Æther Salon: Vaudeville! (Edited Transcript)

Nika Thought-werk:

So, question, ladies and gents, boys and girls, and animals of every shape and size ... Do you like to be entertained?

Dear friends, my name is Nika Thought-werk. Many of you know me as a little clockwork who loves mail. I am that, but I am so much more – when I remember. One of the things I am is real. In the time before now, one of the things I did was perform in a magic act in a vaudeville theater. I learned a thing or two about vaudeville during this time, and I’d like to share those things with you today.

What - is vaudeville?

Vaudeville, as we know it, is the American answer to the many of the types of theater one might find in our times. No one really knows where the name vaudeville came from. There are equal parts conjecture that it is a region in France, the works of Olivier Basselin, or something else entirely. Wherever the name came from, what we do know is that it arose from the work of one B.F. Keith. Keith was an American, originally from New Hampshire. As a young man, Mister Keith worked many of the entertainment venues of his day – from dime-museums to traveling circuses. One can only guess that his work with these venues gave him a keen appreciation of an audience and an understanding of what makes them tick. In 1885, Mister Keith took over operation of a theater in Boston known as the Bijou. The theater has never been the same. What separates vaudeville from more traditional theaters, music halls, street plays and the like? A grand many things, I wager. Here are just a few …

For starters, vaudeville theaters are continuous affairs. Unlike a playhouse, where the acts are at set times throughout the day, vaudeville theaters organized their shows in acts. I’ll talk more about these in a moment. The thing about this is though that once the show began in the morning, it would progress through the program until it reached the end. Once at the end, the program would ‘loop’, replaying the first act and restarting the program in the process. It would do this loop until the theater closed at night. There was a psychology behind this - the way the programs were arranged, and I will talk about this more near the end. What this means, for a theater-goer is that you can go into the theater at any time and stay until the program loops back to the first show you saw. Or, if you only have minutes to spare, you can wander into a theater on your lunchbreak, stay for ten minutes of a show, and wander back to work. Then, you can catch the rest of the program sometime during the week. With low ticket prices of pennies rather than more pricey ones at playhouses, there is no reason for an office worker looking for a kindly diversion not to do this.

The second difference are the ticket prices. Vaudeville tickets are much cheaper than many playhouses. Vaudeville houses are able to stay open by making sure that their programs are lively, varied, and often changed. This helped ensure that the theaters are seldom empty.

The typical vaudeville program presents a third difference. Unlike a playhouse, which might present one play a night, vaudeville theaters present programs of various acts to entertain its audience. No single act is allowed to take over thirty minutes in most theaters, and in the more successful theaters, the acts are rehearsed and drilled into their performers with military precision. Not a moment is wasted. It can’t be. Wasted time upsets the program, throws off the show, and costs money. A show program might open with a song and dance act. It might progress to a single singer doing a solo. It might then present a watered down version of a lengthier stage-play. After this, it could continue with an act to highlight exotic cultures and locales. African acts and South American performers might be brought in for this. People might see animal acts. Whatever the program, each program always ended with a real headliner – be it a play with a well-known cast, a virtuoso singer, or whatever is the best quality act the theater had on hand. The heart of vaudeville is its variety. Whatever is on the program on any given day, you know you are in for a real show. - at least more than what many other venues might offer you.

Now here ... I think it best to talk about the psychology aspect ...
The theaters WANTED to move you
They want to shake you
But not all at once.

Keith understood that by placing programs in a slow build ... entertaining lowbrain acts ... moving slowly to more upbeat fair ... And ending with a real tear-jerking or comedic play, people are more likely to stay as the show progresses. The longer you stay, the fuller the house ... the more successful a theater LOOKS. And in show business, APPEARANCE is everything.

What's more, the program arrangers work with writers to manipulate the emotions of the audience down to a science. This helps nudge people to laugh and cry and be scared together ... and vaudeville is a social experience if anything. With the variety, low-ticket prices, growth of a middle-class to enjoy it, few competing forms of entertainment with the mass-appeal of a well-constructed program, and so on, B.F. Keith and others that copied his style opened theater chains throughout the country. The chain-like nature of vaudeville theaters is a fourth difference. Performers might travel a circuit of theaters owned by one owner or distribution chain, performing the same act in different theaters owned by the same owner. It is a hard life, but the salaries men like Keith can pay to their performers helps keep performers under their control. In any given week, men and women spend over $1,000,000 in vaudeville ticket fees. The theaters spend in excess of $600,000 a week promoting and paying for their theaters and performers. Salaries make up a lionshare of vaudeville expenses. Still, the theater owners have more than enough left over at week’s-end to pad their own pockets.

There is a fifth difference. There is an adage in vaudeville. That adage is: “Will it play in Peoria?” The Peoria in question here is Peoria, Illinois. One might wonder why a person might care about a little corn town like Peoria. Do you? Have you been there? My ghost has. Many times. It is a little corn-town on the Mississippi River. Peoria, Illinois does have something special about it – as it relates to entertainment. That ‘thing’ is its mores and cultural sensibility. Peoria represents the character that pervades the Union. Whatever a good, Christian audience might find enjoyable in Peoria will carry well throughout the nation. Theater-chains understand this – and they wish to profit from it.

The following is a warning placed in the dressing area of one of the more popular theaters of the vaudeville circuits:
Nika Thought-werk unfolds a piece of paper and begins to read ...

NOTICE TO PERFORMERS You are hereby warned that your act must be free from all vulgarity and suggestiveness in words, action, and costume, while playing in any of Mr.—’s houses, and all vulgar, double-meaning and profane words and songs must be cut out of your act before the first performance. If you are in doubt as to what is right or wrong, submit it to the resident all other words unfit for the ears of ladies and children, also any reference to questionable streets, resorts, localities, and barrooms, are prohibited under fine of instant discharge.
GENERAL MANAGER

Taken from the book From Traveling Show to Vaudeville, Theatrical Spectacle in America, from 1830 – 1910.

Tepic Harlequin:
Bloomin heck! an this stuff were popular? So... not like the British Music Hall then......

Nika Thought-werk:
Keeping things clean made it fit for all ... and fit for all meant - and means dollars. Not at all like the music halls. The theater owners police their acts vigilantly. Something they find disagreeable might lead to a stern warning – or else. Future violations might lead to performers being booted from a circuit and being blacklisted from working the circuits ever again. Understanding this, most performers happily agree to censorship. The money is too good for the performers and the theater owners to do otherwise. Not all theaters follow such strict guidelines, however. An exception of note are the theaters in San Francisco, California. San Francisco is a hive of ill-repute, and its theaters add to its disreputable character. There is a very high ratio of men to women in the city. Many of the men had money to spend. As such, prostitution, liquor, and vice are central to the city’s entertainments. Because of the relative scarcity of women, areas like the city’s Barbary Coast district allowed spaces for gay performers and theater employees to move about the audience selling liquor and themselves.

Ceejay Writer:
I wonder if Seattle might have been a bit tawdry, too.

Nika Thought-werk:
A bit, yes.

The police, who would crack down on this anywhere else in the country turn a blind eye due to kickbacks from the bars and the brothels and the vaudeville stage. One of the other interesting things about the vaudeville venues in San Francisco is that female impersonators might as easily find themselves on the stage as an unimpersonated female. This would probably not play in Peoria, but San Francisco doesn’t seem to mind. Here, too, the money is good. A performer, who might be expected to perform between the sheets as easily as on stage, can make up to $200 each week. On second thought, the performances in San Francisco probably WOULD play in Peoria. San Francisco is just open about it.

Now ... here is where I truly step out of bounds ...

Vaudeville - with its focus on money and mores ... increasingly turned to keeping seats filled as movies came of age in the 'teens and twenties. It increasingly moved to more and more exotic acts ... Like dancing ... and very special types of dancing.

Nika Thought-werk coughs.

And here ... the American strip club was born.

BUT - moving back to the performers themselves ... One of the ghost's favorite vaudeville acts is Laurel and Hardy. A new movie chronicling the last tour of these performers is going into production. Like Chaplin, I hope it showcases a bit of the flavor of what it was like to work on the vaudeville stage.
And the Marx Brothers
And the Three Stooges
And most comedic film stars of the silent era.

These are some of the elements of vaudeville as theater. I hope you have enjoyed this talk, and I would now like to open time up for questions.

