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Season Six of Game of Thrones is about to air. One of the great pleasures of watching the show is the way in which George R. R. Martin, the author of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, and the show-producers, David Benioff and Dan Weiss, build their imagined world from the real and […]
Well, first of all, we made fabulous ravioli for Easter. Like, handmade, beautiful ravioli. Like, check out Treskie's blog to see HOW beautiful this ravioli really was. (And you can enjoy the overall post, anyhoozle. If you want. Don't feel pressured or anything.)
I apparently have a boring life, because I can't recall much of what has happened between then and now.
Well, I take that back. I had a jury summons, for which I HAD to appear (which, by the way, is one of the few things that can put me into a state of hysterical panic), and then, for 1-1/2 days, I got to sit in court while the judge and attorneys made up their minds who they really wanted as their jurors and alternates.
They didn't even choose jurors the first day. The first day, all of us potential jurors got to complete a hardship form if we wanted to (Like, if you miss three out of five days of work for five weeks, can you survive on what little pittance of money you WILL be making?). Then we got to fill out a 30+ page questionnaire of random questions, like WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW? HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HEALTHCARE?
The second day, by 10:30 a.m., eighteen people were chose for jurors plus six alternates, and I WASN'T ONE OF THEM! Praise God. But then none of the rest of us could leave, and we had to sit in the courtroom while the attorneys took turns asking jurors "pertinent questions" from their questionnaires, and the judge told us to make sure and pay attention because they would be "winnowing" their jurors and choosing new people to take their place.
We had to adjourn for lunch, and we came back to the courtroom at 1:30, at which point eight people were excused from the jury box and eight more people from the audience were chosen to take their place. Again, I was not one of them. Praise God.
After endless questioning, three people were excused and three more chosen (none of them me).
Then SEVEN people were excused and seven more chosen! (Thankfully, again not me.)
Then three more people were excused and three more chosen. (At this point, I'm still safe.)
Then two were excused and two more chosen. (I'm still not a juror.)
Then two more people were excused, and THIS time my name was called. At this point, it was 4:00 in the afternoon and I had been in a state of constant panic that my name WOULD be called.
But God had not abandoned me, because over the course of the loooooong day and the questions, questions, questions, I had realized my job as a medical transcriptionist would conflict with some of the rules regarding the case, and when I pointed this out to the attorneys they seemed to agree with me and I was excused from jury duty.
PRAISE GOD.
So THAT wasn't the most fun I've ever had, but I survived.
On a happy note, prom for the high school was last night, so this week at the flower shop was busy making corsages and boutonnieres, so I had tons of fun doing those.
Also, I signed up for singing class. Hollah! I haven't gone to singing class in something like 2-1/2 years, so I'm super excited. I've missed it so much!
Speaking of the Phantom of the opera, we've also been binging quite a lot on musicals - Phantom of the Opera, Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore, and sometime in the near future we are going to watch Oklahoma! We are also listening to a lot of musicals - the best parts of Jekyll and Hyde... the Anthony Warlow version; Phantom (Duh); and we will be listening to Jane Eyre (tolerated because of Mr. Rochester. Amazing voice!); Secret Garden, and Tale of Two Cities.
A lady I know, the Amazing Jan Fields (better known as the Ghost in the Machine and Administrator of the Institute of Children's Literature chat boards, the Writer's Retreat) is having a drawing to win an autographed copy of her two books, The Wellspring of Magic and The Emerald Dragon. Plus, you can also win a super cute doll who represents a character in the book, and she is holding a bear. Check it out here. Isn't that fantastic?
I was twelve years old when I first read Jack London’s novel Martin Eden, and it remained my favorite book for years. Few people I know have heard about it, which is a pity. Jack London was a superb story teller, but his novels belong to what is called politely the history of literature—all or almost all except Martin Eden.
Not every scholar of medieval English has the privilege of translating a major poetic text, and fewer still have the chance to do it all over again, eighteen years later. My first edition of the Poetic Edda was published in 1996 and about two years ago, I was invited to think about a second edition, one which would expand the number of poems and which could be brought up to date in other ways. But what could have changed as far as this classic work was concerned in the meantime?
