Day 1 - Ojo and Unc Nunkie eat last bit of bread
Day 2 - Ojo & Unc leave in morning to visit Dr Pipt - arrive at 2 PM - Dr Pipt
  finishes the Powder of Life - Ojo mixes Scraps' brains - night with Pipt & Margolotte
Day 3 - After breakfast they bring Scraps to life - Margolotte & Unc petrified -
  the party leaves in search of a charm - they leave the blue forest at sundown -
  night in Voice's cottage
Day 4 - They meet the Victrola - Foolish Owl & Wise Donkey - Woozy - they find the
  Yellow Brick Road - capture & release by Shaggy Man - night in deserted cottage
Day 5 - The party encounters the sliding road - Chiss - they reach the barrier at the
  Munchkin/EC border - dinner at farmhouse - Ojo picks the 6-leaf clover - he is arrested
  as they enter the EC - Ojo has supper w/Tollydiggle, spends night in jail - Shaggy has
  dinner w/Ozma, Wizard, Dorothy & Scarecrow - night in palace
Day 6 - The trial of Ojo - spends afternoon w/Dorothy, night in palace
Day 7 - Reconstituted party spends night at Jack Pumpkinhead's home, "a day's
journey from the Emerald City" 
Day 8 - "It was a two-days' journey from Jack Pumpkinhead's house to the edge of
  the Quadling Country" - first night in Winkie field ("slept on the broad
  fields, among the buttercups and daisies")
Day 9 - "Toward evening of the second day" they meet the Tottenhots -
  night in Tottenhot shelter
Day 10 - The party meets Mr Yoop - Toto captures the Hoppers' Champion - Ojo gets
  water from dark well - night with lazy Quadling
Day 11 - Morning on Trick River - arrive at Tin Woodman's castle in late PM - night at castle
Day 12 - The party leaves for the EC - Unc Nunkie & Margolotte released from
enchantment

Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 22:14:58 -0500
From: Richard Bauman <RBauman at compuserve.com>
Subject: Today's Oz Growls
Sender: Richard Bauman <RBauman at compuserve.com>
 
Well, it is Wednesday and we aren't discussing PG yet.  Thus, 
 
p.15 I am really put off by this "Oz telegraph" bit.  This is Mr. Fantasy
time, not Mr. Science time.  It just sounds so dumb to anyone who has a
smattering of scientific knowledge.
 
The intro out of the way, I thought this was a good story and the plentiful
art work made it even better.  
 
p. 48 "Unc Nunkie, the descendant of the former kings of the Munchkins,
before this country became a part of the Land of Oz.  
 
Now there is a lead for someone to write a whole story.
 
p. 144  Dorothy's Pink Kitten?  It seems like we have discussed this fairly
recently.  Eureka is a great favorite at the palace?  Last I recall she was
in trouble for being a cat and lusting for a piggy.
 
p. 156 Speaking of people in trouble, we have Chiss, the porcupine.  "Every
animal must do what Nature intends it to do."  I even know humans who try
to excuse their bad behavior with this argument.  
 
p. 159 Who is the mystery girl behind the gate?  They didn't have a girl
with them.
 
p. 200 Baum's ideas of what to do with criminals.  This must be the origin
of the Liberal approach to crime and punishment.  I have never heard them
give him any credit.  This nutty idea has been tried for the last 30 years
or so and has been an absolute failure.
 
p. 229 And here we have the explanation for laws, "...but no law is ever
made without some purpose, and that purpose is usually to protect all the
people and guard their welfare."  Right!  We have so many laws now that you
almost need a lawyer to tell you if it is safe to step out of the house. 
The  best idea I ever heard was anytime we pass a law, we have to get rid
of ten old ones.  At that rate we might get down to a reasonable number of
useful laws in two or three hundred years.
 
Anyway.....to get the ball rolling.... Happy T-day to all, Bear  (:<)

Date: Thu, 27 Nov 1997 13:15:36 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
Subject: PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ
 
In rereading PATCHWORK GIRL, I was struck by the theme of frustration. It's
most obvious in the stories of Ojo, who gathers four spell ingredients only
to be blocked on the fifth, and Dr. Pipt, who after stirring pots for six
years must return to the task a day later. But it's also visible in little
things. Twice Ojo thinks he's making progress on his journey, only to find
himself moving backward (on the road, on the river). He sleeps and eats in
a cottage but finds himself as tired and hungry as before.

   Connected to frustration is the theme of cages. Two characters, the
Woozy and Mr. Yoop, have been penned up by the populace because of their
appetites. Ojo finds fences blocking his way four times, including the
Woozy's pen; in earlier travels through Oz most obstacles have been
natural, not manmade. And, of course, Ojo is put in the gilded cage of the
Emerald City jail.

   Frustration, confinement--do these themes hint at L. Frank Baum's state
of mind as he returned to writing Oz books?
 
Ojo is unusual among Baum's protagonists in that he grows psychologically.
He doesn't just return home, like Dorothy, or change magically, like
Tip/Ozma. With continual prodding, he learns to discard the notion that
he's unlucky.

   I find just as interesting the parts of his character that don't change.
Ojo and Dorothy reverse some stereotypical gender traits. Ojo's emotions
are close to the surface; he sobs and weeps several times. (I can't 'member
Dorothy crying, and Trot does so only after the battle in SEA FAIRIES and
when Cap'n Bill disappears in SCARECROW.) Dorothy is a conqueror who can
greet a stranger with the words, "Do you surrender?" (p. 272). In their
fight with the Tottenhots, Dorothy and Toto wreak havoc while Ojo is
quickly overpowered.

   But Ojo is also quite a disobedient boy. He sneaks extra brains into the
patchwork girl's head. He picks the clover after he's not only been warned
not to, but promised that if he asks nicely Ozma will give him one. He
snatches oil from Nick Chopper's "veins" without asking. (Ruth Plumly
Thompson may have picked up on this in the first chapter of OJO; there Ojo
disobeys Unc Nunkie and goes out to the gypsies.)
 
Yet another interesting contrast is how Ozma's justice system has evolved
since DOROTHY & THE WIZARD. Then no one could find the missing piglet in a
vase; now it takes less than a day for the Wizard to produce the clover
from the vase [!] where Scraps hid it. "Nothing can be hidden from our
powerful Ruler's Magic Picture--nor from the watchful eyes of the humble
[!] Wizard of Oz!" (p. 228). "Nothing that happens in the Land of Oz
escapes the notice of...Glinda the Good" (p. 332). So be good, for
goodness' sake!
 
On page 34 there's a curious picture. Though labeled "Ojo," it doesn't look
like Neill's other drawings of him, even the face-on sketch on p. 264. I
wonder if this was Neill's first try at a "Munchkin boy," patterned after
Denslow's fat-cheeked Munchkins in WIZARD. Perhaps he discarded that
characterization for a standard Neill face, but when the time came to fill
PATCHWORK GIRL with art he used his first sketch along with the many
duplicates and cribs from LITTLE WIZARD STORIES.

   The sketch of the Woozy on p. 114 may be another early stab at a
character. Compare the beast's ears, nose, knees, tail, and corners to the
other drawings.
 
Happy [American] Thanksgiving!
 
J. L. Bell                           JnoLBell at compuserve.com

Date: Sat, 29 Nov 1997 13:40:20 -0600
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, Thanksgiving Edition
 
Bear:
>p.15 I am really put off by this "Oz telegraph" bit.  This is Mr. Fantasy
>time, not Mr. Science time.  It just sounds so dumb to anyone who has a
>smattering of scientific knowledge.
 
Yes, but wireless telegraphy was quite new at the time, and not many people
knew much about it. Like the racism in the book, one needs to make
allowances for the times.
 
>p. 48 "Unc Nunkie, the descendant of the former kings of the Munchkins,
>before this country became a part of the Land of Oz.
>
>Now there is a lead for someone to write a whole story.
 
RPT did. It's called _Ojo in Oz_. (She modifies what Baum said somewhat,
but basically works off that line.)
 
>p. 159 Who is the mystery girl behind the gate?  They didn't have a girl
>with them.
 
The girl behind the gate is obviously Dorothy. Neill must have forgotten
that she hadn't joined the party yet.
 
>p. 200 Baum's ideas of what to do with criminals.  This must be the origin
>of the Liberal approach to crime and punishment.  I have never heard them
>give him any credit.  This nutty idea has been tried for the last 30 years
>or so and has been an absolute failure.
 
See my comment to Tyler. This is not "the Liberal approach to crime and
punishment." Unless you want to agree that "creation science" is "the
Conservative approach to geology and biology."
 
J.L.:
Interesting observations on the theme of frustration and confinement in PG.
I think it may well have to do with his distaste for having to write more
Oz books for financial reasons when that's not what he wanted to write.
 
>Ojo is unusual among Baum's protagonists in that he grows psychologically.
>He doesn't just return home, like Dorothy, or change magically, like
>Tip/Ozma. With continual prodding, he learns to discard the notion that
>he's unlucky.
 
This brings up an interesting question. Ojo didn't know he was called "Ojo
the Unlucky" until Margalotte told him so, and after that nobody explained
to him why - yet he told the Tin Woodman a series of things about himself
that he thought justified the appellation. Unc Nunkie didn't speak enough
to have told him about them, as far as I can tell, so how did he know that
it was supposed to be unlucky to be born on Friday the 13th, or to be
left-handed, or to have a wart under one's arm?
 
Some comments on _Patchwork Girl_ (the book):
I was somewhat struck on this rereading with the large number of IEs,
considering that this book is a Quest rather than a Tour. Both encounters
with Victor Columbia Edison; the cottage where Ojo sleeps and eats but is
tired and hungry afterward; the Wise Owl and the Foolish Donkey; the
man-eating plants; Chiss; the backwards road and illusionary gate; the
Tottenhots; Mr. Yoop; the lazy Quadling; the Trick River - none of these
advances the plot at all. (And I may have left out one or two more, as far
as that goes.) They do, however, play into J.L.'s theme of frustration and
confinement; I don't know if Baum intended this consciously, but somehow
they do seem, irrelevant as they are to the primary quest, to integrate
into the story better than the various IEs in _DotWiz_ and _Road_. It was
only when I really thought about the story that I realized how much of it
was thrown in without any real significance. The Foolish Owl-Wise Donkey
episode is the only one that actually feels out of place.
 
