Author Archives: Morgan Mussell

Fairytales in the 21st Century

Posted on by
Reply

Arthur Rackham, untitled, 1904. Public domain.

When you look at our culture, it seems like fairytales have never been more popular.  “Grimm” and “Once Upon a Time” are starting their second television season.  Earlier this year, we had two movie versions of Sleeping Beauty.  Young adult paranormal stories remain popular with readers of all ages, and I’m currently reading a 1994 collection of classic fairytales retold by some of the best modern fantasy authors.  The book, Black Thorn, White Rose, by editors Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, was reissued as a kindle edition and features challenging tales by authors like Nancy Kress, Patricia Wrede, and Jane Yolen.

Snow White begs for mercy. From an 1852 Icelandic version. Public doman.

The old stories call out to us with their promise of depth as the stuff and fluff of modern life fails to satisfy the yearnings of the soul.  Yet according to Wolfgang Mieder, professor of German and folklore at the University of Vermont, we’re missing a critical element that earlier generations possessed, and the loss is related to the flood of tales we have today.  “Everybody reads different stories and we no longer know the same fairytales. The connecting element is lost,” says Mieder.  He is optimistic about the survival of fairytales, but questions the way we now receive them.

Mieder, a German-American, won the 2012 European Fairytale Prize and has studied the social significance of fairytales for more than 40 years.  After high school, he traveled to the US from Germany to study mathematics, but a seminar in German folklore changed his life’s direction.  Folklore became very personal for him.  He recalls that in Germany, “In the 1950s you used to be given a colorful picture as a gift when you bought margarine, which I made a lot of effort to collect and paste in my album. With the album I got to know the world of fairytales.”

Wolfgang Mieder. CC-by-SA-3.0

Mieder, who has authored 200 publications and 500 articles, want his students to find the same personal connection to the old stories.  This can be hampered by the sheer volume of folklore appearing on TV, movies, and the internet.  Will the glut of information detract from the impact of stories that generations of people heard aloud in the flickering firelight?  Mieder is hopeful – he has observed a new interest in oral telling of old stories.

This is something I have experienced, both as a story teller and listener.  All over the world, it was largely during the dark months when the stories were told, and now we have a world-wide celebration of stories each November.

In 1988, J.G. Pinkerton, of the Connecticut Storytelling Center, imagined a night of storytelling, which he called Tellebration, to build community support for storytelling.  That year stories were told in six locations throughout the state.  By 1997, there were Tellebration events on every continent except Antarctica.

Tellebration is held on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, November 17 this year.  You can search for events near you – or even organize and register your own – at this site, hosted by the National Storytelling Network: http://www.tellabration.org/index.html

You can access the full article on Wolfgang Wieder here: http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,16234957,00.html

And finally, to see a wonderful site devoted to fairytales and folklore – the place where I found the Wieder article – visit the “Sur La Lune Fairy Tales Blog,” listed on my blogroll.

And finally-finally, as in really finally, I’ll be devoting next week to exploring some old stories and oral tradition. I’ll be largely or entirely unwired for the duration, but I promise you will hear more about this in upcoming posts.

Arthur Rackham, The Three Bears. Public domain.

Nerds with time on their hands: The Popinator

Posted on by
5

The Popinator prototype – under development at Popcorn Indiana

An article in the Huffington Post food section puts it like this: “The problem with popcorn these days, is that it doesn’t pop directly into your mouth as nature intended.”

No more! Intrepid engineers at Popcorn Indiana have a working prototype of a voice activated popcorn cannon that calculates the trajectory to your mouth and launches a kernel when you say, “Pop.”

I am seriously encouraged by the Popinator.  Who says America has lost its edge?  Creativity, engineering prowess, and humor – a potent combination!

