Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    

Wicked was a good book. I liked it quite a lot. Plus at the time I was on a
forgiveness metaphor kick, so it fit right in. I remember reading the end of
that while Tori sang, "I hear she still grants forgiveness, but I willingly
forgot her..." (paraphrased, as I haven't listened to it in a while,
surprisingly...)

And, general question: how is "djinn" pronounced? "Gin"? "D'jhinn"? The
latter is how I've pronounced it since first encountering the word way back
when in AD&D sourcebooks... :>
  

    
Madman - this is what Merriam Webster online gave me for "djinn"

One entry found for djinni.
 
Main Entry: djin·ni
Pronunciation: 'jE-nE
Variant(s): or djinn or djin /'jin/
variant of JINNI 

One entry found for jinni. 

Main Entry: jin·ni
Pronunciation: 'jE-nE, 'ji-, j&-'nE
Variant(s): or jinn /'jin/
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural jinn or jinns
Etymology: Arabic jinnIy demon
Date: 1684
1 : one of a class of spirits that according to Muslim demonology
inhabit the earth, assume various forms, and exercise supernatural
power
2 : GENIE 2 

Main Entry: ge·nie
Pronunciation: 'jE-nE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural ge·nies also ge·nii /'jE-nE(-"I)/
Etymology: French génie, from Arabic jinnIy
Date: 1748
1 : JINNI 1
2 : a magic spirit believed to take human form and serve the person
who calls it 
  

    
George Erynn's roommate -- Well, there's certainly a school of thought
that says that Aladdin was written in the west within the last 300
years... Luckily in England we still have the panto tradition, which
gives both the slave of the lamp and the slave of the ring.

Djinn aren't strictly demons; neither are ifrits or maarids. They are
of their own class of creation, according to the Koran, and the Koranic
commentaries I've read.

But the 1001 Nights has a fair amount of wish-granting, along with a
fair amount of djinn meddling in the affairs of men for their own
amusement.

The strangest thing for me about Disney's Aladdin is that it's set in
Arabia. Everyone knows that Aladdin lived in Peking.

Erynn -- It's not the reading of the Kaballah, that's verboten: it's
studying Kaballah. 

Just got home after several weeks away. Piles of CDs and books waiting
for me and lots of other wonderful things into the bargain.
  

    
Oh -- and if you liked Wicked, can I suggest Geoff Ryman's magnificent
novel, WAS.
  

    
Erynn-- I think you're supposed to go insane, but as Neil says, it's
the studying that makes you go loopy, not the reading.  According to
what I've read, if you don't know Hebrew well, you can't really get to
the "good stuff" anyway.

Re Jinns-- I've always found the way that the Koran deals with Jinns
to be fascinating-- and very non-Judeo-Christian.  The idea of an
entirely different species that Allah created, and who sometimes mix
with humans, sometimes just co-exist with them... very interesting. I
love Neil's Jinn taxi driver in the story he read at the NY reading.


Re: Arabian Nights-- I found a very readable, though limited,
collection of stories translated by Kate Douglas Wiggin, with gorgeous
illustrations by Maxfield Parrish (first published 1907).  I see from
Amazon that the most recent edition has an intro by Mark Helprin, which
is reason enough for me to get a copy. 

I also found a used 4-volume set of the Mathers translation on sale at
half.com for $30.  Mine.

Dan-- belated congrats on finishing your play!

Neil-- this is a non-sequitor but I was wondering something yesterday,
and I thought you might know the answer:  What the hell is the John
Cale song "Paris 1919" about?  Is it in reference to a specific event
(raining beaujoulais?) or some sort of age-of-modernism montage, or
what?  

 
  

    
As to the Disney Aladdin-- it's Howard Ashman at the height of his
craft... IMHO, that supercedes any other flaws. (I can even look past
the Tim Rice stuff.)
  

    
Disney's Aladdin would have been even better if the screenwriters had had
their way.  Jasmine would have been a much stronger character, but the
Disney brass thought it made the plot too complicated.
  

