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Speaking through Texts: manifest culture; & action this day

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:17:41 -0700

Speaking through Texts
manifest culture; & action this day

arranged alphabetically by author

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Jolly Halloween: I wonder!: Halloween Postcard, 31 October 1923 - postcard to Vera Howe Franson

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:13:12 -0700

The witch is using
her magic spoon …

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Oops — Hitler! A Surprise in Context - essay by Robert W. Franson

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:08:13 -0700

So I was sifting through packs of old postcards the other evening, mostly of two kinds: cards to and from family members on vacations or business trips, and attractive landscapes and city scenes bought as souvenirs but which no one ever had gotten around to mailing. After doing this for some time, setting aside several cards that might be interesting illustrations for Troynovant, I came upon a card and said inadvertently …

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The Great Dan Patch, directed by Joseph M. Newman - review by Robert W. Franson

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:21:18 -0700

The Great Dan Patch is a fairly lightweight movie, based on history but not very closely. The setting is the training years around 1900 of the great racehorse Dan Patch, who became a world-famous pacer in the heyday of the harness-racing era. ...

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Britain at Troynovant

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:18:06 -0800

Britain at Troynovant:
a survey among the British Empire & Commonwealth,
history, geography, & literature
of England & all the English-speaking peoples;
listed by Title

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Faust, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (trans. Walter Arndt) - review by Robert W. Franson

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:23:09 -0800

My favorite edition of Faust.

I do not attempt here to review Faust itself, the great masterpiece by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), but only to recommend my favorite edition. Across twelve thousand lines and the cultural heritage of millennia, the poem is complex and thoughtful, visionary and scintillating. Faust is often challenging to read, and of course a great challenge to any translator. So what makes a good or even excellent rendering of Goethe's aesthetically diverse German poetry into satisfying and stimulating English poetry? …

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Wilfred R. Franson

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:09:31 -0800

Wilfred R. Franson

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Death of a Lake, by Arthur W. Upfield - review by Robert W. Franson

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:07:13 -0800

A lake evaporates in heat and tension

Death of a Lake is the seventeenth novel of Arthur W. Upfield's series about Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, appearing some twenty-five years into the writing of these distinctive mystery novels. This is one of my favorites, because again Bony is far afield in the dry and empty Australian Outback, the setting that shows him to best advantage. …

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Streamlining - essay by Wilfred R. Franson

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 19:14:25 -0800

Any discussion of streamlining must take into account the purposes for which the articles to be streamlined are to be used. A refrigerator or radio, for example, may be designed to fit into modern surroundings and may have pleasing outlines and yet cannot properly be called streamlined because there is no passage of air at high speed to be considered by the designers. ...

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Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte series, by Arthur W. Upfield - Guide by Robert W. Franson

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 19:10:46 -0800

The Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte novels need not be read in order — the plots are almost entirely independent — but generally it's better to read earlier ones first as they develop more character and background about Bony himself, as well as about the Queensland interior where his own complementary nature is developed so beautifully. ...

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Jupiter Takes a Hit for the System: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 Impacts, 16-22 July 1994 - illuminant by Robert W. Franson

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 19:03:37 -0800

Science-fiction readers long have been aware of the extremely-low-probability but extremely-high-damage risks presented to humanity simply by our living upon our planet Earth in the Solar System. For this is a dynamic arena, with rocks and miscellaneous debris of all sizes moving through it along a wide spread of paths. Fortunately for the development and survival of life on Earth, most of these rocks and debris were swept up by the planets billions of years ago. The impact craters on Luna and the Jovian moons are scars of very long ago; Meteor Crater in Arizona was made not nearly so far back. ...

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The Great Siege: Malta 1565, by Ernle Bradford - review by Robert W. Franson

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 19:01:05 -0800

"I first came to Malta in 1942, at a time when the island was enduring the second great siege in its history. I was then a naval officer, the navigator of a destroyer, and too busy to care about the island's past, or that other great siege which had preceded the one in which I was involved, by nearly four centuries. In 1943 I revisited Malta during the invasion of Sicily. It was then that I saw the island fulfilling the role which Soleyman the Magnificent had envisaged for it in 1565. From Malta, the Allied Forces stormed and captured Sicily and Italy." …

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Coolidge Summer White House: Traveler's Postcard, about or after 13 August 1928 - to Vera Howe Franson

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:05:27 -0800

Calvin Coolidge accepted the loan of a rural house on the nearby Brule River for the Summer season of 1928, …

