Category: writing

Scheherazade

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn books, writing

Scheherazade, the teller of the tales in The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, captured my imagination when I was in junior high school.  The stories are fascinating. So was the idea of the narrator telling one story per night–but never quite ending it–to keep the king from killing her when a tale ends which he had threatened to do. Or perhaps it was her name that drew me in and never let me go.

My parents are at fault because they gave me a copy of the book as a gift for Christmas or my birthday. It’s around here somewhere. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t the definitive 1880s translation from Richard Burton  (1821–1890) which filled many volumes and might still be the only complete English translation.

I also had a copy of Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1888 symphonic suite “Scheherazade” based on the story. I had it on vinyl. It’s also around here somewhere, though I probably wore all the grooves off. My copy is older than the version shown here.

I still like the stories now, many years after I first read them, and wonder how many high school and college students study the book anymore. I hope they do, for though it comes from another time, place, and culture, it presents stories that demand our attention and that keeps us reading–rather like the king who fell in love with Sheherazade (sparing her life) while she was telling her stories every night.

from the Publisher (current edition)

“THE BOOK OF THE Thousand Nights and a Night VOLUME V Translated by RICHARD F. BURTON Limited to one thousand numbered sets 1885 (London “Burton Club” edition), illustrated The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (1885), subtitled “A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments”, is a celebrated English language translation of “One Thousand and One Nights” (the “Arabian Nights”) – a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age (8th−13th centuries) – by the British explorer and Arabist Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890). It stood as the only complete translation of the Macnaghten or Calcutta II edition (Egyptian recension) of the “Arabian Nights” until 2008. “One Thousand and One Nights” (Arabic: كِتَاب أَلْف لَيْلَة وَلَيْلَة‎‎ kitāb ʾalf layla wa-layla) is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the Arabian Nights, from the first English language edition (1706), which rendered the title as The Arabian Nights’ Entertainment. The work was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West, Central, and South Asia and North Africa. The tales themselves trace their roots back to ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Mesopotamian, Indian, Jewish and Egyptian folklore and literature. In particular, many tales were originally folk stories from the Caliphate era, while others, especially the frame story, are most probably drawn from the Pahlavi Persian work Hazār Afsān (Persian: هزار افسان‎‎, lit. A Thousand Tales) which in turn relied partly on Indian elements. Initial frame story of the ruler Shahryār (from Persian: شهريار‎‎, meaning “king” or “sovereign”) and his wife Scheherazade, (from Persian: شهرزاد‎‎, possibly meaning “of noble lineage”), and the framing device incorporated throughout the tales themselves. The stories proceed from this original tale; some are framed within other tales, while others begin and end of their own accord. The bulk of the text is in prose, although verse is occasionally used for songs and riddles and to express heightened emotion. Most of the poems are single couplets or quatrains, although some are longer.”

These stories took me to another world as did the music. Take a look and you might have a similar experience though not with my obsession. I do believe these stories are “must-reading” because they are a strong component of the world’s literary heritage–as are the Shakespeare plays–and demand our attention. That is to say, part of being a multi-genre, multi-cultural, reader is to dip one’s toe (if not more) into the stories spun by Scheherazade and know more of the world outside our neighborhoods.

–Malcolm

George didn’t want Everest named after him

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn mountains, writing

Most of us are aware that in 2015, the Department of the Interior finally recognized “Denali” as the official name for the mountain formerly called Mount McKinley. Alaska had been calling the Peak “Denali” for forty years already. Perhaps someday the world will officially recognize the Nepalese name “Sagarmatha” as the correct name for Mount Everest (shown here).

While Sir. George Everest (4 July 1790 – 1 December 1866) had more to do with Sagarmatha (Goddess of the Sky) than President McKinley had to do with Denali (as a surveyor working on the connection between Northern India and Nepal), he never saw the mountain, said the word “Everest” would be difficult for people living in the area to pronounce, and didn’t believe the mountain should carry his name.

According to Wikipedia, “In 1865, the Royal Geographical Society renamed Peak XV – at the time only recently identified as the world’s highest peak – to Mount Everest in his honour. Andrew Scott Waugh, his protégé and successor as surveyor general, had been responsible for putting his name forward in 1856. Everest’s name was used as a compromise due to the difficulty of choosing between multiple local names for the mountain.

