Gaslight Digest Wednesday, October 14 1998 Volume 01 : Number 006 In this issue: RE: CHAT: RE: Returned from Vacation RE: Returned from Vacation RE: Returned from Vacation Re: Chat: Fans of Shirley Jackson [15874] CHAT: Mervyn Peake (was Re: Returned from Vacation) RE: Returned from Vacation RE: CHAT: Mervyn Peake (was Re: Returned from Vacation) RE: Returned from Vacation Titus Groan CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation RE: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation RE: Returned from Vacation RE: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation Re: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation Today in History - Oct. 14 Chat: A few Peake Sites RE: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation RE: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation RE: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation RE: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation Another Return: New Orleans [none] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 22:25:22 -0500 From: Deborah Mattingly Conner <muse(at)iland.net> Subject: RE: CHAT: RE: Returned from Vacation Thanks Patricia, Jerry, for planning my vacations for a long, long time. Why would anyone go see the Florida Mouse? Take a cruise? Let me see those wheel ruts and gasp at Kansas City Asian art. (I do find myself teary as I sing 'Shenandoah' from time to time...) The Old West starts here, all that myth about Jesse James. Awful boy. Funny to merge it with our Londoners of the same time. It seems funny also to realize that when we were 'littles' (as Morris would say) watching Robin Hood and wanting to be Merry Men, our English counterparts were watching Gunsmoke. Greener grass? What we really need is a time machine. Just printed out Mr. Lucraft. This Walter Besant is Annie's brother? A thick file it is. Better make some tea. By my libertine soul, Deborah muse(at)iland.net http://www.iland.net/~muse In the floods of life, in the storm of work, In Ebb and flow, In warp and weft, Cradle and grave, An eternal sea, A changing patchwork, A glowing life, At the whirring loom of Time I weave The living clothes of the Deity. ~Goethe, the Earth Spirit to Faust
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Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 22:30:44 -0500 From: Deborah Mattingly Conner <muse(at)iland.net> Subject: RE: Returned from Vacation All right. Who is Lord_Sepulchrave? Sounds like something from Lovecraft. Deborah Mattingly Conner muse(at)iland.net http://www.iland.net/~muse "That which is creative must create itself" ~John Keats >>>Kevin J. Clement Lord_Sepulchrave(at)yahoo.com currently wondering where has Art Bell gone?>>>>
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Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 21:52:38 -0600 (MDT) From: "p.h.wood" <woodph(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> Subject: RE: Returned from Vacation On Tue, 13 Oct 1998, Deborah Mattingly Conner wrote: > All right. Who is Lord_Sepulchrave? Sounds like something from Lovecraft. Ah, no. Lord Sepulchrave is the father of Titus Groan, the young hero of three books from the pen of a brilliant English writer named Mervyn Peake (1911-195?), which comprise the Gormenghast Trilogy. It's impossible to describe this wonderful work of fantasy in a short enough format to fit here. I can only say "Read it". The characters will stick in your mind for the rest of your life. I came across it first soon after it was written in the early 1950's, and have read it more times than I can recall. "Go thou and do likewise." Peter Wood
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Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 23:21:07 -0500 (CDT)
From: James Rogers <jetan(at)ionet.net>
Subject: Re: Chat: Fans of Shirley Jackson [15874]
At 09:36 PM 10/13/98 -0400, Kevin Clement wrote:
>
> Thanks for the recommendations, I've had some trouble finding a copy of
>The Haunting (the only one I *could* find was checked out) but am
>planning an expedition to at least one Half-Price Books store this week.
>M.R. James is harder to find locally but I have managed to find several
>good anthologies with a James story in them, which I've found is also a
>good introduction to several other authors I'll have to read more of
>now. ;)
>
_Haunting Of Hill House_ was reissued a few years ago as part of a
larger anthology of Jackson's stuff. The James _Collected Ghost Stories_
was available in a Penguin paperback and may still be in print.