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Casa Diego Colon, Trujillo, Dominican Republic: Postcard on Caribbean Cruise, 25 July 1936 - from Vera Howe Franson

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:10:56 -0700

Palace of Viceroy of the Indies Don Diego Colon;
that is, of Diego Columbus,
a son of Christopher Columbus …

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Retief! [collection], by Keith Laumer - Robert W. Franson

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:59:40 -0800

Keith Laumer's Retief science-fiction series was written over a number of years and contains novels as well as shorter pieces. Subsets have found their way into book form in various combinations. Retief! is the largest selection to date in a single book, with fifteen novelets and short stories, one novella, and a novel. It's a good introduction to the series. Jame Retief, diplomat extraordinaire, is shown in full spectrum, outwitting his superiors of the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne (CDT) and assorted conniving aliens, as well as outfighting some of the latter when necessary. …

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180: Changing the Heart of a Nation, directed by Ray Comfort - review by Sarah Emily Jordan

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:56:30 -0800

33 minutes of history & Socratic dialogue

I love history. I love it because we can learn from it. Human beings are unique among the animal world because not only can we learn from our own mistakes but we can learn from other's mistakes as well. One of my frustrations with the current state of our society is that there is an apathy or ignorance or outright refusal to acknowledge history. If we could just realize that the mistakes this country is making have already been made by others and results are known, then we could change course. …

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Undercurrents, by James H. Schmitz - review by Robert W. Franson

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:03:33 -0800

I don't think Schmitz uses the word demigoddess anywhere to refer to Telzey, but I choose it carefully. When I first read "Undercurrents", and a little later saw Schmitz's comment which I quote in "Demigoddess of the Mind", I didn't understand why this was "an extraordinarily difficult story to write". I certainly do now. And it surely is worth his effort. ...

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Mailomat, New York City: US Army to Europe Postcard. 16 September 1944 - from Donald L. Franson

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:58:13 -0800

To mail a letter you (1) drop money in coin slot (2) dial correct postage denomination (3) insert letter in letter slot. The machine does the rest: …

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The Forbidden City, by Keith Laumer - review by Robert W. Franson

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 22:24:11 -0800

We might usefully begin to describe "The Forbidden City" as a throwback to an older kind of science-fiction adventure …

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Hitler in Warsaw; Birthday in Krakau: Nazi Postcard, World War II. 20 April 1941

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 22:13:11 -0800

Adolf Hitler, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) on parade in Warsaw …

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Music at Troynovant

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 22:09:57 -0800

Music at Troynovant:
notes on music, song, dance, & composers;
listed by Title

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Pilots' Proverbs: Parental Wisdom Brought Down to Earth - essay-memoir by Robert W. Franson

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:40:42 -0800

My father and mother held some decided opinions about flying. Some of these I believe were common among pilots, standardized or even proverbial. Although my parents had ceased to be active pilots while teaching aviation during wartime , even after I was born airplanes and flying naturally continued to be household topics. A handful of these sayings, pithy wisdom, came up often enough in conversation while I was growing up and afterwards that they were engraved in my sensibilities. ...

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Capitol Oil Wells, Oklahoma City: Postcard on Cross-Continent Road Trip, 14 May 1946 - from Wilfred R. Franson

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:38:12 -0800

We were delayed for a day in Oklahoma City by generator trouble, but everything is fixed up now …

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Aerial Cableway, Niagara Falls: Postcard on Road Trip, 18 July 1936 - from Donald & Wilfred Franson

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:10:04 -0800

Saw the cable car go across the whirlpool here. …

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U.S. Highway 101, San Diego Coast: Postcard on Western Road Trip, 16 July 1938 - from Wilfred R. Franson

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:46:52 -0800

San Diego, California
July 16, 1938

I parked my car in downtown San Diego and walked north on route 101, so that I could see Mr. Big as he went by. …

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Wiesbaden Stadtschloss: Postcard from Occupied Germany, 18 July 1945 - from Donald L. Franson

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:10:54 -0700

Dear Mother and Father,

It may not be too long now before the war is over. I read that they are shelling Tokyo, with our Battleships standing off shore a few miles, unconcerned as to the whereabouts of the Jap fleet. …

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Reagan, In His Own Hand, by Ronald Reagan - review by Robert W. Franson

