House Forlorn Reads 8 - HFR Transcript

House Forlorn Reads 8

Three pamphlets: the USGS Topographic Instructions, Communication with the Deaf, and the Southwestern Pennsylvania magazine.

House Forlorn Reads" is an episodic podcast brought to you by a house whose owners have moved out but haven't yet sold it to new owners. The house is sad and eager to have new humans living in it. This podcast, along with the House Forlorn blog and selected House Forlorn Chogger comics, can be found at HouseForlorn.com.

Date of Production: 20081129
post-production completed: 20081100
Length: 00:00:00
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House Forlorn Reads episode 8

You've stumbled upon House Forlorn Reads, Episode 8. I suppose you were hoping to find that recording studio for the Egyptian Mortuary Practices podcast - I think if you walk down to the next pyramid, you'll find that podcast now recording in the main temple in the sub-sub-sub-sub-basement of the tomb.

"House Forlorn Reads" is recorded for you by a house whose owners have moved out but haven't yet sold it to new owners. The house is sad and eager to have new humans living in it. This podcast, along with the House Forlorn blog and selected House Forlorn Chogger comics, can be linked to via www.HouseForlorn.com.

The music you hear is Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor BWV565, produced by James Clarke, of the UK. This and other podcast-friendly music can be found on the "podsafe music network" at music.podshow.com.

I have a thirst for books, which stems from a lack of human (or canine/feline) companionship -- nobody flicking on lights, stomping up and down my stairs, cooking bacon, playing video games for hours on end or barking/meowing at strange noises outside. Where does your thirst for books come from? Send a message to Houseforlorn@gmail.com, and I'll convey your thirst to others via this podcast.

Do you have any stories about your books? My owner was perusing his Twitter feed this morning, and came across a video at BrePettis.com/blog titled "Things - Edith Kollath Creates Books that Breathe". How weird is that? Books that breathe? The art show shows that anything can, and will, be art. An excellent art show!

In today's show, we'll read three excerpts from three paper pamphets for you.

1 First is the "Topographic Instructions of the United States Geological Survey: Color-Separation Scribing", Book 4, Chapters 4B1-4B3, 1961, published by the U.S. Department of the Interior. This is a very cool little booklet that came in some batch of books from an auction, detailing in pictures the methods and tools used to draw topographic maps. You may have seen topographic maps in your travels? They have squiggly lines (that's a technical term) which show the differences in elevation across a particular area of land.

2 Second is "Communication with the Deaf: A Guide for Parents of Deaf Children", Edited by Powrie Vaux Doctor, Ph.D., published by American Annals of the Deaf, 1963, 1969. A child's inability to hear through accident or birth defect can be a harrowing experience for the parent. This paper book seeks to help the frustrated parent by providing many avenues of teaching for developing avenues of communication with the deaf child: speechreading, hand sign language, cued speech and other techniques are discussed to provide an introduction for parents to an activity that will be crucial for the child's survival in this communication-rich society of ours.

3 Third, we have the Number 2 issue of the Southwestern Pennsylvania magazine. This is an excellent little magazine that shows pictorial and written descriptions of the cultural and industrial history of the Southwestern Pennsylvania region. From the migration of Slovenian-Americans into communities such as Granish Hill, Strabane, Bridgeville, Yukon and Herminie, to the building and reconstruction of Southwestern PA's log buildings; from the description of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians and their churches, to the introduction to the people of "The Old Time Fiddlers Association", this magazine covers much of the cultures who built the communities of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Interestingly, it has no mention of the African-American experience, though it does specify that "Blacks and Germans" will be covered in a future Issue 4.

First, from the Topographic Instructions, on pages 24 & 25:

Next, I read page 47 of Communication with the Deaf:

Finally, In Southwestern Pennsylvania, a prose poem by John Mark Scott, 1973, titled "John Cooper":

Thanks for listening to House Forlorn Reads. Link to the HouseForlorn blog via the www.houseforlorn.com landing page. You can follow houseforlorn on Twitter at twitter.com/houseforlorn, and become a fan of the House Forlorn Facebook page. For a transcript of this and previous "House Forlorn Reads" podcasts, google the key phrase "HFR Transcript".

Have a moving day.