K2 in the Karakoram range, while not quite as tall as Everest, is a more difficult climb and, as such, is often called the “Savage Mountain.” Estimates are that one person dies for every four who summit the mountain. It used to be referred to as “Godwin-Austen after the English surveyor. None of the possible local names seems to stand out, but “Masherbrum” or “Chogori” might one day be considered as more appropriate.

I dearly love mountains and once thought I’d climb Sagarmatha and Chogori. The names of these peaks belong to those who live there. On recent visits to Glacier National Park in Montana where I did some climbing years ago, I was happy to see more and more native names (as rendered in English) being used. Mt. Wilbur, across the lake from Many Glacier Hotel, is finally being called “Heavy Shield,” for example.

Over time, we will (I hope) drift away from names imposed on mountains, lakes, and other geographic features from the outside instead of “naming local.”

–Malcolm

PEN AMERICA AND HIGH-PROFILE SUPPORTERS, CALL FOR RELEASE OF NARGES MOHAMMADI AHEAD OF NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AWARD CEREMONY

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn writing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 29, 2023

Click on this graphic to sign the open letter

(NEW YORK) – Hundreds of the world’s most prominent writers, artists, human rights activists, allies, and civil society organizations have signed on to an open letter created by PEN America calling for the immediate release of jailed Iranian human rights activist and writer Narges Mohammadi prior to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, scheduled to be held in Oslo on December 10.

“Narges’ story is one of extraordinary courage in the face of adversity, making her name synonymous with the fight for human rights in Iran. Her experience underscores the global struggles for free expression and women’s equality and serves as a stark reminder of the heavy price that dissidents and activists pay in the name of freedom and equal rights,” the PEN America open letter says.

The letter, signed by more than 250 writers and allies, including Abraham Verghese, Arundhati Roy, Azar Nafisi, Emma Thompson, George Saunders, Khaled Hosseini, John Green, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, Margaret Atwood, Mary Karr, Nazanin Boniadi, Sandra Cisneros, and Viet Thanh Nguyen; fellow Nobel Laureates Shirin Ebadi, J.M. Coetzee, and Orhan Pamuk; and at least 40 civil society organizations, including Freedom House, Frontline Defenders, Human Rights Watch, the Center for Human Rights in Iran, PEN International, and more than 30 PEN Centers from around the world. Mohammadi, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was honored with PEN America’s 2023 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award in May.

Mohammadi, 51, is currently being held in Evin Prison, where she is serving multiple politically-motivated sentences totaling more than three decades. Over the years, she has been subject to numerous ordeals, including abusive treatment in custody, prolonged periods in solitary confinement, and enforced separation from her immediate family, including a ban on phone contact with her husband and teenage children. Mohammadi, who suffers from both heart and pulmonary issues, is regularly subjected to serious medical neglect, prompting her to undertake a 3-day hunger strike in early November after she was denied urgently needed medical care as a result of her refusal to wear a hijab.

Signatories demand Mohammadi be released before December 10 and allowed to travel to Oslo for the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony, where she would be united with her family. The letter closes with a “call on the international community to urgently press for Narges Mohammadi’s release. It is a moral imperative to prioritize human rights over political considerations and to advocate for the freedom of those who use their voices to defy tyranny and to champion justice and equality. Narges’ continued imprisonment is not just a violation of her rights but a stark reminder of the extent of the brutal persecution still faced by political dissidents and human rights defenders in Iran and around the world today.”

‘Know thyself, and thou shalt know the universe and the gods.’

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn knowledge, writing

This statement, which is inscribed at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi is said to have originated with Thales of Miletus (c. 626/623  – c. 548/545 BC) who was purportedly one of the “Seven Sages” who served Apollo. He is credited with being the first philosopher to rely on natural science rather than myths and legends to explain ourselves and our world. His interests ranged from math to astronomy to engineering to meteorology.

According to Wikipedia, Aristotle said, “Thales thought “all things are full of gods”, i.e. lodestones had souls, because iron is attracted to them (by the force of magnetism). The same applied to amber for its capacity to generate static electricity. The reasoning for such hylozoism or organicism seems to be if something moved, then it was alive, and if it was alive, then it must have a soul. As well as gods seen in the movement caused by what came to be known as magnetism and electricity, it seems Thales also had a supreme God which structured the universe: “Thales”, says Cicero, “assures that water is the principle of all things; and that God is that Mind which shaped and created all things from water.”