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:54:11 -0700

During 1975-1979, between Ronald Reagan's completion of his years as Governor of California and his successful campaign for the American Presidency, he gave over a thousand radio addresses. What was known to very few people then or later was that he wrote almost all of these himself. They are capsule commentaries on events or more general position statements: each a few minutes' spoken time, usually two or three pages as printed in Reagan, In His Own Hand. In fact, many exist in his own handwritten drafts; a few examples are reproduced in this compilation ably edited by Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Anderson, and Martin Anderson. …

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Breathers at Troynovant

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:50:33 -0700

Breathers at Troynovant:
pulses of lifeforms & biologic processes,
inspiring inhalations deep or quick,
satiric or speculative or scientific
of wildlife & pets, evolution & ecology;
breaths of health, medicine, & disease;
listed by Title

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Revolution in the Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made, by Andy Hertzfeld - review by Robert W. Franson

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 17:18:00 -0700

An insiders' view of the creation of the epochal Apple Macintosh computer. Andy Hertzfeld was one of the central insiders; he began writing anecdotes for his Macintosh folklore collection which developed into this excellent and very readable history.

Insanely great is Steve Jobs' visionary target for what Apple Computer's Macintosh development team should be striving for: not a good product, not even a great one, but something insanely great that would change the world. …

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Backyard Wildlife Mysteries - essay by Jennifer M. Franson

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 17:13:57 -0700

Like all of the best older buildings, the part of our house built in the 1940s is haunted by an Unseen Presence. This manifests itself most often in the small hours of the morning; we hear a series of dull scratching sounds, and we know that the Thing in the Basement is at its nocturnal business. Fortunately, we have good evidence (in the form of scat and messy nests sketchily put together from sticks and twigs) that the Thing is an animal, not a revenant. Yet there's still a mystery here. ...

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Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, by E. D. Hirsch, Jr. - review by Robert W. Franson

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 13:12:04 -0700

Civil discourse in a vacuum

What E. D. Hirsch, Jr. attempts to do in Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, and in much of his work thereafter, is to reverse the cultural illiteracy that over several generations has drained basic knowledge about American history and values, and indeed information in general, out of individual Americans and hence necessarily from the American body politic. I continue to be appalled as I encounter allegedly educated adults who don't know — and sometimes, on hearing, cannot even believe — common facts and events and values that I knew or understood in junior high school. ...

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United 93, directed by Paul Greengrass - review by C. Brooks Kurtz

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 13:08:20 -0700

United 93 is quite possibly the most powerful film I have ever experienced. The combination of a true story, how relatively recently it was played out and the mythic power that flight has on the American psyche is impossible to comprehend, yet the film interprets the events of 9/11 and its most heroic event in a way that transcends the medium. I remember seeing the trailer for this film in the theater last spring, and I knew there was no way I could experience it on the big screen. Watching for two minutes in a theater, I had goosebumps on my arms and a lump in my throat; watching it on a 13-inch television screen did not remove its powerful imagery. Its imagery and the emotion said imagery evokes is incomparable. …

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Bad Ideas Made Powerful by Unidentified True Ones - essay by Ifat Glassman

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 14:10:19 -0700

A lie is best hidden between two truths. Nothing can give more feeling of conviction to a wrong idea than to have it sandwiched with a couple of unidentified good ones. ...

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Scott Farrell

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 14:06:59 -0700

Scott Farrell

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If Ever You Wanted One Thing Twice: Zarathustra as Blues Singer - essay by Robert W. Franson

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 14:05:33 -0700

Just playing …

Let's go down past the philosophy and just listen a little to how Friedrich Nietzsche and some of his commentators play with the ideas and the deep emotions of Nietzsche's chapter "The Drunken Song" in Part IV of Thus Spoke Zarathustra. This is only suggestive, not meant as a thesis. So we are not advocating here a philosophy of life, and I don't want to stumble into theological toils trying to define acceptance of life's slings and arrows in Zarathustra and the Bible. Perhaps we should simply approach this as musings about Nietzsche's "song", and whether in relaxed ears this song might carry some tones of the blues. …

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Swords and Swordsmen, by Mike Loades - review by Scott Farrell

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 17:07:59 -0700

The study of the ideals of chivalry is almost inseparable from the study of arms and armor, and the men (and women) who used them throughout history. In that regard, the new book Swords and Swordsmen by noted historical interpreter Mike Loades, is a fascinating read for anyone who is enthralled by the lore of the sword, not just as an icon of the medieval knight, but as a symbol of the highest ideals of martial endeavor throughout history. …

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Jennifer M. Franson

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 17:05:19 -0700

Jennifer M. Franson

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The Art of Fiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers, by Ayn Rand - review by Robert W. Franson

