Isegoria

John Miller comments on the state of public libraries in Checked Out:

“For Whom the Bell Tolls” may be one of Ernest Hemingway’s best-known books, but it isn’t exactly flying off the shelves in northern Virginia these days. Precisely nobody has checked out a copy from the Fairfax County Public Library system in the past two years, according to a front-page story in yesterday’s Washington Post.

And now the bell may toll for Hemingway. A software program developed by SirsiDynix, an Alabama-based library-technology company, informs librarians of which books are circulating and which ones aren’t. If titles remain untouched for two years, they may be discarded — permanently. “We’re being very ruthless,” boasts library director Sam Clay.

As it happens, the ruthlessness may not ultimately extend to Hemingway’s classic. “For Whom the Bell Tolls” could win a special reprieve, and, in the future, copies might remain available at certain branches. Yet lots of other volumes may not fare as well. Books by Charlotte Brontë, William Faulkner, Thomas Hardy, Marcel Proust and Alexander Solzhenitsyn have recently been pulled.

Library officials explain, not unreasonably, that their shelf space is limited and that they want to satisfy the demands of the public. Every unpopular book that’s removed from circulation, after all, creates room for a new page-turner by John Grisham, David Baldacci, or James Patterson — the authors of the three most checked-out books in Fairfax County last month.

But this raises a fundamental question: What are libraries for? Are they cultural storehouses that contain the best that has been thought and said? Or are they more like actual stores, responding to whatever fickle taste or Mitch Albom tearjerker is all the rage at this very moment?

If the answer is the latter, then why must we have government-run libraries at all? There’s a fine line between an institution that aims to edify the public and one that merely uses tax dollars to subsidize the recreational habits of bookworms.

Fairfax County may think that condemning a few dusty old tomes allows it to keep up with the times. But perhaps it’s inadvertently highlighting the fact that libraries themselves are becoming outmoded.
[...]
The bottom line is that it has never been easier or cheaper to read a book, and the costs of reading probably will do nothing but drop further.

If public libraries attempt to compete in this environment, they will increasingly be seen for what Fairfax County apparently envisions them to be: welfare programs for middle-class readers who would rather borrow Nelson DeMille’s newest potboiler than spend a few dollars for it at their local Wal-Mart.

The Observer shares its list of 50 Lost Movie Classics. I can’t vouch for most of them, but I will recommend number 46.

I knew that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was, despite its claims, only tenuously related to any true-life story; I just didn’t realize how remotely:

The film, like the films Psycho, Deranged, and The Silence of the Lambs, was loosely inspired by Ed Gein. Gein did wear human skin, but he acted alone and did not use a chainsaw. Although the film’s opening would have one believe that the events are factual, it is merely a scare tactic, called the false document technique, to frighten the audience.

So it’s based on a single guy, not a family, in Wisconsin, not Texas, who did not use a chainsaw, and didn’t really commit a “massacre” either; he killed maybe two people, separately.

This fur seal has become the unlucky star in a new Jaws movie — or, more accurately, the BBC’s Planet Earth series.

Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels make no literary pretenses, but like much adventure fiction for the common man of 50 to 150 years ago, they are chock full of vocabulary that I do not use on a daily basis. Casino Royale, for example, contains a number of words I wouldn’t expect to find in a John Grisham novel:

Main Entry: ¹cosh
Pronunciation: 'käsh
Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps from Romany kas, kast stick, piece of wood
chiefly British : a weighted weapon similar to a blackjack

Main Entry: an·trum
Pronunciation: 'an-tr&m
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural an·tra /-tr&/
Etymology: Late Latin, from Latin, cave, from Greek antron; akin to Armenian ayr cave
: an anatomical cavity within a bone (as the maxilla) or hollow organ (as the stomach)
- an·tral /-tr&l/ adjective

Main Entry: ²boule
Pronunciation: 'bül
Function: noun
Etymology: French, ball — more at BOWL
: a synthetically formed mass (as of sapphire) with the atomic structure of a single crystal

Main Entry: BEM
Function: abbreviation
1 bachelor of engineering of mines
2 British Empire Medal

