LL-L "Anniversary" 2007.05.13 (01) [E]
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Sun May 13 20:09:03 UTC 2007
L O W L A N D S - L - 13 May 2007 - Volume 01
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From: Pat Reynolds <pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Anniversary" 2007.05.12 (01) [E]
In message
<57c981290705121436i2908ea24g2b40c75f08d49eee at mail.gmail.com >,
Lowlands-L List <lowlands.list at gmail.com> i.e Reinhrd/Ron writes
>
>Pat, the other day you mentioned a project idea in an email message to
>me. I thought then that was a really great one, but to my shame I've
>forgotten what it was
Oh, I had sent you a photograph I took on one of my favourite journeys:
by train from Norwich to Berney Arms (Norfolk, UK), and the idea came up
that the website might include a 'journeys' section.
Cheers,
Pat
(I'm very phenomenological, me).
-----------
From: Pat Reynolds <pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Anniversary" 2007.05.12 (03) [E]
Dear Marcel and Ron/Reinhard,
New York (State) is indeed a great place to meet (well, I don't like New
York City that much, but I'm not a "city" person). One of the great
railway journeys of the World is from New York City to Albany. And it
is the home of some great museums, including the New Paltz historic
houses, and some great projects, including the New Netherlands Project
....
I don't think that there will be - or should be - a 'one size fits all'
way of meeting up: large or small meetings, in formal groupings (e.g.
reading papers in a seminar) or informal groupings (visiting a
coffee-house for half hour or so after work), regular meetings or
one-offs occassioned by a visit or an externally organized event ....
Cheers,
Pat
--
Pat Reynolds
It may look messy now ...
... but just you come back in 500 years time (T. Pratchett).
----------
From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Anniversary
Hi, "guys"!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas.
As far as I am concerned, this discussion is merely at the very early stage
of brainstorming, possibly at the pie-in-the-sky stage. Nevertheless, I
think it's worth our while to bounce around a few ideas and to see if we can
hit pay dirt and if there's any perceived desire and feasibility to mine the
minerals.
The very basic questions each one needs to answer for his- or herself seem
to be:
- How important is the group to me?
- How important are these contacts to me, and do I want to maintain
them?
- Do I care enough at least about some of these "disembodied entities"
that I am ready to meet them and forthwith see them as real flesh-and-blood
persons?
- What else would an in-person convention achieve that long-distance
interactions cannot achieve?
As for venues, Marcel's reasoning seems good to me. It would not have to be
(all) in New York City but could be in a less urban and less expensive
environment nearby, perhaps in the Catskill Mountains or so. By the way,
there are Midwestern places with Dutch and Low Saxon heritage, such as Core
Camp, Missouri, with its tradition of US-North German Low Saxon activities
and meetings. But this would not lend itself to brief conferences, for
instance over a long weekend, since it would involve too much traveling.
As far as travel and accommodation costs are concerned, Marcel's plan would
be good for most people on and near the Atlantic Coast (while Europe is far
too expensive for most people). At a disadvantage would be people in Asia,
Australia and New Zealand. From their perspectives, the North American
Pacific Coast would be middle ground. Furthermore, in this area the United
States would be least feasible for two reasons: (1) They are the most
expensive of the three countries, and (2) I know that many Muslims (of which
we have a good number as members) currently (and possibly in the future)
avoid visiting due to various reasons, most importantly because of fears
regarding entry procedures (and let's not go into whether or not such fears
are justified, since their existence is really all that matters). In this
case, then, the areas of, say, Vancouver (Canada), (British-twist) Victoria
(Canada), (Highlands) Banff (Canada), Guadalajara (Mexico) or Mexico City
seem more appropriate and all happen to be wonderful and interesting places
that are popular tourist destinations and thus have good transportation and
also group rate possibilities as far as transportation and accommodation are
concerned.
Further about the travel section idea ... This could be an on-line album
full of snippets of travel tips. It does not have to be about whole
countries, areas or towns but can as well be about specific places within
places, such as museums and such. For instance, in the Great Hamburg area I
can think of the Altona Museum (www.altonaermuseum.de), the Hamburg Museum
for Art and Trade (www.mkg-hamburg.de/), the Historical Museum of Hamburg (
www.hamburgmuseum.de/), the tiny but worthwhile Wilhemsburg Museum, and the
open-air museum at Kiekeberg (www.kiekeberg-museum.de/). All of these have
displays of everyday life in old-time, Low-Saxon-speaking cultures.
Furthermore, I would recommend a day tour each through the "Old Land" (Dat
Ole Land, Olland, Das Alte Land) and through Veerlannen (Vierlande), also a
day tour each to Hanseatic Lübeck (tinyurl.com/8fq3z) and Lunenburg (
Lüünborg, Lüneburg, tinyurl.com/lgql2) and Mölln (tinyurl.com/2fflat),
perhaps a day tour across the Heath with stops in a couple of particularly
well-preserved villages.