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 17:03:25 -0700

Is The Art of Fiction interesting and useful to writers and readers? And to reading other works than Rand's, and to writing that is not imitative of her style? I think so. Certainly one previously should have read both of Ayn Rand's major novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and ideally be quite familiar with them: Rand quotes and discusses a number of passages from deep within her novels, including necessarily a number of plot spoilers. …

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Remembrance at Troynovant

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 18:37:19 -0700

Remembrance at Troynovant:
insights into memory and remembering;
listed by Title

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Surprises: flashes & blinks from assorted items at Troynovant

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 18:35:53 -0700

Troynovant Surprises:
flashes & blinks in the aura of improbable
Reviews,
Essays,
Memoirs,
& Illuminants

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Reviewing versus Bookselling: or, Not Selling Books Here - essay by Robert W. Franson

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 18:32:38 -0700

We do not sell books at Troynovant. Nor do we link to booksellers with whom we have some sort of monetary relationship: affiliate accounts or the like.

It seems worthwhile to make this clear, since some readers browsing the Web assume that reviewing and bookselling must go hand-in-hand. Certainly this is true at many websites, and even in some print media. We are sorry to disappoint those who have asked for direct-buy links at Troynovant. ...

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Troynovant Search Form

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 13:08:45 -0700

Troynovant Search Form
A Finder for the findable

Search for text at the Troynovant website

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ArtWords at Troynovant

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 13:06:37 -0700

ArtWords at Troynovant:
palimpsests of illustrated words & literate drawings,
cartoons, graphics, books about art:
clients of a latter-day hermaphrodite Muse;
listed by Title

[new index]

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Cold at Troynovant

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:35:26 -0700

Cold at Troynovant:
icings on cold weather & winter environments;
survival & exploration at polar regions,
high altitudes, other planets;
listed by Title

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The Custard Gun, by Carl Barks - review by Robert W. Franson

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:33:06 -0700

"The Custard Gun" is one of Carl Barks' long and excellent run of ten-page illustrated stories of the Disney Ducks, which often were tied to the current holiday season in America: in this case, Thanksgiving. ...

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Anglo-American Title Changes: Interior Translation in English - essay by Robert & Jennifer Franson

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:29:45 -0700

Quite a few readers on both sides of the Atlantic noticed when J. K. Rowling's fantasy novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was retitled for the American market, dumbed down as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This is only an unusually prominent example of a phenomenon we've long been musing upon: the occasional variance in titles between the British and American editions of books. …

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Reagan's Revolution [the 1976 nomination campaign], by Craig Shirley - review by Robert W. Franson

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 16:30:07 -0700

This is the history and analysis of a political campaign; and in fact, only half the campaign that Reagan and his supporters hoped they were engaged in: the first half, the run for the Republican nomination for President in 1976 against appointed incumbent President Gerald Ford. The second half of a Presidential campaign, had Reagan gotten his party's nomination, would have been against the Democratic Party nominee and eventual winner, Governor Jimmy Carter. …

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Everything is Fake Now - essay by Daniel Greenfield

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 16:25:49 -0700

"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away," Philip K. Dick said, when asked to define what reality is. Dick was a Science Fiction writer and that seems appropriate enough we are living in a Science Fiction world where there is no reality anymore, because the real goes away, but the unreal does not. ...

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Marriage is Lava! Who We Are, Together - essay by Sarah Emily Jordan

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 13:41:22 -0700

Marriage is supposed to have some flexibility due to the fact that you have two different people who have come from different backgrounds and experiences deciding to union up. But it is supposed to have a certain amount of viscosity at the same time. What is viscosity? Well, besides being just a really great word it means the resistance of a liquid to shear flow ...

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Refreshers at Troynovant

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 13:38:31 -0700

Refreshers at Troynovant:
periodically refreshing windows,
animated or daily-updated visual treats,
aesthetic & educational refreshments;
listed by Type and Subject

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Philosophy at Troynovant

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 13:14:30 -0700

Philosophy at Troynovant:
inspirations on the nature of existence
and flights in the history of ideas;
listed by Title

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Aerospace at Troynovant

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 13:12:36 -0700

Aerospace at Troynovant:
winging and thrusting into Air & Space;
visionaries, scientists, & engineers
and the development of designs & vehicles;
listed by Title

[updated Daily NASA Image window]

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Luna at Troynovant

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 16:04:39 -0700

Luna at Troynovant:
a survey of phases of the Moon,
Lunar exploration, living, & industry;
listed by Title

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The Malakand Field Force: An Episode of Frontier War, by Winston S. Churchill - review by Robert W. Franson

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 16:02:14 -0700

In 1892 [the ruler of Chitral] died, leaving many sons, all equally ferocious, ambitious, and unscrupulous. One of these, Afzal by name, though not the eldest or acknowledged heir, had the good fortune to be on the spot. He seized the reins of power, and having murdered as many of his brothers as he could catch, proclaimed himself Mehtar and invited the recognition of the Indian Government. He was acknowledged chief, as he seemed to be "a man of courage and determination", and his rule afforded a prospect of settled government. Surviving brothers fled to neighboring states.