I think the trial of Ojo is another episode that doesn't play well. Unlike
Bear, who apparently thinks it's an example of coddling criminals, I find
it simply incoherent. Obviously Ozma, or someone, actually saw Ojo pick the
clover, and knew exactly what he had done with it. That being the case,
what was the point of an elaborate Show Trial? Why not just bring Ojo
before Ozma immediately (rather than jailing him overnight) and ask him why
he knowingly broke a law?
 
And then there's the fact that neither Ozma nor the Wizard bothered to ask
Ojo for the complete list of what he needed for the charm. If they had,
they'd have known that the left wing of a yellow butterfly was as
unacceptable as, say, the left arm of a fat baby, and Ojo (and Dorothy and
Scraps and the Scarecrow) would have been spared a long and dangerous trip.
 
Despite all these nits, this is one of my favorites of the Oz books - not
my very favorite, but well in the top five. Baum didn't plot it as well as
some of the others, but he paced it better than most and the characters
stand out more than usual.

Date: Sun, 30 Nov 1997 01:43:43 -0500
From: "Melody G. Keller" <harmonyarts at compuserve.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest
Sender: "Melody G. Keller" <harmonyarts at compuserve.com>
 
        On "Patchwork Girl," the more-mature-writer Baum seems to have put
more thought into the mechanics of an artificially created being--he has
Margolotte give Scraps cloth lips, pearl teeth, a plush tongue in a mouth
cavity--nearly all the equipment required for speech except throat, larynx
and lungs. Her predecessor, the Scarecrow, with a mere painted mouth, has
no logical way to speak. I think Baum mentions the Scarecrow's face
wrinkling into various expressions, but is silent as to whether his painted
lips move like an animated cartoon or not. 
 
        On the meeting of Scarecrow and Scraps. Both of them brag about
having brains but no heart yet at first sight--Bang!--they're in love. They
even brag about their heartlessness and their attraction to each other in
the *same* conversation. Is this ironic or what? :-) Think Baum's trying to
tell us love comes from one's brain? Or even "Love conquers all"? :-) 
 
        Interesting that the Scarecrow gets a girlfriend, but none of the
canonical authors do the same for the Tin Woodman....
 
        Tin Woodman: And *me* the one who asked for a heart!
 
        As counterpoint to the Scarecrow/Scraps encounter, in "Tin
Woodman," Nick Chopper says his heart cannot love--and his later search for
Nimmee Amee is obviously motivated by duty, not love. 
 
        Tin Woodman: I have a heart but cannot love.
        Scarecrow: I don't have a heart, but I apparently love Scraps....
        Tin Woodman: Didn't Baum say I was capable of love in an earlier Ozzy history?
        Scarecrow: Our beloved creator apparently liked to keep folks guessing....
 
        Phyllis Karr thought of a clever solution to the "left wing of a
yellow butterfly" problem--in one original story of hers, Dr. Pipt says the
Potion of Unpetrifaction called for the yellow butterfly to flutter its
left wing to cool the potion, not have its wing pulled off and used as an
ingredient.
 
        The Tin Woodman's willingness to sacrifice two people to save a
mere bug from dismemberment seems unbalanced--'til one recalls that the Tin
Woodman himself well knows what it's like to be cruelly cut apart. That is
likely why he cannot stand the thought of dismembering another living thing
even in a good cause.
 
Melody Grandy

Date: Sun, 30 Nov 1997 16:17:05 -0800
From: Bob Spark <bspark at pacbell.net>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 11-30-97
 
Howdy.  Just 24 shopping days left 'til Christmas!
 
     In regards to_The Patchwork Girl..._,
>  I was somewhat struck on this rereading with the large
>  number of IEs, considering that this book is a Quest rather
>  than a Tour. Both encounters with Victor Columbia Edison;
>  the cottage where Ojo sleeps and eats but is tired and
>  hungry afterward...

     You know, that IE about the cottage bothers me.  There has to be a
lot more to it that Baum mentions.  If Ojo is not refreshed nor his
hunger appeased, is the entire company under some delusion, or perhaps
just Ojo?  The wolf appearing at the door three times has to be more
significant than just a reference to the old saw about poverty.  For
that matter, if the reference is to that old saying, where is the
poverty? The whole episode felt ominous to me, but nothing more happens
in regards to it.
 
>  On the meeting of Scarecrow and Scraps. Both of them brag
>  about having brains but no heart yet at first
>  sight--Bang!--they're in love. They even brag about their
>  heartlessness and their attraction to each other in the
>  *same* conversation. Is this ironic or what? :-) Think
>  Baum's trying to tell us love comes from one's brain? Or
>  even "Love conquers all"? :-) 

     I was reminded of those gruff people that we all know.  You know,
the ones who are just softies on the inside.  Bears can be that way.
 
Bob Spark

Date: Mon, 01 Dec 1997 04:30:55 -0800
From: Nathan Mulac DeHoff <vovat at geocities.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest stuff
 
J. L. Bell:
I don't have a copy of _Patchwork Girl_ handy, but a Bugle article on 
Neill revealed that the more "rounded" Woozy was Neill's first attempt.  
Baum rejected the drawing, and Neill drew a more square Woozy.  For some 
reason, the rejected drawing of the Woozy appeared in the finished book, 
as well as in _Who's Who_.
 
Melody:
I would guess that Nick Chopper has the ability to love, but does not 
realize it (at least by the time of _Tin Woodman_).  I'm not sure he ever 
really loved Nimmie Amee that much.  In _Wizard_ (I think, although it 
might have been _Tin Woodman_), Nick says something like, "She was so 
beautiful that I grew to love her."  He seems to be indicating that his 
"love" for Nimmie Amee was based primarily on a physical attraction.
 
--
Nathan Mulac DeHoff
vovat at geocities.com or lnvf at grove.iup.edu

"I'm having a wonderful time, but I'd rather be whistling in the dark."

Date: Mon, 01 Dec 1997 09:59:49 -0600 (CST)
From: Ruth Berman <berma005 at maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: ozzy digest
 
Bear and J.L. Bell and David Hulan: Ojo and Unc Nunkie's relation to
the ancient Munchkin kings as a lead-in to a story (Bear) -- as David
Hulan commented, Thompson did.  Did a nice job of it, too.  Her Ojo is
perhaps a more likable character than Baum's, who whines a but too
much about his unluckiness.  (The Patchwork Girl herself, though, is an
engaging character, and it's no wonder Baum wound up naming the
book after her, even though she's not the protagonist.  He doesn't
seem to have considered naming the book "Ojo of Oz," though.)  It's an
oddity that Baum generally did better with girls as protagonists, while
RPT generally did better with boys.  I notice that J. L. Bell makes a
reasonable case for continuity of characterization between Ojo/LFB and
/RPT.  Also enjoyed J. L.'s comments on frustration as a theme.
Suggestion that Baum felt frustrated in this book at resuming series
he'd abandoned sounds plausible, as does idea that the discrepant
Ojo-illo was a retread of a something else.  (Answer to Bear's trivia
question: "Surrender Dorothy.")

   The artwork in "Patchwork Girl" is unusual in the series for its
repetition.  One of the "Bugle" articles on Neill commented that in
"Patchwork Girl" not only are there several illos essentially the same as
"Little Wizard" illos (it is apparently not clear which of the two books
Neill did them for first), but several of the illos are inserted (presumably
by someone at Reilly & Lee) by taking a more elaborate two-person
drawing and dividing it into two portraits, with some minimal reworking
of the backgrounds to make it less obvious that one illo is appearing
three times.  Perhaps he was rushed that year, or perhaps the initial
plan for the book's layout aimed at having fewer illos, and the
publishers changed their minds too late to get more.  Another part (or
another article?) quoted a letter from Baum objecting to the overly stiff,
wood-like Woozy Neill had drawn and pointed out that although Neill
made a more flexible-looking, un-grained Woozy for the first portrait,
and drew him that way for most of the rest of the book, the one illo
mentioned apparently is that original drawing Baum didn't like, and
another example of some kind of problem in getting enough artwork to
fill up the book.  Earlier, a short article on the Woozy by Dan Mannix
pointed out that Neill's Woozy looks rather like a parody of cubism, as
represented in such famous paintings as Duchamp's "Nude Descending
a Staircase" (and suggested that the predominant browns in Duchamp's
"Nude" may have influenced the color illos of the Woozy as brown,
when the text describes him as dark blue -- although Neill's impression
of the Woozy as made of wood may also have influenced the color, and
in turn evidently influenced RPT, who described the Woozy as made out
of wood in one of her books).  Either Baum or a publicist at R&L must
have noticed the cubist style of Neill's Woozy, because, although the
text of the story doesn't use the term to describe him, a poem written to
publicize the book (reprinted in a "Bugle" "Oz Scrapbook" page) used it
more than once.
 
Melody Grandy: Probably sexifolium rather than trifolium duplex?
 
Ruth Berman

Date: Mon, 01 Dec 1997 10:39:38 -0600
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 11-30-97
 
Melody:
One wonders whether there might not somewhere be a left wing from a yellow
butterfly that had been otherwise destroyed by some natural means. Snapped
up by a bird or the like, for instance. I'd have certainly asked the Magic
Picture to find one before giving up - though since the Wizard had come up
with another way to break the enchantment by then, it was irrelevant.
 
John K.:
>After considering the description of the voice on the record and the
>meter of the verse (such as it is), I am now convinced that what Baum
>is actually describing (and any contemporary reader would have known
>this) is a white singer (possibly Irish) performing an instance of the
>then-fashionable genre known as the "coon song", which, to my mind,
>considerably exonerates him.
 
