Statue of Liberty

Sesquicentennial!

A sesquicentennial celebration!  Jane’s Cool School’s 150th post! 

To mark the occasion,  I scoured the previous 149 posts and came up with a general knowledge  quiz for my son, consisting of 150 questions.  He did quite well, earning an A+.   

Here is a sampling of the questions (answers at bottom of quiz).  Fret ye not, I have selected only 15 of the 150 questions:

General Knowledge Quiz – Express Lane Style

1)  A blue moon is:

a-  a second full moon in a month     
b-  a moon with a blue tinge due to gravitational pull from Venus     
c-  a full moon in Winter     
d-  a sad moon

2)  The first wheels:

a-  chariot wheels     
b-  grain grinding wheels     
c-  wheels of cheese     
d-  potters’ wheels

3)  Which of the following is NOT depicted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling:

a-  Creation     
b-  The Last Supper     
c-  Adam and Eve     
d-  Noah and the Flood

4)  “Alpha”, “Bravo”, “Charlie” are ways of communicating letters in:

a-  NATO phonetic alphabet     
b-  children’s books     
c-  Navajo Code     
d-  Morse Code

5)  The USA enjoys many unspoiled national parks due to the influence of:

a-  the Pope     
b-  John Muir     
c-  Frederic Remington     
d-  Buffalo Bill Cody

6)  What makes the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra different?

a-  no conductor     
b-  15 violinists     
c-  they play from memory, no sheet music allowed     
d-  members are all women

7)  Who does the waggle dance?

a-  people in Australia     
b-  snakes     
c-  bees     
d-  teenagers

8)  Windless weather on the high seas is referred to by sailors as:

a-  flat water     
b-  the Sargasso Sea     
c-  middle sea    
d-  the doldrums

9)  The engineer of the interior structure of the Statue of Liberty:

a-  Gustav Eiffel     
b-  Frank Lloyd Wright     
c-  Thomas Edison     
d-  the Marquis de Lafayette

10)  The Astroid Belt is found:

a-  between Mercury and Venus     
b-  between Mars and Jupiter     
c-  beyond Neptune  
d-  in any fine mens clothing store 

11)  A country build on coral:

a-  Catalina Island     
b-  Australia    
c-  Greenland     
d-  Republic of Maldives

12)  America’s first great public works project:

a-  Hoover Dam     
b-  Golden Gate Bridge     
c-  Erie Canal     
d-  Highway 66

13)  A Jannisary Band:

a-  a large rubber band used to bind logs together     
b-  a military band of the Ottoman Turks    
c-  a decorative headband     
d-  a orchestral group that plays once a year, in January

14)  The only Finnish word in the American language:

a-  sauna     
b-  loofa     
c-  antler     
d-  smorgasbord

15)  The one place on Earth that can only be used for peace and science: 

a-  the Vatican     
b-  the Bikini Atoll     
c-  Antarctica     
d-  The North Pole

Answers:

  1. a- second full moon in a month
  2. d- potters’ wheels
  3. b- The Last Supper
  4. a- NATO phonetic  alphabet
  5. b- John Muir
  6. a- no conductor
  7. c- bees
  8. d- the doldrums
  9. a- Gustav Eiffel
  10. b- between Mars and Jupiter
  11. d- Republic of Maldives
  12. c- Erie Canal
  13. b- military band of the Ottoman Turks
  14. a- sauna
  15. c- Antarctica

Meanwhile, our Stories and Studies sessions continue.  Hoo boy – our current books have provided discussion* topics that I never thought I would be having with my son:

  • oil spills in the ocean (from “The Penguin Lessons” by Tom Michell)
  • inflation in Argentina in the mid 1970’s (from “The Penguin Lessons” by Tom Michel)
  • the currency of Ecuador  (from “Let’s Look at Ecuador” by Mary Boone, and verified by Wikipedia because THIS IS JUST TOO WACKY) – the US Dollar has been the currency of Ecuador since 1990.  I will never understand how this works, so it is a good thing I am not in charge.
  • homelessness insights (from “Almost Home” by Joan Bauer)
  • the gambling addiction (from “Almost Home” by Joan Bauer)

* how do I have a discussion with my nonverbal son?  Usually, I make up a lot of questions and have my son write “yes” or “no” to each inquiry.  He likes being asked.

