6 Degrees Around Audubon

Sunday April 26th was National Audubon Day. On this day, we recognize the birth of John James Audubon. What makes him so important? John James Audubon's claim to fame was his extensive studies of  birds in their natural habitat. Not only that, Audubon made painted illustrations of the birds as he observed them in their natural environment. Considered to be the apex of ornithological works was Audubon's The Birds of America.
https://nationaldaycalendar.com/days-2/national-audubon-day-april-26/

Today, I'm going to honor his memory with this blog. There were not many fictional properties that use Audubon in their work. I found some works that were fictional while others were borderline fictional. Anyways without further ado...




6 Degrees Around Audubon
1.  Alvin Heartfire
Summary:  Orson Scott Card wrote this book while SFBC Publishing published Alvin Heartfire. It was about the seventh son of a seventh son named Alvin. He found that he had a special gift-- he was a maker. His goal was to make a shining city that could be a home for everyone. In this book, his path took him to the north where he confronted the witch laws.
https://www.amazon.com/Alvin-Wandering-Tales-Journeyman-Heartfire/dp/1568659040









Commentary: Before Alvin left on his journey to the north, he went to find his ward Arthur Stuart. Arthur and Alvin ran into Audubon who was trying to shoot a goose so he could paint it's picture.

2. Mr Audubon Meets the Undead
Summary: Elvis Franco wrote this short story and published it through Storytown. It took place in Eastport, Maine when a ship carrying zombies arrived from the Caribbean.
https://www.amazon.com/Audubon-Meets-Undead-Elvis-Franco-ebook/dp/B003F76WTI















Commentary: The reason that this story was of interest was because it took place when Audubon was in Maine. Mr. Audubon met the undead and became a hero.

3. Audubon On The Wings of the World
Summary: Fabien Grolleau wrote the graphic novel and Jeremie Royer drew the illustrations for the semi biographical story about Audubon as he traveled across the America to paint birds. He didn't bring much with him, apparently, just an assistant, a gun, and his painting supplies.

https://www.amazon.com/Audubon-Meets-Undead-Elvis-Franco-ebook/dp/B003F76WTI











Commentary: Of course, the reason that I chose this story was because it was about Audubon. The interesting thing about this graphic novel was that the story use Audubon's writings describing his journey as the foundation.

4. John Audubon Young Naturalist
Summary:  Miriam E. Mason wrote this book while Cathy Morrison provided illustrations. It was a biography/story about John Audubon. When he left Haiti and headed to France, Young Audubon worried that he wouldn't get to see his birds. But he was delighted in finding a lot of little birds near his new home.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1681040.John_Audubon
https://lookingglassreview.com/html/blank_review_for_copying51.html










Commentary: This book also talked about how he collected bird's eggs and corpses, creating his own little museum. He even brought animals that he found.

5. John James Audubon
Summary: This was a poem written by Stephen Vincent Benet with his wife Rosemary. The Book of Americans, a book of children's poetry, contained the poem. It had a rhyme scheme of ABCB BDED FGHG IJKJ LMCM NOCO PQCQ RSKS TUCU. It was a simple poem describing Audubon's quest.

https://allpoetry.com/John-James-Audobon
https://www.amazon.com/Americans-Rosemary-Benet-Stephen-Vincent/dp/0030351200










Commentary: The poem also brought up Audubon's wife and demonstrated that she was his support on his quest.

6.  Audubon
Summary: James Kallembach composed this choral oratorio. It opened at the Chorus Pro Musica on November 9, 2018. Accompanying the musical work, played a video presentation of Audobons' art and images of the natural world. An orchestra and a choir performed the music.
https://choruspromusica.org/featured/chorus-pro-musica-announces-audubon-multimedia-oratorio-james-kallembach/








Commentary: What can I say about this? It portrayed Audubon's art while the musical composition evoked the frontier of America. Composer Kallembach and the videographer worked to sync the art and the music.

