A Fairy Tale Life

Hans Christian Andersen

Known throughout the world as the creator and author of some of the world's most loved fairy tales, Hans Christian Andersen lived a life that wasn't exactly "happily ever after". 

He was born in Odense, Denmark on April 2, 1805 and lived a typical life until his father's death when he was still a young boy.  His mother remarried and young Hans was sent away to boarding school where he had to work and go to school to help pay the tuition.  He was very lonely and felt he never quite fit in with all the rich children.  At age 14 he left school for Copenhagen to become an actor.  He started writing stories when acting jobs proved scarce and the wealthy lawyer and politician Jonas Collin took him under his wing and sent him back to school with his own money. 

In 1822, he published his first story with more to follow.  In 1835, his first volume of fairy tales, Eventyr, was published.  Many more were published in the following years, including The Princess and the Pea, Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid, and the Emperor's New Clothes to name a few.  His wonderful stories presented moral dilemmas and taught valuable lessons to people of all ages.  His works have been translated into more than 125 languages and his books are the 2nd most reprinted in history- the Bible is 1st.  All this fame didn't necessarily make him happy- he never married and was said to have been clutching a letter from a woman he loved (but who did not love him) when he died from cancer in 1875.  He had never married and, though his stories were beloved by millions of children, he had no children of his own.

As a tribute to him, his birthday, April 2nd, is celebrated as International Children's Book Day.  There are numerous statues of him in Denmark and his childhood home in Odense is a museum now.  One of his famous characters, the Little Mermaid, has been immortalized in a stone and bronze sculpture that resides in Copenhagen harbor. 

Thank you Mr. Andersen for making the childhood of so many children that much more special.

Roots, Rock, Reggae

First, the roots...

When you think of Jamaican music you think of Reggae.  Even if that term doesn't come to mind, that music that's playing in your head is probably reggae!!  It's a rhythm and a beat, an easy- going, be-bopping around kind of music that makes you want to move slow and easy.  The lyrics can be hard to understand sometimes because of the thick Jamaican patois (accent) and the unique phrases that Jamaicans use, but a lot of early Reggae music was political- mostly about the corruption and inequality in Jamaica during the 60's and 70's. 

Haile Selassie

Another main concept in Reggae is the Rastafari Movement.  Rastafari  is a religion that is very prevalent in Jamaica - I believe (and I have only a very minor understanding of it) that the followers believe that an Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie, was the next coming of Christ (he denied his divinity).  Some of the main tenets of the religion are resistance of oppression and pride in the African heritage.  Rastas usually avoid unnatural foods and follow a vegetarian diet, avoid alcohol, and wear their hair in dreadlocks. From a few quotes I have read it sounds like a very interesting religion, but it is discounted by many as just an excuse to smoke marijuana.  The Rastas  use marijuana (ganja) as a sacrament, similar to the Catholic communion, as a way to get closer to Jah (God) and be open to hear his communications.  It's like meditating, and very similar to some of the Native American traditions.  But enough religion, let's get to the music.

Bob Marley is the most well-known Reggae musician.  Many of his songs are about political themes but even with this dark subject matter they are still catchy and fun.  His music strikes a chord with many people because of his messages of redemption, freedom, and peace.  When he died of cancer in the early 80's Reggae music was just becoming known around the world- since then it has been an influence on many bands of today.  I chose a couple of my favorite Bob Marley songs for you to listen to - enjoy!!!

Redemption Song by Bob Marley and the Wailers - an acoustic recording of a song.  Beautiful and powerful political message.

3 Little Birds by Bob Marley and the Wailers- I love this song and it's positive message.

One Love by Bob Marley and the Wailers- This video was made after Bob's death and a lot of the stars of the 80's make cameos.  Another powerful but simple message - One Love.

The reggae world is now rocking with many of Bob's children.  The next song is by his eldest son, Ziggy (real name David)

Tomorrow People by Ziggy Marley

I hope you enjoy the tunes- peace.

