Passed a bank clock today and the time was 4:00 while the temperature was 51 degrees Fahrenheit.

Synchronicity!

Had a moment today when a kid in a skeleton sweatshirt ran past a yard full of dandelions.

Now that is an RB Moment!!

Dandelions everywhere! Children outside during their lunch break can be heard laughing and shouting from a playground at the parochial elementary school two blocks behind our home.
(My wife is there teaching p.e.)

An early morning lawn mower buzzes away down the street, as I recall having pushed our old manual mower for a few moments yesterday to clear around a supply of stacked firewood.
(Here's an RB 5/9 irony: http://inventors.about.com/lib...John_Albert_Burr.htm )

I may just pick up the story of Doug and Tom and start with page one. (This is the first time in many a year I have not shared Mr. B's classic novel with a classroom of students...)

So, the printer finishes its last bzzzzzz, click, phttt... and I gather in the two pages on their way to Mr. B thanking him for his interest expressed via a message from his very kind daughter related to my recent RB course.

I quickly opened my e-mail before departing for daily responsibilities that will have me on the road until later this eve. What do I find but a message (sent literally brief moments earlier) from a former English student, now librarian, whose message follows:

"I saw this article this morning and thought of you:"

http://www.theatlantic.com/ent...ed-by-snoopy/257478/

Found this page from the June 4, 2012, New Yorker on my side deck this evening: http://www.newyorker.com/repor...0604fa_fact_bradbury

No doubt, a friend who knew of my exchanges with Mr. B kindly left it. Had this been mentioned previously on the board? The date just a few before his passing!

Another "moment"! while going through some items stored in the back of our van, our older son found this image. I had used it in my classroom as a mainstay on my front bulletin board for many years. It was an enlarged photocopy upon which had been added (in bold, capital letter beneath the image) simply, "READ!!" http://www.justinstowell.com/w...04-at-6.28.04-PM.png

Thanks again and again and again, Mr, Bradbury...

quote:

Found this page from the June 4, 2012, New Yorker ...

The new Simon & Schuster paperback of TMC is sans "The Fire Balloons"
(But the cover, Mugnaini inspired, by Patrick Leger is wonderful.)
Seeing the article kind of makes up for it though. Something we can all appreciate about Ray Bradbury, is he had so many stories about the stories.
As fjp451 said

quote:

Thanks again and again and again, Mr, Bradbury...

quote:

Originally posted by fjp451:
...Had this been mentioned previously on the board? The date just a few before his passing!...

Yes, it was mentioned a couple of times (here's one: https://raybradburyboard.com/ev...207093616#9207093616 ) (and there was at least one other where I mentioned the title of the article).

Some folks have creatively linked this article and its title to Ray's death AND to the transit of Venus... all in very quick succession!

I've also received my new Simon & Schuster editions of The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, and Fahrenheit 451. Only the last one is a hardcover, but if they issue the others in hardcover, I'll buy them yet again (I have 63 Bradbury books now, albeit with many duplications).

Linnl, you're right - the MC edition doesn't have "The Fire Balloons", but I don't mind, because the contents correspond exactly to the first edition.

douglasSP, So far I've only purchased MC. Since it reflects the first edition, I'm guessing to find "The Fire Balloons" in the new pb of IM, if it also reflects its first edition.

quote:

Originally posted by douglasSP:
...the contents correspond exactly to the first edition.

Does this mean the DATES in the book match the first edition? (Bradbury revised the dates some time in the '90s.)

philnic, The dates are the same as first edition.

quote:

Originally posted by Linnl:
...The dates are the same as first edition.

I wonder why that is? The dates were revised to keep it all in the future, but now most of the books will have 'already happened'. (Let's see... AD 2012 must correspond to somewhere between "The Silent Towns" and "The Long Years" !)

Yep, the dates are as in the first edition. I prefer it that way. the recalibrated dates from the 1997 edition would probably have become outdated as well.