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Gaming at Troynovant

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:58:56 -0700

Gaming at Troynovant:
sporting with the nature and history of games,
board games and role-playing games,
playful strategy and tactics, and sports with a plot;
listed by Title

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Personae at Troynovant

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 13:17:57 -0700

Personae at Troynovant:
an alternate, Dramatic Contents via emanant Olympians,
some individuals or viewpoints within the Troad

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Compilations at Troynovant

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 13:17:38 -0700

Compilations at Troynovant:
short (but rare & illuminating) quotations,
suitable for stoking trains of thought;
listed by Title

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WordPoints at Troynovant

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 11:47:00 -0700

WordPoints at Troynovant:
pearls of writing, wditing, or publishing;
listed by Title

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Golden Cultivators: or, The World Well Dug - essay by Robert W. Franson

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 11:40:45 -0700

Golden Cultivators are a wonderful kind of dog. We have two.

The senior canine on the premises is Sandy, the Pet-Me dog — we'll call her Pet-Me-Now. She's very friendly, although laboring under the misapprehension that no one has petted her in years, and the time to make up for that is right now. Likely no one has fed her this month, either.

Then there's her muscular son Hunter, the Digger dog — we'll call him Digger. (These names are changed to protect the guilty.) Like his mother, he's a very affectionate family dog. Digger also digs professionally in the Underdog Uprooting Federation (UUF) under the nom-de-terre, The Excavator.

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Office Space, directed by Mike Judge; Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston - review by Robert W. Franson

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:26:20 -0700

Quasi-life among the partitions

Office Space is a comedy of the "take this job and shove it!" persuasion. There is a strong theme of job frustration, mixed with personal and social frustration and a tinge of romance. The office comedy dominates, running from psychology to slapstick as the office-cubicle denizens try to cope with their stultifying work atmosphere and a maddeningly tiresome boss. ...

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Banners for Constitutionalists: from The Sly Tyrant's Handbook - satire by Robert W. Franson

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:21:41 -0700

Banners for Constitutionalists
from The Sly Tyrant's Handbook

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Holiday at Troynovant

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 16:49:08 -0700

Holiday at Troynovant:
interludes of high days of celebration,
of Commemoration or Memorial,
in America & elsewhere;
listed by Title

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Pogo — Through the Wild Blue Wonder: Complete Syndicated Comic Strips, Volume 1 [May 1949-1950], by Walt Kelly - review by Robert W. Franson

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 16:45:23 -0700

Walt Kelly's drawing for his Pogo comic strip for the newspapers is drolly inventive and actively imaginative; but what breathes into it the extra dimension of delight is the wonderful writing, Kelly's exuberant wordplay that comes tumbling out from some inspired cornucopia — probably with mice playing cards in it. Pogo's wit, both visual and verbal, lifts it far above the run-of-the-herd of the "funny-animal" comics genre. ...

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Lose the Loose: Road-Bumps of Word-Substitution via Misspelling - essay by Robert W. Franson

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 17:25:01 -0700

I read a great deal, and too often tend to notice the little errors of spelling that creep into published writing both formal (books, professional websites) and casual (amateur websites, letters and email, online comments). These are not so much annoying as distracting. Professional writers share a sentiment which I'll formulate thusly: that a writer can carry his readers over a number of bumps and slow-downs, but sooner or later if the road is too rough, the reader will be noticing the road rather than the journey; and if his attention is too jostled, may give up the journey altogether. Writers very rarely want their readers annoyed by mechanical errors in their narrative. ...

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Why the Mailman Cuts Across Your Lawn, and Other Programmers' Shortcuts - essay by Robert W. Franson

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 16:44:48 -0700

Why does the mailman take a shortcut across your lawn every day when there's a perfectly good brick walkway? Well, he's not being perverse, taking pleasure in trampling grass that you're struggling to keep green. Nor is he particularly lazy. Rather, he simply is being efficient because he has noticed the power of tuning repetitions. This can be almost instinctive, as in the mailman parable, but in more technical applications, an analytical approach may yield surprising, and impressively useful, results. ...