Good point, since Baum clearly is contemptuous of that style of "music"; it
could be that he intended to show equal contempt for that style of racism.
 
Dave:
>_PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ_:
>At least the IEs in _Patchwork_ are a lot of fun and not strictly the
>mundane "Get the visitors to be just like us" formula.
 
Not many of Baum's IEs followed that formula; that was more Thompson's
style. Baum used it in _Road_, but I can't think offhand of any other
instances in his books.
 
David Hulan

Date: Mon, 01 Dec 1997 15:42:43 -0600 (CST)
From: Ruth Berman <berma005 at maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: ozzy digest
 
Bear & Bob Spark: People in the past have asked about the meaning of
the wolf at the door episode, but no one seems to have a
likely-sounding answer.  As you say, the proverbial wolf at the door
doesn't seem to be an explanation.  I wonder if there might have been
something else about it that cut from the ms.  There was one chapter in
the book that got cut, "The Garden of Meats," but that was from later
on, after leaving the Emerald City.  All that's known of it is in a letter of
Baum's and a few illos by Neill (published in the "Bugle" several years
back), a couple showing mobile vegetables tending a garden with
children's heads growing up from the ground, and one that presumably
didn't actually belong in the excised chapter, apparently a portrait of the
lazy Quadling's wife with the one eel she caught.  The letter indicates
that he omitted the chapter at the publisher's request, as the ms. was
too long, but that he was pleased to do it, as he wasn't satisfied with
the way the chapter turned out.  The "Bugle" editor speculated that he
might have decided it was too horrific, if the vegetables used their
meats-from-the-garden for food, as we do garden vegetables.

   By the way, I think Mr. Yoop gets his name from the Yoopers of
Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
 
Ruth Berman

Date: Mon, 01 Dec 1997 20:46:52 -0500
From: "Melody G. Keller" <harmonyarts at compuserve.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest, 12-01-97
Sender: "Melody G. Keller" <harmonyarts at compuserve.com>
 
Ruth: 
 
>Probably sexifolium rather than trifolium duplex?<
 
Interesting Latin Name possibility. "Trifolium" *is* the real-life family
name of the clover family, though. So "trifolium" is used to indicate Zim's
six-leaf clover plants are still in the clover family--and "duplex"  to
indicate both that they have six leaves & that's double the number a member
of the "trifolium" family should have. :-) Literally, the name's supposed
to mean "double three-leaf" or "three-leaf doubled."
 
Melody Grandy

Date: Mon, 01 Dec 1997 22:43:22 -0500 (EST)
From: JOdel at aol.com
Subject: Ozzy Digest, whenever...
 
So, on to Patchwork Girl. This is one of the ones which we had when I was a
kid. It was missing a page, somewhere in the last third, but so far as I can
recall, it wasn't in a crutial spot. 
 
This was never one of my top favorites, since the failure of Ojo's quest
always soured it for me, even though the book had the required happy outcome.
 
Baum seemed to be working very hard to reconstruct the way that his fairyland
opperated, and to get it down in writing so there would be no confusion. He
didn't succeed, since he went on messing with it. But there does seem to be a
strong degree of explanation throughout. 
 
No one, so far, has commented that the plot of  Patchwork Girl seems to
mimic, if not actually to parody, that of Wizard, at least as much as the
plot of Tik-Tok does that of Ozma. We have a child from a backwards, rural
area who abruptly finds himself in what might as well be a "new world" (to
wit, deep in the Munchkin country of Oz), forced out of a quiet, isolated
existence by what seems to be a natural disaster -- even if a very silent
one. This child is immediately deprived of the elderly relative who stands in
loco parentis, and is thrust upon a quest to recover him. 
 
Furthermore, the child is accompanied on this quest by a newly-animated
stuffed doll, (already supplied with brains) and a live hunk of some mineral
substance (already with a heart). Very soon they encounter and enlist a
animal of freakish nature (with, it claims, a ferocious roar) and they all
set out to find the Yellow brick road to the Emerald City. The big difference
in this book is that every one of the freaks is happy just the way they are,
and nobody but Ojo wants anything but an adventure. So far the only thing
missing is Toto.
 
The itinerary is also familiar. We travel from the Munchkin country, along
the Yellow brick road, (I think their capture by plants is a reprise of the
deadly poppy field, myself) to the Emerald City. Where Ojo's night in the
city lock-up, and his subsequent trial stands in for the period that Dorothy
and her companions hung around the court waiting to get in and see the Great
Oz. From this point, the child explains his purpose and is given support in
his quest, and sent from the Emerald City on a second leg of his quest which
will ultimately take him into the Winkie country. This time the side trip
into the Quadling country, where rather than being thrown about by trees they
get thrown about by Tottenhots, who can at least be negotiated with, comes in
the middle section, rather than at the end. .
 
The requisite butterfly is denied, much as the balloon leaves ahead of
schedule, and Ojo is stumped. All is not lost, however, and the once all the
characters are assembled, the Wizard, no longer a humbug, saves the day.
These similarities can hardly ALL be accidental. 
 
As to the comments already made, I agree with the comment that the theme here
does seem to be heavily tied in with the motifs of confinement and
frustration. As to David's comment on the pacing, I also agree. It is very
good in this book. And the IEs are well integrated, for the most part. (I
also agree that the Foolish Owl and the Wise Donkey are highly irrelevant
and, frankly, irritating. So is Victor Columbia Edison, but that's the
point.) 
 
I do think that it is a flaw in the ploting that the main quest's failure and
the happy ending are set back-to-back. In Wizard, the departure of the
balloon took place some time before the end, so that Dorothy and the reader
can come to grips with it, start over, and bring things to a sucessful
conclusion by asking the right person for help. The needs of the reader, if
not the characters, is less well served here.

Date: Tue, 02 Dec 1997 22:46:26 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
Subject: Oz at length
Sender: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
 
David Hulan asked:
<<Ojo didn't know he was called "Ojo the Unlucky" until Margalotte told him
so, and after that nobody explained to him why - yet he told the Tin
Woodman a series of things about himself that he thought justified the
appellation. Unc Nunkie didn't speak enough to have told him about them, as
far as I can tell, so how did he know...?>>
 
As isolated as Ojo is, he nonetheless knows one thing that "people say" (p.
21), and he seems to know about Ozma--I infer that because her name raises
no questions from him even as he asks about Jack Pumpkinhead (p. 30) and
Dorothy (p. 76). 

   By the time of his conversation with Nick, Ojo's been out in the world,
and may have heard even more--especially because he was primed to note
anything that made him feel unlucky. On page 313, for instance, Ojo takes
his inability to swim as a reflection of his luck, even though Dorothy
can't swim, either. 

   Clearly Baum was playing with notions of self-image, as in WIZARD when
the Tin Woodman declares he has no heart while weeping heartfelt tears (Ch.
VI).
 
David also questioned:
<<the trial of Ojo is...simply incoherent. Obviously Ozma, or someone,
actually saw Ojo pick the clover, and knew exactly what he had done with
it. That being the case, what was the point of an elaborate Show Trial?>>
 
One important aspect of a justice system is that trials be public, both to
warn citizens of the consequence of crime and to assure them that justice
is being done for both society and defendant.
 
Nathan DeHoff and Ruth Berman both mentioned a BUGLE article that: 
<<quoted a letter from Baum objecting to the overly stiff, wood-like Woozy
Neill had drawn and pointed out that although Neill made a more
flexible-looking, un-grained Woozy for the first portrait, and drew him
that way for most of the rest of the book, the one illo mentioned
apparently is that original drawing Baum didn't like, and another example
of some kind of problem in getting enough artwork to fill up the book.>>
 
Ha! I guessed right about the drawing on p. 114 of PATCHWORK GIRL!
Ironically, in two details that reflects Baum's description of the Woozy
better than Neill's standard style: ears as "openings in the upper corners"
rather than tufts, and legs that "folded...as if they had been hinged" (p.
103). 
 
J. L. Bell
JnoLBell at compuserve.com

L. Frank Baum, John R. Neill

Date: Wed, 03 Dec 1997 01:13:18 -0500 (EST)
From: RMorris306 at aol.com
Subject: The Prodigal Ozzian Returns!
 
J.L. Bell wrote:
 
<<Ojo is unusual among Baum's protagonists in that he grows psychologically.
He doesn't just return home, like Dorothy, or change magically, like
Tip/Ozma. With continual prodding, he learns to discard the notion that he's
unlucky.

    I find just as interesting the parts of his character that don't change.
Ojo and Dorothy reverse some stereotypical gender traits. Ojo's emotions are
close to the surface; he sobs and weeps several times. (I can't 'member
Dorothy crying, and Trot does so only after the battle in SEA FAIRIES and
when Cap'n Bill disappears in SCARECROW.) Dorothy is a conqueror who can
greet a stranger with the words, "Do you surrender?" (p. 272). In their fight
with the Tottenhots, Dorothy and Toto wreak havoc while Ojo is quickly
overpowered.>>
 
      One reason I like Baum so much! Also, again reversing a subtle trend
some children's writers seem to fall into, when he has child protagonists of
both sexes, the girl tends to be older (e.g., Trot and Button-Bright in SKY
ISLAND). Baum never says anything about the characters' ages, but that seems
to be the implication, made more explicit by Thompson (who established that,
in the eternal non-aging atmosphere of Oz, Dorothy was 11 and Ojo was 10).
 
<<But Ojo is also quite a disobedient boy. He sneaks extra brains into the
patchwork girl's head. He picks the clover after he's not only been warned
not to, but promised that if he asks nicely Ozma will give him one. He
snatches oil from Nick Chopper's "veins" without asking. (Ruth Plumly
Thompson may have picked up on this in the first chapter of OJO; there Ojo
disobeys Unc Nunkie and goes out to the gypsies.)>>
 
     But, at least in Baum, Ojo's disobedience is always rooted in a noble
cause (to spare Scraps a lifetime of dull-witted slavery, and to save his
uncle from six years as a statue). I can't fault him too much.
 
