#22 on the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000

A Wrinkle in Time

What I believe is so magnificent, so glorious, that it is beyond finite comprehension. To believe that the universe was created by a purposeful, benign Creator is one thing. To believe that this Creator took on human vesture, accepted death and mortality, was tempted, betrayed, broken, and all for love of us, defies reason. It is so wild that it terrifies some Christians who try to dogmatize their fear by lashing out at other Christians, because tidy Christianity with all answers given is easier than one which reaches out to the wild wonder of God’s love, a love we don’t even have to earn.
- Madeleine L’Engle

Madeleine L’Engle passed away earlier this month.

Banned Books Week is the brainchild of the American Library Association

“I’m a marine biologist and, to be honest, I kind of hate dolphins” badge

• This latest Science Scouts badge, comes from the humorous article “So You Want to Be a Marine Biologist ” over at the SCQ.
• This two-headed turtle is most unusual because it has a head at both ends, makes me think there might be a two-butted turtle waddling around somewhere out there. You can just rock me to sleep tonight.
• And for more heebie-jeebies. A brain-eating amoeba found in lakes has killed six people this year. “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.”
• After skipping U.N. talks on Global Warming (but successfully showing up for the free dinner afterwards), Bush outlined his own proposal on Climate Change later in the week, once again failing to mention any goals. Once again, no one was fooled. It’s like that sad, doofy uncle who keeps pulling the “Got your nose!” trick on you even though your in your late twenties.
• Time to tie one on and hit the books, moderate consumption of alcohol improves memory. Paaaaarty! (In Moderation)
• Harvard Scientists Build a Device to Smoke Weed During Brain Scans. Paaaaarty! (In Moderation (for science))
• Here’s a cool way to get those fantasy dorks into physical fitness, the Walk to Rivendale Challenge involves keeping a journal of your walks and hikes for the hundreds of miles those hobbits traveled in their adventures. Maybe something to play with next Take a Child Outside Week
• Navy Calls MySpace Kids “Alien Life Force”. The report (8MB PPT, but makes a great read) refers to Millennials as “A ‘Coddled’ Generation,” whose childhoods are “defined by ego-stroking.” Apparently these qualities make them harder to recruit for the armed forces.

Navy Millennials PPT

• Mark your calendars for November 12th. That’s the day the One Laptop Per Child project is offering a buy one for a needy child, buy one for yourself deal. I am so there.
• Check out the $9.2-million operating room for brain surgery, called the BrainSUITE.
• Wow. This image with commentary really emphasizes the stupidity of our gilded age. Is this the legacy we want to leave future generations?

“There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me.”
- Thomas Jefferson

“A sense of curiosity is nature’s original school of education.”
- Smiley Blanton

“A human being is part of a whole, called by us the ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest–a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
- Albert Einstein

Grass and Fog (Photo by TGAW)

“I am at two with nature.”
- Woody Allen

Tyrannosaurus Rex would have eaten Noah

When I was in high school I went to a monster truck rally on a lark, and was so blown away with excitement that I actually bought a Grave Digger hat, and have been a secret fan of monster trucks ever since. This despite the fact that they usually get 15 gallons per mile in mileage.

But as cool as Grave Digger was, the real highlight of the night was TRUCKASAURUS!!! A giant, fire breathing, mechanical monstrosity of doom that came out in the arena and ATE A JAPANESE COMPACT CAR!!! Take that rice-burners! God bless America! These colors don’t run! WWJD!!!

So when my mom called me with tickets to see Walking With Dinosaurs, The Live Experience all I could think about was TRUCKASAURUS!!!

Only this was a bazillion-gillion times way cooler! With a Paleontologist for a host, talking about evolution and geology and biological adaptations, instead of a redneck announcer shouting the same words over and over and over (“Hey everyone wasn’t that awesome? Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!”). And instead of the ear-piercing roar of engines sucking down gas (made out of dinosaurs), there was inspiring classical music that swelled and subsided with the action. And everyone left the show with a better appreciation of our place in the world, and what life was like 65 million years ago, instead of everyone going home to have sex with their cousins.

At one point Mom asked, “I wonder if there are any Intelligent Design people here.” Which was an interesting prospect, how would and IDer resolve the cognitive dissonance created by believing all life on Earth was saved on Noah’s boat, but somehow didn’t all get eaten by Tyrannosaurus Rex?

I’ve posted a flickr set with more photos of the event (all with poor lighting (sorry!)), but your really have to see it in action to believe it, so check out the video on YouTube.

If they had Walking With Dinosaurs when I was a kid, I would’ve had a much happier childhood.