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The Descent of the Child: Human Evolution from a New Perspective, by Elaine Morgan - review by Robert W. Franson

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 16:41:59 -0700

Morgan starts with the process of natural fertilization and works through the stages of zygote, embryo, birth, infant, toddler, and talking pre-schooler; with a look at the peer group and the family. Each of these stages has its own evolutionary history. Each is optimized as much for itself, its own level of development, as it looks backward or forward to earlier or later stages.

We also have co-evolution among the various stages, or among related humans in different stages. In a fascinating chapter, "Brain Growth — the Solution", Morgan discusses the opposing drives toward babies with larger brains, versus their mothers with limited pelvic spread to birth such babies. ...

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The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right, by Ellen Fein & Sherrie Schneider - review by Robert W. Franson

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 13:12:27 -0700

One way to consider The Rules is as an antidote to cynicism: a handbook for cynics wishing to reform their own attitudes and regain romance, or for those despairing on the brink of cynicism who wonder how to pull back from the abyss. Cynicism says that love and marriage are old-fashioned, risky, out-of-date, anti-feminine, anti-fulfillment, dull. So don't try to get married; or just settle for a series of relationships; or stay alone. ...

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If We Only Had a Brain: Neurofeedback for America - essay by Sarah Emily Jordan

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:59:24 -0700

If we only had a brain —

I don't mean like each one of us individually. We all have brains. I guess I could make all sorts of statements about that, but will leave it alone. I'm talking about if we were able to just take a look at America's brain. I am a Counselor by profession and one of the modalities that I use most frequently is Biofeedback and specifically, Neurofeedback. Biofeedback employs technology to help people consciously self-control body activities and symptoms which they may have thought were involuntary. Neurofeedback is biofeedback for the brain. Basically we hook up a client via an EEG encoder to read brain wave activity and than use a behavior modification protocol to alter unhealthy brain wave patterns. ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

Wasp, by Eric Frank Russell - review by Robert W. Franson

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 10:26:29 -0700

Wasp is a novel rather simple in theme: undermining by a lone individual of an enemy society in wartime. By virtue of Eric Frank Russell's clear and fast-paced action, as well as his sense of realism and sympathetic humor, Wasp has become rather a science-fiction classic. While it is speculative, the approach isn't entirely fictional. During World War II, Russell worked in British Intelligence, devising ways to weaken Imperial Japanese home-front morale and sabotage their war effort in a softening-up period prior to the anticipated Anglo-American invasion of the Japanese home islands. ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

Clouds of Dissolution: The Insecurity of Interconnectivity, or Who Guards the Electronic Global Village? - illuminant by Robert W. Franson

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:54:34 -0700

The juggernaut of the Electronic Global Village laid another goose-egg recently, another demonstration, like that of regional electrical-grid failure, of how vulnerable is our optimistically interconnected society. The potential for general disaster is exemplified in Mat Honan's report of his computer-accounts stolen, his irreplaceable data destroyed, even his devices made inoperable — all done in an hour. The hack turned out to be quite simple — you need no technical knowledge to understand how it was done ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

The Absent-Minded Professor: Robert Stevenson, Fred MacMurray, Keenan Wynn - review by Robert W. Franson

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 17:02:45 -0700

A quite enjoyable science fiction film, with the science presented as blackboard gobbledygook and bubbling test-tube pipe-mazes, but integrated firmly within a well-plotted comedy. Professor Brainard of Mayfield College has a chemistry experiment go successfully awry, rather in the manner of the discovery of the vulcanization of rubber. The serendipitous invention he names flubber, for flying rubber. It's got a lot of bounce, and if one is not careful, the rate of bounce gets out of control. ...

[added link]

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

The Shadow Over Innsmouth, by H. P. Lovecraft - review by Robert W. Franson

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:58:38 -0700

What a topical story this is, seventy-five years after it was written! Recently rereading H. P. Lovecraft's fantasy novella "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", I was struck by what an ideal nightmare it concocts from such current worries as: immigration; racial mixing, even racial degeneration — or evolutionary ascent!; and American ports' vulnerability and security. ...

