Sunday Randomness #304: Letting go of memorabilia (it's just material things...)

These bowling bags, shoes, and bowling balls were left from the previous owners.  We did inquire a number of times about items we found throughout the house. (Not a lot but some things here and there.) The answer was always "It's yours now. You can decide what you want to do with it."  We had thought about keeping the bowling equipment and we did. But after 10 years we decide it was high time to let them go.  It really didn't look like we were going to take up bowling anytime soon, if ever.

One had a black ball with the metallic gold sparkles.  The other had a dip ball with brown, black and ivory swirls throughout. From the bowling logs, it looks as though they played often. I'm glad the equipment saw a lot of use with the previous owners.

 

Sunday Randomness #810 : Calvin S. Smith Library-closing March 26th PART 2

Just a few more pictures from the Smith Library.

 

Sunday Randomness #810 : Calvin S. Smith Library-closing March 26th Part 1

https://www.slcolibrary.org/index.htm

Here are many of the titles in the most current Reader's Choice display for the Salt Lake County Library (as of March 2022).  For more about Reader's Choice with SLCO Library visit: https://www.slcolibrary.org/we-recommend/readers-choice  The page also lists past winners and you can even click on a printable list! For more about Calvin S. Smith you can visit this site: https://history.utah.gov/repository-item/calvin-s-smith/

Closing March 26, 2022.  If you want to visit the Calvin S. Smith Library in Salt Lake, this is your last week to go.  The Smith Library and the former Columbus Library collections will be integrated with new material at the new Granite Library which is scheduled to open Summer of 2022.  For more about the new Granite Library, including pictures, visit https://www.slcolibrary.org/locations/library-construction
 

A Fleck of Family History: Origin of Lisle's name

(From my Grandmother's (Zina) writings) 

Recorded  September 8, 1963

Dad was named for his Uncle Lisle who died at the age of twelve due to an accident caused by an injury to his spine from wooden box falling on him.  Also his leg was terribly mangled in the wagon wheel.  He had been sent to get something out of the back of the wagon.  He suffered for 3 weeks from the injury before his death.  Grandmother (Genevieve Nielson) vividly remembers Lisle laying on the mattress while the Doctor Harrington(?) amputated the boy's leg two separate times.  The Neilson were staying at ? during the summer. Grandfather was operated on by Dr. Sherman for his appendix and died subsequently.  Died at the age of 52.  Grandmother (Genevieve) had a mid-wife for Enid and Lisle. 

Here's a link to Lisle's obituary: https://www.deseret.com/1993/10/27/19073093/death-lisle-francis-ashton

Sunday Randomness #621: Stained Glass art/history gem in Orem at UVU

Heading down to the Orem area in Utah?  Swing by UVU to see the stained glass exhibit that opened in November of 2016, Roots of Knowledge.   There's free admission to the gallery and it's well worth the drive plus the couple of bucks for parking in the visitor's lot at Utah Valley University.       https://www.uvu.edu/rootsofknowledge/

Located in the Fulton Library, the Roots of Knowledge stained glass exhibit takes about 1-2 hours to view.  There are hundreds of images in the designs from historical to cultural to pop culture references including authors and others in the arts, sciences, and in between.  There are many easter eggs pulled from books, movies, and other forms of entertainment including items and/or people from some well-known fandoms.  It is a permanent installation so you can go back and see it again since once is definitely not enough to take in the scope and detail of the gallery.

I went with an old library friend a few weeks ago and we are planning to go back soon to take the guided tour. It's a treasure trove of knowledge in art form!  Check the link above for more information. 

2013 Summer Movies: #15 Iron Jawed Angels

Iron Jawed Angels came out in 2004 and follows the story of Alice Paul and the NWP (National Woman's Party) after they broke off from the NAWSA (National American Women's Suffrage Association).  Paul's group picketed President Wilson and endured attacks from the public and politicians in their fight to get a Federal amendment giving women the right to vote.  They were arrested on false charges and send to Occoquan Workhouse where they were brutally treated.   The abuses they suffered in the workhouse led to newspaper stories about the abuses and the  suffrage cause.  The press helped the women's cause by revealing the abuses and garnering public sympathy and support for the amendment.

It's not the children's storybook version of the 19th Amendment but it's a powerful story of how hard and how long women from all classes worked for this right to have representation in American government.  The movie is not rated (NR) since it was made for tv but we estimate it would have received a PG-13 for the prison brutality and forced feeding scenes.  Ironically, we started watching this film (it took a few days to finish it) on the 93rd anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment back on August 18, 1920. 

Utah gave women the right to vote in 1870.

2013 Summer Movies: #13 Braveheart

Braveheart is rated R for brutal medieval warfare.  How much is freedom worth?  Daisy and Mica thought it was good and Hedgehog added it to her list of favorite movies.  If you wish to learn more then there are a number of sites that discuss the history of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce and other notable historical figures of the time.

2013 Summer Movies: #11 Schindler's List

Schindler's List, rated R, released in 1993.  Mica had seen Schindler's List before and said it was good.  Hedgehog echoed the good  but both agreed it's not the kind of film you want to see over and over again.  Daisy will have to wait to see it since she was away at camp when we watched it this time.  At 3 hours and 17 minutes, it is a long film and it is emotionally draining.  The film also shows the power of black and white in a day and age where many things are over-saturated.

You can read more about Oskar Schindler at: http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/stories/schindler.asp

2013 Summer Movies: #10 Freedom Writers

Rated PG-13 and dealing with both gangs and the holocaust, this educational film (that was based on the non-fiction book) came out in 2007.  A young idealistic teacher (Erin Gruwell) both teaches and learns from her students.  The Los Angeles Times published an interesting article on January 9, 2007 by Gina Piccalo titled: "Did 'Writers' get it wrong?" wherein Gruwell defends the movie and how it was portrayed.  We liked it and it was a good segue into modern history.  In a less positive twist, we read about a gang related death in our area the day after we finished the movie.  Would it make a difference if any gang members in our area saw this movie?

2013 Summer Movies: #2 Pleasantville

Made in 1998 and starring a host of big name actors such as Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon along with several other familiar screen faces.  Don Knotts has a hilarious role throughout the movie and look for his reaction at the end of the film as he's driving away.

Pleasantville was filmed in color, then individually manipulated to replace color in certain sections of the film.  The effect is succinctly describe here: http://video.about.com/desktopvideo/Pleasantville-Effect-With-Final-Cut.htm

Rated PG-13 for language and thematic elements dealing with sexuality. (It's generally implied that people turn to color after engaging in some sort of sexual behavior but people can also turn to color for other reasons such as love, anger or even just things not in the norm for that individual.)

The movie creates a good background for discussing everything from art to book banning and censorship to racism and nudity vs. pornography to sexuality. When do we stand up as opposed to when we stand "with the crowd" and go along?  The standing with the crowd and the standing up happens on both sides of the color situation in Pleasantville, giving a nice contrast of how hard it can be to determine which side to join in some battles because both sides have tenants with which we agree.   The last movie, Stand and Deliver, was pretty straight forward and definitely worth watching with some discussion thrown in.   We just ended up discussing Pleasantville quite a bit more both during and after the movie.