Celestial Pocket Globes

One of the objects shown on the PBS show "Find!" recently was an eighteenth century pocket globe. At an estate of a woman in the northeastern part of the United States, was a baseball-sized, genuine sharkskin case. This case separated into two halves which enclosed a nicely rendered globe of the Earth. On the inside of the globe-enclosing sharkskin case was the night sky. . .much like a mini planetarium. The object was appraised by the two blond-haired twins Leigh and Leslie Keno (stars of the show and originally from "Antiques Roadshow") for thousands of dollars.

Here is a little information about a fine example of one of these globes from the Lanman Globe Collection
(www.library.yale.edu/MapColl...s.html):

snip>>
c. 1818, James Newton, London
Globe 22
Newton's Improved Pocket Celestial Globe. London.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth century, many people who could afford it carried pocket watches. As time went on, people took to carrying "pocket-sized" versions of other items such as barometers, and even globes. some were either mounted on stands like conventional globes, others were enclosed in special cases to make them more portable, as this one was. The first one is believed to have been made by the British mathematician Joseph Moxon in the late 1600s, and the Newton family was one of the many British firms who produced such globes. Their London firm was founded by James Newton (probably the father of the James Newton who made this particular globe), who was born in 1748.

This globe is only 7.6 cm in diameter. It is enclosed in a spherical case of shagreen (sharkskin) with twelve colored, engraved, celestial gores pasted inside. The case is held together by a hinge, and can be locked with two hooks.
<<unsnip

In conclusion, here is a link to a couple of images of this item:
www.library.yale.edu/MapColl/globe22.gif

Sister Golden Hair. . .as recorded by "America"

Well I tried to make it Sunday, but I got so damn depressed
That I set my sights on Monday and I got myself undressed
I ain't ready for the altar but I do agree there's times
When a woman sure can be a friend of mine

Well, I keep on thinkin' 'bout you, Sister Golden Hair surprise
And I just can't live without you; can't you see it in my eyes?
I been one poor correspondent, and I been too, too hard to find
But it doesn't mean you ain't been on my mind

Will you meet me in the middle, will you meet me in the air?
Will you love me just a little, just enough to show you care?
Well I tried to fake it, I don't mind sayin', I just can't make it

Well, I keep on thinkin' 'bout you, Sister Golden Hair surprise
And I just can't live without you; can't you see it in my eyes?
Now I been one poor correspondent, and I been too, too hard to find
But it doesn't mean you ain't been on my mind

Will you meet me in the middle, will you meet me in the air?
Will you love me just a little, just enough to show you care?
Well I tried to fake it, I don't mind sayin', I just can't make it

Oh my God!

Eric's guitar playing and vocal work on the classic "Stormy Monday" off the soon to be released live Cream reunion CD is far beyond words. To see and hear this incredible performance, go to:

music.aol.com/artist/main.adp

Sweet Child O' Mine (As recorded by Guns and Roses)

She's got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything
Was as fresh as the bright blue sky
Now and then when I see her face
She takes me away to that
special place
And if I stared too long
I'd probably break down and cry

Sweet child o' mine
Sweet love of mine

She's got eyes of the bluest skies
As if they thought of rain
I hate to look into those eyes
And see an ounce of pain
Her hair reminds me
of a warm safe place
Where as a child I'd hid
And pray for the thunder
And the rain
To quietly pass me by

Sweet child o' mine
Sweet love of mine

Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Sweet child o' mine

Ride Captain Ride (circa 1968)

Seventy-three men sailed up from the San Francisco Bay
Rolled off of their ship, and here's what they had to say
"We're callin' everyone to ride along to another shore
We can laugh our lives away and be free once more"

But no one heard them callin', no one came at all
'Cause they were too busy watchin' those old raindrops fall
As a storm was blowin' out on the peaceful sea
Seventy-three men sailed off to history

Ride, captain ride upon your mystery ship
Be amazed at the friends you have here on your trip
Ride captain ride upon your mystery ship
On your way to a world that others might have missed


-- Recorded by "The Blues Image"

I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, by Hank Williams

Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low
I'm so lonesome I could cry

I've never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind a cloud
To hide its face and cry

Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves begin to die?
Like me he's lost the will to live
I'm so lonesome I could cry

The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I'm so lonesome I could cry

A short but pertinent poem

Now is now,
And now is now,
And now is now,
Some more.

--Anonymous