] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, OCTOBER 1, 1997 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 17:08:01 -0500 (EST) From: Jeremy Steadman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 09-28-97 More on the chess set: Hmm. I disagree with you, David; I think that Jinjur would be a good choice for a villain, since when she was bad she was very, very bad (even though when she was good she was nice or however the rhyme finishes). Octo Pie?: The English language has been so distorted now that both octopi and octopuses are accepted, if I recall correctly. I have never heard octopodes. --Jeremy Steadman, rambler at large P.S. You can tell my stomach was getting hungry there :-) . ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 13:07:24 -0700 From: Douglas or Lori Silfen Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest Gordon: Aquareine, if pronounced correctly, should be ak-wa-ren (ren rhyming with hen and you roll the "r") (reine also rhyming with the Seine river...prounounced sen) Douglas ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 17:21:31 -0700 From: Nathan Mulac DeHoff Subject: The Past Few Ozzy Digests Robert Collinge: Toto was certainly not the first dog to live in Oz. Jack Pumpkinhead encountered a green dog while riding the Sawhorse through the Emerald City in _Land_. For some reason, Baum often made generalizations about the Land of Oz, which often contradicted his earlier writing. In _Dorothy and the Wizard_, he stated that the Sawhorse was the only horse in Oz, but the Cowardly Lion and Tip are both familiar with horses, suggesting that there were other horses in Oz. Thompson, Neill, and the McGraws placed plenty of horses and dogs in Oz. On a similar note, _Royal Book_ contains a remark that there were no ferries in Oz, even though there were some in Baum's books, notably _Land_ and _Lost Princess_. Also, in _Lost King_, it is stated that there are no stores in Oz, which also untrue. Generally, when an author states that a certain thing does not exist in Oz, this statement need not be taken at face value. David Hulan: In order for either person to win at tic-tac-toe, one of them must be fairly unobservant. I always thought that "octopi" was the proper plural of "octopus." I'm not totally sure, though. Earl: I agree that the Phanfasms did not use much of their supposed power. Pretty much all of the magic that they worked just created illusions. Gordon: Thanks for the compliments on my Ruggedo page. Regarding Zog: I've enjoyed reading the discussions of Zog, who is certainly one of Baum's more interesting villains. Regarding whether or not he is evil, I would have to say that "good" and "evil" are largely subjective terms, but I would have to consider someone as sadistic as Zog to be evil. I wonder how much Zog's "ugliness" (yet another subjective term) contributed to his evil. I'm sure everyone who has read _Yew_ recalls the case of King Terribus, whose evil results almost entirely from a low self-image. I think that Zog, unlike Terribus, would probably have had the same personality no matter what he looked like. -- Nathan Mulac DeHoff vovat@geocities.com or lnvf@grove.iup.edu http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/5447/ "I'm having a wonderful time, but I'd rather be whistling in the dark." ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 21:06:56 -0400 (EDT) From: Ozmama@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 09-28-97 Dave: Thanks for sending the DIGEST to me at AOL. For some reason, this one made it. David: Thanks for the "how to." I'm trying it on this message. Ah! It works! Yes, Jane had sent me the proposal. I just didn't catch the fact that all programs wouldn't be repeated. I'll have to think about this. Chicago streets intersecting self? If you're really gonna check, try Ogden Ave. first. I suspect it's the culprit. Octopus: Good for you! Your instincts were correct. Greek derivation. Pl.=octopodes *or* octopuses. Never thought much about it before...have always used "octopuses," but the "foot" root makes absolute sense. Think I'll use it in class. _Sea Fairies_: This is a really neat discussion, y'all. I'm glad we decided to include it as a BCF (is that the correct acronym?) AOL: I like it. I hate its address book and its puny little net browser, but I like the rest very much. Now that I can use it a bit better (thanks again, David), I even like the e-mail better than my other server's version, which used PINE. It was frequently cumbersome. --Robin ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 23:38:43 -0400 From: Tyler Jones Subject: Oz Sender: Tyler Jones David: Well, my source was a tour bus guide in New York, so I don't know how accurate he was, although he claimed to have been born and raised there. The street he mentioned was Langley. A cursory examination os Shytown was inconclusive. It's possible that this occurs in the Emerald City, since the characters seem to arrive at the corner of Strawberry Street and Banana Blvd. quite often in the Neill Trilogy. In Tucson, numbered streets run east to west and numbered avenues run north to south. This pattern holds true, so while you may find yourself at the corner of 6th and 6th, you will never be at 5th street and 12th street. 6th and 6th is, IIRC, the only really important double-number intersection. --Tyler Jones ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 07:46:55 -0400 (EDT) From: Saroz@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 09-28-97 Melody --- King Anko is _in_ the Oz Kids series? All the FF characters I've ever heard of being included in the cartoon are Dorothy's twins, Scarecrow Jr, Tin Boy, the Lion's twins, Frank, Jackie Pumpkinhead, Scrap's Patchwork Kids and Nome Prince Otto (not including their parents). Who else am I unaware of? Sarah ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 10:16:30 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 09-28-97 Peter H.: As I mentioned yesterday, the 1970-or-so R&L reprint of _Sea Fairies_ has the reversed lines on pages 95 and 105 that the first printing did, but that were corrected in some printings in between. That edition also has a different DJ, by Lois Axeman, showing Trot (with legs, not a tail) holding a mirror which a mermaid (probably Aquareine - she's wearing a crown, anyhow) is looking into while she combs her hair. The figures are B&W, but multicolored bubbles are scattered over the jacket, including the spine and the back. I don't know the exact date of this reprint, though I know I bought it new in 1970 and that the bookstore where I bought it hadn't had it earlier that year. Melody: > Zog would have set himself up for an outright mutiny had he been >as nasty to his servants as Ruggedo was to his Nomes. The Nomes did not >exactly miss Ruggedo when he was deposed in "Tik-Tok." (Of course, Zog's >servants didn't miss him when King Anko did him in, either. Oh well...) If I recall aright the Nomes were happy to get Ruggedo back when he returned to the kingdom in _Gnome King_. Or at least, they didn't protest when he reasserted his rule there. (I guess Tititi-hoochoo's eggs had been deactivated by that time.) Gordon: I've always thought of "Aquareine" as being pronounced "AH-qua-rain", but since Baum didn't leave a pronunciation guide I guess all of us can decide how we want to pronounce all the names and do it that way. And I too have always considered "Mayre" as just a variant spelling of "Mary" - one that I've never seen elsewhere, though. It's clear from Baum's spelling when Trot's mother was calling her early in _Sea Fairies_ ("May-re!") that Baum intended it to be pronounced as two syllables, and that would certainly give an approximation of "Mary". Although in California - at least, if people in California talked in 1910 the way they do now - "Mary" tends to sound pretty much like "merry", in the Northeast where Baum grew up I believe the first syllable does have the same vowel as "may". Speaking of Trot's mother reminds me that as early as this book Baum starts establishing that she's something of a shrew. Trot does show concern that she'd worry about them, but I get the impression that it's as much a concern about what she'd say and do to them when they got back as about not wanting her to worry. This becomes almost complete indifference to what she'll think in _Sky Island_, which makes their lack of concern at staying in Oz in _Scarecrow_ more believable. Jeremy: Having pieces that change their character in the middle of a game would mean that the game wasn't chess, but some form of fairy chess. Such games can be legitimate enough, of course. Tyler: >IIRC, most of the "tour de Oz" takes place in the Quadling country. The >drawing of the munchkin-style houses must have been an error. It's not just a drawing; Baum says in the text that the houses in Rigmarole Town have the domed Munchkin shape. But there's no indication that I can recall that houses anywhere in Oz have a different shape. In fact, in _Land_ Baum states that all the houses in Oz are dome-shaped. Robin: I guess this is a cue for me to send the Digests from 9/25 to my "buddies" on AOL again... David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 14:13:19, -0500 From: NQAE93A@prodigy.com (MR ROBERT J COLLINGE) Subject: Headland Can anyone tell me which book "Headland" first appears, and a little bit about it? On the Oz map it is located in the Northeast corner of Oz, in the Gillikin country. Thanks for any information. You may e- mail me privately. Bob C. ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 16:22:45 -0500 (EST) From: sahutchi@iupui.edu Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 09-26-97 So, Aaron, what was the episode title of _Pinky and the Brain_, for my filmography research? David, if "octopus" is second declention, the plural would be "octopi," but long is are really pronounced as long es, at least how they taught us when I took Latin. Scott ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 18:52:07 +0600 From: rri0189@ibm.net Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 09-28-97 David Hulan wrote: >Any of the language mavens out there know - is "octopi" really the plural >of "octopus"? I mean, the word looks like an after-the-fact Latinization of >a Greek "octopos" (because most Greek nouns in "-os" went to a Latin >"-us"); if it had been Latin in the first place it would have been >"octopes". I know I have an instinctive urge to make the plural >"octopodes", but instincts aren't always that reliable. The word is Greek, but got into English by way of Modern Latin. "Octopodes", "octopi" and "octopusses" are all acceptable. // John W Kennedy -- Hypatia Software -- "The OS/2 Hobbit" ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 07:59:29 -0400 (EDT) From: earlabbe@juno.com (Earl C. Abbe) Subject: Ozzy Digest Submission In the 9/25 Digest, Ruth Berman says on the subject of "Alice" chess-sets, LCNA's "Knight Letter 55" (Summer 1997) contains the following, "Chess Forum has three lovely chess sets: the 'Alice in Wonderland Hand Painted Set', 'Alice in Wonderland' in marble and resin, and 'Lewis Carroll'. 219 Thompson St New York, NY 10012 or 1.800.393.4300 or chesform@inch.com or http://www.rhapsody.com/chessforum/myth.html." (But attempting to use that URL, I receive a "File Not found" error message.) "Knight Letter 54" (Spring 1997) has a brief article on a "Through the Looking Glass" chess set which is the first one I have seen that actually seems to follow Carroll's own assignment of characters to pieces. Unfortunately, it is not (and may never be) available commercially. Details from Concepts, Etc. 1342 SE 12th Terrace, Cape Coral FL 33990. 941-772-4154 (or if really interested, I will key it in and send it to you off-line.) Dave, the hexes were back in the 9/26 Digest. Earl Abbe ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 18:49:27 -0700 From: ozbot Subject: My New Email (for Ozzy Digest) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal Starting tommorrow ( 10- 1 - 97) I'll be using my new Email account-- ozbot@earthlink.com Please don't use my ozbot@ix.netcom.com address, or you'll get it bounced back! Thanks again for all your work! I've been pretty much a lurker nowadays, but I've been too busy and keeping up with two other mailing lists! Maybe I'll see you at the SWinkies? Danny ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 01 Oct 97 00:05:15 (PDT) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things MY ISP: Correction: Today my transfer rate is 28800. So I have not suffered a slow-down (But not a speed-up either though). FAIRY CHESS: Of course, as Oz is a fairyland, an ideal use for an Oz chess set might be to play "Fairy Chess" of which there are many kinds. Zim: I for one believe that my bride [i.e. Glinda] and Ozma should be "Amazons" -- Those are fairy pieces that move like the queen, except that they can make a knight's move as well(!)