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Pied Piper of Hamelin---->Hero 108

A.  Pied Piper of Hamelin
Summary: This was a well-known oral legend that had its roots in history. What happened that day, time obfuscated so much that there were many different versions of the story. Some versions characterize the piper as a hero, saving the town from the plague. Other versions have some of the children surviving. Still, others versions stated that he returned them when paid. But the story that most remember was that a village hired a piper to get rid of the pests by luring them away with his pipe. After the piper finished, the  town refused to pay. In retaliation, the piper piped again, this time luring the children of the town away.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_Piper_of_Hamelin
https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/disturbing-true-story-pied-piper-hamelin-001969

Connections:  For this I am using the Pied Piper, the incident at Hamelin, and the obscurity that surrounds. Apparently, this point in time also occurred in a few different alternative universes. One of the most notable was the one of "Little Garden" found in Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?

1. Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?
Summary:  This anime series was directed by Keizo Kusakawa and Yasutaka Yamamoto while it was produced by Takeshi Yasuda. The story was about three psychic children, really teenagers- Izayoi Sakamaki, Asuka Kudo, and Yo Kasukabe. Sakamaki had an unknown ability. Well, technically, its named- I just don't want to spoil it. Asuka Kudo had the power of authority while Kasukabe gained powers from her animal friends. Anyways, these three children felt bored with their life and one day they each got an invitation to another world or alternative universe. This new universe offered a chance for these teens to use their powers by the way of games. The trio joined a community as they begin to learn about their new world.










Connection: Throughout the multiverse and dimensions,  doppelgangers, alternate versions of some us, that exist.

Asuka Kudo was the alternate version of Rin Tohsaka of Fate/stay night. Rin was a mage, a participant in the Holy Grail War, and the Master of Archer ( the heroic spirit that she summoned to help her with the War).

And its not only the looks that lead me in this direction. In one of the episodes of Problem Children, Asuka explained that in her time it was after the Great War. It would be interesting if the war she was referring to was her world's version of the Holy Grail War....

2. Fate/stay night
Summary: This game- later an anime- TYPE MOON released. It was about a secret war waged between mages. The mages called on heroic spirits to fight in this war and each mage can only summon on spirit. Each of these heroic spirits fall into one of seven classes: Saber, Caster, Archer, Lancer, Assassin, Rider or Berserker. And the goal of this fight was a chalice that can grant wishes- the Holy Grail.

Connection: One of the spirits called upon by the mages, at some point, was Gilgamesh. The background of Gilgamesh of Fate/stay night resembles the Gilgamesh of  mythology.

He was the half god and half human king of Uruk in Mesopotamia. Because of his legendary status, Gilgamesh takes part in many different stories. He also appears in  Arak Son of Thunder #43. In this story, Gilgamesh appears as a judge of the dead.

3.  Arak Son of Thunder #43
Summary: This comic book was  written by  Roy and Dann Thomas, penciled and inked by Tony DeZuniga, colored by  Adrienne Roy, and lettered by Lois Buhalis. The publisher of the comic book series was DC comics. In this story, Arak, the hero, entered the land of the dead to rescue his friends: Satyricus and Valda. Gilgamesh may be included, but the summary isn't clear. Arak was able to revive Satyricus, but with Valda- he needed more help. That help came in the form of Gilgamesh (Gilgamesh's statue stood nearby. That might be were he came from). Arak, Valda, Satyricus and Gilgamesh had to fight their way out of there, but at some point Gilgamesh decided to stay in the underworld.
Connection: Arak was able to enter the underworld because of Utnapishtim. In the Mesopotamian myths, Utnapishtim was the "Noah" of these stories. I don't know if it was the same in the comic book, but what I do know was that he had access to the gates of the underworld. Now, Utnapishtim had also been seen in other stories such as Ys VI: The Ark of Naphishtim. Naphishtim, in the game, was not a living breathing person but was introduced as an AI. As an A.I. would need to be programmed and the programmer probably used either their own or another persons personality as the base personality for the A.I - I can safely assume that Naphishtim was at one point a real live person.
4. Ys VI: The Ark of Naphishtim
Summary: This video game was created and produced by Nihon Falcom. The story followed adventurer Adol Christin as he explored the mysterious western islands that made up Canaan. Adol and his friend Dogi team up with pirate captain Ladoc and his daughter Terra. But on the way there, they ran into Romun ships. The Romuns attacked them. Adol fell overboard and left for dead, but he washed up on the shores of Canaan where was rescued by two  natives of Canaan.
.
https://www.gog.com/game/ys_vi_the_ark_of_napishtim
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ys_VI:_The_Ark_of_Napishtim
https://isu.fandom.com/wiki/Ys_World









