history – Allison Thurman

“to the makers of music – all worlds, all times” – Voyager’s Golden Record

Like many of 80s/90s kids I spent a lot of time making mixtapes for my friends. Combined from records, tapes, and (if I had good timing) the radio, these were a way to share my favorites with my friends…whether they liked it or not. Music was everything to me as a teenager, and if my friends didn’t like or know about a certain band they sure as hell would when I was done with them!

But it’s fair to say the mixtape for all time is the Voyager Golden Records.

I geeked out over the Voyager mission long before I learned about the Golden Records because of the beautiful photography that came back from the Jupiter and Saturn flybys. As a child I’d flip through my father’s coffee-table book of the photos repeatedly. I watched a recorded fragment of a NOVA episode featuring the discovery of Io’s volcanoes until I wore the videotape out. I think I became aware of the Golden Records much later, probably as a music-obsessed teen. But it wasn’t the music itself that appealed to me.

That’s partly because I hadn’t heard it. Sure I’d heard snips here and there in documentaries but it’s not like the Golden Record was released to the public. Its audience is very specific: any civilization advanced enough to understand the transition of a hydrogen atom* will be able to decode the instructions on the cover to access the sounds (and images!).

Front of square black record box featuring the round image of the Voyager golden record

That the Record was created to communicate with extraterrestrials is ambitious enough, but for me the most amazing thing is its permanence. NASA designed the probes to survive long enough for the Saturn and Jupiter flybys – about five years.** After that they were expected to drift in interstellar space unless and until someone intercepted them.

Five years is impressive in a world where you phone doesn’t even last that long! But JPL gold-plated the copper records to protect against radiation damage and embedded a bit of uranium-238 in the aluminum covers so that anyone who found could date it based on the level of degradation. Uranium-238 has a half life of 4.468 billion years. That’s built to last.

Each Record is encased with its own cartridge and needle, so aliens won’t even have to deal with the vinyl-tape-CD-mp3-??? progression of endless format changes we’ve been hop-skipping through for the past 40 years. Lucky devils!

Ozma Records finally released a box set of the Golden Records for us ordinary mortals a few years ago; the picture above is from my copy. It doesn’t include the embedded images but the sounds include musical pieces from all parts of the world and a spectrum of natural sounds (weather, animals). I find the greetings in 55 languages to be the most touching though, because the first step of any new acquaintance (terrestrial or extra-) is just saying “hello.”

Voyager 1 and 2: the spacecrafts, the mission, the science

The Golden Records: how, why, and what’s on them

*So, not me. I may enjoy the results of science but I’m not actually good at it. Fortunately the folks at JPL explain the instructions.

**They exceeded these expectations.

the war in Ukraine

Like most of us I’ve been watching the news for the last few days with my heart in my throat.

Nothing I can say is really adequate. I’m not a foreign policy expert, and while I’m a history buff I don’t have fancy letters after my name. All I can offer are a collection of vague thoughts:

