Wednesday, December 19, 2018


Everything You Need to Know About George R.R. Martin’s Nightflyers by Natalie Zutter  George R.R. Martin writes in the “Oldies But Goodies” section of his official website, “ . . .  I had been a professional writer for twenty-five years when A Game of Thrones was published in 1996.”  Before he set sail for Westeros, before he had even begun constructing the intricate history of ASOIAF, Martin was exploring the far reaches of space writing sci-fi/horror hybrids in another self-created universe known as the “Thousand Worlds.”  In this GRRM-verse exists Nightflyers, a “haunted spaceship” novella that is being resurrected as a television series on Syfy.   forty years ago, Nightflyers has existed in many forms:  novella, expanded novella, movie, and now a TV show that will turn a story into an ongoing series.   Nightflyers, as well as the Hugo and Nebula-winning novelette Sandkings, was the direct result of a writer being told he couldn’t do something: “  [T]he inspiration for both of those stories,” Martin explained, “was a statement I read somewhere by a critic, to the effect that SF and horror was opposites, and fundamentally incompatible.  As a lifelong fan of both, that assertion struck me as nonsense, so I set out to prove it wrong by blending the two genres together.  Worked out pretty well for me.”  The original version, clocking in at 23,000 words, was published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in 1980.  The next year, Martin expanded the novella to 30,000 words so that it could be included in Dell’s Binary Star series, which pairs two works in one book; Nightflyers joined Vernor Vinge’s cyberpunk novella True Names.  The later Nightflyers, which was also published in Bluejay Books’ 1985 collection, is Martin’s preferred version.  In 1981, Nightflyers was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novella.  While it did not win the Hugo, it did win the Locus Award (for Best Novella) and the 1983 Seiun Award in Japan (for foreign short fiction).  Read extensive article with pictures at

How to Talk to People, According to Terry Gross  The NPR host offers 8 spicy tips for having better conversations.  “Tell me about yourself,” a.k.a the only icebreaker you’ll ever need.  The beauty in opening with “tell me about yourself” is that it allows you to start a conversation without the fear that you’re going to inadvertently make someone uncomfortable or self-conscious.  Posing a broad question lets people lead you to who they are.  As an interviewer, Ms. Gross’s goal is to find out how her subject became who they are; as a conversationalist, make that goal your own.  A good conversationalist is somebody who is fun to talk to,” she said.  Ms. Gross, it’s worth noting, is very funny.  If you can’t be funny, being mentally organized, reasonably concise and energetic will go a long way in impressing people.  Jolie Kerr  Read more at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/17/style/self-care/terry-gross-conversation-advice.html   See also The Would-Be Lyricist:  In conversation with NPR's Terry Gross at https://www.comnetwork.org/insights/terrygross/

Silent Night might be one of the sweetest Christmas carols there is, but following the trail of the man who wrote it exactly 200 years ago involves an unexpectedly macabre twist.  "The skull is embedded behind there," says guide Sepp Greimel, pointing at a nativity scene over the altar of the chapel we're stood in.  The skull, mercifully not visible, belongs to Josef Mohr, Catholic priest and joint composer of the Christmas carol that has been translated from its original "Stille Nacht" into more languages than there are countries in the United Nations.  Its final resting place, the small Austrian town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, is aptly named for his most famous verse:  the Silent Night chapel.  From the top of a nearby levee, the river Salzach can be seen making a large U-bend only a few hundred yards from the chapel.  Beyond it, the picturesque town of Laufen lies over the border in Germany.  They had both prospered from the river trade in salt, especially since a large boulder in the bend, known as Nocken, forced barges to stop here, unload and reload.  The Salzach was the blessing of the two towns, but also, thanks to frequent floods, their curse--hence the levee.  "There was a terrible flood here in 1899," Greimel says, his voice trembling as if he'd experienced it himself.  "It destroyed the old Oberndorf center.  "The villagers then decided to build a new church 600 yards to the south, on higher ground."  It was an earlier flood that was responsible for "Silent Night."  For the full story, it's time to go back to the beginning.  The Oberndorf museum at the old parsonage opposite the Silent Night chapel picks up the story with its exhibits focusing on that Christmas Eve, 1818.  The church organist at the time was Franz Xaver Gruber, a schoolteacher only five years older than Mohr, who worked in the village of Arnsdorf three miles north.  As floodwaters from the Salzach had been regularly inundating Oberndorf--including the church of St Nicholas--water damage had left the organ in need of a visit from the tuner.  To provide alternative music, Mohr picked up a poem he'd written and asked Gruber to put it to music for guitar and two voices.  Gruber knocked it out in an afternoon.  Although Gruber had a portrait painted during his rather successful lifetime, there was no image left of Mohr, who died young.  To create a likeness, a sculptor, Josef Muehlbacher, had Mohr's skull exhumed from his grave in the village of Wagrein, the priest's last posting.  All the portraits we have of him, including those in the Silent Night chapel, are Muehlbacher's imagined impressions.  For whatever reasons, the skull never found its way back to Wagrein, and is interred behind the nativity scene in the Silent Night chapel meaning, somewhat ironically, that his remains have not been left to sleep in heavenly peace.  John Malathronas  https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/silent-night-salzburg/index.html  Thank you, Muse reader!

