Chit Chat

By Ted Belman

From now on comments on every post must relate to the content of the post.

Comments that don’t relate to the post must go here.

Any person who contravenes this demand will be put on moderation. Also their offending comment will be trashed.

The reason for this demand is so that people who want to read comments which pertain to the post, don’t have to wade through the chatter.

Everyone will be happier.

April 16, 2020 | 7,783 Comments »

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  1. .@ SEBASTIEN-

    Thank you indeed f or the link. I’ve never tried it. Many or most of those book sre also available on Gutenberg Project and/or Australia and some on Roy Glashan’a Library. “Read any Book”, is also a good site but often deficient. But there are others that the Archives may have. It will be a pleasure just to browse through them. Thanks again……….

    BUT keep thinking about that movie please.

  2. @Edgar Every one of those books is available for free at internetarchive.org. Actual photos of the books. Only the feel of paper is missing. Just type in the author or author and title in the search box and hit enter. Some can be borrowed indefinitely and some have to be renewed every so often.

  3. @SEBASTIEN-

    I see that my P.S. about “The good soldier Schweik” (Jaroslav Hasek) was not printed, ran out of time. I wrote that it had a laugh on every page..

    You know, talking to you about books is invigorating, but then after, makes me sad, because my books are all in storage and I write from memory only. I wish I had them here, but my place is too small and I’d need double rows of floor to ceiling shelving all around the whole place.

  4. @
    SEBASTIEN-

    I just remembered that I don’t think I saw the Basserman movie until after the war, and I read much later that it was based on a play of the early 1930s a few years before the war. I thought that Voigt came out of jail the last time, sometime in the early 20th cent, before 1910 anyway, because he was imprisoned in the 1890s..

    And I nearly forgot, “The Good Soldier Schweik”, a laugh on every page.

  5. @SEBASTIEN-

    Sometimes you surprise me.. What makes you think I don’t know all about Voigt, the career petty criminal. I read up on him as soon as I saw that Albert Basserman movie more years ago than I can recall. I’ve looked and looked for it again many times, but I see about 20 different Captains, some in German, some dubbed, and none nearly as good as the one I mention. It was, as I pointed out, the portrayal by Basserman himself, which made is so pathetically funny. a masterpiece.

    I keep lookin for it periodically. never find it.

    I read about Wallenberg and Pimpernel Smith on Wiki some years ago.
    Leslie Howard, another actor I never was able to enthuse over. I thought he was very negative Gone with the Wind. Although, I liked the Scarlet Pimpernel movies., I’ve read all of Orczy’s books several times over, and have many of them, also Sabatini. At one time I liked Jeffery Farnol..

    I used to think that Farnol’s name was as strange a name with reversed spelling. The horse race in “The Amateur Gentleman” is very well described. Have you ever read “Charles O’Malley The Irish Dragoon”, or Thackeray’s “Pendennis”,?; both top favourites of mine.

    ******Vadda Bout det Movie I can’t recall……..Put on your thinking cap, you are an avid moviegoer I suspect, even now(******. I even tried a couple of sites some years ago, which guaranteed that they could find any movie by the description of a small part of it…Nothing…!! Now I can’t even find a site like those, without joining facebook or some other rubbishy link-which I won’t do…

    I haven’t gone to a movie since i was able to see them on YV, and since computers started showing them, ,not a TV anymore., .And now, it must be at least 2-3 years since I looked at a youtube movie at all. I think I watched a few Laurel and Hardy, “Flying Deuces”, also King Kong, which later became unobtainable. I also saw again “The Most Dangerous Game”, which I hadn’t seen since I was a kid. And still liked it. I recalled it perfectly. because.it made a great impression on me..Fay Wray was in it, and it had been made by RKO just the year before King Kong, which used some of it’s “jungle props”…and background shots. Them was the days…..

