tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post2985364241925639709..comments2024-03-27T23:55:17.673-07:00Comments on Flogging Babel: Mudlarks of LondonMichael Swanwickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-74164209317839686492011-03-08T19:41:30.381-08:002011-03-08T19:41:30.381-08:00My modesty is so great it would fill a room. As G...My modesty is so great it would fill a room. As Gary Trudeau would put it.Michael Swanwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-70917288316261115822011-03-08T12:33:54.688-08:002011-03-08T12:33:54.688-08:00When a soufflé falls, Michael, you tell people it&...When a soufflé falls, Michael, you tell people it's supposed to be like that, it's a crustless quiche.<br /><br />And, of course, you also meant your story to have more than one interpretation. You are simply too modest to say so.<br /><br />I feel humbled by the thought I might not have discovered them all. [grin]JJMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13404985455733545060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-27818778272881635302011-03-05T14:49:26.160-08:002011-03-05T14:49:26.160-08:00That's the problem with writing first draft --...That's the problem with writing first draft -- the text is never airtight. And of course I have only the time to blog first draft. <br /><br />My fiction, however, I don't let anybody read before I've worked it to a fine gloss.Michael Swanwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-22368222248536982132011-03-04T13:53:13.422-08:002011-03-04T13:53:13.422-08:00So it really was tourists from two centuries ago, ...So it really was tourists from two centuries ago, Michael? Your story leaves several interpretations open, stupid docents who didn't understand what they had being one of them. Somehow, I had associated the clay pipes more with the Netherlands and colonial Virginia, hadn't really had any reason to focus on pipes in England during this time.JJMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13404985455733545060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-47076965193920821112011-03-04T13:23:36.982-08:002011-03-04T13:23:36.982-08:00Yep, the pipe stems were dropped there by tourists...Yep, the pipe stems were dropped there by tourists. A humbling realization for an American to have. It's like Eddie Izzard says, "I grew up in Europe . . . where the history comes from."<br /><br />Of course, in Egypt, their antiquities are marred by graffiti left by the Ancient Greeks . . .Michael Swanwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-79957182493406184152011-03-04T12:51:10.548-08:002011-03-04T12:51:10.548-08:00It suddenly dawns on me, since I've been (re)w...It suddenly dawns on me, since I've been (re)watching <i>Lord of the Rings</i> over these past few nights -- there are hobbits among the tourists. They, too, had long-stemmed pipes, albeit curved. Perhaps they left the good ones at home and took only the cheap white straight-stemmed clay ones with them when they travelled.<br /><br />Between thee and me, Matthew, we may have hit upon the truth. :)JJMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13404985455733545060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-31553883513795954442011-03-04T12:18:59.726-08:002011-03-04T12:18:59.726-08:00... or perhaps the point is that tourists have bee...... or perhaps the point is that tourists have been coming for so long that ...<br /><br />(Otherwise, it's the know-nothing docent disjunct, I'm afraid.)Matthew Brandihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15316867558957637393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-81455732554015819112011-03-04T11:05:59.994-08:002011-03-04T11:05:59.994-08:00I choose to believe the English are still using th...I choose to believe the English are still using the old pipe stem shared pipe method, rather than think that the docents at that castle know so little. ... I am also very good at self-delusion, but that's beside the point.<br /><br />Good to know all those years living in the 18th century had <i>some</i> value ... ;)<br /><br />Interesting that mudlarking is still being done, although I don't know why I should be surprised. For this information, and for the link to the Spitalfields Life site, much thanks.<br />--MarioJJMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13404985455733545060noreply@blogger.com