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Gerry Quinn: >Gerry Quinn: Bah, it’s just a credit card type number. The only point is it has low entropy, Ack!!! now I am issuing orders to myself! I think you forgot to add …
28 Oct 2011, 13:04
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"dive into Lake" heh! Good one. Of course this is from a guy who has hectored about Hector and found evidence jibing with jibers. My taste in puns may be suspect. I kind of …
28 Oct 2011, 02:51
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It has been mentioned a few times recently that there is another passage which suggests all those ships might be one Ship. Why would WOlfe mention this possibility? Again the ident…
27 Oct 2011, 13:28
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I understood in the exchange that Gerry had no way of knowing that "header" is not a slang expression most Americans would understand (I would first think of a method of propelling…
26 Oct 2011, 15:56
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Okay. A little preparatory spade work is necessary though. First, I'd say the Atrium of Time itself is not itself a time travel device. HOwever it is surrounded by towers which a…
24 Oct 2011, 16:23
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In Solar Labyrinth, Borski makes the case for Inire as Ossipago and Palaemon. I have seen the Boatman, Fechin and Hethor connections and find these two to be less certain candid…
22 Oct 2011, 15:01
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Jeff Wilson: Juturna? Argh! No, I meant Talos. The end of RttW makes it pretty clear that The Outsider (and, through an ambiguous father-son connection, Typhon) are meant to …
21 Oct 2011, 12:40
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There is some interesting convergence of a couple threads which might warrant a new thread title. This is an interesting new idea I hadn't ever heard before. It is a bit cryptic…
17 Oct 2011, 17:36
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Andrew Mason: I can understand this parsimony. An obscured face seems to be one of the primary markers of an Inire appearance. Yes, the physical resemblance and the shaman/i…
13 Oct 2011, 14:50
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I think those are pretty good guesses for Inire appearances. The cowled servitor does appear in Father Inire's wing of the House Absolute. And the appearance of the Jungle Guide in…
12 Oct 2011, 21:01
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Me too when it works for me. Sometimes (like today) it doesn't. And I face Jerry's problem with random excerpting also.…
24 May 2011, 19:57
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Oh yeah! I forgot Jason duplicated Cadmus' actions with the dragon teeth soldiers. Sheesh! Somebody has to have the text handy to report on whether this activity occurs in the Fr…
24 May 2011, 17:52
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Yep, most Laws of science become more and more guidelines with exceptions as the science advances. And Genetics and Evolutionary science have certainly advanced in the past 100+ y…
17 May 2011, 17:34
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Such open conversation works for me. Got me familiarized with a horny version of Moses I wasn't previously familiar with (though I was familiar with the idea of jews having devil h…
16 Feb 2011, 01:44
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Gerry I get the impression you consider yourself a man of math, logic and science and that for you, these explanatory philosophies are always superior to spiritual, religious or m…
11 Feb 2011, 15:09
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Yes. I think this is getting closer to the heart of the matter. I would ask Andrew about which group, on the Whorl, do we know is able to do "possession", putting their spirits in…
09 Feb 2011, 18:36
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Marc's continued insistence on the importance of flora and fauna has me thinking. I don't doubt he is right. It's funny how we have the Vironese naming convention for males and fem…
08 Feb 2011, 19:53
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Heh, that's pretty funny! Was just rereading that Casdoe section. An interesting quote supporting my Agia=assassin guess, requiring mistaken gender: Also regarding gender m…
01 Feb 2011, 04:04
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Perhaps we can agree this definition fits what happens with the alzabo rather nicely? I think Dan'l's concern is over the temporary/permanent nature of the merger. If we go by …
28 Jan 2011, 18:50
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(no worries, I caught your meaning regarding Severian the first time) By this do you mean that by carrying all those memories he is the best representative of humanity? As the au…
26 Jan 2011, 00:48
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James Wynn- Hmmm...what a nice obscure reference. I like it! Well, there has been extensive discussion of Severian's lameness wound. I think some discussion in the past of how Se…
24 Jan 2011, 21:34
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Crap. Sorry. Forgot to put a subject on my last post. Again.…
20 Jan 2011, 04:02
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I've played an advocate in this thread but it was a position role. I quite highly respect the opinions of all who contributed and I think all are correct and valid. Jeff, thanks fo…
20 Jan 2011, 03:15
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I will continue to play angel's advocate and note that you are playing with nations as though they were playing cards, assigning generic group value without recognition of the ind…
19 Jan 2011, 21:49
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Part of the mystery of Agia is that she is NOT relentless in seeking revenge. She and the green man rescue Severian from the Ascians (and Vodalus). Severian wonders why she didn't…
19 Jan 2011, 21:21