Pittsburgh Worm on the Walk 2

Oh. Down along the Allegheny River again, on Pittsburgh's Northshore.

That worm's view nearly rivals mine.
:-)

..HF.

Pittsburgh Worm on the Walk 1

Where did my owner snap that pic???

Poor, defenseless, unrepresented worm. :-(

..HF.

Nice day ... If you're a duck!

My owner apparently likes walking in the rain. Me, I'll stay under
this nice shingle roof!

..HD.

House Forlorn Reads 7

Click to Play

Majorca, Ford and Used Books:  Juan Bonet's "Majorca", Betty Ford's "The Times of My Life", and Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone's "Used and Rare: Travels in the Book World".

House Forlorn Reads" is an episodic podcast brought to you by a house whose owners have moved out but haven't yet sold it to new owners. The house is sad and eager to have new humans living in it.  This podcast, along with the House Forlorn blog and selected House Forlorn Chogger comics, can be found at HouseForlorn.com.
Date of Production: 20081116
post-production completed: 20081121
Length: 00:15:11

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Been Here Before

Have you ever?

Have you ever looked through your rooms for that little scuffling noise? I do it all the time. There it is. No, it's over there! Oh, I hear it upstairs!

I wonder how cold it is outside? That's when the scuffling really begins. Porous foundations lead to little visitors entering a house just when the mercury drops. What do I want to do with those scuffling noises?

Why, find where my owner put his little scuffling-noise traps. They snap! and they crack! and put an end, with a bit of peanut butter on the tongue-of-death, to those scuffling noises.

Ahh, silence on a winter night. No more scuffling noises. I'll sit back, on my fieldstone foundation here on the hill and await the sounds of Saint Nick clamboring about on the roofing tiles.

..HF.

House Forlorn Reads #7: Transcript

House Forlorn Reads 7

Majorca, Ford and Used Books: Juan Bonet's "Majorca", Betty Ford's "The Times of My Life", and Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone's "Used and Rare: Travels in the Book World".

House Forlorn Reads" is an episodic podcast brought to you by a house whose owners have moved out but haven't yet sold it to new owners. The house is sad and eager to have new humans living in it. This podcast, along with the House Forlorn blog and selected House Forlorn Chogger comics, can be found at HouseForlorn.com.
Date of Production: 20081116
post-production completed: 20081100
Length: 00:00:00
-----------------------

House Forlorn Reads episode 7

You've stumbled upon House Forlorn Reads, Episode 7. If the podcast you were hoping to find is brought to you by the Leaf-rakers Guild of the Southern Hemisphere and concerns proper techniques for leaf-raking with professional leaf-raking implements, then I must disappoint - this is a podcast about books.

"House Forlorn Reads" is recorded for you by a house whose owners have moved out but haven't yet sold it to new owners. The house is sad and eager to have new humans living in it. This podcast, along with the House Forlorn blog and selected House Forlorn Chogger comics, can be linked to via www.HouseForlorn.com.

The music you hear is Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor BWV565, produced by James Clarke, of the UK. This and other podcast-friendly music can be found on the "podsafe music network" at music.podshow.com.

I have a thirst for books, which stems from a lack of human (or canine/feline) companionship -- nobody flicking on lights, stomping up and down my stairs, cooking bacon, playing video games for hours on end or barking/meowing at strange noises outside. Where does your thirst for books come from? Send a message to Houseforlorn@gmail.com, and I'll convey your thirst to others via this podcast.

Do you have any stories about your books? For example, my owner has a old 1963 set of Encyclopedia Britannica's, in which his mother has stuck all sorts of oddments, such as sweetgum, sycamore, maple and olive tree leaves, either between tissues or in contact paper. What strange objects have your family stuck in a book for posterity's sake?

In today's show, we'll read three excerpts from three smallish books for you - touching

1 First on "Majorca" by Juan Bonet, (Editorial Everest, 1969) - this is a picture book showing photos of Spain's largest island, off the country's eastern Mediterranean coast. Majorca, Mallorca in Spanish and Catalan, has been inhabited since paleolithic times, with tombs dating to perhaps 6000 BCE, or about 8000 years ago. Rome initiated habitation in Palma in 123 BCE, when Caecilius Metellus landed on the island. Majorca is the largest island in the Balaeric archipelago, of which Minorca, Ibiza, and Formentera are the other three of the larger islands. This pictorial introduction to this island has maps, pictures of the islands industry, including fishing and almond-tree cultivation, pictures of landscape, of religious and secular architecture, of popular swimming beaches, and evidence of sports, such as the popular bull-rings.