...They are in essence "super-queens". BTW, this current wave of "chess fever" I'm currently experiencing is worse tham I thought...The other day I actually half-contemplated drawing the Three Adepts as the Polgar sisters. :) Jellia: Psst! Judit, Zsusa, and Sofia Polgar are the three strongest women chess players in the world...They are the Three Adepts at Checkmate. Aujah: And from what Dave tells us, in this parallel it can be taken that Gary Kasparov is the Su-Dic... :) -- Dave ====================================================================== -- Dave ************************************************************ Dave Hardenbrook, E-Mail: DaveH47@delphi.com URL: http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/ Computer Programmer, Honorary Citizen of the Land of Oz, and Editor of "The Ozzy Digest" (The _Wizard of Oz_ online fan club) "When we are young we read and believe The most Fantastic Things... When we grow older and wiser We learn, with perhaps a little regret, That these things can never be... WE ARE QUITE, QUITE *** WRONG ***!!!" -- Noel Coward, "Blithe Spirit" ************************************************************ ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, OCTOBER 2, 1997 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 09:06:06 -0400 (EDT) From: "Christine R. Gray" Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-01-97 Ozzie people, I have not read any mail in a while--I am completing a book and the editor is breathing down my neck. But I did want to mention that a new book has just been published about Oz and Frank Baum. It's from Univ. of Kansas Press. The description reads: an excellent intro to America's greatest children's author. . . . places Baum's books in the context of his entire career..". The book lists for $30, but can be gotten through 10/30 from Kansas for $24. Let me know if you want ordering info. christine Christine R. Gray, Ph.D. "You are unique--just like everyone else." china@wam.umd.edu ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 10:10:50 -0500 (EST) From: Jeremy Steadman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-01-97 No ferries in Oz? Almost--only one that I know of offhand, and that would be Ozma, with others in the Forest of Burzee. With that comment, I'll shut up for the day. (About time, too, you might say.) --Jeremy Steadman, hot air reservoir ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 09:25:40 -0600 (CST) From: Ruth Berman Subject: ozzy digest Gordon Birrell: Drawing of Trot holding up a hand-mirror for a mermaid to see herself in might be influenced by Cluny tapestry as you suggest, but probably also reflects (sorry) the heraldic tradition of showing mermaids as looking into hand-mirrors. David Hulan: On Delva as being from inside Oz -- well, yes, but I was fudging to get easily identifiable female character among the pieces, and so was considering countries below Oz as not really part of Oz. The Mangaboo Princess would be a good alternative if the drawing of her would photocopy identifiably, but the only picture of her in "Dorothy and the Wizard" is one of the color plates. As you commented, there aren't many choices from outside Oz for examples of female villains. Bob Collinge: I e-mailed you, but will repeat here that Headland is from "Silver Princess," and is one of the more horrific of RPT's unfriendly small towns. The Headlanders are disembodied heads, and try to relieve Randy and Kabumpo of their bodies, too. (Sort of like Baum's No Bodies in "John Dough," but even more so.) (For placing locales in their books, it's handy to have the "Who's Who in Oz Appendix" that I did up, as it includes a gazeteer section.) Earl Abbe: Thanks for following up with the information on Carrollian chess-sets. A very peculiar Oz reference in the "New Yorker" a couple of weeks ago filled with articles hysterically mourning the death of Princess Diana -- one Simon Schama, in "Critic at Large/The Problem Princess," says, "Attempting to understand Princess Diana's appeal without taking that Prime Minister [Margaret Thatcher] into account is like assuming that Glinda ruled the Land of Oz uncontested." Seeing that Glinda didn't rule the land of Oz in the first place, it's not really clear what he has in mind (not to mention that Diana's position put her in conflict with her in-laws, not with the bureaucracy), but I suppose he's comparing Glinda (as played by Billie Burke) and Diana as a pair of cheery bubbleheads, and comparing Thatcher to the Wicked Witch of the West. But for any sense it makes, it could just as well be the other way round. Also an odd reference -- Baum in "The Flying Girl" (1911) speaks of "the late, lamented Sherlock Holmes." Actually, Holmes had come back to life in 1903, and Baum knew it, he and Emerson Hough having satirized the Return of Holmes in their 1905 scenario, "The King of Gee Whiz." Ruth Berman ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 11:09:17 -0700 From: Nathan Mulac DeHoff Subject: Ozzy Digest David Hulan: Neither Kaliko nor Potaroo seemed happy about Ruggedo's return in _Gnome King_, but neither Nome was brave enough to challenge his claim to the throne. Ruggedo's second reign was so brief that most Nomes didn't get a chance to respond, but I doubt that they would have been too happy with Rug's return, although it was mentioned in _Hungry Tiger_ that the Nomes, especially Guph, were bored with the lack of action during Kaliko's reign. BTW, I have been considering writing a story that takes place soon after _Gnome King_, in which Guph revolts against Kaliko. This would explain why Guph is no longer Chamberlain by the time of _Wishing Horse_. Bob C.: Headland first appears in _Silver Princess_. It is a small community of flying heads. I know of only one other mention of Headland, and that is in _Disenchanted Princess_. Regarding Chess Sets: Maybe someone should come up with a scrum set. If you recall, scrum is somewhat like chess, somewhat like checkers, and somewhat like parchesi. -- Nathan Mulac DeHoff vovat@geocities.com or lnvf@grove.iup.edu http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/5447/ "I'm having a wonderful time, but I'd rather be whistling in the dark." ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 10:57:25 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-01-97 Jeremy: I don't think Jinjur was very, very bad even when she was bad. She talked rough when the Scarecrow and company returned to the Emerald City, but she never really did anything to hurt anyone that I can recall. Douglas: >Gordon: Aquareine, if pronounced correctly, should be >ak-wa-ren (ren rhyming with hen and you roll the "r") > (reine also rhyming with the Seine river...prounounced That's how it would be pronounced if it were French. But the mermaids appear to speak English, and in English it would most likely be ak-wa-rain. (Granted, pronunciation of English words is much less regular than of French ones, but the only English word ending in "-eine" I can think of - "seine", a kind of net - has the long-a vowel.) Nathan: Agreed; the Royal Historians had a strong tendency to make generalizations about Oz that weren't true even in their own books, much less those of other RHs. >In order for either person to win at tic-tac-toe, one of them must be >fairly unobservant. True, if both players play correctly the game is always a draw. But if O makes a mistake on the first move X can force a win, and there are even a couple of openings where O can make a mistake on the second move and X can force a win. The only way O can win is if X just doesn't block after O puts two in a row; there's no sequence I know of where O can get two in a row two ways so that X can block only one. Sarah: King Anko and Zog both appear in the Oz Kids video "Journey Beneath the Sea," which is a pretty close copy of _Sea Fairies_ except for some character changes and a different introduction. Bob C.: Headland's first and only appearance is in _Silver Princess_, chapters 5 & 6. Randy and Kabumpo pass through it on their way from Regalia to the desert. It's inhabitants are bodiless heads with big ears they can fly with. Scott H.: >David, if "octopus" is second declention, the plural would be "octopi," >but long is are really pronounced as long es, at least how they taught us >when I took Latin. That's how they were pronounced by the ancient Romans. Standard English pronunciation of the Latin long "i" is the English long "i" - as for instance in "alumni". (Latin and English pronunciations of "alumni" and "alumnae" are exact opposites.) As we pronounce "Caesar" "seezer" and not "kaisar". Generally today we tend to use the ancient Latin pronunciation for actual quotes from Latin, but the English versions for Latin words that are sufficiently naturalized into English that they're not italicized, but not so naturalized that they take the standard English "s" plural. Also, there are a lot of Latin words whose nominative singular is in "-us" that are either third or fourth declension, though admittedly the majority are second. Dave: Tell Aujah that if Kasparov is the Su-dic then Big Blue must be Rora. David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 09:33:47 -0700 From: Tyler Jones Subject: Oz Oz is everywhere: I just finished the new Xanth book _Yon Ill Wind_, and it has some interesting constructs. If you haven't read it yet, skip this. ********** SPOILER FOR YON ILL WIND ********** The plot was very similar to a Thompson Oz book. Observe: 1. A huge storm blows several children (and their family and pets) into Xanth 2. The pets get the ability to speak. 3. Xanth is in danger of destruction (not conquest, but close) 4. The bulk of the adventure is mainly a tour of Xanth, going from one place to another 5. There is the mother of all IE's in chapter 15 6. The problem is solved very quickly with powerful magic, with little or no explanation. It simply no longer exists. 7. They all go back to Castle Roogna for the big party, where (almost) everybody makes an appearance. ********** END OF SPOILER FOR YON ILL WIND ********** --Tyler Jones ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 16:06:01 -0500 (EST) From: sahutchi@iupui.edu Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-01-97 Gordon: "Aquareine" is probably supposed to be "water queen" so the it shout be pronounced a bit like "ren," but clearly being a French derivation, that's not exactly right, just as close as I can deliver in print. I've always assumed that houses in Oz were traditionally the dome style, and that those who had one differently (which in Baum's time, I'm sure they would not), were people who had deliberately decided to go against cultural style, which I can't imagine that there would not be any of in modern-day Oz, where I write my stories. As far as having Tip use the F-word, I'll go back to the alleged Aubrey quote from _Tip of Oz_, where she replaced it with "freakin' expletive," (the word "expletive" actually being sounded, almost as if to create a catch-phrase). My acting prof had us right down good first and last lines for a scene which two people would improvise through, and I iused this. Unfortunately, Anna changed it to the banal "flyin' f---," instead. Scott ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 18:25:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Ozmama@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-01-97 Got it again today, Dave. I wish this made sense...why some days and not others? Thanks also to Ruth, who sent it as well. --Robin ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 22:00:10 -0400 From: "Melody G. Keller" Subject: Ozzy Digest, 10-01-97 Sender: "Melody G. Keller" Sarah: >King Anko is _in_ the Oz Kids series?< At least as a guest star. I don't know if he appears in more than one episode. The episode I saw at the Kentucky Oz convention was an adaptation of "The Sea Fairies," where Zog gets a more comic treatment than in the book. Melody Grandy ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 22:01:49 -0400 From: "Melody G. Keller" Subject: Ozzy Digest, 10-01-97 Sender: "Melody G. Keller" Nathan: >I wonder how much Zog's "ugliness" (yet another subjective term) contributed to his evil.< Indeed, if Zog was such a great magician, why could he not change his physical appearance? Guess transformations weren't his speciality. :-) Probably it was envy and his resultant self-hate that made Zog evil more than his physical appearance--as I said in a previous post, Anko's no more handsome than Zog, but *he* likes his physical self. Zog could just as easily have been as proud of his part-mammal, part-bird, part-reptile, etc. make up as the mermaids were of their part-human, part fish makeup. Or, for that matter, as proud of himself as some of the "fantastics" of Oz. Nick: I love being tin! Scarecrow: I love being stuffed with straw! Scraps: Whee! There's a gaudy dame! Makes a paintbox blush with shame! I love my multicolored, cotton-stuffed constitution! Zog: I hate my ugly patchwork makeup! Blech! Bungle: Oh, be quiet, you pessimistic malcontent! I love my glass body and my wonderful pink brains! Aquareine: We are not part fish, we are all mermaid! Anko: I am quite lengthy and proud of it! Zog: I said I hate my part-reptile, part-mammal, part-fish, part-human, part-everything else body! Yecch! Blah, humbug! Woozy: I'm glad I'm always square. Herby: I am proud of my medicine chest! Zog: I hate my body! You hear me? I HATE MY BODY! I HATE IT!!!!!!!!!! The Wizard: You know what, Zog? Your attitude stinks! (POOF!) Zog: Hey, look everybody! I'm part reptile, part bird, part fish--just about every part of the natural kingdom you can imagine! I'm unique! I'm wonderful! I'm one-of-a-kind! The Wizard (thought balloon): Too bad this magical attitude change only lasts ten minutes. Zog: Look at my marvelous wings, folks! I can water fly! Whoopee..... Melody Grandy ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 22:02:19 -0400 From: "Melody G. Keller" Subject: Ozzy Digest, 10-01-97 Sender: "Melody G. Keller" Dave (& others who commented on possible Oz chess sets) >Of course, as Oz is a fairyland, an ideal use for an Oz chess set might be to play "Fairy Chess" of which there are many kinds.< For such a set, I once imagined that a witch & wizard could substitute for bishops. The wizard could change higher pieces into pawns, and the witch could change pawns into higher pieces. Melody Grandy ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 22:43:40 -0400 From: Tyler Jones Subject: Oz Sender: Tyler Jones Bob C: I generally favor private e-mail for personal things, but Ozzy info is best when it's shared with all, so I hope you don't mind my answer being public. Headland made it's one and only appearance in chapter 5 of _Silver Princess_. It was pretty much a standard IE: characters enter, the citizens try to forcibly get the adventurers to become just like them, but they manage to escape. Headland is a dry, barren, rocky place. Its citizens are disembodied (their term is debodicated) heads that fly around by flapping their ears. At best, a minor blip in Oz. Dave: Following your chess symbolism, Deep Blue must be Aaron's Magic Machine! :-) --Tyler Jones ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 20:04:36 -0700 From: Bob Spark Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 09-28-97 Hi y'all, I'm just back from a GREAT trip and am going through the Digests that have piled up. I'm sure that I will have more to say later, but in reference to the plural of octopus, this is from _Between Pacific Tides_ by Edward F. Ricketts, Jack Calvin, and Joel W. Hedgpeth. Right, Edward F. Ricketts is the "Doc" that Steinbeck characterized in _Cannery Row_. His son, Ed Ricketts Jr. is in a birding group that I belong to, one that meets in the San Francisco area's Marin Headlands every week. On page 575: "Class CEPHALOPODA, Octopods (or Octopuses), Squids, Nautilus The -pus of octopus is from Greek pous ("foot"), and is usually rendered -pod or -poda in English. The word Octopi, though now listed in many dictionaries, is an incorrect plural, which apparently arose by a false analogy of octopus to Latin second-declension nouns (such as amicus,"friend") whose nominative plurals end in -i." Bob Spark ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 02 Oct 97 11:59:07 (PDT) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things XANTH: Tyler, can you (or anyone) tell me more about Xanth? I tried reading _Harpy Thyme_ but I just couldn't get into it, and I wondered if maybe it was a lesser one of the books, because Xanth certainly seems to have a following... Are other books in the series better? Do they all have un-Ozzy