  6. Your comment is awaiting moderation.
    @Edgar Life imitating Art.
    The original Scarlet Pimpernel novels directly and indirectly inspired both Raoul Wallenberg and William Voigt (the real-life Captain of Kopernick, dramatized many times in play and cinema format, most recently in 1997, ). The original play came out in 1903, the first two novels in 1905 and 1906 and Voigt was released from prison and pulled his famous escapade in 1906. Voigt was pardoned by the emperor and to this day in that town they celebrate his prank.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Hauptmann_von_K%C3%B6penick
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0136987/
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049293/

    Wallenberg was inspired by a showing of Pimpernel Smith in (1942.)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Pimpernel#Novels

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Voigt

    From Leslie Howard to Raoul Wallenberg:
    the transmission and adaptation of a heroic model
    Richard Raskin

    https://pov.imv.au.dk/Issue_28/section_2/artc9A.html

    Not sure if I’ve posted this comment here, before. Did we discuss this?

  7. @Edgar Life imitating Art.
    The original Scarlet Pimpernel novels directly and indirectly inspired both Raoul Wallenberg and William Voigt (the real-life Captain of Kopernick, dramatized many times in play and cinema format, most recently in 1997, ). The original play came out in 1903, the first two novels in 1905 and 1906 and Voigt was released from prison and pulled his famous escapade in 1906. Voigt was pardoned by the emperor and to this day in that town they celebrate his prank.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Hauptmann_von_K%C3%B6penick
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0136987/
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049293/

    Wallenberg was inspired by a showing of Pimpernel Smith in (1942.)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Pimpernel#Novels

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Voigt

    From Leslie Howard to Raoul Wallenberg:
    the transmission and adaptation of a heroic model
    Richard Raskin

    https://pov.imv.au.dk/Issue_28/section_2/artc9A.html

    Not sure if I’ve posted this comment here, before. Did we discuss this?

  8. @Edgar We like some of the same films but it has to be meshugah to make me actually laugh. One of my all time favorite messhugah comedies, which can be rented on Youtube for $3 is “The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob” starring Louis Funes.
    Another hilarious one with Cary Grant as straight man is “Arsenic and Old Lace” with Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre.”
    In Name Only with Carole Lambard and Cary Grant was also very funny.

  9. @Edgar Life imitating Art.
    The original Scarlet Pimpernel novels directly and indirectly inspired both Raoul Wallenberg and William Voigt (the real-life Captain of Kopernick, dramatized many times in play and cinema format, most recently in 1997, ). The original play came out in 1903, the first two novels in 1905 and 1906 and Voigt was released from prison and pulled his famous escapade in 1906. Voigt was pardoned by the emperor and to this day in that town they celebrate his prank.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Hauptmann_von_K%C3%B6penick
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0136987/
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049293/

    Wallenberg was inspired by a showing of Pimpernel Smith in (1942.)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Pimpernel#Novels

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Voigt

    From Leslie Howard to Raoul Wallenberg:
    the transmission and adaptation of a heroic model
    Richard Raskin

    https://pov.imv.au.dk/Issue_28/section_2/artc9A.html

    Not sure if I’ve posted this comment here, before. Did we discuss this?

  10. @SEBASTIEN-

    I meant to mention “Charley’s American Aunt” The one with Jack Benny. Very good-in parts, but of course a farce. The “students” were all far too old,(Benny was about 45 or more) and their accents far too phony….nearly as bad as Cary Grant’s.

  11. @SEBASTIEN-

    Yes I DID get that, and heard it many times by different comedians. As for funniest film, I don’t have a single film as the funniest. I have quite a few, for instance ” Ruggles of Red Gap”…”No Time For Sergeants”, many of the Laurel and Hardy films,…. even a few “3 Stooges” ones, …A few “Charlie Chaplin”, but only parts of them…. Marx Bros were far too mashugga, so didn’t care too much for them. “Some Like It Hot” was very good most of the way through. Curtis had an affected accent very much like Cary Grant. But on him it was deliberately done ,thus, acceptable.

    And there are others. I thought a few “Mexican Spitfire” ones not bad, but only Leon Errol was very good…. with his change of walk and expressions into Lord Epping? What about “Born Yesterday”…excellent. And “The Maggie”…very good. There was a very good Italian film starring Aldo Fabrizi, as the fat middle-aged husband and the family getting their daughter ready for her first communion. Fabrizi hilarious in parts.

    AND..I nearly forgot..”Captain of Kopenick”, but only the version starring Albert Basserman who was really tops , in what was a serious part, which he made hilarious in an unconscious manner..”Road to Zanzibar” was the best of the Crosby Hope ones. very funny in parts.,

    …. Ian Carmicheal,…beginning with “I’m all Right Jack”,and “Private’a Progress” were hilarious.

