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1. Regarding the 10 Cautionary Tales for Children…I was reminded of A Child’s Christmas in Wales: “…and pictureless books in which small boys, though warned with quotations not to, would skate on Farmer Giles’s pond and did and drowned…”
   http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks07/0701261h.html

   • Also very amusing are the stories in Struwwelpeter, a collection of German cautionary tales warning children of the disastrous consequences of such egregious sins as thumb sucking. Take care that the great, long, red-legged scissor-man doesn’t get you!

     http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12116/12116-h/12116-h.htm

   • Hey there, all, this is somewhat off-topic, but related to children… and definitely root simple material, so here goes…

     I have 2 little girls interested in Chinese chess; we play regular Western chess , but became interested in Go (Weiqi) and Chinese Chess (Xiangqi) recently. We’re playing online now, but plan to buy actual Go and Chinese Chess boards soon,

     we live in SCV , could you possibly maybe cover Go and Chinese chess on the blog and list places around Los Angeles, or Southern CA in general, where we can purchase these games and/or watch amateur or even professional matches? Thank you.

     HAPPY NEW YEAR!

   • I love this question. One of the objects I found after clearing out my mom’s house this past year was my dad’s Go set. I’ll ask the Chinese people I know for some suggestions about Chinese chess.

   • Hey, Mr. H!

     Please do write a blog.

     I also noticed (of course I could just as easily buy ’em on Amazon) lots of DIY videos of folks just making their own game boards and pieces. Now for Go I think (and if you have your Dad’s 181 black stones & 180 white stones, that ‘d be cool) but the stones you’d have to purchase (unless already a lapidary hobbyist and can handmake Go stones).

     I’m not much of a DIY’er so if you could include , folks making Go (Weiqi) and Chinese Chess (Xiangqi) boards & pieces please maybe include how-to’s or where we can get in touch with these Makers.

     Here’s a couple of videos I find interesting,

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCZY51OHYcs

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU-CYbV1VBU

2. Or this Chinese Chess (Xiangqi) wooden DIY’ed board,

   https://imgur.com/gallery/zppHv

   • p.s. ~

     Here’s a great essay on Go (and the ‘Three Games’),
     http://www.kiseido.com/three.htm

     “Chess, for example, the great historical game of the West, involves monarchs, armies, slaughter, and the eventual destruction of one king by another. The game appears to be entirely directed along the lines of the great myths of the West from the Mahabharata to the Song of Roland — the overthrow of a hero and the crowning of a new hero. The pieces, from king down to pawn (peon), give a picture of a heirarchical and pyramidal society with powers strictly defined and limited.

     Backgammon, the favorite game of the Near and Middle East, is preoccupied with the question of Chance and Fate (Kismet). All play is governed by the roll of dice over which the player has no control whatever. The players are matched against each other, but each tries to capture a wave of luck and ride it to victory. The loser curses his misfortune and tries again, but the individual is helpless in the grip of superior forces.

     Go, the game of ancient China and modern Japan (and now popular throughout the world), is unique in that every piece is of equal value and can be played anywhere on the board. The aim is not to destroy but to build territory. Single stones become groups, and groups become organic structures which live or die. A stone’s power depends on its location and the moment. Over the entire board there occur transformations of growth and decay, movement and stasis, small defeats and temporary victories. The stronger player is the teacher, the weaker is the learner, and even today the polite way to ask for a game is to say `Please teach me.’ “

   • Wow, very interesting. Never thought about the cultural implications of these games.

   • After watching “Arrival” (based on “Story of your Life” a short-story by Ted Chiang),

     The girls and I have been researching non-zero sum games and Go is listed as one.

3. The first thing I thought of on seeing The 10 Cautionary Tales for Children was Edward Gorey’s classic: The Gashlycrumb Tinies. Happy New Year, y’all!

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