levels of sexual references? And what is this "Adult Conspiracy"?? And what's all this talk about "panties"??? Jellia: Dave asked me just for the record to point out that Ozites' undergarments are *NOT* an acceptable topic on the Digest... :) CHESS PARALLELS: Ozma: Who would *I* be in chess lore? Dan: Hmmm...How about Elaine Saunders, she was perhaps the greatest of the women players! Audah: Oh, and Bobby Fisher is definitely Ruggedo... Aurah: Beard and all! -- Dave ====================================================================== -- Dave ************************************************************ Dave Hardenbrook, E-Mail: DaveH47@delphi.com URL: http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/ Computer Programmer, Honorary Citizen of the Land of Oz, and Editor of "The Ozzy Digest" (The _Wizard of Oz_ online fan club) "When we are young we read and believe The most Fantastic Things... When we grow older and wiser We learn, with perhaps a little regret, That these things can never be... WE ARE QUITE, QUITE *** WRONG ***!!!" -- Noel Coward, "Blithe Spirit" ************************************************************ ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, OCTOBER 3, 1997 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 08:00:42 -0700 From: Bob Spark Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-01-97 Hello everyone, Well, here I am again after the best vacation that I've had in a long time. I am feeling quite mellow as a result. One comment about seafood and El Nino: > El Nino probably is warming the waters off Oregon, which > may play havoc with the oyster population there. IIRC, > oysters are pretty sensitive to water temperature; while > there are warm-water species, the ones off the Oregon coast > probably aren't. However, I'm speculating without any real > data. (So what else is new?) The problem apparently is that the warmer water allows for the growth of certain microorganisms in shellfish that might be toxic. As a result, restaurants are not serving raw oysters (there was also a warning to avoid raw shellfish posted in the loading areas of the San Juan Island ferries). As one who feels that when preparing oysters the less done, the better, this was a disappointment, but I would never turn down a good oyster stew or Hangtown fry. > SBM2 is all set up in my computer save for the illos. & I > need to colorize the cover. And then save up some money to > get it printed! :-) Melody, you have whetted my appetite. Please mark me down for a copy when they are available. > Although *self* defense is a matter of personal decision, > defense of family, community and nation are duties. (I have > been professionally doing my part in the last for going > on 34 years now.) Just curious. What has this entailed? > The restaurant I remember in Portland is one that offered a > 64-ounce steak, and if you could eat it you could get > another one free, provided you ate all of it. Gawd!! > On AOL: I would be glad to forward Digests to someone on > AOL, but I don't have anyone in particular in mind. How > about an assignment? > Me too. I can put together a list and forward to all on that list, but don't know how many AOL would consider too many. Please assign some AOL'ers to me also. Now, on to _Sea Fairies_. I will read it today and try to catch up. Bob Spark ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 12:05:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Ozisus@aol.com Subject: Oz Digest post About the Centennial Convention program: Before debates get carried away, let me insert that I have -- right now, two+ years before the convention -- something like 140 suggested topical "sessions" that could be presented. I suspect about 50 can happen with a 4-day schedule because there also needs to be general sesssions everyone attends, auction time, stuff like that. At work over a lunch hour, I put together 8 or so sessions from each of the major topics (biography, books, films, collectibles, the significance of The Wizard of Oz in literature/culture) and organized it into an agenda Draft (note the capital D). My goal was expresssing the concept of this convention and doing it quickly, since I also wanted to eat. So I didn't try to determine the most-likely-to succeed sessions, just took some off the top of an unorganized list. I threw it via e-mail at about a dozen various Oz people asking them to let me know if they thought it was the kind of program we should deliver for 2000. That list included Robin, since she's on the centennial committe with me; Dave because he's a writer and has worked as an OzCon registrar; David because I needed some help from him surrounding some astronomy-related Oz issues (There's a campus observatory it might be fun to incorporate as an afterhours function). Probably some other Digesters; I've already forgotten. I did not post it on the Digest because you guys get so embroiled in detail that I figured that would just drag me into debates about who should and shouldn't speak and in what order. Nothing personal, group, but it's just too early for me to get session- or speaker-specific feedback while I'm still trying to get buy-in to the concept, and I expected that y'all would jump to that level in a heartbeat. So hang tight for a couple more months. By the end of this year I hope to have assembled a group of about 25 people each of whom will have a chunk of responsiblity for pulling this off. At that point, each of us will no doubt want feedback, suggestions and help for our various areas of responsibility, and you'll have a chance to provided detailed input about the agenda specifics. OK? OK. Wisdom, love, courage (and patience!) Jane PS. If you really want to play Oz chess, forget the board! Go live! Dress yourselves in costumes, chalk off an empty parking lot, put a coupla players on step ladders with megaphones and move at their command. Now that would be a chess game.... ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 13:07:48 -0500 (EST) From: sahutchi@iupui.edu Subject: Ozzy Digest Has anyone seen a particular episode of _Moonlighting_ called "Somewhere Under the Rainbow?" Judging from the show's general nature, I imagine this was Oz related, but I can't be certain. The episode "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice," which was partly done in black and white with a prologue by Orson Wellles, has David wake up to say "Auntie Em, Uncle Henry?" Other films for the "Over the Rainbow" list include Robert Fuest's _The Abominable Dr. Phibes_ and _Dr. Phibes Risen Again_ (Michael Gessel informed me of these) and John Woo's _Face/Off_, which I read in _Film Score Monthly_ is played during a shootout. I found out why I couldn't find _The Runestone_ by Mark E. Rogers, anywhere (which Willard Carroll made into an excellent Nouvelle Vague style film in 1990). It was privately printed in 1979 by Burning Bush Press. When are we starting with _Sky Island_? I haven't read this yet, and I want to make sure to get in on discussion. I bought a BoW Road to participate, but never had time to read it. I don't want to encounter any spoliers or anything, but I'm just so busy! Scott ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 13:29:43 -0500 (EST) From: sahutchi@iupui.edu Subject: Oz Over the Rainbow Anyone know about these? I found them on the IMDb. _Over the Rainbow_ (France, 1997, 10 min.) written and directed by Alexandre Aja. Director of Photography: Alexandre Bugel; Film Editing by Marie de la Selle; Press: Dominique Segall. S: Jean Benguigui (Guardian), Jean-Claude De Goros (Florist), Carine Yvart (Lisa), Anne Zamberlan (First Victim). It was nominated for the Best Short Film Palme d'or at Cannes. _Over the Rainbow_ (1993 British Comedy Series) starring Angeline Ball, Bronagh Gallagher, Eamon Morrisey, Linda Regan, Peter Sullivan, Ian Taggett, and Roger Walker. and, a HK-Chinese film _Ji de... xiang jiao cheng shu shi II: Chu lian qing ren_ (1994) director unknown aka _Over the Rainbow Under the Skirt_ Scott ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 12:40:39 -0700 From: "A.E. Schaible" Subject: ozzy digest Eric Shanower and Michael Reilly are having a book signing at BoW on Satuday October 4, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 19:56:19 -0400 (EDT) From: Saroz@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-02-97 Dave, on Xanth: Er...there's definitely a focus on sexual jokes and references in Xanth, but it plays a much bigger role in more recent books (the whole panties schtick wasn't around six books ago, I don't think). You might want to try one of the earlier ones... the second book (can't remember it's name...help, people!) and third book ("Castle Roogna") might be especially good ones for you to try. The first book ("A Spell for Chamaeleon") is excessively boring, or I'd recommend it to you...I've still not gotten through the whole thing, and it's been over five years since I first tried. The Adult Conspiracy, P.S., is sex. That's why it's the Adult Conspiracy...the children aren't supposed to know about it. Sarah, whose favorite Xanth books are the second-book-I-can't-remember-the-title-of and Dragon on a Pedestal ;-) ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 20:08:25 -0400 (EDT) From: Saroz@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-02-97 Everyone: I just did a little searching and here's the URL for the chess page with the Alice sets (this is not the page for the Alice sets themselves, but for the theme-based sets, of which the Alices are a part). http://www.chessforum.com/indexthemebasedsets.html BTW, I don't really like the Alice in Wonderland set (why are they using Disney's White Rabbit?!), but the Lewis Carroll one is very nice, if not perfect. Sarah ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 20:23:49 -0400 (EDT) From: CrNoble@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-02-97 Tyler and Dave: At one time I was an avid Xanth fan. I've read all the books through _Crewel Lye_ (#8). Unfortunately, I felt they were getting too formulaic and even more excessive than RPT at her punniest. I've haven't bothered with any of Piers Anthony's books since. Having said that, I would still strongly recommend _A Spell for Chameleon_, _The Source of Magic_ and _Castle Roogna_ to anyone who enjoys reading fantasy. I also enjoyed Anthony's Apprentice Adept and Tarot trilogies. BTW Anthony definitely likes to spice his books with sexual innuendo. At the time (when I was a teenager), I enjoyed it. It's pretty adolescent in nature and relatively harmless. Craig ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 21:26:15 -0400 (EDT) From: Ozmama@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-02-97 XANTH: Cute place to visit, but I wouldn't want to have to stay there for more than a few books. Piers Anthony recycled his stuff unmercifully. He also relied, as does Asprin, on puns to get him through. After several books, the series grew boring, although I certainly did enjoy the first few. They're cute and lively, but then they grow absolutely predictable. Not character-driven, really, and the plots are strong enough to drive 'em, either. Too bad, 'cause Anthony does know how to write a good yarn, but the Xanth series seems to be "Let's-just-follow-this-convenient-little-formula-and- make-some money-driven," more than anything else. The series is s'posed to be for adults--or at least YA's, but it quickly palls. Melody: Cute stuff about Zog. Thanks! I'll let the DIGESTS pile up for a coupla days. Heading to Austin tomorrow to set up for my older daughter's wedding! Might pick up my e-mail there. Might not! --Robin ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 21:59:04 -0700 From: Nathan Mulac DeHoff Subject: Ozzy Digest X-Authentication-warning: mail2.geocities.com: wht2b6e05.resnet.iup.edu [144.80.104.94] didn't use HELO protocol Ruth: Actually, the No Bodies appeared in _Pirates in Oz_ (which I just recently finished reading for the first time, meaning that I have completed the entire FF). They are the inhabitants of Nowhere. -- Nathan Mulac DeHoff vovat@geocities.com or lnvf@grove.iup.edu http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/5447/ "I'm having a wonderful time, but I'd rather be whistling in the dark." ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 19:30:19 -0700 From: Bob Spark Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-02-97 Howdy, I just finished Baum's _The Enchanted Buffalo_ which was printed in the new _Oz Gazette_. I enjoyed it very much, to the extent that I am going to order his _Animal Fairy Tales_ which includes _Buffalo_. Reminds me a lot of Kipling, although I haven't Kipled in a while :-) (sorry). Oh well, back to _The Sea Fairies_. Bob Spark ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 17:18:29 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-02-97 To: "Dave L. Hardenbrook" Jeremy: >No ferries in Oz? >Almost--only one that I know of offhand, and that would be Ozma, with >others in the Forest of Burzee. Quite a few others, actually - there's Faleero, and there are the mist fairies encountered in _Glinda_, and Peg Amy is apparently a "fairy princess" if Glegg's curse in _Kabumpo_ is to mean anything. There may be others that don't come to mind offhand. (Polychrome certainly spends a good deal of time in Oz, though she's not a permanent resident.) Nathan: >Regarding Chess Sets: >Maybe someone should come up with a scrum set. If you recall, scrum is >somewhat like chess, somewhat like checkers, and somewhat like parchesi. Sounds like fun; somebody would have to come up with a playable set of rules, though. Might be like chess in that you have different pieces with different types of moves, like checkers in that you capture opposing pieces by jumping them instead of moving into their square, and like parchesi in that the distance a piece can move is determined by throwing dice. Something like that. Anybody have any better suggestion? Tyler: You had the same idea I had (though with a different result), but you remembered the name of the IBM chess computer correctly. I inadvertently used the nickname of the IBM corporation itself. I is covered with rue. David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 16:11:01 -0600 (CST) From: Ruth Berman Subject: ozzy digest Jeremy Steadman: Apart from the Burzeean groaner, some Oz ferries include the one Tip couldn't pay for in "Land," and the one with a ferryman who couldn't understand animals ("Lost Princess"). (And "Cowardly Lion" Fairyman who protects Notta and Bob in their sleep.) Melody Grandy: Enjoyed the self-esteem riff on unusual bodies. A cheerier portrait than Zog of a reptile-bird-fish-what-is-it is Edward Lear's "The Scroobius Pip" (a nonsense poem that didn't get into his collected nonsenses somehow, but what published in