Official Great Works Draft (2 Viewers)

[rodg12]

I'll have to get out of here soon, can anyone take a PM for my pick?

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Soooo, not a ton of comment or controversy with my picks. This is new territory for me. Do I quote myself a lot to get noticed or let sleeping dogs gas up the place?

 

[Bob Lee Swagger]

I'll have to get out of here soon, can anyone take a PM for my pick?

:(

PM sent. Thanks!

 

[Big Rocks]

19.20 Going Scientific Discovery here. Great is an interesting word. And yes, a frenchy gets to share the discovery as well as I guess.

I select, Dr. Robert Gallo's discovery of the HIV virus and A.I.D.S.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a lentivirus (a member of the retrovirus family) that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. Previous names for the virus include human T-lymphotropic virus-III (HTLV-III), lymphadenopathy-associated virus (LAV), and AIDS-associated retrovirus (ARV).[1][2]

Infection with HIV occurs by the transfer of blood, semen, ######l fluid, pre-ejaculate, or breast milk. Within these bodily fluids, HIV is present as both free virus particles and virus within infected immune cells. The four major routes of transmission are unprotected sexual intercourse, contaminated needles, breast milk, and transmission from an infected mother to her baby at birth (Vertical transmission). Screening of blood products for HIV has largely eliminated transmission through blood transfusions or infected blood products in the developed world.

HIV infection in humans is now pandemic. As of January 2006, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognized on December 1, 1981. It is estimated that about 0.6 percent of the world's population is infected with HIV.[3] In 2005 alone, AIDS claimed an estimated 2.4–3.3 million lives, of which more than 570,000 were children. A third of these deaths are occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, ######ing economic growth and increasing poverty.[4] According to current estimates, HIV is set to infect 90 million people in Africa, resulting in a minimum estimate of 18 million orphans.[5] Antiretroviral treatment reduces both the mortality and the morbidity of HIV infection, but routine access to antiretroviral medication is not available in all countries.[6]

HIV primarily infects vital cells in the human immune system such as helper T cells (specifically CD4+ T cells), macrophages, and dendritic cells. HIV infection leads to low levels of CD4+ T cells through three main mechanisms: firstly, direct viral killing of infected cells; secondly, increased rates of apoptosis in infected cells; and thirdly, killing of infected CD4+ T cells by CD8 cytotoxic lymphocytes that recognize infected cells. When CD4+ T cell numbers decline below a critical level, cell-mediated immunity is lost, and the body becomes progressively more susceptible to opportunistic infections.

Eventually most HIV-infected individuals develop AIDS. These individuals mostly die from opportunistic infections or malignancies associated with the progressive failure of the immune system.[7] Without treatment, about 9 out of every 10 persons with HIV will progress to AIDS after 10–15 years. Many progress much sooner.[8] Treatment with anti-retrovirals increases the life expectancy of people infected with HIV. Even after HIV has progressed to diagnosable AIDS, the average survival time with antiretroviral therapy (as of 2005) is estimated to be more than 5 years.[9] Without antiretroviral therapy, death normally occurs within a year.[10] It is hoped that current and future treatments may allow HIV-infected individuals to achieve a life expectancy approaching that of the general public.

Wow, intriguing pick. I never thought of this one when compiling my list.

 

[rodg12]

Hmmmm, wonder if Anborn knew he was also OTC for rd 20 when making the rd. 19 re-pick??

 

[timschochet]

Soooo, not a ton of comment or controversy with my picks. This is new territory for me. Do I quote myself a lot to get noticed or let sleeping dogs gas up the place?

The Grapes of Wrath is Commie leftist propaganda. It's a 400 page diatribe and attack on capitalism and the United States of America. Tom Joad yearns for a Soviet collective, a worker's paradise. It's by far the most anti-American item you could have drafted. From now on I can only consider you a subversive. I am removing the Bill of Rights from your draft, as you aren't fit anymore to own them, you pinko!

 

[rodg12]

I'll have to get out of here soon, can anyone take a PM for my pick?

PM sent. Thanks!

Was going to take this if it made it back to me.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Soooo, not a ton of comment or controversy with my picks. This is new territory for me. Do I quote myself a lot to get noticed or let sleeping dogs gas up the place?

The Grapes of Wrath is Commie leftist propaganda. It's a 400 page diatribe and attack on capitalism and the United States of America. Tom Joad yearns for a Soviet collective, a worker's paradise. It's by far the most anti-American item you could have drafted. From now on I can only consider you a subversive. I am removing the Bill of Rights from your draft, as you aren't fit anymore to own them, you pinko!

 

[wikkidpissah]

Wikkidpissah, I object! Eine Klein Nachtmusic is Mozart's finest work. Sure, it gets overplayed, but there's a reason for that- because it's so darn good!

pleasant tune. major work?

Since you're asking, I say, YES

i dont even think, if i was able to get to the coolest province of Purgatory & ask the composer himself, i could get him to agree with you. u might do better to move it to the song cat. beautiful as it is, its a notion, a fancy, a chamber piece. the hard thing about ranking Mozart, especially against the obvious majesty of Beethoven's work, is the remarkable facility of his talent. he wrote his last 3 symphonies - all of which deserve consideration in the all-time top 5 symphonies not written by LVB - as a whim, a treat for those who invited him to Prague i think it was. his operas he cared about, slaved over, like Ludwig and his opi magni, & have a thematic complexity that make his prettiest tunes tremble in a web-filled corner of his creative attic.

 

[jmp]

I think Swagger can go ahead now.

 

[rodg12]

Pick for Bob Lee Swagger.............

20.06 - Play - Antigone - Sophocles

Feel like I'm getting great value here in the 20th round. Where Oedipus Rex is overtly shocking and focused on fate, Antigone is more cerebral and it focuses more on the choices we make.

Before the beginning of the play's action, Eteocles and Polyneices, two brothers leading opposite sides in Thebes' civil war, died fighting each other for the throne. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, has declared that Eteocles will be honored and Polyneices disgraced. The rebel brother's body will not be sanctified by holy rites, and will lie unburied on the battlefield, prey for carrion animals, the harshest punishment at the time. Antigone and Ismene are the sisters of the dead brothers. In the opening of the play, Antigone brings Ismene outside the city gates late at night for a secret meeting: Antigone wants to bury Polyneices' body, in defiance of Creon's edict. Ismene refuses to help her, fearing the death penalty, but she is unable to dissuade Antigone from going to bury her brother herself. Creon enters, along with the Chorus of Theban Elders. He seeks their support in the days to come, and in particular wants them to back his edict regarding the disposal of Polyneices' body. The Chorus of Elders pledges their support. A Sentry enters, fearfully reporting that the body has been buried. A furious Creon orders the Sentry to find the culprit or face death himself. The Sentry leaves, but after a short absence he returns, bringing Antigone with him. Creon questions her, and she does not deny what she has done. She argues unflinchingly with Creon about the morality of the edict and the morality of her actions. Creon becomes livid, and, thinking Ismene must have helped her, summons the girl. Ismene tries to confess falsely to the crime, wishing to die alongside her sister, but Antigone would not have it. Creon orders that the two women be temporarily locked up.

Haemon, Creon's son and Antigone's fiancé, enters to pledge allegiance to his father. He initially seems willing to join Creon, but when Haemon gently tries to persuade his father to spare Antigone, the discussion deteriorates and the two men are soon bitterly insulting each other. Haemon leaves, vowing never to see Creon again.

Creon decides to spare Ismene and to bury Antigone alive in a cave. She is brought out of the house, and she bewails her fate and defends her actions one last time. She is taken away to her living tomb, with the Chorus expressing great sorrow for what is going to happen to her.

Tiresias, the blind prophet, enters. He warns Creon that the gods side with Antigone. Creon accuses Tiresias of being corrupt. Tiresias responds that because of Creon's mistakes, he will lose one child for the crimes of leaving Polyneices unburied and putting Antigone into the earth. All of Greece will despise him, and the sacrificial offerings of Thebes will not be accepted by the gods. The Chorus, terrified, asks Creon to take their advice. He assents, and they tell him that he should free Antigone and bury Polyneices. Creon, shaken, agrees to do it. He leaves with a retinue of men to help him right his previous mistakes. The Chorus delivers a choral ode to the god Dionysus, and then a Messenger enters to tell them that Haemon has killed himself. Eurydice, Creon's wife and Haemon's mother, enters and asks the Messenger to tell her everything. The Messenger reports that Haemon and Antigone have both taken their own lives. Eurydice disappears into the palace.

Creon enters, carrying Haemon's body. He understands that his own actions have caused these events. A Second Messenger arrives to tell Creon and the Chorus that Eurydice has killed herself. With her last breath, she cursed her husband. Creon blames himself for everything that has happened, and, a broken man, he asks his servants to help him inside. The order he valued so much has been protected, and he is still the king, but he has acted against the gods and lost his child and his wife as a result. The Chorus closes by saying that although the gods punish the proud, punishment brings wisdom.

 

[rodg12]

Skipped

19.01 Fennis

19.10 - Thatguy - timed out

19.19 - Tirnan (autoskip if not around in first 5 minutes)

20.02 - Tirnan (autoskip if not around in first 5 minutes)

20.05 - Scott Norwood - timed out

20.07 - Misfit Blondes - OTC until :10

20.08 - Uncle Humuna - On Deck

20.09 - Team CIA (auto-skip)

20.10 - El Floppo (still on skip???)

20.11 - thatGuy (skip after time-out??)

20.12 - Wikkidpissah

20.13 - Tides

20.14 - BobbyLayne/Flysack (autoskip for today if not around, I believe)

20.15 - Abrantes

20.16 - Doug B

 

[thatguy]

Refresh my memory, please. Did we say that Greatest Hits compilations were allowed as Albums? How about soundtracks of movies or musicals?

No greatest hits. On the question of soundtracks, I'm not sure. Let's check with Wikkidpissah. It would seem to me that a compilation soundtrack would be ineligible, but an original soundtrack or musical soundtrack might not be. I will defer to WP.

OK, not a big deal either way. Had an idea for a movie soundtrack that is a compilation but which absolutely epitomizes it's era.

I think I know where you're going with this.

 

[timschochet]

Wikkidpissah, I object! Eine Klein Nachtmusic is Mozart's finest work. Sure, it gets overplayed, but there's a reason for that- because it's so darn good!

pleasant tune. major work?

Since you're asking, I say, YES

i dont even think, if i was able to get to the coolest province of Purgatory & ask the composer himself, i could get him to agree with you. u might do better to move it to the song cat. beautiful as it is, its a notion, a fancy, a chamber piece. the hard thing about ranking Mozart, especially against the obvious majesty of Beethoven's work, is the remarkable facility of his talent. he wrote his last 3 symphonies - all of which deserve consideration in the all-time top 5 symphonies not written by LVB - as a whim, a treat for those who invited him to Prague i think it was. his operas he cared about, slaved over, like Ludwig and his opi magni, & have a thematic complexity that make his prettiest tunes tremble in a web-filled corner of his creative attic.

No, it would be unfair of me to do that. I drafted it in good faith as I considered it to be a brilliant masterpiece of composition, not a song. Personally, I find it's brevity and simplicity to be part of that brilliance. But I will live with whatever ranking you eventually give it, and be as satisfied as I can with that.

 

[jmp]

MisfitBlondes' Pick

20.07 The Shawshank Redemption (Movie)

The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American prison drama film, written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the Stephen King novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. The film stars Tim Robbins as Andrew "Andy" Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding.

The film portrays Andy spending nearly two decades in Shawshank State Prison, a fictional penitentiary in Maine, and his friendship with Red, a fellow inmate. This movie exemplifies the potential gap between initial box office success and ultimate popularity. Despite a lukewarm box office reception that was barely enough to cover its budget, The Shawshank Redemption received favorable reviews from critics and has since enjoyed a remarkable life on cable television, home videotape, DVD and Blu-ray. It continues to be hailed by critics and audiences alike, 15 years after its initial release, and is ranked among the greatest films of all time.

"The Shawshank Redemption" is not a depressing story. There is a lot of life and humor in it, and warmth in the friendship that builds up between Andy and Red. There is even excitement and suspense, although not when we expect it. But mostly the film is an allegory about holding onto a sense of personal worth, despite everything. If the film is perhaps a little slow in its middle passages, maybe that is part of the idea, too, to give us a sense of the leaden passage of time, before the glory of the final redemption.

Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

 

[timschochet]

Antigone IS great value. It is IMO one of the top 10-15 plays ever written, which means that you're likely guaranteed a score of 18 or above. In the 20th round, I'd say that's pretty good value. In fact, I'd say it's a legitimate SOD.

 

[thatguy]

I really wanted to grab a more modern novel that I've been targeting for the entire draft, a novel written by the best novelist of the last half century.

But, with this novel still on the board, I have to grab it here:



In Search of Lost Time OR Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust

In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past is a semi-autobiographical novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust. His most prominent work, it is popularly known for its extended length and the notion of involuntary memory, the most famous example being the "episode of the madeleine". The novel is still widely referred to in English as Remembrance of Things Past, but the title In Search of Lost Time, a more accurate rendering of the French, has gained in usage since D.J. Enright's 1992 revision of the earlier translation by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin.

Begun in 1909, finished just before his death in 1922, and published in France between 1913 and 1927, many of the novel's ideas, motifs, and scenes appear in adumbrated form in Proust's unfinished novel, Jean Santeuil (1896–99), and in his unfinished hybrid of philosophical essay and story, Contre Sainte-Beuve (1908–09). The novel has had a pervasive influence on twentieth-century literature, whether because writers have sought to emulate it, or attempted to parody and discredit some of its traits. In it, Proust explores the themes of time, space, and memory, but the novel is above all a condensation of innumerable literary, structural, stylistic, and thematic possibilities.

Proust died before completing his revisions of the drafts and proofs of the final volumes. His brother Robert had the final three volumes edited, and they were published posthumously.

 

[thatguy]

MisfitBlondes' Pick

20.07 The Shawshank Redemption (Movie)

The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American prison drama film, written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the Stephen King novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. The film stars Tim Robbins as Andrew "Andy" Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding.

The film portrays Andy spending nearly two decades in Shawshank State Prison, a fictional penitentiary in Maine, and his friendship with Red, a fellow inmate. This movie exemplifies the potential gap between initial box office success and ultimate popularity. Despite a lukewarm box office reception that was barely enough to cover its budget, The Shawshank Redemption received favorable reviews from critics and has since enjoyed a remarkable life on cable television, home videotape, DVD and Blu-ray. It continues to be hailed by critics and audiences alike, 15 years after its initial release, and is ranked among the greatest films of all time.

"The Shawshank Redemption" is not a depressing story. There is a lot of life and humor in it, and warmth in the friendship that builds up between Andy and Red. There is even excitement and suspense, although not when we expect it. But mostly the film is an allegory about holding onto a sense of personal worth, despite everything. If the film is perhaps a little slow in its middle passages, maybe that is part of the idea, too, to give us a sense of the leaden passage of time, before the glory of the final redemption.

Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

####. Great pick. Another one that I apparently sat on waaaaaay too long.

 

[rodg12]

Antigone IS great value. It is IMO one of the top 10-15 plays ever written, which means that you're likely guaranteed a score of 18 or above. In the 20th round, I'd say that's pretty good value. In fact, I'd say it's a legitimate SOD.

Should I have taken it instead of Julius Caesar as I was debating??

 

[rodg12]

MisfitBlondes' Pick

20.07 The Shawshank Redemption (Movie)

There goes my other target with my next pick!!

 

[thatguy]

MisfitBlondes' Pick

20.07 The Shawshank Redemption (Movie)

There goes my other target with my next pick!!

I know how you feel, GB. I'm terribly depressed now having missed out on both Shawshank and Wilt the Stilt's 100 point game.

 

[wikkidpissah]

three incredible bargains in a row. i dont consider Shawshank a classic but was surprised that, since it is THE movie for so many Gen X&Yers, that it lasted this long

 

[timschochet]

I am sure, thatguy, that you will be highly rewarded for taking the Proust. What little I could stomach of it, I found excessively dull. I realize that to people like Flysack this makes me a Philistine, but life's too short and fiction is too wonderful not to be emotionally moved by what you read.

You are known to be a fan of Gatsby. That work, which I would compare to Eine Klein Nachtmusic (are you reading this WP?) is brilliant because of it's brevity, simplicity, and accessibility, none of which the Proust contains.

 

[wikkidpissah]

I am sure, thatguy, that you will be highly rewarded for taking the Proust. What little I could stomach of it, I found excessively dull. I realize that to people like Flysack this makes me a Philistine, but life's too short and fiction is too wonderful not to be emotionally moved by what you read.

You are known to be a fan of Gatsby. That work, which I would compare to Eine Klein Nachtmusic (are you reading this WP?) is brilliant because of it's brevity, simplicity, and accessibility, none of which the Proust contains.

floss, dood.

 

[timschochet]

Antigone IS great value. It is IMO one of the top 10-15 plays ever written, which means that you're likely guaranteed a score of 18 or above. In the 20th round, I'd say that's pretty good value. In fact, I'd say it's a legitimate SOD.

Should I have taken it instead of Julius Caesar as I was debating??

Both picks will do fine. I can't answer your question just yet. But you'll be satisfied with your selection, I'm pretty sure.

 

[rodg12]

Antigone IS great value. It is IMO one of the top 10-15 plays ever written, which means that you're likely guaranteed a score of 18 or above. In the 20th round, I'd say that's pretty good value. In fact, I'd say it's a legitimate SOD.

Should I have taken it instead of Julius Caesar as I was debating??

Both picks will do fine. I can't answer your question just yet. But you'll be satisfied with your selection, I'm pretty sure.

Fair enough. Wish I could have paired the two as was my plan.

 

[rodg12]

You writing a book UH????

 

[Uncle Humuna]

20.08 Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter" – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composition)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's last symphony, the Jupiter Symphony (No. 41), was written along with two other, full-length symphonies in the summer of 1788 — in just six weeks. Mozart had recently been idolized all over Europe for operas such as Don Giovanni and for his spectacular performances of his own piano concertos.

But, by most accounts, Mozart was near the bottom when he wrote it: broke and in debt. His audiences had become interested in other composers. Austria was at war with Turkey. And his newborn daughter had just died.

Still, Mozart was determined to do something revolutionary. That comes in the final movement of the Jupiter Symphony with the composer's use of counterpoint, or weaving together two or more different melodies. Mozart uses five different melodies simultaneously in the Jupiter, making it a challenge for any orchestra that takes it on.

Some have said the Jupiter sums up what had happened in symphonic music up to that point, and that it foreshadows the work of Beethoven. But more than that, it's exuberant and introspective, charming and complicated — a lot like life itself.

Many believe this to be Mozart's greatest symphony - a culmination of Mozart's intelligence, musical genius, and virtuosity (the Zen of classical symphonies). Listening to it under such pretexts gives the music almost spiritual qualities. Its almost overwhelming that music with this much beauty and magnitude came from one man in such a short amount of time.

 

[wikkidpissah]

You writing a book UH????

he often spills humuna on himself when he works intently & that takes FOREVER to get out....

 

[rodg12]

You writing a book UH????

he often spills humuna on himself when he works intently & that takes FOREVER to get out....

 

[rodg12]

Skipped

19.01 Fennis

19.19 - Tirnan (autoskip if not around in first 5 minutes)

20.02 - Tirnan (autoskip if not around in first 5 minutes)

20.05 - Scott Norwood - timed out

20.09 - Team CIA (auto-skip)

20.10 - El Floppo (still on skip???) Tentatively OTC until :45, PM Sent

20.11 - thatGuy On Deck

20.12 - Wikkidpissah In The Hole

20.13 - Tides

20.14 - BobbyLayne/Flysack (autoskip for today if not around, I believe)

20.15 - Abrantes

20.16 - Doug B

20.17 - Timschoceht

20.18 - Postradamus

20.19 - Rodg12

20.20 - krista4

ETA: Think we should wait on El Floppo or take his earlier post as auto-skip for the day????

 

[thatguy]

I am sure, thatguy, that you will be highly rewarded for taking the Proust. What little I could stomach of it, I found excessively dull. I realize that to people like Flysack this makes me a Philistine, but life's too short and fiction is too wonderful not to be emotionally moved by what you read.

You are known to be a fan of Gatsby. That work, which I would compare to Eine Klein Nachtmusic (are you reading this WP?) is brilliant because of it's brevity, simplicity, and accessibility, none of which the Proust contains.

The Great Gatsby is my alltime favorite book. Fitzgerald's prose flows like silk. Reading his prose is like reading poetry. I agree with you completely regarding the novel. I read Gatsby at least 5 times a year just for the sheer pleasure of reading it. That said, I also appreciate the less accessible works of the likes of Joyce, Faulkner, Proust, et al. Not nearly as enjoyable as Fitzgerald, but the satisfaction of having forged your way through their masterpieces is probably greater than the satisfaction of having read Gatsby. It is constant intellectual masturbation getting through these works, but well worth the effort, IMO.

 

[ScottNorwood]

20.05 Falling Water (structure)

Visit My Website

 

[ScottNorwood]

20.05 Falling Water (structure)

Visit My Website

In 1991, members of the American Institute of Architects named the house the "best all-time work of American architecture"

 

[timschochet]

Scott, there was already a pick made on your behalf of Jabberwocky.

 

[ScottNorwood]

Scott, there was already a pick made on your behalf of Jabberwocky.

erm, why did it say (timed out) then?

 

[rodg12]

Scott, there was already a pick made on your behalf of Jabberwocky.

That was the 19.16 selection (re-pick for the already drafted Laser), I believe.

 

[Bob Lee Swagger]

Scott, there was already a pick made on your behalf of Jabberwocky.

I think Jabberwocky was the re-pick for the laser, no?

 

[rodg12]

20.05 Falling Water (structure)

Visit My Website

In 1991, members of the American Institute of Architects named the house the "best all-time work of American architecture"

Nice pick here Scott. Another item taken off my short list of targets for my next picks. List has been absolutely decimated this last round.

 

[ScottNorwood]

20.05 Falling Water (structure)

Visit My Website

In 1991, members of the American Institute of Architects named the house the "best all-time work of American architecture"

Nice pick here Scott. Another item taken off my short list of targets for my next picks. List has been absolutely decimated this last round.

ty

 

[timschochet]

OK, I have corrected. Jabberwocky was 19th round. Sorry about the confusion.

 

[flysack]

I really wanted to grab a more modern novel that I've been targeting for the entire draft, a novel written by the best novelist of the last half century.

But, with this novel still on the board, I have to grab it here:



In Search of Lost Time OR Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust

In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past is a semi-autobiographical novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust. His most prominent work, it is popularly known for its extended length and the notion of involuntary memory, the most famous example being the "episode of the madeleine". The novel is still widely referred to in English as Remembrance of Things Past, but the title In Search of Lost Time, a more accurate rendering of the French, has gained in usage since D.J. Enright's 1992 revision of the earlier translation by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin.

Begun in 1909, finished just before his death in 1922, and published in France between 1913 and 1927, many of the novel's ideas, motifs, and scenes appear in adumbrated form in Proust's unfinished novel, Jean Santeuil (1896–99), and in his unfinished hybrid of philosophical essay and story, Contre Sainte-Beuve (1908–09). The novel has had a pervasive influence on twentieth-century literature, whether because writers have sought to emulate it, or attempted to parody and discredit some of its traits. In it, Proust explores the themes of time, space, and memory, but the novel is above all a condensation of innumerable literary, structural, stylistic, and thematic possibilities.

Proust died before completing his revisions of the drafts and proofs of the final volumes. His brother Robert had the final three volumes edited, and they were published posthumously.

[sawyer] SON OF A BEETCH@!@[/sawyer]

EDIT: Wait, err, I mean, it's unreadable and totally boring and overrated and um, like, it made no sense. Nothing ever happens. Just some oversensitive dweeb whining on and on. Yea! Screw you and your lousy pick!

 

[flysack]

I really wanted to grab a more modern novel that I've been targeting for the entire draft, a novel written by the best novelist of the last half century.

Hmmmm.....I'm interested in seeing where you go with this.

This is why: whenever anyone asks me what the best novel of the second half of the 20th century is (1950-2000) I have an automatic answer that I spout without hesitation.

It is not my favorite novel. I've read other novels of its era more than once and enjoyed them more. But, in my mind, there is one novel that is simply the most important, ingenious work of fiction written since Ulysses.

That said, I would have taken Proust too, simply because I doubt anyone will take the novel I'm thinking of. Except maybe you.

 

[thatguy]

I really wanted to grab a more modern novel that I've been targeting for the entire draft, a novel written by the best novelist of the last half century.

But, with this novel still on the board, I have to grab it here:



In Search of Lost Time OR Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust

In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past is a semi-autobiographical novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust. His most prominent work, it is popularly known for its extended length and the notion of involuntary memory, the most famous example being the "episode of the madeleine". The novel is still widely referred to in English as Remembrance of Things Past, but the title In Search of Lost Time, a more accurate rendering of the French, has gained in usage since D.J. Enright's 1992 revision of the earlier translation by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin.

Begun in 1909, finished just before his death in 1922, and published in France between 1913 and 1927, many of the novel's ideas, motifs, and scenes appear in adumbrated form in Proust's unfinished novel, Jean Santeuil (1896–99), and in his unfinished hybrid of philosophical essay and story, Contre Sainte-Beuve (1908–09). The novel has had a pervasive influence on twentieth-century literature, whether because writers have sought to emulate it, or attempted to parody and discredit some of its traits. In it, Proust explores the themes of time, space, and memory, but the novel is above all a condensation of innumerable literary, structural, stylistic, and thematic possibilities.

Proust died before completing his revisions of the drafts and proofs of the final volumes. His brother Robert had the final three volumes edited, and they were published posthumously.

[sawyer] SON OF A BEETCH@!@[/sawyer]

EDIT: Wait, err, I mean, it's unreadable and totally boring and overrated and um, like, it made no sense. Nothing ever happens. Just some oversensitive dweeb whining on and on. Yea! Screw you and your lousy pick!

Sorry GB. I was almost certain when I made the pick that a response of this nature was coming from you.

 

[rodg12]

El Floppo has timed out. thatguy, you're up.

Skipped

19.01 Fennis

19.19 - Tirnan (autoskip if not around in first 5 minutes)

20.02 - Tirnan (autoskip if not around in first 5 minutes)

20.09 - Team CIA (auto-skip)

20.10 - El Floppo Timed Out

20.11 - thatGuy OTC

20.12 - Wikkidpissah On Deck

20.13 - Tides In The Hole

20.14 - BobbyLayne/Flysack (autoskip for today if not around, I believe)

20.15 - Abrantes

20.16 - Doug B

20.17 - Timschoceht

20.18 - Postradamus

20.19 - Rodg12

20.20 - krista4

 

[DCThunder]

I really wanted to grab a more modern novel that I've been targeting for the entire draft, a novel written by the best novelist of the last half century.

But, with this novel still on the board, I have to grab it here:



In Search of Lost Time OR Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust

In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past is a semi-autobiographical novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust. His most prominent work, it is popularly known for its extended length and the notion of involuntary memory, the most famous example being the "episode of the madeleine". The novel is still widely referred to in English as Remembrance of Things Past, but the title In Search of Lost Time, a more accurate rendering of the French, has gained in usage since D.J. Enright's 1992 revision of the earlier translation by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin.

Begun in 1909, finished just before his death in 1922, and published in France between 1913 and 1927, many of the novel's ideas, motifs, and scenes appear in adumbrated form in Proust's unfinished novel, Jean Santeuil (1896–99), and in his unfinished hybrid of philosophical essay and story, Contre Sainte-Beuve (1908–09). The novel has had a pervasive influence on twentieth-century literature, whether because writers have sought to emulate it, or attempted to parody and discredit some of its traits. In it, Proust explores the themes of time, space, and memory, but the novel is above all a condensation of innumerable literary, structural, stylistic, and thematic possibilities.

Proust died before completing his revisions of the drafts and proofs of the final volumes. His brother Robert had the final three volumes edited, and they were published posthumously.

[sawyer] SON OF A BEETCH@!@[/sawyer]

EDIT: Wait, err, I mean, it's unreadable and totally boring and overrated and um, like, it made no sense. Nothing ever happens. Just some oversensitive dweeb whining on and on. Yea! Screw you and your lousy pick!

Sorry GB. I was almost certain when I made the pick that a response of this nature was coming from you.

Except Flysack read it in French!

 

[Genedoc]

Antigone IS great value. It is IMO one of the top 10-15 plays ever written, which means that you're likely guaranteed a score of 18 or above. In the 20th round, I'd say that's pretty good value. In fact, I'd say it's a legitimate SOD.

It is a great value...It should have gone no more than a few rounds after I took Oedipus Rex.

 

[flysack]

I really wanted to grab a more modern novel that I've been targeting for the entire draft, a novel written by the best novelist of the last half century.

But, with this novel still on the board, I have to grab it here:



In Search of Lost Time OR Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust

In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past is a semi-autobiographical novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust. His most prominent work, it is popularly known for its extended length and the notion of involuntary memory, the most famous example being the "episode of the madeleine". The novel is still widely referred to in English as Remembrance of Things Past, but the title In Search of Lost Time, a more accurate rendering of the French, has gained in usage since D.J. Enright's 1992 revision of the earlier translation by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin.

Begun in 1909, finished just before his death in 1922, and published in France between 1913 and 1927, many of the novel's ideas, motifs, and scenes appear in adumbrated form in Proust's unfinished novel, Jean Santeuil (1896–99), and in his unfinished hybrid of philosophical essay and story, Contre Sainte-Beuve (1908–09). The novel has had a pervasive influence on twentieth-century literature, whether because writers have sought to emulate it, or attempted to parody and discredit some of its traits. In it, Proust explores the themes of time, space, and memory, but the novel is above all a condensation of innumerable literary, structural, stylistic, and thematic possibilities.

Proust died before completing his revisions of the drafts and proofs of the final volumes. His brother Robert had the final three volumes edited, and they were published posthumously.

[sawyer] SON OF A BEETCH@!@[/sawyer]

EDIT: Wait, err, I mean, it's unreadable and totally boring and overrated and um, like, it made no sense. Nothing ever happens. Just some oversensitive dweeb whining on and on. Yea! Screw you and your lousy pick!

Sorry GB. I was almost certain when I made the pick that a response of this nature was coming from you.

Except Flysack read it in French!

Pfft, the first time anyway.

 

[timschochet]

Since I don't speak French, perhaps reading it in that language would have made it slightly more intelligible.

 

[thatguy]

I will take another building/structure here, this one designed by the great Ancrea Palladio. This structure has had an immense influence on architecture for over 500 years now. It is a truly amazing work by a real genius of his craft.



Villa Capra "La Rotonda" by Andrea Palladio

Villa Capra "La Rotonda" is a Renaissance villa just outside Vicenza, northern Italy, designed by Andrea Palladio. The correct name is Villa Almerico-Capra. It is also known as La Rotonda, Villa Rotunda, Villa La Rotonda, and Villa Almerico. The name "Capra" derives from the Capra brothers, who completed the building after it was ceded to them in 1591. Like other works by Palladio in Vicenza and the surrounding area, the building is conserved as part of the World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto".



Design

The site selected was a hilltop just outside the city of Vicenza. Unlike some other Palladian villas, the building was not designed from the start to accommodate a working farm. This sophisticated building was designed for a site which was, in modern terminology, "suburban". Palladio classed the building as a "palazzo" rather than a villa.

The design is for a completely symmetrical building building having a square plan with four facades, each of which has a projecting portico. The whole is contained within an imaginary circle which touches each corner of the building and centres of the porticos. (illustration, left). The name La Rotonda refers to the central circular hall with its dome. To describe the villa, as a whole, as a 'rotonda' is technically incorrect, as the building is not circular but rather the intersection of a square with a cross. Each portico has steps leading up, and opens via a small cabinet or corridor to the circular domed central hall. This and all other rooms were proportioned with mathematical precision according to Palladio's own rules of architecture.

The design reflected the humanist values of Renaissance architecture. In order for each room to have some sun, the design was rotated 45 degrees from each cardinal point of the compass. Each of the four porticos has pediments graced by statues of classical deities. The pediments were each supported by six Ionic columns. Each portico was flanked by a single window. All principal rooms were on the second floor or piano nobile.

Building began circa 1566. Palladio, and the owner, Paolo Almerico, were not to see the completion of the villa. Palladio died in 1580 and a second architect, Vincenzo Scamozzi, was employed by the new owners to oversee the completion. One of the major changes he made to the original plan was to modify the two-storey centre hall.

Interior of the rotonda

Palladio had intended it to be covered by a high semi-circular dome but Scamozzi designed a lower dome with an oculus (intended to be open to the sky) inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. The dome was ultimately completed with a cupola.



Interior

The interior design of the Villa was to be as wonderful, if not more so, than the exterior. Alessandro and Giovanni Battista Maganzia and Anselmo Canera were commissioned to paint frescoes in the principal salons.

Among the four principal salons on the piano nobile are the West Salon (also called the Holy Room, because of the religious nature of its frescoes and ceiling), and the East Salon, which contains an allegorical life story of the first owner Paolo Almerico, his many admirable qualities portrayed in fresco.

The highlight of the interior is the central, circular hall, surrounded by a balcony and covered by the domed ceiling; it soars the full height of the main house up to the cupola, with walls decorated in trompe l'oeil. Abundant frescoes create an atmosphere that is more reminiscent of a cathedral than the principal salon of a country house.



Landscape

From the porticos wonderful views of the surrounding countryside can be seen; this is no coincidence as the Villa was designed to be in perfect harmony with the landscape. This was in complete contrast to such buildings as Villa Farnese of just 16 years earlier. Thus, while the house appears to be completely symmetrical, it actually has certain deviations, designed to allow each facade to complement the surrounding landscape and topography. Hence there are variations in the facades, in the width of steps, retaining walls, etc. In this way, the symmetry of the architecture allows for the asymmetry of the landscape, and creates a seemingly symmetrical whole. The landscape is a panoramic vision of trees and meadows and woods, with the distant Vicenza on the horizon.

The northwest portico is set onto the hill as the termination of a straight carriage drive from the principal gates. This carriageway is an avenue between the service blocks, built by the Capra brothers who acquired the villa in 1591; they commissioned Vincenzo Scamozzi to complete the villa and construct the range of staff and agricultural buildings. As one approaches the villa from this angle one is deliberately made to feel one is ascending from some less worthy place to a temple on high. This same view in reverse, from the villa, highlights a classical chapel on the edge of Vicenza, thus villa and town are united.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FilealladioRotondaPlan.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:La_Rotonda.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Villa_Rotonda_front.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Villa_La_Rotonda.JPG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filealladio...da_interior.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rotonda_mantle02.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rotonda_...en_pediment.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rotonda_ceiling.jpg