This page updated last on February 4, 2007
The dumping ground for all the bizarre and semi-related subjects I can find, including:
- Separate Section: Treasure Box Ever wonder what the money mentioned in Les Misérables looks like? I found some pictures of some coins of the time, including a "Gold Napoleon" (twenty-franc gold piece). Also coins bearing the likeness of Victor Hugo.
Fixed! Miserable Science Theater 2000 is up and running at last! Took me long enough....
Last Minute Book Report: Les Miserables What was lost is now found! The link on the Disney website has been located. If you want something even shorter and funnier than Cliff's Notes, this is it! See Les Mis at it was meant to be performed, with stick figures (and a Javert who looks suspiciously like Columbo) and be prepared to laugh yourself sick!
A Million Little Miseries The new preface to Pont-au-Change, as directed by legal counsel, in the wake of the "A Million Little Pieces" debacle...
Go To Jail: the idea that became a full on project. More pieces of the game will come out when they are completed. Collect the full set! Or not...
From The Home Office In Montreuil-sur-Mer: Ages ago I did a top ten list that you need to have Resurrections in front of you to fully understand. But I'm still quite proud of it. I need to do more of these as well.
The Christmas Story The special gift Christmas story I did last year. Takes place in the middle of Adrift and has tons of spoilers, so be careful if you didn't read it the first time out, this may confuse the heck out of you.
Cartoon I found in Time Magazine awhile ago. Like, June 14, 1999. Yeah, I'm a lazy slob, we all knew that. But you can see why I kept it...
Heroes Who Murder an article by science-fiction and horror writer Adam-Troy Castro; this first appeared in an issue of Amazing Heroes, the now-defunct magazine about comic books. Some of the remarks in it are a little outdated, but the sentiment is timeless. Thanks to Mr. Castro for his permission to reprint the article on this site.
Louis Philippe Is A Pear This is only marginally Les Misérables-related, but it's an important piece of historical placement. Quoted from the textbook Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictoral Representation by E. H. Gombrich (Chapter X--The Experiment of Caricature): "The caricatures Baldinucci had in mind were those of Bernini, the great sculptor who had mastered the skill of physiognomic reduction to perfection. But the locus classicus for this discovery of like is unlike is the Poire, the pear into which Daumier's employer, Philipon, transformed the head of the Roi Bourgeois, Louis Philippe. Poire means a 'fathead,' and when Philipon's satirical papers continuously pilloried the King as a poire, the editor was finally summoned and a heavy fine was imposed. The famour sequence, a kind of slow-motion analysis of the process of caricaturing, was published in his paper as his defense. It rests on the plea of equivalence. For which step, it asks, am I to be punished? Is it a crime to substitute this likeness for that? Or then the next? And if not that, why not the pear? And indeed we feel that despite the change of each individual feature, the whole remains remarkably similar. We accept it as a possible alternative mode of seeing the King's face. For this is the secret of a good caricature--it offers a visual interpretation of a physiognomy which we can never forget and which the victim will always seem to carry around with him like a man bewitched." See also This image, which is the original version; translation is roughly the same.
Atlantic Monthly Book Review Contemporary first review of Les Misérables by Edward Percy Whipple.
Double Reference I found this picture and had to put it up. First because it's an illustration of Valmy on the field, a frontspiece from a collection of Victor Hugo's works. Second because the girl beside him is Marianne, the embodiment of France (as Uncle Sam is the embodiment of the United States). The thing about her is that she's in exactly the right pose, with the liberty cap and the bared breast, as the figurehead of a certain ship in a certain sequel. I found this after I'd written about it, and to find it was miraculous, but it's perfect.
Victor Hugo, by Picasso a sketch by the master artist of the master writer, of his triumphant return to Paris after the overthrow of Napoleon III.
If Jean Valjean ate a Dovebar dark chocolate candy, this would be his fortune
The April First Post A little behind the scenes look at what it's like to be a part of this production... from the characters' standpoint...
