Sometimes Good Things DO Come in a Potato Chip Bag

Pure genius, and the kind of idea that comes along once in a decade. "Potato Chip Science "is the book and kit that's an irresistible introduction to the pleasure of science for 8- to 12-year-olds. Here are 29 incredible experiments-plus one edible project-that use potato chips, potatoes, potato chip bags, tubes, and lids. Like" Pop Bottle Science" and "Bones Book and Skeleton," it's a book-with-stuff that is alive with possibilities, merging creative fun, and completely safe activities, with lessons drawn from ecology, biology, forensics, acoustics, aeronautics, optics, and more. All packaged inside a potato chip bag.

Build a balloon-powered chipmobile. Hook up a spud-powered sound system or a working digital clock. Ready and fire the pocket-size potato propulsion pipe. Make a chip can gobble like a turkey. Create a potato mummy head. Find your way with a chip lid compass. Create a detective kit. Set off the bag blaster-and when the weather's right, go fly a potato chip bag kite. The 96-page book is filled with experiments, interesting modifications, and scientific principles.

Included in the bag are a dozen items used in the book-propulsion pipe, digital clock, sound chip, electrodes, wire, biodegradable packing chips and base, googly eyes, compostable starch knife, optical stickers, and chip lids. Snack on science-make a science of snacks. What could be better? Warning: This book is high in saturated facts.

This book isn't coming out until late summer, but you can pre-order your copy here.

Read a "behind the bag" article here.

Celebrate our Independence and Independents

July is the month that we Americans celebrate our independence and is the perfect time to celebrate our independents, too. Independent businesses that is. Your locally owned, community focused, sales tax paying businesses that contribute so much to making Colorado the wonderful place it is to live and visit. So hats off to all the restaurateurs, retailers and thousands of other independent Colorado companies.

July is also prime vacation time for Coloradans, and what's a vacation without a really great book? And July is hot, so I'll begin with one of the hottest books of the
summer. The Passage, by award winning writer Justin Cronin is a brilliantly imagined world gone very wrong, with civilization crumbling under an unspeakable military experiment gone bad. But there's hope. Cronin penned this tome at the request of his daughter who asked that he wrote a novel about a girl who saves the world. Be ready to enter a different and frightening world and don't make any other plans when you dive into this novel, the first of a planned trilogy.

My next suggestion is yin to Cronin's yang. The heartbreaking, very human story of What Is Left The Daughter by Howard Norman, unfolds in the form of a long letter written by Wyatt Hillyer to the daughter he has not seen in 18 years. Wyatt is orphaned at 17 when his parents both commit suicide by jumping off separate bridges on the same day. He is taken in by his aunt and uncle and becomes an apprentice to his uncle, a sled and tobaggon craftsman. Their adopted daughter Tilda becomes the object of Wyatt's love and obsession, though Tilda is in love with a young German student. The novel is set in the dark days of WWII on the Atlantic Coast of Canada where German U-boats lurk and bombard military and civilian vessels, showing no mercy for innocent passengers thrown into the icy waters. The beauty of What Is Left The Daughter is manifested in Norman's skill at creating a heartbreakingly realistic cast of characters whose flaws and drives and passions lead to all too human tragedy. This moving novel will stay with you long after you've read the last page.

The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst falls somewhere between the first two novels as far as fanciful versus realism is concerned. The title of this entertaining book refers to the title of a manuscript that Octavia Frost, a bestselling novelist, is about to turn in to her publisher when she sees a headline scrolling across Times Square, flashing to the world the news that her long estranged rock star son has been arrested for the murder of his girlfriend. The novel alternates between the story of Octavia, her son Milo and the family tragedy that ultimately tore them apart and the manuscript that Octavia just finished in which she's rewritten the endings to all of her bestselling books, giving them all happy endings.

And happy reading to you.

--Cathy

(originally posted at gabbygourmet.com)

Katie S recommends:

For the first time: a full-color illustrated edition of Dee Brown’s classic history of the American West!

