Kaufmann

[lynn cates]

finis

Hello All. And done.

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

Okhrana files

Hello All. Ms. Carol Leadenhall of the Hoover Institute, Stanford University, informs me that the Okhrana files for the relevant period are archived there. I am also informed that Stanford students, fluent in Russian and Cyrillic script, are available for research into the files.

When the files were first available to the public, the American CIA were the first to get a look and sorted them according to Okhrana's contacts with both the French Surete and Scotland Yard.

Obviously, I plan to take advantage of this opportunity to research the files.

Wish me luck.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Hello Lynn,
This is very good news! How are you going to procede about this? Are you going to ask students at Stanford to go through the letters, or are you planning a visit to Palo Alto after all? The best of luck, at any rate!
By the by, has Morris Levy or have his contacts emailed you back by now? If not, I'll give him a call on Monday evening.

[lynn cates]

plan

Hello Maria. I plan to hire a student to look through the letters. There are a total of 509 reels of micro film.

Yes, Professor Levy has had an associate contact me. She has page 2 of Der Arbeter Fraint. She is to translate soon.

Also, I have tentative approval for a small building where some filming can be done about Berner st. That means I have the fun of murdering my wife--repeatedly, perhaps. (Snicker!)

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Hello, Lynn.
This is SO great, I'm so happy for you! 509 rolls of microfilm slightly exceed the 18 rolls I've been working with at the Paris Opéra, but then again, it's a bit quicker to read text than to read orchestral parts. The problem is obviously the Russian text. This student you'll hire, will he/she be a Stanford local and fluent in Russian? If he's a quick one, it can totally be done in just 1 semester (if he does 5 microfilms per day, 5 days a week). Plus, lots of the materials won't be from the appropriate years, with no need to be gone through. Of course, if he finds lots of relevant info requiring to be translated, it might need an entire year, or even longer.

Nice that Morris Levi's friend is going to do page 2 of Der Arbeter Fraint. Morris is not a Professor, he's a librarian in his mid 40s.

Lots of fun to you and your wife with the multiple reconstructions of the Stride murder. Will you go as far as to ask her to wear a scarf and to hold a small package of cachous in her hand? This kinda reminds me of the movie Crash by David Cronenberg. It also reminds me it would be a very bad idea for someone to cast me as Stride in such a reconstruction scenario, as there have been several incidents of people (usually fellow freestyle snowboarders, including an ex boyfriend) having ended up with blood on their face due to accidental butt-heading, triggered unvolontarily as a reflex (at least that's my official explanation)...

[Errata]

I don't think headbutting exes requires explanation. It seems to me rather self evident.

[mariab]

Oh no, it was nothing like this! We were still totally together when the headbutting happened, and it's related to a long tradition among freestyle snowboarders (and soccer players, and rugby players). It was totally meant in a playfull way, but for some reason this guy kept triggering some pretty aggressive tendencies in me, but at a junior high level, as he kept teasing me all the time, and I kept responding with physical aggression. He was a biggish guy too, a Joachim Phoenix look-alike (when Joachim Phoenix looks at his chubbiest), and he's the reason I never went to see the movie where Joachim Phoenix plays Johnny Cash, because we broke up just when that movie opened in Berlin.
With many apologies to have mentioned this here, as it would have been more fit for the pub section.

[lynn cates]

varia

Hello Maria!

"This student you'll hire, will he/she be a Stanford local and fluent in Russian?"

Yes, indeed. He is listed as fluent.

"If he's a quick one, it can totally be done in just 1 semester (if he does 5 microfilms per day, 5 days a week)."

Well, right now I would like to examine only the last half of 1888. That's when Rachkovsky opened a branch office in London and recruited agents to work for him.

"Plus, lots of the materials won't be from the appropriate years, with no need to be gone through. Of course, if he finds lots of relevant info requiring to be translated, it might need an entire year, or even longer."

True. But that's for another day.

"Nice that Morris Levi's friend is going to do page 2 of Der Arbeter Fraint."

Yes, quite.

"Lots of fun to you and your wife with the multiple reconstructions of the Stride murder. Will you go as far as to ask her to wear a scarf and to hold a small package of cachous in her hand?"