<<The sketch of the Woozy on p. 114 may be another early stab at a character.
Compare the beast's ears, nose, knees, tail, and corners to the other
drawings.>>
 
      I think that was discussed in a BAUM BUGLE article a few years ago.
That picture was indeed, Neill's original sketch rejected by Baum on the
grounds that the Woozy wasn't made of wood (an impression Thompson later got
somehow, probably from that very picture), but somehow got statted onto that
page anyway...
 
Bear wrote:
 
<<p. 48 "Unc Nunkie, the descendant of the former kings of the Munchkins,
before this country became a part of the Land of Oz.  
 
Now there is a lead for someone to write a whole story.>>
 
      Didn't Thompson already do that in OJO?
 
<<p. 159 Who is the mystery girl behind the gate?  They didn't have a girl
with them.>>
 
       Reading this juxtaposed with Dave H.'s comments on the Oz movies makes
me wonder if this, too, wasn't a case where the movie was scripted before the
book...and if she wasn't a leftover reference to Dr. Pipt's daughter in that
version, who accompanied the group because her boyfriend (not only her
mother...) had been turned to stone along with Margolotte and Unk Nunkie...
 
Rich Morrissey
(glad to be back!)

Date: Wed, 03 Dec 1997 10:45:40 -0600
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-01-97
 
Bob Spark:
The IE about the cottage and wolf has puzzled a lot of people. I've read
the theory that Baum intended to do something else with it (possibly in
connection with the "Garden of Meats" chapter that's known to have once
existed and been cut), changed his mind, but left the incident in.
 
Tyler:
>Didn't the Tin Woodman once say that Oz only has one law: "Behave
>yourself"? It's also been suggested on the Digest that Oz has no laws, but
>all justice, etc. is based on the assumption that Ozma is good, kind, wise,
>just, etc. so that anything she decides must be right. This philosophy has
>the advantage that it is completely unfettered by bureaucracy or precedent.
 
The Tin Woodman said that, but at least by the time of PG it obviously
isn't true; we know at least there's a law against picking six-leafed
clovers, and one against doing magic except for Glinda and the Wizard.
There are probably others.
 
Dave:
>"LEFT WING OF A YELLOW BUTTERFLY":
>In the event that I get around to writing the script for my movie version
>of _Patchwork_ :) I keep looking for some clever pun that Baum might have
>used to give himself an out, make the quest successful without any cruelty
>to arthropods, and avoid the weak "Wizard ex machina" ending; but I haven't
>found one yet...Can anyone think of one?  Jeremy?? :) :)
 
You might postulate a type of yellow butterfly that periodically sheds its
wings for new ones (like snakes' skins); butterfly wings are rather
fragile, and if Ozian butterflys are immortal (which is the implication in
PG as it stands; there's no requirement that the wing be from a living
butterfly, so if butterflies died it would be simple enough to take a wing
from a dead one) their wings would surely wear out eventually. Such a shed
wing, abandoned by its owner, would be "left" even if it were from the
right side of the butterfly. If the breed of butterfly is relatively rare
then it's quite possible that Nick wouldn't have known of it (after all, at
that point he'd only lived in the Winkie Country something like 6-10
years). Maybe one of his palace servants could offer the information.
 
Another alternative that occurred to me would be for Ojo to find a pub
(serving only root beer and other non-alcoholic drinks, of course) called
the Yellow Butterfly, with a central section and two wings. The left wing
of a building is a rather bulky item to put into a compound, but perhaps
Dr. Pipt could shrink it somehow first.
 
David Hulan

Date: Wed, 03 Dec 1997 11:56:29 -0500 (EST)
From: JOdel at aol.com
Subject: Re:  Ozzy Digest, 12-02-97
 
Left wing etc.
 
Now I always thought that there ought to have been SOME way in which the wing
could be removed painlessly and replaced with a tinfoil one. In such a case,
the butterfly would have been known thereafter as the Imperial Butterfly, and
they could have asked for a volunteer. Someone probably would have, for the
glory of it.

Date: Wed, 03 Dec 1997 16:33:00 -0600
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-02-97
 
Melody:
>Interesting Latin Name possibility. "Trifolium" *is* the real-life family
>name of the clover family, though.
 
This is probably a nit, but the first word in a species name is the genus,
not the family. If "trifolium" is the genus name for common clover then
Trifolium duplex would be a good name for the six-leaved variety (though
I'd always assumed that a six-leaved clover would be a diploid variant
within the common clover species rather than a separate species); if it's
the family name, then it wouldn't appear in the species name (family being
a higher taxonomic grouping than genus). Most family names end in "-idae",
though, at least in birds and mammals; I'm not sure about plants.
 
Joyce:
Interesting parallel between the plots of _Wizard_ and PG; I hadn't ever
thought it through myself, but you're right. It was obvious, of course,
that this was Baum's first "quest" book since Wizard, and that made certain
parallels necessary, but I hadn't noticed the many other similarities you
point out. (His later "quest" books - _Tik-Tok_, _Rinkitink_, _Lost
Princess_, _Tin Woodman_, and to some extent _Magic_ - don't follow the
same pattern at all closely.)
 
Tyler:
>Dave:
>I forgot that another law in Oz is do not practice magic unless you are on
>Ozma's A-list. This law seems a little vague, since such characters as the
>three Adepts and Reera are allowed to continue their magic after being
>discovered. Perhaps the rule is do not practice wicked magic.
 
But Dr. Pipt's magic wasn't wicked, at least for the most part. (Making the
Liquid of Petrifaction is arguable, I suppose, but the rest of the magic he
does seems benign enough.)
 
Dave:
>Come to think of it, Dr. Pipt is the only example I can think of an
>"unauthorized" magic worker even being acknowledged, let alone being
>disiplined, by Ozma.  Are there any other exapmles that I don't know
>or recall?
 
How about Mrs. Yoop? Ozma turned her into a green monkey, which she said
took away her magic powers.
 
And I don't know if you'd say it was "by Ozma," but Ugu and the Su-dic both
had their magic taken away from them as well. And that's just in Baum;
later on there are Glegg and Mooj who are effectively destroyed, Clocker's
magic is taken away, they take the magic emeralds from Skamperoo, Loxo
loses his magic magnet, and I'm sure there are other instances that don't
come to me offhand. But other people work magic a lot in the books and
aren't disciplined at all for it if their use is benign - and in Neill
Number Nine and Jenny Jump both work quite a lot of magic with Ozma's
approval, though maybe they should be considered as added to her A-list.
 
David Hulan

Date: Wed, 03 Dec 1997 17:55:29 -0500 (EST)
From: Ozmama <Ozmama at aol.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest 11-30
 
David:<<I was somewhat struck on this rereading with the large number of IEs,
considering that this book is a Quest rather than a Tour. Both encounters
with Victor Columbia Edison; the cottage where Ojo sleeps and eats but is
tired and hungry afterward; the Wise Owl and the Foolish Donkey; the
man-eating plants; Chiss; the backwards road and illusionary gate; the
Tottenhots; Mr. Yoop; the lazy Quadling; the Trick River - none of these
advances the plot at all. (And I may have left out one or two more, as far
as that goes.)>>
 
Maybe Baum was after an Appearance vs. Reality theme?  The cottage, 
Wise Owl/Foolish Donkey, beautiful but deadly plants, backwards road, 
and gate all suggest this.  Same with the Trick River, I s'pose.  Even Unc, 
who is laconic enough to appear possibly unloving and the Crooked Magician,
an ugly but nice fellow, follow that thematic thread.  And Scraps' adoration 
of her own gaudiness, in spite of being "unattractively" not Munchkin blue.
May be more than these in _P.Girl_ to support this notion.  Too tired to try to
figure it out right now.  
 
The Chiss thing would be good as stage business.  Same with Victor Columbia
Edison.  The Lazy Quadling could lead to a good comic routine onstage. Baum
was at the point in his life where he almost desperately wanted another stage 
success.  He wrote _P.Girl_ as a response to outside pressure more than to
satisfy his own artistic, creative urges.  ...betcha he had the stage in
mind....
 
Melody: <<On the meeting of Scarecrow and Scraps. Both of them brag about
having brains but no heart yet at first sight--Bang!--they're in love. They
even brag about their heartlessness and their attraction to each other in
the *same* conversation. Is this ironic or what? :-) Think Baum's trying to
tell us love comes from one's brain? Or even "Love conquers all"? :-) >>
 
I think he was probably trying to get something that would work well onstage.
Really!  
 
--Robin

L. Frank Baum, John R. Neill

Date: Wed, 03 Dec 1997 20:49:06 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
Subject: Ozzy mythologies
Sender: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
 
Ruth Berman mentioned one unused illustration for PATCHWORK GIRL:
<<apparently a portrait of the lazy Quadling's wife with the one eel she
caught.>>
 
I was surprised that there are *any* unused drawings since the book
contains so many duplicates, cribs, and even floor sweepings of Neill's
rejected version(s?). But the Quadling with the eel can really only fit in
one place--chapter 25. And since that chapter filled seven pages of text
after its opening, and the book's design dictated that chapters begin on
rectos, using a large drawing of her would have required Neill to do
*another* large drawing to fill the resulting blank page.
 
JODel advanced an interesting reading:
<<the plot of  Patchwork Girl seems to mimic, if not actually to parody,
that of Wizard... We have a child from a backwards, rural area who abruptly
finds himself in what might as well be a "new world"...accompanied on this
quest by a newly-animated stuffed doll, (already supplied with brains) and
a live hunk of some mineral substance (already with a heart). Very soon
they encounter and enlist a animal of freakish nature (with, it claims, a
ferocious roar) and they all set out to find the Yellow brick road to the
Emerald City....>>
 
Michael Riley's OZ AND BEYOND also sees PATCHWORK GIRL as paralleling
WIZARD; he bases his argument on the books' geographies, of course. I agree
with both you and him that there are so many similarities that Baum
probably reviewed his older book to make sure he could regain the magic
touch. (Note to self: Make sure hero has an animal companion or two,...)

