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| Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 | |
freakytrigger
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2:59p |
HAUNTOGRAPHY: The Treasure of Abbot Thomas
http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/hauntography-the-treasure-of-abbot-thomas/ http://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16653 You probably want to read The Treasure of Abbot Thomas before you read this.
 In M R James’s universe everyone who matters is fluent in Latin. It’s not so for the modern reader – or at least this modern reader – and there’s an interesting gap left between the Latin that he so liberally scatters throughout his stories, and the translations we read.
The Treasure of Abbot Thomas begins with some big chunks of Latin, which our antiquarian protagonist – Mr Somerton – gets straight down to translating. What he ends up with isn’t immediately clear to him, either, but he follows up the clues within and is lured into a hunt for buried treasure, departing to parts foreign, and for now out of our sight.
Some interpretation – if not translation – is also needed for the missive that opens part two of the story; Mr Somerton, away on the continent, has gotten himself into a pickle, and his manservant writes to the rector for help. The grammar, spelling and punctuation of this letter are very much at odds with the careful and precise language elsewhere in the story; it jars. (I think there’s plenty of scope for looking at how servants’ speech stands out like a sore thumb in these stories, but that’s for another time.) The rector makes quick sense of the letter, hops on the next boat out, and arrives to find his antiquarian friend enfeebled and in fear of some yet nameless horror. Recounting the events that have so rattled him are beyond him, and he begs the rector to first carry out a task – kept hidden from the reader. That accomplished, he settles down to tell his tale.
What a romp of buried treasure it is! Coded messages in stained glass windows, and ciphers to be puzzled out, lead us at last to treasure buried down a well. Mr Somerton’s curiosity, and maybe a touch of avarice, ensnares him. He cannot resist it – who could? – and follows the trail to its moonlight conclusion, where at last we’re introduced to the villain and the monster of this tale. The treasure is guarded by a some supernatural creature. It slips its tentacled arms around the neck of our poor antiquarian, just as he’s reaching for his haul, driving him nearly insane with the cthulhuesque horror of it all.
The rector and the servant are dispatched to replace the treasure in the well. It’s back where it was, hidden behind a slab of stone and covered over with mud. The demon can cease to hound Mr Somerton. All is well.
Or is it? The very ending of the story is in Latin, and leaves us straddling one of those little gaps of comprehension. The rector mentions – just mentions – that Somerton must have missed an inscription above the treasure-hole.
It was a horrid, grotesque shape — perhaps more like a toad than anything else, and there was a label by it inscribed with the two words, “Depositum custodi.”
And here it ends. The footnote, upon which my ignorant self depends for on-the-fly interpretations, translates Depositum custodi as Keep that which is committed to thee. How ambigious is that! What’s committed? To whom? Is the treasure committed to the tentacled, slithery guardian, and will it sleep easy now they’re walled up again? Or is that creature now committed to our unfortunate Mr Somerton. It – or something – has already been rattling the doors at night, and causing unpleasant dreams. Will there be easier sleep after the story concludes, or does the haunting continue after the book’s been closed?
The placing of this phrase at the end of the tale seems incredibly open-ended to me. I’m a dweller in the world of sequels, and of hydra-like monsters who rise again for one last attack just as the heroes have relaxed and turned their backs (walking away to wipe up the blood, patch themselves up). No twenty first century demon would let itself be walled up without a confrontation. But I think I’m reading too much into such a woolly translation of just two words. I do a quick trawl of a handful of online Latin dictionaries – and quiz a friend on what they remember of their long-ago GCSE Latin – and it seems to be that a clearer translation would be ‘Guard this thing I’ve left in your keeping’. That’s far less ambiguous. The demon’s the guardian of the treasure, and the treasure’s sealed up whwere it should be. The demon can kick back, relax, and get back to doing whatever it is demons like to do in dark dank holes.