[added text, bibliographic data]

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

Just Go With It, directed by Dennis Dugan - review by Robert W. Franson

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 10:40:57 -0700

"The two basic plots":
boy meets girl
& the man who learned better

Just Go With It is a fast-paced romantic comedy, with the comedy quite as strong as the romance. A determined bachelor, a Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon, Danny (played by Adam Sandler), has guarded his singleness by telling casual girlfriends that he's married. Danny is surprised to be smitten by a young woman teacher, Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), and it seems mutual. So now he has to pretend to get divorced, but to do that believably he has to acquire a pretend-wife: so he drafts his long-time medical-office assistant, Katherine (Jennifer Aniston). We also have Nick Swardson, who as the doctor's cousin Eddie gives an over-the-top performance, coming into the pretend-divorce charade as the pretend-German-boyfriend of the pretend-wife Katherine. So now there are two couples, sort of, none of them actually married. The course of true love is not made more straight or smooth by detouring into a semi-accidental, let's-all-get-along trip to Hawaii. ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

Sarah From Alaska: The Sudden Rise and Brutal Education of a New Conservative Superstar, by Scott Conroy & Shushannah Walshe - review by C. Brooks Kurtz

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:58:26 -0700

McCain Campaign versus Sarah Palin

I'm a fan of political writing, POTUS race writing and political theory and tactics in general, and I have no problem stating — with all the hyperbole necessary — that if Conroy and Walshe's account is credible (I believe it is), the McCain Campaign may be the first high-stakes political campaign in American history to take a polished diamond that attempted to turn it into a lump of coal. ...

[added link]

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

Flag Day Parades - memoir by Adrienne Ross

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 11:58:47 -0700

Carrying the flag for June 14th — and remembering why

Happy Flag Day! Our combination of red, white, and blue represents the most exceptional nation on the planet, our Providential freedoms, and our men and women in uniform who defend those freedoms. ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

Transport at Troynovant

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:58:18 -0700

Transport at Troynovant:
zooming or trundling along via vehicles
such as ships, autos, trains,
aircraft, & spacecraft,
with some industrial & cultural allies;
listed by Title

[added photos, links]

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

Last Seen Wearing, by Colin Dexter - review by Robert W. Franson

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 11:52:23 -0700

I enjoyed Colin Dexter's mystery novel Last Seen Wearing more upon re-reading than I did the first time. One of the distinctive approaches of Dexter to his plots is that secondary and tertiary clues and mis-clues are spread out before us like losing hands at cards, and sensuously fondled. Of course, as with others in the Inspector Morse series, while we read along we don't know that any particular trail Inspector Morse follows may be a dead-end or hopeless tangle; or that any particular scenario the imaginative Morse constructs may be a dream-castle in Spain, more suitable to a detectives' Faery than to workaday Oxford, England. ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

Maxims for Despots: from The Sly Tyrant's Handbook - satire by Robert W. Franson

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 13:32:08 -0700

Maxims for Despots
from The Sly Tyrant's Handbook

[added aphorism]

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

Lessons from Mystery Stories; or, the Long-Lived Marplot - satire by Robert W. Franson

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 08:51:12 -0700

Living wisely despite plotters

Reading a number of mystery novels, and watching some mystery movies, in fairly close succession is enough to make one a hypochondriac of crime, if not downright paranoid. That is, if you can imagine any reason at all why one or more of your acquaintances, associates, neighbors, friends, lovers, relatives, or passing strangers might wish you out of the way — well, they probably do! You'd best beware. ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

Thieves' House, by Fritz Leiber - review by Robert W. Franson

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 13:10:56 -0700

In the series of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser:

I've long considered the pair of stories about the Thieves' Guild, the novella "Ill Met in Lankhmar" and its sequel, this novelet "Thieves' House", as a good flagstoned foundation for understanding the series, an entry into the kinds of lives of the inhabitants of Lankhmar. (If you haven't read my review of "Ill Met in Lankhmar", you may wish to read that first, but it isn't necessary. There are no plot spoilers.) While Lankhmar has its own modes and orders of daily and nightly life, of physical and economic and spiritual strife, they are not ours: recognizable to be sure, but with love and violence bound side by side, lavish and gorgeous and impoverished and dark more closely intermingled than we are accustomed to. The world of Nehwon is an exotic locale for gritty adventure (or vice-versa), with the city of Lankhmar as its crowded and intense crossroads. ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

Goodnight, Irene - The Weavers (film), directed by Duke Goldstone - review by Robert W. Franson

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 13:16:14 -0700

The Weavers' version of "Goodnight, Irene" proved to be a smash hit, Number One on the pop music charts for thirteen weeks in 1950, selling two million copies. Visual recordings of The Weavers from their early days are rare. I like this soundie partly because it includes a brief tribute to Lead Belly. ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

The Campaign of the Century: Upton Sinclair's Race for Governor of California and the Birth of Media Politics, by Greg Mitchell - review by Robert W. Franson

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 12:54:09 -0700

A campaign of invective, a history of good feeling

There is a rather precise focus here, but it may leave readers a little disoriented. The Campaign of the Century: Upton Sinclair's Race for Governor of California and the Birth of Media Politics is Greg Mitchell's engaging history of the portentous 1934 campaign which drew national interest, generated much heat (if less light) in California, and arguably cast long shadows down to the present day and beyond.

