comp.lang.idl-pvwave archive
Messages from Usenet group comp.lang.idl-pvwave, compiled by Paulo Penteado

Home » Public Forums » archive » Re: Children's Reading List
Show: Today's Messages :: Show Polls :: Message Navigator
E-mail to friend 
Switch to threaded view of this topic Create a new topic Submit Reply
Re: Children's Reading List [message #53193] Fri, 30 March 2007 06:31
btt is currently offline  btt
Messages: 345
Registered: December 2000
Senior Member
David Fanning wrote:
> Since children's books get read, in
> my experience, THOUSANDS of times (a week!) it is helpful
> to have ones that don't annoy you to death. (All the Berenstain
> Bears books, with their idiotic father figure, mysteriously
> disappeared from my house late one night, never to be found
> again.)
>

Aha! So that is how those damn things ended up in my house! Hmmm.
Maybe I'll ship the boatload of 'em to Cool's house. Don't let him know.

Ben
Re: Children's Reading List [message #53217 is a reply to message #53193] Thu, 29 March 2007 07:57 Go to previous message
David Fanning is currently offline  David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
Senior Member
Karsten Rodenacker writes:

> That was the time of the books of Castaneda! Fairy tale
> books today?

This is an interesting way of looking at those books, which
has a great deal of merit, I think. I first read those
books as a young man, and they were constantly on my
mind as I rode my bicycle from Phoenix to Fort Collins,
having many an adventure along the way. I'm sure I spoke
to every Raven that crossed my path on that trip!

But several years ago now I pulled all the books off my
shelf and read them again, start to finish, and they had
a completely different effect, even more powerful. (This
was in a stage of my life when I was transfixed with ideas
of altered states of reality and shamanism. I thought I was
going crazy because I couldn't stay out of the New Age
section of the bookstore!) They certainly had the *effect*
of Fairy Tales, explaining your life experiences, leading
you on the dangerous journey of self-exploration, explaining
the terrain in metaphorical terms.

Humm. I may have to read them again... That's the wonderful
thing about getting old. You can go back to old, forgotten
books and find them wonderfully fresh and insightful. :-)

Cheers,

David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
Re: Children's Reading List [message #53218 is a reply to message #53217] Thu, 29 March 2007 06:52 Go to previous message
Peter Clinch is currently offline  Peter Clinch
Messages: 98
Registered: April 1996
Member
David Fanning wrote:

> So I thought if you wanted to send me your two or three
> favorite children's books, I'd publish the list anonymously.
> I have a feeling there are quite a number of IDL programmers
> out there who would appreciate some fresh material to read
> to the little ones. :-)

I've no shame at all in nominating A.A. Milne's The House at Pooh Corner
and Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in The Willows as books up there with the
best of them at /any/ level, including the 5 I nominated in my previous
list to David.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
Re: Children's Reading List [message #53219 is a reply to message #53218] Thu, 29 March 2007 07:44 Go to previous message
David Fanning is currently offline  David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
Senior Member
Karsten Rodenacker writes:

> what do you mean with children's books?
>
> One of my favorites (Grimm's Fairy Tales) is by far not a children's book.
> ...
> I think some 'children's books' deliver often a very interesting
> representation of the world.

I couldn't agree more. In fact, my favorite memory of
raising children is the year I spent voicing Gandalf,
Strider, Frodo and all the other characters in the Lord
of the Rings Trilogy, one chapter at a time. It is an
indelible family memory for every one of us.

I think what I really mean by "children's books" are those
books that are given meaning to us by being tied up with
powerful memories of sharing them with our children.

It's a broader definition than the one used by the International
Library Association, but what the heck, it's our list. :-)

Cheers,

David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
Re: Children's Reading List [message #53220 is a reply to message #53218] Thu, 29 March 2007 05:45 Go to previous message
James Kuyper is currently offline  James Kuyper
Messages: 425
Registered: March 2000
Senior Member
Karsten Rodenacker wrote:
...
> Many years ago I read The Infinite Story (Die unendliche Geschichte) from
> Michael Ende. There was a reading hour from Ende himself. I visited it and

A better translation would be "The Neverending Story"; or at least,
that is how it has been translated into English for both the book and
the movie of that name.

I never noticed that the author's name was "Ende". I wonder if that
had something to do with the book's name?
Re: Children's Reading List [message #53223 is a reply to message #53220] Thu, 29 March 2007 01:16 Go to previous message
Karsten Rodenacker is currently offline  Karsten Rodenacker
Messages: 98
Registered: July 1997
Member
Hi David,
what do you mean with children's books?

One of my favorites (Grimm's Fairy Tales) is by far not a children's book.
Proof, many editions of Grimm are cutted down and corrupted in an
unbelievable way. I think six hour of tv daily is better than these
'editions'.

Also a fairy tale hour is very often much better recommended for the so
called full grown and adults!

Many years ago I read The Infinite Story (Die unendliche Geschichte) from
Michael Ende. There was a reading hour from Ende himself. I visited it and
found, very surprised, mostly children! That was the time of the books of
Castaneda! Fairy tale books today?

I think some 'children's books' deliver often a very interesting
representation of the world.

Regards
Karsten

Am Wed, 28 Mar 2007 21:44:16 +0200 schrieb David Fanning
<news@dfanning.com>:

> One thing that I've learned about IDL programmers is
> that (for whatever reason) they read a lot of children's
> books! But, of course, they are reluctant to discuss
> this aspect of their lives, preferring instead to offer
> a gruff "Bevington, Data Reduction and Error Analysis"
> instead.



--
Erstellt mit Operas revolutionᅵrem E-Mail-Modul: http://www.opera.com/m2/
Re: Children's Reading List [message #53226 is a reply to message #53223] Wed, 28 March 2007 13:50 Go to previous message
David Fanning is currently offline  David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
Senior Member
Paul van Delst writes:

> I'll broadcast mine to the world:
>
> "The Little Captain" (De Kleine Kapitein) by Paul Biegel. Good luck getting an English
> version of this classic.
>
> "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster. Now, I'll be off to jump to (the Island of)
> Conclusions followed by a dinner of some nice hot Subtraction Stew. :o)

Thanks, Paul. But bad news. Coyote just published his book list.
We may not want the children visiting this page. :-(

Cheers,

David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
Re: Children's Reading List [message #53228 is a reply to message #53226] Wed, 28 March 2007 12:21 Go to previous message
Paul Van Delst[1] is currently offline  Paul Van Delst[1]
Messages: 1157
Registered: April 2002
Senior Member
David Fanning wrote:
>
> So I thought if you wanted to send me your two or three
> favorite children's books, I'd publish the list anonymously.
> I have a feeling there are quite a number of IDL programmers
> out there who would appreciate some fresh material to read
> to the little ones. :-)

I'll broadcast mine to the world:

"The Little Captain" (De Kleine Kapitein) by Paul Biegel. Good luck getting an English
version of this classic.

"The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster. Now, I'll be off to jump to (the Island of)
Conclusions followed by a dinner of some nice hot Subtraction Stew. :o)

cheers,

paulv

--
Paul van Delst Ride lots.
CIMSS @ NOAA/NCEP/EMC Eddy Merckx
  Switch to threaded view of this topic Create a new topic Submit Reply
Previous Topic: PLOT axis labels
Next Topic: Re: Exporting ENVI display to reduced reslution JPEG

-=] Back to Top [=-
[ Syndicate this forum (XML) ] [ RSS ] [ PDF ]

Current Time: Wed Oct 08 13:40:07 PDT 2025

Total time taken to generate the page: 0.00866 seconds