Chinese Gandalf

So, one of the nice incidentals about being back in Milwaukee again earlier this month was that I had the chance to pick up a copy of THE SHEPHERD EXPRESS, the radical free newspaper formerly known as THE CRAZY SHEPHERD. It was interesting to leaf through it again after a long time. Don't know if they've mellowed or I've become much more progressive, but I found it much more moderate than I remembered. Maybe it's just that Seattle progressive is a bit edgier than Milwaukee progressive.

In any case, one feature I was glad to see was NEWS OF THE WEIRD by Chuck Shepherd. I used to enjoy this back when we took THE FUNNY TIMES, and was amused to find a Tolkien reference therein. Here's the clip:

Leading Economic Indicators

News Corporation Australia reported in 

September the enviable success of a 16-year-

old British entrepreneur, Beau Jessup, who

has so far earned about $84,000 with a simple

online app to help rich Chinese parents select

prosperous-sounding English names for their

babies. Users choose among 12 personality

traits they hope their baby to have, then

received three suggestions (including a list of

famous people with those names). Jessup got

the idea when living in China and noticing

that some babies of the rich were given lame

names, such as "Gandalf" and "Cinderella".

[Sept. 22 2016 issue, p. 37]

I'd be interested to learn if this is for real or some reporter's idea of a joke that made it into print during a slow news days.

--John R.

Cat Report (W. Oct. 12th)

Having been away for two weeks, it’s like coming back to a whole new room!  While I was away three cats came and went (Beni the grey, Gabby the tabby, and Felix Panther), while Oscar & Dolly got adopted, as did Princess Matilda (hooray!) and Mr. Bellamy (finally had his turn!) and RAGGEDY ANNE. I’m especially happy about these last three — senior cat Matilda seemed to be getting weary of waiting, Bellamy had been passed over so many times, and I’d been worried about how R.Anne was doing since her near-adoption fell through.

[photo of Mr. Bellamy]

The only cats still with us that I’d met before were our bonded pair, BABY KITTY and ELEANOR, who have gained a lot of confidence: they came out and made themselves at home in the outer room (one on the cat-stand, the other on the bench). Neither wanted a walk; they just wanted to hang out and enjoy being out of their cages.  

Finally got to meet GHOSTLY, who I’d read about a lot. With three adoptions pending I got to see him just in time before he headed out to one of those new homes (which happened that same evening). He’s a great cat: friendly, playful, gentle;  gets along well with the other cats when they’ll let him, and is full of curiousity and a willingness to try something new (whether a walk or exploring out-of-the-way places in the room). He had his first walk — he got the idea at once but we differed about strategy: he thought that the obvious thing to do was to find a safe place behind or under somthing from which to peer out and take stock, and didn’t see why I kept preventing him from doing so. Once back in the room he went exploring, stealing a bite of nom from all the food dishes on the lower level.





[photo of Ghostly]

Of the three new cats, KARMA (a big grey torbie) was talkative and affectionate until I pulled her out of the cage and put her atop the taller cat-stand, whereupon she became a hiss machine. Eleanor jumped up on the level beneath her and got hissed at repeatedly but after a bit decided to just ignore it and settled herself down. Later in my shift Karma calmed down enough that I got the leash on her and took her out for a carry-around walk. She was pretty vocal (except when listening to the birds) and was glad when it was time to get back in the nice safe room. Once she was back in her cage again at the end of my shift, she went back to talking and purring when petted (rather than hissing and swatting). Clearly she really likes people and just as clearly the proximity of other cats winds her up. Once she settles into the room I suspect she’ll declare herself Boss Cat.

JULIETTE (white w. grey) was the shyest of the three newcomers (who I think had all arrived earlier that same morning): she liked being petted inside her cage but from time to time would get spooked and retreat into the other side (w. the litter box). Games within her cage she thought a good thing but again got spooked easily. When lifted out she got back in her own cage as soon as she could. Sweet little cat in need a lot of one-on-one time.

Finally, VACA (white w. black) seemed shy but when lifted out slept quite happily on the blankets in the back corner of the room (atop the litter-containers). She loves being petted and getting attention but for now at least kept her distance from the other cats.

No health concerns that I noted.  

It’s good to be back.

—John R. 

Not All Who Wander . . . (2017 calendar)

So, I've noticed lately that Tolkien's phrase "not all those who wander are lost" has escaped the original context of his book and can now be found on inspirational posters (and, more oddly, souvenir mugs from Yosemite). The latest example I spotted today during a visit to one of the friendly neighborhood Barnes & Noble bookstores. I was looking for the 2017 Tolkien calendar (which looks to be one of the good ones, w. Tolkien's own art) and while I didn't find that, and passed on the HOBBIT movie calendar I did find, I found something I hadn't known about: a poster-calendar featuring the art/calligraphy of Becca Cahan, in which Tolkien's quote was given prominence as the cover-art. To give a sense of context, another month's inspirational message is "Whatever You Are, Try to Be a Good One" and yet another's "Time You Enjoy Wasting is Not Time Wasted".

Nice to see JRRT getting into the general culture in an unexpected way. I think he'd be rather pleased.