Briefly, Upton Sinclair, author of The Jungle (1906), exposing the Chicago meatpacking industry, and many other muckraking books, had created a political movement called End Poverty in California (EPIC). Its goals were explicitly anti-capitalist, in favor of co-ops and increased regulation and higher taxes, generally for bigger government running the economy. Sinclair was a lifelong dedicated socialist, and in the previous election in 1930 had run for Governor of California on the Socialist Party ticket. In the 1934 election year, with a tactical shift, his EPIC movement was strong enough to give him the Democratic Party's nomination for Governor: in fact, he outpolled all his primary opponents together. ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

Infield Fly Rule (Keep in mitt for reference) - essay by Donald L. Franson

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 20:05:06 -0700

Historical reason: In this situation, some smart-alec second baseman (possibly Johnny Evers [1883-1947; Chicago Cubs, Baseball Hall of Fame — RWF]) sees a chance to get a double play instead of a single out. So he drops the fly or catches it on the bounce ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

The Home and the World (Ghare-Baire), directed by Satyajit Ray - review by William H. Stoddard

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 17:22:48 -0700

In The Home and the World, the Indian director Satyajit Ray has produced something extraordinary in a number of ways. In the first place, this is a film of great beauty and subtlety, which is profoundly moving. In the second place, the events it portrays are linked together by a consistent philosophical theme, and one which emerges from them in an utterly natural way, without didacticism. In the third place, this theme is a profoundly libertarian one — from a country whose politics are far from libertarian — and its implications are fully developed, to the point of a bitter critique of the very foundations of the Indian state and its socialist politics. ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

Flower Power: Save a Breath for Nature - satire by Sarah Emily Jordan

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 22:29:13 -0700

It’s all about Carbon, right? Carbon emissions, carbon footprints, carbon paper, carbon with a side of Oxide. No, make that 2 sides of Oxide. ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

The Day-Nite Garage - memoir by Wilfred R. Franson

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:46:36 -0700

The Day-Nite Garage was well situated on Olive Street in the downtown business section of Eugene, Oregon from the 1920s to the early 1940s. We never closed our doors and there usually was something interesting going on there. We had a tow truck and an ambulance, and when an emergency call came in, whoever was available would take out the vehicles, leaving the big garage doors open, lights on, and sometimes nobody there. ...

[added photos]

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

The Jefferson Ice Company - memoir by Wilfred R. Franson

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 17:21:05 -0700

The Jefferson Ice Company had several ice manufacturing plants, and my father worked his way up to superintendent, with as many as 400 men making and hauling ice to the ice plants, where the retail delivery horse wagons and trucks (mostly individually owned) loaded their rickety vehicles and cruised up and down the streets, selling the ice in 25- to 100-pound chunks. ...

[added photo]

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

The Body in the Book - illuminant by Vera Howe Franson

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:54:14 -0700

I worry about things I read in the magazines. ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

On the Trail of William Shakespeare, by J. Keith Cheetham - review by Jennifer M. Franson

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 00:51:21 -0700

On the Trail of William Shakespeare is partly a biography, partly a practical travel guide, and wholly fascinating. Indeed, it's hard to imagine a more perfect print resource for the traveling Shakespeare devotee — or for the Shakespeare-loving armchair traveler — than this small volume. ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration

Telemark to Wisconsin: The Kleven Family, Norwegian Immigrants to America. 1842-1843 and After - memoir by Emma Cleven

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 00:47:38 -0700

Tosten Kleven: presumed dead on the Atlantic passage

Tosten Kleven left Siljord, Norway on March 4, 1842 for Skien, where he obtained passage to Goteborg, Sweden. At Goteborg he met his friend Aanund Bjoin and they helped load ballast for the ship in which they were to sail for America. A large party of Norwegians had embarked from Langesund and joined them at Goteborg. ...

Troynovant - recurrent inspiration