    
Hi-

I haven't posted in ages.. I've been really busy with schoolwork and
teen angst and stuff. I have a question, though.. Neil, are there any
specific dates for signings in the Twin Cities? The HarperCollins page
doesn't say anything about Minnesota, so I'm just wondering.

Also.. this girl Caitlin I go to school with has a stepmom who
apparently is friends with Lorraine.. or something. She's been to your
Guy Fawkes day party, I think. Ann something. Any idea who I'm talking
about?

Well, I'll hopefully try to check back here more often.

-shira
  

    
Linda--What a lovely idea!  Thank you for the suggestion.

Madman--I'm pretty sure your Tori quote is right on.  Way for accurate
paraphrasing.

Martha--Damn strong women for complicating things!!

Angelina (who is running on 2 hours of sleep.  Wheeeee!)
  

    
I haven't watched anything Disney since Aladdin came out. They butcher
things. Oh wait--no, I saw "The Straight Story" When I first heard
that David Lynch was doing a Disney movie I was in shock and didn't
know what to think, or if I even wanted to see it. It was pretty
good...still classic Lynchy-like only without swearing and extavagant
usage of colors.
 
If anyones looking for anything good to read while we're waiting on
Neil, I suggest "Hallelujah, Anyway" or "The Second Earth" by Partick
Woodruff. Very, very, very extraordinary man. This isn't anything new,
but a lot of people don't know who he is, so I just thought I'd
mention.

Neil- I'm just going to drop the Arabian Nights thing. I'm reading it
now and it's wonderful. But any folk tales that have been passed down
for hundreds of years are always debatable. As Erynn's roommate George
said: "We could talk about it from here to forever." That's interesting
about the Djinn or jinns, though. The word 'demon' is latin for
'Spirit' and Greek for 'Divine Power' So techinically demons don't have
to be evil...but, I digress (I was supposed to drop it, right?
hee-hee).
Anyway, How's 'Death' going? Are you still going to direct it? 

Len- hell, just reading it almost made me go insane.I was thinking
about going to the University library to get some good books and
"study" it, but you're right--seems like the only really good ones are
in Hebrew...too bad my Hebrews a little rusty. I'd read bits and pieces
of the folklore before, but the movie PI made me sit down and screw
around with some of the numerology. I think they were on to something
there...

Has anyone ever tried Red Bull? It's an energy drink and I swear it's
the secret to all happiness...have to get some more of this. WEEEEE!
nnyre
  

    
Angelina- drink Red Bull. It will make you feel REALLY zippy. Like
Cocaine..only legal and natural and it tastes like Smarties:)
  

    
Red Bull ought to make you feel zippy.  It's pretty much the same thing as
Coke--sugars and caffeine.  But in that cute little can.
  

    
Martha-Coke has never done this to me before. Cocaine has...only this
won't stop! It's been 8 hours since I drank one dinky can! I think i'm
going to research this Tantrin (sp?) stuff. (an ingredient in it) I'm
amazed that this stuff is even legal. Oh god, I'm supposed to go to bed
in two hours and go to work tommorow. Okay. I think I'm beyond Zippy
at this point. I wouldn't recommend drinking this stuff unless you want
to be awake for, like, 20 hours. I've had three Heinekens. No luck.
Argh.
  

    

From the totally cool Red Bull site (if you love animations, you gotta
check out the one on the front page) www.redbull.com:

"Taurine is a conditionally essential amino acid, which naturally occurs
in the body. At times of extreme physical exertion, the body no longer
produces the required amounts of taurine, and a relative deficiency
results. Taurine acts as a metabolic transmitter and additionally has a
detoxifying effect and strengthens cardiac contractility. "

[Is contractility a neologism?]

And about the caffeine:

Can the amount of caffeine in Red Bull be harmful to one's health? 
 