--John R.
current reading: Poe's tales.
current song: "Somebody that I Used to Know", backed by the Jayhawk's "Leaving the Monsters Behind" and McCartney's "Mr. Bellamy".

"TOLKIEN & LEWIS" film

So, last week I posted about having gone to see a new film about Tolkien and Lewis called, appropriately enough, "TOLKIEN AND LEWIS".  I'd been unsure whether this was to be a biopic, as some things I saw online suggested, or instead a documentary. As the subtitle makes clear -- "MYTH, IMAGINATION, AND THE QUEST FOR MEANING" -- it's a documentary, not a dramatization.

What's more, it's a ten-year-old documentary: most of the interviews seem to have been filmed at the Aston conference nr Birmingham back in 2005. * The most notable figures are Verlyn Flieger and Tom Shippey; others Tolkien and Lewis (mostly Lewis) experts who took part include Ward, Duriez, Hein, Reza Aslan, along with others whose names I didn't know and so can't pass along now. The biggest shock, by far, was seeing my friend Chris Mitchell. I'd assumed the interviews were recent, and so didn't expect to see a friend who died more than two years ago prominently featured. It was unsettling in ways I can't quite describe.

As for the film itself, the subtitle shows how ambitious its goal is: to look at the Inklings' beliefs that imagination could be a vehicle for truth. At least that was part of their intention, I think: while the piece focused on Lewis's conversion and the rule his long walk and talk with Tolkien and Dyson had on it, I found it a little unfocused and had a little trouble following how each specific part fit into the whole.

I give them praise for making a point to include Hugo Dyson, the third of the three who took that long walk on that memorable night. I'd made a private bet with myself that they'd drop Dyson -- most dramatizations of  that event do -- and I'm glad to say they didn't. Too bad we don't have any record of what Dyson said, since he's the only one of the three who so far as I know left behind no account of the evening.

Naturally there were a few things I wish they'd done differently. For one thing, it opens with a quote from Joseph Campbell -- perhaps unfortunately, since he belonged to a school of myth-theorists with whom Tolkien was profoundly at odds. Then too you'd think a documentary that explored such subjects would bring in Barfield, whose work is directly apropos  to several points they raised. But the biggest omission was "Mythopoeia".

After all, we know of that evening's discussion partly through C. S. Lewis's v. brief mention in a letter, and far more through Tolkien, who wrote up his side of the conversation as a sort of dramatic monologue, better known as the poem "Mythopoeia". However it might differ from Tolkien's actual words that evening in the give-and-take of conversation, it's the closest we can get to the actual words of their conversation. So I'd have expected them to have read it towards the end of their film as an encapsulation of the theme of their entire movie. Maybe they cdn't get permission to quote it, or just didn't know about it.

All in all, I'm glad I got to see this -- particularly for the parts with Verlyn, Chris Mitchell, and Shippey -- but found myself wishing it had been the dramatization I'd been half-expecting.

This being a showing at the MILW. FILM FESTIVAL, there was a question-and-answer session afterwards, but since the writer/director cdn't be there and the person substituting for him, the film's editor, cheerfully admitted not knowing a thing about Lewis or Tolkien ("other than that Tolkien was a life-long Catholic, born into the faith" [a more or less direct quote]), there didn't seem to be much point in asking him questions he cdn't answer.


Here's a link to the film's listing from the film festival's website

https://mkefilm.org/tolkien-and-lewis-behind-the-pearl-earrings/


and here's a description of the film by its editor:

http://www.thewrap.com/tolkien-lewis-why-i-chose-to-tell-this-fascinating-story-guest-blog/

I might point out, though, that virtually nothing of what the director says in this interview about Tolkien's and Lewis's life appears in his film.


--I was going to include in this post a write-up about another recent film on Tolkien, TOLKIEN'S ROAD, and also something about an in-the-works play about the two men, but given how long this post is already I think I'll save those for another day.

--John R.
current slow, careful (re) reading: THE RETURN OF THE SHADOW
current light reading: THE CASE WITH NINE SOLUTIONS by J. J. Connington (1929): a G. Fay book.




*I was sorry not to be able to go to this at the time, but simply cdn't tear myself away from MR. BAGGINS, which was finally nearing completion after so many years of working on it.

Free to a Good Home (Tolkien Book)

So, as I've said before, sometimes I end up with two copies of the same book. In this case, I think I'd pre-ordered a book when I first heard about it, then come across it for sale later on and picked it up, not remembering that I was already supposed to be getting one, at least eventually. Or maybe I bought it at Kalamazoo one year and then, forgetting that, bought it again the next.

Be that as it may, when straightening up my shelves and starting to make room for Tolkien-related purchases from over the last year or two on the shelves in my office (which are all Tolkien, D&D, or CoC), I found that I had two copies of a recent book about Tolkien's role in the creation of modern fantasy, a topic I've been deeply interested in since about 1984.

