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Mowed Lawns of Oz
Feb. 11th, 2007 02:02 amI went to bed around 9 AM, but I only managed to sleep for around four hours before waking up and being unable to fall asleep again. So I spent some time on the Internet and playing The Sims before going back to bed, and it wasn't until after 9 PM that I got up for good. It sometimes seems like I waste the weekends, although I guess that's kind of what they're for. I did make the trip to the grocery store that I mentioned in my previous post. It was around 11 PM that I finally got around to going, so thank the Grocery Gods [1] for all-night stores, I guess. I ended up having to check out twice, since I was alone and had to buy some big bags of salt for the water conditioner. I guess that's what I get for moving to a place without a municipal water supply. We never had to get such things back at my mom's house. I do remember hearing that there might have been lead in the pipes [2], though, so I guess you can't win when it comes to plumbing.
I got my latest Baum Bugle a few days ago. It has some articles on Sherwood Smith and William Stout, the author and illustrator of The Emerald Wand of Oz and Trouble Under Oz. According to the Smith article, the publishers were originally aiming "to scrap everything that had been established over the years and create a 'new' Oz," which would include "the Witch driving a Rolls Royce." Thankfully, we ended up with two more traditional and consistent Oz books, although there's some question as to whether the other two in the series (one of which has already been written) will be published.
There have a been a lot of re-imaginings of Oz over the years, which is cool in a way, since The Wizard of Oz has become somewhat of an archetypal fairy tale. On the other hand, I'd really rather see new stories set in the "real" Oz than another alternate take on the original story. ("In this version, Dorothy is a go-go dancing waitress, the Cowardly Lion is a baseball card dealer, the Witch is Condoleezza Rice, and the Emerald City is Butte, Montana!") While part of this is due to the "it's been done before" factor, I think another part might have to do with the fact that I generally prefer to look at works of fiction I enjoy in a "What if this were real?" kind of way, rather than the "let's find the theme and the hidden meanings" way that English classes favor. Although I suppose a well-written piece of fiction can be looked at in both of these ways. On the Oz mailing lists that I've been on, people often refer to "Oz as history" and "Oz as literature" as different ways of looking at what's in the stories.
[1] If we're going by the Greek pantheon, perhaps grocery stores would fall into Demeter's jurisdiction?
[2] That would explain a lot, wouldn't it? :P
I got my latest Baum Bugle a few days ago. It has some articles on Sherwood Smith and William Stout, the author and illustrator of The Emerald Wand of Oz and Trouble Under Oz. According to the Smith article, the publishers were originally aiming "to scrap everything that had been established over the years and create a 'new' Oz," which would include "the Witch driving a Rolls Royce." Thankfully, we ended up with two more traditional and consistent Oz books, although there's some question as to whether the other two in the series (one of which has already been written) will be published.
There have a been a lot of re-imaginings of Oz over the years, which is cool in a way, since The Wizard of Oz has become somewhat of an archetypal fairy tale. On the other hand, I'd really rather see new stories set in the "real" Oz than another alternate take on the original story. ("In this version, Dorothy is a go-go dancing waitress, the Cowardly Lion is a baseball card dealer, the Witch is Condoleezza Rice, and the Emerald City is Butte, Montana!") While part of this is due to the "it's been done before" factor, I think another part might have to do with the fact that I generally prefer to look at works of fiction I enjoy in a "What if this were real?" kind of way, rather than the "let's find the theme and the hidden meanings" way that English classes favor. Although I suppose a well-written piece of fiction can be looked at in both of these ways. On the Oz mailing lists that I've been on, people often refer to "Oz as history" and "Oz as literature" as different ways of looking at what's in the stories.
[1] If we're going by the Greek pantheon, perhaps grocery stores would fall into Demeter's jurisdiction?
[2] That would explain a lot, wouldn't it? :P
