Bar-tailed Godwit: laissez-faire Harbin Hot Springs into a Lazy Fair online in virtual Harbin (kind of a hippy thang)? Explore "virtualizing" (to make "as if," I'll call this) history? I mean by this make history come alive - in your mind, for writing your books & papers, for your students, or even as you might have done in your teens with playing the board game Dungeons & Dragons (pre-digital D&D?), for example - by gamify-ing imaginary readings of versions of history, with a technical side - the structure of the game - and also with an historical re-enactment component?

Mon, Oct 16, 2017 at 9:12 AM

Dear Hugh et. al.,

Thanks for your email, and inspiration on your sabbatical in London and on your travels in England, Hugh. Very glad to hear you are doing very well. Are you visiting museums and sites specifically with the court of King John in mind (which is the focus of your next book, isn't it?), or more generally, with your academic and life focus on
the history of England? (http://www.as.miami.edu/history/people/faculty/hugh-thomas/)

(And when you travel for the study of history, to what degree do you explore "virtualizing" (to make "as if," I'll call this) history? I mean by this make history come alive - in your mind, for writing your books & papers, for your students, or even as you might have done in your teens with playing the board game Dungeons & Dragons (pre-digital D&D?), for example - by gamify-ing imaginary readings of versions of history, with a technical side - the structure of the game - and also with an historical re-enactment component? ... And to what degree could this emerge further in a realistic virtual England with interactivity, and avatar bots for realism and imaginary historical play, I'm asking myself further:).

(I'm curious too, since London may have one of the highest concentrations of trained historians in the world, how one could engage this community / culture at large? And I ask this from kind of an anthropological perspective as well. For example, for four or five years, I attended many many mind-expanding talks in the Stanford Anthropology department, but there would be many approaches to engaging the Anthropological community otherwise in the SF Bay Area).

Your visit with you, J, sounds great as well - as does your walk through the Cotswolds, Hugh. Did you go anywhere near - https://www.contours.co.uk/walking-holidays/maps/cotswold-way-map.gif ?

Thanks for sharing your news with all of us.

Scott


*

 Oct 16, 2017 at 12:50 AM

Dear Scott et. al., 

To respond to the query about my time in London, I'm doing very well. I'm being reasonably productive and seeing lots of museums and sites. As half the people on this chain will know, my mom came to visit and we had a nice time. Last week I did a four day, fifty mile walk through the Cotswolds. I was going from inn to inn and having my luggage transferred, so it wasn't anything to strenuous, though I still managed to get blisters. However, the Cotswolds are beautiful, as advertised, and I had a great time. I'm not posting anything on my work--it tends to come out in talks (one of which I'll be giving on Thursday), scholarly articles, and books.

Hugh

*

With regard to this laissez-faire call to Scottish Country Dancing together in late December 2017 in Pittsburgh, I was reminded of the words ...

... Lazy Fair ...

Do any of you recall such happenings in the 1960s or 1970s ? :) ... put on be ye olde friendly hippies and none-such?

While Harbin Hot Springs is fairly laissez-faire, which I touch on in my 1st Harbin book ...  ~ http://bit.ly/HarbinBook and https://twitter.com/HarbinBook (virtual Harbin in Google Streetview accessible from here) ~ ... and the effects of warm water might seem conducive to such in another way, it might be fun even to put on a "lazy fair" there ... or online, for example ... with booths for this, etc. :)

*

I'm curious further re how best and how soon a

laissez-faire Harbin could become even a "Lazy Fair" online in realistic virtual earth (kind of a hippy thang) or both in-world and on-the-ground at Stanford for example ... ? :) We might have to further generate this ... and creatively! Now how would this work?

Re this laissez faire call to a Scottish Country Dance together on a
Monday or Saturday in late December 2017 in Pittsburgh, if it happens
to be happening then, and if we're all in town at the time, and if we
have our ghillies with us as well -
http://www.pittsburghscottishcountrydance.org/Calendar.html - at Grace
Episcopal Church, 319 West Sycamore Street, Pittsburgh, PA on Mt.
Washington. ...

I'd think to all head to a Scottish Country Dance in Pittsburgh together at Grace Episcopal Church, 15211, on Mt. Washington in late December, we'd have to be there for Sat., Dec 16, or Mon. Dec 18th, since the 23rd is a Sat. Probably easier virtually ...

Cheers,
Scott

*

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar-tailed_godwit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwit

...