Dorothy and her friends meet the Hammerheads, travel to the Land of the Quadlings, and Glinda grants their wishes.
Dorothy and friends wreak havoc on the little china country and then the Lion becomes the king of the forest.
Trying one more time to get it right.
Today, the Wizard fulfills his promises to Dorothy and her friends...kind of.
In this chapter, we learn about humbugs and enabling. :)
Dorothy and her friends get lost on their way back to Oz. They call on their old friend, the Queen of the Mice, who tells them about the charm on the cap Dorothy acquired from the Wicked Witch of the West. She calls the Winged Monkeys and they take her back to Oz, but along the way, the King of the Winged Monkeys tells the story of Gaylette and Kaylala. Interesting indeed!
Dorothy and her companions must seek out the Wicked Witch of the West and kill her or Oz will not grant them their wishes.
Our merry travelers finally meet the Wonderful Wizard of Oz but will they get all they desire? Or does Oz have something not so wonderful in store?
In this chapter we examine the Tin Woodman's complicated views on life and love and we finally get to the Emerald City.
Thank you for continuing to listen to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I hope you enjoy the episode.
In this episode, we meet the Tin Woodsman and the Cowardly Lion. They join Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and her little dog Toto too, as the journey to meet with the Wizard of Oz.
In this episode, I continue reading Frank L. Baum's classic tale The Wizard of Oz. You can find free, electronic form of this book at gutenberg.org. Enjoy.
In this season, I read Frank L. Baum's classic tale, a free electronic form of this book is available at gutenberg.org.
In this episode we learn a king is willing to give his daughter away as a prize to either a flea, a grasshopper, or a leap-frog, whichever can jump the highest. Ah, the horrors of being a woman back in the day.
Also, we hear the tale of a young boy who learns about his future from a dryad.
Enjoy!
I just finished reading P.T. Duetermann’s The Last Paladin, a book about the U.S.S. Holland - a sub-hunting surface ship during World War II. I picked this book because I have a friend who is stationed in Hawaii and talking with her reminded me of my time sailing around Diamond Head as well as sailing in Japan and other parts of the world.
In The Last Paladin, Deutermann writes a fascinating story about the Holland, a fictional sub-hunter sent to destroy Japanese submarines in the vast, and I mean vast, Pacific Ocean. He uses a technique I have never come across before, writing in the first-person but from two different characters points of view - the Captain and the Executive Officer. As I read this story, I found myself fully engaged in the sea battles between the Holland and the six different submarines they attacked and sunk. To be clear, the Holland takes on each sub one at a time and in most cases alone. Lieutenant Commander deTomasi, Deutermann’s fictional captain, is a consummate hunter, evaluating his prey and devising techniques to scare the enemy subs to the surface or boxing them in with a new weapon - the hedgehog.
One of the challenges for me was the harsh comments and derogatory terms the captain and crew understandably made towards their enemy - the Japanese. These comments jumped out at me because I was stationed in Japan for over six years early on in my Air Force career. I found the Japanese people to be just like people all around the world, kind and generous and fun to be around. And now, of course, the countries of Japan and the United States of America are allies. What a difference a day makes. This all gives me hope we can find a way to make our current adversaries into our future friends - without a horrific war. I don’t fault Deutermann as he used the terms to create a very realistic experience aboard a wartime vessel facing a determined enemy.
Back to the book, Deutermann creates some very memorable scenes in The Last Paladin. The most salient of which for me is that of Chief Petty Officer Garcia sitting ten feet above an unexploded Japanese torpedo lodged into the side of the Holland. The Chief sits in a bosun’s chair, smoking a cigar, over the top of unexploded ordnance, as the Holland makes five knots in calm seas and lists to port.
If action packed, seafaring stories are for you, then I can highly recommend The Last Paladin. You can grab a copy at your local library. That’s where I got mine. Thank you for listening and I hope you join me next time on Ken Reads The Classics.
In this episode, we finish up The Shoes of Fortune and then learn a lesson about happiness from The Fir Tree. Enjoy.
This episode begins with Chapter IV of The Shoes of Fortune, a resident at a local hospital wears the enchanted galoshes and get stuck in a fence, attends a fortune telling event, and travels through the hearts of unsuspecting theater goers.
In Chapter V we learn of a police clerk who turns into a poet and a chirping bird.
We follow the adventures of some unsuspecting soles who unknowingly put on 'the shoes of fortune'.
Today we have two tales by Hans Christian Anderson, The Swineherd - a tale of a prince who, having been rejected by a princess, seeks his revenge in a bewildering fashion, and A Real Princess about a Queen Mother who creates a bizarre test to see if a young lady who showed up at their door one evening truly is a princess.
It's great to be back again. I hope you enjoy this reading of The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Anderson.