Morris Minor
The revolutionary Morris Minor (originally called Mosquito) was launched at the Earls Court Motor Show on 20 September, 1948. Named for an earlier Morris Minor car , it was the work of a team led by Alec Issigonis, who later designed the Mini. Sir Alec became famous for his creation of the Mini but he was really proudest of his participation in designing the Morris Minor. He considered it as being a vehicle which managed to combine many of the luxuries and conveniences of a good motor car with a price suitable for the working classes, while the Mini, introduced in 1959, was a spartan mode of conveyance with everything cut to the bone. The Morris Minor, when compared with competitor products in the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s, excelled as a roomy vehicle with superior cornering / handling characteristics.

Main Entry: strep·to·my·cin
Pronunciation: -'mI-s^&n
Function: noun
: an antibiotic organic base C₂₁H₃₉N₇O₁₂ that is produced by a soil actinomycete (Streptomyces griseus), is active against many bacteria, and is used especially in the treatment of infections (as tuberculosis) by gram-negative bacteria

Main Entry: de·fal·ca·tion
Pronunciation: "dE-"fal-'kA-sh&n, "dE-"fol-, di-; "de-f&l-
Function: noun
1 archaic : DEDUCTION
2 : the act or an instance of embezzling
3 : a failure to meet a promise or an expectation

Main Entry: baize
Pronunciation: 'bAz
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French baies, plural of baie baize, from feminine of bai bay-colored — more at BAY
: a coarse woolen or cotton fabric napped to imitate felt

Main Entry: ¹dock·et
Pronunciation: 'dä-k&t
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English doggette
1 : a brief written summary of a document : ABSTRACT
2 a (1) : a formal abridged record of the proceedings in a legal action (2) : a register of such records b (1) : a list of legal causes to be tried; also : the caseload of a court or judge (2) : a calendar of business matters to be acted on : AGENDA
3 : an identifying statement about a document placed on its outer surface or cover

superhet
The superheterodyne receiver (or to give it its full name, the supersonic heterodyne receiver – often abbreviated superhet) was invented by Edwin Armstrong in 1918.

mairie
French, city hall.

Main Entry: car·il·lon
Pronunciation: 'ker-&-"län, -l&n, 'ka-r&-; 'ker-E-"än, -"On, 'ka-rE-; k&-'ril-y&n
Function: noun
Etymology: French, alteration of Old French quarregnon, modification of Late Latin quaternion-, quaternio set of four — more at QUATERNION
1 a : a set of fixed chromatically tuned bells sounded by hammers controlled from a keyboard b : an electronic instrument imitating a carillon
2 : a composition for the carillon

Main Entry: mi·mo·sa
Pronunciation: m&-'mO-s&, mI-, -z&
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, from Latin mimus mime
1 : any of a genus (Mimosa) of trees, shrubs, and herbs of the legume family that occur in tropical and warm regions and have usually bipinnate often prickly leaves and globular heads of small white or pink flowers
2 : SILK TREE
3 : a mixed drink consisting of champagne and orange juice

Main Entry: par·terre
Pronunciation: pär-'ter
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from Middle French, from par terre on the ground
1 : an ornamental garden with paths between the beds
2 : the part of the main floor of a theater that is behind the orchestra; especially : PARQUET CIRCLE

Main Entry: prink
Pronunciation: 'pri[ng]k
Function: verb
Etymology: probably alteration of ²prank
: PRIMP
- prink·er noun

briar pipe
A briar pipe begins as a Burl (or growth) on the root system of the White Heath Tree, a squat, hearty, shrub-like plant which grows primarily in the dry, arid, rocky wastelands around the Mediterranean Sea. Of all woods, the Briar Burl is unique for making pipes; its tough, porous and nearly impervious to heat. Burls for fine quality pipes can often be 50 to 100 years old when harvested for pipe making.

Hoagie Carmichael
Hoagland Howard Carmichael, famous (white) jazz musician.

huissier
In France, a huissier de justice is a member of the legal profession whose responsibility it is to make available to the public the decisions of the courts and is in charge of the execution of the courts’ decisions, such as seizures and evictions. The most common English translation for huissier de justice is bailiff.

