The Cat Room

So, today we were back with our volunteer two-hour weekly stint in the car room. This time it was just four cats in three cage: one bonded pair and two solos. First up were the little black panthers ISSA (all blACK EXCEPT FOR THE TIPS OF HIS TOES) and MUSE (who has a few more white little white spots). ISSA has has an identify mark: a tiny bump at th tip of his tail. Issa was charming so we took him out for a morning walk. He did okay at first but got increasingly worried that the people approaching were cat-eating fiends in disguise, so we took him back inside. When it was ONYX and when TIGER's turns we decided to keep them inside. ONYX loves games and toys and attention and catnip. He knows all about doors, but is more interested in opening doors and peering inside cupboards than in going in. TIGER is quieter, but only by the standerds of his fellows. All in all, friendly, playful, and affectionate. And they all liked the catnip. --John R

So, yesterday I petted an alligator named Lucy. We'd gone down to our favorite farmers' market, the one in Auburn.* When it's summer season Janice and I generally go about once a weekend to look around at fruit and vegetables but sometimes add a craft item. Two weeks ago it was a wooden pen. I like wooden pens for the aesthetics but they tend not to be v. durable. By far the most interesting non-food item this week was a booth which held a smallish alligator and a python with unusual color. Their keeper encouraged them to interact with people. Hence these photos. The alligator was active and confident; the boa lively. We got to stroke each while we got there handler to hold them A pleasant surprise. I'll have to see if the group of Seattle turtle fanciers whose exhibition we stumbled across quite a few years ago on the other side of Seattle are still active. --john R P.S. *This is the one with the crow statue, complete with little statues of French fries. Somebody out there knows his or her crow. Current (re-)reading: skimming bits of A. A. Milne' play adaptation of Grahame WIND IN THE WILLOWS

Young's Fairies

So, yesterday I read a review by Ronald Hutton of Francis Young's new book FAIRIES.* What I've read so far of the review I found surprisingly comprehensive and well-written to boot. Two points in particular caught my attention: Hutton's statement that the largest current genre of literature is fantasy and his pointing out that much (most?) of the scholarship on fantasy is done on the fringe if not outside academia. Also notable to see is Young's faring far afield (he devotes time and attention to the BalticS). In short, someone who really has something to say in a crowded field. --John R. *thanks to DF, AH, and DAA for drawing this to my attention. current reading: FIRST WHISPER OF THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS re-reading THE ROOK by Daniel O'Malley

Happy Tolkien Day

 So, Happy Tolkien Day, for those who celebrate with a cup of tea, old books, and the good green things of the earth.

--John R

--current reading: MacDonald's PHANTASTES (third reading), de Camp and Pratt's LAND OF UNREASON (second or possibly third reading), with Loconte's WAR FOR MIDDLE EARTH waiting in the wings till its turn comes.

--current viewing: the new streaming Hogwarts (recommended).

Tacoma Dune

So, we've just rerurned  from a trip to Tacoma --a place we rarely visit although it's not far away. We had a good time, getting a break from the usual daily routine. A highlight was a long walk along the seafront.  I assumed that Dune Park featured sand dunes and it does, but its focus turned out to be Frank Herbert's DUNE. I had not known that Tacoma was Herbert's home town.

https://www.parkstacoma.gov/tacomas-real-life-dune/

Recommended.

--John R.

current reading: a whole bunch of books, in various stages of unfinishedment.

Jean Rabe

Sorry to hear today of the death of Jean Rabe.  Jean was head of the R. P. G. A. when I first came on board at TSR (in October  1987 I think it was). My first contacts there were actually through the book department (via friend Jim Lowder) and the RPGA (then the domain of Jean, ably assisted by Skip Williams).  

That first discussion with Jean of a job at TSR didn't pan out due to my (a) living in Milwausee at the time and (b) not having a car. Instead I helped out with various tournaments and the like (e.g. providing sets of pregenerated characters for sanctioned events). A few months later I was more successful, joining the R&D department as a game editor, along with fellow 'new fish' Rich Baker (designer), Thomas Reid (editor), and a few weeks later Tim Beach (RPGA).

Through the chaos that was what we might call mid-period TSR, Jean ruled over her own fiefdom, acting pretty much independently of R&D (e.g. the Living City/Raven's Bluff project). If I rember rightly (eventually the comings and goings get conflated) she had moved over into R&D and later still was one of those who decided not to follow TSR to the west coast. 

