Happy Bloomsday!

Bob has managed to get quite a few of us to dig back into James Joyce, and tackle some of his more daunting works, and many of us have reaped rich rewards. Bobby did some illustrations, and other Joyce stuff you can find using the Imperfect Index.

Of course, as a scurrilous old man, RAW has pointed out that Bloomsday (in which all the action of the vast novel Ulysses happens) actually commemorates Nora Barnacle giving Joyce a hand job in an alley (pretty forward for a
young Catholic woman of the time) which imprinted him on her for life, but also left him anxious (she seemed awfully good, you might say 'practiced' at it!) and often jealous. So rather than trudge around the route of the characters in Dublin, you could just as easily celebrate by giving or receiving a handjob. Why not?

What a great timebomb joke from Joyce, as the true significance of the day did not emerge until people got access to his journals - long after 'the literary experts' had knocked themselves out to analyse every detail, and guess at meanings!


..............Scene...........Time...Colour...Organ............Art...Technic.....Symbol

01 TELEMACHUS Tower 08 GDWH --- theology narrative-young heir
02 NESTOR School 09 BNCH --- history catechism-personal horse
03 PROTEUS Strand 10 BLGN --- philology monolog-male tide

04 CALYPSO House 08 OR kidney mythol/econ narrative-mature nymph
05 LOTUS-EATR Bath 09 BN skin chem/botany narcissism eucharist
06 HADES Graveyard 11 BKWH heart religion incubism caretaker
07 EOLUS Newspaper 12 RD lungs rhetoric enthymemic editor
08 LESTRYGONI Lunch 13 BD esoph architect peristalsis constables
09 SCYLLA&CHR Library 14 -- brain literature dialectic Stratford/London
10 WANDERINGR Streets 15 RB blood mechanics labyrinth citizens
11 SIRENS Concertrm.16 CL ear music fuga per canonem barmaids
12 CYCLOPS Tavern 17 GN muscle surgery/pol gigantism fenian
13 NAUSIKAA Rocks 20 GYBL eye/ns painting de/tumescence virgin
14 OXENofSUN Hospital 22 WH womb medicine embryonic develpm. mothers
15 CIRCE Brothel 23 VI leg/skl dance hallucination whore


16 EUMEUS Shelter 00 nerves navigation narrative-old sailors
17 ITHACA House 01 STMK skeltn science catechism-impers. comets
18 PENELOPE Bed zz STMK fat ---- monolog-female earth

*Colours: GolD WHite BrowN CHestnut BLue GreeN ORange BlacK ReD
BlooD RainBow CoraL GreY VIolet STarry MilKy (no yellow!?)