] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JULY 31 - AUGUST 1, 1998 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 15:54:12 -0500 (EST) From: sahutchi@iupui.edu Subject: liz taylor in Oz (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 08:50:37 PDT From: moshe berezin Subject: liz taylor in Oz Hello Scott: This seems like a good opportunity to try out my e-mail, so I'll pass on this excerpt from todays New York Daily News (Hollywood column by Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jewel Smith): "ROLE IN NEW OZ FILM TAYLOR-MADE FOR LIZ Elizabeth Taylor is not only making a return to the screen in "The Visit" for Robert Haimi, she's also talking about starring in a feature about the Land of Oz for friend Rod Steiger. The 73-year old Oscar winner relates that his project is based on a script "a man wrote and I rewrote, about Dorothy wanting to go back to Oz when she's in her 60s.Elizabeth has written me a note saying how much she wants to do it -- and she would be perfect for it. The part calls for a childish naivete, which Elizabeth has. Now, I just want to make sure she's up to doing it." There is more in the piece about him and Taylor, but not about the Oz project. It is noteworthy to see she's still interested in Oz, 25 years after Smith's Number 13. I hope to hear from you soon. -- Marc ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 08:46:38 -0400 (EDT) From: Ozmama@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-29-98 In a message dated 98-07-30 07:14:35 EDT, you write: Tyler:<< Also, does anybody know when it will be released?>> The blurb I heard said Christmas '98 for the rerelease of Wizard. I vote that we not postpone _Lost Princess_. I'm so jealous of those of you going to MunchCon! Have a terrific time. --Robin ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 07:30:03 -0700 From: Bob Spark Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-29-98 X-Accept-Language: en J. L. Bell, > In other words, a wag should be dogging his tale. Wonderful!! Bob Spark ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 09:59:11 -0700 (PDT) From: VoVat Quetzalcoatlus Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-29-98 X-Originating-IP: [205.188.193.22] J. L. Bell: >Thompson's >"new technology"--the Flyaboutbus, ozoplanes, the Wizard's searchlight, and >Captain Salt's balloon sails--somewhat resemble contemporary technology, >but I think she portrays them all as relying on magic to work. In contrast, >Baum depicts Oz's radio telegraph, balloon, and phonograph as working the >same way America's do. All in all, Thompson doesn't seem to share the >"technology can seem like magic" message Baum promulgated in WIZARD, QUEER >VISITORS, MAGIC KEY, and other works. True, although she had no objection to mixing the two forces (as she did with the Ozoplanes and Umbrella Island). Overall, I'd say that her view of magic and technology was considerably closer to LFB's than that of Kenneth Gage Baum was. His _Dinamonster_ portrayed magic and technology as being completely different (and technology as being superior). > Which is to say, no matter how "completist" I may feel about reading L. >Frank Baum fantasies, I suffer no urge to finish the TWINKLE books or >collect old [or new] editions of BOY FORTUNE HUNTERS and AUNT JANE'S >NIECES. It's much the same way with me. Dick: >Besides me, who all will be attending the Munchkin Convention >this coming weekend? I expect to see Earl, Herm, the Kennedys, >Nathan and David - - am I right? Yes, I'm planning on being there. Scott Olsen: >Dave wrote:"...BCF: FWIW, on the Red Dwarf List, the ECF (*Episode* of >Current Focus) >>gets one week to be discussed. Period. Then we move on. I'm not about >>to introduce that level of rigidity.... Vote "Yes" to delay the >discussion [or] a No vote means we proceed with the discussion in a week's >time.." > >Well, I vote No. And while we're on the subject, perhaps *some* level of >rigidity would be appropriate--perhaps new BCF every 3 weeks. Period. Then >we move on. Well, the BCF discussion rarely seem to last more than 3 weeks, anyway. Our problem is that there is usually a long pause between two books of current focus. For instance, our current BCF is still _Rinkitink_, and I haven't noticed anything about that one on the Digest in almost a month. Dave: >MOTION TO DELAY _LOST PRINCESS_ DISCUSSION VOTES: > >Yes: 2 33% >No: 4 67% I say "No," although I'm not really particular. Nathan Mulac DeHoff ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 09:17:24 -0700 From: "Weisberg, Larry" Subject: Ozzy Digest submission To Tyler Jones : "Oz" is slated for theatrical release on December 25, 1998 To James Doyle: I haven't forgotten about you or the "Theatrical Oz" page I've been promising to on-line. I was capitalistically sidetracked with work on my "Ye Olde Bookshoppe of Oz" pages: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/6188/bookshoppe.html Now that the shoppe is up and running, I hope to turn my attentions to 1902 shortly. To Marc? moshe berezin : Don't get overly excited about a "Land of Oz" feature... Disney is planning one as a TV-movie for their "Wonderful World of Disney" banner. Thusfar, most of their "films" have been lame remakes and barely-budgeted sub-par outings. Ozzily yours... Larry Weisberg ldweisberg@geocities.com )|( (o o) ----------------------------------ooO-(_)-Ooo------------------------------- ------ "Welcome to Oz" http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Bungalow/2525/ Also consider visiting "WEISBERG on the WEB" http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/6188 ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 16:34:17 -0400 (EDT) From: LuVCHACHI@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-29-98 In a message dated 7/30/98 7:14:27 AM Eastern Daylight Time, DaveH47@delphi.com writes: << >For those of us who are exasperated by the Bible-thumpers' claims of Satanism in the Oz books< Gee, I'm one of those Bible Thumpers, and I don't believe I have ever said that the Oz books are evil or satanic. In fact, I think it is good to see the contrast between good and evil, and hopefully the good will win out. >> could someone enlighten me as to what this in reference to? ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 16:32:50 -0400 (EDT) From: LuVCHACHI@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-29-98 In a message dated 7/30/98 7:14:27 AM Eastern Daylight Time, DaveH47@delphi.com writes: << Besides me, who all will be attending the Munchkin Convention this coming weekend? I expect to see Earl, Herm, the Kennedys, Nathan and David - - am I right? Anyone else? See you there. >> I was originally going to go but then they changed the dates to the days I'm going to be away....Those of you who are going could you let me know about it? ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 16:39:30 -0400 (EDT) From: LuVCHACHI@aol.com Subject: Oz Books I was wondering if anyone had any pre 1940 Oz books. I have two, (The Emerald City of Oz & Kabumpo in Oz), and was curious if anyone else had any. Ok, BYE! ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 15:42:58 -0700 From: "Stephen J. Teller" Subject: OZ The following was in the forwarded message from Marc Berezin: > Elizabeth Taylor is not only making a return to the screen in "The > Visit" for Robert Haimi, she's also talking about starring in a feature > about the Land of Oz for friend Rod Steiger. > > The 73-year old Oscar winner relates that his project is based on a > script "a man wrote and I rewrote, about Dorothy wanting to go back to > Oz when she's in her 60s.Elizabeth has written me a note saying how much > she wants to do it -- and she would be perfect for it. The part calls > for a childish naivete, which Elizabeth has. Now, I just want to make > sure she's up to doing it." > This sounds suspiciously like Tedrow's "Dorothy--Return to Oz" which I consider the worst Oz related book ever written (and I have read "Barnstormer" "Wicked" and all of March Laumer). I hope this is not the case. Dave Hardenbrook wrote: > > NEW OZ MOVIE?: > On the Internet Movie Database I found something called _The Magic Book of > Oz_ (1994), written directed and produced by Bruce Carroll/Videoz. The > info is very fragmentary. Does anyone know anything about it? > This is a short film that was first shown at the Ozmaoplitan Convention in 1994 or '95. I have a copy which Bruce Carroll had for sale at the convention. It is a rather amaturish work with some imagination and some very low grade computer animation. It has the qualities of a "let's go to the barn with a few friends and make a movie" production. The girls playing Dorothy, Trot, and Betsy are the right age. I am going to be gone from August 4 to 10 attending the World Science Fiction Convention in Baltimore (which means that I will not be able to get to Aberdeen and see Mienhardt Raabe again). I would he happy to begin LOST PRINCESS any time after that. Steve T. ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 16:11:44 -0500 From: "R. M. Atticus Gannaway" Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-29-98 DAVE HARDENBROOK: >On the Internet Movie Database I found something called _The Magic Book of >Oz_ (1994), written directed and produced by Bruce Carroll/Videoz. The >info is very fragmentary. Does anyone know anything about it? Chris Dulabone has mentioned this "film"; it's apparently some sort of video production. Nothing major. RE: MGM MOVIE RE-RELEASE As per Robin's suggestion, I'd love to meet her and whoever else is interested to see it on the big screen, which would be a first for me. I'll be in New York City and Tulsa for Christmas (how's that for contrast?) but will be back by New Year's. RE: READING ALL THE FF I was fortunate enough to become interested in Oz in the heyday of the Del Rey series and had little difficulty getting the first 15 Thompsons. Then I had to wait for IWOC and BOW to do the rest, and I believe HIDDEN VALLEY was the last one I read. I'm just glad I didn't end my initial reading of the series with, say, SCALAWAGONS. Technically, I got to read the entire Oz series when I was still a "child" (8-14). I think that's pretty cool! RE: BEST 100 BOOKS Okay, so _Wonderful Wizard_ isn't on the Modern Library list. Personally, I wouldn't want any Oz books in the same company with _Slaughterhouse-Five_ anyway! Egads. As for the Radcliffe list, I was dismayed when I first saw "Frank L. Baum." How thoughtless/careless can they be? Serious credibility demerits as far as I'm concerned. Ditto for their inclusion of _Hitchhiker's Guide_. MY LOST PRINCESS VOTE: I say we postpone discussion. I've given up on trying to catch up with the BCFs (I'm still on ROAD) and will just skip ahead to PRINCESS (_anything_ not to have to finish ROAD). I'd love to have the chance to read my recently-acquired first edition of LP. Hopefully I'll now be able to keep up and actually participate in the discussions. Yea. :) Atticus * * * "...[T]here is something else: the faith of those despised and endangered that they are not merely the sum of damages done to them." Visit my webpage at http://members.aol.com/atty993 ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 16:35:03 -0700 From: "A.E. Schaible" Subject: ozzy digest Hi everyone! Tyler: I'm game for a trip to see the MGM movie! It will be nice to see it with Ozzy people who want to rather than those members of my family I could drag to it. Thank you to Gordon for sending me David's thorough report on the Winkie Conference! David: I hope we can expect an equally thorough reverberation of the Munchkin Convention for those of us who can't attend. Dave: It is cool with me to delay L.P., do what you think is best about a general policy. Liz Schaible schaible@la.bigger.net ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 21:54:21 -0400 From: Richard Bauman Subject: Today's Oz Growls Sender: Richard Bauman In case any of you haven't ordered "Oz-Story 4" let me warn you. You can now buy it from Books of Wonder, autographed. Sigh. I wish I had known. I made the big mistake of buying it from the publisher, Hungry Tiger Press. Mine came not autographed, with the spine damaged. In addition, they have no email address or 800 number and will only take snail-mailed checks. Sigh. Beyond all of this whining, the book looks great. David - If you are going to die, just let me know and I will alert the Digest. :) Somehow I think Jeremy mispelled and was asking about posting his posts posthumorously. The amusing thing to me was that I heard that many of the "LitCrit" types that produced the list had never read some of them. Some that I saw aren't worth reading. Scott >Well, I vote No. And while we're on the subject, perhaps *some* level of rigidity would be appropriate--perhaps new BCF every 3 weeks. Period. Then we move on. I suggested this but Dave isn't into being that structured. Maybe he went to Montessori School. :) I vote for a hold on the Lost Princess. I refuse to say why. David - You left out 8-track tapes. I had a player in my Firebird. When I sold the Firebird I couldn't give away the 8-tracks. I even know someone who had lots of beta format video tapes. Another dead end. Now we need to watch the battle over the DVD format and not get left with the looser. >I certainly put WWoO as one of the top 100 books ever written--one of the top 20, at least! Am putting my sense in! Jeremy, this is a joke, right? I didn't see any :) Regards, Bear (:<) ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 02:08:01 -0400 From: Tyler Jones Subject: Oz Sender: Tyler Jones Dave: Do you mean that the MGM movie is being released on Christmas day of this year? Dave again: The fact that Ozma appears so much smaller than Glinda may have reinforced your idea that Glinda was Ozma's mother. Children usually appear to be very little in the Oz books. Of course, when March Laumer saw that picture... (oh, never mind). Tyler Jones ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 10:52:42 -0600 (CST) From: Ruth Berman Subject: ozzy digest J.L. Bell: Wagner was the stereotype example-of-famous-composer dividing reactions into angry opposition of outraged dislike vs. evangelistic you-must-like-this-to-be-up-to-date in Baum's time (rather like Schoenberg and atonal/serial row music now, and similar also in that the the stereotype example of "modern" music is from a couple of generations back). Besides the "Vogner" mention in "John Dough," Baum has the thunder play choruses from Wagner's "Tannhauser" in "Mo." While the "Twinkle and Chubbins" stories are poor stuff overall, there's a good deal of interesting material mixed in with them -- and for those of