   I also think some of the parallel lines you drew are a bit askew. When
you write, "The big difference in this book [PG] is that every one of the
freaks is happy just the way they are," that's a very big difference! One
whole theme of WIZARD is bound up in the companions' dissatisfaction with
themselves. I see no equivalency between "Ojo's night in the city lock-up"
and "the period that Dorothy and her companions hung around the court
waiting to get in and see the Great Oz"--surely Dorothy's captivity in the
Wicked Witch's castle is more comparable. And while you parallel the hungry
plants to the Poppies, they're as much like the Fighting Trees (certainly
more so than the Tottenhots are). Finally, you say that in the Emerald
City, "the child explains his purpose and is given support in his quest"; I
don't recall Dorothy getting any support beyond some food from Jellia Jamb.
 
   For some of the structural parallels, I find the following explanations
more plausible than deliberate mimicry: 
* Dramatic utility. In *most* children's books the child-hero is thrown
into the world on his or her own; that's just more interesting and
fulfilling for young readers. (Trot being accompanied by Cap'n Bill is an
exception.) In *most* fictional journeys there are ups and downs, so by
stretching a little we can probably find parallels between episodes of many
different books. (River crossings in WIZARD, LAND, and PATCHWORK GIRL, for
instance.)
* Themes that interested Baum throughout his career. There's clearly a
parallel between Scraps and the Scarecrow, but Baum also explored the
experience of coming to life in LAND, JOHN DOUGH, and elsewhere. One
non-structural parallel you didn't mention is how the lazy Quadling,
dependent on his wife, bears some similarity to the injured man in Chapter
X of WIZARD; they both reflect the dynamic in Baum's own household, where
Maud was usually in charge and often in better physical shape.
 
Dave Hardenbrook wrote:
<<Dr. Pipt is the only example I can think of an "unauthorized" magic
worker even being acknowledged, let alone being disiplined, by Ozma.  Are
there any other exapmles that I don't know or recall?>>
 
The Ozian authorities went after Ugu, Mrs. Yoop, Kiki Aru, and the Sudic on
the charge of practicing unauthorized magic--but also for the more harmful
things they did. Dr. Pipt may indeed be the only person disciplined for
practicing magic without evil intent. 

   Nevertheless, the Crooked Magician's spells caused harm through his
carelessness: he petrified Margolotte and Unc Nunkie, and brought the
phonograph to life to terrorize the Munchkin landscape. 

   We might ask whether Dr. Pipt was really punished, however. His
rationalization for being "quite proud" of his crookedness depended on also
being a magician (p. 42). He's "dejected" at losing his powers, but when
the Wizard makes his limbs "perfect," Pipt utters a "cry of joy" (p. 336).
Perhaps he sees trading his magic for a non-crooked body as a bargain. 
 
J. L. Bell                         JnoLBell at compuserve.com

Date: Thu, 04 Dec 1997 13:20:29 -0500 (EST)
From: ZMaund <ZMaund at aol.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-01-97
 
Re: the discussion of _Patchwork Girl_...   The cottage episode is quite
unusual.  Or perhaps a better word is "inexplicable."  I wrote an essay a few
years back that somehow managed to make it in the _Bugle_ about this episode
and the "Downtown" chapters of _Hungry Tiger_.  Both odd, but for very
different reasons..
 
Patrick Maund

Date: Fri, 05 Dec 1997 21:51:35 -0800
From: Nathan Mulac DeHoff <vovat at geocities.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest
 
Rich:
Ojo might actually have been younger than ten at the time of _Patchwork 
Girl_.  If we accept Realbad's story in _Ojo_, Ojo was born after Ozma 
came to the throne of Oz, which most likely occurred less than ten years 
before _Patchwork Girl_.
 
--
Nathan Mulac DeHoff
vovat at geocities.com or lnvf at grove.iup.edu

"I'm having a wonderful time, but I'd rather be whistling in the dark."

Date: Fri, 05 Dec 1997 21:44:32 -0600
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-05-97
 
J.L.:
I suppose there's justification for making Ojo's trial public, but the
elaborate magical displays associated with the trial as recorded in PG
don't seem justified. Ozma could just say, "We know you dunnit, boy! I saw
you in the Magic Picture!" And there's no reason why, if she and/or the
Wizard knew Ojo had put the clover in his basket, that the Guardian or the
Soldier shouldn't have confiscated the basket long before it ever reached
Dorothy's suite.
 
Rich:
Interesting comment about the relative ages of Baum's male and female
protagonists. Zeb seems to be older than Dorothy in _DotWiz_, but otherwise
we have Dorothy/Button-Bright in _Road_, Dorothy/Ojo in PG,
Trot/Button-Bright in _Sky Island_ and _Scarecrow_, Dorothy/Woot in _Tin
Woodman_, and Dorothy/Kiki Aru in _Magic_. Most of these aren't specified
as such, but watching the characters in action indicates the superior
maturity of the female in all cases.
 
But I don't remember any statement that Ojo was 10 in Thompson. Evidence?
(Philador says he's 10 in _Giant Horse_; that's one of the very few
examples I can think of where an Oz character gives his age.)
 
J.L. again:
I dunno, I think Joyce's equation of Ojo's night in the lockup to Dorothy's
first stay in the EC in _Wizard_ is pretty accurate. It's not as if Ojo -
whatever his apprehension - is in the kind of danger Dorothy was when she
was in the WWW's clutches. (Well, she wasn't really because of the GWN's
kiss, but she wasn't all that sure of that.) Ojo's problem wasn't personal
danger but being impeded in his quest, which was Dorothy's problem in
_Wizard_.
 
David Hulan

Date: Fri, 05 Dec 1997 23:07:41 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
Subject: Oz restorations and rationalizations
Sender: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
 
Rich Morrissey had many interesting things to say (hope he posts again!):
<<But, at least in Baum, Ojo's disobedience is always rooted in a noble
cause (to spare Scraps a lifetime of dull-witted slavery, and to save his
uncle from six years as a statue). I can't fault him too much.>>
 
In Thompson's OJO as well, Ojo has a noble reason for disobeying; surely
Unc Nunkie wouldn't want him to deprive the gypsies of water, he thinks. So
I don't fault his kindness, either. But as they stack up these reasons for
breaking rules begin to look like they contain a little rationalizing.
After all, the Shaggy Man repeatedly told Ojo that he merely had to ask
Ozma for a six-leafed clover; the boy chose not to wait. To me this trait
makes Ojo *more* interesting than his "boo-hoo, I'm unlucky" presentation
hints at; he has a hidden depth.
 
Robin said of Baum's PATCHWORK GIRL:
<<betcha he had the stage in mind....>>
 
I bet you're right. Look at all the songs he inserted--including that
interminable patter song of Shaggy's! 
 
J. L. Bell                            JnoLBell at compuserve.com

Date: Sat, 06 Dec 1997 15:44:32 -0500
From: "Melody G. Keller" <harmonyarts at compuserve.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest, 12-02-97
Sender: "Melody G. Keller" <harmonyarts at compuserve.com>
 
Tyler:
 
>I forgot that another law in Oz is do not practice magic unless you are on
Ozma's A-list. This law seems a little vague, since such characters as the
three Adepts and Reera are allowed to continue their magic after being
discovered. Perhaps the rule is do not practice wicked magic.<
 
In SBM2, Magic is treated like any other specialty which can have grave
consequences when performed by amateurs, and everybody wishing to practice
magic in Oz must A.) Be a good magic worker who only uses magic for good,
and B.) pass certain tests to obtain a license. 
 
Hmm. In fact, the Scarecrow mentions in PG that Ozma is going to be angry
with Dr. Pipt for practicing magic without a license, so Ozma could have
had a licensing system even back then. But the Oz books show Ozma being
very picky about who is allowed to use magic--remember the saying that
power corrupts. :-)
 
Melody Grandy

L. Frank Baum, John R. Neill

Date: Sun, 07 Dec 1997 23:06:20 -0500 (EST)
From: RMorris306 at aol.com
Subject: Ozzy Stuff
 
Joyce O'Dell wrote:
 
(I also agree that the Foolish Owl and the Wise Donkey are highly irrelevant
and, frankly, irritating. So is Victor Columbia Edison, but that's the
point.)>>
 
    The Wise Donkey, of course, was one of the few instances (aside from
Ozma's birthday party in ROAD, and of course Trot and Cap'n Bill) in which a
character from one of Baum's non-Oz fantasies (in this case, THE MAGICAL
MONARCH OF MO) made an onstage appearance in an Oz book. (I don't think it
ever happened in any of the other FF, either; a few times a character like
Queen Zixi would be mentioned, but I don't think they ever appeared onstage
again.) I'm not sure why Baum brought back the character, especially since he
didn't seem all that Wise this time around. (Bringing in the Foolish Owl
seemed like overkill, too; Baum never had the Cowardly Lion backed up by a
Brave Mouse or Courageous Rabbit.)
 
David Hulan wrote:
 
<<But I don't remember any statement that Ojo was 10 in Thompson. Evidence?
(Philador says he's 10 in _Giant Horse_; that's one of the very few examples
I can think of where an Oz character gives his age.)>>
 
      Thompson seemed to give ages a lot more than Baum did, though mostly of
American visitors...though I think she said Pompadore was 18 in KABUMPO, and
Randy was 12 in PURPLE PRINCE. I'd thought she'd said Ojo was 10 in his book
(rather interestingly, Baum indicated in PATCHWORK GIRL that he'd soon grow
up, contradicting his usual statements about Oz people), so he was possibly
around that age...or, as you suggest, younger...in PATCHWORK GIRL.
 