If I had to sum up Jean in a word, it would be Kindness. Rest in peace.

  

So, how easy is it to spot the common thread in this list of names?

 

Andria Heyday

Anne Brown

Karen Boomgarden

Dori Watri

Julia Martin

Jean Rabie

Barb Young

Sue Weinlein

Carrie Bebris

 

2026 Calendar

So, another year, another Tolkien calender. A while back I went back and sorted them by year. It made quite a pile, and the shift of style from year to year is interesting. My favorite, after those by Tolkien himself (esp the early ones),  is the 1994 one by Michael Kaluta, which had a Finnish look to me.  Which is not to say there have not been some God-awful examples over the years (the Hildebrants come to mind). 

This year (2026) features another by Alan Lee, who has a distinctive style, providing a sort of continuity. Lee is not only good but had the advantage that Christopher liked him.

My own vote for an artist (contempory if now somewhat long in the tooth)  to illustrate JRRT is Thomas Canty, whose art reminds me strongly of art nouveau  and art deco:  Many of his pieces look like stained glass windows. Underrated.

Other than that, I saw THE BOVADIUM FRAGMENTS on the shelves of a mainstream bookstore (Barnes & Noble) today, which makes me think we're approaching the saturation point for works by Tolkien.  I intend to enjoy it while I can.

--current reading: five books, the least interesting of whch is A. A. Milne's ONCE UPON A TIME (1922), an attempt by the Pooh author to  write a fairy tale for adults. Milne had many talents, but it turns out writing a book like this one is not one of them. This sarcastic nudge-nudge wink-wink of a book deserves all the strictures Tolkien made on Milne in OFS.

--John R

A Middle-earth Sea Shanty

So, a bit belatedly, thanks to the friend who pointed me towards this link:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmwAqVqgx0U

It's fun to see a version of Earendil's story in sea-shanty style, as opposed to the filk-sinc-y style of most such performances.  Fun, if you like this sort of thing. Which I do, on the whole

--John R

An Eight Word Review of Pullman's (672 page) New Book

 "They paved Paradise and  put up a parking lot"

An Annotated GODS OF PEGANA

So, yesterday I came across a new edition of Dunsany's first book, THE GODS OF PEGANA (original edition 1905, this edition 2012).  What I cd put together about it from some quick online searching was a bit uncertain, but here's what I cd find on it so far.

Put together by a Robert J. Schulenburg, whose work is otherwise unknown to me. It is said to be the first book in a series to be known as The Reader's Library of Inspirational Books; I have not yet tracked down any other volumes in the series.

Whether this has any linkage with Dolly Parton's Inspiration Library I can't say yet.  

 This edition for the Kindle includes promises it includes additional material:

-An Introduction to the series

-The biographical essay, 'Lord Dunsany: Badass Patriarch of High Fantasy'

-An original article, 'Dunsany's Chess' detailing the rules for the chess variant created by the author

-High quality formatting and interactive Table Of Contents for Kindle users

Future editions of this volume will include (and will be added to [my] purchase free of charge):

-The essay: "Writing A Bible- Scripture As Narrative And Fiction, And Why We Would Confuse It For Fantasy

-Table of Influenced & Influences

-A Lexicon of gods and prophets in the Peganan cosmology

-The chapters in summary (a distillation of the themes and messages of each Book)

-A timeline of the Peganan cosmology

-A map of the cosmology of Pegana

-Hiqh quality original illustrations

I have to say that this looks like a random assortment for things connected with Dunsany.

I've ordered a copy and shd have more information about the book after the book arrives.

--John R,

current reading: THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH (just out)  by Phillip Pullman. A re-reading and a disappointment.  And a complete collection of short stories by Aleister Crowley of short stories featuring Simon Iff, his psychic detectiv (re-reading; not as good the second time around).

Till We Have Faces

 So,  just a brief reminder that this is on its way, if still a few months dfistant

Here's what's been released so far

A world premiere retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche.

When Psyche is sacrificed to appease the gods, her sister Orual—the future warrior queen—ventures to give her a proper burial. But Psyche is not dead, and she believes she’s living a life Orual cannot see. What follows is a powerful, mythic journey through love, beauty, faith, doubt, and the bonds of sisterhood.

