Lost Between the Letters

Literary Mixtapes, 8tracks and Fan Fiction

dihansmann — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:42:44 +0000

I’ve long been a devotee of Flavorwire’s Literary Mixtapes. Every so often the clever folks over there “sneak a look at the hypothetical iPods of some of literature’s most interesting characters” and provide their readership with a list and links. The character write-ups are pithy and thought provoking and the music is always interesting and often enjoyable. Some of my favorite mixes are:

Lyra Belacqua – “Here’s what we think Lyra would battle Mrs. Coulter, deceive Iofur Raknison, and read the alethiometer to.”

Harry Potter- “Here’s what we think Harry would be moping about, Wronski Feinting, and saving the world to.”

Ender Wiggin – “Here are the songs we think he’d calculate, strategize and defy gravity to.”

Earlier this year I was inspired to a couple of my own. The seed of that inspiration actually came not from “literature” per se but from a piece of Harry Potter fan fiction, albeit a very literary example of the type. Amends, or Truth and Reconciliation is the epic tale (as yet incomplete at 300,000 words – some of which I needed to look up) of what happened to Hermione after the war. Its complicated and dark, turning over all the rocks in the Potterverse and looking underneath them.

Perspective is nearly everything in fiction. Harry simply doesn’t pay attention to the complexities of the wizarding world the way Hermione does. So although wizarding world has authoritarian governments combated by underground resistant movements, rebel forces on the run, pirate radio stations and break ins at highly secure official installations, the seven Harry Potter books feel more like the story of one boy’s heroic brush with fate. Amends, told from Hermione’s perspective, is more complex and darkly nuanced and much more political. I spent most of September steeping myself in her combative, question-everything point of view and thoroughly enjoyed it. One of the results is this trio of playlists based on three of the main characters in the Amends plot line.

Wandless Incencio: Here are the songs I think Hermione would be time turning, writing code and plotting to overthrow the Ministry of Magic to.

Worth Twelve: Here’s what Neville would be pining, planting and pacing the Lancashire moors to.

House Arrest: And these are the tracks Draco would be stunt flying, sulking and re-evaluating his place in the world to.

8tracks doesn’t allow its users to list the songs in each mix (something to do with the legality of making music available for free on the internet – like Pandora there has to be an element of randomness). But each of the songs on the mix was chosen for a specific reason and, if you care to, you can read the liner notes for Hermione’s playlist, “Wandless Incendio” after the jump. Warning: it contains some spoiler alerts for the Amends plot line so beware.

Wandless Incendio Liner Notes

Can’t Go Back Now – The Weepies

Sure it’s been a long time since anyone did anything for Hermione but I think she’s mourning her lost childhood at this point. It’s been so long. And now she’s even more isolated than ever before. She needs to take a lot of steps all by herself.

Anthem, Pt.2 – Blink 182

Sure this a little teenager and yell-y but Hermione is (among other things) a very angry teenager. And she is dealing with a mess she didn’t make. If the DA generation is fucked up – and they most certainly ARE – then the Ministry is to blame.

Gold Medal – The Donnas

All those purebloods kept putting her down, telling her ‘no’ and generally standing in her light but that only ever made her work harder. “I’m so sorry you never wanted me. But that’s how you made me want the gold medal.” She’ll get it, too.

Happier – Guster

She’s walking away from all of that now. They should count themselves lucky she’s doing what was done unto her.

Iko Iko – The Belle Stars

Hermione is a child of the 80’s even more than I am and I think she would have been conversant with the pop music of the day – especially in her early years at Hogwarts. I like both its actual backstory – about conflicting Mardi Gras Parade teams – and the reference to grandmothers (another reminder for her that everyone knows everyone in the wizarding world).

Tell Your Story Walking – Deb Talan

This one is for her new role as Recording Angel of the War Crimes Commission. ‘Tell it to the judge,’ indeed.

Reason Why – Rachael Yamagata

Maybe she’s not sad about Ron qua boyfriend, but she is sad about the whole situation – leaving the burrow, losing that whole adoptive family and Harry by proxy as well. And she’s lost without her place in the trio – she’s been defining herself against Harry and Ron for so many years. As difficult as everything was for them during the war it feels nostalgically long ago at this point.

It’s Gonna Be – Norah Jones

I like both the sentiment and the lyrics here.

Nine in the Afternoon – Panic! At the Disco

Stage direction: Enter the timeturner. “Losing the feeling of feeling unique,” indeed!