Ceejay Writer:
I had no idea that the psychology aspect was so deliberate. Do you know if they hired writers with training... or simply as tools to do what they were told?

Nika Thought-werk:
Tools, it seems. Keith was a master. Keith laid the blue print.

Myrtil Igaly:
Did Vaudeville steal audience from the circuses?

Nika Thought-werk:
It did. From practically every form of entertainment of the day. Here's the thing though - vaudeville grew to dominate the country from 1885 - 1915, or so. Their variety never wholly replaced playhouses, circuses, or the like. They just showcased bits. If you wanted a circus - vaudeville couldn't truly give that to you. Circuses downsized and adapted. And survived. So did playhouses. How many vaudeville theaters still operate in the US? They were general purpose affairs - and if you wanted general purpose entertainment ... Movies were more cost-effective for everyone.

Tepic Harlequin:
Still can't believe they took out all the mucky bits an people still went an saw it.....

Æther Salon: Vaudeville! (Cleaned Raw Transcript)

[14:07:54] Wildstar Beaumont: greetings all !
[14:06:08] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: All right, I think the stragglers will have to depend on the aether-journal to catch up.
[14:06:24] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Let me thank you all for coming, and issue a few 'housekeeping' points of order.
[14:06:34] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 1) To ensure you can hear the speaker, stand or sit on the patterned carpet.
[14:06:35] Myrtil Igaly: Hey Tepic!
[14:06:51] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 2) If you do not have a wearable chair and wish one, please contact me in IM. We have a few set out this time as an experiment, feel free to sit there. The director's chairs are for Tinies.
[14:07:03] OldeSoul Eldemar: hello Lady Alexis
[14:07:03] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 3) Please remove all lag-feeding thingamajigs you might be wearing.
[14:07:16] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 4) A tip jar is out for our speaker. Do please show your appreciation!
[14:07:27] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 5) Any tips to help support the establishment will also be welcome - just click on one of the support signs or this handsome clank floating above us.
[14:07:41] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 6) If you are not a member of the AEther Salon group, there are signs that will let you join up. You'll be most heartily welcome.
[14:07:51] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 7) Edited and unedited transcripts of these proceedings will be posted at aethersalon.blogspot.com.
[14:08:03] Fauve Aeon: Hello sir
[14:08:07] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 8) Tea and treats are set out - help yourself! Beware of lurking Hatchies guarding the sweet biscuits.
[14:08:08] Lady Sumoku waves
[14:08:09] OldeSoul Eldemar: Good to see you Admiral
[14:08:27] Liz Wilner: hello everyone :)
[14:08:39] Wulfriðe Blitzen waves at the new arrivals
[14:08:41] OldeSoul Eldemar: Lovely to see you Your Grace Liz
[14:08:42] Sera Puchkina waves
[14:08:46] Nika Thought-werk curtsies to the audience.
[14:09:02] Jimmy Branagh: Hoy Miss Nika!
[14:09:16] Nika Thought-werk: Hello, Mister Jimmy.
[14:09:35] Nika Thought-werk adds "Herr Baron, is the stage mine?"
[14:09:38] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: To introduce our speaker today: Fraulein Nika Thought-werk has graced us with her presence and knowledge several times on a wide variety of subjects. She is a true citizen of the Steamlands, as she has a handsome home here, and has lived in Steelhead, Mondrago and elsewhere.
[14:09:48] Stereo Nacht waves around so not to interrupt
[14:09:55] Jimmy Branagh waves back
[14:10:08] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Her postal service is acclaimed and always on time, and she is a published authoress. Today she will tell us about... Vaudeville!
[14:10:15] Nika Thought-werk adds "I'm a hobo. I have lived everywhere."
[14:10:23] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Fraulein Nika, welcome.
[14:10:25] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach applauds
[14:10:25] Sera Puchkina applauds!
[14:10:29] Jimmy Branagh applauds
[14:10:32] Russell A. Firecrest claps
[14:10:32] Lady Sumoku cheers
[14:10:33] Wulfriðe Blitzen applauds
[14:10:36] Stereo Nacht `*.¸.*´ APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´
[14:10:46] Ceejay Writer cheers loudly
[14:11:06] Nika Thought-werk: So, question, ladies and gents, boys and girls, and animals of every shape and size ...
[14:11:21] Nika Thought-werk: Do you like to be entertained?
[14:11:26] Jimmy Branagh: Oy do!
[14:11:30] Nika Thought-werk: Ok!
[14:11:31] Tepic Harlequin: yes!
[14:11:31] Ceejay Writer: Heck yes! I mean.... certainly!
[14:11:33] Russell A. Firecrest: Indeed!
[14:11:44] Stereo Nacht: Of course! A little too much, maybe? ;-)
[14:11:54] Nika Thought-werk: And Mister Jimmy, what entertains you?
[14:12:02] Jimmy Branagh: Rum
[14:12:07] Jimmy Branagh grins
[14:12:08] Lady Sumoku laughs.
[14:12:20] Ceejay Writer: Jimmy! Try again.
[14:12:23] Nika Thought-werk laughs ...
[14:12:44] Nika Thought-werk: Well ... with that, let's get on with the show ...
[14:12:46] Jimmy Branagh: Oy loikes it when normal things 'appen. It's so unusual!
[14:13:03] Nika Thought-werk giggles.
[14:13:03] Ceejay Writer nods. "Better answer"

