Darrell J. Pursiful

Home » Sighted Elsewhere (Page 13)

Category Archives: Sighted Elsewhere

The Fairy Investigation Society

I may have to check these folks out. I’ll definitely be taking their online survey of faery beliefs.

The Fairy Investigation Society (FIS) was founded in 1927 by a British man named Quentin Crauford. Attracting mostly Theosophists who believed that fairies were elemental beings, the Society continued sporadically through the 20th century until finally disappearing in the 1990s.

In 2013 the Society was re-booted by Simon Young, an English historian living in Italy. While membership in the original Society was limited to people who believed in fairies, the current society is open to “all those who have an interest in fairylore, be they believers or ultra skeptics.” I’m proud to be a member myself!

The Original Grimms’ Fairy Tales Were Not Rated G!

An English translation of Grimms’ Fairy Tales, 1812 first edition, has recently been published. I wouldn’t recommend it for young children:

The first edition of the Brothers Grimms’ tales, in 1812, featured such stories as “How the Children Played at Slaughtering.” Over the next 50 years, each new printing was edited to make it more child-friendly and include more Christian references. But now, the first edition has finally been translated into English.

“The original edition was not published for children or general readers,” Jack Zipes, professor emeritus of German and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota, tells the Guardian. “It was only after the Grimms published two editions primarily for adults that they changed their attitude and decided to produce a shorter edition for middle-class families. This led to [the] editing and censoring many of the tales.”

Medieval and Renaissance Werewolf Art

io9 has shared some, for no obvious reason (other than Halloween, of course). The post also includes the occasional cynecephalus.

Ten Things You Might Not Know about J. R. R. Tolkien

Via mental_floss:

There are plenty of things even the most ardent fans don’t know about John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.

 

My favorite is #10:

Tolkien’s academic writings on Old Norse and Germanic history, language and culture were extremely popular among the Nazi elite, who were obsessed with recreating ancient Germanic civilization. But Tolkien was disgusted by Hitler and the Nazi party, and made no secret of the fact. He considered forbidding a German translation of The Hobbit after the German publisher, in accordance with Nazi law, asked him to certify that he was an “Aryan.” Instead, he wrote a scathing letter asserting, among other things, his regret that he had no Jewish ancestors. His feelings are also evidenced in a letter he wrote to his son: “I have in this War a burning private grudge—which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler … Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light.”

 

Looking for Bigfoot in North Georgia (and Elsewhere)

Via one of my local TV stations:

The Gulf Coast Bigfoot Research Organization (GCBRO) is convinced that not only is there a Bigfoot, but there are in fact bigfeet scattered across the countryside, even as many as 30,000 creatures (a number they admit is a “wild guess”) from the Pacific Northwest and across the South from Texas to Georgia….

During our conversation, Landsdale shared some of the best places in America to spot Bigfoot, including the following:

“Monster Central”

The so-called “Monster Central,” about 1500 acres, 30 miles south of Shreveport Louisiana, is actually on Landsdale’s property, where he first laid eyes on a Bigfoot 20 years ago and where the GCBRO does many of their hunts. They’ve most recently spotted a female bigfoot along with her child, though since the GCBRO team only wants to harvest a male specimen, they didn’t pursue. Landsdale says these are sharp, corn-feeding creatures, but they can also be fearless. When the creatures allegedly started killing Landsdale’s pets, he resolved to kill one for study.

Northwest Louisiana

The Toledo Bend Reservoir, on the Sabine River between Texas and Louisiana near the city of Natchitoches, is a prime area for Bigfoot sightings, sometimes generating two reports a month. The GCBRO has seen “packs” of Bigfoot here, roaming across four or five parishes.

East Texas

Landsdale reports there is heavy activity continuing along the Sabine River through Greg, Harrison and Panola counties in Texas. Five months ago a GCBRO group saw a total of five young creatures scampering around the area in a single day.

Southeast Oklahoma

The Kiamichi Mountains are a hotbed of Bigfoot activity. A GCBRO member that owns 40 acres in the area claims to routinely get Bigfoot visits around his cabin. A word of caution: The creatures in this area are said to be especially aggressive.