Eloquent, heartbreaking, and meticulously documented, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee follows the systematic destruction of the American Indian during the second half of the 19th century. Upon its publication in 1970, the book was universally lauded and became a cultural phenomenon that proved instrumental in transforming public perceptions of manifest destiny and the “winning” of the West.

Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions, Brown’s work highlighted the voices of those American Indians who actually experienced the battles, massacres, and broken treaties. Here is their view of the events that ultimately left them demoralized and defeated, including: the Battle of Sand Creek; Red Cloud’s War; the Battle of the Little Bighorn; and, of course, the Wounded Knee Massacre. Crazy Horse, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Spotted Tail—the great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota, Ute, Cheyenne, and other tribes—come to life through their own words and formal portraits.

Now, hundreds of illustrations—including maps, photographs, sketches, and paintings—enhance Brown’s masterpiece, making it even more vivid and personal. In addition to the incredible images, this edition also features relevant excerpts from such highly acclaimed Native-American themed books as Where White Men Fear to Tread by Russell Means, Mystic Chords of Memory by Michael Kammen, and Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog, as well as all-new essays by contemporary historians and Native American leaders like Elliott West and Joseph Marshall III.

TC Tidbits: Which Publishing House Has Two Snail Mascots?

Read the hilarious blog post here, complete with video!

A Cup of Sugar from Twist and Shout

Books and music go together, or at least Tattered Cover and our local indie music gurus at Twist and Shout think so. So we've decided to "borrow a cup of sugar" from each other from time to time, meaning we're sharing some of each other's reviews from our blogs (theirs is called Twisted Spork ).



Now THAT Is What I'm Talkin' About!!

Explaining one’s love of The Grateful Dead is a complicated thing. Most folks who are unacquainted with the Dead are hopelessly misdirected by members of the music press, who have traditionally used the band and its fans as target practice, and the latter-day fans themselves who have not done the band’s reputation any favors. Contrary to this inaccurate reputation, The Grateful Dead (especially in the early days) were unlike any other band in that they encompassed almost every form of popular music, made it their own, and took it a step further by creating their own unique brand of music and performance style, and they did so with a high degree of musical proficiency as well as a fairly lofty attitude toward the art they were creating. They then sustained their organization for nearly thirty years with the same core group - an amazing feat in and of itself. In my judgment things changed pretty dramatically somewhere in the mid to late 70’s when their experimental, almost avant-garde aspirations slowly morphed into a highly competent and fun “rock show.” Great fun, but the sense that the creative lives of the band hung in the balance every night was replaced by a more tried and true form of show-biz. They went from being experimental to being reliable - which was understandable, even admirable, but to my ears far less exciting. I had many of the best times of my life at Dead shows in those latter years, but now, when I want to dig the Dead, I go old.