us who are interested in fantasy as a type of literature (probably all of us on the Digest?), they are worth reading in a way that the Aunt Jane's Nieces and Boy Fortune Hunters books probably aren't. You might give "Policeman Blue Jay" a try (interesting social comments in the way the bird society is set up and in the portrayal of the bird utopia that the kids get to visit), even if you can't get through the collection of the shorter T&C stories. Lisa Bompiani: Hope the job interview went well! Scott Hutchins: Interesting information on the possibility of Elizabeth Taylor in Oz. It doesn't sound like a good idea (shows no awareness of the existence of later Oz books?), but if nothing else it would be an interesting curiosity, if such a film actually got made. You seem to be getting into a kind of automatic reflex to discuss how the generalization does or doesn't apply to your own Oz writing, whenever someone makes a generalization about the Oz books or about one author's Oz books. I wish you wouldn't bring your unpublished work into this sort of discussion, as so few on the Digest can have read your stories. Wait until there's a published version so that meaningful discussion is possible. Liz Schaible: Getting the watercolors of Dorothy's farmhouse sounds like fun. Roy Roy McVeigh's own work, I take it? Were they of the farmhouse in Kansas, or after the crash in Oz? Ruth Berman ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 21:37:43 -0700 From: ozbot Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest X-MSMail-Priority: Normal Here's a news blurb I found on one of the news/movie sites I frequent: The Bad News you can figure out yourself... The Good News is that no production company seems to be reported in optioning the film. When a director/producer becomes attatched, *then* we can start worrying... "Off to See Rod Steiger? E!Online reports that actor Rod Steiger (On the Waterfront, Mars Attacks) has written a sequel to the 1939 musical classic The Wizard of Oz. Steiger has reportedly told columnist Marilyn Beck that we wants Elizabeth Taylor to play a sixtysomething Dorothy who returns to Oz. Taylor's representatives reportedly have no comment. and here is the "source" from E! Online.... "Liz: Off to See the Wizard? by Joal Ryan July 30, 1998, 1:25 p.m. PT Dear L. Frank Baum: Um, you're lying down, right? Not to freak you out or anything, but there's a little matter in the papers down here today about a sequel to The Wizard of Oz. Now assuming you have good cable, you've no doubt seen the definitive screen version of your children's classic--the 1939 musical starring Judy Garland as Kansas farm girl Dorothy Gale. "Over the Rainbow." Dancing Munchkins. Toto, too. Good stuff, agreed? Agreed. Now, as to the matter of a sequel...Um, you ever hear of Rod Steiger? Actor. Oscar-winner. Tough guy. Maybe you caught him in Carpool, perhaps? Anyway, Mr. Steiger, as we said, is an actor--except what he apparently really wants to do is write and so, at age 73, he's written--a screenplay sequel to The Wizard of Oz. Oh, he's not the first to try this--grim stuff like Return to Oz is proof enough of that. And we know that you cranked out more than a few follow-ups in novel-form yourself. But Steiger...well, he might have come up with a first for the series. He tells columnist Marilyn Beck that his script features an AARP-eligible Dorothy returning to the living-color world of talking trees and flying monkeys. To play the 60-year-old recovering tornado victim, Steiger says he's lobbying for...Elizabeth Taylor. Don't know if your tabloid subscriptions are current, but--how to describe Ms. Taylor? She's kind of like the anti-Cal Ripkin. A package stamped: "Fragile Cargo." (On the plus side, Liz does come with her own Toto--a little Matisse named Sugar.) Anyway, Steiger says Taylor is interested. "She has written me a note saying how much she wants to do it--and she would be perfect for it," Steiger tells Beck. Taylor's reps couldn't be reached for comment. That's all we know for now, Mr. Baum. We just thought we'd let you know. In case you want to start spinning or anything. " That's all from Hollywood! (That's Enough!) ozbot Danny Wall ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 01 Aug 98 13:26:19 (PDT) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things MOTION TO DELAY _LOST PRINCESS_ DISCUSSION VOTES: Yes: 6 50% No: 6 50% Well, the thing I most feared has happened...We have a tie. However there were a number of in-between and "maybe" votes that I felt inclined to disregard, which I felt very bad about...So we will need to have a new vote. (But _Lost P._ will definitely not start discussion for another week.) I think for our "run-off" vote and for future votes, I'm going to have to work out a better scheme for vote-taking. I'm open to suggestions. I'll probably put up some kind of voting form on my web page in the next couple of days... Jellia: I have a horrible feeling that by the time this is resolved, it will be as if we had just delayed it to begin with... BEAR: Scott: >>Well, I vote No. And while we're on the subject, perhaps *some* >>level of rigidity would be appropriate--perhaps new BCF every 3 weeks. >>Period. Then we move on. Bear: >I suggested this but Dave isn't into being that structured. Maybe he went >to Montessori School. :) It's nothing to do with me...It is others that have objected to a rigid structure...But maybe I should take a vote on *that* too... And yes I *did* go to Montessouri School, but only for a few months in kindergarten; so I consider myself a Montessouri School dropout. :) >You left out 8-track tapes. I had a player in my Firebird. When I >sold the Firebird I couldn't give away the 8-tracks. I even know someone >who had lots of beta format video tapes. Another dead end. Now we need to >watch the battle over the DVD format and not get left with the looser. As it is, I worry that before long we're going to see those who bought Video CD-i players wandering around mumbling to themselves... Also, my family is beginning to contemplate getting a new VCR (We're having major tracking problems with our tapes in our ten-year old VCRs), but what if after blowing $1000 on a decent VCR there is a full-fledged DVD revolution including the introduction of affordable *recordable* DVDs?? They might have to summon the paddywagon and have me committed... LIZ IN OZ: Let us pray that it doesn't happen...I'm not so much against Liz herself, but I'm sure that what we really don't need is another movie denial of the existence of the Glorious Reign of Ozma...As it is, my pastor has commented on my increase in church attendance since the announcement of an upcoming movie of _Wicked_... DIGEST: I just want to make a couple of new directives about posting to the Digest (these will go into the FAQ too): -- In a reply, don't quote the entire Digest you're replying to(!) -- Delete your mail program's default "On such-and-such day and time, DaveH47@delphi.com wrote:" since obviously it may not be something *I* wrote that you're replying to. -- If a week or more goes by that you're not getting the Digest, it is probably because your ISP has put my address on its "Enemies List". Have a friend contact me (see below). MISSING DIGESTS: I have mentioned in the past that there are a number of Digest members whose Digests have recently been "bouncing back" daily and I cannot manage to contact them no matter what I do...Well, I have found out that there is something called the "MAPS Realtime Blackhole List" which is an "Enemies List" of E-mail address that have been branded "SPAM-producers"...If you're address is on this list, *nothing* you E-mail will reach its recipient, even if what you're E-mailing isn't SPAM or even a mass mailing. Obviously they've seen that I mass-mail the Digest and assumed that it is SPAM...It is the standard "SPAM Paranoid's Syllogism": All SPAM is a mass mailing The Ozzy Digest is a mass mailing Therefore the Ozzy Digest is SPAM. Which is of course logically equivalent to: All cats have four legs My dog has four legs Therefore my dog is a cat. Now, what do we *do* about it...? Good question. But somehow I have to contact the people not getting the Digest and tell them that this is going on and that they should at least contact their ISP's and ask them to have DaveH47@delphi.com removed from the "Blacklist"...So here is the list of addresses bouncing the Digest, and assignments I have made for people to E-mail these people and forward these comments of mine to them..Can I ask the members to do this? These assignments are purely random, based only on people who I know I can trust to help me out in solving this long-standing serpent in Ozzy Digest Eden... "Bouncing" Member To be E-mailed by... -------------------------------------------------------- Duglor@connectnet.com.........tnj@compuserve.com raleigh@minn.net..............phanff@library.berkeley.edu mvincent@txdirect.net.........davidhulan@ntsource.com ferrywa@televar.com...........ozbot@earthlink.net piglet@piglet.com.............Ozisus@aol.com rasta63@rpnet.net.............JnoLBell@compuserve.com sherrychap@global2000.net.....Ozmama@aol.com wizardofoz@bigfoot.com........sahutchi@cord.iupui.edu Please also "CC:" your message to me so I know you sent it... -- Dave ====================================================================== -- Dave **************************************************************************** Dave Hardenbrook, DaveH47@delphi.com, http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/ "I like to define humor as the affectionate communication of insight." -- Leo Rosten, introduction to _Oh K*A*P*L*A*N, My K*A*P*L*A*N_ ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, AUGUST 2 - 4, 1998 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 01 Aug 1998 21:18:55 -0400 From: Richard Bauman Subject: Today's Oz Growls Sender: Richard Bauman LuVCHACHI - I gather you are new to the Digest. Why don't you write a couple of paragraphs introducing yourself and your Oz background. At one time each of the regulars filled out a questionaire about themselves so we could all get to know each other better. As a new person it would be a little hard to catch you up on all of us. However, if we know where you are coming from it will be easier for us to answer your questions. The first thing you might want to do is read Dave's FAQ. If you don't have access to it I can email it to you. In response to your questions, one of more of the Munchkins will give a report of the event to the Digest. Count on it. I doubt you would be very interested in someone ranting about "Bible Thumpers." It is of pretty minimal interest to most of us. Pre 1940 Oz books? Well, yes, the first 33 were all written before 1940. That is the kind of thing you will find in Dave's Oz FAQ. (Frequently Asked Questions) I would be happy to email you a list of the "Famous Forty" if you would like one. It would also help if you would sign your post so we know what to call you. I hope your name isn't Dave/David. We have plenty of those already. Dave - Sorry to hear our Digest is now SPAM. If you need more help let me know. Regards, Bear (:<) ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 01 Aug 1998 19:55:01 -0400 From: Ted Nesi Subject: Elizabeth Taylor in Oz X-Accept-Language: en Good grief! Elizabeth Taylor -- in Oz? "Dorothy on a Hot Tin Roof" ... "TOrnado 8" ... "Who's Afraid of Ruggedo Woolf?" ... >shudder<. I just can't see it. Downright scary if you ask me. I can't imagine Judy Garland's Dorothy growing up to be Liz. Ohmygosh, will she *sing*? Harold Arlen and "Yip" Harburg are dead! Ted -- *********************************************************** * TED'S LUCILLE BALL PAGE ~ CLASSIC TELEVISION ~ * * THE UNOFFICIAL "WIZARD OF OZ" HOME PAGE * * http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/6066/ * *********************************************************** ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 01 Aug 1998 19:55:45 -0400 From: Ted Nesi Subject: Number 13? X-Accept-Language: en What is this "Number 13" that seems to have involved Liz Taylor? I keep hearing references to it. Ted -- *********************************************************** * TED'S LUCILLE BALL PAGE ~ CLASSIC TELEVISION ~ * * THE UNOFFICIAL "WIZARD OF OZ" HOME PAGE * * http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/6066/ * *********************************************************** ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 01 Aug 1998 19:50:03 -0400 From: Ted Nesi Subject: Postpone Cc: Dave Hardenbrook X-Accept-Language: en Postpone the "Lost Princess" discussion. I'm deffinitley going to save my money (how much will it be?) for the BoW edition, and then I'll read it, and then I'll have lots of questions and comments so I vote "Yes" (assuming that means "Yes, delay.") Ted -- *********************************************************** * TED'S LUCILLE BALL PAGE ~ CLASSIC TELEVISION ~ * * THE UNOFFICIAL "WIZARD OF OZ" HOME PAGE * * http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/6066/ * *********************************************************** ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 01 Aug 1998 16:02:37 -0700 From: Bob Spark Subject: Sound Clips X-Accept-Language: en I came across a couple of sound clips from the movie in my files and the thought struck me that some correspondent to the "digest" might care to have them. Bob Spark Attachment Converted: "c:\Dave\Internet\Archive\melting.wav" Attachment Converted: "c:\Dave\Internet\Archive\yrdog2.wav" [Anyone who wants these please privately E-mail me or Bob -- Dave] ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 02 Aug 1998 13:05:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Kiex@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-01-98 While I'm thinking about it (and that is a rare occurrence--my thinking, I mean ;-) ), I vote no for a delay before Lost Princess. If I already voted, discount that. <> Well, I ahdn't thought of itr that way, but that works...But accusing me of misspelling, that offends me! Until next time, Jeremy Steadman ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 02 Aug 1998 13:28:37 -0400 From: "John L. Bell" Subject: from OzCon in Wilmington, DE Sender: "John L. Bell" I'm typing this from the Radisson Hotel in Wilmington, Delaware (state motto: Made from synthetic fibers by DuPont), where the Munchkin Convention has just come to a close. I'll leave it for others to provide a complete report of the meeting since I dawdled on Staten Island during my trip south and therefore missed the Friday events (lecture on witches, lecture on "vitches," costume show). I can say that I enjoyed