J. L. Bell wrote:
 
<<And we just read the end of PATCHWORK GIRL, when the Wizard replaces the
Glass Cat's pink brains. I think the historians discovered some of their
happy endings were just a little *too* happy! Any other examples?>>
 
     As someone else theorized in Jenny Jump's case, maybe he decided an
effective lobotomy wasn't a fair thing to do to a sentient creature, so he
put the pink brains back...possibly after Ojo (who'd already expressed his
preference for intelligence over docility when he gave Scraps some extra
brains) protested?
 
Rich Morrissey

Date: Mon, 08 Dec 1997 12:04:34 -0600
From: Gordon Birrell <gbirrell at post.cis.smu.edu>
Subject: Ozzy Digest
 
Joyce:
I liked your comments on the structural and motific parallels between WWoO
and _Patchwork Girl_.  Interestingly enough, there are some strong parallels
to _Land_ as well:  a dummy who is brought to life and designated
(temporarily) as a servant; an expedition that is initiated either by the
threat of being turned into a statue or by the transformation of a loved one
into a statue; a second figure, this time a quadraped, is brought to life by
the same process and joins the expedition; the plot consists of two trips to
the Emerald City, both ending in frustration that is ultimately resolved by
powerful magic.
 
It is a sign of Baum's superior story-telling, I think, that he was able to
reuse his materials in such a way that one is scarcely aware of the
similarities.  You really have to dig down to the scaffolding to spot the
parallels.
 
On that strange episode of the cottage and the wolf at the door:  It always
bothers me when irregularities in a text are explained by extra-textual
factors such as an author's state of mind ("Baum was troubled by ongoing
financial crises") or the effects of clumsy editing or last-minute re-writes
("Something must have been omitted or deleted"), though these explanations
are sometimes entirely plausible.  But why not start with the assumption
that Baum might have *intended* the text to be the way it is?   The first
thing that strikes me about this episode is that it involves references to
at least two fairy tales from the Grimm collection, "Das blaue Licht" ("The
Blue Light") and "Tischlein deck dich" ("Table set yourself"? I don't know
what the English translation is).  In the first, the blue light is a magical
illumination that allows to the hero, a young soldier, to become
all-powerful, avenge himself against a wicked king, and marry the king's
daughter.  In the second, a table magically sets itself to provide a
bountiful meal.  In _Patchwork Girl_ these familiar fairy-tale motifs become
enigmatic:  the blue light appears before the travelers but continually
recedes before them and may or may not lead them to the cottage, and the
magically set table provides no real sustenance (Ojo is as hungry after the
meal as he was before).
 
There are other unsettling factors in the episode as well:  the dictatorial
voice which responds to Ojo's requests for rest and food with unyielding
commands ("Go directly to bed!" "Be quiet!" "Eat!"), and the wolf's repeated
visits to the door during the night, which puzzles Ojo since
he--initially--thinks he hasn't experienced any deprivation: "I don't see
why [the wolf should have been at the door]; there was plenty to eat in that
house, for I had a fine beakfast, and I slept in a fine bed."  But of course
he *has* experienced deprivation:  the rest was no rest, and the sustenance
was no sustenance.  Coming as it does at the very onset of Ojo's journey,
this episode has a certain nightmarish quality that may well have been
intended to set up a feeling of uneasiness in the reader and to convey some
sense of Ojo's anxieties as he begins his quest.  He has entered a world
where things are not necessarily what they seem (I absolutely agree with
Robin that a reality vs. illusion theme runs through the entire book), where
one is at the mercy of unseen and apparently irrational controlling forces
(an anticipation of Ozma's surveillance techniques with the magic picture
and Ojo's indignation at the senselessness of the injunctions against
picking six-leaf clovers or separating the wing of a butterfly from its
body), where hope may recede from one's grasp like the blue light; where
there is always a possibility that help will be extended and apparently
delivered but in fact withheld.  And all of this ties in with what J.L. Bell
said about the pervasive themes of frustration and entrapment in the book.
 
Speaking of nightmares:  I was intrigued at Dorothy's initial reaction to
the Patchwork Girl:  "The Patchwork Girl was the most curious of all [the
visitors] and Dorothy was uncertain at first whether Scraps was really alive
or only a dream or a nightmare." (Another reality/illusion moment!)  At this
point in the book the reader has grown so fond of Scraps that it's ludicrous
to think of her as nightmarish, but Dorothy's reaction suddenly makes you
aware of the Patchwork Girl's horrible literary cousins, animated humanoid
creatures beginning with Frankenstein's monster and E.T.A. Hoffmann's
demonic doll in "The Sandman."
 
Ruth Berman:
I enjoyed your remarks on the connections between the Woozy and cubism, but
I think that Duchamp's "Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2" may not be the
best example to cite.  It's true that "Nude" was exhibited at the infamous
Armory Show in March, 1913, while _Patchwork Girl_ was in production, but
this particular painting is more typical of the later phases of analytical
cubism with its splintered, elongated facets and no cubes to speak of.  A
better example would be an earlier work such as Braque's "Houses at
L'Etaque" or Picasso's "Girl with a Mandolin."
 
--Gordon Birrell 

Date: Mon, 08 Dec 1997 16:15:10 -0800
From: Bob Spark <bspark at pacbell.net>
Subject: Message for the "Ozzie Digest" about "The Patchwork Girl of Oz"
 
More thoughts about "The Patchwork Girl",

     I find the incident about the phonograph amusing.  I guess people
never change.  Baum apparently couldn't stand ragtime, my folks had the
same problems with rock and roll, their folks disliked "crooners", later
on older people disliked acid rock, and now I feel that the term "rap
music" is a contradiction in terms.  

     The "mah Lulu" song is just so offensive by today's standards that
I can't draw any comparisons.

     I'm sure that there is no connection, but the Shaggy Man's ability
of taming the plants by whistling reminded me of Tom Bombadil taming Old
Man Willow by singing when he was holding Merry and Pippin in "The
Fellowship of the Ring."

     On page 185:
>  "In this country," remarked the Shagy Man, "people live
>  wherever our Ruler tells them to...."

strikes a false note with me.  I'm sure that Ozma is not that
dictatorial.  I can't imagine that the "lots of city people" who "would
like to get back to the land" would be prevented from doing so by Ozma.

     On page 238 Jack's method of carving his new head is driving me
nuts.
>  "...I do myself.  I lift off my old head, place it on a
>  table before me, and use the face for a pattern to go by."

     How does he see to do that???

     A "gill of water from a dark well."  I had to look it up for
myself.  A pint contains 4 gills.  You all probably knew that.  I also
had to look up the word "volplane" that Scraps used on page 285.  My
dictionary says (1909) "to glide in or as if in an airplane."  You all
probably knew that too.
 
Bob Spark

Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 10:09:31 -0800
From: "Stephen J. Teller" <steller at pittstate.edu>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-09-97
 
Concerning the Wise Donkey and the Foolish Owl in PG:  I consider this
the most irrelevant of the IEs in the book, but it was included in the
Junior League Play version of the book in 1930.  The mysterious house
appears in the Oz Film Company's film of PG, but it was Dr Pipt, not
Ojo, who spends a night at the house. This provides an opportunity for
cinematic magic using stop frame animation.  BTW, this episode provided
my favorite Oz Quiz question of those I have written:  "Who ate and was
still hungry, slept and was still sleepy and thanked a host he never
saw?" 
 
Steve T.

Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 09:47:31 -0500
From: rri0189 at ibm.net
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-09-97
 
Bob Spark wrote:
>     The "mah Lulu" song is just so offensive by today's standards that
>I can't draw any comparisons.
 
If I'm right (that Baum is describing a white singer performing a
"coon song"), then there wouldn't really be any comparison, although
certain of Pat Boone's oeuvre spring to mind.
 
// John W Kennedy

Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 11:10:04 -0600
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-09-97
 
Nathan:
I found the reference to Ojo being ten. It doesn't exactly say that he's
ten, but it strongly implies it with the statement that he could fight as
well as any other boy of ten.
 
There are certainly a few cases of characters' ages being given - there
just aren't many. Peter's age is given twice, as 9 in _Gnome King_ and 11
in _Pirates, though the second one is suspect for several reasons. One is
that in _Pirates_ it says that Ruggedo had been wandering for five years
after the events of _Gnome King_ (which agrees with the time between
publication of the books). Another is that Peter refers to being a scout,
and in 1930 you had to be at least 12 to get into the Boy Scouts. And
finally, he behaves like a teen-ager throughout the book, and not like an
11-year-old.
 
Gordon:
Good explanation of the cottage-wolf episode. I'm unfamiliar with either of
those two Grimm tales you mention (I may have read them as a child, but
don't remember them), but Baum probably knew them.
 
There are earlier animated humanoid creatures than Frankenstein's monster -
the earliest one I can think of is the bronze man that Daedalus made to
walk around the coast of Crete and guard it (Talos, I think its name was,
but I'm not sure of that), rather like the giant with the hammer in _Ozma_.
And there's the Golem of Prague, and I'm sure quite a few others that don't
come to mind immediately.
 
Bob Spark:
Well, I knew what "volplane" meant (though I don't know if I knew it at the
time I first read PG, which would probably have been in 1943 or 1944). I
don't think the term is used much any more, but that's probably because
most modern aircraft can't do it. If a modern airplane loses power it
crashes; it doesn't glide gracefully. (Probably some light aircraft can
still glide if they lose power, but jets in particular rarely can do
anything but fall without power.)
 
I remember looking up "gill" when I first read PG, whenever it was. (It is,
incidentally, pronounced differently from "gill" when you're referring to a
fish's breathing apparatus. The liquid measure is "jill".) And as a bit of
trivia, the bars at British pubs used to (and may still; I don't recall
noticing it on my last couple of trips there, but it may just be that it
had become so familiar that it didn't register) have a sign up notifying
patrons that "All spirits are dispensed in units of a sixth of a gill." In
other words, if you order a whisky they'll serve you 2/3 of an ounce; if
you want more you order a double.
 