This feels like the beginning of WWIII and I really hope I’m wrong about that.
We do not need a world war with nukes. I think this is why Biden is insisting the U.S. won’t send active troops into Ukraine itself- one nuclear power in direct conflict with the other nuclear power (run by a dictator who has already threatened to use them) makes an already horrific situation worse.
It is a horrific situation. I can’t imagine what the people of Ukraine are going through, either hiding and hoping they don’t get shelled or fleeing to another country. I gather that the Russian invasion wasn’t expected until the very last minute so it’s not like most of the country was sitting around with a gun or go bag.
The Ukrainian people are badasses on so many levels. You’ve read all the stories (the Snake Island defenders, the granny with the sunflower seeds) so I won’t repeat them here. I think what amazes me most are people signing up for militias despite no experience and real risk.
These new Ukrainian militias make the U.S. militia movement look like a bunch of frat boys looking for a fight over petty grievances. Not to say homegrown militias aren’t dangerous (they are) but no Americans within living history have experienced a land war in their own country (Pearl Harbor and 9/11, as terrible as they were, were not full scale invasions by a foreign power). While the Oath Keepers and 3 Percenters get wound up over the culture wars, Ukrainian militias are fighting for their lives.
Zelensky is the biggest badass of them all. The sensible thing to do would be flee and set up a Ukrainian government in exile a la de Gaulle but instead he’s chosen to stay and fight for his country. George VI’s refusal to leave London during the Blitz and Elizabeth I’s vow to “live or die amongst you all” in the face of the Spanish Armada spring to mind (look, British history is my wheelhouse – these may not be great comparisons but they’re what I’ve got).
Ukraine has won the media war, hands down.
Biden’s sanctions may seem weak/vague in comparison to sending in troops but see above re: a war between two nuclear powers. I don’t think Putin will be deterred by sanctions, but without resources he can’t do very much.
I think this is largely Putin’s war. Based on the huge number of Russians protesting despite the risks it appears most of them aren’t in favor.
No idea what the oligarchs thought they would get out of invading Ukraine, if they were consulted at all. As their assets dry up I imagine they’re going to be less and less keen to support Putin’s war, if they ever were to begin with.
No idea how to discuss the war with Ukrainians, so I just…haven’t. I’m thinking particularly of an acquaintance who was born in Ukraine but grew up under the Soviet system, so I don’t know what to say or how to say it.
Too many Republicans are still kissing Putin’s ass but I’m pleased that at least a few are condemning his actions. They’re trying to paint Biden as “weak” but as usual don’t have much to back that up.
Yes, this is the definition of “witnessing history”, being aware of seismic changes even as they’re happening. I’m not sure I like it. History feels safer when viewed through a buffer of a few decades. Day to day waiting to see if Zelensky has survived the night or whether Putin still has his nukes on alert isn’t all that fun.

the unnecessary forgery: the Vinland Map

So I stepped into this one:
Post to my author Facebook page: Good news! Finally got my blog working again. Taking suggestions for post topics. Comment: Your favorite biblio fakes and forgeries.
I’m not (currently?) writing about biblio fakes but given my enduring fascination with the Voynich manuscript they’re not completely outside my wheelhouse. My favorite is the one I first encountered on my Dad’s bookshelf as a kid: the Vinland map.

Purported to be the earliest documentation of pre-Columbian Viking presence in America, its written on 15th century parchment and bound with a genuine 15th century document (the Tartar Relation). Yale University acquired the map in the 1960s and was sufficiently convinced of its authenticity to write the academic tome I found in my Dad’s library, though experts had doubts from the start. After multiple studies and analyses over the years, Yale confirmed it as a fake just this past fall: the ink is dates to the 1920s at the earliest.

As (bad?) luck would have it, Yale published their book in 1965 at about the same time that archaeological finds in L’Anse aux Meadows confirmed a pre-Columbian Viking presence in the Americas.

In my rush around the internet to put together this post, I didn’t find anything on on who specifically forged the Vinland Map or why. I can only guess that someone in the 1920s was so desperate to prove the Vikings got to America first they were willing to invent evidence to “prove” it. So what we wind up with is a forgery created to prove something…that turned out to be true anyway. I love the irony.

Even so, I keep my Dad’s battered copy of “The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation” for sentimental reasons.

My dad's copy of The Vinland Map and the Tartar relation, worn slipcover and all

Analysis unlocks secret of the Vinland Map — it’s a fake (search Google News for “Vinland Map forgery” and you can find a dozen articles in the same vein)
The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation 1996 reissue – despite all doubts Yale University released a 30th anniversary version of their 1965 study that you can still buy from their website
Those of you who want to dive down the rabbit hole can watch all 6 hours of the 2018 “Vinland Map Rediscovered” symposium [YouTube] describing the research findings.

what makes fiction “historical”?

I mean, what is the cut-off date?

