This is an illustration from Gulliver's Travels, the satirical 1726 book by Jonathan Swift. It depicts Gulliver catching sight of the flying island of Laputa, which is in the skies above the land of Balnibarbi. The king of Balnibarbi rules from the island, which is circular, 4.5 miles in diameter on an adamantine base, and apparently is supported by magnetic fields.
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Last Sunday night we started watching the 2004 BBC miniseries North & South. It is based on the 1855 novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, which deals with the conflicts and issues arising from the advent of the Industrial Revolution in England. I had never read anything by Gaskell until one day a number of years ago when, faced with a lot of cooking to do for a family event, I was looking for an audiobook to listen to while working in the kitchen. My interest caught by the synopsis, I chose North & South, and was quickly hooked by the story. Later, I went online to purchase a copy of the book and that was when I discovered the 2004 miniseries, which I also ended up buying. The miniseries is really good, although of course, not exactly like the novel. It stars Daniela Denby-Ashe as Margaret Hale and Richard Armitage as John Thornton, as well as any number of other British actors recognizable from any number of other British productions. I hadn't watched the series in quite a while and was quite happy to do so when someone else suggested it. We viewed the first two episodes, and plan to watch the last two this Sunday night upcoming. Several of us have seen it before, but a few haven't and it's enjoyable to not only revisit the work, but to see their interest and engagement in the story as it progresses. I'm liking it so much that I think it may be time to pick up the book again and revisit the factory town of Milton and its denizens. There is another, earlier, adaptation of North & South: one from 1975 starring Patrick Stewart. I haven't watched it because... well, the reason is rather shallow. I just have difficulty picturing Stewart as the intense, hardworking factory owner. Science fiction/ fantasy characters like Captain Picard and Professor X, or crotchety guys like Ebeneezer Scrooge and Captain Ahab, sure. King Claudius? Absolutely. But I just can't see him as the brooding romantic hero Mr. Thornton. Maybe one day I'll overcome my mental typecasting and bring myself to watch this version, but that hasn't happened yet. Related Posts:Where Did It Come From?Have you ever said, "You must be joshing me!" or had it- or something similar- said to you (meaning of course, that the person in question is trying to fool you, or get you to believe something which isn't true). If so, have you ever wondered where this expression came from? Whether your answer is yes or no, here is the origin story of this idiom: The tale takes us back to the United States mint in the late 1800's: 1883, to be exact. This was the year that the mint changed the design of the nickel. The old nickel- called the Shield nickel- had, because of its intricate design, never struck well. The new one, referred to as the Liberty Head nickel or the "V" nickel for obvious reasons, would still be made of bronze (a copper/ nickel alloy) but had a simpler design and also had its size increased for easier production. What could go wrong? Well, it occurred to an enterprising young man named Josh Tatum (living in Nevada) that the new and improved nickel was now the same size as the five dollar gold coin, and it looked quite similar as well. With this in mind, he looked up a friend who was trained in the procedure of electroplating. Together, using a 24 carat gold electroplate, they turned thousands of nickels into "five dollar" coins. Coins in tow, Josh Tatum hit the road, travelling from town to town, visiting the stores and saloons in each one. He would buy a 5 cent item, and the clerks, fooled by the gold plating (no doubt compounded by the dim lighting in most of these establishments), would give him $4.95 in change. This was a lucrative operation for Josh for a while, but inevitably the counterfeit was discovered and traced to Tatum who was arrested and put on trial for his crime. You might think that this would be an open-and-shut case: after all, Josh doesn't seem to have tried to disguise himself in any way, and I don't imagine it was possible for him to hide all those coins when the police arrived to arrest him. As it turns out, however, Josh Tatum was acquitted on all charges, because none of the witnesses against him- and there were many- could testify that he had told them that the coins were five dollar ones. The reason for this was that Tatum was deaf and mute, so would indicate that he wanted a 5 cent item and then place a coin which was legitimately a five cent piece on the counter to pay for it. Could he help it if clerks kept giving him $4.95 which he never asked for? Whatever you might think of this defense, it obviously worked. Well, as a result of this fiasco, the mint was forced to halt production of the Liberty Head nickel until the design could be changed to include the word "cents" on it, as seen below. And that's how a lot of people in Nevada, the justice system, and the U.S. mint ended up being "joshed". Related Posts: “In reading we must become creators. Once the child has learned to read alone, and can pick up a book without illustrations, he must become a creator, imagining the setting of the story, visualizing the characters, seeing facial expressions, hearing the inflection of voices. The author and the reader "know" each other; they meet on the bridge of words.” ― Madeleine L'Engle After a bit of a hiatus, I'm getting back to my critique of the execrable film Rent. Because I'm engaged in basically one long condemnation of this film, I've decided to combine the summary and opinion parts of my review, so as not to prolong the pain. So here we go... Roger and Mark talk to Benny again; he again offers to waive their owed rent if they will talk Maureen out of staging her protest. They are terribly indignant that they would be asked to give something in exchange for their rent. Obviously Benny doesn't understand the finer points of freeloading. Benny also tries to explain about his planned cyber-cafe, telling his former friends that it will provide them with a place to work on their "art" and become successful. They sneeringly reject this idea, because of course they do. Mark, Collins, and Angel attend another support group meeting, eventually joined by Roger. This