this century with some other "lost" Lear nonsense). By the by, this may be over-obvious, but I enjoyed Baum's naming that makes Sacho of Saccharineolaland an overly sweet child. Ruth Berman ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 16:44:16 -0500 (EST) From: Jeremy Steadman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-02-97 "Agreed; the Royal Historians had a strong tendency to make generalizations about Oz that weren't true even in their own books, much less those of other RHs." In fact, they made such statements all the time. :-) "That's how they were pronounced by the ancient Romans." A serious question here (I do those on occasion): How do we know how the ancient Romans (or any dead people) said things? With a quip and a question, I'll buzz off for the day. --Jeremy Steadman ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 03 Oct 97 14:14:29 (PDT) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things CHESS: Jane, I love your idea for a life-sized chess game! This sort of thing was done in ancient times when Sheiks and Indian Princes would stage life-sized chess games. Maybe this could actually be done at a convention! Everyone dresses as Oz characters for each piece and plays through a game. And thanks to Sarah for the pointer to the chess sets page... XANTH: Thanks everyone for the Xanth info... A REMINDER: The South Winkies Convention is two weeks off (Saturday the 18th), and the deadline for registration is Wednesday the 15th. For information call Louis Rhodes at: (714) 497-1082. -- Dave ====================================================================== -- Dave ************************************************************ Dave Hardenbrook, E-Mail: DaveH47@delphi.com URL: http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/ Computer Programmer, Honorary Citizen of the Land of Oz, and Editor of "The Ozzy Digest" (The _Wizard of Oz_ online fan club) "When we are young we read and believe The most Fantastic Things... When we grow older and wiser We learn, with perhaps a little regret, That these things can never be... WE ARE QUITE, QUITE *** WRONG ***!!!" -- Noel Coward, "Blithe Spirit" ************************************************************ ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, OCTOBER 4 - 5, 1997 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 17:18:29 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-02-97 Jeremy: >No ferries in Oz? >Almost--only one that I know of offhand, and that would be Ozma, with >others in the Forest of Burzee. Quite a few others, actually - there's Faleero, and there are the mist fairies encountered in _Glinda_, and Peg Amy is apparently a "fairy princess" if Glegg's curse in _Kabumpo_ is to mean anything. There may be others that don't come to mind offhand. (Polychrome certainly spends a good deal of time in Oz, though she's not a permanent resident.) Nathan: >Regarding Chess Sets: >Maybe someone should come up with a scrum set. If you recall, scrum is >somewhat like chess, somewhat like checkers, and somewhat like parchesi. Sounds like fun; somebody would have to come up with a playable set of rules, though. Might be like chess in that you have different pieces with different types of moves, like checkers in that you capture opposing pieces by jumping them instead of moving into their square, and like parchesi in that the distance a piece can move is determined by throwing dice. Something like that. Anybody have any better suggestion? Tyler: You had the same idea I had (though with a different result), but you remembered the name of the IBM chess computer correctly. I inadvertently used the nickname of the IBM corporation itself. I is covered with rue. David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 21:11:28 -0400 From: Richard Bauman Subject: Today's Oz Growls Sender: Richard Bauman Back from vacation with about ten Digests to go through. Whew! David/Dave - Thanks for taking my share of the AOLers. I'll wait and see if this is still a problem. If so I am ready to take my share from you. Let me know. By the way, the logo of Princess Cruise Lines is unmistakeably "OZ." The Z has a bar through the center and the two letters are connected but you can't fool me. David - The waters off Oregon/Washington have always been "reasonably" warm. That is if you are a fearless teenager. The Japanese Current bounces off the coast there IIRC. Tyler >Ozzy Chess: I'll go along with Nathan's idea of making the good guys green and the bad guys gray, which would be a good symbology with no racial statements. I really want to object to this. I know some really nice people named Gray and I'm sure they wouldn't want their name/color used as a symbol for the bad guys. Congratulations David - I see you have become the "Al Franken" of the Digest while I was gone. Dave - Will you consider posting, at the end of the Digest, the date and title of the next BCF. Reading to catch up I find many who are confused about the date and even the title. I know you aren't into structures but it would really help. Earl >This may be so, but there is no indication that Ozma knew this. She did not try that or anything. Something should have been done. The transportation of a few eggs into the tunnel every day probably would have cost the Belt little magical energy and could have considerably slowed the tunnel construction, to give the Ozians more time to prepare. Or even just to delay the inevitable, if it was truly inevitable. This was the nadir of our beloved monarch's reign. It is beyond me why some of you keep pushing this view of Ozma. As far as I can see, our gracious monarch had things under control and simply chose the easiest means of accomplishing the disposal of the invaders. Maybe some are so afflicted by modern cinema that they expected a band of machine gunners brought in to mow the invaders down like bloody wheat. I can see "The Sea Fairies" was a real disappointment for many of us as the discussion so far has revolved around typos and art. Sigh. It left me so cold I don't have a single comment. My sister just moved to eastern Kansas. She says the wheat is an incredible shade of green and folks around there think it was the basis for the emerald city's color. They also think the "domed" houses in Oz were inspired by Kansas silos. This caused me to wonder, if Baum was ever in Kansas and why he chose that state rather than a Dakota? Better yet, were the artists ever in Kansas? David - I don't know about a new Oz Collector, but if you want a BOW News from now on you are going to have to subscribe, at $5 per year. That is unless you buy something from Issue 91 within 30 days. Since I buy quite a lot from BOW, this seems a bit peremptory to me but I guess times are hard. Well, their loss is my local children's book store's gain. Nathan >Generally, when an author states that a certain thing does not exist in Oz, this statement need not be taken at face value. I love it. May we call this the "DeHoff Rule?" I think we can also apply this to a certain politician finally under investigation. Nathan again >"good" and "evil" are largely subjective terms, but I would have to consider someone as sadistic as Zog to be evil. Did you make this decision based on subjective evidence? Octopodes - David, you must have forgotten your Beatles. The great Aquareine controversy. Like David I thought this was "ak-wa-rain." However, I thought Baum was doing a sort of play on words. Aqua-reign or she who reigns in water. Jeremy? He's back....... Bear (:<) ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 22:11:46 -0400 (EDT) From: Saroz@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-03-97 Everyone - on the chess - I've just gotten a brainstorm for a possible four-player chess-like game (also involving elements of traditional board games and chinese checkers). Each 'side', naturally, would be an Oz country, and something special would have to represent the Emerlad City... I'll give it a think-over, and post my thoughts/plans/results when they come to me. Sarah ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 04 Oct 1997 10:13:17 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-03-97 My mother-in-law went through some tests on Wednesday and they found no remaining traces of her cancer. Apparently the radiation and chemotherapy did their job and wiped it out, at least for the time being. Many of you had expressed concern when I mentioned the diagnosis back in May, so I thought I'd share the good news with you. Jane: >PS. If you really want to play Oz chess, forget the board! Go live! Dress >yourselves in costumes, chalk off an empty parking lot, put a coupla players >on step ladders with megaphones and move at their command. Now that would be >a chess game.... This was done at least once with Tolkien and Narnia characters at a Mythcon - in 1971, IIRC. May have happened again since. Doing it at an Oz convention would certainly be a fun item, although getting that many people into costume (and very specific ones at that) might be difficult. Jeremy: The ancient Greeks and Romans had writers on the subject of phonetics who discussed how various letters were pronounced in sufficient detail that it's possible to figure out roughly how those languages were pronounced at various historical points. Probably not in enough detail to distinguish between, say, the dental "t" of French and the alveolar "t" of English - someone who learns the modern version of the Ciceronian pronunciation of Latin would probably be considered to have a funny accent by Cicero - but enough that we know generally how the consonants and vowels were pronounced, and at what point in history, say, the consonantal "v" changed from a sound more or less like our "w" to one like our "v", for instance. In many ancient languages, though, we can only make an educated guess on pronunciation because if those cultures wrote about pronunciation the texts haven't been found (and may well no longer exist). The discussion of _Sea Fairies_ has been fun, but it seems to be petering out now. Shall we go on to _Sky Island_ in another week or so? David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 04 Oct 1997 16:55:55 -0400 (EDT) From: "James R. Whitcomb" Subject: For Ozzy Digest Dear Ozzy Digesters: I've been meaning to post for quite a while, but have been very busy. This post may be rather long so I apologize beforehand and hope I don't annoy anyone. David Hulan: I also recently received the stained glass ornament that I ordered from Books of Wonder. I also purchased the one with Nick-Chopper and Polychrome. I was a little nervous ordering something that expensive without seeing it first, but I was "extremely" pleased; it's very colorful! Now, I'm debating on whether to order another one. Your bay window with 4 of them must be spectacular! Mine is proudly hanging in "my" window which faces the north so light filters through it most of the day. It's surrounded by my other stained glass Oz ornaments (much smaller) which I usually put on my Christmas tree. Anyone: I recently purchased a copy of "Oz and Beyond" by Riley. Since I don't even come close to being as knowledgeable about the literary aspects of Oz/Baum as most of the posters on this digest, I am really looking forward to reading it. I skimmed it and so far it looks great. I did see something early on in the book that really caught my attention and that has to do with the relationship between Baum and Denslow on "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" in terms of how the design of the book could have effected the creation of the story or vice versa. Since I am most interested in the artistic interpretations/aspects of Oz, I can't wait to explore this area further. Which leads me to my next question for ... Jane: Are there any plans to have a session at the Centennial Oz Convention in which contemporary illustrators of Baum's, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", will appear and discuss how/why they decided to illustrate it the way they did? In the past few years, there have many editions published with varying styles/techniques of illustration. I think it would be nice to meet some of the illustrators and buy autographed copies. I have a few, which I bought via mail, but it would be nice to meet them in person and hear their stories about Oz. Anyone: I came across a couple of Oz references recently that I will share, but they are both movie related. The first is the May/June issue of "Sheet Music Magazine". The issue is in celebration of Judy Garlands 75th birthday. It has a nice article, music from some of the songs she sang, and a beautiful, full-color cover. If anyone is interested in obtaining this, here is the address: Sheet Music Magazine, 333 Adams Street, Bedford Hills, NY 10507. The cost is $3.95. The second one is an advertisement in the September 1997 issue of "The Choral Journal" for a choral arrangement of songs from MGM's "The Wizard of Oz". I am very interested in hearing what this sounds like. If anyone would be interested in obtaining this issue, here is the address: American Choral Directors Association, P.O. Box 6310, Lawton, OK 73506-0310. The cost for this one is $4.00. The issue has information one where to purchase the choral arrangement. It was really nice seeing more pictures of posters in the recent issue of "The Oz Observer". Especially, Ruth Berman, who must know something about everything! I'm not poking fun, Ruth, I'm just amazed at how knowledgeable you are! Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us. Jim Whitcomb of ... Jim's "Wizard of Oz" Website URL: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/6396/ ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 04 Oct 1997 22:22:00 -0400 From: Tyler Jones Subject: Oz Sender: Tyler Jones Sarah: The name of that second Xanth book is _The Source of Magic_. I agree that it is definitely one of the best of the series. My three faves are 1, 2 and 8. That's _A Spell for Chameleon_, _The Source of Magic_ and _Crewel Lye_. I can't imagine how you found the first one boring. It's very similar in structure to the second, but to each their own. I loved it, though. Craig: Yes, they have definitely been getting formulaic, punny and excessive, but it's too late for me. Every time I try to get out, Anthony drags me back in :-) I noticed an ususual thing about Apprentice Adept. The trilogy was very good and complete. Suddenly, five years after finishing the trilogy, he starts it up again, and writes four more that are far inferior to the first three. Oh,well. At least he hasn't uselessly continued _Tarot_/_Cluster_ or _Bio of a Space Tyrant_. Nathan: Another one completes the FF! Congrats! I was seventeen years in this odyssey myself, finishing in 1994. You are now a "made" guy. Department of complaints and gripes: Some people with ambiguous e-mail addresses are not signing their names at the end of their posts. This makes it difficult to identify who wrote those brilliant lines, so please, be proud and take ownership of your eloquence! :-) --Tyler Jones ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 04 Oct 1997 19:48:33 -0700 From: Bob Spark Subject: Comments about _The Sea Fairies_ for the Ozzie Digest Greetings and felicitations, Well, I just finished _The Sea Fairies_ and, on the whole, find myself well pleased by it. I suspect that if I had read it initially as a child it could well be one of my favorites. It's hard for me to make unbiased judgements in these cases. Suffice it to say that I found it fairly enchanting. Following are a few observations: First, I believe someone had commented earlier on the excellence of Neill's illustrations in this book. I agree. Among other things, I found the swordfish on page 47 to be delightful. The USN on their sides and their belts full of swords (with no obvious ability to use them) were wonderfully whimsical. My only problem with the illustrations was Anko. I wish Neill's drawings of him had been as detailed and graceful as those of the rest of the characters. In comparison, Anko almost seems a cartoon. I wonder where the tradition of seamen and wooden legs originated. Long John Silver, perhaps. Given the hazards of many occupations in the past, prior to the OSHA regulations that those of us of the more conservative persuasion decry, I imagine that missing limbs and other personal bits and pieces were not any more common to seafarers than to persons of many other lines of work. On page 42: > "Why, how old are mermaids, then?"asked Trot, > looking around at the beautiful creatures wonderingly. > "We are all ladies of an uncertain age,"rejoined > the Princess, with a smile. "We don't care to tell." I thought that the expression was "ladies of a certain age". On page 49: > "...Shall we go in?" > "I'd just as soon," replied Trot, rather timidly... The above seems awkward to me. "I'd just as soon" doesn't sound timid, just not very enthusiastic. On page 50: > They could not sit down as we do, Trot readily > understood, because of their tails. I don't see any problem with mermaids sitting. The "Little Mermaid" in the harbor in (is it?) Copenhagen seems to do it quite gracefully. On page 59: > "Hurt!" exclaimed the Sea Serpent, groaning at the > recollection. "My dear, those creatures have been called > lobsters ever since!" Could someone please explain this to me? I've tried, but can make no sense out of it whatever. On page 78: > "I've heard tell of codfish aristocercy," said Cap'n > Bill; "but I never knowed 'zac'ly what it meant afore." I've never heard tell of this. I still don't know "zac'ly what it means, just by the context. Help, please. Later, Bob Spark ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 04 Oct 1997 22:40:18 -0500 From: Jim Vander Noot Subject: The Olderman Wedding Hi folks, Terry, Emma, and I just returned from LeAnne Olderman's wedding in Austin. A wonderful, cozy affair in a marvelous old Victorian mansion with exquisite stained-glass windows. Robin looked very elegant, and LeAnne made a wonderful bride. Jeff's white beard makes him very distinguished, and for those of you who missed Rachel at Ozmopolitan a couple years back, she is really flourishing too - the Navy is sending her to music school and she will be a vocalist with the Navy band. It was such a pleasant surprise to see our old Oz friend Hank Blossom (author of The Blue Emperor of Oz)! It had been several years since we'd seen him. Jim ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 05 Oct 1997 18:01:38 -0500 (EST) From: Jeremy Steadman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-03-97 Re the Centennial Convention, Maybe I'll actually get to that one . . . It's in the summer, right? Under the Rainbow? That's also known as being under the weather. :-) Piers Anthony: His books are too intentionally funny for me (don't laugh, please; I'm serious!). --Jeremy Steadman ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 05 Oct 97 17:27:38 (PDT) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things Has anyone been following the debate on news.groups on the possibility of an Oz newsgroup? I would like to know people's thoughts. I would also like people's input on how I can improve the Digest. -- Dave P.S. Also, how do people feel about a name change? The confusion of "The Ozzy Digest" with Ozzy Osbourne are becoming more frequent... ====================================================================== -- Dave ************************************************************ Dave Hardenbrook, E-Mail: DaveH47@delphi.com URL: http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/ Computer Programmer, Honorary Citizen of the Land of Oz, and Editor of "The Ozzy Digest" (The _Wizard of Oz_ online fan club) "When we are young we read and believe The most Fantastic Things... When we grow older and wiser We learn, with perhaps a little regret, That these things can never be... WE ARE QUITE, QUITE *** WRONG ***!!!" -- Noel Coward, "Blithe Spirit" ************************************************************ ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, OCTOBER 6-7, 1997 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 05 Oct 1997 21:29:55 -0400 From: "Melody G. Keller" Subject: Ozzy Digest, 10-03-97 Sender: "Melody G. Keller" Ruth: >By the by, this may be over-obvious, but I enjoyed Baum's naming that makes Sacho of Saccharineolaland an overly sweet child.< On the contrary, encouraging all of Zog's slaves to be happy instead of wasting time on being miserable makes perfect sense, and also seems a subtle act of rebellion against mean old Soggy Zoggy! :-) (Hmm. Wonder if Zog is a pun on soggy? He supposedly doesn't know the mermaid's secret for staying dry under water.) Actually, you did better than me in catching the punny reference to Sacho's saccharine name. Melody Grandy ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 05 Oct 1997 21:57:48 -0400 (EDT) From: Saroz@aol.com Subject: Renames for the Ozzy Digest Here are a few ideas: The Munchkin Foghorn The FF Brigade Children of the Rainbow (of course, then people would think us to be cultists) The Ozmapolitan The Ozite Informer Also, everyone, still thinking on the chess thing. I like the 'scrum' idea, too, and I'm thinking of how to come up with a four player game on a special 'star' shaped board. Sarah ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 05 Oct 1997 22:01:50 -0400 From: "Melody G. Keller" Subject: Ozzy Digest, 10-05-97 Sender: "Melody G. Keller" Hello, Mr. Bear! > The great Aquareine controversy. Like David I thought this was "ak-wa-rain." However, I thought Baum was doing a sort of play on words. Aqua-reign or she who reigns in water. Jeremy?< I'm not Jeremy, but I've always pronounced Aquareine the same as you. The French word, "Reine," is pronounced "rain" and means "Queen". And in English "reign" means to rule over. So it seems Baum achieved a double pun here. "Water-queen" and "Water-reign." David: My mother-in-law went through some tests on Wednesday and they found no remaining traces of her cancer. Apparently the radiation and chemotherapy did their job and wiped it out, at least for the time being. Many of you had expressed concern when I mentioned the diagnosis back in May, so I thought I'd share the good news with you. Glad they zapped your mother-in-law's cancer! Hope with you that it's gone for good. > "I've heard tell of codfish aristocercy," said Cap'n > Bill; "but I never knowed 'zac'ly what it meant afore." I've never heard tell of this. I still don't know "zac'ly what it means, just by the context. Help, please. Indeed! One problem I had with "Sea Fairies" was with the dated material in it--as when the octopus is compared with a monopolistic oil company. This is a shot in the dark, Bob, but there is a rhyme that goes, "Here's to good old Boston, the home of the bean and the cod, where the Taylors talk only to the Cabots, and the Cabots talk only to God." Could this be referring to codfish aristocracy? (Peter Pan, in his story, calls the foppish, aristocratic Captain Hook a codfish.) Dave: >P.S. Also, how do people feel about a name change? The confusion of "The Ozzy Digest" with Ozzy Osbourne are becoming more frequent... At the risk of being too obvious, you *could* rename it The Wonderful Digest of Oz.... :-) Melody Grandy ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 03:55:44 +0000 From: Scott Olsen Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-05-97 Re: Dave's: "Has anyone been following the debate on news.groups on the possibility of an Oz newsgroup? I would like to know people's thoughts. I would also like people's input on how I can improve the Digest. No, I haven't followed it. In regard to improving the Digest, would it be possible in the header to include the date of the previous digest? Maybe something like this: THE OZZY DIGEST--October 5, 1997 (previous digest October 3, 1997) This way we'll all know if there was a previous digest we didn't receive. Although I don't **think** I've missed any, I never can be sure! Re: "P.S. Also, how do people feel about a name change? The confusion of "The Ozzy Digest" with Ozzy Osbourne are becoming more frequent..." Hey, who was here first? That aside, are you saying that simply the word "Oz" would be less confusing? Sincerely, Scott Olsen ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 09:27:56 -0700 From: "Stephen J. Teller" Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-05-97 > From: Bob Spark > Subject: Comments about _The Sea Fairies_ for the Ozzie Digest > > On page 42: > > "Why, how old are mermaids, then?"asked Trot, > > looking around at the beautiful creatures wonderingly. > > "We are all ladies of an uncertain age,"rejoined > > the Princess, with a smile. "We don't care to tell." > I thought that the expression was "ladies of a certain age". It is. That is what makes the princess's remark so delightful. > On page 78: > > "I've heard tell of codfish aristocercy," said Cap'n > > Bill; "but I never knowed 'zac'ly what it meant afore." > I've never heard tell of this. I still don't know "zac'ly what it > means, just by the context. Help, please. This is an poser. I have always assumed that the "codfish aristocracy referred to Bostonian families whose wealth had come from fishing. Note the old poem: Here's to dear old Boston, The home of the bean and the cod, Where the Cabots speak only to the Lowells, And the Lowells speak only to God. > > Re the Centennial Convention, > Maybe I'll actually get to that one . . . It's in the summer, right? > Yes, the summer of 2000. > From: Dave Hardenbrook > > P.S. Also, how do people feel about a name change? The confusion of > "The Ozzy Digest" with Ozzy Osbourne are becoming more frequent... > Leave well enough alone. Keep things as they are. Steve T. ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 10:45:58 -0500 (EST) From: Jeremy Steadman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-05-97 Aquareine: All right, I'll put in my two nonsenses at last: 1) Aquar-eine--If you find a female chicken that was dropped in a bucket of paint, you will see the logic in the saying, mad as an aqua hen. 2) Awk! Warring (is what certain parrots do best). Now aren't you all glad I was silent about that at first? ----------------------------------------- Dave: Re confusion between the Digest and the Osbourne by the same name-- We have just as much a right to our name as he does! Don't back down (what else would we call it, anyway? The Oz Discussion Group? We'd turn off more potential members thab we'd gain, as people would expect a scholarly, high-level dialouge among university professors). --Jeremy Steadman, an Oz fan, no more (and no less!) ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 10:23:12 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-05-97 Bear: The waters off Oregon/Washington are warmer than the waters off similar latitudes on the Atlantic coast, true, but I believe El Nino is still making them warmer. (I know it's doing it off the California coast; I don't know how far north the effect goes.) >Congratulations David - I see you have become the "Al Franken" of the >Digest while I was gone. That name sounds familiar, but I can't place it, so I don't know if I should feel complimented or insulted. >I can see "The Sea Fairies" was a real disappointment for many of us as the >discussion so far has revolved around typos and art. Sigh. It left me so >cold I don't have a single comment. There was also a good deal of discussion of the character of Zog, which to me was the only really interesting part of the book. I stopped getting BoW News quite some time ago, probably because I wasn't buying anything from it; I buy a lot from BoW, but almost entirely through the Oz Collector. With few exceptions, the items offered in BoW News weren't anything I was interested in. And now that there's a bookstore with an excellent selection of children's and YA hardcovers handy to me, I'd be even less likely to need to order from BoW. For Oz stuff, of course, they're in a class by themselves. >Octopodes - David, you must have forgotten your Beatles. Must have; I don't remember any references to octopuses or octopi or octopodes in any of the Beatles albums I have. But then I stopped liking what the Beatles were doing starting with the White Album, so I don't know their later songs at all well. And probably not all of their earlier ones, though I think I'm pretty familiar with their better-known songs up to the WA. "Reine" is the French word for "queen," which Baum probably had in mind, though "aqua" is not French for "water," but Latin. Welcome back, by the way! James: Well, _I_ like our bay window with the four Oz stained glass ornaments hanging in it, and so does my wife even though she's not really an Oz fan. They certainly announce to anyone passing that Here Lives An Oz Fan... Mine are also on the north side of the house, though the street is angled a little to true north so the center panes really face about north by west. In the summer the left-hand pane (looking from inside the house) catches the late-afternoon sun, so I chose to put the Ruggedo/Tik-Tok ornament there because the faceted "emeralds" look best when in direct sunlight. Bob S.: I think I've mentioned before that _The Sea Fairies_ was the only Baum/Oz book that my daughter liked when she was a child. I think this is because she was much more into natural history than fantasy, so that even though she knew that Trot's encounters with undersea creatures weren't realistic, she enjoyed them. > I wonder where the tradition of seamen and wooden legs originated. >Long John Silver, perhaps. Given the hazards of many occupations in the >past, prior to the OSHA regulations that those of us of the more >conservative persuasion decry, I imagine that missing limbs and other >personal bits and pieces were not any more common to seafarers than to >persons of many other lines of work. I don't know of any statistics, but one-legged sailors are a pretty common theme in books; Captain Ahab antedated Long John Silver, IIRC, and I doubt he was the first. Climbing around in the rigging of a sailing ship was probably more hazardous than most land-based jobs, and in the days before antibiotics almost any compound fracture required amputation to save the victim's life. >> "I've heard tell of codfish aristocercy," said Cap'n >> Bill; "but I never knowed 'zac'ly what it meant afore." > I've never heard tell of this. I still don't know "zac'ly what it >means, just by the context. Help, please. "Codfish aristocracy" was a term coined in the mid-19th century to refer to a class of nouveau riche Bostonians who'd made their fortunes in the codfishing industry, which was a major one in Massachusetts in the 18th and 19th centuries. Wallace Irwin wrote a poem on the subject that was apparently popular around the time Baum wrote _Sea Fairies_; the first stanza goes "Of all the fish that swim or swish/ In ocean's deep autocracy,/ There's none possess such hautiness/ As the codfish aristocracy." The "codfish" aristocracy were distinguished from the _true_ aristocracy - people like the Lowells and Cabots and Adamses - by being just rich, not cultured. (This information courtesy of _Heavens to Betsy!