‘funny,’ not funny

Sarah Elkins joins us to discuss the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. We start with a Filk song to the tune of Funiculi funicula. What is Filk?Victor spent
His teenage years pursuing all the lore of alchemy (alchemy)
Then he went
Away to college and he switched to modern chemistry (chemistry)He was bent
On secret science studies in the labA descent:
His obsessive glory-seeking grab!Let’s go, let’s go, let’s become a god!
I’ll create life with parts dug up from sod!
Homunculi, homunculus, homunculi, homunculus
My genius grants permission; I’m allowed to do thus!Sarah’s Notes and Links:The Creature
- Bag of books: He finds *The Sorrows of Young Werther* by Goethe, reads it over and over, and kind of imprints on this story of unrequited love from the proto-romantic "Sturm und Drang" (storm and stress) period in German literature.
- Poor lonely creature. Why oh why couldn't Victor have gotten him a puppy? Or a kitten?
- Seems like every character flaw in the creature traces back to Victor.
- In Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series, on Beta Colonies, clones are automatically legally the children of their creators. So, I am totally fine with all the readers who call Victor Frankenstein’s creation “Frankenstein”.

Literary follow-ons
- Why is Frankenstein Swiss-Italian? English person writing about those wild non-French European folks, like Bram Stoker writing about Transylvanian folks later. That kind of wildness doesn't come from "us" English, of course!
- Chapter 12, when our monster secretly took care of that family and loved them and learned language from them, I was forcibly reminded of how Tarzan helped Jane Porter's family when they were stranded on the African coast. Also, the creature and Tarzan both learned to read with the help of books others had left behind. Of course, Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote Tarzan well after Frankenstein. Had Burroughs read Frankenstein?
- Fred Saberhagen’s take on Frankenstein story (he’s pretty pro-creature): https://www.amazon.com/Frankenstein-Papers-Fred-Saberhagen/dp/0671655507

ResourcesAudio Recordings
- Tantor media: https://tantor.com/frankenstein-or-the-modern-prometheus-mary-shelley.html
- Librivox has 6 different Frankensteins in English

Revisions analyses
- https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/e7d6qj/which_version_of_frankenstein_do_you_prefer_the/?rdt=52833
- https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Frankenstein/the-1818-and-1831-editions/
- https://lib.guides.umd.edu/c.php?g=741698&p=5306097 "the 1818 text, which is a mocking expose of leaders and achievers who leave desolation in their wake, showing mankind its choice - to live co-operatively or to die of selfishness"
- https://stanforddaily.com/2018/11/29/frankenstein-and-its-transformations/
- https://www.public.asu.edu/~hiroshi/eng400/frankenstein/project/editions.html

History
- Vulgar History podcast episode on Mary Shelley
- Galvanic responses & research https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanism
- Re-animators of the early 1800s https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-real-electric-frankenstein-experiments-of-the-1800s
- Sarah Avery, 2015 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award winner, on homunculi from Paracelsus on: https://www.patreon.com/posts/rules-for-98233171
- *The Sorrows of Young Werther* (Napoleon was also a fan, took it to Egypt!): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sorrows_of_Young_Werther
- "Sturm und Drang" period in German literature: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturm_und_Drang
- Romantic literature: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism

Funiculì funiculà - English and Italian lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH0TMmgPtjg The inevitable Errata (thank you, Sarah):Tchaikovsky wrote the "1812 Overture" not 1815 (1815 was Waterloo); Bram Stoker was Irish & British, not English.

