] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JULY 1, 1996 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ============================================================================= Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 07:44:01 -0700 (PDT) From: Eric Gjovaag Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06-30-96 > From: jnw@vnet.net > Subject: islands and belts > > I once went to Oz in a dream an was told that there were a number of > small, rocky islands in the desert. Some magic workers who really wanted > to continue to practice magic had been allowed to move to these islands, > which were not included in the "no unauthorized magic" decree. Sounds like the basis for an interesting book to me. > From: Gordon Birrell > Subject: Plot-driven vs. episodic narratives > > Here's a trivia question: who amongst you can remember--without looking > it up--the name of Professor Marvel's horse? Me! (Well, THAT was the question, not what the name of the horse was -- which was Sylvester, I might add...) > From: Gili Bar-Hillel > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06-29-96 > > Dave - Please, please don't break the digest up into subsets. > Please don't. :-) I think what's being discussed here is NOT breaking the Digest up, but adding a new group for those who want to discuss the HACC, continuity, etc. This would be in addition to, not in place of, regular posts in the Digest. That way, those who do want to discuss piddling points of minutia ad nauseum can do so without bogging the Digest down. > From: @pittstate.edu@mail.pittstate.edu > Subject: Oz > > David Hulan: > Your spoiler for GLASS CAT was not a spoiler at all, for it would have > spoiled nothing. Depends on the reader. Some people don't want to know ANYTHING about a book before they read it (or a movie or TV show before they see it, for that matter), while others don't mind little tidbits that enhance their anticipation. I say, better safe than sorry. > Eric: > You mean this *isn't* a newsgroup? (You can tell that I am still new to > the internet). No, it's not. Newsgroups are what you have in Usenet (another part of the internet, for those of you wondering -- no, e-mail is not the ONLY function of the 'net). Each is devoted to a single topic, and anyone who has Usenet access can come along, post a note there, people can come along and reply to it. Then people can reply to the reply, and so on. Newsgroups are open to everyone who wants to look, not just those who request it (like this here Digest). I myself am a regular reader/poster in newsgroups about "Doctor Who," "Babylon 5," the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" collectible card game, the Olympics (boy, has THAT group been busy of late!), and writer Peter David. In the past I've also been a part of groups about "Animaniacs," "Tiny Toon Adventures," the Seattle Mariners, alternate history stories, and Douglas Adams. Perhaps the newsgroup most people here would be interested in is rec.arts.books.childrens, since that's where what little Oz discussion there's been in usenet has appeared. > From: OzBucket@aol.com > Subject: digest > > I do wish that some people would stop putting words or concepts in my mouth. You too, huh? > I am disillusioned, Eric. You do not recognize the reference to Ruby Red > Rutabagas? I am soooo disappointed. Have you not got a heart? If you need > one, you will have to plant some Ruby Red Rutabagas. But do be careful to > avoid planting Munchkin seeds by accident. At least we found out where > Munchkins come from :-) Look, Chris and everybody else, as much as I love Oz, there's just too much other stuff going on for me to reread every book every day and rewatch all my videos every week so I can pick up and remember every single little reference. Yeah, I know now it's from one of the very earliest episodes of "Tales of the Wizard of Oz," but sheesh, cut me some slack! I know you were only kidding, but honest, I can't always remember everything! > (okay, for those who think I am even more crazy than you used to think, this > is a reference to a very strange cartoon from the psychedelic age, which Eric > was kind enough to make illegal bootleg videos of for me). And now you're making me look like some sort of video pirate! I think I've only ever made four copies of that, I'm real reluctant to make more (partly because of the lousy quality of my copies, partly because I'm missing four episodes, partly because I have no time, partly because it's probably illegal, or at least falls into legal grey area). Any lawyers reading this Digest, don't call the FBI on me, please! > From: ozbot@ix.netcom.com (ozbot) > Subject: Re: the tunnel of Oz (again) > > Are we back to this again? I think the tunnel under Oz was a hot topic > when I first joined the Digest. . . Like so many other topics here, it just keeps coming up again and again. > Why not KISS it and say that someone dug through it again after Ozma's > plugging? I think there's an even bigger question about the tunnel that nobody's brought up: Why is the Barrier of Invisibility there? We've heard nothing aobut it since "Patchwork Girl," yet there it is! > The consensus seemed that Eureka's sudden reappearance should best be > explained by some unwritten book between her leaving Oz and coming > again. Been done, by March Laumer. Although I can't recall which book it was just off the top of my head. > From: w_baldwin@juno.com (Warren H Baldwin) > Subject: Runaway > > Almost inevitably, though, I found I had three itches about the book. > Is there a doctor in the Digest? I can't answer all three of them, but I can answer one of them: > (1) What happened to Morrow, as in Books of Wonder/Morrow ? William Morrow and Company is Books of Wonder's partner only for the reprints of the Baum books. The rest of BoW's output is their responsibility alone, including the Neill books, their reprint of "Merry- Go-Round," "The Sea Fairies" and "Sky Island," and so forth. > From: Tyler Jones > Subject: Ozzy Digest > > On the guy who wants to use Peter: > Should we snail-mail him? I hope he does not get caught using Peter... :-( Of course, the Club won't publish a book that violates copyright anyway (or, should it win, it might be possible that they'll make arrangements with Dorothy Curtis Maryott to use Peter). > From: Robin Olderman > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06-29-96 > > Eric et al: I still don't see the need for any other group. Dave is doing > fine with this one and has my respect and admiration for the job he's doing. > Why mess with what most of us seem to consider success? Very few people > have complained about the way it's running, Dave seems willing to try to > accommodate those few who do want to do something else and, basically, it > sorta seems like the old "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" thing to me. I'm not complaining, and I CERTAINLY don't want this Digest to die out! But it IS getting big and long, and a huge part of it is now the header of all the people it's going to! All I'm suggesting with a newsgroup is that it would give us another outlet for Ozzy postings, and more people will find out about Oz on the internet by coming across the newsgroup than by maybe hearing about this mailing third hand or something. It would be the perfect place for people to go, for instance, who are wondering about that hanging man in the background in the movie, then we can all jump in and educate the person asking. There are enough people here and enough discussions going on that I think a newsgroup could work, and all I was doing is bringing the suggestion up again in regards to what someone was saying about volume in the Digest or something like that. > If you want to start a newsgroup, O.K. No one's stopping you, but why bother? Because one person can't start a newsgroup. It takes a concerted effort by a large group to form one. There is a lot of discussion that goes on before a vote can be taken, and there needs to be at least one hundred voting for the group's formation and a CLEAR majority (it's not just 50% + 1) in favor. > Talking in "real time" formats would be difficult with a largish bunch of us. That is not how a newsgroup works at all. As I said above, people post a note to the group (very similar to posting a piece of e-mail), then others can read it and respond. But the posts stay up for several days, and you can read them at your convenience. What you are thinking of is IRC, which IS real-time chat. > Also, if memory serves, although my server definitely will FTP and all > that, you were never able to clearly tell me how to do so, so I couldn't > join in. Because not all servers have IRC available (I know you can't through AOL), and how to access it is different for every server. You would have had to ask your local sysop, not me. > I'm afraid many folks will find themselves in the same boat I > was in. Many of us are just not all that "into" computers. Me? I'm > lucky I can sometimes master e-mailing and getting into the Web and using > Telnet. Which is now the greatest argument I can think of for not forming an Oz newsgroup. All I was doing, everyone, when I brought it up, was to stick my toe in to test the water, and not only has the temperature not even risen, it feels like it's been bitten off! So just forget about it, I'm NEVER going to bring it up again, and if it ever becomes necessary to form an Oz newsgroup, you're just going to have to find somebody else to educate the ignorant masses and spearhead the campaign, okay? Because it sure won't be me. > Conventions: One thing *is* different about the Winkies, other than the > venue. The Winkies REALLY do a deal with the costume parade. Y'all, you > just can't believe how terrific some of those costumes are. We're > talking professional levels here. And Eric does a dandy job as the > Master of Ceremonies. Just wait 'til you see what Karyl has cooked up for me to wear this year... > O.K. One more thing is different: the food. I > think I'll just not elaborate on it, but do any of you Winkies remember > the year we had "M&M Chicken"? No, but that's because I remember who I'm talking with at dinner more than what I'm eating. (The food is far from outstanding, so I've got to remember SOMETHING.) > From: Dave Hardenbrook > Subject: Ozzy Things > > SHANOWER'S BOOKS: > Warren wrote: > >Ah, but in black and white it's different! To me his black-and-whites > >came across as Neillesque in their Ozziness. > > For more Shanower in Black & White, try _Wicked Witch of Oz_ and _Giant Garden > of Oz_. BTW, the Huntington Beach Library that I said had _Giant Garden_ > on order now *has* it! (I checked it out today.) And don't forget the two issues of "Oz-Story" and the "Oziana"s he's drawn (and in some cases written) for as well. > DIGEST ON THE ROCKS???: > Robin O. wrote: > >Eric et al: I still don't see the need for any other group. Dave is doing > >fine with this one and has my respect and admiration for the job he's doing. > >Why mess with what most of us seem to consider success? Very few people > >have complained about the way it's running.... > > And those who have certainly haven't said anything to *ME* about it! Please, > folks, if you have a complaint about how I'm handling the Digest, *PLEASE* tell > me about it, I want to know what's on your mind! -- Please don't just gripe > behind my back, which is what I'm starting to suspect is going on... The ONLY complaint I have is that the thing is becoming a little large (not large enough I can't handle, however -- hey, I do contribute to a LARGE amount of that size!), and that the online Oz community can be so much more visible to the entire internet. Both of these, IMHO, can be solved with the formation of an Oz newsgroup. This is OUTSIDE of the Digest, so there's nothing you can do about it, Dave, so don't sweat it. --Eric "I'll just crawl back into my no-posting-ideas-or-opinions shell here" Gjovaag ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 10:21:14 -0500 (CDT) From: Robin Olderman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06-30-96 Help, please: I know this isn't Oz, but so-o-o many of us know juveniles that I thought a DIGESTer might answer this for one of my customers. What series has a main character named Araminta? The name sounds like a Cinderella stepsister to me, but that's not very helpful to this gal, who is looking for Araminta books. Cold/wet and Oases: Randy and Kabumpo are both cold and wet from the River Road when they get to Torpedo Town in P.PRINCE. Jack Snow has the Fire Folk living on an oasis. "'An oasis on the Deadly Desert?' asked the Shaggy Man incredulously. 'Certainly. Did you ever hear of a desert that didn't have an oasis?' replied the fire creature."(SHAGGY MAN,199) Professor Marvel's horse" Sylvester, of course! I'll bet lots of us know that. (Sheesh...I hope I'm remembering that movie correctly....) OZIANA: The character of Peter was used with permission. Also, a few years ago I got specific permission to use Eloise's sequel about Ruggedo for our "professional" issue. Actually, Eloise had to dig out the tale for me. And for those who'd like her to write more Oz, so would I, but I think we're all gonna be out of luck here. She and Lynn wrothe MGR as a labor of love. FORBIDDEN FOUNTAIN was written as more or less of a favor (I forget the whole story now) and she really didn't feel like doing it. I saw several early versions of that book, and, I *promise* you, she used a great deal of professional skill and experience in editing and rewriting her own text. Amazing. She's a fine writer. You betcha it's a focused book--now. It wasn't, at first. At first, it was barely recognizable as being her work. This is not a put down of Eloise. It's a paeon to her skills. Those of us who write understand how very different an early draft can be from a completed one. Anyway, she really isn't interested in writing more Oz. Neither is Lynn, apparently and, although I don't think anyone's asked him, I can't imagine Bill's wanting to mess with Oz. (But he'd do a good job if he did!) Whoever it was (Danny?) who wanted "Eldritch Horror..." I can't remember which issue, but if you e-mail me privately I'll try to find it for you. I have the OZIANA files. BEST OF... and INDEX TO: The Board of IWOC has approved the first project. I'll ask Michael Gessel, editor of Special Publications about it. I don't know anyone who wants to undertake the INDEX. If all it'd involve would be indexing titles, authors, and illustrators, I might do it. If it involves indexing character appearances,etc., I think it'd be an almost overwhelming task and not worth the effort. How do y'all want OZIANA indexed? I guess I'm the one to tell, since I edit the thing. Book Contest: Steve wrote out many of my own thoughts. Too bad the guy who needs to see them can't access e-mail often. But for the rest of y'all who write, I essentially agree with Steve and, like him, I'm one of the judges. Barbara Koelle is the third judge. The three of us will read all of the entries and narrow the field for the final judges, who have not yet been officially named. Gili: Why not tell us DIGESTers what the quotes are that you have to work into your essay? I know you don't need help. You're quite a talented writer. However, it'd probably be kinda fun for *us* ;-) ;-) and maybe for you, too. *AND* whaddya mean "*attacked* and hugged by a perfect stranger"? I knew *you* even if you didn't know me. O.K., so maybe I was a bit enthusiastic. BTW, I was startled to find that you were actually there. Fred had deliberately kept that info from me, setting you up as a kind of "surprise." You were. A delightful one. Bear: Sure I read fast. I'm an English teacher! Actually, it takes me several days of concentrated reading to enjoy LOTR. I essentially lock myself away from the rest of the world for that time period, take a humongo container of ice water and some pretzels, lotsa pillows, and hunker in for the duration. It's a treat. As I said, it's my annual Xmas present to myself. Dave: If there have been gripes about the DIGEST behind your back, I'm not aware of them. I was referring to the few gripes some folks have posted. The only gripes I've gotten related to the DIGEST that have *not* been posted, have been about some of the more negative comments a few people have made. And most, although not all, of that kind of stuff has worked itself out quite nicely. Please don't get paranoid on us. Believe it and accept it, please, when we compliment and thank you. We mean it. You're doing a helluva good job. (Gonna censor out the profanity in the previous sentence?) And now you may blush if you feel the need to do so. --Robin O. ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 11:23:17 -0400 (EDT) From: Mark Anthony Donajkowski Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06-30-96 dave the digest is fine the way it is its done in the form it should be a digest if someone wants to create a mailing list (ie every single letter including the one you write gets sent to everyoen on the list including you at whenever they are wrote)then go ahead those fill up mail boxxes alot quicker and take way longer to download bear everyones address is on the top of the message they write dave makes sure its there just look up at the top of my message my email address is there all if you got a problem with the digest either talk to dave directly or post a note about it to the list going behind his back isnt nice the man puts alot of time into this all again perhaps i spoke to soon about the oz wonderland comics being all over my area i just checked one shop nad none were to be found and another in another of my places i used to live and htey didnt have any and another in my home town had number 3 ill keep looking though as for oz 12 i did find that hugs anthony van pyre ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 11:07:14 -0500 (CDT) From: Gordon Birrell Subject: The Digest on Usenet I want to cast a vote against the idea of creating a Usenet newsgroup out of the Digest. Sure, the present format is bulky and byte-heavy, but it has the feel of a big family discussion, and it's easy enough to scroll through material that you find less interesting. And Dave: I particularly like your concluding sign-offs, which serve--for me at least--as a reminder of the benevolent presence behind this whole enterprise. The Usenet format with its threading mechanisms may be more efficient, but it is also cold and impersonal in comparison to what we have now. We would also have to contend with all the spamming that goes on in the newsgroups--an additional headache for Dave as moderator. Finally, all of us who log on via Unix servers would have to compose our postings on vi, which is surely the most diabolically difficult word-processing program ever conceived. ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 12:21:52 -0400 From: "< Badger >" Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06/27/96-06/28/96 ======================================== >>From: Kenneth Shepherd >>Subject: Ozzy Digest 6-26 *posting* >>Re: Ozma's nude swimming << Badger--It's true that a lot of people react adversely to the idea of the ruler of Oz swimming au natural. I myself have a hard time with the image. But above that I think that it really destroys the public image of a _ruler_ to be seen sans garments. Look at what happened to the Dutchess of York (admittedly not a ruler, but a member of a royal house).... >> True, but Fergie's the sort of look and physique I greatly admire, so I sure had no problem with it. << Your point about nude bathing in Europe is taken. But Oz is (and was designed to be) an AMERICAN fairyland. >> True, but it's not *set* in America.... And as a *monarchy*, it's not actually designed as very "American".... << There's always been a strong element of prudery in the American psyche. >> True, unfortunately. It's probably why I read somewhere there are eleven countries that are "more free" than America. The source didn't cite which countries, or I might have packed my bags . << One of the things I have always enjoyed about Oz as I grow older (and older) is the way in which it reflects an ideal America. >> Which would it be then? Prudery or an ideal America? Can't have one with the other (I mean, individuals can be, and can continue to be, prudes, but in an ideal American they would be unable to *impose* their prudery and personal "morals" on those who *aren't* prudes). ======================================== >>From: "Aaron S. Adelman" << Badger, concerning your comments on nudity: Strange, I never considered America very prudish when it came to sexuality, though in nudity I'll agree that they're definitely not on the same level as Europeans. >> On non-cable TV in Europe and England, they have little problem showing bare breasts. Outside of some cable documentaries (and HBO movies or "Real Sex" documentaries), how often do we see the beauty of the human body actually displayed? It is said that the first time we'll actually see nudity on TV in on the soaps; they do get really close, but so far, not enough courage. << Though in Jewish theology, at least, humans being created "in the image of G-d" applies only to the human mind, as G-d in Judaism is believed to be incorporeal; hence in Judaism nudity is frowned upon and the dress of religious Jews tends to be conservative. >> Fascinating: I never heard that concept before. Does Judaism explain how Deity came up with the corporeal blueprint? It'd have to have been planned out. ======================================== >>From: Eric Gjovaag >>Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06-28-96 << Badger, I hate to sound like I'm badgering you... >> No problem: I get that a lot. I've even used it myself. << ...but is there some other way that you can identify whose post your replying to? An extra > in front or somehow including it within your << >>'s is all it would take to clarify things immensely. Thanks. >> You mean like with this header? That'd work. I use the equal-sign lines to deliniate and enclose my separate replies, except for the last one with which I conclude with my signature. This excludes *each* of my replies having my complete signature. True, this may also mean I am replying to posts a few digest's old, but it cuts down on Lotsa Characters filling up the Digest on my part. -------------------- Thought for the Day.... "Don't be so open-minded: your brains will fall out." < Badger > http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Badger_GLG_AmerNational_Freeman/vul ture.htm http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Badger_GLG_AmerNational_Freeman/pil l-1.htm All Rights Reserved Without Prejudice; UCC 1-207 ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 19:33:15 +0000 (UT) From: Kenneth Shepherd Subject: Ozzy Digest 6-30 *please post* Re: The Harry Turtledove connection--I was introduced to Harry Turtledove's short fiction just this year by a colleague (who also has a Ph.D. in Byzantine history). I liked the short fiction a lot better than his "Lost Legion" books. For excellent historical fiction (as opposed to historical fantasy) I personally can't do better than the late Edith Pargeter (Ellis Peters--a wonderful lady) and Lindsay Davis Gordon Birrell--Re: Plot-driven vs. episodic narratives. Thanks for the further explication. I find that a lot of the irrelevancies may not further the plot of a single story, but they often have relevance to the history of Oz or the Continent of Imagination as a whole. Professor Marvel's horse was named Sylvester, wasn't he? Rich Morrissey--Re: the Monroe Doctrine. If I remember correctly the Monroe Doctrine didn't say anything about the United States having a right to interfere with the affairs of other countries on the American continents. It only said that the Western Hemisphere was closed to further colonization by Europeans and that the US would look unfavorably on any attempt to expand their territories. This doesn't invalidate your argument, of course... I think you and Tyler are absolutely spot-on in the analysis of relations between Oz and the Nome Kingdom. I immodestly direct your attention to "Imperial Oz: Ozma and the Nome Kingdom" in the winter 1992 Bugle for my views on the subject. Actually, there's another part of "Imperial Oz" that looks at Ozma's domestic policy between EMERALD CITY and SCALAWAGONS. It hasn't seen print yet because I have to convert it from an ancient word processor format to WordPerfect and I haven't had the time. There doesn't seem to have been much interest in Ozian research in the Bugle recently, but there's a lot of other interesting stuff. Bear--Re: your comment to Robin about LotR. You mean that there are people out there that _don't_ read Tolkien at least once a year? I've worn out two paperback editions of LotR and (a year or so ago) got so disgusted with the cover artist on the American edition that I went to Canada and bought the British edition. The cover illustrations alone were worth the cost of the trip. Dave--Re: the Digest. NEVER, EVER feel that we don't appreciate what you're doing. I think the overwhelming majority of the subscribers are very satisfied with the Digest. With the number of subscribers on the Digest now--what is it, 120 or so--there are bound to be some individuals who aren't satisfied. Those that aren't should start posting on the subjects that interest them. You're performing a service for us, and too often it's a thankless one. (Not to mention the fact that most of us, including me, wouldn't have the slightest idea how to do what you're doing). You deserve hearty thanks from each and every one of us. I intend to apply to the Royal Court for an official commendation from the Queen herself. HURROZ! HOZZAH! --Ken ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 13:49:37 -0400 From: homer Prof. Marvel's horse was named Sylvester, if I remember correctly. ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 15:15:55 -0400 (EDT) From: Tyler Jones Subject: Ozzy DIgest John WHite: I've often made an issue of complaining that in the later oz books, there is too much magic power around, but even in Thompsons books, the belt is only used once or twice in an adventure. Names and such: I always put my name at the bottom of my posts, just in case. Structured Oz books: Even in a "strong-plot type" does every word, sentence, chapter, character and scene always have to play a crucial part in the big picture? The obvious answer is no. Especially in Oz, there is always room for light, fun episodes that do not have deep meanings, just as there is room for serious stuff that means something. Rich: Good point on the "turnabout" theory. When Kaliko agreed to help Gos, he was implicitly approving of strong countries crushing weak countries. In fact, Kaliko says something very close to this in the book. Therefore, he had no right to get upset when Ozma did the same thing. The only difference is that now Kaliko is the crushed instead of the crusher. Rich again: The "breast incident" was a matter for CompuServe. The nation of Germany decided to block all indecent areas on the internet. At that time, CompuServe was unable to restrict access on a country-by-country basis, so it blocked access to 200 newsgroups using a list of keywords. One of those words was "breast", which ended up blocking the breast-cancer newsgroup. Said problem has been fixed. Gili and Dave: Overall, it would not be a good idea to have sub-digests. It is easier to just send out one big one and people can skip things they are not interested in. For people who are interested in "everything", it would be very hard to compile three or four posts a day, and then remember to send them to the correct address, and to make the correct references. Chris and makign quick $$$ I know a guy who knows a guy who can put you on a pyramid scheme. You buy this stuff from him for $6.00 a bottle and sell it for $10.00 a bottle. Of course, you can get others to buy from you in bulk at $7.00 a bottle and then sell it themselves... Also, you could come to Tucson and take a crash course from another guy I know about how to play craps and win. I could tell you how to win at still another Vegas game, but that's a secret I'd prefer to keep for myself... :-) W Baldwin: There is a much better IE about a glass man in _Disenchanted Princess_. --Tyler JOnes ====================================================================== Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 16:20:20 -0400 From: DIXNAM@aol.com Subject: Recent Digests Gordon: Prof. Marvel's horse was Sylvester, of course. :) Eleanor Kennedy: Everlyn Copelman's illustrations, IMHO, seem based on the film. Question: Was that her intent? Barb DeJohn: Try to make the Munchkin Con. I've attended the past two years and found a great bunch of Ozzy folks, and a great way to add to your collection of books and other Oz related items. Eric Shanower and Rachel Cosgrove Payes live in nearby New Jersey, and have been there both years. I suspect Herm Bieber and the Warkalas will be there this year also. Dick Randolph ====================================================================== Date: Monday 01-Jul-96 03:39:58 From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things FITZGERALD IN OZ: The cable channels' recent interminable showings of _The Great Gatsby_ :) leads me to ask: I remember a long time ago someone here mentioning that F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote an (heretical?) Oz book. Does anyone know about this? _MASQUARADE IN OZ_ FOR SALE: I'm still selling my spare copy of _Masquarade in Oz_ (that I won in a Royal Club o Oz contest, even though I already had a copy of the book). It's a good story that I strongly recommend. I'm selling it for $5. Please E-mail me if interested. ( This is your last chance before I donate it to the Library! :) ) EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE: Thanks to everyone for their kind words of support and appreciation for me and the Digest!!! :) :) :) -- Dave ====================================================================== ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JULY 2, 1996 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ============================================================================= Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 19:05:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Richard Bauman <72172.2631@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Today's Growls RichM >Yes, but she didn't. And, at least in America (though I can't speak for Oz) an attempt to commit a crime is punished less severely than if the crime is successful. Another teeth-grating example of the problem with our legal system. Rewarding failure. I hope Ozma views things differently. For the absent Hulan - I think he plans to finish EUREKA IN OZ this summer. Gili - >Bear - this how you mean, put our names on the TOP of digests? Sure, or any old way so we know who is talking without having to scroll to the end to find out. Reasonable? Dave - I, the once censored, and everyone on the Digest I have talked to privately, think you are doing a great job. Please do not start feeling paranoid. Without you we would be loose bytes in cyberspace and believe me we know it. Thanks again for all of your efforts to make the Digest possible. Weekend regards, Bear (:<) ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 01:31:22 -0400 (EDT) From: "Aaron S. Adelman" Subject: Female Equivalent of the Tin Woodman? I know someone suggested that someone create a character equivalent to Nick Chopper in the same way that Scraps is equivalent to the Scarecrow, and I request that he/she not do so because Barry and I have already written such a character into the second volume of _Lurline's Machine_, _The Last Emperor of Oz_ (current provisional title). (Actually "written in" is an understatement; Glissenda, as she is called, is a major contributor to the plot.) I am not at liberty to say anything about her except that everyone should be prepared to find Glissenda to not be much like they expect her to be.