Mississippi

The GCBRO says they receive anywhere from three to five reports a week from up and down the river and its tributaries in the Mississippi Wildlife Management Area (WMA). Other times, an entire month will pass without a report. Based on this and other evidence, the group has concluded that Bigfoot individuals and families of up to 10 creatures are probably hunting in geographic loops on a roughly 72 hour cycle, originating from their bedding area, moving to various hunting grounds, and back to their bedding area. As with much of the South, it’s theorized that Bigfoot prefers this area for the climate and abundance of vegetation and animals.

Arkansas

This area is best known for the Fouke Monster, aka “Southern Sasquatch,” near the town of Fouke in Miller County, Arkansas. A book and a number of films have been made, based on this legend. Fouke was the first known variety of sasquatch, with only three toes (Bigfoot species can have three, four or five toes), and are aggressive, prone to killing pigs and terrorizing people. Landsdale believes the three toed creatures may be inbreeding, making them more aggressive than their four and five-toed cousins.

Georgia

The Appalachian Mountains in the northwest part of the state, particularly near the Benton-MacKaye Trail off Highway 515, are said to get sightings four or five times a month. Though this is one of the hottest parts of Georgia, caves provide refuge from the heat and there is abundant vegetation and animals.

Washington State

The west coastal areas of Washington State have several reports of sightings, including Kitsap County, which has had quite a few sightings in 2014 alone, as well as Bumping Lake and Skooum Valley. The coast is said to be preferred by these sasquatch for the climate, as it’s never really hot or cold, and there’s plenty of available vegetation and meat. Again, the sasquatch in this region tend to be less aggressive, more likely to be loners, and stay away from people.

Northern California

Bluff Creek is famous for the hotly debated Patterson film, showing footage of “Patty” in 1967. Since then, male tracks have been found in the snow in the area. Caves provide protection from the elements between hunts, which persist all winter, as Sasquatch don’t hibernate.

Booking My Flight to Gondor

This is, indeed, the most epic airline safety video in the history of ever.

The Science of Aquaman

Pondering merfolk and whether they might make an on-stage appearance in a future volume of Into the Wonder, I stumbled upon a deep-sea biologist’s attempt to explain the physiological problems DC’s Aquaman might face as a marine humanoid and some of the adaptations he might have evolved to deal with them. I commend Andrew David Thaler’s musings to you:

Enjoy!

The Hobbit in 72 Seconds

It’s epic, even though especially since it leaves out all the fluff Peter Jackson added in.


(H/T: io9)

Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes

Apparently a companion piece to Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods will be arriving next summer. According to Rick Riordan,

During the Blood of Olympus tour, we announced Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes, which will be published on Percy’s birthday, Aug. 18, 2015. This is very much like Greek Gods, except about (you guessed it) the Greek heroes like Hercules, Theseus, Atalanta, Perseus, Orpheus, and all the rest. Filled with Percy’s snark and sass. Illustrated with full-color art by John Rocco. So heavy you won’t be able to lift it. Yes, it will be awesome!

So, there you go.

Writing People of (a) Color (Different from Your Own)

In a thoughtful (and visually appealing) post by MariNaomi of Midnight Breakfast, several cartoonists offered some practical advice on how to write credible characters of a racial or ethnic background different from one’s own.

I hope I do justice to my nonwhite characters. As much as possible, I strive to avoid stereotypes (naturally!) and work from a character-first approach. Whenever possible, I try to draw on my experiences (1) as the kid of two teachers at an inner-city high school whose students often dropped in at our home and (2) the lone white kid in a predominantly black church youth group growing up.

In The Devil’s Due (which is hurdling through beta editing! Yay!), Taylor’s friend Jill plays a pretty significant role. The template from which I built her character was actually my childhood memories of a colleague and best friend of my mom, a strong, intelligent, devout, and compassionate black woman who could stand toe-to-toe with my mother—who is kind of a force of nature, but I mean that in the best possible way!—because of the love and respect they had for each other.

Imagining what that lady, now long deceased, might have been like in her teenage years helped me put a “face” on Jill, at least tentatively.