============================================================================= ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, APRIL 1, 1996 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ============================================================================= Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 10:30:57 -0600 (CST) From: Robin Olderman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 03-31-96 ALERT: Fred Meyer will be in surgery again tomorrow (Monday). All cards sent to his Escanaba address will be forwarded to him and greatly appreciated, I'm sure, although he won't be able to respond to them. Poor guy: they're removing a rib and using it to rebuild a part of his spine. Also, they'll be adding some kind of metal rod to his backbone; he fears he'll set off alarms in airports! His spirits are good, but the surgery is serious (they'll have to collapse a lung, excise some damaged tissue, rebuild, etc.) so if you're inclined to pray, this would probably be a good time to do so. He's quite weak...can't even get from the bed to the wheelchair without help. He's been through a lot this year. OZIANA: The SPEEDY sequel is about 30 pp. typewritten. No, it's not a full-length novel, but it's a very clever, satisfying sequel anyhoo. OZIANA doesn't have the budget to print a full-lenth novel, and I don't have the keyboarding skills to type one all out, either! ERIC: If you wait 'til WinkieCon to buy OZIANA, you're not shopping early. OZIANA is out in June. You'll have to order it through the club; I justs edits it. I do plan to have some at Winkies, though. "TRIANNUAL"? -- Hmmm. I think I'd just say "three times/year" or somethin' like that. READING TO CHILDREN: Of course! It's gotta be the *best* way to introduce a child to the joys of the written word. Maybe that's why so many of us (MOPPet Warning!) associate Oz and other childhood lands with comfort, warmth, and love. ...snuggling into a lap and sharing a book...cuddling together in bed and having a beloved voice read aloud just for you...being able to identify the next word Mom's finger points to on your OWN!...all of that good stuff. --Robin ============================================================================= Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 10:32:32 -0600 (CST) From: Robin Olderman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 03-31-96 IWOC Election Results: The new board members of the International Wizard of Oz Club are Lee Jenkins, Jay Scarfone, and Warren Hollister. ============================================================================= Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 12:23:01 -0500 (EST) From: Tyler Jones Subject: Ozzy DIgest Aaron: It just goes to show that two people who love Oz can have very different tastes in Oz books. HANDY MANDY? :-) Barbara D: As others have said, Buckethead is a VERY small outfit and the actual dsitribution comes from friends. Chris runs off a set of books, and then someone volunteers to store them and mail them to people who buy them. Chris: Hey, Mark! send Barbara a copy of BILL CLINTON IN OZ Mark: Okay! Sometimes, people are a little slow, you every month or two, you may want to drop Chris a note reminding him. GOOD NEWS: Chris' father-in-law is giving him a new computer and I am in the process of persuading him to get on the Internet! That way, you guys can bug him directly about your Oz books! :-) Gili: Is your Tove Jansson the same one who wrote the Moomintroll series? I would LOVE to send Moomintroll and Snufkin to Oz! :-) Also, Moominpappa and the Woggle-Bug could have some very interesting conversations. As for Enid Blyton, I read some of her stuff when I lived in England. Although she clearly wrote for girls, I still have a copy of "Summer Term at St. Clares" and I love it! :-) Bear: Eric already mentioned that some BEOO books have given Pastoria's wife (the mortal "mother" of Ozma) the name of Ozette. Other BEOO naming conventions: Ozroars wife: Ozara (This one is Pastorias father) Ozroars wife: Ozia (The "first" Ozroar, according to HACC theory) Katy Lau: YOu had a lot a great ideas! I liked your "do-it-yourself" attitude when it comes to making decorations. There are plenty of ways that people can have an Ozzy theme by just using stuff around the house! :-) My favorite idea of yours is the yellow chalk for the Yellow Brick Road. As for Las Vegas, I know there is a gift shop full of Ozzy items, but maybe someone on the digest who has actually been there can tell you more. Barbara B: Eric G. has already mentioned something about your question. Let me expand upon it. When the Oz series was first written, it was under the auspices of one publisher and only one author at any given time. The books were widely distributed and it was a very controlled operation. Nowadays, this is no longer the case. Oz books are coming out from all over, with little or no knowledge of each other. THese books are usually in very small printings and are generally NOT available to most people. It is a hodgepodge of stuff and the only thing they have in common is the Famous Forty, or the "FF". It is this reason that most people consider the FF to be the "official" or "core" part of the Oz saga, with other books being attached on to the end. For the record, I believe that most people consider the other books to be "almost" official, and that events in them really "happened". The only difference (for most people) is that if there is a contradiction or a non-FF books leaves something out, most people will defer to the FF to find out the "truth". This is why I plan to write and post textual summaries of non-FF books on my web page, so that people will be able to get a gist of these books, since it is virtually impossible to find them anymore. Barbara B again: WHen I first started to compile the digests, I used Microsoft Word and took out a lot of the carriage returns. This was a lot of work and also a bad idea, so I stopped. Later digests should not have this problem. As for references to earlier conversations, Nate Barlow put out something called the Ozian Times, which was the predecessor of the current Ozzy digest. I have those to, if you would like them! (Oh, no! more stuff!) :-) WHO IS LAUMER?: This question has been answered fairly well by Dave in his FAQ, so let me just add a couple things. IMHO, Laumers books are accurate to the FF and are NOT pornographic, which is what Chris Dulabone will tell you if you ask him. Laumers specialty (according to himself) is resolving contradictions in the FF. His books are (as Dave said) written with a more adult view in mind, but IMHO they are among the best Oz books ever written. Nalrodi: If his books are accurate, why aren't they in the HACC? Well, the HACC, like many things in life, is the result of compromise. Chris Dulabone (the other half of the HACC), does not like Laumers books AT ALL. I gave in on this point, and Chris gave in on some other points, and thus the HACC was created. Now that most differences are ironed out, I may just put them in there anyway and Chris can like it! :-) John White: I now concede that it IS possible that Woot already knew of the history of the Tin Woodman and just used that as an excuse to meet him and get a free meal. Of course, it is just as likely that Woot did not know, being from a small, no-account village. From the dialogue, Woot did not appear to be very impressed with his hometown. Barry: (regarding Daves MOPPeT): I believe that Dave simply used the word "wormhole" to describe the gateways that appear between our world and Oz ocasionally. They may or may not be wormholes in the Startek sense, so there would not necessarily have to be any distortion. It could simply be a "hole" or "tunnel" between worlds. Daves MOPPeT has been expanded by my MOPPeT to include gateways to many of the strange kingdoms in Oz. While "The Time Machine in Oz" has yet to be written, check out "Time Travelling in Oz" and "A WOnderful Journey in Oz", both available from Buckethead and both by Ryan Gannaway. They have some time travel in them. Eric and everybody else: Perhaps I should mark my musings with the term HACC theory to demonstrate that some things I say are not "fact" HACC Theory: (2, actually) There was aging and death in Oz until Ozma took the throne, and possibly a couple of years later, although aging was slowing down and it was becoming harder to actually die, and possibly certain areas of Oz were being affected at different rates that others (Aaron's magical hotspots). Also, there was magic in Oz even before Lurline arrived. Eric: Thanks for correcting me. It was indeed Mombi who made the Powder of Perpetual Youth (which did not work anyway). LAUMER INFORMATION: As Eric has mentioned on ocassion, he has "borrowed" quite a few names from Alexander Volkov. On the HACC: As Eric says, this is NOT official. If there was only one publisher, and they put their stamp of approval on it, then it would. Right now, the HACC is simply my best guess as to the flow of "real" Ozian history, using information from the books, my interpretations, and the advice and interpretations of other. IMHO, if it ain't perfect, it's pretty close! :-) Danny: I also like a little bit of tension/excitement, lest the story get too boring. Bill Wright: Actually, it was Mombi scamming Pipt. It has been observed that possibly Mombi was very cunning, if not powerful. The FAQ wars of Oz: Maybe we can avoid this by having Eric post your FAQ on his page as well :-) Dave and Danny: The subject of magic-workers in Oz and such questions as "What are the differnces (if any) between Witches, Wizards, Sorcerers, Fairies, etc." and "Who's more powerful" have been the cause of much conversation and theories. Here's MOPPeT: There is only one source of magical power for everybody to use (possibly Aaron's magic machine), but people access it in different ways. I got a lot of this from the conversation between Dorothy and Ozma in GLINDA OF OZ. Ozma implied that there are many ways to work magic, that some people could do things that Ozma couldn't imagine, and that nobody can do everything. Some people may use magic for combat, agriculture, transformation, information, engineering, etc. For the most part, people tend to classify themselves based on the way they use magic. For example, most (but not all) people who call themselves Wizards use machines and tools to mix magic and engineering (such as Waddy from SPEEDY IN OZ) and of course our own Wizard of Oz. Sorcerers usually go after informational magic, such as Glinda and her Great Book. There does seem to be some overlap. For example, Waddy and Coo-Ee-Oh are, respectively, a Wizard and a Krumbic Witch, yet their magic is very similar in nature. MOPPeT is that there are many ways to use magic, and people simply do what comes naturally. In the Oz series, we have people called Magicians, Witches, Wizards, Sorcerers, Seers, Soothsayers, Conjurers, Yookoohoos, Krumbics, Jinns, Wozards and so on. I do not believe for a minute that there are this many different classifications of magic. IMHO, there are at most a half-dozen and people just call themselves different titles based on their cultural background. I also do not believe that these titles all represent "ranks" in one generic field. Tyler: Let's see. I want to study magic, so at first, I'll start out as just a Conjurer, then I'll move up to Magician, get promoted to Witch, and then someday, I'll be a full-fledged Sorcerer. Despite Baums comments in LAND OF OZ and RPT's in COWARDLY LION, I believe that your title is something that you pick based on how you apply your magic and your background. We can have powerful witches and weak sorcerers. I do not believe that one "type" is inherently more powerful than any other. And yet, I like Dave's Richter scale of magic. MOPPeT is that there is ultimately only one source of magic, so it should be theoretically possible to measure each persons overall power. This still has some anomalies, however. GLinda, for examples, may have a rating of 9.5, yet a magician with a 3 rating may be able to do some stuff with plants that would amaze Glinda. --Tyler "longest post of all time" Jones ============================================================================= Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 21:45:17 +0200 (WET) From: Gili Bar-Hillel Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 03-31-96 Aloha, Katy Lau! Your party ideas were terrific. Glad to have you aboard! Amy Jones - Your story about the book report reminded me of a report that I had to give in the fourth grade. I went to the fourth grade in California (I attended school in three different American states, in England, and in Israel) and one of our big projects for the year was to write a report about one of the states in the U.S.A., with some kind of presentation. Guess which state I chose? To this day, I remember that the the state flower of Kansas is the sunflower, the state insect the bee, the state bird the Western Meadowlark, the state song "Home on the Range", the capital of Kansas is Topeka and Topeka means "Good place to dig potatoes", and Buffalo Bill Cody lived in Kansas. Sigh. Fourth grade... |\ _,,,---,,_ /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ Gili Bar-Hillel, |,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-' avigailb@zoot.tau.ac.il '---''(_/--' `-'\_) Cat (c) by Felix Lee ============================================================================= Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 15:10:53 -0500 (EST) From: Tyler Jones Subject: Ozzy Digest Just a reminder, when corresponding with Chris Dulabone about Buckethead Books, that Chris is running a non-profit organization, so please include a SASE when communicating. Hopefully, he will get on the Internet soon, and this problem will no longer exist. --Tyler Jones ============================================================================= Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 15:20:18 -0500 (EST) From: jnw@vnet.net Subject: misc [on the subject of the 3 wise men of Mo] In my opinion these three "wise men" richly deserved their fate. Again and again they falsely accused completely innocent beings of a heinous crime rather than admit that they didn't know who did it. Tyler Jones writes: > I should have said that Ervic was the only competent BOY character ... Ervic was a young man, not a boy. Dave Hardenbrook writes: [a list of magic users sorted by power] I think there are some problems with your list. For instance, Ozma was probably more powerful than Coo-ee-oo, since she was able to counter Coo-ee-oo's eavesdropping spell. Ozma was certainly more powerful than Mrs. Yoop, as she defeated the latter in a magical contest and broke spells that Mrs. Yoop had thought were unbreakable. Reera was even less powerful, as her enchantments were particularly easy to break. Any mortal -- such as the Wizard -- would be intrinsically