Minnesota Wild by Lisa Simon

Minnesota Wild Trivia

Who dropped the ceremonial puck for the opening game of the Minnesota Wild in October 11, 2000?
a. Jesse Ventura
b. Norm Coleman
c. Herb Brooks
d. Al Franken

Which of the following names were considered for the team?
a. Minnesota Blue Ox
b. Freeze
c. Northern Lights
d. White Bears
e. Voyageurs

Did the Wild win, lose or tie in their first game?

Which 6' 7" player on the Wild is known as a quiet person off the ice but on the ice he is known for being an enforcer?
a. Marian Gaborik
b. Niklas Backstrom
c. Mikko Koivu
d. Derek Boogard

Which of the following is unlike most teams but true about the Wild hockey team:
a. The team's arena, the Excel Energy Center, has a lighthouse in the image of Split Rock Lighthouse in one corner.
b. The team rotates captains every month.
c. The team song includes the words: "The day they try to take this game is the day the gloves come off." (meaning, Minnesota won't stand to lose another hockey team).

Swords by Ben Boos

Swords, by Ben Boos, is a book rich in illustrations. [look at pp. 9, 48-49, 60-61] For those of you who like to draw, this book can give you some terrific models to follow for drawing ancient weaponry. Besides that, though, I like the information tiles dispersed throughout the book. Here's an example of one describing how wild boar were once hunted in Europe by using a sword:

"Dangerous Game. Some of the animals hunted in the dense European woods were quite dangerous, including the wild boar, a large feral pig. Especially brave hunters of these tusked beasts favored the sword as a weapon of choice. It surely would have been easier to use a bow or a spear, but hunting boars with a sword was considered sporting [like the idea of "fair chase" hunters abide by today]. It must have taken great skill to fight these beasts at such close range while avoiding being gored by their fearsome tusks. Boars were said to have such bloodlust that, once provoked, they would willingly impale themselves up to the hunter's sword hilt just to get in close enough to deal the hunter a deadly blow." p.22.

I'll read that last part again. Can you believe that?

[show son's wooden sword] What is a sword hilt? Do you know what the other parts are called? What part do think is the cruciform? Where do find the tang on a sword? Where do you find the blood groove on some swords? How are swords made?

There are a few mysteries about swords. Old Norse or Viking legends said that if you blew on the blade of a Viking sword an image of a snake would appear. Some Viking swords have been discovered that have parts for which the exact purpose remains a mystery.

You may think this is a quick read, but that depends on how much you get hooked into looking at the detail of all the swords presented in, Swords, by Ben Boos.

i before e by Judy Parkinson

Subtitle: Old-school ways to remember stuff.



June, is too soon,
July, you should stand by,
August, prepare you must,
September, remember (to stand by),
October, it's all over.

Have you heard this before? I bet people in Louisiana have.

It's an example of a memory technique-it's a mneumonic.

I like the hurricane season poem as a way to remember when it starts, peaks and finally ends. June is too soon, but July you start hearing in the news about hurricanes forming in the Atlantic Ocean. In August weather news will begin to show us possible paths hurricanes might take before reaching landfall. It seems like landfall has been occurring in places like Florida and Louisiana with more frequency and more destruction in recent years. And the season doesn't stop until the end of October.

How about this mneumonic: Do you know which months of the year have 31 days and which ones have less? Take your hands and make two fists. Put your fists side by side. Start with the left knuckle of the left hand and name it January. Look at the valley inbetween and call it February. Keep going until you finish on the right hand. Don't include the thumb knuckles. If you did it right you should have all the months with 31 days designated on your knuckles, and all the rest with less in the valleys.

To be honest, I can never remember how to properly set a table, but here's a helpful mneumonic trick. Think of the words left and right. the word 'left' has 4 letters, and the word 'right' has 5. Tableware with names with 4 letters go on the left, those with 5 on the right. Where should you put a fork, knife and a spoon?

This book has hundreds of mneumonic tricks, some you can even use for school. I think this is a perfect book for you when you need something light to read and only have just a few minutes-like silent reading day on Wed.