MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2499 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Re: cats vs dogs vs kitt vs book publishers by Timedancer0624-+AT+-gateway.net 2) Companions / IRC chat by "Peter Allen" 3) Re: digest a bit delayed and hair colour by Liz Hoffman 4) Re: digest a bit delayed and hair colour by Melanie Dymond Harper 5) Re: Blonde Southerners by B10nd31-+AT+-aol.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 18:05:05 EST From: Timedancer0624-+AT+-gateway.net To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: cats vs dogs vs kitt vs book publishers Message-ID: Why is so necessary for a companion to be an effective killing machine? I never got the impression from ANY of the Valdemar novels that the purpose of a companion was a weapon. More as a..........COMPANION! Yes, they protect their chosen when needed. But I think that is more a secondary function. The primary function seemed to me to be a true friend til death do us part. They never gave direction only advice and that was only when asked. If a companion was a weapon why the emphasis on self defense? Why did Talia need knife training? Why did Vanyel learn the sword-or for that matter magic-if his companion could (or WOULD) take care of him and defend him at all times? Now this is not to say companions would let their chosen be slaughtered. Not at all. But it was stressed many times that a companion would never take over the life of their chosen. Heralds were expected to take care of themselves! After all, who expects a horse to be a means of protection? Or a cat for that matter. Doreen Glynn Live long and may the force be with you ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 20:46:08 -0500 From: "Peter Allen" To: Subject: Companions / IRC chat Message-ID: <001101c08028$dda37c60$c56dfea9-+AT+-allenmindspring.com> Doreen wrote: > After all, who expects a horse to be a means of protection? Or a cat for > that matter. Well, that would depend on the society that you live in, and how you were raised. Many would be able to tell you the dangers of simply taking care of horses, let alone training and/or riding them. While I understand what you mean to some degree, and do agree with it, this also needs to be pointed out, imo. Valdemarians, in the time of both Vanyel and currently, were still at war with differing elements in their own world. Any help that was offerred, be it through a sword or a guardian spirit, was greatly needed and appreciated. A Herald's training allowed for them to not have to depend on their Companion that much - but still very much know what that Companion was able to do. --- If any of you are interested in actually chatting with the members of the Misty List online instead of via e-mail, there is already a forum that has been in the works for over three years now. By downloading the program known as mIRC (available at www.mirc.com ), you might be able to join us and see what's going on :). In order to reach us, you'll need to connect to any EFnet server, preferrably irc.prison.net . Then, join the room #valdemar . You never know who you might run into :). If anyone has any questions regarding this (trust me, I did when I started), then feel free to e-mail me privately. I'll be able to explain anything that you don't understand, and can help guide you towards chatting to your heart's content *smile*. Bright be thy day in the sun and shadow, Wintershard Councilor of Mist Demon of Crappy Weather Keeper of Bot Lore and Lugnuts ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 09:02:30 +0000 (GMT Standard Time) From: Liz Hoffman To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: digest a bit delayed and hair colour Message-ID: How come the digest was so late, I got the email I sent on monday back as part of a digest that didn't come through till nearly 25 hours later, normally much quicker. To answer the question below, double checked just quickly on hair colour on pubmed and it looks like pigment levels in hair reflect skin pigment and or UV protection. So it looks like hair was originally dark (brown/ black) and African populations don't have the paler hair colour because they're asking for skin cancer. Come futher north and the UV levels go down get more people with paler hair colour. > 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. > Cennydd And also yes, think of most widespread human genetic diseases and being a carrier for most of them is a major advantage in the areas they originally became widespread in. Think sickle cell anaemia, thalasemia (malaria protection); cystic fibrosis (? controls diarrhea[sp] so survive eg cholera better). Alcohol metabolism varies genetically and gene spread follows cultural lines, water boilers vs alcohol sterilisers. Anyone wants to know more conact me directly as I don't think most people will want to read too much more on this. Liz Hoffman E.G.Hoffman-+AT+-soton.ac.uk ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 11:08:10 GMT From: Melanie Dymond Harper To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: digest a bit delayed and hair colour Message-ID: <200101171108.LAA14836-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk> > How come the digest was so late, I got the email I sent on > monday back as part of a digest that didn't come through > till nearly 25 hours later, normally much quicker. > Digests are processed either when there is enough material (1000 lines) to send out a new digest, or at the next processing point after 24 hours have passed since the last digest. So the chances are good that your mail just missed a digest compilation on Monday and then went out in the next one. Mel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 09:45:49 EST From: B10nd31-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Blonde Southerners Message-ID: <63.1084d9de.27970a1d-+AT+-aol.com> In a message dated 16/01/01 19:11:54 GMT Standard Time, emonahan-+AT+-brynmawr.edu writes: << 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 >> As for blonde people down south, we don't know how much migration of people, there was before the mage wars and all those survivors of both sides especially Marar's (who were northern barbarians) who settled the general area after the mage wars. Shas ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2499 **********************************