Regency (the early 1800s) is self-explanatory. So is Ancient Rome, medieval Europe, the Tudors – all the stereotypical time periods one thinks of when someone mentions “historical fiction” are so far in the past

World War II is another obvious and popular time period. One of the first big WWII novels, “From Here to Eternity”, was written in 1951 by an author who was at Pearl Harbor, so though it appears on historical fiction lists it’s really just contemporary fiction from an earlier time.

But then consider Wouk’s “Winds of War”, written in 1971, less than 30 years after the end of WWII, is arguably more a war novel than a historical fiction novel, yet is described as a great work of historical fiction now.

To a history buff 30 years doesn’t seem like much but it still jarred me to realize that the Ramones first album (1975) came out only 30 years after World War II ended (1945).

By that logic, punk, which happened over 40 years ago(!), is now ripe fodder for historical fiction.

(Punk is closer in time to WWII than to 2021!)

via GIPHY

I’ve read some really good 1970s histfic lately. My choices reflect my love of pop culture: a fictional rock band, a fictional rock band with a paranormal twist, a murder mystery set in 1981. The stories rely on the time period in which they’re placed, and though the time periods are within living history they weren’t written 40 and 50 years ago.

But are these “historical fiction”?

I think it depends on the person. “Within living memory” is a long range of years – to a teenager the 1990s maybe ancient history but to me it feels like barely a few years ago. To my mom’s generation I imagine it feels like last week (surely the 1990s aren’t historical fiction yet. Surely not).

(90s ravers are now middle aged!)

woman with nuclear explosion coming out of her head

via GIPHY

I’m researching a new novel to set in the 1970s or 80s, and it does appear that I can do so while staying within my genre though. It’s risky, though, because one of the hazards of writing in settings within living memory is that a lot of readers will get thrown out of my book if I get the slightest detail wrong.

So my research will be long and difficult, though I have no doubt I’ll love every minute of it.The

the beginning of the end (?)

Given all the gloom and doom I’ve documented for the past year I thought I’d switch it up with something good for a change.

Yesterday I got my first dose of the Pfizer covid vaccine.

I didn’t expect to be eligible this quickly – given the slow / patchy rollout in Maryland (state to state and county to county ALL had different schedules) I was certain I wouldn’t even be able to make an appointment late April at the earliest.

But the governor opened up pre-registration for appointments to everyone over 16 on April 1 (a news story I double-checked on Hogan’s website to make sure it wasn’t a cruel April Fool’s joke) and after signing up at the state and county mass vaccination websites I got an invitation to make an appointment on the 5th and got my jab on the 8th.

The vaccine site was in a local rec center and was very well run – we were in and out in about half an hour, with half of that a 15 minute wait period. No real choice over what shot we got, but given I was getting it way earlier than expected I wasn’t picky.

So far it’s not bad – sore arm, no worse than a flu shot. Even if the side effects get worse (and I’m told the second shot will lay me out) it’s the start of the shield that, even if it doesn’t make me bulletproof, means I won’t land in the hospital and I’m doing my part for herd immunity.

I’m trying not to be under any illusions that the world will go back to normal because it somehow feels like it ought to. I’m reminding myself that the vaccine isn’t a “get out of social distancing free” card. I’ll still have to mask and social distance. Travel still isn’t advised. No matter how much the state/country want to open up theaters, museums, concert venues etc. indoor socializing even with precautions is probably right out.

But I’m doing my part for herd immunity. And unlike social distancing, masking, etc. getting vaccinated feels like a positive step towards fixing this instead of just surviving.

the plague diaries: that escalated quickly

Yeah, I know – even as I type this I’m tired of coronavirus as well.

At the same time I realize I’m witnessing history in the making so I feel like I ought to document it. And that history is happening really damn fast. Most of the time coverage of a news story consists of the original story followed by hours of tail-chasing analysis but Covid-19 gives us something new several times a day.

My 9 year old said, “It’s like we’re living through history, but not good history.”