The Les Miz Quiz! Taken from a textbook, this long and in-depth test on just about everything that happened in the original book is not really that challenging if you know the story... so we threw in some extra answers to make it funnier. How well do you know this book? Way too well for your own good? Then take the test and scare yourself! (note: the answers are not provided. If you don't know them by now you better read the book again)
The Victor Hugo Deck of Cards This deck was created in 1985 for the 100th anniversary of the death of Victor Hugo. Each suit's court cards depict major characters from four different works (spades have characters from Notre Dame, diamonds are Ninety-Three, and clubs are The Man Who Laughs) but the hearts are reserved for Les Misérables. King is Jean Valjean, Queen is Cosette, and hey! I know Jack! :-) (btw, Gavroche (not pictured) is on the Ace.)
Cosette Ornament by Radko. I don't know if it's supposed to be the Cosette or not, but that's her name, and frankly, she scares me....
The Limoges Book of Les Misérables Limoges is a porcelain company dating back some coupla hundred years. Limoges boxes are very popular and collectible. This is a porcelain jewelry box designed to look like a copy of the book... it is tipped in gold and dated "Paris 1862" on the inside. Very very cool. If anyone has a spare one of these I'll trade you an autographed book for it :-)
Very Odd Oddity This was taken from a desktop calendar called "The 365 Stupidest Things Ever Said." 'Nuff said!
The License Plate Story: An amusing side trip on my road trip several years ago, relevant to the current topic.
Cosette and the Garden Gnomes No, not a children's book. It's a picture of what every proper LM fan's garden should have.
My Personal Ticket-Of-Leave: This was given to me when I parked for the Alternate Press Expo one year. I just stared at it for a moment and said, "I'd like to buy a vowel, Pat...."
Speaking of Passports: This was sent to me by Lindsay. It's a pic of the actual passport Victor Hugo used to get to Belgium when he fled France during the coup of 1851. It is, of course, under a false name. What's good for one's characters is good for the author, I guess....
BASingers!: No, this has nothing to do with the actress named Kim, the BASingers are the volunteer choir of Bank of America — my former employer (before Nationsbank bought it and ruined everything, including the choir, which no longer exists: thanks a lot Hugh McColl you bastard) In 1998 we did 4 medleys of Broadway shows: Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Evita, and Les Misérables. I was the costume mistress for the productions, and as you can see, we had some cool stuff going! The accompanying article (and pics!) appeared in the BASE newsletter, an internal newsletter for the Concord Tech Center.
Turnabout for Fellow Creators: I sent a tape of the Les Misérables 10th Anniversary Concert to Colleen Doran, writer/artist/creator of A Distant Soil, one of the best comic books ever. She in turn did a 6 page story called "The Gift", in which a pair of the series' characters (two brothers, one a priest, the other a cop) share a moment familiar to all readers of the original Les Misérables. Check out A Distant Soil, available at all fine comic book stores everywhere!
Silly Fan Stuff #1: Before I started doing Pont-au-Change as a change of ending for the novel, I tinkered with the ending of the musical. If you're familiar with the musical, you should be able to understand the various melodies being used here. Also included is lighting and staging directions. Just add favorite actors and stir....
Silly Fan Stuff #2: I have no shame. I admit it.
Silly Fan Stuff #3: Which, in order to get it, you have to have read "His Best Weapon", the story with which I won the Writers of the Future contest and which is available at any major bookstore in the WOTF anthology #12... although I have a few copies left (minor hint). The character in question really is that much taller, and as for his profession, well... you'll have to read the story.
Silly Fan Stuff #4: Oh dear god what have I done. I thought I put this up before, but I can't find it. Oh what the hell, let's put it here. Sincerest apologies to a certain multi book author whose name if I wrote it here would spoil the ending.
Silly Fanstuff cartoon I did: with much apologies to the late great Frank Zappa. I think I'll be doing more of this kind of thing. I have some ideas...