[14:13:08] Nika Thought-werk: Dear friends, my name is Nika Thought-werk. Many of you know me as a little clockwork who loves mail. I am that, but I am so much more – when I remember. One of the things I am is real. In the time before now, one of the things I did was perform in a magic act in a vaudeville theater. I learned a thing or two about vaudeville during this time, and I’d like to share those things with you today.
[14:13:11] Lady Sumoku: Normal can be fairly odd.
[14:13:15] Jimmy Branagh thumbs up
[14:13:43] Fauve Aeon settles in, happily listening
[14:13:53] Nika Thought-werk: What - is vaudeville?
[14:13:58] Nika Thought-werk: Vaudeville, as we know it, is the American answer to the many of the types of theater one might find in our times. No one really knows where the name vaudeville came from. There are equal parts conjecture that it is a region in France, the works of Olivier Basselin, or something else entirely.
[14:14:21] Ceejay Writer: I used to think it was a town name, like Smallville.
[14:14:55] Nika Thought-werk smiles "Not quite - though I will talk of small towns."
[14:14:57] Wildstar Beaumont: :)
[14:15:02] Nika Thought-werk: Wherever the name came from, what we do know is that it arose from the work of one B.F. Keith. Keith was an American, originally from New Hampshire. As a young man, Mister Keith worked many of the entertainment venues of his day – from dime-museums to traveling circuses. One can only guess that his work with these venues gave him a keen appreciation of an audience and an understanding of what makes them tick.
[14:15:39] Nika Thought-werk: In 1885, Mister Keith took over operation of a theater in Boston known as the Bijou. The theater has never been the same. What separates vaudeville from more traditional theaters, music halls, street plays and the like? A grand many things, I wager. Here are just a few …
[14:16:14] Nika Thought-werk: For starters, vaudeville theaters are continuous affairs. Unlike a playhouse, where the acts are at set times throughout the day, vaudeville theaters organized their shows in acts. I’ll talk more about these in a moment. The thing about this is though that once the show began in the morning, it would progress through the program until it reached the end. Once at the end, the program would ‘loop’, replaying the first act and restarting the program in the process. It would do this loop until the theater closed at night.
[14:17:14] Nika Thought-werk: There was a psychology behind this - the way the programs were arranged, and I will talk about this more near the end.
[14:17:32] Ceejay Writer: Interesting!
[14:17:41] Nika Thought-werk: What this means, for a theater-goer is that you can go into the theater at any time and stay until the program loops back to the first show you saw. Or, if you only have minutes to spare, you can wander into a theater on your lunchbreak, stay for ten minutes of a show, and wander back to work. Then, you can catch the rest of the program sometime during the week. With low ticket prices of pennies rather than more pricey ones at playhouses, there is no reason for an office worker looking for a kindly diversion not to do this.
[14:18:35] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Clever arrangement.
[14:18:42] Ceejay Writer: And now we have entertainment on demand.... but it existed before, I see.
[14:19:01] Nika Thought-werk: The second difference are the ticket prices. Vaudeville tickets are much cheaper than many playhouses. Vaudeville houses are able to stay open by making sure that their programs are lively, varied, and often changed. This helped ensure that the theaters are seldom empty.
[14:20:04] Nika Thought-werk: The typical vaudeville program presents a third difference. Unlike a playhouse, which might present one play a night, vaudeville theaters present programs of various acts to entertain its audience. No single act is allowed to take over thirty minutes in most theaters, and in the more successful theaters, the acts are rehearsed and drilled into their performers with military precision. Not a moment is wasted. It can’t be. Wasted time upsets the program, throws off the show, and costs money. A show program might open with a song and dance act. It might progress to a single singer doing a solo. It might then present a watered down version of a lengthier stage-play. After this, it could continue with an act to highlight exotic cultures and locales. African acts and South American performers might be brought in for this.
[14:21:00] Nika Thought-werk: People might see animal acts. Whatever the program, each program always ended with a real headliner – be it a play with a well-known cast, a virtuoso singer, or whatever is the best quality act the theater had on hand. The heart of vaudeville is its variety. Whatever is on the program on any given day, you know you are in for a real show. - at least more than what many other venues might offer you.
[14:21:34] Nika Thought-werk: Now here ... I think it best to talk about the psychology aspect ...
[14:21:52] Nika Thought-werk: The theaters WANTED to move you
[14:22:05] Nika Thought-werk: They want to shake you
[14:22:13] Nika Thought-werk: But not all at once.
[14:22:20] Ceejay Writer: Oooh.
[14:23:11] Nika Thought-werk: Keith understood that by placing programs in a slow build ... entertaining lowbrain acts ... moving slowly to more upbeat fair ...
[14:24:02] Nika Thought-werk: And ending with a real tear-jerking or comedic play, people are more likely to stay as the show progresses.
[14:24:24] Ceejay Writer: Smart guy.
[14:24:39] Nika Thought-werk: The longer you stay, the fuller the house ... the more successful a theater LOOKS
[14:25:07] Nika Thought-werk: And in show business, APPEARANCE is everything.
[14:25:30] Ceejay Writer nods
[14:26:02] Nika Thought-werk: What's more, the program arrangers work with writers to manipulate the emotions of the audience down to a science
[14:26:14] Jimmy Branagh: Spielberg
[14:26:39] Ceejay Writer: wow. I had no idea
[14:26:51] Nika Thought-werk: This helps nudge people to laugh and cry and be scared together ... and vaudeville is a social experience if anything.
[14:27:26] Nika Thought-werk: With the variety, low-ticket prices, growth of a middle-class to enjoy it, few competing forms of entertainment with the mass-appeal of a well-constructed program, and so on, B.F. Keith and others that copied his style opened theater chains throughout the country. The chain-like nature of vaudeville theaters is a fourth difference. Performers might travel a circuit of theaters owned by one owner or distribution chain, performing the same act in different theaters owned by the same owner. It is a hard life, but the salaries men like Keith can pay to their performers helps keep performers under their control. In any given week, men and women spend over $1,000,000 in vaudeville ticket fees. The theaters spend in excess of $600,000 a week promoting and paying for their theaters and performers. Salaries make up a lionshare of vaudeville expenses. Still, the theater owners have more than enough left over at week’s-end to pad their own pockets.
[14:28:11] Lady Sumoku whispers "welcome back!"
[14:28:29] Nika Thought-werk: There is a fifth difference. There is an adage in vaudeville. That adage is: “Will it play in Peoria?” The Peoria in question here is Peoria, Illinois. One might wonder why a person might care about a little corn town like Peoria. Do you? Have you been there?
[14:28:52] Nika Thought-werk looks around.
[14:28:53] Jimmy Branagh: Oy never 'ave
[14:29:00] Nika Thought-werk smiles.
[14:29:07] Lady Sumoku shakes her head sternly
[14:29:34] Jimmy Branagh: Oy loikes corn awlroight but not really a vacation item
[14:29:41] Nika Thought-werk: My ghost has. Many times. It is a little corn-town on the Mississippi River. Peoria, Illinois does have something special about it – as it relates to entertainment. That ‘thing’ is its mores and cultural sensibility. Peoria represents the character that pervades the Union. Whatever a good, Christian audience might find enjoyable in Peoria will carry well throughout the nation. Theater-chains understand this – and they wish to profit from it. The following is a warning placed in the dressing area of one of the more popular theaters of the vaudeville circuits:
[14:29:42] Ceejay Writer: I've wondered why that saying was so ... iconic.
[14:30:30] Nika Thought-werk unfolds a piece of paper and begins to read ...
[14:30:58] Nika Thought-werk: NOTICE TO PERFORMERS You are hereby warned that your act must be free from all vulgarity and suggestiveness in words, action, and costume, while playing in any of Mr.—’s houses, and all vulgar, double-meaning and profane words and songs must be cut out of your act before the first performance. If you are in doubt as to what is right or wrong, submit it to the resident all other words unfit for the ears of ladies and children, also any reference to questionable streets, resorts, localities, and barrooms, are prohibited under fine of instant discharge. GENERAL MANAGER ((Taken from the book From Traveling Show to Vaudeville, Theatrical Spectacle in America, from 1830 – 1910.))
[14:31:26] Tepic Harlequin: bloomin heck! an this stuff were popular?
[14:31:33] Jimmy Branagh chuckles
[14:31:40] Mosseveno Tenk: americans...
[14:31:48] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach chuckles
[14:31:49] Ceejay Writer: Didn't know there were such strict rules! But now we know about.... PEORIA
[14:31:50] Jimmy Branagh: Primordial political correctness
[14:31:55] Lady Sumoku shakes fist at Americans.
[14:32:03] Tepic Harlequin: so... not like the British Music Hall then......
[14:32:23] Nika Thought-werk: Keeping things clean made it fit for all ... and fit for all meant - and means dollars. Not at all like the music halls.
[14:32:37] Nika Thought-werk smiles.
[14:33:00] Liz Wilner: the first all-ages shows :)
[14:33:04] Stereo Nacht: Oh! So you can't say you've been to Hell's Gate and made it back? ;-)
[14:33:45] Nika Thought-werk blanches, swoons and half-collapses at the mention of the word ... Heck.
[14:34:01] Stereo Nacht: Oops! Sorry!
[14:34:01] Jimmy Branagh laughs
[14:34:01] Ceejay Writer hurls smelling salts at the stage
[14:34:08] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Tch. Do not damage the speaker, bitte.
[14:34:26] Stereo Nacht: Oh, I am sure Ms. Writer has excellent aim.
[14:34:29] Nika Thought-werk: I should say not, Miss Stereo ... Miss Writer ... my ears have been vexed, I say!
[14:34:34] Jimmy Branagh: >..right here in River City ...
[14:34:44] Nika Thought-werk winks at Miss Nacht and continues ...