less powerful than a fairy -- such as Ozma or Polychrome. The Wizard may still be more powerful than Ozma because he spends a lot more time studying magic. In fact, Ozma didn't seem to know much magic until TIN WOODMAN. (MOPPeT is that the events in LOST PRINCESS motivated her to do some serious studying.) > What follows is my revised version of the FAQ. [Setting nitpick level to high] :-) > The Deadly Desert ... lethal heat and fumes. While the desert is hot, I can't recall it ever being described as "lethal heat". It seems to be more a matter of dryness. That is, the desert acts sort of like a magical desiccant. It draws the moisture out of things that touch it causing them to turn to dust. > ... and communication with Oz is only possible by radio, wireless > telegraph, and special magical wireless telephones. And by flying creatures such as birds acting as messengers, and by the adventurers who always seem to find some way to cross the desert, etc. > Ozma is a benevolent and beloved ruler, the only world leader with an > unwavering 100% approval rating; We would like to thank Princess Dorothy for providing us with the above statistics, although it is possible that they might be biased by the fact that only people who approve of Ozma are counted as having a valid opinion on the matter. :-) I would like to point out, however, that King John Dough the First also has a unwavering 100% approval rating, as does Tititi-Hoochoo. :-) > Ozma is also famous for her long brown hair, her strapless gowns, ... "strapless gowns"? Where does this come from? (The pictures in OZMA explicitly show straps.) Also, her hair has been described/drawn as ruddy gold and as black. Are you taking an average? :-) [resetting nitpick level to normal] -- jnw@vnet.net (John N. White) ============================================================================= Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 14:13:33 -0800 From: ozbot@ix.netcom.com (Daniel C. Wall) Subject: Ozzy Digest 1) Does anybody know if Shanower's graphic novels as reprinted by IWOC in full color? They don't mention this in their catalogue. Dark Horse Comics offer the same titles in full color and on good quality paper, but it would be much cheaper to go to IWOC. (Almost half as much) 2) Who can I expect to meet at the Winkie Conference? At this point, I may be only coming for one day, but if plans change, is someone looking for a roommate? Thanx to Dave for the Magic Scale. Admittedly, I don't have the Oz-posure to any of the non-FF books, and have hardly seen many RPT's. My assumption of magic and magic-users in Oz has actually been more influenced by Piers Anthony's Xanth: Citizens are either 1) ARE magic (Scarecrow, Jack P-head, Polychrome) or 2) USE magic (WWW, Ozma, Glinda) or 3) are normal (Dorothy, Ojo, Lion) There are blurry areas, like the Nome King, although his magic usage is generally through mechanical means, like the Magic Belt. Don't worry. I'm sure you'll all change me soon. --Danny ============================================================================= Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 16:26:31 -0800 (PST) From: Eric Gjovaag Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 03-31-96 > From: BARRY ESHKOL ADELMAN > Subject: The Wormhole to Oz > > Does anyone have bibliographic references for the play version of "The Wizard > of Oz" by Baum and "The Tik-Tok Man of Oz"? I feel like giving the ILL people > a hard time... I don't think they were ever published, so I doubt you'd have ANY luck. So please keep those ILL people from going crazy and don't even try... > From: Tyler Jones > Subject: Ozzy Digest > > The question of "Did the mixed up reference to Glindas palace in TIK-TOK > cause the mixup in the MGM movie?" is a good one. I do not know the answer. I doubt it very, very much. It was just Hollywood taking a few liberties to keep the movie from dragging too long. Other than the book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," I think the only other source consulted was the 1902 play "The Wizard of Oz," which is probably where Dorothy's last name (she isn't given one in the book) and the snowstorm to overcome the poppies come from. > From: Dave Hardenbrook > Subject: My FAQ and other Ozzy things > > FAQ WARS??? :O : > (Barbara, to me) > >>Thanks so much for the FAQ. Sure cleared up a lot of confusion about the > >>layout of the land. > > (Eric, in reply) > >Heh, wait'll you get a look at MY FAQ. > > :( :( :( (...Or frowns of affront as the case may be.) No FAQ wars, please! (Hey, I've offered to put yours on my Web page, after all, and I have a link to Nate's as well.) It's just that I've tried to take a different approach to my FAQ, I believe, than either you or Nate, and tried to cover ALL the BASICS of Oz for mine, and assumed that many people reading it have NOT read any of the books or been privy to many of our conversations here. But I also think that, as hard as I try, I can't cover it all, which is why I feel yours and Nate's are also important, they cover areas I didn't, and that others may have heard about or have an interest in. --Eric "Can't we all just get along?" Gjovaag # Come visit my "Wizard of Oz" web site! http://www.eskimo.com/~tiktok/ # ============================================================================= Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 01:00:36 -0500 (EST) From: Richard Bauman <72172.2631@compuserve.com> Subject: Today's Growls >> Well Eric, would you like to do any more "jibing and teasing" or are you >> finished? >I think I'm done now... "done?" - Good, I wouldn't want you to end up feeling half-baked. :) Dave - Your Magic Index is great. Where do you place Lurline? It was pledge night in Silicon Valley and PBS gave us "The Wizard of Oz in Concert." I have not heard it mentioned in the Digest. Is this an old production? It followed the movie quite closely although they put in the "Jitterbug" number. I gather "Jewel," who played Dorothy, is some country and western singer (you can see I am out of touch with C&W). I found myself cringing when she sang "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." Beyond that I thought she did a good job although she was about twice the size of OUR Dorothy. Natalie Cole made a great Glinda and the Lion stole the show. Jackson Brown did a leaden Scarecrow and Roger Daltry struggled with the Tin Man. For some reason they chose to insert two singers of questionable talent, Phoebe Snow and Ronnie Spector, as sort of guest singers rather than leave the songs to the cast. The band, which could not be considered an orchestra, was led by a man with his shirt-tail hanging out. Incredible. In any event, another cut at the WOZ. It was followed by the Angela Lansbury's, "Making of the Wizard of Oz." Has everyone seen this? It did show other books that Baum had written, but did not mention any other authors. I recorded it and will enjoy watching it again. It contains a lot of good information and anecdotes. Regards, Bear (:<) ============================================================================= Date: Sunday 31-Mar-96 23:16:26 (PST) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things MAGIC SCALES AND _LOCASTA AND THE THREE ADEPTS OF OZ_: I concede that my Magic Scale is not perfect, and I agree with Tyler that in the Ozzy Universe at least (others may differ), there are no rigidly defined "ranks" of magic. There are many types of magic involing different specializations, and it's hard to say that A is more powerful IN ALL WAYS than B...Glinda, as Tyler said, is very good at "informational" magic, but we gather she is poor at transformations. I just wanted to give Danny MOPPeT of where everyone stands as far as *overall* magnitude of their powers (though I take note of Jim's suggestions of modification of where I've placed some folks, especially the Yookoohoos), and to provide a starting point for discussion about Ozzy magical powers. Although this is currently how the scale appears in my manuscript for _Locasta_, I will probably modify it based on everyone's suggestions...As it is, I present my scale in the book, and then go on to prove Tyler's point -- I rank Locasta pretty low on the scale, but in the end, *ONLY LOCASTA* knows the special magic needed to conquer Ruggedo's seemingly implacable accomplice. Maybe I'll add a "commentary" by Glinda at the end to the effect that such "Magic Scales" are helpful for painting a general picture, but that they should not be taken absolutely literally... I'm glad though that in general you guys like the Magic Scale! As I say it will be improved. As for Bear's question of where I would place Lurline, I never thought about her! (Shame on me!) Anyone have any suggestions? Speaking of _Locasta_, based on my research and the comments from people on the Digest, I have concluded that Turner cannot sue me for the use of the name Locasta. :) What finally put my mind at total ease on the subject was hearing the story of how Warner Bros. (producers of _Casablanca_), tried to sue the Marx Brothers for making a movie called _Night in Casablanca_, with WB claiming that they had a copyright on the name _Casablanca_! The court threw the case out at first glance, and Groucho, in his whimsical way, basked in victory by writing a joke letter to Warner Brothers suing *them* for the use in their company name of "Brothers", a word which Groucho in jest claimed the Marx Brothers had exclusive rights to! :) TYLER: >Chris runs off a set of books, and then >someone volunteers to store them and mail them to people who buy them. So for all Chris knows, the books I and others ordered have already been sent? I'd better write him... :) >This is why I plan to write and post textual summaries of non-FF books... And the FF too, right? :) > ... it is virtually impossible to find them anymore. I wouldn't go as far as to say "virtually impossible"...All one needs to do is join the IWOC and the Royal Club of Oz and one has access via their respective book catalogs to pretty much the whole FF and then some. >I believe that Dave simply used the word "wormhole" to describe the >gateways that appear between our world and Oz ocasionally. That's correct. IMHO, the gateways to Fairyland are wormholes as described by black hole guru Kip Thorne, who says that Einstein's equations indicate that a wormhole will be permanently "constricted off" and what lies on the other side will remain totally cut off from the outside world unless either magic or "exotic matter" holds the hole open long enough to allow safe passage through. The Ozzy Universe itself is not "inside" the wormhole, but simple connected to our universe by the hole. >The FAQ wars of Oz: >Maybe we can avoid this by having Eric post your FAQ on his page as well :-) He has offered to do this, and I hope the offer is still open... :) JOHN'S "NITPICKS": >And by flying creatures such as birds acting as messengers, and by the >adventurers who always seem to find some way to cross the desert, etc. How about "Communication with Oz is only possible by magic or a lot of perserverence?" :) >>Ozma is ... the only world leader with an unwavering 100% approval >>rating; >We would like to thank Princess Dorothy for providing us with the >above statistics ... They were provided by Dan, actually. :) >I would like to point out, however, that King John Dough the First also >has a unwavering 100% approval rating, as does Tititi-Hoochoo. :-) And also Ruggedo, when he was King -- Anyone who didn't approve of HIM was sentenced to death by egging... :) >> Ozma is also famous for her long brown hair, her strapless gowns, ... >"strapless gowns"? Where does this come from? (The pictures in OZMA >explicitly show straps.) But in various places she *is* strapless, including _Dorothy and Wizard_ (color plate where Ozma and Dorothy are talking), _Emerald City_ (on the covers of both my Dover and Random House Editions), _Magic_ (at her B-day party, where she's at the head of the table), _Visitors_ (Dick Martin's color illustraion at the beginning), _Enchanted Apples_ (on the cover), etc., etc. Of course there are also numerous examples of her in straps and more conservative dress, but I guess I'm biased. :) >Also, her hair has been described/drawn as ruddy gold and as black. >Are you taking an average? :-) Shanower draws it brown so maybe HE'S taking an average... :) DANNY: >1) Does anybody know if Shanower's graphic novels as reprinted by IWOC >in full color? Yes they are. They are fantastic! >2) Who can I expect to meet at the Winkie Conference? I'd love to go, but I probably won't be able to afford it this year. Do you live in Southern California ( Or Arizona? :) ) If so, maybe you could come out and meet me at the South Winkie Conference? :) OLIVE BRANCH TO ERIC: >No FAQ wars, please! (Hey, I've offered to put yours on my Web page, >after all, and I have a link to Nate's as well.) It's just that I've >tried to take a different approach to my FAQ ... Well, thanks for clearing that up. I don't want a FAQ or any war here! We're all friends united in the common cause of telling the world that there's more to Oz than Judy Garland!!! :) :) :) But it did come across to me as though you were trying to belittle my efforts, and I felt a little hurt...I guess I'm overly sensitive. I'm sorry I misunderstood. Yes, let's all get along! (And feel free to post my latest version of my FAQ on your site! Thanks lots!) OUR LETTER TO CHRISTY IS IN THE MAIL FOLKS! PHASE ONE OF THE CAMPAIN FOR AN OZZY CHARON HAS BEGUN!!! :) :) :) -- Dave ============================================================================= ============================================================================= ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, APRIL 2, 1996 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ============================================================================= Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 23:28:50 -0800 From: "W. R. Wright" Subject: Gili asked: >Does anyone have bibliographic references for the play version of "The Wizard >of Oz" by Baum and "The Tik-Tok Man of Oz"? I feel like giving the ILL people >a hard time... Gili, you can find that information in my Oz Encyclopedia website. There is approaching 1000 pages of Ozzy info there all cross hyperlinked, and indexed. If you haven't found the site yet, the URL is: http://www.halcyon.com/piglet/ I am soliciting input on what additional information folks would like to see added to the Encyclopedia, so let me know. Bill W. ============================================================================= Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 23:51:02 -0800 From: "W. R. Wright" Subject: Tyler said: >Actually, it was Mombi scamming Pipt. It has been observed that possibly >Mombi was very cunning, if not powerful. Well, if she was so cunning hows come a mere "magician" was able to pawn off on her some worthless powder for the real