    I couldn’t stand Lewis and Martin Uch…(spit).Nor Danny Kaye. I liked Harold Peary in “The Great Gildersleeve”. His laugh alone……!!

    Anyway, I hope you have an answer for my unknown movie

    You are a film buff, and I just recalled that for years I’ve been trying to track down a movie. I don’t recall the name, or the names of the actors, but the story was hilarious. You may immediately recognise it, I hope so.

    “A newly married couple buy a house. Her father comes for a visit. He is explosively Italian, a stone mason, and a “house expert\’.He is fat, with a small moustache and an Italian accent, and knows everything about houses. the first thig he does iput an empty bottle on the floor and it quickly rolls into a corner..”.foundations crooked” he says. He interferes in everything. Then he decides to make them a present, a surprise item he’ll build in the house. The place is full of dust and noise for about 6 months and it seems he’ll nenver go back home and leave them to enjoy life. There is a large sheet hanging right across the living room, and behindit the sound of banging and hammering eyc. Eventually one day he is finished. He makes them close their eyes,

    When they open them, at the very end of the room, taking up the bWHOLE wall, is a MONSTER SIZE fireplace,made of dressed stones,…. a HUGE shock.

    Can you recall seeing this movie. The y are not that young, I’ve always thought, maybe Bill Holden, but I don’t think so but maybe his type.

    I saw “Bringing up baby”…too contrived for me. not spontaneously funny. Don’t have faribble mit mir….

    So …give it a try..

  12. @SEBASTIEN-

    Now he was an actor that I instinctively did not like at all. Only one time, with Fairbanks and McGlaglen in Gunga Din. And then only barely
    – because of the other two.

    His phony squeezed, affected accent, sounded comical to me..I barely recall that “Judy” thing, ..maybe Judy Garland, Was he in something with her?? Say hello to Judymac for me. Might as well get to know other members.

  13. @Reader On a lighter note, coincidentally, right before you posted the podcast about the Holocaust survivor who retired to Israel – in which I heard no reference to her being a Holocaust survivor, unless I missed something- but which begins with a segment on seaside weddings in Israel, I found this artcle:

    Inbar Lavi is a married woman. On September 13, the Lucifer actor, 34, married Dan Bar Shira in a boho seaside wedding at the Al Hayam in their home Israel. “We’re both Israeli and very connected to our roots,” Lavi told Brides as per PEOPLE, “Our family lives here and we were raised by the Mediterranean, which made us who we are today.

    “They integrated many ethnic customs, including a seaside chuppah, which the bride described as “a little conventional and a little untraditional.” In honor of her Moroccan heritage, the pair participated in a henna ritual along with costumes and a drum circle. However, as per PEOPLE, the bride and groom were also inspired by Burning Man; they met during the Nevada desert event in August 2019. Lavi characterized the concept as “Tulum meets Burning Man meets a very nice cocktail,” including light displays, three separate DJs, and a fire show during the afterparty.

    “We met at Burning Man so we wanted our wedding to emulate a feeling of free-flow festival,” she explained. “We also both love the beach so we knew it would have to have waves nearby.” Lavi said that the newlyweds asked their parents to join them in “a mash-up” for their first dance. “We started our solo first dance to the sounds of ‘I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You’ [by] Ingrid Michaelson,” she said. “And continued to the OG Elvis Presley version dancing with the parents.”

    Meanwhile, Lavi’s real-life wedding comes after her Lucifer character Eve (yes, the original Eve) married Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt), a demon with a golden heart, in the show’s last season.”
    https://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/hollywood/lucifer-star-inbar-lavi-gets-married-longtime-beau-dan-bar-shira-see-post-905583

    https://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/hollywood/lucifer-star-inbar-lavi-gets-married-longtime-beau-dan-bar-shira-see-post-905583rama.

    She plays a supporting lead in last 3 of 6 seasons. With pictures of her wedding by the sea.
    Fun 6 season comedy drama musical murder mystery in which biblical characters come to earth as one big dysfunctional family and to solve crimes with the LAPD, of course. Ha Ha.