David Hulan

Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 16:09:33 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
Subject: Oz: I like to think...
Sender: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
 
David Hulan said:
<<the elaborate magical displays associated with [Ojo's] trial as recorded
in PG don't seem justified. Ozma could just say, "We know you dunnit, boy!
I saw you in the Magic Picture!" And there's no reason why, if she and/or
the Wizard knew Ojo had put the clover in his basket, that the Guardian or
the Soldier shouldn't have confiscated the basket long before it ever
reached Dorothy's suite.>>
 
I can imagine a couple of possible explanations:
* Ozma didn't see Ojo pick the clover in the Picture, but was alerted
through some other means ("Oh, Jellia, the clover-alarm has gone off!");
the Wizard spent the night magically searching for the clover, locating it
in the vase.
* Ozma chose to also teach Scraps (and the public) a lesson by publicly
showing that cover-ups are impossible.

But the simplest explanation is that Oz's law-enforcement authorities
(Ozma, Omby Amby, etc.) were too loving and out of practice to collect
evidence properly. Kind of like Boulder. 
 
I applaud Gordon Birrell's link of the mysterious cottage in PATCHWORK GIRL
to the Grimm tales <<"Das blaue Licht" ("The Blue Light") and "Tischlein
deck dich" ("Table set yourself">>. Combined with the wolf, traditionally a
familiar or even form of evil magicians, these details would create, as
Gordon says, a <<nightmarish>> feeling for readers even if (or perhaps
*because*) we don't know exactly what's going on. 

  In addition to heightening the sense of danger, this episode is important
in the development of Scraps's personality. Newly born, she doesn't have
the sense to be scared or deferential as Ojo is. Her eviction from the
cottage is the first dose of discipline in her life--and she changes hardly
at all.

  In contrast, the Glass Cat "lay asleep on one bed" (p. 83); I take this
to mean Bungle was slyly pretending to sleep, having been so commanded by
the Voice. After all, even though it's a cat, it shouldn't have to sleep
any more than the Scarecrow does, right? With transparent eyelids, the
Glass Cat can't even block its own emerald eyes, right? (Then how did it
pass through the illusory gate on p. 161? Hmmm.)
 
 
J. L. Bell                          JnoLBell at compuserve.com

Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 01:13:17 -0500 (EST)
From: Ozmama <Ozmama at aol.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-09-97
 
Blue light: Interesting, Gordon.  I've always thought of the blue light
leading them as some kind of fey intervention.  It reads so much like
incidents in other fantasies about travelers being led through the woods by a
mysterious light; usually they're being either lured or genuinely guided by
elves or faeries.  I've never come up with anything that makes the blue
light/mysterious house/wolf incident fit the book for me.  It sticks
out...feels quite different from the rest of the text.  Well, the wolf
business doesn't bother me much, I guess.  As before, I figure it's Baum
thinking in terms of stage dialogue and wordplay.  The house, again, feels
like a benign, magical intervention: very European in flavor.  Both the house
and light just don't feel like Baum to me.  Same with the house in _Scarecrow_
, although not as much as the _P.Girl_ house.  I'll try to figure that one out
when we get to _Scarecrow_, but for now I'll just say that it's a more
European book than _P.Girl_.  --Robin

Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 23:59:42 -0800
From: Nathan Mulac DeHoff <vovat at geocities.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest
 
Scott:
Yes, in _Patchwork Girl_, Dorothy does state that she cannot swim.  I 
believe that she swims out of the Munchkin River in _Ojo_, however, so 
she must have learned in between those two books, which is not at all 
unlikely.
 
On Bungle sleeping:
In one scene in _Magic_, the Glass Cat was asleep, but it was stated 
later in that book that she never tired.  I assume that Bungle liked to 
lie down occasionally, even though she really needed no rest.  Real cats 
sometimes seem to lie down when they are not really tired, too.
--
Nathan Mulac DeHoff
vovat at geocities.com or lnvf at grove.iup.edu

"I'm having a wonderful time, but I'd rather be whistling in the dark."

Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 00:41:20 -0500 (EST)
From: Ozmama <Ozmama at aol.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-11-97
 
Dorothy does swim in RPT, when the road dumps her.  She almost drowns, but I'm
pretty sure she swims a bit.
 
Irony: ScottH writes:<<Robin:  The irony is that the Follish Owl and the Wise
Donkey are, in fact, closer to reality than the archetypal wise owl and
foolish donkey.

I would not be surprised if Baum knew this and was playing up the foolish
associations.>>
 
Um, that was the point, Scott!  I'm quite sure Baum was playing with the role
reversal.   
 
     --Robin

Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 10:24:19 -0600
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-11-97
 
J.L.:
>  In contrast, the Glass Cat "lay asleep on one bed" (p. 83); I take this
>to mean Bungle was slyly pretending to sleep, having been so commanded by
>the Voice. After all, even though it's a cat, it shouldn't have to sleep
>any more than the Scarecrow does, right? With transparent eyelids, the
>Glass Cat can't even block its own emerald eyes, right? (Then how did it
>pass through the illusory gate on p. 161? Hmmm.)
 
There are quite a few references to the Glass Cat sleeping, both in PG and
in _Magic_. Since it makes no sense that a glass cat would _need_ sleep,
any more than a patchwork girl or a scarecrow or a tin woodman or a
sawhorse, I infer that this "sleep" is really just Bungle lying there with
her eyes closed meditating. As for passing through the illusory gate, her
eyelids needn't be transparent even if they're glass; perhaps they have a
matte finish, like ground glass, so they're translucent but not transparent.

Date: Sun, 14 Dec 1997 22:39:10 -0500 (EST)
From: JOdel <JOdel at aol.com>
Subject: Ozzy Discussion
 
So long as we are kicking around racial relations, and while we are still on
Patchwork Girl, which seems to be the book that the subject keeps cropping up
in the most, there was something which occured to me after sending off my
interpretation of the embarassing editorial. 
 
Namely, that the subject of racial stereotyping DOES seem to crop up most
often, and most blatantly, in Patchwork Girl. I've suddenly begun to wonder
whether this is deliberate. Whether Baum was running some sort of inside joke
(possibly a joke in poor taste, or, conversely, as unsucessful a one as Dr
Pipt's last batch of poetsy) over just how many different sorts of stereotypes
there were out there about "colored people" (the polite term of the day, after
all) in a book where the title character was, unquestionably, a "colored
girl".

Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 13:10:42 -0500 (EST)
From: RMorris306 at aol.com
Subject: Recent Ozzy Digests
 
Melody Grandy wrote:
 
<<A note about Scrap's character--she is very much like a hyperactive
child.>>
 
      Having been in school with several of the kind...all right, I'll admit
I had a certain amount of hyperactivity myself...this may well explain why my
original view of Scraps *was* as a child around the same age as Dorothy or
Trot. I'd blamed this earlier on the ambiguous meaning "girl" had at the time
(it could mean a child but also a young woman, which seems to have been what
Baum actually intended), and also on the fact that I first encountered her in
the later books in which she appeared (missing for some time her debut in
PATCHWORK GIRL, and her romance-of-sorts with the definitely adult
Scarecrow). Yes, she could be a hyperactive child...or a screwball comedienne
like Carol Burnett or Gilda Radner (neither, of course, born at the time
PATCHWORK GIRL was written, but they must have had equivalents in
vaudeville). 

     Now that I think of it, maybe Topsy in UNCLE TOM'S CABIN (comic relief
in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, reportedly with a greatly expanded role in
most of the immensely popular stage adaptations) may have been an inspiration
for Scraps? With her scraggly hair, her patched clothing, her penchant for
hyperactivity, and her fondness for the pastimes of a traditional tomboy like
climbing trees and turning cartwheels, Topsy reminds me a great deal of the
Patchwork Girl. If memory serves, Topsy *was* about the age of the American
girls in Oz in the novel (around 9-11 during the course of her involvement in
Uncle Tom's life), but onstage I think she was often played by older
actresses. (Or older actors? I've heard at least some presentations cast a
male in that very active role, much as Scraps was played by a male...and Ojo
by a female...in the Baum movie.)
 
Rich Morrissey

Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 00:06:54 -0500
From: "Melody G. Keller" <harmonyarts at compuserve.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest
Sender: "Melody G. Keller" <harmonyarts at compuserve.com>
 
Well, finally coughed up the money to get "Botanica." And it seems
something similar to Zim's hybridization of six-leaf clovers has been done
in real life. The specimen is called "Purpurascens  Quadrifolium." Or, more
accurately "Trifolium Repens 'Purpurascens Quadrifolium.'" It's a clover
bred to have *all* four-parted leaves. According to "Botanica," under the
present rules of botanical nomenclature, a cultivar, or plant created by
artificial hybridization, is supposed to be called by the Latin name of the
species from which it was bred, plus an English name enclosed in single
quotes. Example: Rhodanthe 'Paper Star', or Rhododendron 'Cynthia.'
 
Since Zim created his six-leaf clover plant before they changed the rules
on him, his Latin term is supposed to be treated exactly as a more recent
cultivar's English name.
 
Zim: (sigh) They not only change the rules, some botanists disagree upon
exact classifications of flora and have somewhat differing Latin
nomeclature systems. It is too bad. At this rate, in a mere century or two
this Latin nomenclature fad may be over.
Glinda: Hello, Zim. Can you spare me a cupful of 'trifolium duplex'?
Zim: According to modern rules, this is now a cupful of "Trifolium Pratense
'trifolium duplex'." 
Glinda: Thank you for the six-leaf clovers. I shall let you know how my
experiment turns out.
 
Melody Grandy :-)

Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 15:37:34 -0600
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-14-97
 
Nathan:
>Yes, in _Patchwork Girl_, Dorothy does state that she cannot swim.  I
>believe that she swims out of the Munchkin River in _Ojo_, however, so
>she must have learned in between those two books, which is not at all
>unlikely.
 