And all I could think was, “Yeah. Most of the time when you realize you’re living through history, it isn’t because it’s a good part.”

— Emily Thiede (@ethiedee) March 12, 2020

So I feel like I ought to document some of this. As I finish this post on the evening of St. Patrick’s Day it’s remarkable the dramatic changes in just a week, not just in the news but in my own life and the attitudes of people and organizations around me. I’m not a super social person, so most of my observations have to do with work and fencing:

3/8: Participated in 7 person fencing competition with generous slatherings of hand sanitizer. U.S. cases: 504*

3/9: Still going to the office, though washing my hands and sanitizing. Psychologist appointment, at which she advises me of her efforts to keep her office disinfected and contingency plans if she or I get sick. Start taking work laptop home at night, just in case. U.S. cases: 663

3/10: Went to the office. Planned to take a fencing lesson after work but my coach canceled (nothing to do with coronavirus). U.S. cases: 949

3/11: Went to the office. Considered and decided against going to fencing practice as Wednesday is always the busiest foil night (definitely something to do with coronavirus, because WHO finally calls covid-19 a pandemic**). Around half my Facebook friends are starting to this as seriously as I am so I feel less like I’m crying wolf. U.S. cases: 1,248

3/12: Still going to the office, with increasing doubts. Dentist called asking for my recent travel and health history for an appointment next Tuesday. I checked out so my appointment is still on. Governor calls a state emergency. Among other actions he closes the ports, forbids gatherings of over 250 people, and mandates telework for MD state employees. U.S. cases: 1,625

3/13: Work from home to help test network capacity but leadership doesn’t make telework mandatory. Supporting the closure of county schools my fencing club stops classes, but not free fencing. U.S. cases: 2,157

3/14: Today’s competition postponed until May. Picked up a sewing machine from the repair shop, only because sewing machine repair is such a niche business that I’ve usually been the only person in the shop other than the owner. U.S. cases: 2,830

3/15: Dentist cancels my appointment and will call me when they open up again. Governor closes casinos and racetracks. U.S. cases: 3,553

3/16: I telework – it’s mandatory starting tomorrow but highly recommended to start today if possible. Governor closes restaurants, bars, movie theaters, and gyms. U.S. cases (as of 6 pm): 4,287

3/17: First official day of mandatory telework. My fencing club formally closes, though in reality no went to open fencing over the weekend. U.S. cases as of 7:30 pm: 6,330.

*All numbers taken from Worldometer except 3/16-17 because it has archival data. I pulled today’s numbers from Johns Hopkins’ Coronavirus tracker , which is damn near up to the second but doesn’t keep a history (that I can find).

**I’m not commenting on the U.S. federal government’s (mis)handling of the crisis because it’s been adequately covered elsewhere.

biweekly links 11-20-2019

Archives everywhere this week, plus a change of pace at the end:

The Internet Archive Is Digitizing & Preserving Over 100,000 Vinyl Records: Hear 750 Full Albums Now: though a fervent vinyl fiend as a teenager I’ve embraced the digital revolution with both arms – I still marvel that the heavy record crates I used to have to haul (up stairs, both ways) to my 1990s college radio show now fit on an object the size of a pack of cards with room to spare. And the Boston public library vinyl collection is just the tip of Archive.org’s audio iceberg: behold.

Speaking of archives, Extra-terrestrial collection touches down: The University of Manitoba Archives receives local UFO collections: this time it’s UFO researcher Chris Rutowski’s papers. Why do the Canadians get all the good UFO archives?

Finally, The Casebook Project has digitized the medical records of astrologer-physicians Simon Forman and John Napier.

Lest you think all I do is look at archives all day (I wish!): David Bowie wanted to play the role of Rorschach in Terry Gilliam’s ‘Watchmen’ adaptation: my gut impulse is “would watch”. Incredibly it sounds like Alan Moore was on board with this adaptation as well. What do you think?

On Apollo 11

I was not alive for the Apollo 11 landing.

So I don’t remember seeing it on tv in real time. But I remember a book about the Apollo rockets we had when I was very small that I read until it was worn out, so I was clearly impressed as a child. As an adult, I dropped the ball on attending any of the 50^thanniversary celebratory events – it was too damn hot, and I was tired. So consider this post my feeble, late addition to the festivities.

For the past week I’ve been listening to documentaries on the Apollo program (hey, work is the only time I have to do this – I can’t watch, I can only listen). Fifty years on the technology still blows me away – an entire industry and science of space travel had to be invented within 10(!) years to meet Kennedy’s deadline. The spacesuits alone are masterpieces of high tech and high craftsmanship. But it’s not just the inventiveness, tenacity, and ambition of everyone involved in the Apollo missions that thrills me, but also the incredible amount of goodwill the successful landing generated around the world.

Every documentary includes people from the astronauts’ publicity tours congratulating them because “we did it” – as in “we”, the entire human species, succeeded. And despite clichés about how humbling it is to see the smallness and frailty of our little blue planet from outside, for one shining moment it felt like the whole of humanity was in something together.

Human beings do a lot of stupid, mean-spirited, destructive things, but Apollo wasn’t one of them. Arguably it was a high point in human science and ingenuity on a global scale, and a high point of international regard for the United States in particular.

I’m saddened that the 50th anniversary of this achievement should occur when the reputation of the United States is so poor, and that paranoia and “Google University” arrogant thought prevails over informed critical thinking. We’re better than this.

biweekly links 3-14-2018

Happy spring (or, at least, happy daylight savings time. Yeah, it’s dark in the morning but it’s light enough for me to take a walk after work)! After an inadvertent week off due to flaky laptop I present a passel of links:

Found in South Philadelphia, an Underground Railroad station: even without the association with Harriet Tubman this is a significant historic site. I agree with the historian who advocates elevating symbols of emancipation even as we tear down memorials to the Confederacy.

Alchemy, flushing toilets and blood-letting: The secrets of medieval Oxford revealed: the pot of mercury is all well and good but I’m more excited about the array of writing implements found. A solid lead pencil! “Parchment prickers”, whatever those are! And for the life of me I can’t find a photo of the elusive “vellum scissors”.

17 Rare Pics Reveal A Fake Rooftop Town Built To Hide Boeing’s Factory From Japanese Air Strikes: I think myself a history buff yet I’d never heard of this! An entire fake city built to protect American fighter plane production during WWII.

Support the Terence McKenna archives! If you’re so inclined. I’ve not followed McKenna’s career closely but I’m all about efforts to preserve and transcript data for easy searchability.

the cutting room floor

As I’ve discussed before, history isn’t tidy. I made some strategic cuts to the story at the outset, mostly for my sanity. Now I’m cutting even more as they don’t add to the story I’m trying to tell, which is a damn shame as Dee and Kelley generated So. Much. Weird. that begs exploration. Just not by me:

Dee and Kelley’s possible ties to Shakespeare – interesting if true, but not relevant to my story

Nuances of alchemical process and symbolism – you’ll get your furnaces and flasks but not painstaking detail because I’m not a chemist.

Dee and Kelley’s sojourn in Poland courting the patronage of Stephen Bathory (yes, cousin of that Bathory). It’s not the story I’m telling and someone already has anyway.*

A series of incidents in which Kelley apparently conjures demons and poltergeists outside of his actions with Dee – and this breaks my heart because I so, so want to play with what was going on here! I found this delicious story in the footnotes of part 9 of I.R.F. Calder’s thesis but it’s so divided from the rest of the spiritual actions that I can’t justify including it.**

The possibility that Jane Dee was from a recusant family. I could only find one reference (since removed), and there’s more narrative tension if Jane is solidly Protestant in Catholic Bohemia.

And there’s probably more. What are you cutting, and why?

*Looking forward to reading this after I finish the WIP.
**Actually, I might do a short story based on this.