  14. @Reader On a lighter note, coincidentally, right before you posted the podcast about the Holocaust survivor who retired to Israel – in which I heard no reference to her being a Holocaust survivor, unless I missed something- but which begins with a segment on seaside weddings in Israel, I found this artcle:

    Inbar Lavi is a married woman. On September 13, the Lucifer actor, 34, married Dan Bar Shira in a boho seaside wedding at the Al Hayam in their home Israel. “We’re both Israeli and very connected to our roots,” Lavi told Brides as per PEOPLE, “Our family lives here and we were raised by the Mediterranean, which made us who we are today.

    “They integrated many ethnic customs, including a seaside chuppah, which the bride described as “a little conventional and a little untraditional.” In honor of her Moroccan heritage, the pair participated in a henna ritual along with costumes and a drum circle. However, as per PEOPLE, the bride and groom were also inspired by Burning Man; they met during the Nevada desert event in August 2019. Lavi characterized the concept as “Tulum meets Burning Man meets a very nice cocktail,” including light displays, three separate DJs, and a fire show during the afterparty.

    “We met at Burning Man so we wanted our wedding to emulate a feeling of free-flow festival,” she explained. “We also both love the beach so we knew it would have to have waves nearby.” Lavi said that the newlyweds asked their parents to join them in “a mash-up” for their first dance. “We started our solo first dance to the sounds of ‘I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You’ [by] Ingrid Michaelson,” she said. “And continued to the OG Elvis Presley version dancing with the parents.”

    Meanwhile, Lavi’s real-life wedding comes after her Lucifer character Eve (yes, the original Eve) married Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt), a demon with a golden heart, in the show’s last season.”
    https://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/hollywood/lucifer-star-inbar-lavi-gets-married-longtime-beau-dan-bar-shira-see-post-905583

    https://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/hollywood/lucifer-star-inbar-lavi-gets-married-longtime-beau-dan-bar-shira-see-post-905583rama.

    She plays a supporting lead in last 3 of 6 seasons. With pictures of her wedding by the sea.
    Fun 6 season comedy drama musical murder mystery in which biblical characters come to earth as one big dysfunctional family and to solve crimes with the LAPD, of course. Ha Ha.

  15. FYI:

    US fighter jets arrive in UAE
    US sends F-22 fighter jets to United Arab Emirates as part of a defense response to recent attacks by Houthi rebels.

    Israel National News
    13.02.22 04:13
    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322176

    UAE pressing to purchase Iron Dome batteries from Israel
    Israel does not wish to sell Iron Dome systems to UAE due to Iranian presence in country.

    Israel National News
    12.12.21 07:37
    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/318482

  16. Mel Mermelstein, survivor who beat Holocaust deniers in court, dies at 95
    Mel Mermelstein, a Holocaust survivor who beat Holocaust deniers in court, dies following COVID infection.
    Tom Tugend, JTA
    09.02.22 14:03

    Mel Mermelstein, a Holocaust survivor who won a five-year court battle forcing a far-right Holocaust-denying organization to retract its claim and pay hefty damages, died Jan. 28 at the age of 95 from complications of COVID-19.

    Weeks later, tributes to Mermelstein are continuing to arrive at the family home in Long Beach, California, a testament to the public impact of his legal war with antisemites.

    Born in a Jewish enclave in Mukachero, then part of Czechoslovakia and, after the 1938 Nazi takeover, part of Hungary, Mermelstein became a child of the war. When Mermelstein was 17, he and his parents and siblings were deported to Auschwitz. When the death camp was liberated, Mermelstein weighed 68 pounds and was the only surviving member of his family.

    At that point, he vowed to become a lifelong witness to the Holocaust.

    His pledge was put to the test in 1979, when the ill-named “Institute for Historical Review,” founded by longtime Holocaust denier Willis Carto as a group that could adopt the nomenclature of academic institutions to provide legitimacy to antisemitism, offered a reward of $50,000 to the first person who could prove that Jews had been gassed at Auschwitz.

    Mermelstein took them up on their bet. According to The New York Times, he “provided documents, eyewitness testimonies, histories, photographs and even a can that had contained Zyklon B to the institute. He told of seeing his mother and sister driven into the gas chambers in 1944.” When he heard nothing back from the institute, he sued.

    After five years of testimony, Superior Court Judge Thomas L. Johnson ruled in favor of Mermelstein, stating that the Auschwitz killings are “capable of immediate and reasonably indisputable accuracy. It is simply a fact.”

