MonkInTheCellar Discussion

[Dave]

Yes, strange and I thought it would take the reader's attention aside so I left out an explanation. They were finger puppets. Only about an inch long and went on one's finger tips. I had done some research when I wrote the original story ("Distraction") earlier this year for my More Stories website, but no one seems to know what the Rin Tin Tin name or sound means. There's more info at the IMDB and at the rintintin web site. A "morsel" .... they fed him (the original dog) steak everyday and he lived until age 14! Died in the arms of neighbor and actress Jean Harlow.

[keith]

Yes, it would have been a distraction.

[Dave]

Hahaha!

[keith]

Stay.
I've always preferred this version.


For some reason it reminds me of when Garrison Keillor did his "last" Prairie Home Companion back in 1977(?). It ran about 90 minutes overtime.

[Dave]

Yes, I like "The Load Out," which was really the prelude to Stay.

[Dave]

So the monastery now seems temporarily safe from being sold out from under the monks. (Posts up to and including 150 (CL.)

But I think there may be a flaw in my logic. Does anyone else see it?

[Dave]

I'm heading south.

[keith]

After getting accustomed to absorbing Jesse in small doses, tonights reading was like sliding down an icy hill completely out of control. The small arc with piano tuner Fred was by itself worth the price of admission.

At one time the serial novel was standard for some writers. I've read of people waiting at the docks for the arrival of Dickens' next chapter. Other than you I don't know of anyone trying a modern version of this format. (Don't go getting a swelled head at the comparison to Dickens, it will be hard to navigate the DC Metro area if your head is bumping the headliner.)

A flaw in your logic, impossible. Obviously the flaw is in the analysis of your logic.

The songs for CLVIII gave me two reasons to feel nostalgic. Back almost a half century ago I had a summer job as a "carnie." At the end of the last night in a town we would tear down and pack up the rides and games, fall asleep in a converted bus and wake up in another small town to set up and do it again. Not quite a roadie but the same feeling.

A few years later while stationed in Helmstedt, Germany, two buddies & I would frequently take a bottle of wine to "our" park bench in what we called "the jungle" and pretend for a little while that we weren't in a foreign country away from home and family. One of our favorite songs at that time was CCR's Run through the Jungle.

On a totally off-the wall note: "abstemious" (or the adverb abstemiously) is the only word I can name which has all the vowels in alphabetical order.



Travel safely.

[Dave]

Thanks, Keith. I had been writing ahead and dumped everything last night. Looking it over, a lot still needs further editing. But I look at the enterprise as a first draft, anyway, so it will be interesting to finish the story line and get started on the re-write.

There are a few stories contained in MIC, I need to pick one, emphasize it and tell it through the entire chronicle.

[keith]

Why? That may be traditional but life is usually not that neat. How much will things change as storage, production & diastribution costs approach zero?

[Dave]

I think as a reader I've been more satisfied with one main story. Sub plots and other stories throughout a novel make the entire experience more enjoyable, but I think any "story" needs a central plot that gets up and moves across the dance floor and comes to some sort of conclusion, even if it's left up to the reader, as when Sheriff Bob saddles up and goes after the bad guy and we fade to black after a story has unfolded about his fear of death and how he comes to master it enough to do his job and save the good townspeople. We don't need to follow the Sheriff as he climbs on Old Paint and goes off to get his ass shot off, possibly, and we can hope he turns out to be the better shot.

Jesse's story is about (or will be when I add stuff and write the piece well) his fear of getting old and dieing without the solace of a mate, and his feelings of loss regarding not having had a wife. I'm not a monk, but I'm a human and I bet any celibate religious person must go through this. And I know enough of them who are old enough to verify my supposition, but I've so far hesitated to broach the subject with them.

Re the sub-plots, I guess you are aware that most are from previously written stories. Fred appears with his story in "Destruction." Other stories I've used, in whole or part, off the top of my head, have been "Confidence," "South Pole," "Fire Call," "Messenger," "Cowboy" and a number of others:
www.windsweptpress.com/essays.htm

I've enjoyed integrating them into MIC and I plan to leave all of them in and possibly add more.

[fiona]

have a good va- ca. U r escaping just in time.

[keith]

Not that I think it's a better soundtrack for the noted episode but this is the song that popped into my head when I read the title of CLXIII. I had to find it & listen.

[Dave]

I do remember trying to pick out Cast Your Fate on the piano back in the early seventies. The signature opening bars, at least. After that, each performer improvised. The song was probably almost ten years old by the time I got back to a piano. I remember the instrumental and, according to Wiki, I guess I was listening to the originator of the song, Vince Guaraldi. His youtube recording of it sounds like what I heard. With classic understatement, wiki says the song was extensively covered. The laundry list of performers and orchestras that recorded the song is phenomenal.

What song did I attach to 163? Oh, Heaven by the Los Lonely Boys. Isn't that a great song? I just found it on youtube. And I think the video is terrific, what with all the statues, etc. I like a group that has a fun time during their performance! And the guitar riffs are great.

[fiona]

dave: I am going to review the OGH today. Having completed two paintings, i feel confident mabye I can start again.