Mad Hettie", who kills doves and reads tea leaves for prophetic powers.
In short, this is a really fascinating story full of exciting characters. The illustration is amazing, and for once Death gets depicted as the nice guy. Fans of the Sandman series realize Didi's story is no bull: she really is the Grim Reaper herself. If you enjoy this graphic novel, you may find you also like the rest of the series.
This is the perfect storytelling: there's excitement, terror, lots of fun characters, and you'll become more curious with each page until the satisfying conclusion. Check it out!

Eye Candy

The Solar System

Okay, so the three celestial bodies I mention below are not planets, but I'm posting on them because: 1. they're cool, and 2. no tour of the Solar System would be complete without them. There are posts on the rest of the Solar System here, if you're interested. If you're really interested, there's an outstanding book on the subject called Astronomy: A Visual Guide, by Mark A. Garlick. Check it out.

The Sun:
Diameter: 865,000 miles (10,913% Earth)
Mass: 332,946 Earth
Surface Temperature: 9900 F (5500 C)
A giant ball of hydrogen and helium, the Sun makes up 99.99% of the Solar System's mass. Fueled by nuclear reactions in its core, the process releases an enormous amount of energy that slowly travels through the Sun's layers to the surface. Here, it escapes into space as heat and light, which allow life to exist on Earth. The surface is covered with dark spots called sunspots, which are considerably cooler than the rest of the sun.
In about six billion years, the hydrogen fuel will run out, causing the Sun to explode into a red giant, more than 160 times its current size. After this it will become an ember-like white dwarf, destined to fade forever.

The Moon:
Diameter: 2160 miles (27.2% Earth)
Mass: 0.012 Earth
Surface Temperature (daylight): 225 F (107 C)
Surface Temperature (night): -244 F (-153 C)
The Moon is the fifth-largest satellite in the Solar System. It is a lifeless, airless, barren rock. Liquid water has never existed there, and the only force known to have influenced its geography is the fall of meteorites, billions of years ago when the Solar System was young.
Even though the Moon is so far away, it is still able to exert a considerable gravitational pull on Earth. Together with the sun it forms the tides, by raising and lowering the temperature of our oceans.

Comets:
Comets are the most primitive bodies in the Solar System. They are loose bundles of ice and rock a few miles across, often referred to as "dirty snowballs".
Comets spend most of their time in the frozen darkness at the edge of our Solar System. Occasionally their elliptical orbits bring them them past Earth as they travel around the Sun. Passing into warmer space melts some of the ice, leaving a trail of water which creates the "tails" for which comets are known. These tails can stretch for more than 100 million miles.

Eye Candy

The Phantom Tollbooth

The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster
$6.99 at Amazon.com
ISBN: 0394820371
Consistently popular for almost thirty years, The Phantom Tollbooth is a children's book enjoyable for adults to read. If you've finished the latest Harry Potter and are ready for something new, give this outstanding fantasy adventure a try.
Milo is a boy who feels down in the dumps all the time. School is a drag and he can't wait to get out, but when it's over he's bored and wishes he were back. Although he's only a kid, he's decided that life is pointless and hardly worth the effort until one day, he finds a mysterious package in his room.
A tollbooth.
Some assembly required, including change to pay the toll, a booklet of regulations, and a map of the mysterious kingdom beyond it. Milo owns a toy electric car, so he assembles the booth and drives on through. Much to his suprise, he winds up not in his playroom at all, but in the Land of Wisdom.
The Land is in a state of war between two brothers. One, King Azaz, thinks letters and words are most important, and rules a literary fiefdom named Dictiopolis. His brother, the Mathemagician, thinks numbers and math should rule and has his capital at Digitopolis.
Only the return of Rhyme and Reason, the nation's two beautiful princesses, will restore order and harmony between the numbers and letters.
It falls to Milo, our reluctant young hero, his faithful dog Tock, and a tag along sourpuss named Humbug to rescue the princesses and bring tranquility back to the divided kingdom.
Exciting and graceful, Tollbooth is full of delicious puns kids surely miss. It's similar to Alice In Wonderland but more palatable to boys since the hero is male and drives a car, or Lord of the Rings but less tedious.While on campaign, Milo experiences the lands of Sound, Color, and a thousand other fantastic realms.
The characters are fascinating, and the plot deeply rewarding. If you're not familiar with this gem, please check it out and share it with the pre-teen in your life.