=20 Queasy: You mean she's not-- Kabumpo: Get out of here! We're trying to keep a lot of stuff about you secret too, starting with your appearance! Also: OK, I give in on plain text book titles, but as part of source code they look just plain awful! Aaron Solomon (ben Saul Joseph) Adelman adelman@yu1.yu.edu ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 13:48:50 +0300 (IDT) From: Avigail Bar-hillel Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06-30-96 ChrisBucket - here's a get rich quick plan ala Carlo Collodi: next time you plant dimes, put PLENTY of fertilizer on them. That way they grow into money trees a lot faster. Don't we all wish that really worked! :-) Thanks for the cow information! As for my as-yet unwritten essay, there are two problems sending it: A. I've never quite figured out how to send files, and I suspect I don't even have the capability for that. B. It's going to be in Hebrew. Not that I couldn't translate it into English, but I still haven't translated the paper I wrtoe last year about "The Wizard of Oz in the Theatre", nor the review I wrote for "Ha'aretz"... it will take me a while. And I haven't even written it yet! But thanks for your support! ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 14:03:53 +0200 From: Bill Wright Subject: FW: Wizard of OZ Books Received this question today. I am passing it on to the Digest so those of you with the knowledge to respond can do so if you want to. Bill W. >---------- >From: Bill Taylor[SMTP:btaylor@popalex1.linknet.net] >Sent: 1. juli 1996 02:18 >To: piglet@halcyon.com >Subject: Wizard of OZ Books > >I own the following Oz books: The Purple Prince of Oz, copyright >1932,The Wizard of Oz, copyright 1899 and 1903,The Royal Book of >Oz,copyright 1921, and Tik-Tok of Oz, copyright 1914. All are in fair to >good condition. The dates given are the only dates I can find in the >books. The Wizard of Oz is the only one not published by the Reilly >Co.It's published by the Donohue Co. They are probably circa the 30's or >40's but they may be older. >Any information you could give me about the value and rarity of these >books would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Charlot Taylor > >btaylor@linknet.net > >-- >Bill Taylor >btaylor@linknet.net > ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 09:16:15 -0400 (EDT) From: "Mark K. DeJohn" <103330.323@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-01-96 From: Barbara DeJohn Hi Digest !!! The book store in Erie, PA is selling me OZMA and MARVELOUS LAND for $10.00. I don't know if they are first editions yet but I remember them being in bad shape. I do have BIBLIOGRAPHIA OZIANA so I can check it out. The other books they had they have decided to fix up before selling them. I wish that they would just sell them as is so they would be cheaper. Does anyone know how to tell if other than Oz Baum books are 1st editions? They have the Santa Claus, IX, and Yew books. I wish I could attend the munchkin convention but it would be to hard with the baby by myself. My husband will be out of town again. He just spent the last three weeks in Puerto Rico. The only advantage to him being away is the frequent flyer miles. So next year I'll get to go to a convention. Barbara DeJohn 10333.323@compuserve.com ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 11:31:14 -0700 From: @pittstate.edu@mail.pittstate.edu Subject: sysop O.K., I give up, what is a "sysop"? The word has appeared in the Digest several times lately and I have no idea what it means. I assume my ignorance is not mine alone. Steve T. ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 10:22:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Eric Gjovaag Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-01-96 > From: Robin Olderman > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06-30-96 [re: Araminta books] There IS a newsgroup devoted to children's literature (rec.arts.books.childrens), if you were to ask there I'm sure someone there could help. There are lots of "Help me ID this book" types of posts there all the time. > BEST OF... and INDEX TO: The Board of IWOC has approved the first > project. I'll ask Michael Gessel, editor of Special Publications about it. Volume 1: The 70's, I'd suggest. > I don't know anyone who wants to undertake the INDEX. If all it'd involve > would be indexing titles, authors, and illustrators, I might do it. If > it involves indexing character appearances,etc., I think it'd be an > almost overwhelming task and not worth the effort. How do y'all want > OZIANA indexed? I guess I'm the one to tell, since I edit the thing. I don't think indexing it by characters, etc., is necessary, just author, title, and illustrators would be fine. And I'd be willing to do that myself, if you'd like to farm the job out, Robin. (And hey, who says the Club has to publish it in the first place? It could be a privately printed affair offered for sale in the "Oz Trading Post" or something -- with the Club's blessing, of course.) > Dave: If there have been gripes about the DIGEST behind your back, I'm > not aware of them. I'M NOT GRIPING, ONLY SUGGESTING! AND I'VE WITHDRAWN MY SUGGESTION ANYWAY! NO, I'M NOT FEELING PARANOID, WHATEVER GAVE ANYONE THAT IDEA??? WHO TOLD YOU I WAS PARANOID ANYWAY??? > From: Mark Anthony Donajkowski > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06-30-96 > > dave the digest is fine the way it is its done in the form it should be a > digest if someone wants to create a mailing list (ie every single letter > including the one you write gets sent to everyoen on the list including > you at whenever they are wrote)then go ahead those fill up mail boxxes > alot quicker and take way longer to download NOBODY is suggesting a mailing list! Let's just put THAT cat right back in the bag it came from! > all if you got a problem with the digest either talk to dave directly or > post a note about it to the list going behind his back isnt nice the man > puts alot of time into this NOBODY is having a problem with the Digest! (Where in the WORLD did this idea come from?) > From: Gordon Birrell > Subject: The Digest on Usenet > > I want to cast a vote against the idea of creating a Usenet newsgroup out > of the Digest. Suggestion withdrawn again, and will not be brought up by me again. > From: "< Badger >" > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06/27/96-06/28/96 > > [re: naked rulers] > True, but Fergie's the sort of look and physique I greatly admire, so I sure > had no problem with it. You like her, too, huh? A man with taste! > >>From: Eric Gjovaag > >>Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06-28-96 > << ...but is there some other way that you can identify whose post your > replying to? An extra > in front or somehow including it within your << > >>'s is all it would take to clarify things immensely. Thanks. >> > > You mean like with this header? That'd work. Yes, MUCH easier to understand and figure out. Thanks for listening. > From: Kenneth Shepherd > Subject: Ozzy Digest 6-30 *please post* > > Bear--Re: your comment to Robin about LotR. You mean that there are people > out there that _don't_ read Tolkien at least once a year? /me raises hand. It's not from lack of desire, mind you, but there are so many OTHER books out there I want to read as well, and too much other stuff going on to be able to read all the time... (Remember the "Twilight Zone" episode with Burgess Meredith as a bookworm who just wants to be left alone so he can read? And he gets his wish? Well, if it were ME, I wouldn't have the same problem he has at the end, since my vision is 20/20...) (I have NO IDEA why I added that bit...) > Dave--Re: the Digest. NEVER, EVER feel that we don't appreciate what you're > doing. *I* appreciate what he's doing!!!!!! > You're performing a service for us, and too often it's a thankless one. Well, let's change that right now, shall we? THANK YOU, DAVE!!!!!!! > From: Dave Hardenbrook > Subject: Ozzy Things > > FITZGERALD IN OZ: > The cable channels' recent interminable showings of _The Great Gatsby_ :) > leads me to ask: I remember a long time ago someone here mentioning that > F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote an (heretical?) Oz book. Does anyone know about > this? He hasn't written an Oz book, but he did make an Ozzy reference in one of his short stories, which was reprinted (the whole story, not just the reference) in "Oz-Story #1" last year. > EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE: > Thanks to everyone for their kind words of support and appreciation for me and > the Digest!!! :) :) :) And they are all well deserved. It was CERTAINLY not my intent when I sheepishly suggested the newsgroup to take anything away from all the work you have done! --Eric "Now can we PLEASE go on to talking about something else?" Gjovaag ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 11:43:58 -0500 (CDT) From: Robin Olderman Subject: DIGEST Sorry for double-post Reminder: Fred Meyer's birthday is July 10. Address: Fred Meyer c/o Nancy Petrasko 1438 Ullman Appleton, Wisconsin 54911 Eric: I guess I thought you meant that chat group you used to head up on Thursday nights. Everyone: I kinda would appreciate knowing who some of you are who use nicknames. A few of you don't tell us who you really are. Please do so, if you think there's any chance that we don't know. Thanks. --Robin ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 13:31:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Tyler Jones Subject: Ozzy Digest Magic-users in exile: I remember some book (maybe non-FF) mentioning that a lot of wizards, etc. left Oz altogether when the ban on magic went into effect. Tunnel vs. Barrier of invisibility: The only thing I can come up with to explain why the Barrier suddenly appears when it has never been mentioned before is that Glinda specifically reinforced the are underground along the old tunnel route just in case. THis could explain why the barrier was never encountered anywhere else, even in other trips to the Nome Kingdom, such as in _Hungry Tiger_. Gordon: Oh, No! VI is still alive out there somewhere? Hachi Machi! :-( Ken and Rich: The closest thing I can think of that is similar to what Rich said is the idea on Manifest Destiny, which stated that America had the right expand from sea to shining sea no matter who (or what) stood in the way. Something similar happened in _Pirates in Oz_, when Ozma commissioned Captain Salt to explore and claim islands and nations in the name of Oz. He carried this out in _Captain Salt_, but some people have theorized that Ozma only did this to keep Salt busy and out of trouble, and had no real intention of really conquering other countries. Ken: I read your article and I really enjoyed it. One of your statements was that the Oz folks could have claimed that they had the right to force Roquat to give up the Ev citizens on the basis that what the Nome King was doing was morally wrong. The Royal Stats: We are at 124 digesters, including Dave himself. This is one below the record. --Tyler Jones ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 15:03:53 -0400 (EDT) From: MICHAEL TURNIANSKY Subject: trivia, cons, and plotting Gosh, as usual, so much stuff to respond to after a weekend. Where to start, where to start? Prof. Marvel's horse: The answer is me, as well. That was an easy one (at least to someone with a three-year-old who had an insatiable appetite for the movie). Here's another: Name four foods that are shown in the movie. Zim short for wizard: Also very easy, and I'm surprised no one has spoiled THAT one. Winkiecon: Details, details, people! I am not an IWOC member. When, where, how much? Episodic vs. strong-plot, pt. II: I was beaten out of my intended mention of the Odyssey as ancient episodic, but what about many parts of the Bible? The books of Genesis, much of Numbers, Joshua, Judges, I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, parts of Daniel, and I & II Chronicles come to mind. And then there's the gospels, and Acts, as well... Mike "Shaggy Man" Turniansky, who, in deference to Eric, will not re-iterate his reasons why he does not personally want to newsgroup format (although to have done so would have taken up less bytes than explaining that he won't :-) ) ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 21:35:50 +0000 (UT) From: Kenneth Shepherd Subject: Ozzy Digest 7-1 comments *please post* Robin O--Re: Araminta. The only references I could find to an Araminta was ARAMINTA'S PAINTBOX by Karen Ackerman (1990). There's also ARAMINTA STATION by Jack Vance (1988), but I doubt this is what your customer wants. You might try a keyword search in the Library of Congress catalog online through The Library Network (www.tln.org). It also has links to the Library of Congress itself. I seem to remember there being an index to characters in children's fiction being published some time ago--possibly in the early 90s--by either Gale or Bowker. A good reference librarian should be able to put you on the track. Re: the McGraws. I must have missed the "professional" issue of OZIANA. Are copies still available? It's very disappointing that Mrs McGraw doesn't feel inclined to write another Oz book. She is an EXcellent writer. I had the pleasure of working on her entry in SOMETHING ABOUT THE AUTHOR, and I read a few of her non-Oz books at that time. Do you know if she's bringing anything out in the near future? I'd also wondered if you'd approached any other Oz-influenced authors for short stories. My thoughts would be Esther Friesner (whose "Majyk" books are somewhat Ozlike) and Patricia C. Wrede ("The Enchanted Forest" series). Badger--Re: Oz vs. America. Thanks for your comments. Just for the record: Although I'm a bit of a prude myself, I believe that it would be absolutely wrong for me to impose my personal