_, a compendium of colorful phrases by Charles Earle Funk, published in 1955.) Dave: You're the one running the Digest (or "you da man," as the saying goes in Chicagoland); if you think changing the name would reduce confusion then by all means do so. If you just made it the "Oz Digest" you might get subscribers confusing it with travel in Australia, of course, or fans of the writer Amos Oz. David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 16:40:10 -0400 From: David Levitan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-05-97 Well, I can fill you in on that, since I am the group proponent. Thje name has been changed from rec.arts.books.oz to rec.arts.books.wizard-of-oz because of some confusion. This was thought to be the best name possible. That was the only change when the 2nd RFD was posted. there was then some debate on a few things, and a lot of things got changed. First, advertisements about Oz are allowed. Second, no original fiction is allowed. And third, other books by Oz authors were allowed. The thire RFD should be posted some time this week, as it takes some time for the moderator of news.announce.newgroups to post RFDs. It is possible that there will be an RFD about the end of this month. I will post a note here when the CFV has been posted > Date: Sun, 05 Oct 97 17:27:38 (PDT) > From: Dave Hardenbrook > Subject: Ozzy Things > > Has anyone been following the debate on news.groups on the possibility > of an Oz newsgroup? I would like to know people's thoughts. I would > also like people's input on how I can improve the Digest. > > -- Dave -- David Levitan Oz Enthusiast wizardofoz@iname.com Netscape Supporter Designer of the Wonderful Land of Oz http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9075 Ring Master of the Oz Web Ring http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=ozsites;home ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 16:12:10 -0500 (EST) From: sahutchi@iupui.edu Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-05-97 Did anyone know that Gump Stephen Norrington went on to direct a film called _Death Machine_, in which the characters are named after cult horror directors, like Dante, Carpeneter, and Raimi? Bear: I believe the Beatles song uses a possesive, not a plural. David: When Rush Limbaugh was talking about the goals of the UPS strike, he kept mentioning "Yellow Brick Road." As far as him making up facts, he documents most of them, so if someone is making them up, it's not him. Scott P.S.: I figured out how to make WordPerfect type in foreign alphabets. Could one of our Hebrew speakers tell me the correct way to put _Hakosem!_ and _Haksoem Mae'orchi Hakosem!_ into Hebrew (spelling the letters out in English) back into the original Hebrew, since I'ver never seen the film? I'd hate to ask my sister-in-law, just because she's Jewish. Scott ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 14:45:43 -0700 From: Bob Spark Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-05-97 A week or so to begin _Sky Island_ is okay with me too. Dave Hardenbrook, I personally have no interest in an Oz newsgroup. Also, I see no need for a change in the "Ozzie Digest" name, but if others feel it necessary or desirable I have no objection. This from Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle: > In "The Wizard of Oz," you may recall, a tornado touched > down in Kansas. Other times that happened there include > June 22, 1969, the day that Judy Garland died. I would not imagine that the above is a particularity striking coincidence, but maybe I am mistaken. Any comments? Also: > In "The Wizard of Oz," All you punctuation professionals, Help! I feel that the comma should have followed the end quote, not been within the quotation marks. I come across other occurrences of similar punctuation from time to time, i.e. periods at the end of sentences being inserted within quotes when the periods are not part of the original quotation. Am I in error? Bob Spark ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 21:06:39 -0400 From: Tyler Jones Subject: Oz Sender: Tyler Jones Sky Island: Could we start _Sky Island_ in at least a week or two? That will give me the time to re-read it. Sarah: There is a four-player chess game out there somewhere, although they may not make it anymore. Basically, it is a normal board with each player's pieces in two special rows set back from the board. Therefore, it has 128 squares. The two players facing each other are allies, and the idea is to capture the other two kings. David: It's good to hear of the lack of cancer though. I'd recommend a stern vigil, though. Cancer is known to make comebacks. --Tyler Jones ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 08:06:33 -0400 (EDT) From: earlabbe@juno.com (Earl C. Abbe) Subject: Ozzy Digest Submission In the 10/3 Digest, Bob Spark asks what I have been doing for the last 34 years to defend my country. Active duty military/government staffer/contract employee in various support positions on the Government side of the industrial-military complex. Saroz says in the same digest he found that This is not the general reaction. (I thought it was quite good.) The book did win one of the prestigious awards and inspired the ongoing interest in the Xanth series. Dave, I will be off-line Friday, 10/10 through Sunday 10/19. Could you assign someone else to forward the Ozzy Digest to my designated AOL buddy -- OZZILEE@aol.com -- for the duration? Earl Abbe ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 06:35:35 -0600 (CST) From: Ruth Berman Subject: ozzy digest Nathan DeHoff: Oops, yes, No Bodies are in "Pirates," not "John Dough." (Wrong voyage among Nonestic islandry.) Bob Spark: Those questions you raise on various small points of usage -- I don't know why "an uncertain age" rather than the usual "a certain age" (maybe parody poking fun at it?), or why creatures that hurt would be called lobsters (maybe this is the same sort of joke as Mark Twain's Eve's calling the tiger a tiger because that's what it looks like)? On "I'd just as soon" and "timidly" -- the phrase itself is not timid, but presumably it could be said in a timid voice. Problems for mermaids sitting -- they could bend the tail to sit on the tail as the Copenhagen Little Mermaid status does, but then it would be hard to "sit down as we do," i.e., in a chair. "Zac'ly" is Baum stumble-tongue-talk for "exactly." "Codfish aristocracy" -- Lowells and Cabots, I assume. "I come from the city of Boston, the home of the bean and the cod, where the Lowells speak only to Cabots, and the Cabots speak only to God," as the old verse has it. Robin Olderman: Congratulations on LeAnne's wedding! (And thanks to Jim Vander Noot for the descriptioning.) Ruth Berman ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 07 Oct 97 15:34:36 (PDT) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things Any more comments on Oz newsgroup/Digest improvements? (I'm currently leaning towards not changing the name...) Scott Olsen wrote: >No, I haven't followed it. In regard to improving the Digest, would it be >possible in the header to include the date of the previous digest? In the Digest, if a day is skipped the head reflects this, i.e. "THE OZZY DIGEST 4 - 5, 1997" indicates that the last Digest was on the 3rd. Earl wrote: >Dave, I will be off-line Friday, 10/10 through Sunday 10/19. Could you >assign someone else to forward the Ozzy Digest to my designated AOL buddy >-- OZZILEE@aol.com -- for the duration? This may not be necessary...Is anyone still have trouble getting the Digest directly from me? How about starting _Sky Island_ a week from next Monday? Sorry my remarks on the Digest are so brief lately...I've been swamped with work the last couple of weeks... -- Dave ====================================================================== -- Dave ************************************************************ Dave Hardenbrook, E-Mail: DaveH47@delphi.com URL: http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/ Computer Programmer, Honorary Citizen of the Land of Oz, and Editor of "The Ozzy Digest" (The _Wizard of Oz_ online fan club) "When we are young we read and believe The most Fantastic Things... When we grow older and wiser We learn, with perhaps a little regret, That these things can never be... WE ARE QUITE, QUITE *** WRONG ***!!!" -- Noel Coward, "Blithe Spirit" ************************************************************ ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, OCTOBER 8 - 9, 1997 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 20:17:49 -0400 From: Richard Bauman Subject: Oz Stuff Sender: Richard Bauman Has anyone heard of a piece of art by Greg Brown called "The Homecoming." It was used locally in an ad for the CivicBank of Commerce. It is apparently the artists idea of the Wizard, Dorothy and Toto in a balloon. The Wizard is waving his hat and Dorothy appears to be strangling Toto. An article from the San Jose Mercury News Wire Service: Munchkin's 'ego trip' In 1939, as coroner of Munchkin Land, Meinhardt Raabe pronounced the Wicked Witch of the East dead in "The Wizard of Oz." Nearly 60 years later, he's still a fan favorite. Raabe was one of 12 original Munchkins who turned out Friday for the 16th annual Wizard of Oz Festival in Chesterton, Ind., where adoring fans snapped flash photos and shot home video. "It's an ego trip," said Raabe, 82, who still gets fan mail. "This is our reward, the nostalgia." Raabe and the others spent much of Friday autographing Oz memorabilia--pictures, books, calendars, hats, collector's plates. Finally if you are REALLY into Oz ornaments, my wife just received a "Command Performance" catalog. Item #CM1641 Handblown Glass Ornaments of the famous four made by Kurt Adler. 1-800-873-8263 They come in a "wooden keepsake crate." The price......$180.00 New Digest Names - On one hand we want to advertise Oz to those who may be interested. On the other we want to avoid Australia and Osbourne. Hmmmm. I'm sure you will get some great suggestions. How about "Emerald City Digest." Hmmmm we may get people who are interested in Seattle. Hmmm "Emerald City, Oz Digest?" David - We are getting 10-11 degrees warmer water here thanks to El Nino. I'll leave Al Franken as an exercise for you. I certainly don't want to tout him. I remember Ringo singing "....in an octopuses garden, by the sea..." I don't know the album. There is one thing about putting stained glass in direct sunlight.....it may fade, depending on the quality of the glass. Dave >In the Digest, if a day is skipped the head reflects this, i.e. "THE OZZY DIGEST 4 - 5, 1997" indicates that the last Digest was on the 3rd. If that is the case, I missed the 6th of October? However, on scanning, this Digest has posts from the 5th, 6th and 7th. Regards, Bear (:<) Fans of the fantasy classic starring Judy Garland flocked to Chesterton by the thousands for the festival. License plates in the parking lot included tags from Minnesota, Arizona, Iowa and Ohio. ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 20:41:49 -0400 (EDT) From: Saroz@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-07-97 Earl - I'm sorry if I said that A Spell For Chameleon is generally accepted as a horrible book. I didn't mean that. Several people I personally know, however (including myself), find the book impossible to finish and/or extremely boring and dry. I'm sorry if I sounded like it is a frequently-hated book by all...I didn't mean that. Sarah ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 19:06:40 -0700 From: Robert Schroeder Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest Renaming Digest: I really like the name of the digest as it stands, but then, I understand the confusion. When I was on AOL I used the screennames "LostNOz" and "HellofrmOZ", and even now, on IRC, I use "OZinTX", and I was, and am, always being confused for someone living in Australia. I never thought of the confusion between Ozzy Osbourne (just assure them that we DON'T bite the heads off of bats! ). I did like some of the names that Saroz came up with, especially the Children of the Rainbow, but not only would we be confused with a cultist group, but we could also be thought of either being a gay/lesbian publication or affiliated with Rev. Jesse Jackson. Yeah, Dave, lets keep it as it is... As for improving it Dave, I see no area needing improvement at this point. I would like to twist your arm and find out what program you use to make the Digest, as my church is going "high tech" and I have been asked to lead an on-line cell group, a "cyber church" if you will, and I would really like to model it after the Ozzy Digest.... Scott: About asking your sister-in-law about translating things into Hebrew for you, I don't think that she would be offended. If she is like me (I'm not Jewish though) I welcome any intelligent request for information about "my people". Tornado In Kansas: It doesn't surprize me that a tornado touched down in Kansas on the day of Judy Garland's death . Having lived in the Texas Panhandle for most of my life, I am well aware of the "Tornado Alley" phenonomon (sp?). I am also interested in almost anything surrounding Judy Garland, and some of the events that happened around her death. It was on the day of her funeral, in New York City, that the Stonewall Riots began. It is said that many patrons of the Stonewall Bar (a gay bar in Greenwich Village) were drowning their grief over Garland's death when the NYPD began its raid on the bar, and those folks had just had enough and began to fight back. Of course, this is just part of the legend, and has not been really documented, except for in the 1996 film "Stonewall". Dave Hardenbrook.. Swamped with work? How dare you have a life!!!! Having recently seen the by-line of one of our Digesters, sorry, I forget the name, but he signs off with ...in Ozlo...let me just say, I love it!! Been thinking about using ..in Oztin (Austin) myself, of course, many others could join in, Oz Angeles anyone??? ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 21:29:51 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-07-97 Scott H.: Maybe Limbaugh doesn't make up his "facts" himself (or maybe, since he had a lot of money behind him, he gets his henchmen to "document" them), but he sure puts out a lot of lies. Bob S.: >> In "The Wizard of Oz," you may recall, a tornado touched >> down in Kansas. Other times that happened there include >> June 22, 1969, the day that Judy Garland died. > I would not imagine that the above is a particularity striking >coincidence, but maybe I am mistaken. Any comments? There are a number of tornadoes in Kansas most years. It's part of what's called "Tornado Alley." I read recently that something like 75% of all tornadoes in the world occur in the US, by the way. Standard American style puts punctuation inside the quotation mark even if the quotation didn't include the punctuation. British style, on the other hand, does it the logical way. That's the sort of thing that's purely arbitrary (like spelling the possessive "its" without an apostrophe) and just has to be memorized as one of the vagaries of the language. Tyler: >David: >It's good to hear of the lack of cancer though. I'd recommend a stern >vigil, though. Cancer is known to make comebacks. Oh, we're well aware of that. But at least the news is good at present; it could be worse. Dave: >Any more comments on Oz newsgroup/Digest improvements? (I'm currently >leaning towards not changing the name...) I see no reason to change the name unless you're getting so many queries from Ozzy Osborne fans that it's a nuisance for you. If it is, change it! If it's just trying to be nice to the fans of a mediocre pop singer, who occasionally waste some time trying to subscribe when they're not interested, but not in quantities high enough to discommode you, why bother? >How about starting _Sky Island_ a week from next Monday? Sounds good to me! General comment: I was interested to see so many different versions of the "land of the bean and the cod" verse, which I'm quite familiar with. The version I remember was "Here's to the city of Boston,/ The land of the bean and the cod,/ Where the Lowells speak only to Cabots/ And the Cabots speak only to God." Ruth was the closest to that one. The Official version, however, per _The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations_, is "And this is good old Boston,/ The land of the bean and the cod,/ Where the Lowells talk to the Cabots/ And the Cabots talk only to God." It's attributed to John Collins Bossidy (who has nothing else attributed to him), at a Holy Cross College alumni dinner in 1910. When in was in college, incidentally, the same general phrase was applied to the two snootiest sororities at Vanderbilt: "The Gamma Phi Betas speak only to the Kappa Alpha Thetas, and the Kappa Alpha Thetas speak only to God." That was the first time I ran across the idea. FWIW David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 23:46:05 -0400 From: Tyler Jones Subject: Oz Sender: Tyler Jones What's in a name: All things considered, I'll cast my vote for our name to stay the same. Who knows? Maybe the name change will bring us some converts. You can never have too many head-banging metal-mashers around... :-) --Tyler Jones ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 07:28:03 -0400 (EDT) From: "James R. Whitcomb" Subject: For Ozzy Digest Dave H.: Here's my suggestion for the re-naming of "The Ozzy Digest" even though I like "The Ozzy Digest". CyberOZ : Citizens of OZ on-line discussion group ... moderated by Dave Hardenbrook, Royal "Cyberspace" Historian of Oz. Jim Whitcomb. ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 08:35:52 -0700 From: "Stephen J. Teller" Subject: OZ > All you punctuation professionals, Help! I feel that the comma > should have followed the end quote, not been within the quotation marks. > I come across other occurrences of similar punctuation from time to > time, i.e. periods at the end of sentences being inserted within quotes > when the periods are not part of the original quotation. Am I in error? > > Bob Spark Commas should *always* be placed inside the final quotation mark, as should periods, unless the quotation is followed by a parenthetical citation, in which case the period follows the citation. A comma or a period should never directly follow a final quotation mark. The case of question marks and exclamation points is more complicated. Steve T. ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 09:48:14 +0000 From: Craig Noble Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-07-97 Dave: I agree with those who prefer to stick with "Ozzy Digest." However, if inquiries from Ozzy Osbourne fans are really becoming a nuisance, a name change is your prerogative. In that case I would vote for "The Ozmapolitan." Ozzy ornaments: They look very nice but are way too expensive for my budget. Peter Glassman, I've bought almost every Oz and Baum book that you've published, so this is not meant to be an attack, but do the ornaments really have to cost so much? -- Craig ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 09:56:39 -0600 From: Richard_Tuerk@tamu-commerce.edu (Richard Tuerk) Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-07-97 In the digest for 10/7 Bob Spark asked: > All you punctuation professionals, Help! I feel that the comma >should have followed the end quote, not been within the quotation marks. >I come across other occurrences of similar punctuation from time to >time, i.e. periods at the end of sentences being inserted within quotes >when the periods are not part of the original quotation. Am I in error? Most presses, journals, style sheets, and handbooks in America put commas and periods within quotation marks, no matter what the context is. Semicolons and colons come outside quotation marks, no matter what the context is. Only exclamation marks and question marks move as a result of context: if the exclamation or question is part of the quotation, the mark comes inside the quotation marks; if the exclamation or question is not part of the quotation, the mark comes outside the quotation marks. Here is the way _Writing from A to Z: The Easy-to-Use Reference Handbook_, second edition (the handbook I'm now using in my freshman English class) explains the system: Commas and, with one exception, periods go inside closing quotation marks. [the exception involves parenthetical documentation.] Semicolons and colons always go outside quotation marks. The rule for all other punctuation (such as question mark or exclamation point) is that if the punctuation is part of the material quoted, it goes inside the quotation marks; it the punctuation is not part of the material quoted, it goes outside the quotation marks. As I understand it, the rules involving commas and periods came into existence so that typesetters, editors, and proofreaders would not have to spend time worrying about the placement of each comma and period. Rich Tuerk ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 21:34:31 -0600 (CST) From: Ruth Berman Subject: ozzy digest Dave Hardenbrook: For worry about Ozzy Ozbourne/Ozzy Digest confusion, rather than changing the name of the Ozzy Digest, how about just adding to it the subtitle you put at the end of each Digest anyway, "The Ozzy Digest (The _Wizard of Oz_ online fan club)"? Bob Spark & David Hulan: I tried asking about ideas on whether sailors were more likely to have injuries requiring amputation. My niece Margit suggested that a factor might be that even smaller injuries were harder to heal and more likely to get infected, given the nutrition and medical care generally available on old sailing ships (notoriously "a scurvy lot"). Bob Spark: It's an illogical rule, but commas and periods go inside quote marks, even when not part of the material being quoted, and the larger punctuation marks (;:?! and --) go outside (if not part of the material being quoted). Something to do with protecting the thinnest pieces of type in the old typesetting sticks, supposedly. Incidentally, most dictionaries (collegiate or larger) have an appendix on punctuation at the back to define the (sometimes illogical) rules of usage for them. If you don't already have a good dictionary lying around the room where you usually process your words (always sounds like pureeing them, doesn't it?), it's a useful acquisition. ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 08:52:14 -0700 From: Tyler Jones Subject: Oz Spies needed: Do we have anyone from Staten Island on the digest? If not, how about elsewhere in the Big Apple? By that, I mean currently living there. --Tyler Jones ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 21:54:55 -0400 From: "Melody G. Keller" Subject: Ozzy Digest, 10-07-97 Sender: "Melody G. Keller" David: >Must have; I don't remember any references to octopuses or octopi or octopodes in any of the Beatles albums I have.< I'd like to be....under the sea... in an octopus's garden in the shade... etc., etc., etc. :-) Wouldn't be a bad musical number for the stage or movie version of "Sea Fairies." Melody Grandy ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 07:36:26 -0600 (CST) From: Ruth Berman Subject: ozzy digest ps It occurred to me that as Melody and Steve and I all quoted versions of the toast to Boston, it would be nice to look up the precise wording and see who the author was. "Bartlett's Quotations" explains that it was John Colins Bossidy, 1860-1928 (who has no other claim to fame, it seems), who delivered a Holly Cross Alumni toast at a dinner in 1910, with verses on various places, including: "And this is good old Boston,/ The home of the bean and the cod,/ Where the Lowells talk only to Cabots/ And the Cabots talk only to God." His toast was patterned on an earlier one (1905 apparently -- given by a Harvard class of 1880 alum at their 25th reunion), which said, "Here's to old Massachussetts,/ The home of the sacred cod,/ Where the Adamses vote for Douglas/ And the Cabots walk with God." Ruth Berman ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 09 Oct 97 13:26:17 (PDT) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: Oz exists, Ozma exists, Santa Claus exists, the Easter Bunny exists, and even the Great Pumpkin exists...But there is *no* Digest for Oct. 6. :) Yes, I slipped up didn't incade this in the header...I'm going to have to make it automatic... THE DIGEST NAME: I think you all are right -- Why change the name just to pander to a rock star who looks like a Wheeler, sounds like a melting witch, and would keep trying to bite the heads off of Billina's chicks. Bear wrote: >How about "Emerald City Digest." Hmmmm we may get people who are interested >in Seattle. Hmmm "Emerald City, Oz Digest?" Jellia: We may get people interested in that new show about that prison... Ozma: *"Correctional facility"*! Jellia: Yes, of course -- "Correctional facility"... :) Locasta: I once suggested "Gilikin Digest" but Dave got messages from fans of _Gilligen's Island_... Dorothy: I was all for "Ozma Daily", but guess what? There's a rock group called "Ozma"! Scraps: I thought "Scarecrow Times" had a ring; But it brought fans of a whole other thing -- A crime drama starring a Mrs. King! Audah: I thought of either "Winkie Times" or "Blinkie Times", but Dave got messages asking what became of Nod... Tik-Tok: I--thought--I--had--a--per-fect--name. I--sug-est-ed--we--call-- it--the Wij&%$hdgb#*&%dnyhd=# wrote: >I would like to twist your arm and find out what program you use >to make the Digest, as my church is going "high tech" and I have been >asked to lead an on-line cell group, a "cyber church" if you will, and I >would really like to model it after the Ozzy Digest.... I use a program which I wrote myself called "Make_Digest"...It's currently "hard coded" to generate the Ozzy Digest, but I've contemplated making it capable of generating a Digest of any name, for shareware distribution. You may have given me the incentive I need! :) BIG APPLE: Tyler wrote: >Do we have anyone from Staten Island on the digest? If not, how about >elsewhere in the Big Apple? Jinjur: I was there last week to speak on behalf of the Staten Island Secession Party -- Does that count? :) -- Dave ====================================================================== -- Dave ************************************************************ Dave Hardenbrook, E-Mail: DaveH47@delphi.com URL: http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/ Computer Programmer, Honorary Citizen of the Land of Oz, and Editor of "The Ozzy Digest" (The _Wizard of Oz_ online fan club) "When we are young we read and believe The most Fantastic Things... When we grow older and wiser We learn, with perhaps a little regret, That these things can never be... WE ARE QUITE, QUITE *** WRONG ***!!!" -- Noel Coward, "Blithe Spirit" ************************************************************ ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, OCTOBER 10, 1997 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 08:56:12 -0700 From: "Stephen J. Teller" Subject: Codfish and Lobsters > From: Bob Spark > On page 59: > > "Hurt!" exclaimed the Sea Serpent, groaning at the > > recollection. "My dear, those creatures have been called > > lobsters ever since!" > Could someone please explain this to me? I've tried, but can make > no sense out of it whatever. None of my dictionaries solved this one. However, "lobster" was American slang for a stupid clumsy person, and therefore it might be a clue. > On page 78: > > "I've heard tell of codfish aristocercy," said Cap'n > > Bill; "but I never knowed 'zac'ly what it meant afore." > I've never heard tell of this. I still don't know "zac'ly what it > means, just by the context. Help, please. I found a book by John Ciardi, _A Browser's Dictionary_ which provided the answer: The term "codfish aristocracy" was indeed a Bostonian term, it means the "nouveaux riches" (the newely rich). It was a term contemptiously used by the old money Back Bay residents for those who made their fortunes in fishing and then built houses in the Back Bay. Steve T. ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 18:48:38 -0500 From: rri0189@ibm.net Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-03-97 Jeremy Steadman wrote: >A serious question here (I do those on occasion): How do we know how >the ancient Romans (or any dead people) said things? The details are _much_ too complicated to go into here, and I don't know them anyway, but a pretty good approximation can be reached with rules such as these: 1. All western languages use the Latin alphabet. Latin, being the first language to use that alphabet, was spelled as it sounded. By looking at the spellings of modern languages, we can work out the common factors. For example, virtually all languages pronounce the letter I as in machIne and/or as in It, never as in mIght, so it is reasonable to assume that that is how the letter was pronounced originally, especially because it can be traced back to the letter iota in Greek. 2. Many languages are descended from Latin. Now, some aspects of the pronunciations of these languages derive from other languages that have fed them (various Germanic languages in most cases, Slavic in the case of Rumanian), but a large part of the process is simple decay over time. A theory can be worked out that works in all known cases, saying in effect that the same sound _always_ changes in the same way in a given line of descent. (If there seems to be an exception to a rule, it is because the rule is too simple; for example, perhaps a vowel changes one way in an accented syllable, but a different way in an unaccented syllable.) A classic case, is how "ct" in Latin always becomes "tt" in Italian. Some changes are reflected in writing; others can be worked out backwards. The best explanations of the process for laymen (and I am definitely a layman here) are typically to be found in textbooks on Old English, because it is traditional to cover the subject in Old English 101, whereas it usually doesn't get covered in other subject areas until the postgraduate level. Most professionals regard the process as fairly sound, even though it is, by definition, speculative. It's sort of like working on a giant abstract jigsaw puzzle; you may have to do a lot of guessing at first, but when you have all the pieces put together, and they all fit, then you've probably got it right. ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 19:43:17 -0500 From: rri0189@ibm.net Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-07-97 Tyler Jones wrote: >There is a four-player chess game out there somewhere, although they may >not make it anymore. >Basically, it is a normal board with each player's pieces in two special >rows set back from the board. Therefore, it has 128 squares. The two >players facing each other are allies, and the idea is to capture the other >two kings. Three extra rows, so that the board is essentially 14*14, with 3*3 corners cut out. 64+3*(3*8) = 132 squares. Pawns just move back and forth unless they can reach an opponent's back row by successive captures (so there has to be a way to know which direction a pawn is heading). When a player is checkmated, he only loses his turn until his partner can rescue him. To win, both opponents must be checkmated. Another variant is very ancient. Each side has a king, an elephant (ancestor of the bishop -- move is one diagonal or one forward), a knight, a rook, and four pawns. They are put out swastika-wise on an ordinary board. Kings are captured, not checkmated. I don't recall whether it's partnership or free-for-all. No double pawn move, so no en-passant. RNEK..PR PPPP..PN ......PE ......PK KP...... EP...... NP..PPPP RP..KENR // John W Kennedy ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 20:16:36 -0500 (EST) From: Jeremy Steadman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-09-97 Ozzy place names: Hmm. Well, at college the nearest city is Rome, GA. I could say all yellow brick roads lead here, I suppose . . . Name change? CyberOZ: I still don't think that'd help any. Ozmapolitan: I think that's been done. IF you DO decide to change the name, Dave, how about `Witch Way to Oz?' ? (I think the name's okay, though.) Re Tyler's query about Big Applers on the Digest: That's Staten the situation a bit bluntly, I think. --Jeremy Steadman P.S. I'm about to go home for the weekend, so you'll all be free of my puns until Wednesday! I can feel the excitement build! ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 19:11:56 -0500 From: rri0189@ibm.net Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-05-97 >P.S. Also, how do people feel about a name change? The confusion of > "The Ozzy Digest" with Ozzy Osbourne are becoming more frequent.. If "Ozzy" is out, so is "Oz" (what with Australia and the HBO prison series). "Ozmapolitan" is already overloaded, and the obvious "Emerald City Press" is TMed. Would "Emerald City Court Circular" be both unique and memorable enough? // John W. Kennedy ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 21:05:50 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-09-97 >I'll leave Al Franken as an exercise for you. I certainly don't want to >tout him. Tyler was kind enough to tell me who Al Franken is. I don't know much about him, but since Tyler says he wrote _Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot_, I'll take it that you intended it as an insult and I take it as a compliment. :-) >I remember Ringo singing "....in an octopuses garden, by the sea..." I >don't know the album. Based on Melody's rendition I think that's "an octopus's garden," which is a possessive, not a plural, and thus is always in "'s" for English nouns. (I still don't remember that song, though.) Craig: Made-to-order stained glass ornaments in the size of the Ozian ones from BoW are very expensive to do. I'm sure BoW isn't making any huge profit on them. Ruth: You may well be right that even injuries that wouldn't have required amputation on land might well require it at sea because of the different conditions and worse nutrition. But I hold to my opinion that the risks to seafarers were greater than to most landsmen in the days when most ships worked under sail. David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 01:06:19 +0000 From: rri0189@ibm.net Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-09-97 David Hulan wrote: >That's the sort of thing that's purely >arbitrary (like spelling the possessive "its" without an apostrophe) and >just has to be memorized as one of the vagaries of the language. Not so. You don't put an apostrophe on "my", "mine", "your", "yours", "his", "her", "hers", "our", "ours", "their" or "theirs", so you don't want to put one on "its", either. The basic problem is that English lost the genitive case except for pronouns, and then gained it back again from an artificial construction. The apostrophe in "John's" is there because it is short for "John his". Since the pronouns still have the genitive case, they don't want or need an apostrophe. // John W Kennedy ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 08:33:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Saroz@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-09-97 >Tik-Tok: I--thought--I--had--a--per-fect--name. I--sug-gest-ed--we--call-- it--the >Wij&%$hdgb#*&%dnyhd=#Then--Dor-o-thy--wound--up--my--think-ing--a-gain.... LOL, Dave! SKY ISLAND - I'm going to read this book this weekend (tho, sadly, sans illustrations...I have a 50s/60s Reilly & Lee edition that is orange with Button Bright's umbrella stamped in blue on the spine...but it has no illustrations), but before I do, a question. I remembered something while reading a post today about how the Beatles' "Octopus's Garden" (album "Abbey Road", BTW) would be a good song for a film version of "Sea Fairies"...in the 1985 book, "The World of Oz", wasn't it said that a "Sky Island" film was in progress? Was this just a silly rumour that found its way into the book? Or was it actually a real project? Sarah ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 09:00:25 -0500 (CDT) From: Robin Olderman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-09-97 X-Authentication-warning: thurman.tenet.edu: robino owned process doing -bs Ozlo, Oztin,LOz Angeles: I guess that means I live in HOzton? Punctuation with quotation marks: Easiest way to remember periods and commas is probably to remember that they always go to the left of the quotation marks, whether open or close quotes. The rule about where the period goes at the end of an internal quote (single quote within double quote setup) is changing, thus the confusion. Technically, the period should go to the left of both single and douoble quotation marks. [ .'"] Another way to think of when the punctuation goes inside or outside of quotation marks is to ask yourself whether the punctuation mark would go inside a cartoon bubble if the quotation were to be drawn. Think of the set of quotation marks as equivalent to a cartoon bubble. "Help!" cried Joey. Picture a cartoon of Joey. The exclamation mark would definitely go inside of the cartoon bubble. I wish I could draw it for you. It helps my students with question mark and exclamation point punct. --Robin ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 17:44:17 -0400 From: Richard Bauman Subject: TODAY'S OZ GROWLS Sender: Richard Bauman DAVID >Maybe Limbaugh doesn't make up his "facts" himself (or maybe, since he had a lot of money behind him, he gets his henchmen to "document" them), but he sure puts out a lot of lies. If so, this gives him a lot in common with the current administration since you have brought up the subject. [Talk about broad generalizations, appeals to envy of the wealthy, use of inflammatory words e.g. "henchmen," and unfounded accusations. You really got up on the wrong side today.] Love and peace, Bear (:<) ====================================================================== -- Dave ************************************************************ Dave Hardenbrook, E-Mail: DaveH47@delphi.com URL: http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/ Computer Programmer, Honorary Citizen of the Land of Oz, and Editor of "The Ozzy Digest" (The _Wizard of Oz_ online fan club) "When we are young we read and believe The most Fantastic Things... When we grow older and wiser We learn, with perhaps a little regret, That these things can never be... WE ARE QUITE, QUITE *** WRONG ***!!!" -- Noel Coward, "Blithe Spirit" ************************************************************ ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, OCTOBER 11 - 12, 1997 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 19:49:00 -0400 (EDT) From: JOdel@aol.com Subject: Ozzy Digest A little puzzle to play with before we move on from Sea Faries. We are given to understand that Zog's emotional displays are deliberately (or just naturally) perverse acording to human observation. Meaning that the signs he appears to display do not match his actual feelings. If this is the case, what may we suppose his actual feelings ARE when is out there LAUGHING at the drowning humans from shipwrecks and saving the lives of the ones who manage to drift close to him? May we suppose that Baum didn't really think this one through before he wrote it... ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 18:07:13 -0700 From: Robert Schroeder Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest Jeremy on Ozzy Place names: I guess you can say, "Auntie Em! There's no place like Rome!!" Stained Glass: uhmm...I wonder if the drawings from the books (Neill) is still under copyright? I thought about having some bevels etched with Dorothy/Ozma/Tinman/Lion/Scarecrow/Wizard, then setting them into a panel that would incorparate the Emerald City image from the MGM Movie, and a Rainbow (yes....there HAS to be a rainbow). I would like to do this for a fireplace screen.... And Robin....Hozton...I think we have a problem here...sounds like a fashion designer!!! ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 00:59:08 -0400 From: Tyler Jones Subject: Oz Sender: Tyler Jones Dave: I KNEW that the Great Pumpkin was real! I also know that Linus will see him someday and be vindicated. Sarah: I'll admit that _A Spell for Chameleon_ is not quite the wild adventure ride that many other fantasy books are. That's a plus in my mind, though. Robert S: That Ozlo guy is Bill Wright, founder of the Piglet Press :-) Craig: I believe that the Oz ornaments are so expensive because they are specially hand-crafted items and they come in very limited editions. Will the real "OZ" step forward: Dave's right. No matter what name we pick, the potential exists for confusion, unless we call it "The Wizard of Oz Digest", but "The Ozzy Digest" flows much better. This just proves that we have a lot of work to do to educate the masses as to the nature of the REAL "Oz". Forward! :-) Jinjur: Fascinating. Staten Island is actually considering peeling away from the Big Apple. WIth you on their side, they'll make it :-) Notes: I still think of henchmen as men-at-arms who help D&D characters slay Dragons. --Tyler Jones ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 11:05:25 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 10-10-97 John K.: >David Hulan wrote: >>That's the sort of thing that's purely >>arbitrary (like spelling the possessive "its" without an apostrophe) and >>just has to be memorized as one of the vagaries of the language. > >Not so. You don't put an apostrophe on "my", "mine", "your", "yours", >"his", "her", "hers", "our", "ours", "their" or "theirs", so you >don't want to put one on "its", either. > >The basic problem is that English lost the genitive case except for >pronouns, and then gained it back again from an artificial construction. >The apostrophe in "John's" is there because it is short for "John his". >Since the pronouns still have the genitive case, they don't want >or need an apostrophe. You may be right, and certainly I cannot go so far as to say that you are wrong, but, still, at the same time... If the apostrophe in "John's" is a contraction for "John his", then the apostrophe in "Mary's" is a contraction for "Mary his?" I've never taken Old English, so I don't know what the genitive form in various Anglo-Saxon dialects was, but the genitives in the closely-related languages Dutch and German are also in "-s" (without apostrophe), and I'd need a good deal of evidence for an intermediate "Mary his" form before I'd believe that the Modern English genitive in "-s" wasn't the actual genitive in one of the various dialects of Old English and the one that became dominant over the years. As for "its", it's the only word in English that forms its genitive by simply adding "-s" and doesn't