Eye Candy

Quotations

The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.
John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963)

Never be entirely idle, but either be reading, or writing, or praying, or meditating, or endeavoring something for the public good.
Thomas a Kempis (1380 - 1471)

Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt to you is determinism, the way you play it is free will.
Jawahartal Nehru (1889 - 1964)

I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I've ever known.
Walt Disney (1901 - 1966)

To travel hopefully is better than to arrive.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1835 - 1902)

Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.
Jimi Hendrix (1942 - 1970)

Only the mediocre are always at their best.
Jean Giraudoux (1882 - 1944)

If all the year were playing holidays,
To sport would be as tedious as work.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

Eye Candy

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
$11.20 at Amazon.com
ISBN: 0671027344
Wallflower is a novel about the life of Charlie, a mild-mannered fifteen year old boy. It runs the entire gamut of teen angst: drug use, suicide attempts, eating disorders, and most important of all: unrequited love.
Charlie is rightly called a wallflower by his friends. Our stories joins him when he's very child-like, and follows him through the traditional teenage drama until he's on his way to becoming a young man. The story is set in the early 1990s, my own high school years, as it happens. The rich, descriptive writing brought back memories of a lot of long forgotten travails from my own life.
Much of what happens to poor little Charlie, the most lovable protagonist I've ever encountered, is totally messed up: his older sister has a party during which he witnesses a date rape. His friends abandon him when he reveals he's nurturing a crush on his best friend's girlfriend.
In spite of all this, the story is surprisingly up-beat. Like every teenager, Charlie enjoys the indescribable ecstasy of romantic love. We also join him on his first exhilarating experience with marijuana, and a far less pleasant trip on more hardcore drugs.
Through much of the story he's in love with a senior girl named Sam. Sam simply adores him as a friend, but asks him to accept that friendship is all she's offering. The sweet agony of his longing struck a very familiar chord: for me it was a boy on the baseball team, but the effect is the same. Can you remember the first time you were obsessed with someone who didn't feel the same way about you?
There's lots of good stuff in here. What's amazing is that Charlie has devoted parents, a stable home, and a good school system; yet he finds himself getting sucked into all the serious troubles of adolescence just like everybody else. It's also remarkable that, even as he suffers through all these problems, you're still sure that the kid will be alright and will grow up to be a terrific guy.
I'm not much of a crier, but this novel actually got me a little misty eyed. Charlie's very emotional, and one can't help getting caught up in it. Even though he's heterosexual, his shyness and sensitivity make him a character gay boys and women can easily relate to.
This book is widely acclaimed, and is a great choice to provoke discussion with loved ones. Check it out!

Eye Candy

The Elements

I've been writing little stories about the elements in the Periodic Table. Most people are familiar with the chart (left), but if you're like me, you don't know much about most of the chemicals listed on it. So I've been doing some reading. If you find this boring, skip ahead to the Eye Candy. If you find it interesting, check out Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements by John Emsley.
Here's the next installment...

Beryllium:
Atomic Number: 4
Atomic Symbol: Be
Beryllium was to play a historic role in advancing our knowledge of atomic theory, since it helped uncover the fundamental particle, the neutron. Beryllium has been known since antiquity in some forms: beryl crystals include rubies and emeralds, which were known to the ancient Egyptians, Jews, and Romans. This element is toxic to humans, causing chronic inflammation of the lungs and shortness of breath. It is also used in nuclear bombs and the nuclear energy industry.

Boron:
Atomic Number: 5
Atomic Symbol: B
Boron's very existence is a mystery, because there appears to be no way in which it can have been created within stars, the source of all matter in the universe. Referred to as "borax", a salt of this element appears in writings from ancient Babylon and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Boron compounds are important in many industries such as agriculture, making detergents, and glass. Pyrex glass is tough and heat resistant because it contains boric oxide. Boron nitride is a remarkable material, used to manufacture fake diamonds.

Carbon:
Atomic Number: 6
Atomic Symbol: C
Carbon is an important element because it's so versatile: it can connect to one, two, three, or four other atoms. It can also connect to other carbon atoms. Scientists agree that a planet must be rich in carbon to produce the large and complicated molecules necessary for life. Most of what we eat: carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, is made of compounds of carbon, giving us a total carbon intake of 300 grams a day. Carbon is one of the major elements in the interstellar void, and is given off by dying stars.

Earlier posts on the Elements here.