morality on anyone else. My point is that this same imposition happens (or used to happen) in Oz the same way it does in America. I think that Baum's Oz is a kind of utopian vision of the United States. What interests me about that is that Baum advocates things that would no longer be accepted by most people in modern American society. Flutterbudget Center and Rigmarole Town in EMERALD CITY are two examples of this. Here we've got two groups of people who are mentally ill (and I say "mentally ill" because I'm assuming that they're not choosing their fears or their speech). They have been judged to be unable to participate in everyday Oz society. So the ruler's response is to institutionalize them. Note that they seem to have no choice in the matter; both the Shaggy Man and the Wizard say that the people "are sent" to live in Flutterbudget Center and Rigmarole Town. Then Ozma suggests that Dorothy's touring group visit the towns. This reminds me of the 18th-century practice of visiting madhouses to laugh at the crazy people. My point is that by modern standards Oz isn't always the utopia it's supposed to be; and that individual freedoms in Oz are sometimes suppressed for what is believed to be the greater good of the community. That's why I think prudery would win out over nudity in Oz. Perhaps Oz has liberalized in the years since the publication of EMERALD CITY and Flutterbudget Center and and Rigmarole Town have been abandoned. I sincerely hope so. --Ken ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 23:24:49 +0300 (WET) From: Gili Bar-Hillel Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-01-96 Eric - once again, the fact that people aren't interested in an Oz newsgroup is no reflection upon how we feel about *you*. Don't take these comments about newsgroups personally! I used to be a pretty regular lurker on rec.pets.cats. It was pretty useful to be able to screen out all messages that started with the word "Meow", in which owners wrote on behalf of their cats, and were written in a sickening version of babytalk. Some people like that kind of thing. But one of the things I find is so nice about the "Ozzy Digest" as it is is the more intimate nature - the way new posters are welcomed, we get to hear about new born babies and updates on Fred Meyer - not that these things would neccesarily be absent in a newsgroup, but I suspect a newgroup would be less intimate. Then again, maybe feelings wouldn't be hurt as frequently as they seem to here in the digest ... Robin, dear, I was thrilled to be hugged by you. And the food at the convention wasn't half as bad as I was led to believe it would be. Though I'm told I was there on a good year ... I missed the m&m chicken and the prawn sandwiches... |\ _,,,---,,_ /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ Gili Bar-Hillel, |,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-' avigailb@zoot.tau.ac.il '---''(_/--' `-'\_) ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 17:02:19 -0400 From: HermBieber@aol.com Subject: For Ozzy Digest To Dick Bauman: From: Herm Bieber The following may be redundant, as I am two weeks behind in my Ozzy Digest reading. I've had several warning messages over the past year about the Good Times virus, but most of my sources who are au courant with computers now inform that this is a hoax. I don't know anything about the Trojan Horsae, PKZIP300. ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 18:54:33 -0400 From: DavidXOE@aol.com Subject: Ozzy Digests, 06-28 through 07-01-96 Playing catch-up here as best I can... 6/28: Steve: I'm about much of an Anglophile, literarily speaking, as one well can be (how I feel about their Colonial Office in the old days is something else...), but I didn't care for Mary Poppins. Trying her for the first time when I was 43 might have had something to do with it. On the other hand, the books are obviously not "terrible", or so many intelligent people with taste wouldn't like them so much. What the hey, I don't like Dickens either, but it would be difficult to say that his writing is "terrible". I just find it unreadable. Robin: I love all of Eager's books (though the "Magic or Not" pair are relatively weak); Nesbit varies quite a bit in my opinion, with the Bastable books (non-fantasy) being my favorites, and the House of Arden books being pretty weak. Chris D: I don't think the problem you're having sending data to Melody is a function of using a Mac IIci rather than a Mac Plus - although it's just possible that her computer can read Mac DS/DD (800Kb) disks but not HD (1.4 Mb) disks, and as I recall (it's been a long time since I used a Plus) the Plus only writes the 800Kb disks. It's much more likely, though, that you made some change in your word processing software that's causing the problem. (The result you describe sounds a lot like what happens when someone saves a document as, say, a Word 6 file and someone with Word 5 tries to read it.) But I should probably take this to private E-mail. Eureka was certainly uppity during her trial, irritating as all get-out, but being irritating has seldom been considered cause for capital punishment, and I don't think I'd care to live in a country where it was. Cause for a few days on the feline equivalent of bread and water, sure. (Maybe Little Friskies and water?) And I have an MS about Eureka nearly finished now; I hope it will see publication one of these days. 6/29: Danny: The best evidence seems to be that people in Oz aged more or less normally until Ozma's accession (with some exceptions - Glinda being a notable one). So within the Baum-Thompson books at least, anyone who appears young is a max of fiftyish in calendar years. (Reverse aging doesn't seem to be possible without direct magical intervention.) And it's also true that the young-looking people in Oz also retain the interests (and attention span) of their physical age, and so are unlikely to go in for the deep study of magic. Glinda, the Wizard, and Ozma are all officially permitted to practice magic; this is stated several times in the books. More problematic are all the other benign magic-workers who turn up over and over again, especially in Thompson's books, and who aren't punished for it even after Ozma finds out about them. Wumbo, for instance, or Ozwoz, or the Cookywitch. (I suppose it's possible that Ozma never really found out about Wumbo.) Moi: Glad to see that my original response to the 6-27 Digest was just delayed and not lost... Tyler: The Napoleonic Code is based on the Roman code, and neither is "guilty until proven innocent", but more "does it seem most likely this person is guilty". The "innocent until proven guilty" theory is from the English Common Law, which in turn descends from the ancient Teutonic tribal legal system. (I have read several quotes from people who have lived under both systems, and all have said, "If I'm innocent, I'd rather be tried under civil law [Code Napoleon or equivalent], but if I'm guilty, I'd rather be tried under common law.") Ken: Most of Burroughs' books are pretty episodic, but not all - CHESSMEN OF MARS, for instance, is pretty integrated. (The only two locales are Bantoom and Manator, and the Manator sequence is heavily driven by Gahan and Tara having picked up Ghek in Bantoom.) And WIND IN THE WILLOWS and some of Gray's books are really collections of short stories, like WINNIE-THE-POOH and the Mary Poppins books, and therefore inherently episodic. But you're right about the romance-vs.-novel difference; I was going to make the point myself but ran out of time. (OTOH, most strong-plot books are really romances; the true novel is almost always episodic, because it mimics real life and real life is almost always episodic.) I'm pretty sure that "=F6" is a hexadecimal representation of a character, and would be ASCII (15*16+6), or 246. I don't know what character ASCII 246 is, but someone can probably help you. (I have resources where I could look it up, but not conveniently and I'm in a hurry right now. If nobody tells you in a day or two, E-mail me and I'll look it up for you.) Dave: I wasn't thinking of another Digest - which would be a lot of extra work for you - but simply a group of people who would send simultaneous E-mails to all the other people in the group discussing those topics that are boring to other people on the Digest. If, indeed, there are that many people who are bored with such discussions. I haven't really heard too many complaints - Eric and Chris D. are about the only ones I can recall saying anything negative - but I'm willing to take posts of that nature off the Digest if there's a silent group of irritated Oz fans who just haven't said anything openly about it. "Rumpole in Oz" is a lovely idea! Too bad Rumpole is copyright... (I love Rumpole; anybody that grouchy and fat who drinks a lot is a kindred spirit to me!) And it's time for me to go pick up my wife, and we have a full evening planned, so I'll try to catch up some more tomorrow... David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 19:29:43 +0000 From: rri0189@ibm.net Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-01-96 Dave: >FITZGERALD IN OZ: >The cable channels' recent interminable showings of _The Great Gatsby_ :) >leads me to ask: I remember a long time ago someone here mentioning that >F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote an (heretical?) Oz book. Does anyone know about >this? I don't know about any books, but F. Scott wrote a short story in which Oz is mentioned. It was reprinted in OzStory #1. (Still available.) -- Eleanor Kennedy ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 19:32:46 +0000 From: rri0189@ibm.net Subject: Munchkin Convention *** SHAMELESS PLUG FOR THE MUNCHKIN CONVENTION *** Well, I assume we've all turned our Oz calendars past the Gump centerfold, which means it's now July, and you know what that means: Only ONE MORE MONTH till the Munchkin Convention!! So send those registration forms in to Chris Sterling at 637 Ridgewood Road, Maplewood, NJ 07040. Or call him at 201-762-5770. Like the ads say, "Order Now!" *** END SHAMELESS PLUG FOR THE MUNCHKIN CONVENTION *** -- Eleanor and John Kennedy ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 20:13:08 -0400 (EDT) From: swarkala@cris.com (Sharon Warkala) Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-01-96 Barb DeJohn: I second the motion of Dick Randolf for you to come to the Munchkin Convention. The first one we went to was1989 and even though we knew nobody they made us feel right at home. Since then we keep up with the many friends we have made over the past years even though we get to see these people only once a year. It's worth the trip. P.S. If I recall correctly you are from the Pittsburgh area. Since my wife is from that area(South Park) you two may have alot to talk about. Chris Warkala ====================================================================== Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 20:40:10 -0400 From: "Melody G. Keller" <104270.2374@compuserve.com> Subject: Ozzy Digest, 06-30-96 Professor Marvel's horse was named Sylvester. %%%%%%Slight SBM I & II plot spoiler %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "Gardener's Boy" introduced the concept, because it was published first, but In SBMII, Zim is told he needs a license to continue being a Sorcerer in Oz. (In SBMI he is so darned old, and seen so many laws and rules and regulations made and unmade, he has given up on keeping up with them. Also, the Tri-Rulers, upon getting the decree from Ozma, post it OUT of plain sight so their magic-workers never see it!) Phyllis Karr and I make Ozma a little more liberal in permitting more (good only!) magic-users in Oz--but, because magic-working is dangerous, Ozma still sees a real need to regulate it. %%%%PLot Spoiler END %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%5 Frankly, Baum, in creating the Belt, realized he had made a real plot-spoiler that could end an adventure before it began--and apparently was reluctant to do anything about it. Eric Shanower told me his editor hated the Magic Belt (for reasons stated above) so he only used it in "Enchanted Apples." There IS one expedient Baum could have used--destroy that Belt! Of course, we have probably all seen this done to death. Series Hero Acquires Powerful Magic Object Which He Conveniently Loses or is Conveniently Destroyed At the End of Episode so it does not make life too easy for the hero in future plots/books/TV shows. In "The Greatest American Hero," I KNEW the hero would lose the replacement instruction book for his super-costume at the end of that episode--because I knew the darn cliche stated above. He should have been allowed to keep it for at least a few episodes, THEN have it lost-destroyed-whatever. This sort of approach could have worked for the Oz series, too. As I imagine Zim quoting to Dorothy after examining the Belt in SBMIII: "Enjoy it while you can. I have owned enough magic talismans to know that they do not last forever." That's why Zim tends to avoid becoming too dependent on magical talismans--they make a magic-worker lazy and dependent on them--then helpless when lost. Good Gracious! SURE the Witch of the East was wicked--What about what she did to Nimmee Amee's boyfriends? Doesn't chopping up a couple of poor, innocent suitors just so she can keep one particular girl her slave qualify as such a wicked, nasty, hateful, downright EVIL act that she deserved to have Dorothy's house smash her flat? Nick Chopper and Captain Fyter would probably think so! : ) : ) After all, the WWE could just as easily have gone out and got another slave! Melody Grandy. ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 00:08:20 -0400 From: OzBucket@aol.com Subject: for Digest Hi, all. Sorry to have missed a day. Aol was having downloader problems for a long period yesterday, and I just now got to read both digests. Several people mentioned the Eureka issue, one even credited a heretical book explaining it to March Laumer, but no one remembered The Colorful Kitten of Oz. I am justifiably heatbroken, and it had some of Melody's prettiest pictures in it, too! As for the stuff about Dave not being appreciated, HUH? I think this digest is GREAT! It actually shows up on time (barring for the occasional goof from aol, which is hardly Dave's fault). For all it may be worth, I have tried to subscribe to the newsletter for Enya (majordomo@cs.colorado.edu and some other similar digests with no success at all. And I wonder if any of them would be half as interesting... However, I still do not have the valuable package from Dave. But I did get a gigantic box of those even more gigantic books from Melody, so I can take some to Winkie. Anyone attending, do be sure to bring your $25.00! IMHO, the cover alone is worth twice that! Do I show too much favoritism for Melody's art? I have to admit that it is hard to beat the greatest living Oz artist of all time (no exaggeration here, folks!). I am looking forward to seeing another Enya-ish Glinda, though. Dave may be offering her some healthy competition. IAE, look for these two illustrators to share the next Oz Club caledar! I still have several months open if there is any more interest. E-mail mail me at ozbucket@aol.com Oh, and I have just paid a portion of my phone bill, and it has been promised that I will not be cut off as long as I can get some more to them by the end of the month. So be expecting a lot more of my boring stuff that all of you probably just skip over anyhow. It is a new month, and I suppose that means that I am supposed to post my order list again, huh? I guess I can, but there is little new to add. I expect The Tin Castle of Oz ($12.00) any second now, and am about to beam a package to press containing Pegasus in Oz (which will be $10.00, and will feature special-order paper that is of much better quality, as well as some colored interior ink:-)). Melody is nearly ready to send her last illo to me, and then out goes Thorns and Private Files in Oz (Thorns, BTW, refers to Ozga. I hope I am not the only one who remembers her, though she was hardly one of Baum's more prominent characters... I do not yet know the co$t of that one). Don't worry, you will get a break as of the 8th. Rinny and I will be going to Cali to prepare ourselves to go to Winkie. (BTW, Dave, can you save up my digests for that week while I can't receive them? I'm not sure how long aol will keep them waiting for me on this end. We will be returning the following Monday, July 15. Prospective Criminals Alert: The house will be empty most of the time. Please do not take any of the unpublished books, as I am not sure I have copies of all of them. If you plan to steal the computers, please save everything on disk and leave the disks here for us. You may take the TV, but the cable-box is not ours, so please drop it off at Valencia Cable Co. Oh, by the way, the big dog that you will hear barking from outside is named No. She is very friendly to people who call her loudly by name. She really likes strangers. A lot. She especially likes it if you refuse to play with her. Really. She will be very quiet and gentle the whole time. I am not kidding. And BTW, the neighbors will not call the cops if she starts to bark at all. None of them are retired people, and all have better things to do than watch over our house. Oh, and if we forget to shut off the ice cube maker in the freezer, would you mind? ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 00:32:21 -0400 (EDT) From: "Aaron S. Adelman" Subject: The Barrier of Invisibility 1) Eric, perhaps the Barrier of Invisibility exists underground because=20 Glinda didn't specify that it be only above ground. 2) Badger, on how G-d came up with the human blueprint: I have no idea. = =20 I'm still trying to figure out such things as why mammals and not=20 dinosaurs, why five fingers and not four or six, and why no tails and=20 nowhere near enough fur. I'd like to get a look at a wide assortment of=20 sentient extraterrestrials before even hazarding a guess. 3) Kenneth, re your comment to Bear re your comment to Robin about The Lord of the Rings: It's been years since I've read anything by Tolkien.=20 The nearest thing I've read to his work recently is the parody Bored of the Rings, which unfortunately goes too far at times. As for things I find surprising people don't read--though mostly on an irrational level--include the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament (because they believe in it or to know why not to believe in it), The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Lewis Carroll's Alice Books.=20 Aaron Solomon (ben Saul Joseph) Adelman =F3=F1=E5=E9 =EC=E5= =E0=F9 =EF=E1 =E4=EE=EC=F9 =EF=F8=E4=E0 adelman@yu1.yu.edu ====================================================================== Date: Tuesday 02-Jul-96 02:54:15 From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things PUBLIC RESPONSES TO PRIVATE MESSAGES: I've been noticing some people making responses to people on the Digest, and I don't know what they're talking about. I am suspecting that either I am not reading the Digest carefully enough, or some people are making "public" (i.e. on the Digest) responses to messages that were private. If the latter is true, then please make your replies to private E-mail private as well. Thanks! QUESTION FOR THE OZ BOOK CONTEST JUDGES: In order for a candidate book to be accepted by the initial three judges and moved on to "Phase Two" evaluation, does it have to be approved by unanimous vote, or by just a majority? WEIRD CHARACTERS: With the current talk about hexidecimal character codes showing up in messages, for a demonstration I have in Aaron's post for today retained the codes that appear in his messages, so you can see what they look like when I first receive them from him... EVERY DAY IN EVERY WAY...: Ken wrote: >Perhaps Oz has liberalized in the years since the publication of >EMERALD CITY... I like to think that Oz (and the Oz people) are capable of growing and changing for the better, though I know not everyone agrees with me... QUEEN OZMA AND OTHER "SHE"S WHO MUST BE OBEYED :) : David H. wrote: >"Rumpole in Oz" is a lovely idea! Too bad Rumpole is copyright... Even though Rumpole is copyrighted, I may still write it just for the fun of it (ditto for _Columbo in Oz_). So what if I can't publish it until the latter part of the next century? :) ACTUALLY, THERE'S ONLY 122: Tyler counts 124 Digest members (including me), but actually Tyler, if you're counting E-mail addresses in the Digest header, you have to subtract two because there are currently two members who are on the mailing list *twice* under two different addresses. So, there are actually currently 122 of us. Oops! Someone just unsubscribed...Make that 121. -- Dave ====================================================================== ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JULY 3, 1996 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 11:47:38 +0200 From: Bill Wright Subject: Dave You are continuing a great job (if not heroic effort) in handling the Ozzy Digest every day. Keep up the good work. The only concern I have is that it would be unreasonable of all of us to expect you to do this for the rest of your life. So we need to be thinking about how to carry on when the inevitable comes. To: Ozma@asu.edu Subject: Oz pages >I need to have e-mail permission for anyone's site that >I use. I think it would be fun to have a couple of Oz pages at least in >there. Sandy....permission granted. Just let me know what pages you are using and how they are used. I presume that this for educational use. Bill W. http://www.halcyon.com/piglet/ ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 11:57:06 -0400 From: DavidXOE@aol.com Subject: Ozzy Digests 06-30 and 07-01-96 No Digest yet today, so I'll try to catch up with the last two days that I didn't respond to... 6/30: Gordon: I personally don't regard the Braided Man episode as being particularly wonderful, any more than I do the Musicker in ROAD, but tastes differ... I don't know why BoW considers DOROTHY AND THE WIZARD "metaphysical"; my take on it is that Baum had a contract to write a book of a minimum length and he found a pretty good beginning and then kept adding stuff until he'd reached the required length. It includes some good bits, but overall it's pretty weak. Rich: Certainly attempted murder isn't punished as severely as completed murder, but pushing Snip down the well showed that Mombi was still a Seriously Evil Character. And Ozma's punishments seem to be geared more toward how dangerous she thinks a character is than how bad the results of their actions have been. (None of the Oz villains ever seem to have done any permanent damage to anyone, except for Kings Phearce and Krewl, Mooj, and whoever [apparently Mombi, but I'm not sure of that] disposed of Cheeriobed's and Pastoria's fathers.) As for Eureka eating the piglet, it was a case of a natural predator (of very tender years) eating its natural prey; even if she had succeeded, I can't see it as a capital offense or even a terribly serious one. Exile to Kansas might be justified, but nothing worse. GLASS CAT is full of oblique references to things that, I hope, enhance the enjoyment of people who get them and don't interfere with the enjoyment of people who don't. The Borden cows were probably the most overt of them, but since it was pretty much a throwaway line (like the "Charlie" reference in MAGICAL MIMICS) I don't think it will be much of a problem for the countless readers the book will no doubt have 50 years from now... :-) Gili: Since your real name appears as part of your header, you don't need to do anything else. But some people have such obscure E-mail addresses that if they don't include their name as well as part of it (as, say, Bear and Tyler do - Compuserve addresses are particularly obscure) then they really ought to sign them somewhere. (As I do at the end of all my posts, although I'm on here enough that I think most people know by now that "DavidXOE" is me, as we know that "tiktok" is Eric and "ozbucket" is Chris D.) Of course, some people may want to conceal their real name, and that's legit. Steve: Since I said in GLASS CAT that Daisy was Elsie and Elmer's calf I didn't think I needed to add that in my explanation. And I wasn't even aware that there still is a Daisy Brand whipped butter; thanks for telling me. (Elsie and Elmer also had a boy calf whose name I don't recall, but he was born after the ads started appearing so wouldn't be known to Grand Dame Elwanda.) Dave: I don't think anyone has the slightest complaint about how you're handling the Digest. And I, at least, think you're doing a great job! Some people do seem to have complaints with some of the topics that some of the rest of us want to talk about, or at least with the length at which we want to talk about them. I think that was the only issue that suggested maybe taking some types of discussion out of the Digest might make some people happier. Incidentally, where are the Adelmans? Don't remember seeing a post from either of them in several days, and that's unusual. 7/1: Eric: I think the Laumer book that explained Eureka's return to Oz was CARELESS KANGAROO. I haven't read it, but Tyler described his solution to me and I didn't like it, so I'm writing my own. (Actually, I'd started writing it before I knew about Laumer's, but I saw no reason to stop.) I will say that the food at Winkie last year was considerably better than it was in 1993 (when it was terrible - so terrible that I didn't eat it in 1994, but went out for meals even though I'd paid for them at Asilomar and it meant missing some of the conversations). But the food at Ozmopolitan this year was better yet. Robin: Araminta rings a bell, but nothing specific comes to mind. She doesn't seem to be part of any series that I have in my own library, which means I probably read about her in a library book. If nobody else comes up with the information and you really need to know, let me know in private E-mail; I have sources that would probably be able to tell me. Gordon: Isn't there a better way of composing text on a Unix server than "vi" yet? I agree with your description, by the way - though back when my wife was working as a Unix programmer she quite liked it for writing code. That, I think, is what it was designed for - not writing E-mail... Ken: Don't judge Turtledove by his "Misplaced Legion" series. They were written very early in his writing career, and he's improved over the years more than just about any writer I can think of. Those books were interesting as sort of alternate military history, but not very well written. His last few books, though - particularly GUNS OF THE SOUTH, the WORLDWAR books, and THE TWO GEORGES - are as good as any other books I've read in the last five years, and better than all but two or three. His lighter recent books - TOXIC SPELL DUMP, PRINCE OF THE NORTH, KING OF THE NORTH, THE STOLEN THRONE, and the Krispos books - are also very good, but not in the same class as his alternate histories. The Monroe Doctrine didn't say anything about the US having the right to interfere in the internal affairs of other American states, but in practice it was used many times as justification for it - and the period when most of the FF were written was the one where it was used that way most often. Ah, you were the one who wrote "Imperial Oz". I liked that article very much - it's much more the sort of thing I'm interested in than the vast majority of what's being published in the BUGLE these days. (I find stuff about the movie and the biographies of FF writers interesting enough to read, but I probably wouldn't pay money for it.) Dave: I've never heard of Fitzgerald writing an Oz book, but he wrote a short story (reprinted in OZ STORY MAGAZINE #1) that had Oz references in it - clearly to the books, since the movie hadn't appeared yet. (Besides, at least one reference was to Mombi, IIRC - but it's fairly vague now, so I may not be recalling correctly.) David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 14:53:17 -0400 (EDT) From: Mark Anthony Donajkowski Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-02-96 since i am one ill answer the sysop question a sysop is a systems operator they usally run local or telnetable bbs's they make sure the system they are running is working fine now a internet provider usally has a system administrator which is basically the same thing as a sysop as for where the people talking bad abotu the digest that was in a digest about 4 days ago and dave those wierd characters in that one message looks like some folks might be writting in html hugs anthony van pyre ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 16:39:38 -0700 From: @pittstate.edu@mail.pittstate.edu Subject: OZ To put an end to the matter of =F6 being ASCII 246, I can tell everyone interested that ASCII 246 is a lower case o with two dots (an umlaut or a dieresis mark) over it. Here it is from my machine ; we will see how that comes out. OZ BOOK CONTEST JUDGE RESPONSE: I do not know exactly what the procedure will be, but we three judges will reduce the total number of submissions to (no more than) five, which will be sent to the final judge(s). How we do this will be dependent on the number of entries submitted. Steve T. ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 22:03:36 +0000 (UT) From: Kenneth Shepherd Subject: Question for the digest *please post* I've just been reminded (in the process of doing research on something else) of Frank Donald Drake, the American astronomer, who launched a search for extraterrestrial intelligence from April through July of 1960 listening for messages on the 21 cm hydrogen wavelength (he didn't hear any). He called the search "Project Ozma." Question: Has anyone looked into the Oz aspect of Project Ozma? I'd like to know what Drake's relationship was with Oz--he must have read some of the books after WIZARD. I don't know what institution Drake was affiliated with, and I don't know if he's still alive. If he is, maybe there's the possibility of an interview for the Bugle. If anyone knows anything more about this, please email me. --Ken KSHEPHERD@MSN.COM ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 15:08:29 -0700 From: ozbot@ix.netcom.com (ozbot) Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest stuff Magic Users-- But evem if Ozma didn't catch an illegeal magic user, isn't that Glinda's job with her Book of Records? She should also be able to nip it in the bud, as magic is usually practiced before used. "There came a knock at the Crooked Magician's door. Two of Glinda's army guards, wearing black sunglasses and pressed suits asked the Magician politely, "Can you come with us, please." Also, would using a magic item make someone a "magic-user?" I know Ozma would not be so petty as to punish someone like that, but just for the sake of arguement I thought I'd ask. "Dorothy! I told you not to look at that Magic Picture! Back to jail you go!" BTW, it was my Moppet (even when I posted my gripe about the lack of following the magic-user law) that Ozma qualified her responce by allowing "Magic Licences" to be give out, after royal approval of paperwork was properly filed. (One of Wogglebug's favorite governmental duties.) Better stop before this becomes Police State of Oz, Danny ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 18:32:18 -0400 (EDT) From: Tyler Jones Subject: Ozzy Digest Aaron: I'm going to agree with Eric here and say that if you keep giving away stuff about your series, there will no need to read it! :-) Steve: I am sure that you will get many responses to this. A sysop is short for "system operator". Essentially, this is a person or several people in charge of maintaining a site on the internet, be it an online service, a webpage, chatsite, blah blah blah. They are responsible for the physical maintanence, making sure that people can get connected, and are also in charge of making sure that everybody plays nice (no death threats, explicit language, etc.). Each system has different levels of control that they excercise. Some do not care what goes on the server, they only care that the server is functioning. Some of the more high-brow areas on the net are very careful in what goes on, both in subject matter and dirty words. Within the larger services, such as CompuServe and AOL, some areas will have their own sysops that are there on a volunteer basis, doing the work for their love of the subject matter. Eric and Mark: Eric is correct. Nobody has suggested a mailing list since Chris "all Tempa Ch-" Heer's server crashed. Also, I am sure that we all know that nobody has any problems with the digest. Some words just got misinterpreted is all, and we are all happy digesters :-). Eric "Now where did I put those glasses?" Gjovaag: Interestingly enough, the Twilight Zone that you mentioned was lsited as one of the top 100 moments in TV history by TV Guide. Too bad they did not see fit to mention the recurring MGM movie as one of those 100. David: Good point about young-looking people still retaining the mannerisms of the young. In this way, Dorothy, who I estimate is 103, still acts like a little girl, whether "little" is 5 or 16. I seem to recall a few magic-workers, or at least people who used magic items wickedly, in the Thompson books, who escaped punishment. In Baum, a standard practice was to confiscate magical items or remove the persons magical ability, such as happened to Roquat and Dr. Pipt. Mombi and Blinkie had their ability to practice magic stifled. The Su-Dic did not appear to use any magical tools, but his ability to do magic was ended when he was reduced to just one can of brains. Weird Characters: I don't have my ASCII chart, but =20 is 32, which happens to be the space. I suspect, that in Aaron's case at least, the server is breaking up long lines, and in the process, a space is lost, but the =20 goes in there to remind us of what once was... --Tyler Jones ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 16:38:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Eric Gjovaag Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-02-96 > From: Avigail Bar-hillel > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06-30-96 > > ChrisBucket - here's a get rich quick plan ala Carlo Collodi: next > time you plant dimes, put PLENTY of fertilizer on them. That way they > grow into money trees a lot faster. You get bigger bills if you plant quarters. Or better yet, a Susan B. Anthony dollar! > Don't we all wish that really worked! :-) No kidding! > From: Bill Wright > Subject: FW: Wizard of OZ Books > > Received this question today. I am passing it on to the Digest so those of > you with the knowledge to respond can do so if you want to. [message deleted for brevity's sake] I can use "Bib Oz" to answer the question, IF I can get a LOT more information. Color plates? Cover label or not? Number of pages in a signature? What kind of typeface on the publisher's spine imprint? All these need to be taken into account. But as for the Donahue "Wizard of Oz," this is probably from the teens or so, since that's when Donahue was reprinting a bunch of Baum's stuff, having borrowed the rights from Bobbs Merrill (Baum having signed them over to BM for a while as part of his bankruptcy settlement -- the Baum didn't get the rights back until after Frank's death, IIRC). BTW, how's Norway? > From: @pittstate.edu@mail.pittstate.edu > Subject: sysop > > O.K., I give up, what is a "sysop"? The word has appeared in the Digest > several times lately and I have no idea what it means. I assume my > ignorance is not mine alone. Sysop is a shortening of System Operator, the person in charge of keeping your local internet provider (in your case, pittstate.edu) up and running and happy. But the sysop (or sysadmin, short for system administrator) is also in charge of keeping the users in line with whatever agreement they may have signed with the provider, and they can suspend or terminate people's accounts if they get too many complaints about foul language, spamming, flames, and the like. > From: Robin Olderman > Subject: DIGEST > > Eric: I guess I thought you meant that chat group you used to head up on > Thursday nights. Oh, please! I'm nowhere NEAR trying to resurrect THAT again! Partly because I still need to figure out some parts of IRC myself, and partly because I have no bloody TIME to take care of that! (How can I be so busy, I'm on summer vacation!) > From: Tyler Jones > Subject: Ozzy Digest > > Magic-users in exile: > I remember some book (maybe non-FF) mentioning that a lot of wizards, etc. > left Oz altogether when the ban on magic went into effect. Must have been non-FF, then, because I don't recall it being in the FF. > From: MICHAEL TURNIANSKY > Subject: trivia, cons, and plotting > > Winkiecon: > Details, details, people! I am not an IWOC member. When, > where, how much? Contact the registrar, Patrick Maund, at ZMaund@aol.com. The convention itself is coming up very soon, it's July 12-14, and it will be at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula. Patrick can tell you if there are rooms left at Asilomar (doubt it at this late date), current costs, etc. > Mike "Shaggy Man" Turniansky, who, in deference to > Eric, will not re-iterate his reasons why he does not personally want > to newsgroup format Bless you! (A simple "yes" or "no" would be enough, everyone, I don't need all your explanations.) > From: Kenneth Shepherd > Subject: Ozzy Digest 7-1 comments *please post* > > Re: the McGraws. I must have missed the "professional" issue of OZIANA. Are > copies still available? It was the 1990 issue, if that's still available... > Do you know if she's [Eloise Jarvis McGraw] bringing anything > out in the near future? I believe her latest book, "The Moorchild," is about to be published, if it hasn't already. > From: Gili Bar-Hillel > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-01-96 > > Eric - once again, the fact that people aren't interested in an Oz > newsgroup is no reflection upon how we feel about *you*. Don't take these > comments about newsgroups personally! It's not that, it's just that I feel (once again) that my position and suggestions are being COMPLETELY misinterpreted. I'm not advocating overthrowing Dave or anything like that, I was just broaching the subject again because someone made some comment (and I can't even recall who or what it was was now!) that made me think, "Gee, if enough people agree with this, maybe they will also agree that a newsgroup would help the problem." Enough people (okay, EVERYBODY) has said "No, Eric, now is not the time," so I won't be bringing it up again. (I'm curious, though: Is there anybody here who DOES think an Oz newsgroup might be a good idea, and not the end of the world as we know it?) > From: "Melody G. Keller" <104270.2374@compuserve.com> > Subject: Ozzy Digest, 06-30-96 > > Professor Marvel's horse was named Sylvester. Yes, I think we've all beaten that dead horse now (oops, sorry...) Last weekend on the Cartoon Network, they had a Super Chunk of "Superfriends," which fortuitously included the episode where Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman go to Oz. So now I FINALLY have a decent, complete copy of that. But even better, the next morning I was idly flipping channels and the Blues Traveler video for "Runaround," with an Oz theme, was JUST starting on VH1. Now I have that one on tape, too! Add the recent Oz collector on fX, and my tape collection is growing again! Hey, does anybody want a copy of "Oz Squad" #8? Turns out I have two copies, and I don't NEED them both... --Eric Gjovaag ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 01:28:19 +0000 (UT) From: Kenneth Shepherd Subject: Ozzy Digest 7-2 responses *please post* Sorry to post twice--MSN is playing games with me.... got my mail late this evening. Eric--Re: Tolkien reading. Ah, but then I'm *paid* to read Tolkien (and everybody else, including Baum). And I don't remember the "Twilight Zone" episode you cited, but it was in TV GUIDE this week so never mind. Tyler--Re: PIRATES. You have uncovered my dark secret. The example from PIRATES and CAPT SALT you cite forms the basis for second part of "Imperial Oz." I really must clean that up for publication (I think it went on the Research Tables at one of the conventions in '87 or '88, but I don't remember which). I felt the original was too long for Bugle publication so I split it into two parts: "Ozma and the Nome Kingdom" and "The Salt Expeditions." Right now it exists on a 5 1/4" diskette in something called Scripsit for the TRS-80. And thanks for the review and positive comments. I didn't mean to imply, though, that *I* thought the Ozians had the right to force their morality on Ruggedo/Roquat--I only meant that *they* thought they had that right. Mike Turniansky--Re: The books of the Bible. But the Bible is considered to be history, not novel--or at least nonfiction. And narrative history is always episodic. David H--Re: ERBurroughs, etc. Burroughs's early books (including CHESSMEN), were written for serial publication, so they would be episodic. If you're interested, check at your local library for AUTHORS AND ARTISTS FOR YOUNG ADULTS Volume 11 and look at the ERB entry. Nicholas Stuart Gray books are devilishly hard to find. I've been looking for OVER THE HILLS TO FABYLON for 3 years and no luck (Robin O, are you monitoring this?). It reminds me of what MAGICAL MONARCH OF MO might be if it had been written by an Englishman. Thanks for the confirmation on the hexdecimal character. These new computers don't come with ASCII tables in their manuals anymore. I'll do some research and will email you if I don't find anything. Aaron A--Re: Reading. One of my colleagues at the opera is teaching me a little Hebrew, so I hope to be able to tackle the Hebrew Bible one of these days. I tried the New Testament in Greek, and couldn't handle it. That may change if I keep on getting assigned these ancient history classes to teach... Enough. I must feed the importunate cat... --Ken ====================================================================== ] c/ \ /___\ *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JULY 4, 1996 *** |@ @| | V | \\\ |\_/| | ;;; \-/ \ ;/ >< ] ============================================================================= Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 21:30:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Richard Bauman <72172.2631@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Today's Growls Mark Anthony - Everyone's NAME is not at the top of the post. That was why the comment was made. Address is not equal to Name. Gili - Are you using one of those shudder "IBM-like" machines? Can't you just select your essay, copy it, close, open mail utility, paste it in? Should be trivial. Looking forward to your essay......Woops! I guess I'll wait for the translation. I might deal with your German, but not Hebrew. Bill W. - Why don't we have a little dialogue on the subject of fortune hunters with old copies of Oz books? Personally, I think it is a no win situation and they should be avoided or ignored. If you tell them too low they will be mad. If you tell them too high, someone might pay that and that would continue the escalation of book prices. Sigh. Some day someone is going to publish the "Oz Book Price Guide," and then we will be in the soup. Oz books are about the only thing I collect that don't have their own guide yet. Or is there one? Opinions? Barb - I would snap up those books. At that price you couldn't loose. However, FWIW, here is my theory about used books east vs left coast. In the east a used book is really used. In all that miserable weather it has been read many times. Pages loose, stains (possibly baby barf), tears, writing, folds, etc. On the left coast people arrive with their new books and find the weather is wonderful. They sell their books and go out and do it in the sunshine! As a result, used books out here are like new. Anyway, this has been my experience, in general. Steve - Sysop = System Operator, the person managing the system, e.g. AOL, that you are on. You call him when you have troubles and hope he is there. Eric - But, how long is your vision going to stay 20/20? Hmmmm? I remember that Twilight Zone - it was the saddest one I can remember....... Tyler >Glinda specifically reinforced the are underground along the old tunnel route just in case. She what??????? area? air? arch? argh? Ken Cope - Did you fall in your ink well? Miss hearing from you on the Digest? Wait until you see Ken's latest work! Herm, Michael T., et. al. - My apologies for the false alarm on "Good Times." My source claims to have been double scammed. Sigh. PKZIP300 apparently is for real. Any later news? Scammed again, Bear (:<) ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 22:16:40 -0400 (EDT) From: swarkala@cris.com (Sharon Warkala) Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-02-96 Barb DeJohn: First editions of non-Oz Baum books are exceedingly rare with the possible exception of those he wrote under one of his many pseudonyms. They just don't turn up that often. They have been reprinted many times though. Some of the books you mentioned would command a high price if they were firsts. My guess is that they are all reprints. Chris Warkala ====================================================================== Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 23:09:41 -0400 (EDT) From: "Aaron S. Adelman" 1) Stephen, sysop is short for systems operator, the person who keeps your local big clunky machine up and running. 2) Gili, what are prawn? 