]
         c/ \
         /___\   *** THE OZZY DIGEST, NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 10, 1999 ***
         |@ @|
         | V |  \\\
         |\_/| | ;;;
          \-/  \ ;/
          ><     ]


======================================================================
From: Ozmama@aol.com
Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1999 20:01:16 EST
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 11-28-99



Warren:<< This week's Oz trivia question is: Who is Flipper, and what's he or
it
  got to do with Oz?>>

He's "our" orc (as well as being his very own orc, of course.)

<<Also, I was wondering about _The Hidden Prince of Oz_, as the millennium
  will be upon us in a few weeks. I am assuming (and hoping) that since it
  will be a double whammy (both a centennial and a millennial novel) that the
  Club will be making it available to the general public. Can anyone tell me
  whether it will be available from the Club website? Will it be available
  from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc.?>>

I believe it will debut at the Centennial Convention. It will
probably be available strictly through the Oz Club.  We are not a commercial
publisher; we are a not-for-profit educational
organization.  Peter and/or Jane will certainly correct me if I'm
wrong about publication plans.  --Robin

======================================================================
Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1999 21:50:02 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell@compuserve.com>
Subject: Flipper and flabber-gas
  charset=ISO-8859-1

Ruth Berman wrote:
<<I was sorry to see an obit article Nov 18 for Mabel King, who played
Evilene in "The Wiz" both on Broadway and in the movie (complications of
diabetes).>>

I had the pleasure of seeing Ms. King play the Wicked Witch on Broadway, as
well as the pleasure of missing the movie. But for people of my age, she
probably loomed largest for her roles as Roger's mother on WHAT'S
HAPPENING? and Steve Martin's mother in THE JERK.

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<In _Wonder City_, doesn't the Wogglebug mention something about going to
a gas station to get some midnight oil?  Since this was before the
invention of the Scalawagons, I wonder what the gas was being used for at
that point.>>

Does SCALAWAGONS say the Wizard invented flabber-gas, or might it have
already been around?

Dave Hardenbrook wrote:
<<Tik-Tok...wasn't *programmed* to be faithful to Dorothy or to Oz.)>>

He was programmed to be a servant, and with the death of King Evardo he
transferred his loyalty to Dorothy and thence to Ozma. That's one of the
dilemmas I'm trying to play with in this story: What happens when Tik-Tok
gets contradictory orders from Dorothy and from Ozma? On another level the
question might be, What's fundamental to Tik-Tok's programming and which of
his actions adapt to changing circumstances?

Warren Baldwin asked:
<<Who is Flipper, and what's he or it got to do with Oz?>>

According to the ENCYCLOPAEDIA ORKANA, "Flipper is the greatest explorer
Orkland has yet produced. His long solo flight into the world of two-legged
creatures and fish is studied by young Orks at schools and forms the basis
of the most popular shadow plays (q.v.) performed each Arfuss Eve (q.v.).
As a military Ork, Flipper also led the Great Intervention (q.v.), in which
an army of Orkland volunteers saved the straw king of the two-leggers from
the Big Orange Biting Thing (q.v.). Scientists find some details of the
Flipper saga, such as animals that flew without whirly tails, difficult to
believe. Nevertheless, it is generally agreed that his reports contain more
truth than fiction. His mates were Deelia (q.v.), Frinfrun the Prophetess
(q.v.), and Red (q.v.), and notable among the 24 children he bore over his
long life are Flipper II (q.v.), Flipper IIc (q.v.), Flipflup (q.v.),
Repplif (q.v.), and the exotically named Kappintrot."

Dave Hardenbrook wrote of CATS:
<<I intended the word "original" to mean "not a stage adaptation of an
existing movie".>>

And, I presume, not a stage adaptation of a source that has previously been
adapted as a movie, even if that movie didn't influence the stage show.
Because THE SECRET GARDEN got terrific reviews as a family show on Broadway
a few years ago.
   I hope you enjoyed how your self-introduction in the latest OZ OBSERVER
came out. It's always nice to have a face to put with the names on this
list.

J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell@compuserve.com
======================================================================
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 14:46:35 +1100
From: Gehan <calamity@eureka.lk>
Subject: Question of the Month

"Do you think that 'The Wizard of Oz' is the best musical of all-time?"

No way......I mean, I must say that I LOVE most of the songs, but the songs
which the Munchkins sing are pretty boring, and 'Off to see the Wizard' can
get tiring too, since its sung so many times. I think the BEST musical of
all-time is : 'My Fair Lady', followed closely by 'King and I' and 'The
Sound of Music'. Not only are the songs good in those three musicals, but
the plots are FANTASTIC too. Somehow, 'The Wizard of Oz' movie wasnt 'Ozzy'
to me.

~Gehan~


======================================================================
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 12:06:13 -0500
From: mas <mas@world.std.com>
Subject: I can't find the Lost King!

 > Any votes on when to start the _Lost King_ discussion?

I'm a bit confused on this - I just got off the phone with Books of
Wonder and the guy I spoke to said that they do *not* offer RPT's "Lost
King of Oz".  Is someone else printing this book, or are you all talking
about a *different* "Lost King"?

- M
======================================================================
From: CruentiDei@cs.com
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 21:54:19 EST
Subject: Oz

John Bell:
http://tyler1.apprentice.com should be well. I'll confirm that the digest
links are good.

I turned my computer off during Thanksgiving weekend, but your message
pre-dates that.
I'll let you know what I find.

Dave and the BCF:
Let's take two weeks to read (or re-read) _Lost King_ and then we can jump
in. Maybe December 13.
Or we may want to wait until after Christmas for everybody to get settled
after the holidays.

Tyler Jones

======================================================================
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 99 09:01:19 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005@maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: libraries in oz


Rich Morrissey: Libraries that don't have the later Oz books
themselves should still be able to get them through Interlibrary Loan
for patrons looking for them.  (Unless it's something really rare.  Even
then, I remember how I finally gave up on ever finding a copy of
Bowen's "The Enchanted Forest," after several years of being intrigued
by lovely paintings of scenes from it done by Barbi Johnson for sfcon
artshows.  Asked for a library copy on ILL, and they turned one up for
me -- one library's photocopy of another library's non-circulating
original.  So I made myself a photocopy before returning it.  Wrote to
Macmillan and suggested they think about reprinting it, but they
weren't really interested.)

Warren Baldwin: A Flipper in Oz?  Well, Flipper was a dolphin, and
March Laumer wrotea Green Dolphin in Oz, but I don't know if that's a
connection.

Lisa M. Mastroberte: Edward Eager did something a little like your lost-
in-an-Oz-book theme in "Seven-Day Magic."  The magic book takes
some of the characters to a sort of pre-Oz-book Oz.

Dave Hardenbrook: A couple of fairly recent stage musicals that kids
might enjoy are "Into the Woods" and "The Secret Garden."  // When to
start "Lost King" discussion -- December 15? January 1?

Ruth Berman

======================================================================
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 12:31:20 -0600
From: David Hulan <davidhulan@ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 11-28-99

J.L.:
 >In previous centuries more people indeed ate and healed with flowers, but
 >is there evidence they acted like Grampa: "absently pulling a blossom from
 >a near-by [sic] bush he popped it into his mouth" [88]? I think most people
 >of any age would be more aware or careful than that, especially in a garden
 >that's proven to be magical. Idly masticating strange flowers was not said
 >to be one of Grampa's two bad habits.

It might be that the fact that illness and death were no longer problems in
Oz might makes its residents less careful about what they eat, but in
general I agree with you; a century ago in the country people might have
been more likely to eat odd bits of the local vegetation, but I'm sure they
only ate ones they knew were safe. (At least, the ones who survived did...)
I know I used to eat honeysuckle flowers all the time, but only because I
knew they were OK and tasted good. Eat flowers at random and pretty soon
you're going to get to oleander or mountain laurel or lambkill or any of a
number of other toxic varieties.

 >I'll repeat my question about the picture on GRAMPA, page 251. Who is the
 >man in the background? Does this art depict any particular moment in the
 >book? Why does Grampa have a shovel, and why does he seem so friendly with
 >what appears to be Gorba?

I think this is one of Neill's numerous illustrations that don't really fit
the text. The man in the background is probably the High Humpus, though in
the text it says he fled the room before Gorba/Abrog arrived.

Ruth:
I got the "Best of Oz" catalog a few days ago myself. It's mostly movie
stuff, but they did have the BoW facsimiles of many of the Baum books
listed as well, which just might result in a few new people actually
reading them. Every little bit helps.

Warren:
 >   This week's Oz trivia question is: Who is Flipper, and what's he or it
 >got to do with Oz?

That's the Ork's name (mentioned only once); I suppose we all know what he
has to do with Oz. (For movie-only fans, he brought Trot, Cap'n Bill, and
Button-Bright to Oz and later, with a party of friends and relations, saved
the Scarecrow from burning at the stake in _The Scarecrow of Oz_.)

Lisa:
 >Which brings up another thing that has always stuck in my mind: Why do
 >many people actually believe this? Just because it came out in '39? Many
 >earlier movies had color sequences, such as the 1925 silent film "The
 >Phantom of the Opera."

See my last post for my theory as to why so many people believe _Wizard_
was originally b/w only. The early silents with color were mostly
hand-tinted prints, I believe, but technicolor started being used in the
mid-Thirties and lots of movies - including 1939's other biggest hit, _Gone
with the Wind_ - were in color by that year.

Dave:
 >Any votes on when to start the _Lost King_ discussion?

I'm ready any time.

Incidentally, what's happened to David Godwin? I haven't seen a post from
him in what seems like months, and he used to be one of the most active
among us. I hope he didn't go away mad.

David Hulan


======================================================================
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 16:39:07 -0500 (EST)
From: Benjamin Foreman Spitalnick <bens@UDel.Edu>
Subject: A question


Hello,
I don't know if anyone can help me.  I am a student at the
University of Delaware and I have an interesting assignment.  I need to
find reviews of the film The Wizard of Oz, from the time when it was first
released in 1939.  It is quite evident through the website that a number
of you have great intrest in the film so I was hoping someone could help
me out.  I thank you all for your time, and any film reviews, criticism
from 1939, or a point in the right dirction would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all again,
Sincerely,
Ben Spitalnick

======================================================================
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 99 09:55:21 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005@maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: the oz observer

Received the envelope with "The Oz Observer" and "Oz Gazette" and wanted to
comment that it was fun to see them -- both edited by Digest participants,
pleasant to say (David Hulan Observing and Jane Albright Gazetting,
although Jane also contributed photos to the observations).  And the
observations this time are two con reports by Atticus Ganaway and a "Meet a
Member" profile of the Digest's sysop Dave Hardenbrook.  Nice to hear from
everybody!

Ruth Berman

======================================================================
Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 18:53:32 -0500
From: Mark K DeJohn <mbdejohn@compuserve.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest

from: Barbara DeJohn

   A while ago there was alot of discussion about why more
people don't regularly contribute to the digest.   I wonder if
most are like me and are so far behind on reading them
that commenting on something seems out of place.
   I am proud to say that I finally am caught up which is the
first time this year.

When I was in Williamsburg VA. I was told that "the whole
nine yards" referred to colonial days when the bolts of fabric
shipped from England were in nine yard lengths.   So if you
bought the entire bolt  you got the whole nine yards.  It
sounds like there are many explanations but this sounded
plausible to me.

   I am really hooked on Harry Potter and can't wait for the
next book.  It is kind of nice to be in on the relative beginning
as opposed to the Oz books where I searched and searched
to find the out of print books.  My thought was that after the seven
planned books Rowling could have Harry come back to Hogwarts
as a teacher or continue with him as an adult.

   I hope to see alot of you at the centennial convention.  I am still
planning on going although I will have a 3 month old baby then.
Can my nine year old participate in the quiz if she is not a member
of the IWOC or would she need to join as well?

Ozzily yours,
Barbara DeJohn
======================================================================
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 99 12:34:47 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005@maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: gnomes in oz

Wanted to mention that I have a poem in the new "Weird Tales," winter
1999/2000 (Terminus Publishing, 123 Crooked Lane, King of Prussia PA
19406-2570), "Gnome Holidays."  No direct Oz connection, but it grew out of
researching gnomes for a Dunkiton Pamphlet I did a few years back on
gnomes.  (This year's Dunkiton Pamphlet, which has now been mailed out, is
a second installment of Ruth Plumley Thompson's "Princess of Cozytown"
stories, containing "The Prince with a Cold in His Heart," and "The
Bald-Headed Kingdom."  I was interested to realize that the latter was
heavily shortened for book publication, losing about a third of its
length.  I put the omissions back in brackets for this version.)

Ruth Berman

======================================================================
From: Orange5193@aol.com
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 1999 00:39:15 EST
Subject: Ozzy Digest posting

I'm happy to say that at long last, my CD "Before the Rainbow: The Original
Music of Oz" by James Doyle/ The Utensia Ensemble is now released, available
from Hungry Tiger Press.  16.99 + 3.50 s/h. (tigerbooks@aol.com).

Clocking in at approximately 64 minutes, it includes the following:
Suite from The Wizard of Oz (Tietjens)
    Pantomime/ Phantom Patrol/ Waltz and March/ Finale Act I
Down Among the Marshes (Baum) - Instrumental
Selection from The Woggle Bug (Chapin)
Selection from The Tik-Tok Man of Oz (L.F. Gottschalk)
Selection from The Maid of Arran (Baum)
Score for the film "The Patchwork Girl of Oz" (L.F. Gottschalk)
A detailed list of what's in the selections can be found on IWOC's New in Oz
page, btw.
This CD has been the result of a lot of research and  work, and was helped
along greatly by several  Digest members' insight and  advice, so thank you.

James Doyle

======================================================================
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 99 11:00:58 (PST)
From: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com>
Subject: Ozzy Things


OZ OBSERVER:
Many of you seem to have seen the _Oz Observer_ with a certain
Digest editor in the "Meet a Member" section.  I wonder when
I'll get *my* copy?  (Maybe I renewed my club membership too late?)


GLINDA:
(This is a question from someone on the Harry Potter mailing list):
Do we know anything about where Glinda came from?  Were her parents
sorcerers?  Or was *she* created "at the beginning of time"?


QUESTION OF THE MONTH:
 > "Do you think that 'The Wizard of Oz' is the best musical of all-time?"

No... I go with Gehan about _My Fair Lady_ being better, but not _The King
and I_ (I prefer the film _Anna and the King of Siam_ with Irene Dunne and
Rex Harrison; I have no idea what this new Jodie Foster film will be like).
IMHO the best movie musical of all time is _Singing in the Rain_.

I also have a question: Do you think that _The Wizard of Oz_ is the best
movie *fantasy* of all time?  Again, I would say no... For me, the best
is definitely the 1940 _Thief of Bagdad_. (Cocteau's _Beauty and the Beast_
is a close second.)

Don't get me wrong... I *like* the MGM _Wizard_, but not for burgeoning
Ozziness, just as I love Disney's _Aladdin_, but concede that its biggest
flaw is that it doesn't *feel* like the Arabian Nights. (_Thief of Bagdad_
on the other hand...)


BCF:
I'll put it to a vote: Should we start _Lost King_ next week, or after
the Holidays?


TROT & CAP'N:
David Hulan wrote:
 >That's the Ork's name (mentioned only once); I suppose we all know what he
 >has to do with Oz. (For movie-only fans, he brought Trot, Cap'n Bill, and
 >Button-Bright to Oz and later, with a party of friends and relations, saved
 >the Scarecrow from burning at the stake in _The Scarecrow of Oz_.)

Except now movie-only fans are asking themselves "Who are Trot, Cap'n Bill,
and Button-Bright?" :)  I *was* going to answer that, but decided it would
be better to encourage movie-only fans to "read _The Scarecrow of Oz_ and
find out!" :)


HARRY POTTER:
Barbara wrote:
 >I am really hooked on Harry Potter and can't wait for the
 >next book.

Next Summer, in case you don't know.

 >It is kind of nice to be in on the relative beginning
 >as opposed to the Oz books where I searched and searched
 >to find the out of print books.

I feel the same way.  BTW, I'm currently re-reading _Chamber of Secrets_,
and I'm just at the bit about the gnomes... Does this further cloud the
debate about the distinction between garden gnomes and Nonestic (g)nomes?

 >My thought was that after the seven
 >planned books Rowling could have Harry come back to Hogwarts
 >as a teacher or continue with him as an adult.

I think Ms. Rowling would find that any attempt to end the Harry Potter
series would be as ill-fated as Baum's attempt to end the Oz series!


                              -- Dave

======================================================================
<END>

           ]
         c/ \
         /___\   *** THE OZZY DIGEST, DECEMBER 11 - 15, 1999 ***
         |@ @|
         | V |  \\\
         |\_/| | ;;;
          \-/  \ ;/
          ><     ]


======================================================================
From: "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <xornom@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-10-99
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 03:01:22 GMT

<x-flowed>J. L. Bell:
 >Nathan DeHoff wrote:
 ><<In _Wonder City_, doesn't the Wogglebug mention something about going to
 >a gas station to get some midnight oil?  Since this was before the
 >invention of the Scalawagons, I wonder what the gas was being used for at
 >that point.>>
 >
 >Does SCALAWAGONS say the Wizard invented flabber-gas, or might it have
 >already been around?

I can't quite remember; it's been a long time since I've read that book.  If
I recall correctly, though, the flabber-gas predated the Scalawagons.  I'm
not sure what it was used for.

 >According to the ENCYCLOPAEDIA ORKANA
<rest of entry snipped>

Nice work.  I enjoyed reading this.  Now we just need to know what Arfuss
Eve is.

I just deleted the name, and can't remember it now (sorry):
 >I'm a bit confused on this - I just got off the phone with Books of
 >Wonder and the guy I spoke to said that they do *not* offer RPT's "Lost
 >King of Oz".  Is someone else printing this book, or are you all talking
 >about a *different* "Lost King"?

As far as I know, BoW has never published an edition of _Lost King_, and,
what with the new copyright laws, they probably won't for a few more
decades, unless they work out something with RPT's estate.  The only recent
reprint of this title was by Del Rey, and I'm pretty sure you can still get
a Del Rey edition through the International Wizard of Oz Club.  You might
also be able to find the book in a library.

Dave Hardenbrook:
 >OZ OBSERVER:
 >Many of you seem to have seen the _Oz Observer_ with a certain
 >Digest editor in the "Meet a Member" section.  I wonder when
 >I'll get *my* copy?  (Maybe I renewed my club membership too late?)

I was lazy, and didn't renew my club membership for 1999, so I might not be
getting this.  I'll probably renew it in 2000, though.

 >GLINDA:
 >(This is a question from someone on the Harry Potter mailing list):
 >Do we know anything about where Glinda came from?  Were her parents
 >sorcerers?  Or was *she* created "at the beginning of time"?

Glinda's origins were never mentioned in the Famous Forty, as far as I know.
   I believe that some Buckethead books (_Enchanted Gnome_ and _Magic
Tapestry_ come to mind) identified Glinda's parents (and her sister, as
well) as magic-workers, though.

 >BCF:
 >I'll put it to a vote: Should we start _Lost King_ next week, or after
 >the Holidays?

I'd say the sooner the better, so I'll vote for next week.

Nathan

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
</x-flowed>
======================================================================
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 09:09:20 +1100
From: Gehan <calamity@eureka.lk>
Subject: Ozzy Things

Flipper : Isnt Flipper the Dolphin who assists Bortag in Eric Shanower's
'Enchanted Apples of Oz'? Isnt the dolphin ALSO called 'Flipper'?

Dave : I'm surprised that you didnt recieve the laest issue of 'Oz
Observer'. I thought your introduction article was great. Maybe you'll get
it soon......

Lost King of Oz : I'm ready for discussions any time......

Best 'Fantasy' Film : Hmmmm.........I would have to say Disney's Alice in
Wonderland.......followed closely by Disney's Return to Oz.......

Another Poll:

Which, in your HUMBLE opinion, is better? The Wizard of Oz MGM Movie, or
Disney's Return to Oz?

I REALLY LOVED the Wizard of oz MGM Movie when I FIRST watched it.......I
still LIKE it, but not as much as I used to. I get tired of watching it now,
because the Munchkin Songs are really boring, and they repeat 'Off to See
the Wizard' over and over again. There are many other reasons as to why I'm
fed up with it too.....

On the other hand, I prefer 'Return to Oz' much more! Its one of my all-time
favourite movies (apart from My Fair Lady and Sound of Music that is....) I
know there are lots of unanswered questions on the movie, and it may not be
colourful with no songs at all, but I still think its FAR better than the
MGM Movie. The actors and actressess would beat teh MGm actors and
actressess any day, IMO......
And also because it is closer to the books.......The characters seem as if
they have virtually STEPPED OUT of the books. Even Fairuza Balk was awesome
as Dorothy, and Nicol Williamsonwas TERRIFIC as the Gnome King......even
though Dorothy isnt somehow the same Dorothy we find in the books.....and
teh Gnome King is also slightly more sinister....
So I would HAVE to say that the Return to Oz is better by far, than the
Wizard of Oz MGM Movie..............
====================================================

I Could Have Danced All Night
I Could Have Danced All Night
and still have begged for more
I Could Have Spread my Wings,
and done a thousand things,
I've never done before
I'll never know what made it soo exciting
Why all at once, My Heart Took Flight!
I only know when he,
Began to dance with me,
I Could Have Danced, Danced, Danced All Night!

-- Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady - The Greatest Musical Ever!)


======================================================================
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 22:49:23 -0600
Subject: Oz it were
From: "David Godwin" <d.godwin@minn.net>

David Hulan, bless his kindly Ozish heart, wrote:
 >Incidentally, what's happened to David Godwin? I haven't seen a post from
 >him in what seems like months, and he used to be one of the most active
 >among us. I hope he didn't go away mad.

No, I went away very, very busy. It seems that I am now holding down 1-1/2
jobs that somehow seem to require 16-17 hours a day, PLUS my mother's broken
arm after a fall in October and her gradually worsening condition,
culminating with having to put her in a nursing home the day after
Thanksgiving, have virtually eliminated my leisure time and have been very
stressful. However, I do not regret the job situation, as I greatly enjoy
what I'm doing in both instances.

As to the subject of "going away mad," apparently some people have done just
that, judging from some of the comments being posted to Tik-Tok Talk. Chris
Dulabone in particular spoke of being "hatred-ed" off the Digest, and others
have been mentioned as his fellow victims. All this must be referring to
some controversy that occurred before I began reading the Digest; I only
know of one person who quit in a huff since I became active, and that was
sort of a self-destructive maneuver, I thought. Others, I think, have become
busy (like me) with one thing or another or have simply gotten burned out
and lost interest. Gehan Cooray is another one who doesn't contribute
anything like he used to, but I do not presume to know the reason. Anyway,
my point is that it's a shame that anyone has to feel as Chris does, and I'm
curious as to whether he has a legitimate gripe or is just being overly
sensitive. If he was in fact "hatred-ed" off the Digest, and didn't just
simply find it difficult to get anyone to agree with him about his views of
Oz or something, then it was/is a problem that probably needs to be
addressed - if it hasn't been.

Tyler - I still get the "http/1.0 404 Object not found" message on all of
the links in the Ozzy Digest archive. Could this have something to do with
the browser?

Has anyone besides me been having an extraordinary amount of trouble getting
things ordered from the Club? I thought they were improving their system.
Could some orders have fallen through the cracks in the process? As it is, I
would now hesitate to buy anything from the Club unless I got it over the
counter at a convention.

All for now. I'll try to contribute more frequently in the future,
especially when we get past the RPT books that I don't particularly care
for. (IIRC, _Gnome King_ is the first one I actually liked.)

- David G.


======================================================================
From: SeraMary@aol.com
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 01:22:30 EST
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-10-99

OK ~ I've been reading alot about all of you are talking about .
BEST MUSICAL  ?   Well,  EVERYONE does ahve THEIR OWN opinion right ?  WITH
ME it is THE WIZARD OF OZ.   Now everyone is mentioning DISNEY,  indirectly
WALT DISNEY's
SNOW WHITE  is 1937's claim to fame and provoked MGM to cash in on THE WIZARD
OF OZ for 1939 .  OF COURSE people are going to say DISNEY IS A MILESTONE
for WONDERFUL musicals.    But for some people  OZ is SUCH a TREASURE to
everyone's hearts : )
I BELIEVE THE WIZARD OF OZ IS THEE BEST MUSICAL OF ALL TIME along with SOUND
OF MUSIC .    TELL ME WHAT U THINK!
Lisa ~ SeraMary@aol.com
======================================================================
From: Orange5193@aol.com
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 02:42:39 EST
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-10-99

In a message dated 12/10/99 8:56:27 PM Central Standard Time, David Hulan
<davidhulan@ntsource.com>com writes:

 >
 >  See my last post for my theory as to why so many people believe _Wizard_
 >  was originally b/w only. The early silents with color were mostly
 >  hand-tinted prints, I believe, but technicolor started being used in the
 >  mid-Thirties and lots of movies - including 1939's other biggest hit, _Gone
 >  with the Wind_ - were in color by that year.
 >
I know for a fact Technicolor was in full use as early as 1929 - the 1930
film of "Whoopee" is all two strip Technicolor.

As for 'best musical of all time'  I'll say "My Fair Lady" is up there , with
"She Loves Me" and  "West Side Story" close behind.   While the MGM "Wizard"
film is one of my childhood favorites, in my opinion it's hampered as a
musical by its lack of a "second act" .   Look at the stage adaptations of
the film- even after putting "Jitterbug" back in, including those awkward
sheet music verse intros, expanding an incidental like "Optimistic Voices"
into a full-fledged number and reprising all but the kitchen sink,  the show
makes for a comparitively meager musical.  As far as whether the MGM film is
lacking in "Ozzyness", I think Stephen Sondheim put it best when he wrote
"Nice is different from Good".   The MGM is too often nice where Baum was
good.
James Doyle
======================================================================
From: Ozmama@aol.com
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 12:48:07 EST
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-10-99

Oh!  Oh!! And OH!!!  John, you are *so* clever.  :o)  Thanks for this gem:


" 'According to the ENCYCLOPAEDIA ORKANA, "Flipper is the greatest explorer
  Orkland has yet produced. His long solo flight into the world of two-legged
  creatures and fish is studied by young Orks at schools and forms the basis
  of the most popular shadow plays (q.v.) performed each Arfuss Eve (q.v.).
  As a military Ork, Flipper also led the Great Intervention (q.v.), in which
  an army of Orkland volunteers saved the straw king of the two-leggers from
  the Big Orange Biting Thing (q.v.). Scientists find some details of the
  Flipper saga, such as animals that flew without whirly tails, difficult to
  believe. Nevertheless, it is generally agreed that his reports contain more
  truth than fiction. His mates were Deelia (q.v.), Frinfrun the Prophetess
  (q.v.), and Red (q.v.), and notable among the 24 children he bore over his
  long life are Flipper II (q.v.), Flipper IIc (q.v.), Flipflup (q.v.),
  Repplif (q.v.), and the exotically named Kappintrot.'  "

Dave Hardenbrook: You look familiar to me, but I don't know why.
Have you ever been to an Oz convention other than So. Winkies?  I
enjoyed your profile in the _Oz Observer_.

"Do you think that 'The Wizard of Oz' is the best musical of all-time?"
Nope.  I love "Singing in the Rain," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,"
and probably a half-dozen more musicals better.

Rowling certainly doesn't seem to be planning an early demise to
the Harry Potter series.  My guess is that Harry will go on staff after
he graduates, and that he'll participate in many of his students'
adventures as well as those of his own.  He'll be a member in full
standing then of whatever they call the Wizard's society, and he'll
probably be called upon to be a hero for them in many ways.  After
all, he's the strongest of them all.  :)  --Robin

======================================================================
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 14:57:27 -0600
From: David Hulan <davidhulan@ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-10-99

Gehan:
 >"Do you think that 'The Wizard of Oz' is the best musical of all-time?"

By no means. It's very good, and it may arguably be the best movie that
happens to be a musical, but there are several movies that I think work
better _as musicals_. The three you mention are good, but I wouldn't rate
any of them "best," either. My personal favorite (idiosyncratic as it might
be) is probably _Finian's Rainbow_, but I'd rate _Singin' in the Rain_,
_The Band Wagon_, and _Gigi_ all ahead of the three you mention as well as
_Wizard_. And as a group it's hard to beat the Astaire-Rogers set of
_Roberta_, _Top Hat_, _Follow the Fleet_, _Shall We Dance_, and _Swing
Time_, though no single one of them stands out. (Their other three movies
together aren't in the same class.)

Mas:
 >I'm a bit confused on this - I just got off the phone with Books of
 >Wonder and the guy I spoke to said that they do *not* offer RPT's "Lost
 >King of Oz".  Is someone else printing this book, or are you all talking
 >about a *different* "Lost King"?

_Lost King_ has to be ordered from the International Wizard of Oz Club;
that's the only source of new copies. Or you can search for it on-line from
one or another of the used-book outfits. We're in the zone now where the
only source of new copies is the IWOC; this will be true for _Lost King_,
_Hungry Tiger_, _Gnome King_, _Giant Horse_, and _Jack Pumpkinhead_. Then
there's a short run - _Yellow Knight_, _Pirates_, _Purple Prince_, and
_Ojo_ - that aren't available at all new; if you don't have them you'll
have to search for used copies. _Speedy_ and _Wishing Horse_ are again
available from the IWOC; the remaining Thompsons, the three Neills, and the
two Snows are available from BoW (and some of them from the IWOC as well),
_Hidden Valley_ is available from the IWOC only, and _Merry-Go-Round_ from
BoW only. I'd advise everyone who's interested in participating in or
following the discussions to order your copies of _Lost King_ through _Jack
Pumpkinhead_ now; the IWOC isn't the fastest outfit around on turn-around.
And to start searching for the out-of-print four as well.

Barb:
Nice to hear from you again!

 >When I was in Williamsburg VA. I was told that "the whole
 >nine yards" referred to colonial days when the bolts of fabric
 >shipped from England were in nine yard lengths.   So if you
 >bought the entire bolt  you got the whole nine yards.  It
 >sounds like there are many explanations but this sounded
 >plausible to me.

My guess is that "the whole nine yards" most likely does refer to cloth
measure of some kind, but nine yards is an awfully small bolt of cloth, at
least by today's standards. Maybe when weaving was done by hand-operated
loom (which would have been the case during most of Colonial times) shorter
bolt lengths were more common.

OTOH, I don't remember hearing the phrase until relatively recently -
around the Seventies - so I'm not too confident of an explanation going
that far back.

It's not necessary for your child to belong to the IWOC to participate in
the quiz. On the other hand, if she's interested enough in Oz to want to
participate in the quiz, why doesn't she join?

Dave:
 >Many of you seem to have seen the _Oz Observer_ with a certain
 >Digest editor in the "Meet a Member" section.  I wonder when
 >I'll get *my* copy?  (Maybe I renewed my club membership too late?)

If you still don't have a copy by the time you read this let me know by
private e-mail and I'll send you one; I have some extras.

 >Do we know anything about where Glinda came from?  Were her parents
 >sorcerers?  Or was *she* created "at the beginning of time"?

We don't know much about Glinda's origins; she's certainly been around for
a long time (much more than a normal human life, or than most current
inhabitants of Oz), but whether she's a human who acquired her skills and
longevity through study, or is some sort of elemental force who's been
around forever, like the fairies and other immortals, is never specified.
My guess is the former, but it's just a guess; there's no evidence one way
or the other that I know of. (Various post-FF books have dealt with her
origins, but those are, presumably, just guesses like unto mine.)

 >I also have a question: Do you think that _The Wizard of Oz_ is the best
 >movie *fantasy* of all time?  Again, I would say no... For me, the best
 >is definitely the 1940 _Thief of Bagdad_. (Cocteau's _Beauty and the Beast_
 >is a close second.)

I guess one question that needs to be decided is to define what you mean by
"fantasy." Strictly speaking, given the way the movie ended, the 1939
_Wizard_ isn't a fantasy, just a movie with a long dream-sequence. And do
you count, say, the Bela Lugosi _Dracula_ as fantasy? Or is horror a
separate subgenre?

That said, I wouldn't argue against the Korda _Thief of Baghdad_ as best
fantasy movie of all time. I wouldn't want to support it unequivocally
against any of several others, though - including the Lugosi _Dracula_, the
Karloff _Frankenstein_ or _Bride of Frankenstein_, _Finian's Rainbow_, or
_Pinocchio_ (the best of the Disney cartoon features).

 >I'll put it to a vote: Should we start _Lost King_ next week, or after
 >the Holidays?

I vote to put it off till after the holidays. Too many people are too busy
for the rest of this month. Though it's no problem for me personally.

 >Except now movie-only fans are asking themselves "Who are Trot, Cap'n Bill,
 >and Button-Bright?" :)  I *was* going to answer that, but decided it would
 >be better to encourage movie-only fans to "read _The Scarecrow of Oz_ and
 >find out!" :)

I was assuming (possibly incorrectly) that most people on the Digest had
been around when we were discussing _Scarecrow_ and would have learned from
the discussion who Trot, Cap'n Bill, and Button-Bright are. (If they're
interested in the books at all.)

David Hulan


======================================================================
From: CruentiDei@cs.com
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 21:22:04 EST
Subject: Oz

Robin Wrote:
 > I believe it will debut at the Centennial Convention.
 > It will probably be available strictly through the
 > Oz Club.  We are not a commercial publisher; we are
 > a not-for-profit educational organization.

Despite my Capitalist Imperialist leanings, this is Oz
as it should be. However, if we only educate ourselves,
how will the word of Oz spread?

Gehan:
Add my vote to that. "My Fair Lady" is also my fave musical
of all time.

David Hulan:
David Godwin's last post was dated August 30th. It contained
no hints of anything untoward. I hope all is well. Can anybody
get in touch with him?

Dave and the BCF:
I'll vote for after the holidays. That way, we can concentrate
on one thing then move on to the other.

Tyler Jones

======================================================================
From: "Warren H. Baldwin" <wbaldwin@plvwtelco.net>
Subject: Various
Date: Sun, 12 Dec 1999 19:37:35 -0600

   BCF: Oh, why not wait till after the holidays?
   Congratulations to those who correctly identified Flipper as "our" Ork.
Special nods to D. Hulan (indeed, the name was only given _once_ in the
entire _Scarecrow_) and J. L. Bell (where can I obtain a copy of the
Encyclopaedia Orkana? (q.v.)). The trouble with these trivia questions is
that y'all know the answers; but who knows, mebbe not all the lurkers do.
   Robin: Shucks, _Hidden Prince_ will only be available through the Club?
Couldn't it be sold at large and the profits spent in order to keep the
organization non-profit? What's that? You say that with the Club operating
largely with volunteers it's hard to know how things stand at any given
time? Why, with all the computer Wizards in the member list, (listening,
Dave?) can't you have a system which will tell you if you're still
non-profit up to one second ago? And think of all the things those profits
could go for: rebating member dues, salaries for the volunteers, expanded
Club publications (especially the later of the Famous Forty in a style to
match Del Rey), and many more. The guvamin don't have no trouble keepin'
non-profit. You jes' gotta spend more than you take in.
   This week's trivia question is: What is the Valley of Virtula, and where
in Oz is it? (Caution: this is a trick question.)


======================================================================
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 12:15:14 -0500 (EST)
From: "Mark Donajkowski" <madonajk@alpha.delta.edu>
Subject: news

NEW 'OZ' FILM NEXT FALL
L. Frank Baum's THE LION OF OZ & THE BADGE OF COURAGE
has been adapted into a feature-length animated film
by SONY WONDER.
This prequel to WIZARD OF OZ will air on The DISNEY
Channel in fall 2000.
http://www.disneychannel.com

======================================================================
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 99 08:27:59 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005@maroon.tc.umn.edu>
     ozdigest@mindspring.com
Subject: 1939 wizard of oz reviews for ben s

If your library has (or can get through Interlibrary Loan) "The Wizard of
Oz: the 50th anniversary pictorial history" by John Fricke, Jay Scarfone,
and William Stillman, that includes a couple of chapters on the
contemporary reviews.  Also, Aljean Harmetz's "The Making of the Wizard of
Oz," has some discussion of the contemporary reviews, focusing on what the
major magazines said.  The two books summarize the reviews overall in
different ways, as Harmetz describes the reviews as mixed (the major
magazines' reviews were about half favorable and half unfavorable), and
Fricke et al, including a lot of newspaper reviews (mostly favorable,
newspaper reviewers generally being easier than magazines, then as now),
describe them as mostly favorable.

Ruth Berman

======================================================================
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 99 15:42:10 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005@maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: lost king in oz finding



J. L. Bell: You (and Robin Olderman & David Hulan) came up with the
answer to Warren Baldwin's riddle, I see.  Enjoyed your riff on the
ENCYCLOPAEDIA ORKANA entry on Flipper, complete with assorted q.v.s.


mas: Books of Wonder doesn't offer "Lost King"?  That means they've
sold out of their remaining supplies of the Del Rey Books paperback
reprint, I suppose.  (It isn't one of the ones they've reprinted in a
facsimile edition.)  The IWOC may still have some of its stock left -- try
asking iwoc@sam.neosoft.com.  It should also be fairly easy to locate
from a used book dealer.  Try asking Robin Olderman, on the Digest.
Is Herman Bieber still on the list?  If not, you could check with him
separately (hermbieber@aol.com).  Of the upcoming RPT books,
"Hungry Tiger," "Gnome King," "Giant Horse," "Jack Pumpkinhead," and
"Yellow Knight" all had Del Rey paperback editions.  But then will come
the three which have been out of print for many years, "Pirates,"
"Purple Prince," and "Ojo."  Those will be hard to find for those of you
who don't have them.  I'll repeat a suggestion I made a while back: If
some one person who doesn't have them would volunteer to act as
coordinator, then the others who want them could let the coordinator
know, and the coordinator could ask around privately (for legal
reasons, of course, no public or on-list offer can be made) to find
someone who has copies of them (and a self-service copy-store in the
neighborhood) and who would be willing to make copies to send in
return for enough to cover the cost of the copy (and probably a share
of the cost of a master copy to be used in making the other copies,
rather than put a bound volume face down so many times over) and
the mailing costs.  The coordinator then could notify the would-be
buyers to get in touch privately with the provider.


James Doyle: I've received your Hungry Tiger Ozmusic CD, and it
looks very nice.  Unfortunately, the CD player is on the fritz, so I don't
know just when I'll hear it -- eventually, I hope!


Barbara DeJohn: Anyone at the Ozcons is welcome to take part in the
con activities.


Dave Hardenbrook: It may not be a good idea to ask on votes for
when to move on to a new book-to-discuss, at least, not with a
schedule that currently lets you send the Digest out only once every
week or two.  By the time people can respond and argue a bit ("mas"
might want more time, for instance), a month's gone by.  You asked in
the Nov 28 Digest for suggestions on when to start "Lost King," and I
suggested Dec 15 or Jan 1 as possibilities, but as the next Digest was
Dec 10, it was already too late to vote for a Dec 15 start-date, and
even Jan 1 as a start-date might be cutting things short, if next Digest
takes a similar time to appear.  Suggest you just set a date (two
weeks from whenever you send out the next Digest, maybe?).


Barbara DeJohn & Dave Hardenbrook: Nice (although unsurprising) to
find more Potter fans here.  I suspect the Rowling gnomes that
wizards want kept out of their gardens would be the same size as the
plastic or concrete garden gnomes that Muggles like ourselves could
buy in stores.

Ruth Berman

======================================================================
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 17:49:02 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell@compuserve.com>
Subject: investing in a CD


Congratulations, Ruth Berman, on the WEIRD TALES sale.


And congratulations, James Doyle, on completing your CD; I've been awaiting
it with curiosity. Can the PATCHWORK GIRL movie score be played alongside
the video (the obvious cut of Scraps's animation excepted)? Or will I have
to go with that old stand-by, DARK SIDE OF THE MOON?


David Hulan wrote:
<<a century ago in the country people might have been more likely to eat
odd bits of the local vegetation, but I'm sure they only ate ones they knew
were safe. (At least, the ones who survived did...) I know I used to eat
honeysuckle flowers all the time, but only because I knew they were OK and
tasted good.>>


By coincidence, I just read about a New England boy of the late 18th
century named Samuel Thompson who "used to induce other boys to chew it
[Indian tobacco], merely by way of sport, to see them vomit."
    Thompson grew up to become a fairly influential physician whose system
of herb-based medications relied heavily on _Lobelia inflata_, better known
as Indian tobacco.


Dave Hardenbrook wrote:
<<Do we know anything about where Glinda came from?  Were her parents
sorcerers?  Or was *she* created "at the beginning of time"?>>


I think if Glinda wanted us to know, we'd know. And since we don't
know...we might be much better off not inquiring.
    I don't think the books ever call Glinda a fairy (or more of a fairy
than anyone else in Oz) or an immortal of the gnome/ryl/wood
nymph/knook/fairy beaver/rainbow's daughter type. She does get invited to a
fairy convention in MAGICAL MIMICS, but that seems to be a courtesy (and,
of course, a plot convenience).


Dave Hardenbrook asked:
<<Do you think that _The Wizard of Oz_ is the best movie *fantasy* of all
time?  Again, I would say no... For me, the best is definitely the 1940
_Thief of Bagdad_.>>


TIME BANDITS all the way.

J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell@compuserve.com

======================================================================
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 99 16:48:51 (PST)
From: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com>
Subject: Ozzy Things


_LOST KING OF OZ_:
Having considered everone's comments, I've decided that discussions will start
Jan. 2.


GEHAN:
 >Flipper : Isnt Flipper the Dolphin who assists Bortag in Eric Shanower's
 >'Enchanted Apples of Oz'? Isnt the dolphin ALSO called 'Flipper'?

I think that creature is either a ray or a "sail"-less swordfish...


ROBIN:
 >Dave Hardenbrook: You look familiar to me, but I don't know why.
 >Have you ever been to an Oz convention other than So. Winkies?

No. (Sigh)  I hope that will change soon though...