Well, unlike a single poem, such as Beowulf or Piers Plowman, the Poetic Edda is a collection of poems. Most of these are to be found in a single manuscript, known as the Codex Regius, kept in the Árnar Magnússonar Manuscript Institute in Reykjavík, Iceland. But, preserved in other Icelandic manuscripts, are a good number of further poems in the same kind of metre, which relate more stories of Norse gods and heroes. Four or five of these poems have always been considered part of the Poetic Edda and I translated them in the first edition. But now there was room for some more.
I’ve added three more eddic poems which I think are interesting in different ways. The first of them is traditionally known as “The Waking of Angantyr.” It tells the story of a warrior-maiden Hervör, who dares to go alone to an eerie island, haunted by her undead father and his eleven brothers. Hervör wants her father’s magical sword Tyrfing, but Angantyr is determined not to give it to her. He’s quite surprised that a girl should dare to come to the uncanny place:
Young girl, I declare you are not like most men, hanging around by mounds at night with an engraved spear and in metal of the Goths [armour], a helmet and corslet before the hall-doors.
At first Angantyr pretends that he doesn’t have the sword, next, he warns (truthfully) that the sword bears a curse, but finally he hands it over to the triumphant Hervör. A bold and determined heroine and an undead corpse — this seemed like a good addition to the new translation. The other additions are “Groa’s Chant” and the “Sayings of Fiolsvinn,” two related poems. A young man called Svipdag has been cursed by his stepmother to go on a quest to find and woo the lovely Menglod, a task fraught with danger: “she has ordered me to go where she knows there’s no going,” Svipdag laments. Wisely, he first visits the grave of his dead mother for advice. Groa is indeed anxious to help and she sings a number of spells over Svipdag. If he crosses rivers or sea, if he’s chained up or assailed by frost, “may no corpse-cold come to ravage your flesh / nor bind your body in its joints.”
Groa’s last spell will help Svipdag if he must “bandy words with the spear-magnificent giant,” and this is exactly what happens. When the hero finally reaches Menglod’s hall, the watchman Fiolsvinn won’t let him in. Entrance is only permitted to the man who can fulfill a whole series of impossible tasks, set up in a circular fashion. Svipdag is about to despair, but wait! No man can come in unless he has carried out this task — or unless his name is Svipdag! And so when Svipdag reveals his name, he gains entry to the hall and is rapturously embraced by Menglod, who chides him lovingly, “A long time I’ve sat on Healing-rock / waiting day after day for you!”
What constitutes a medieval poem? One of the most important poems in the Poetic Edda, “The Seeress’s Prophecy” exists in three different versions in medieval Icelandic manuscripts. Very often editors have combined the texts of all three versions to try to recover what they think might have been the “original” form of the poem. But nowadays scholars tend to think that this is a pointless endeavor. After all, this poem probably existed in oral tradition for a hundred or more years before it was first written down and there was likely never a definitive version. Newer critical thinking argues that it is better to reproduce what actually appears in the medieval manuscripts than to try to find the lost original. And so I’ve provided two versions of this poem, one written down in 1270, and one which was written down about forty years later. In the earlier version, the death of Baldr the Beautiful ushers in the beginning of the end of the world: Ragnarök. Baldr’s mother Frigg had made everything on earth promise not to hurt him, but she did not bother with the mistletoe, for it was so little and frail. Wicked Loki shaped it into a dart and put it in the hands of Baldr’s blind brother Hod when all the gods were amusing themselves by throwing things at Baldr and watching them bounce harmlessly from him. Here Baldr lounges against a wall, while Loki guides the fumbling and hooded Hod:
In the later version, preserved in the Hauksbók manuscript, which was compiled in the first decade of the fourteenth century, Baldr isn’t even mentioned; that seems to be a difference worth recording, and it suggests that the death of Baldr wasn’t necessarily connected to Ragnarök.
