Happy Birthday to . . .

Daniel Boone who was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 1734 to Quaker parents.

Find out more about this original American folk hero at:

Daniel Boone - Wikipedia

and

The Daniel Boone Homestead

Libraries to Die For . . .

What an amazing site! And this entry titled The Librophiliac Love Letter: A Compendium of Beautiful Libraries is just stunning! (So stunning, in fact, that Miss Bun has been afflicted with the vapors since viewing it!)

Curious Expeditions is a travel/history site with a distinctive and appealing Victorian flavor brought to you by D and M, intrepid explorers who "are devoted to unearthing and documenting the wondrous, the macabre and the obscure from around the globe." (D & M evidently abide in Brooklyn, NY.)

You will find engaging narrative as well as interesting photography here. Be sure to take some time to explore the categories on the lower right hand side of the site.

I especially encourage you to click on the Pennsylvania link under Geographic Particulars for a look at some of our state's more curious and intriguing places and artifacts.


Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to (& some separation anxiety about) . . .

Kevin Bacon who was born on this day in 1958 in Philadelphia, PA. (Click on his name to go to his IMDB [Internet Movie Database] page to learn more about him and his career.

Now, you may have heard of the phrase Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon which is a trivia game based on the concept of the small world phenomenon and assumes that any actor can be linked through his or her film roles to actor Kevin Bacon within six steps.

(More PA trivia: This game was created by three students at Albright College in Reading, PA back in 1994. Check it out here: The Kevin Bacon Game.)

Why should we care about the concept of six degrees of separation? A "degree of separation" is a measure of social distance between people. You are one degree away from everyone you know, two degrees away from everyone they know, and so on.

Because Stanley Milgram's experiments back in 1967 suggested that human society is a small world type network characterized by short path lengths and mirrors what we know today as the World Wide Web. (A Microsoft study done in 2008 confirmed the theory.)

It really is a small world after all.

Peeps, Peeps, & More Peeps!!!

Just when you thought it was safe to come out of this season's candy fog we bring you the results of the Third Washington Post's Annual Peep Diorama Contest.

Did you know that peeps are made by Just Born, Inc. which is located in Bethlehem, PA? (Warning: the background music is rather annoying.)

Evidently Just Born encourages newspapers around the country to hold peep diorama contests at this time of year. So if you were to search the Net you would find many other contests to take a peep at....(sorry, couldn't help it).....enjoy!

"Dog About Town"

This number was performed in Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia (named for our Birthday Boy below) by Furry Murray and The Bow Wow Band for Commerce Bank's 3rd Annual Carnivale for the Dogs .

This should get your tail wagging on a Wednesday!

Happy Birthday To.....

David Rittenhouse who, by all accounts, was a rather remarkable fellow Pennsylvanian.

He became an astronomer, mathematician, instrument maker and one of the leading American scientists of the eighteenth century, second only to Benjamin Franklin.

He was also the first director of the United States Mint.

Find out more here: David Rittenhouse

Meet SkippyjonJones & Judy Schachner!

AY CARAMBA! This is MUCHO fun!!!

SkippyjonJones is a Siamese kittenboy who can't resign himself to being an ordinary cat. With ears too big for his head he imagines himself to be a Chihuahua, takes on the superhero persona of the great Spanish sword fighter Skippito, and has the adventure of his life rescuing his pals from a giant Bumblebeeto Bandito. Zany, wild, and over-the-top, this utterly original book truly begs to be read aloud.


Don't believe what the blurbs say about this book being just for the preschool/elementary set. I read it to my teenagers (that's what you get when you have a librarian for a Mother) and they thought it was a blast!


Author Judy Schachner lives in Pennsylvania and has several more books based on this character of a character! Check out her Skippito website here: SkippyjonJones.com.

And you can listen to her presentation at the 2007 National Book Fesitval in Washington, D.C. here: Judy Schachner: BookFest '07.

Happy Birthday To.....

Shirley Jones, stage, screen, and television actress, who was born on this day in 1934 in Charleroi, PA.

Here is her website: Shirley Jones

And here is the IMDB (Internet Movie Database) page on her:
Shirley Jones on IMDB

You may remember her as the Mom in the TV show The Partridge Family. I remember her more for her work in Broadway musicals...especially those by Rogers & Hammerstein. Miss Bun particularly remembers her for that famous scene in The Music Man which is near and dear to her heart for obvious reasons.
Check it out below!

Yet Another Happy Birthday to...And a Book About....

yet another Pennsylvanian (albeit a transplant) Joseph Priestly (born March 13, 1733) who made his home in Northumberland, PA from 1794 until his death in 1804.

His is one of those vaguely familiar names that you kind of feel you should know but don't.

It turns out that Joseph Priestley is best remembered for his pioneering work in chemistry and in particular for the discovery of oxygen. But he was also a prolific theologian ( he founded Unitarianism), an innovative educator, and a liberal political philosopher. His inner circle included Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

You can go visit the Joseph Priestly House in Northumberland and learn more about him on Wikipedia.

And if that's not enough (and why should it be?) my favorite creative non-fiction writer
Steven Johnson (author of The Ghost Map) has just published a book called The Invention of Air : A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America. Check out the video of him talking about his book below.

(Miss Bun thinks Mr. Johnson is rather cute!)

Another Happy Birthday to......

fellow Pennsylvanian Barbara Feldon (remember the tv show Get Smart?) who was born in Bethel Park, PA in 1932. Happy 77th birthday!

A New Threat to Homeland Security!!!

I give you The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug! I've seen more than a few of these little buggers (sorry) meandering around my house lately. Bet you didn't know they're not originally from the U.S. but were first found in Pennsylvania. Check it out!

P.S. In spite of the fact that many folks have less than stellar opinions of Wikipedia I find it a useful place to start with questions.

Happy Birthday to U.S. Senator Arlen Specter!

Our very own Senator Specter turns 79 today. If you see him (or not) send good wishes his way.

Another Happy Birthday To:

Fellow Pennsylvanian W.C. Fields!

To learn a little about this talented man whose career spanned vaudeville and films go here: http://www.netstate.com/states/peop/people/pa_wcf.htm .

Many people remember him for his comedy but he got his show business start with juggling...and he was AMAZING!
Don't believe me? Check out the YouTube video below. (He makes it look Sooooooooo easy!)

W.C. Fields Juggles