Caffeine is not a harmful substance in itself. The bitter ingredients and
the roasting process are really responsible for coffee's being considered
potentially harmful to one's health. Contrary to coffee, Red Bull contains
pure - not roasted - caffeine. People should drink Red Bull for its
positive and stimulating effect. For examples of usage occasions please
click here. The decisive factor in determining how much caffeine is safe
is the total daily intake of caffeine and not necessarily the amount of
caffeine per drink, i.e. a can of Red Bull or a cup of coffee.

[I love the idea that the FAQ provides examples of "usage occasions"!]

 
  

    
Neil - Curious if anything good was waiting for you in that stack of
CD's you mentioned . Neither myself nor the people I've turned on to
Conlan Nancarrow would've been lucky enough if I didn't see you make
mention of him somewhere . 

If anyone else wants to recommend anything , I'd be grateful . In need
of something new . And not broke , for once . I'm very fond of the
Field Mice , Nick Drake , Gorkys Zygotic Mynci . . . love the pop . 

sined .
  

    
There's no proof that taurine does a darn thing, but it is meant to be the
magic ingredient in Red Bull.  I am: skeptical.
  

    
Three words:

XTZ brand anything.

Even the Turbo Truffles have more kick than Red Bull. 

http://www.xtz.com/goods.asp?prod=xdrinx

squeaks... whose glass heart was dropped today... dysthymia sucks
  

    
Oops!

Almost completely missed your post about Boskone Neil. (Thanks to
Margret for pointing it out to me.)

After checking out the site, I think that this is exactly what I had
in mind and so you are given fair warning to expect my smiling face
there. Again, thanks for the tip off.

On matters beardly, I have recently come to the conclusion that a
beard is something one needs to make a decision on early in one's
adulthood and stick to it. Any recent beard cultivation on my part have
tended to fail, due to maddening itching, before the crucial change
from "too lazy to shave" to "growing a beard". This is not helped by
the fact that my beard grows red, whilst my hair grows dark, nor by the
unexpected silveriness of recent attempts.

Reg
  

    
Email from Sean Michaels:

Justin - Check out the Kings of Convenience (a new, Swedish [i think] sort
of version of nick drake/belle & sebastian-style gentle acoustic guitar
pop, old Archer Prewitt albums (eg: White Sky, or In the Sun), um, also
Bonnie Prince Billy (one of Will Oldham's many projects, but the most
listenable), oh oh oh, and the Songs:Ohia album (yeah, the colon's part of
the band name), "Axxess and Ace". What else.... Damien Jurado's an awesome
singer-songwriter, Gentle Waves is a nice Belle & Sebastian side-project.
Oh - this'll be hard to find unless you're in the UK, but Kathryn
Williams, who was nominated for the Mercury along with Badly Drawn Boy,
Coldplay, etc, has been described as "Nicky Drake". A terrific female
voice.

Finally, if you're looking for a slight change of pace, I've been
completely mad, lately, for the Rachel's (who may have been mentioned here
before... they do really interesting classical-style music, with an Indie
rock kind of feel), and also Sigur Ros' 1999 release "Agaetis Byrjun"
(spellings are all slightly altered from this, as the band is icelandic).
That album is absolutely breathtaking - songs that resound with warmth,
ice, antiquity, emotion... wow. yeesh. yep. good stuff.

Er. Sorry to have gone on. When Gorky's Zygotic Minci and Mr. Nick Drake
are name-dropped, I just have to stick my head in.

Sean
  

    
Shira-- Hi!  Long time no read!

Erynn-- yeah...I pretty much did the same thing.  I _did_ take a
course in Kabbalah at Queens College, from a rabbi (supposedly) who ran
a chain of kosher pizzerias. The course was deadly boring-- no
dreamquests or golems or nothing-- maybe I should have waited till they
offered a course with a lab.  Anyway, his spiel was that if you got
through the course you got an automatic A, which I now realize was
simply his way of not grading any papers. 