[14:34:50] Nika Thought-werk: The theater owners police their acts vigilantly. Something they find disagreeable might lead to a stern warning – or else. Future violations might lead to performers being booted from a circuit and being blacklisted from working the circuits ever again. Understanding this, most performers happily agree to censorship. The money is too good for the performers and the theater owners to do otherwise.
[14:35:23] Ceejay Writer: I threw carefully!
[14:35:38] Mosseveno Tenk: But regurgitators were okay?
[14:36:10] Nika Thought-werk: Not all theaters follow such strict guidelines, however. An exception of note are the theaters in San Francisco, California. San Francisco is a hive of ill-repute, and its theaters add to its disreputable character. There is a very high ratio of men to women in the city. Many of the men had money to spend. As such, prostitution, liquor, and vice are central to the city’s entertainments. Because of the relative scarcity of women, areas like the city’s Barbary Coast district allowed spaces for gay performers and theater employees to move about the audience selling liquor and themselves.
[14:36:23] Nika Thought-werk eyes Mister Tenk.
[14:37:10] Ceejay Writer: I wonder if Seattle might have been a bit tawdry, too.
[14:37:24] Lady Sumoku: Might have been?
[14:37:29] Nika Thought-werk: A bit, yes.
[14:37:35] Nika Thought-werk: The police, who would crack down on this anywhere else in the country turn a blind eye due to kickbacks from the bars and the brothels and the vaudeville stage. One of the other interesting things about the vaudeville venues in San Francisco is that female impersonators might as easily find themselves on the stage as an unimpersonated female.
[14:37:41] Stereo Nacht: Oh wow! Is that how California got to be so open later on?
[14:37:51] Nika Thought-werk: Yes ma'am.
[14:38:09] Ceejay Writer nods thoughtfully
[14:38:21] Nika Thought-werk: This would probably not play in Peoria, but San Francisco doesn’t seem to mind. Here, too, the money is good. A performer, who might be expected to perform between the sheets as easily as on stage, can make up to $200 each week. On second thought, the performances in San Francisco probably WOULD play in Peoria. San Francisco is just open about it.
[14:38:50] Stereo Nacht tries hard not to interrupt anymore
[14:39:03] Lady Sumoku: Above the books, beneath the covers.
[14:39:13] Nika Thought-werk: Now ... here is where I truly step out of bounds ...
[14:39:28] Ceejay Writer: Between the pages.
[14:39:42] Ceejay Writer holds breath
[14:40:18] Nika Thought-werk: Vaudeville - with its focus on money and mores ... increasingly turned to keeping seats filled as movies came of age in the 'teens and twenties.
[14:40:45] Nika Thought-werk: It increasingly moved to more and more exotic acts ...
[14:40:50] Ceejay Writer: Drat that Edison bloke, anyway.
[14:41:09] Nika Thought-werk: Like dancing ... and very special types of dancing.
[14:41:16] Nika Thought-werk coughs.
[14:41:26] Ceejay Writer blushes
[14:41:28] Lady Sumoku tosses Miss Nika a lozenge.
[14:41:48] Nika Thought-werk: And here ... the American strip club was born.
[14:41:58] Sera Puchkina darts a look at Ceejay
[14:42:13] Jimmy Branagh: Oy seen machines were ya stick a twopenny in an' watch ... ummmm, dancers
[14:42:14] Ceejay Writer smiles angelically
[14:42:22] Nika Thought-werk: BUT - moving back to the performers themselves ...
[14:42:49] Nika Thought-werk: One of the ghost's favorite vaudeville acts is Laurel and Hardy.
[14:42:59] Ceejay Writer: :)
[14:43:00] Lady Sumoku cheers
[14:43:03] Myrtil Igaly: They danced well?
[14:43:11] Jimmy Branagh chuckles
[14:43:23] Lady Sumoku: In their own way...
[14:43:57] Ceejay Writer: They did all right, actually! There's some film clips
[14:44:18] Liz Wilner: Mickey Rooney started in vaudville
[14:44:21] Nika Thought-werk: A new movie chronicling the last tour of these performers is going into production. Like Chaplin, I hope it showcases a bit of the flavor of what it was like to work on the vaudeville stage.
[14:44:32] Nika Thought-werk: And the Marx Brothers
[14:44:39] Nika Thought-werk: And the Three Stooges
[14:45:02] Nika Thought-werk: And most comedic film stars of the silent era.
[14:45:29] Nika Thought-werk: These are some of the elements of vaudeville as theater. I hope you have enjoyed this talk, and I would now like to open time up for questions.
[14:45:50] Ceejay Writer applauds happily
[14:45:51] Jimmy Branagh applauds
[14:45:55] Jimmy Branagh: YAY!
[14:45:57] Lady Sumoku: Who's on first?
[14:45:57] Ethan Paul III: Hello all its good to see so many of you
[14:45:59] Liz Wilner: There was also the famous Gypsy Rose Lee
[14:45:59] Wulfriðe Blitzen Applauds!
[14:46:00] Jimmy Branagh: Great Salon!
[14:46:01] Stereo Nacht `*.¸.*´ APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´
[14:46:10] Sera Puchkina applauds
[14:46:17] Bixyl Shuftan claps
[14:46:24] Myrtil Igaly applauds applauds
[14:46:26] Nika Thought-werk nods happily to Miss Wilner "Quite famous, indeed."
[14:46:29] Roman Chrononaia applauds
[14:46:55] Ceejay Writer: I had no idea that the psychology aspect was so deliberate. Do you know if they hired writers with training... or simply as tools to do what they were told?
[14:47:15] Nika Thought-werk: Tools, it seems
[14:47:21] Nika Thought-werk: Keith was a master
[14:47:24] Lady Sumoku: I'm sure some of the deliberation came from simple experience.
[14:47:40] Nika Thought-werk: Keith laid the blue print
[14:47:41] Ceejay Writer nods thoughtfully: I bet they learned what the bosses wanted to do, over time
[14:47:50] Nika Thought-werk: Things grew as time went on
[14:48:01] Lady Sumoku: If you try something and people walk out... Don't try that again.
[14:48:02] Tepic Harlequin: the blue pencil print, sounds like....
[14:48:19] Nika Thought-werk nods at Lady Sumoku.
[14:48:26] Fauve Aeon: Thank you Miss Thought-werk, a most interesting presentation
[14:48:28] Liz Wilner: many of the theaters on the circuits were quite elaborate in decor
[14:48:51] Nika Thought-werk: Absolutely
[14:49:00] Lady Sumoku: You had to feel like you were somewhere special.
[14:49:10] Roman Chrononaia: Were audiences boisterous?
[14:49:10] Lady Sumoku: But not so special that you couldn't afford it.
[14:49:20] Nika Thought-werk: I hope to capture a bit of the beauty that is vaudeville in my next book.
[14:49:31] Liz Wilner: hence the tiered seating like the older theaters of Europe
[14:49:57] Stereo Nacht: Would you say "varieties" are a descendant of vaudeville?
[14:50:09] Nika Thought-werk: The other way around
[14:50:11] Lady Sumoku: The tiered seating was more a method to cram more people into the same space.
[14:50:24] Stereo Nacht: Oh? Interesting...
[14:50:28] OldeSoul Eldemar: some of the old theaters still exist in "downtown" areas
[14:50:40] Ceejay Writer: Nika and vaudville.... this should be interesting reading.
[14:50:51] Nika Thought-werk: There was a variety theater in America before vaudeville - vaudeville just perfected it.
[14:51:11] Nika Thought-werk smiles at Miss Writer.
[14:51:19] Myrtil Igaly: Did Vaudeville steal audience from the circuses?
[14:51:27] Nika Thought-werk: It did
[14:51:32] Myrtil Igaly: Awww!
[14:51:43] Lady Sumoku: El Paso finally renovated their Plaza Theater a few years ago. After rebuilding the Wurlitzer that belonged there first.
[14:51:48] Stereo Nacht: I see...
[14:51:49] Nika Thought-werk: From practically every form of entertainment of the day.
[14:52:04] OldeSoul Eldemar: they were so accessible
[14:52:08] Myrtil Igaly: they were like supermarkets, doing a bit of everything
[14:52:13] Liz Wilner: some circuses added vaudville shows in side tents I believe
[14:52:18] Blossom Love: Hiiiiii!
[14:52:30] Nika Thought-werk: Here's the thing though - vaudeville grew to dominate the country from 1885 - 1915, or so.
[14:52:34] Ceejay Writer: Stealing from circuses! Gasp!
[14:52:51] OldeSoul Eldemar: I wondered if you heard that my dear Ms. Writer
[14:53:07] Nika Thought-werk: Their variety never wholly replaced playhouses
[14:53:11] Nika Thought-werk: circuses
[14:53:16] Nika Thought-werk: or the like
[14:53:27] Nika Thought-werk: They just showcased bits
[14:53:42] Ceejay Writer: Adding to the Variety of entertainment
[14:53:57] Nika Thought-werk: If you wanted a circus - vaudeville couldn't truly give that to you.
[14:54:02] Nika Thought-werk nods.
[14:54:14] Nika Thought-werk: Circuses downsized and adapted.
[14:54:18] Ceejay Writer: Choices are good - and the country was beginning to get more of them
[14:54:33] Nika Thought-werk: And survived.
[14:54:35] Nika Thought-werk: So did playhouses
[14:54:58] Nika Thought-werk: How many vaudeville theaters still operate in the US?
[14:54:58] Liz Wilner: and the expansion of the train lines helped
[14:55:04] Nika Thought-werk nods.
[14:55:58] Nika Thought-werk: They were general purpose affairs - and if you wanted general purpose entertainment ...
[14:56:20] Nika Thought-werk: Movies were more cost-effective for everyone.
[14:56:29] Lady Sumoku: Welcome back, Baron!
[14:56:44] Nika Thought-werk curtsies to the Baron.
[14:57:01] Stereo Nacht `*.¸.*´ APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´
[14:57:05] Russell A. Firecrest claps
[14:57:05] Nika Thought-werk: Any other comments or questions?
[14:57:06] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach nods appreciatively
[14:57:06] Ceejay Writer: Movies took away the human-error element from the performers. Get it right once, you are set.
[14:57:16] Nika Thought-werk nods.
[14:57:41] Ceejay Writer: You have put me in the mood to see out a current vaudville theater. I may need to go on a quest
[14:57:46] Lady Sumoku: Now they don't even bother with the getting it right.
[14:57:55] Stereo Nacht: Hehe!
[14:57:58] Nika Thought-werk: With that, I bid you all a very happy Sunday.
[14:58:07] Lady Sumoku hugs Nika
[14:58:07] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Vielen dank, Fraulein Nika.
[14:58:12] Stereo Nacht: Have a great one, Miss Thought-Werk!
[14:58:13] Jimmy Branagh applauds again
[14:58:14] Nika Thought-werk: Thank you for joing me today!
[14:58:15] OldeSoul Eldemar: Thank you so much Fraulein Nika !
[14:58:19] Blossom Love: Bravo!
[14:58:23] OldeSoul Eldemar: it was very enjoyable
[14:58:24] Jimmy Branagh: Thenks Miss Nika!
[14:58:25] Lady Sumoku cheers
[14:58:26] Ceejay Writer: i very much enjoyed this talk!
[14:58:27] Stereo Nacht: `*.¸.*´ APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´
[14:58:29] Nika Thought-werk curtsies and begins to clean up.
[14:58:31] Sera Puchkina applauds. This was most entertaining! Well done
[14:58:32] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Any last tips for our speaker?
[14:58:32] OldeSoul Eldemar claps loudly!
[14:58:32] Bixyl Shuftan claps
[14:58:33] Wulfriðe Blitzen claps
[14:58:34] Ceejay Writer: YAY!
[14:58:35] Tepic Harlequin: still can't believe they took out all the mucky bits an people still went an saw it.....

