Posted by: aldrich @ 1:09 am
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke
December 16, 1917 - March 19, 2008
RIP
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke - wiki
Poe dabbled with science fiction. In “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar,” the scientist uses hypnotism (mesmerism) to prolong life beyond death. In “Some Words with a Mummy,” a team of scientists use a galvanic battery to resurrect the dead. Even “The Balloon Hoax,” “Maelzel’s Chess Player” and Poe’s Moon Hoax “The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall” contain elements of science fiction.
Towards the end of his life, he began formulating his own cosmology. While this is the work of an early 19th century man, Poe is a modern, schooled in the classics at Jefferson’s University, and living among the best of American intellect and letters. When you read Poe’s “Eureka,” it is amazing how much of it turns out to be on the right track, even when it’s wrong. Known for his hoaxes, many thought Poe had written a satire on Transcendentalism, a movement he detested. In my opinion, I think that while Poe detested the formal “movement” aspect of Transcendentalism, he shared, to some degree, the Transcendentalists’ desire to fuse the intellect with the spiritual.
Eureka (1848) is a lengthy non-fiction work by American author Edgar Allan Poe which he subtitled “A Prose Poem,” though it has also been subtitled as “An Essay on the Material and Spiritual Universe.” Adapted from a lecture he had presented, Eureka describes Poe’s intuitive conception of the nature of the universe with no scientific work done to reach his conclusions. He also discusses man’s relationship with God, who he compares to an author. It is dedicated to the German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt. Though it is generally considered unscientific, many of Poe’s theories predate later accepted scientific theories including Black Holes. - wiki
“Eureka: A Prose Poem - An Essay on the Material and Spiritual Universe” (1848) - wiki
People Poe Influenced - Poe Forward
“Some Words with a Mummy” - Poe Forward Events: Poe Humour
Poe Humour - Poe Forward Events
Transcendentalism - wiki
“The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” - wiki
“The Balloon Hoax” - Poe Forward Events: Poe Humour
“The Balloon Hoax” - wiki
“Maelzel’s Chess Player” - wiki
“The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall” - wiki
The Great Moon Hoax - wiki
Posted by: aldrich @ 1:05 am
Edgar Allan Poe
January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1949
Happy Birthday & Rest in Peace!
Poe Forward Mission Statement:
The primary mission of PoeForward is to showcase the work of artists who have been influenced by the mind and work of Edgar Allan Poe. We believe that Edgar Poe, through his editorial criticism as well as his poetry and his multi-genre fiction, created the foundations of all American literature. In addition to performance, we interview contemporary artists, recording their mutual history with Poe. PoeForward combines the past with the present–for tomorrow. Our secondary mission, but just as important, is to present the true character of Edgar Poe, the uncompromising, hard-working, virulent critic and writer, instead of the melodramatic, tortured artist of 19th century romantic mythology. This falsehood has haunted Poe since his arch rival and chief enemy, the Reverend Rufus Griswold, lied about Poe and maligned his reputation in an libelous obituary subsequent to the poet’s death. In the years since, his friends and associates, as well as scholars and historians through to today, have sought to clear his name. Certainly, like each of us, Poe had his demons as well as his troubles with women and alcohol, but rather than dwell on his mortal shortcomings, we endeavor to illuminate his eternal genius.
-Brian Aldrich & David Delgado, Co-Founders of PoeForward
Posted by: aldrich @ 9:17 pm
“Some Words With A Mummy”
Edgar Allan Poe
“We made an incision into the tip of the subject’s nose, while the Doctor himself pulled the nose into vehement contact with the wire… Figuratively and literally – was the effect electric. In the first place, the corpse opened its eyes and winked very rapidly for several minutes; in the second place, it sneezed; in the third, it sat upon end; in the fourth, it shook its fist in Doctor Ponnonner’s face; in the fifth, turning to Gliddon and Buckingham, it addressed them, in very proper Egyptian.”
Illustration taken from 1904 Edition of Poe’s Collected Works
“Some Words With A Mummy” - E.A. Poe
Poe Forward’s Poe Humour Event Page
“Never Bet the Devil Your Head”
Edgar Allan Poe
1841
“It is not my design to diminish my deceased friend, Toby Dammit. He was a sad dog, it is true, and he died a dog’s death.
“The fact is that his precocity in vice was awful. At five months of age he used to get into such passions that he was unable to articulate. At six months, I caught him gnawing a pack of cards. At seven months he was in the constant habit of catching and kissing the female babies. At eight months he refused to put his signature to the Temperance pledge. Thus he went on increasing in iniquity, month after month, until, at the close of the first year, he not only insisted upon wearing moustaches, but had contracted a propensity for cursing and swearing, and for backing his assertions with wagers…”
Illustration taken from a 1904 edition of Poe’s Collected Works
Full Performance Text (Copyright 2001 - Royalty Terms Available):: “Never Bet the Devil Your Head” - Poe Forward Events: Poe Humour
“Never Bet the Devil Your Head” - wiki
Posted by: aldrich @ 11:00 pm
Poe loved a good hoax.
The Museum of Hoaxes puts Poe’s hoax count at six and includes:
- The Adventures of Hans Pfaall (1835)
- The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (1837)
- The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840)
- The Great Balloon Hoax (1844)
- The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar (1845)
- Von Kempelen and His Discovery (1849)
Poe’s stinging literary criticisms may have had a malicious side, but his hoaxes were pure fun. Poe fuses the adventure stories of James Fenimore Cooper, the early sailing stories of Herman Melville, and the same kind of steampunk inspiration that would lead to Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, all within the trappings of his antebellum world. But none of Poe’s hoaxes were malicious.
Billy Wilder’s masterpiece of the corrupt heart “Ace in the Hole” focuses on a has-been, big city journalist who delays the rescue of a man trapped in a mine shaft in order to profit his career. The scene quickly transforms into “The Big Circus” - the original title of the film. This anti-hero, played by Kirk Douglas at the top of his form, is not only a liar and a cheat, but illustrates the evil dimension to hoaxes, to practical jokes, to dishonesty for profit. (Kind of like the Iraq war.)
In this case, the hoax isn’t a classical hoax where a gifted writer pens a fantastic false tale that his readers believe. They might lose the price of a newspaper and spend some idle office chat sharing the weird news, but nobody died because Poe lied. In “Ace in the Hole” there is a real life at stake. The deceit comes when the Kirk Douglas character delays the man’s rescue from hours to days while the news services pay him for the details. (Kind of like that Bush-Cheney-Halliburton connection.)
Anyway, “Ace in the Hole” is a hell of a film and contains my all time favorite bad girl line. When Douglas advises the trapped man’s adulterous wife to attend church for the publicity value, she responds that she doesn’t like to go to church because,
“Kneeling bags my nylons.”
(I suggest buying the DVD here through Amazon, not only for our benefit, but both Best Buy and Circuit City are charging $34 and only by online store. The price is better at Amazon.)
NOTE: Poe Forward presented Poe’s “The Balloon Hoax” as part of the reader’s theatre production POE HUMOR.