Connection: This game took place in an alternate version of Earth. Eurasia in this world was referred to as Eresia and it was composed of seven regions: Ispani, Gllia, The Alp, Britai, Garman, Europe, and Orietta. In Ys VI, the game starts out in the Ispani region in the city of Ediz. The neighboring region of Gllia had a city be the name of Esteria. Many of the descriptions of the game suggest it "takes place in Canaan, an island far west of Esteria."   https://archive.rpgamer.com/games/ys/ys6/ys6.html  Esteria was also found in a book by the name of People of the Swan.

5. People of the Swan by Hubert Schuurman
Summary: This book was published by Trafford Publishing in 2007 under the genre of fantasy. King Arcturus spent much time getting the various people of his land together. At a Unity Symposium, they agreed to a Common Book of Sacred Lore and for many years they live in peace and prosperity. The Dwarves noticed something changing and try to warn the others but no one pays them heed until one year during the Swan Festival the King died and the Princess went missing.
Connection: In the book there was a Kingdom of the Seven Mountains. I'm not sure if it part of King Arcturus' kingdom or a neighboring king, but its there. Now, the Kingdom of Seven Mountains was also mentioned in a fairy tale called The Queen of the Seven Mountains.

6.The Queen of the Seven Mountains
Summary: This fairy tale was found in a collection of fairy tales by Mabel Blodgett called The Giant's Ruby, and Other Fairy Tales. It was about the good Queen Vera who took care of her people. The witch, Viperena, heard about the happiness of the kingdom and went to do something about it. Viperena put the Queen in a magical sleep and turned the people into different animals. Only one person escaped, a shepherd boy by the name of Chrystal as he was away from town with a sick lamb.When he returned back to the town, he found out what had happened. The young man, then, started out on a quest to save his town and his Queen.

Connections: During his journey, Chrystal encountered the King of the Parrots. No description of him other than he was a parrot and a bit old. He was not the only King of Parrot found in popular media. Another King of the Parrots was found in the animated series Hero 108. Though I do have the sneaking suspicion the two Kings were not the same one- more than likely they were distantly related.

B. Hero 108
Summary: This series was created by Yang-Ming Tarng. It was directed by Trevor Wall, Pongo Kuo, and John Fountain. The show aired on Cartoon Network for about 52 episodes. Once upon a time, animals and humans lived in harmony and friendship. Then, one day, High Roller came through and convinced the animals that the humans couldn't be trusted. But not all animals fall for his lies. Commander ApeTrully formed a secret organization called Big Green to demonstrate that animals and humans could coexist.

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6 Degrees Around Oklahoma City

April 19th was National Oklahoma City Bombing Commemoration Day. The bombing took place 25 years ago at the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building. Two domestic terrorists drove a truck filled with explosives. When the bomb detonated, 168 people died and another 680 were injured. In response to this, I am writing a blog about fictional stories that took place in Oklahoma City. I'm not specifically talking about the bombing or the pain of loss but celebrating the city where the tragedy took place.