Here monsters stay dispatched or dismissed, and if you’re alive at the end of the story – not everyone is – you’ve probably lived to tell the tale (from a roaring fireside, with a comforting glass of brandy to hand, on a dark and stormy winters’ night, no doubt). Mr Somerton might prefer to leave the stained glass windows for a while, and focus on pews, or baptismal fonts, or some other aspect of ecclesiastical architecture . I doubt he’ll sleep all too well for the next few months, but it won’t be supernatural scratchings that keep him awake. This tale ends here. There’s just the slightest whisper of sequel potential. The antique books and stained glass windows still exist, and the demon is back with the treasure, ready to wind its hideous tentacles around the neck of the next hapless treasure hunter. |
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freakytrigger
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12:31p |
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freakytrigger
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12:12p |
Bleu de Termignon (cheesy lover #59)
http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/bleu-de-termignon-cheesy-lover-59/ http://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16655 Blue raw cow’s milk cheese, made high up on a French alp, and bought from Mons.
Lunch is a thin wedge of this odd-looking cheese. The outer third the of the cheese is blue, and further towards the center it’s a soft pale crumbly primrose yellow. There’s not much veining in the blue, as such – it’s dense and widespread enough that the cheese itself appears to be a marbled, mottled blue colour. This cheese isn’t pierced with a blue mould – instead the blue mould is left to work its way in naturally.
I start to eat this from the centre outwards. The cheese is soft and moist, with a crumbly, granular texture. It’s slightly tart and acidic, and nutty and fudgey, especially towards the rind. It tastes of bubblegum and flowers, and also wonderfully buttery. As I nibble along my slice, from centre to edge, the cheese suddenly starts to taste blue. It’s very mellow. All the sweet, tart, floral flavours of the inside are still pinging about, but with an overlay of gently spicy blue. The rind, when I reach the outside, is crumby and sandy, and not all that interesting to eat. The rest of the cheese is, though! It’s subtle and delicious, and unusual – like no other blue cheese I’ve ever tried. |
| Monday, December 21st, 2009 | |
monitor_mix
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1:23p |
Rage Against The Machine Rages (And Wins) Against Simon Cowell
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2009/12/rage_against_the_machine_ragea.html?ft=1&f=15710080 It truly is a Christmas miracle!
For the past four years, a Simon Cowell (American Idol) act has ruled the U.K. chart at Christmastime. It was topped by Shayne Ward in 2005, Leona Lewis in 2006, Leon Jackson in 2007 and Alexandra Burke in 2008.
This year, Cowell planned on another easy victory with his X-Factor artist Joe McElderry's Christmas song "The Climb." But Rage Against The Machine had other plans for Cowell. The band joined an online campaign urging fans to buy its song "Killing in the Name," which had been originally released back in 1992. The song contains the memorable line, "F--- you, I won't do what you tell me."
According to the Telegraph U.K.:
"Morello, the band's guitarist, joined in by posting on Twitter: "Rage's Killing in the Name & the X-Factor's goofy Christmas single are neck and neck for num one spot on UK chart. England! Now is your time."
The RATM campaign began with a Facebook group which asked: "Fed up of Simon Cowell's latest karaoke act being Christmas No 1? Me too... So who's up for a mass-purchase of the track Killing In The Name as a protest to the X Factor monotony?"
Cowell was supposedly angered by Rage's antics, calling its attempts at thwarting McElderry's chances "stupid" and "cynical." You can read the entire Telegraph piece here.
Well, Cowell must really be furious, because Rage Against The Machine won! That's right, its 1992 song sold more than 500,000 copies this past week, while McElderry's song fell short of the top spot, with 450,000.
According to the NME: "In taking the title for 2009, 'Killing in the Name' also set two new landmarks, becoming the U.K.'s first download-only Christmas Number One and notching up the biggest one-week download sales total in British chart history, according to the Official Charts Company."
On RATM's Web site, the band posted this statement in response to its No. 1 single:
"We've shown that we can make a difference and that you don't have a right to Number One just because Simon Cowell says so, especially with a bad cover!
Finally I would like to say thank you to all of you, we've raised 64,726.00 pounds for Shelter at the time of writing this, the difference that this will make to peoples lives is truly amazing.
We gotta take the power back - Rage Against The Machine - Merry Christmas."
Merry Christmas, indeed!