After some audio problems at the start, we start talking about Valentines Day and the variety of items available and not available at Trader Joes, and not unlike the olds that we are, we stop just short of listing all the items in our freezers. We quickly move on to our admiration of Katherine Ellis and her character Concordia Shwarma-McGraw on TikTok. We move on to a couple of additions to our list of musicians like They Might Be Giants. As before, we draw a line between the surrealist movement after the first world war to these bands, decades later.Jim talks briefly about the beginning of the book Distraction by Bruce Sterling, which is, as far as we can tell, is widely unavailable now. We do get a little into the book Holy Fire, which is about a gerontocracy and is available both on audio, ebook, and paperback. Lionel mentions Love, Death, and Robots on Netflix, specifically Jibaro. Two of Michael Swanwick’s short stories are in this series as well, and we talk about these.Jim moves on to two books he’s been reading, The Ego Tunnel by Thomas Metzinger, and Slouching Towards Utopia by J. Bradford DeLong. First, he gives his account of The Ego Tunnel and has many issues with the approach of the philosopher, trying to validate his philosophy with neuroscience. His main objection is that he takes an a priori stance from a materialist point of view and writes off all idealism as folklore. Lionel acknowledges Jim’s frustration, but takes the stand that such investigations are futile.As we dig in, Jim and Lionel, talk through various ideas of materialism, idealism, and the mind-body split. Jim brings up a class he took with Aryeh Kosman years ago, which is the thumbnail for this episode.Lionel talks about Our Mathematical Universe by Max Tegmark stating that the universe is fundamentally Mathematic. We agree that the nature of consciousness may be a hot topic right now because of AI, but Lionel doesn’t think this is a useful or answerable question. He feels the important question is what kind of stories we are telling each other and where are those stories coming from. We get deeper and deeper into speculation about intelligence and reason.Lionel departs from this tedious subject to talk about A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles, which he found charming. He also recommends Across the Spiderverse, which Jim has been meaning to view.Back to The Ego Tunnel, Lionel brings up David Hume and Immanuel Kant, and Jim talks about his experience wrestling with these questions through meditation. We come back to a brief description of Slouching Towards Utopia which may be the subject of another episode. Nearing the end of this episode, Lionel quotes one of Jim’s songs to illustrate the importance of storytelling. We end with recollections of a recent Valentines Day/Mardi Gras/The Lunar New Year, and get ready for our discussion with Sarah Elkins about Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Lionel tells us all about the Garbage Plate at a restaurant in Rochester, NY. Apparently, it’s like Poutine. We talk a bit without fact checking ourselves about the creation of the Erie Canal and Dewitt Clinton, it’s creator. Somehow this references the demise of the Pony Express due to the advent of the telegraph.We continue in this fashion, touching on a myriad of subjects. Here is a partial list:Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - parallels are drawn between William Gibson’s The Peripheral and the above book. Jim talks about his experience reading Infectious Generosity by Chris AndersonThey Might Be Giants and albums: I like Fun, Book, John HenryThis leads us into a short discussion about surrealism, including: Remedios Varo a surrealist painter from Uraguay and Renee MagritteBack to music, we try to find similar artists to TMBG and come up with: Cake and the album Comfort Eagle, Ween and the album Chocolate & Cheese, Beck, Daft Punk, and Laurie AndersonWe start to list musical inspirations like Lana DelRey, the documentary Summer of Soul by Questlove, Roots Manuva from a collection by Ninja Tune. We touch briefly on Amon Tobin, Juana Molina, The Cinematic Orchestra and their album Ocean, the song Birthday by The Sugarcubes, and Kaktus’ father Einar Örn BenediktssonWe close with a recommendation by Jim to look up Concordia Shwarma-McGraw aka Katherine Ellis on TikTok or YouTube.

