With the recent release of The 2008 Old Farmer’s Almanac and The Old Farmer’s Almanac for Kids, Volume 2, comes a new release-an electronic version of the Almanac. North America’s oldest continuously published periodical, known for its 80 percent-accurate weather forecasts, is now available in a completely electronic, PDF format. For the first time in history, the entire annual publication can be viewed on-line or be saved directly to a computer for desktop viewing.

"We employ state-of-the-art technology to develop and produce The Old Farmer’s Almanac, and this digital version of the book is a natural extension of that process and the publication’s relevance," says Janice Stillman, the Almanac’s 13th editor since 1792. "Whether viewed on-line or downloaded, the PDF Almanac provides immediate access to an exact replica of the Bookstore Edition. You can even turn the pages as you would with the actual book."

The digital edition, which contains all of the contents of the U.S. 2008 Old Farmer’s Almanac, is available at Almanac.com for $9.95. It includes the Almanac’s timeless blend of facts and fun about trends, gardening, pets, and more; the most accurate astronomical data under the Sun; and weather predictions for every day in 16 regions, with climatic trends for each season. Individual pages or the entire book can be downloaded. Articles can also be shared via e-mail or printed.

Stillman goes on to say, "The on-line interactive version is user-friendly, convenient, and powerful because of search and link functions. Plus, the ability to set a zoom level allows for easier reading."

When viewing the digital Almanac on-line, users can search by keyword and find exactly what they are looking for in an instant. Also, hyper-linked page references in editorial and advertisements immediately connect users to Web sites and pages. The digital version of The Old Farmer’s Almanac is just one of several electronic products the Almanac team has recently introduced. Others include the Long-Range Weather Forecast package and a customized Weather History, in which detailed weather data is available from 1973 to the present for more than 1,300 locations in the United States.

Perfect for anyone planning a special event, another option available is My Local Almanac, which provides Sun rise and set times; length of day; Moon rise and set times, place, and age; and tidal information for a 13-month period customized to a chosen location.

Visit Almanac.com for more information about all of these products. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is produced by Yankee Publishing Inc. of Dublin, NH. The Almanac product line also includes themed calendars for 2008: Gardening, Country, and Weather Watcher’s (for wall display); Every Day (in the page-per-day format); and a spiral-bound Engagement calendar. Created for cooks (and anyone who likes to eat) are the Blue Ribbon Recipes and Best Home Baking cookbooks, featuring award-winning recipes from state and country fairs. The 2008 Old Farmer’s Almanac is available wherever books and magazines are sold. Folks who can’t find it in bookstores, supermarkets, or hardware stores can order individual copies or subscriptions at Almanac.com or by calling 800-ALMANAC.

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) the early Classic Viennese composer, wrote most of his keyboard works for piano, not harpsichord. The piano tone at that time had a lightness, and an improved key action, and a sustaining pedal, which were all indispensable factors in the evolution of the Classic style. Haydn who was not a pianist, composed more than 50 piano sonatas, and several short piano pieces. He looked to the Pre-Classic composers, and with his intuitive musical skill, created delightful sonatas containing the freedom of flowing rhythmic structure, inventive daring, and humor.

Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel has recorded all the Haydn sonatas, including the Adagio in F, on the Phillips label. Brendel received an award in 1987 for his "capriciousness as much as the poetry that he so perfectly attends to; his playing, ever alive to the vitality and subtleties, makes these discs a delight." Vladimir Horowitz’s final recording on the Sony Classic label, begins with a Haydn sonata, No. 49. Hosowitz in his last few years developed a strong attachment to the simplicity and directness of the classical composers, most notably Haydn and Mozart. He felt that what made these composers classical, in the truest sense, was not a prudish detachment or "objectivity," but rather an intensity and purity of expression where every note matters, every note has meaning.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), was a performing pianist and gave numerous concerts, especially in his youth, often composing his own music for these performances while on tour. His music for solo piano consists mostly of variations, sonatas, and a few fantasies. The 17 sonatas for solo piano follow the path established by Joseph Haydn and Johann Sebastian Bach’s son, Carl Philipp Emanuel. Mozart’s keyboard sonatas may not compare with his operas and symphonies, or his chamberworks, however, many are fine keyboard creations of the classic era.

Mitsuko Uchida, is among the leading Mozart pianists of today. Winner of the Grammy Award in 1989 and 1991, Philips has the complete sonatas, plus the Fantasia in C minor. This set offers excellent piano sound.

Next Month: The Piano Repertoire, Part IV - Beethoven.