James
James Michael Rogers
jetan(at)ionet.net
Mundus Vult Decipi
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:22:08 -0400 From: "Kevin J. Clement" <clementk(at)alink.com> Subject: CHAT: Mervyn Peake (was Re: Returned from Vacation) Deborah Mattingly Conner wrote: > > All right. Who is Lord_Sepulchrave? Sounds like something from Lovecraft. > > Deborah Mattingly Conner > muse(at)iland.net > http://www.iland.net/~muse > "That which is creative must create itself" ~John Keats The tired & poetic lord of the gigantic castle/world Gormenghast. One of the characters in Mervyn Peake's excellent Gormenghast books. Peake did children book illustrations as well as plays, books, etc. First book is Titus Groan. A little late for Gaslight (1930s-1960s) but highly recommended. Like a Gothic/Post-Modern Dickens. (exp. characters Mr. Flay, Swelter, Dr. Prunesquallor, Steerpike) Also Peake illustrated the Gormenghast books. Unfortunately he developed a degenerative condition (like Parkinson's) and was unable to really finish the third book or start a fourth book. English, may have fought in WWI. Shouldn't be too hard to find, Tusk/Overlook did some tpb versions recently and I think a collected book is still in print. 70's paperbacks show up now and then for cheap but they mess up the illustrations and the cover is a bad example of 70's Ballantine Fantasy. He is hard to describe, complex yet enjoyable, humorous yet gloomy. I don't have my usual bookmark list available right now but there are some websites & a journal on Peake. I plan to reread the series again this winter. I still shiver sometimes when I come across a cobweb although I'm not afraid of spiders, and dread water in the basement due to Peake. Oh yeah, the main villain is quite wicked & devious. - -- Kevin J. Clement clementk(at)alink.com Here's a quote - "my remorse is over now and forever for desire and dream has gone and I am complete"
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:02:27 -0500 (CDT) From: brentb(at)webtv.net (Brent Barber) Subject: RE: Returned from Vacation - --WebTV-Mail-1311406048-7338 Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Who is Dan Quayle? Surely you jest. Are you just making fun of my ommision of a possessive apostrophe? You see there was a silly little man who was vice president some years ago. He liked potatoes and he thought a mind was a terrible thing to lose if you had one. Fortunately he was spared this problem. He was chair of the Competitveness Counsel which worked hard to allow polluters to evade the law. It was a grand time in our land, when the Rober Barons of yore became the new arbiters of a plutocratic resurgance. Happily, with smut from the right saturating the airwaves each hour, one now need not bother his head with such trifles. http://members.theglobe.com/brentb/Lr3.html - --WebTV-Mail-1311406048-7338 Content-Disposition: Inline Content-Type: Message/RFC822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Received: from mailsorter-104.bryant.webtv.net (mailsorter-104.iap.bryant.webtv.net [207.79.35.94]) by postoffice-161.iap.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/po.gso.24Feb98) with ESMTP id VAA03077; Tue, 13 Oct 1998 21:51:52 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mailsorter-102.bryant.webtv.net (mailsorter-102.iap.bryant.webtv.net [207.79.35.92]) by mailsorter-104.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/ms.graham.14Aug97) with ESMTP id QAA12350; Tue, 13 Oct 1998 16:46:58 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mailgate.mtroyal.ab.ca (mail.mtroyal.ab.ca [142.109.10.22]) by mailsorter-102.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/ms.graham.14Aug97) with ESMTP id QAA18579; Tue, 13 Oct 1998 16:46:55 -0700 (PDT) Received: from www2.mtroyal.ab.ca (ns.mtroyal.ab.ca) by mailgate.mtroyal.ab.ca (PMDF V5.1-12 #D3151) with ESMTP id <0F0S00AKGI02VK(at)mailgate.mtroyal.ab.ca> for brentb(at)webtv.net; Tue, 13 Oct 1998 17:45:45 -0600 (MDT) Received: (from root(at)localhost) by www2.mtroyal.ab.ca (8.8.8/8.8.8) id RAA01957 for gaslight-list; Tue, 13 Oct 1998 17:45:24 -0600 Received: from mailgate.mtroyal.ab.ca (mail.mtroyal.ab.ca [142.109.10.22]) by www2.mtroyal.ab.ca (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id RAA01954 for <gaslight(at)www2.mtroyal.ab.ca>; Tue, 13 Oct 1998 17:45:23 -0600 Received: from newton.internetland.net by mailgate.mtroyal.ab.ca (PMDF V5.1-12 #D3151) with ESMTP id <0F0S00AKCHZLVK(at)mailgate.mtroyal.ab.ca> for gaslight(at)www2.mtroyal.ab.ca; Tue, 13 Oct 1998 17:45:23 -0600 (MDT) Received: from deb-home (wbrg133.internetland.net [208.30.90.133]) by newton.internetland.net (8.9.1/8.9.1) with SMTP id SAA02393 for <gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA>; Tue, 13 Oct 1998 18:45:19 -0500 (CDT) Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 18:50:09 -0500 From: Deborah Mattingly Conner <muse(at)iland.net> Subject: RE: Returned from Vacation In-reply-to: <5118-3623CA10-7157(at)mailtod-161.iap.bryant.webtv.net> Sender: owner-gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA To: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA Reply-to: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA Message-id: <000201bdf704$3654d120$855a1ed0(at)deb-home> MIME-version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 8.5, Build 4.71.2173.