 

A Man of Morals

Aesop- a man of morals

Ok, so before I begin the story of Aesop and his fables, let me say that there are many conflicting stories about Aesop, some even that he wasn't even a real person.  The consensus is that he was born in the region now known as Turkey around 620 BC.  Then it gets a little iffy- he was either a slave on a Greek Isle who was freed from slavery because of his quick mind, an Ethiopian traveler, or a dwarf with deformed features.  Really, I supposed all of them could be true- maybe he was a deformed Ethiopian dwarf traveler who was taken as a slave to a Greek Isle but then freed because of his intellect?  Sounds plausible.  Anyway, I don't know what's true or not, all I know is that there is a huge collection of stories that are credited to Aesop.  No written records of the stories survive but they have been passed down through the millennia and still stand strong.  The stories all have 2 things in common- they all feature animals (or insects) as the main characters and they all have a moral.  At the end of the story a lesson has been taught.  A lesson on how to be a GOOD HUMAN BEING!   Even when times are tough.  Even when life is hard and you are the underdog.  I think I found some new bedtime stories for the kids!! 

I picked one story to illustrate a science project for the kids-  

The Crow and the Pitcher- a science project
as paraphrased by me

A very thirsty crow was flying one day when he spotted a pitcher of water.  He flew down to the pitcher of water and tried to get a drink but the neck of the pitcher was too narrow and the water level was too low for him to reach it with his beak.
(note:  It is hard to see the water level in the pics with my daughter.  My son's water I dyed red and it is much easier)

So he thought and thought.  While he was thinking, he spotted some pebbles on the road.  He picked up a few pebbles and dropped them into the pitcher.  The water rose higher as the pebbles displaced the water.  As the crow dropped more and more pebbles, the water rose higher in the pitcher until the crow was able to dip his beak in and get a drink.  When he was satisfied, he continued on his way

The moral-
Persistence pays off, or, where there is a will there is a way!!

The science lesson-
2 objects cannot occupy the same space.  The rocks displace the water, and since it has no other place to go, it rises in the pitcher.

The Maltese Cross (and an art project)

The Maltese Cross

I almost forgot to post this, life got a little ahead of me there for a minute!  We had a busy day yesterday, my daughter had her final softball game/pizza party/trophy celebration and then we went swimming at Grandma's....ahh, life is good.  Today it's freezing out- go figure.  Anyway, we made this project a few days ago and we were able to incorporate my son's love of sword play into an easy project about the Maltese Cross.  "What is the Maltese Cross?", you ask.  Well, allow me to give you the history of this symbol.

The Maltese Cross (also known as the Amalfi Cross) is a cross symbol with 4 even sides, each side with 2 points.  It is most often associated with the Knights of Malta (a.k.a. the Knights of St. John or the Knights Hospitalier), who controlled and protected Malta from 1530 to 1798. 

Each of the eight points on the cross stand for a different aspect of the moral code they taught and lived by. 

• loyalty
• piety
• bravery
• generousity
• contempt of death
• glory and honor
• helpfulness of the sick and poor
• respect for the church

Nice moral code to live by and a nice symbol to encase them all.  It stands to reason that the symbol is now used by firefighters and other "knights in shining armor". 

My son loves playing "knight" - you know, with the swords and shields and dragons and damsels in distress.  So we made him an honorary Knight of Malta with our next project...

Maltese Cross Shield
For the project you will need:

• cardboard (or paper platter worked perfect)
• red construction paper (or paint)
• glue if using paper ^
• scissors if using paper
• pipe cleaners (for handle)
• tape (to tape on handle)

1.  If using cardboard you'll need to cut out a shield shape.  This could really be any shape.  I had these large paper platters left over from a few projects (Papua New Guinea, Egypt ) and they were the perfect size, shape and color I wanted!
2.  Turn it over and tape one or two pipe cleaners to the back to make a handle. 

