Stuff we're reading / watching / listening to

[Squirrel]

My new favorite TV show: Animal Planet's Treehouse Masters it's sooo cool!

[Random]

I just started reading the unabridged version of Les Misérables... who knows how long I'm gonna be reading this...

[bobtheenchantedone]

I recently finished Sex with Kings, a look at royal mistresses throughout history. I really enjoyed it. The writing wasn't fantastic - she both had a writing style I found a little amateur and a habit of making stuff up when there were no records (prefacing the storytelling with "let's imagine..."), but I learned a lot. The two most interesting tidbits were that for a while, having an official mistress was actually expected for rulers (in fact some had "mistresses" that they never had sex with); and that there is at least one instance of a famous Madonna and child painting where the Madonna is a royal mistress.

[Tally M.]

I just checked out some Finnish books from the library -- that's my focus for the next week -- and I was greatly disappointed with selection of books written in Finnish. Even the Moomin books, which are originally written in Finnish are only available in English (and I think Dutch...). There is, however, Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles in Finnish, though no Harry Potter.

[Whistler]

yeah, I remember the HBLL being kind of disppointing on that front. Sometimes the international language lab? has some additional foreign language books (it's in the basement of the JFSB), but I'm not sure if they have any in Finnish.

[Katya]

I just checked out some Finnish books from the library -- that's my focus for the next week -- and I was greatly disappointed with selection of books written in Finnish. Even the Moomin books, which are originally written in Finnish are only available in English (and I think Dutch...). There is, however, Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles in Finnish, though no Harry Potter.

Put in a book request. The library does not magically fill itself with books. People have to pick them. You, too, can be part of that process. (And "I'm studying Finnish at this fine institution and would like more access to intermediate(?)-level Finnish books" is a perfectly valid reason, especially since you know that they're already willing to buy Harry Potter in ten other languages.)

[mic0]

And requesting the Moomin books would be extra great since they are a cultural staple!

[Tally M.]

I just checked out some Finnish books from the library -- that's my focus for the next week -- and I was greatly disappointed with selection of books written in Finnish. Even the Moomin books, which are originally written in Finnish are only available in English (and I think Dutch...). There is, however, Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles in Finnish, though no Harry Potter.

Put in a book request. The library does not magically fill itself with books. People have to pick them. You, too, can be part of that process. (And "I'm studying Finnish at this fine institution and would like more access to intermediate(?)-level Finnish books" is a perfectly valid reason, especially since you know that they're already willing to buy Harry Potter in ten other languages.)

Yeah, I was just surprised that no one had ever requested those books.

ETA: Apparently the Moomin books were first written in Swedish. Who knew? The author is a Swede-Finn, and there's a huge Moomin amusement park in Finland...

[Violet]

Why pants are standard leg-wear when most of the large civilizations of ancient history wore skirt-like clothing.

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartne ... -won-wars/

[Digit]

A previously unknown layer of the human cornea was just recently discovered.

The previously unknown layer was named for the team leader professor Harminder Dua who said the discovery means "ophthalmology textbooks will literally need to be re-written."

I'd hate to have just bought my ophthalmology textbook before this

Also mentioned in the article is that it is strong enough to withstand two bars of pressure. That's about 29 pounds per square inch. That's amazing for a layer 15 microns thick!

[C is for]

If anyone's read Lexi Khan's book, I know she'd love it if you leave her a review on Amazon.

(And I'd love it if she loves me for suggesting it, so we're all winning here.)

[SmurfBlueSnuggie]

My hold at my library for the first Wheel of Time book just got filled. And down I will plunge into a 13 (14?) book adventure. Trying to decide if I'm going to finish re-reading Lord of the Rings first though. I'm just about to leave Rivendell. If I move the fastest I've ever read it from this point, I'll probably take a week.

On second thought, when I realized how long I have Eye of the World for, I should probably just get started on it as soon as I pick it up. I've got LotR on my Kindle. I can keep working through it when I go to the gym or am other places without a book and want to read.

