One of the staples of my school presentations is an Uncle Josh recording, usually "Uncle Josh on a Streetcar", along with a typed and printed transcription to hand out. This is chosen in part to demonstrate the wide ranging entertainments available on early records (this selection has some bits that are just as relevant and funny today as they were nearly a century ago), and in part to be able to say afterwards that the fellow who just gave them a few minutes of delightfully fresh personality was born in 1856. Other artist they can hear (or even "Let Us Not Forget") feature voices of people that were born earlier, but these generally sound more or less as the students expect and the fact they were of (to them ancient) other times doesn't seem to make much of an impression. They DON'T expect to actually be made to feel an emotional response (usually laughter or at least lots of self- conscious smiles) to a man born 150 years ago. When you succeed in accomplishing an emotional response to the records and machines, the vastness of time and the perception that it doesn't really have anything to do with them or their lives evaporates instantly and establishes an instant rapport between the student and the material being presented. Andy Baron On Dec 30, 2006, at 11:52 PM, KEEPERH2O at aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 12/28/2006 8:18:41 PM Pacific Standard Time, > john9ten at pacbell.net writes: > (That sense of presence from all these dead people > reaching out over a century was simply astonishing...)