    The Institute agreed to pay Mermelstein $90,000 to settle the case.

    But Mermelstein was far from finished. Over the next decades he made 40 trips to Auschwitz, Buchenwald and other Nazi death camps, collecting his evidence: cyanide canisters, pieces of barbed wire, bone fragments and pieces of cremation ovens.

    Mermelstein built a museum in his lumber yard to display some 700 artifacts and then invited students to tour the facilities. The collection is slated for permanent display at the Chabad Jewish Center in Newport Beach, California.

    His quest for truth was dramatized in the 1991 television movie “Never Forget,” with Jewish actor Leonard Nimoy portraying Mermelstein.

    Surviving the deceased are Jane, his wife of 60 years, children Edie, Bernie, Ken and David, five grandchildren and one great-grandson.

  17. THIS IS THE PROBLEM!!! NOT Whoopi Goldberg.

    Israeli-Palestinian confederation plan to be presented to UN, US by Beilin
    Former justice minister Yossi Beilin’s plan for an Israeli-Palestinian confederation, allowing for settlements, is headed to the UN and US.

    By TOVAH LAZAROFF
    Published: FEBRUARY 6, 2022 21:36
    Updated: FEBRUARY 7, 2022 11:03

    https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/article-695701

    ANOTHER POISONED BAIT!

  18. @SEBASTIEN-

    Apropos nothing. But I cam across a Gallagher/Shean recording accidentally. It was odd. So I keyed in at youtube “Paul Whiteman Gallagher and Shean”.

    A column of versions appeared. One was the original made in 1922. Strangely, there were 3 versions on the same record. It was the LAST version which was exactly like the one I have.

    Going down the column, there is a video showing only a plain white square with the tune name. The exact same 4 bar intro, and the following 2 4 bar sections, a kind of extra intros, with tinges of the chorus”..and at the end..”Posolutely Mr. Gallagher…Absatively Mr. Shean”.

    But it surely was not made in 1922 the original date, but I think a year later. Still must have been pre-electric, so damned good reproduction, of course cleaned up by modern tech.

  19. @BEAR-

    That suits me fine…except that I know no official , official enough to settle a matter of interpretation of the US Constiutution.

    If you see below, Sebastien has an excellent solution, Using it as a blueprint, I suggest that YOU interpret the US Constitution Pence’s (and your) way, and I interpret it the Founders’ and Jefferson’s way.

  20. @Edgar I have a proposal for you. How about agreeing making it official that it is a personal difference of opinion as a compromise??

  21. @Edgar Your comment to Bear

    Let’s says that it’s a personal disagreement. I know I’m right and I know you’re wrong.

    reminds me of the anecdote about Wanda Landowska who had a long running feud with another harpsichordist concerning Bach interpretation who would walk on the other side of the street when she saw her. Finally, Wandowska walked up to her in a peace making gesture and said, “Look we disagree but we each are entitled to our opinion. You play Bach your way, and I’ll play Bach Bach’s way.” Ha Ha.

  22. What the Abraham Accords were really about:

    State Department okays potential weapons sales to Mideast allies
    State Department approves potential weapons sales to Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

    Israel National News
    04.02.22 00:59

    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321700

    And now we’ll wait for a repeat of 1948 (which our “friends”, no doubt, hope will end up differently this time around.)

  23. @Edgar As per your request, I googled: Pigeons + Holocaust and this is some of what came up. . It would seem all roads do lead to Rome, after all.

    The Pigeons’ War on Hitler: An Ingenious WW2 Operationhttps://www.historyextra.com › … › Second World War
    Jun 13, 2019 — Gordon Corera describes an ingenious British operation to subvert Nazi rule in Europe – using carrier birds.

    Pigeon (film) – Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Pigeon_(film)
    Pigeon is a short film by Canadian director Anthony Green. It was produced by Emmy and … Pigeon is employed as a model for educating students about the Holocaust.
    Missing: plus ?| Must include: plus

    Valiant (film) – Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Valiant_(film)
    Set in May of the year 1944, it tells the story of a group of war pigeons during World War II. The film is based on a story by George Webster, and inspired by …

    Holocaust – Alcatraz East Pigeon Forgehttps://www.alcatrazeast.com › … › War Crimes
    This was known as Nazi Germany’s “final solution” to the problem of Jews. Holocaust 2 Upon arrival at the concentration camps, personal possessions and clothes …

    Parodic Laughter and the Holocaust – jstorhttps://www.jstor.org › stable
    by JB Montresor · 1993 · Cited by 6 — The shocking fact of the systematic slaughter of six million European. Jews during the Second World War continues to challenge the capacity.