Posted on by
Reply

This is post #17 in a series of reflections on spirituality and living that fellow blogger, Jason, has been posting every Monday. Each post relates to a letter of the alphabet. Who knew that “Q” could generate such a useful series of thoughts that are both timely and timeless? – Morgan

Jason E. Marshall's avatarLiving In The Now

This is my seventeenth post in a series, where each Monday (if possible) I will post about a point of reflection or insight that I will use to reflect and meditate on during the week. In order to make it a bit more focused and interesting, I will attempt to do this with topics beginning with letters from A to Z. I have often found that having a specific topic to reflect and/or meditate on during the week really lends itself to interesting insights and growth, because you not only have several days to reflect and meditate on the topic, but you have several days to put any lessons and insights that you discover to work in your every day life. For those that follow me on Twitter (@JasonLivingNow) I will try to write updates as the weekly topics come up during meditations, moments of reflection, or just during everyday…

View original post 862 more words

This day in history: the battle of Antietam

Posted on by
2

Near Dunker’s Church, Antietam. Photo by Alexander Gardner. Public domain.

One hundred and fifty years ago today, Union and Confederate forces clashed at Antietm Creek, near Sharpsburg, MD, in what remains the bloodiest day in American history.  By sunset, 23,000 men lay dead or wounded.  They fell in a cornfield, along a sunken road, and beside a stone bridge – places where George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac confronted Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in the latter’s first incursion into Union territory.  Based on opposition to the war in the north, Lee assumed – perhaps correctly – that a southern victory in Union territory might push the Federal government to peace negotiations.

In one of those moments in history that seem providential in retrospect, on the morning of Sept 13, Corporal Barton W. Mitchell of the 27th Indiana Volunteers found a packet of three cigars wrapped in what proved to be a copy of Lee’s battle plan.  Understanding the importance of his find, Corporal Barton sent the papers up through the ranks.  Upon reading them, McClellan was gleeful and said, “Here is a paper with which, if I cannot whip Bobby Lee, I will be willing to go home.”  He moved his army to intercept Lee near Sharpsburg.

Lee’s army of 55,000 was outnumbered 2-1, but the ever-cautious McClellan committed only 3/4 of his forces, allowing Lee to match him by shifting his own troops across the field as the advantage swung back and forth.  There was no clear winner.  After skirmishes throughout the following day, Lee withdrew from Maryland.

Lincoln fired McClellan for failing to pursue Lee, yet driving the southern troops from northern soil was victory enough for the president to release the Emancipation Proclamation.  Lincoln had been waiting for a northern victory to free the slaves, so the move would not be interpreted as a sign of desperation.  He had a long wait, for the south was largely unbeaten early in the war.  Though abolitionists criticized Lincoln for delaying emancipation, Antietam marked the moment when the war became about something greater than simply preventing secession.

One other consequence of the battle was the publication of battlefield photographs by Alexander Gardner.  Within a month of Antietam, civilians saw the price the soldiers were paying.

Confederate dead in the sunken road. Photo by Alexander Gardner. Public domain.

It’s always moving and worthwhile to remember the sacrifices earlier generations made in the name of ideals that underpin our way of life.  Especially in our current election year, characterized in the media as full of divisiveness, when we remember Antietam, we can reflect how the nation has experienced and overcome divisions far deeper than any we see today.

If Gardner’s photos preserve the tragedy of the civil war, the following clip immortalizes resilience, strength, and hope.  Taken in 1938, on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, it shows veterans of the north and south meeting again at the wall on Cemetery Ridge – in a very different spirit than their first encounter.

Posted on by
2

I’m not a real active Facebook user, but even I have recently scratched my head at posts on my newsfeed from entities I’ve never liked or friended. Maggie has the answer – “sponsored stories,” a newly implemented FB practice that allows pages to pay-for-“reach.” And here we naively thought all posts were created equal – HA! Show ’em da money! – Morgan

Maggie O'Toole's avatarMaggie (Not Margaret)

Or, Sponsored Stories are Bad News for Facebook Users

Recently, my Facebook reach has been rather down.  What, I’m I suddenly not as interesting?  Are my pictures not as good?  My posts not as funny?  Although Facebook doesn’t provide individual users with stats about their posts’ engagement and reach, I can tell you what my graph would look like – like a plane crashing from 30,000 feet.