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monitor_mix
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1:13p |
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freakytrigger
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3:45p |
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freakytrigger
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3:20p |
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freakytrigger
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9:10a |
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| Sunday, December 20th, 2009 | |
freakytrigger
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7:33p |
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| Saturday, December 19th, 2009 | |
freakytrigger
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7:54p |
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| Friday, December 18th, 2009 | |
monitor_mix
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12:32p |
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monitor_mix
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11:35a |
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freakytrigger
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2:44p |
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freakytrigger
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2:00p |
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| Thursday, December 17th, 2009 | |
freakytrigger
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9:56p |
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monitor_mix
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10:32a |
I Just Heard A Band That I Like: Yellow Fever
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2009/12/new_band_alert_yellow_fever.html?ft=1&f=15710080 
Yellow Fever from Austin, Texas.
Sometimes, I do listen to the promo CDs that arrive at my house. Ever since the Yellow Fever disc showed up a week or so ago, I've been curious about it. I think the reference to Young Marble Giants in the one-sheet helped. But usually those "If you like Mott the Hoople, you'll love Hot Maple" descriptors are a joke, not to mention way off base. And, yes, I'm a sucker for animals (Yellow Fever's album cover depicts two), but I also know that animals -- particularly in illustration form -- are a cheap shot, so to speak. I mean, if I loved every band who put a cute animal on its artwork, well, I wouldn't be writing for NPR. (But I might be a happier person, hmmm...)
Anyway, I finally did get around to listening to Yellow Fever, and I like it! The vocals immediately reminded me of Mira Billotte from Quix*O*Tic and White Magic, who's been one of my favorite singers for a long time.
Yellow Fever plays haunted-house surf music. Or minimalist opera. You decide.
Listen to "Culver City" by Yellow Fever. To hear more of Yellow Fever, check out the band's page on MySpace.
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freakytrigger
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2:43p |
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freakytrigger
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2:35p |
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freakytrigger
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1:54p |
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freakytrigger
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9:10a |
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| Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 | |
freakytrigger
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8:15p |
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freakytrigger
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5:09p |
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| Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 | |
monitor_mix
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2:39p |
Vote For Your Favorite 'Build A Body Out Of Bands' Illustration
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2009/12/vote_for_your_favorite_build_a.html?ft=1&f=15710080 A few weeks ago, with your help, we tried to build an entire body out of band names. After we compiled the names -- and there were many! -- I asked people to send in illustrations of this "body."
Here were the rules: One could use ALL of the band names -- by building a figure out of strategically placed words -- or he or she could choose a specific band name for each body part. (For instance, a body with a Radiohead, Flaming Lips and Nine Inch Nails.)
I received seven entries, all of which are shown below. Some of the artists sent me a list of the band/musician names they used; others did not. (It wasn't required.) I decided to let the pieces speak for themselves, because it seemed more fun to try to figure out the hidden band names.
The winner will be featured on the front of the NPR Music home page, his or her piece will become the Monitor Mix blog header for a week, and he or she will receive an NPR Music tote bag full of fabulous prizes. So please review the illustrations below and then vote for your favorite. Voting will close on Sunday, Dec. 20, at 5 p.m. ET. Thanks to everyone who participated!
Can you figure out which body part is which band? You can use this helpful PDF for reference and tell us in the comments!