    Pigeon – Short film on Vimeohttps://vimeo.com › MoFresh › Videos

    6:41
    Vous pouvez personnaliser vos préférences dans les paramètres des cookies à tout moment. Pour en savoir plus …
    Vimeo · MoFresh · Apr 7, 2016

    Pigeon | Facing History and Ourselveshttps://www.facinghistory.org › resource-library › video
    Omer Bartov discusses how the Holocaust unfolded in the Eastern European town Buczacz. Add or Edit Playlist. Video. Holocaust. Bystanders. Perpetrators and …
    Missing: plus ?| Must include: plus

    Franz Suchomel – Collections Search – United States …https://collections.ushmm.org › catalog › irn1004727
    The collection is jointly owned by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Yad Vashem. SHOAH is widely regarded as the seminal film on the subject of …

    Timeline of Jewish Persecution in the Holocausthttps://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org › timeline-of-jewis…
    The White Paper allows 75,000 Jewish immigrants (up to 10,000 per year, plus an additional 25,000 if certain conditions are met) to enter Palestine.

    The Holocaust: Europe, the World, and the Jews, 1918 – 1945https://books.google.com › books
    Norman Goda · 2016 · ?History
    They were prohibited from owning radios and carrier pigeons. … their bicycles—the primary mode of transportation in Amsterdam—plus spare tires and tubes.”

    Tennessee School Board Bans Pulitzer-Winning Holocaust …https://sports.yahoo.com › tennessee-school-board-bans…
    Jan 26, 2022 — The graphic novel shows the horrors of the Holocaust in cartoon, … happens that less fortunate breeders who bought pigeons a bit by chance …

    Treblinka Death Camp – Holocaust Education & Archive …http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org › treblinka › tr…
    Stanislaw Kon remembered that Masarek manned the rebels one machine gun and fired away at the Nazis from the roof of the camps pigeon house.

    and so on.

    Grazi.

  24. @ SEBASTIEN-

    Surprise surprise…just heard from Thrift Books…I am not going to be part of their 62nd million sales. But they say that they get “hundreds of thousands a day” and it may come in.

    I think that if they actually do get hundreds of thousands of books a day-which I certainly don’t believe- they should find at least one or more copies every day and -double on shabbat.

  25. @SEBASTIEN-

    By the way, you recall that I emailed Thrift Books who had sold 61+ mill books to date/ I got a speedy response telling me that their experts would be contacting me within 8 hours. . That was yesterday morning, about 36 hours ago….

    I wonder if they could be having a little problem……..

  26. @SEBASTIEN-

    Yes Twain was brilliant, all the way through that little masterpiece. Of course he had “tongue-in-cheek” in many parts of it, which he shaped to form his humour. Cooper’s defenders, including Brander Matthews, took it very seriously and attacked Twain mercilessly, actually going to measure that little winding river into the lake and finding that Twain had exaggerated the smallness of the lengths between the bends and twists.

    Of course he did, he couldn’t have made it so humourous otherwise.

    I liked the part where he wrote that “before Brander Matthews and Wilkie Collins praise Cooper’s book so highly, they should at least have read a little of it”..(paraphrased)

    Twain’s critics even measured the lengths of a variety of flatboats to prove that he exaggerated… Shows how pompous and self satisfied they were, as well as being very insecure. Of course Wilkie Collins himself was a highly acclaimed writer, and I have a few of his books. i didn’t know he was such a poor sport.

    They attacked Twain where it hurt, in his health, his bankruptcy (although legally not liable, he actually, over many years, paid off all his debts and eventually was able to leave a good estate), his own style and more.

    Historians and literary experts are still studying Twain’s criticism, not only of Cooper, but also of other writers. I suppose that was when he was broke, and found it paid well.

    A vignette. Twain was born just when Halley’s Comet had passed Earth, and as he became more frail, he said…. “I arrived with Halley’s Comet and it’s coming again next year It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don’t depart with it.”.