meeting Oz fans old and new, including Digest members Nathan DeHoff, Dick Randolph, David Hulan, John W Kennedy (and wife Eleanor), Earl Abbe, Herm Beiber, and others too shy to post often. Among the prize winners, Herm pranced away with the adult costume prize for a "Dorothy from Hell," descriptions of which almost made me glad I saw Staten Island instead. Children's costume prize and quiz were won by Tik-Tok fan Jimmy Phillips. Adult quiz consisted of the question, "Where is the quiz?", which was never answered. I missed any announcement of Oz Research Table recognitions, though Digest members like Ruth Berman and Dave Hardenbrook attended the meeting in spirit through that table (they had pieces on display there; they didn't rap on it). The most memorable part of the auction was the bidding over a Macy's Munchkin manniquin from 1989, whose price topped $700. As Ed Brody said to his daughter Anna, still dressed in her Dorothy gingham, "Get up on the table and stand real still; we could get a thousand for you." Also memorable was the sight of an energetic little girl named Emma holding the auction hammer near various 45s and peanut-butter glasses, eager--perhaps too eager--to signal the next sale. The theme for this convention was the 100th anniversary of the demise of the Wicked Witch of the East--a somewhat arbitrary date that saved us from celebrating the 75th anniversary of COWARDLY LION but may have contributed to confusion about when WIZARD was published. Chris Sterling and David Moyer carried off a fine meeting, likely the Munchkins' last at this site. I was especially impressed with David's boldness in dressing up as Hagatha, the leader of three witches trying to revive the Wicked Witch of the East, and ten minutes later expecting us to take his slide show on Baum and his family seriously. But, like his wig, he managed to pull it off! The Steiger/Taylor Oz project sounds a bit like DREAMCHILD, the 1980s film about a grown-up Alice Liddell dealing with her past as the little girl to/about whom Charles Dodgson told his ALICE stories. At least, thinking of it that way is more comfortable than thinking of it as WAS or DOROTHY RETURN TO OZ. But folks who follow the film industry know the tall odds of a septuagenarian director and a famously fragile actress attracting the funding to make such a movie, even if they are both Oscar winners. Steve Teller wrote: <<_The Magic Book of Oz_...is a short film that was first shown at the Ozmaoplitan Convention in 1994 or '95. I have a copy which Bruce Carroll had for sale at the convention. It is a rather amaturish work with some imagination and some very low grade computer animation. It has the qualities of a "let's go to the barn with a few friends and make a movie" production. The girls playing Dorothy, Trot, and Betsy are the right age.>> Can someone familiar with this video synopsize its plot or premise? Thanks. On how different Oz authors treat magic and technnology, Nathan DeHoff wrote: <> I think by the 1940s, and for a businessman like K. G. Baum, the technology in the Oz books was looking decidedly old-fashioned, even if it had originally been fairly up to date. The Emerald City was just getting scalawagons, after all! In addition, the technology in the real world was looking more and more powerful. DINAMONSTER seems to play off contemporary images; the Nome army's lights sweeping the sky and the devastation they inflict on the Emerald City remind me of newsreels about the London Blitz. With that widening contrast between Oz and the technologically driven world at war, it's easy to see how K. G. Baum came to see the forces as separate. Ruth Berman wrote: <> I did. Tonstant Fantasy Weader twowed up. But before doing so, I did spot Baum up to his usual study of how different societies organize themselves. Dave Hardenbrook wrote: <> Before you go to much trouble, consider how influential these votes really are. Folks who aren't up to discussing the current book simply won't. And I've seen no valuable observation on another published book ruled out of order or ignored. Isn't the designation of a current book a mutual convenience? And how often is that designation abused? J. L. Bell JnoLBell@compuserve.com ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 02 Aug 1998 13:00:01 -0500 From: Mike Denio Subject: For Ozzy Digest >Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 09:17:24 -0700 >From: "Weisberg, Larry" > >I was capitalistically sidetracked with work on my "Ye Olde >Bookshoppe of Oz" pages: > >http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/6188/bookshoppe.html > I took a look at this web site and was _very_ impressed. I'd like to congratulate all responsible for creating a truly professional "polished" site. However, I feel compelled to point out one unfortunate quote in the "Wonderful Wizard" section of the page: >------------------- > "The Annotated Wizard of Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (oop) > A must have... but current "used" price is $380! >------------------- I don't know if the price quote came from Amazon or not, but I certainly don't agree with it. I think its only fair to make people aware that most OOP books purchased through search services are available at significantly better prices direct from independent booksellers. I'd suggest including links to the independent the OOP book dealer search sites www.abebooks.com and www.bibliofind.com. Using the above title as an example, I searched for _Annotated Wizard_ on ABE, a site consisting of hundreds of independent dealers. Here's an edited summary of what I found: Baum, L. Frank. Hearn, Michael Patrick THE ANNOTATED WIZARD OF OZ New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc. (1973). First edition. Long quarto. Definitive edition of Baum's classic---studded with scores of photos, posters, drawings, paintings--including the b/w & color illustrations by W.W. Denslow; with notes, bibliography, historical/biographical introduction by Hearn. An OZ treasure trove! Book# 12953.00 US$ 75.00. Please contact BOOKFELLOWS for more information about purchasing this book. Also: Book# 001744 US$ 150.00. Please contact Susan Heller for more information about purchasing this book. Book# 1000401 US$ 150.00. Please contact Pawprint Books for more information about purchasing this book. Book# C391 US$ 145.00. Please contact Heritage Books for more information about purchasing this book. Book# 000621 US$ 100.00. Please contact TranceWorks for more information about purchasing this book. -----[ FYI: A Rare Book on ABE ]---------------------------------------------------- Someone mentioned something about Baum's plays the other day, so I did a search on _Musical Fantasies_. I was shocked that a copy Ford/Martin book (limited editon of 500 copies) was so easily accessible! Alla Ford and Dick Martin, The Musical Fantasies of L. Frank Baum, Chicago: Wizard Press 1958. 1st edition. LIMITED TO 500 COPIES. The story of Baum's stage ventures with additional bibliographic reference material which although somewhat dated, is very interesting. Also: Book# 37294 US$ 85.00. Please contact Boston Book Company for more information about purchasing this book. Book# 13449 US$ 75.00. Please contact Aleph-Bet Books, Inc. for more information about purchasing this book. Book# 001010 US$ 150.00. Please contact Frogtown Books, Inc. for more information about purchasing this book. "inscribed by Alla Ford" Book# 3402 US$ 135.00. Please contact Atlanta Vintage Books for more information about purchasing this book. ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 02 Aug 1998 17:07:47 -0400 From: Richard Randolph Subject: Ozzy Digest 8-1-98 Back from the Munchkin Convention where I saw, as expected, Earl, Elinor & John Kennedy, Nathan, Sharon & Chris Warkala, Herm Bieber and met David Hulan and John Bell. It was great visiting with fellow "Digesters" and being able to put a face to the name. All in all, it was a fine convention, IMHO. I'll leave details to some of the others, but a highlight was Herm winning the costume contest dressed as Dorothy, complete with ruby slippers and Toto in basket. It was truly a weekend of "wicked witches", from a two-part sketch, (Fri. & Sat. nites) where a trio of witches (David Moyer, Tricia Trozzi & Elinor Kennedy attempted to revive the Wicked Witch of the East), to witch hats for almost everyone at dinner Saturday. The food, as always, was very good! I had great success at the auction, and was also able to acquire David's personal autograph on my copy of "Glass Cat". LuvCHACHI - do you have a name? And, yes, most of my Oz books are pre-1940. Dick ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 02 Aug 1998 18:15:44 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-29-98 I'm not going to do a detailed report on the Munchkin Convention tonight (maybe more detail tomorrow or next day, if someone else doesn't first), but I'm back from it and had a good time. Met quite a variety of Digest people I'd never met before - Dick Randolph, Chris and Sharon Warkala (who haven't been that active lately, but who once were and who still read the Digest), Nathan DeHoff, John and Eleanor Kennedy, John Bell, and Earl Abbe - if I've forgotten anyone, my apologies, but I don't have a Munchkin roster and I'm a little punchy after traveling for seven hours or so. Also saw Digesters Jim Vandernoot and Herm Bieber whom I'd met before. A pleasant convention; its best points vis-a-vis the other Oz conventions are (a) better food, and (b) better prices (for the buyer) at the auction. (I got very nice copies of SEA FAIRIES and L&A OF SANTA CLAUS with color plates - though not 1sts - for a total of $162; at either of the other cons I doubt I could have gotten either of them for that little.) Major negative was an absolutely awful presentation on "The Metaphysical Aspect of Witches," or something like that, by someone who's a really woo-woo New Ager. It reminded me of the time that I went to an optical society meeting where the dinner speaker was going to discuss earthquake prediction - and turned out to be an astrologer! Hey, I can have as much fun with fantasy as anyone, but I like fantasy labeled as fantasy and reality as reality; when he parsed "prayer" as "p-ray-er," "p-rays" being short for "pyramid rays," which are emanations of Ancient Wisdom (or something like that) Tonstant Weader Fwowed Up (or, more accurately, I walked out). But that was only one item, and otherwise the program ranged from brilliant to interesting. I don't know if I'll return to Munchkins next year (I have to go to Ozmopolitan, and Winkies was my first convention and still the one where I know the most people best; do I have time and energy for three again?), but I'm sure I'll do so once every few years because they're good people and put on a good con. (And the food is exceptional for any convention of any kind that I've been to, especially for the price. I was told by someone that this year's food wasn't as good as the last few - in which case I'd say that the last few years ought to get at least a star or two from Michelin!) J.L.: >Yes. I was using the word "series" as a plural. Couldn't you tell?! Yes; I just didn't know if you meant books by Baum under a pseudonym or possible series of Oz books that someone else had written under a pseudonym - if such exist; I don't know that they do. I guess I was influenced by our frequent references to the Oz "canon" and "apocrypha"; given those, one might also postulate "pseudepigrapha" that would be included in your "pseudonymous" works. Bob C.: >Gee, I'm one of those Bible Thumpers, and I don't believe I have ever >said that the Oz books are evil or satanic. In fact, I think it is >good to see the contrast between good and evil, and hopefully the >good will win out. Well, there are Bible Thumpers and Bible Thumpers. You're obviously not in the group referred to, but I didn't see any indication in the quote in question that the writer (I don't recall who it was) meant to imply that all Bible Thumpers think Oz is satanic. You can't deny that a lot of them do. Jeremy: >I certainly put WWoO as one of the top 100 books ever written--one of the top >20, at least! Am putting my sense in! I wouldn't much more than put WWoO in my list of the top 20 Oz books ever written (well, it's probably about 15th). It's certainly within my top 100 favorite books, but even I can recognize that "favorite" and "best" aren't equivalent (though unlike some of the judges Random House used, I'm not going to rate a book "best" when I haven't read it). Liz: Welcome back! I see in a later Digest that Gordon sent you the one with my report, at least; did you get the ones with Atticus's and Peter Hanff's? They filled in a lot of the gaps in mine. Scott H.: >Several reasons I have for not reading _Wonder City_: >*I'm reading them in order and don't have Purple Prince While reading the books in order is a worthwhile thing to do, the only book that would suffer from your not having read _Purple Prince_ is _Silver Princess_, and there's no other FF book affected by either of those two. >*I haven't had much time, and other things I want to read, including many >Baum works. Good enough reason. >*If I'm going to buy it, I want to buy it in hardcover, which is more >cost-prohibitive. Depends on what you consider prohibitive; _Wonder City_ is available from BoW for about $20 in hardcover. _Glass Cat_ is sort of dated, in the sense that it concludes with a party celebrating the 75th anniversary of Betsy's arrival in Oz. That's not terribly specific, though. But there are also quite a few references to changes in California since Trot and Cap'n Bill left; it's pretty clear that it's no earlier than the '70s and probably later. (I was thinking in terms of about 1989 for the events when I wrote it, but if you want to deconstruct it...) I think I'll wait till tomorrow to comment on the 6/1 Digest... David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 03:05:28 +0000 From: Scott Olsen Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-01-98 I don't know if this is "new" news, but I just read today that the theme for the 1999 Rose Parade is "The Wizard of Oz" Scott Olsen ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 00:14:06 -0400 From: International Wizard of Oz Club Subject: FW: Wizard of Oz Collectors For the digest... -----Original Message----- From: Student Off Campus Bookstore [mailto:offcbkstore@clemson.campus.mci.net] Sent: Saturday, August 01, 1998 1:13 PM Subject: Wizard of Oz Collectors My name is Tim Kelley. I am with the Oconee Community Theatre in South Carolina. We are currently in production of the stage musical "The Wizard of Oz." As part of our opening night gala on September 11, 1998, we would like to have an avid collector of "Wizard of Oz" memorabilia to display his/her collection in our lobby. If there are any fan club members located near our area (Atlanta, GA; Greenville, SC; Columbia, SC) that could possibly help with this project, please contact me at: offcbkstore@clemson.campus.mci.net Your help is greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Tim Kelley Director of Publicity Oconee Community Theatre TK/jc ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 07:11:35 -0400 (EDT) From: Mark Anthony Donajkowski Subject: new oz news Syndicated columnist Marilyn Beck reports Rod Steiger has written a sequel to THE WIZARD OF OZ, about a 60-year-old Dorothy who returns to Oz. If that hasn't gotten your ruby red slippers curling up, Steiger is in talks with Elizbath Taylor to play Dorothy. ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 09:43:54 -0600 (CST) From: Ruth Berman Subject: ozzy digest Dave Hardenbrook: I'll put in a vote for delaying "Lost Princess" discussion a bit, in the hopes that it'll be a tie-breaker, considering that working out a procedure for breaking a tie will probably (as you suggest) take as long as the planned delay. A suggestion for future ties -- if the tie included your own vote, disqualify your own vote. If the tie didn't include your own vote, take your own vote as the tie-breaker. Ruth Berman ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 16:07:14 -0500 (EST) From: sahutchi@iupui.edu Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-29-98 > Yes. I was using the word "series" as a plural. Couldn't you tell?! > Which is to say, no matter how "completist" I may feel about reading L. > Frank Baum fantasies, I suffer no urge to finish the TWINKLE books or > collect old [or new] editions of BOY FORTUNE HUNTERS and AUNT JANE'S > NIECES. I would read AUNT JANE'S NIECES MEET THE BOY FORTUNE HUNTERS if > anyone wants to write that! How about _Aunt Jane's Nieces Go to Oz_ or _The Boy Fortune Hunters in Oz_ :) > Anyhow, there weren't any children's books on the list that I can recall; > after all, it was arrived at by the vote of a committee of LitCrit types, > and as you would expect is weighted heavily toward gloomy, introspective, > and/or difficult-to-read books, none of which applies to _The Wizard of > Oz_. _Wicked_ would be far more likely to make such a list from that kind > of panel. as would _Tip_... We must remember, however that 1900 is the final year of the 19th century, making Wizard automatically inelligible for the list. Of course, the AFI limited their film list to narrative films, and _Fantasia_ made it but barely qualifies, as _The Sorcerer's Apprentice_, and, marginally, _A Aight on Bald Mountain_ are the only narratives in the film, which certainly does not stretch overall. > > Change happens. Technology improves. Refusing to adopt new technologies > unless they're never going to change again basically means being a Luddite > and never adopting a new technology, because they'll always change. (Of > course, some things take longer than others. Italian violins of the Baroque > era are still considered the best - but I'm confident that someday someone > will make a better one. By contrast, computers still improve substantially > every few months.) I got a lot of pleasure out of 78 rpm records when I was > a kid, and 45s when I was a teen, and LPs as a young adult, cassettes (for > mobile use) somewhat later, and CDs more recently, and would feel that I'd > deprived myself unnecessarily if I'd eschewed any of these new technologies > waiting until the Ultimate came along. Besides, nothing is available in all formats (there are a lot of CDs I'm praying for that are out on vinyl or tape only), any more than all books are in print in all languages, but translations aren't always optimal, anyway. > Scott: I hardly consider the library a last resort! However, as a > collector trying to acquire copies of the FF, I see what you mean :) ... Au contraire, I got the libray to order _The Book of Hamburgs_ and _Our Landlady_ for me, and I used interlibrary loan to read _Tamawaca Folks_ and _Daughters of Destiny_. Stephen: My question about TF was the Van Der Slop/Van Der SLuis identification. Not only do I not know who any of the people they mentioned as equivalents were, but I don't recall this one being mentioned in the text. If he was, it must only have been once. Abyway, I highly reccomend _TF_, even if it is inherently funnier knowing who the characters equate to, other than Baum's stubborn shopkeeper. > Elizabeth Taylor is not only making a return to the screen in "The > Visit" for Robert Haimi, she's also talking about starring in a feature I belive that's referring to Robert Halmi, Sr. (not Haimi, unless I'm confused) > Dave Hardenbrook mentioned a Random House Web site that lets visitors vote > on the top English-language novels of the 20th century, since the Modern > Library's editors left THE WIZARD OF OZ and many other beloved titles off > their list. I just read that the Web-voted list was topped for a while by > William Shatner's TEKWORLD, which might indicate its value. > I got an A in my SF class without even bothering to read this, just saw the movie in class. > > NEW OZ MOVIE?: > On the Internet Movie Database I found something called _The Magic Book of > Oz_ (1994), written directed and produced by Bruce Carroll/Videoz. The > info is very fragmentary. Does anyone know anything about it? Bruce Carroll made this on video and showed it at a convention. I tried to contact him for a copy, but he nevber replied, possibly because I mentioned that I had heard it was bad but it did not deter my desire to see it. > > BTW, I recently got to see the Minneapolis Children's Theatre production > of _Land_ and very much enjoyed it! I wish they had performed other > Oz books as well! > I saw a pic on the web that looked like it was from _PG_, and I put the url on the digest twice before, but now I can't find it, and it may or may not still be there. Hower, Ruth Berman told me at Ozmoplitan last year that she has seen all their plays and PG was not one of them. The only others available on tape are _Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland_, _Puss in Boots_ and _The Red Shoes_, which are all excellent. I also saw part of their _Pinocchio_ on TV, but that has never been released to video (all of the plays, again according to Ruth, have been taped as a record). Scott ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 17:25:50 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-01-98 LuVCHACHI: >I was wondering if anyone had any pre 1940 Oz books. I have two, (The Emerald >City of Oz & Kabumpo in Oz), and was curious if anyone else had any. Ok, BYE! I assume you mean copies printed pre-1940; most of the Oz books were published pre-1940. There are quite a few people on the Digest who have all 33 of the Oz books published pre-1940 in copies printed pre-1940. I don't, but I have some of them - WIZARD, OZMA, MAGIC, LOST KING, HUNGRY TIGER, GIANT HORSE, and PIRATES. I have 1sts of WONDER CITY, LUCKY BUCKY, MAGICAL MIMICS, and SHAGGY MAN, but those were all published in 1940 or later. Incidentally, could you sign your name to your posts? (A pseudonym would be fine if you don't want to give out your real one, but LuVCHACHI is a nuisance to type.) Steve: > This sounds suspiciously like Tedrow's "Dorothy--Return to Oz" which I >consider the worst Oz related book ever written (and I have read >"Barnstormer" "Wicked" and all of March Laumer). I hope this is not >the case. I assume you mean "worst" in the sense of "most un-Ozlike" rather than "worst written." I haven't read it, but I can't believe that the prose is worse than it is in some of the Buckethead books. Bear: >David - You left out 8-track tapes. I had a player in my Firebird. When I >sold the Firebird I couldn't give away the 8-tracks. I even know someone >who had lots of beta format video tapes. I didn't leave them out; I was listing music formats that I'd used myself, and I never used either 8-track or Beta format video. I didn't mention 16 2/3 rpm records or cylindrical recordings or DAT tapes either, because I never used them. Dave: >...what if >after blowing $1000 on a decent VCR there is a full-fledged DVD revolution >including the introduction of affordable *recordable* DVDs?? $1000 on a VCR? Surely you jest! You can get a VCR with all the bells and whistles anyone could possibly want for under $500, and can get a perfectly decent one for about $300. I've done my E-mail to your Lost Digester; if some of the others you requested to do so haven't (I know John Bell is traveling for the next week or so, for instance, and may not have E-mail access) let me know and I'll have a go at them as well. It's not as if it's any trouble, especially since I already have the message written and can just copy and paste to new recipients. David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 19:09:51 -0400 From: Richard Bauman Subject: Today's Oz Growls Sender: Richard Bauman Well..... since someone chose to pass my post to the Digest on to Hungry Tiger Press you might as well hear the unsolicited response that I received. Dear Mr. Bauman: A friend forwarded your complaint on the "Ozzy Digest" to us. I am sorry you were not pleased with the service. In the future, it might be advisable to address your complaints to the source--instead of letting "the source" discover there is a problem third-hand. Let me address your complaints: If your copy of Oz-story 4 arrived damaged you may of course return it and we will send you a new one. We have mailed out 1000s of copies over the last few years and only a handful have ever been damaged. We are most sorry yours was. We pack in rigid envelopes instead of padded envelopes because they are much better protection. Obviously no packaging is completly safe from the U.S. Postal Service. If you would like your copy autographed--you may always ask and we will be happy to accomodate you. Perhaps we should add a box to check on the order- form for customers would like their books signed. Actually we do have an E-mail address--and if you ordered your copy from us any advertising you received would have included it. It is also published twice in Oz-story 4. We are a very small publisher and it is frankly not a possibility to deal with an 800 number or credit-card sales. Both are too expensive for many small businesses. You may not be aware of it--but credit card sales cost the retailer a percentage plus account fees. So sadly there is not much we can do but accept snail-mail checks. I would point out that since we do our mailings before publication in most cases--a snail-mail check would be no slower than an electronic transfer. The books were mailed as soon as we had copies in hand. BTW-while I too am sometimes irritated by places that will not accept credit cards the "speed" is sometimes illusory. For instance if you ordered Oz-story from Amazon.com they would accept your credit-card number and then fax us; we would mail the book to them; they would then mail it to you! You would have actually recieved the book faster by dealing with the publisher directly even with snail-mail! And again in the case of Books of Wonder (one of our best customers) while they accept credit cards and have an 800 number they have not actually ordered any copies of Oz-story 4 yet; so again--only an illusion that electronic transfer is quicker. I didn't mean to go on so--if your copy was damaged please return it and we will send you a new one. If you would like it autographed that can be taken care of as well. Yours truly, David Maxine Hungry Tiger Press Tigerbooks@aol.com 1516 Cypress Avenue San Diego, CA 92103-4517 I hope this is useful and in addition, provides a caution that things sent to the Digest are not necessarily going to stay there. Regards, Bear ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 22:38:38 -0400 From: Tyler Jones Subject: oZ Sender: Tyler Jones David and Bear: Just wait until the cable modem standard battle starts! At last count, there are at least 29 companies working on this, and every one is incompatible with every other one. Liz: It appears that the original books are being swamped under even more than they really are by a stream of dark movies and books. Before long, they will become the "official" Oz series and the FF will vanish in a puff of smoke. Sigh. Dave: I'll handle the sending to Duglor until something can be worked out. I don't always log on every day, but I'll send it out each time I do. Tyler Jones ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 04 Aug 98 01:39:37 (PDT) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things MORE LIZ IN OZ: Ted Nesi wrote: >Good grief! Elizabeth Taylor -- in Oz? "Dorothy on a Hot Tin Roof" ... >"TOrnado 8" ... "Who's Afraid of Ruggedo Woolf?" ... Also _Kabumpo Walk_, _Reflections in a Silver Slipper_, _Ozmapatra_, and _A Little Ozzy Music_... Let us pray... ROSE (AND POPPY?) PARADE: Scott Olsen wrote: >I don't know if this is "new" news, but I just read today that the theme for >the 1999 Rose Parade is "The Wizard of Oz" Quick! How do we lobby them to include a non-MGM, "Glorious Reign of Ozma" float??!! VCRS: David H.: >$1000 on a VCR? Surely you jest! You can get a VCR with all the bells and >whistles anyone could possibly want for under $500, and can get a perfectly >decent one for about $300. Really? Does a $500 VCR with all the bells and whistles have good picture quality, even in SLP/EP mode? And does anyone happen to know how much I'd have to pay for a VCR that can play either NTSC or PAL tapes? MISSING DIGESTS: Thanks to everyone who forwarded the Digests to the folks on the "bounce list"...Let's hope this problem can be resolved soon... DECISION '98: Well, I have put a new page up at my web site for members to vote on Ozzy issues, in this case, when we will discuss _Lost Princess_...Point your browsers to: http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/OzVoteEP.html All the instructions are there. The results will be announced in Sunday's Digest. Please vote, this will be the official one that will decide the issue! -- Dave ====================================================================== -- Dave **************************************************************************** Dave Hardenbrook, DaveH47@delphi.com, http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/ "I like to define humor as the affectionate communication of insight." -- Leo Rosten, introduction to _Oh K*A*P*L*A*N, My K*A*P*L*A*N_ ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, AUGUST 5 - 7, 1998 