Thus I was thrilled to see one of my favorite shows and earliest collecting gems being officially released in its entirety in unbelievable sound quality. Road Trips Volume 3 Number 3 actually comprises two shows played on the same night on May 15, 1970. Each show had an acoustic set, a set by the New Riders Of The Purple Sage (featuring members of the Dead but not included here) and then an electric set. These two shows beautifully illustrate what I was referencing above about the band encompassing many forms of music. Here is why it is hard to explain the Dead to others - they are an acoustic band, able to coax unbelievably delicate and sweet performances with the power of their harmonies and a handful of great songs; they are a rock band playing party faves like “Casey Jones”; they are a roots band with an authentic dog-suckin’ drunken blues singer, and a banjo playing bluegrass freak as two of their members; they are an experimental art-rock band making some of the darkest, weirdest, and most exhilarating improvised music ever performed and hardest to explain; they are a cultural phenomenon that, to many, was a neat representation of the excitement and turmoil of the 1960’s. Wow - that is a lot to hang on one band. This is the rap on the band, and when a lot of newcomers listen to a show from 1987, they don’t hear it. I would direct newcomers to this new Road Trips for a good example of all the sides of The Grateful Dead. Containing two full acoustic sets and two long electric sets the first disc finds the band playing rare and new (at the time) songs like “Long Black Limousine,” “Ain’t it Crazy” and a stellar early version of “New Speedway Boogie.” The first electric set was one of my earliest tape acquisitions and has always been a favorite. The triple threat of “St. Stephen,” “The Other One” and the rarely played (and even more rarely played correctly) “Cosmic Charlie” is fiery, energetic and full of high energy jamming. “The Other One” in particular is thundering and intense. The encore of the early show is one of my favorite Bob Weir performances ever; a completely over-the-top, scream-fest of “New Minglewood Blues.” You’ve never heard a version like this one. The second acoustic set is highlighted by another bunch of rare and new acoustic performances. “The Ballad Of Casey Jones,” “Silver Threads and Golden Needles,” Pigpen’s “She’s Mine” and “Katie Mae” are all little heard treats and the performances of “Friend Of The Devil” and “Uncle John’s Band” just sparkle. The final electric set is a monster as well with a deep and mysterious “Dark Star” and a nearly 30 minute “Lovelight” that really showcases Pigpen’s singular talents and the band’s uncanny ability to follow him into any lascivious alley he ambled down. After years (nearly 40) of listening obsessively to The Grateful Dead I have changed my opinions about them, and become alternately more critical and forgiving. Mostly I have figured out what still gets me off about them - and this four–disc set (includes a killer bonus disc with the remainders of this show - a heartbreaking “Attics Of My Life” - and a big piece of the previous night’s show) is a pristine example of the Dead in the heart of their greatest period.

So, I know the amount of Grateful Dead stuff out there seems overwhelming. As long as I’m warmed up I think I will recommend another five of the best vault releases:

Carousel Ballroom 2-14-68 (Road Trips Vol.2 No. 2)
Completely essential early radio broadcast. This Valentine’s Day show captures the band revved up and positively tearing through their early repertoire with abandon. The second half features a rip-roaring trip through “The Other One,” “New Potato Caboose,” “Born Cross Eyed,” “Alligator” and “Caution” landing in a heap of squealing feedback that is as scary as it is beautiful.

Englishtown, N.J. 9-3-77 (Dick’s Picks Volume 15)
One of the best post-75 shows it contains definitive versions of “Mississippi Half-Step,” “Loser,” “The Music Never Stopped,” “Not Fade Away” and an “Eyes of The World” that defies description. Jerry plays solos on “Eyes” that sound like a cross between Wes Montgomery, Django Reinhardt and well… Jerry. Absolutely unforgettable!

Syracuse, N.Y. 9-28-76 (with 9-25-76 it makes up Dick’s Picks Volume 20)
1976 was a pivotal year in many ways for the band. They were reinventing themselves with new songs and a new style of playing that was much more rehearsed and jazzy but still loose and filled with surprises. A seamless second set finds them moving effortlessly from Space (“Playin’ In The Band”) to Gospel (“Samson and Delilah”) to the best of Jerry’s ballads (“Comes a Time”) to free form exploration (“Orange Tango Jam”) to disco (“Dancin’ In The Streets”) and back again. They travel universes in the span of an hour.

illmore East 2-13 and 14-1970 (Dick’s Picks Volume 4)
If push came to shove and I had to take just one Grateful Dead release with me into outer space this would be it. It’s got the finest example of spine-chilling Grateful Dead improv I can think of. The hour and a half that make up “Dark Star,” “The Other One” and “Lovelight” is as good as it gets. They do the seemingly impossible when they go out as far as you can go and still seem to be completely in control. The “Dark Star” moves through passages of incredible beauty, joy, terror and just plain weirdness that never fail to leave me breathless. It is probably my single favorite passage of Grateful Dead music.