--John R

The Smith Family quilt

 So,  a hundred and fifty years ago, at a place known as The Hollow (later renamed Ararat), a group of women got together and created a quilt for Rev. Newton Smith (born 1853), who was my great-grandfather. Family legend has it that this was a joint project, and that each segment was made by one of the women who dated him, who gave it to him as a wedding present.  If true (and there's some evidence it is), he must have been a remarkable man. 

 I count sixteen squares, each with the same pattern using a different color scheme, which must have taken a lot of organization. Be that as it may,  it's amazing to me that this artifact of the past has passed down intact, if a little worn. Now I have to put some thought into whom it shd go to after my time.

--John R

Geysers that aren't geysers

So, as part of our occasional efforts to get off the West Valley Highway, last Wednesday Janice and I went to Flaming Geyser --which isn't  a geyser and doesn't flame and went walking along the White River (which downstream turns into the Green River). Which, as Janice pointed out, at one point downstream flows by the West Valley Highway. 

In other news, we're grateful the feared tsunami didn't strike --not least than because we're at extremely low sea level (thirty-two feet I think).

--current reading: a book on Suffolk fairy-lore. Well written and very well researched; I learned a lot I didn't know from reading this.

C. S. Lewis at the Taproot

Well, here's something I thought I'd never see: a staging of C. S. Lewis's last novel, TILL WE HAVE FACES. Adapted by Koren Lund, it's scheduled for the month of January 21st through February 21st. While I usually make an effort to see plays by or inspired by Inklings,* I might wind up giving this one a pass.  More on this one as the time approaches and more information about the production becomes known.

https://www.taproottheatre.org/shows/2026/till-we-have-faces/

In other news: Today it rained. Not a lot, but enough to break the dry stretch of weeks past.

  --John R.

*including one-man-shows and similar dramatizations featuring Inklings as characters, which are generally the best of such works

a few words

 So. It's been a while.

--John R

Fink-Nottle's Delight

Fink-Nottle's Delight

So, today we sent down to the botanical gardens in Federal Way to see how the rhododendrons and bonsai were doing. When we'd been there last things were just beginning to bloom: now they're in full flourish. We especially wanted to see how the frogs were doing. Last time we'd been told by a knowledgeable fellow visitor that soon the scummy  little pond wd be populated with tadpoles and then little frogs.

 

It turns out the delay worked in our faor, and we got to see not frogs but six salamanders --specifically North West Salamanders. I've only seem salamanders in the wild a few times (most notably at Camp DeSoto), so this was a real treat. It looked like a wet lizard.

 

 

Walking a little further we saw a pair of butterflies --tiger swallowtails I think; my favorites-- in a patch of sunlight: whether courting or quarrelling I cd not tell. I held out a hand in hopes one might land on it, but they declined.

 

And if these were not enough, not long after our path was crossed by a snake making a purposeful withdrawal from our presence.

 

All in all, a pleasant outing.

 

--John R

--current reading: ISLANDIDA by Austen Tappan Wright (1942)

--current viewing: The Murderbot Series (on Apple tv) 

Tolkien and Wartime Oxford

So, here's a brief allusion to Tolkien's work creating and administrating the syllabus for the accelerated cadet's course at Oxford during WW II:

"One of the most eye-catching initiatives was the course in English literature designed by J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: this was the first external examination authorised by the University of Oxford."*

*The Book at War: How Reading Shaped Conflict and Conflict Shaped Reading by Andrew Pettegree (2023)

endnote: Bruce R. Johnson, 'The efforts of C. S. Lewis to aid British prisoners of War during World War II', C. S. Lewis Journal. 12 (2018), pp. 41-76.

[endnote: Pettegree page 444]

I found this of interest because it co-credits Lewis, whom Tolkien outranked professionally. I'll have to hunt down Johnson's article.

--John R.

--current (re)reading:: the Murderbot series by Martha Wells

Kalamazoo 2025

 So, barring the unforeseen, it looks like I'll be going to Kalamazoo this year (April 8th thr 11th) after all.

If you see me, stop and say hello; I'll be the one with the brown fedora at the Tolkien events.

--John R.

Ring Any Bells?

 So, yesterday, going through a box, I came across the dungeon map I did as part of the Map Order for some adventure  I worked on back in TSR/WotC days (the comments on the map in green ink are in my handwriting).  Problem is, I don't remember what adventure it goes with. If anyone out there recognizes it, I'd be interested in comparing the draft with the published module.

--John R.