GLINDA:
David Hulan wrote:
 >We don't know much about Glinda's origins; she's certainly been around for
 >a long time (much more than a normal human life, or than most current
 >inhabitants of Oz), but whether she's a human who acquired her skills and
 >longevity through study, or is some sort of elemental force who's been
 >around forever, like the fairies and other immortals, is never specified.

I lean toward the view that her magic was learned, else how could she pass
her knowledge on to the Wizard?  As I said a few Digests back, I even
speculate that she was at Harry Potter's school, Hogwarts ( At the House
of Ravenclaw -- I very much doubt that *she's* the Heir of Slytherin :) )...


A THOUSAND POINTS OF OZZY LIGHT:
Tyler wrote:
 >Despite my Capitalist Imperialist leanings, this is Oz
 >as it should be. However, if we only educate ourselves,
 >how will the word of Oz spread?

I think Books of Wonder is helping (now frequenters of Borders and B&N
know about the books, though Crown and Brentano's customers are still in
the dark); and then there's *my* soon-to-be released book...!  :)


                              -- Dave


======================================================================

           ]
         c/ \
         /___\   *** THE OZZY DIGEST, DECEMBER 16 - 20, 1999 ***
         |@ @|
         | V |  \\\
         |\_/| | ;;;
          \-/  \ ;/
          ><     ]


======================================================================
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 16:21:09 -0800
From: Peter Hanff <phanff@library.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-15-99

Hi Dave,

Just wanted to wish you and all the other Digesters happy holidays. The
President's letter was printed last Thursday to go out with the Oz Club
Ballot for 2000. I spoke to the mailing service yesterday and learned that
they are hoping to complete the stuffing and mailing today. So all
Digesters will receive it, the holiday mails willing, sometime in the next
couple of weeks.

Glad to see that a number of Digesters have discovered the Harry Potter
books. I bought all three of the Scholastic editions in October and was so
intrigued by the Americanization of the texts that I bought the three
British editions for comparison. Disregarding the British spellings, there
are still dozens of verbal changes between the two versions. Rather fun, wot!

As readers will see, I commend our Club Administrator, Kent Carson, for
having shaped up fulfillment of orders markedly over the past twelve
months. However I noticed in today's Digest a comment that suggested that
not all orders have been filled promptly. One of our greatest improvements
has been using a single fulfilment service in Georgia for most of the
Club's publications. However there are still a few additional suppliers
that must receive shipping orders from Kent and then send out the material.

It would be a help to me and to all the Club if people took a moment to
send an inquiry to us about a late or unfilled order. This can be done with
an e-mail to the Club's web page or to me directly. We'd like to continue
to improve our shipping performance wherever possible.

Best to all,

Peter
======================================================================
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 19:58:54 -0500
From: Michael Turniansky <turnip@bcpl.net>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-15-99

 >

     Gehan:

 > Flipper : Isnt Flipper the Dolphin who assists Bortag in Eric Shanower's
 > 'Enchanted Apples of Oz'? Isnt the dolphin ALSO called 'Flipper'?

    No, the flying swordfish is named Drox.

   James Doyle:

 >
 > As for 'best musical of all time'  I'll say "My Fair Lady" is up there , 
with
 > "She Loves Me" and  "West Side Story" close behind.

   This intrigues me.  Is this the same "She Loves Me" that was the musical 
version
of "Shop Around the Corner" (also made into a non-musical version with Jimmy
Stewart, and more recently, the basis of "You've Got Mail" with Tom Hanks)?  I
didn't know that it was ever made into a movie.
    As for me, I love just about all musicals, so it's really hard to choose.
"1776" is way up there, as is "How to Succeed in Business Without Really 
Trying",
"Annie", "Grease", "Music Man", "Fame", "Fiddler on the Roof", "Seven 
Brides for
Seven Brothers", "Singing in the Rain", oh I could just go on and on.  Try 
finding
me a musical I DIDN'T like.  Now, there's a challenge!  (Currently 
listening to the
CD of "Bubbling Brown Sugar" from the library, and last week it was "the Grass
Harp")

    Baruch got his first ILL book, Ozma of Oz (actually, he meant to get 
Glinda,
since he'd already read Ozma, but I guess at 7, he was so excited about the 
whole
idea of getting a book from a remote library that he asked for the wrong one!)

    We loved the first Harry Potter book.  Haven't read the rest yet.

     And, as for my own two cents, I think Chris Dulabone and Eric Gjovaag both
talked themselves off the digest.  I don't think anyone here was mean at 
all, there
was just disagreements over theories.
                 --Mike "Shaggy Man" Turniansky, here since the RociNATE 
days....


======================================================================
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 07:50:19 +1100
From: Gehan <calamity@eureka.lk>
Subject: Ozzy Things

The Wizard of Oz MGM Movie:
I dont think that this is the best musical for several reasons. For one
thing, I find most of the scenes really boring.....(Ex:Prof. Marvel,
Munchkinland e.t.c) Some scenes drag for too long.....and even the songs are
NOTHING compared to those of the other musicals I mentioned in the previous
digest. I always fastforward the Munchkin songs.......and even 'Off to see
the Wizard' and the same old tune of 'If I Only Had A....' can get
sickening. I havent seen musicals such as 'Singing in the Rain' and
'West-Side Story' yet, but out of what I've seen, I think 'My Fair Lady' is
THEE best because of the humor, the plotlines and the terrific songs with
superb lyrics and tunes. 'King and I' is my second favourite. It would have
been alot better if they hadnt cut-off all those scenes and songs......I can
listen to those songs ALL day long.....
'Sound of Music' comes in third and IMO, the songs of 'MFL' 'KAI' and 'SOM'
beat the 'MGM WOZ' songs ANY day......
I've also got fed up of watching 'WOZ' but I'll NEVER get fed up of watching
the other three....

David (Godwin):
Hmmmm......Come to think of it, I HAVENT posted as frequently as I used
to.....Well, I've been extremely busy during the past few weeks and months
with exams and other things and another reason is that I couldnt think of
any topics to talk on. Plus, I have to keep up with dozens and dozens of
Sunset Beach Roleplaying Games........LOL!
BTW, I too think that its a pity that Chris Dulabone left......I really
liked his posts.....

Glinda:
She tells Dorothy in 'Magic of Oz' that Ozma has existed since the beginning
of time. That would mean that Glinda has also existed even before earth was
created......I've always thought that fairy countries have existed even
BEFORE the beginning of time......
Anyway, I think BOW say that she has a sister called 'Belinda' who became
the Good Witch of the North after Tattypoo was disenchanted.......Thats what
Chris Dulabone told me anyway.

Best DISNEY film:
Since someone spoke about best 'Disney Films' I would have to say 'Alice in
Wonderland' followed closely by 'Cinderella'. 'Alice in Wonderland' has
always been my fav. fantasy film.....Its much better than the MGM Wizard of
Oz Movie, IMHO.....

David (Hulan):
Well, 'The Wizard of Oz' IS actually a fantasy film, even though it was all
just a dream......I mean, a dream is a 'fantasy' and you would never mind
good witches, walking scarecrows or talking lions in the real world......So
it IS a fiction or rather 'fantasy' film......

~Gehan~
====================================================

I Could Have Danced All Night
I Could Have Danced All Night
and still have begged for more
I Could Have Spread my Wings,
and done a thousand things,
I've never done before
I'll never know what made it soo exciting
Why all at once, My Heart Took Flight!
I only know when he,
Began to dance with me,
I Could Have Danced, Danced, Danced All Night!

-- Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady - The Greatest Musical Ever!)


======================================================================
From: Ozmama@aol.com
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 22:00:10 EST
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-15-99

Tyler:<< However, if we only educate ourselves,
  how will the word of Oz spread? >>

We do spread the word, Tyler.  Quite a lot, actually.  Many of us have
been involved in public Ozzy displays.  Quite a few of us have spouted
Ozian lectures in places ranging from living rooms to college classrooms.
We're contacted for all manner of Oz-related info, the funniest of which
for me was when the ad agency for Barnum & Bailey's tracked me down

to get some info about Oz maps.  They then proceded, btw, to ignore my
information on the program to the ice show!) Peter could probably tell
you about articles about Oz written in non-IWOC publications: so could
Ruth, I suspect.  We educate much more than you might suspect.  I'm tired and
I want to go to bed early, or I'd try to think of more examples
for you.  I hope someone else responds to this, too.

Warren:<<Shucks, _Hidden Prince_ will only be available through the Club?
Couldn't it be sold at large and the profits spent in order to keep the
organization non-profit? What's that? You say that with the Club operating
largely with volunteers it's hard to know how things stand at any given
time? Why, with all the computer Wizards in the member list, (listening,
Dave?) can't you have a system which will tell you if you're still
non-profit up to one second ago? And think of all the things those profits
could go for: rebating member dues, salaries for the volunteers, expanded
Club publications (especially the later of the Famous Forty in a style to
match Del Rey), and many more.>>What is the Valley of Virtula, and where
in Oz is it?

I said that?  Well, I guess I was right, then.  It's not really the system
that's the problem, Warren.  It's getting the volunteers to consistently,
efficiently, and correctly enter the data into that system.  As for being
profitable, that's not our purpose.  We need enough money to keep
going and to keep improving, thus we need to end up in the black each year
(and hopefully better than that), but I don't think we're ever going
to want to be a for-profit organization.  Legally, I mean.

You ask:<<What is the Valley of Virtula, and where in Oz is it?>
It's a terrybubble place, but there's virtulaly no clue given in _Speedy_
about its location.  Or at least there's none that I recall there or in any
of the rest of the series.  Its most famous resident left the valley in
something of a rush--or gush--and now lives considerably above all
that kind of thing.

Lost King: I don't know if we have any more of them.Check the order blank on
the Club's website.  I'll try to find our latest order sheet and
check if it's listed.   --Robin
======================================================================
From: Orange5193@aol.com
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 22:38:31 EST
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-15-99

In a message dated 12/15/99 5:57:36 PM Central Standard Time, J.L. Bell
writes:

 > and congratulations, James Doyle, on completing your CD; I've been awaiting
 >  it with curiosity. Can the PATCHWORK GIRL movie score be played alongside
 >  the video (the obvious cut of Scraps's animation excepted)? Or will I have
 >  to go with that old stand-by, DARK SIDE OF THE MOON?

What's recorded is the complete cues which make up the score (with the
exception of the Mule's theme, which is simply a chorus of "Dear Old Hank"
from Tik-Tok Man of Oz, which is heard in the selection of same). In L.F.
Gottschalk's piano score each of the musical segments has an action cue
placing it and as the score progresses, there are numbered action notations
indicating that a previous segment is to be reprised.  As was customarily the
case, the theatre pianist had a certain amount of liberty available for
creating transitions between musical sections.   I'm in the process of taking
Gottschalk's piano score, placing it in the order indicated and providing
transitions from one section to another based on Gottschalk's thematic
material to create a fully realized film score, which with luck will be
available on video sometime in the next year or two.  BTW- Gottschalk gives
instrumental indications in several places in the score, which indicates to
me that Baum and Gottschalk were at least thinking in terms of a grand
presentation a la the Fairylogues at one point.
Back to your question the cue titles on the CD should give a clear idea of
where they initially fall in the film.
James Doyle
======================================================================
From: "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <xornom@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-15-99
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 04:45:04 GMT

<x-flowed>Gehan:
 >Another Poll:
 >
 >Which, in your HUMBLE opinion, is better? The Wizard of Oz MGM Movie, or
 >Disney's Return to Oz?

It's been a long time since I've seen Return, and that was before I read the
books, so I don't think I can really give a fair answer to this question.

David Godwin:
 >As to the subject of "going away mad," apparently some people have done
 >just
 >that, judging from some of the comments being posted to Tik-Tok Talk. Chris
 >Dulabone in particular spoke of being "hatred-ed" off the Digest, and
 >others
 >have been mentioned as his fellow victims. All this must be referring to
 >some controversy that occurred before I began reading the Digest; I only
 >know of one person who quit in a huff since I became active, and that was
 >sort of a self-destructive maneuver, I thought.

The only person I can recall having left in a huff was Eric Gjovaag, but I
think that was before you joined the Digest.  Can anyone recall anyone else
going away mad?  Really, I have no idea why Chris left; he just seemed to be
here one day and gone the next.

 >Anyway,
 >my point is that it's a shame that anyone has to feel as Chris does, and
 >I'm
 >curious as to whether he has a legitimate gripe or is just being overly
 >sensitive. If he was in fact "hatred-ed" off the Digest, and didn't just
 >simply find it difficult to get anyone to agree with him about his views of
 >Oz or something, then it was/is a problem that probably needs to be
 >addressed - if it hasn't been.

I agree.  Does anyone know why these people left?  I've always found the
Digest to be one of the friendliest Internet communities around.  Sure, we
occasionally have arguments about whether or not Ozma should be able to
marry, but I can't see why anyone would consider that important enough to
leave the forum.

Warren:
 >   This week's trivia question is: What is the Valley of Virtula, and where
 >in Oz is it? (Caution: this is a trick question.)

It's where Terrybubble grew up, and it's not in Oz.  Considering where
Terrybubble was discovered, it was probably the prehistoric equivalent of
modern-day Yellowstone National Park.

Ruth:
 >mas: Books of Wonder doesn't offer "Lost King"?  That means they've
 >sold out of their remaining supplies of the Del Rey Books paperback
 >reprint, I suppose.  (It isn't one of the ones they've reprinted in a
 >facsimile edition.)  The IWOC may still have some of its stock left -- try
 >asking iwoc@sam.neosoft.com.

Did BoW ever offer the Del Rey reprints?  I know the Club did (and
presumably still does, although I'm not currently on the Club mailing lists,
so I don't know for sure), but I don't think BoW ever did.

 >Of the upcoming RPT books,
 >"Hungry Tiger," "Gnome King," "Giant Horse," "Jack Pumpkinhead," and
 >"Yellow Knight" all had Del Rey paperback editions.  But then will come
 >the three which have been out of print for many years, "Pirates,"
 >"Purple Prince," and "Ojo."

Actually, there were Del Rey reprints of these titles (I have the Del Rey
_Pirates_ and _Purple Prince_; I don't have _Ojo_ in any way, shape, or
form, but I'm pretty sure there was a Del Rey version), but they were
short-lived, and the Club doesn't offer them.  The same is true for _Yellow
Knight_, actually.

J. L. Bell:
 >    I don't think the books ever call Glinda a fairy (or more of a fairy
 >than anyone else in Oz) or an immortal of the gnome/ryl/wood
 >nymph/knook/fairy beaver/rainbow's daughter type.

I think that the King of the Fairy Beavers refers to Glinda as a fairy in
_Shaggy Man_, but his information might not have been correct.  After all,
he hadn't even been to Oz until the Shaggy Man invited him in this book.

Dave Hardenbrook:
 >GEHAN:
 > >Flipper : Isnt Flipper the Dolphin who assists Bortag in Eric Shanower's
 > >'Enchanted Apples of Oz'? Isnt the dolphin ALSO called 'Flipper'?
 >
 >I think that creature is either a ray or a "sail"-less swordfish...

The book refers to him as a flying swordfish, and I think his name is Drox.
It's certainly not Flipper, anyway.

Nathan

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

</x-flowed>
======================================================================
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 10:28:53 -0600
From: David Hulan <davidhulan@ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-15-99

Gehan:
 >Flipper : Isnt Flipper the Dolphin who assists Bortag in Eric Shanower's
 >'Enchanted Apples of Oz'? Isnt the dolphin ALSO called 'Flipper'?

The flying fish who assists Bortag is a swordfish (or a member of that
family, anyhow; not a dolphin). I think it has a name but I don't remember
it; I don't think it's Flipper, though.

 >Which, in your HUMBLE opinion, is better? The Wizard of Oz MGM Movie, or
 >Disney's Return to Oz?

The MGM movie is a more successful effort at movie-making, but RTO is more
in keeping with the spirit of the books, and I enjoyed it more.

David G.:
I'm sorry to hear about your mother's problems, but glad to know that it's
just that you were busy and not that you'd been offended by something
someone said. As you note, several people have done just that with regard
to the Digest, most prominently Eric Gjovaag and Chris Dulabone. In neither
of those cases did I think they were justified, but it's their choice.
Certainly nobody was being personally nasty to them; it was entirely
concerned with disagreements about Oz matters in which they couldn't
convince others of their point of view. Those who disagreed persisted in
arguing about it, and that's the only "hatred" that I could see. I don't,
of course, know what might have been going on in private e-mail between
them and others, but on the Digest itself everything was entirely civil.

James:
 >I know for a fact Technicolor was in full use as early as 1929 - the 1930
 >film of "Whoopee" is all two strip Technicolor.

Thanks for the info.

Warren:
I don't think there's any legal problem in selling _Hidden Prince_ (or
other IWOC publications) through commercial channels; it's just that the
club isn't set up to handle that kind of business. Commercial book
publishing is a serious business and not like most others; bookstores
generally want to be able to return unsold copies after a short time, for
instance, for a full refund. There might be a way to work something out,
but I don't know of anyone in the club who's really interested in handling
it.

 >   This week's trivia question is: What is the Valley of Virtula, and where
 >in Oz is it? (Caution: this is a trick question.)

Certainly tricky; I don't recall any such place in the Famous Forty, and I
think I would if it had been mentioned there.

David Hulan


======================================================================
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 99 11:20:52 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005@maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: sorcery in oz


Tyler Jones and Warren Baldwin: The problem for a non-profit group
in dealing with bookstores nationally isn't in the profits, it's just in
the amount of work involved in keeping them stocked and getting
volunteers lined up to do the work (or costs arranged to pay for
people to do it).  There's also a problem of having money tied up that
way that can be difficult for small groups, as bookstores and
distributors may be slow in paying, and the books can be returned
without payment if they don't sell, which means paying double
shipping costs, or losing both the payment and the copies if the
shipping costs are too heavy.  If someone wants to volunteer to the
IWOC board to be in charge of handling bookstore sales, perhaps the
board would want to go for it, if the problems of outlay of money seem
manageable.  As for profits, a non-profit group is free to make as
much in the way of profits as ever it can manage, so long as the
profits are ploughed back into the group's work and not taken out by
individuals for their own individual use.

Dave Hardenbrook: Glinda's ability to teach the (mortal) Wizard as an
indication that she was a mortal in origin rather than "an immortal of
the gnome/ryl/wood nymph/knook/fairy beaver/rainbow's daughter
type" (thanks, J.L. Bell) -- sounds reasonable, although not conclusive.
A fairy or rainbow's daughter could presumably choose to learn magic
other than the magic innate in being a fairy or rainbow's daughter.
(Polychrome, indeed, may have done just that, as people suggested in
connection with the discrepancy between her earlier statement that
she cannot work magic spells, and her "Tin Woodman" ability to
provide food and expand or shrink people).  Still, the fact that she's
called a witch or a sorceress suggests that her magic is in origin
learned, not innate.  For Glinda fans, a pleasant story is Bob Pattrick's
"Glinda and the Red Jinn," which has it that Jinnicky was a mortal who
learned sorcery from Glinda, too.

======================================================================
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 12:48:45 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell@compuserve.com>
Subject: If I Ran the Oz Club (nothing would get done)

David Godwin wrote:
<<Tyler - I still get the "http/1.0 404 Object not found" message on all of
the links in the Ozzy Digest archive.>>

My problem, too, as recently as early this week.

In response to my question, "Does SCALAWAGONS say the Wizard invented
flabber-gas, or might it have already been around?" Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<I can't quite remember; it's been a long time since I've read that book.
If I recall correctly, though, the flabber-gas predated the Scalawagons.>>

I note that we both prefer the uncertainty of wringing our memories to the
prospect of actually picking up and rereading SCALAWAGONS! Probably a wise
choice.

Nathan also wrote:
<<Now we just need to know what Arfuss Eve is.>>

This can indeed be confusing. While we use the term "Eve" to designate the
night *before* a holiday, Orks reportedly use it to designate the night
*after* one. Thus, Arfuss Eve is the evening that follows the Feast of
Arfuss. I hope that clarifies things.

Warren H. Baldwin wrote:
<<where can I obtain a copy of the Encyclopaedia Orkana? (q.v.)>>

As I understand it, though Orks have developed what they consider a
superior writing system, they eschew ink and paper, clay tablets, scratches
on rocks, and other ways of preserving that writing. Their literary
masterpieces are instead molded on the wide beaches of Orkland and
illustrated with sand paintings similar to those made by Tibetan monks.
Most books are best read from an altitude of 150-200 feet. Popular works
may last only a few days before being obliterated by the whirling tails of
excited readers. The national encyclopedia is of necessity in a constant
state of revision. It's all rather sad, really.

David Hulan wrote:
<<if she's interested enough in Oz to want to participate in the quiz, why
doesn't she join?>>

Does the Oz Club have a "family membership"? Otherwise, this family's only
benefit from doubling their membership fees would be dual copies of all the
club publications. Not that there's anything wrong with more OZ OBSERVERs!