I’m not a philosopher, more of a shade-tree mechanic who tinkers with the simpler parts of the universe and hopes he gets the wires hooked up right.  That said, I’ve never run across a more important admonition than “Know thyself, and thou shalt know the universe and the gods.” We are, I believe, the keys to the kingdom, the eyes that look out on creation and–over many lifetimes, perhaps–will grasp the importance and the meaning behind the curtain imposed on the scene by day-to-day life. Believing this is not a prideful thing, but a humbling look at what is given us to understand–when we finally learn how.

So, we begin with ourselves and look outward–or perhaps inward–from there until we are privileged to see and understand that, as the Huna mysticism of Hawai’i believes, there is nothing that is not God. Fortunately, we don’t start with the “big picture” and work our way back to ourselves. We start with us, an entity we should be able to one day understand.

So, we start with knowing ourselves. A tall order, really, but something we can fathom after years of effort. We can do his. Look in the mirror and you’ll see where the universe begins.

–Malcolm

I don’t have to tell you what an adze is, do I?

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn tools, writing

In a recent episode of “The Curse of Oak Island,” a core drilling machine brought up a large piece of wood that team members said looked like it had been shaped by an adze. I was amused to see a little graphic and description of an adze as though the tool isn’t commonly known. Okay, if you were born yesterday or a few days before, you probably haven’t been allowed to use an adze. They are not as common as they were when I was young, so maybe you see “adze” as a handy word or use in a crossword puzzle or a scrabble game.

We had at least one adze, a relatively small one about 1/4 the size as the one in the graphic, in our garage used for scraping wood when the size of the job was much too big for using a plane. The adze in the graphic might be your tool of choice if you were in Scouting and were making a canoe from scratch.

Times change so fast that I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at the tools we used years ago that a lot of people don’t use now or have never heard of. Wikipedia says that “Modern adzes are made from steel with wooden handles, and enjoy limited use: occasionally in semi-industrial areas, but particularly by “revivalists” such as those at the Colonial Williamsburg cultural center in Virginia, United States. However, the traditional adze has largely been replaced by the sawmill and the powered-plane, at least in industrialized cultures. It remains in use for some specialist crafts, for example by coopers. Adzes are also in current use by artists such as Northwest Coast American and Canadian Indigenous sculptors doing pole work, masks, and bowls.”

When my brothers and I were little, my grandfather made things out of wood, so we were used to well-tended tools that could be found on a farm or in any woodworking operation. I’m happy to see that you can still buy an adze at Home Depot even though they are calling it a “forged hoe” though it appears when I search for “Adze.”

I guess you could use it as a hoe, but that would incur my grandfather’s wrath as he shouted, “Go get a maddock.” You know what that is, right? My brothers learned early on to use tools for what they were intended rather than making do with the wrong thing–like using a wrench as a hammer.

I think I need a drink.

–Malcolm

I don’t understand women

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Hollywood, writing

If you’re a woman, you’re probably thinking, “Of course you don’t, you subhuman ape.”

If you’re a man, you’re probably thinking, “Join the club.”

But I have something specific in mind, a seeming paradox that only women can answer. Men have for years leered at scantily-clad women and have been lambasted by women for doing so.

Now, on almost a daily basis, I read in the mainstream media that an actress or other celebrity has “rocked” an almost-there outfit. These outfits would probably get them arrested in most places, but on the red carpet for one event or another, appearing nude or nearly nude is the way of things.

But why? Are the women doing this celebrating their right to dress as they please. If so, why are they dressing in the way they hated men for wanting?

As a man, I think women dressed in almost nothing look like they came out of a brothel. Is this the new freedom? If so, it’s odd that it matches what men always wanted and were disliked for wanting. So what’s going on here?

Men are “in trouble” for wanting women to look like sluts and women are now dressing as sluts. I don’t understand this.

I you understand it, please tell me what’s going on here.