6 Degrees Around Oklahoma City


1. Thelma and Louise

Summary: This movie was written by Callie Khouri and directed by Ridley Scott. It starred Susan Surandon and Geena Davis. The movie was one about the friendship between two women: Thelma Dickinson and Louise Sawyer. Thelma and Louise have an unbalanced relationship with the men in their lives, with the men not paying attention to them. Because of that, the two women leave for vacation up in the mountains. On the way, the two friends were forced to kill someone in self defense and then go on the run. They travel towards Mexico and even pick up a drifter, but things continue to go wrong. Eventually, the FBI caught up with them, leaving them with only one direction to go.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelma_%26_Louise


Commentary: When the two women go on the run, they head to Mexico by the way of Oklahoma City. The drifter gave the women an address of 1921 North East 23rd, which in the movie was a Vagabond Motel, to stop at. The trio stay at the motel overnight. In the morning, the drifter and the women go their own ways for different reasons
https://www.howderfamily.com/blog/thelma-and-louise/
https://www.movie-locations.com/movies/t/Thelma-And-Louise.php

2. Turbo Outrun 

Summary: This game was designed by Satoshi Mifune and published by Sega. It was a racing game that had the player character and his girlfriend driving a Ferrari F40. The Ferrari came with the ability to switch between automatic and manual transmission. And the player could even increase speed using a turbo boost. There were 16 stages with checkpoints along the way. The player character had an opponent driving a white car and if the player didn't beat it- the player's girlfriend will jump out and get in the other car. There were about four sub-goals, which I believe occurs every time the player passes through 4 cities. And the overall goal of the game was to reach Los Angeles.

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/turbo-outrun/

Commentary: One of the stages of the game, number 13 to be exact, was Oklahoma City. At the start, all you can see was rolling fields and a mountain range. Shortly after, there were multiple trees alongside the road. Every now and  then along the course, there seems to be what looks like catwalks or an overhead crosswalk over the course. Ooooooh… May be that’s what they are- audience observation decks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqNfu8RRIX8

3. Saving Grace

Summary: This was a TNT tv series created by Nancy Miller and produced by Holly Hunter. This show follows Oklahoma City detective Grace Hanadarko. She was a heavy drinker, so probably a little depressed and cynical. One night, she accidentally hits a pedestrian. In desperation, she calls out to God. An angel named Earl appears and speaks to her, asking if she was ready to turn to God. Earl left and so did the body. But he did come back over the course of the show to try to get her to turn from her self destructive tendencies and to God.

Commentary: The reason that I chose this show was because it took place in Oklahoma City. Also, the creator of the show was from Oklahoma City and makes references to the City, from the bombing to Johnnies Charcoal Broiler

4. The Turning Point (1977)

Summary: This show was written by Arthur Laurents and directed by Herbert Ross. It starred Shirley MacLaine and Lesley Browne. The story, like Thelma and Louise, was about friendship between two women, Deedee Rogers and her daughter Emilia. Emilia was a budding ballerina and an old friend of her mom's invites her to join her company. Deedee and her daughter move to New York so Emilia could do that. Their time in New York strains their relationship due to a loss of trust, mistakes, and miscommunication. Eventually, they do make up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turning_Point_(1977_film)

Commentary: I chose this film because when Deedee marries- her and her husband move to Oklahoma City to raise their family and run a dance studio.

5. Elysium: World of Darkness MUSH

Summary: A MUSH was a multi-user shared habitat. The Elysium MUSH was also a storytelling MUSH. The player was a human that can be a mage, vampire, or a werewolf. I don’t know very much about this- so if anyone else know-- let me know.
http://vampirerpg.free.fr/mush.html

http://www.clock.org/muds/mlist/a-e.html

Commentary: I chose this story because it took place in Oklahoma City.


6. No Good Deed
Summary: This book was written by Beverly Hale and published by Yard Dog Press. It was an urban fantasy story. Not much else was known about this book other than it was promoted.
http://www.armadillocon.org/d27/guests/guests.htm#bevhale


Commentary: I chose this story because it took place in Oklahoma City. I hate to have this so bare- but there was no other information I am able to find.

