Thursday, September 23, 2021

A Thank You Jenn McKinlay Weekly Link Round-Up

 


You've all been following along with Denis and me as we start getting out and about with a vengeance now that my leg is cooperating enough to do so. We're both hoping that the weather will start cooling down below 100°F. so we can get back to our favorite haunts of the Desert Botanical Garden and the Wildlife World Zoo, but it hasn't, and I've had to locate new places for us to explore and enjoy someone else's air conditioning. That's where author Jenn McKinlay comes in. (I knew you were wondering.)

As my mind wandered around the Phoenix metro area, I suddenly remembered an interview that Jenn McKinlay did for me all the way back in 2012. In it, she gave the Musical Instruments Museum in Scottsdale two very enthusiastic thumbs up. So I looked it up. One of the top-rated museums in the U.S. and we haven't been there? Well, we're just going to have to do something about that! So we did last week.

The Musical Instrument Museum is absolutely fabulous, and I wore out the battery on my camera phone taking pictures. (I also got to check something off my bucket list.) You know what that means: you'll be visiting the museum virtually in a series of posts in the weeks to come. (Give me some time to sort through almost two hundred photos!) I'll tease you with a photo before heading off to the links, but I also have to thank Jenn for planting that seed. It only took nine years for it to germinate, but boy howdy, now that it has, we'll be going back again and again!

I didn't even know there were such things!

Enjoy the links!


►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄
 
►Fascinating Folk◄
  • Hank Phillippi Ryan was anchoring the weekend news in Atlanta, and that's when she became a target.
  • Lawrence Panther teaches the first Cherokee language class at the University of Arkansas.
  • Ma'i, the Polynesian "prince" who took 18th-century England by storm.
  • Haidara, the hero librarian from Timbuktu who saved thousands of historical documents from being destroyed.
  • Inventing the bra was the least interesting thing Caresse Crosby did.
  • Jane Goodall inspired frog-loving Justin Sather to become a global activist.
 
►The Wanderer◄
 
►I ♥ Lists◄

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. And don't forget to curl up with a good book!

24 comments:

  1. The musical instrument museum sounds fabulous, Cathy. I love music and instruments, so that's great in itself. And I'm sure there's a lot to learn there, too. I can't wait to see your 'photos! As soon as I get back from King Djoser's tomb...

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    1. I thought you might be headed in that direction...

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  2. That museum does sound interesting! Glad you found another place to explore. Have a good weekend!

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  3. Oh, wow. Anything that Ian Rankin takes a hand in is irresistible to me. I'll keep an eye out for the series.

    That article on hating e-books is interesting. The writer covers all the bases pretty well with his pros and cons, I think. For me, e-books will always be just a necessary evil, something that convenience and my eyesight have caused me to read much more than I ever intended. Older readers generally are lacking in bookshelf space, etc. but for me "reading" is as much about holding a physical book as it is the words. Although I'm doing better these days, I still retain more from a physical copy of a book than from an e-book, and I tend to be able to read a physical book longer than I last on an e-reader. That said, I "own" several hundred e-books...if you believe that we actually own those things.

    Thumb pianos...who knew?

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    1. And here my fixation is on the WORDS. I don't care what format they're in, if they're words and look interesting, I want to read them. :-)

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  4. The thumb pianos! Great links to follow up on. I have come to love e-books: 1) I don't have to pay for many of them, 2) or return them to the library, 3) or shelve them, 4) I can enlarge the print. If I truly love an e-book, especially nonfiction, I buy it in physical form to highlight or reread. Most of the fiction e-books I read are not something I'll ever read again.

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  5. It's nice to know that Ian Rankin hasn't retired. I was beginning to wonder.

    I'll have to be on the lookout for that production of Tony Hillerman's book. He has always been a favorite of mine.

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    1. I've liked the productions of a couple of Hillerman adaptations except for one thing. It's a pet peeve of mine. They filmed one in the Globe area where there are plenty of saguaro cactus. There are no saguaro cactus in the Navajo Nation where the books and films are set.

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  6. I have violinist friends who will be happy to hear about that museum. And add me to the list of those who had not heard of thumb pianos.

    I'll be checking many of those links, starting with the Jeopardy! facts.

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    1. They have several instruments that I'd never heard of, including a pigeon whistle. I uploaded something like 115 photos to my Facebook page. Anyone who enjoys music should love this place.

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  7. Great links. Love those determined dogs who want to play with anyone!

    That museum sounds like quite a place. Will look forward to seeing the other photos.

    I am daunted by the 425 new crime books at the Rap Sheet and the more than 60 listed here. How can we decide what to read? Reading blogs like this one helps quite a bit.

    Anyone who thinks book publishing and sales have gone down must be ill-informed. We're all spoilt for choice.

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    1. Sales for certain types of books are down from last year when people actually went on book-buying sprees due to lockdown. What concerns me are the problems with the supply chain and shipping now that are going to affect the availability of books in the months to come.

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    2. True. But you can still get ebooks. Right?

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    3. There shouldn't be any problem with eBooks. I was just thinking of the purists who have always turned their noses up at anything that isn't a physical book.

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  8. What a great story! I really enjoy all of Jenn's books and can't wait to see more from the museum!

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    1. I'm really looking forward to Killer Research in November!

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  9. I like to read real books that I can hold, pick up, put down, put a bookmark in, etc.

    But during the pandemic last year when the library was closed, I read several books at its website in "Overdrive." I liked it because the words ran across the entire computer screen and were big. (I know you can adjust font size on ereaders.)

    I managed to read quite a bit that way.

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    1. I once had the misfortune to converse with a particularly obnoxious purist, and my reply to him was, "I sincerely hope with all my heart that you never have any problems with your eyesight."

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  10. It turns out that thumb pianos are not just artifacts from the past! A friend of mine posted this link: https://thirzaya.com/products/mini-thumb-piano?source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2k7MByuhYmwI19gpHkvLlKQjisJJLodfUrc417PYMv2QId4tUm75IN-9s

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  11. I'm so glad you loved it as much as i do. I just saw a concert there recently and I realized again how very lucky we are to have it in the Valley!

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