2 Second, "The Times of My Life", by Betty Ford with Chris Chase (Ballantine, 1978-79), is an autobiographical overview of Betty Ford's life. Wife of US President Gerald (Jerry) Ford, Betty has a unique view on life, though she describes herself on the first page as "an ordinary woman who was called onstage at an extraordinary time." She says she didn't want her husband to become president, but accepted his decision, saying "You plan your life in one way, it goes another."

3 And third is this neat little book that my owner cannot remember purchasing, but is just the kind of book he'd purchase (as opposed to finding in a box of books at an auction, or outside of a bookstore, like Paradox Books in Wheeling, WV sometimes does): "Used and Rare: Travels in the Book World", by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone, (St. Martin's Griffin, 1998). Lawrence and Nancy were book people: they'd go to Borders or other new-book bookstores and get the latest novels to read. But somehow they accidentally found their way one day into a used book store...and the rest of the story is a wonderful modern-day journey through the ancient world of books.

First, from "Majorca", I read a description of "The olive trees of Majorca", page 74:

Next, I read page 147, which is the first page of chapter 18, titled "The Other Woman" :

Finally, in :

Thanks for listening to House Forlorn Reads. Link to the HouseForlorn blog via the www.houseforlorn.com landing page. You can follow houseforlorn on Twitter at twitter.com/houseforlorn, and become a fan of the House Forlorn Facebook page. For a transcript of this and previous "House Forlorn Reads" podcasts, google the key phrase "HFR Transcript".

Twitterer Brij, tweets this about a books "Bought few books from Books & Beyond (Music World's new bookstore chain)" -- what books have you procured recently?

My owner recently attended and present at Podcamp Pittsburgh 3 (PCPGH3). See what podcamps may be in your neighborhood at Podcamp.pbwiki.com; use keyword PCPGH3 in your google searches for related articles, blogs, videos and podcasts.

Have a windy day.

..HF.

Huron 1

Hey, this is NOT a view out my window! I think my owner is staying
with relatives, for funerary reasons, up in Huron, Ohio. My leaves
still have not been raked!

..HF.

Afternoon Lodgers, pt. 2

Point in fact: the lodgers trashed this establishment.

..HF.

Afternoon Lodgers

Why can't I find such flocks of lodgers. Well, s'pose I don't want the
accompanying clean-up duties when they fly south!

..HF.

Save Yourselves! Raise Oil Prices!

"The prime minister of Qatar said Tuesday that "fair" oil prices of between $70 to $90 per barrel would ensure that expensive oil exploration could continue, avoiding price spikes in the future.

Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani said that while oil prices below $70 a barrel would help consumers in the short term, it later could trigger price rallies.

Lower prices mean weaker investment and lower output from oil producers, which risks boosting oil prices once global economic growth picks up again."

Excerpted from an article By Pablo Gorondi, an Associated Press writer, this seems to say that lower global oil prices are bad for global consumers.

Is it true that we should keep oil and associated distillate (e.g., gasoline) prices high so that exploration for new sources can continue? Will this benefit the global consumer? Or merely benefit those seeking sell this weird logic to the consumer?

This house is confused!

..HF.

Unadulterated Capitalistic Rant

What is an "Unadulterated Capitalistic Rant"?

Blogged by a house, no less?

"Buy me".

I don't ask for much, and my owner is lazier (or just not motivated, is that it?) than most. I don't have a nicely painted realtor's "for sale" sign out front, just one of those buy-it-at-Loew's sell-it-yourself for-sale-by-owner plastic placards.

I used to have a Craigslist post... but that expired and is no longer. He hasn't recreated it yet.

Now I have a homepage, blog, a podcast, a FaceBook page, even a blip.tv page which is hosting my podcast. But the blip.tv site doesn't have a "trailer" video. Blip is, after all, a video site... why no video, owner!? Show folks my rooms, my gardens, my bamboo groves, how easy it is to find me (although I'm on a "dead-end" street in little ol' Wilkins Township). Do I have to show them myself??