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Importance: Normal Precedence: bulk X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 X-Priority: 3 (Normal) Who is Dan Quayles? Deborah Mattingly Conner muse(at)iland.net http://www.iland.net/~muse "That which is creative must create itself" ~John Keats -----Original Message----- From: owner-gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA [mailto:owner-gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA]On Behalf Of Brent Barber Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 1998 4:46 PM To: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA Subject: RE: Returned from Vacation Patricia and Deborah, I meekly aquiesce in light of your historical knowledge of the region. I guess I should have qualified my remarks to indicate that I was largely refering to the social and political culture of the present era, not historical culture of the gaslight era. It's Republican country and most of the people here seem like part of one large narrow minded family, cut from the same hunk of plain pine. But you are so right Deb in insisting that all of life is what one makes of it. I have learned to go inside and create for myself the dimensions I seek. It would just be nice to feel the buzz in the air like downtown Seattle, LA, London, ect. and run into people who have read anything besides Dan Quayles memoirs;) BB http://members.theglobe.com/brentb/Lr3.html - --WebTV-Mail-1311406048-7338--
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 08:45:03 -0400 From: "James E. Kearman" <jkearman(at)javanet.com> Subject: RE: CHAT: Mervyn Peake (was Re: Returned from Vacation) > > Kevin J. Clement (clementk(at)alink.com) wrote: > > Shouldn't be too hard to find, Tusk/Overlook did some tpb versions > recently and I think a collected book is still in print. 70's paperbacks > show up now and then for cheap but they mess up the illustrations and > the cover is a bad example of 70's Ballantine Fantasy. He is hard to > describe, complex yet enjoyable, humorous yet gloomy. I discovered one paperback of the Trilogy in a used bookstore in the 70s. I believe it was a Penguin. Penguin USA couldn't get the other two, and told me they were available only in the UK. I eventually ordered them through Prospero Books in Ottawa, Ontario (this is a good way to get British books not being distributed in the US without paying for them to ride First Class on the Concorde). Somewhere along the line I sold my copies. Having said all that, Amazon is offering a 1995 paperback reprint of the three Gormenghast novels by Overlook Press; ISBN: 0879516283. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0879516283/n/qid=908368403/sr=2-1/002 - -0285758-8978825 Cheers, Jim ----------------------------------------------------------------- James E. Kearman mailto:jkearman(at)javanet.com http://www.javanet.com/~jkearman Why do you wander further and further? Look! All good is here. Only learn to seize your joy, For joy is always near. - --Goethe
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 08:45:05 -0400 From: "James E. Kearman" <jkearman(at)javanet.com> Subject: RE: Returned from Vacation Peter Wood wrote: > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA > [mailto:owner-gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA]On Behalf Of p.h.wood > Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 1998 11:53 PM > To: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA > Subject: RE: Returned from Vacation > > > On Tue, 13 Oct 1998, Deborah Mattingly Conner wrote: > > All right. Who is Lord_Sepulchrave? Sounds like something from > Lovecraft. > > Ah, no. Lord Sepulchrave is the father of Titus Groan, the young hero > of three books from the pen of a brilliant English writer named Mervyn > Peake (1911-195?), which comprise the Gormenghast Trilogy. (b. July 9, 1911, Kuling, Kiangsi Province, China--d. Nov. 17, 1968, Burcot, Oxfordshire, Eng.), English novelist, poet, painter, playwright, and illustrator, best known for the bizarre Titus Groan trilogy of novels and for his illustrations of his novels and of children's stories. Educated in China and in Kent, Peake went to art school and trained as a painter, but he was stricken with a progressive illness that made him increasingly helpless until his death. His Titus Groan novels--consisting of Titus Groan (1946), Gormenghast (1950), and Titus Alone (1959)--display a gallery of eccentric and freakish characters in an idiosyncratic Gothic setting. Peake's drawings and paintings, particularly his illustrations for the novels and for children's books, are only a little less known, and his poem The Glassblowers (1950) won a literary prize, together with Gormenghast. Peake also wrote a play, The Wit to Woo (performed 1957). Copyright 1994-1998 Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 07:05:59 -0600 From: athan chilton <ayc(at)UIUC.EDU> Subject: Titus Groan The characters will >stick in your mind for the rest of your life. I came across it first soon >after it was written in the early 1950's, and have read it more times than >I can recall. I no longer have these books, but my late ex-husband had them all, and initiated me into their strange world many years ago. You're right--one never forgets those characters, or some of the events in their tale. To this day, the phrase "cats as weapons" has special resonance in my household! Who could forget those characters--Steerpike, Fuchsia, or Titus himself?? I've never seen Peake's illustrations, however. Were they contained in an early edition of the novels? Hardback, I assume? Ours were paperbacks and I don't recall any illustrations in them. athan (thinking I ought to go find my own copies of said books.) ayc(at)uiuc.edu