Shawn Peters joins us to talk about his adventures in the publishing world and his two books out on Harper Collins The Unforgettable Logan Foster and The Unforgettable Logan Foster and The Shadow of Doubt. We talk about his writing origins, the creation of these two books and plans for future novels.The Unforgettable Logan Foster is a middle grade superhero story that deals with neurodivergence, autism, foster parenting, and the trials and tribulations associated with defeating a supercharged tectonic-powered villian creating havoc in downtown LA. Shawn shares a lot about his past history writing screenplays and his descision to start writing stories for kids. We hear about Shawn’s quest for an agent and the process of getting published, along with the extended timelines involving editing and promotion. Jim shares comparisons between the Logan Foster stories and DC/Marvel comic book dramas and Lionel draws a parallel between Shawn’s book and other books about autism such as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night.Shawn talks about traveling to schools and the joys of reading his books to middle grade students and the excitement of being part of their early literary lives. We venture off to the excitement of creation and sharing that creation with others. We get some other inside stories about how the stories were created and Shawn shares another author he is excited about: Ernesto Cisneros and his book: Efrén Divided.Follow Shawn’s future writing and find out more about his two published books at shawnpeterswrites.com.

Jim begins by listing his mistakes in the previous podcasts, creating new errors as he goes. A "detraction" is actually a term from Christian theology. Jim should have said "retraction."It reminds Lionel of something he saw at the Newseum in Washington, DC. Jim talks about his recent move from his old office to the new one upstairs, listing some of his Uncle's old books and collectables. Notable among these is his copy of the DC Special #1: An All Infantino Issue.We launch into our reactions to Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. It turns out, this was not our favorite of her great works. Comparisons are made to The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson, which we discussed in past episodes. Lionel decides that an author presenting a future hellscape must accompany it with a sense of humor for him to be able to get through it. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is mentioned as well. Jim refers to another book from a previous episode to talk about how people cooperate in the face of catastrophe, A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit.We find our way back into Parable when Lionel talks about how it's more a story about what life is actually like today, for some, rather than what life might be like at some future point, drawing comparison to Margaret Attwood. Jim mentions that the idea of the drug pyro was fantastic and horrific, and the invention of the type of empath, the "sharer" concept was interesting. Overall, Jim preferred Kindred, and Wild Seed by Butler.Lionel says he finished reading Gideon The Ninth, which he loved. We talked about our plans to read and talk about Distraction, by Bruce Sterling, as an example of prophetic science fiction. That book will have to wait, as there are no copies available, and we have a guest next week.Jim mentions that he's reading Infectious Generosity by Chris Anderson.Lionel talks about the Craigslist Hall of Fame listing for a 1999 Toyota Corolla.Jim reacts to the song News by Kraftwerk. We talk about vocal processing, filtering out the words and leaving the notes and rhythm.Jim mentions he's be watching Blue Eye Samurai on Lionel's recommendation. We compare it to Samurai Jack, Zatoichi, and other Samurai westerns.Lionel says he watched Kung Fu Hustle and loved it. He also mentions he saw Maestro and Oppenheimer, neither of which Jim has seen. He talks about Hanford and Oak Ridge, which are untold parts of the story of the atomic bomb.Jim talks about Cillian Murphy, listing some of his past works, and focusing on Sunshine. Finally, Lionel finds the Erratum he was seeking. You will have to listen to hear it.We are reminded by this of the movie Defending Your Life by Albert Brooks. Jim compares it to The Bardo, thinking one could create scriptures based on that movie alone.We skid to a halt.