Re Red Bull-- I haven't had the stuff,but the deli near me sells
superoxygenated water--7 times the amount of O as in regular water.  I
drank a bottle and felt...  I don't know, not necessarily any zippier,
but I didn't get my usual 4:00 crash either.  Placebo effect or the
real thing... who knows?

I just finished my Mixology class-- I am a certified mixologist! 
Yahoo! Time to break out the Neil-themed recipes y'all suggested.
  

    
Michelle - oh! Sorry about the glass heart. Is that metaphorical, or
literal? I had to look up dysthymia... ouch... *sending you warm
fuzzies as antidote*

On music - A band I met at Burning Man, Rosin Coven, is simply
fabulous. They're "Pagan lounge music"... which pretty much defies any
descriptors I can think of. (http://www.rosincoven.com)

Hrm... I need to re-read the Death books. I don't remember if there
are any parts in there I could beg Neil to cast me in. 

*walking the thin line between cute and annoying*
Dan
  

    
Yeah, I finally crashed...as a matter of fact, I'm still crashed. I
drank some more this morning hoping that I could get through work okay.
Nope.I'm on "auto pilot" now...coasting.Guess it was a one time thing.
Weird. I'll have to look into your link, Michelle.

Len- Kosher Pizzarias? Wow. No dreamquests or golems would definatly
be boring...takes all the fun out of it.
  

    
Hmm. Red Bull seems like something I might want to ingest during
CONvergence '02!

-shira
  

    
Sean - I've been meaning to look into that Kings of Convenience . I
made the mistake of doing a radio show at a local university , a
mistake only in that every other show was all emo/college rock all the
time , and I remember seeing something by them in there some time back
but . . . Were you as disappointed in the latest Gentle Waves record as
I was ? I'm dying waiting for the Stuart Murdoch record to be released
.

Sigur Ros are great . I think they're playing out here in Southern
California , but it's at the exact sort of huge festival which tend to
make me feel a bit ill . Thanks for reminding me that the Rachels had
even existed , though . Listening to Music for Egon Schiele for the
first time in a couple years now .

sined .
  

    
Len -- Paris 1919. No idea. I suppose if ever John Cale phones me
again, I could ask him. Did you ever get the Disney Ashman Mencken
boxed set, with all the Ahsman stuff that was cut from Aladdin? It
seemed a lot more intersting than the horridly forgettable Tim Rice
stuff that went in.

Shira -- as soon as I get the final version of the list from Harper
Collins I'll post it. (The ones up on their website change and flux, as
you may have noticed.) But there will be a Dreamhaven signing on Jul
1st, and a Barnes and Noble signing on Jul 2nd. Jul 3rd I fly to
England to start the whole thing again.

'Fraid I'm not sure who your school friend is. You could ask Lorraine.
There won't be another Guy Fawkes now till 2002, unless I do a tiny
baby one this year.

Justin -- let's see. Ryan Adams, Kid Loco, Cournu (sp? a french band),
Steve Harley's acoutsic greatest hits (oddly, not a bad album), Jim
White, lots of Chaz and the Motorbikes, the Sci-FI Channel's SNOW GLASS
APPLES on CD, and possibly a few things I've forgotten. Nothing
world-changing, but all good stuff.

Reg -- you're welcome.

Len -- I think placebo effects are misnamed, have done since I read an
article (in the Sceptical Enquirer of all things, grumbling about
people thinking things 'worked' when it was 'only placebo effect')
which stated that in the clinical trials of Rogaine, it regrew hair in
62% of cases, while the placebo sample only regrew hair in 51% of
cases. And I thought, hang on, this isn;t just "feeling better", this
is over half of the people who took a sugar pill regrew hair because
they thought they would...

congrats on the mixology.

...

Am in Las Vegas to talk to Borders people. Spent this evening at the
latest Penn and Teller show. Wandered along with them to a rave to see
Ouchie the S&M clown. Then came back to my hotel room to post this and
put something up on the Blogger journal, and go to bed. G'night.