thing she gave him??? BTW, my conclusion on Mombi not being all that powerful is based on the character as Baum wrote about her, not others who came later. In Baum's stories she doesn't hold sway over anything but a four-horned cow. She has no territory or people under her control. Bill ============================================================================= Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 00:01:20 -0800 From: "W. R. Wright" Subject: Bear asked: >It was pledge night in Silicon Valley and PBS gave us "The Wizard of Oz in >Concert." I have not heard it mentioned in the Digest. Is this an old >production? This was a TV production a few months ago, either just before or after Thanksgiving. Bill W. ============================================================================= Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 14:08:35 +0200 (WET) From: Gili Bar-Hillel Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-01-96 Eirc - I think triannual means, or can mean, "once every three years". Hmm... (I just noticed that I've permutated your name in a completely new way. Maybe we should just call you Ervic.) Tyler - yes, I was referring to Tove Jansson of Moomintroll fame. How about: "Moominpapa's Voyages in Oz"? And don't you think Snuffkin would like the Shaggy Man? About Enid Blyton: she didn't write only "girl's" books. She wrote the "Secret Seven" series, and the "Famous Five" series, and the "Noddy Books", and the "Faraway Tree" books, and the "Mr. Pinkwhistle Books", and so on and so on forever. She's written so many books, that she must write them at the rate of one per week. The problem is, once you've read one of each of her genres, you've read them all. The older I got, the less I liked her books, and by now I find myself actively disliking them. Hmmm. Anyone out there interested in trading me for a videotape of "Wizard of Oz in Concert", and "The Making of the Wizard of Oz"? |\ _,,,---,,_ /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ Gili Bar-Hillel, |,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-' avigailb@zoot.tau.ac.il '---''(_/--' `-'\_) Cat (c) by Felix Lee ============================================================================= Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 08:25:58 -0500 From: DIXNAM@aol.com Subject: Buckethead deliveries Dave, I ordered a bunch of stuff from Buckethead on February 19, 1996, and the books have been coming in from all over the country. Last week two came in from someplace in New England. I'm now waiting for one last book, so hang in there. It's a lot like waiting for the next "Bugle"! (:-D))) Also, thanks for your help in sending the recent Digests. Dick Randolph (DIXNAM@aol.com) ============================================================================= Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 07:06:10 -0800 From: glassman@ix.netcom.com (glassman ) Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-01-96 Rich Morrissy: >David also made a few comments about THE GLASS CAT OF OZ. The >publishers must be even more conservative than I thought if they >objected to the Bad Lads smoking! I'd understand (and probably >agree with) them if you'd had Dorothy or even Ojo smoking, but >surely it's evident that these were the villains of the piece? As the editor and publisher of THE GLASS CAT OF OZ, I am genuinely amused to be accused of being conservative. Certainly this is not something I've ever been accused of before! Too liberal, yes; conservative, no! However, having worked with children directly and in the field of children's books for over 20 years, I would like to think I know a few things about them. One thing I definitely know is that the behavior of those labeled "bad" is often seen as glamorous and worthy of emulation. And smoking cigarettes is perhaps one of the best examples of this. In most schools, it's the "bad" boy and/or girls who first start smoking, then other kids see how "cool" they look doing this and soon some of them are smoking too. If your definition of being conservative is someone who doesn't want to encourage smoking in any way whatso- ever, than I guess I'm conservative. Katy: >"I'm going to Las Vegas next month. Any good Ozzy things that I >shouldn't miss at the MGM? I'm also going to see the Oz ice show >in Las Vegas." This sounds like an exciting trip and a great subject for an article by YOU in the Emerald City Mirror. Why don't you write an article about your trip (maybe even illustrate it with some of your own drawings?) and send it to the Emerald City Mirror? I'm sure that Billina and the gang would love to publish it! Send the article to: The Royal Club of Oz Attn: The Emerald City Mirror P.O. Box 714 New York, NY 10011 This is also an open invitation to any of you out there who are also members of the Royal Club of Oz and would like to contribute articles. - Peter Glassman Books of Wonder ============================================================================= Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 10:11:21 -0500 (EST) From: MICHAEL TURNIANSKY Subject: Ozzy gematria > On numbers: > It's interesting that Carroll's favorite number (42) and Baum's (47) are > so close. Maybe Baum got his from Carroll. Of course, 42*47=1974, the year Douglas Adams graduated from Cambridge, showing Baum and Carroll as his precursor. Also, let us note that in Hebrew gematria, 42=mem-bet, 47=mem-zayin (or mem-vav-aleph) Rearranging these two gets us mem-vav-mem-bet-aleph or Mombi! Do you suppose this is mere coincidence, or did she have her hand in it? --Mike "Shaggy Man" Turniansky ============================================================================= Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 11:51:43 -0500 (EST) From: Tyler Jones Subject: Ozzy Digest On Fred Meyer: I am sure that all of us wish the very best for Fred Meyer and hope for a successful surgery as well as a speedy recovery. Fred has been a major force in the club for as long as I have been a member and even longer and we will all be a little less without him. Gili: Assuming that we are speaking of the same Tove Jansson (of MOOMINTROLL fame), then upon further reflection, it would be the muskrat who would have the most interesting conversations with the Wogglebug. I can also see some common elements between Snufkin and the Shaggy Man and little My and the Patchwork girl! :-) John and Dave: Daves magical chart was, as he said, a good starting point. It is rather "rough", but we can all help to smooth the edges. I think we can agree, for one thing, that certain titles do not have pre-set richter ratings. Ie, "sorcerers" are not always necessarily very highly rated, and witches and magicians are not necessarily low-rated. The work goes on. As for Lurline, I would put her rather high, but not a perfect 10. However, I believe that fairies have some magical ability inborn, so that they might "start" at a level 2 or 3. Others (such as the Wizard or Dr. Pipt) would have no inherent magical ability and would have to study and practice from day 1. Even for fairies, though, I believe that they would need to study and practice to rise above their starting level. Ozmas fashions: I believe that Ozma would probably be partial to a number of styles and types of clothing, as are the other Oz characters. John R. Neill kept Dorothy up with the times, dressing her in styles from the 20's and 30's as time went by. For all we know, Ozma now wears shorts and Pearl Jam T-Shirts! :-) Ozmas hair: In most books, it is drawn as black and that is how I have always thought of her. She could dye it every once in a while as many people do. Maybe she's EC's answer to Dennis Rodman. Hairstyles and clothes? This is beginning to sound like that Melrose Place newsgroup!. (Don't get me STARTED on Jane's new do...! :-)) Danny: As far as I know, all of Shanowers graphic novels have been published in full color. Since the late Marcus Mebes was a close friend of Shanower, I was privileged to view some of the preliminary drawings in black and white, but he whipped out his crayons and stayed inside the lines before they were published. BTW, Xanth now knows that people can both BE magic and USE magic. I would put Polychrome and all fairies in this category. ***** SPOILER FOR TIK-TOK OF OZ, CRUCIAL PLOT INFO ***** While most of the Nome King's magic is thru the belt, he apparantly knew some other magical things, such as the spell to destroy eggs, which did not work in TIK-TOK because Quox had un-magicked him. On the magic scale: The only problem is, of course, the Thompson part of the series. With wishing magic and the Magic Belt's seemingly limitless powers, all barriers were broken and people could do anything. Dave: Your remarks about "Casablanca" remind me of a cartoon in MAD Magazine that had Charlie Brown suing the Planters company for using the name "Peanuts". HACC theory (partially developed by Dave, myself and others) does indeed have Oz in a separate Universe, although their Universe seems to be much smaller that ours. The "wormholes", or whatever you want to call them, are simply the gateways between them. If you like, our Universes are rooms while the wormholes are the doors. Oz itself is not in a doorway, but you use the doorway to get there. GO OZZY CHARON! :-) --Tyler Jones ============================================================================= Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 08:07:58 -0800 (PST) From: Peter Hanff With respect to the Famous Forty, perhaps the most important point is that L. Frank Baum's own family was directly involved in approving the selection of Ruth Plumly Thompson as Baum's successor, and all subsequent Oz books, save Merry Go Round in Oz, were controlled by the Baum Trust in cooperation with Reilly & Lee. Royalties were shared between the Baum Trust and the successor authors. Peter ============================================================================= Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 09:44:37 -0800 From: Bob Shepherd Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-01-96 Gili: Your 4th grade recollection of picking Kansas as the state to write your report on put a smile on my face. My daughter, Valerie, did the same thing this year in 3rd grade. Her teacher said, "I should have guessed you'd pick Kansas!" An another note....I was in an antique store this weekend and spotted "The Cowardly Lion of Oz". It had a note on it that said "12 color plates", and was for sale for $495! Can I assume this is a first edition? Is anybody surprised by that price? I sure was. No, I'm not thinking about buying it - I'm just curious. ============================================================================= Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 16:22:31 -0600 (CST) From: Robin Olderman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-01-96 OZ PLAYS: WIZARD's script changed many, many times. It interpolated topical references ad nauseam. Many of the interpolated songs don't make a lot of sense as a part of Oz. There are some versions of it available...like in the Library of Congress, I guess...but I don't know if a complete copy exists of the original. What we've found didn't seem to lend itself to resurrection. TIK-TOK fragments were found and Marc Lewis knit them into what we hope is a reasonable facsimile of the original. Several of us acted it out over the years at all 3 major conventions. I don't think you can ILL it. I no longer know where my copy is. If you *really* want to pursue it, write Marc Lewis in New York. His address is in the IWOC Directory. I don't know if he'll be willing to xerox for you. He certainly won't be anxious to do so. I wonder if we should consider a revival of it. (shudder--it was quite an experience.) ENID BLYTON: I meant to ask Gili why she ughed the author. Blyton's work is, to say the least, uneven, but some of it seems pretty good. Anyone who cranked out as much as did that gal is bound to have some clunkers. POLL?: I'm curious about which books are our faves. If you wish to do so, e-mail me ( robino@tenet.edu ) and tell me your top 3 Baum faves, your top 3 Thompsons, and your top three overall in the FF. Feel free to tell me why you chose those last 3. If I get enough of your responses, I'll get them into some kind of order and post them *in the DIGEST if Dave agrees to having such a list.* Let's set the deadline for responding for April 9. I'll try to collate/organize 'em by the end of next week. --Robin O. ============================================================================= Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 12:15:50 -0800 (PST) From: Eric Gjovaag Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-01-96 Before I start replying to this issue, I have an idea that's been cooking in my head, and I want to know what you all think. This talk of Oz RPG's has got me thinking again about an Oz collectible card game. CCG's are all the rage right now, fueled by "Magic: The Gathering" (there are many others out right now as well, such as games based on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and one coming soon based on "Doctor Who"), and Oz seems to be a natural for such a game. You can have cards for characters, magic items, obstacles to overcome, and so forth. I'm not sure how it would all work yet, but I thought I'd bring the idea up, see what happens. Okay, and now on to the Digest! > From: Robin Olderman > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 03-31-96 > > ALERT: Fred Meyer will be in surgery again tomorrow (Monday). Poor guy. I do hope all goes well. Robin, you will keep us all posted, right? > ERIC: If you wait 'til WinkieCon to buy OZIANA, you're not shopping > early. OZIANA is out in June. You'll have to order it through the club; > I justs edits it. I do plan to have some at Winkies, though. Not being early I don't mind. It's just so much easier to get it at Winkies, is all. > From: Tyler Jones > Subject: Ozzy DIgest > > On the HACC: > As Eric says, this is NOT official. If there was only one publisher, and > they put their stamp of approval on it, then it would. Right now, the HACC > is simply my best guess as to the flow of "real" Ozian history, using > information from the books, my interpretations, and the advice and > interpretations of other. IMHO, if it ain't perfect, it's pretty close! :-) While I disgree with the idea that there is a need for the HACC, I do think that Chris and Tyler are doing a good job with it, and at least it's a way of presenting ALL Oz books in one place. Perhaps in a future update of my FAQ I'll have a link from the "unofficial" Oz books question to the HACC (and maybe the HICC, if it gets up on the Web somehow). > From: ozbot@ix.netcom.com (Daniel C. Wall) > Subject: Ozzy Digest > > 1) Does anybody know if Shanower's graphic novels as reprinted by IWOC > in full color? They don't mention this in their catalogue. Dark Horse > Comics