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 09:25:06 -0500 From: "S.T. Karnick" <skarnick(at)INDY.NET> Subject: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation Brent Barber wrote, >>Who is Dan Quayle? Surely you jest. Are you just making fun of my ommision of a possessive apostrophe? You see there was a silly little man who was vice president some years ago. [etc.]<< On the other hand, those who know Mr. Quayle personally, rather than through caricatures such as this, know him to be a decent and intelligent man. Best w's, S.T. Karnick
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 09:55:40 -0500 From: Deborah Mattingly Conner <muse(at)iland.net> Subject: RE: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation Oh dear. Can o' worms. I was just making the point (IMHO always; on Gaslight I feel free to speak among friends) that even though I'm in the Midwest, not everyone reads only Quayle's book. (Brent's context.) The comma was just potatoe's, little frungian-slip. The way the mind works and the hand's fly! I haven't thought about Dan Quayle in ages. I must admit, I had the same mindset about the hinterlands before I lived here, thinking they were straight far-right. Ain't necessarily so. As was mentioned yesterday, living in a big city full of resources doesn't make someone well read or even informed. With the internet, it doesn't matter where you live (though a big university library down the road is a big plus). Just now, people seem to be turning away from the mass media. It doesn't reflect their views. (And I will never get work as a proof editor! When I put up web-pages, the text is been processed!) Deborah Mattingly Conner muse(at)iland.net http://www.iland.net/~muse "That which is creative must create itself" ~John Keats -----Original Message----- From: owner-gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA [mailto:owner-gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA]On Behalf Of S.T. Karnick Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 1998 9:25 AM To: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA Subject: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation Brent Barber wrote, >>Who is Dan Quayle? Surely you jest. Are you just making fun of my ommision of a possessive apostrophe? You see there was a silly little man who was vice president some years ago. [etc.]<< On the other hand, those who know Mr. Quayle personally, rather than through caricatures such as this, know him to be a decent and intelligent man. Best w's, S.T. Karnick
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 10:09:12 -0500 From: Deborah Mattingly Conner <muse(at)iland.net> Subject: RE: Returned from Vacation Peter Wood said: Lord Sepulchrave is the father of Titus Groan, the young hero of three books from the pen of a brilliant English writer named Mervyn Peake (1911-195?), which comprise the Gormenghast Trilogy. It's impossible to describe this wonderful work of fantasy in a short enough format to fit here. I can only say "Read it". The characters will stick in your mind for the rest of your life. I came across it first soon after it was written in the early 1950's, and have read it more times than I can recall. "Go thou and do likewise." Thanks Peter. Yea, verily. $11.96 at Amazon, sent w/in in 24 hrs. Amazon is another reason why it isn't so important to live in a large city anymore. Restaurants, however, are not to be had by internet. No Olde Europe here. Patricia is right. Sonic is the best spot in a hundred miles. (ask my son Alex.) Amazon reviews the Gormenghast Trilogy: . . . jason.elsworth(at)vuw.ac.nz from New Zealand , August 31, 1998 Nothing compares. These are three wonderful novels. I admit at times they are heavy going but they are worth the effort. Also the second book Gormenghast has real excitement and plot drive. The third book was a surpirise but not a dissapointment, if you stopped at the second go on. The imagery of the third novel is some of the most beautiful and haunting. Comaprison with Tolkein or fantsay novels is not valid, there is no magic here and no unpronouncable words with only one vowel. I was once asked what my favourite novel was and replied the Gornmenghast trilogy, the questioners reply was oh fantasy lots of wizards, yuk. This prevented him from reading one of the English languages major works of fiction. brian(at)asl.com from Bristol, UK , August 28, 