3) Melody, on destroying the Magic Belt: Hmm. Why didn't I think of that... The Queasy (spokesbeing for the characters in Aaron's head): Fortunately, he's not serious. At least I THINK he's not serious... Quentin the Kiwi of Quok: Well, it'll only take a few shakes of my magic spatula and... 4) On what Gingemma did to be called the Wicked Witch of the East: At the very least, she committed treason by participating in the overthrow of Pastoria (along with Bastinda, Mombi, and the still not yet positively identified Wicked Witch of the South) and seizing control of one fourth of the country. Her treatment of Nick Chopper and Nathaniel Fyter was also not so nice, but it is concieveable that they had committed other offenses against her that they selectively forgot that aroused such harsh treatment. I find it rather interesting that after Baum in what I've read that writers tend to heap offenses on Bastinda (enchanting Flicker) and Mombi (enchanting Herby and Orin) rather than Gingemma. 5) Chris, what? Is Thorns supposed to be Ozga's Oogaboo-style surname? If so, I never suspected that Oogaboonians wouldn't consider flowers a crop. Also: You're not the only one who remembers Ozga. I already wrote her into _Mombi of Oz_, Eric and his coauthor Karyl Carlson (sp?) gave her a brief appearance in _Queen Ann in Oz_, and I've heard it mentioned on the Digest that she appears in David's _The Glass Cat of Oz_. As for her lack of prominence, that I would certainly have to agree to. In writing the chapter in which she appears in Mombi of Oz as a major character, I found myself having to create most of her personality from scratch; in everything I've read on her, she's been a rather passive character. Fortunately in the other recycled characters Barry and I have more to work on... n) Dave and anyne else who cares: The wierd characters at the end of my signature, incidentally, are my Hebrew name (ISO 8859-8 encoding, visual order for the technofreaks). I long for the day when all computers can handle Unicode, the up and coming character set which encompasses all the planets major languages, so that instead of being asked "What is all that hexadecimal stuff doing at the end of your signature?" I get asked "What are all those squiggles doing at the end of your signature?" Aaron Solomon (ben Saul Joseph) Adelman adelman@yu1.yu.edu ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 09:03:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Mark Anthony Donajkowski Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-03-96 tyler jones superho says hello i just got off the phone with her and she gave me concert tickets to meat loaf that she won if you dont remember her ro dont know who she is you met her when she was in az she has red hair and is a big tori fan if you still dont know write me hugs anthony van pyre sorry that was off topic but had to share the ticket thing with everyoneMG<> ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 10:42:25 -0400 (EDT) From: MICHAEL TURNIANSKY Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-03-96 Winkiecon: URK! I meant, actually, Munchkin! I'm not planning to fly the family out to California. I think the Wogglebug gave me a flipped slide. So, let me try again: Munchkincon: when, where, etc.? vi: Sure, there are plenty of alternatives, not all of which might be available to you. EMACS come to mind. (How do you compose your messages now? That wouldn't have to change (possibly) if a newsgroup was formed.) Dave Hulan: > (Elsie and Elmer also had a boy calf whose name I don't recall, Elmo -- Mike "King of Trivia" Turniansky Tyler: > Interestingly enough, the Twilight Zone that you mentioned was lsited as > one of the top 100 moments in TV history by TV Guide. Too bad they did not > see fit to mention the recurring MGM movie as one of those 100. When was this list published? I'd love to see it (don't suppose you care to type in the whole thing in a private e-mail to me? :-) ) (BTW, I'm a great TZ fan: I have seen all but about a dozen of the >100 episodes (most of them the hour-long ones in the fourth season) (and no, I'm not implying that the list is exclusively of TZ "moments", just mentioning my fanness tangentially)) Gili: So, the essay is in Hebrew. Is that supposed to be a problem (other than the fact that my ISP can't support that character set)? :-) > > Mike Turniansky--Re: The books of the Bible. But the Bible is considered to > be history, not novel--or at least nonfiction. And narrative history is > always episodic. But not all of it is narrative history (although I admit that I didn't know that narrative history is always episodic). Plenty of wisdom literature, prophecy, songs, and even "strong plots" (God's hand working through history to bring the children of Israel to Sinai and give them the Torah, etc.). But there are definitely _no_ IEs. --Mike "Shaggy Man" Turniansky ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 07:57:08 -0700 (PDT) From: Eric Gjovaag Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-03-96 > From: ozbot@ix.netcom.com (ozbot) > Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest stuff > > Magic Users-- > > But evem if Ozma didn't catch an illegeal magic user, isn't that > Glinda's job with her Book of Records? She should also be able to nip > it in the bud, as magic is usually practiced before used. Have YOU tried reading the Book of Records? It's so crammed with information that it's difficult to find ANYTHING, and it doesn't have an index or a search engine or anything useful like that. Besides, Glinda has better things to do than spend all her time reading the Book of Records. > From: Kenneth Shepherd > Subject: Ozzy Digest 7-2 responses *please post* > > Right > now it exists on a 5 1/4" diskette in something called Scripsit for the > TRS-80. Ah, yes, I remember the TRS-80. And Scripsit. And 5 1/4" disks. Tells you how long *I'VE* been doing this computer thingy now... --Eric "One whole Digest and this is all I have to say???" Gjovaag ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 10:08:57 -0500 (CDT) From: Gordon Birrell Subject: Oz comestibles Mike T: Four foods that are shown in The Wizard of Oz are: Aunt Em's cookies, Professor Marvel's frankfurters, the big lollipop that is presented to Dorothy by the Lollipop Guild, and the apples in the Tin Woodman's orchard. (Incidentally: does the movie *ever* refer to him as the Tin Woodman, or just as the Tinman?) I apologize to all of you who felt that my question about Professor Marvel's horse was embarrassingly easy. :-) ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 11:43:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Tyler Jones Subject: Ozzy DIgest David: I suppose that Eureka eating the piglet was really no worse than the Cowardly Lion "finding his own breakfast" in the forest. The only difference is that the piglet had "connections" with the powers that be. It was a case of "you can eat animals, but not MY animals" Gordon and David: Now that I think of it, I was introduced to VI in a programming class, and it was quite powerful. In later classes, I used it for word processing, and I didn't like it that much. This was on a VAX, though, and not UNIX. Ken: I am sure that Dave is filling you in on the recent excitement we had on the digest about our own "Project Ozma" and Pluto's moon. :-) Danny: The idea of a non-magic-use using magic tools hits a gray matter. In _Kabumpo_, Glinda chews out Peg Amy and Pompa for using magical tools, but relents and allows them to "help out". However, it is Glinda that performs the actual magic, and Ozma later takes all of Glegg's magic for herself, except the parts that Pompa was supposed to use. BTW, while Dorothy is a privileged character, I do not imagine that just ANYBODY could saunter in and look around the world. Ozma: Tyler, what are you doing in here? Tyler: Um, I'm, uh, "enhancing" the magic picture's viewing subroutines. Ozma (looks at the scene): The UCLA women's locker room? Scram! :-) Eric's curiosity: First off, a paradox here is that if you keep mentioning that you are not mentioning a newsgroup, everybody will keep thinking you're mentioning it. Anway, to answer your question, it may be a good idea for future reference, supposing that Dave becomes unable to maintain this digest. --Tyler Jones ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 11:45:46 -0700 From: @pittstate.edu@mail.pittstate.edu Subject: Oz related matters Eric: You're wonderful! You not only explain one term for me but you provide me with a new puzzle, What's "spamming"? Ken: If you think the koine Greek of the New Testiment was difficult, remember that Greek, like English, is an Indo-European language; Hebrew is an, unrelated, Semetic language. Also, some Greek letters look like their English equivalents; it aint so with Hebrew. (However, Chinese or Japanese would be even more difficult as they are non-alphabetic languages.) David Hulan: I really do recommend Laumer's CARELESS KANGEROO, it has perhaps the most complex plots of any Oz book with separate plot strands around Eureka, the Shaggy Man, Polychrome, Professor Wogglebug, the Kangeroo who had lost its mittens in EMERALD CITY, and maybe one or two more I have forgotten. All are joined together and in the process we come to learn (a) how Eureka got to Oz (b) what happened to the Barrier of Invisibility (c) why Shaggy Man and Polychrome don't know each other when they meet in TIK-TOK (d) . . . . Other Laumer books explain other Oz mysteries, puzzles and deletions such as "what is the whole story about Mombi, Cheeriobed, Orin and Tattypoo?" "Why is the blue Munchkin Country sometimes in the East and some times in the West?" Why did Button-Bright disappear in the later Oz books?" and many more. BTW I am a very strong supporter of the Ozmopolitan convention as the one to go to, but I can state unequivocally that Munchkin has the best food. I see my came out just missing (as it probably is now and not =F6. Ken: If my recollection is correct, the inspiration for PROJECT OZMA was the foreward to PATCHWORK GIRL where Baum listened on the wireless to get news out of Oz (sent by the Shaggy Man--see CARELESS KANGEROO again); similarly we were going to lister on radio-telescopes to hear if any messages were coming from outer space. NB: I don't really read my digests backwards, it just seems that way. Steve T. ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 13:46:55 -0400 From: DavidXOE@aol.com Subject: Ozzy Digests, 07-02 & 03-96 7/2: Eric: I didn't see the Burgess Meredith "Twilight Zone" episode you refer to, but I read the short story (in F&SF, I think, circa 1958, probably by Fredric Brown) that I imagine it's based on. (Guy has a bunker equipped with enough food and water for the rest of his life, and all the books he's always wanted to have time to read. Nuclear war wipes out everyone else. Then he drops and breaks his only pair of glasses.) Pretty dumb - speaking as one who's also dependent on glasses (though not to read), I have several pair around the house and always travel with at least one spare pair of both regular and sunglasses. And remember that by the time you're 50, you almost certainly won't be able to read without glasses, if your distance vision remains 20/20. (OTOH, at your age I had 20/20 vision; myopia can come on later in life. I didn't start wearing glasses until I was 30.) Robin: Some people may not want us to know who they really are, for reasons they think good. Tyler: I think that any book saying that various wizards and other magic-workers left Oz when the ban went into effect must be non-FF. Not only that, but it's not IWOC or ECP, either. Mike: I don't think you can really count the Bible as episodic - even if you regard it as pure fiction (which I don't, but some do), it would have to fall into the "collection" category, not the "novel" or even "romance". I.e., more comparable to WINNIE-THE-POOH than THE WIZARD OF OZ. Ken: Esther Friesner would certainly be an excellent person to approach for an Oz story, if you're soliciting from professionals. Jane Yolen is another possibility. Wrede - well, she could probably write a good story, but I find her so irritating in person that it tempers my enjoyment of her writing. Melody: Actually, you reminded me of a discrepancy in Baum's descriptions of what happened to Nick Chopper. In his original description in WIZARD, Nick says that his girl-friend (unnamed in that book) lived with an old woman who gave the WWE two sheep and a cow to enchant Nick's axe; in TIN WOODMAN he says that Nimmie Amee was the slave of the WWE herself. Hey, Tyler, Chris, how do you reconcile those accounts? Chris D.: Somebody mentioned THE COLORFUL KITTEN OF OZ, I remember, though it might have been you. I couldn't mention it because I haven't read it, nor even had its plot described to me (as I have that of CARELESS KANGAROO). Melody is certainly a very good artist; whether she's better than Shanower, though, is at least arguable. Speaking of artists reminds me that I recently got a catalog from Emerald City Press announcing that they're putting out a new PB edition of THE ENCHANTED ISLAND OF YEW with illustrations by George O'Connor. It amused and pleased me that he was identified as "the illustrator of THE GLASS CAT OF OZ". I assume your instructions to prospective burglars were intended to amuse? If so, they succeeded admirably. :-) Dave: If you write RUMPOLE IN OZ could you send me a copy? I don't think I'm likely to be around by the latter part of next century (unless I find my own way to Oz). Steve: When you tried to send ASCII 246 it came through to me as a space, apparently. Don't know, of course, whether it was your service, Dave's, or mine that made that translation. Danny: Glinda apparently didn't catch Ugu before he stole most of the magical artifacts in Oz, even though acto the Czarover he'd been practicing magic for quite some time before that. So the Great Book of Records apparently doesn't go into enough detail - or Glinda doesn't read it thoroughly enough - to catch magic-workers before they can do any harm. Ken: I could have sworn that I had a copy of OVER THE HILLS TO FABYLON, but a search of my booklist indicates I don't. I know I've read it, and I agree with your assessment that it resembles what THE MAGICAL MONARCH OF MO would have been like if written by an Englishman. Gray is definitely one of my favorite writers for children. (Robin, if you find two copies?)