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[Andre Jute]

Andre, this is serious bizness--first ostriches, now the Iditarod.  I mean, Plimpton pitching in the bigs for a few innings in an exhibition, or sparring vs The Old Mongoose (who I expect was pretty gentle, 'cos he saw the humour in it all) is one thing--but the Iditarod?!  Good on ya, mate!

J.

I shared a London publisher with Plimpton. I'll come back to this...

Back in the 80's, doing research for my novel IDITAROD a novel of The Greatest Race on Earth UK/Ireland edition or US edition or all formats/markets except paperback, the oil pipeline roustabouts acclimatizing me reckoned that, having survived three light plane crashes on the same day, I was turning into a real Alaskan, so they sent me out to do a half-Iditarod, 600 miles running behind a sled dog team. After this Mrs Rudd, appointed by the government to be my official host, said she would be happy to arrange for me to be put up to the Iditarod committee as an entrant. (The rules are that a "known musher" must put you forward; the organizers are terrified some starry-eyed naif will kill himself on their trail and get them closed down, like motor racing was closed down for good in Switzerland.) But when my publishers heard of this plan, the manure hit the spreader big time. (I should explain that they hated the idea of the book anyway. They saw me as a writer of "big book" bestsellers, and this one, in their eyes, was "a little niche adventure with zero sales potential". Today it is one of my most beloved books...) One of my editors said, "Yah, you'll come back like Plimpton after he was just lightly tapped in the head, and his brains were never in order afterwards. How will you write if your fingers fall off from frostbite?" That was the argument that persuaded my wife I shouldn't do it. In any event -- I should probably not admit this -- I hate being uncomfortable, and my life is very important to me, and I'm not brave at all unless I'm paid lots of money for a show of courage, so I was only floating the idea to see if anyone would sponsor me to the extent of a Bentley Turbo I wanted, and instead I got a deal for more than enough money but the contract stated I was not to do anything dangerous without written permission, or first giving the publisher's money back...

Still not too late. Jim Lanier, in 10th position at the halfway mark, is 73. I wonder what my cardiologist will say if I suddenly up and say I'm entering the Iditarod.

Join me at the Iditarod from the comfort and safety of your armchair by going to this page and bookmarking it: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/58499

Andre Jute
Commercially courageous

[Danneaux]

Still not too late. Jim Lanier, in 10th position at the halfway mark, is 73. I wonder what my cardiologist will say if I suddenly up and say I'm entering the Iditarod.

Or, Andre, you could do the Iditabike, which has been run since 1987, as described here: http://sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/iditabike.htm
...And is still being run:
http://www.iditabike.com/
http://halfpastdone.com/2013/02/20/a-brief-history-of-iditabike/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwGAia9NW_s

I see nothing to preclude you entering with the Kranich and its electrified front hub, and giving the rest of the field a run for their money. You've already got the Schwalbe Big Apples fitted and well run-in. I'm guessing a win here could be parlayed into more than a Bentley Turbo and pocket change; I'm betting on you and against the cardiologists -- Never count a good man out!

All the best,

Dan. (...who has faith and knows what he wants Andre to write about next)

[Andre Jute]

Dan, you're a card. I laughed when I saw your post. I can beat those guys in the video who did five miles in three hours. It's in the fourth hour that they'll get me back. LOL. -- Andre Jute

[moodymac]

Andre,!


I guess I will join you on the site.  Sounds like fun.  Even though you (or my ignorance) gave me a scare and has turned me into a lifetime drink server.

I told my wife that Lucretia Borgia was her man's drink server and I could see no reason for her not to be mine.  She looked at me for a few moments and left the room.  Returning in a bit with my favorite drink (Margaretta).  I took a few swallows expecting a tirade to ensue, however, she calmly told me that I should google Lucretia Borgia and left the room.

My goodness, she must have been the first female serial killer!  Of husbands no less!  With poison!

Needless to say:  I am now (and it looks like forever) the drink server in my house.

Tom    

[Andre Jute]

I told my wife that Lucretia Borgia was her man's drink server and I could see no reason for her not to be mine. 