  27. @Edgar Wow. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3172/3172-h/3172-h.htm

    Brilliiantly incisive literary analysis informed by his knowledge of practical mechanics. I suppose Cooper was writing for an urban audience that didn’t know his technical explanations made no sense. Twain’s ability to be wittily nasty is sorely missed today. Now, we just have pedestrian nasty.

    “We must be a little wary when Brander Matthews tells us that Cooper’s books “reveal an extraordinary fulness of invention.” As a rule, I am quite willing to accept Brander Matthews’s literary judgments and applaud his lucid and graceful phrasing of them; but that particular statement needs to be taken with a few tons of salt. Bless your heart, Cooper hadn’t any more invention than a horse; and I don’t mean a high-class horse, either; I mean a clothes-horse. ” Ouch. and Ha Ha.

    I can imagine a self-confident Cooper, wryly responding : “Why don’t you tell us what you really think?”

    I wonder if George Orwell was inspired by this to write “Politics and the English Language.” It reminds me of the first, literary part.

    https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/politics-and-the-english-language/

    Yes, it does appear to be a bit of an article dry spell. I suppose there must be other things going on.

  28. @Edgar Wow. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3172/3172-h/3172-h.htm

    Brilliiantly incisive literary analysis informed by his knowledge of practical mechanics. I suppose Cooper was writing for an urban audience that didn’t know his technical explanations made no sense. Twain’s ability to be wittily nasty is sorely missed today. Now, we just have pedestrian nasty.

    “We must be a little wary when Brander Matthews tells us that Cooper’s books “reveal an extraordinary fulness of invention.” As a rule, I am quite willing to accept Brander Matthews’s literary judgments and applaud his lucid and graceful phrasing of them; but that particular statement needs to be taken with a few tons of salt. Bless your heart, Cooper hadn’t any more invention than a horse; and I don’t mean a high-class horse, either; I mean a clothes-horse. ” Ouch. and Ha Ha.

    I can imagine a self-confident Cooper, wryly responding : “Why don’t you tell us what you really think?”

    I wonder if George Orwell was inspired by this to write “Politics and the English Language.” It reminds me of the first, literary part.

    https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/politics-and-the-english-language/

    Yes, it does appear to be a bit of an article dry spell. I suppose there must be other things going on.

  29. @SEBASTIEN-

    You have astonishing research skills. Everything you’ve found is accurate, plus Dublin University has a copy, as I related.

    I am well acquainted with WorldCat through the Edinburgh Librarian who has sent me endless reams of emails , including WorldCat records…and more. We’ve had learned discussions on the Paternoster Edition and that another company named Paul several years later, also has issued a
    printing.

    Don’t forget I was cautioned by Goodreads that the Bee man was a different writer entirely, although there is much confusion about this in some circles. There is no doubt but that my Stuart also wrote Caravan to China, and at least one other historical adventure book.

    I’ve discussed Inte-rlibrary loans, with Vancouver Library, Victoria B.C Library, New York City Library and at least 3-4 major others. None seems imminent. Besides I haven’t been inside a library since at least 2009. The Edinburgh lady gave me considerable encouragement in that direction, but said that she would contact me after June first when the news would be available. That was June 2021.. I’m still waiting, actually not waiting -as I have given up..

    So what else is new?? Israpundit seems to be rather quiet, as it seems that nothing much of interest is catching Ted’s eye..

    I’ve mentioned this before, but have you read Mark Twains criticism of James Fenimore Cooper “The Literary offences of Fenimore Cooper”. It’s about 9 pages or so.

    Believe me, it’s hilarious. But maybe only I see the humour in it.

  30. @Edgar These are the only libraries in the world that have Elephant Jet.
    Library Held formats Distance
    1.
    National Library of Scotland
    NLS
    Edinburgh, Scotland, EH1 1EW United Kingdom
    Book Book 3200 miles
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    2.
    The British Library, St. Pancras
    London, NW1 2DB United Kingdom
    Book Book 3400 miles
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    Library info
    Add to favorites
    3.
    University of Oxford
    Oxford, OX1 2JD United Kingdom
    Book Book 3400 miles
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    Ask a librarian
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    4.
    University of Newcastle Auchmuty Library
    Newcastle, AU-NS
    https://www.worldcat.org/title/elephant-in-jet/oclc/219826797&referer=brief_results

  31. @Edgar Yes. Found it listed. Amazon has his City of Bees. Have you tried WorldCat or interlibrary loan from your local library?