Æther Salon: Courtly Love! (Cleaned Raw Transcript)

[2016/02/21 13:57:20] Podruly Peccable stays very very still so the horse doesn't fall off the podium
[2016/02/21 13:57:30] Wildstar Beaumont: greetings
[2016/02/21 13:57:37] Podruly Peccable: Hullo Admiral
[2016/02/21 13:58:19] ??? :: Minako: A fine steed you have there!
[2016/02/21 13:58:38] Lady Sumoku blows Wulfi a kiss.
[2016/02/21 13:58:45] Fauve Aeon: Hello everyone!
[2016/02/21 13:59:20] Wulfriðe Blitzen: Welcome everyone!
[2016/02/21 14:00:06] Lady Sumoku waves to everyone she missed the first time through.
[2016/02/21 14:00:23] Sera Puchkina: Hello, everyone. *waves*
[2016/02/21 14:00:44] Jedburgh Dagger: Sera!
[2016/02/21 14:00:55] Sera Puchkina: Hey Jed!!
[2016/02/21 14:01:37] Sera Puchkina: Howdy Dee!
[2016/02/21 14:03:06] Fauve Aeon: It's always such a nice way to finish out the week(end) to come to relax here at the Salon, I am really quite enjoying it.
[2016/02/21 14:03:24] Sigmund Sloth: Squeak!
[2016/02/21 14:03:31] Wulfriðe Blitzen: Greetings to the new arrivals *smiles*
[2016/02/21 14:03:37] Sera Puchkina: I agree, Ms Aeon
[2016/02/21 14:03:59] Fauve Aeon: aha, so the walls still do revolve, \o/
[2016/02/21 14:04:01] Fauve Aeon: \M/YAY\M/
[2016/02/21 14:04:09] Fauve Aeon: ((I was wondering))
[2016/02/21 14:04:10] Sigmund Sloth: Squeak?!?!
[2016/02/21 14:04:10] Nika Thought-werk claps.
[2016/02/21 14:04:14] Doctor Lord Halford bows to all guests
[2016/02/21 14:04:19] ??? :: Minako: Oh, two of my favorite paintings!
[2016/02/21 14:04:31] Podruly Peccable smiles
[2016/02/21 14:04:32] Wulfriðe Blitzen: Good afternoon/evening
[2016/02/21 14:05:37] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: A bit of a delay, my pardon.
[2016/02/21 14:06:04] Fauve Aeon teases her kitties with shawl fringe and listens to Radio Riel to amuse herself :D
[2016/02/21 14:07:10] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Some of you might have noticed the portrait I have just added to the back of the room. Herr Blackberry Harvey, who built this excellent structure exclusively for the Salon, passed just a few days ago.
[2016/02/21 14:07:25] ??? :: Minako: Oh no, how awful!
[2016/02/21 14:07:29] AlasAndAlack: So sad.
[2016/02/21 14:07:32] Sigmund Sloth: :(
[2016/02/21 14:07:34] William H. Greymoon, MD: Sorry to hear that will pray for him
[2016/02/21 14:07:34] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: This way, we can remember him in a place that was uniquely his.
[2016/02/21 14:07:51] Sera Puchkina: I'd forgotten that. The tribute is fitting, sir.
[2016/02/21 14:07:58] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Danke, Fraulein.
[2016/02/21 14:08:05] Fauve Aeon: A lovely tribute and a very good remembrance, I am glad to see it.
[2016/02/21 14:08:26] Lady Sumoku nods.
[2016/02/21 14:08:53] Podruly Peccable nods.. he was a true Gentleman
[2016/02/21 14:09:17] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Let me thank you all for coming, and issue a few 'housekeeping' points of order.
[2016/02/21 14:09:25] Lady Sumoku: And coming from a man in a can on a horse, that means something!
[2016/02/21 14:09:26] San Diavolo: Hello and woof
[2016/02/21 14:09:37] Podruly Peccable laughs
[2016/02/21 14:09:45] Wulfriðe Blitzen grins and waves
[2016/02/21 14:09:57] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 1) To ensure you can hear the speaker, stand or sit on the patterned carpet.
[2016/02/21 14:10:20] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: This means you, Lady Dawn.
[2016/02/21 14:10:24] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach grins
[2016/02/21 14:10:35] Lady Starbrook-Yosuke: this ok?
[2016/02/21 14:10:40] Lady Starbrook-Yosuke laughs
[2016/02/21 14:10:52] Podruly Peccable: Can you hear me, Lady Starbrook?
[2016/02/21 14:10:54] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: If you can hear Ritter Podruly, then it is fine.
[2016/02/21 14:10:58] Lady Starbrook-Yosuke: yes, thank you
[2016/02/21 14:11:18] Podruly Peccable: Splendid!
[2016/02/21 14:11:38] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 2) If you do not have a wearable chair and wish one, please contact me in IM. We have a few set out this time as an experiment, feel free to sit there. The director's chairs are for Tinies.
[2016/02/21 14:11:56] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 3) Please remove all lag-feeding thingamajigs you might be wearing.
[2016/02/21 14:12:10] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 4) A tip jar is out for our speaker. Do please show your appreciation!
[2016/02/21 14:12:19] Fauve Aeon admires the chaise , a bit envious, I admit...
[2016/02/21 14:12:48] Lady Starbrook-Yosuke admits is is most comfortable
[2016/02/21 14:12:49] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 5) Any tips to help support the establishment will also be welcome - just click on one of the support signs or this handsome clank floating above us. We are in particular need this month, if your generosity is possible.
[2016/02/21 14:13:00] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: ...where is that clank?
[2016/02/21 14:13:41] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 6) If you are not a member of the AEther Salon group, there are signs that will let you join up. You'll be most heartily welcome.
[2016/02/21 14:13:57] Fauve Aeon tsks and shakes her head at ill-behaved constructs who run off
[2016/02/21 14:13:57] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: ) Edited and unedited transcripts of these proceedings will be posted at aethersalon.blogspot.com.
[2016/02/21 14:15:02] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: There we go.
[2016/02/21 14:15:22] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: And lastly:
[2016/02/21 14:15:34] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: 8) Tea and treats are set out - help yourself! Beware of Hatchies guarding the sweet biscuits.
[2016/02/21 14:17:03] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Our speaker today is Podruly Peccable. His repute among the community is such that he has been made a knight of both Caledon and Winterfell. He is the former Lord of Winterfell Illyria, a long-time Caledon-on-Sea resident, and has currently returned to Winterfell.
[2016/02/21 14:17:20] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Bitte, give him your attention and admiration for presenting on a horse.
[2016/02/21 14:17:24] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach applauds
[2016/02/21 14:17:28] Lady Sumoku claps
[2016/02/21 14:17:35] Podruly Peccable bows
[2016/02/21 14:17:36] San Diavolo applawds
[2016/02/21 14:17:46] Sera Puchkina claps
[2016/02/21 14:17:59] Podruly Peccable: Good evening, gentlefolk of New Babbage, and thank you for inviting me to speak tonight. My subject is the medieval tradition of “Courtly Love”, which seems a suitable topic for the sixty-ninth Aether Salon, falling as it does a week after Valentine’s Day
[2016/02/21 14:17:59] AlasAndAlack claps enthusiastically. Doubly so for the horsie.
[2016/02/21 14:18:41] Podruly Peccable: I think it is true to say that when we imagine the medieval period, the first three images that come to mind are the Knight, the Castle and the Lady Fair.
[2016/02/21 14:18:46] Nika Thought-werk smiles and nods.
[2016/02/21 14:19:02] Podruly Peccable: These three have starred in a thousand thousand tales told over the last eight centuries or so, and have an enduring appeal to incurable romantics like myself. But have you ever wondered how those tales started?
[2016/02/21 14:19:24] Lady Sumoku: Marketing!
[2016/02/21 14:19:31] Podruly Peccable: The first knights arose in the service of the Emperor Charlemagne in the 8th Century, initially simply heavily armoured warriors who could fight effectively on horseback, thanks to the invention of the stirrup.
[2016/02/21 14:20:00] Podruly Peccable: From that time up until the days of pike and gunpowder, they were the unstoppable tanks of their day, totally dominating the battlefield with ever improving arms and armour
[2016/02/21 14:20:14] Podruly Peccable hides a grin at Lady Sumoku
[2016/02/21 14:20:23] Jedburgh Dagger: Cavalry. *eyerolls*
[2016/02/21 14:20:42] Podruly Peccable: These knights and their lords soon became a distinct class with their own chivalric culture, often speaking a different language to the people they ruled, and in any case having a totally different way of life from the common folk. They were trained from childhood to war, enjoyed leisure time when not fighting and possessed wealth from taxation and plunder which allowed them to indulge in luxury.
[2016/02/21 14:21:04] Podruly Peccable: Bravery and loyalty were the virtues most encouraged in this martial culture.
[2016/02/21 14:21:22] Podruly Peccable: Castles arose soon after knights.
[2016/02/21 14:21:40] Podruly Peccable: In England, both knights and castles were introduced by William the Conqueror. As a (rather strange) child, I remember looking at a translation of the Domesday Book, the great tax register which William commissioned after the conquest. For each settlement, it shows the value of the land before, during, and after the invasion. With a fascinated horror, I saw that many thriving communities had become “wasteland” following the conquest, and I imagined what that had meant for the poor people living in them.
[2016/02/21 14:21:49] Blossom Love just sits down while thinking about how happy she would be if Creaky appeared
[2016/02/21 14:22:17] Podruly Peccable: Any war is brutal to the poor, but in medieval Europe warfare was constant, a way of life, as warlord vied with warlord, continually testing each other and punishing any weakness they found - for they had to keep a band of blooded professional warriors happy, or face revolt.
[2016/02/21 14:22:57] Podruly Peccable: Bertran de Born, one of Richard the Lionheart’s companions, later summed this up in verse:

“Peace delights me not
War – be thou my lot
Law- I do not know
Save a right good blow”

[2016/02/21 14:23:25] Podruly Peccable: It is against this background of brutal violence and turmoil that something strange happened around the middle of the twelfth century
[2016/02/21 14:23:38] Podruly Peccable: A warm wind blew from the south, scented with the wild herbs of the Pyrenees, bringing with it a new ideal of Love, and this is what brought the Lady into our medieval trio.
[2016/02/21 14:23:57] San Diavolo whispers: drugs?
[2016/02/21 14:24:29] Podruly Peccable: Scholars have thought long and hard, and quarrelled often about where it came from
[2016/02/21 14:24:48] Podruly Peccable: Some point to the subtle and elegant Arabic love poetry of the time. Some point to the influence of the heretic Cathars of southern France, who believed that immortal souls had no gender, and scandalously allowed women to be priests. Others point to the rediscovery of classical Latin love poems, in particular those of Ovid.
[2016/02/21 14:25:22] Podruly Peccable: Yet others give a more prosaic explanation, reasoning that because so many men were frequently away at war, or died young in battle, women gained more authority as regents governing a domain, and were courted as a result.
[2016/02/21 14:25:48] Podruly Peccable: Whatever the reasons, a tradition of poetry in praise of the lady grew up
[2016/02/21 14:26:13] Podruly Peccable: It started in the Occitan speaking regions of the south with the troubadours, but soon spread throughout western Europe with the trouveres of northern France and the minnesingers of Germany. This became what is now known as Courtly Love, Amor Courtois, though in the original Occitan it was known as Fin’amor (Pure Love)
[2016/02/21 14:26:55] Podruly Peccable: The poems and songs were concerned with the love of a knight for a usually un-named lady, who is unattainable because she is married and of higher status.
[2016/02/21 14:27:20] Podruly Peccable: She is beautiful and talented, and the knight aches for her. Various obstacles lie in the way of their love, such as the jealousy of others, or tests that the lady imposes to prove his worthiness.
[2016/02/21 14:27:39] Podruly Peccable: There are sometimes hints that the illicit love is consummated, but that usually ends in tragedy if it happens. The love itself brings out the best in both knight and lady, and inspires them to noble deeds.
[2016/02/21 14:28:10] Podruly Peccable: The cynic in me suspects these were privileged people with too much time on their hands indulging in high school crushes (they were mostly younger than you might expect) … but the romantic in me still swoons.
[2016/02/21 14:28:30] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach chuckles
[2016/02/21 14:28:31] Podruly Peccable: One of the earliest examples where both words and music are known is the Kalenda Maia of Raimbaut de Vaqueiras. You can listen to a version of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAL4n4aSLuw
[2016/02/21 14:28:55] Podruly Peccable: (I hope)
[2016/02/21 14:29:15] Podruly Peccable: A free translation of the first verse might be as follows, (bearing in mind that, like the Japanese haiku, the original has a very strong rhythm and rhyme)

“I have no delight in the First of May,
Nor in fresh leaves of beech,
Nor in the songs of bird, nor lily flowers,
Oh noble and merry lady
Until I have a fleet message
From your beautiful person to tell me
Of new pleasures love and joy will bring
And I come to you, true lady.”