Three Ways – The Wallflowers

At this point Hermione is pretty much choosing the hardest way to do everything in her life and feeling not a little nihilistic to boot. making this the perfect atmospheric combo. Burn it to the ground and walk away … real slow.

Suicide Blonde – The Weepies

This song is about identity crisis. It’s about simultaneously being the one that everyone wants to be or be with. And (spoiler alert) it’s about dyeing your hair Malfoy blonde.

Take What You Take – Lily Allen

Hermione is so sick of other peoples platitudinous advice. I think this song resonates perfectly. Also it has great word play which I think she would appreciate.

Pumpkin Soup – Kate Nash

This is not about smart choices – this is about being fed up with the situation and acting accordingly and breaking out of pre-established roles. How will this work out? “I hope you don’t think I’m unkind … I just want your kiss, boy.” She’s not looking for anything serious here folks – but for a girl who’s middle name is “serious” it’s a bit hard not to get more involved than she means to. Uh oh.

Break the Sky – The Hush Sound

And after Pumpkin Soup she needs to reassure herself that she is a totally independent individual with no connections to anyone. She’ll do it all on her own, thank you. This is the ultimate Get up and Go song – guaranteed to make you run faster, work harder and smile under nearly any circumstances. Hermione needs a long like this in her arsenal.

Sins of My Youth – Neon Trees

‘Hot like a smoking gun,’ no one has more dangerous habits than Hermione Granger at this point. And she certainly does ‘do it on designer drugs,’ folks. Now she really wants to know “Would you love me still?” It’s an urgent question – will he love her still?

Ballad of Mona Lisa – Panic! At the Disco

The sins you paid for, indeed. This is a bit Neville’s answer as well. I think he’s impressed and horrified as he watches Hermione set the world on fire. And as much as he’s paying attention, he doesn’t even know she’s got a time turner – in his defense he probably never knew she’d ever had one and so wouldn’t be in a position to suspect.

Manifest Destiny – Guster

This is such a great Neville and Hermione song. It’s not what they would do of course; neither of them is willing to shirk their responsibilities like that, but this is their dream – to just walk away from it all. They would love to build a town and then secede. Also “the Moon and Stars are ganging up on the Sun – rebellion.” Indeed.

Invincible – Ok Go

I think everyone who loves Hermione would agree that she can be a little bit scary. Her idea of a compliment is “earthly embodiment of the furies” and she means business. The ministry will have to deal with her first indeed. Neville could have told them what happens to people who stand in her way if they’d only asked him. As it I think they may find themselves lying stiff-as-a-board on the floor of the common room as she walks over them and goes about her business.

Us – Regina Spektor

Hermione (and co) are all too aware that everyone is ready to build a statue to them and later say it’s all their fault. And the wizarding community certainly does seem like living in a den of thieves.

Naughty, please

dihansmann — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:37:43 +0000

My sister visited for the weekend and we indulged in a holiday baking extravaganza making caramel blondies, eggnog muffins and coal cookies (the undisputed favorite).

These “lumps of coal” are simply delicious. If you have to be naughty to get them … it’s well worth it. The only difficulty is that they are so sinfully chocolaty that each one you eat earns you another. A dangerous cycle.

Kids, DO try this one at home. Recipe after the jump:

Coal Cookies

1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups (10 ounces) brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons espresso powder
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup (2 ounces) Dutch-process cocoa
1 1/2 cups (6 1/2 ounces) King Arthur 100% Organic White Whole Wheat Flour or King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips*

*Or a mixture of raisins, chips, and nuts.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets, or line them with parchment. Or lightly grease a mini-muffin pan. Or use a combination of pans: the recipe makes 36 cookies.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, baking powder, espresso powder, vanilla, and salt. Add the eggs, beating until smooth. Stir in the cocoa powder, then the flour; the dough will be stiff. Mix in the chocolate chips, or the chips/raisins/nuts.

Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls (about 1 1/2″ balls, about 1 1/8 ounces) onto the prepared baking sheets, or into the mini-muffin cups; a tablespoon cookie scoop is the perfect tool for this. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes (on a baking sheet); 15 minutes (in an aluminum mini-muffin pan), or 21 minutes (in a silicone mini-muffin pan); they’ll look not-quite-done in the center. Remove them from the oven, and allow the cookies to cool for about 10 minutes; or the mini muffins to cool for 20 minutes. Gently squeeze and shape the cookies into uneven balls, to resemble chunks of coal. Yield: 3 dozen cookies.