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 04 Aug 1998 11:24:08 -0500 (EST) From: better living through chemistry Subject: RE: Ozzy Digest, 08-04-98 Hello Oz friends, There is an interesting short article in the latest issue (September '98) of BIBLIO magazine that may be of interest to Oz book collectors. The article describes a June incident at BOOKS OF WONDER involving two book theives trying to pass on stollen children's books to Peter Glassmen. He was suspicious and took the initiative to phone around and establish that the book were indeed stolen. Great work, Peter! I find BIBLIO to be a wonderful magazine, covering a broad range of topics in book collecting, book collectors, authors, and book dealers. Cheers, Scott Cummings ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 04 Aug 1998 12:20:05 -0600 (CST) From: Ruth Berman Subject: ozzy digest John L. Bell, Dick Randolph, & David Hulan: Thanks for the Muchkincon reports -- enjoyed reading them. Mike Denio: Interesting information about independent bookdealers on the Web. I don't have Web access, but of the booksellers you mention have had dealings with Aleph-Bet and found them pleasant and helpful. Scott Hutchins: A couple of small disclaimers on infor about the Children's Theater Company -- living in the same area, I've seen the advertising for all their productions (barring a couple of years living in other places). I've seen all their Oz productions, and a sampling of their productions generally, but not all their productions. I am not sure how many of their productions have been taped as a record -- probably not the earliest ones -- but I've heard that they've been taping their shows for their records and assume that they've been doing that for quite a few years and have included all or most of the shows done during those years. Bear: Speaking of "Ozstory Magazine" #4 -- I haven't started reading my copy yet, but like you I'm impressed with the look of the issue. The cover is a reproduction in color of one of Neill's plates from "Peter and the Princess," a book that includes some of his most gorgeous color work. Tyler Jones: I doubt that the various "dark" Oz movies or books are going to swamp the originals. None of them has achieved anything like the popularity of the MGM movie. (The MGM movie really has, to some extent, swamped the books, but certainly not entirely.) Besides not being popular enough, they don't really form a "series" and so don't build on each other's achievements. With Books of Wonder/Morrow hb and Dover-pb making so many of the original series widely available, we're probably not going to see the original books swamped (any more than they are anyway by the MGM movie) anytime soon. I wonder if any of the IWOC officials on the Digest happen to know how much effect the club is starting to see in members coming in from reading BoW reprints? Ruth Berman ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 04 Aug 1998 09:07:12 -0700 From: "Weisberg, Larry" Subject: SUBMISSION FOR: Ozzy Digest 08-05-98 Thank you for your kind words about my site. I will alter "The Annotated Oz" entry to better reflect the current market price. For all of us who have waited long enough for the new hardcover edition of "The Lost Princess of Oz," below please find a link that will get you your copy for only $16.80 + 3.95 (s&h) = $20.95 (this is $3.75 less than directly from "Books of Wonder"!). http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0688149758/weisbeontheweb/002-8322727 -2190844 The book should ship on September 1 and discussions should be able to commence immediately following Labor Day! Ozzily yours... Larry Weisberg ldweisberg@geocities.com )|( (o o) ----------------------------------ooO-(_)-Ooo------------------------------- ------ "Welcome to Oz" http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Bungalow/2525/ Also consider visiting "WEISBERG on the WEB" http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/6188 ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 04 Aug 1998 14:20:22 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-04-98 J.L.: >Adult quiz consisted of the question, "Where is >the quiz?", which was never answered. Nathan De Hoff had made up a quiz and sent it to Fred Meyer, but apparently there was miscommunication because Nathan had thought Fred would be making copies and sending them to Munchkins, and he didn't. I was disappointed, too; I'd have enjoyed taking the quiz. Speaking of quizzes, would it be of interest to any significant number of Digest folk for the various quizzes from the conventions to be posted somewhere on the Net? I don't think they should be included as part of the Digest itself, and since I don't have a Web site of my own I don't have a facility for posting them, but I'd be happy to make the two quizzes I made up this year (adult quiz for Ozmopolitan and Master's quiz for Winkies) available to anyone who'd like to post them. I also have a copy of the adult quiz from Winkies that I'd be willing to type in and make available. And maybe Nathan could add his missing quiz from Munchkins? If there were awards given for the Oz Research Table at Munchkins I missed them too. The energetic little girl named Emma is Jim Vander Noot's daughter; Jim was, I believe, a charter subscriber to the Digest, though he rarely posts anything except queries he gets from the IWOC Web page. Scott H.: > _Fantasia_ made it >but barely qualifies, as _The Sorcerer's Apprentice_, and, marginally, _A >Aight on Bald Mountain_ are the only narratives in the film, which >certainly does not stretch overall. I'd say that _Rite of Spring_ and _Dance of the Hours_ are about as much narrative as _Night on Bald Mountain_, which is to say not much. Bear: >I hope this is useful and in addition, provides a caution that things sent >to the Digest are not necessarily going to stay there. It practically goes without saying that anything that's distributed to 150+ people can't really be considered a private communication. I wouldn't forward something like that myself (though I did give you David Maxine's E-mail privately so you could get in touch with him if you cared to), but I wouldn't put something on the Digest that I was unwilling for anyone in the world to see. Tyler: >David and Bear: >Just wait until the cable modem standard battle starts! At last count, >there are at least 29 companies working on this, and every one is >incompatible with every other one. Which is why I won't be getting a cable modem any time soon, until the technology shakes out enough that I can be reasonably sure that I won't be stuck with an orphan. Dave: >Quick! How do we lobby them to include a non-MGM, "Glorious Reign of Ozma" >float??!! I don't know if the Tournament of Roses Committee would give out a list of organizations that are sponsoring floats or not, but if they would that would be the first step. Then write to all of them urging that they at least look at some of the books for themes that would be different from the general run of movie stuff. I do not, however, hold out a lot of hope for such an effort. >Really? Does a $500 VCR with all the bells and whistles have good picture >quality, even in SLP/EP mode? Yes. At least, it looks good to me; I don't know how picky you are. > And does anyone happen to know how much I'd >have to pay for a VCR that can play either NTSC or PAL tapes? No idea about that. I understand that PAL tapes will play on standard NTSC VCRs, but without color or sound. However, I haven't tried it. >DECISION '98: >Well, I have put a new page up at my web site for members to vote on >Ozzy issues, in this case, when we will discuss _Lost Princess_...Point >your browsers to: http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/OzVoteEP.html >All the instructions are there. The results will be announced in >Sunday's Digest. Please vote, this will be the official one that >will decide the issue! I tried, but both attempts so far have crashed my computer. Maybe I'll try one more time after I send this off. David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 04 Aug 1998 13:00:22 -0700 From: "A.E. Schaible" Subject: ozzy digest Ruth: Yes, the two watercolors were Rob's work. I was very hopeful to get something original since I missed out while Rob was at the Winkie conferences (being too young to buy anything noteworthy). I think they make a nice grouping together with a rough pencil sketch as they show different parts of the process Rob went through as an artist. They are of the farmhouse before it was transported. Atticus: Anything to save you from finishing _Road_? Why don't you like it? ;-) Liz Schaible ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 05 Aug 1998 11:29:08 -0400 (EDT) From: Kiex@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-04-98 Ted N.: Rather than have Dave postpone discussing LOST PRINCESS, an alternative would be to read the text on one of the web pagfes that contains full text. Of course, that wouldn't help in quetsions about format... <> What kind of slippers?? Jeez! Ruth: Sounds like a reasonable method of breaking all ties . . . Post Office Blues: Chris Dulabone and I found similar problems back in '90 or '91 when I tried to send him the text of my manuscript (hard copy). He wrote back saying (more or less) that he found it "stuffed" in his mailbox, with packaging torn and dirty. Luckily he text was intact . . . Speaking of BoW: What is their web address? Quick to take a BoW myself, Jeremy Steadman http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dimension/9619 ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 05 Aug 1998 15:35:26 -0500 (EST) From: sahutchi@iupui.edu Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-04-98 Ted: _Number 13_ is an incomplete avant-garde animation by the magician and artist Harry Smith (1923?-1991). It was intended to be his only mainstream film, although it had strong ties to Buddhism and replaced the four lands of Oz with some strnage ones I don't remember specifically, except one was a land of flesh with pictures out of nudie (not porno) magazines. Most of the footage that exists is test footage in the archives which should be ready to show next year. Currently, the only portion available for screening, at the Harry Smith Archives in Manhattan for $25.00, is the 9 minute completed segment, _The Tin Woodsman's Dream_ (Woodsman--sic). Number 13 (1962) USA 1962 Color Produced by: Film Maker's Cooperative Production Genre/keyword: Animation / avant-garde / experimental Runtime: USA:108 Also Known As: Fragments of a Fate Forgotten (1962) Magic Mushroom People of Oz, The (1962) Oz (1962) Tin Woodsman's Dream, The (1962) Directed by Harry Smith (I) Written by L. Frank Baum (novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) Harry Smith (I) Cinematography by Stuart Reed Music by Charles Gounod (from "Faust") Production Design by W.W. Denslow (original artwork "The wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)") Harry Smith (I) Produced by Elizabeth Taylor (executive) Arthur Young (II) (executive) Lionel Ziprin Other crew Harry Smith (I) .... animator Joanne Ziprin .... animator Nathan: I've read the script of _The Magic Book of Oz_, and it was a rather forgettable one (in script form) about an evil witch named scratch and a magic boot. It was told by a man to a young girl as a bedtime story, and ended with (of course) a party. Oz books written by someone else under a pseudonym? See above (Damon Z. Pythias) Scott ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 06 Aug 1998 09:50:48 -0600 (CST) From: Ruth Berman Subject: ozzy digest - a rinktink footnote Back in June Robin Olderman asked "Cor & Gos for Coregos. Prince Inga and Queen Garee for Pingaree. Why not King Pinga and Queen Garee, or something like that? I've always felt that Baum was quietly laughing up his sleeve about avoiding the more obvious set of names." J.L. Bell suggested: "Since Kitticut is the *first* ruler introduced in the book [p. 19, 1st/BoW edition], I suspect Baum didn't start to play with the shared syllables until after he named Kitticut." I was re-reading David L. Greene's article on "Baum's Later Oz Books" ("Bugle" vol. 16 #1), and noticed a bit of info probably relevant here. At one point there was a Queen Uaie in the story, and the publishers asked Baum to rename her, as they couldn't figure out how the name was meant to be pronounced; he said he would re-name her. So very likely both Kitticut and Uaie started out as names not tied to the kingdom's name, and it was when he needed to rename Uaie that he looked again at Cor and Gos and Inga and decided that sort of name would do for Queen Garee, too. Just as well he didn't tie himself down to doing it for everyone in the story, as poor Kitticut would have been much less dignified as a King Pinga -- not to mention as a Kingpin. Ruth Berman ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 07 Aug 98 12:59:10 (PDT) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things DECISION '98: Just reminding everyone that you have until noon tomorrow (PDT) to vote... I'm hoping *someone* will break the 3-3 tie that's been there for two days now... David H. wrote: >I tried, but both attempts so far have crashed my computer. Maybe I'll try >one more time after I send this off. Any luck? Anyone else have this problem? MN CHILDREN'S THEATER: Ruth wrote: >A couple of small disclaimers on infor about the >Children's Theater Company...I am not sure >how many of their productions have been taped as a record -- Of course, no one's said they have the last word, but according to Internet Movie Database, _Land_ is the only one. I remeber seeing an article about the MN Children's Theater Company in _Smithsonian_ years ago. Does anyone have/remember it? (It was mostly about their production of _Alice in Wonderland_ IIRC but I remember some photos from _Land_ as well.) VIDEOS: I was doing an "Oz" search on the Internet Movie Database, and I came across the video documentary, _Oz: The American Fairyland_. Is that the one that costs more than the whole of Ozma's palace? One thing I notice is their listing of Ken Page as the Cowardly Lion... I recognize that name because he originated the the role of Old Deuteronomy in the Broadway production of _Cats_, and he will be reviving the role in the upcoming video version. VCRS: David wrote: >No idea about that. I understand that PAL tapes will play on standard NTSC >VCRs, but without color or sound. However, I haven't tried it. I have. They won't. (The picture is scrambled and PAL tapes apparently run slower than NTSC because the audio sounded like Munchkins.) -- Dave ====================================================================== -- Dave **************************************************************************** Dave Hardenbrook, DaveH47@delphi.com, http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/ "I like to define humor as the affectionate communication of insight." -- Leo Rosten, introduction to _Oh K*A*P*L*A*N, My K*A*P*L*A*N_ ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, AUGUST 8 - 9, 1998 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 07 Aug 1998 17:41:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Mark Anthony Donajkowski Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-07-98 dave you ddint post my note abotu your story RED DWARF IN OZ available for reading now at the power star site http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Metro/1460 as well as reviews of the dark oz mini series by arrowcomics ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1998 20:27:31, -0500 From: NQAE93A@prodigy.com (MR ROBERT J COLLINGE) Subject: Ozzy Digest, 08-07-98 David Hulan wrote: >Speaking of quizzes, would it be of interest to any significant number of Digest folk for the various quizzes from the conventions to be posted somewhere on the Net?