scene provides one of only two moments that felt true to me in this entire movie- predictably, not provided by one of the main characters. Another group member confides that he's not so much afraid of dying as he is of his disease progressing to the point where it robs him of his dignity, leading to the song, "Will I Lose My Dignity?" This strikes a heartfelt, relatable note in this sea of hollow pretension. Not to worry though, the main characters quickly manage to kill my momentary stab of sympathy for them. The four friends take the subway home from their meeting, and start whining about their crappy lives in New York. They sing a song about moving to Santa Fe and opening a restaurant, and how much more wonderful life would be there. This scene- like most others- annoys me on two levels: the actions which take place in it, and the messages it contains. First of all, these exhibitionists start dancing all over the car, imposing not just their noise but their unpleasant persons on the other innocent travelers. The film portrays most of them as being amused by these goings-on (as if) except for two businessman-looking types, because in this movie anyone wearing a suit is the enemy. Angel- that quirky imp- jumps into the lap of one of them, grabs the hat off of his head and shoves it onto the head of the other guy. We're supposed to find this charming and funny, but I just thought how I'd feel if, while on public transit, a complete stranger of either gender jumped on me and started grabbing at articles of my clothing. I was personally hoping that one of the men would pull out a taser, but nothing I could possibly enjoy happened in this film, so no such luck. As for their "dreams" of going to Santa Fe, that's all they are- dreams. They whinge about New York, saying how wonderful things would be elsewhere, but never contemplate the possibility that the problem isn't where they are, it's who they are. Their lives are lousy because they're unpleasant, incompetent, and immature people, not because of where they live. And as for their idea of opening a restaurant, are any of them trained in the food service or hospitality industries? No. Do any of them plan to take any training? No. As I said, childish dreams for childish people who are discontent with their lot, but unwilling to exert themselves to do anything except complain about it. After this interminable subway trip, the friends split up, Mark and Roger heading off to help Maureen prepare for her protest. Angel and Collins traipse along a street, singing a song to each other which is distinguished by such stellar lyrics as "I'll be your blanket." It ends with the two of them professing their love for each other and deciding to move in together. They've known each other for two days. I'm no longer surprised that most of these people are riddled with sexually transmitted diseases. O.K., the next two scenes- at the protest and the cafe- are when my active dislike for this film and its characters hardened into deep-seated hatred. A full description of their almost unbelievable repulsiveness will require its own post... and maybe some Gravol. Related Posts:Not sure my nephew really understands the rules of chess... "I declare it's marked out just like a large chessboard!' Alice said at last. 'There ought to be some men moving about somewhere--and so there are!' she added in a tone of delight, and her heart began to beat quick with excitement as she went on. 'It's a great huge game of chess that's being played--all over the world--if this is the world at all, you know. Oh, what fun it is!” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass Related Posts: This scene from Mr. Smith Goes To Washington is of naive, idealistic, and completely unprepared new Senator Jeff Smith-played by Jimmy Stewart- attempting to put together a bill. His world-weary, cynical and politically-savvy secretary Clarissa Saunders- portrayed by the great Jean Arthur- sits him down to try to explain to him the facts of life... or at least, of Washington. Related Post: This part of the book sets up the mistaken identities farce which will drive a good deal of the rest of the plot: Maud's family is convinced that George is the man whom Maud had fallen in love with, and was trying to meet. Acting on this belief, Reggie has informed George that Maud is in love with him. In addition, George is labouring under the impression that Lord Marshmoreton is the gardener at Belpher Castle. All of this informs actions of the various characters in the next section of the book, undertaken under a mass of false assumptions. Of course, this part of the novel isn't just set up- it's also extremely humorous. The return home of the post-incarceration Percy is laugh-out-loud funny, especially the comments from Reggie and Lord Marshmoreton. Lord M. is inclined to be astonished- and vaguely pleased- that Percy got into a fight. He has always regarded his stodgy son as scarcely human: "...you collect prayer rugs; you wear flannel next to your skin..." Of course, Lady Caroline is merely horrified that her nephew has exposed the illustrious family name to ridicule... until Percy throws Maud under the bus. This segment also introduces us to the "downstairs" at Belpher Castle, especially the two servants who will become extremely important to the plot: Keggs the butler and Albert the pageboy. Keggs is recognizable as a Wodehousian upper servant, in the style of Jeeves. He is as aware of what is going upstairs as he is of what's happening downstairs and, cleverer than a good deal of his employers, is willing and able to manipulate circumstances to his own benefit. Albert is the type of child also familiar to readers of Wodehouse: precocious and rather terrible. Their below stairs machinations for and against their often hapless employers- and against each other- lend interest and humour to the narrative. Related Posts:My sister's family is at camp this week; she took some pictures of her kids after they had been playing in the camp's mud pit. They reminded me of the chorus of a song which we used to sing when we were kids: So follow me, follow Down to the hollow And there let us wallow In glorious mud. I only ever knew the chorus of this song, and had no clue what it came from, so I decided to look it up today.It turns out that this is the chorus of a song entitled The Hippopotamus, written by the British comedy team Flanders and Swann for their 1957 revue, At The Drop Of A Hat. Who knew? Here's The Hippopotamus Song in its entirety: |
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