In 1859, John Freeman Young, second Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida, published the English translation of Silent Night that is most frequently sung today.  The common melody we know today differs slightly from Gruber's original (particularly in the final strain) which was an up tempo, dance-like tune in 6/8 time versus the slow, melodic lullaby version generally sung today.  The original manuscript has been lost; however, a manuscript in Mohr's handwriting which has been dated by researchers as ca. 1820, was discovered in 1995.  The melody of "Stille Nacht" bears resemblance to aspects of Austrian folk music and yodelling showing the influence of the musical tradition of Gruber's rural roots.  Another popular story claims that, once performed, the carol was promptly forgotten until an organ repairman found the manuscript in 1825 and revived it.  The manuscript by Mohr dated 1820 and the fact that Gruber published various arrangements of the carol throughout his lifetime would seem to discount this story as another romantic legend.  Mohr's manuscript is kept at the Museum Carolino Augusteum in Salzburg.  See graphics at http://unforgettablechristmasmusic.blogspot.com/2012/02/history-of-song-silent-night.html

NEWS IN BRIEF  New York Motorists Vote To Shift Wreaths That Have Infuriated Them For Years  The Holland Tunnel connects lower Manhattan with Jersey City, N.J.  For decades, the decorations that adorn this landmark tunnel during the holiday season have been driving some commuters nuts.  https://www.npr.org/2018/12/17/677504185/new-york-motorists-vote-to-shift-wreaths-that-have-infuriated-them-for-years  Connecticut-based internet service provider Charter Spectrum has been ordered to pay customers $62 million in a fraud settlement after the state attorney general found it had misled customers by advertising internet speeds it couldn’t deliver.  According to a December 18, 2018 announcement, it’s the largest consumer refund from an ISP in US history.  The total consumer fraud settlement is $174.2 million, the rest of which will come in the form of premium channels and streaming services.  Individuals will receive between $75 and $150 each.  https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/nepmj7/ny-state-residents-will-get-dollar625-million-in-settlement-for-terrible-broadband  A petition accusing Disney of "colonialism and robbery" for trademarking a phrase used in the film The Lion King has attracted more than 30,000 signatures.  "Hakuna matata" means "no problem" or "no worries" in the Swahili language, which is spoken across East Africa.  Disney first applied to trademark the catchphrase in 1994--the same year it released The Lion King animation.  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-46605515  A Kentucky radio station has decided to show its support for the newly controversial song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” by playing it on repeat for two hours.  https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/radio-station-supports-baby-cold-outside-playing-repeat-two-hours-straight-220515962.html   This year's winter solstice is special, as it falls on the night of December’s Full Cold Moon, December 21, 2018.  Although the moon will not peak until the following night, December 22, for most people around the world, a near full moon will be visible for many nights during this time period. The last time these events coincided was 2010, and according to The Farmer's Almanac, the next time a full moon will actually peak during a winter solstice won’t be until 2094.  https://people.com/home/winter-solstice-2018/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  December 19, 2018  Issue 2007  353rd day of the year

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