More on Trebuchets

Two months ago, Rob Koelling posted on a contemporary working trebuchet--a medieval siege weapon which launched projectiles. The current issue of Archaeology contains an interview with Peter Vemming, an archaeologist and medieval weapons expert who is constructing a 22-ton 14th c. trebuchet in southern England this summer.

In Reconstructing Medieval Artillery, Vemming talks about the current popularity of counterweight trebuchets which he calls "simple and reliable technology" and about the experience of creating and operating a full-size model.

Laptop Hazards :: Pain & Loss

While most of us who use laptops love their portability and the way we can use them via wifi all over the Northwest College campus, laptops carry some hazards with them--in particular, injuries and theft.

Two recent articles highlight these problems. CNET News.com's article "Is your laptop a pain in the neck?" reports that repetitive strain injuries, burns, and neck/shoulder problems from laptop use are rising among younger people, leading--sometimes--to serious injuries and disability leaves.

The CNET article urges users to use an ounce of prevention, including the following:

• "The use of peripherals such as docking stations, separate keyboards and mice is probably the easiest way to avoid neck and shoulder trouble. . . . The ideal height of the monitor is about 20 degrees below horizontal eye level, or 8 inches below eye level at a 20 inch viewing distance."
• Special pads and trays can help avoid burns from the bottom of laptops. [Also see Cornell University's "Hot Laptops Cause Problems for Users."]
  
• Repetive injuries can be avoided by "Taking short breaks every 20 to 30 minutes, stretching, eating healthy and exercise."

Cornell University's Ergonomics Web offers useful laptop suggestions at "5 Tips for Using a Laptop Computer." Laptops aren't the only culprits; any computer use can lead to similar health issues. Cornell University also has a terrifically useful article called "Ergonomic Guidelines for Arranging a Computer Workstation-10 Steps for Users."

Ergocise.com offers a page of wrist and arm warm-ups and stretches for keyboard users. I've used many of these same exercises for years to help my overworked, mouse-clicking, right wrist.

The second serious laptop problem is theft, of both administrators' and students' laptops. The Chronicle of Higher Education's Wired Campus Blog reports that a university laptop loaded with 37,000 students' social security numbers and addresses went missing (13May05). A similar event happened at Cleveland State U. , where a stolen laptop contained the social security numbers of 44,000 students (08Jun05).

Besides these campus security problems, campuses all over the country report a rise in the loss of student laptops to theft. To help combat the problem,software companies have created programs such as Computrace and zTrace Gold which help secure and track a stolen laptop computer.

Our Living Language

Oxford University Press has just published The New Oxford American Dictionary, Second Edition, which contains 2,000 new words . . . everything from Abdullah II to Zyban.

Oxford University Press provided The Resource Shelf with the entire list of new words and definitions, so check it out to learn about new words such as adultescent, eustress, and plotzed.

Elizabeth 1: Ruler and Legend

At left: One of many "Sieve Portraits," which are representations of Elizabeth's chastity (Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena, c. 1580-83)

From August 17 to September 30, 2005, the Powell Branch Library will host the traveling exhibit for the Newberry Library's Elizabeth 1: Ruler and Legend, an exhibit commemorating the 400th anniversary of her death. According to the Newberry, "This exhibition explores the life and reign of this remarkable queen, examining how her unique personality was forged and why her legend has endured."

In Chicago, the full exhibit has become a record-breaking success for the Newberry. According to one news service, it is "The largest and most comprehensive North American event centered on the British monarch" and has drawn diverse audiences.

In Powell, the exhibit has a number of associated programs, including a Renaissance Fair at the end of August. Here's the schedule of events:

• Children's Program, Homesteader Museum, Thursday, 11Aug05, 2 pm
• Grand Opening Reception, Powell Branch Library, Sunday, 21Aug05, 7 pm
• Elizabethan Middle Class, Washington Park Bandshell, Friday, 26Aug05, 7 pm; presented in character by historical re-creators Jerry & Susan Shinn
  
• Renaissance Fair, Washington Park, Saturday, 27Aug05, 11 am - 8 pm
• Life & Times of Elizabeth 1 (lecture), Hinckley Library, Northwest College, 15Sep05, 7 pm
• Elizabethan Culture (panel discussion), Fagerberg lecture Hall, Northwest College, 20Sep05, 7 pm
  

The exhibit is made possible through grants from the Newberry Library, the American Library Association, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Excellent background materials are available from the Newberry Library, including links and factsheets.

Movie Scripts

BLACK SCREEN
SUPER: New Line Cinema Presents
SUPER: A Wingnut Films Production

BLACK CONTINUES... ELVISH SINGING....A WOMAN'S VOICE IS whispering, tinged with SADNESS and REGRET:

GALADRIEL (V.O.)
(Elvish: subtitled)

"I amar prestar sen: han mathon ne nen, han mathon ne chae...a han noston ned wilith."

(English:)

The world is changed: I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, I smell it in the air...Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it.

SUPER: THE LORD OF THE RINGS
EXT. PROLOGUE -- DAY IMAGE: FLICKERING FIRELIGHT. The NOLDORIN FORGE in EREGION. MOLTEN GOLD POURS from the lip of an IRON LADLE.