For a while, I was thinking that this was a personal problem – that I’d been so fussed on school and work that I’d let my social media presence slip.  I didn’t even want to think about my Klout score.  Then friends started mentioning that they were experiencing lower engagement, as well.  I started seeing, “Hello, can anyone see this?” posts.  Then I noticed that the same problem was happening on the pages that I admin.

View original post 539 more words

Tempest – Bob Dylan’s latest recording

Posted on by
2

Bob Dylan in concert in Spain, 2010, CC-by-2.0

Fifty years after his first album, Bob Dylan, 71, has released Tempest, his 35th studio album, to critical acclaim.  Over half a century, Dylan has never repeated himself.

Randal Roberts of The LA Times says,  “Dylan lives in every molecule of our being, has taught us about lyrical possibility, has reveled in the joy of words and the power and glory of making things up from scratch. To learn that a new Dylan project is in the works is to know that there’s a good chance your brain will be forever changed by at least one new rhyming couplet, snarling oath or graceful guitar line. On “Tempest,”…there are many such moments.”

The songs range from light to dark, from blues to ballad, from topical references to phrases borrowed from Child ballads, all resonating to Dylan’s unique and raspy voice.

“Scarlet Town,” echoes the “Barbara Allen,” where Sweet William on his deathbed lies, but veers away from easy interpretation, much like the inviting but ultimately opaque American folklore references in Dylan’s much earlier, John Wesley Harding, 1967.  Then and now, the poetry is Dylan’s own:

Scarlet Town, in the hot noon hours,
There’s palm-leaf shadows and scattered flowers
Beggars crouching at the gate
Help comes, but it comes too late
By marble slabs and in fields of stone
You make your humble wishes known
I touched the garment, but the hem was torn
In Scarlet Town, where I was born

The title song, “Tempest,” is a 14 minute ballad about Titanic, phrased as a waltz that echoes the rolling of waves as it borrows The Carter Family’s “Titanic.”

The night was black with starlight
The seas were sharp and clear
Moving through the shadows
The promised hour was near

Lights were holding steady
Gliding over the foam
All the lords and ladies
Heading for their eternal home

Tempest opens with a blues number, “Duquesne Whistle,” written with Robert Hunter, The Grateful Dead lyricist.  It’s followed by the angry and topical “Early Roman Kings.”  There is “Roll on John,” a tribute to John Lennon, “Tin Angel,” a song of murder and suicide, and it ends with “Soon After Midnight,” which sounds like a slow song at the end of a high school dance.

If you’ve ever enjoyed Dylan’s music; if like Randal Roberts it has “forever changed your brain,” I urge you to check out the songs online. I bet you’ll download some or all of cuts, and marvel at the phenomenon of an artist who has continued to grow over fifty years.

Our longest serving independent senator

Posted on by
4

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Public Domain photo.

On September 7, Bill Moyers interviewed Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent senator for five years who served 16 years before that in the House of Representatives.  Before going to Washington, he spent four years as mayor of Burlington, which was judged one of the most livable cities in the country.

Sanders is proud that his last campaign was financed by 130,000 individual donors who gave an average of $40 each.  This goes to the heart of his recommendation to fix what is most broken in our government:  a constitutional amendment repealing Citizens United.  So far, legislatures and governors in six states have voiced support for such an amendment, and millions of people have signed petitions, 200,000 of them on Sanders’ website alone.

“It is going to be a long process,” Sanders admits.  He goes on to say, “I think in the process we’re going to educate the American people about one of the most serious problems facing this country. And that is that virtually no piece of legislation will get passed in Congress unless it has the okay of corporate America and big money interest. So the corrupting, absolute corrupting impact of big money is something we have to address.”