Warren H. Baldwin wrote:
<<Couldn't [HIDDEN PRINCE] be sold at large and the profits spent in order
to keep the organization non-profit?>>

A non-profit organization doesn't need to lose money; it just has to
reinvest any positive balance in furthering its mission. The "non-profit"
designation puts it in a separate category for tax purposes.
    In the case of the Int'l Wizard of Oz Club, it may be more to the point
to say it's a volunteer organization, without a paid staff. Its ability to
undertake a major marketing campaign for HIDDEN PRINCE on top of its
efforts for the Centennial convention is probably limited.
    I'd rather hoped the Oz Club would work with Books of Wonder,
Amazon.com, and book wholesalers to make its centenary book widely
available. But then, I'd had other hopes regarding that centenary book,
too. Bringing in such sales partners probably means that the club would
receive less money per copy while still shouldering all the production and
printing costs, and that might be too risky. Publishing a book is, after
all, a time-honored way to lose money.

David Godwin wrote:
<<As to the subject of "going away mad," apparently some people have done
just that, judging from some of the comments being posted to Tik-Tok Talk.
Chris Dulabone in particular spoke of being "hatred-ed" off the Digest, and
others have been mentioned as his fellow victims. All this must be
referring to some controversy that occurred before I began reading the
Digest>>

Actually, you were participating in the Digest when Chris Dulabone last
left in a huff and a puff--it was April 1999. Don't remember it? Well, some
folks perceive "hatred" much more easily than others, even after factoring
in how we're all more sensitive to remarks about ourselves.
    I think those comments on Eric Gjovaag's list were unwarranted. For one
thing, Digest participants could tell you about being on the receiving end
of caustic judgments from Chris Dulabone himself. Tik-Tok Talk has also
seen members leave angry (one after a hasty expression of exasperation by
the usually moderate moderator). Even in the near-paradisical confines of
the Emerald City, people can feel hurt.

David Hulan wrote of movie musicals:
<<My personal favorite (idiosyncratic as it might be) is probably _Finian's
Rainbow_>>

No, David, that's *definitely* idiosyncratic! Can't fault your choice to
mention SINGIN' IN THE RAIN atop the greats, though. Of the Astaire/Rogers
vehicles I most like FOLLOW THE FLEET for its juxtapositions of "I'm
Putting All My Eggs in One Basket" and "Let's Face the Music and Dance,"
and of Randolph Scott and a camera. But I may go along with you and start
thinking of those RKO musicals as a single body of work; combined they even
have a full plot!

J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell@compuserve.com
======================================================================
From: Tigerbooks@aol.com
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 14:01:33 EST
Subject: Ozzy Digest: PARADOX IN OZ interview

Playwright Edward Einhorn's first children's book PARADOX IN OZ debuts this
month.  In fact, by the time this Ozzy Digest is posted, the regular trade
edition should be shipped to everyone who's already ordered it.  And if you
haven't ordered it, don't let your chance slip to read PARADOX IN OZ, the
book that Eloise Jarvis McGraw (author of MERRY GO ROUND IN OZ, etc.) calls
"Ingenious!" and Piers Anthony (author of the Xanth series, etc.) describes
as "delightful . . . very much in the mood of Baum's original series,
illustrations and all."  And speaking of the illustrations, they're by none
other than Eric Shanower.

Recently, Edward Einhorn took a few moments to answer some questions about
his new book:

Q.  How did you decide to write PARADOX IN OZ?

EINHORN:  I met David Maxine, the publisher, about three years ago, through a
mutual friend.  We are both involved in theaterI write and direct, and he
designs.  He even helped with one of my projects, a play I wrote called THE
LIVING METHUSELAH.  I dont remember whether it was he or Eric Shanower who
first suggested that I write a short story for OZ-STORY, but I had certainly
talked with both of them about our mutual love of the Oz series.  In any
event, that led to my writing "Ozma Sees Herself" for OZ-STORY 3.  At the
publishing party for that magazine, Eric, David and I started talking about
the idea of a new Oz novel.  I was quite excited about it, because the Oz
books were what first brought me to the decision to be an author when I was a
child.  When Eric said he would be interested in illustrating the book, I
knew that I couldnt let the opportunity go to waste.  So I wrote up an
outline, and I sent it to them.  They seemed enthusiastic, so I continued
from there.

Q. When did you read the original Oz books and what was their influence on
you, if any, both in your life and in writing PARADOX IN OZ?

EINHORN:  As I say in my introduction to PARADOX, I dont know if I would
have become a writer if not for the Oz seriesand my brother, who deserves
credit for introducing them to me.  For a while, he had three options for me
when we would play togetherread Oz, play chess, or play with his castle.
Now Ive written an Oz book with logical puzzles and a couple of castles.  Be
careful of what you say to children.

When David Maxine first asked me to write the book, I was working on a play
in which I had thrown a few allusions to Ozso I definitely still had Oz on
the brain.  When I actually wrote the book, I tried to be faithful to the
things that had led me to love the series in the first place.  I wanted to
keep the tone, while still inserting my own mark.  Im simultaneously a
traditionalist and someone who loves innovation.  Thus, much of the book is
much like the old Oz books, yet it also has some twists that, I hope, are
very uniquely my own.

Q. PARADOX IN OZ deals with time travel paradoxes and alternate worlds.  Tell
us about your interest in these subjects and how you incorporated them into
the story.

EINHORN:  Ive always been both fascinated and frustrated with time travel
stories.  On the one hand, I love them conceptually.  On the other, I almost
am never satisfied with the way the authors resolve the inevitable paradoxes
that arise out of any time travel novel.  So my first idea was to parody
thatwrite a novel that deliberately doesnt make sense if you put it all
together.  The character of Tempus seemed perfect for that, because he
allowed me to deliberately play with
all the paradoxes.

Eventually, however, I got stuck in my own trap.  The truth is, every book
has to have its own internal logic, and even if I was making up my own rules,
the rules needed to be consistent.  And since it was a book dealing with time
travel, the rules were insanely complex.  On the one hand, that gave me an
opportunity to finally write the time travel story that really works.  On the
other hand, it meant I had to write a time travel story that really works.  I
began to understand the problem all those other writers had been having.
Eric and David were very helpful to me during the first drafts, because they
would point out when I got the internal logic wrong.

Mostly, I want all that to be in the background while you read the book,
accessible if its the sort of thing that interests you (as it would me), but
not necessary in order to appreciate the book.

Q. Why did you choose Ozma as a main character?

EINHORN:  Ozma had been the protagonist of an earlier story I wrote, and I
had developed a strong affinity for her as I was writing.  Although she is a
major figure in the Oz series, I felt that she was more of an enigma than
most of the Oz characters. After LAND OF OZ, she becomes almost too perfect
and distant.  I wanted to write an Ozma that people could identify withstill
the ruler of Oz, but also capable of more human (wellin her case, fairy)
emotions.  So my Ozma becomes frightened sometimes and even occasionally
makes a mistake.  Yet she is still able to serve her people by saving them
from a major crisisnot that I want to give away the ending.  Perhaps she
doesnt save them.  Perhaps she fails totally, and Oz can never recover from
her terrible, terrible errors.  Im not saying.

Q. Where did the character of Tempus the Parrot-Ox come from?

EINHORN:  I needed a way for Ozma to travel through time, and I wanted her to
have a companion who was unique to my book.  Suddenly, the idea of combining
the two occurred to me.  I was a little sheepish about the Parrot-Ox pun at
first, but now I think it really works, especially in the title.  Hes both a
fantastical creature and a play on words, which underlines the sort of game
playing one can expect from him in the book.

Q. Explain Dr. Majestico's background before PARADOX IN OZ.

EINHORN:  Dr. Majestico began as a character I created for an experimental
play entitled MY HEAD WAS A SLEDGEHAMMER by Richard Foreman.  The play was
written with just lines, no characters or stage directions, and I had to
create the full scenario for the production.  In the play, Dr. Majestico is a
mad scientist/magician who creates his assistant during a magic act, only to
find that she refuses to act in any way he desires.  The character proved to
be very popular, and I started incorporating him into a number of things I
was working on at the time.  He popped somewhat unexpectedly into Oz when I
was writing the outline for PARADOX.  As soon as he put himself in, I thought
that this was where he belonged all the time.

Right now Im writing a play entitled DR. MAJESTICO'S MAGIC BOX that brings
him back to the stage from which he originated.  And he appeared again in
"Unauthorized Magic," my most recent short story in OZ-STORY 5.  Its all the
same character, though I think the stage version is from an alternate, even
weirder universe.

Q. Tell us about the logic puzzles you incorporated into PARADOX. How did you
translate them into Oz?

EINHORN:  Ive always been a fan of logic puzzles, since I was a child.  I
think my interest may have started when my brother first read the Alice books
to me. There is a lot of Alice in the tone of PARADOX IN OZ.  Yet logic
puzzles can be found in many good childrens books, including the original Oz
series.  I remember enjoying the discussion about the wishing pills Tip ate
in LAND OF OZ as being particularly fun when I first read that book.  I
think, as a child, so many things dont make sense that its enjoyable to
have a book which points out all the nonsense around you.  When youre older,
of course, you understand everything.

Q. The original Oz books often are contradictory in their details, yet you've
implied a solution to such contradictions in your story.  Can you elaborate
on that?

EINHORN:  One of the things I wanted to do, since I was writing about
paradoxes, was to incorporate the existing paradoxes in the Oz series.  I was
strongly confronted with them first while I was writing "Ozma Sees Herself."
I described Ozma as a blonde, forgetting that in later books she was
described as a brunette.  Then, when re-reading all the Oz books, I was
struck by how many times they contradicted each other.  So at first I was
just going to make that part of the theme, without solving the
contradictions.  Then my urge to have a book that would both use the
paradoxes and solve them grew, and I came up with a solutiontheyre all
correct.  Once I created alternate Ozes, it became easy to decide that there
was an Oz in which each of the contractions was true.  Ozmas hair was both
blonde and brunette, depending on which universe you were in. There was also
an Oz that corresponded to every incarnation of the books, from the original
stage musical to the movies.  They all exist.

Another advantage of using those paradoxes is that they served as a sort of
in-joke to the experienced Oz reader.  You pass right by them if youre not
in the know, but if you are, theres something special for you.  Also, it
gives Martin Gardner [the author of THE ANNOTATED ALICE] something extra, in
case he wants to annotate the book.  All right, he hasnt exactly offered.
But see how much fun you would have, Martin, if you did?

Thank you, Mr. Einhorn.
For those of you who'd like ordering information for PARADOX IN OZ from the
publisher Hungry Tiger Press, please e-mail your request to:
tigerbooks@aol.com
Ordering information is also available on the IWOC website under NEW IN OZ
and at www.oz.nu
======================================================================
From: Tigerbooks@aol.com
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 14:11:59 EST
Subject: Ozzy Digest:  Fave Musicals

My favoite musicals are Carousel and West Side Story--and, on the less dark
side, Babes in Toyland.  Of couse, I'm talking about the originals, not the
films.

My favorite film version of a musical is The Sound of Music--a great
improvement over the play.

I just don't get this widespread liking of My Fair Lady (although I must
admit I've never seen it on stage, only the film)--okay, the film's well
done, but it's definitely a step down from Shaw's play.

The all-time best fantasy film is--what else could it be?--Willy Wonka and
the Chocolate Factory--one of those rarest of rare beasts, a wonderful film
that's better than the wonderful book.

I never really considered MGM's Wizard a musical.  It's a film with songs.
(And I've have never, NEVER understood how anyone could like this film better
than the book.)

Eric Shanower


======================================================================
From: CruentiDei@cs.com
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 23:38:11 EST
Subject: Oz

David Godwin:
I see you're still around after all. Good deal.

Many others across the internet have reported problems with my website. It
may have something to do with the fact that our new network guy is
overhauling things. Stay tuned and wait for better times.

John Bell wrote:
 > I don't think the books ever call Glinda a fairy
Certainly the FF does not, and I can't recall any non-FF book doing so,
although one or more may have done so. ISTR a reference somewhere in the FF
saying something like "fairies, such as Ojo, etc.". However, this was
probably referring to fairies-as-people-who-live-in-Oz as opposed to being an
actual fairy-like being in the sense that Ozma or Lurline is.

Others have also postulated that she is some kind of supernatural being, like
an angel, who entered into an agreement with Lurline to act as a secret
protector of Oz.

And on a non-Ozzy note:
Goodbye, Peanuts. May Charlie Brown and the gang someday find a home across
the Deadly Desert.

Tyler Jones

======================================================================
From: Kiex@aol.com
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 15:39:36 EST
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-15-99

 >  >According to the ENCYCLOPAEDIA ORKANA
 > <rest of entry snipped>

 > Nice work.  I enjoyed reading this.  Now we just need to know what Arfuss
 > Eve is.

That's easy--that's December 24 for dogs, while Christmas Eve on the same day
is December 24 for people named Chris . . .  Okay, never mind.  :-(


Poll:
Hmm.   I'm not a movie person by nature, but if I had to choose out of the
choices Gehan gave us, I'd have to say Return to Oz.  Yes, there were myriad
things about it I didn't like, but I thought it was a better drama.  Of
course, at the time the MGM classic was created, I suppose people might have
thought differently-it all depends on one's perspective.


David G.:
As to Chris Dulabone. I have begged him to come back time and time again, but
he just repeats that he felt disliked and doesn't want to expose himself to
that again.  So what can one do?


Favorite musicals:
Sound of Music, Singing in the Rain, West Side Story, Brigadoon, Camelot.
Music, music, a show I liked for its music (if not its bungled Shakespeare),
and two fantasies.  Anyone else see a pattern there?

Despite my being on this list, I am not an MGM attempt-at-Wizard-of-Oz fan.

Best musical movie fantasy: Brigadoon


New Oz film:
I don't think I'd better watch it--Oz has been bungled up often enough.  (And
for animation, just look at that animated film, a sequel to Wizard of Oz,
whose name I can't think of at the moment . . . it dealt with Dorothy getting
back to Oz for some reason . . . oh well--point is, it really messed up the
story!  I guess I'm an Oz purist.)

(Even though you said it was a prequel, I'm afraid of the results of
Oz-catering-to-the-masses, which hasn't worked before, ever . . .)


Until next Ozzy time,
Jeremy Steadman, Ozzy Historian-in -training
kivel99@planetall.com
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/9619

======================================================================
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 12:58:20 -0500 (EST)
From: sahutchi@iupui.edu
cc: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-15-99

David:  I don't know if they ever even got my check for 1999 renewal, so I
sent another check for both 1999 and 2000 packages a couple of weeks ago.

IMHO, I would consider horror and fantasy overlapping genres, but there
are many horror films for which "fantasy" would be inappropriate,
particulalry those that deal with psychotic killers that have nothing
supernatural about them.  _The Silence of the Lambs_ is an example of a
good horror film that could not be considered fantasy.

John:  Does DSoM have similar coincidences in _Patchwork Girl_?  That
would be odd, particularly considering different running times based on
projection speed.

Scott

===================================
Scott Andrew Hutchins
http://php.iupui.edu/~sahutchi
Oz, Monsters, Kamillions, and More!

"Militaries are inherently the most corrupt organizations in the world,
simply because their mission is to kill people and break things."



======================================================================
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 15:50:29 -0600
Subject: Oz
From: "David Godwin" <d.godwin@minn.net>

David Hulan wrote:
 >I'd advise everyone who's interested in participating in or
 >following the discussions to order your copies of _Lost King_ through _Jack
 >Pumpkinhead_ now; the IWOC isn't the fastest outfit around on turn-around.

Amen to that. Just for the record:
I ordered some things from Hungry Tiger Press on July 13 and received them
on July 28, or 15 days later.
I ordered a couple of books from TOTCLAF on July 26 and received them on
August 11, or 16 days later.
I ordered a Baum book from the University of Nebraska Press on July 30 and
received it on August 12, or 13 days later.
I ordered several back issues of Ozana and the card game from IWOC on July
13.  I received a sales receipt acknowledging the order on July 30. I got
the stuff just last week, on December 15, which is five months later. No,
not the fastest... The order was at least filled correctly. Previously,
around the first of the year, I had ordered two copies of the Neill cut-out
book but have only received one to this very day despite writing and
pointing out the error and asking for a second copy. By now I've mentally
listed the cost of the second book as a donation to the Club; it's not worth
pursuing further.

The whole nine yards:
I've always felt that this expression came from football somehow, but it
doesn't make much sense in that context. It's first and ten, not first and
nine. Perhaps some unusual occurrence during a game at some time... But I'm
probably wrong in assuming a football origin.

Since the discussion is now scheduled for Jan. 2, I will hold off on my
pithy comments about _The Lost King,_ though I can scarcely restrain myself.

- David G.

======================================================================
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 10:31:00 +1100
From: Gehan <calamity@eureka.lk>
Subject: Oz Survey

Fill in this survey to get to know each other's opinions better.

Name : Gehan
Sex : Male

How did you ever get to know about Oz? - I think I first saw a Paramount
Wizard of Oz Cartoon when I was about 2 and 3 and then I was hooked on for
life. I'm very proud to say that I wasnt introduced to Oz by the MGM Movie.

What other Oz movies do you like apart from RTOZ, MGM and the Oz Books? -
Cinar's Oz Series, ABC's Wizard of Oz Series, The Journey Back to Oz, The Wiz

Fav. Oz Character and why? -
The Oz Books : Jinjur, Princess Langwidere and Coo-ee-oh because IMO, they
make VERY interesting villains. Trot is my favourite heroine, for some
reason, I like her better than Dorothy and Betsy. Polychrome, Urtha, Handy
Mandy, Glinda and the Good Witch of the North are also another lot of my
all-time favourites.....I also LOOOOVE 'Lambert', the Lamb in 'Forbidden
Fountain of Oz'

The MGM Movie : Dorothy, Toto and the Cowardly Lion
The Return to Oz : Billina and Mombi I/The Dancing Girl who continued
explaining the History of Oz after the dark-haired dancing girl(the one that
said 'Help me to Rise' to Dorothy)
The Journey Back to Oz : Dorothy
The Wiz : The Cowardly Lion.....I also liked Dorothy and Toto

Least Fav. Oz Character and why? - I dont like most of the wicked,
uncivilized Oz Tribes such as the Mangaboos, Loons, Growlywogs e.t.c......I
also hate Wutz and most of Ruth Plumly Thompson's villains......Not to
mention teh villains in John R. Neill's books......

Fav. Oz Book/s - Out of what I've read so far........The Wizard of Oz, The
Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, Tiktok of Oz, The Scarecrow of Oz, The Cowardly Lion
of Oz, The Wicked Witch of Oz

Least Fav. Oz Book/s - Out of what I've read so far........Dorothy and the
Wizard in Oz, The Royal Book of Oz, The Wonder City of Oz, Lucky Bucky in
Oz, (I havent read Scalawagons yet), The Shaggy Man of Oz and the Forbidden
Fountain of Oz

The MGM Movie or Return to Oz - Return to Oz......Dont get me wrong, I LOVE
the MGM Movie too......

Which version of 'WOZ' is better? (Ex:The Wiz, The Book, The MGM Movie
e.t.c) - The Book OFCOURSE

The MGM Movie or the Oz Books? - The Oz Books OFCOURSE

Fav. Oz Author and why? - L. Frank Baum.....His stories were the
Ozziest.....followed closely by Rachel Cosgrove Payes.....Her plot-lines
were never complicated, they were simple and very easy for teh reader to
understand.....I think she's a splendid writer.....

Least Fav. Oz Author and why? - John R. Neill......His stories were too
complicated and not very 'ozzy'.....No Offense John. R. Neill fans!

Fav. Oz Illustrator? - Eric Shanower......Oh yeah......followed closely by
Dick Martin.

Least Fav. Oz Illustrator - Dirk......No Offense Dirk Fans! I didnt much
care for John R. Neill's illustrations either, but I guess they were not
bad......they were EXCELLENT compared to Dirk's......

Are the Oz Books your favourite Book Series? - Like duh......I mean,
ofcourse they are....

Is the MGM Movie your favourite movie ? - No.....My Fair Lady, The King and
I(the recent Warner Bros. version as well as the original 1956 version),
Return to Oz, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Sound of Music are.....

Have you written any Oz Books? If so, what are they? If not, do you intend
to write any? - I have plenty of iedias to fill ten Oz Books. I plan to
write all ten first, and tehn I'll consider publishing. Incase you're
wondering, teh books I have in mind to write will be called : The Lost Queen
of Oz, General Jinjur of Oz, Princess Langwidere of Oz, Princess Gayalette
of Oz, Curious Connie in Oz, Tiny Trot of Oz, The Shaggy Man's Adventures in
Oz, The Forgotten Witch of Oz, The Wicked Warlock of Oz(Its kind of a
romance story between Ozma and a Fairy Prince)

Fav. Oz Website - Wendy's Wizard of Oz Movie Site and Jim's Wizard of Oz
Website.....I also LOVE Eric Gjovaag's Wizard of Oz FAQ.....as well as
Dave's History of Oz.....not to mention teh Book Reviews and HAAC page on
Tyler's site......

