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Post by Jojo Lapin X on May 21, 2021 16:55:25 GMT
A spell Monday 31 July 1665This evening with Mr. Brisband, speaking of enchantments and spells; I telling him some of my charms; he told me this of his owne knowledge, at Bourdeaux, in France. The words these: Voyci un Corps mort, Royde come un Baston, Froid comme Marbre, Leger come un esprit, Levons to au nom de Jesus Christ. He saw four little girles, very young ones, all kneeling, each of them, upon one knee; and one begun the first line, whispering in the eare of the next, and the second to the third, and the third to the fourth, and she to the first. Then the first begun the second line, and so round quite through, and, putting each one finger only to a boy that lay flat upon his back on the ground, as if he was dead; at the end of the words, they did with their four fingers raise this boy as high as they could reach, and he [Mr. Brisband] being there, and wondering at it, as also being afeard to see it, for they would have had him to have bore a part in saying the words, in the roome of one of the little girles that was so young that they could hardly make her learn to repeat the words, did, for feare there might be some sleight used in it by the boy, or that the boy might be light, call the cook of the house, a very lusty fellow, as Sir G. Carteretās cook, who is very big, and they did raise him in just the same manner. This is one of the strangest things I ever heard, but he tells it me of his owne knowledge, and I do heartily believe it to be true. I enquired of him whether they were Protestant or Catholique girles; and he told me they were Protestant, which made it the more strange to me. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."---Arthur C Clarke
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on May 21, 2021 16:59:09 GMT
A spell Monday 31 July 1665This evening with Mr. Brisband, speaking of enchantments and spells; I telling him some of my charms; he told me this of his owne knowledge, at Bourdeaux, in France. The words these: Voyci un Corps mort, Royde come un Baston, Froid comme Marbre, Leger come un esprit, Levons to au nom de Jesus Christ. He saw four little girles, very young ones, all kneeling, each of them, upon one knee; and one begun the first line, whispering in the eare of the next, and the second to the third, and the third to the fourth, and she to the first. Then the first begun the second line, and so round quite through, and, putting each one finger only to a boy that lay flat upon his back on the ground, as if he was dead; at the end of the words, they did with their four fingers raise this boy as high as they could reach, and he [Mr. Brisband] being there, and wondering at it, as also being afeard to see it, for they would have had him to have bore a part in saying the words, in the roome of one of the little girles that was so young that they could hardly make her learn to repeat the words, did, for feare there might be some sleight used in it by the boy, or that the boy might be light, call the cook of the house, a very lusty fellow, as Sir G. Carteretās cook, who is very big, and they did raise him in just the same manner. This is one of the strangest things I ever heard, but he tells it me of his owne knowledge, and I do heartily believe it to be true. I enquired of him whether they were Protestant or Catholique girles; and he told me they were Protestant, which made it the more strange to me. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."---Arthur C Clarke Is a finger advanced technology? I suppose Asimov's fingers might have been.
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on May 21, 2021 17:05:22 GMT
You seem a man of the world. Have you ever encountered Asimov's fingers on your travels Mr Lapin X?
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peedeel
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 61
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Post by peedeel on May 25, 2021 6:53:14 GMT
You seem a man of the world. Have you ever encountered Asimov's fingers on your travels Mr Lapin X? You need handsā¦ Dāyou think Mr. Asimov was writing about himself when he penned this about his character Foster back in 1958? āHe was crude, surely. His pet delight lay in his numerous off-colour stories which, to give him his due he told with excellent techniques. He maintained an air of mock flirtatiousness which was constant and undiscriminating. He rolled his eyes ferociously at secretaries, technicians, and graduate students (female) alike. He had a way of placing his arm casually about the shoulders or waist of women he might be standing next. āThere seemed to be no offence in it. At least no woman in Bradeās experience had screamed or slapped him or complained to Littleby. And there were times when Brade wondered why this was so. Did Foster possess an animal magnetism visible (and pleasing) to females only? āIt was with a certain delight then, that he had heard, quite by accident, that Merrill Foster had another first name by which he was known to every girl across the length and breadth of the chemistry buildingāāHandiesā Foster. āBrade mouthed the name now soundlessly. āHandiesā Foster. It seemed to degrade the man, put him in proper perspective.ā Isaac Asimov, A Whiff of Death Perhaps an example of that old writer's axiom "write what you know"?
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on May 25, 2021 11:43:47 GMT
I looked up Asimov's birthdate, and he would have been 38 in 1958. His hands would have been at the height of their power. They had decades of convention adventures ahead. After getting to know his hands so well, I feel I should try something by him, what do people recommend? I didn't realise he was writing in the '40s. When did he write his first story?
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