books

*2012* New book release:
Quotable Wit and Wisdom
Collection 1

Now available via Amazon Kindle eBooks and Apple iBookstore.

From the publisher -
This is the first of a series of picturesque editions of "Quotable Wit and Wisdom" from great minds such as Emerson, Shakespeare, Hugo... portraits and glimpses featuring Plato, Bernard Shaw and Einstein. The selection of quotes in Collection 1 spans different topics - nature, philosophy, life, mind, truth... Art is blended uniquely with famous quotes to inspire life, as well as little-known quotes by Socrates, Leo Rosten, Bertrand Russell, John Bacon, Leo Buscaglia, Picasso and Louis Pasteur. Considering some readers need or enjoy larger fonts, quotations in text format are also included. Thank you, dear readers, for short or long we are going to share the same journey to brighten our own lives by "other men's writings.. by what others have labored hard for" (Socrates, Plato’s mentor).

Soldier’s Engagement Ring
by LuCxeed

I’ll be gone to the battlefield
Don’t cry, my darling
Just return to me our engagement ring

I’ll be gone to the battlefield
Don’t cry. Don’t cry, my darling
Just return to me our engagement ring

From pages 53 & 54 of the book: Love’s Footsteps ~ dedicated to a Bridge for Wisdom to Walk on

Excerpt from a poem (inspired by a true story) in the poetry book with art "Love's Footsteps ~ dedicated to a Bridge for Wisdom to Walk on" by .D. LuCxeed, an inspirational & motivational gift book, www.loves-footsteps.com -

Giant White
Mirrors moonlight,
Encircled by Frontier of Blue.
Air is crystal. Sound sealed by icy glue.

Little spots, round and shallow,
Scatter over the snow.
Footprints loyally follow
The soulful, tiny shadow.
...

*music by tdcollins

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Warmer Arctic spells colder winters. 'Unicorn' whales do scientists favor by taking Arctic temp
It's no secret that the proverbial canary in the climate change mine is the Arctic. As National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administrator Jane Lubchenco noted when her organization launched its annual Arctic Report Card last week,“To quote one of my NOAA colleagues, ‘whatever is going to happen in the rest of the world happens first, and to the greatest extent, in the Arctic.’”

But, even as the Arctic warms, seemingly irrevocably, it is still a formidable environment in which to operate, particularly in the winter. The coasts of Greenland, in particular, act as pathways for ice from the Arctic Ocean, as a result of which winter research expeditions can require icebreaking vessels that cost millions of dollars to charter.

Consequently, in some areas, such as Baffin Bay, a large area between northeast Canada and southwest Greenland, winter data have been scarce -- or, in the words of Mike Steele of the University of Washington, "there was this gigantic, embarrassing hole."

Narwhal_satellite That hole is now being filled - thanks to narwhals, medium-size whales, endemic to the Arctic, known as unicorns of the seas because of the single, spiralling tusk found in males.  read more »

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A little-reported ceremony took place a few days ago outside a nondescript apartment block in the Paris suburb of Bobigny. An old man unveiled a plaque to mark the birthplace of one of France's greatest cultural heroes: Asterix.

On 29 October 1959, the first adventure of the diminutive warrior Asterix appeared in the comic magazine Pilote. It was the work of the Italian-born artist Albert Uderzo and his script-writer friend René Goscinny.

According to one of their creators, the small, wily Gaul Asterix and his oversized, clumsy friend Obelix were born under the influence of friendship, desperation and a great deal of alcohol. They met at Uderzo's apartment in the Paris suburb of Pantin to dream up a story and some characters for a comic strip to be published in the first edition of the weekly magazine Pilote. At the time, aside from the Belgian strips Tintin and Spirou, French newspapers carried primarily American comics. The founder of Pilote wanted French children to be able to read stories in which their own culture dominated. 'The Gauls,' they thought, 'liked to have a good laugh, to talk big and were bon vivants. I think we've got something there.'  read more »

History won’t forget each one who deploys diplomacy rather than weaponry to end war which inevitably imposes tremendous suffering on humanity. History remembers that a team of three once did the impossible, ending the Afghan war, ending misery of refugees due to war. The trio also won "Charlie Wilson's War" (a movie based on the true story stars Tom Hanks (Charlie Wilson), Julia Roberts (Joanne Herring) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Gust Avrakotos).

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Charles Wilson  read more »

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It is in 1752, Benjamin Franklin conducted an experiment in connection with electricity charged clouds. He flew a homemade kite during a thunderstorm. The kite was made of a silk cloth mounted on a wooden cross, with about one foot of iron wire protruding above the kite. A key was tied to the end of metal string connected with the kite and the other end of the key was tied to a silken ribbon which Benjamin held while flying the kite. A bolt of lightning struck the kite wire and traveled down to the key causing a spark. This proved that lightning is electricity from charged clouds that can be brought to earth. There was a time when high-rise buildings were destroyed quite frequently by lightning. Benjamin Franklin invented lightning rod for the safety of buildings.

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