What do you have in your Oz Collection? - Most of the Oz Books both FF and
Non-FF, The MGM Movie, Disney's Return to Oz, Cinar's Ozma of Oz, Cinar's
the Emerald City of Oz, a few episodes of Cinar's 'The Wonderful Wizard of
Oz' TV Series

What would you LIKE to add to your Oz Collection? - The Oz Books which I
dont have in my collection, both FF and a few Non-FF books, The rest of
Cinar's 'Wonderful Wizard of Oz' TV series episodes, ABC's Oz Series'
Episodes which I havent watched, Who's Who in Oz and a few other Oz
Bibliography Books......

Do you create any Oz fan stuff? - Well I'm planning to write ten Oz
stories......and I also want to write a few short Oz fanfic stories.......I
also draw pics of my favourite Oz Characters......

Are you a member of the Interntional Wizard of Oz Club? - Yep......

Are you a member of the Royal Club of Oz? - Nope.......

If you could change just ONE thing in the FF Books, what would it be? - That
the GWN woul NOT turn out to be the enchanted princess Orin. I really like
Princess Orin, but I wish they could have found her some other way......

Fav. Oz Actor (out fo all the Oz Movies you've seen so far) - Nicol
Williamson(The Gnome King in RTOZ), Ray Bolger and Bert Lahr

Fav. Oz Actress (see above) - Judy Garland and Fiona ______ that played
Mombi I/The Silverery Golden Haired Dancing Girl in RTOZ.....

Are there any Oz Actors/Actressess who didnt quite fit their parts 'ozzily'?
- Billie Burke was wonderful in her own right, but she can NEVER compare to
the beautiful, mature, daring Glinda we find in the Oz Books......I also
thought that Fairuza Balk didnt quite play the cheerful, merry Dorothy we
find in teh Oz Books, but she was TERRIFIC in her own right.......Even Jean
Marsh was too young to play Mombi......

If you could create an Oz Movie/Cartoon/TV Series, what would it all be
about? And who would star in it? - I would make something simmilar to my
upcoming Oz story 'The Wicked Warlcok of Oz', a romance story between
Princess Ozma and a Fairy Prince but there will be a wicked warlock who also
wishes to marry Ozma and be King of Oz. He will enlist Ruggedo's help to do
it and will also trick a teenage American boy called Casey into helping 
him.....

The Warlcok - George Hamilton
Ruggedo - Danny De Vito
Casey - Blake Foster
Dorothy - Hilary Duff or Mara Wilson
Glinda - Elizabeth Perkins
The Scarecrow - Timothy Addams
Ozma - Christina Chambers
The Fairy Prince - Clive Robertson

~Gehan~




====================================================

I Could Have Danced All Night
I Could Have Danced All Night
and still have begged for more
I Could Have Spread my Wings,
and done a thousand things,
I've never done before
I'll never know what made it soo exciting
Why all at once, My Heart Took Flight!
I only know when he,
Began to dance with me,
I Could Have Danced, Danced, Danced All Night!

-- Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady - The Greatest Musical Ever!)

======================================================================
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 00:00:49 -0800
From: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Oz Survey

At 10:31 AM 12/19/99 +1100, Gehan wrote:
 >Fill in this survey to get to know each other's opinions better.

Name : Dave Hardenbrook
Sex : Male

 >How did you ever get to know about Oz?

I first saw the MGM film when I was a toddler...
Several years later my dad, who was a close friend of the Bob Pattrick,
read the books to me.

 >What other Oz movies do you like apart from RTOZ, MGM and the Oz Books? -

The Minneapolis Children's Theatre production of _Land of Oz_.

 >Fav. Oz Character and why? -

Jellia Jamb, because she's so sweet and sprightly and kind
of mischeivous!

 >Least Fav. Oz Character and why?

The Mimics -- They're so evil they didn't even seem to belong
in an Oz book...

  >Fav. Oz Book/s -

_Patchwork Girl_, _Scarecrow_, _Tik-Tok_, _Merry-Go-Round_.

Least Fav. Oz Book/s -

_Magical Mimics_, _Dot & Wizard_, _Road_.

 >The MGM Movie or Return to Oz - Return to Oz......Dont get me wrong, I LOVE
 >the MGM Movie too......

I like both for different reasons...

 >The MGM Movie or the Oz Books? - The Oz Books OFCOURSE

The Books...

 >Fav. Oz Author and why? -

Baum... I mean, he started it all!

 >Least Fav. Oz Author and why? -

Neill -- His books are too chaotic, sort of Oz meets
Monty Python...

 >Fav. Oz Illustrator? - Eric Shanower......Oh yeah......followed closely by
 >Dick Martin.

Dick Martin, Melody Grandy, Eric Shanower, J. Neill (in that order).

 >Least Fav. Oz Illustrator -

Kramer.  (Those pics of Ozma & Glinda in _Mimics_
are *dreadful*!)

 >Are the Oz Books your favourite Book Series? - Like duh......I mean,
 >ofcourse they are....

I may get flamed, computer virus-ed, or my electricity cut off for this,
but I must confess that taken as whole series I've come to like the
Harry Potter books *slightly* more than at least the post-Baum Oz series --
No IE's and no endless plots to conquer Hogwarts only to be rescued at the last
minute by Dumbledore with a whispered command to the Sorcerer's Stone... :)

 >Is the MGM Movie your favourite movie ?

No -- Thief of Bagdad (1940), Thelma and Louise, Bringing Up Baby,
Singin' In the Rain, Contact, Sleepless in Seattle,You Have Mail,
Yellow Submarine, Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Lady and the Tramp,
Hopscotch, Hot Millions, Educating Rita, Born Yesterday (1950), Pat and Mike,
Adam's Rib, A Passage to India, Impromptu, Enchanted April, and
84 Charing Cross Road all beat _Wizard_ out for me...

 >Have you written any Oz Books? If so, what are they? If not, do you intend
 >to write any? -

I am writing a trilogy involving the adventures of Dan, Ozma's
would-be beau.  My first book, to be published next year, is
called _The Unknown Witch of Oz_ (I decided the _Locasta_
title was too long...) and concerns the "resurrection" of the
Good Witch of the North.  The second volume will revolve
around Jellia Jamb, and the third will concentrate on Dan's
courtship of Ozma, and whether romance-hating Zurline will
succeed in putting a stop to it before Ozma goes to the altar.

 >I have plenty of iedias to fill ten Oz Books.

( So did Neill, but I see you're wise enough to not put
    them all in *one* book! :) )

 >The Wicked Warlock of Oz(Its kind of a
 >romance story between Ozma and a Fairy Prince)

(At least I'm not alone!)

 >Fav. Oz Website

Eric G's FAQ, Tyler's HACC, and Piglet Press' "Oz Encyclopedia"...

 >What do you have in your Oz Collection?

Most Oz books published by Books of Wonder/Emerald City
Press, and a few TOTCL&F books...

 >Do you create any Oz fan stuff?

Besides my books, I've written a fan-fic, Red Dwarf in Oz_, and
would like to write other "Oz crossovers" for Harry Potter, Rumpole
and Columbo... I've also created an Oz chess set (out of paper... if
anyone knows of a good sculptor...) and Oz paper dolls.  I'm also considering
getting one of those "Make Your Own Monopoly" things they have now
and creating "Ozopoly"!

 >Are you a member of the Interntional Wizard of Oz Club?

Yes.

 >Are you a member of the Royal Club of Oz?

Not at present, though I may rejoin someday...

 >If you could change just ONE thing in the FF Books, what would it be?

That Thompson didn't so succinctly state in _Kabumpo_ that Ozma
is a little girl forever forever and for all time!  It would make me feel
less like Giordano Bruno on the stake...

 >Fav. Oz Actor (out fo all the Oz Movies you've seen so far)

Bert Lahr.

 >Fav. Oz Actress

Rana Haugen (played Jellia in the Minneapolis Children's
Theatre _Land of Oz_).

 >Are there any Oz Actors/Actressess who didnt quite fit their parts 'ozzily'?

Three -- Billie Burke, Billie Burke, and Billie Burke.

 >Even Jean
 >Marsh was too young to play Mombi......

(In fairness to Billie and Jean, I think the main problem
   in both cases stemmed from taking two dissimilar
   Oz characters and merging them...)

 >If you could create an Oz Movie/Cartoon/TV Series, what would it all be
 >about? And who would star in it?

I'd do a live-action version of _Patchwork Girl_ with
computer graphics for effects and rendering of Scraps,
the Glass Cat, etc.  If it was successful, I would make
it into a TV series.  In the live actor cast I'd have:

Ozma: Jane Horrocks (_Little Voice_) or Chloe Annett (_Red Dwarf_)
Jellia Jamb: Winona Ryder
Dorothy: Brittney Irvin  (Nan in the TV series _Little Men_)
Glinda: Judy Davis
The Wizard: Nigel Hawthorne


					         -- Dave


======================================================================
<END>


           ]
         c/ \
         /___\   *** THE OZZY DIGEST, DECEMBER 21 - 29, 1999 ***
         |@ @|
         | V |  \\\
         |\_/| | ;;;
          \-/  \ ;/
          ><     ]

EDITORS NOTE: This is probably the last Ozzy Digest of the 1900's ( note that I
*didn't* say "of the Twentieth Century" :) )...  I apologize for its 
length: My Ozzy
New Year's resolution is to work out a different way to handle surveys 
(Though I've
enjoyed reading them!)... :)

Happy New Year to all!!

                                               -- Dave

======================================================================
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 00:45:50 -0500 (EST)
From: "Mark Donajkowski" <madonajk@alpha.delta.edu>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-19-99

that book i talked abotu before the dictonary of imaginary places or some
such title is out its 40 bucks and thers 2 pretty good maps of oz and
lands outside oz


======================================================================
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 13:33:47 +1100
From: Gehan <calamity@eureka.lk>
Subject: Ozzy Things

Digesters who unsubscribed:
Well, I subscribed to the digest somewhere between September and November
last year, and Chris Dulabone was on the Digest then. I dont recall anyone
flaming him, or doing anything of the sort to make him feel 'hatred-ed' off
he says. Eric Gjovaag once stated on his Oz Message Board that he left the
Ozzy Digest because he thought it was hopeless(which most certainly is NOT
true), and so he decided to create a whole new discussion list,
Tiktok-Tok-Talk. I joined and left the Tik-Tok-Talk-List at the end of last
year, and I have to admit that I really enjoy the Ozzy Digest, much more
than I did, then Tik-Tok-Talk-Mailing-List.......

~Gehan~
===============================

I Could Have Danced All Night
I Could Have Danced All Night
and still have begged for more
I Could Have Spread my Wings,
and done a thousand things,
I've never done before
I'll never know what made it soo exciting
Why all at once, My Heart Took Flight!
I only know when he,
Began to dance with me,
I Could Have Danced, Danced, Danced All Night!

-- Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady - The Greatest Musical Ever!)

=======================================================
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 03:48:11 -0500
From: "Lisa M. Mastroberte" <ozma.rules@cheerful.com>
Subject: Survey

Name : Lisa
Sex : Hold on let me check ... Yup Female.

How did you ever get to know about Oz? - The MGM Movie ... light hearted
happy dancing. Which of course led to RTOZ...then the Oz books....

What other Oz movies do you like apart from RTOZ, MGM and the Oz Books?
- Don't know, really, I didn't like "The Wiz" or "Journey Back to
Oz"...those elephants were annoying.

Fav. Oz Character and why? - Betsy Bobbin, she's a kickbutt character in
_Tiktok_...not to mention she loves onions just like me. Also the Tin
Man...he's a sweetie. :)

The MGM Movie : Toto and Dorothy ... Judy Garland is very cool.

The Return to Oz : Jack Pumpkinhead, Tiktok, and the overall film.

The Journey Back to Oz : Dorothy was annoying...the elephants too ....

The Wiz : (no comment)

Least Fav. Oz Character and why? - Ummm ... probably Cap'n Bill ... some
of the crossovers weren't that good.

Fav. Oz Book/s - All of Baum's except _Road_, most of Thompson's except
_Cowardly Lion_, and _Scalawagons_.

Least Fav. Oz Book/s - _Road_, Jack Snow's books, and "The Amber Flute
of Oz." (Donald Abbott)

The MGM Movie or Return to Oz - Both are step away from reality...an
experience...and they're both completely awesome.

Which version of 'WOZ' is better? (Ex:The Wiz, The Book, The MGM Movie
e.t.c) - The book. :-)

The MGM Movie or the Oz Books? - The wonderful Oz BOOKS!

Fav. Oz Author and why? - L. Frank Baum, he created our own little
fantasy land. Thompson is cool too, an non-FF wise, Gilbert Spague (sp?)
with "The Patchwork Bride of Oz." (Short, but very ozzy and sweet.)

Least Fav. Oz Author and why? - Jack Snow

Fav. Oz Illustrator? - Neill

Least Fav. Oz Illustrator - Frank Kramer ... 'nuff said.

Are the Oz Books your favourite Book Series? - As in a series, yes. I
like the Bronte sisters work, but the Oz books are the only *series*
with this much inpact.

Is the MGM Movie your favourite movie ? - Nope. "Shindler's List" and
"Wag the Dog" are. But it comes close.

Have you written any Oz Books? If so, what are they? If not, do you
intend
to write any? - Ummm ...I started writing a few...then I got lazy.
*grins*

Fav. Oz Website - Okay, I'll be blunt...my own. *evil grin* But also
Eric Gjovagg's and our, uh, fearless moderator's. :)))

What do you have in your Oz Collection? - Lots of random stuff I've
collected, including books, movies, the set of Blockbusert figures,
coloring books, audio tapes...et cetera.

What would you LIKE to add to your Oz Collection? - 100 Years of Oz...a
lovely, comprehensive and cool book.

Do you create any Oz fan stuff? - Yup. Short stories.

Are you a member of the Interntional Wizard of Oz Club? - No.

Are you a member of the Royal Club of Oz? - Nope.

If you could change just ONE thing in the FF Books, what would it be? -
Ummm ... that we find out a little more about Betsy Bobbin's past.

Fav. Oz Actor (out fo all the Oz Movies you've seen so far) - Nicol
Williamson, Bert Lahr, and Jack Haley.

Fav. Oz Actress (see above) - Judy Garland, Fairuza Balk and Sophie
Ward. :)))

Are there any Oz Actors/Actressess who didnt quite fit their parts
'ozzily'?
- Billie Burke. Very...floaty. :)

If you could create an Oz Movie/Cartoon/TV Series, what would it all be
about? And who would star in it? -

Leisal (spelling?) Matthews - Ozma
Rowan Atkinson - Nome King

Can't think of any more, though.

--Lisa

--
"Every man is the painter and sculptor of his own life."  - S. John
Chrysostom (+407)


======================================================================
From: "Bob Collinge" <BobofOz@prodigy.net>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-19-99
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 09:28:59 -0500
charset="iso-8859-1"

Favorite musicals:  Les Miserable, Grease, Cats, Oklahoma, JC superstar,
Sound of Music, King and I, WofOz, (there are not many I do not like, except
Evita.  Ugh!)

On to the survey:

Name : Bob C.
Sex : Male

How did you ever get to know about Oz? - I watched the MGM movie on tv every
year.  Never heard of the books, until after I got out of the service.  Now
I have over half of them, and love them.

What other Oz movies do you like apart from RTOZ, MGM and the Oz Books? -
"Patchwork girl of Oz" silent film

Fav. Oz Character and why? -
The Oz Books : Polychrome

The MGM Movie : The coroner munchkin, even more so after meeting Meinhardt
Raabe
The Return to Oz : The wheelers, excellently portrayed
The Journey Back to Oz :
The Wiz :

Least Fav. Oz Character and why? -     ?

Fav. Oz Book/s - The Road to Oz, because we meet Polychrome, Patchwork Girl,
Glass Cat,

Least Fav. Oz Book/s - Rinkitink, didn't take place in Oz, The Rewolf of Oz
(Roger Baum),

The MGM Movie or Return to Oz -   Both

Which version of 'WOZ' is better? (Ex:The Wiz, The Book, The MGM Movie
e.t.c) - The Book

The MGM Movie or the Oz Books? - The Oz Books

Fav. Oz Author and why? - L. Frank Baum,  David Hulan

Least Fav. Oz Author and why? - Roger Baum, just read his and you will
understand

Fav. Oz Illustrator? - Denslow, he started it all, Eric Shanower, Santore,
and a 12 year old boy in Conn. who is going to be very good someday.  (I
have seen a sample of his work at the New England Oz Fiesta, excellent)

Least Fav. Oz Illustrator -

Are the Oz Books your favourite Book Series? -  Yes, followed closely by the
Happy Hollisters and the old "Dot and Dash" series that my mother had when
she was a kid.

Is the MGM Movie your favourite movie ? - Yes

Have you written any Oz Books? If so, what are they? Currently working on
"The Rainbow's daughter in Oz"

Fav. Oz Website - Wendy's Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Andrea's Oz site,

What do you have in your Oz Collection? - Anything and everything Ozzy!
Books, plates, dolls, figurines, posters, greeting cards, snow globes,
trading cards, buttons, glasses, dishes, costumes, ornaments, club news
items, etc.

What would you LIKE to add to your Oz Collection? - Every Oz book ever
written, both FF and non-FF.

Do you create any Oz fan stuff? - I have planned and organized the first two
Wizard of Oz Fiesta's of New England the last two springs.  Just to get fans
together.

Are you a member of the Interntional Wizard of Oz Club? - Yes

Are you a member of the Royal Club of Oz? - Yes

If you could change just ONE thing in the FF Books, what would it be? - That
Glinda and her book of records should have known that the wizard was a
humbug from the start.  He should have never been able to take over Oz.  But
without him we don't have a story do we?

Fav. Oz Actor (out fo all the Oz Movies you've seen so far) - Ray Bolger,
Nathan Lane (In concert), Frank Morgan

Fav. Oz Actress (see above) - Margaret Hamilton

Are there any Oz Actors/Actressess who didnt quite fit their parts 'ozzily'?
Aunt Em in RTOZ, Billie Burke,

If you could create an Oz Movie/Cartoon/TV Series, what would it all be
about? A weekly series based on the Oz books

======================================================================
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 08:21:17 -0800
From: "Peter E. Hanff" <phanff@library.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-19-99

Hi Dave,

So far as I know, the following list of Del Rey paperbacks is still
available from the Club:

___DRSET Set of All 9 Del Rey Oz Paperbacks       $50.00 ______

___CL    The Cowardly Lion of Oz (Del Rey)         $7.00 ______

___G     Grampa in Oz (Del Rey)                    $7.00 ______

___GH    The Giant Horse of Oz (Del Rey)           $7.00 ______

___GK    The Gnome King of Oz (Del Rey)            $7.00 ______

___HT    The Hungry Tiger of Oz (Del Rey)          $7.00 ______

___JP    Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz (Del Rey)          $7.00 ______

___K     Kabumpo in Oz (Del Rey)                   $7.00 ______

___LK    The Lost King of Oz (Del Rey)             $7.00 ______

___RB    The Royal Book of Oz  (Del Rey)           $7.00 ______

Peter Hanff
======================================================================
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 11:56:12 -0600
From: Stephen Teller <steller@pittstate.edu>
Subject: Favorite Musicals

Since the subject of the favorite musical has been brought up, and
since, David Maxine has included stage musicals, I have decided to put
in my two cents:

My favorite film musical is the frequently mentioned SINGING IN THE
RAIN.  This film not only has great songs and dances (no one has ever
matched Donald O'Connor's "Make 'em Laugh") but it has a wonderful story
too, with one of the most satisfying endings I have ever seen.

As for stage musicals I have a  special fondness for Sondheim's A LITTLE
NIGHT MUSIC, which managed to improve on a Ingmar Bergman film (SMILES
OF A SUMMER NIGHT).   It is perhaps the only stage adaptation of a film
that actually improved on the original.

Steve T.

======================================================================
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 16:14:55 -0500 (EST)
From: sahutchi@iupui.edu
cc: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-19-99

 > The MGM movie is a more successful effort at movie-making, but RTO is more
 > in keeping with the spirit of the books, and I enjoyed it more.
I'm not even sure I agree with this statement.  I think RTO does have a
huge weakness in that everything is solved through a knock of the
heels--the shoes are too powerful to be interesting or dramatic.
 >
 > I just don't get this widespread liking of My Fair Lady (although I must
 > admit I've never seen it on stage, only the film)--okay, the film's well
 > done, but it's definitely a step down from Shaw's play.
I've seen both on stage and neither on film.  _My Fair Lady_ is more fun,
but _Pygmalion_ is much better, and much more interesting.  The story in
Shaw is the same, but the plotline is different.  Shaw never spends any
time with the lessons, which Hammerstein spends excessive time with and
not enough on social commentary.  Granted, the production of _My Fair
Lady_ I saw was when I was in seventh grade, and before I got contact
lenses, so my memory of it is understandably hazy.  I saw it at Beef and
Boards Dinner Theatre.  I saw _Pygmalion_ this past October at Indiana
Repertory Theatre.  David Staller (who appeared in PBS's musical of _The
Phantom of the Opera--not Webber) played Henry Higgins and Libby
Christopherson (One Life to Live) played Liza.  Richard Ooms (_The 13th
Warrior_) played Colonel Pickering, Charles Antalosky and Antony Hagopian
(All My Children), played Alfred Doolitte and Freddy Eynsford-Hill,
respectively.  The rest of the cast were local professional actors.