offer the same titles in full color and on good quality paper, > but it would be much cheaper to go to IWOC. (Almost half as much) All IWOC is doing is reselling Dark Horse's (or maybe even whatever was leftover from the original First) printings at a discount. I very much doubt that IWOC has actually printed them. > 2) Who can I expect to meet at the Winkie Conference? ME! > From: Richard Bauman <72172.2631@compuserve.com> > Subject: Today's Growls > > It was pledge night in Silicon Valley and PBS gave us "The Wizard of Oz in > Concert." I have not heard it mentioned in the Digest. Is this an old > production? No, it was just shown over Thanksgiving on TNT. Glad to hear that PBS is showing it, I think that would make a great money-raiser for them. Must talk to my own PBS station about setting up an Oz night ("Wizard of Oz in Concert," the Angela Lansbury-hosted thing, and maybe even Aljean Harmetz's "The Making of 'The Wizard of Oz,'" which I know some PBS stations showed back in the late 70's-early 80's). > From: Dave Hardenbrook > Subject: Ozzy Things > > I wouldn't go as far as to say "virtually impossible"...All one needs to > do is join the IWOC and the Royal Club of Oz and one has access via their > respective book catalogs to pretty much the whole FF and then some. But what about all of the BEOO books that are now out of print? Or books from other publishers? I think that's what was being referred to. > >The FAQ wars of Oz: > >Maybe we can avoid this by having Eric post your FAQ on his page as well :-) > > He has offered to do this, and I hope the offer is still open... :) Of course! > OLIVE BRANCH TO ERIC: > >No FAQ wars, please! (Hey, I've offered to put yours on my Web page, > >after all, and I have a link to Nate's as well.) It's just that I've > >tried to take a different approach to my FAQ ... > > Well, thanks for clearing that up. I don't want a FAQ or any war here! And I certainly didn't mean to offend! All I meant, in my original comment, was that my FAQ covers a lot more material. What do you have on the MGM movie in yours, eh, Dave? --Eric Gjovaag ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- # Come visit my "Wizard of Oz" web site! http://www.eskimo.com/~tiktok/ # *** WATCH THE NEW "DOCTOR WHO" TELEVISION MOVIE, COMING TO FOX *** *** TELEVISION MAY 14, STARRING PAUL McGANN AS THE EIGHTH DOCTOR *** ============================================================================= Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 20:52:46 +0000 From: rri0189@ibm.net Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 03-30-96 In re: reversing the woggle-bug. No, his perception would be reversed left/right, not up/down. As a bipedal creature, he would be aware of the tug of gravity, securely orienting him on the Z axis, and his perception is along the Y axis, so that leaves only the X axis to be confused. (This goes along with the old puzzle "Why does a mirror reverse left and right, and not up and down?" The answer is, in all seriousness, that if we were in the habit, when we were facing north, and wished to face south, of accomplishing the desired reversal by standing on our heads, why then we would be asking the question the other way around. Physics is (mostly) symmetrical. Biology (mostly) isn't. In re: Heinlein's possible error. I'm not sure just when it was that the question of defining the cardinal points off Earth was settled. It may have been quite recent. The fact that astronomical telescopes reverse (fixing it to not reverse requires adding an otherwise unnecessary lens, acceptable in terrestial telescopes, but too costly in lost light for astronomical use) may also have something to do with it. // John W Kennedy -- Hypatia Software -- "The OS/2 Hobbit" ============================================================================= Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 23:11:22 +0000 From: rri0189@ibm.net Heigh-ho! The audience of tonight's "High Incident" was treated to a rather confused presentation of how "Frank L Baum" (sic) wrote "The Wizard of Oz" in "eighteen-ninety-something" about "the gold standard". Toward the end, the hearer was to be seen reading Aljean's book. // John W Kennedy -- Hypatia Software -- "The OS/2 Hobbit" ============================================================================= Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 20:50:48 -0800 From: "W. R. Wright" Subject: I have received the following inquiry. Does anyone on the digest have an answer?? >I am looking for recordings of the stage version of the Wizard of Oz. We >will be doing it as a high school musical next fall. Do you have any >leads for me? Bill W. ============================================================================= Date: Tuesday 02-Apr-96 00:56:07 (PST) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things NUMBER JUGGLING IN OZ: Mike T. wrote: > Of course, [42 times 47]=1974, the year Douglas Adams graduated from >Cambridge, showing Baum and Carroll as his precursor. Other 47's ( Some of these are personal associations for me, but still... :) ): -- According to the HACC timeline Ozma assumed the throne in 1903, when Baum was 47. -- The chemical number for silver, the substance comprising the famous magic shoes, is 47. -- Pluto's (and Charon's) year lasts 247 Earth years. -- I joined both IWOC and the Royal Club in 1994 (94 = 2 x 47). -- The P.O. Box of Louis Rhodes, who runs the South Winkie Convention ( my first Ozzy Convention! :) ) is 9447 (94 = 2 x 47 and 47!). -- 1974 is also the year I deduce that I had my last birthday before my dad read the Oz books to me for the first time. ( I'm not sure if he started reading them to me in late '74 or early-to-mid '75, so I worked it out with a birthday "work-around". :) ) FASHIONS: I agree with Tyler's statements about fashions in Oz...Shanower has continued the trend with Dorothy and co. now donning Tee-shirts, jeans, and shorts! I imagine the fashions in Oz to be very varied among different people, ranging from Grecian to Elizabethian to Edwardian to Modern, just depending on an individual Ozite's taste. Somehow, I just can't see Ozma in a Pearl Jam Tee-shirt though. :) ( A Tee-shirt that has "I love ABBA" on it on the other hand... :) :) ) ERIC: I'm glad we've cleared up our misunderstanding. :) :) :) Would you like me to send you a copy of my FAQ or can you extract it from the Digest? JOHN K.: > ... "Frank L Baum" (sic) ... My mom admired Frank Lloyd Wright when I was a "little shaver" :) , so back when I was first having the Oz books read to me, I got it in my little head that they were by a guy named Frank Lloyd Baum! :) OZ BOOK FAVS. (I've E-Mailed them privately to Robin as well.): Top Baum: 1. _Patchwork Girl_ 2. _Scarecrow_ 3. _Tik-Tok_ Top Thompson: 1. _Giant Horse_ 2. _Silver Princess_ 3. _Wishing Horse_ Top FF: (see Top Baum) -- Dave ============================================================================= ============================================================================= ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, APRIL 3, 1996 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 09:39:47 -0500 From: David A Gerstein Subject: Bucky Woggle-Bug? For the first time, here's some news that will interest both members of this Ozzy Digest and those of the Disney Comics digest, too. As it happens, the connection between Disney and Oz dates back far before 1957's proposed "Rainbow Road" film (which IMHO I'm glad was NOT produced, given what we saw on the Disney TV show). Last week at the Walt Disney Archives in Burbank, I was reading syndicate proofs to 1932 Bucky Bug comics ("Bucky Bug" being the second Disney comic strip, run under the Silly Symphonies banner for several years and later revived as a comic-book feature). At the beginning of the first story, the bug is nameless, and asks readers to send in names for him to choose from. "Woggle Bug" is one of them. This will be seen in reprint form soon, as this first Bucky story is slated for reprint in next month's Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #604. David Gerstein ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 12:29:34 -0500 (EST) From: Tyler Jones Subject: Ozzy Digest THE POWDER WARS (and Bill Wright): Now I'm getting confused. If I remember correctly, Dr. Pipt gave MOmbi the Powder of life and Mombi gave Dr. Pipt the Powder of Pperpetual Youth. Now, the powder that Pipt gave Mombi was good, while the powder that Mombi gave Pipt was nothing. It can be argued that Pipt gave Mombi a bad batch, since she had to say the incantation to get it to work, but it has been theorized that since this was the first batch, it was a little crude and it was only later that Pipt refined it so that the incantation was no longer needed. As for Mombi's power, I had assumed that she was one of the more powerful Wicked Witches around, based on the later FF books and non-FF books that had her doing most of the work involved in kidnapping people, etc. Since then, I have changed my mind and now believe that Mombi was not very powerful, and was doing the grunt work at the behest of the other Wicked Witches. Peter Glassman: I observed the same effect in the show "ROC", IMHO one of the best shows on the air at the time, tried to show kids how bad drugs were by bringing a young actor to play a drug dealer. Unfortuantely, this person became the most popular actor on the show, so they killed him off. I beleive that this attitude (being attracted to bad things) is common in people of all ages, although kids may be more easily lured in due to their lack of real-world experience. Bob Shepherd: COWARDLY LION was first published in 1923 by Reilly & Lee. If it has color plates, then it is probably a first edition. The price seems a little high, though, but I'm not sure. Eric Gjovaag: Thanks for your admiration of the HACC, if not outright support. I believe that it is very important to have a list of ALL Oz books, just so that people know what's out there. Of course, it would be nice to have a list of publishers and where they are, but that's in the works! :-) On ordering Buckethead: As I have said before, it is quite an adventure awaiting books from BEOO. My advice was (and is) to keep a list of books that you have ordered so that you know what you paid for. What I do is to write the names of each book that I order on the check, copy the check and then pin the copy to my bulletin board. --Tyler Jones ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 12:13:25 -0500 From: DIXNAM@aol.com Subject: Ozzy Digest 4-2-96 Dave, Like all Oz fans and friends, my thoughts, prayers and best wishes are with Fred Meyer today. Bob Shepherd, The "Cowardly Lion of Oz" which you saw is not necessarily a first edition. There were later editions with color plates. (Bibliographia Oziana gives the criteria which a first edition must meet.) No, I am not surprised by the $495. price tag, but it does seem a bit high for that RPT book. At a recent show Atlantic City, which the Warkalas mentioned last week, some LFB first editions were priced over $1,000. I was very interested in a 1st ed. Dot/Wiz, in very good condition, but the $750 price put it beyond my reach. (:-( Robin O, My favorites, for your poll, are on the way to you. Looking forward to the results! Dick Randplph ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 05:30:05 -0500 (EST) From: Richard Bauman <72172.2631@compuserve.com> Subject: Today's Growls Tyler >Ozroars wife: Ozara (This one is Pastorias father) >Ozroars wife: Ozia (The "first" Ozroar, according to HACC theory) I'm sorry, I just can't decipher this? Could you run it by again? Gili - >Anyone out there interested in trading me for a videotape of "Wizard of Oz in Concert", and "The Making of the Wizard of Oz"? I would be happy to supply. However I am just about to leave for 10 days in Oregon and Washington. If no one has helped you by April 15th send me an e-mail with your mailing address. Goodbye Ozzy World....... Bear (:<) ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 14:35:25 +0200 (WET) From: Gili Bar-Hillel Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-02-96 Bill Piglet - actually, it wasn't me who asked for the reference for the Oz plays, but I'm sure whoever did appreciated your answer. I WISH I had ILL. But I don't. Mike Shaggy Man - actually, mem-vav-mem-bet-aleph would be "Momba" not "Mombi". Perhaps a sister witch? Nice try anyway. And 1974 (42*47) also happens to be the year I was born. Also, I'm sure Martin Garnder has Dr. Matrix say some interesting things about 47. I think Shakespeare was 47 when he supposedly translated the King James Bible, and there for there is some sort of reference to Shakespeare in psalm 47... don't take my word for this. I'll check it when I get home. |\ _,,,---,,_ /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ Gili Bar-Hillel, |,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-' avigailb@zoot.tau.ac.il '---''(_/--' `-'\_) Cat (c) by Felix Lee ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 09:21:48 -0500 (EST) From: David Parker Subject: Baum/Populism essay Many thanks to Barbara Belgrave, Rich Morrissey, Bill Wright, Richard Bauman, and of course Gili Bar-Hillel for their recent kind words in the Digest for my essay on "The Rise and Fall of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a 'Parable on Populism.'" In this morning's Digest John W Kennedy wrote: > The audience of tonight's "High Incident" was treated to a rather confused > presentation of how "Frank L Baum" (sic) wrote "The Wizard of Oz" in > "eighteen-ninety-something" about "the gold standard". This shows how much Henry Littlefield's thesis has become part of our popular culture--unquestioned and, apparently, not terribly well understood. Again, I'll be happy to forward (by e-mail) a copy of my essay to anyone interested. Respond privately to dparker@kscmail.kennesaw.edu ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 10:59:46 -0500 (EST) From: MICHAEL TURNIANSKY Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-02-96 > Before I start replying to this issue, I have an idea that's been cooking > in my head, and I want to know what you all think. This talk of Oz RPG's > has got me thinking again about an Oz collectible card game. Strangely enough, my brother and I were talking on the phone last night about CCG's. His opinions on them that they have a very low chance of success. This is due to several factors: 1) Unless you have someone else to play with that has the game as well, they are useless (with the exception of some that use only one person's deck, such as "Sim-City: the card game") 2) When/if the bottom falls out of the collectible market, you are left holding something that holds no intrisic value (you paid $100 for a "Black Lotus"? Great. Who's gonna give you that price five years from now?), since the game becomes too unbalanced/no one is going to risk a card that has had that much