Oops. I was not, repeat not, holding up Lucretia to any wives as an exemplar! Holy Moses, you'll have me brought before the magistrates for incitement. She was a serial husband-poisoner!

Mmm. Well, anyway not the wives of cyclists. I'll have to review the cases of some other people I know.

Your wife will approve of the Iditarod. I guarantee it. It is not only one of the most dangerous sports in the world, but women compete on absolutely level terms with men, and have won. A woman is currently, at about the halfway mark, running third. That's Aliy Zirkle. Another, who also has a second place to her credit, DeeDee Jonrowe, is seventh. Also watch out for Jessie Royer, a strong finisher, possibly a champion in the making. See you at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Iditarod-a-novel-of-The-Greatest-Race-on-Earth/193084334057961

Andre Jute
Alaska, where men are men, and women win the Iditarod

[Andre Jute]

That thousand yard stare belongs to Cowboy Smith, a sled dog musher. Joe May, 1980 Iditarod Champion, explains that railroad-strength headlamp:

"Flintstone stuff: Before serious marking of race trail evolved, the present standard of 10 or 12 lath per mile was closer to 1 lath per 10 or 12 miles..or in places, not at all. Pre-80's Koyuk to Topkak, for markers, was mostly bare as a baby's bottom. Moses Point, in the dark, in a ground blizzard, had the aura of moonscape...no markers, no trail, only wind, snow, and ice. In those conditions, potent headlamps were crucial. In the pre-LED era lighting was an innovators passion. This Rube Goldberg rig was powered by 4 lithium D, 3V batteries fed through a fat wire. The 12 volt power pack generated nearly enough heat to light cigarettes or cook dog food. It shot a bolt of blue light a quarter mile..and burned bulbs by the box. A comment once voiced at Farewell Station was; “did anybody else see that train coming up Post River last night”... J.M."

I have news for you, Joe. Lighting is still "an innovator's passion" in bicycles.

Joe's page is over here, http://www.facebook.com/joe.may.963
There are more reminiscences by Joe here
http://coolmainpress.com/iditarodjoemay.html
and my page for following the Iditarod, immensely exciting right now, is here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Iditarod-a-novel-of-The-Greatest-Race-on-Earth/193084334057961
Come join me.

Andre Jute

[John Saxby]

"There are strange things done in the Midnight Sun..."

Talk of your cold! Through the parka's fold
It stabbed like a driven nail.
If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze,
'Til sometimes you couldn't see.
It wasn't much fun, but the only one
To whimper was Sam McGee.

Time for a poem on the Iditarod, Andre? (Or has someone already done one?)


J.

[Andre Jute]

"There are strange things done in the Midnight Sun..."

Talk of your cold! Through the parka's fold
It stabbed like a driven nail.
If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze,
'Til sometimes you couldn't see.
It wasn't much fun, but the only one
To whimper was Sam McGee.

Time for a poem on the Iditarod, Andre? (Or has someone already done one?)

J.

Booklength prose poem to Alaska, exciting story too:

"If you are not in Alaska this week you would do yourself a favor by picking up a copy of André Jute's Iditarod: A Novel of the Greatest Race on Earth. This book is one of those rare occurrences where I read the book, thought about for a couple days and then read it again. The first time I read it, I read it for the story – I was just dying to see what happened. The second time I read it was for the sheer beauty and intensity of the writing." — Kathleen Valentine, novelist

You can read Kathleen's full review on her beautiful Parlez-Moi Blog or at Amazon.

Andre Jute
Been there, done that, got the stainless pins in my bones...

[John Saxby]

Heading for 3 weeks in Oz on Saturday, so this will be cool!  Will look forward to it.

J.

[Andre Jute]

Enjoy. It is not true that Australia home to 19 of the 20 most venomous animals on earth. Only 18 out of 20 are Austrailian. -- Andre Jute

[ians]

Heading for 3 weeks in Oz on Saturday, so this will be cool!  Will look forward to it.

J.

Ha - heading for 3 weeks in Oz on friday (Perth - to visit family).  Just downloaded Andre's book on to my kindle.  Look forward to reading about the cold as I sit looking out over the Indian Ocean.


ian

[Andre Jute]

Ha - heading for 3 weeks in Oz on friday (Perth - to visit family).  Just downloaded Andre's book on to my kindle.  Look forward to reading about the cold as I sit looking out over the Indian Ocean.