Yes, without these, there would be no standard against which to measure the reconstruction. Remember, the cachous must NOT be spilled, she must come to rest on her left side, the scarf must be pulled tight--knot to the left, and there can be no spurting of arterial blood--so the head must be properly aligned. Hopefully, she'll wear her taffeta dress.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Hello, Lynn.
I'm glad about the Stanford developments, and curious about the results. To examine only the last half of 1888 for a start (and as next, perhaps the 1889-1991 years?) is the most practical, right to the point approach, I think.
I'm sure you and your wife will have much fun with your exertions. Her taffeta dress? Wow! You guys are total pervs! Just make sure that the dress does not get stained with blood or mud from too much enthusiasm!
I'm afraid there's no way whatsoever I would manage to participate in such an experiment (unless I played the part of the assailant), because I) I would never accept to wear a scarf, and II) I would never be able to “discipline“ myself to stay “passive“ if one attacked me from behind. At best, I would possibly accept to try to strangle myself with my surf leash, which is a beloved object, and I'm used to wearing it on my left foot...
When you say there can be no spurting of arterial blood, you probably mean spurting vs. floating? Because arterial blood would come out anyway, out of a throat in an attack with a sharp knife.

[lynn cates]

spurt

Hello Maria. Well, I refer to Dr. Phillips dictum that Liz was not cut whilst standing since there was no arterial spray/spurt on the ground. Instead, the blood was flowing onto the ground near the neck.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Hello Lynn,
yes, that's exactly what I thought that you meant, and I think that Dr. Phillips' dictum makes total sense.
Did I tell you that SPE's Letters from Hell and Scotland Yard investigates just turned up a couple days ago? I can't wait to read them, although I need to read Sugden and The ultimate first (whenever possible, as I'm quite a bit overwhelmed with 7 different impending applications, 2 in Germany and 5 in the States, the latter being a very uncertain possibility in the current situation with the economic crisis).

[lynn cates]

standing

Hello Maria. I agree that Liz was not bolt upright when her throat was cut. On the other hand, the dictum does not preclude her being cut while being rotated--as I hope to show.

Good luck with the applications.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Hello Lynn,
If Stride was cut while being rotated, I'd have expected her to have bled in quite a different direction. How are you expecting to prove your theory without cutting your wife?! (And please, don't ever think of this as a suggestion! I don't wish to be legally involved in any of this.)
Thank you so very much for your well wishing for the applications. Especially for the ones in the States, I'll need all the luck one can wish.
One of the post doc appointments I'm trying to apply for at Chicago (for a teaching fellowship in the humanities with interest in “cultural diversity“) includes (in addition to 2 courses) a proposal for the possibility of an “open course“ with the inclusion of young members of the community in the location of the South Side of Chicago. (If possible, also for youth of high school age.) I've proposed working with the UofC Community Service Center and with the Center for Urban School Improvement, and I'd attempt to engage African American opera singers in this, such as Lawrence Bronwley and others. The open course would concentrate in improving the education of young adults in the South Side neighborhood, to enhance the possibility of their later getting involved in a higher education in art and in the humanities, as I firmly believe that both the University and the community would benefit by a mutual exchange of ideas and resources/activities. If you'd believe it, my boss at the UofC is not interested AT ALL in actively getting involved in such a project ( despite his boasting of having spent time with the Chicago Weathermen in his very distant youth), so I've approached another Professor who's (supposedly) more socially active. But they might all consider my proposal too “leftish“ or too “Berkeleyish“! While the UofC campus is located in the very neighborhood of Obama, I mean, his former house (which they still visit infrequently) is just 2 blocks north of mine.
Wow! I just realised my complain kinda fits with this thread, if distantly, then at least politically!

[lynn cates]

flow

Hello Maria. The neck would be pointing directly towards the ground, as I hope the film will show.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Hello, Lynn.
Attempting it while standing up with the neck pointing to the ground seems too tricky. This is not as simple as butchering a small animal. I believe that Stride was cut while lying on the ground. Plus, the Ripper didn't have his wife to attempt several trials with, he only had one chance!
By the by, I was having lunch with some friends in the park today, and a tiny cat caught and ate a sparrow. Ouch!
I've just managed to fetch ink cartridges for my printer, which was not functional for days, and I've just engaged in a printing marathon, including my next plane ticket. Yikes.