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Airy [F]airy Easter of Sant'Ariccia--------->Spain: Cadiz The Winning of Cales

I know. I know. I know. Easter passed. But I am going to finish this anyway. 

A. Airy [F]airy Easter of Sant'Ariccia

Summary: This was a visual novel by the publisher/developer Roccoworks. ( They
may be out of business as their web page was archived.) Now before I continue, I
do want to say that this work was an eroge- it isn’t kid friendly- so if you want to
check it out please be warned. This story was about a character named Elmo
Costa who was a Tuesday Gravekeeper. A gravekeeper was a person who kept
days from being stolen- though how a day was stolen, I’m not sure. He took over
the job when his father disappeared and so was probably looking for clues to his
disappearance. And finally, it seems that Elmo was also romancing some of the
village girls
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/AiryairyEaster_of_Sant'Ariccia
https://vndb.org/v2671

Commentary: I chose this because the story took place during an Easter Festival.

Connections: I would prefer something a little more substantial, but I do have to work with what I have. In this story there was a character named Monika Lang.
 

She was a wandering street performer commonly seen with a donkey and monkey. I believe she may be related to the Zack Lang of her world which would be the double of the Zack Lang in Stephen King’s 11/22/63. Why him? Because they have some similarities. They both traveled and I have a feeling that both dealt with interdimensional, timey wimey issues. Monika Lang was interested in the original gravekeeper of Tuesday and Zack Lang was a guardian of time portal.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11/22/63

1.  11/22/63

Summary: This novel was written by Stephen King. It was about a man named Jake Epping.
When we first meet him, he was teaching a GED class for a little extra money. During this
class, he met a man named Henry Dunning. Henry told Jake about his traumatic past
and it touched Jake. The two men became good friends. The reason that this was important was
because a couple of years later, Jake was given a chance to go back in time. And the first thing
he planned to do with this chance?? He tried to fix his friend's life. After that, well, he moved on and
began trying to save JFK. At the end of the story, Jake learn that meddling with time can come with
a price.

Commentary: I chose this story because there was a section where some of the characters discussed
Easter. Lee stated that “we don’t celebrate Easter. We’re atheists.” And his friend
Mohrenschildt responded with “That’s why we celebrate the Easter Bunny.” (For a reminder,
I’m quoting Stephen King's book. King, Stephen. 11/22/63. United Kingdom,
Scribner, 2011.)

Connection: In the story, they refer to a character named Mark Anderson. He was described as
being a surgeon. For this blog, I am saying that he was distantly related to Anastasia Club’s Anna
Anderson aka Anastasia.

I chose her because she lived in the United States nearly Charlottesville (she met someone in
that city). So, there was a chance one of her kids could have moved to Texas where Mark
Anderson lived.

2. Anastasia Club

Summary: This manga was written by Saitou Chiho and published by Shogakukan. It’s about a girl
named Tsubaki Kamui who ran an antique shop left to her by grandfather upon his death. One day
a man named Sena Takuto showed up with an artifact that he needed appraised. Sena was trying to prove
that he descended from the Romanov family.

https://myanimelist.net/manga/5968/Anastasia_Club

https://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=169

Commentary: I chose this manga because they searched for the Romanov Easter Eggs aka
Faberge eggs. And yes, this was a real thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanov_Tercentenary_(Faberg%C3%A9_egg)

Connection:  The Romanov family was related to the English monarchy. One of the ways we know this was because the
youngest Romanov prince suffered with hemophilia as did quitea few of the English monarchy.

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haemophilia_in_European_royalty

While this article was talking about the current British Royal family, the family were ancestors of Good
Queen Bess aka Elizabeth I through James I down to Queen Victoria The reason I bring her up because she had an affair with the Doctor.

And this was mentioned in the fan series Doctor Who and the Plague of Secrets.