  32. @SEBASTIEN-

    I assume you refer to Gallagher and Sheen when you mention Whiteman being jazzier. You haven’t heard the one I have I suppose. I’d like to find it again myself.

    Re Davidson’s Hors D’Oeuvres, Although described as a “foxtrot” in 1915 when it was written, It was part of his collection called “Home on Leave, Honour Your Partners”. and mixed in with Boston 2-steps, Lancers, Schottisches, Barn dances and other ancient cavorting pastimes.

    I really like listening to it. It’s so laid back and relaxing. Strictest tempo, like clockwork. I actually paid 99 cents to have it downloaded on my last computer some years ago, but one day I must have pressed the wrong keys, as it suddenly became “went”. Delighted to have rediscovered it a couple of years ago..

    With so much repetition I try to catch the smallest deviation in tone, length of note other dissonance etc, And, perfectly played though it is, there ARE some minute differences.

    Now if I could only find a copy of the book, “Elephant in Jet”, by Frank Stanley Stuart, Paternoster House London 1940, I’d be happy-not contented, that would be too much to ask, but…happy. It seems that only about 5-6 copies around the world have surfaced, all in universities (no idea why) except one in the British Library. I HAVE a copy …stored away, but believe it or not, I got headaches trying recall the name for the past many years, and suddenly a couple of years ago it popped into my head.

    I’ve tried Gutenberg Project and G-Australia, Roy Glashan’s Library, Read any Book, and many other e libraries and collections. Nothing.. But strangely, Trinity College( Dublin University) has it, Perth University in Australia, I think Edinburgh Uni, and a couple more. Why, I don’t know, it’s just a novel, although interesting to me, and must have had only a small printing. Trinity offered to copy it (fee 738 Euros) I “regretfully” declined.
    I bought it for about 10-15 cents over 50 years ago.

    There is even confusion about the author’s name as there are other books by an F.S. Stuart, who wrote presumably excellent books about bees and bee-keeping, about seals, and likely other animal life.

    Only one site warned not to confuse the two names…….Just now emailed a used book outlet called “Thrift Books” which says they’ve sold 61+ mill books to date. I wonder……….???

  33. @ SEBASTIEN-

    Been checking and it looks as mine is the Edison Bell Winner record. It has a red label and the bell.

    I recall that the last instrumental chorus was more Jazzed up than the Whitman one.

    Did you ever hear the Harry Davidson Orch playing Hors D’Oeuvres. It used to be called “HD & His Old Tyme Orch”. Ambrose made an excellent modern swing version, arranged by clarinet player Syd Phillips . When Syd formed his own band and played the same tune, it wasn’t nearly as good.

    I like the Davidson old fashioned style best. It’s described as a “foxtrot” but I don’t think so. You should listen and give me an opinon.

  34. @ SEBASTIEN-

    Just listened to the Whiteman. Not the one I have. Exactly the same except for the minimum vocal, and the verse intro.

    Mine is on an old Edison Bell record. Red label. showing the BELL NO verse. Just a conventional 4 bar intro (repetition of the last 4 bars). And, as far as I recall, actually sung by Gallagher and Sheen. Yet, the Whiteman one has the very same “squeezed out, kind of 3 words from G&S., and the very same klezemer treatment. Sounds like the same arrangement.

    Just another minor musical puzzle, with an obvious explanation. Maybe the Studio Orchestra. Damned well done anyhow..

  35. @Edgar G I see what you mean. Both have klezmer clarinet solos, though the Whiteman is longer and the first half of the original has the vocals with simple melody repeated in the first half and instrumental variations with one vocal line as punctuation in the second. The Whiteman has no vocals and was recorded only the following year. Both are on Youtube. There is also a Wikipedia article about the duo, as well as one about the song. It was apparently, recorded a number of times by famous people. I didn’t look to see if the other versions are on Youtube. The lyrics strike me as kind of early Henny Youngman. Tres politically incorrect. The Woke would pull it if they knew it was there. Did they invent this style, emulate another contemporary, or is this a type of Jewish humor going way back, I wonder?