money paid for it. 3) Many dealers have greatly reduced prices of packs, due to a glut of games on the market. Only very rarely does a CCG do well. > (This goes along with > the old puzzle "Why does a mirror reverse left and right, and not > up and down?" The answer is, in all seriousness, that if we were in > the habit, when we were facing north, and wished to face south, of > accomplishing the desired reversal by standing on our heads, why then > we would be asking the question the other way around. I always heard the answer was "It doesn't. It reverses back-to-front. You just assume your reflection is a person turned around." As for my favorite Oz books...Hmmmm...it's been so long since I've read them (over the course of 25 years, and rarely with repeats), I'd be hard-pressed to say.... Baum: 1. LAND, 2. LOST PRINCESS 3. MAGIC RPT: 1. KABUMPO 2. PIRATES 3. GIANT HORSE Together: 1. LAND 2. LOST PRINCESS 3. KABUMPO BTW, I just got in the mail the Shanower books "Blue Witch of Oz" and "Forgotten Forest of Oz", as a present for my son. Have a happy Passover, chag kasher v'sameach, (Jellia: Oh, sure, _You_ don't have to clean crumbs out of an entire palace!) --Mike "Shaggy Man" Turniansky, ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 09:34:23 -0500 (EST) From: BARRY ESHKOL ADELMAN Subject: What's in a name? Bill, I wasn't planning on changing my name to Gili, though it does have a certain ring to it. (: My favorites? Hmmm. Baum: 1) _The Tin Woodman of Oz_ (I liked the exploring of his past) 2) _The Patchwork Girl of Oz_ (deluge of wonderful characters) 3) _The Wizard of Oz_ (the book I got started on) I haven't read all the Thompsons yet, so I don't think my sampling would be valid. As to overall, that's even harder to pick out, though I did enjoy very much _The Magical Mimics in Oz_ and _The Hidden Valley of Oz_ and think they both deserve some representation in any "best of" list. Percy: You tell 'em, kiddo! Bill (again): According to Thompson (_The Lost King of Oz_, which wasn't bad) Mombi used to rule the Gilikins until she was ousted by Tattypoo. I would think Gilikinland would count as territory. Gmatriyah? NO! PLEASE, NO! Why don't we just pull out tarot cards to determine whose theories are right? Mombi: The Empress inverted indicates that March Laumer's theory about what happened to Gayelette is correct, while the Fool here means that Ozma and Dan will live happily ever after... Oh, if you want non-FF favorite books, I put in a vote for Laumer's _The Frogman of Oz_. ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 17:09:26 -0600 (CST) From: Robin Olderman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-02-96 FRED:Fred made it through the surgery. CARD GAME: Why not? BTW, Dick Martin had one out years ago. It was cute. WINKIES: Whoever it was wanting to know who'd they'd meet there...probably me. And Pete Hanff. And (I hope) Ken Cope. Certainly Eric. Maybe Peter Glassman. Lotsa neat people who aren't on the DIGEST but are terrific folks! ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 17:42:06 -0800 (PST) From: Eric Gjovaag Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-02-96 > From: Tyler Jones > Subject: Ozzy Digest > > As for Lurline, I would put her rather high, but not a perfect 10. If there IS a perfect 10, I'd say it would be Ak the Master Woodsman of the World, Kern the Master Husbandman of the World, and Bo the Master Mariner of the World, all from "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus," who rule over all the other immortals. > Ozmas fashions: > For all we know, Ozma now wears shorts and Pearl Jam > T-Shirts! :-) One of the more amusing mental images I've had from reading an Oz book (one of Laumer's in this case) was Ozma wearing a T-shirt and jeans, and tying her hair back with a rubber band. It just seemed amusingly appropriate, somehow. > Ozmas hair: > In most books, it is drawn as black and that is how I have always thought > of her. She could dye it every once in a while as many people do. Maybe > she's EC's answer to Dennis Rodman. You realize you made me splurt root beer all over the place when I read THAT! I just can't see Ozma with fuschia hair, I might add... > From: Bob Shepherd > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-01-96 > > An another note....I was in an antique store this weekend and spotted > "The Cowardly Lion of Oz". It had a note on it that said "12 color > plates", and was for sale for $495! Can I assume this is a first > edition? Is anybody surprised by that price? I sure was. No, I'm > not thinking about buying it - I'm just curious. Not necessarily a first, but definitely early if it has all twelve CP's. Considering the prices I've seen in some stores for collectible Oz books (as opposed to the ones you can actually read), I'm not surprised, but it will be either a cold day when Satan skates to work or a HUGE upturn in my financial fortunes (probably both) before I'd pay that much for any edition of "Cowardly Lion." "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," now, that might be another story... > From: Robin Olderman > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-01-96 > > POLL?: I'm curious about which books are our faves. It's a forty-way tie for first with me... > From: rri0189@ibm.net > > Heigh-ho! The audience of tonight's "High Incident" was treated to > a rather confused presentation of how "Frank L Baum" (sic) wrote > "The Wizard of Oz" in "eighteen-ninety-something" about "the > gold standard". Er, what's "High Incident"? > From: "W. R. Wright" > > I have received the following inquiry. Does anyone on the digest have an > answer?? > > >I am looking for recordings of the stage version of the Wizard of Oz. We > >will be doing it as a high school musical next fall. Do you have any > >leads for me? Which stage version is THIS??? If it's the 1902 play, I don't think any recordings exist. If it's the other versions, all based on the MGM movie, there's the Rhino 2-CD set, the Royal Shakespeare Company's cast album, and various others out there. > From: Dave Hardenbrook > Subject: Ozzy Things > > ERIC: > I'm glad we've cleared up our misunderstanding. :) :) :) Would you like me > to send you a copy of my FAQ or can you extract it from the Digest? E-mail me a version, please. That way I'll have it on hand whenever I can get around to updating the Web page. (Besides, I don't have the Digest anymore. Am I the only one who DOESN'T save them?) --Eric "I'll try to remember to remove my .sig tonight, sorry" Gjovaag ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 21:17:23 -0500 (EST) From: swarkala@cris.com (Sharon Warkala) Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-02-96 Bob Shepard: The book you saw could have been a first edition but just because it has color plates does not in this case mean it was a first. Cowardly Lion was published from 1923 to about 1935 with color plates. The common mistake many people make that are selling Oz books who are not that familiar with the many printings is that if it has color plates it must be a first. Up until Speedy in Oz all the Oz books had reprints with color plates.(Peter Hanff I hope I'm right on this.) If the copy you saw was truely a first and in good condition then the price of $495 would be fair but I would try to negotiate. Prices vary so much it really is up to what you are willing to pay. Chris Warkala ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 22:33:16 +0000 From: rri0189@ibm.net Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 03-30-96 (addendum) in re: me. I believe I'm the only John Kennedy here. Eleanor Kennedy is my wife. rri0189@ibm.net is also us. It's an account I get from IBM as a courtesy for beta-testing their software, and they don't attach a human name to it, so we're stuck with that as our "name", as well as our account. The Ozzy Digest is about the only time we use it for mail, since we have accounts on all the usual services, so usually send mail via the service our recipient uses. in re: headers I believe those headers are what is used to see to it that the mail gets where it's going, so they can't be suppressed. Most Internet mail readers can suppress them in the display, but not all the commercial services with Internet capability know enough to do that. in re: Woot's prior knowledge I think we're all forgetting that Oz is a country without (at least at that time), radio, television, or even rural newspapers. (The Ozmapolitan appears to have been pretty much limited in circulation to the Emerald City and America.) // John W Kennedy -- Hypatia Software -- "The OS/2 Hobbit" ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 23:05:08 +0000 From: rri0189@ibm.net Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 03-30-96 (addendum) [sigh!] I hate to be picky, but, the Baum Bugle is not a newsletter, as the FAQ says; it's a magazine. // Eleanor Kennedy ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 23:23:49 -0500 (EST) From: Michael F Burns Subject: Musical Oz info The original Royal Shakespeare Company recording is available on TER, cd # CDTER 1165. This is about $25. A highlights version of this recording is available at Musicland or Sam Goody or Media Play (same parent company) on their house label, Excelsior, for about $8. Tracks include: Overture Over the Rainbow The Twister Munchkinland Ding Dong the witch is dead If I only had a brain We're Off to see the Wizard If I only had a heart We're Off (reprise) If I only had the nerve We're off (reprise again) Poppies/1st act finale Entr'acte The Merry Old Land of Oz If I were king of the Forest The Jitterbug Winkies March Over the Rainbow (reprise) Ding Dong the witch is dead (reprise) Finale act 2 The songs included all the intros written for them when they were published to be sung separate from the original score. The Jitterbug and the reprise of Over the Rainbow were cut from the film but are restored here. The production I saw used a reprise of The Jitterbug as a curtain call/encore with the entire cast jitterbugging all over the place. Imagine The Wicked Witch jitterbugging. Paints a picture, doesn't it? The musical uses all the original film score. It also really plays up the dream doubling of the cast: Hunk/Scarecrow, Hickory/Tinman, Zeke/Lion, Miss Gulch/Witch, Uncle Henry/Guardian of the Gates, Professor Marvel/Wizard, and a really great touch-Aunt Em doubling as Glinda. There are parts for Munchkins, Crows, Apple Trees, Winkie General, Nikko and the Winged Monkeys, Farmhands, Poppies, Snowflakes, Emerald City Citizens, Jitterbugs, and Winkies. Oh and Toto too! The original cast used children as Munchkins. The road company I saw used large puppets (children on an extended road tour would define hell, IMO). Don't be afraid to experiment with costumes. It is a great show (I liked it better than the movie!!!) Favorite Baum= Wizard, Rinkitink, Tin Woodman Favorite Thompson= Pirates, Giant Horse, Yellow Knight/Handy Mandy Mostly because of the characters, but a flying pirate ship? I'm there, baby! It still gets me. Long enough? Yeah. Mike B ============================================================================= Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 00:45:24 -0500 From: RMorris306@aol.com Subject: Re: Ozzy Digests, 3/31-4/2 Hi Everyone! Several Digests to get caught up on this time! I've only read a few Enid Blyton books, all as an adult...she's not very well known here, despite some of the publishers' attempts. And the Secret Seven's U.S. publisher turned the kids into Americans, despite the fact that the stories don't transfer very well. Not only are the names uncharacteristically British (very few American boys are named "Colin," though possibly the popularity of Colin Powell will change that in the future), but the one I read involved the Seven trying to build the biggest bonfire for Guy Fawkes' Day. The rather lame excuse was that the kids were studying the U.K., and not only the school but the whole town was helping out by following that country's customs--which, as Michael Turniansky's brother Al noted when I showed him the book, must have been *really* strange when they got around to studying the Spanish Inquisition! Barry wrote: <> Pinocchio probably didn't live in *our* Italy: witness all the talking animals. (In my Braintree story, I deliberately left out any mention of exactly where Geppetto lived.) Eric wrote: <> Well, the IWOCC map shows Yew in the Nonestic Ocean, along with Pingaree, Roly-Rogues Island, and other lands whose inhabitants *do* visit Oz. I don't see why it couldn't be, since people seem to age there, meaning none of the characters in it (except perhaps the erstwhile Prince Marvel and the Red Rogue of Dawna) would be alive at the time of the Oz adventures. <<>> <> I'm a comics fan, but so far I've avoided that comic like the plague. Is it any good at all? <> Or they could have gotten her name from later books. The "Baum Bugle" article on the MGM movie indicates they read a few later books, since a handful of characters from them showed up in the movie (like the Sawhorse in the Tin Woodman's clearing...yes, I know he really should've been in the Gillikin country). Tyler wrote: <> As Dave noted, Eric Shanower's added modern aspects to the clothes of the characters, though, like Neill, he's kept them moderately timeless. People forget that even in the 1950's (the earliest Rachel Payes' book could have taken place) many girls already wore jeans or shorts, on informal occasions if not (then) at school. <> Or because the Water of Oblivion did have a permanent effect on the more esoteric spells he knew. That's presumably the same reason he can't pronounce "pyrzqxgl" any more. John W. wrote: <> Well, perhaps so. As Eric said, "Mo ain't Oz!" (Although neither is Sky Island...) Dave H. wrote: <> To which Tyler added: <> Yes, but where do Cookywitches fit in? Dave also wrote: <> You think *that's* ridiculous? What about Marvel Comics suing Topps, the publisher of the licensed X-FILES comic book, as an infringement of their X-MEN title since they "had a copyright on the letter X?" <> Which certainly indicates she aged past puberty relatively fast, since there wouldn't be any reason for the gowns to stay up if (as Baum said in OZMA) she appeared no older than the 11- (at most) year-old Dorothy... <> I envy Gili's knowlege. I don't even have that much of my own state, Massachusetts. Yes, I know it's the birthplace of several Presidents from John Adams right through to George Bush (Has Kansas *ever* given birth to a President, or are all its hopes for one riding on Bob Dole?), that its capital is Boston (well, I'd better know that, since I've worked there for over a decade), that its state song is "Massachusetts" by Arlo Guthrie...but I don't know the state bird, and I don't even know if it *has* a state insect, though it does have a state horse (the Morgan) and a state fish (the cod), which Kansas may not... Peter Glassman