Moby-Dick Marathon (was MDDM Ch. 10 The Bull's Eye)

[Mark Wright AIA]

Howdy
The New Bedford event will be in an auditorium. The Mystic event is
under the mild spangled dome of the created firmament which lofts above
the creaking spars and convex drumhead deck of the whale ship, smelling
what might pass for the sea. Maybe if we show up early we can grab a
place on a coil of Manilla line... 
BYOB.
Mark

--- Jasper Fidget <fakename at tokyo.com> wrote:
> This sounds like great fun.  I attended a marathon once for Ulysses,
> but
> there was lots of falling asleep (largely due to wine being passed
> around),
> and tried once for Lord of the Rings (but it lasted like three days
> and I
> was all out of amphetamines).  I just searched on "Moby-Dick
> Marathon" and
> found another one (different group?) taking place in New Bedford MA:
> 
> http://www.newenglandtravel.com/features/mobydick.shtml
> Melville's home port of New Bedford celebrates the 150th anniversary
> of
> Moby-Dick.
> Herman Melville called the Massachusetts port of New Bedford "perhaps
> the
> dearest place to live in, in all New England . . . Nowhere in all
> America,"
> he wrote in Moby-Dick, "will you find more patrician-like houses;
> parks and
> gardens more opulent, than in New Bedford. Whence came they? . . .
> One and
> all, they were harpooned and dragged up hither from the bottom of the
> sea."
> 
> This year, with concerts, cruises and special exhibits, New Bedford -
> where
> the Melville classic began - is celebrating the 150th anniversary of
> the
> publication of Moby-Dick: or The White Whale.
> 
> In January 1841, when 21-year-old Melville sailed down the Acushnet
> River on
> the voyage that would result in his masterpiece, New Bedford was the
> wealthiest city per capita in America. Times, of course, have changed
> since
> then. But fishing continues to be an important part of New Bedford's
> economy, with some 90 boats in its scalloping fleet helping to make
> it the
> scalloping capital of the country today.
> 
> New Bedford's 13-block waterfront district, which was designated a
> National
> Historical Park in 1996, has been welcoming visitors to its
> cobblestoned
> streets all summerlong. Melville scholars, one-man Melville
> interpretations,
> and Moby-Dick-inspired music and dance are among the many highlights.
> Melville events will continue until just after New Year's, when his
> devotees
> will assemble at the New Bedford Whaling Museum on Johnny Cake Hill
> for a
> 25-hour marathon reading of the tale of the vengeful captain and the
> great
> white whale.
> 
> "And it's always an extraordinary experience," says Lee Heald,
> director of
> programs at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. "You see the sun set and
> you see
> the sun rise as you listen to the reading. You walk across the street
> to the
> Seamen's Bethel in the cold night air to hear the sermon about Jonah
> and the
> Whale that Melville's Ishmael heard."
> 
> In 10-minute segments, 168 men and women read the classic to a crowd
> of
> about 300. During the night, of course, some listeners nod off and
> others
> head home, but ordinarily, when morning comes, the die-hards who
> remain are
> revived with coffee and Portuguese fried bread-malasadas-and
> presented with
> a special edition of Moby-Dick.
> 
> [...]
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Wright AIA" <mwaia at yahoo.com>
> To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2001 1:21 PM
> Subject: Re: MDDM Ch. 10 The Bull's Eye
> 
> 
> > Howdy
> >
> > I can't remember what these things are called either. But one day
> all
> > of you will make the pigrimage to "Mystic Seaport" in Connecticut
> to
> > participate in the annual 24 Hour Moby-Dick Marathon on the decks
> of a
> > whaling almost as shaggy and toothsome as the Pequod... There you
> will
> > see these things in place in the decks. They work surprisingly
> well.
> > Reproductions are in the gift shop, at an absurd price, for
> > paperweights.
> >
> > Perhaps I can meet some of you there next summer. I've wanted to
> "lose
> > the kids" and go back for the reading for several years now. It
> should
> > be a good time.
> >
> > Mark
> 
> >
> 



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