GALADRIEL (V.O.)

It began with the forging of the Great Rings.
_______________________________

Thus begins the script for The Lord of The Rings. For those interested in film, the Internet Movie Script Database is a wonderful resource which offers access to hundreds of movie scripts for free.

Children's Books - Spring 2005

I love children's literature, and I rejoice when The New York Times publishes its semi-annual Children's Books Section that rounds up the latest offerings.

Among this spring's selections are three terrific-sounding books on Egypt, including How the Amazon Queen Fought the Prince of Egypt, written and illustrated by Tamara Bower (ages 7-11), based on an actual Egyptian scroll that dates from the Greco-Roman period. At left is a detail from an illustration depicting Queen Serpot as she plans her defense against invading Egyptians. Her plan includes she and her advisors disguising themselves as men and infiltrating the Egyptian forces. For those of us looking for positive female models in children's lit, this book offers plenty: "Serpot led her troops. She fought like a bird of prey, like a raging leopard. Each Amazon fought like 10 men. The Egyptians dropped their weapons and fled."

Other featured books include a posthumous Runny Babbit from Shel Silverstein, a death-cheating fairy tale from Hans Christian Andersen given a new setting in China ( Amy Lowry Poole's The Pea Blossom), and H. L. Panahi's Bebop Express (illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher). Be sure to check out the Times's multimedia presentation on Bebop Express.

The Wonderful Parody

A parody is an imitation of another creative work (be it literature, music, film, or art) which usually aims to amuse by distorting the original. Some parodies are satiric and aim to criticize or even ridicule the original; other parodies are more gentle and amuse without attacking the original. A parody accomplishes its effect by maintaining the style and approach of the original while substituting a very different content.

Parodies abound. The heart and soul of Mad Magazine has always been the parody, and its parodies of movies and television shows are legendary. In this great cover on Friends, Mad makes a few crucial changes to the cast. (See Doug Gilford's Mad Cover Site for a wonderful collection of Mad Covers.)

A performer who has made his career off the parody is "Weird Al" Yankovic, who imortalized Michael Jackson's hit "Beat It" with his parody "Eat It." (Michael Jackson has been particularly vulnerable to the parody. Even Jackson's current legal troubles are not off limits, as demonstrated by this Mad Magazine Cover which makes a comment both on Jackson and the media attention his problems have attracted in one fell swoop.)


Literary parodies also have a long history. By 1969, The Lord of the Rings had attracted sufficient attention that the Harvard Lampoon published Bored of the Rings. Online, The Onion offers biting parodies of contemporary news.

Finally, with the impending release of Star Wars: Episode III -- The Revenge of the Sith, it seems only right to end this post with a link to grocery Store Wars, a very funny parody of the original star wars brought to you by the Organic Trade Association. In this case, the parody is used to delivery a message that you can't miss.

Penguin Audio Remixes

Cool! Penguin Books is running a contest at penguinremixed.co.uk for people to sample selected audiobooks and remix them onto techno tracks.

Since I seem to be working on a Dracula theme, the example I've chosen for you to hear is the remix a contestant uploaded using a selection from Bram Stoker's novel:

[The Count:] "We are in Transylvania, and Transylvania is not England. Our ways are not your ways . . .."
[Jonathan Harker] I know now the span of my life. God help me!

Blogging the Classics

Dracula Blogged is a blogging project which started last week (03May05) to serialize the novel Dracula in its entirety over the next six months. The blogger, Bryan Alexander, will post the novel according to its own calendar, just as if the narrator, Jonathan Harker, were a modern blogger who was recording his thoughts from Transylvania.

Here's a sample from the entry for May 5. The Castle, as Jonathan Harker travels to Dracula's castle:

When I got on the coach, the driver had not taken his seat, and I saw him talking to the landlady.

They were evidently talking of me, for every now and then they looked at me, and some of the people who were sitting on the bench outside the door--came and listened, and then looked at me, most of them pityingly. I could hear a lot of words often repeated, queer words, for there were many nationalities in the crowd, so I quietly got my polyglot dictionary from my bag and looked them out.

I must say they were not cheering to me, for amongst them were "Ordog"--Satan, "Pokol"--hell, "stregoica"--witch, "vrolok" and "vlkoslak"--both mean the same thing, one being Slovak and the other Servian for something that is either werewolf or vampire. (Mem., I must ask the Count about these superstitions.)

Here we have a painless and amusing way to read the entire Dracula novel in the space of six cliff-hanging months.

Dracula Blogged is not the first to serialize a classic as a weblog. One of the first and most logical is Samuel Pepys's Diary which Phil Gyford blogs as The Diary of Samuel Pepys. Pepys is the renowned 17th century diarist who lived in London. His daily entries lend themselves perfectly to the weblog format; reading the Diary as a blog gives it freshness and immediacy.

The Last "First Friday"

First Friday, the Humanities Division's open mic poetry reading conducted on the first Friday of each month in the Hinckley Library, came to a rousing conclusion on March 6th. Students and faculty read a wide range of poetry--both their own work and the work of poets they particularly enjoyed.

Renee Dechert and Janet Meury were among those who read.