3. Doctor Who and the Plague of Spirits

Summary: This was a fan film by a group that called themselves Sauchen Studios.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11106168/  Their films could be found on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAnsMVyiTvKIFLtyEku6qpw In the movie, mysterious plague
doctors infect Amy. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory search for an object that could stop the plague doctors
and save Amy. Unfortunately, a sinister third party was also looking for that object too.

Commentary: I chose this because the Doctor gave Amy an Easter chocolate.

Connection:


Continuing with Good Queen Bess, we also know that she was related to Queen Victoria
of the Victorian Age. Queen Victoria’s butlers show up in the Black Butler manga series.




4. Black Butler

Summary: This manga series was written by Yana Toboso and produced by Square Enix. It was about a
boy named Ciel Phantomhive who fought crimes. Ciel had a secondary goal, though. He wanted to get
revenge on those who killed his parents. To do this, he made a deal with a demon named Sebastian
who was disguised as his butler.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Butler

Commentary: I chose this manga because they have a volume where they celebrate Easter.

Connection: Demons, like Sebastian, were the most common footsoldier of Satan (Lucifer, the Devil,
etc). A possible coworker of Sebastian's would be Mephisto from Faust. The version of Faust that I
chose was Osamu Tezuka's Faust. Mephisto was the demon that tempted Faust.

I think he was in this picture. He was described as being an anthropomorphic black dog.....

5. Faust

Summary: This manga was an adaptation of Goethe's Faust written by Osamu Tezuka. In the story,
the demon Mephisto tempted Faust with eternal life. Faust accepted because he was looking for something
he was unable to find. The only caveat to this deal was that when Faust found what he was looking for, when
his desire was met, Mephisto won his soul. Maybe.

Commentary: The reason that I chose this was because there was mention of an Easter festival. I could find no images, but there were a couple sentences written about it in this article

http://tezukainenglish.com/wp/?page_id=10896

Connection: Mephisto wasn't the only demon running around the fictional world. Another demon was Sytry.

He was found in the manga Makai Ouji Devils and Realist. Not only were there demons, but the main
character, William Twining, was the Elector. 

This meant that he was the one that selected the replacement for Lucifer while Lucifer went on vacation.

6. Makai Ouij Devils and Realist

Summary: This manga was written by Madoka Takadono and published by Ichijinsha. It was about a
descendant of King Solomon named William Twining. William discovered that because of his ancestry,
he was the Elector. The Elector was the person that could determine who ruled hell when Lucifer went on
vacation. The catch was that William was a realist and didn't believe in demons. Still a supernatural war
was about to break out and William was in the middle of it.

Commentary: I chose this manga because they referred to the Easter Bunny in it.

Connection: One of the creatures in this manga was a Kilmoulis or a brownie.

It was a fairy tale creature that normally liked to do household chores and in this case grind flour. I’m
connecting this to the poem Spain: Cadiz The Winning of Cales because it mentioned other fairy tale
creatures such as giants and dwarfs.

B. Spain: Cadiz The Winning of Cales 

Summary: This poem was written by Miguel de Cervantes. The poem contained 14 lines with an
ABBCCDDCEFGEFG rhyme scheme. It seemed to be about a battle or the end of one as the speaker
seemed to be watching a squadron of soldiers on the move- whether they were leaving or entering the
battlefield.

Commentary: The reason I chose this poem was because the poet compared the battle to an Easter
May game.

WE saw a banded confraternity, By soldiers called a squadron, men whose blows Were dreaded more by friends than English foes, Holding an Easter May-game in July; All plumed, as if they meant to mount and fly: What wonder if, ere fifteen days had close, This pomp of Babel vanished, as it rose, Giants and dwarfs, with all their surquedry! Oft, like a valiant bull-calf, at their drill Had stout Becerro roared; pale grew the sun Beneath their smoke; earth trembled at their din: But all too late at Cales to fight or kill; The English Earl was gone; his booty won; And in grand triumph marched our grand Duke in!

https://www.bartleby.com/270/6/39.html

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