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I certainly allow it, if I am permitted to take Angel's advocate role for a minute. It is a simplistic, cruel view of life to say that if an enemy Emperor orders the genocide of hi…
19 Jan 2011, 19:55
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I should be more careful in my word choice. "Most" does imply a majority and is likely to instigate a call for proof from those who disagree. Given that most of the world lives be…
19 Jan 2011, 14:25
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This question raised another, possibly related question in my mind. Pas appears as two-headed in the window. Kypris is a beauty. Echidna is snake-haired I think. Scylla, snakey too…
19 Jan 2011, 01:42
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I've noticed a tendency for British types to use the word "black" or "blacks" as a noun more readily than we Americans do in regard to those of african descent. We usually must add…
18 Jan 2011, 22:24
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A good point. High schoolers ought to be intellectually advanced enough to discuss racism, including the word "nigger". If a student asks why it is okay for Mark Twain to use the …
18 Jan 2011, 17:01
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It should be quite clear that absence of hate does not equal "excuse". My own personal philosophy is that encouraging any kind of hate is a sin always worth avoiding. Certainly…
18 Jan 2011, 14:53
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"A Green Man is a sculpture, drawing, or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Branches or vines may sprout from the nose, mouth, nostrils or other par…
18 Jan 2011, 14:49
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Heh, yep. Unfortunately I would need the help of God to follow that doctrine. Ah, the curse of humanism. I must accept my species as a package deal. ;- ).…
18 Jan 2011, 13:42
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Made me think of Huckleberry Finn and how there is a strong movement to require schools to carry a version which finds a less offensive term than "nigger" (the N-word) which is rep…
18 Jan 2011, 02:50
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I've been meaning to post on this for a while but I kept forgetting. I remembered what I think is a gnostic sort of reference from the very first pages of 5HoC, though I don't kn…
17 Jan 2011, 05:24
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Careful Jeff. YOu are going too far down my path. ;- ). Rudesind was a boy artist who meets an artist ("Fechin, Fechin, himself"). Rudesind's boy portrait includes paint brushes w…
17 Jan 2011, 03:25
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The showman gives him only water and threatens as punishment to cover the hole in the top of the tent which allows sunlight in. When Severian recovers from the daze he was in f…
16 Jan 2011, 21:46
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Hm..interesting. Self-portrait. Dorcas is artistic, as we know from her role in set design with Dr. Talos' troupe. Still, I think there might be an even better artist than her in …
16 Jan 2011, 21:09
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Since the list has taken a turn toward hard science it might be time to expose the green man for the carnival huckster he really is. There is no way for internal algae to provide t…
16 Jan 2011, 17:03
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The discussion is of the barren nature of Severian and Valeria's marriage. His thigh wound was at the Battle of Orithya. Most of his sexual encounters were previous to this woundin…
15 Jan 2011, 02:04
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Excellent anthropological point. And so true. Oral traditions are nice, but for longevity and accuracy, they are inferior to writing systems. And writing always originated in rive…
14 Jan 2011, 20:07
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Ah, thanks for the extra info! Maimed King is related to Fisher King- Arthurian and related to the Holy Grail, (which certainly has an element of chastity and sexual purity associa…
14 Jan 2011, 18:10
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Just make sure they have some potato chips to snack on. I've heard Procter and Gamble make a very perfect version. (apologies for lack of subject, btw)…
14 Jan 2011, 15:39
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Some really great research David. I do think the aspect of Conciliator in this story has been somewhat ignored. My own view is that myth, religion and legend find a number of conc…
14 Jan 2011, 03:23
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My vote is: Definitely not. The essence of Urth is to be some form of Earth and the red stuff just doesn't convey the proper comparison/contrast in my view. Let's view the redness…
12 Jan 2011, 18:39
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OMG now, I'm starting to worry about the real effect on my mind of... PRINGLES!!!!!!!!!!! ;- )…
12 Jan 2011, 18:36
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That sounds familiar Jane, thanks for reminding. Perhaps I should have said "no apparent civilization during Severian's (normal lifetime) era." I would guess the black hole in th…
12 Jan 2011, 01:58
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I'd say we see something sort of similar when Severian is about to enter Yesod. Because of the curvature of space-time (as Malrubius explained) he sees both the beginning and the …
12 Jan 2011, 01:34
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Feeling at a loss of plain textual (plowman's) explanation of why Urth was flooded to Ushas I've long thought the Bible was the place to find the answer- that being that here on Ea…
11 Jan 2011, 20:22
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Don't worry, you don't need to sell me on this idea. I think there are neglible coincidences in Wolfe's work. The mystery to me is how a thoughtful reader could dismiss connection …
11 Jan 2011, 16:58
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