We launch into the pod by talking about a short Punch and Judy animation by Jan Švankmajer, Czech filmmaker and artist, which leads us into a talk about The Brothers Quay and then into reflections on Ridley Walker by Russell Hoban which leads into thoughts on Philip Glass, which leads to Lionel mentioning Kraftwerk, and electronic processing of found sound and spoken word when Jim says he wants to do a new project in Iceland in slow rap format. This all happens in the first seven minutes. We wonder aloud whether Iceland is still populated after the latest eruption in Grindavík.Jim says he finished the novel Trust by Hernan Diaz and they proceed to rip it to shreds. They plan to read Demon Copperhead which shares the Pulitzer Prize with that book.We talk about the difference between the New York Times Bestseller list and the New York Review of Books.Jim speculates that A.O. Scott has been reviewing books at the New York Review of Books. Jim mentions that they went to camp together and he was super smart back then.They talk about all the errors Jim made the previous podcast and then they talk about Landscape with Invisible Hand again, which Lionel said was too sad to watch.Lionel says he’s listened to the AI generated song of Frank Sinatra singing Smells Like Teen Spirit which then launches a doom-filled discussion about the garbagification of all future free information, mentioning Yuval Herari along the way.Jim mentions an article he read by Douglas Rushkoff about Narrative Collapse, comparing it to The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson.Jim breaks the rules and mentions the Roger Stone recording and the decreasing weight that can be placed on recorded evidence.Lionel brings up a book he read called Neither Black Nor White by Carl Degler about the nature of slavery in Brazil.We end by prefacing our future discussion about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Jim starts talking about the transparent OLED display at the current CES. We move on to keyboards you stick on your iPhone and the new round of visors.Lionel is inspired to go on 2 rants. The first is about youtube reviewers who get free gear. His second rant is about a story that shows how AI can be used to get around restrictions imposed on AI. Jim compares this to the Heartbleed exploit of the past decade but much worse. Given the carelessness with which these Artificial Garbage Generators have been put together, Jim expresses his concerns about twitter’s security now that Musk is cutting it to the bone. Lionel says the horse has left the barn.Jim talks about the I Ching Oracle by Catherine Pilfrey and shares a card he picked to start his day. He then recaps his recent trip to Carmel, California and talks about recent churn in the Pacific Ocean, food, wine (Boekenoogen, Carmel Road, Parsonage), & relaxation. He mentions that he saw a grey whale and also saw a Hyundai Nexo, which is a hydrogen fuel cell electric car. They start talking about the nature of hydrogen as a fuel, but Jim insists that it's a sort of battery, referring it erroneously as a molecule rather than an element. Lionel brings up his feeling that fusion is the deal breaker, but Jim presses his idea that electrolysis should happen inside a car.Lionel touts the benefits of petroleum products for manufacturing. We touch on Bakelite, Cellophane, and Mauve dye, which were synthetics created prior to the petroleum age. Jim comes back to hydrogen, unable to let go of his idea. Lionel mentions the Family Atomics from Dune, and the subject changes to Climate Change.They talk about changes in culture and religion that relate directly to our preservation of the ecosystem. Jim talks about how doing the right thing can be made fun and feel futuristic, relating it to his experience renting a Chevy Bolt EUV (not a Ford, as he mistakenly says). Lionel wonders whether it's better to get a new electric car or to run his current car to the ground, mentioning the problems with that argument. They move on to find figures on the biggest greenhouse emitters today, googling franticly to get figures on power generation statistics and power use statistics by industry sector. Jim mentions hempcrete and Lionel despairs that everything is turning into Jim’s cyber-hippie novels. The conversation breaks down along super-nerd lines by mentioning the Pierson’s Puppeteers of Larry Niven’s books.Lionel says another game changer will be the advent of the sodium battery in cars. We branch off into nuclear and solar energy, touching on France’s use of nuclear energy, and battery storage for renewable power. The fact that solar is decentralized makes it the most attractive option according to both Lionel and Jim. Jim mentions a cartoon he saw about how from the point of view of the energy barons solar power is not feasible.Lionel mentions a documentary about Vangelis, the composer who created the soundtrack to Blade Runner. Jim says he wanted to read the book Trust by Hernan Diaz on his flight to California, but watched the Barbie Movie instead. Praises are sung. Jim also mentions a movie he saw, that felt like an indie called Landscape with Invisible Hand (not hidden hand, as he says, quoting his own song.) Robert Reich is mentioned tangentially as part of a discussion about what makes a great story.Finally, they come back to the book Trust, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, which Jim had not finished, but which they will return to in future episodes.This long conversation continues until Teletubbies are mentioned, and they reach a merciful end.