1998 Flawed, but genius I found the first 2 volumes very absorbing. There's something indefinably readable and addictive about the writing style, despite the oppresive, grotesque air around the whole novel. The flaw is that I found volume 3 very disappointing. But how else could the story continue, given that virtually EVERY character had been killed off by the end of the 2nd volume? Having recently seen a documentary about Peakes life, I found some insight into why Gormenghast was as it was. The stifling Victorian upbringing with it's obsessive ideas of 'proper behaviour' casts it's shadow over Gormenghast. As does the grotesqueness of Peakes work as a war artist in the death camps at the end of world war two. It's not surprising that Gormenghast is not a story with a clean, happy ending. Good doesn't triumph over evil or any other such Tolkein-esque nonsense. Real life is just not like that. It's interesting that Peake often gets compared with Tolkein. Apart from that one word 'fantasy' there works are as different as Mozart and U2 (both 'music'). There are no mythical beings in Gormenghast, no hobbits, elves, no wizards. All are creatures recognisable in our everyday world. There is absolutely no magic in Gormenghast, no spells, no objects of power. Yet Gormenghast is ultimately far more alien to me than Middle Earth. It's a shame that he appeared to have written himself into a cul-de-sac with the startling death rate of the major characters. For me, though, the first two volumes contain some of the finest writing ever. Many have tried to emulate, but Gormenghast remains unique in it's achievement. LindaDA(at)aol.com from Upstate NY , August 23, 1998 A timeless, extraordinary, & vivid work of a decaying world This trilogy seems to be an underground classic of sorts, and it's certainly not for everybody. Yet in the simple premise of a child born and raised under the burden of royalty and rituals, Peake has fashioned a work that is unlike any other. No other author has yet created a world more vivid, more beautiful in its decay, or more heartbreaking. Trapped by the oppressive weight of his lineage and birthright, Titus Groan is sthe story of the birth and childhood of the title character, the Seventy-Seventh Earl of Gormenghast - as well as the tale of the castle and its many inhabitants. The second volume continues on with his life and his dreams of freedom and escape, while the third - reviled by many - breaks away from the setting of Gormenghast to trace the journey of Titus Alone. Though the third is weaker than the first two, it is perhaps the most vividly grotesque and unsettling. All three form a work that will most likely never be equalled by contemporary fantasy writers. Worthy of scholarly consideration. In one of the editions published by Overlook Press, there are critical reviews of Peake's trilogy. Worh a look if you can obtain this volume. . . . . Deborah Mattingly Conner muse(at)iland.net http://www.iland.net/~muse "That which is creative must create itself" ~John Keats -----Original Message----- From: owner-gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA [mailto:owner-gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA]On Behalf Of p.h.wood Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 1998 10:53 PM To: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA Subject: RE: Returned from Vacation On Tue, 13 Oct 1998, Deborah Mattingly Conner wrote: > All right. Who is Lord_Sepulchrave? Sounds like something from Lovecraft. Ah, no. Lord Sepulchrave is the father of Titus Groan, the young hero of three books from the pen of a brilliant English writer named Mervyn Peake (1911-195?), which comprise the Gormenghast Trilogy. It's impossible to describe this wonderful work of fantasy in a short enough format to fit here. I can only say "Read it". The characters will stick in your mind for the rest of your life. I came across it first soon after it was written in the early 1950's, and have read it more times than I can recall. "Go thou and do likewise." Peter Wood
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 10:51:25 -0500 (CDT) From: brentb(at)webtv.net (Brent Barber) Subject: RE: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation - --WebTV-Mail-2046978527-753 Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Having been roundly and adequately chastised, I humbly concede that the provincialism I decry may indeed be a function of my own myopia. Can't a fellow get away with a little grumbling anymore? I guess the problem is that I am not enough connected to the local culture, and perhaps judge the larger populace through the prism of the media. Every time I stumble onto the local networks I wince at the insular presumption, the insipid blank stares and patronizing drone. The only paper in town (Daily Oklahoman) is owned by a land baron named Gaylord who owns most of downtown and publishes his raving right wing rants on the front page of every edition. Now that's some journalistic objectivity for ya. Somehow the availability of chicken gizzards at the local mart doesn't quite make up for it all. Maybe I need to get out more and, camaflogued in boot and hat, mingle amongst the common folk, covertly ascertaining their true merit. BB http://members.theglobe.com/brentb/Lr3.html - --WebTV-Mail-2046978527-753 Content-Disposition: Inline Content-Type: Message/RFC822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Received: from mailsorter-104.bryant.webtv.net (mailsorter-104.iap.bryant.webtv.net [207.79.35.94]) by postoffice-161.iap.