And perhaps most importantly, eighteen years ago talking about the reception of the Poetic Edda meant talking about Wagner, William Morris, and Tolkien. Nowadays the influence of these wonderful poems is felt much more widely, in popular culture as well as in the opera house. Hollywood has its Thor films; novelists such as Neil Gaiman in American Gods (2001), young adult authors such as Melvin Burgess and Joanne Harris, even Game of Thrones, with its dragons, ravens, shield-maidens, its endless winter, wolves and giants, have seized on eddic themes and motifs to capture the imaginations of new generations. I hope that this new version of the Poetic Edda, with its additions, updates, and revisions will also find new readers to thrill to these poems, which speak to us in comic, tragic, grandiose, crude, witty, profound, and commonsense tones.
Marvel are kicking off a weekend of announcements today with news about some Original Sin tie-ins. The main Original Sin series will see The Watcher get shot up something rotten, his eyeballs getting ripped out, and everybody finding out deep and dark secrets which previously only Uatu knew about. It’s like superhuman wikileaks, basically. And amongst the tie-ins has just been announced a five-issue miniseries from Jason Aaron, Simone Bianchi, Al Ewing, and Lee Garbett: Loki and Thor: The Tenth Realm.
Those would be the creative teams for Loki: Agent of Asgard and The Mighty Thor, of course. The storyline also concerns another character, however – the noted Angela, fresh from her stint in the Guardians of the Galaxy. After a lot of wondering about why she was important to the Marvel Universe, and why it was such a big deal that she arrived, courtesy of Neil Gaiman, into Marvel Comics… it appears the answer has finally come.
She’s Odin’s daughter. Making her the sister of both Thor and Loki. Uh-oh! In this five-issue miniseries, Angela will be heading across for a family reunion, causing problems for Thor, Loki – and also for Odin. You have to imagine that Frigga won’t be particularly thrilled, either.
Marvel note that the series will be numbered as Original Sin #5.1 across to #5.5. It’ll start this July.
4 Comments on C2E2: Thor & Loki: The Tenth Realm, last added: 4/28/2014
Silly plot for a silly character? I’m fine with that.
Kurt Busiek said, on 4/26/2014 11:58:00 AM
I don’t know who drew this and I wouldn’t want to bash on story or artwork I haven’t seen, by a group of talented craftsmen –
But if you’re trying to communicate “fury,” or “dangerous,” or “powerful” or anything like that, why is there a big graphic X to the design of this piece focused squarely on her breasts, making them the focal point of the drawing? Does glossy photoshop shimmer-y cleavage say “fury” these days?
Shouldn’t the focus be on her expression, or on a more furious stance? If you brought Thor and Loki closer and put Odin and Green Woman farther back (or if you just swapped their positions), the lines of force in the art would converge on her face, instead. Same cleavage, same shiny Photoshop coloring…but all of a sudden the drawing would be about her expression, not her breasts.
Maybe it’ll be a great story, and the concept sounds like a good way to anchor the character into the Marvel Universe. But this one piece of art makes me think, “Is that really what you’re trying to present most strongly with this ad? Really?”
Random Saturday morning art critique…
kdb
MHF said, on 4/27/2014 8:46:00 AM
Kurt, Kurt – you’re totally missing the point here. The overtly large breasts represent the many-leveled duality of the situation. To wit: Two brothers. Two parents. Two worlds. So vast in scope that it can barely be contained by the shiny metal bra of meager human comprehension.
jim sheridan said, on 4/28/2014 2:59:00 AM
Looks like lousy Witchblade art. Lady Death cannot be far behind. It’s all about the rack.
Boy! I've been away (company, Alaska cruise, more company, workshop, etc..!!) and am so behind on the blogging thing. So many pictures - not here. We'll see if I can catch up....?
Ok, this is not really music, but was my favorite video coming out of SDCC - a surprise visit from Loki!