In our final episode of 2023, we talk about Trust by Hernan Diaz and the pulitzer prize, The Future by Naomi Alderman, and families as cults.Lionel talks about his visit to Jim's childhood home in Peter Cooper Village, where a scene from Three Days on the Condor was filmed. Jim talks about going to the Speakeasy Open Mic on MacDougal Street when it was run by Dave Van Ronk.Lionel recalls his visit to the Met, Central Park, Essa Bagel & Franks Trattoria.We move into a discussion about the book Deadly Companions by Dorothy H. Crawford and The Great Nadar: The man behind the camera: by Adam Begley, which leads us into recollections of the Belle Epoch which leads to a mention of Hugo, the film, and The History of the Twentieth Century, the podcast by Mark Painter.Finally, we talk about how the turn of the 20th century hinges on the Dreyfus Affair & the fascination with Netsuke and another year of ‘funny,’ not funny comes to a close.

Catherine Pilfrey returns to the podcast to talk about her new creation: The I Ching Oracle card deck: a 64-card illustrated deck and guidebook. Catherine Pilfrey is a designer, and meditation teacher who has been consulting the I Ching Oracle for 25 years. We start talking about the death of Norman Lear and increasingly long life spans for some people. Catherine talks about the process of creating the deck, and her own experience using the I Ching in the past. She mentions the original methods of yarrow sticks and coins and how the cards are different. Catherine says she was inpspired by the book, The Laws of Change by Jack M. Balkin, who says that the method is unimportant. Jim asks about the origins of the Book of Changes, and Catherine first mentions Richard Wilhelm, who did the first English/German Translation. Catherine says it pre-existed Confucious but that he added a moral quality to the augur method. In buddhism, Chögyam Trungpa was interested in the I Ching, and it was embraced by many of his students. Lionel talks about Philip K. Dick’s use of the I Ching and yarrow sticks in The Man In The High Castle. Lionel mentions a game/puzzle called House of Cards by the Eames Brothers, and Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies as welll as an article sent to us by Sarah Elkins espousing a theory that the I Ching was created to prevent human sacrifice in ancient China.Catherine describes the hexagrams and their parts. She tells a story about how she consulted the I Ching for the first time to decide what to do in a relationship that was going south. Jim interrupts with a difficulty he's currently having during the recording of the podcast, and Catherine picks a card for him to decide whether he needs to end the podcast and deal with the issue, or keep going. He gets the answer, and the podcast continues. Catherine talks about how the I Ching can strengthen our confidence in our own inner wisdom.

Jim begins by talking about Kung Fu Hustle and suggests Lionel watch it. He then moves on to the AI songwriterthat’s going around the socials. Lionel remembers the song David Wilcox got an AI to write. Jim says that songwriters are the canary in the coal mine. Lionel likens the current situation to the loss of work for the U.S. autoworkers in the 1980s. Jim and Lionel dispute Shel Silverstein’s name for the Slitheydee or the Slithergadee and fail to decide which one it was.From there we shift to the subject of Luddites. Jim mentions that he’s been reading Blood In The Machine by Brian Merchant, and discussion ensues about the historical Luddite movement. This dovetails into the topic of another book Jim’s been reading A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit. In her book, Solnit discusses about how revolutions and disasters tend to bring communities together, but that those movements are often disrupted when the bogeyman of property loss scares people. This reminds Lionel of garage door openers and lawsuits sighting garage robberies which were close to non-existent. Jim shares stories about getting mugged in New York City back in the day and shares a funny story about a near miss on a skateboard. Point being, robberies do happen, but that Solnit shows how disasters bring communities together despite our tendency to distrust each other. Lionel talks about his experience living in Texas which leads to our recollections of near catastrophes in southern diners by both Jim and Lionel.We move on to talk about Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea and several of his other novels. We talk about Paris in the 20th Century, which was not published while Verne was alive, but was remarkably prescient. Jim says he’s looking for his next read, and Lionel recommends The Great Nadar, about a famous photographer in Paris in the 19th Century. Lionel mentions The Faun by Claude Debussy and we close.