 >
 > I never really considered MGM's Wizard a musical.  It's a film with songs.
 > (And I've have never, NEVER understood how anyone could like this film 
better
 > than the book.)
Amen, Eric!
 >
 >
 > Name : Scott
 > Sex : Male
 >
 > How did you ever get to know about Oz? - The Wonder Books Edition.  Then
I had several badly-illustrated editions of the Baum book, though it took
me a while (until I was about nine) before I read what seemed like such a
long book as Wizard--I read the Wonder Book at 2--and its sequels, which
were conveniently located in the school library.  They only had the Baum
14, but _Tik-Tok_ had a list of all the books.  I had seen the 1982 anime,
the MGM film, Journey Back to Oz, and the Rankin-Bass Return to Oz, plus
several spoof cartoons (The Jackson 5ive and Scooby-Doo, among others) by
this time as well, so my conception of Oz was diverse and undefined by the
time I got to reading the series.
  >
 > What other Oz movies do you like apart from RTOZ, MGM and the Oz Books? -
 > Cinar's Oz Series, even though the art is ugly, Journey Back to Oz, The
Wiz, Aysecik ve Sihirli Cuceler Ruyalar Ulkesinde, Volshebnik Izumrufnogo
Gorada (1994) (The 1974 miniseries is interestin, but I wouldn't rank it
among my favorites), and of course, the 1981 Minneapolis play.

 >
 > Fav. Oz Character and why? -
 > The Oz Books : The Scarecrow, Tip, Ozma, Prof. Wogglebug, Dorothy,
Kabumpo, Carter Green, Polychrome, Aubrey the Elf Queen (unique to my
books)
 >
 > The MGM Movie : The Wizard, Dorothy, Nikko, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman
 > Return to Oz : Tik-Tok, Ozma

Billina and Mombi I/The Dancing Girl who continued
 > explaining the History of Oz after the dark-haired dancing girl(the one that
Gehan:  This is Sophie Ward--Go see _Young Sherlock Holmes_

 > Journey Back to Oz :  Dorothy (most of the other characters were at
their worst, but I still like Filmation)
 > The Wiz : That Subway Peddler played by Clyde J. Barett is sooooo
creepy.  I really like the Lion.  If you like him, watch the animated
Christmas special, _The Fourth King_.

 > Least Fav. Oz Character and why? - A lot of Thompson Royals,
particularly in _Yellow Knight_, aren't very interesting
 >
 > Fav. Oz Book/s - Out of what I've read so far........The Wonderful
Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, The Patchwork Girl of
Oz, The Tin Woodman of Oz, The Lost King of Oz, The Gnome King of Oz, The
Giant Horse of Oz, The Blue Witch of Oz
 >
 > Least Fav. Oz Book/s - Out of what I've read so far........The Road to
Oz, The Magic of Oz, The Cowardly Lion of Oz, How the Wizard Came to Oz,
The Braided Man of Oz, but the WORST was Ozma and the Wayward Wand (I have
Dorothy - Return to Oz, but it's unread.)

   >
 > The MGM Movie or Return to Oz - Return to Oz......Dont get me wrong, I LOVE
 > the MGM Movie too......
 >
 > Which version of 'WOZ' is better? (Ex:The Wiz, The Book, The MGM Movie
 > e.t.c) - The Book OFCOURSE
 >
 > The MGM Movie or the Oz Books? - The Oz Books OFCOURSE
 >
 > Fav. Oz Author and why? - L. Frank Baum
 >
 > Least Fav. Oz Author and why? - I haven't read past _Pirates_, so I'll
say Polly Berends and Donald Abbott
 >
 > Fav. Oz Illustrator? - Eric Shanower, John R. Neill, and the guy who did
the Langwidere pic for the calendar (I think October) is quite good.  With
a lot of practice, I think he'll be in Shanower's league.

 > Least Fav. Oz Illustrator - Frank Kramer
 >
 > Are the Oz Books your favourite Book Series? - I don't really follow any
other series, though I've been meaning to finish the Chronicles of Narnia
(which I don't think are as well written--everything seems like an
afterthought)--I have three more to go.


 > Is the MGM Movie your favourite movie ? - No, but it ranks among many
others.  See http://php.iupui.edu/~sahutchi/ifluences.html if you are
really interested.
 >
 > Have you written any Oz Books? If so, what are they? If not, do you intend
 > to write any? - I strated _The Wicked Witches of Oz_ in fifth grade and
never finished it, then _Dinosaurs in Oz_ in sixth grade and never
finished it, though I cannibalized some elements from that into _Giraffic
Park: An Adventure in Oz: The Oz Book for 1990_ (apologies to Michael
Crichton and Marie Candler Richardson for the idea), which I also didn't
finish, but acted as if I did when I wrote _Tip of Oz: The Oz Book for
1991_--which left the former in need of not only completion, but severe
revision.  _Tip of Oz_ is my only complete novel.  It is to be followed by
_Nikidik in Oz: The Oz Book for 1991-1995_ and _Queen Aubrey of Oz: The Oz
Book for 1996_, after which I don't have plans for more Oz books.  I think
I have to write those two at this point, but I am currently working on
other writing projects, including a screenplay based on _Monster in My
Pocket_ that I am trying to get authorized, and a memory play for
stage) called _What Killed Bartok_, and also planning to film _Dhyrak: A
Dramatic Work for Three Players and Camera_, an homage to Samuel Beckett.

 > Fav. Oz Website - Eric Gjovaag's, Piglet Press, and IWOC, though I
haven't visited many lately.
 >
 > What do you have in your Oz Collection? - Many videos, books (including
a 1913 Donohue Mo, and a late edition _Aunt Jane's Nieces in the Red
Cross_), comic books, IWOC stuff, action figures, dolls, etc.


 > What would you LIKE to add to your Oz Collection? - The Oz Books which I
 > don't have in my collection, both FF and a few Non-FF books, The
complete Cinar's 'Wonderful Wizard of Oz' TV series episodes, and
their Japanese predecessor from which they were assembled, The
final episode of the 1991 ABC Oz Series' (in Balloonia), Bibliographia
Oziana, The Purple Prince of Oz, videos of Oz films I don't have (obscure
ones--though Jeffrey Hogue is supposed to be sending me a video of
_The Wonderful Land of Oz_ any time now--he owns the copyright.
 > > Do you create any Oz fan stuff? - Well I'm planning to write ten Oz
 > stories......and I also want to write a few short Oz fanfic stories.......I
 > also draw pics of my favourite Oz Characters......
 >
 > Are you a member of the Interntional Wizard of Oz Club? - Yes, except
they lost my dues for this year...
 >
 > Are you a member of the Royal Club of Oz? - Yes, but I have to renew
ASAP...
 >
 > If you could change just ONE thing in the FF Books, what would it be? -
That there would be more consistency, but they're supposed to be
histories, and history books are surprisingly inconsistent.  Most history
books are in error about the inventors of the light bulb and telephone,
for example.

 > > Fav. Oz Actor (out of all the Oz Movies you've seen so far) -
Christopher Passi, Pierre Couderc, Marc Lewis, Ray Bolger, Stephen Boe,
Valeri Nosik
 >
 > Fav. Oz Actress (see above) - Rana Haugen, Zeynep Degirmencioglu, Julee
Cruise, Emma Ridley, Katya Mikhailovskaya, Wendy Lehr, Sarah Lizabeth
Wiley (local - http://www.civictheatre.org/ -she is playing the part for
the third time in six years), Emily Ristine--she played Dorothy in the
middle school production of _The Wizard of Oz_ in which I was the Guardian
of the Gates--now she is being paid to act in _A Christmas Carol_
(http://www.indianarep.com), which I plan to see Sunday (the last day),
Shay Astar

Gehan: Fiona Victory played Mombi III, the evil one with her hair like
Jean Marsh as Nurse Wilson.  You're thinking of Mombi III, Sophie Ward.
See http://akas.imdb.com/Name?Ward,+Sophie for her extensive filmography.

 >
 > Are there any Oz Actors/Actressess who didn't quite fit their parts
'ozzily'?
Billie Burke, Nicol Williamson (though he is excellent at what he does
play), Diana Ross, James McNee, Kathleen Wegner, Steve Huke, everybody in
the '25 film, Rue McClanahan (again, the script's fault), Steven Gilborn,
John Ritter, Charles Haid, everybody but Sally McIsaac in _Toto's Rescue_,
 >
 > If you could create an Oz Movie/Cartoon/TV Series, what would it all be
 > about? And who would star in it? - An adaptation of _Tip of Oz_.  I
don't know who I want to play the youngsters, but I do know these

Nipsey Russell--Thelonius Spe'tnek
Ian Abercrombie--Pastoria
Alan Rickman--Nikidik
David Warner--Terenick
Peter Riegert--Ozric
Tim Russ--Tarkalus
Brian Henson--Jack Pumpkinhead
Bruce Campbell--Astarus
Dominque Pinon--Kraktalus
Megumi Odaka--Yuko
Akira Kubo, Yuijiro Hotaru, Gedde Watanabe--Kurako
Joseph M. Costa--Police Chief
Deborah Staples--Diane
Khrystyne Haje--Glinda
Sydney Gormley--Elderly Elf
John Vernon--voice of Cerberus
Doug E. Doug--voice of Alu
Shay Astar--Kathy Fricke
Jennifer Connelly--Zoe of the Zoetrpe
Bobby Porter--The Lonesome Zoop
Cristina Marsillach--Lisa
Rene Auberjonois--Culinary Artist
Tisha Campbell--Daisy
LeVar Burton--Radice
Hugh Quarshie--Samuel
Sarah Berry--Denice
Dan Gilvezan--Scarecrow
Abdul-Khaliq Murtadha--Arthyr
Bob Hackett XII--"Idiot Boy" (this is what Aubrey calls the character)
Dario Argento--freaky looking guy in the restroom

others



Scott

(You can see my prospective cast list for _Monster in My Pocket_ at
http://php.iupui.edu/mimpfilm.html
I took down the photos and bios after Mandy Barrett got upset with me for
something unrelated, as did Tino Marquez, Jr., and some acting students at
University of Indianapolis got upset about it being there.  So I took down
Mandy's and any for which I didn't have permission.  I still have to check
on Maya Bley, though I don't have her e-mail address.


======================================================================
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 18:44:52 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell@compuserve.com>
Subject: lord of all I survey
  charset=ISO-8859-1

Earlier this year I leafed through a book called FROM MOTHER GOOSE TO DR.
SEUSS, by Harold Darling (S.F.: Chronicle, 1999). It showcases many
exquisite covers of children's books. There are one or two spreads on the
Oz series, all Neill covers from the 1920s to 1940s. These included his
"slinky Ozmas" for OZMA and EMERALD CITY, which we know were drawn decades
after the books' original publications; this book nonetheless dated those
designs to 1907 and 1910. The result is a collection with nice stylistic
unity but a misleading span of publication dates.

Peter Hanff, my end-of-year mailings from the Club arrived today. Thank you
for the greetings, report, and ballot. I always analyze Fred Meyer's
accounting of where Oz Club members live; one of these years I'll figure
out why.
    Thanks, James Doyle, for the further information on your CD of
Baum-related music.

Tyler Jones wrote:
<<ISTR a reference somewhere in the FF saying something like "fairies, such
as Ojo, etc.". However, this was probably referring to
fairies-as-people-who-live-in-Oz as opposed to being an actual fairy-like
being in the sense that Ozma or Lurline is.>>

I think in TIK-TOK the Nomes (who probably should know) describe the people
of Oz as partly fairy. That seems mainly to mean immortal, although it also
seems to imply a little more instinct for magic than the average human. On
the other hand, that same book says that Ozga was first a fairy, then a
mortal, then (having come to Oz) immortal but not *an* immortal. On
reflection, I'm not sure that book is as credible a source as Oz books with
a more unified background.

Gehan Cooray wrote of Glinda:
<<She tells Dorothy in 'Magic of Oz' that Ozma has existed since the
beginning of time. That would mean that Glinda has also existed even before
earth was created.>>

This seems to assume that Glinda was around when Ozma's existence
started--that she was sharing first-hand knowledge. But I can state how
long the U.S.A. had been around without having been there to witness its
arrival. We know Glinda does learn a great deal from books. As a timely
song goes, in her Book of Records she sees you when you're sleeping, and
knows when you're awake.
    [Santa should really see us when we're awake to gather any useful data,
shouldn't he?]

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<Can anyone recall anyone else going away mad?>>

Richard Bauman went away mad, but he seemed to have been mad at some things
for a long time before that.

Gehan Cooray sent round a survey--not for the first time, as I recall. Here
are my select answers:
         Name : J. L. Bell.
         Sex : One. (Unlike some princesses we know.)
         How did you ever get to know about Oz? - My mother, who had
discovered the Oz books in her town library when she was a little girl,
read WIZARD to my brother and me when we were preschoolers. I wasn't
enthralled--we were too young. In second grade, however, my class put on a
play based on the movie, and I started reading the books on my own. I'd
read the whole canon by the time I left junior high school, and owned them
all by the time I left high school.
         What other Oz movies do you like apart from RTOZ, MGM and the Oz
Books? - This wording makes some assumptions about what I like, doesn't it?
The Oz Film Company's PATCHWORK GIRL is a lot of fun in its own way.
         Fav. Oz Character and why? - When I began, I liked the Tin Woodman
best for some reason. Later, Tik-Tok was a favorite. This season, I seem to
be exploring the dark side of Number Nine--what would a Munchkin boy do for
love? I suppose it will continue to change.
         Least Fav. Oz Character and why? - Corum, for what he removed.
         Fav. Oz Book/s - MAGIC. Among post-Baum entries, OJO and
MERRY-GO-ROUND.
         Least Fav. Oz Book/s - SCALAWAGONS. SHAGGY MAN.
         The MGM Movie or Return to Oz - RETURN gets almost everything about
Oz right except the tone--and that's a very big exception. Simply for
entertainment, I have to go with WIZARD.
         The MGM Movie or the Oz Books? - Books. The first book will last
longer than the movies--partly because it had a nearly 40-year head start
but also because it's truly timeless.
         Fav. Oz Author and why? - Baum. McGraw has more technical
storytelling skill, and the best Thompson is as enjoyable as Baum's best,
but for characterization, novel thinking, and of course being first Baum
gets my vote.
         Least Fav. Oz Author and why? - At a distance, Snow; he didn't
bring much new to Oz, and reading his books instilled few fond memories.
Close up, Neill; his books treat Oz in new ways that I find refreshing and
inspiring, but his actual storytelling can give me a headache.
         Fav. Oz Illustrator? - Neill, followed closely by Shanower.
         Least Fav. Oz Illustrator - Dirk. (I'm leaving out small-publisher
books, some of which also give me a headache.)
         Are the Oz Books your favourite Book Series? - For a single,
unified series of children's fantasies, it's hard to imagine anything
better than Susan Coopers' THE DARK IS RISING. For sheer pleasure, the
Emsworth Castle books by P.G. Wodehouse are my favorite book series.
         Is the MGM Movie your favourite movie ? - No.
         Have you written any Oz Books? If so, what are they? If not, do you
intend to write any? - Yes. THE MAGIC BOOK OF OZ, and several short stories
that have been published in OZ-STORY and OZIANA and/or won prizes on the
Club's Research Table. Others in the works.
         Fav. Oz Website - I keep typing "www.palace.oz" into my browser,
and nothing comes up, so I don't think Oz has Web sites yet.
         What do you have in your Oz Collection? - Books: the entire series,
other Baum and Thompson titles in reprint editions, many but by no means
all non-canonical books, several scholarly or celebratory books. A few
MGM-related doodads from relatives and friends who know I like Oz but don't
know *which* Oz. Too many mugs for my cupboard to hold, which explains why
several of them are slightly chipped. A nicely framed John R. Neill print
from BOY'S LIFE showing a boy, an old yarn-spinning sailor, and about four
dozen phallic symbols (lighthouses, pistols, sharks, telescopes, etc.).
         What would you LIKE to add to your Oz Collection? - I've never read
FATHER GOOSE. I think that's the biggest gap in my knowledge. I wouldn't
want any book I couldn't read.
         Do you create any Oz fan stuff? - I'm working on a crossword
puzzle.
         Are you a member of the Interntional Wizard of Oz Club? - Yes.
         Are you a member of the Royal Club of Oz? - No.
         If you could change just ONE thing in the FF Books, what would it
be? - A wider cross-section of American kids getting to go to Oz.
         Fav. Oz Actor (out fo all the Oz Movies you've seen so far) - Who
can top Nipsy Russell?!

Michael Turniansky wrote:
<<Is this the same "She Loves Me" that was the musical  version of "Shop
Around the Corner" (also made into a non-musical version with Jimmy
Stewart, and more recently, the basis of "You've Got Mail" with Tom
Hanks)?>>

That story was musicalized twice, you probably know, once as SHE LOVES ME
and once as IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME, with Van Johnson, Judy Garland, and
(in a cameo role) Liza Minelli. (Are there any other films featuring two
actresses who played Dorothy?)

J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell@compuserve.com

======================================================================
From: "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <xornom@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-19-99
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 03:02:37 GMT

Gehan:
 >David (Hulan):
 >Well, 'The Wizard of Oz' IS actually a fantasy film, even though it was all
 >just a dream......I mean, a dream is a 'fantasy' and you would never mind
 >good witches, walking scarecrows or talking lions in the real world......So
 >it IS a fiction or rather 'fantasy' film......

True, but the fact that the main plot of the movie didn't really happen
takes out some of the magic.  There were certainly still fantastic elements
in the movie, but it was hardly as entrenched in the fantasy format as the
book.

J. L. Bell:
 >I note that we both prefer the uncertainty of wringing our memories to the
 >prospect of actually picking up and rereading SCALAWAGONS! Probably a wise
 >choice.

Well, I don't have a copy of _Scalawagons_ handy, and it's not all that
likely to be my next Ozzy purchase, either.  I would like to reread it at
some point, however, even though it's probably my least favorite of the FF.

Jeremy:
 >(Even though you said it was a prequel, I'm afraid of the results of
 >Oz-catering-to-the-masses, which hasn't worked before, ever . . .)

I don't know if that's entirely true.  Weren't Baum and Thompson trying to
"cater to the masses"?  The young masses, true, but the books were fairly
popular for their time.  In more modern times, however, you might be right.

Gehan:
 >Fill in this survey to get to know each other's opinions better.

All right.

Name : Nathan
Sex : Male

How did you ever get to know about Oz? - Well, my first exposure to Oz was
in the form of the MGM movie, but that didn't really spark an interest in
me.  "Return to Oz," which I also saw before reading any of the books, was a
bit more intriguing.  I suppose what really started my Ozian interest was
the time when my father gave me copies of the first two books.  That was
back in December of 1988.

What other Oz movies do you like apart from RTOZ, MGM and the Oz
Books? -
Haven't really seen any of them, as far as I can recall

Fav. Oz Character and why? -
I think that's too difficult a question to answer at the moment.  There are
so many good characters.  I'm also abstaining from answering the "least
favorite character" question.

Fav. Oz Book/s - It's really not a constant thing, but I'm rather fond of
_Land_, _Ozma_, _Patchwork Girl_, _Tik-Tok_, _Kabumpo_, _Grampa_, _Lost
King_, and, well, many others

Least Fav. Oz Book/s - _Scalawagons_, _Dorothy and the Wizard_, and _Road_
rank fairly low, although they all have their merits.

Which version of 'WOZ' is better? (Ex:The Wiz, The Book, The MGM
Movie e.t.c) - The book

The MGM Movie or the Oz Books? - The books

Fav. Oz Author and why? - I guess I'd have to give the edge to Baum, as he
was responsible for starting it all, and really was a great writer.  I'm a
major Thompson fan, too, though.

Least Fav. Oz Author and why? - Neill

Fav. Oz Illustrator? - Well, I've come to associate Oz with Neill's
illustrations, so I guess I'd rank him at the top.  Eric Shanower is also
excellent, and tends to stick fairly close to Neill's interpretations of the
characters.

Least Fav. Oz Illustrator - Dirk

Are the Oz Books your favourite Book Series? - Probably so.  I'm also a big
fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, though.

Is the MGM Movie your favourite movie ? - No

Have you written any Oz Books? If so, what are they? If not, do you
intend to write any? - I've come up with some ideas, but have yet to
complete a manuscript.  I guess the one that's farthest along is one
starring Wag, and some characters from Sun Top Mountain.

Fav. Oz Website - Not really sure

What do you have in your Oz Collection? - Too much to mention at the moment

What would you LIKE to add to your Oz Collection? - Most books and related
items that aren't already there

Do you create any Oz fan stuff? - I write stories occasionally, although
I've been a bit too busy as of late to concentrate on them.  I wrote a LOT
of them during high school, though.

Are you a member of the Interntional Wizard of Oz Club? - Not at the moment,
although I'll probably renew my membership for 2000

Are you a member of the Royal Club of Oz? - No, but I'm considering it.  I
like getting mail.

If you could change just ONE thing in the FF Books, what would it
be? - I can't think of anything at the moment.  Maybe I'll have an answer
later.

