May 30, 2006
The AOL Saga Continues
If you are an AOL subscriber, you may have been wondering why you haven't been getting any "Upcoming Events" messages from the LAHA/SDI Mailing list lately.
It is not because we haven't been sending them. It is because we are being blocked by AOL.
Continue reading "The AOL Saga Continues"
Posted by Walter at 07:47 PM
May 29, 2006
Dance Themed Vacation Tours
This was passed on to me. Some British chap named Ken McFarland is organizing English and Scottish Country Dance tours of Europe, Egypt etc.
I really know nothing about this other than what I see on the website (I can't attest to their quality), but it looked amusing
http://www.reeljig.com/Default.aspx?alias=www.reeljig.com/mcfarland
Posted by Walter at 10:18 AM
May 26, 2006
"The Proposition" Movie Review
Well, if you need a movie to give you a feeling for what a horrendous fly-choked dung heap the Australian Outback was in the 1890s, then "The Proposition" is the film for you.
Continue reading ""The Proposition" Movie Review"
Posted by Walter at 11:32 PM
May 25, 2006
Look Mah, I'm on TeeVee
My wife Sheila and I appeared this week on the Showtime series "Penn & Teller's Bullshit". It is a show devoted to debunking things, and this week it was about manners and rudeness. They brought us in to give the show its Victorian connection.
Here is our two minutes of fame. The video requires the Quicktime plugin
http://walternelson.com/manners.mov
Cheers,
Walter Nelson
Posted by Walter at 10:33 PM
Pet Peeve--The Language of the Fan
It never seems to fail: when a docent or re-enactor group decides to do something on "Victorian Etiquette", they haul out "The Language of the Fan".
For those wondering whereof I speak, here is one of many places it is uncritically repeated
Continue reading "Pet Peeve--The Language of the Fan"
Posted by Walter at 09:30 AM | Comments (4)
May 20, 2006
Keep informed with RSS
RSS, which stands for (among other things) "Really Simple Syndication", is a very useful tool that allows you to stay up to date with websites and information sources of your chosing, without having to deal with the problems of email overload and the growing tendency of email providers to kill the emails you want to see along with the spam you don't.
Continue reading "Keep informed with RSS"
Posted by Walter at 01:16 PM | Comments (2)
May 18, 2006
Email Problems. Today AOL, tomorrow..?
It has just come to my attention that AOL is blocking all emails from blocks of IP addresses it has identified as "spammer" suspects. One doesn't need to actually have a suspect IP address, if one shares a piece of a range with a suspect.
I as the sender of mass emails get no "Your mail has been blocked" message, and you as an AOL customer get no notice that a mail tried to get through. It doesn't even make it into your "Spam folder".
They did this with zero notice to their customers or to anyone else.
So, if you haven't been receiving our emails and you are an AOL customer, that's probably why. This may just be the beginning, and other ISPs may soon be instituting such "black hole", no notice policies.
(Just an aside: how would you feel if the Post Office tossed everything they thought might be junk mail into a shredder?)
I will be looking into my options, and post updates on this blog.
P.S. If you don't want to receive our emails, please just unsubscribe. Please do not put us on a personal "black list" or kill file. You could be preventing others from receiving mails they do want to get.
Walter
Posted by Walter at 09:19 AM
May 15, 2006
HBO Elizabeth I series, Part 2
Oh well. After a very promising start, I'm afriad the second part, which focuses primarily on the relationship between Elizabeth and Essex, was not quite up to the standard of the first.
In its defense, it did cover most of the major events of their complicated relationship, and presented what could be a plausible interpreation of how they behaved in private.
Continue reading "HBO Elizabeth I series, Part 2"
Posted by Walter at 12:06 PM
May 12, 2006
In Praise of the Wrapper
Many living history programs, which focus on domestic life in the second half of the 19th Century are faced with the dilemma of women who want to, or are supposed to be in 19th Century costume, but who are not willing or able to wear the elaborate underpinnings that go with fashionable ladies' attire, such as corsets, petticoats, bustles and the like.
Many more who are willing to give it a try lack the sewing skills required to produce one of these rather complex dresses.
There is a solution: it is called the "wrapper".
Continue reading "In Praise of the Wrapper"
Posted by Walter at 01:23 PM | Comments (3)
May 11, 2006
Vintage Dance Across America
I am frequently asked by folks outside my Area of Operations in Southern California, if there are vintage dance events in their distant neighborhoods.
Here is a list which I just received from Mr. Robert Chapman. While it will, like all such lists, soon become obsolete, I hope that the websites and contacts mentioned in these dated listings might still be of value to people seeking vintage dance close to home, long after the events have passed.
Continue reading "Vintage Dance Across America"
Posted by Walter at 07:20 PM