Again, I would favor not relying solely on LL-L members' contributions but
to invite the general public as well (and people love promoting their towns
and favorite travel destinations). People ought to be given the coice of
contributing anonymously. And again, I emphasize that this not be limited to
Europe. For instance, for Western Australia I would recommend, with mention
of historic sites, Fremantle (the state's first European settlement,
tinyurl.com/234w6d), Kalgoorlie (tinyurl.com/2hdfkp) and Coolgardie (
tinyurl.com/2a3osp), and for Jakarta, Indonesia, I would for instance point
out the historic colonial Batavia port settlement (locally simply known as
"Kota," i.e. "City" tinyurl.com/ytyl26). Heather could give us a few tips
about her stomping grounds with tips about historical aspects, as could
Gabriele about her Eastphalian region, Roland about Ostend, Utz about
Bremen, etc., etc.
By the way, such a project is likely to please many a local chamber of
commerce, and we might get some cooperation from them.
If we do go ahead with this, there is the question of what we should call
it. My first (perhaps somewhat "lame") ideas:
- Lowlands Guide
- Lowlands Tour Guide
- Lowlands Travel Guide
- Lowlands Travel Companion
- Lowlands Companion
- Lowlands Traveller (~ Traveler)
- Lowlands Sojourner
Or, perhaps most "sexy" and à propos:
- (The) Lowlands Trekker
So, this is my pick (from my own array) so far:
The Lowlands Trekker
A Lowlands-L Travel Companion
Any other ideas?
By the way, folks, I consider our Pat a shining example of what I like to
see happening. While she has been an ardent participant most of the time in
the past, it is now, after she took the plunge by contributing something to
the Gallery (lowlands-l.net/gallery/), that she seems less restrained and
more enthusiastic and is thus in effect more supportive. More of her
potential seems to have been unleashed upon us -- and that's a beautiful
thing. Yes, I do appreciate reasons for reservations out there, but I do
hope that these do not include lack of confidence and the assumption that
you are not "special" and have nothing "special" to contribute. Let me state
without any hesitation that all of you are special and have special things
to offer, at the very least interesting questions. And, no, you do not need
to be "learned" and "specialists," are not likely to "make fools of
yourselves." I and the rest of the team would help you feel and be safe,
and we'd be happy to help you in the areas of language and editing as well.
Thanks, folks!
Reinhard/Ron
----------
From: Paul Finlow-Bates <wolf_thunder51 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Anniversary" 2007.05.12 (01) [E]
From: Pat Reynolds <pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Anniversary" 2007.05.11 (01) [E]
On the idea of doing 'something more' than conversing on an email list,
or contributing to a website: I wonder how you / you all would feel
about irregularly and occassionally meeting? Perhaps at occassions
where it is probable that several members will be present anyway?
Cheers,
Pat
--
Pat Reynolds
It may look messy now ...
... but just you come back in 500 years time (T. Pratchett).
----------
From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Anniversary
Thanks a lot, Pat.
The idea has occurred to me, and years ago I proposed it, though there was
no reaction to it then. Perhaps things have changed -- namely possible
reservations and boundary considerations.
At the very least, I could imagine two more immediate possibilities:
1. Specialized groups: groups of Lowlanders sharing special interests
2. Regional groups : groups of Lowlanders within a certain geographic
region, possibly within fairly easy travel distance from each other, that
may choose to hold occasional in-person meetings
In either case, one might suggest that these groups elect a representative
each and share condensed versions of their common discoveries with the List,
possibly also contribute on-line summary presentations.
Specialized topics (other than specific language varieties) off the top of
my head on the basis of was has been transpiring so far:
- Etymology (word history) and onomastics (name history)
- Phonology
- Orthography
- Language planning and policies
- Language construction
- Language contacts
- Culture contacts
- History
- Folklore
- Music
- Literature
- Architecture
- Food and drink
- Promotion of lesser-known languages and cultures
And then there is the possibility of teams working on projects with a view
at publication.
Also, we do already have the technology, though not yet uniform access to it
-- and I'm thinking here about real-time online conferencing. I could see
us do that sometime in the future, although there may be issues of language
proficiency and time zones.
Pat, the other day you mentioned a project idea in an email message to me.
I thought then that was a really great one, but to my shame I've forgotten
what it was. Do you remember?
Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
•
I'd love to catch up wit some of you folks, but we're often on different
continents. I'm in Australia in late May to mid June, maybe I can catch
with somebody down there?
Paul Finlow-Bates
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