Note: Cookies stay fresh at room temperature no longer than a week. For extended storage, bake, then freeze immediately to serve later.

recipe via kingarthurflour.com

We tried adding bits of caramel to these but had to pick them out of the second half of the dough as they just melted all over the parchment paper. A better idea might be dried cherries.

What to read next.

dihansmann — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:15:20 +0000

NPR has created a list of the top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. This as awesome. Still more excellent is the funny (and very functional) flow chart of NPR’s selections created by SFSignal. ENJOY!

You might also want to check out Monkey See’s analysis of the final list with suggestions for how to be a winner including:

1. Write it a long time ago.

3. Be a dude.

4. Be British.

There are plenty of quibbles. But still its a very comprehensive list – I’ve only read a third of the books on it – and a great jumping off point for a fun reading adventure.

Starting from the top:

On the Fantasy side:

Or for Science Fiction:

“I’ll join you when hell freezes over:” Neville Longbottom

dihansmann — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:23:16 +0000

I said earlier that I wanted to come back to Neville after having re-read further into the books. I never made it to the end of the series with my posts last time so I didn’t get to his shining moment at the end of the series. Now I want to come back and explore how he grows from the toad-less boy in book one to Voldemort-defying BAMF in book seven.

Note: I’ll stick to Neville as characterized in the books for this post although I should note that I’m as pleased as anyone that the movie characterization finally allowed Neville to grow from walking punch line to the Sword-of-Gryffindor-wielding hero we knew him to be. It hasn’t hurt at all that the actor who plays him, Matthew Lewis, is a great candidate for Witch Weekly’s Most Charming Smile Award these days either.

Neville is so great!

Unfailingly kind. Determined. Adorably self effacing. Morally upstanding. Loyal. Nerdily enthusiastic. I could wax poetic on the subject – is my crush showing? Neville doesn’t always see the value in himself but he is quite capable of making friends who see it for him. I love the moment at the opening of Order of the Phoenix when he meets Luna:

‘And I don’t know who you are.’
‘I’m nobody,’ said Neville hurriedly.
‘No, you’re not,’ said Ginny sharply. ‘Neville Longbottom – Luna Lovegood…’

The DA (part the first)

“Nor had he said anything on the subject of Bellatrix and her fellow torturers’ escape; in fact, he barely spoke during D.A. meetings anymore, but worked relentlessly on every new jinx and counter curse Harry taught them, his plump face screwed up in concentration, apparently indifferent to injuries or accidents, working harder than anyone else in the room. He was improving so fast it was unnerving and when Harry taught them the Shield Charm, a means of deflecting minor jinxes so that they rebounded upon the attacker, only Hermione mastered the charm faster than Neville.”

Neville is determined. He insists that he, Luna and Ginny go with Harry to the Ministry at the end of Order of the Phoenix reminding Harry that its not all about him – they all have lives and loved ones at stake in this war. He’s also the last man standing with Harry at the end in the department of mysteries and defiant to the last despite a broken nose and wand.

And then … a new wand.

Ok, Wizarding World, WTF! Its explained ad nauseum in the books that “the wand chooses the wizard” and Harry can’t be the only person who has ever had to work with another person’s wand and found it doesn’t do the trick for him. Why are these wizarding parents setting their kids up for failure by sending them off to Hogwarts with poorly matched wands?

Its always been clear to me that part of Ron’s difficulty with school comes from spending two years with the wrong wand. No wonder Neville thinks he’s a squib when he did his first five years of magical education with someone else’s wand. Poor kid. I think getting his own wand finally would be instrumental to his re-birth as a confident Gryffindor and leader of men (and women). Its fine that he keeps his dad’s fugly sweater collection though – that’s quite sweet.

The DA (part the second)

“It helps to stand up to people. I noticed that when you used to do it.”

There’s relatively little of Neville in the seventh book compared to what we are told he’s been up to but even what little there is shows how much he’s changed. Its not clear when that happens. Suddenly he’s (still self effacingly) leading an army of child soldiers and acting as guardian angel of the whole school. Since no one (or at least not Harry) was paying much attention to him during all that time, it’s unclear when he made the transformation from Round-faced Toad Loser to Understated Underground Resistance Leader.

It was there all along.