For those living outside our borders or tuning out the political process entirely, Citizens United was a 2010 decision by the U.S. Supreme court ruling that the First Amendment (freedom of speech) prohibits the government from restricting political contributions by entities like corporations, unions or political action committees (PAC’s).  All attempts at campaign finance reform became void, and several important recent elections have gone to the side that raised the most money.  Sanders told Moyers, “I fear very much that if we don’t turn this around, we’re heading toward an oligarchic form of society.” 

People across the political system seem to agree.  Sixty-four municipalities in Vermont sent resolutions to congress calling for an amendment.  I seem to remember hearing of similar efforts underway in as many as 20 states.  As a concrete step, Sanders’ suggestion carries a lot more weight and plausibility than vague calls to abandon existing political parties and form new ones.  That doesn’t seem feasible on our current playing field.

For me, Bernie Sanders discussion with Moyers was a bright moment in an otherwise dismal political season.  You can find the video and a transcript here.  http://billmoyers.com/segment/bernie-sanders-on-the-independent-in-politics/

*** Update, Sept 14, 2012***

Here is a link to Senator Sanders’ official website: http://www.sanders.senate.gov.

There’s a link to the Moyer’s interview and a button labelled, “Overturn Citizens United.” If you click it, you’ll find a map showing local efforts across the nation, as well as info on how to add your local group information to the list. It’s really encouraging to see that we are not alone in our outrage.

The 2012 Ig Nobel Prizes

Posted on by
3

There’s still time to get tickets for the September 20 Ig Nobel Prize award ceremony at Harvard, where ten researchers will receive recognition for unusual discoveries.  The prizes are the brainchild of Marc Abrahams, editor and co-founder of “The Annals of Improbable Research” and author of a new book, This is Improbable: Cheese String Theory, Magnetic Chickens and Other WTF Research.

The ten Ig Nobel winners, whose identity has not been revealed, will receive their certificates from “real” Nobel laureates.  According to Abrahams, some dedicated scientists hold awards in both categories.  He cites Andre Geim  and Michael Berry, two UK physicists, who won an Ig Nobel in 2000 for using magnets to levitate a frog.  Ten years later, Geim and a student won a Nobel prize for producing graphene (two-dimensional carbon) in sufficient quantities to study.

Dr. Elena Bodnar, with her Ig Nobel prize winning bra that quickly converts to a protective face mask.

Past Ig Nobel winners who plan to attend this years ceremony include Dr. Bodnar, pictured above, as well as:

  • L. Mahadevan, a Harvard professor, for a “mathematico-physics analysis of how sheets get wrinkled.”
  • Dr. Richard Gustafson for research: “The failure of self-administered automobile-engine-supplied-electric-shock treatment for rattlesnake envenomation resulting from patient’s pet rattlesnake biting the patient on the lip.
  • Dr. Francis Fesmire, for an article in The Annals of Emergency Medicine entitled, “Digital rectal massage as a cure for intractable hiccups.”

Basile Audoly and Sebastien Neukirch won a 2006 Ig Nobel for research on why spaghetti, when broken, often splits into more than two pieces.

  • Dan Mayer for an article on the medical effects of sword swallowing.
  • John Perry of Stanford for his “Theory of Structured Procrastination.”
  • Don Featherstone, creator of the pink plastic flamenco.
  • Glenda Browne of Blaxland, Australia, for her study of the word “the” and the problems it creates for people who try to alphabetize things.

Marc Abrahams

Marc Abrahams says the Ig Nobel committee is looking for research and inventions that make people laugh and then make them think.  “We also hope to spur people’s curiosity, and to raise the question: How do you decide what’s important and what’s not, and what’s real and what’s not — in science and everywhere else?”

A very good question! To learn more about this year’s prizes, check here: http://www.improbable.com/ig/2012/