< I think that would be a great idea. Many of us can not make the conventions, and this would allow us to take part. We had a quiz on the Baum books and one on the MGM movie at the Oz Fiesta in April that I would be glad to send to someone to post as well. Bob C. ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 07 Aug 1998 20:47:35 -0400 (EDT) From: Mark Anthony Donajkowski Subject: more liz oz news 02:37 PM ET 08/07/98 Elizabeth Taylor wanted for yellow brick road By Mark Egan LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) - Elizabeth Taylor may be following the yellow brick road as a grown-up Dorothy if veteran actor Rod Steiger succeeds in his wish to make a sequel to one of the most popular movies ever, ``The Wizard of Oz.'' Steiger told Reuters Friday Taylor was interested in playing a 60-year old Dorothy in the sequel, reviving the role played by Judy Garland in the original. The film, tentatively titled ``Somewhere,'' has been put on ice since Taylor hurt her back in a fall at her Bel Air home earlier this year. ``I took the script to Ms. Taylor and said she might do it and then she got ill,'' Steiger said in an interview. ``So the whole thing is up in the air at the moment. Steiger, who won an Oscar in 1967 for ``In the Heat of the Night,'' said he would likely play the Scarecrow in the film and may even direct the project. ``I would probably play the Scarecrow but none of the characters are like they are in the original movie. She meets people with the personal problems of the characters in the original Oz,'' he said. Rumors have been rife in Hollywood in recent weeks that Steiger and Taylor were an item. ``The tabloids had a romance going between us but since she's in a brace, romantic things can't happen easily,'' he said adding, ``This woman is trying to get her back fixed, she strained or broke her back. It would be very difficult to go out dancing.'' Taylor fell in the bedroom of her Bel Air home on Feb. 27 as she was preparing to celebrate her 66th birthday and suffered a slight compression fracture in her lower back. The actress, who won Academy Awards for ``Butterfield 8'' in 1960 and ``Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' in 1966, has a long history of medical problems. Last year she had brain surgery to remove a benign tumor the size of a golf ball. She has has had both hips replaced, she nearly died of complications from a respiratory illness in 1990 and she also has been treated for dependency on painkilling drugs. Taylor has not acted on the big screen in the past decade, spending most of her time in recent years campaigning for charities. Steiger disappeared from acting in the early 1980s when he fell victim to a depression which debilitated him for nearly a decade. In recent years he has slowly rebuilt his career appearing in as many movies as one of the hardest working actors in Hollywood. In June, ``The Wizard of Oz,'' made in 1939, was named the sixth best American film of all time by the American Film Institute. The film followed a Kansas girl's dreams of a fantasy land after a tornado hit the farm where she lived. ^REUTERS@ ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 07 Aug 1998 21:13:30 -0400 From: Richard Bauman Subject: Today's Oz Growls Sender: Richard Bauman Larry Weisberg - There is a great book store in my town called Future Fantasy. It only carries sci fi, fantasy and mysteries. They have regular signings and give you $10 off every time you reach $100 in purchases. They sell through the net at http://futfan.com/ I buy most of my books there. Why? I could save a few bucks on some of them at Barnes and Noble, Borders or Crown if they carried them. I could probably save a few bucks at Amazon if I wanted to buy sight unseen. My reason is that they are nice people, carry what I want, have it where I can see it, and charge a reasonable price. If they and the last few independents go out of business you will get to buy what some cluck at Barnes and Noble decides will sell the most. That is why I will continue to support Books of Wonder similarly even though it may cost me a couple of bucks more. Some things are more important than a couple of bucks. *************SUPPORT INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS AND PUBLISHERS*********** Dave - Where do you get tapes in PAL (European) format? And, why do you get them? Dave - Your address for voting wasn't accepted by Delphi. So this is what I did. I went to Delphi and asked for Oz. That gave me a long list and you are 51. on the list. Once in your web page I entered your voting address. That took me to the voting page. Regards, Bear (:<) ====================================================================== Date: Fri, 07 Aug 1998 23:38:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Ozmama@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-07-98 In a message dated 98-08-07 17:06:02 EDT, you write: << <> What kind of slippers?? Jeez! >> The slippers were, I think, the highlight of the ensemble. Herm made them out of some old slippers and--are ya ready for this?--duct tape. They were awesome! Ruth wrote:<> That's an interesting way to look at it. Thanks! ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 08 Aug 1998 14:25:25 -0400 (EDT) From: Kiex@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-07-98 Quizzes on the Web: Good idea! I know I only see the quizzes that are published in the Bugle and other IWOC publications (since I've still yet to make it to a convention--maybe when I can drive) (yes, I am really 21, but it's a long story). For that reason (the few quizzes I see, that is), I think putting it on the web would be a great idea. Quizzically, Jeremy Steadman ====================================================================== Date: Sat, 08 Aug 1998 13:54:25 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-07-98 Jeremy: ><costume contest dressed as Dorothy, complete with ruby slippers and Toto in >basket.>> > >What kind of slippers?? Jeez! Actually they were, I believe, high-top sneakers covered with red duct tape. (I know they were covered with red duct tape; I'm not sure what the starting point was.) >Speaking of BoW: >What is their web address? I don't think they have a Web address, though they have an E-mail address (but I don't recall what it is; I think Peter G. gave it in a post on the Digest not long ago). Dave: >David H. wrote: >>I tried, but both attempts so far have crashed my computer. Maybe I'll try >>one more time after I send this off. > >Any luck? Anyone else have this problem? I was successful in getting to your vote site, but when I tried to vote nothing happened, as far as I could tell. At least, the button didn't flash and there was no acknowledgement of the vote. Maybe it worked after all, though. David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 09 Aug 98 18:25:50 (PDT) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things MORE LIZ IN OZ: Mark quoted from _Reuters_: >The film, tentatively titled ``Somewhere,'' has been put on ice... Let's hope it stays there... BEAR: >I went to Delphi and asked for Oz. That gave me a long list and >you are 51. on the list. I did the same thing, and find that I've gone down a notch to 52. "Oz" in the minds of the general public seems to mean: 1. Australia 2. A TV Series about a prison 3. A 1939 MGM movie starring Judy Garland 4. A series of children's fantasy books In that order...Sigh. Jellia: On the other hand, one can't tell if Delphi's search engine displays its results in order of relevence... DECISION '98 -- THE POLLS ARE NOW CLOSED!: Final results: When should discussion of _The Lost Princess of Oz_ commence? Monday, August 10, 1998 (6) 43% Tuesday, September 1, 1998 (8) 57% 14 Total Votes So it is now offical: Discussion of _The Lost Princess of Oz_ will begin on Tuesday, September 1. -- Dave ====================================================================== -- Dave **************************************************************************** Dave Hardenbrook, DaveH47@delphi.com, http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/ "I like to define humor as the affectionate communication of insight." -- Leo Rosten, introduction to _Oh K*A*P*L*A*N, My K*A*P*L*A*N_ ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, AUGUST 10 - 11, 1998 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 09 Aug 1998 01:53:21 -0400 (EDT) From: HermBieber@aol.com Subject: For Ozzy Digest Oz Theme Park Moving Closer To Reality The latest issue of Ingraham's Magazine features the proposed Oz Theme Park near Kansas City. Three local sites there are vying for the $590 million dollar project. This will create 7,500 jobs in the KC Metropolitan area, and add $240 million to the Gross Regional Product. 3.2 million visitors are projected for the first year of operation. Apparently capital is in hand, and the project is a go with ground breaking in April 1999. Opening is projected for 2001. Too bad it isn't a year earlier! Initial plans are to have the customers enter the Gale Farmhouse. Then, when the house is full, the doors close, and the house shakes and spins (?) in a simulated tornado. When the doors reopen, the visitors exit into Munchkinland, and begin their journey down the Yellow Brick Road. Herm Bieber ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 09 Aug 1998 01:53:24 -0400 (EDT) From: HermBieber@aol.com Subject: For Ozzy Digest Jeremy, <> Since I have wide (3E) feet, I was unable to find red slippers in a suitable size. So the ones worn by "big, ugly Dorothy" were made by covering an old pair of my slippers with red duct tape. Another new use for duct tape! Herm Bieber ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 09 Aug 1998 15:14:23 -0400 From: Richard Randolph Subject: Ozzy Digest 8-7-98 Larry Weisberg: Thanks for the tip on saving $3.75 on Lost Princess by ordering from Amazon Books. But I'll take the loss and support Peter Glassman/Books of Wonder and order from them. They've done a fine job keeping Oz alive for us. Amazon just sells books. Dick ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 09 Aug 1998 15:58:57 -0400 (EDT) From: Ozmama@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-09-98 Quizzes: Don't forget the Oz Game Book. It has quizzes, etc. in it. Order through the Club's website. ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 09 Aug 1998 19:14:05 -0700 From: Barbara Johnson Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-09-98 Just home from the L. Frank Baum/Wizard of Oz Festival here in Aberdeen... The tents are gone.. everyone gone home and we are savoring tons of pleasant memories of Mickey Carroll and Meinhart Raabe....and their way with the children of Aberdeen... I'm sure Bea Premack will be posting more on the weekend... But.. we had a very successful Chautauqua program with Dr. Mark I. West of the University of North Carolina --Charlotte speaking on Baum's animal fairy tales... especially the tale of the gopher and the buffalo... Nancy T. Koupal spoke about Frank's mythmaking in his duel on Main Street... and I spoke for over an hour on Baum's Saturday Pioneer and its coverage of Native Americans... including the genocide editorials. The performance of some of Frank's music.. and the tunes of his times was wonderful... and the Victorian Quartet's rendition of Tik Tok Man brought down the house... The Scream Waltz was also a crowd pleaser! Thanks to Steven Teller and others for providing us the list of some of Baum's tunes.. I'm feeling like I've been run over like a truck now that I'm finally sitting down...I was the emcee in the Chautauqua tent... but.. it was a good festival... and we missed those from the International Wizard of Oz Club who were unable to come... We set up the stage to look like Frank's parlor .. with a piano and some antiques...including my husband's grandmother's wedding gown.. which she wore in about 1890... about the time Frank was here in Aberdeen.... We also had interpretive performances by people playing L. Frank Baum (Rod Eveans), Maud Gage (Leann Frederickson) and Sairy Ann Bilkins (Our Landlady)... Jan Pearson, a local college professor was absolutely wonderful as Mrs. Bilkins... and another retired professor, Leonard Palmquist wrote a stunning script that incorporated quotes from Our Landlady with the music... and told the story of the times in Aberdeen.. Wish you could have all seen it! It was smashing! Mickey and Meinhart are just super! We feel so honored to have had them here in town.... More reports later.. I'm nodding off at the computer I'm so tired!!! Barbara -- Barbara Johnson, Ph.D. barbarajohnson@midco.net 511 South Arch Street Aberdeen, South Dakota 605-229-5988 ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 09 Aug 1998 20:24:22 -0400 (EDT) From: LuVCHACHI@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-09-98 In a message dated 8/9/98 3:11:48 PM Eastern Daylight Time, DaveH47@delphi.com writes: << 1. Australia 2. A TV Series about a prison 3. A 1939 MGM movie starring Judy Garland 4. A series of children's fantasy books In that order...Sigh. >> That's really sad. I mean just the fact that the book series is last. ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 09 Aug 1998 23:30:11 -0400 From: "John L. Bell" Subject: not much about Oz Sender: "John L. Bell" Scott Hutchins wrote about MAGIC BOOK OF OZ: <> Thus we learn a valuable lesson about dealing with creative artists. Until you know them well, say nothing rather than share criticism, even in the mildest way. In your film-studies career, you'll no doubt develop a broad repertoire of ways to evade those questions without being dishonest. You: "I heard about your movie. May I please see a copy?" Creator: "What did you hear?" You: "Lots--everyone was talking about it." Creator: "What were they saying?" You: "That I've got to see it!" Actors have various things to say to a friend backstage after seeing an awful play. My favorite is Jack Lemmon's "You! You! You, you, you!" said while shaking his head in amazement and giving a big hug that precludes further conversation. Thanks for your review of this video's script. It seems to contain both a "magic book" and a "magic boot." Ruth Berman: <> I agree, in large part because the dark versions derive most of their power from our knowledge of the originals. It's no fun showing Dorothy as a crone-killer or the Tin Woodman as a hatchet man if your audience doesn't have benevolent images of these characters embedded in their minds. Among satires and dark versions, the only examples I can think of that have outlasted the originals are Lewis Carroll's and Hilaire Belloc's parodies of instructive verse ("Speak sharply to your little boy, and beat him when he sneezes..."). Dave Hulan, your idea of posting Oz quiz questions on the Web sounds fun; you may want to run the idea past Peter Hanff, too. I recall the BUGLE selecting the "best" of the conventions' quiz questions and publishing them each year. I mention this only because I've learned how there are beloved guardians of such traditions within the club who might complain to Peter if all the answers are given away on the Web first. Nathan DeHoff, will your lost questions now be the 1999 Munchkin Quiz? After all, no one has succeeded you as adult winner. Jeremy Steadman wrote: <> As the script for REPO MAN declares, "The more you drive, the less intelligent you are." I didn't become licensed until I was 21 and had to get to work in under two hours. And look what it's done to my brainpower: I think it's a fun idea to drive for two weeks at a time, visiting such places as tonight's locale, historic Lockport, NY. Dave Hardenbrook wrote: <> I'm lodging a protest about the unconscionable lack of absentee ballot procedures for people who are a few miles out of the country and otherwise off the Web during the barely adequate voting period of--what? The votes for delay won? Never mind. J. L. Bell JnoLBell@compuserve.com ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 09 Aug 1998 22:51:42 -0700 (PDT) From: "W. R. Wright" Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest Cc: Ozmama@aol.com, daveh47@delphi.com At 09:56 PM 8/9/98 EDT, you wrote: >Now I am confused! I thought it was either Bill or Danny Wall I was supposed >to be sending it to, so I forwarded it to both and Danny wrote that he's >having no problems getting them directly. Either of you still have the one >around with the original who-sends-to-who list in it? Let me know. I'll get >it right eventually.... Jane > Jane, Here is a repeat of the message that I just sent to Robin, so you know what the apparent root of the problem is. I'm really happy to be getting the Digest again thanks to the both of you. However, it would reduce the extra work for one of you if only one sends the Digest. Any ideas? regards, Bill ------------------message copy follows------ Robin, My ISP wont accept anything at all from delphi.com. Seems they have been black listed as a source of spamming. So that is why a lot of Oz Digest members cannot receive the digest. It doesn't have anything to do with the length of the digest email message. The ISP servers are configured to reject any email that has a source of delphi.com. So this blacklisting problem needs to be fixed by delphi changing its policies on what it allows its subscribers to do thru their service. regrds, Bill ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 01:19:07 -0400 From: Jim Vander Noot Subject: South Winkie Convention Importance: Normal X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4 Has anyone received a flyer for the upcoming South Winkie Convention? If so, would you please e-mail the Oz Club (events@ozclub.org) with the addresses and phone numbers for the convention chairmen and/or registration/information? Also, if it's possible to send a copy of the flyer by e-mail, that would be wonderful. Or perhaps fax to me at 609-342-6050, or perhaps snail mail to me at 112 Bryn Mawr Ave, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004. Thanks in advance! Sincerely, Jim Vander Noot The International Wizard of Oz Club http://www.neosoft.com/~iwoc ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 14:28:23 -0500 (EST) From: sahutchi@iupui.edu Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-07-98 > >Really? Does a $500 VCR with all the bells and whistles have good picture > >quality, even in SLP/EP mode? Consumer Reports did not give any Hi-fi stereo (or mono) VCRs better than the halfway mark for EP/SLP tapes. I don't tape much off TV anymore, and try to avoid EP and LP tapes if another copy is available, even if not readily (eg Murch's RTO, which is now not available at all). > No idea about that. I understand that PAL tapes will play on standard NTSC > VCRs, but without color or sound. However, I haven't tried it. They play sped-up with no picture. It's SECAM (France that plays PAL tapes that way. I have a PAL tape with bootlegs of Dario Argento's _Phenomena_ and _Four Flies on Grey Velvet_ (available truncated and not at all in the U.S., respectively) > VIDEOS: > I was doing an "Oz" search on the Internet Movie Database, and I came > across the video documentary, _Oz: The American Fairyland_. Is that the > one that costs more than the whole of Ozma's palace? $59.95 wouldn't pay for a palace like Ozma's, especially in a land without money... > > One thing I notice is their listing of Ken Page as the Cowardly Lion... > I recognize that name because he originated the the role of Old Deuteronomy > in the Broadway production of _Cats_, and he will be reviving the role in > the upcoming video version. He appears in multiple photographs with the rest of the cast of the Roseanne production. Did I tell everyone I found the Rankin-Bass RTO at a Flea Market? Scott ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 16:51:36 -0400 From: Mark K DeJohn Subject: Ozzy Digest Sender: Mark K DeJohn From: Barbara DeJohn Hi All !!! I could not get into Compuserve for 2 weeks so I am catching up. (My husband did something) I would love for the Munchkin Con to be moved to Hershey, PA. It is a lovely area, the town smells like chocolate, the lightpost lights are shaped like Hershey kisses and Hershey park is a nice amusement park with the best soft ice-cream I have ever tasted. (Have I raved enough?) It doesn't hurt that it would be alot closer for me. Who do I send my vote to? (Is it a democracy?) I received a nice letter from Fred Meyer congratulating me on winning the Winkie Con Quiz. I am to send him my quiz for next year by May so that he can compile questions for the Bugle. He said one of this years favorites was : On Dorothy's first visit to Oz, Who entered the Emerald City, talked with her, and left without wearing green glasses? Good one, huh ? Ozzily, Barbara DeJohn ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 10:49:53 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-09-98 Well, a couple of people indicated interest in Oz quizzes on the Web, but nobody volunteered a site for posting them. Maybe one of these days I'll get my act together and make myself a Web site so I can post them myself, but that's not likely to happen for a few months. Bear: I second your recommendation to support independent bookstores, though I think you're too pessimistic in describing them as "the few remaining." The last article I saw on the subject (a couple of months ago in the Trib) said that well over half the book sales in the country are still through independents. But the big chains are definitely taking a bite out of the independents' profits, although I did hear that one of them (Crown) had gone into Chapter 11 recently. I always shop first at the local independent, but if they don't carry the book I'm after then I'll check at Borders (which at least does carry my book) and eventually go to Amazon, which seems to carry just about everything. Of course, I buy Oz books (and other Oz material) from BoW directly. Which reminds me, I need to call in my order for their reprint of _Lost Princess_. David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 11:27:38 -0500 From: jwkenne@ibm.net Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-02-98 Mike "Shaggy Man" Turniansky wrote: >Yehoshua or Yeshua => Iesus => Jesus when further >translated into King James' English, since English didn't like that vowel >cluster >at the beginning. King James had nothing to do with it; he was a few centuries too late. In medieval Latin, the name was spelled "Jesus", but pronounced (almost) as in Greek, but various phonetic shifts in English ended up with the current English pronunciation. **** I can say, having read all of them, that the "Aunt Jane's Nieces" series is _much_ better and _much_ more interesting than you (all of you who haven't read them) think. **** Three notes on the Munchkin Con. 1) It's _Eleanor_ Kennedy 2) The -- errr -- metaphysical gentleman was, I understand, a very-last-minute substitute for a substitute. 3) Research-Table prizes weren't given because no judges could be found. Since Eleanor and I were almost the last people to leave, we got handed the baby at Noon on Sunday. We're nearly done (one full-length novel in there....) and hope to pass on our votes today. (It had better be today -- we're leaving for two weeks in the UK tonight.) // John W Kennedy ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 11 Aug 98 18:04:35 (PDT) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things I thought you'd all like to see the reply I received from Delphi regarding this "Bounced Digests" problem: ----------------------------- Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 13:41:29 -0400 (EDT) From: Delphi Internet Services Subject: Re: Mail problem To: DaveH47@delphi.com X-VMS-To: IN%"DaveH47@delphi.com" X-VMS-Cc: SERVICE Hello, On the Internet, there are many people who send huge volumes of unsolicited e-mail, also known as "spam." They route their spam through others' computers to make it easier to send and to hide their identity somewhat. We call this Transit Spam. The sites which allow Transit Spam might fix their systems to block transit spam. Delphi has done this, to a degree. The majority of transit spam given to Delphi is deleted and not delivered. However, enough Transit Spam has gone through Delphi's computers in the past to where Delphi is on a "Black List" of sites which "allow" transit spam, the RBL or RealTime Blackhole List, at: http://maps.vix.com/rbl/ Many Internet sites have chosen to limit their Spam exposure by refusing mail from any site on the RBL. This is their choice. Delphi does not refuse INBOUND mail from RBL sites, but controls spam targetted at Delphi members by more sophisticated approaches. However, Delphi members often cannot have their OUTBOUND mail delivered to sites which block RBL addresses. This is a problem. Who is to blame? What is the solution? You might blame the spammers, their Internet providers which allow spammers, the transit spam sites for allowing free use of their equipment, the endpoint provider for not filtering the spam in less brutal ways, or the end user for not being willing to simply delete or filter all spam locally. Obviously placing the blame doesn't help solve the problem. What's the solution? In the short term, you might route your e-mail differently. If you're sending mail to X.COM, say, then temporarily set your mail program to use X.COM as your SMTP server. X.COM might permit inbound e-mail directly from you (it depends on how you connect to the Internet and what your IP address is at that time). You might also ask your contacts to ask their provider to use a less brutal form of Spam control. Or, your contacts might open a mailbox elsewhere where you CAN deliver. In the longer term, Delphi is working on making its control of transit spam "airtight". Delphi will then be eligible to be removed from RBL. We're working on this, but we can't promise a timeframe at this point. I hope this helps. -Ron Delphi ----------------------------- Of course it *doesn't* help, but I guess I know where I stand now... In the meantime, I'll have to ask the Digest-forwarding to continue or maybe we should direct people to David Levitan's archive...