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/po.gso.24Feb98) with ESMTP id IAA05946; Wed, 14 Oct 1998 08:02:02 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mailsorter-102.bryant.webtv.net (mailsorter-102.iap.bryant.webtv.net [207.79.35.92]) by mailsorter-104.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/ms.graham.14Aug97) with ESMTP id HAA27259; Wed, 14 Oct 1998 07:52:53 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mailgate.mtroyal.ab.ca (mail.mtroyal.ab.ca [142.109.10.22]) by mailsorter-102.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/ms.graham.14Aug97) with ESMTP id HAA03104; Wed, 14 Oct 1998 07:52:43 -0700 (PDT) Received: from www2.mtroyal.ab.ca (ns.mtroyal.ab.ca) by mailgate.mtroyal.ab.ca (PMDF V5.1-12 #D3151) with ESMTP id <0F0T00NRPNXQJ7(at)mailgate.mtroyal.ab.ca> for brentb(at)webtv.net; Wed, 14 Oct 1998 08:51:32 -0600 (MDT) Received: (from root(at)localhost) by www2.mtroyal.ab.ca (8.8.8/8.8.8) id IAA00456 for gaslight-list; Wed, 14 Oct 1998 08:51:13 -0600 Received: from mailgate.mtroyal.ab.ca (mail.mtroyal.ab.ca [142.109.10.22]) by www2.mtroyal.ab.ca (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id IAA00453 for <gaslight(at)www2.mtroyal.ab.ca>; Wed, 14 Oct 1998 08:51:12 -0600 Received: from indy.internetland.net by mailgate.mtroyal.ab.ca (PMDF V5.1-12 #D3151) with ESMTP id <0F0T00NR5NWPJ7(at)mailgate.mtroyal.ab.ca> for gaslight(at)www2.mtroyal.ab.ca; Wed, 14 Oct 1998 08:50:49 -0600 (MDT) Received: from deb-home (wbrg133.internetland.net [208.30.90.133]) by indy.internetland.net (8.9.1/8.9.1) with SMTP id JAA07466 for <gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA>; Wed, 14 Oct 1998 09:50:45 -0500 (CDT) Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 09:55:40 -0500 From: Deborah Mattingly Conner <muse(at)iland.net> Subject: RE: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation In-reply-to: <199810141427.JAA01022(at)indy1.indy.net> Sender: owner-gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA To: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA Reply-to: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA Message-id: <000301bdf782$b5b9be20$855a1ed0(at)deb-home> MIME-version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 8.5, Build 4.71.2173.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Importance: Normal Precedence: bulk X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 X-Priority: 3 (Normal) Oh dear. Can o' worms. I was just making the point (IMHO always; on Gaslight I feel free to speak among friends) that even though I'm in the Midwest, not everyone reads only Quayle's book. (Brent's context.) The comma was just potatoe's, little frungian-slip. The way the mind works and the hand's fly! I haven't thought about Dan Quayle in ages. I must admit, I had the same mindset about the hinterlands before I lived here, thinking they were straight far-right. Ain't necessarily so. As was mentioned yesterday, living in a big city full of resources doesn't make someone well read or even informed. With the internet, it doesn't matter where you live (though a big university library down the road is a big plus). Just now, people seem to be turning away from the mass media. It doesn't reflect their views. (And I will never get work as a proof editor! When I put up web-pages, the text is been processed!) Deborah Mattingly Conner muse(at)iland.net http://www.iland.net/~muse "That which is creative must create itself" ~John Keats -----Original Message----- From: owner-gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA [mailto:owner-gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA]On Behalf Of S.T. Karnick Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 1998 9:25 AM To: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA Subject: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation Brent Barber wrote, >>Who is Dan Quayle? Surely you jest. Are you just making fun of my ommision of a possessive apostrophe? You see there was a silly little man who was vice president some years ago. [etc.]<< On the other hand, those who know Mr. Quayle personally, rather than through caricatures such as this, know him to be a decent and intelligent man. Best w's, S.T. Karnick - --WebTV-Mail-2046978527-753--
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 11:55:40 -0400 (EDT) From: TFox434690(at)aol.com Subject: Re: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation Sorry but I just cannot resist. The is the man who said he always wanted to go to Latin America because he had studied Latin in school! Tom Fox
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 10:01:47 -0600
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - Oct. 14
1806
Napoleon Bonaparte crushes the Prussian army at Jena, Germany.
