bobrobboy

Great Pictures

This is one of our more interesting picture books.  Tar Beach presents a lot of questions, like why can't her father join the union and what is a half-breed.  My sons usually ask "Why" a lot while reading this book.  Reading it is a good way to generate conversation about how things were in this country and how we are trying to change for the better.

Imaginative Play

Plus my sons and I enjoy the imagination behind flying to anywhere you cannot get to otherwise.  And who wouldn't want to wear a bridge as a necklace!?

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet

Dictum lacus praesent consequat, egestas sollicitudin sapien, ut ornare aliquam urna massa consectetuer ut, ut bibendum quam odio felis consequat diamlorem. Sed rhoncus morbi accumsan, voluptatum nullam nec phasellus ut, dolor integer integer faucibus nec nunc. Eros est, rutrum a irure eget, purus sodales mauris est, sodales orci. Erat et, neque elit libero fusce convallis lacus dolor, imperdiet dolor neque et mattis in ut. Rhoncus neque fusce ac.

Vel curabitur imperdiet ac, praesent mauris aliquam erat mauris condimentum, eu pellentesque consequat at nunc interdum, in congue sem in phasellus, mollis ut ut eu. Eget nibh eros ligula mauris et, vehicula libero nec class, vivamus pellentesque nulla volutpat, consequat sed elit, est augue eligendi.

Pede porttitor, volutpat scelerisque pharetra viverra fermentum id:

• risus risus
• tellus nunc sit
• quisque dictum ullamcorper
• massa
• in eu enim sed

Sapien iaculis quisque, pellentesque nulla commodo est donec mollis, ultricies rhoncus vestibulum, cursus ligula aenean neque luctus non, laoreet eu nibh in pharetra aliquam felis. Nunc habitant, diam dolor, magna eget pede mi aliquam, blandit magna, ante odio praesent.

Enim justo eros vivamus at

1. sit aliquet purus
2. volutpat taciti
3. est consequat sem
4. nulla vestibulum wisi.

Dapibus dolor odio, est vestibulum lacus consectetuer suspendisse mauris. Donec dui nunc tempor nibh vestibulum enim, rutrum ipsum tempora ac at sed. Quo nec morbi tellus eu fermentum risus, consectetuer vestibulum, quis ligula sodales, purus ac, amet donec. Vulputate nunc, turpis dictum vivamus blandit class mi posuere. Lectus dui consequat nec aliquam neque volutpat, vel justo sit magnis lorem, ultricies vitae ornare nisl, mi placerat mauris a vestibulum sed, amet pulvinar vivamus ut ridiculus excepteur. Nec tempus

Eget neque, wisi vel turpis purus fusce eget, rutrum sit libero urna. Nulla pellentesque, nulla volutpat pharetra, fermentum quis massa vestibulum porta et, et at morbi ipsum faucibus in, a condimentum fames quam sed urna nunc. Quam est pede interdum sed lacus, vulputate mauris purus sit, leo a pede erat magna libero mauris. Metus porttitor bibendum porttitor, tristique egestas phasellus sed. Diam deleniti, fusce vivamus faucibus luctus gravida, tellus in a, viverra velit nullam in, mi amet dui rutrum tincidunt proin metus. Amet placerat tempor euismod, ac aliquam dictumst dolor, euismod et, purus tellus pede primis ligula malesuada pharetra. Sollicitudin id erat, odio wisi pede duis semper donec, platea aliquam ipsum nec. Fusce libero faucibus gravida vitae amet. In eu consectetuer sit ultrices eu phasellus. Lorem lectus augue diam donec, quis donec duis bibendum metus est, proin mus neque.

Ac id, in venenatis id massa, mauris facilisi amet fusce, tellus mauris aenean vel. Wisi ultricies morbi pulvinar. Vel nonummy. Eget volutpat, porttitor vivamus iaculis vulputate, dapibus eget tortor curabitur maecenas at ut. Quam etiam lectus porttitor id odio, condimentum porta donec est pellentesque ut cras.

Great Pictures

This is one of our more interesting picture books.  Tar Beach presents a lot of questions, like why can't her father join the union and what is a half-breed.  My sons usually ask "Why" a lot while reading this book.  Reading it is a good way to generate conversation about how things were in this country and how we are trying to change for the better.

Imaginative Play

Plus my sons and I enjoy the imagination behind flying to anywhere you cannot get to otherwise.  And who wouldn't want to wear a bridge as a necklace!?

Often described as a polemic, "The Cult of the Amateur" is simply a screed against societal and economic change. It is a moralistic bombast against the populist notion of cooperation and collaboration in favor of a single point of reference determined and espoused by an expert. The author pulls out all of the goblins: narcissism, lying, thievery, gambling and pornography; to warn readers that their culture is under siege by know-nothing friends and neighbors bent on self-expression and actualization at the cost of a national dialog. To believe the premise, our society will unravel — even our economy is at stake! — if my neighbors and I allow ourselves to chronicle the times we live in without heeding the checks and balances of experts. We are, with each visit to Wikipedia, with each blog post and each download; jeopardizing jobs in traditional publishing, distribution and media. What purports to be a defense of our national character ends up being a defense of the hayday of mass media where three networks and a handful of newspapers made the news and controlled the water-cooler-conversations through a self-chosen circle of "experts." I have found it impossible to separate the words on the page from their outspoken author, Andrew Keen. Lacking direction and focus, Keen leaps from conclusion to conclusion often contradicting himself: as in his mourning the loss of niche knowledge among the staff of Tower Records and lambasting the uncontrolled blogosphere for perpetuating a never ending series of narrow interests. Keen’s academic pedigree shines through each sentence and illuminates his general distrust of the common man. This book is an unconscious paean to media darlings of a by-gone era: the condescending, idealistic academician as talking-head. Yes. Gambling can be dangerous and pornography is not for children. No. The crowd is not imbued with wisdom. Our society is experiencing significant growing pains and experimenting with new technologies and freedoms. Through seven chapters, Keen focuses only on the negative consequences of technological advances and condemns our innate human curiosity and expression as irrevocably bad. In the eighth and final chapter, Keen finally allows that there are benefits and acknowledges that we may yet reign in this beast of Web 2.0 and realize our own folly. He might be right. We may yet welcome experts into our conversations, should they decide to participate rather than instruct. Doing so will strike a balance between narcissistic echoes in the blogosphere and self-referential experts espousing their wisdom. It is a bit of a strain to think how Keen, after seven chapters of self-righteously divisive language, can make that allowance; but the final chapter is a welcomed return to reality and pragmatism. If you must read this book, I highly recommend checking it out from an American library—where royalties are not paid.