(Are *you* getting the Digest OK now David?) -- Dave ====================================================================== -- Dave **************************************************************************** Dave Hardenbrook, DaveH47@delphi.com, http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/ "I like to define humor as the affectionate communication of insight." -- Leo Rosten, introduction to _Oh K*A*P*L*A*N, My K*A*P*L*A*N_ ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, AUGUST 12 - 14, 1998 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 23:08:32 -0400 (EDT) From: Ozmama@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-11-98 In a message dated 98-08-11 22:27:27 EDT, you write: << Dave Hulan, your idea of posting Oz quiz questions on the Web sounds fun; you may want to run the idea past Peter Hanff, too. I recall the BUGLE selecting the "best" of the conventions' quiz questions and publishing them each year. >> Fred Meyer and an assistant usually do this job for the _Bugle_. I did it with him for many years. Jim VanderNoot also worked with us on it. I believe Steve Teller is now working with Fred on the _Bugle_ quiz. Please do NOT use questions from the current year's convention quizzes here on the _Digest_. John is correct that it would sorta mess things up for the _Bugle_. Thanks. ===== Poor Bill in Ozlo! What confusion! Not to worry. It's easy enough for me to continue forwarding to you...as long as your ISP doesn't decide to reject AOL! --Robin ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 03:27:52 +0000 From: Scott Olsen Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-11-98 Herm wrote: "Since I have wide (3E) feet, I was unable to find red slippers in a suitable size. So the ones worn by "big, ugly Dorothy" were made by covering an old pair of my slippers with red duct tape. Another new use for duct tape! When I was much younger than I am now there was a time I used to fix Oz books with duct tape..... Barbara DeJohn wrote: "On Dorothy's first visit to Oz, Who entered the Emerald City, talked with her, and left without wearing green glasses?" Was it the King of the Winged Monkeys? Rose Parade news: The newspaper article didn't state whether the theme was movie, books, or both related. I wouldn't be surprised to see some book theme floats. Sometimes I think we give the series too little credit. After all, Winnie the Pooh is probably best known as a Disney cartoon, Mary Poppins is a Julie Andrews' movie, Scarlett and Rhett are Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable, and so on and so on. Is Oz lucky (or cursed?) with the fact that a classic motion picture was made based on the first book in the series? Would it have been better for Oz if the picture would have never been made (or not as popular)? Would it have been better if a poor, forgotten, motion picture had been made? Speaking of which, anyone remember _The Lord of the Rings_ movie that ended about 2/3 of the way through the story? Sincerely, Scott Olsen ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 00:48:56 -0400 (EDT) From: Ozisus@aol.com Subject: Oz 2000+ Feedback about the IWOC kids' paper, The Oz Gazette, says readers enjoy Baum and Thompson short fiction in it. I don't have much short enough that I haven't already used. If any of you have any short stories, songs, poems, etc. that are fairly uncommon (as opposed to a chapter in an Oz book, for instance), and appropriate for kids, please send them my way. I'd welcome the help. Ruth contributed the Thompson piece about Charms in the last issue. My thanks, again, to her. Scott mentioned a video tape that he'll loan to the hospitality suite at the Oz Centennial Celebration. (THANKS!!) For those who don't know, I'm anxiously seeking reading copies of anything and everything Ozzy we can stash in a particularly inviting, spacious suite at the hotel. Lots of book shelves, a baby grand piano and a side room with a TV/VCR. So books, sheet music and video tapes that can be shared would be welcome. I suspect we should stick to marginal-value material (library rebound books, for example) that won't present too much temptation to the sticky fingered; I can't offer guarantees about loss or damage. Contributions that could be sold at the conclusion of the event instead of returned to you will be even easier for us to deal with. E-mail me off the digst about anything you could contribute and I'll gladly add it to my list. I already have a complete run of Baum Bugles, Oziana and quite a few Oz and Oz-related books. Photo copies of sheet music would be a huge help if anyone has a bunch and can do that for us. All I have along that line is a 1950s reprint of the Father Goose Song Book, The Wiz Song Book and a few pieces of sheet music. Speaking of contributions, thanks to a generous sponsor, the private reception at the Lilly Library for Oz 2000 attendees went from a bring-your-own-cookies and there's-the-water-fountain event to Emerald City Wine and actual finger food. (Don't overreact, all you horrofied tea totallers. We'll have a non- alcoholic beverage, too. Quote the Rachel: "Oz is for kids!"....) Unless I'm miscalculating, we may even be able a touch of music to the evening. For a fabulous start, plan to arrive on day one -- Thursday, July 20, 2000. I'm thrilled that plans for the event are capturing the interest of those who can make it wonderful through either program or financial contributions. I put together far too many words about it for the Autumn Oz Observer. If you aren't an IWOC member and want to get involved, e-mail me. This is certainly not an IWOC-exclusive event. I hope every Oz fan will want to join the celebration. You're all welcome, and you'll all have a blast! As to seeing MGM on The Big Screen, what makes it a joy for me are the little girls in the audience squeeling "Look Mommy, a fairy princess!" when Billie Burke shows up. Theater acoustics add significantly to the experience. Nonetheless, it is not where I will be spending Christmas day, regardless of what enticing companionship might surface in the Kansas City area... Nothing personal, I have other priorities every Dec. 25. :) (I now resist the urge to launch into a lengthy discussion about my Christian faith out of consideration for those who read the Digest for its Ozzy content. -- You're welcome.) Speaking of which, at the risk of insulting many of you, perhaps the lack of interest in voting on the Lost Princess start date reflects the number of people who are actually interested in such discussions? Final note, the McVeigh collection prices realized have been posted. The URL is: http://209.24.125.82/prices/lot165.html I hadn't seen it on the Digest and wanted to let anyone interested know. Jane Albright ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 09:48:54 -0600 (CST) From: Ruth Berman Subject: ozzy digest Barbara Johnson: Thanks for the Aberdeen festival report -- enjoyed. John L. Bell: Yes, Carroll certainly swamped Isaac Watts, and the rest. (Well, most of them. Wordsworth's "Resolution and Independence" still gets read on its own.) Of course, Carroll's victims were a lot more swampable than Baum (or Wordsworth). If Carroll hadn't come along, Watts and his like would be almost complete forgotten, now, instead of being read by at least all the readers of Martin Gardner's "Annotated Alice." (Whether that would be any consolation to them is another question!) Barbara DeJohn: Selecting convention sites for fan-run cons is never entirely democratic, because a site that might otherwise be attractive to con-goers cannot be used unless there are some people interested in volunteering to do the work of putting on the con who live reasonably near the site. If you have access to a copy of the IWOC list of members, you might want to take a look at the Pennsylvania listings and see if there are people near Hershey who have been taking part in previous Munchkincons. (Lessee -- if you had a con in Hershey, you might feel obliged to have a program theme for Mo, Merryland, Sugarloaf Mountain, Neill's Lolly-Pop Village and Chocolate Soldiers, not to mention Ruth Plumly Thompson's Charms Candy ads, which aren't well known, having appeared anonymously in the Philadelphia "Public Ledger," but I reprinted them last year as part of a "Dunkiton" pamphlet. Perhaps the Hershey people could supply Chocolate Soldiers?) Ruth Berman ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 11:39:24 -0500 From: Bea & Herschel Premack Subject: Ozzy Digest X-MSMail-Priority: Normal Report on the Aberdeen LFB Oz Festival: It all went very well!!!! and the weather was good! The events were all good and not sure where to start. Mark West's talks on the Role of Native American Legend in Baum's work were most interesting. Nancy Koupal's "The Oz Man's Tales:Showdown on Main Street" led us into stories about Baum and the times.. It was neat. Barb Johnson brought new information from her reading of the microfilm of the Saturday Pioneer. Our newspaper publisher, Billie Smith, moderated a discussion of the controversial editorials and the Native American issues of the time. This was followed by Native Dancers and their stories. Our LFB characters of both L Frank and Maum came off well. The Road to Oz play was presented 3 times to great audiences....next year we hope to do a production of Tic Toc Man.... It was great fun having 2 munchkins here: Mickey Carrol and Meinhardt Rabbe. What crowd pleasers. Meinhardt stayed at our home and he was a treat. We were pleased with the roving performers, childrens crafts and games, storytellers, puppet theater, musical performances, etc etc. There was continuous activity in 5 tents and along the park grounds...too much to summarize. If anyone would like a program with all of the activites listed, I would be happy to send them. We are planning for the same weekend next year...Aug 7 and 8... Missed having someone from the Digest but hope that several of you (or all of you) will come in the future. We did have a Mom and son come all the way from Germany and they are planning on coming next year. Will answer any questions anyone might have. Bea ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 15:20:40 -0400 From: Lisa Bompiani Subject: Ozzy Digest Hello, I'm really tired of this house jumping! I'm beginning to feel like MGM Dorothy ("There's no place like home!"). Right now, I'd settle for one. But I do have to say, my parents are being very generous by letting me crash here for awhile. This internet thing amazes them, though. Well, I haven't been able to find the LP yet, but I've ordered the one from BOW so that I should get it soon. I tried to get to my copy in storage, but all that happened was a black and blue forehead from a bookcase popping me in the head. If the discussion starts without me, may I ask questions when I catch up? Wow! I can't wait until I can afford to travel to these conventions! They sound like so much fun, and I feel like I'm missing out on such a big part of Oz. I appreciate the updates. Well, I'm off to work. Until next time, Peace & Love, Bompi ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 15:38:29 -0500 From: David Hulan Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-11-98 Barbara J.: The Aberdeen festival sounds as if it was very good. Maybe I can make it next year, though a lot will depend on how busy my wife is at work and whether something like that sounds to her as if it's worth taking some time off for. I don't think I'd want to drive that far by myself. LuVCHACHI: >That's really sad. I mean just the fact that the book series is last. That was just Dave's pessimistic assessment. It may be the case that that's the relative number of sites referring to Oz on Delphi, but I think you'll find that in the overall public perception the book series is second only to the MGM movie in recognition value. And certainly the movie is way ahead of either Australia or the TV prison series in public recognition. J.L.: > Among satires and dark versions, the only examples I can think of that >have outlasted the originals are Lewis Carroll's and Hilaire Belloc's >parodies of instructive verse ("Speak sharply to your little boy, and beat >him when he sneezes..."). I think that's "Speak roughly...", but yes, some of those parodies have outlasted the originals - mostly, probably, because the originals were so Bad. I suspect there are others that may well also outlast the originals, but the parodies are recent enough that there hasn't been time to tell. Will Fraser's Flashman books, for instance, last? They aren't Immortal Literature, but they're a lot more readable than George Barr McCutcheon or Anthony Hope Hodgson (or whatever his name was - author of PRISONER OF ZENDA) or Baroness Orczy or the other authors he's parodying. I guess there is some possibility that posting the quiz questions and answers on the Web would be seen as interfering with the annual "Best" collection in the Bugle, though I wonder how many Bugle readers would be likely to see such a Web site? (I'm not talking about posting it on the IWOC site, after all.) And the quizzes are hardly Top Secret material once they've been given. What do people who know Fred Meyer well think his reaction would be? (I doubt if anyone else would mind.) I suppose I could ask him before I do anything about it. Barb: I think it's already been decided that next year's Munchkin convention is going to be in or near Hershey. IIRC Bill Stillman is the chairman, so he'd be the one to contact. His E-mail is TheBBugle@aol.com. But I know he's moving house around now, so it would probably be better to wait a couple of months until he's settled in at his new place. >He said one of this years favorites was : On Dorothy's first >visit to Oz, Who entered the Emerald City, talked with her, and >left without wearing green glasses? Good one, huh ? I wonder which quiz that one was in? I remember it from one several years ago (and I got it at the time), but it wasn't in either quiz at Ozmopolitan, either adult quiz at Winkies, or the children's quiz at Munchkins (which was the same as the children's quiz at Ozmopolitan). So unless it was in a different children's quiz at Winkies, or Nathan's lost quiz from Munchkins, I think it wasn't from this year. A couple of other good ones of Fred's (at least, he's the one I first heard them from) from past years: Other than Aunt Em, who is the only adult female from America to settle in Oz? What character that Dorothy first met in Oz also visited her in Kansas? A couple of mine from this year: What character plays a prominent role in the first two Oz books but is never mentioned in the text of another book? In which book is Ozma depicted wearing boots? John K.: >I can say, having read all of them, that the "Aunt Jane's Nieces" series >is _much_ better and _much_ more interesting than you (all of you who >haven't read them) think. I've only read one of them ("Ranch"), and Steve Teller said it's one of the poorer efforts. I enjoyed it mildly; I don't feel any great need to collect them all, but as I run across them at reasonable prices (if I do) I'll pick them up. David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 20:31:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Kiex@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 08-11-98 > "The more you drive, the less > intelligent you are." Gosh, Mr. Bell, I like that line of thought! (Of course, it does sort of put down my father, who grew up on a farm and had to drive at 10, but that's not the point . . . ;-).) And what's so Ozzy about driving? Perhaps the fact that a car didn't even appear in Oz until late in RPT's administration--as cars simply aren't needed there. Until next time, Jeremy Steadman http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dimension/9619 ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 21:39:55 -0400 (EDT) From: Hughleen@aol.com Subject: Wizard of Oz Videos [Can someone help this non-member? (Remember, "non-member" means you need to E-mail him privately...) -- Dave] Not sure if you can help. I am looking for a source of two videos: Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz and Return to Oz. Any ideas of where I might purchase? ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 12:31:17 -0400 From: "Melody G. Keller" Subject: Ozzy Digest Sender: "Melody G. Keller" If anyone is interested, I have a first ed of "Merry-Go-Round" that was originally in mint condition & cost me about $175.00. Now the top seems a bit dusty & stained, but otherwise it's still in great shape. It has also aquired the autographs of both McGraws & Dick Martin since its purchas. Would $250 be a fair price? Also have a first ed. in e