wrote: <> Well, I understand and appreciate your concern. As a lifelong nonsmoker, I'm certainly sympathetic to it...I rather doubt a single Oz book would change a kid's decision on the matter, but it was your call. I've really liked visiting your shop, and keep the Oz books coming! Later, Rich Morrissey ============================================================================= Date: Wednesday 03-Apr-96 01:06:38 (PST) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things MY MAGIC SCALE: John W. wrote: > ... Ozma was probably more powerful than Coo-ee-oo, since she was able > to counter Coo-ee-oo's eavesdropping spell. But she managed to hold Ozma and Dorothy prisoner! IMHO, the question is, how much of Coo-ee-oo's power was "real" and how much was "stolen" (from the Adepts). >Ozma was certainly more powerful than Mrs. Yoop, as she defeated the >latter in a magical contest and broke spells that Mrs. Yoop had thought >were unbreakable. Agreed. So Yookoohoo magic proabaly cannot be assigned a set index. >Reera was even less powerful, as her enchantments were particularly easy >to break. Which enchantments did she make and who broke them? (Didn't *she* break Coo-ee-oh's enchantment of the Adepts, a major feat?) >Any mortal -- such as the Wizard -- would be intrinsically less powerful >than a fairy -- such as Ozma or Polychrome. I assume that any mortal at birth regisiters '1' in Oz ('0' elsewhere). >The Wizard may still be more powerful than Ozma because he spends a >lot more time studying magic. Maybe "Knowledge is Power" applies to magic as much as to other things... Tyler wrote: >MOPPeT is that there is ultimately only one source of magic, so it should >be theoretically possible to measure each persons overall power. MOPPeT is that at some fundamental level there is a "machine language" of magic, and different magics (Fairy magic, Witch magic, Yookoohoo, etc.) are different "high-level languages". But could you ever make a scale of computer languages? IMHO, you could to an extent, but it gets sticky when you ask things like "Is FORTRAN more 'powerful' than LISP?" On the other hand, I would say that someone who knows FORTRAN *and* LISP definately has the upper hand over someone who knows only one. Maybe the Scale of Magic should refect *knowledge*...Any thoughts, everyone? Tyler wrote: >As for Lurline, I would put her rather high, but not a perfect 10 And Eric wrote: >If there IS a perfect 10, I'd say it would be Ak the Master Woodsman of >the World, Kern the Master Husbandman of the World, and Bo the Master >Mariner of the World ... MOPPeT is that just as you can never reach the speed of light, no one can ever become a "Perfect 10" = "All-Powerful", in spite of the inflated claims of some "All-Powerful" genies. I look forward to continued feedback on my scale. After tomorrow's comments to the above, I think I will post a revised scale and see what you all think... TYLER: > ... I have changed my mind and now believe that Mombi was not >very powerful MOPPeT is that you're right. The kidnapping of Pastoria and the banishing of Locasta were only possible because Mombi was being helped by . PIRATES IN OZ: Mike B. wrote: > ... a flying pirate ship? OH NO! Don't tell me a flying pirate ship has been done already???!!! (There's one in _Locasta_!!!) ROBIN: >FRED:Fred made it through the surgery. Oz fans rejoice! :) >CARD GAME: Why not? BTW, Dick Martin had one out years ago. It was cute. I have Martin's Oz card game, but I have to admit that I use them mostly for bookmarks. :O How about a traditional card deck with the Oz characters? (I had an Alice in Wonderland one once.) I'll tell you *my* little pet wish though: An Oz chess set!!! I love chess, and I'd love to be able to play it with my favorite fairyland! I even came up with a layout for the pieces: White Pieces Pawns King's Rook: Tin Man Soldier w/ Green Whiskers King's Knight: Cowardly Lion Trot King's Bishop: Scarecrow Capt'n Bill King: Pastoria* Dorothy Queen: Ozma Jellia Jamb Queen's Bishop: Scraps Ojo Queen's Knight: Hungry Tiger The Ork Queen's Rook: Capt. Fyter The Wogglebug *I suppose you'd all kill me if I *dared* suggest Dan for the King. :) :) :) Black Pieces Pawns King's Rook: Red Jinn of Ev Ruggedo King's Knight: Kabumpo The Woozy King's Bishop: Shaggy Man Betsy Bobbin King: The Wizard Augnetah* Queen: Glinda Auxannah* Queen's Bishop: Polychrome Audirfah* Queen's Knight: High Boy Locasta Queen's Rook: Tik-Tok The Ork *Auxannah, Augnetah, and Audirfah are my names for the Adepts ( Okay, the cat's out of the bag! :) ) I'd *love* to have a set like this, but I can't sculpt, except in a 3D modeling program. (:( BARRY: > ... Mombi used to rule the Gilikins until she was ousted by Tattypoo ... Or she was ousted by Locasta, if you buy my theory... >Oh, if you want non-FF favorite books, I put in a vote for Laumer's _The >Frogman of Oz_. Robin didn't ask for non-FF favorites, but it is a valid category, IMHO. My vote ( excluding my own work :) :) :) ) is for _Wicked Witch of Oz_. BTW, I just want to make sure that everyone understands that although I welcome people posting their votes publically in the Digest, Robin did specifically ask for votes to be sent privately to her as well... > ... while the Fool here means that Ozma and Dan will live happily >ever after... *NOW* I believe in fortune-telling! :) :) :) DIGEST FAQ: I just wanted to let everyone know that I E-Mailed Eric the FAQ so he can post it on his site. I also added two new sections -- One telling how to obtain back issues of the Digest, and one crediting Gili for designing the Digest masthead! :) -- Dave ============================================================================= ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, APRIL 4, 1996 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ============================================================================= Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 12:29:45 -0500 (EST) From: Tyler Jones Subject: Ozzy Digest Bear asks: "WILL THE REAL OZROAR PLEASE STAND UP?" Okay, this is a little involved. The first mention we had of royalty before Pastoria was in _Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz_, where Ozma mentioned her grandfather. He had no name, until Fred M. Meyer suggested "Ozroar". This name was adopted by Robert Pattrick and, I beleive, has achieved a general consensus of most Oz fans. It has been assumed that Ozroar was the king that Lurline met when she enchanted Oz, and this was clearly implied in _Lurline and the White Ravens of Oz_. However, new evidence from the FF indicates that the enchantment occured centuries ago, and it is unlikely that one person ruled Oz for all this time, so the HACC people came up with a theory: Lurline met Ozroar, the king of Morrow, and decided to enchant the entire land and make him the king. Over several generations, the kingdom of "Oz" grew into the whole area contained by the desert. Some of these kings were named "Ozroar", so Pastorias father and the original king of Oz both had the same name. So, the first Ozroar (the one that Lurline met when she enchanted Oz) had a wife named Ozia. The "last" Ozroar (the father of Pastoria) had a wife named Ozara. Also, Pastorias wife is named Ozette. Please note that all this, including names, is the current HACC theory. Barry and Bill: I believe that Bill was referring to her status after she was ousted by Locasta (according to HACC theory). After this, she was nothing more than a simple farm woman who apparantly did not rule any territory. John Kennedy: I believe that the status of Woot's prior knowledge is 50-50. Either 1) he knew about the Tin Woodman and used that as an excuse to get in or 2) he was from a rural area and just has not heard anything. Either alternative is plausible and there is no compelling evidence one way or the other, IMHO. On the Isle of Yew: This book has no hint of any other countries and no other books have any hint of this book. It is totally isolated, yet it appears on the map. Maybe professor Wogglebug knows something that we don't? Rich: "Cookywitch", IMO, is just another title for a magic-worker. My guess is that she specializes in food magic. On Ozma: For the most part, Baum refers to Ozma as being about 15, while we at the HACC have put Dorothy's physiological age at 11 (when she moved to Oz permanently). her chronological age, at the time of _Emerald City_, was 13. HACC theory says that her prior visits to Oz had slowed her aging down by a total of 2 years. Dave and John: The tricky point here is that even if person A defeats person B in some specific contest, that does not necessarily mean that person A is stronger. In a related incident, Ozma never actually defeated Coo-Ee-Oh. The Su-Dic did. Or, to be more precise, the magic potion that his wife Rora invented did the trick. As for the issue of stealing magic from the Adepts, I seem to remember that Coo-Ee-Oh got her magic from the Adepts but expanded it and imrpoved it to the point where they could no longer recognize it. I like the idea of a "machine language" of magic, while the fields of magic are separate, high-level languages, with their own rules and paramters. I believe that we should start by exploring what "kinds" of magic there are. I do not mean titles, I mean specific applications. Here are a few: Information Transformations Combat Machine/Engineering Agricultural Creation Mind Magic (hypnosis, memory, etc.) Fairy Magic (inherent magic that covers many other areas) MOPPeT on mortal magic workers: I believe that a mortal (like the Wizard) would "start" at 0 or 1, but could work his way up the ladder with enough study and practice. --Tyler Jones ============================================================================= Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 09:05:11 -0500 From: David A Gerstein Subject: Return to Oz "Coronation" sequence I recall a television special about Oz about 1985 (probably cooincided with "Return to Oz", as I recall it included a lengthy discussion of the film) which included some of the musical score to the 1902 "Wizard" on the soundtrack as it talked about the play. The question is, was that an old Victrola recording of the score, or just a modern-day recreation of it? The mention of "Return to Oz" brings me to the Allan Eyles (sp?) book of '85, which I got at about the same time as I saw that special. Most curious is how many auxiliary Oz characters (Scraps among the major players, and minor ones going all the way to Tommy Kwikstep) are illustrated in "Return to Oz" versions of themselves as they were prepared for some kind of "coronation sequence" -- a sequence which, I guess, didn't make the final cut of the film. Where were the characters to have appeared, and why were they cut? (Did Disney use some characters from books they didn't have the license to use, and find out too late to easily alter the sequence?) Favorite Baum: Patchwork Girl (slew of particularly enjoyable characters), Marvelous Land (ditto), Tin Woodman (immensely intriguing "how did it really happen" type of plot that fascinated me as a kid) Favorite RPT: Royal Book (imaginative Silver Kingdom, although perhaps the Scarecrow being someone's reincarnation's a bit far-fetched it was handled as well as could be done), Kabumpo, Gnome King (more of Scraps, handled particularly well). Least-favorite FF: Rinkitink (it just ain't an Oz book!), Scalawagons (story basically has two disparate plots), Cowardly Lion (just overall not that good). David Gerstein <96dag@williams.edu> "What did the Woggle-Bug say?" ============================================================================= Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 11:40:18 -0500 (EST) From: MICHAEL TURNIANSKY Subject: Gematria, Massachusetts, et. al Gili: {Hebrew digression: Feel free to skip > > Mike Shaggy Man - actually, mem-vav-mem-bet-aleph would be "Momba" not > "Mombi". Well, not necessarily. The last vowel sound could conceivably be any sound, even with a final aleph. for example, "o" in "lo", "ay" in "maleh", or even "ee" in hiphil forms of verbs ending in aleph (OK, those, and "he" and with a yud-aleph, but since we're talking about a proper name here, all bets are off. Anyway, cut me some slack. I had to fudge a _little_ bit... end Hebrew digression} > I think Shakespeare was 47 > when he supposedly translated the King James Bible, and there for there > is some sort of reference to Shakespeare in psalm 47... don't take my > word for this. I'll check it when I get home. You're thinking 46 here. Psalm 46 (King James Version) has the word "Shake" as the 46th word from the beginning, and "spear", as the 46th from the end (discounting "Selah"). Rich: > > I envy Gili's knowlege. I don't even have that much of my own state, > Massachusetts. Yes, I know it's the birthplace of several Presidents from > John Adams right through to George Bush (Has Kansas *ever* given birth to a > President, or are all its hopes for one riding on Bob Dole?) No, not birth, but Eisenhower is counted as a "native son" since he moved from Denison, Tex. to Abilene, KS before his first birthday. >, that its > capital is Boston (well, I'd better know that, since I've worked there for > over a decade), that its state song is "Massachusetts" by Arlo Guthrie...but > I don't know the state bird, and I don't even know if it *has* a state > insect, though it does have a state horse (the Morgan) and a state fish (the > cod), which Kansas may not... For shame, Richard! I've been in Massachusetts only a 1/4th of the time you have, and you, a lawyer, licensed to practice in front of the bar in Massachusetts, should have at least read section one of the General laws of the commonwealth, where this stuff is detailed. Now, it's been a while since I've been there, but even _I_ remember that the commonwealth's official fossil is dinosaur tracks, muffin is corn, cetacean is humpback whale, non-alcoholic drink is cranberry juice. --Mike "Shaggy Man" Turniansky ============================================================================= Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 10:04:00 -0800 From: "W. R. Wright" Subject: Oz Music To Michael Burns and other who responded to the question regarding available recordings of the WOZ stage play music, thanks ever so much. Now another question/quest. For time to time I get questions regarding a source for the scores for the music. This really falls into two categories: the songs from the mgm movie (which would still be under copyright - *Turner* I presume), and the songs from Baum's stage plays. For the former, can anyone name a source for the scores? For the latter, I gather from Robin O's note that perhaps the only place the scores can be found is the Library of Congress. Other than that, does anyone know if there are other libraries that house copies of the following documents (which I presume have the scores)? 