Dorothy seems to still be a poor swimmer in _Royal Book_, when she nearly
drowns before the Cowardly Lion rescues her. It's partly blamed on her
being out of breath from a fall, but most people who can swim can at least
float on their backs (the river doesn't seem to have been particularly
turbulent) even if they're out of breath. I don't know of any evidence that
Dorothy has such a low body fat content that she'd sink if she lay quietly
on her back on the water. (References to a "round face" and "chubby hands"
seem to indicate a well-fleshed little girl, at least in the early books,
though I suppose she might have gone on a diet or something.) And in _Lost
King_ she can't figure how to get across a river, though that might be
attributed to her having Humpy (who'd obviously have difficulty) with her.
In _Ojo_, though, as you say, she seems to be a strong swimmer.
 
David Hulan

Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 14:26:47 -0600
From: Gordon Birrell <gbirrell at post.cis.smu.edu>
Subject: Ozzy Digest
 
Scott:
The Grimm fairy tale "The Blue Light" is about a young soldier who comes
into possession of a magic blue light; when he lights his pipe with this
light, a little man appears from the pipe smoke and assists the soldier in
wreaking vengence on a wicked king who has mistreated the soldier.  I've
never understood what connection this story has with Riefenstahl's film of
the same name.  In terms of _Patchwork Girl_, children who are familiar with
the fairy tale would associate the blue light with the possibility of
magical assistance in making one's dreams come true, but in Ojo's case that
possibility is teasingly proferred at the beginning of the journey and then
frustratingly withheld until the very end of the book.
 
Robin:
I agree that the cottage episode has a distinctly and somewhat unsettling
European feel to it, probably because of all those fairy-tale intertexts,
including "The Three Little Pigs" (even though Ojo doesn't interpret the
wolf in those terms, any child reading the book would certainly be reminded
of the folk tale).  I think these inconclusive and oddly out-of-place
references are an indication of Baum's great skill as a story-teller:
rather than having Ojo and Scraps embark on a conventional series of little
set-piece adventures involving dangers that are encountered and overcome, he
makes their first adventure enigmatic and strangely unresolved.  It's as if
Ojo, Scraps, and Bungle have wandered into a different, no longer typically
Ozian narrative that is composed of a "patchwork" of allusions to European
stories.  The multiple strangeness of this episode sends a kind of signal
that the rest of the book can't be counted on to be entirely predictable,
and in fact it *isn't* predictable:  despite Ojo's accelerating success rate
at accumulating the six items needed for the disenchantment, he ultimately
fails in his prescribed quest, and the final resolution is brought about by
Ozma's redefining the quest as a test of Ojo's courage, tenacity, and love
for his uncle.  The quest itself is thus the final example of the theme of
things not being what they seem to be.
 
--Gordon Birrell

Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 16:05:12 -0600
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-16-97
 
Joyce:
Good point about Scraps being a "colored girl." If it weren't for the
Tottenhot in the transformation sequence in _Rinkitink_ I'd be pretty sure
you're right; as it is, you may be.
 
Rich:
 
>[Scraps] could be a hyperactive child...or a screwball comedienne
>like Carol Burnett or Gilda Radner (neither, of course, born at the time
>PATCHWORK GIRL was written, but they must have had equivalents in
>vaudeville).
 
Fanny Brice comes to mind as an example - she might not have become popular
yet at the time of _Patchwork Girl_, but it couldn't have been much later,
and I'm sure there were others like her on the stage before her. For that
matter, the girls who played Dorothy in the stage _Wizard_ and Tip in the
stage _Woggle-bug_ would probably have fit the description, from what I've
read of reviews.
 
David Hulan

Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 22:28:51 -0500
From: "Melody G. Keller" <harmonyarts at compuserve.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest, 12-16-97
Sender: "Melody G. Keller" <harmonyarts at compuserve.com>
 
Message text written by "Dave L. Hardenbrook"
>Sounds like the nomclature rules are very confusing...One question: Is a
"hybrid" a true species or is it a "breed" analogous to a Cocker Spaniel
or a Bichon Frise<
 
They sure are confusing. " ... But the vast amount of scientific data
available can be interpreted in many different ways, with different
botanists placing emphasis on different characteristics, and so even at the
present time there are a number of rival systems of plant
classification...."
 
Zim: As many as there are botanists, it seems. 
 
"...This is particularly the case for the higher levels of
classification.....and no two published classifications use the same
names....."
 
Zim: Until the dust settles down, if ever, I may as well invent a
classification system of my own.
 
"...As well as differences in classification which reflect differing
scientific judgements, there are differences in nomenclature of some family
names that persist among botanists, to the irration and confusion of
gardeners and others....." 
 
        So there's why I'm had some difficulty finding out how botanical
nomenclature is done--there seems to be a lot of disagreement out there as
to how it should be done! Even in "Botanica": "The scheme of classication
of the flowering plants used here is based rather loosely on that of
Dahlgren, a recent Danish botanist. Dahlgren's system recognizes a larger
number of plant families than that of another well known recent system,
that of the American Cronquist." Note the word "loosely," folks!  if
they're "rather loosely" basing *their* nomenclature system on Dahlgren,
not exactly, even the authors of "Botanica" aren't above stepping into the
Latin nomenclature fray with opinions and adjustments of their own.
 
        To answer your question, Dave, apparently hybrids are not
recognized as different species from their parents, but are considered
"breeds" like the different dogs you mentioned. 
        
        Hmmm. But another part of "Botanica" says: Because botanists the
world over use the same system of plant nomenclature and follow its
conventions,plants from all parts of the world can be identified and
described without confusion.......and the development of a simple system by
which they can all be named and enumerated has been a triumph of human
sbility and cooperation." It even talks about the International Code of
Botanical Nomenclature--according to that, whoever invents and publishes
the name of a new species first, that is the name recognized.
 
        Zim: Linnaeus' system may be imperfect, and there may be
disagreement--but less disagreement than exists over common names. :-)
        Tip: Trifolium praetense 'Trifolium duplex'? I think I'll stick
with trifolium duplex. 
 
Melody Grandy

Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 15:15:08 -0500 (EST)
From: sahutchi at iupui.edu
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-23-97
 
In PG, Baum refers to Nick as "something of a dandy."  I thought this was
a euphemism for a homosexual back in the nineteen-teens, which Nick has
made clear that he is not.
 
I read this all the way through yesterday, reliving the ancient Christmas
tradition as I listened to my new Georges Delerue _Music From the Films of
Francois Truffaut_ CD, albeit in my old Del Rey paperback, so I a not
certain about the pictures and the chapter openings someone mentioned, as
it does not seem to matter in this edition which leaf the chapter starts
on.  (I previously read this in fifth grade in a white edition.)
 
I think the frustration theme seems an important one, which is why the
Foolish Owl and Wise Donkey segment seems important.  They don't learn
anything, they are just given a torrent of useless advice.  I think the
fact that Ojo was told multiple times about the six-leaved clover and the
fact that he never bothered to say what he was questing for, and the lack
of need for these items, knowledge of the law against magic, and the like,
make the Wizard doing everything seem important.  This is also to show the
advances that the Wizard has made from being a humbug, that he was now
becoming what he had claimed to be.  The horners mining Ra seems like an
early attempt at SF.  My dad was telling me that during the war, women
would wet radium needles with their mouths and get cancer.  These people
eat with Ra silverware, so they must be severely affected by it, which may
account for their strange appearances, before it was relize that all
nuclear materials can do is cause cancer, certainly a less exciting result
than early SF writers would have hoped for, especially with their dry
brown skin and Kool-Aid colored hair.  Also, I think the racism of the
song is appropriate to the contaxt of the horribleness of what is being
played.  Some music in the book is treated postively, and other music,
more prominantly, negatively.  The fact that Scraps awakes to a march (the
main title from _Jules et Jim_ for me, despite the anachronism.  If
you've seen it, you'll understand.)
 
That wolf coming to the door three times seemed to be one of those things
where the writer is wanting you to think, but has no particular meaning in
mind, but probably understands several possible interpretations.  I say
this because I have done the same thing.  I always wonder if that makes me
a hack.
 
The Patchwork Girl himself (Pierre Couderc) directed a film called _La
piste des giants_ in 1931.  It was remade in Germany as _Die Grosse Fahrt_ by
Lewis Seiler, the same year, by Fox, as one of those shooting it a
different time for each language deals.
 
Scott

Date: Fri, 14 May 1999 16:37:13 -0400
From: Michael Turniansky <turnip at bcpl.net>
Subject: [Fwd: [Fwd: Ozzy Digest, 02-11-99]]
 
  (that explains why my mail kept bouncing!)
 
Michael Turniansky wrote:
 
>    I found a few more old posts that never made it to the digest:
>
> Michael Turniansky wrote:
>
> [2/11]
>
> >    Book of Previous Focus:
> >
> >     My son and I just finished reading Patchwork Girl, which he took out of his
> > school library (Del Rey edition.  And they have others, too!  Yay, for
> > progressive Orthodox Jewish day schools! :-)  It's been a while since I read it
> > (maybe 20 years?).  The following points popped up at me:
> >
> >     Dorothy uses the expression "mad as hops".  Can I assume this is a precursor
> > of "hopping mad"?  And what is so mad about hops anyway (unless perhaps when they
> > ferment?)
> >
> >      For you "how big is Oz" folks, I note that on the YBR, it takes a day's
> > journey to get from the Munchkin border of the green country to Emerald City
> > proper.
> >
> >      When the phonograph first comes to life, it refers to Dr. Pipt by name,
> > without having heard it.   This suggests that inanimate objects have some form of
> > life already, or at least can hear things?
> >
> >       I did not find the "Coal Black Lulu" song offensive in any but aesthetic
> > ways.  What was the BOW version?
> >
> >       Can Bungle say, "you can see 'em work" just ONE more time?!?!  I sure can't
> > get enough it.  Apparently, that's all her brains are used for, is repeating that
> > single phrase....
> >                      --Mike "Shaggy Man" Turniansky, wondering where all his
> > outgoing digest mail has wound up????