3.  Now the hardest part (for me anyway) cut out 8 triangles that when put together will form the cross.  It took me a few tries to get the angles right. If you look at the picture above, I used only the long triangles.  If we had painted the cross on it probably would have been easier, but I thought the triangles made a good geometry project.  Because, you know, geometry is always a good project for 3 year olds :)

4.  Glue the triangles into the shape of a Maltese Cross.  This was also a hard part for us because my son wanted to glue them in a "Batman" shape, but since this whole project was supposed to be about the Maltese Cross, I stifled his creativity for a minute.  I let him take them all off and rearrange them after I took the picture.

 

5.  If you have older kids making the cross, they could write the different morals on the cross or decorate it more.  My son just wanted to get to the playing, so we left it rather simple.

Papua New Guinea Tribes (and an art project)

Born to be wild!!!

According to the internet (which we all know is 100% accurate- wink wink), many of the indigenous tribes in Papua New Guinea came to the island from Australia and Asia during the ice age, when the seas where low and islands where still moving and growing due to earthquakes and volcanoes.   Because the island has such rough terrain in some parts, many of these tribes never travelled outside of their area, their cultures grew independently and they developed languages of their own.  There are hundreds of different tribes and over 800 different languages.  They lived in constant warfare with other tribes, and in some areas, head-hunting and cannibalism (yuck) were rampant.  In some places of New Guinea it is still practiced. (Note to myself: we are not going to New Guinea) 

The tribes developed ways of decorating their bodies that were meant to scare off the other tribes and show the fierceness of the men.  In a world that these days is more and more hooked on technology, it is amazing to think of these people living much as they have for thousands of years.  Some tribes are still being discovered in the deep jungles and mountains who have yet to see people from the "outside world".  Here is a little info on just a few of the tribes of Papua New Guinea. 

The Huli Tribe- this tribe is also called the "Wig-men" because they wear elaborate ceremonial wigs made from their own hair and bird of paradise and parrot feathers.  They paint their faces in yellow, red and white paint and also pierce their noses with long bones.  Part of their traditional costume also includes a necklace made from bird beaks and claws and they carry a huge ax with a pointed end. They have lived in the Southern Highlands area for over 1,000 years.  They are divided into clans and the people in the clan are all considered family.  Considering that one husband can have many wives, they probably ARE all related so that makes sense ;)  Men and women live separately- the men live together and the women live with the children in their own huts.  The men hunt for meat and the women grow plants for food and gather what grows wild.  There are estimated to be about 100,000 people in the Huli Tribe.

The Mud Men of Asaro- ok, these guys are creepy.  According to legend, the tribe hid in the Asaro river to hide from an enemy tribe.  At night, when they could escape, the enemy spotted these scary, mud-covered figures rising from the river and were scared away.  So this became their "thing".  They didn't want to cover their faces with the mud because they thought it was poisonous (!), so they made clay helmets with frightening faces to scare away potential enemies.  They also wear pointed bamboo "claws" on their fingers.  I don't know about you, but if I saw a Mud Man I'd sure hightail it out of there!!  Very effective, Mr. Mud Man.

The last tribe I'm going to talk about are the tribes of the Sepik River area.  For these people, life revolved around the river, and they worship the animals of the river, especially the crocodiles.  In a rite of passage and as a show of bravery, the men of the tribe cut the skin on their body, mostly their back, so they will resemble the beloved crocodile!!  Sometimes I can't say it enough - I LOVE BEING AN AMERICAN!!!

If you'd like to see a very interesting video of the different tribes click here.  But please note that there is some nudity.  It's just how they are in Papua New Guinea- they let it all hang out.  It's not likely to be even noticed unless you point it out, but I thought I should tell you.  Now on to our art project!!