[URL: Google Maps aerial view]

Also, what do you want to sell me for? What price? You have that listed nowhere on this blog, but you want to sell me? As they say in the blog/twitter world, "WTF"?

Okay, since you won't set a price, I'll set an expectation for the reader. Here's a house which has inspired a weird blog, a slightly more weird podcast (with about four people in the audience, one of whom may be my owner) several videos on Google's video site (under the moderately unassuming and offbeat name "Silurian-Devonian Films"), and countless twitter posts. Well, alright, 84 updates as of this post is not "countless", but there is some energy there. In short, this is a house with global reach, a global audience, essentially a global character...and two mature phyllostachys bamboo groves. This house has an impressive Turtle Creek Valley view (looking up towards Monroeville, PA) from high on an Eastward facing hillside; lush foliage surrounds it; a bustling seasonal greenhouse is situated just down the hill, across the street, originally owned by John Ayers, for whom this plan of lots was named; and lies just 14 miles from downtown Pittsburgh (dahntahn for yinzers), a 20-minute drive down I-376 on the weekends.

Mostly Harmless may be the planet my foundation rests upon, but Mostly Harmless I am not!

What price should I fetch in this depressed, depressing market? I think a global price. What think you?

Had I feet, I'd get down off this soapbox. But a thick, rocky field-stone foundation is all I've got, so I'll just stop.

..HF.

House Forlorn Reads 6

[Note: this second listing for HFR #6 is a cross-post from Blip.tv]

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Seville, Ancient Egypt and Auguste Rodin's papa:  tourist picture guide All Sevilla, John Ruffe's "The Egyptians", and David Weiss' "Naked Came I".

House Forlorn Reads" is an episodic podcast brought to you by a house whose owners have moved out but haven't yet sold it to new owners. The house is sad and eager to have new humans living in it.  This podcast, along with the House Forlorn blog and selected House Forlorn Chogger comics, can be found at HouseForlorn.com.
Date of Production: 20081102
post-production completed: 20081108
Length: 00:15:45

House Forlorn Reads 6

Seville, Ancient Egypt and Auguste Rodin's papa: tourist picture guide All Sevilla, John Ruffle's "The Egyptians", and David Weiss' "Naked Came I".

House Forlorn Reads" is an episodic podcast brought to you by a house whose owners have moved out but haven't yet sold it to new owners. The house is sad and eager to have new humans living in it. This podcast, along with the House Forlorn blog and selected House Forlorn Chogger comics, can be found at HouseForlorn.com.
Date of Production: 20081102
post-production completed: 20081108
Length: 00:15:45

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I Feel Like a Frog Prince Sometimes

He was here briefly twice: once two weeks ago to give the lawn a final cutting before fall set in, and again last night, to sweep the leaves off the steps before today's rain kicked in.

But, my for-sale sign is still blank, my rooms still bare, my thermostat set low: in short, he does the bare necessities, but what is he doing to ensure a loving future for me? I've said this before, I'll say it again: I wanna human family living inside me - kids, dogs, parents - people to use me as a house is intended to be used.

I wonder if I'd get more love if I moved to California? Can a house do that?

I've never felt more like the proverbial frog prince - not so much obscure, but just another unselected bachelor amongst millions.

..HF.

House Forlorn Reads 6 - HFR Transcript

Seville, Ancient Egypt and the life of Auguste Rodin. tourist picture guide All Sevilla, John Ruffe's "The Egyptians", and David Weiss' "Naked Came I".

House Forlorn Reads" is an episodic podcast brought to you by a house whose owners have moved out but haven't yet sold it to new owners. The house is sad and eager to have new humans living in it. This podcast, along with the House Forlorn blog and selected House Forlorn Chogger comics, can be found at HouseForlorn.com.
Date of Production: 20081102
post-production completed: 20080000
Length: 00:00:00
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blip:


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House Forlorn Reads episode 6

You've stumbled upon House Forlorn Reads, Episode 6. If you intended on finding a podcast about the continual adversarial relationship between Cleveland sports franchises and those in PIttsburgh, specifically of the pigskin ilk, you're hanging around the wrong Hall of Fame altogether - podcasts on that subject are probably being recorded in Canton, Ohio.