(Apparently Tom Hiddleston wanted it a complete secret that he was making an appearance, and spent his entire plane trip in a Boba Fett costume, complete with helmet - so that no one would recognize and tweet his presence in advance. :-).
0 Comments on Music Monday - Loki! as of 7/30/2013 5:22:00 AM
Smile when you say that partner, it is I once again, the coolest Sith this side of Clint Eastwood, Darth Bill. Now I know your going to look at the two books I reviewed this go round and ask: "Bill, these books have girls as their main characters. What's up with that?" Well I'll tell you; even though these books have girls as the main characters, they kick some serious butt!!!!!! One of the books reviewed Runemarks has some serious cool dudes and chicks such as:
Odin - The All Father
Thor - The Thunderer
Loki - The Trickster
Skadi - The Huntress
Pretty cool looking characters wouldn't you say? I think so!!!!!!
And Coraline definitely earns "honorary guy status" because she's tuff as nails!!!!!!! So take a look at my thoughts on one great book and one great graphic novel.
Runemarks by Joanne Harris -This story is set 500 years after Ragnarok that ended the old world ruled by the Norse Gods. The main character in this story is a young girl named Maddy Smith who is born with a strange and magical birthmark. In Maddy's world "The Word" rules all with an iron-fist. In her world magic is taboo and imagination is highly discouraged. Because of what people perceive as Maddy's strangeness she is ignored by her father and has no friends. That is until one day when she meets and old wanderer called One-Eye who befriends here and teaches her to use the magic that has been lying asleep inside her. This book is filled with Norse Gods, Heroes, Villains and Monsters. This book will suck you in and you will not be able to put it down once you start reading it. This is a great book that I would put right up there with Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" book series. The one obvious difference is that this book rekindles excitement in Norse Mythology as opposed to Greek Mythology. This book definitely is one of my candidates for best book of 2008. Warning:This book does include some occasional curse words and probably should not be read if you or your parents are offended by such.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman Adapted & Illustrated by P. Craig Russel - Do you think it would be cool to get everything you wanted from your parents. Never having to hear then say no you can't do that or no you can't have that, etc. Well in this Graphic Novel Coraline and her parents have moved into a new house that has some very peculiar aspects to it. She finds through a bricked up doorway a gateway into another world that is exactly like hers yet different. She finds in this other world she has an other mother and father who refuse her nothing. Yet something does not feel right about this other world and worse Coraline's other mother does not want her to leave. Many mysteries and challenges Coraline must overcome if she is to return to the real world. This is a great adaption of a great book that I highly recommend.
Well hepcatsthat's all I got for now, but keep reading and having fun.
Peace,
Bill
0 Comments on Of Norse Gods and Creepy Other Worlds as of 8/19/2008 10:37:00 AM
Silly plot for a silly character? I’m fine with that.
I don’t know who drew this and I wouldn’t want to bash on story or artwork I haven’t seen, by a group of talented craftsmen –
But if you’re trying to communicate “fury,” or “dangerous,” or “powerful” or anything like that, why is there a big graphic X to the design of this piece focused squarely on her breasts, making them the focal point of the drawing? Does glossy photoshop shimmer-y cleavage say “fury” these days?
Shouldn’t the focus be on her expression, or on a more furious stance? If you brought Thor and Loki closer and put Odin and Green Woman farther back (or if you just swapped their positions), the lines of force in the art would converge on her face, instead. Same cleavage, same shiny Photoshop coloring…but all of a sudden the drawing would be about her expression, not her breasts.
Maybe it’ll be a great story, and the concept sounds like a good way to anchor the character into the Marvel Universe. But this one piece of art makes me think, “Is that really what you’re trying to present most strongly with this ad? Really?”
Random Saturday morning art critique…
kdb
Kurt, Kurt – you’re totally missing the point here. The overtly large breasts represent the many-leveled duality of the situation. To wit: Two brothers. Two parents. Two worlds. So vast in scope that it can barely be contained by the shiny metal bra of meager human comprehension.
Looks like lousy Witchblade art. Lady Death cannot be far behind. It’s all about the rack.