Monthly Archives: July 2018

RLSM

And now for  the Robert Loves Sappy Music Hour (RLSM for short).

He asks you, what’s better than minutes 3:00 through 14:10 of Jim Croce Photographs and Memories?  What?

Maybe this:

Journey of the Universe

Wow, this looks good.

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/journey-of-the-universe?recoOrder=2&utm_medium=email&utm_source=recommendations&utm_campaign=gNYA0JQ7EeilGMF2QyQgTw

Use the links below to audit the courses at no cost:

Course 1: Journey of the Universe: The Unfolding of Life

Course 2: Journey of the Universe: Weaving Knowledge and Action

Course 3: The Worldview of Thomas Berry: The Flourishing of the Earth Community

Journey of the Universe: A Story for Our Times is a course series created by senior research scholars at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim. The courses weave the discoveries of the evolutionary sciences together with the humanities such as history, philosophy, art, and religion. The courses in this Specialization draw on the Emmy-award winning film, Journey of the Universe, the book from Yale University Press, and a series of 20 interviews with scientists and environmentalists, titled Journey Conversations.

Each week there will be a brief commentary by Brian Thomas Swimme, co-author of the Journey book.

As part of the Specialization, we investigate the life of Thomas Berry, a historian of world religions known for articulating a “new story” of the universe that explores the implications of the evolutionary sciences and cultural traditions for creating a flourishing future.

The capstone course gives students an opportunity to bring together their learning in a project that explores ways in which the creativity of humans can be more deeply aligned with the creativity of universe and Earth processes.

Created by:

Summer Camp Dropoff

Yesterday Robert took the long drive out to Hyampom to drop off Rory at Summer camp.  A hot and smoky drive through Red Bluff, but we made it. We met Rory’s bunk house counselor and learned all about the scene from four of his bunk house mates, all of whom are going to be fifth-graders next year. Rory’s really up for this and we expect him to come back with lots of stories.

Note: Just to cutoff any comments about fires, here’s the awesome real-time satellite fire tracker.

 

What’s Happening?

What’s happening this summer?

 

Washington DC

The Pierces are recovering from their trip last week to Washington DC.  Actually, it was a trip to Maryland to see Robert’s parents. We had not seen them for two years, so it was time to go.  Coincidentally, the Michael Pierce family was out there too, so it was  a sort of reunion. We didn’t get out much because of the heat and the all-consuming activities at the Riderwood senior living compound. Robert gorged himself on steak frites and ice cream sandwiches at the new “French bistro” at Riderwood. As to sights, we did walk on the mall and see a Nationals baseball game.  The waterfront area near the stadium in the SW part of DC is very cool (a la dogpatch) by the way. Very exciting when the Nationals came back from a nine run deficit to beat the Marlins, including a grand slam. Happy 84th birthday to Tata!

Here’s the photos . . .

Truffaut

The list of children’s entertainment is pretty short at the Pierce house. Last night the kids “got” to watch The 400 Blows. One of Robert’s favorites.  The movie chronicles the boyhood of Doniel, who, after repeated mistreatment (i.e., “blows”) by his parents, teachers, and society, ends up quasi-delinquent. It’s a masterpiece, of course.

Anyway, thing is, when you see the movie before having kids yourself, the parents are basically monsters.  When you see it after having kids yourself, the parents appear to be, uhh, parents.