“Mais n’enculons pas des mouches”
“Let’s not split hairs.” French, literally, “But let’s not bugger flies.”

Ronson
Brand of cigarette lighter.

Main Entry: paw·ky
Pronunciation: 'po-kE
Function: adjective
Etymology: obsolete English dialect pawk trick
chiefly British : artfully shrewd : CANNY

Main Entry: rack rent
Function: noun
Etymology: ⁴rack
1 : an excessive or unreasonably high rent
2 British : the highest rent that can be earned on a property

Main Entry: ¹gib
Pronunciation: 'gib
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Gib, nickname for Gilbert
: a male cat; specifically : a castrated male cat

Main Entry: ²gib
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
: a plate of metal or other material machined to hold other parts in place, to afford a bearing surface, or to provide means for overcoming looseness

Belinograph
Early fax machines.

Main Entry: ²flex
Function: noun
Etymology: short for flexible cord
chiefly British : an electric cord

Main Entry: tre·foil
Pronunciation: 'trE-"foi(-&)l, 'tre-
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin trifolium, from tri- + folium leaf — more at BLADE
1 a : CLOVER 1 ; broadly : any of several leguminous herbs (as bird’s-foot trefoil) with leaves that have or appear to have three leaflets b : a trifoliolate leaf
2 : an ornament or symbol in the form of a stylized trifoliolate leaf
[trefoil illustration]

Main Entry: ²cosset
Function: transitive verb
: to treat as a pet : PAMPER

Main Entry: tus·sah
Pronunciation: 't&-s&, -"so
Variant(s): or tus·sore /-"sOr, -"sor/
Function: noun
Etymology: Hindi & Urdu tasar
: silk or silk fabric from the brownish fiber produced by larvae of some saturniid moths (as Antheraea paphia)

Main Entry: dis·trait
Pronunciation: di-'strA
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French destreit, from Latin distractus
: apprehensively divided or withdrawn in attention : DISTRACTED

Main Entry: Nem·bu·tal
Pronunciation: 'nem-by&-"tol
Function: trademark
– used for the sodium salt of pentobarbital

Main Entry: sa·loon
Pronunciation: s&-'lün
Function: noun
Etymology: French salon, from Italian salone, augmentative of sala hall, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German sal hall; akin to Lithuanian sala village
1 a chiefly British : SALON 1 b chiefly British : an often elaborately decorated public hall c (1) : a usually large public cabin on a ship (as for dining) (2) : the living area on a yacht d chiefly British : SALON 4 e : BARROOM
2 : SALON 2
3 British a : PARLOR CAR b : SEDAN2a — called also saloon car

Main Entry: trip·tych
Pronunciation: 'trip-(")tik
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek triptychos having three folds, from tri- + ptychE fold
1 : an ancient Roman writing tablet with three waxed leaves hinged together
2 a : a picture (as an altarpiece) or carving in three panels side by side b : something composed or presented in three parts or sections; especially : TRILOGY

Casino Royale departs from the tradition of earlier Bond films by treading close to the tone of the original book.

Nonetheless, it opens with a heart-pounding chase scene that is not in the book but is entirely in the tradition of the Bond movies. I hadn’t done much research going into the film, so I didn’t already know who played Mollaka, but within seconds of the chase starting, I knew that under the burn makeup, that man was Sébastien Foucan — except that I didn’t really know Sébastien Foucan’s name; I knew him as that guy.

By the way, James Bond drinks any number of interesting drinks in the books — he doesn’t stick to a martini, shaken not stirred — and the movie even includes his signature drink from the novel, the Vesper, served in a deep champagne goblet:

“Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?”

Oh, the Huge Manatee! What a delightfully awful pun.

Naturally this led me to read up a bit on the Hindenburg disaster:

The disaster is remembered partly because of extraordinary newsreel coverage, photographs, and Herbert Morrison’s recorded radio witness report from the landing field. The crush of journalists was in response to a heavy publicity push about the first trans-Atlantic Zeppelin passenger flight to the US of the year. (The ship had already made one round trip from Germany to Brazil that year.) Morrison’s recording was not broadcast until the next day. Parts of his report were later dubbed onto the newsreel footage (giving an incorrect impression to some modern eyes accustomed to live television that the words and film had always been together). Morrison’s broadcast remains one of the most famous in history — his plaintive words “Oh, the humanity!” resonate with the impact of the disaster.