[2016/02/21 14:30:09] Podruly Peccable: Many such songs and poems were made by rival troubadours (and their female equivalent, the trobaritz), in praise of many ladies, but it was taken to new heights by one of the most famous women of medieval times, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and her daughter, Marie, Countess of Champagne.
[2016/02/21 14:30:45] Podruly Peccable: Eleanor (or Aliénor in her native Occitan) lived from around 1123 to 1204 and was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women of her time. She was also one of the most beautiful and cultured.
[2016/02/21 14:31:10] Podruly Peccable: She was extraordinary, heiress to the powerful Duchy of Aquitaine (a kingdom in all but name), who had tempestuous marriages with two rival Kings and was mother to another three kings and two queens.
[2016/02/21 14:31:41] Podruly Peccable: There is no time to do justice to her life, but I will note two things which perhaps give you an idea of her strong character: she personally led her band of Aquitanian knights during the Second Crusade, and she was responsible for the introduction of maritime law in Aquitaine and England. (Which, centuries later, provided a fig leaf of respectability for the rampant piracies of Sir Francis Drake).
[2016/02/21 14:32:27] Nika Thought-werk smiles at her example.
[2016/02/21 14:32:34] Podruly Peccable: The other thing she is reputed to have done is raise the Occitan tradition of fin’amor to a high art by creating a “Court of Love” when she resided in Poitiers between 1168 and 1173. Actually very little is known about this time, apart from a study that found that the price of furs and fine fabrics escalated in Poitiers during the period.
[2016/02/21 14:32:52] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Heh.
[2016/02/21 14:33:02] Podruly Peccable: All that we know about the Court of Love comes from a treatise “De Amore” ( usually translated in English as “the Art of Courtly Love”) by Andreas Capellanus and written at the request of Marie of Champagne (Eleanor’s daughter)around 1186-90
[2016/02/21 14:33:40] Podruly Peccable: Andreas Capellanus means Andrew the Chaplain, which sounds much less grand :0
[2016/02/21 14:33:45] Adventure Russ mutters to himself "Don't dis the big D(rake)"
[2016/02/21 14:34:03] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Latin always dresses titles up.
[2016/02/21 14:34:06] Podruly Peccable: his work explores the nature of love, and describes a Court of Love, where Eleanor, Marie, Ermengarde Viscountess of Narbonne, and Isabelle of Flanders would listen to the quarrels of lovers and act as a jury to questions concerning romantic love
[2016/02/21 14:34:29] Podruly Peccable: One of the decisions of this court was that love was possible within marriage, but highly unlikely!
[2016/02/21 14:34:42] Lady Sumoku: D'oh!
[2016/02/21 14:34:46] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach chuckles
[2016/02/21 14:34:53] AlasAndAlack bursts out laughing and then shushes herself.
[2016/02/21 14:35:01] Lady Starbrook-Yosuke knows it's possible...
[2016/02/21 14:35:07] Podruly Peccable: ...most marriages of the time were aranged, of course
[2016/02/21 14:35:23] Podruly Peccable: The Court probably never existed quite as Andreas described, but you can be sure that Eleanor presided over many playful debates about love during her time at Poitiers, and many knights cast longing glances at her. I must confess that, even over such a great divide of time, I am myself a little in love with Eleanor.
[2016/02/21 14:35:56] Jade sighs
[2016/02/21 14:36:04] Podruly Peccable: Marie de Champagne was also patroness to Chretien de Troyes, a poet whose works on Arthurian subjects are some of the greatest pieces of medieval literature, and are considered by some to be the beginnings of the novel.
[2016/02/21 14:36:23] Podruly Peccable: No-one quite knows the sources for Chretien’s stories, but though the original tales might be older, he imbedded new notions of chivalry and courtly love within them to make something that can be recognised as being about our medieval trio, the Knight, the Castle and the Lady Fair.
[2016/02/21 14:36:50] Podruly Peccable: In his work “Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart” he made the first known mention of Sir Lancelot and his illicit love for Queen Guinevere.
[2016/02/21 14:37:10] Podruly Peccable: In it, Queen Guinevere is abducted, and Lancelot, though a number of trials and encounters with beautiful women and tricky dwarfs, eventually fights in a tournament where, to test his love, Guinevere at first orders him to lose, which he begins to do, but then changes her mind and orders him to win, which he of course does.
[2016/02/21 14:37:40] Podruly Peccable: This plot twist was stolen to rather delightful comic and romantic effect in a popular moving magic lantern show, “A Knight’s Tale” which some of you may have seen.
[2016/02/21 14:38:01] Nika Thought-werk blinks smiles.
[2016/02/21 14:38:11] Podruly Peccable: Many other Romance tales were written in medieval times, most of which fall into established groups – The Matter of France (Tales of Charlemagne and Roland), The Matter of England (Tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table) and the Matter of Rome (Mythological tales and Tales of the Trojan War and classical history). They all accept the notion of courtly love and chivalry,
[2016/02/21 14:38:46] Podruly Peccable: They show the knight not simply as a brutal warrior, but as someone in service, fighting for his lord, for his love, and for justice. Quite a change from the beginning of the period.
[2016/02/21 14:39:12] Podruly Peccable: It is hard to say how much it was a literary convention and how much it was actually practiced, but courtly love did bring about a change in attitudes to women and has formed the basis for polite manners of our time, where doors are opened for women and a hand (or a cape) offered to help a lady step across a puddle.
[2016/02/21 14:39:49] Podruly Peccable: This is acting as an attentive servant to a lady. The notion that a woman has to be wooed becomes expected from this time as well.
[2016/02/21 14:40:12] Podruly Peccable: Courtly Love developed throughout the medieval period, and has influenced culture and literature ever since
[2016/02/21 14:40:25] Podruly Peccable: It became mixed with the worship of the Virgin Mary, and later versions, no doubt influenced by the Church, emphasised the love as being more spiritual and less playful (or so it seems to me), though it still retained a keen eye for the charms of the beloved.
[2016/02/21 14:40:41] Jedburgh Dagger: Woo
[2016/02/21 14:40:48] Podruly Peccable: Guillaume de Machaut’s virelai, “Douce Dame Jolie”, is a later example from the 14th Century of a song of courtly love. It can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZbQQaMuatE
[2016/02/21 14:41:33] Podruly Peccable: This is the a translation, which encapsulates much of the flavour of fin'amor:

Sweet, beautiful lady
For God's sake, do not think
That anyone rules over me
But you alone

For endlessly, and without falsehood
I have cherished you
And humbly
All the days of my life
I have served you
With no unworthy thought

Alas! and I beg
For hope and aid
For my joy is ended
If you do not take pity

But your sweet mastery
Masters
My heart so harshly
That it torments
And binds it
So much in love

That it desires nothing
But to be in your service
And yet your heart
Grants it no relief

And since my sickness
Will never be healed
Without you, sweet enemy
Who is glad
At my torment

I join my hands and pray
To your heart, since it forgets me
That it should kill me quickly
For I languish too long