But has he really changed? Sure he’s grown up, stutters less, knows more spells, has a new wand. But I think he’s largely the same person all along. Still slightly self-effacing but ultimately ready to get the job done. JK Rowling in an 2007 interview:

“And he really was The Boy It Could’ve Been, because as you know, as I made clear, he was born hours before Harry, he was born on the 30th of July, Voldemort singled him out as the other possibility. But the great thing about Neville’s story for me, the over-arching story about Neville, is that he proves himself to be a boy who could’ve done it too.”

I couldn’t agree more. Three cheers for Neville Longbottom. Hip hip, hooray!!!!

WANTED: DUMBLEDORE’S ARMY

dihansmann — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:27:07 +0000

Aren’t these great? I found them here but think they originated here.

There wasn’t one for Ginny, which I thought was such a startling oversight that I made one myself. Thanks for the inspiration pink-martini! I hope you don’t mind.

Click here for more Harry Potter.

Fan Fun Weekend

dihansmann — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:18:29 +0000

The last Harry Potter Weekend has come and gone. I enjoyed it to the max; I went to a midnight release with friends and dressed up as a Ravenclaw in uniform skirt, blue and grey striped tie, wand and robes adapted from my graduation gown. My sister came over from Madison to see it with me again on Friday after work. I quite enjoyed … but didn’t entirely love the movie. I haven’t really processed it yet.

Uncertainty about the movie not withstanding, we celebrated Harry Potterdom to the max by discussing it ad nauseum while watching movies 5 thru 7a, preparing British foods for dinner (Bubble and Squeak is great) and experimenting with Pumpkin Pasties for desert. The recipe, as we executed it, was basically pumpkin pie filling cooked in a casserole dish until firm and then scooped into 4″ circles of pie dough, folded and crimped, then baked till brown. They were delicious, if not very seasonally appropriate.

We also celebrated our favorite character with a mixed drink we’ve christened the “Strong Neville” adapted from the Backyard Bartender’s HP themed coctails. We slightly upped both the lemon juice and simple syrup in an effort to make it slightly less alcoholic but no less delicious. The result was, as promised: “a little fussy, quintessentially British, and unexpectedly strong.” Her recipe:

Neville Longbottom
1.5 oz tea-infused gin
1 oz Pimm’s
.75 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
.75 oz simple syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Shake and strain into an ice-filled glass.

Tea-Infused Gin
In an airtight jar, combine 1.5 cups of gin and 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of loose English Breakfast tea leaves. Seal the jar, shake once, and allow to sit at room temperature for two hours. After two hours, open the jar and strain out the gin.

It was, all in all, a lovely weekend of fan fun.

Click here for more on Harry Potter.

Happy 4th of July

dihansmann — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 22:31:29 +0000

via the New York Times

No Sense of Decency

dihansmann — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 12:45:30 +0000

Today’s New York Times op ed piece by William Cronan, of the UW Madison Geography Department (Go Badgers!), is so on the money that I’m just posting it in its entirety.

NOW that a Wisconsin judge has temporarily blocked a state law that would strip public employee unions of most collective bargaining rights, it’s worth stepping back to place these events in larger historical context.

Republicans in Wisconsin are seeking to reverse civic traditions that for more than a century have been among the most celebrated achievements not just of their state, but of their own party as well.

Wisconsin was at the forefront of the progressive reform movement in the early 20th century, when the policies of Gov. Robert M. La Follette prompted a fellow Republican, Theodore Roosevelt, to call the state a “laboratory of democracy.” The state pioneered many social reforms: It was the first to introduce workers’ compensation, in 1911; unemployment insurance, in 1932; and public employee bargaining, in 1959.

University of Wisconsin professors helped design Social Security and were responsible for founding the union that eventually became the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Wisconsin reformers were equally active in promoting workplace safety, and often led the nation in natural resource conservation and environmental protection.

But while Americans are aware of this progressive tradition, they probably don’t know that many of the innovations on behalf of working people were at least as much the work of Republicans as of Democrats.

Although Wisconsin has a Democratic reputation these days — it backed the party’s presidential candidates in 2000, 2004 and 2008 — the state was dominated by Republicans for a full century after the Civil War. The Democratic Party was so ineffective that Wisconsin politics were largely conducted as debates between the progressive and conservative wings of the Republican Party.