Herbert Morrison’s famous words should be understood in the context of the broadcast, in which he had repeatedly referred to the large team of people on the field, engaged in landing the airship, as a “mass of humanity.” He used the phrase when it became clear that the burning wreckage was going to settle onto the ground, and that the people underneath would probably not have time to escape it. Although there is some speculation as to whether his actual words were “Oh, the humanity” or “all the humanity”, (the radio recording is unclear) it was most likely “Oh, the humanity” as the complete sentence is “Oh, the humanity and all the passengers…”

How Trey Parker and Matt Stone made South Park a success:

You won’t find “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening tearing apart his show at the last minute. That show’s writers labor over scripts and then send them off to be animated in South Korea. The entire process, typical of modern animation, takes eight months.

Parker and Stone, however, produce each of their shows in a week. They start Thursday morning with a writers’ meeting and finish the following Wednesday, when they send the show to Comedy Central via satellite uplink hours before it airs at 10 P.M.

I guess that explains how they stay so timely.

I read Bram Stoker’s Dracula years ago — it was much, much better than Frankenstein, by the way — and I’ve seen any number of vampire movies in my day, but I only recently saw the “original” 1931 Dracula with Bela Lugosi as the count.

A few observations:

• In the film, it is Renfield (who ends up a bug-eating lunatic) and not Jonathan Harker (the protagonist of the book) who goes to Transylvania.
• Dracula’s castle contains rats, fake spiders, and … armadillos. Seriously. I don’t know who the set-dresser was who came up with that one, but they’re there.
• In the castle, Renfield faints at the sight of a laughably fake bat, and Dracula’s wives approach, when Dracula appears and descends — off screen — on Renfield. Rumor has it that the studio didn’t want Dracula to attack a man on screen — too gay — but fading to black doesn’t seem much better. Anyway, this somehow turns Renfield into his loyal, lunatic manservant.

Guillermo del Toro, who directed the very Lovecraftian Hellboy, is gearing up to shoot Hellboy 2: The Golden Army in January, but he’s got something even more Lovecraftian planned after that. Del Toro Talks At the Mountains of Madness:

“Mountains of Madness, which is a project I’ve had for several years, if it comes to fruition I’d rather do that immediately while the iron is hot,” del Toro says. “But it all depends on so many factors — creative, personal — that every time I predict what I’m going to do next, I fail.”

Details on when/how/if the project is going to happen are sketchy, but del Toro has a clear idea of how he will portray the classic horror tale on screen, and he says it will definitely be a studio picture. Adapting Lovecraft’s unique style to the movies has proven to be a difficult undertaking for filmmakers in the past, but the helmer says that he’s enhanced At the Mountains of Madness‘ story (about an expedition to Antarctica that turns creepy fast) so that it will work on screen.

“The albino penguins, the gigantic city… The hard thing about that novel is it’s very much a record of an expedition, so the narrative is brilliant in that it’s a little bit dry but it’s not character-based,” he says. “There are many characters that you don’t know — you don’t even know who the hell the expedition is [made up of] until you have it referenced in another book of Lovecraft’s.”

Fleshing out those characters will be key to making the film work, he explains.

“You need to create the character dynamics and the arc of the story, which is not in the book,” says del Toro. “Also, the horror in the book is only ambiguous and it’s kept open at the end. And you can still capture that atmosphere, but then you have to take it and go to a climax [in the movie]. Which in the book is really a climax by almost using negative space in the narrative; it’s what you don’t see that makes it. That essentially goes against the very essence of show business, because you don’t show anything. I think that what we’re doing is good and it’s as good as we can [do when] adapting Lovecraft. But it’s a project that’s been with us for several years now. It’s not an easy project to set up.”

This ‘300? comic to screen comparison has me excited to both read the graphic novel, which I don’t own yet, and watch the movie, which isn’t out yet.

It looks like the director is sticking quite closely to Miller’s vision.