Papua New Guinea Tribal Masks
For the project you will need:

• paper plates
• paints
• feathers or torn paper
• scissors or an exacto knife (adults only please)
• glue
• pipe cleaners or yarn

1.  Watch the video above or go online and google  Papua New Guinea tribes to see some of the face painting designs.
2. Cut the eyes, nose and mouth out of the paper plate.  Punch a hole on either side for the pipe cleaners or yarn so you can wear it.

3.  Paint your mask and decorate it with feathers. 

 

 If you want you can put a stick through the nose!  Go wild - there is no wrong way!

My not so fierce warrior!!

 

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Are you wearing your green?

I am, so you can't pinch me :)  Today is St. Patrick's Day- March 17, 2013, and so I thought we should find out a little more about this St. Patrick fellow and why we all honor him.  St. Patrick is one of the 3 primary saints of Ireland, along with St. Brigid and St. Columba.  He is known as the Apostle of Ireland because he spread the doctrine of the Catholic Church throughout Ireland. He did a good job apparently, since over 80% of the country is Catholic. But did you know that St. Patrick was not Irish?

Patrick was born in Great Britain (the area was known as Cumbria at that time) and his parents were rather well to do.  When he was 16, Irish raiders attacked his parents estate and took him as a slave to Ireland.  For 6 years he was held captive and put to work as a herdsman.  During this time he became very religious and one day he heard a voice telling him his ship had come.  He escaped and walked 200 miles to the ports and made his way home.  Years later he had a vision that told him to return to Ireland.  He spent the next 15 years studying to become a priest and then returned to Ireland to minister to the Christians who were already there and explain Christianity to the pagans.  This teaching was the basis for the legends and myths of St. Patrick.

The Shamrock is synonymous with Ireland.  It was mostly due to St. Patrick that this simple plant is so popular.  St. Patrick used the 3-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity.  He explained the Father, Son and Holy Spirit all make up one God, just like the 3 petals all make up one shamrock.  Or something like that, it's been a while since I've been to church.  The pagan religion had also used the shamrock as a symbol, but their shamrocks were symbols of the Triple Goddesses and of birth, eternal life and rebirth.  It seems that the shamrock was just destined to be part of the Irish culture :)

Another of the main legends surrounding St. Patrick was that he banished all the snakes from Ireland.That's a great story.   Unfortunately, scientists have said that there is no evidence that there ever were any snakes on Ireland.  Oh well, it's a good story.  The "snakes" that St. Patrick banished were most likely the serpent symbols used by the Druids.  Catholics have used serpents as symbols of evil in many stories so it's most likely that he banished "evil" Druids from Ireland.

There, now we know a little more about St. Patrick and why he is so meshed with Ireland.  And everyone knows that Irish people are fun and happy people who like to have a pint of beer or two, so on St. Patrick's Day it makes sense that everyone wants to be a little Irish.  Who wouldn't ?!?     

The languages of Cameroon

Parlez -Vous Francais?

Well, you might if you lived in Cameroon, French is one of two official languages (English is the other) but it is also only one of the 230 different languages spoken in Cameroon.  Much of the French spoken by the Cameroonians would probably be very different from that on the streets of Paris, but I couldn't find any websites with the breakdown so we are going to learn French French not Cameroonian French :) The pronunciations are in parentheses. 

Hello- Bon jour (bone zhour)   Good bye - Au revoir (oh rer-vwahr)Yes - Oui (wee)   No - Non    Please - S'il vous plait (seel voo play)
Thank you- Merci (mare-see)  I Love You- Je T'aime (zhuh- tem)

red- rouge (roozh)  yellow- jaune (zhawn)   green- vert (vair)
blue- bleu (bloo)   purple - violet (vee-o-lay)  white- blanc (blan)
black - noir (noo-ar)

1- un     2- deux (do)    3- trois (twa)   4- quarte (ka-tre)
5- cinq (say-n-kay)  6- six (sees)   7- sept (set)   8- huit (weet)
9- neuf (noof)   10- dix (deese)

I was surprised how much French I actually knew once I started looking at the words, and also a little ashamed of myself that I had a Great- Grandmother and Grandmother who spoke fluent French and I didn't know more.  Of course, they lived in Wisconsin and I lived in California but I still should have learned it as a tribute to them!! Well, la pour vous Grandmeres!!  (Here's to you Grandmothers!)