1832
Blackfeet Indians attack American Fur Company trappers near
Montana's Jefferson River,
killing one.
1880
Apache leader Victorio is slain in Mexico.
1911
Revolution in China Begins with a bomb explosion and the
discovery of revolutionary
headquarters in Hankow. The revolutionary movement spread
rapidly through west and
southern China, forcing the abdication of the last Ch'ing
emperor, six-year-old Henry
Pu-Yi.
1912
Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt is shot and wounded in
assassination attempt
in Milwaukee, Wis. He was saved by the papers in his breast
pocket and, though
wounded, insisted on finishing his speech.
1917
Mata Hari, a Paris dancer, is executed by the French after
being convicted of passing
military secrets to the Germans.
Born on October 14
1890
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of U.S.
1894
e.e. cummings, American poet.
1896
Lilian Gish, American actress.
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 12:24:34 -0400 From: "James E. Kearman" <jkearman(at)javanet.com> Subject: Chat: A few Peake Sites The Mervyn Peake Society can be contacted via: Frank Surry 2, Mount Park Road Ealing LONDON W52RP Websites: http://www.nashville.com/~Al.Schroeder/gormeng.html Illustrated introduction to the trilogy. http://www.spoonrecords.com/peake.html Peake is the most accomplished Fantastic Realist in modern English literatue, having more stylistically in common with Dickens than with any of his British contemporaries. The world of Gormenghast and its inhabitants is the exaggerated one of dreams and nightmares. Where Dickens was eccentric, Peake is entirely grotesque. His only rival in scale is Tolkien whose work, if better known to the public, lacks the inexhaustible invention and depth of Peake's. Perhaps his nearest contemporary parallels were not writers at all but the Fantastic Realist painters of Vienna: Fuchs, Brauer, Hutter. Like theirs, his work is surreal in its conceptions and yet rendered with a meticulous technique and a concern for detail that is almost pathological in its intensity. It induces in the reader to an exceptional degree that 'subtle attitude of awed listening' which was H. P. Lovecraft's test for success in fantasy. http://qlink.queensu.ca/~4gbds/hideousroot.html A poem by Peake The Hideous Root A plumber appeared by the light of the Moon And sang like the grinding of brakes To his wife, who made answer, which, though out of tune And aesthetically full of mistakes Was sweet in his ear, for he knew what it meant She was waiting for him in their wickerwork tent. .... http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9212/forever.html Another Peake poem. http://home.earthlink.net/~ellendebrock/gormenghast.htm Links to several Peake-related sites. http://www.unil.ch/angl/docs/peake-st/ "Dedicated to the life and work of Melvyn Peake" http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/kemp.books/peake.htm "We are the leading specialists in the works of Mervyn Peake andalways carry a large and varied stock of first editions..." What the heck, he was born during the Gaslight period, it's raining and the paint's drying slowly today. Cheers, Jim ----------------------------------------------------------------- James E. Kearman mailto:jkearman(at)javanet.com http://www.javanet.com/~jkearman Why do you wander further and further? Look! All good is here. Only learn to seize your joy, For joy is always near. --Goethe
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 12:24:38 -0400 From: "James E. Kearman" <jkearman(at)javanet.com> Subject: RE: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation >Maybe I need to get out more and, camaflogued in > boot and hat, mingle amongst the common folk, covertly ascertaining > their true merit. BB > http://members.theglobe.com/brentb/Lr3.html Brett gets the Brief Website of the Week Award. Is that your daughter or kid sister? Cheers, Jim
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 11:38:52 -0500 From: Deborah Mattingly Conner <muse(at)iland.net> Subject: RE: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation Brent writes: . . . The only paper in town (Daily Oklahoman) is owned by a land baron named Gaylord who owns most of downtown and publishes his raving right wing rants on the front page of every edition. Now that's some journalistic objectivity for ya. . . . . Ah. Got cha. I do see that. But I see it in Jay Leno, too. In your position, Twain would make a comic tale of it. It exorcises demons. People listen enough to get the point. It endures. Deborah Mattingly Conner muse(at)iland.net http://www.iland.net/~muse "That which is creative must create itself" ~John Keats