The book in question is J. R. R. TOLKIEN, ROBERT E. HOWARD, AND THE BIRTH OF MODERN FANTASY by Deke Parsons (McFarland, 2014). So far as I can tell from a quick glance it looks at the contribution made by LotR, Conan, and Superman to modern fantasy. I've long held that Tolkien and Howard contributed in roughly equal amounts to the creation of D&D.* Superman and superhero comic books are the odd-man-out here. Haven't had  chance to read it yet, though when I do I'll probably post again.

More to the point, I don't need two identical copies. It's not like I'm going to read it twice and need the extra copy for that second time around. I've sounded out several of my D&D friends and Tolkien friends, and nobody particularly wanted it. So I've decided to give it away here through the blog. If you want a copy of this book, drop me a line via comments (which now that I think of it will be a good test whether Comments is up and running again as it shd).  I'm currently on a research trip here at Marquette but can get it off in the mail after I get back home.

So, if you're interested, let me know.

--John R.
current reading: RETURN OF THE SHADOW and THE CASE WITH NINE SOLUTIONS by J. J. Connington.

*in fact one copy was with the books on the history of D&D and the other with the recent books of Tolkien, so that probably explains that.


UPDATE: THE BOOK HAS NOW BEEN CLAIMED, AND WILL SOON BE ON ITS WAY TO JAPAN. SORRY TO THE OTHERS WHO WOULD HAVE LIKED IT. BEST WISHES, JOHN R.

Dwarven Calendrics

So, while on the subject of Casemate Books, I shd mention another of their recent releases that while not on Tolkien looks to be relevant re. one thorny recurring problem in Tolkien studies: Durin's Day.

The book in question is  LIVING THE LUNAR CALENDAR, ed. Ben-Dov, Horowitz, & Steele


http://www.oxbowbooks.com/dbbc/living-the-lunar-calendar.html?utm_source=Casemate+Academic+Subject+Emailings&utm_campaign=27e14bfaed-Oxbow_Bargains_9_229_22_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a8c3f9bf58-27e14bfaed-11464185&mc_cid=27e14bfaed&mc_eid=a67d29a6e8

The description of the book itself sounds like it deals directly with the thorny issue that the Dwarves apparently shared with several real-world cultures:  not knowing when their own New Year occurred:


Lunar calendars suffer from an inherent uncertainty in the length of each month and the number of months in the year. Variable atmospheric conditions, weather and the acuity of the eye of an observer mean that the first sighting of the new moon crescent can never be known in advance. Calendars which rely on such observations to define the beginning of a new month therefore suffer from this lack of certainty as to whether a month will begin on a given day or the next. The papers in this volume address the question of how ancient and medieval societies lived with the uncertainties of a lunar calendar. How did lack of foreknowledge of the beginning of the month impact upon administration, the planning of festivals, and historical record keeping?


So, it might be worthwhile for those interested in such topics (hi Gary!) to see if the pieces in this book shed any useful light on the topic. In any case, I'd be interested to hear their opinion thereon.

--John R.

Tolkien Spotting, Perhaps (butter over bread)

So, somehow my name got added to the Casemate Books mailing list --probably from my having bought the CELTIC FROM THE WEST volumes from them at several past Kalamazoos (the most recent volume, III, arrived just a few weeks ago).

Anyhow, this means I get regular messages (about once a week) tempting me with a bunch of books that look interesting but which I doubt I'd ever read, given that they're well off my beaten track. But they're still worth a glance, just to get an idea of some of the interesting things people are working on out there. And occasionally I give in to temptation and buy one of their books (this is especially the case at their booth at Kalamazoo itself).

Recently there have been one or two that had Tolkienian applications, so I thought I'd share.

First off, there was the collection PREHISTORIC JOURNEYS, edited by Vicki Cummings.


http://www.oxbowbooks.com/dbbc/prehistoric-journeys.html?utm_source=Casemate+Academic+Subject+Emailings&utm_campaign=b362312dca-Oxbow_Bargains_9_279_26_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a8c3f9bf58-b362312dca-11464185&mc_cid=b362312dca&mc_eid=a67d29a6e8

The second essay therein has a v. Tolkienian title:

'Stretched thin, like butter on too much bread…': some thoughts about journeying in the unfamiliar landscapes of late Palaeolithic Southern Scandinavia,    by Felix Riede

Now, this is very similar to Bilbo's remark, trying to describe the effects of the Ring: 

'like butter that has been scraped over too much bread' (one volume LotR.32)

So, the question wd be: is this another example of Tolkien going mainstream -- so much so that apt titles for essay on Tolkien taken from quote in his books* is now being augmented by said titles being applied to essays which have nothing to do with Tolkien or his works? Or simply someone else using the same metaphor, with no implied connection to Tolkien at all?

--John R.
--still at Marquette.

--current reading: still THE QUEST FOR CORVO, with its slightly too-small print.

*I've done this quite a few times myself -- e.g. 'A Kind of Elvish Craft', 'And All The Days Of Her Life Are Forgotten', 'That Seems to Me Fatal' &c.

UPDATE:I've corrected 'Casement' to 'Casemate'.
SECOND UPDATE: I've also corrected 'break' to 'bread' in the title. Thanks to Robert for pointing that one out. --JDR