This is my publicity photograph. That hairstyle wasn't made by a hairdresser or Photoshop, it was carved by sweat. The photo was taken on the day in Singapore when IDITAROD a novel of The Greatest Race on Earth was germinated. In the interview at http://cookiesbookclub.blogspot.ie/2011/08/iditarod-novel-of-greatest-race-on.html I explain how by the exact reverse of your thought process, I came to write an "ice book". The relevant bit starts "On Boxing Day...."

Andre Jute

[Danneaux]

Hi All!

Aside from bicycle-related stuff...

Currently, I am engaged in scanning and cataloging some vintage Keystone View Company stereoscopic slides belonging to a friend. He unearthed them while administering his late father's estate, and shared them with me. In what was surely a moment of stark insanity, I offered to scan and post them to a website so they could be enjoyed more widely than if he simply disposed of them at a local charity store or sold them on eBay as planned.

What at first looked like a fairly simple task became more complex when it turned out all the cardboard slides were vertically warped from sitting in their case in a humid environment. It has taken over three months of effort, but I have managed to modify my scanner and processing software to correct the resulting "astigmatism" and am at last getting some good results. The slides are also moldy, so each one requires post-scanning cleanup and restoration. It requires about 20 minutes' work per card or more than 66 hours' for the lot now I've got the needed steps down to a known routine.

Most of the slides date from around World War I and include the stereo photos on the front and a typed description on the back, all on dark cardboard with low contrast. Copyright shouldn't be an issue; the Keystone Viewing Company (with offices in Portland, OR, among other places) was dissolved in 1972, with 30 tons of company records and negatives donated to the University of California, Riverside. The name continues onward only as a manufacturer of eye-training equipment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_View_Company

There is some real historic content in these slides and descriptions, and the views are fascinating. I can't imagine the technical challenges of capturing such clear shots in wartime and on active battlefields; the quality is outstanding. My goal is to post the photos to a website for public viewing, but that is a ways away and depends on scanning the remainder of the slides, which number over 200. At the moment, it looks nearly impossible with my other tasks, but I'm continuing to persevere.

I've posted a sample restored scan below.

Best,

Dan. (...who wishes somebody would give him a good shake before he volunteers for such projects)

[Andre Jute]

Wow, now that's history, Dan. The last time I saw that cannon, very likely called Big Bertha, with a throw of some 70 kilometers, was the copy used in the Guns of Navarone. Very likely the designers copied it from these slides you've selected... Bertha von Krupp und Bohlen, for whom the big gun was named, and her husband, who built it, make appearances in my novel THE ZAHAROFF COMMISSION. In one of the James Bond movies there was also such a big gun, but I think it was created through several filters, probably by way of the Guns of Navarone.

Andre Jute

[Danneaux]

Bertha von Krupp und Bohlen, for whom the big gun was named, and her husband, who built it, make appearances in my novel THE ZAHAROFF COMMISSION.

Railway-mounted big howitzers were under development by both sides ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_gun ), and early in WWI, the artillery-short French moved coastal defense guns inland on rail cars, making railway guns. I think this is one of those, possibly a 370-400mm example, as the base looks about right, though I can't see the barrel.

"Big Bertha" was applied popularly to a number of Krupp's Gamma-Geräts (Gamma-devices) -- huge guns capable of enormous range. One of their later rail designs was the Langer (longer) Max, a railcar-mounted battleship gun, capable of bombarding Paris with 94kg shells. The shells exited the bore so quickly as to tear away a bit of the lining each time; each subsequent round had to be sized larger to prevent cocking in the bore. After firing 65 rounds, the barrel was sent back to Kruppwerks and rebored to a larger caliber before being reissued with a new set of sequentially-sized shells. The forces involved were incredible, given the state of metallurgy in the early 1900s.

If the Zaharoff Commission is as vivid and gripping as your other novels, the Krupps and intrigue will live again today for each new reader!

All the best,

Dan.