"House Forlorn Reads" is recorded for you by a house whose owners have moved out but haven't yet sold it to new owners. The house is sad and eager to have new humans living in it. This podcast, along with the House Forlorn blog and selected House Forlorn Chogger comics, can be found at HouseForlorn.com.

The music you hear is Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor BWV565, produced by James Clarke, of the UK. This and other podcast-friendly music can be found on the "podsafe music network" at music.podshow.com.

I have a thirst for books, which stems from a lack of human (or canine/feline) companionship -- nobody flicking on lights, stomping up and down my stairs, cooking bacon, showering for hours on end or barking/meowing at strange noises outside.

Where does your thirst for books come from? Send a message to Houseforlorn@gmail.com, and I'll convey your thirst to others via this podcast. Let me know if you're a human or a house, where you're from, and what kind of house, home, apartment or tiny little abode you inhabit or are. Also, tell me what books drive your thirst. I'll leave names out of it, unless your name happens to be something like "colonial", "saltbox", "felt tent", "geodesic dome", "limestone cavern", "apartment" or "flat".

Do you have any stories about your books? For example, my owner recently came across 5 boxes of free books at an estate auction in Circleville, Pennsylvania - people are giving away the nicest books at the lowest prices, all because they don't wanna carry those boxes any further. What strange places have your books come from?

In today's show, we'll read three scupltural excerpts for you - touching on Seville, Ancient Egypt and the life of Auguste Rodin.

"All Sevilla" is the English Edition of a travel guide, with "127 Colour Photographs"; the guide was compiled by the Technical Department of Editorial Escudo De Oro, S.A., in a 6th Edition dated May 1984. This tourist guide to this ancient city in southern Spain covers mostly the religious architecture, but also touchs on bull-fighting, food, paintings of note and secular architecture.

John Ruffles' "The Egyptians" is a an in-depth overview of a culture that flourished for about thirty-one hundred years before running headlong into the Roman civilization that was spreading around the Mediterranean in 31 B.C. Egypt is known for popularizing many ideas and technologies we use today: weaving, calendars, beer and irrigation control for growing crops.

"Naked Came I", by David Weiss, 1963 is not the memoirs of a certain penguin named Opus in the Bloom Country comic strip, but rather a historical novel about the live of sculptor Auguste Rodin. The frontispiece in this book is a quote from Don Quixote, by Cervantes: "Naked came I into this world, and naked must I go out." Wikipedia reminds us that this was also said by Job in the Old Testament, when he said "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return" (Book of Job, 1:21) Rodin was a 19th century french sculptor who's life was controversial in many ways, but very influential artistically.

First, from All Sevilla, pages 72 & 73, the university:

Next, I read pages 170 & 171 from The Egyptians:

Finally, in Naked Came I, we see Rodin's father nearing death on pages 348 & 349:

Thanks for listening to House Forlorn Reads. Check out the HF blog, photo-blog and comic-strip postings via www.houseforlorn.com. You can also follow houseforlorn on Twitter at twitter.com/houseforlorn. For a transcript of this and previous "House Forlorn Reads" podcasts, google the key phrase "HFR Transcript".

Twitterer pfmDesigner, in Zanesville, Ohio, tweets "Larry Niven's Fleet of Worlds was the first book I read on my Kindle" -- what have you read recently?

My owner recently attended and present at Podcamp Pittsburgh 3 (PCPGH3). See what podcamps may be in your neighborhood at Podcamp.pbwiki.com; use keyword PCPGH3 in your google searches for related articles, blogs, videos and podcasts.

Have a leafy day.

..HF.

House Forlorn Reads 5

House Forlorn Reads 5

Yorkshire, Mexico and Ritual: James Herriot's self-named "James Herriot's Yorkshire, Ignacio Bernal's "The Mexican National Museum of Anthropology", and Elizabeth S. Helfman's "Celebrating Nature: Rites and Ceremonies Around the World".

House Forlorn Reads" is an episodic podcast brought to you by a house whose owners have moved out but haven't yet sold it to new owners. The house is sad and eager to have new humans living in it. This podcast, along with the House Forlorn blog and selected House Forlorn Chogger comics, can be found at HouseForlorn.com.
Date of Production: 20081028
post-production completed: 20081101
Length: 00:14:41

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