Did you know that 'The Wizard of Oz' is over one-hundred years old? I don't mean the movie, I mean the book by L. Frank Baum. It was published in 1900, and at 40,000 words is about half the length of 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' and about one-fifth the length of 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.' The entire Oz series was the Harry Potter of its day, with another 13 books published after the first one. And you thought J.K. Rowling invented that kind of stuff...
The Annotated Wizard of Oz edited by Michael Patrick Hearn
This is the Centennial Edition, published in 2000, which includes an extensive preface and biography of Mr. Baum and W.W. Denslow (the amazing illustrator), a timeline of their efforts to publish the book, and the amazing success that followed, which included stage plays and silent films, all decades before the 1939 film with Judy Garland.
The annotations are the extensive notes accompanying each page from the original printing, providing cultural details, thoughts from Mr. Baum or Mr. Denslow, and references to the entire Oz ouvre, all 14 books.
If you wanted to create a blockbuster kids-book franchise that also appeals to adults, this is the place to start.
Quote: (from the annotations) 'That a man of cold, hollow metal should desire a soft and tender heart is another case of whimsical irony in the story. The Tin Woodsman embodies the Romantic rebellion in the Industrial Age. He cannot love because he has been turned into a machine himself; only by getting back in touch with that human part of him he has lost, his heart, can he be whole again.'
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Monday, November 9, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Fun Games At Work
During your down time at work today - and let's be honest, you have a LOT of down time - why don't you engage your brain in some 'what-if' exercises? While you're growing more neurons you can confuse, concern, and enrage your co-workers, a win-win all around.
Who Survives?
You need at least one other person, so find a friend or make one real quick. Both of you sit down in a public area like a break room or dining facility, and take out a piece of paper. Make two columns on the page, one labeled 'In the Bunker' the other labeled 'Outside.' Your objective is to place all your co-workers, bosses, janitorial staff, etc. in one of these columns.
So what are the columns for?
The story is this: there has been a nuclear holocaust, and all that is left is your office. The only safe place is inside the building, but there aren't enough resources for everyone. At least half the people must be escorted outside the building where they'll succumb to the radiation. Or mutate horribly, or develop superpowers, whatever. Bottom line: the ones inside survive and the ones outside don't. You and your friend are in charge of who stays and who goes, of who lives and who dies. You'll need justification for each person you keep, Bob is a good cook, Dave knows how to skin a deer, Mary is necessary for repopulating the world, etc.
Once word gets out about what you're doing, you'll be surprised who takes an interest, especially if they're in the 'Outside' column. When they ask how you have the jurisdiction over life and death you can just tell them you wouldn't have the list if you didn't have the authority. Circular reasoning befuddles the masses.
Note: Don't create an 'airlock' to keep people in some kind of limbo, neither in nor out. Trust me, pretty soon you'll have more people in the airlock than outside or inside. You're the one making the tough decisions, so make them already.
Who Survives?
You need at least one other person, so find a friend or make one real quick. Both of you sit down in a public area like a break room or dining facility, and take out a piece of paper. Make two columns on the page, one labeled 'In the Bunker' the other labeled 'Outside.' Your objective is to place all your co-workers, bosses, janitorial staff, etc. in one of these columns.
So what are the columns for?
The story is this: there has been a nuclear holocaust, and all that is left is your office. The only safe place is inside the building, but there aren't enough resources for everyone. At least half the people must be escorted outside the building where they'll succumb to the radiation. Or mutate horribly, or develop superpowers, whatever. Bottom line: the ones inside survive and the ones outside don't. You and your friend are in charge of who stays and who goes, of who lives and who dies. You'll need justification for each person you keep, Bob is a good cook, Dave knows how to skin a deer, Mary is necessary for repopulating the world, etc.
Once word gets out about what you're doing, you'll be surprised who takes an interest, especially if they're in the 'Outside' column. When they ask how you have the jurisdiction over life and death you can just tell them you wouldn't have the list if you didn't have the authority. Circular reasoning befuddles the masses.
Note: Don't create an 'airlock' to keep people in some kind of limbo, neither in nor out. Trust me, pretty soon you'll have more people in the airlock than outside or inside. You're the one making the tough decisions, so make them already.
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