Friday Field Trip!

A Lovely Day of Art

We have been having beautiful weather lately and I felt we needed another field trip, so we decided to go see the Rodin exhibit at the Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University!  I had never been there (never even knew it was there) but a friend told me how wonderful it was, and then another friend told me about the Rodin exhibit and how wonderful it was- so we went! And guess what?  It was wonderful.  First of all, the museum is FREE!  Even parking was cheap and close to the museum. 

Secondly, they make it relatively child-friendly by loaning out art kits with a sketch pad and color pencils so the kids can sketch out certain works of art they admire.  Well my daughter thought that was the best thing ever!!  My son, who isn't as artistically minded, wasn't as impressed.  We went from room to room finding works of art that struck her and she would spend 10 minutes drawing it while my son and I wandered or talked about other paintings.  I wish I could have let her spend all day doing that - next time we'll go without her brother.  But the main reason we went to the museum was to see the Rodin exhibit, so let me talk about that.

I didn't know squat about Rodin and, frankly, didn't learn much at the museum since the kids flitted back and forth so quickly, but I looked it up when I got home and here's a quick biography. 

Auguste Rodin was born in France in 1840 and lived until 1917.  He was not a conventional sculptor and his work was often not well received.  Eventually, he was accepted as a man who changed the idea of sculpture from showcasing the model as perfect or a heroic figure, to showing the model as they truly were and often leaving them slightly "unfinished". 

He completed his works in clay and plaster molds were made of his sculpture.  These molds would then be forged in bronze.  Rodin's highly trained assistants did most of the work- the artist mainly dealt with the original clay sculpture.  Often his assistants would even re-size his works to make larger monuments.  One of his most famous works is The Thinker, which is one of the most famous sculptures of all time.  But the sculpture was actually a piece of a larger piece of work - The Gates of Hell. 

This enormous piece of work was so amazing to see in person.  Pictures could never show all the details and really how immense it is.  The kids liked the sculpture garden, I love the unstuffiness of art presented outdoors.  Indoors, I felt like I had to keep shushing them but outside they were free to run from piece to piece.  We had a lovely day and saw some amazing works of art.  I can't wait to see what our next adventure will be.....

The Thinker as seen on The Gates of Hell and the larger stand alone version

 

Leonardo da Vinci - A Man of Many Talents

The First Renaissance Man

The art and architecture of Italy is world famous.  Who has never seen the Mona Lisa, or the Leaning Tower of Pisa? There have been many artists, during many periods of art, that have come from Italy, but one man stands alone - Leonardo da Vinci.

 Born in 1452, in Vinci, Italy (hence his name - Leonardo of "Vinci"), he was a just a boy of 15 when he was apprenticed to a painter in Florence.  His talents quickly became apparent and he soon created his own style of painting using very subtle hues and shadows.  But painting was just one of his talents, he was also a mathematician, scientist, anatomist, sculptor, musician, writer, engineer, and inventor!! Some of his inventions were flying machines, bicycles, and weapons that no one believed could actually ever exist.  Many of his inventions were never built and, in fact, he was so easily distracted by his many different interests that he had trouble completing many of his projects.  His curiousity and intellect led him to discover many talents and become the example of what is known as a "renaissance man" - someone who is good at many different things. 

We took a look at one of his most famous paintings - the Mona Lisa.

Started in 1502, the painting was commissioned by Francesco del Giocondo, who wanted a portrait of his wife Lisa to celebrate the birth of their third child.  The word "Mona" was used in those times as a short form of Madonna, or my lady.  Leonardo da Vinci never actually gave the painting to the Giocondos and kept fiddling with it for the rest of his life.  Ours was done in about 30 minutes but, as you can tell, we left out a bit of the wonderful detail and up to 30 layers of paint that make the original so special. 