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 10:15:40 -0700 From: Patricia Teter <PTeter(at)getty.edu> Subject: RE: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation Brent writes: <<Can't a fellow get away with a little grumbling anymore? >> <grin> Certainly, Brent! Grumble away; we are all grumbling just a bit. best regards, Patricia
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 11:24:34 -0600 From: athan chilton <ayc(at)UIUC.EDU> Subject: RE: CHAT: Re: Returned from Vacation >Brent writes: <<Can't a fellow get away with a little grumbling >anymore? >> > Heck, yes. Somebody mentioned Twain. Well, didn't Mark Twain make a name for himself, in part, by some spirited and sardonically funny grumbling? athan ayc(at)uiuc.edu
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 10:46:20 -0700 From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com> Subject: Another Return: New Orleans Also returned from New Orleans and lucked out on the best weather in the world. Georges blew away the mosquitos and the recent rains cooled it down. Highly recommended to history buffs, you can satisfy travelling to a "different country" with all the French and Spanish influence and later English. History is everywhere, the Quarter, the Plantations, the encroaching swamps. Wonderful. Can't say I recommend the slanted "history" tours in the Quarter dedicated to Anne Rice but the real history tour is wonderful, not so much ghosts and vampires as an account of the rather grisly history of the area. Yellow fever is not kind to anyone. (The Pharmacy Museum is a nice follow up to the yellow fever stories--for the even more grisly "cures"). Stayed in a garconierre in the back of a Voodoo temple (not Marie Laveau's) that was actually very peaceful. Cemeteries, hard to even talk about, they were so atmospheric. As far as ghosts go the best feel was the swamps. Here you can imagine all kinds of primoridial creatures crawling out of the ooze and dripping up to your doorstep...Pere Mauvais, don't look now! One question: I kept hearing a reference to the "49'ers"? I assume this wasn't the great mining disaster in 1849 in California? Because of the weird time lapse I kept wondering is it 1749, 1849 or even 1949? Any idea of something in '49 in Louisiana? History and ghost buffs beware--more to see than you can fill one time. Oops, might have to go again. And, even better, found in one of the old bookshops a lovely book of ghost stories, black cloth cover with little white ghosts, circa 1952 that has a favorite, "The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall" and others I didn't have. Lucky find. But sadly, no collections of local ghost stories except the "true" kind and those only in very modern volumes (Hans Holzer???). But I still have a few more of my own. Deborah PS: Are we reading the M.R. James story as a group?--or is it an extra? Deborah McMillion deborah(at)gloaming.com http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html
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Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 13:03:27 -0600 From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA Subject: [none] I've been reading the CBC Radio schedule in the recent _Saturday night_ magazine. It directed me to this URL which lists a three-part programme on _Ideas_ (Fridays at 9:00 p.m. on Radio One). The program can be heard live 9:05 P.M. EST thru the website or, more than likely, tapes can be purchased after the fact. (Quote) 1998-Oct-16, 23, 30 HAUNTED HOUSE/HAUNTED MIND*+ In 1993, broadcaster Don Hill saw, and felt, a chilling apparition in the basement of his house. The house had reportedly been haunted for years, driving out many occupants. A four-year odyssey to discover the truth behind the ghostly encounters turned up some startling new science which suggests that weak electromagnetic fields, naturally occurring in the environment, are responsible for stimulating mystical experiences, UFO reports and, especially, ghostly entities and poltergeist phenomena. In the third program in this series, Don Hill journeys further along the trail of illusion and hallucination, using new scientific tools to chart the shadows cast by human perception. His trip takes him through a landscape inhabited by ghostly sounds, enigmatic visions, and things that go bump in the day. (End Quote)
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End of Gaslight Digest V1 #6 ****************************