Are there any Oz Actors/Actressess who didnt quite fit their parts
'ozzily'? - I think I'd agree that Billie Burke fits into this category, and
I also agree with Dave's statement that part of the trouble was that she
played a combination of two dissimilar characters.

If you could create an Oz Movie/Cartoon/TV Series, what would it all
be about? And who would star in it? - Don't know about stars (I might
actually prefer unknowns, so audiences would see them as the characters, and
not as themselves), but I'd definitely try to work with something set during
the glorious reign of Ozma, as that has been neglected by most developers in
the past.  I also might want to try not having the Emerald City celebrities
as the main focus, although they would certainly show up from time to time.
I guess I'd want to get away from comparisons with the MGM movie and such.

Nathan

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

======================================================================
From: CruentiDei@cs.com
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 23:27:29 EST
Subject: Oz

Gehan's postings:
 > She tells Dorothy in 'Magic of Oz' that Ozma has existed since the beginning
 > of time. That would mean that Glinda has also existed even before earth was
 > created
That may not be necessarily true. Glinda may know of Ozma's history without
actually being there. A friend of mine is quite the expert on the Roman
Empire,
but I'm pretty sure he wasn't around when Nero fiddled... :-)

 > ......I've always thought that fairy countries have existed even
 > BEFORE the beginning of time......
Maybe before the beginning of time in our own Universe. In their Universe
(or subset of our own), time may have no beginning.

 > I think BOW say that she has a sister called 'Belinda' who became
 > the Good Witch of the North after Tattypoo was disenchanted.......Thats what
 > Chris Dulabone told me anyway.
This is the plot of a Chris Dulabone book. I can't remember which one, though.


Robin:
Thanks for the encouraging word. Yes, we do spread Oz wherever we can.

Nathan:
Yes, I can recall at least one other person who left the Digest in a fit
of anger, although IMHO it was more the result of a misunderstanding.
However, I believe that person has quietly returned, so I don't want to
drop names.

As for why Chris left, at least one of the reasons is that he just does
not have the time and willpower to go online every day and read through
the entire digest. Chris tends to overreact emotionally at times, and
he also left at what he felt was an unrelenting hateful attack against
him. I do not feel that this was ever the case, but he did.

Before I bash him too much, let me say that I have a tremendous amount
of respect for Chris. He done more than almost anyone to bring Oz to
the masses, and his knowledge of Oz is all but unmatched.

Hidden Prince:
When will this book be available for ordering?

My web page:
I fixed a problem on it with one of the other sections (LOTE maps), and the
same problem may be with the Digest archive. I'll look into it tomorrow.

Gehan and Dave:
Thanks for listing my web page among your favorites! Someday, I'll really
get back to work on the HACC, as soon as 47,000 other things are taken
care of :-(

Tyler Jones

======================================================================
From: Tyler Jones <tylerj@apprentice.com>
Subject: Oz
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 14:39:10 -0700
charset="iso-8859-1"

All:
There are 10 new reviews on my website by Theo Cole.

Tyler Jones

======================================================================
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 17:22:22 -0600
From: David Hulan <davidhulan@ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-19-99

Peter:
I got my President's letter and ballot yesterday, so I expect most other
people will before Christmas.

Gehan:
 >Glinda:
 >She tells Dorothy in 'Magic of Oz' that Ozma has existed since the beginning
 >of time. That would mean that Glinda has also existed even before earth was
 >created.

I don't see that as a necessary inference, though it may well be true. Ozma
is a fairy and fairies, in Baum's mythos anyhow, have existed since the
beginning of time. Glinda does not appear to be a fairy (other than in the
sense sometimes used in which all Oz natives are considered fairies), so
there's no reason why she should have existed before earth was created. She
doesn't say, "I know this because I was there to observe it." She just
states the fact, and may have learned it through her magic powers, or
simply because Ozma told her. Though my personal opinion is that Ozma
doesn't remember this directly herself; she lost her memory of her earlier
life as a member of Lurline's band when she was made heir to the throne of
Oz, however this occurred. We had a discussion of that a few months ago; my
theory is that Ozma was actually born as a human infant (but a fairy as
well - fully fairy and fully human, to paraphrase a rather better-known
example that many people are going to be celebrating in a few days...), but
others believe that a member of Lurline's band was transformed into an
infant and given to Pastoria, as Snow describes in _Magical Mimics_. Either
way, the infant appears to retain no memory of her earlier life, at least
in the limited exposure we have to Ozma's thinking.

 >Best DISNEY film:
 >Since someone spoke about best 'Disney Films' I would have to say 'Alice in
 >Wonderland' followed closely by 'Cinderella'. 'Alice in Wonderland' has
 >always been my fav. fantasy film.....Its much better than the MGM Wizard of
 >Oz Movie, IMHO.....

Hmm. I don't actually care greatly for either of those Disney films -
they're OK, but I think "Pinocchio" is the best and would rate "Snow
White," "Dumbo," "Bambi," "Peter Pan," "Lady and the Tramp," and "Sleeping
Beauty" all ahead of either "Alice" or "Cinderella." (I even have a
sneaking fondness for "The Aristocats," though like my fondness for
"Finian's Rainbow" I recognize it as a peculiar taste of mine. But then my
favorite movie of all is "Start the Revolution Without Me," which a large
fraction of the public has never even heard of.)

 >Well, 'The Wizard of Oz' IS actually a fantasy film, even though it was all
 >just a dream......I mean, a dream is a 'fantasy' and you would never mind
 >good witches, walking scarecrows or talking lions in the real world......So
 >it IS a fiction or rather 'fantasy' film......

I suppose you could define it that way, but then you'd have to consider
other movies with fantastic dream sequences, like "Oklahoma," "An American
in Paris," "Anchors Aweigh," "The Pirate," and so on as fantasies as well.
Do you?

Nathan:
 >Did BoW ever offer the Del Rey reprints?  I know the Club did (and
 >presumably still does, although I'm not currently on the Club mailing lists,
 >so I don't know for sure), but I don't think BoW ever did.

I'm sure BoW offered the Del Rey reprints when they were in print, but that
didn't last too long. When they went OP the IWOC bought up the back stock
and is the only place you can get new copies now.

Me:
Ah, OK, the Valley of Virtula is mentioned but not visited. Nevertheless, I
is covered with rue for forgetting it.

J.L.:
 >I note that we both prefer the uncertainty of wringing our memories to the
 >prospect of actually picking up and rereading SCALAWAGONS! Probably a wise
 >choice.

I didn't reread the whole of _Scalawagons_, but I did scan through the part
where flabbergas was introduced and there's no mention of its origins
there. I doubt if it's explained elsewhere.

 >Does the Oz Club have a "family membership"? Otherwise, this family's only
 >benefit from doubling their membership fees would be dual copies of all the
 >club publications. Not that there's anything wrong with more OZ OBSERVERs!

I don't think the Club has a "family membership"; it might be something to
think about, though. You're right that there doesn't seem to be much point
in having more than one membership per household, since as far as I know
the only benefits of belonging to the Club are its publications, and
there's no point in having more than one set per household.

Eric:
 >My favoite musicals are Carousel and West Side Story--and, on the less dark
 >side, Babes in Toyland.  Of couse, I'm talking about the originals, not the
 >films.

But the discussion was about film musicals, which are a different animal
from a stage musical. Some of my favorite stage musicals - "Kiss Me, Kate,"
"Kismet," "Flower Drum Song," "Show Boat" (in the Fifties version with
Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson; the Thirties version with Allan Jones and
Irene Dunne is much better), and "1776" for a few - were mangled in the
translation to film. On the other hand, most of my favorite film musicals
didn't even have a stage version (or, as in the case of "Gigi," the stage
version followed the film rather than preceding it).

 >The all-time best fantasy film is--what else could it be?--Willy Wonka and
 >the Chocolate Factory--one of those rarest of rare beasts, a wonderful film
 >that's better than the wonderful book.

Now that you mention it, I probably agree with you on that. I'd forgotten
that movie when listing favorite fantasy films.

Jeremy:
 >Favorite musicals:
 >Sound of Music, Singing in the Rain, West Side Story, Brigadoon, Camelot.
 >Music, music, a show I liked for its music (if not its bungled Shakespeare),
 >and two fantasies.  Anyone else see a pattern there?

Hmm. And I'd consider "Brigadoon" as another fine stage musical that wasn't
translated well to film, even though I love Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse.
("Camelot" I don't like either way, but that's more than a little due to
historical circumstances that I won't go into here.)

Scott H.:
 >IMHO, I would consider horror and fantasy overlapping genres, but there
 >are many horror films for which "fantasy" would be inappropriate,
 >particulalry those that deal with psychotic killers that have nothing
 >supernatural about them.  _The Silence of the Lambs_ is an example of a
 >good horror film that could not be considered fantasy.

Good point. But a lot of horror films are definitely fantasy.

Gehan's survey:
 >Name : David
 >Sex : Male
 >
 >How did you ever get to know about Oz? I was given an abridged version of
 >_Wizard_ when I was 4, liked it, was given a full-up version (as it was
 >produced by Bobbs-Merrill in 1941 - had the plates but lacked a lot of the
 >interior illustrations) for either my 5th birthday or the Christmas a week
 >later, not sure which, and loved it. Got _Wishing Horse_ as a special
 >present the following summer, loved it even more, and began getting 2-3 Oz
 >books for Christmas and birthday for the next 3-4 years and borrowing the
 >rest wherever I could find them. By age 9 I'd read all but _Captain Salt_,
 >_Handy Mandy_, _Wonder City_, _Scalawagons_, and the four that were yet to
 >be published at that point. Got and read the two Snows when they appeared;
 >the rest I read when I became prosperous enough to afford to buy them in
 >the late Sixties. I didn't see the movie until its second or third
 >release, sometime around 1950 (I know it was between 1949 and 1954 because
 >I saw it at the drive-in theater in Hopkinsville, KY, and those were the
 >years I lived there.) Didn't like it much at that point because it was so
 >different from the books. Since then I've seen it a number of times and
 >recognize it as a highly successful bit of movie-making, but as far as I'm
 >concerned it ain't Oz.

 >What other Oz movies do you like apart from RTOZ, MGM and the Oz Books?
Baum's "Patchwork Girl," the Minneapolis Children's Theater "Land," the "Oz
Kids" cartoons.

 >Fav. Oz Character and why? Cap'n Bill, the Shaggy Man, and Baum's Wizard
 >(not Thompson's or Neill's) because they're wise and resourceful. Dorothy
 >and Trot, because they're clever, dynamic, and sweet without being
 >saccharine. Ruggedo, because he's such a hapless villain. Polychrome and
 >Ozma, because they're Babes. :-)

 >Least Fav. Oz Character and why? Depends on what you mean. Mooj, Wutz, and
 >the Erbs are the characters I'd least like to encounter. Thompson's
 >version of the Wizard is probably the worst-executed character in the
 >books, in that he's on-stage a fair bit and acts badly most of the time
 >when he is, contrary to Baum's characterization of him (at least after the
 >first book).

 >Fav. Oz Book/s: _Wishing Horse_, _Lost Princess_, _Ozma_, _Speedy_,
 >_Patchwork Girl_, _Silver Princess_, _Merry-Go-Round_. _Forbidden
 >Fountain_, if you want to include the IWOC-published books.

 >Least Fav. Oz Book/s: _Wonder City_, _Scalawagons_, _Hidden Valley_,
 >_DotWiz_, _Road_, _Cowardly Lion_, _Ozoplaning_.

 >The MGM Movie or Return to Oz: Already answered last post; RTO

 >Which version of 'WOZ' is better? The Book OFCOURSE
 >
 >The MGM Movie or the Oz Books? - The Oz Books OFCOURSE

(No need to modify your answsers on either of those.)
 >
 >Fav. Oz Author and why? - L. Frank Baum, followed quite closely by Ruth
 >Plumly Thompson - their peaks were comparable but her worst books are
 >worse than his worst. The McGraws wrote two excellent Oz books, but they
 >aren't as "Ozzy" somehow, though as works of fiction they're probably the
 >two best books with "Oz" in the title.

 >Least Fav. Oz Author and why? - John R. Neill, though Rachel Cosgrove
 >Payes wasn't much better. (Her second book was better than her first,
 >though.) Neill had a great imagination but wasn't a writer.

 >Fav. Oz Illustrator? Neill, followed closely by Shanower. Shanower is
 >probably the better artist, but I grew up with Neill and his images of Oz
 >are the ones I have of its people and places. To the extent that other
 >artists differ from him, they're lesser in the "favorite" ranking; you
 >didn't say "best." Denslow and Martin are also very good, but a distinct
 >notch below Neill and Shanower, IMHO.

 >Least Fav. Oz Illustrator - Kramer, with Dirk a close second. I am not,
 >incidentally, counting any books outside the FF and the IWOC publications
 >for these ratings. Some of Buckethead's illustrators are totally awful
 >(well, some of them _are_ fourth-graders; what do you expect?), and some
 >of BoW's are pretty bad as well. On the other hand, Melody Grandy and
 >George O'Connor are quite good, better than Kramer or Dirk, and so may be
 >some of the others I either haven't seen or don't remember.
 >
 >Are the Oz Books your favourite Book Series? Certainly the one I devote
 >the most time to, but on the whole, probably not. Favorite distinctly
 >children's book series? Probably, though if the Harry Potter books keep up
 >the quality of the first three for another six or eight volumes, and if
 >they hold up to rereading as well as the Oz books do (I haven't sat down
 >to reread any of them yet, though I plan to soon), they might give Oz a
 >battle. Diana Wynne Jones's Chrestomanci books are also in the hunt. And
 >there are several adult series - both the Tarzan and Mars books from Edgar
 >Rice Burroughs, the Mr. and Mrs. North mysteries from Frances and Richard
 >Lockridge, the Leonidas Witherall and Asey Mayo mysteries from Phoebe
 >Atwood Taylor, and the Nero Wolfe mystereis from Rex Stout, for example -
 >that I like at least as much as Oz.

 >Is the MGM Movie your favourite movie ? - No. "Start the Revolution
 >Without Me," "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (Errol Flynn version),
 >"Fantasia," "The Three Musketeers/Four Musketeers" duo from Richard Lester
 >(really one long movie in two parts), the Korda "Thief of Baghdad," and
 >probably others that don't come to mind instantly are all greater
 >favorites. "Return to Oz," for that matter.

 >Have you written any Oz Books? If so, what are they? If not, do you intend
 >to write any?

Yes, several, one of which has been published: _The Glass Cat of Oz_.
_Eureka in Oz_ and _The Magic Carpet of Oz_ have been completed but were
rejected in their submitted form. I have a plan for revising _Eureka_ that
may meet the objections it drew on its original submission, but I haven't
had the inclination to work on it for a couple of years. _Magic Carpet_
will probably not be revised; there are some incidents that I can use in
another book I'm thinking about now (working title _Professor Woggle-bug of
Oz_), but _Magic Carpet_ told the story I wanted to tell and since I'm not
writing for the money I'd rather can it than change it as much as it would
need changing to meet the objections.

 >Fav. Oz Website: Since most of the Oz websites I visit are run by Digest
 >subscribers, and comparisons are invidious, I'm not going to answer that
 >one. I've enjoyed every one I've visited, and have no desire to rate them.

 >What do you have in your Oz Collection? All the FF, IWOC, and BoW books,
 >all of Baum's other fantasy books published under his own name and a fair
 >number done under pseudonyms, some of the Russian books and a couple or
 >three versions of _Wizard_ in other languages, sometimes abridged, and a
 >fair number of ornaments and the like, though I'm not into collectibles
 >like some. (I only buy book-related items, though people have given me
 >movie-related ones from time to time.) The Oz Kids and Baum videos, as
 >well as videos of the MGM movie and RTO. Oh, and four of the stained glass
 >ornaments BoW has offered from time to time: Tik-Tok and Roquat, Jack
 >Pumpkinhead and the Woggle-bug, Ozma and Dorothy, and Ojo, the Woozy, and
 >the Glass Cat. (Those are the most expensive items in my collection.)

 >What would you LIKE to add to your Oz Collection? - More published books
 >that I wrote. :-) Seriously, I'd like to get editions with color plates of
 >the books that I have in plateless form only - currently that includes
 >_Glinda_, _Grampa_, _Gnome King_, _Jack Pumpkinhead_, _Yellow Knight_,
 >_Purple Prince_, and _Ojo_. I'd also like to upgrade my copies of _Hungry
 >Tiger_ and _Giant Horse_, which I have with plates but in only fair
 >condition; they're hard to read. BoW will solve the _Glinda_ problem soon;
 >the rest I'll continue to look for at convention auctions. Or if anybody
 >on the Digest has such a copy for sale, let me know condition and how much.

 >Do you create any Oz fan stuff? I've written a couple of stories for
 >_Oziana_ and some papers for the Research Group; I'm working on one to
 >present at the Centennial Convention next year.

 >Are you a member of the Interntional Wizard of Oz Club? - Yep
 >
 >Are you a member of the Royal Club of Oz? - Yep
 >
 >If you could change just ONE thing in the FF Books, what would it be? That
 >Dorothy would have the sense to ask Ozma to bring Uncle Henry, Aunt Em,
 >and Toto to Oz at the end of _Ozma_ instead of sending her back. Or that
 >Ozma would have the sense to suggest it. Neither girl comes across as
 >stupid, and it's such an obvious idea when they clearly don't have any
 >strong ties to anyone or anything in America. Of course, if she'd done
 >that we'd never have met Eureka or the Shaggy Man...

 >Fav. Oz Actor (out fo all the Oz Movies you've seen so far) - Nicol
 >Williamson(The Gnome King in RTOZ), Ray Bolger and Bert Lahr. (I agree
 >with your choices.)
 >
 >Fav. Oz Actress (see above) - Judy Garland and Fairuza Balk.
 >
 >Are there any Oz Actors/Actressess who didnt quite fit their parts 'ozzily'?
Since the movies - even RTO - weren't very "Ozzy" it's hard to criticize an
actor/actress for lack of Ozziness. Jean Marsh didn't fit the Mombi of the
books, but her character really didn't resemble that Mombi anyhow; she was
closer to Langwidere, or maybe Coo-ee-oh. For that matter, Ray Bolger, Jack
Haley, and Bert Lahr didn't resemble the book characters they played, nor
did Judy Garland resemble the book Dorothy closely. (The whole motivation
was different throughout.)

 >If you could create an Oz Movie/Cartoon/TV Series, what would it all be
 >about? I'll pass on this one.

David Hulan


======================================================================
From: "Gili Bar-Hillel" <abhillel@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 09:10:33 PST

Hi digesteers,

Just to let you know, Gregory Maguire's "Wicked" has been translated into
Hebrew. I just got my reviewer's copy, hot off the press.

Gili
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com


======================================================================
From: Tyler Jones <tylerj@apprentice.com>
Subject: Oz
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 11:32:17 -0700
charset="iso-8859-1"

Archives:
I finally put the November 1999 Digest onto my web site,
and the links to the digest archives should now be fixed...

http://tyler1.apprentice.com

Tyler Jones

======================================================================
From: Ozisus@aol.com
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 17:36:31 EST
Subject: Oz Digest Post

Jim Whitcomb has posted info about a couple dozen of the presenters who are
scheduled to speak at the Oz Centennial event on the centennial site.
http://www.geocities.com/~ozfan/ozcenten.htm for you heretics who don't have
it bookmarked.  :)   Check it out.  And yes, that's THE Alison Lurie and THE
Philiip Jose Farmer not impersonators.

And Dave (Hardenbrook), I need to add you, so send me your stats!  This is
primarily the speaker vitae forwarded to me by the five educational track
chairmen.  If any of      you are expecting to present and don't find
yourselves, holler at me.  Jim's terrific about adding content as soon as I
get it to him.  I have no intention of excluding anyone, just needed to get
started somewhere.

And as long as I'm posting, Digesters will be pleased to know that Gili Bar
Hillel is planning to attend next summer -- with a fiance in tow.

======================================================================
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 13:22:55 -0800
From: "Peter E. Hanff" <phanff@library.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Library of Congress Exhibition in 2000

Hi Dave,

Readers of the Ozzy Digest will be interested to know what the Library of
Congress has announced in the LC Information Bulletin of September 1999:

On page 210 of that issue, John Y. Cole, Director of the Center for the
Book, writes:

Opening on April 24, 2000, "The Wizard of Oz: An American Fairy Tale,"
marks the centennial of L. Frank Baum's _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_. Using
the Library's extensive collections of first editions, artifacts and films,
the exhibition will examine the creation of this timeless and enduring
success. Copyright deposits related to _Thew Wizard of Oz_ will form the
core of this exhibition, which also includes Baum's original copyright
application.

The article is illustrated with a first edition, first state copy of _The
Wonderful Wizard of Oz_.

Happy holidays to all.

Peter
======================================================================
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 21:13:17 -0600
Subject: Oz
From: "David Godwin" <d.godwin@minn.net>

J. L. Bell wrote:
 >Actually, you were participating in the Digest when Chris Dulabone last
 >left in a huff and a puff--it was April 1999. Don't remember it?

Oh, I remember _that_ one all right, but it was my impression that he had
already left the Digest at some previous point and that in April felt he had
to respond to the comments in more recent Digests that he had seen
(presumably via Tyler's archive).