1. The Wizard of Oz. New York and Chicago: M. Witmark and Sons, 1902. Music by Paul Tietjens and Nathaniel D. Mann. 2. The Wogglebug. New York and Chicago: M. Witmark and Sons, 1905. Music by Frederic Chapin. 3. The Tik-Tok Man of Oz . New York and Detroit: Jerome H. Remick & Co., 1913. Music by Louis F. Gottschalk. Bill W. ============================================================================= Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 17:29:05 -0500 (EST) From: Tyler Jones Subject: Ozzy Digest To somebody (probably Barbara something...): Someone was asking me for back issues of the Ozzy digest. Who was it and which ones do you still need? Currently I have: December 95 296K January 96 484K February 96 911K March 96 1142K (WOW!) --Tyler ============================================================================= Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 17:52:52 -0800 (PST) From: Eric Gjovaag Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-03-96 > From: Tyler Jones > Subject: Ozzy Digest > > THE POWDER WARS (and Bill Wright): > Now I'm getting confused. If I remember correctly, Dr. Pipt gave MOmbi > the Powder of life and Mombi gave Dr. Pipt the Powder of Pperpetual Youth. > Now, the powder that Pipt gave Mombi was good, while the powder that > Mombi gave Pipt was nothing. (Doing my best Ed McMahon impression): YOU ARE CORRECT, SIR! > From: David Parker > Subject: Baum/Populism essay > > Many thanks to Barbara Belgrave, Rich Morrissey, Bill Wright, Richard > Bauman, and of course Gili Bar-Hillel for their recent kind words in the > Digest for my essay on "The Rise and Fall of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as > a 'Parable on Populism.'" I liked it, too, David. If I ever get around to my proof-that-Oz-isn't-a-tract part of my Web page, can I include your article? > From: MICHAEL TURNIANSKY > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-02-96 > > Strangely enough, my brother and I were talking on the phone last > night about CCG's. His opinions on them that they have a very low chance > of success. Since this would be for fun and not profit, who cares if it succeeds? > From: Robin Olderman > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-02-96 > > FRED:Fred made it through the surgery. HOORAY! > CARD GAME: Why not? BTW, Dick Martin had one out years ago. It was cute. Yeah, but a CCG is a horse of a different color. The cards actually represent different characters, talismans, events, etc., and each one does something different in the game. Maybe I can show you the ST:TNG game at Winkies? (Yeah, if Laura will let me take a pair of decks!) > From: rri0189@ibm.net > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 03-30-96 (addendum) > > [sigh!] I hate to be picky, but, the Baum Bugle is not a newsletter, > as the FAQ says; it's a magazine. MY FAQ says it's a magazine! (Oops, sorry, Dave, I'll put these shells and bazookas away, we don' want the FAQ wars to break out again...) > From: RMorris306@aol.com > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digests, 3/31-4/2 > > Well, the IWOCC map shows Yew in the Nonestic Ocean, along with Pingaree, > Roly-Rogues Island, and other lands whose inhabitants *do* visit Oz. I don't > see why it couldn't be, since people seem to age there, meaning none of the > characters in it (except perhaps the erstwhile Prince Marvel and the Red > Rogue of Dawna) would be alive at the time of the Oz adventures. I don't consider "Yew" to be part of the same continent as Oz because (a) there is no evidence, either in "Yew" or any of the Oz books, that there IS any sort of connection, and (b) it makes it very clear at the end of "Yew" that there is no more magic there, and unlike Oz (as explained by the Good Witch of the North -- WHATEVER HER NAME MAY BE -- in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"), extended by implication to the rest of the Continent of Imagination, Yew is now a civilized land. (Did that make any sense???) So, *IMHO*, Yew is not part of the same world, despite its placement on the Club's map. (This, I think, was speculation on part of the cartographers.) Your opinion may vary, of course! ["Oz Squad" talk cut] > I'm a comics fan, but so far I've avoided that comic like the plague. Is > it any good at all? Actually, it's gotten better in the past few issues, once they got all the real blood and guts out of their system and started actually telling a story. IMHO, of course, and remember, I actually LIKE the Neill books. > From: Dave Hardenbrook > Subject: Ozzy Things > > PIRATES IN OZ: > Mike B. wrote: > > ... a flying pirate ship? > > OH NO! Don't tell me a flying pirate ship has been done already???!!! YUP! It's in both "Pirates" and "Captain Salt," although it uses different means to fly in each book (but both magic, I might add.) > (There's one in _Locasta_!!!) So just add a line with someone saying, "Gee, this seems familiar..." > DIGEST FAQ: > I just wanted to let everyone know that I E-Mailed Eric the FAQ so he can > post it on his site. You did? I don't have it yet... --Eric "Electronic postage due, perhaps?" Gjovaag ============================================================================= Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 19:33:19 +0000 From: rri0189@ibm.net Subject: Passover in Oz They gathered every year at about this time, all those who had come to Oz from the outside world. Their native Oz friends were all invited, of course, but they sat and watched at first, only joining in after the solemn ceremony had been completed. It began with Uncle Henry raising his glass of Ozade. Uncle Henry: A toast to the land of Oz! They all drank. Uncle Henry picked up some bittergrass and handed it around. All present dipped their bittergrass lavishly in the small dish of sugar paste, then swallowed it quickly. Then Uncle Henry picked up a plate of Aunt Em's best cornbread. Uncle Henry: This is the bread we ate in Kansas. Whatever little we had in Kansas we shared, and we share this bread, too. Then all eyes were turned towards Button-Bright. Button-Bright: Why is tonight different from every other night? Every other night we can eat any kind of bread we want to, not just cornbread. Every other night we can eat any kind of salad we want to, not just bittergrass. Every other night we eat our salad without dipping it in anything, but tonight we dip it in sugar paste twice. Every other night we sit on regular chairs, but tonight we sit on little hard benches. Everyone smiles with relief that Button-Bright has gotten through his part with no mistakes. Dorothy: In America, we were often hungry, with nothing to eat except some corn that we'd grown ourselves, if the year was good. But here in the land of Oz we live in plenty. Shaggy Man: In America, we often felt the bitterness of poverty and hatred. But here in Oz we live in a land of love and friendship, where all have enough. Uncle Henry raises his glass of Ozade again. Uncle Henry: A toast to Ozma and Glinda! Everyone drinks to Ozma and Glinda's health. Then the bittergrass is passed again and everyone dips theirs in the sugar paste. The Wizard: We dip our bittergrass twice in the sweet paste because we are twice blessed. We were allowed to discover the land of Oz, and we were allowed to stay here. Aunt Em: We sit on these hard benches, because in America, our lives were hard and short, but here in Oz we live in a land that transcends age and death. Aunt Em takes the plate of cornbread and hands a piece to everyone. They all eat. Aunt Em: Well, now, who'd like some roast meat-plant? The rest of the meal is eaten joyously, with laughter, jokes and singing echoing up and down the table. When the feast finally ends, much later, everyone stands up and recites the traditional concluding phrase: "Next year, ALSO in the Emerald City!" Gut yontiff, and some holiday humor from -- Eleanor Kennedy ============================================================================= Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 21:17:57 +0000 From: rri0189@ibm.net Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-03-96 > I'm a comics fan, but so far I've avoided [Oz Squad] like the plague. Is >it any good at all? You may not _like_ it, but it's well written, and the creators know their way around Oz. It's certainly heretical, but not without its moments. If it came to a question of whether to snatch a collection of "Oz Squad", "Oz", or the Shanower books from a burning building, though, I'd definitely take Shanower. // John W Kennedy -- Hypatia Software -- "The OS/2 Hobbit" ============================================================================= Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 21:45:03 -0500 (EST) From: Richard Bauman <72172.2631@compuserve.com> Subject: Today's Growls David Gerstein - I can remember when Bucky Bug married June Bug and the Great Bug War. In fact I still have the comic books. :) Dave - I don't know if this is kosher. You, of course willdecide. People on the Digest are looking for Oz books. I have found some for sale and will list them. They are located at a book store in Los Altos called "The Book Nest." I went in to check out his Oz books again and found someone had just bought eight. Sigh. Sorry I didn't get in sooner, he had four left, they are: Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz - 16 color plates, book jacket (piece missing) - $100 Wizard of Oz - 8 color plates - $100 The Road To Oz - w jacket - $50 The Mysterious Chronicles of Oz (autographed by Madden) - $40 The Book Nest is at 366 Second St. Los Altos, CA 94022 415-948-4724 I did not spend the time to determine the edition, etc. with my Bibliographia Oziana. However, when I return on the 15th, if you want me to check further and give an estimate of condition, I would be happy to. Otherwise, the owner is Ed Schmitz, a really nice person, and you can contact him for more details. Hmmmm, when I get back I am going to have eleven Digests to go through. Now I now how David Hulan must feel. Regards, Bear (:<) ============================================================================= Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 22:00:24 -0600 (CST) From: jvandern@neosoft.com (Jim Vander Noot) Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-03-96 Hi, Dave, You might mention to the group that the Winkie & South Winkie & Quadling Convention registration forms are now out on the IWOC web site (http://www.neosoft.com/~iwoc) Jim ============================================================================= Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 23:53:41 -0500 (EST) From: jnw@vnet.net Subject: misc Dave Hardenbrook writes: > But [Coo-ee-oh] managed to hold Ozma and Dorothy prisoner! Not really. Ozma *chose* to go with Lady Aurex. (Just because you *can* beat somebody up doesn't mean that doing so is the best strategy.) Later Ozma was trapped in the sunken island, but that was only because she didn't know how to operate the machinery. That reminds me of the countless times someone would say to me: "You know a lot about computers, how do I do such and such with this application". Of course, I have never used the application before, so I have no idea how to do anything with it. This was the problem that Ozma faced. She knew lots of magic, but she still had no idea how to use Coo-ee-oh's machinery. The manuals were undecipherable and there was no on-line help. I believe that Ozma's overriding Coo-ee-oh's spell is a much better demonstration of their relative power. > Which enchantments did [Reera] make and who broke them? (Didn't *she* break > Coo-ee-oh's enchantment of the Adepts, a major feat?) The goldfish tells Ervic that Reera's enchantments are easy to break. There was nothing difficult about breaking Coo-ee-oh's enchantments because at the time she probably had only the most basic ability with regards to transformation. I doubt that the Adepts ever engaged in transformations, so Coo-ee-oh had to figure it out from something else. As far as we know, these were the first transformations she ever did. > MOPPeT is that just as you can never reach the speed of light, no one > can ever become a "Perfect 10" = "All-Powerful", in spite of the inflated > claims of some "All-Powerful" genies. SANTA CLAUS mentions a "Supreme Master" that apparently created the fairy universe, as well as the immortals. That seems to be pretty close to "All-Powerful", at least as far as the fairy universe is concerned. Note that when Santa Claus was dying of old age, the only way that the immortals seemed to have to prevent that was to give him the Mantle of Immortality (which the Supreme Master had created). When Lurline stopped all aging in Oz, she seemed to be wielding power that in SANTA CLAUS only the Supreme Master could command. > OH NO! Don't tell me a flying pirate ship has been done already???!!! Ok, I won't mention what happens in Chapter 16 of PIRATES. :-) > Auxannah, Augnetah, and Audirfah are my names for the Adepts What's wrong with Audah, Aurah, and Aujah? Oh, wait! Let me guess. There are actually two different sets of three Adepts each ... :-) -- jnw@vnet.net (John N. White) ============================================================================= Date: Thursday 04-Apr-96 00:25:34 (PST) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things _BAUM BUGLE_: Eric wrote: >MY FAQ says it's a magazine! (Oops, sorry, Dave, I'll put these shells >and bazookas away, we don' want the FAQ wars to break out again...) I agree now that you can't call it a newsletter, yet somehow, I can't quite bring myself to call it a magazine either, so after some reflection, I've decided to compromise, and my finalized FAQ version 1.0 calls it a "Fanzine". :) THE ADEPTS: I wrote: >>Auxannah, Augnetah, and Audirfah are my names for the Adepts And John W. replied: >What's wrong with Audah, Aurah, and Aujah? Me: You want to field this one, girls? Audirfah: Gladly. They're too similar. Augnetah: And our new names *AREN'T* similar??? Audirfah: But our old names differed by only *one* letter! Auxannah: Right on! And after Dave gave us each a groovy, distinct personality, we wanted more distinct names as well! Augnetah: And so we had to go down to Oz character renaming headquarters and had to fill in all those forms, and sit for hours on end in those lousy waiting rooms with the broken hot chocolate machines! Audirfah: Don't be so cross, honey! Now everyone can tell us apart! Auxannah: We even have these awesome distinct faces! Augnetah: Yeah, that John Neill always made us look alike! GRRRR. Audirfah: I suppose that now that Dave has spilled the beans about us, as it were, we're going to be regulars here? Auxannah: Wow! Far out! Augnetah: Oh, terrific. Me being embarassed in front of Dave's friends at every turn with Audirfah's nature lectures and endless altruism coupled with Auxannah's annoyingly vivacious dancing and pirouetting and use of that inane slang! Auxannah: Hey, what's good enough for Percy the Personality Kid is good enough for Auxannah the Adept at Sorcery! Augnetah: But because we ARE Adepts at Sorcery, we should show some dignity! Auxannah: I looked up "dignity" in the dictionary once...What a curious concept!!! Audirfah: Have you met Scraps yet, dear? You two would really hit it off! -- Dave ============================================================================= ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, APRIL 5, 1996 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ============================================================================= Date: Thu, 04 Apr 1996 15:53:24 +0200 (WET) From: Gili Bar-Hillel Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-04-96 As I sit and write this, my intestines are clogged with Matzah. I spent most of yesterday morning helping my mother cook and set the table for 17, and most of yesterday night washing dishes. So I sympathise with (Mike's?) version of Jellia Jamb. Passover gift, latest addition to my collection: a first edition of "Hidden Valley of Oz" mailed in from Pittsburgh... I'm finally back in Jerusalem, and can check all the references, like I promised. Mike is right: what I wrote about Shakespeare and the King James Bible is correct about the number 46, not 47. However, here's what "The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers" (edited by David Wells) has to say about 42 and 47: "42 - The magic constant of the smallest magic cube, composed with the numbers 1 to 27. ... the 5th Catalan number [followed by explanation about Catalan numbers]... 