Art Project: Mona Lisa (kinda)

For the project you will need:

• paints (I highly recommend washable)
• canvas or white cardboard or paper
• variety of brushes
• artist pallette or plate to mix colors
• picture of the Mona Lisa (I got a sample set of different paintings a few years ago - one of those free gifts and then you join the club to get more.  I never joined but if you are interested go to www.thehistoryexplorer.com)

We studied the picture for awhile and decided the important parts were the lady, especially the eyes and hands, and the background.  My daughter drew it first in pencil and then painted it- mixing her own colors and coming up with her own ideas.  I think she did a great job and SHE thinks she can sell her painting for a lot of money - gosh I sure hope so!!

A Masterpiece!!!

The Wrath of Khan...

Genghis Khan that is...

For those of you who didn't just get that joke (and I know it wasn't very funny), Star Trek named one of their evil characters Khan.  He was played by Ricardo Montalban and wasn't really based on Genghis Khan but I thought it was a cute title and might get me some readers who think I'm a trekkie.  Whew, if you have to spend that much time explaining a joke it must be a crummy joke!  Sorry.

Anywhoo, let's learn about the real Khan, Genghis Khan.  Actually, Temujin Khan, because Genghis is a title given to him not his name.  Temujin was born 1162-ish to a wealthy family of nomads.  When a rival tribe killed his father, he and his mother were abandoned by their tribe and lived for many years on their own.  He eventually joined another tribe and gained the power and position to not just overcome that hard childhood but conquer most of Central Asia and China!!  He joined the nomad tribes into one large and ruthless group that was a true force to reckon with.  He also was a great leader to his people and many important changes happened during his reign.  Religious freedom was allowed, in fact, it was referred to as Genghis Khan's insurance policy, that he allowed all religions hoping to please at least one diety.  Wonder how that worked out for him?  He also commissioned the development of a written language - the Mongolian Script.  He could not read or write it but probably wanted to make sure his story was documented.  Later, Mongolia fell under Soviet rule and today most Mongolians use the Cyrillic alphabet but Genghis Khan is still a huge figure in Mongolian history - as shown by this HUGE statue of him, located nearby the capital city of Ulaanbaatar...

The next Picasso?

Project 2:  The next Picasso...

Pablo Picasso is undoubtedly one of the most famous artists to ever come from Spain.  Sure there were others, Goya, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, but Picasso was the most influential and well-known.

Born in 1881 in Malaga Spain as Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisimo Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso, or Pablo for short, he was a prolific artist from a very young age.  According to his mother his first word was "piz" short for lapiz (pencil in Spanish).   He soon became an artist in many different areas - oil painting, sculpture,drawing, and even architecture.  He was one of the first artists to achieve worldwide fame and wealth while he was alive to enjoy it and he inspired many artists with his unique spin on art.

He is credited, along with Georges Braque, with co-founding the Cubist movement in art.  In Cubism, artists "take apart" and analyze objects in terms of the shapes they are made up of.  A branch of Cubism is called Synthetic Cubism and in that art form the artist uses bits of paper or other "real" objects to make compositions.  It was the first use of collage as an art form.  It is something that my kids and I can totally do :)  Maybe...

For the project you will need:

• Something "inspirational" >
• Misc. bits of craft paper
• glue
• paint and paint brushes
• scissors
• willing artists

Tell them they should look at the shapes and colors they see and try to make that on their paper.  My daughter got it, she's 5 and pretty artistic.  My son cut up confetti for awhile and then left :)
But if you check out the final masterpiece I think you'll agree...

NAILED IT !!!

Well, I might be a tad biased.  She had fun, we have lots of confetti, and they sat there and listened while I talked about Cubism and Picasso for 5 minutes straight - so I'm calling it a job well done.

My budding Picassos !!