1. Abigail Halpin
2. Cameron Norbert
3. Chris Ayers
4. Nicholas Leitzke
5. Michelle Andrade
6. Monster Mix
7. Zia Luehrman
[ Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<img [...] <br>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.] <p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2009/12/vote_for_your_favorite_build_a.html?ft=1&f=15710080">http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2009/12/vote_for_your_favorite_build_a.html?ft=1&f=15710080</a></p><p>A few weeks ago, with your help, we tried to <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2009/10/build_a_body_with_bands.html">build an entire body</a> out of band names. After we compiled the names -- <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/Body.pdf">and there were many!</a> -- I asked people to<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2009/12/build_a_body_with_bands_illust_2.html"> send in illustrations</a> of this "body."</p>
<p>Here were the rules: One could use ALL of the band names -- by building a figure out of strategically placed words -- or he or she could choose a specific band name for each body part. (For instance, a body with a Radiohead, Flaming Lips and Nine Inch Nails.) </p>
<p>I received seven entries, all of which are shown below. Some of the artists sent me a list of the band/musician names they used; others did not. (It wasn't required.) I decided to let the pieces speak for themselves, because it seemed more fun to try to figure out the hidden band names. </p>
<p>The winner will be featured on the front of the NPR Music home page, his or her piece will become the Monitor Mix blog header for a week, and he or she will receive an NPR Music tote bag full of fabulous prizes. So please review the illustrations below and then vote for your favorite. Voting will close on Sunday, Dec. 20, at 5 p.m. ET. Thanks to everyone who participated! </p>
<p><strong>Can you figure out which body part is which band? You can use <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/Body.pdf" target="_blank">this helpful PDF for reference</a> and <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2009/12/vote_for_your_favorite_build_a.html#commentBlock">tell us in the comments!</strong></a></p>
<p><strong><br />
1. Abigail Halpin</strong><br />
<img alt="Abigail%20Halpin2.jpg" src="http://media.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/Abigail%20Halpin2.jpg" width="600" height="938" /><br />
<strong><br />
2. Cameron Norbert</strong><br />
<img alt="Cameron%20Norbert2.jpg" src="http://media.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/Cameron%20Norbert2.jpg" width="600" height="776" /><br />
<strong><br />
3. Chris Ayers</strong><br />
<img alt="Chris%20Ayers2.jpg" src="http://media.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/Chris%20Ayers2.jpg" width="600" height="777" /><br />
<strong><br />
4. Nicholas Leitzke<br />
</strong><img alt="Nicholas%20Leitzke2.jpg" src="http://media.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/Nicholas%20Leitzke2.jpg" width="600" height="390" /><br />
<strong>5. Michelle Andrade</strong><br />
<img alt="Michelle%20Andrade2.jpg" src="http://media.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/Michelle%20Andrade2.jpg" width="600" height="803" /><br />
<strong><br />
6. Monster Mix</strong><br />
<img alt="monstermix3.jpg" src="http://media.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/monstermix3.jpg" width="600" height="436" /><br />
<strong>7. Zia Luehrman</strong><br />
<img alt="Zia%20Luehrman2.jpg" src="http://media.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/Zia%20Luehrman2.jpg" width="600" height="827" <br />
<em><br />
All works are copyright by the artists and cannot be used without permission.</em></p>
<div class="TWIIGSPOLL"> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.twiigs.com/poll.js?pid=45709&color=orangedark"></script> <div class="TWIIGSPOLLpolllink" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: none; border-style: none; clear: none; display: block; float: none; position: static; visibility: visible; height: auto; line-height: normal; width: auto; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left: 0; outline-style: none; padding-top: 0; padding-right: 0; padding-bottom: 0; padding-left: 0; clip: auto; overflow: hidden; vertical-align: baseline; z-index: auto; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: right; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0; text-shadow: none; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: normal;"> <a class="TWIIGSPOLLmorelink" href="http://www.twiigs.com/" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: none; border-style: none; clear: none; display: inline; float: none; position: static; visibility: visible; height: auto; line-height: normal; width: auto; margin-top: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left: 0; outline-style: none; padding-top: 0; padding-right: 0; padding-bottom: 0; padding-left: 0; clip: auto; overflow: hidden; vertical-align: baseline; z-index: auto; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0; text-shadow: none; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: normal; font-weight: bold;">poll by twiigs.com</a> </div> </div>
<p><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2009/12/vote_for_your_favorite_build_a.html#email">» E-Mail This</a> <a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2009/12/vote_for_your_favorite_build_a.html">» Add to Del.icio.us</a>
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| Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 | |
freakytrigger
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9:55a |
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| Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 | |
freakytrigger
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9:17p |
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blue_russian's Friends Page
What a lovely day for an adventure with BEARS. WarBears that is. A lot of flash games are there for a 1 minute distracting thrill while a progress bar makes its slow way to the end. But If you fancy actively dodging more work, and why not, everyone else is on Facebook and eating Quality Street, here are some 20 minutes point-and-click adventures with a cute team of techno-ninja bears. Features thrills and excitement, but probably mostly frustration at the unpredicatable, but cute, consequences of your actions.