47 - 47+2=49 , 47*2=94." The story about the number 46 and Shakespeare is listed both in the "dictionary" referred to above, and in the first chapter of "The Magic Numbers of Dr. Matrix" by Martin Gardner. Martin Gardner *always* alludes to Oz somewhere in his books, this book is no exception. For Barbara Belgrave - The issue of "Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine" which had a cover story about Oz is the December, 1994 issue. The story is "Up the Rainbow" by Susan Casper. The cover shows Dorothy's granddaughter, Gale, sitting on the yellow brick road with her cat and smiling up at the Scarecrow. Anyone interested - the psychobiography of Baum I was referring to was indeed written by Alan C. Elms, who also wrote an article called "Oz in Science Fiction Film" for the winter 1983 issue of "The Baum Bugle".(By the way, Dave, the Baum Bugle is a JOURNAL, that's part of its title! I personally think that both "fanzine" and "newsletter" are misleading, and even a trifle insulting. "Beyond the Rainbow Collector's Exchange" is a fanzine. "The Oz Observer" is a newsletter. "The Baum Bugle" is more academic than either of them.) I couldn't tell from my photocopy what the title of the book is - possibly "Into the Fantastic", thought that may just be the title of one section of the book. The chapter itself is called: "The Mother of Oz - L. Frank Baum." I'm relieved that Fred Meyer pulled through his operation - but I'm still very worried for him. Lets all wish him the best of health. Thank you Dave, for crediting me for designing the masthead! Robin - It's tough for me to list my 3 favourite... In my opinion, "The Wizard of Oz" is thesuper-best-favourite-of-all-times, and it's "no fair" even comparing it to the others. My three favourites of the others are: 1. Ozma of Oz 2. The Patchwork Girl of Oz 3. Glinda of Oz followed closely by "the Magic of Oz", "Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz".... you get th picture. I like all the Baum books. Bye! |\ _,,,---,,_ /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ Gili Bar-Hillel, |,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-' avigailb@zoot.tau.ac.il '---''(_/--' `-'\_) Cat (c) by Felix Lee ============================================================================= Date: Thu, 04 Apr 1996 12:08:37 -0500 (EST) From: David Parker Subject: reprinting essay on Web page Eric: My essay (on Baum and Populism) was first published by the Georgia Association of Historians, and the Association holds the copyright. But I just got off the phone with the editor, who kindly gave permission: you can include the essay on your Web page provided you give the proper citation to the Journal of the GAH. Wow, I'm excited! This will be a first for me! ============================================================================= Date: Thu, 04 Apr 1996 15:31:34 -0500 (EST) From: jnw@vnet.net Subject: misc Tyler Jones writes: > On the Isle of Yew: > This book has no hint of any other countries and no other books have any > hint of this book. YEW *does* have a tie-in with the Oz books. At one point the fairy mentions that a mortal had once become an immortal, which clearly refers to events in SANTA CLAUS. At the time she seemed to be discussing the rules of mortals and immortals for the fairy universe that she (Yew) was part of. Santa Claus lives near the Forest of Burzee, which is south of Oz. (from Oz maps, ROAD, MIMICS) So the Island of Yew is indeed part of the Oz universe. The comment about Yew becoming civilized seems to mean the rule of law, and a ban on unauthorized magic -- just like in Oz. The immortal fairies who lived on the island are still there, and so it is still a fairyland. Auxannah writes: > We even have these awesome distinct faces! Do the three of you share the thirty heads, or do you have ten each? :-) -- jnw@vnet.net (John N. White) ============================================================================= Date: Thu, 04 Apr 1996 17:31:44 -0500 (EST) From: Tyler Jones Subject: Ozzy Digest David Gerstein: I was interested in your comment about _Rinkitink in Oz_ being one of your least favorite of the FF because "It just ain't an Oz book!". Did you not like the story itself or do you feel that it does not belong in the "official" list of mainline Oz books since the story was not meant to be an Oz book in the first place and only involves Oz at the tail end? For the record, _Captain Salt in Oz_ has even less Ozzy ties than _Rinkitink_! Eric Gjovaag: We may not care about profit (for the Oz game), but I hope that we care that it succeeds, the point being to bring knowledge of Oz to as many people as possible. On The Isle of Yew: In my heart, I agree with you that this book is not connected to Oz in any way, but since it is on the official IWOC map, many people probably believe that the island is in the Nonestic anyway. On the Good Witch of the North: (and other directions) Farmer called her Helwedo. He also called the Good Witch of the East Wulthag. Unknown in the FF, in Shanowers _The Blue Witch of Oz_ she was referred to as Abatha. John Kennedy: Your choice of material to save from a burning building reminds me of an aside in one of Asimovs robot tales. An engineer, in a burning building, jumped out with nothing but a pair of shorts and "The Handbook of Robotics", supposedly an EXTREMELY expensive and valuable item. In a pinch, he would have skipped the shorts. John and Dave, on magic: This is my whole point. Ozma may have more power overall than Coo-Ee-Oh, but she is outclassed in some specific applications, such as engineering magic. IMHO, Ozma could have destroyed Coo-Ee-Oh, but would then have been trapped underwater forever. Unless they remembered that the Magic Belt could have transported them out in an instant. Unless the magical ambiance of Coo-Ee-Oh's appliances prevented this. Unless... Blah blah blah. John: If the Adepts had never really practiced transformations, how could they easily break Reera's? Hmmmmm, you posed a tough one there. According to _The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus_, it was very clear that the gift of immortality was a very rare gift. In fact, there was only one cloak of immortality, to be given to the mortal that the immortals deemed worthy. How then, could Lurline enchant Oz in this way? This goes beyond simply doing something she was not allowed to do. It seems that NOBODY except the Supreme Master could have this power. We'll have to think about this one for a while I believe that the names that Dave has provided for the Adepts are their full, formal names, and the ones we read in _Glinda_ are just nicknames. --Tyler Jones ============================================================================= Date: Thu, 04 Apr 1996 17:31:52 -0800 (PST) From: Eric Gjovaag Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-04-96 > From: Tyler Jones > Subject: Ozzy Digest > > On the Isle of Yew: > This book has no hint of any other countries and no other books have any > hint of this book. It is totally isolated, yet it appears on the map. > Maybe professor Wogglebug knows something that we don't? Professor Wogglebug never put Yew on any of his maps. I'm not sure who's responsible for its inclusion on the current maps from the Oz Club. > From: David A Gerstein > Subject: Return to Oz "Coronation" sequence > > I recall a television special about Oz about 1985 (probably > cooincided with "Return to Oz", as I recall it included a lengthy > discussion of the film) which included some of the musical score to > the 1902 "Wizard" on the soundtrack as it talked about the play. The > question is, was that an old Victrola recording of the score, or just > a modern-day recreation of it? You sure? I'd bet that it was just generic period music, I don't recall it ever being specifically identified as being music from the play. (I do remember this special, it was the same one that showed pictures from "The Tik-Tok Man of Oz" while discussing "The Woggle-Bug," and TOTALLY failed to mention any authors continuing the Oz series after Baum's death.) > The mention of "Return to Oz" brings me to the Allan Eyles > (sp?) book of '85, which I got at about the same time as I saw that > special. Most curious is how many auxiliary Oz characters (Scraps > among the major players, and minor ones going all the way to Tommy > Kwikstep) are illustrated in "Return to Oz" versions of themselves as > they were prepared for some kind of "coronation sequence" -- a > sequence which, I guess, didn't make the final cut of the film. Where > were the characters to have appeared, and why were they cut? (Did > Disney use some characters from books they didn't have the license to > use, and find out too late to easily alter the sequence?) Disney has owned the film rights to the Oz books for a number of years now, and one reason for them making "Return to Oz" was so that they could get SOMETHING out of them before they all entered public domain! And most of the characters DO appear in the film, in the final sequence in the Emerald City -- just don't blink! They go by so fast, or on the periphery, that they're easy to miss. (I'm sure many have also been cut out when the sides were cropped to fit a widescreen film into television ratios.) > From: Dave Hardenbrook > Subject: Ozzy Things > > _BAUM BUGLE_: > Eric wrote: > >MY FAQ says it's a magazine! (Oops, sorry, Dave, I'll put these shells > >and bazookas away, we don' want the FAQ wars to break out again...) > > I agree now that you can't call it a newsletter, yet somehow, I can't > quite bring myself to call it a magazine either, so after > some reflection, I've decided to compromise, and my finalized > FAQ version 1.0 calls it a "Fanzine". :) Why isn't it a magazine??? It certainly isn't a fanzine!!! "Fanzine" brings up all kinds of connotations that certainly don't apply to the "Bugle." Perhaps it should be called a journal, if magazine seems wrong to you. (It does say "A Journal of Oz" on the cover.) I've got a little bit more information on Jewel, the singer who played Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz in Concert." She is NOT a country-and- western singer, since I heard one of her songs on the local alternative music station. It was nice, sort of a latter-day Rickie Lee Jones. Anyway, the only other info I got from the DJ is that she's from Alaska. Gee, I'm intrigued enough, if I had lots of money to spare maybe I'd look for one of her CD's. --Eric "Laura's computer is down AGAIN!" Gjovaag ============================================================================= Date: Thu, 04 Apr 1996 21:49:15 -0600 (CST) From: Robin Olderman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-03-96 OZ CHESS SET: There's one in the works already. I don't know if I'm allowed to name the manufacturer, so I guess I won't, but it's a reputable outfit and they've done some other Oz things. The pieces will have to be recognized by more than just us Ozmaniacs, so Kabumpo, etc. will be out of the question. Keep your fingers crossed for its success. I talked with the designer of the project, drew some sketches for him (HA! That's a joke; I'm no artist) and jotted down suggestions. I think his outfit will come through with a good product. PLAYING CARDS: I'd like them, too. I'd like a quality deck, though, one I could actually use. The ones that came out a few years ago (in the tins) were neat looking, but were too flimsy for real use. I play bridge every week, and would love to bid (and make) seven emeralds. I wonder what the other suits would be. FRED: He's out of intensive care. He can wiggle his toes. This is very good news, but we don't know yet if he'll be able to walk. Keep up the good thoughts. ============================================================================= Date: Thu, 04 Apr 1996 22:09:14 -0600 (CST) From: Robin Olderman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-04-96 PASSOVER IN OZ: Clever! Thank you. I enjoyed that. REMINDER: I've gotten a number of responses to the poll. If you want to cast your votes for the top 3 Baum, top 3 Thompson, and top 3 FF overall, e-mail me at robino@tenet.edu If you post it here in the DIGEST it just takes up someone's disc space, and I may miss it. Thanks! ============================================================================= Date: Thursday 04-Apr-96 23:48:32 (PST) From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things _BAUM BUGLE_: Eric wrote: >Perhaps it should be called a journal ... Yes, "journal" sounds better than anything else. You have my permission to change the word in my FAQ. :) >Eric "Laura's computer is down AGAIN!" Gjovaag Her computer is DOWN??? When then let's CHEER IT UP!!! :) :) :) CHESS SET: Robin O. wrote: >There's one in the works already ... The pieces will have to be >recognized by more than just us Ozmaniacs, so Kabumpo, etc. >will be out of the question. Then I propose one for us Ozzy-philes so that we *CAN* have Ozma, etc.! Maybe I can do it by taking by making reduced-size photocopies of my collection of home-made Oz paper dolls (Have I ever mentioned them before?) and then glue them to pieces of wood so that they'll stand upright on the chessboard... OZ POLL: Robin O. wrote: >If you post it here in the DIGEST it just takes up someone's disc space, >and I may miss it. As I said before, as the Digest editor, I have no objection t