Ruth:
Your comments about publishing and the Club are very apt, but one additional
expense you didn't mention is that distributors and bookstores frequently
return unsold books in damaged, unsaleable condition, yet still expect
credit (not a refund; they take so long to pay that it's always a credit to
the balance they owe). And, of course, the seller pays shipping both ways.
Then they may reorder multiple copies of that same book. In short, only a
masochist or an idiot with lots of money to burn would go into the
publishing business. (I say this being more or less in the publishing
business myself.)

Musicals:
As I think I may have mentioned before, I don't care much for this genre. It
may have something to do with being dragged to an endless series of MGM
musicals in the '40s by my mother and watching  hours of Gene Kelly or
whomever (how absurd, I thought; people spontaneously tap-dancing on tables
in a cafe!) with the compensating promise of a 3-minute cartoon feature. Of
course, I was too immature at the time to appreciate or enjoy the musicals
and consequently came to dislike them a lot. I suppose I am still too
immature. I did see My Fair Lady on Broadway, too, but wasn't much
impressed. I liked the film of West Side Story better. On the whole, I
prefer opera.

Gehan's survey:
Name : David
Sex : Male

How did you ever get to know about Oz? - My mother gave me a copy of The
Wizard of Oz with the Evelyn Copelman illustrations. I was 7 or 8 at the
time.

What other Oz movies do you like apart from RTOZ, MGM and the Oz Books? -
LFB's silent Oz films

Fav. Oz Character and why? -
The Books: The Tin Woodman, because, despite the emphasis on "heart," he
manages to maintain a balanced contrast between thinking (he is the product
of a thinking man's craft and is very logical himself) and feeling. Among
the heroines, Trot seems the most resourceful.
The MGM Movie : The WWW
The Return to Oz : Tik-Tok

Least Fav. Oz Character and why? - Percy the giant rat. An annoying, unfunny
caricature.

Fav. Oz Book/s - Lost Princess (features all our old friends from previous
books, and Dorothy is quite the heroine; the bit with the peach pit is
ingeniously carried out)

Least Fav. Oz Book/s - Scalawagons

The MGM Movie or Return to Oz - MGM, tho RTOZ has its wonderful moments

Which version of 'WOZ' is better? (Ex:The Wiz, The Book, The MGM Movie
e.t.c) - "The Book OFCOURSE," says Gehan. Well, amen.

The MGM Movie or the Oz Books? - "The Oz Books OFCOURSE"

Fav. Oz Author and why? - LFB, OF COURSE - his ingenuity created a wondrous
universe that kept getting better all the time

Least Fav. Oz Author and why? - John R. Neill, OF COURSE - inept plots,
unwarranted innovations, scattered episodes

Fav. Oz Illustrator? - John R. Neill and/or Eric Shanower

Least Fav. Oz Illustrator - Dirk, at least in the FF

Are the Oz Books your favourite Book Series? - Close, but I'm not sure if I
really prefer them to Lord of the Rings. Yeah, I guess I do. Also even to
the Travis McGee novels of John MacDonald. I haven't gotten around to Potter
yet.

Is the MGM Movie your favourite movie ? - No. The Maltese Falcon.

Have you written any Oz Books? If so, what are they? If not, do you intend
to write any? - No, though like everyone else I get ideas...

Fav. Oz Website - Not really familiar with many of them. Eric's is very
good.

What do you have in your Oz Collection? - The FF, the QF7 (is that the
abbreviation?); a few ECP editions; a couple of TOTCLAF books; various books
about Oz & LFB; marginalia such as Wicked, The Number of the Beast, Was,
etc.; two games; an antique game board; a set of pseudo-action figures from
the 50th anniversary of the film; CDs of the MGM film, the stage play based
on the MGM film, and the recently released music from LFB's stage plays

What would you LIKE to add to your Oz Collection? - Oz Scrapbook, To Please
a Child, the Magic Belt

Do you create any Oz fan stuff? - no

Are you a member of the Interntional Wizard of Oz Club? - Yes

Are you a member of the Royal Club of Oz? - Yes

If you could change just ONE thing in the FF Books, what would it be? - I
would not implicate the Wizard in the kidnapping of Ozma and her raising (as
Tip) by Mombi. This was a bag of worms based on the stage play that LFB and
future historians had to waste a lot of time lamely explaining away.

Fav. Oz Actor (out fo all the Oz Movies you've seen so far) - Frank Morgan

Fav. Oz Actress (see above) - Judy Garland

Are there any Oz Actors/Actressess who didnt quite fit their parts 'ozzily'?
- Jean Marsh as Mombi (but okay as Langwidere), and Bert Lahr - a great
actor in a great part, but NOT the Cowardly Lion we all know & love.

If you could create an Oz Movie/Cartoon/TV Series, what would it all be
about? And who would star in it? - I'd like to do all the LFB books in
order, without regard to the traditions established by the MGM film.  I am
not sufficiently familiar with current stars to suggest a cast. The girls
who starred in A Fairy Story (if I don't have the title confused with the
other film based on the same thing) would be good as Betsy & Trot, I think,
but the way time flies they'd be much too old by now - or, if not now, then
by the time the movies could be made.

The New CD:
The Hungry Tiger CD _Before the Rainbow_ is excellent and I recommend it
highly. I might (or might not) have preferred "period instruments" to the
synthesizer, but then it would have cost too much to produce and we'd be
without anything. My roommate/landlady said the final grand march from
Patchwork Girl sounded like "roller skating music." But that was intended as
a compliment.

- David G.
======================================================================
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 99 09:35:44 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005@maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: del rey in oz

Nathan DeHoff: You're right, Del Rey did publish editions of "Pirates,"
"Purple Prince," and "Ojo."  As you mention, these (being the last group of
three in the series Del Rey did) didn't have as wide a distribution as the
others.  So it's probably difficult for people to find copies, but not as
difficult as I was thinking it would be -- there are probably at least some
copies available from used-book-dealers and probably fairly inexpensive.
Robin Olderman may have some more recent information in this Digest, but a
1999 IWOC order form I have sitting around lists as still available from
the Club for $7 each (plus $3 shipping costs for one book and $1/book for
additional items): "Lost King," "Hungry Tiger," "Gnome King,"
"Giant Horse," and "Jack Pumpkinhead."  (But no copies available from them
of "Yellow Knight" or "P," "PP," or "O.")  Address to order from them is
International Wizard of Oz Club, PO Box 266, Kalamazoo MI 49004-0266.
(Books of Wonder did, as I recall, have copies of all these to sell when
they first came out, but has evidently sold out on them.)

J.L. Bell: Thanks for the clarifications on matters Orkian.  (Hey, Robin,
if okay with JLB, why not put together the selection from the Encyclopedia
Orkiana and the clarification notes to print as an item in "Oziana" some
time?)

Ruth Berman

======================================================================
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 10:59:50 -0600
From: "R. M. Atticus Gannaway" <atty242@mail.utexas.edu>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-15-99

 > >When I was in Williamsburg VA. I was told that "the whole
 > >nine yards" referred to colonial days when the bolts of fabric
 > >shipped from England were in nine yard lengths.   So if you
 > >bought the entire bolt  you got the whole nine yards.  It
 > >sounds like there are many explanations but this sounded
 > >plausible to me.

I finally ran across this alternate explanation in my email archive:


  The term "the whole 9 yards" came from W.W.II fighter
  pilots in the South Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground,
the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being
  loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target,
it got "the whole 9 yards."


Personally, I find this to be a more plausible (perhaps because more
elaborate) explanation.  Or more pleasing, anyway.

On that Ozzy note, I hope everyone's enjoying his or her respective
holidays, or lack thereof.


Atticus
* * *

"She reads at such a pace," she complained, "and when I asked her *where*
she had learnt to read so quickly she replied, 'On the screens at Cinemas.'"

Visit my webpage at http://members.aol.com/atty993
======================================================================
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 99 12:21:51 -0500
From: jwkenne@attglobal.net
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-15-99

We don't really want to get into "the whole nine yards".  It's a regular
source of madness on www.straight-dope.com.  The answer is:  no one knows.

As to best movie musicals, I don't know that I've ever seen one that has
thoroughly impressed me.  They all seem musically thin (all the Astaire
and Rogers -- pretty songs, but not great music), or dramatically
weak (nearly all of them), or stage-bound, or just plain Hollywood icky (to
the utter ruination of _all_ the R&H adaptations).  "Seven Brides" may be
the most satisfactory, overall, but I am amazed that it has not nowadays been
banned for its plot.  (I personally find the _premise_ of "Gigi" so disgusting
that I have never been able to watch more than a few minutes of it, even
knowing as I do that the story will eventually undercut it.)  I do have a
certain guilty affection for "Roman Scandals", and, of course, the Marx Bros'
films are all _technically_ musicals.

I'd love to see a good film of "Bitter Sweet", but the Eddy-MacDonald version
was so nauseating that Coward arranged that no musical of his should ever be
filmed by Hollywood again, a prohibition that is likely to outlast my life.
Operetta in general has been badly served by Hollywood; as often as not, the
film version has nothing to do with the original; in at least one case ("The
Chocolate Soldier") the film is based on a completely different play ("The
Guardsman").

(I'd also like to see a film of "The Duchess of Chicago", but I have a bias
there, because I was in the New York premiere.  At least [after 70 years]
there's a recording available, as of last month.)

"Pennies from Heaven" deserves more respect than it got; on the other hand,
it doesn't compare with the 8-hour original, starring Bob Hoskins.

As to "best fantasy", I'd want to re-view it, first, but, based on my
memories alone, I'd say "Krull", another film that doesn't get enough
respect.

// John W Kennedy

======================================================================
From: Kiex@aol.com
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 1999 13:01:32 EST
Subject: More Ozzy Digest-ion!

Peter H.:
I sent my ballot in the day I got it--which means it should get to you within
two or three months (the holiday mail and postal service being the major
obstacles).  We'll see.


Michael T.:
I'm with you there--it's hard to find a musical I don't like.


<>

Glinda is a fairy in that she lives in a fairy country.  (I think this is the
sort of consensus we came to a few years ago, that some people consider all
who live in a fairy country to be fairies, whether or not they're actually
technically "fairies.")


Book publishing as "A time-honored way to lose money":
Book-writing is too--as my mom found out while spending four years compiling
an extensive bibliography of feminist dramatic criticism.  She could have
been spending that time doing editing work or such, she often says.

Which is the same problem she runs into with her one-woman theatre company...


Royal Club of Oz:
What is it?


I plan to send in my survey at a later tuine

======================================================================
Date: Sat, 25 Dec 1999 10:03:09 +1100
From: Gehan <calamity@eureka.lk>
Subject: Dorothy

I was wondering about this subject for some time. In most of the Thompson
books, such as 'Wishing Horse of Oz' and even 'Merry Go Round in Oz',
Dorotyh acts fare more 'maturely' than she did in 'Emerald City of Oz',
despite the fact that she's been the same age the whole time. Its as if she
was about 8-9 in 'EC', but around 12-13 in most of the other books. D'you
suppose she was around 8-9 when she came to live in Oz for good, yet she
wanted to stop aging when she was around 11-12?

~Gehan~
====================================================

Cats and rabbits wold reside in fancy little houses
and be dressed in shoes and hats and trouses
In a world of my own
All the flowers
would have very extra-special powers
They would sit and talk to me for hours
when I'm lonely in a world of my own
There'll be new birds
Lots of nice ones, friendly how-d-do birds
Everyone will have a dozen blue birds
Within that world of my own
I would listen to a babbling brook
and hear a song that I could understand
I keep wishing it could be that way
because my world will be a wonderland

-- In A World of My Own ('Alice in Wonderland' - 1951)

======================================================================
From: "Warren H. Baldwin" <wbaldwin@plvwtelco.net>
Subject: Varied Topics
Date: Sat, 25 Dec 1999 19:23:58 -0600

   Thanks to those who gave information re my question about _Hidden
Prince_. I see now that the difficulties with wide dispersion thereof are
mostly institutional: business by committee, with no one to mete out a
taste o' the cat. Perhaps the author has done well to receive her $5K up
front.
   Congratulations to Robin and Nathan, who correctly answered last issue's
trivia question. The "trick" to the query was, of course, the fact that the
Valley of Virtula isn't in Oz at all. That was Terrybubble's name for the
place where he lived "when I was alive." As Terrybubble's bones were
discovered here on our earth by Speedy's uncle's colleague, the Valley must
be here too. However, I don't think any known maps survived the Great
Extinction, so its exact location is about as much a question as the
whereabouts of Oz itself.
   Nathan, the del Rey series was complete at least through _Wishing Horse_
(no. 29). I know because I have them all. However, I think that was the
last one, which is a pity with only 11 to go!
   Well, this week's trivia question is a weighty matter and may be of
interest to any who are waging the War of the Waistline: How much does
Scraps weigh? This isn't a trick question; we're looking for a
straightforward number here. Those of you with databases need only do a
digital digit search, and you'll find it.
   Hmm, just occurred to me to wonder if Oz's calendar system is the same as
ours. I.e., will 2000 start on Jan. 1 at 00:00:001 for them, too?
   W. Baldwin


======================================================================
From: Kiex@aol.com
Date: Sun, 26 Dec 1999 13:05:22 EST
Subject: Fwd: Oz survey and answers


I guess I must have missed this survey when it first came along, so here are
my answers:


Fill in this survey to get to know each other's opinions better.

Name : Gehan
Sex : Male

How did you ever get to know about Oz? - My mother gave me a Wizard of Oz
popup book when I was very small.  Very soon I got the real thing--the "real"
Oz, that is, the book.

What other Oz movies do you like apart from RTOZ, MGM and the Oz Books? -
None, really, although The Wiz isn't bad.

Fav. Oz Character and why? -
Dorothy and Ozma, but especially Dorothy.  I also like Glinda and
Button-Bright.
Fav Villain: Mombi.

Least Fav. Oz Character and why? - Can't reallly say I hvae one.  Sorry.

Fav. Oz Book/s - Emerald City.

Least Fav. Oz Book/s - Royal Book.

The MGM Movie or Return to Oz - This, I guess, is a question of preference.
It'd have to be Return to Oz if I'm to choose from these options, although
neither
is really my cup of tea.

Which version of 'WOZ' is better? (Ex:The Wiz, The Book, The MGM Movie
e.t.c) - THE BOOK WINS, ALL HANDS DOWN!!!!

The MGM Movie or the Oz Books? - THE BOOKS WIN, ALL HANDS DOWN!!!!!

Fav. Oz Author and why? - Baum, of course--his were the originals and the
best.  Sorry, RPT fans, but she really never got it.  (Of course, I haven't
really read any
other author, so I might like Cosgrove's or McGraw;s even less...)

Fav./Least Fav Oz Illustrator? - I don't really pay attention to illos.
Sorry.

Are the Oz Books your favourite Book Series? - Don;t make me answer that
question.  But definitely a top contender.  (I suppose it's like choosing
between one's children is for those who've had any...)

Is the MGM Movie your favourite movie ? - Not by any means, but I think I've
mentioned several I like more elsewhere on the Digest these past few years.

Have you written any Oz Books? If so, what are they? If not, do you intend
to write any? - Yes.  EMERALD RING OF OZ has been published by Buckethead
(now Cowardly Lion and Friends), and its sequel will be published as soon as
the illustrations are completed.  (I'm getting a friend of mine to illustrate
it, and she hasn't finished yet.)

Fav. Oz Website - They all have their points.

What do you have in your Oz Collection? - WIZARD, DOTWIZ, FOUNTAIN,
OZMAPOLITAN, and several Buckethead books.  A paltry selection, but I don't
have the money to enlarge it much. Oh, and I have DOROTHY--RETURN TO OZ.

What would you LIKE to add to your Oz Collection? - Any and all, fiction and
nonfiction; some videos; and other Oz paraphanelia.

Do you create any Oz fan stuff? - Well there's my website
http://www.geocitiies.com/Area51/Dimension/9619, which has info on my own Oz
(and other) writings as well as many Oz links.  I also spread Oz wherever I
go!

Are you a member of the Interntional Wizard of Oz Club? - Indeed I am.

Are you a member of the Royal Club of Oz? - 'Fraid not--what is it?

If you could change just ONE thing in the FF Books, what would it be? - That
Baum wrote them all, or that the series stopped with him--I guess I'm a Baum
purist...

Fav. Oz Actor/Actress (out of all the Oz Movies you've seen so far) - I don't
especially have one, sorry.

Are there any Oz Actors/Actressess who didnt quite fit their parts 'ozzily'?
Judy Garland, as well as most of the cast members in that RTO

If you could create an Oz Movie/Cartoon/TV Series, what would it all be
about? And who would star in it? - I don't rhink I would, because it would
dilute the books' impact on the public.  Sorry.

======================================================================
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1999 13:51:57 +1100
From: Gehan <calamity@eureka.lk>
Subject: Ozzy Stuff

I was wondering if SOMEONE could send me short summaries of March Laumer's
Oz Books, and would anyone by chance know where they are available? ARE they
worth bu8ying in teh first place?

BTW, would anyone know where I can obtain:
Ojo in Oz
The Yellow Knight of Oz

I have the entire FF series, or rather, 'Purple Prince of Oz' and 'Pirates
in Oz' are on the way(I found both books for $7.50 each at the Amazon.com
zshops) and the only books I DONT have are 'Yellow Knight' and 'Ojo'. I also
dont have 'Scalawagons', but since I dont like John R. Neill's books, and
since I only accept Baum's, Thompson's, Rachel Cosgrove's and the McGraws'
books as 'official', I dont consider buying 'Scalawagons.'

Thanks,

~Gehan~
====================================================================

Just been introduced, I do not know you well
But when the music started something drew me to your side
So many men and girls, all in each other's arms
It made me think, we might be, simmerlerly occupied.
Shall we Dance?
On a bright cloud of music shall we fly?
Shall we dance?
Shall we then say goodnight and mean goodbye?
Or perchance,
When the last little star has left the sky
Shall we still be together,
with our arms around each other,
and shall you be my new romance?
On the clear understanding,
That this kind of thing can happen,
Shall we Dance? Shall we Dance? Shall we Dance?

-- 'Shall We Dance' (from 'King and I' - 1956)

======================================================================
From: Tyler Jones <tylerj@apprentice.com>
Subject: Oz
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1999 14:35:29 -0700
charset="iso-8859-1"

The estate of Chris Sterling:
Since Mr. Sterling has passed away, does anybody know his literary executor
is? Or if not, who is handling his estate?

Tyler Jones

======================================================================
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 99 22:02:21 (PST)
From: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com>
Subject: Ozzy Things


Mark wrote:
 >that book i talked abotu before the dictonary of imaginary places or some
 >such title is out its 40 bucks and thers 2 pretty good maps of oz and
 >lands outside oz

Though they're kinda oddly shaped if you're used to the Hanff-Martin
maps...

(For you fellow Harry Potter fans, the just-released new edition
  of _Dictionary of Imaginary Places_ also has an entry for Hogwarts.)


Gehan wrote:
 >I joined and left the Tik-Tok-Talk-List at the end of last
 >year, and I have to admit that I really enjoy the Ozzy Digest, much more
 >than I did, then Tik-Tok-Talk-Mailing-List.......

Can you elaborate?  What makes the Ozzy Digest better?  With all the
recent Ozzy Digest-bashing, I'd like to know what I'm doing *right*...


Gehan wrote:
 >I was wondering about this subject for some time. In most of the Thompson
 >books, such as 'Wishing Horse of Oz' and even 'Merry Go Round in Oz',
 >Dorotyh acts fare more 'maturely' than she did in 'Emerald City of Oz',
 >despite the fact that she's been the same age the whole time.

Just because she's frozen in time physically doesn't means he can't
mature mentally.  On the other hand, Martin Gardner thinks that Dorothy
actually *has* opted to grow into a teenager by this time.

 >"Cats and rabbits wold reside in fancy little houses
 > and be dressed in shoes and hats and trouses
 > In a world of my own..."

Trying to get me in a nostalgic mood are you?  (I've had this and my other
Disney LP's longer than I've owned any Oz books!)

 >"I would listen to a babbling brook
 > and hear a song that I could understand
 > I keep wishing it could be that way
 > because my world will be a wonderland"

On my LP (not a soundtrack recording for some reason), the stanza is:
"No more trouble, for the greatest problems/Would be things a child could
  understand/And if somehow things could be that way/My little world would
  be a wonderland"


Jeremy/Kiex wrote:
 >Are you a member of the Royal Club of Oz? - 'Fraid not--what is it?

Go to: http://www.mindspring.com/~daveh47/Ozzy_FAQ.html#FAQ_3_2
for the answer.

To newcomers to the Digest: Please read the Ozzy Digest FAQ on my
webpage: http://www.mindspring.com/~daveh47/Ozzy_FAQ.html


What happened with our plan to write Hugh Pendexter and ask him to release
_Oz and the Three Witches_ to PD?  Had someone volunteered to write him?
( Do I have to do *everything*? :) )  If worse comes to worse, would someone
who has read it be willing to write up a summary of the book that would
at least help people who want to know what the Wizard was up to in those
early days?



                              -- Dave


======================================================================
<END>