MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2498 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Re: cats vs dogs vs kitt vs book publishers by Elizabeth Hoffman 2) Blonde Southerners by Sara Peek 3) Re: cats vs dogs vs kitt vs book publishers by Kenneth Allen Hyde 4) Re: Blonde Southerners by Eeyore9051-+AT+-aol.com 5) Re: Elves And Heralds... by "Rebecca McAllister" 6) Re: Blonde Southerners by Lish Monahan ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 20:22:03 +0000 (GMT Standard Time) From: Elizabeth Hoffman To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: cats vs dogs vs kitt vs book publishers Message-ID: Bobbin said> Thought I'd chip in here... my cat too chased a german > shepherd, and it was no wimpy german shepherd. Bobbin, thanks for the backup on this, I wouldn't have beleived it if I hadn't seen her terrorise other large dogs. > > As for a cat chasing a German Shephard, > > that was a wimpy GP because I have three GP dogs and > > they are awesome. An outstanding breed. And as for > > the comment on K.I.T.T.(I can't remember who said > > this) but I have seen the show. I would love to have > > that car. That would rule. ;-) Erin I know where you're coming from and maybe this brings me to you only know how deadly a species is when you see the female protect her young, that GP was starving and I hope the owners that just dumped it got prosecuted. I'd back a GP protecting puppies against against a cat any day though. And you can add my vote for having wanted a K.I.T.T. of my own. On an entirely different note does anyone know when Misty's web page will be up and running? And on a books in general note is the following normal publishing practice? Katharine Kerr's Deverry series, its about 10 books long, 2 to go and, despite the first 10 books still selling reasonably well and that those are staying in print, they've decided not to publish the last 2 books. This kind of puzzles me, I thought that if the earlier books in a series were still selling profitably then the rest of the series would be published. And now what I want to know is what authors are available more easily outside their country of origin than inside it? Katharine Kerr is an obvious one, apparently at least one if not all of her scifi nonfantasy books are available in the UK not the US. So what great British authors am I missing? ObMisty, how come the blondes (sp?) in Misty's books are all from the Southern areas, whilst way up North they're all brown haired, it doesn't make much evolutionary sense (OK I'm a geneticist these things bug me and I was very bored in the seminar this lunchtime). ---------------------- Liz Hoffman E.G.Hoffman-+AT+-soton.ac.uk ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 14:29:28 -0800 (PST) From: Sara Peek To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Blonde Southerners Message-ID: <20010115222928.14651.qmail-+AT+-web4605.mail.yahoo.com> > ObMisty, how come the blondes (sp?) in Misty's books > are > all from the Southern areas, whilst way up North > they're > all brown haired, it doesn't make much evolutionary > sense > (OK I'm a geneticist these things bug me and I was > very > bored in the seminar this lunchtime). If you are referring to Kero & Kethry (I'm sure there are more, but they spring to mind), I would say because Keth was of a noble house. Powerful men marry exotic, beautiful (blonde) women, and the genes turn up. And they *were* related. I think Misty also referred to brown-haired, brown-eyed peasant stock being common in the south. (Or everywhere?) I know that doesn't come near to covering the topic, but my $0.02 was burning a hole in my pocket. Kudos to those who raise questions of any sort, Sara, Crazy Freshman You have not even to risk the adventure alone, For the heroes of all time have gone before you. ~Joseph Campbell __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 19:00:13 -0500 (EST) From: Kenneth Allen Hyde To: Misty Lackey List Subject: Re: cats vs dogs vs kitt vs book publishers Message-ID: On Mon, 15 Jan 2001, Elizabeth Hoffman wrote: > Bobbin, thanks for the backup on this, I wouldn't have beleived it if > I hadn't seen her terrorise other large dogs. [snip] Erin I know > where you're coming from and maybe this brings me to you only know how > deadly a species is when you see the female protect her young Just to come in on this, most biologists who get involved in comparing predators acknowledge that cats are, pound for pound, the most lethal land predators (excepting venomous snakes, of course). In fact, I've seen a number of biologists make the claim, with some strong evidence, that cats are very close to ideal predators. Cats will attack animals much larger than themselves (Elizabeth Marshall Thomas reports cases of a single domestic cat attacking a white-tailed deer). Dogs, however loveable many people may find them, just are not as efficient and lethal predators as cats--perhaps that's why they are more loveable? If you are interested in more info on cats, one of the most fascinating books on the topic is "Tribe of Tiger" by the above-mentioned Thomas. She dedicates an entire chapter to the evolutionary biology of the cat and how it has become something close to a "perfect" killing machine. Given this, I think that a cat (say a medium-sized cat about the size of a cerval or a bobcat) might be a good form for a Companion spirit in our world. Small enough to get around and not intimidate anyone, large enough to kill most humans if it truly needed to. (Oh, and yes, bobcats are quite dangerous to humans. That's why hunters in bobcat territory take pepper spray with them--to drive off an attacking cat if it becomes necessary.) > ObMisty, how come the blondes (sp?) in Misty's books are all from the > Southern areas, whilst way up North they're all brown haired, it > doesn't make much evolutionary sense (OK I'm a geneticist these things > bug me and I was very bored in the seminar this lunchtime). Actually, if you think about it, dark hair is not a particularly useful adaption to hot areas: it absorbs heat, rather than reflecting it. If you were assuming that climate determine coloring, you would expect polar latitudes to produce more absorptive coloring and equatorial latitudes to produce more reflective coloring (not talking about skin coloring, of course, which is much more complicated). Actually, is there any evidence that humans adapt to their environment on a genetic physiological level? The only study that I've ever read on it ("Boreal Forest Adaptations of the Algonkin Indians") concluded that there was no evidence for this sort of adaptation, at least in the population they were studying. It's an attractive theory, but it may not work out empirically. May the seas be your solace and the forests a refuge for your spirit, Cennydd Councilor of Mist Kenneth Allen Hyde | No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife Univ. of Delaware | between the shoulder blades will seriously Dept. of Linguistics | cramp his style -- Old Jhereg proverb kenny-+AT+-Udel.Edu | A mind is a terrible toy to waste! -- Me //www.ling.udel.edu/hyde/prof/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 21:39:39 EST From: Eeyore9051-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Blonde Southerners Message-ID: <18.77a6522.27950e6b-+AT+-aol.com> I always thought that the lack of blonds had to deal with race. Like most African Americans have dark hair as do most Native Americans. The southerners in Misty's books always reminded me of those two races. So thinking like that it would make sense that Kethry and Kero were rare. Just my opinion Amanda ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 14:51:14 From: "Rebecca McAllister" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Elves And Heralds... Message-ID:

Heyla everyone,

>As to whether I would rather meet
>the Heralds or Elves, I would go Heralds all the way.
 
I definately agree. I think that meeting a Herald be just rock. I would LLLLOOOOOOVVVVVEEEEE to meet a Companion. That would be really cool.
 
 
I feel really bad writing such a whimpy message, but I forgot what else I was going to say.
 
Apologetic Sheep to everyone out there in the great worl of Misty,
 
Becca, with no special title

Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 13:28:54 -0500 (EST) From: Lish Monahan To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Blonde Southerners Message-ID: Well, here's a thought... Misty seems to have based a few things (for example styles of dress and names) on late rennasisance/enlightenment Russia. Russians do tend toward the swarthy and dark haired, though there are blonds and redheads in the mix. As for Kethry and Kero being blond... I never thought they made that much of a deal of the blond hair being rare -except- when they were in the south. The south is where most of the Sword and Sorceress stories took place, and they were always commenting on her blond hair. So maybe her hair is unusual everyplace, which makes sense. If it weren't for bottle blonds in the modern day, platinum blond hair is rare just about everyplace except northern Europe. Lish "More energy than reality can cope with" -- Every Raver "Theatre is life Film is art Television is furniture." __ | ~> emonahan-+AT+-brynmawr.edu _/|{}|\_ Cell and Voice Mail (860)961-0995 |__| Home (610)526-5831 k k On Mon, 15 Jan 2001, Sara Peek wrote: > > ObMisty, how come the blondes (sp?) in Misty's books > > are > > all from the Southern areas, whilst way up North > > they're > > all brown haired, it doesn't make much evolutionary > > sense > > (OK I'm a geneticist these things bug me and I was > > very > > bored in the seminar this lunchtime). > > If you are referring to Kero & Kethry (I'm sure there > are more, but they spring to mind), I would say > because Keth was of a noble house. Powerful men marry > exotic, beautiful (blonde) women, and the genes turn > up. And they *were* related. I think Misty also > referred to brown-haired, brown-eyed peasant stock > being common in the south. (Or everywhere?) I know > that doesn't come near to covering the topic, but my > $0.02 was burning a hole in my pocket. > > Kudos to those who raise questions of any sort, > Sara, > Crazy Freshman > > You have not even to risk the adventure alone, > For the heroes of all time have gone before you. > ~Joseph Campbell > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. > http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ > ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2498 **********************************