In our home and throughout my Senate offices, you’ll find quilts. Beautiful, West Virginia-made quilts. My wife Sharon and I truly cherish them, partly because of how striking they are, but also because of the wonderful history she and I have with the folks who made them—artisans from Cabin Creek Quilts.

For decades upon decades, West Virginia artisans have been capturing the spirit of our great state in remarkable ways. Through hand-blown glass, woodwork, crafts and candles, they are turning everything we love about West Virginia into beautiful works of art.

To make sure that this tradition of craftsmanship continued, nearly 40 years ago, Sharon found a quilting cooperative—Mountain Artisans, which brought together West Virginia quilters and promoted their work across the nation. Her initiative drew attention to the work that so many West Virginians were doing, and it gave them the opportunity to turn their talents into essential income for their families.

It was through Mountain Artisans that Cabin Creek Quilts—another cooperative—grew, and ended up flourishing. Over the years, hundreds of residents have created beautiful works of Appalachian art, and through Cabin Creek Quilts they’ve been able to sell their work in West Virginia, and all across the country.

Today, a new owner, Rebecca Stelling, is re-energizing both Mountain Artisans and Cabin Creek Quilts. She appreciates, as do Sharon and I, that the work of West Virginia artisans is something to be treasured, but also moved forward. Under Rebecca’s guidance, the pieces made through Cabin Creek are now a bit more vibrant and contemporary—giving traditional folk art a whole new twist.

That’s why I’m looking forward to soon visiting Rebecca where she’s now showcasing the work of West Virginia quilters, at Cornucopia on Bridge Road in Charleston. I’m eager to see the new and colorful pieces, and just how far the Cabin Creek Quilts has come since she took over.

Entrepreneurship is an essential part of who we are as a state, and it continues to be an important part of our economy —which is why what Rebecca is doing is so essential. She’s promoting artisans, giving them the opportunity to do what they love most, and making their work the perfect fit for today’s more modern world. Hers is the type of vision we need in order to encourage even more entrepreneurs around our state, and to bring even more attention to our state’s creative culture.

Folk art is, you could say, one of the most important pieces making up the patchwork of West Virginia’s history. And years ago, we knew it was something that needed to be cultivated and supported, so that it would also become a part of our state’s future. Today, both Mountain Artists and Cabin Creek Quilts have been revived—and for that, Sharon and I couldn’t be happier.

Bluefield native, turned author and creative writing professor Rick Mulkey will offer a workshop and a reading of his works at Bluefield College, Monday, Nov. 12 as part of the school's Visiting Writers Series.

Mulkey, a graduate of Graham High School and Bluefield College, will lead a poetry discussion/workshop at 1 p.m. on Nov. 12 in Room 100 of BC's Science Center, followed by a reading of his works at 7 p.m. the same day in Easley Library.

Mulkey is the author of several books, including Toward Any Darkness and Before the Age of Reason. His most recent published work, Bluefield Breakdown, is a chapbook collection of poems that describe his memories of both "the literal landscape of southwest Virginia and the literary landscapes that require people to seek out the mysterious in order to discover the familiar in their lives."

"The poems in Bluefield Breakdown mine a rich vein of voice and story, memory and silence," said North Carolina Poet Laureate Kathryn Stripling Byer. "The presence of vanishing landscape is everywhere in this work, the Appalachian country that poet Rick Mulkey calls home. These poems make manifest the belief that a spiritual landscape exists within the physical one."

Mulkey's work has received the Charles Angoff Award from the Literary Review, a Hawthornden Fellowship for a writing residency in Edinburgh, Scotland, and several Pushcart Prize nominations.

Many of his individual poems and essays have appeared in magazines, journals and anthologies across the United States and Europe. A number of his works, including "Blue Ridge a Cappella," featured in Bluefield Breakdown, have been set to music by award-winning composer Scott Robbins and performed nationally at such venues as Florida State University and Oberlin College.

After Bluefield College, Mulkey earned a master's degree from Radford University and from Wichita State University. He later taught creative writing and American literature at a number of colleges, universities and writing workshops in the United States and Europe. Along with his wife, fiction writer Susan Tekulve, he currently teaches at Converse College in Spartanburg, SC, where he directs the creative writing major.

Mulkey's workshop and reading sessions at Bluefield College are open and free to the public. For more information about his or other events in the BC Visiting Writers Series, please contact Dr. Rob Merritt, professor of English, by phone at (276) 326-4270 or via e-mail at rmerritt@bluefield.edu.