I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.
– John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, addressing forty-nine Nobel Prize winners (April 1962)
I cannot live without books.
– Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father and Father of the University of Virginia
After the British burned most of Washington in 1814, Jefferson offered his personal 6,487 book library to the Library of Congress.
Amazon has an unadvertised 30-day price drop policy. In other words, if the price drops on an item you’ve purchased from Amazon within 30 days, they’ll refund the difference. Of course you have to ask for it. The above link tells how to take advantage of it.
Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.
– Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
I ended up listing my iPod mini for $149 on eBay. Three days later, it ended up selling for $202. It’s now on its way to Ontario, Canada, and will hopefully make it in time to be a Christmas present for the buyer’s daughter. It’s in Ohio as I type, so it looks like it’s going to make it.
First of all, I’m amazed that it sold for $202. I paid $230 for it when I bought it back in May. Of course I also threw in a case and an armband I wouldn’t be needing anymore, but it’s still incredible that it held its value so well. Electronics in general aren’t known for holding their value.
I had planned on immediately turning around and buying a 30GB iPod to replace my mini. However, Steve Jobs is giving a keynote at Macworld on January 9th and there is a slim possibility that he’ll be announcing an upgrade to the iPod line, so I’m going to hold off until then. Hopefully we’ll be buying an iBook for Cassie and a iPod for myself after that keynote.
Apple offers free engraving on iPods, and I had my name engraved on my mini. However, I suspect that kept some people from bidding on it, so this time I’m going to get a quote engraved instead of my name. There’s just enough space for two lines of 27 characters, so the quote can’t be too long. Right now I’m thinking I’ll put “I cannot live without books,” which is a Thomas Jefferson quote, but I’m certainly open to suggestions.
Tuesday night Cassie and I saw The Chronicles of the Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. It is, of course, based on the book by C.S. Lewis. I just recently got around to reading the book, even though I’ve owned it for a couple of years now. I’ll post a review once I’m done with the whole thing. (The Lion, The Witch, and Wardrobe is just one story in the Chronicles of Narnia.)
First of all, the book was very much a children’s book, and the movie is no different. However, like a lot of things meant for children, they can be enjoyed by adults. Take Harry Potter for instance.
The actors that played Lucy and Edmund were very good. Lucy was played by Georgie Henley, and according to her IMDB entry, this was her first movie. Not bad. I expect we’ll see more of her. Liam Neeson was the voice of Aslan, and did a good job, but on occasion it was obvious the special effects guys were overdoing it a bit with the “God effect.”
I noticed a lot of parallels between this movie and the Lord of the Rings movies. This surprised me because I hadn’t noticed that while reading the book. On the other hand, it shouldn’t be too surprising because Lewis and Tolkien were friends.
I think devotees of the book will be happy with the movie. It stayed very close to the book and the few deviations weren’t very significant.
I thought the movie was excellent. I thought the talking animals would be too much for Cassie, but she enjoyed it too. If you enjoy a good adventure, definitely go see it.
I’ve been looking for an excuse to post something about L.Q.C. Lamar, and today I got one. Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II should be much more well known than he is, especially around here. I would argue that he should be Oxford’s second most famous person (behind William Faulkner), but I had lived here nearly four years before I had even heard of him. I don’t remember him being mentioned at all in my Mississippi history course in high school.
Lamar came to Oxford when his father-in-law, Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, came to Oxford to be the second chancellor of the University of Mississippi.
This afternoon, after reading this article, I put my green iPod mini on eBay. If it sells, I’ll be upgrading to the new iPod. If it doesn’t sell, I’ll just be out $3.
So, if you’re in the market for an iPod mini, have a look. Bidding starts at $179.
It’s new to us anyway. Yesterday we bought a used 2003 Toyota 4Runner Limited. It’s got climate control, power/heated seats, leather upholstery, sunroof, tow package, alloy wheels, and a JBL sound system. I’ve put a few pictures of it on flickr.
We’re quite proud of it. (As if you couldn’t tell.) It’s the first vehicle we’ve bought on our own. The ones we’ve been driving were given to us by our parents before we got married.
We found it via AutoTrader, which, by the way, is an invaluable resource when you’re trying to buy a used car. I’ll post some more about our car buying experience when I get a chance.