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Halfway to Pluto

ND — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:00:25 +0000

Space exploration reached a new milestone this month with the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. The probe, which was launched in 2006, is now halfway to the dwarf planet Pluto and is expected to arrive there in 2015. Once it has collected data from Pluto, it will move on to the Kuiper Belt and study objects that are believed to be remnants of the formation of our solar system. To learn more about the mission, follow the links below.

New Horizons Site:

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/index.php

New Horizons on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/newhorizons2015/

NASA – New Horizons Mission:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html

Medieval Helpdesk

ND — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:00:56 +0000

The technical challenges of operating a book can be very amusing. (From YouTube.)

To Hope by Keats on Audio Literature Odyssey

ND — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:13:43 +0000

My podcast Audio Literature Odyssey has been updated with the poem To Hope by John Keats. The poet solicits Hope to turn his dark days into brighter ones. To listen to this episode and to learn more, visit the Audio Literature Odyssey blog.

TO HOPE BY JOHN KEATS (Excerpt)
Published in 1817

When by my solitary hearth I sit,
And hateful thoughts enwrap my soul in gloom;
When no fair dreams before my “mind’s eye” flit,
And the bare heath of life presents no bloom;
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o’er my head.

The History of Theatre and English Literature

ND — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:31:34 +0000

Here are two more engaging and illuminating audio book narrations by actor Derek Jacobi. He leads us through the gargantuan histories of both the Theatre and English Literature, while other notable actors lend their voices to make the text come alive. These works act as worthy introductions to both topics and as good refresher courses. To find out if your library offers these, visit the links below:

The History of Theatre
by David Timson
Narrated by Derek Jacobi
Naxos AudioBooks, 2000
about 5 hr 9 min

The History of English Literature
by Perry Keenlyside
Narrated by Derek Jacobi
Naxos, 2001
about 5 hr 16 min

Lives of the Twelve Caesars

ND — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:00:57 +0000

If you’re interested in some Roman history, you may enjoy the audiobook of Lives of the Twelve Caesars written by Suetonius (circa 69-after 122 CE). Published in 2005 by Naxos AudioBooks, the work is narrated by actor Derek Jacobi whose reading style is clear, well-paced, and engaging. The audio is abridged and runs approximately seven hours and thirteen minutes. Find out if your local library has the CDs, or a digital copy available for download. If you prefer to read the work, Project Gutenberg has a copy.

Search WorldCat
Project Gutenberg

Ozymandias

ND — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:00:29 +0000

The podcast A History of the World in 100 Objects (introduced in the last post), contains an episode on the statue of Ramesses II. If you listened to the Audio Literature Odyssey episode “Six Sonnets by Various Authors,” then you may recall Shelley’s sonnet “Ozymandias.” This sonnet is about the statue referred to in their program. Shelley and fellow poet Horace Smith had a competition between themselves to write about the statue. Shelley’s work is better known.

To listen to the sonnet, visit the Audio Literature Odyssey blog. If you want to know the history of the statue and the implications of the sonnet, visit A History of the World in 100 Objects and download the podcast episode 020 Statue of Ramesses II 12 Feb 2010. More information about the statue can be found on the British Museum’s site.