Binghamton, N.Y. May 2, 1970 (Dick’s Picks Volume 8)
This is the spiritual cousin to the 5-15-70 show reviewed above. Again it features both acoustic and electric sets, but it has a rough and ready quality that makes it unlike anything else. If I was forced to guess I would say the mystery element is LSD. The band sound high as kites and they, and the audience, are having the time of their lives. They are cracking jokes and bantering throughout the interesting and spirited first set (which includes some extremely unique arrangements of songs), and then they are clearly still in a great mood as they take the stage for a second half for the ages. The versions of “St. Stephen,” “The Other One” and “Good Lovin’” are orgies of outta control guitar playing, and in the final portion of the show they bust out elongated versions of “It’s A Man’s Man’s World,” “Dancin’ In The Streets” and finally “Viola Lee Blues” that are nothing short of cosmic. It is rumored that the band hung out at the dorms of Harpur College before and after this show hanging out with students, and that makes sense because, more than anything, this sounds like one big par-tay.

--Paul

Meg and Jeff Are Very Excited About:

As Henry Hudson sailed up the broad river that would one day bear his name, he grew concerned that his Dutch patrons would be disappointed in his failure to find the fabled route to the Orient. What became immediately apparent, however, from the Indians clad in deer skins and "good furs" was that Hudson had discovered something just as tantalizing. The news of Hudson's 1609 voyage to America ignited a fierce competition to lay claim to this uncharted continent, teeming with untapped natural resources. The result was the creation of an American fur trade, which fostered economic rivalries and fueled wars among the European powers, and later between the United States and Great Britain, as North America became a battleground for colonization and imperial aspirations. In Fur, Fortune, and Empire, best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin chronicles the rise and fall of the fur trade of old, when the rallying cry was "get the furs while they last." Beavers, sea otters, and buffalos were slaughtered, used for their precious pelts that were tailored into extravagant hats, coats, and sleigh blankets. To read Fur, Fortune, and Empire then is to understand how North America was explored, exploited, and settled, while its native Indians were alternately enriched and exploited by the trade. As Dolin demonstrates, fur, both an economic elixir and an agent of destruction, became inextricably linked to many key events in American history, including the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812, as well as to the relentless pull of Manifest Destiny and the opening of the West. This work provides an international cast beyond the scope of any Hollywood epic, including Thomas Morton, the rabble-rouser who infuriated the Pilgrims by trading guns with the Indians; British explorer Captain James Cook, whose discovery in the Pacific Northwest helped launch America's China trade; Thomas Jefferson who dreamed of expanding the fur trade beyond the Mississippi; America's first multimillionaire John Jacob Astor, who built a fortune on a foundation of fur; and intrepid mountain men such as Kit Carson and Jedediah Smith, who sliced their way through an awe inspiring and unforgiving landscape, leaving behind a mythic legacy still resonates today. Concluding with the virtual extinction of the buffalo in the late 1800s, Fur, Fortune, and Empire is an epic history that brings to vivid life three hundred years of the American experience, conclusively demonstrating that the fur trade played a seminal role in creating the nation we are today.



Come meet Eric Jay Dolin on Monday, July 26 at 7:30 pm at our Lodo Store!

What's YOUR 12x12?

Powers (Blue Clay People) refers to wildcrafters, people who shape their inner and outer worlds to the flow of nature, as heroes. Among these wildcrafters is Dr. Jackie Benton, a physician who lives in a 12'×12' dwelling in the midst of 30 acres on No Name Creek in rural North Carolina. Benton lives a sustainable life off the grid by raising honeybees, growing her own vegetables and preserving them, and harvesting what she might need from the woods around her. As Powers points out, Benton seems to have achieved self-mastery in these confusing times, and his initial meeting with her is a search for clues to this self-mastery. After the two meet, Benton's sobering and often hilarious (taking showers in rain water warmed by the sun, learning that in order to eat chicken for dinner, he himself would have to kill a chicken given to him by his neighbors) narrative of his life in the 12'×12' offers precious insights into the ways that all individuals living in a fast-paced consumer culture might incorporate different ways of thinking about the natural world into their lives. (Publisher's Weekly)

Watch the trailer for this book.

Read an interview with the author.