Classical Music Time – we considered the concept of orchestral adaptation:

My son and I are enchanted with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – we have listened to their recording of Luigi Boccherini’s seductive Fandango from his Guitar Quintet (1798) probably 250 times –

Topic of the evening:  could orchestral music be successfully adapted for guitar?  Could the LA Guitar Quartet deliver on pieces the were not written specifically for guitar?  Not only could they deliver, we prefer the adaptations.  We LOVE these adaptations.  YAY Los Angeles Guitar Quartet!

First, we compared John Phillip Sousa’s Black Horse Troop (a decidedly happy march, composed in 1924 for Troop A of the Cleveland National Guard, known for using only black horses) – 

Next, we compared JS Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, movement 3 (early 1720’s).  Both performances here are excellent, but the LA Guitar Quartet has a way of making this movement into pure comfort listening – 

Welcome to the best part of my day!
 – Jane BH

Club Gustav

eiffel-tower

And so it begins:  a few nights ago, my son and I started reading, “The Eiffel Tower – Gustave Eiffel’s Spectacular Idea” by Cooper/Bock.  Hmmm; the book’s facts differ slightly (actually markedly) from what the Wikipedia entry has to say about the tower and who’s idea it was.   Regardless, I knew we would be interested in the construction of the Eiffel Tower – all of those triangles – and the fact is, Gustave Eiffel was a brilliant, innovative, experienced architect and engineer.  We also looked at some of his bridges, and his structural plan for supporting the inside of the Statue of Liberty.

Meanwhile, it occurred to me that we had never listened to anything by Gustav Mahler, so I started listening to a LOT of Mahler (a LOT because each and every piece is SO long), selecting compositions to share with my son.  And all of a sudden, I thought: we have two “Gustavs” already, why not have this week be all about spotlighting noteworthy “Gustavs”?  So we added:

gustave-the-croc kiss-klimt planets

  • the art work of Gustav Klimt – we admired 12 of his landscapes (via a large calendar).  We couldn’t stop looking at “Forest of Birch Trees” and “Island in the Attersee” (both 1902).  We also spent time looking at every detail of his most well known painting, the shimmering richly patterned, gold-leafed “The Kiss” (1907).
  • a review of the music of Gustav Holst, a composer we are familiar with.  We listened to a few movements from “The Planets”, his Morris Dance Tunes, and the march from his “First Suite in E flat for Military Band” (we like listening for the monarch reviewing the troops).
  • then, HOLY CATS, a short study of Gustave the Crocodile of Burundi (we located teeny Burundi on the globe).  Oh, this is so sad: according to Wikipedia, “The World Happiness Report 2016 Update ranked Burundi as the world’s least happy nation”.  Well, I am sure Gustave is not helping.  So far, this 60 year old, 25 foot-long, bullet-proof baddest croc of them all, has killed 300 people.  He is THE WORST.  He is INFAMOUS (vocab word of the night).

Our music theme last night: what else? Gustav, Gustav, Gustave and Gustavo –

mahler dudamel holst

Mahler, Dudamel, and Holst

  • we listened to Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, movement III, composed about 1890.  There are a lot of moods and themes in this 10 minute movement – lush harmonies, frenetic rhythms, the lure of the exotic melody, and do we hear birdsong?  Conducted by the sizzling Gustavo Dudamel:

  • we can hear Gustav Holst’s messenger god flitting willy-nilly all over the universe.  We have probably listened to the “Mercury” movement  from The Planets (composed in 1916) about 45 times.  It just doesn’t get old.

  • and for Gustave the Crocodile we listened to, “Never Smile at a Crocodile” from Disney’s 1953 movie “Peter Pan”.  Music by Frank Churchill, words by Jack Lawrence.  What’s not to like?

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH