.KEYWORD bookmonth0298
.FLYINGHEAD PALMPOWER BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB
.TITLE If Jack Frost had a PDA: Wintry resources for your Palm organizer
.DEPT
.SUMMARY It had to happen sooner or later. If you’ve been following the follies of our two intrepid columnists, they’ve talked about sex, they’ve talked about politics, and they’ve talked about religion. So when the subject of this month’s column came up, they did what anyone else does in a conversational lull, they turned to the weather! With their usual flair, our favorite columnists turn their attention this month to the controversial subject that’s plaguing everyone in the northern latitudes: winter. For those readers who dwell in warmer latitudes, they had all kinds of nasty suggestions for you and your balmy breezes, but being a family-oriented publication, they elected to exercise much-appreciated editorial restraint.
.AUTHOR Craig Froehle and John Swain
It had to happen sooner or later. If you’ve been following our follies, you’ve probably noticed that we’ve talked about sex, politics, and religion. So when the subject of this month’s column came up, we did what anyone else does in a conversational lull, we turned to the weather. This month, we turn our attention to the controversial subject that’s plaguing everyone in the northern latitudes: winter. For those readers who dwell in the southern latitudes, we kindly ask you to file this column away and read it in six months when the subject’s a little closer to home [Read it now, anyway. It’ll be good for you. –DG]. For the readership in the equatorial climes, we have all kinds of nasty suggestions for you and your balmy breezes, but being a family-oriented publication, we elected to exercise editorial restraint.
.H1 Winter in literature
Few writers have captured the imagination of readers with winter narrative like Jack London. There’s no denying that Laura Ingalls Wilder can give you a decent plains blizzard or two and Robert Frost can talk about a snowy New England evening, but when it comes right down to describing bone-chilling, life-threatening, gonna-have-to-eat-my-dog-to stay-alive cold, Jack London is your only choice!
Born in 1876 out of wedlock to Flora Wellman, a rebellious daughter of a well-to-do family, and a nomadic astrologer and lecturing "Professor", London’s early years were less than idyllic. Eight months after his birth, London’s mother married an extremely mild-tempered widower who proved little match for the volatility of his new bride. Prodded by Flora’s fierce ambition for wealth, the new family suffered endlessly through a variety of "get rich quick" schemes. By the time Jack became a young man the family was destitute and survived by moving from one squalid cottage to another in the San Francisco, California area.
London’s life was one of pointed juxtapositions. He was a rather celebrated oyster pirate, robbing the great private oyster beds of San Francisco Bay, but later switched his allegiances and became a member of the Fish Patrol to police his former pirate comrades. While fiercely bright, he often sank into terrible moods of self-destruction. He once attempted suicide by drowning and was only saved by his accomplished skills as a swimmer when he sobered up enough to realize the permanence of his actions. After a brief career as seal hunter on board ships in the North Pacific, London returned to San Francisco and focused his creative urges on writing. In 1897, gold was discovered in the Klondike and Jack, enormously bitter and frustrated with his writing attempts to date, joined his brother-in-law on a journey to Alaska. It is difficult to tell which motivated him the most: the lure of gold, the escape from the urban hardships of the 1890’s, or the failure of his writings. What is certain is that while London’s journey failed to produce the conventional wealth he sought, he returned a far richer than he left. Of the trip, he wrote, "It was in the Klondike that I found myself. There, you get your perspective. I got mine."
London’s party traveled some 400 miles by foot over the notorious Chilkoot Pass, down the White Horse rapids to the mouth of the Stewart River. It was there, settled in for the long bitter winter, that London’s cabin became a gathering spot for local sourdoughs and newcomers alike. Long nights were passed listening to tales of the North Country, both fanciful and true. London took in the lore of survival in an unforgiving alien land; of greed, murder and betrayal; and most of all the immense power of nature. When the thaw came, London left the Yukon with no gold, a case of scurvy and a head full of tales that would become some of the most significant stories of the North Country ever to be written.
Jack London produced a total of fifty-one books, some issued posthumously. The range of subjects is remarkable, but the best of what he wrote remains those tales of the Yukon, of the bone-chilling cold and the desperate race to survive its icy grip. Call of the Wild remains the definitive work on the Yukon while London’s chronicle of a solitary man’s anonymous struggle to survive in To Build A Fire continues to help define the standard of excellence for American short stories.
So HotSync any one of the number of Jack London stories and books available for your Palm computer and put your feet up in front of the fire and enjoy. But, when you do, take a moment to reassure the family dog that it’s just a story and not a new career plan. He’ll rest much easier if you do.
.H1 Winter-oriented reference documents
If you are in the mood to get really into winter, have some fun with these great winter-oriented reference documents. With these great documents, you don’t need to go outdoors to be cool.
.H2 Fun with the Winter Olympics
What would winter be without the Winter Olympics? Well, for starters, a little less controversial for the folks in Utah. But for the rest of us who thrill in the excitement of tumbling downhill skiers, the madcap action of curling, or the dignified and gentlemanly rivalry that exemplifies international hockey, having the results of the 1998 Winter Olympics at one’s immediate disposal is a necessity. The results of the games, both by country and by sport, as well as the original schedules, are available in Tom Murphy’s JFile databases. If hockey really excites you as the premier winter sport, check out Jim Thompson’s NHL team schedules, all available in Doc format. These schedules have also been made available by Steven Blum as items that can be imported directly into the Palm’s resident DateBook application.
.H2 It’s coffee time
Nothing tends to thaw frozen fingers, toes, and lips like a hot cup of coffee, java, Joe, mud, or whatever you prefer to call it. With the recent increase in availability of coffee and its variations, it may get confusing regarding exactly what to order in that ski lodge in Steamboat, that donut shop in Denver, or that cafe in Calais. To help you out with this dilemma, Ron Schaefer’s Guide to Various Coffee Drinks is available in both plain text (for MemoPad) and Doc formats. If you’re the hands-on type (or just in a hurry), Ted Landy put together a guide to making great espresso, also available in plain text and Doc formats. Even better, a guide to making Chai, another wonderful hot drink, is also available in Doc format.
.H2 Don’t get bored if you stay indoors
Finally, since winter weather is generally a little less inviting for outdoor activities, many people watch more movies, read more books, and sleep more hours. Frankly, there’s not a whole lot available for the Palm regarding that last one, but as far as books and movies go, you’re in luck. Lists of the American Film Institute’s Top 100 and Top 400 American movies of all time are available in text, Doc, MobileDB, and JFile formats. Also filling this role is a list of Siskel & Ebert’s top 10 movies for each year 1969 through 1997 in MobileDB format. If science-fiction novels are your thing, a complete list of Hugo, Nebula, and Dick Award-winning novels is available. If you prefer the classics, then download a complete list of the copyright-free novels available at Project Gutenberg, compiled by Bill Allen.
Regardless of your latitude (or your attitude), you can make use of some of these items. So, whether (no pun intended) you’re reading a good novel, watching a good hockey game, or brewing up a piping hot pot of coffee, there’s an interesting or helpful e-document available for your Palm organizer.
All of the above documents can be found at either MemoWare or The Lending Library. Or, take a tour around the Palm organizer E-text Web-Ring. You may be surprised to find exactly what you’re looking for!
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
Visit MemoWare, maintained by Craig Froehle, at http://www.memoware.com.
Visit The Lending Library, maintained by John Swain, at http://www.macduff.net.
Tour the Palm organizer E-text Web-Ring at http://www.pilotlibrary.org/webring.html.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO Craig Froehle pursues his Ph.D. in Business Administration while he awaits being recruited by an NHL expansion team. John Swain lives with a Great Dane named Macduff whose Call of the Wild has become more a Hoarse Whisper of the Refined.
.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?13@@.ee6c9e4