–Malcolm

‘Wisdom of the Mystic Masters’ by Joseph Weed

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn magic, writing

Once upon a time, when I was starting to take my curiosity about esoteric subjects seriously, I read Wisdom of the Mystic Masters and other books by Rosicrucian author Joseph Weed. As a Rosicrucian, Weed was no doubt aware of the fact that the road to mastery is a long road. So, in looking back on these books, I’m surprised at how they were so blatantly oversold (this reminds me of The Secret) in that they implied all you had to do was read a popular account of ancient lore and soon thereafter you would become all-powerful and quasi-divine. Like The Secret, these books came and went quickly because–while there was truth in them–it could not be learned and perfected during the halftime show of the football game that had taken over the living room’s TV set.

From the Publisher

“This book contains the most awesome secrets ever known to man—ready to be used by you to attain the riches, influence, and joy you’ve always wanted! By using the staggering power of these age-old secrets—jealously guarded by the wealthiest and most influential people in history—you’ll quickly discover how to release a flood of riches into your life… how to gain influence and control over others… bring new romance into your marriage or social life… gain the instant respect of everyone you meet… overcome any threat that faces you now!

“Here is the ancient might of the Mystic Masters immediately ready to help you to the pinnacle of money, fame, and power!”

One thing I noticed with these descriptions right away is that many of them focus on obtaining wealth and power, the very opposite of what hermetic studies are all about.  Obviously, the publishers don’t think “the masses” will read such books to become more spiritual, more aware of the “big picture,” or to improve themselves.  So they promise fame and fortune.

If you look closely at what these hyped books offer, it’s very similar to what James Allen wrote years ago in his wonderful 1903 book As a Man Thinketh.  My father had this book on the family’s shelves and I read it long before I’d ever heard of Weed. From the book of Proverbs. Chapter 23, it is written,  “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” In my view, this is all we need to know. No hype is needed.

You can read Allen’s book, now in the public domain, on Project Guttenberg here.

The paradox here is that the wisdom itself is simple, but its development is complex. And that’s what makes the hype work so well on prospective readers. Read “this” and you will know “all.” Perhaps so. Then what?

—Malcolm

Edyth

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn family, writing

One picture sits on my desk, my 24-year-old grandmother Edyth standing next to the farmhouse holding my infant mother Katheryn in her arms. We can see the side of the house, a shade tree, and in the background, a steam tractor. I like Edyth’s no-nonsense expression.

This picture sits on my desk because I think I would have liked my grandmother and it reminds me I still need to learn how to forgive my grandfather and my step-grandmother for never mentioning Edyth, much less telling me she was my real grandmother.

I grew up believing Edyth’s sister Laura was my grandmother. Laura was a wonderful person. When my grandfather’s eyesight began to fail, he taught Laura how to shoot the pesky squirrels in the backyard and I taught her how to drive.  She aced her driving test and wiped out a lot of squirrels until the cops showed up and asked why she was firing a .38 in the yard.

Edyth was shrouded in mystery, Laura’s sister who died of typhoid from the family well in 1914. My grandfather married Laura and this was something they kept quiet about because marrying your deceased wife’s sister didn’t look good. However, they kept it so quiet that their grandsons, my two brothers and I, were never told until after Joe and Laura died.

This lie kept Edyth and all the stories and memories of Edyth out of our consciousness because she was not mentioned in family yarns and memories. I think my brothers and I could have handled the truth about Laura and Edyth when we were in high school if not sooner. My parents respected my grandparents’ wishes to keep quiet about it. I wouldn’t have.

So it is that I still haven’t forgiven my grandfather and step-grandmother or my parents for covering up just who Edyth was. I know I should. The photo on my desk reminds me that I should. So far, I can’t because it made me feel discounted when I finally learned the truth, i.e., that  I couldn’t be trusted to know my real grandmother’s name.

Many miles and many years after Edyth died in 1914 in Illinois and Joe married her sister, Laura, there was no longer a reason to keep that part of our family’s history secret. So it is that the photo on my desk helps me understand who I am, who my mother was, and who my grandmother was. I have yet to forgive those who kept me from knowing Edyth–sad to say.