(Or anybody else on the Digest who deals in used books?) David Hulan ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 11:46:06 -0700 From: Ken Cope Subject: Projects Ozma In a 1960 Sky and Telescope, Frank Drake wrote: "...In an effort to detect interstellar radio transmissions, [National Radio Astronomy Organization] has established Project Ozma. It is named for the queen of the imaginary land of Oz--a place very far away, difficult to reach, and populated by exotic beings. A radiometer that fulfills the specifications above is now in the final stages of construction..." He listened to Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani, the nearest solartype stars. Apparently, Oz wasn't in the vicinity. I got this quote from "The Quest for Extraterrestrial Life A Book of Readings" edited by Donald Goldsmith, 1980. The articles are full of references to Project Ozma, which struck just the right inspirational chord in everybody but Senator Proxmire. With every congresscritter a Proxmire these days, the space sciences need all the inspiration they can get. The cosmic congruence of Baum's communication with Oz via wireless telegraphy and the inception of SETI in Ozma's name is, to me, part of the core mythos of Oz that we can celebrate in Dave's drive to give Ozian names to features of Pluto's moon Charon. Drake and Sagan are both from Cornell, and Carl might be easier to reach. Speaking of Cornell, you might train your browsers on this URL: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/project/oz/web/oz.html As far as I know, it is among the first web pages with any reference to Oz apart from Project Gutenberg. Eric, I think the time is coming soon when it will be a good idea to lobby for a rec.arts.oz or rec.arts.books.oz or some other name for a newsgroup. Hold on, May the Ozzy Digest always fill our mailboxes to overflowing; the digest is wonderful for those among us with no Usenet callouses, or no news access, or no patience for internet service providers who obfuscate and geekspeak, or those of us whose computers still contain vacuum tubes and six-legged bugs. It is Oz wrapped up in a bow that we didn't have to go on an exhausting quest to obtain, and Dave, (puts on Bill Murray voice) don't go changin'. But threading would be nice. As a lurker who posts about once a month at best, here are a couple of suggestions. I think the easiest thing to do is start some threads on rec.arts.books.childrens and keep them going to the extent that we also have the support of THAT readership when it comes to a newsgroup vote. If any of the content would be of interest to the Digest, it could be reprinted so that nobody here misses anything. Among the best qualities of any Digest is the capacity to filter out the noise and nonsense, but the price is isolation, inbreeding, and lack of potential contributors who never found out about Oz. I also think those of us with some pc, mac and internet skills can provide some guidance to help folks here understand how they '...had the capacity within their computer all along...' Oz is undergoing a lot of Branding dilution on the net. There is an Oz inc. in the UK which writes software for high-end graphics programs including the one I use. That company's home page is where you end up if you click on a VRML signpost with the word Oz on it next to a colorful little cartoon house, a little virtual reality demo that has found it's way to TV on the show Next Step. If you have a fast computer and a 28.8 modem, you might be able to see it at this URL: http://www.interverse.com/~oz/RDhouse.wrl.gz It'll probably crash your browser, and the only way I've been able to get it to work is with Netscape 2.02 for Windows NT or 95, with the Cosmoplayer from: http://vrml.sgi.com/ I have also been exploring Chaco's telnet client Pueblo, which allows you to use the graphics on your computer to explore a mush (multi user shared habitat)and view at your capacity text only, pictures, sound, music, midi files, voice, or vr. Real time like irc is a capacity, not a requirement. There are no Oz themed mushes, yet. I'll make that the topic of another post. You will find nothing even vaguely Ozian on the Net apart from what we put there. The generation that built the space program was raised on Oz books; how much of Oz will there be to inspire the four-year-old child you'll need to find to show you how to use the magic machines of the millenium? Ken Cope ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 16:44:16 -0400 From: HermBieber@aol.com Subject: For Digest For Gili, I'm two weeks behind in digest readings, but wanted to respond to your query about the Land with a Grandpa plate. There are a number of printing errors such as upside down covers, missing gatherings, double gatherings, upside-down gatherings, blank pages, smudged pages (wet ink!), etc. Most of these errors devalue the book; in no case have I seen an advance in price, as with postage stamps. As to color plates, genuine substitution of wrong plates is rather rare. Where the plates have been tipped in, a skillful and unscrupulous dealer can substitute any plate on hand so the book looks "whole" upon pageing. Unless the plates seem to "stick out" or look more worn compared to the other plates in the book, most customers will just count plates without looking at their content. Of course where the plates were bound in, it is much easier to spot a substitution. In the "popular editions" of Baum Oz books that bridged the color plate and B&W editions, R&L used whatever plates they had left over, so the single colored plate frontis will vary. But even here, this will be one of the twelve plates from THAT book. I have not seen any versions with plates from other books that I was convinced were original issue by R&L. SO BEWARE. Incidentally, I am working on a cross-referenced color plate directory to aid collectors/dealers in checking for the RIGHT plates. Herm Bieber ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 04 Jul 1996 00:38:56 +0300 (WET) From: Gili Bar-Hillel Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-03-96 Hiya Digest! In response to the startling discovery that Mike is another non-IWOC member on this list, may I just state that I find it difficult to grasp why any ubscriber to this list who can cough up 15 dollars is not a member of the International Wizard of Oz Club? I'm not asking for any explanations - I'm just highly recommending the club and Baum Bugle for those who've never tried it. ('never tried it' sounds like I'm talking about a drug...) Ken S. - first of all, may I suggest we distinguish between Ken S. and Ken C., who also writes something once in a while. Frank Donald Drake was mentioned here in relation to Project Ozma - I believe that's what sparked off the whole "Oz theme on Charon" campaign.(Frank Drake should deinitely be on the mailing list for the Charon petition, Dave!That is, if he still around.) But we only know it was named after our Ozma, I don't think anyone here knows more about Drake as an Oz fan. Eric - didn't know there ever was an Ozzy episode of "Superfriends". Kinda curious to see that. Has anyone here ever tried making a list of Oz references in T.V. shows? I remember Ozzy refrences in "Sisters", "Northern Exposure", "Ferris Beuller", "Picket Fences", and "Beavis and Butthead". (And "Candy Can Do It", which none of you will have heard about becasue its Israeli and not very good). Betcha between us we can come up with lots more... Bible/Oz connection - this is not something new, but I thought this would be an oppurtunity to remind everybody that there is a Bible/Oz connection. The book of Job opens: "Ish haya be'eretz Utz" - "There was a man in the land of Utz". "Utz" is also the Hebrew translation which was chosen for "Oz". It has been suggested that the biblical Utz was not a real land, but an imaginary land invented for the fable of Job. I doubt that Baum was thinking of the book of Job when he picked the name "Oz" - the only English version of the Bible I've ever looked in had "Uts" as the name of that land, not "Oz". But I'm sure whoever first translated "Oz" into Hebrew *was* thinking of the Biblical connection. Bye! |\ _,,,---,,_ /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ Gili Bar-Hillel, |,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-' avigailb@zoot.tau.ac.il '---''(_/--' `-'\_) ====================================================================== Date: Thu, 04 Jul 1996 00:46:03 +0000 (UT) From: Kenneth Shepherd Subject: Ozzy Digest 7-3 responses *please post* My thanks to those who responded about Project Ozma and about the hexadecimal mystery. Dave H--Re: Eureka and the Piglet. Eureka was a stray, wasn't she? I think it's implied in DOTWIZ that Dorothy picked her up in California. If her behavior followed other stray cats I've known, I think that she was still in her "starved" stage during the DOTWIZ piglet episode--you know, the stage where the kitten has to try everything that moves in case it's edible because the memory of the "starving time" she's just gone through is so vivid. Later the memory fades, as does the desire to eat living things. My current cat wouldn't eat a tiny piglet if it oinked in her face, rolled over, and played dead. There's a reference somewhere later in the canon that suggests that Dorothy beats Eureka for being "uppity," which I always found very disturbing. I don't think Baum liked cats very much.... Thanks for the ego-boost on "Imperial Oz" and the information on Turtledove. I'll check in with my history colleague the next time I see her and see what she recommends... Eric--Re: An Oz Newsgroup. Yes, *I* think an Oz newsgroup would be a good idea. If I'm understanding it correctly, it would mean that people who are interested in certain subjects could read about those subjects and wouldn't have to read about the subjects that don't interest them. So it would solve the complaints that I've seen on the Digest. HOWEVER, now that I've said that, let me explain why I find the Digest more convenient and why I prefer it to the newsgroup format. I have to pay for my connection time to the Internet and MSN twice--once to MSN as the service provider, and once to the phone company because the "local" connection number is outside my immediate billing area. (MSN is not unique in this; all the providers I looked at--including Compuserve and Adelphi--had the same problem). With the Digest, all I have to do is connect, and the whole kit'n kaboodle is dumped right in my lap. Total connection time=less that two minutes. With a newsgroup, I'd be connected a lot longer and would be paying a lot more in fees I'd rather avoid. That's why I prefer the Digest and why I'm so grateful to Dave for providing the service. So I support the newsgroup suggestion in theory if not in practice. Also, thanks _very_ much for the info about the McGraws. I shall harrass my local library until they get MOORCHILD. --Ken ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 21:24:17 -0400 From: DIXNAM@aol.com Subject: Holiday Greetings! I wish everyone a safe, healthy and happy 4th!! (And Chris D., please leave the fridge well stocked with beer, the key to the wine cellar in plain sight, and a short leash on No! :-) :-) ) Dick (that's Arnold Palmer Loop, right?) Randolph ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 21:30:35 -0400 (EDT) From: Richard Bauman <72172.2631@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Today's Growls David >Of course, some people may want to conceal their real name, and that's legit. Surely you jest! If there is anyone concealing their name would they please write in and let us know. :) :) Robin - I spent some time trying to track down "Araminta" but struck out. I also recognized the Vance title. However, Araminta is the name of an enclave in the book. No clue as to the source of the name. Why do I keep feeling like I am paying for someone who was MAD at their English teacher? Dave - I'll try again. Is it a secret where you are located? I ask because I sent in my last post from the left coast on Tue, Jul 2, 1996, 6:30 PM and it did not appear in the Jul 3 Digest. This is not a criticism, but simply a desire to know how things work. You know how engineers are. Belatedly, Bear (:<) ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 21:20:02 -0500 (CDT) From: Robin Olderman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-02-96 July 2 DIGEST Steve et al: I think "Sysop" means system operator. Bottom line:a sysop controls what is and isn't posted. Yes, generally a sysop may censor. Places like forums on a bulletin board use sysops for each "room" or forum (special interest area). Chris: I'll bet that if you pet No *really* hard you'll get to be friends quickly. Especially if you use a stiff bristle grooming brush. BTW, I laughed out loud at your message for potential thieves. Newsgroups: How the heck do us ignorami (plural of ignoramus) access these newsgroup things? The rec.arts.books thing sounds interesting. IWOC Book Contest: The judges will each rank the books numerically. Only the top-ranked ones will go on for further consideration. We still need to work out the details, but I think that if two of us agree that a book is wonderful and the third thinks it's at least o.k., then that book will stand a chance of going further in the winnowing out process. Steve, Barbara, and I go back for more than 20 years. We communicate well with each other. If two of us think a book is dreadful, but the third really likes it, I can't imagine our not paying very close attention to the third judge's rationale. I don't think any one of us is particularly closeminded. All three of us love Oz and are reasonably literate, rational, and anxious to be absolutely fair about judging. One thing you all need to know: WE WILL *NOT* KNOW THE IDENTITY OF THE AUTHOR OF ANY OF THE MSS WE READ. The stories will come to us with I.D. numbers, and we truly won't know who wrote what. Gili: So--could you just send us the quotes you have to incorporate? I never meant for you to have to share the whole essay with us. That'd kind of be like subjecting it to a judging by over 100 judges, and who needs that? Nut it really might be fun for us to play with the quotes the dork wants you to use. Ken: Thanks for the Araminta info. --Robin ====================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 21:52:27 -0500 (CDT) From: Robin Olderman Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-03-96 Ken: >>Nicholas Stuart Gray books are devilishly hard to find. I've been looking for OVER THE HILLS TO FABYLON for 3 years and no luck (Robin O, are you monitoring this?). Yup. Index to OZIANA: I don't think it's a moneymaker, but perhaps we should ask Club members on a future questionnaire whether they'd be interested in having one. IWOC prints things sometimes knowing that the publication will take quite a while to pay for itself. ====================================================================== Date: Thursday 04-Jul-96 00:41:24 From: Dave Hardenbrook Subject: Ozzy Things FRANK DRAKE AND PROJECT OZMA: Ken Cope wrote: >Drake and Sagan are both from Cornell... Actually, Drake is now at the University of California at Santa Cruz. In any case, I wrote on behalf of the "Campaign to Put Oz On Charon" to both him and Sagan (and others). Thanks, Ken, for the Project Ozma info! BOOK OF RECORDS: Eric: >Have YOU tried reading the Book of Records? It's so crammed with >information that it's difficult to find ANYTHING, and it doesn't have an >index or a search engine or anything useful like that. The Book of Records is obviously long overdue or a software upgrade. :) Glinda: Actually, I would have upgraded long ago, but Smith & Tinker's no longer supports the Amiga. :) THE TIN WOO--ER, *EMPEROR*: Gorden wrote: >(Incidentally: does the movie *ever* refer to him as the Tin Woodman, or >just as the Tinman?) I don't think so. Actually I always thought it made sense after _Wizard_ to just say "Tin Man", since after he becomes Emperor of the Winkies, "Tin Woodman" is a bit of a misnomer. ROYAL ICONOGRAPHERS OF OZ: David H. wrote: >Melody is certainly a very good artist; whether she's better than Shanower, >though, is at least arguable. As much as I like Shanower's work, IMHO Melody has a slight edge over him-- Her work has a quality of apropriately Ozzy whimsicalness; Shanower's rendering of various characters IMHO at times have an undesireable touch of that "Marvel Comics" look. RUMPOLE: David H. wrot