When the Wisconsin Democratic Party finally revived itself in the 1950s, it did so in a context where members of both parties were unusually open to bipartisan policy approaches. Many of the new Democrats had in fact been progressive Republicans just a few years earlier, having left the party in revulsion against the reactionary politics of their own senator, Joseph R. McCarthy, and in sympathy with postwar liberalizing forces like the growing civil rights movement.

The demonizing of government at all levels that has become such a reflexive impulse for conservatives in the early 21st century would have mystified most elected officials in Wisconsin just a few decades ago.

When Gov. Gaylord A. Nelson, a Democrat, sought to extend collective bargaining rights to municipal workers in 1959, he did so in partnership with a Legislature in which one house was controlled by the Republicans. Both sides believed the normalization of labor-management relations would increase efficiency and avoid crippling strikes like those of the Milwaukee garbage collectors during the 1950s. Later, in 1967, when collective bargaining was extended to state workers for the same reasons, the reform was promoted by a Republican governor, Warren P. Knowles, with a Republican Legislature.

The policies that the current governor, Scott Walker, has sought to overturn, in other words, are legacies of his own party.

But Mr. Walker’s assault on collective bargaining rights breaks with Wisconsin history in two much deeper ways as well. Among the state’s proudest traditions is a passion for transparent government that often strikes outsiders as extreme. Its open meetings law, open records law and public comment procedures are among the strongest in the nation. Indeed, the basis for the restraining order blocking the collective bargaining law is that Republicans may have violated open meetings rules in passing it. The legislation they have enacted turns out to be radical not just in its content, but in its blunt ends-justify-the-means disregard for openness and transparency.

This in turn points to what is perhaps Mr. Walker’s greatest break from the political traditions of his state. Wisconsinites have long believed that common problems deserve common solutions, and that when something needs fixing, we should roll up our sleeves and work together — no matter what our politics — to achieve the common good.

Mr. Walker’s conduct has provoked a level of divisiveness and bitter partisan hostility the likes of which have not been seen in this state since at least the Vietnam War. Many citizens are furious at their governor and his party, not only because of profound policy differences, but because these particular Republicans have exercised power in abusively nontransparent ways that represent such a radical break from the state’s tradition of open government.

Perhaps that is why — as a centrist and a lifelong independent — I have found myself returning over the past few weeks to the question posed by the lawyer Joseph N. Welch during the hearings that finally helped bring down another Wisconsin Republican, Joe McCarthy, in 1954: “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”

Scott Walker is not Joe McCarthy. Their political convictions and the two moments in history are quite different. But there is something about the style of the two men — their aggressiveness, their self-certainty, their seeming indifference to contrary views — that may help explain the extreme partisan reactions they triggered. McCarthy helped create the modern Democratic Party in Wisconsin by infuriating progressive Republicans, imagining that he could build a national platform by cultivating an image as a sternly uncompromising leader willing to attack anyone who stood in his way. Mr. Walker appears to be provoking some of the same ire from adversaries and from advocates of good government by acting with a similar contempt for those who disagree with him.

The turmoil in Wisconsin is not only about bargaining rights or the pension payments of public employees. It is about transparency and openness. It is about neighborliness, decency and mutual respect. Joe McCarthy forgot these lessons of good government, and so, I fear, has Mr. Walker. Wisconsin’s citizens have not.

William Cronon is a professor of history, geography and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

A version of this op-ed appeared in print on March 22, 2011, on page A27 of the New York edition.

So its going to take longer than I had hoped …

dihansmann — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:54:23 +0000

… but I don’t think anyone is done fighting this battle yet. Now that the collective bargaining portion of the Budget Repair Bill has passed what remains for its opponents is to take back the WI legislature the old fashioned way … by throwing out the bums. Its not very satisfying to my craving for instant gratification but it won’t take as long as it might. We can start by voting Joanne Kloppenberg onto the Supreme Court. Then we can recall Dan Kapanke and any other republican state senators who caved to party loyalty instead of voting with their constituents. And in 2012 we can take back the whole Assembly. To keep spirits up, here’s another wonderful video by Matt Wisniewski:

Wisconsin Protests Pt. 4, posted with vodpod

We can protest in La Crosse too.

dihansmann — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:47:19 +0000

Don’t think this is only happening in Madison right now. I skipped my first hour of work today to go to a rally outside the county court building and I was not the only one. Protesters lined the street on both sides for more than a block and energy was still high at 10 AM when I realized I really did need to go to work.

I already have my picture on the La Crosse Tribune website for it. We really do live in an age of instantaneous media.