–Malcolm

Julie London, ‘Cry Me a River,’ and other torch songs

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Music, writing

“A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship. The term comes from the saying, ‘to carry a torch for someone,’ or to keep aflame the light of an unrequited love. It was first used by the cabaret singer Tommy Lyman in his praise of ‘My Melancholy Baby.'” – Wikipedia

Torch singers appeared in supper clubs featuring music and dancing and were often shown in movies with such clubs. I loved torch songs whether it was Patsy Cline singing “Crazy,” Billie Holiday singing “Solitude,” or Dale Storm singing “Dark Moon.” My family wasn’t affluent enough to go to supper clubs or adventurous enough to go to the better dive bars, so my exposure to torch singers came exclusively through movies, records, and the singers’ TV appearances.

1948 photo

Though I was a big fan of Patsy Cline, when it came to torch singers, my favorite was Julie London who had an active singing career (32 albums) up until the late 1960s. She recorded “Motherless Child,” “Don’t Worry About Me,” “A Foggy Day,” and many other standards. As her sultry, contralto voice began to falter, she turned to acting in movies (“Man of the West,” “The Wonderful Country”) and television (“The Julie London Show, “The Big Valley.”)

She appeared as head nurse Dixie McCall throughout the entire 122-episode run of the action-adventure drama “Emergency!” from 1972 to 1977. The series focuses on the paramedics, firemen, and hospital support staff, showing (I think) a more accurate look at firefighting techniques than shows like “Chicago Fire.” London’s second husband Bobby Troup (to her right in the photo) was also in the cast. The show was produced by her first husband Jack Webb.  Like London, Troup came from the music business.

I’ve had fun watching the currently available “Emergency!” reruns via the DISH Network and appreciate the style and presence she brings to the role even though it’s a bit difficult to stop seeing London as a sexy torch singer.

–Malcolm

His name is Card and he probably won’t survive

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn writing1 Comment
Suspect

Many of those who know he’s the suspect in the Lewiston, Maine mass shooting on October 25 in which eighteen people were killed and thirteen were injured probably don’t want him to survive. I guess the people who think that way think his death “evens things out.”

Hardly.

There have been 487 mass shootings in the U.S. this year with 571 dead and 1,947 injuries. You don’t need a complicated equation to see that the country is averaging over one shooting per day. While I’m against the ownership of military-style weapons by civilians because they greatly increase the number of casualties, I think the issue is larger than too many guns.

Are we bored with the problem yet? Perhaps because as individuals we’re apparently powerless to stop the epidemic short of bashing the NRA which, while not surprising, hasn’t solved the problem of why this is happening.

According to Everytown Research, “Mass shootings haunt our nation’s collective conscience. Each breaking news alert floods the nation with grief, fear, and anger at the countless acts of preventable violence happening in schools, churches, parks, supermarkets, and other places where people are going about their everyday lives.”

True, but hardly earthshaking.

The Pew Research Center provides a lot of statistics for analysis, but they are more WHAT than WHY. Likewise, the Violence Project. Numerous other Internet sites provide simiar stats.

An EFSGV report states thatm “More than two-thirds of mass shootings are domestic violence incidents or are perpetrated by shooters with a history of domestic violence, according to one of the first peer-reviewed research papers exploring the links between domestic violence (DV) and mass” Okay, there’s a clue, but where does it lead us?

Dr. Jillian Peterson says “Perpetrators tend to be radicalized through studying other shooters before them. Many of them spend time on the internet in kind of these dark chat rooms where violence is really celebrated and validated. And then they go into this act knowing it’s their final act. So they’re kind of actively suicidal, planning to die in the act. They have access to the firearms that they need. And many of them leak their plans. Many of them tell other people they’re thinking about violence before they do it. And then they go out and they choose a location that’s symbolic of their grievance with the world because they’re looking for this fame and notoriety in their death that they didn’t have in their life.”

Helpful to know as is the entire interview.  What frustrates me, and perhaps others is that the statistics don’t lead us to an answer, and neither do the best analyses of what’s happening and how we can stop it. That is, we can’t go out an arrest everyone who can get a gun, who has a grievance, who has mental issues, who comes from a dysfuntional family, or who is simply pissed off at the world or his/her workplace.

So, we’re stuck watching it happen like a bad movie without an ending. The shootings make many of us feel powerless less and perhaps that’s the way the killers feel.

–Malcolm