[2016/02/21 14:42:40] ??? :: Minako leans her cheek on her hand and sighs.
[2016/02/21 14:42:53] Podruly Peccable smiles
[2016/02/21 14:42:58] Lady Starbrook-Yosuke Poor boy
[2016/02/21 14:44:05] Lady Sumoku: So Goth.
[2016/02/21 14:44:23] Podruly Peccable: Reading the enjoyable anguish of that, as a denizen of Second Life where pretty much anything you desire can be simulated (and often is), it is hard not to agree with some scholars who connect Courtly Love with the sexuality of dominance and submission, but that is not the mainstream view of scholars.
[2016/02/21 14:45:13] Podruly Peccable: So what, you might be asking, is the relevance of all this to the modern world of 188x?
[2016/02/21 14:45:29] Podruly Peccable: Well, the more eagle eyed of you might have noticed that all the illustrations for this talk are contemporary paintings from the Victorian age.
[2016/02/21 14:45:56] Podruly Peccable: It may surprise some here, (as I believe you are mostly stalwart supporters of Progress and Science), but there are many who hearken back to an older, more romantic time, where the air was not so sooty and men worked with their hands and not machines.
[2016/02/21 14:46:15] Podruly Peccable: It is really a very popular thing, reflected in new tales – such as “Ivanhoe” by Sir Walter Scott, Gothick architecture and paintings and poems by the Pre-raphaelite Brotherhood, amongst others.
[2016/02/21 14:46:17] Fauve Aeon D yes, there are those of every age who do that (looks around)
[2016/02/21 14:46:37] Podruly Peccable: But that has always been the nature of the tales of courtly love – they are forever set in the imaginary past and yet, somehow, they resonate with the present.
[2016/02/21 14:47:01] Podruly Peccable: Is it because the beloved always wants to be the centre of their lover’s world, and wants them to show their worth? I don’t really know.
[2016/02/21 14:47:25] Podruly Peccable: But what I do know is that even in a work such as Manuel Cervantes’ book, “Don Quixote”, which (quite rightly) lampoons the foolishness and vanity of chivalry, there is something that lifts my heart when the ancient Knight lowers his lance to tilt at windmills, and risks all to prove his love for the damsel Dulcinea, despite all.
[2016/02/21 14:47:45] Podruly Peccable smiles
[2016/02/21 14:48:08] Podruly Peccable: That concludes my talk for the evening, thank you for listening. If you can, please contribute to the running costs of this excellent institution using the tip-jars around the salon.
[2016/02/21 14:48:15] Darlingmonster Ember applauds
[2016/02/21 14:48:16] ??? :: Minako: Fools we all are when in love. Some simply more than others.
[2016/02/21 14:48:18] Lady Starbrook-Yosuke applauds
[2016/02/21 14:48:19] ??? :: Minako applauds!
[2016/02/21 14:48:19] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach applauds
[2016/02/21 14:48:25] William H. Greymoon, MD applauds
[2016/02/21 14:48:25] Sera Puchkina applauds
[2016/02/21 14:48:27] Jade is clapping
[2016/02/21 14:48:28] San Diavolo applawds
[2016/02/21 14:48:30] Nika Thought-werk claps.
[2016/02/21 14:48:36] Lady Sumoku claps.
[2016/02/21 14:48:36] Sera Puchkina: Excellent talk!
[2016/02/21 14:48:37] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Herr Ritter, might you answer questions from the audience?
[2016/02/21 14:48:39] AlasAndAlack applauds.
[2016/02/21 14:48:40] Callidus Waydelich: Applause!!
[2016/02/21 14:48:48] Podruly Peccable: Certainly, I would be happy to
[2016/02/21 14:48:50] Adventure Russ claps
[2016/02/21 14:48:51] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: If the audience has any, of course.
[2016/02/21 14:48:58] Sigmund Sloth: Squeak!!
[2016/02/21 14:49:01] Fauve Aeon: thank you, sir, that was delightful
[2016/02/21 14:49:11] Lady Starbrook-Yosuke: very interesting
[2016/02/21 14:49:17] ??? :: Minako: Simply wonderful!
[2016/02/21 14:49:18] Wulfriðe Blitzen applauds!
[2016/02/21 14:49:21] Nika Thought-werk nods.
[2016/02/21 14:49:31] Podruly Peccable: I'm gratified you enjoyed it, I hope it was not too dry
[2016/02/21 14:49:37] Shawn Keats: I lot to take in but delightful
[2016/02/21 14:49:42] Jade: no it was wonderful!
[2016/02/21 14:49:55] Sera Puchkina: It was most interesting!
[2016/02/21 14:50:00] Fauve Aeon: not dry at all, the perfect balance between scholarly and intereating to a lay person (me)
[2016/02/21 14:50:04] Wulfriðe Blitzen: Thank you, very much so
[2016/02/21 14:50:19] Lady Starbrook-Yosuke: I have a question
[2016/02/21 14:50:43] Podruly Peccable: Yes, Lady Starbrook?
[2016/02/21 14:50:53] Lady Starbrook-Yosuke: Would the knights normally expect to marry, or would they spend their lives in service to the lord?
[2016/02/21 14:52:38] Podruly Peccable: Well, they would hope to marry, but that would mean finding favour with their lord and being granted a fief. Many landless knights existed, Knights Errant who traveled from war to war and touranment to tournament, hoping to strike it rich enough to settle down
[2016/02/21 14:53:04] Thompson Birdsong: Thank you so much for that insightful story of love and knights.
[2016/02/21 14:53:16] ??? :: Minako: May I make a recommendation to all gathered?
[2016/02/21 14:53:22] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Bitte.
[2016/02/21 14:53:26] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Let us hear it.
[2016/02/21 14:53:26] Podruly Peccable: It is possible that eleanor, for example, deliberately used fin'amor to attract the brightest and best to her court
[2016/02/21 14:53:27] Lady Sumoku: I suddenly have the Moody Blues stuck in my head.
[2016/02/21 14:53:37] Podruly Peccable laughs
[2016/02/21 14:53:50] Nika Thought-werk frowns and sighs "So sad to need to strike riches to have love."
[2016/02/21 14:54:05] ??? :: Minako: If you are interested in still more courtly love songs, I highly recommend Sting's album "Songs from the Labyrinth." It's full of songs and letters by Sir Edward Dwyer. They're all played very simply with one or two lutes or guitars.
[2016/02/21 14:54:16] Thompson Birdsong: Minako? What is your suggestion?
[2016/02/21 14:54:26] Podruly Peccable: I have to confess, as a young child I did think that was "Knights in White Satin"
[2016/02/21 14:54:38] Thompson Birdsong: Ahh
[2016/02/21 14:54:45] Lady Sumoku: I refuse to think anything else.
[2016/02/21 14:54:59] ??? :: Minako: Excuse me, Dyer.
[2016/02/21 14:55:02] Thompson Birdsong: I was going to suggest make a notecard of the discussion. tale..
[2016/02/21 14:55:03] Nika Thought-werk smiles.
[2016/02/21 14:55:17] Podruly Peccable: I will look for that, Lady Minako
[2016/02/21 14:55:18] ??? :: Minako: October 1543 – May 1607, so just a lovely time for writing these songs.
[2016/02/21 14:55:42] Podruly Peccable: It sounds lovely
[2016/02/21 14:55:45] Lady Starbrook-Yosuke: yes, thank you for the poetry
[2016/02/21 14:55:47] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: We will have both edited and unedited transcripts at http://aethersalon.blogspot.com within a day or two.
[2016/02/21 14:56:17] Nika Thought-werk rises from her seat and curtsies.
[2016/02/21 14:56:37] San Diavolo: That was enlightening, thanks
[2016/02/21 14:56:39] Podruly Peccable bows
[2016/02/21 14:56:39] Wulfriðe Blitzen: The photos will be edited and go up tonight in the photo group *smiles*
[2016/02/21 14:56:44] San Diavolo: and woof
[2016/02/21 14:56:50] Sigmund Sloth: Squeak
[2016/02/21 14:56:55] OldeSoul Eldemar bows: Thank you Sir Pod
[2016/02/21 14:57:00] Nika Thought-werk whispers before she leaves "Grand talk. Fresh oats for the horse, please, sir?"
[2016/02/21 14:57:06] AlasAndAlack: Fascinating talk. Thank you.
[2016/02/21 14:57:13] Ashiko Kuroe: A pleasure listening to you.
[2016/02/21 14:57:24] ??? :: Minako: I truly enjoyed it!
[2016/02/21 14:57:28] Callidus Waydelich: Thank you for this informative time, Mr. Peccable. I must return to various tasks now.
[2016/02/21 14:57:43] Sera Puchkina: Most enjoyable
[2016/02/21 14:58:16] Podruly Peccable: Goodevening to you all
[2016/02/21 14:58:26] Fauve Aeon: A pleasure to see you again, sir and a most enjoyable salon, thank you!
[2016/02/21 14:58:29] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Danke for your attendance, and gute Nacht, those leaving.
[2016/02/21 14:58:40] Podruly Peccable: Thank you for coming
[2016/02/21 14:58:51] Fauve Aeon: Lovely to see everyone and I must be off to finish photographing some things for the deadline today :)
[2016/02/21 14:58:58] ??? :: Minako waves
[2016/02/21 14:59:09] Lady Sumoku waves
[2016/02/21 14:59:41] Wildstar Beaumont: good night all .... great talk Sir Pod !
[2016/02/21 14:59:51] Wulfriðe Blitzen: Thank you for an excellent talk!
[2016/02/21 15:00:30] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Very well done.
[2016/02/21 15:01:12] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: I am picking up the tipjar, for any last-moment donations.
[2016/02/21 15:01:24] ??? :: Minako: Thank you for the lovely salon. I must be off. Good to see you all!
[2016/02/21 15:01:32] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Danke, Fraulein, gute Nacht.
[2016/02/21 15:01:38] Wulfriðe Blitzen waves
[2016/02/21 15:02:15] Podruly Peccable: Of course, this should go to the salon
[2016/02/21 15:02:34] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: As you wish, sir. The Salon would appreciate it greatly.
[2016/02/21 15:02:48] Podruly Peccable: It is a splendid institution
[2016/02/21 15:02:56] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: Vielen dank.
[2016/02/21 15:03:03] Wulfriðe Blitzen applauds Herr Peccable's Chivalry
[2016/02/21 15:03:15] Lady Sumoku: And his fancy hat.
[2016/02/21 15:03:33] Podruly Peccable: Well, I will take my leave... goodnight to you all *bows*

Raimbaut de Vaqueiras: Calenda maia (trubadúrének / Troubadour song, 12th c.)

Annwn: douce dame jolie machaut