Someone who remains on the outer edges of a social event, especially a dance or party, and does not participate due to being shy or unpopular. Watch the video
Month: July 2022
Atlantis
According to legend, Atlantis was an ancient island that long ago sank into the sea and was lost. Plato is the primary source of the legend, writing in his dialogues the Timaeus and the Critias of the flourishing Atlantean civilization and the island’s destruction 9,000 years before his time. Many have sought the missing island to no avail. While it likely never existed as Plato described, elements of his story may have been drawn from real events. What does he say sank Atlantis? Discuss
satirist
Adolf Hitler Publishes First Volume of Mein Kampf (1925)
Hitler dictated his manifesto, whose title means “my struggle,” while serving a prison term for treason. The book, filled with anti-Semitic outpourings, political ideology, and strategy for world domination, became the bible of National Socialism. By the end of WWII, about 10 million copies of the book had been sold or distributed in Germany—owing much to the fact that every newlywed couple and every soldier at the battlefront received a free copy. Where is it illegal to sell copies of the book? Discuss
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811)
Thackeray was an English novelist and satirist. In his lifetime, he was seen as the only possible rival of Charles Dickens for his pictures of contemporary life. Thackeray achieved widespread popularity in 1848 with Book of Snobs, but he is best known for another of his novels published that year, Vanity Fair, a satirical panorama of upper-middle-class London life in the early 19th century. Who were Charles James Yellowplush, Michael Angelo Titmarsh, and George Savage Fitz-Boodle? Discuss
take a walk on the wild side
To engage in risky, raucous, adventurous, or licentious behavior. Watch the video
Pagodas
A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to China, Japan, Korea, and other parts of Asia. The pagoda evolved from the Indian stupa—a dome-shaped shrine for Buddhist relics—and, like the stupa, is typically built for religious, often Buddhist, purposes. Whether octagonal, hexagonal, or square, pagodas are intended mainly as monuments and tend to have very little usable interior space. What is the “demon-arrester” that tops some pagodas? Discuss
chalkstone
Disneyland Opens in Anaheim, California (1955)
Having welcomed more than 650 million visitors since its opening, Disneyland is perhaps the world’s most famous themed amusement park. Walt Disney’s original plans called for a modest park to be built on eight acres (3.2 hectares) near Disney Studios. A much more ambitious Disneyland opened to invited guests and the media on July 17, 1955, a year after construction had begun. The day’s events did not go smoothly, prompting Disney to later refer to it as “Black Sunday.” What went wrong? Discuss
Vince Guaraldi (1928)
Guaraldi, an American jazz musician, was hired to score the animated adaptations of the Peanuts comic series after producer Lee Mendelson heard his music playing on the radio. Though Guaraldi was a Grammy award-winning pianist prior to his work on the Peanuts specials, he is best known for his musical compositions associated with the series, including the signature tune “Linus and Lucy” from A Charlie Brown Christmas. What song earned Guaraldi his Grammy? Discuss