Tag: Moby-Monday

Moby Monday: Novel rejection letter (video)

Editing advice includes:

  1. shortening its “vision-impairing length”
  2. adding more “voluptuous maidens”
  3. “changing certain of the story’s elements might not buoy its purchases at the shop, as it were? First, we must ask, does it have to be a whale?”

Flag dip: The Telegraph – Culture | Books – Famous Rejection Letters – “Amusing Moby Dick rejection letter asks “does it have to be a whale?” December 1, 2016

Moby-Monday: Finding Melville’s Whale

The crew over at Southern Fried Science are mixing art and science with “a year-long series exploring Herman Melville’s classic novel, Moby Dick, from the perspective of modern marine scientists.” More from their website:

Each chapter will be posted with a brief summary, in verse and discussion will take place in the comment thread. Generally, new chapters will be posted every Tuesday and Thursday, with some Sundays. I’m reading from the Oxford World’s Classic edition of Moby Dick, but any unabridged copy will do. The websitePower Moby Dick hosts a complete, unabridged, and fully annotated version online. We will keep a running list of the posts made or this project here so that they are easy to find.

Everyone is welcome to read along and encouraged to participate in the discussion.

The introduction to this project can be found here:Finding Melville’s Whale

Hmmm…two things I was never very good at in high school: (1) finishing Moby-Dick and (2) anything science related. But I’m a different person today. :) So I’m considering this my own personal Nantucket sleigh ride of art and science education. Hop aboard!

Moby-Monday: 2010 Moby-Dick (the movie)

From the same people who brought us Titanic II (huh?), on November 30, coming straight to your DVD player, Herman Melville‘s classic  has been updated: 2010 Moby Dick. I guess the original (and all previous versions) were not good enough; nothing a few helicopters and machine guns can’t fix thankfully.

Moby-Monday: “In the Unequal Cross-Lights” — Contemporary Sculptors Respond to the Whaling Museum Collections

Giant Squid sculpture by Erik Durant

Last month I took the kids to New Bedford Open Studios and one of the highlights was meeting sculptor Erik Durant and seeing his giant squid which was under construction for the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s outdoor sculpture show which opened last week. Durant’s studio is always a real hit with the kids if for no other reason than his giant ear sculpture with companion Q-tip;  Joy especially loves it.

The sculpture show is titled “”In the Unequal Cross-Lights” — Contemporary Sculptors Respond to the Whaling Museum Collections” and the title is derived from Moby-Dick. From David Boyce’s article in the New Bedford Standard Times:

The project’s title is taken from “Moby-Dick,” referring to Ishmael’s visit to the Spouter-Inn, where in the “unequal cross-lights” he sees a painting on the wall that confounds him. Melville writes that this artwork requires “careful inquiry,” “earnest contemplation,” and “repeated ponderings.” In other words, much like looking at some contemporary art work, one must allow it time to divulge its intentions, its message, its meaning, or merely its composition.

Photo from ErikDurant.com

Moby-Monday: Herman Melville’s Pew

Herman Melville's Pew by kodachromeslides on Flickr

Ever go somewhere and “feel” that you are really experiencing history. Well, the historic Seamen’s Bethel in New Bedford, Massachusetts is one of those special places. If you haven’t been there, make a plan to and when you do make sure you sit in Herman Melville’s pew. Who knows. maybe some of his inspiration will rub off on you.

I’m a member of the board of managers of the New Bedford Port Society and we own and operate the Seamen’s Bethel and I recently wrote Please Help Me Help the Seamen’s Bethel.

If you live anywhere in the area, I invite you to join me for a very special fundraising evening with Dylan Bustin and the Rum-Soaked Crooks on Thursday, October 21st in the historic Seamen’s Bethel.  You can buy tickets at http://bit.ly/bethelconcerts and 100% of the proceeds go to Seamen’s Bethel Restoration Project Fund.

We are well underway with the work to make sure that future generations will be able to experience history at the Bethel and Mariner Home too. Hope you can join us and support the effort too!

Photo credit: Herman Melville’s Pew by Patrick Mont (kodachromeslides on Flickr.com)

Moby-Monday: Herman Melville’s Ship Was Built In My Backyard

Herman Melville's Ship

This is a poster that we found a few week’s ago during a trip to the Mattapoisett Historical Society’s Museum and Carriage House. It reminded me that Herman Melville’s whaleship, the Acushnet was built in our backyard where 150 years ago six shipyards stood . Melville once referred to the Acushnet as “my Yale College and my Harvard.” Somethings never change; sailing a tall ship is still a valuable education.

Moby-Monday: “It is not down in any map; true places never are.”

Jeremy Wood is a multidiscipline artist and map maker whose diverse work offers people and places a playground of space and time. In October 2000 he began to explore GPS satellite technology as a tool for digital mark making on water, over land, and in the air. He makes drawings and maps of his movements by recording all his daily journeys with GPS to create a personal cartography. (from the artist’s website)

One of Wood’s projects included a walk though London along the quote: “It is not down in any map; true places never are.” Herman Melville, Moby Dick.

Jeremy Wood drawing

Also from the artist’s website.

The text was written over a period of three months from January 2005. The length of the line recorded on foot for the drawing was 44.2 miles, and the total distance traveled to make the drawing was 458.6 miles. I had two bicycle punctures with reinforced puncture resistant tires, the first of which happened 20 miles into a journey looking for locations that ended in having to push the bike home for 9 miles. After closing the body of the last letter, I headed as far north as the land allowed to a small pier on which the Greenwich Meridian is marked, and finished the drawing by circling around on the footpath at the edge of the River Thames for a full stop.

Via PowerMobyDick where you can find lots of other interesting Moby-Dick digital ephemera.