Anyone read Wheel of Time and have any thoughts for m as I begin? I'm really rather excited.

[Portia]

My hold at my library for the first Wheel of Time book just got filled. And down I will plunge into a 13 (14?) book adventure. Trying to decide if I'm going to finish re-reading Lord of the Rings first though. I'm just about to leave Rivendell. If I move the fastest I've ever read it from this point, I'll probably take a week.

On second thought, when I realized how long I have Eye of the World for, I should probably just get started on it as soon as I pick it up. I've got LotR on my Kindle. I can keep working through it when I go to the gym or am other places without a book and want to read.

Anyone read Wheel of Time and have any thoughts for m as I begin? I'm really rather excited. :)

Ahhhhhhh no. The Wheel of Time ate my boyfriend. DON'T DO IT. STOP. NOOOOOO-

[SmurfBlueSnuggie]

Ahhhhhhh no. The Wheel of Time ate my boyfriend. DON'T DO IT. STOP. NOOOOOO-

Haha! Well, seeing as I have neither a boyfriend nor (currently) a full-time job, I would actually enjoy getting eaten by a book. So I think this is a safe match. But I thank you for the warning. I'll finish the series before I start boyfriend hunting again.

[Portia]

Ahhhhhhh no. The Wheel of Time ate my boyfriend. DON'T DO IT. STOP. NOOOOOO-

Haha! Well, seeing as I have neither a boyfriend nor (currently) a full-time job, I would actually enjoy getting eaten by a book. So I think this is a safe match. But I thank you for the warning. I'll finish the series before I start boyfriend hunting again. ;)

He's been at it since November. Seriously, it's like, READ OTHER BOOKS.

[thatonemom]

Ahhhhhhh no. The Wheel of Time ate my boyfriend. DON'T DO IT. STOP. NOOOOOO-

Haha! Well, seeing as I have neither a boyfriend nor (currently) a full-time job, I would actually enjoy getting eaten by a book. So I think this is a safe match. But I thank you for the warning. I'll finish the series before I start boyfriend hunting again.

He's been at it since November. Seriously, it's like, READ OTHER BOOKS.

hahaha! My husband has been working on those on and off. For years! But he really likes them. I'm less of a high fantasy girl, myself. All the names look like they've come from an IKEA catalog and apparently it's frustrating to me not to be able to pronounce places/names in my head.

Anyway, if you guys like audiobooks, SYNC is doing free (also legal) downloads of new YA/classic pairs of books each week this summer.

[Tally M.]

Anyway, if you guys like audiobooks, SYNC is doing free (also legal) downloads of new YA/classic pairs of books each week this summer.

Oh, hey! Kirby Heyborne is reading one.

[bobtheenchantedone]

Marduk's been listening to a lot of A Perfect Circle lately, and apparently I like them? Weird.

[mic0]

I just read this article about Russian Jews. Probably as a result of wondering about my own identity, I have lately been really interested in my husband's identity as "Jewish." It's confusing - yes, his mother is Jewish and his ancestors are Jewish, but he wasn't raised following kosher laws, or being religious in any way whatsoever. Yet, on the other hand, he loves Israel. So anyway, reading that article was enlightening (and the comments as well). If any of you all are interested in Russian culture and/or Jewish culture/history, then you might like the article.

[Portia]

I just read this article about Russian Jews. Probably as a result of wondering about my own identity, I have lately been really interested in my husband's identity as "Jewish." It's confusing - yes, his mother is Jewish and his ancestors are Jewish, but he wasn't raised following kosher laws, or being religious in any way whatsoever. Yet, on the other hand, he loves Israel. So anyway, reading that article was enlightening (and the comments as well). If any of you all are interested in Russian culture and/or Jewish culture/history, then you might like the article.

I've long thought that the cultural transmission of Jewishness and Mormonness are not dissimilar.