Introduction By Lee Streiff "In 1937 James Streiff and Bob Parks created 'the Epic of the Martian Empire'; in 1942 Paul Carter added his vision of the Cosmic Vortex to it, and the Universe was never the same again..." Lee Streiff Once we lived in the world of the Martian Empire, but that now seems like a long time ago - it all began in those last remaining years before World War II changed our consciousnesses forever. It was an ephemeral, still time; a quiet space in which we could dream about the future without the burden of its consequences: ghastly war - genocide - the atomic bomb. It was in 1937... and my brother James was 13, and in the eighth grade at Robinson Junior High School in Wichita, Kansas. And in James's mind he was fashioning a cosmic empire filled with strange and wonderful creatures and races - in which a stalwart group of Exiles from the planet Mars were the chief actors and heroes. This Empire, the Martian Empire, eventually spread over most of the known Universe before it finally faded away in 1948'. During the eleven years it flourished however, the Martian Epic became very elaborate - covering some 15 billion years of Martian history - and Martian technology, manners and morals, art, music, religion, language and literature. And it generated a narrative Epic that encompassed many galaxies. Although a number of people became involved in this epic - Bob Parks, John Roth, Robert Frickel, Charles Goodrum, and Robert Arnold, among others - it was first and foremost the vision of James, who worked out and brought together the maps, timelines, the celestial spaces, the customs, and the characters that made up the Martian Empire in all its diverse grandeur. In early 1937 I was only four years old - and so it was that most of my childhood and youth were somehow surrounded or suffused with the images and tales of the Epic. However it was not until I reached the age of eleven that I became the brief inheritor of, and participant in the affairs of the Epic itself. It was during World War II in 1943. that I first took over the job of running the business of the Martian Empire while all of its members were away from Wichita, in the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Knowing that he would soon be drafted, James began grooming me for the task early in that year. He reported for active Military duty on June 3, 1943, and that changed the course of my daily life. I was now on my own, with a heavy responsibility, I published The Martian News Letter, the official journal of the group, using carbon paper - and a bit later a hectograph; published, The Order of Shultz, which circulated the business of the inner circle; reorganized The Files; answered correspondence among the far flung Martians scattered around the globe; and did research for a number of topics for James, using my contacts in the world of Science Fiction Fandom. When James returned from active service in February of 1946, my task had been completed, and in any case, my interests were largely turning in other directions. By 1947, in my sophomore year at East High School, I was even leaving Science Fiction itself behind and was now involved in art and literature. But then that is another story. In the Following seven Chapters, Lee Streiff describes in his "Guide to the Epic of the Martian Empire" of how the tales and creation of the Epic... all came about.

Imagine you could enter a world teeming with strange and wonderful characters and beings simply by taking a walk down your street and catching-The Streetcar to Andromeda. The Streetcar to Andromeda is a Science Fiction fantasy adventure that deals with imagination and the dreamer. It begins in late 1938. Jesse, Parker, and Emma, are three intelligent and imaginative friends of high school age with high hopes for the future, not realizing that in three short years WW11 will be upon them. Their fascination with pulp Sci-fi magazines leads them to re-invent themselves in an imaginary and humorous world of their own as Martian Exiles who were driven from their home planet eons ago by the malevolent Madman Roth. They end up crash landing here on Earth, in a vacant lot, near an old Victorian home, smack dab in the middle of Wichita, Kansas. From Jesse's imagination comes the story of their exploits and adventures through which a cosmic Empire is fashioned. The Exiles alternate world of The Martian Empire lays the 81st dimension, which in reality is a counterpart of a four- block area in their very own neighborhood. Thereby, simply taking a walk down the street could involve them thus in a journey through space, in which our heroes might encounter all sorts of fearful hazards. The conflict between Good and Evil that is happening in the real world of the 1940's is mirrored the Exiles alternate world in space and the ultimate goal of Jesse and the Exiles is to someday soon, re-capture Mars from the enslavement of Madman Roth, who is hell bent (like Hitler) on conquering the entire Universe... Shultz's Beer Parlor lies in the 81st dimension and is a favorite hangout of our stalwart band of Exiles and their Allies. At Shultz's they carouse with their friends like, The Mighty Moscovitch, the demon Veri, and various assortments of Dragons, heroes, and gods. During some of their adventures Jesse and the Exiles outwit the scheming Ex-Robot Dictator and his menacing Bots. In a later escapade when the nasty little race of the U.Us (the Utterly Unpronounceables) accidentally blow up Asteroid Qum23 which is the pivot of the universe, it causes the whole universe to collapse. With the protective layer of The Goodrum Screen down, Madman Roth escapes from the Netherworld free to wreak havoc. Several Exiles are caught in "Space Time Traps" where they witness The Crack in the Universe, and watch as evil sloth-like creatures from the sub and supra spaces emerge. In this new Universe, Jesse saves the day by reversing time to stop some of the dissolution by using his slide rule to calculate space and time, thus arriving at another outcome, but not before the famous Wichita Vortex is created. Eventually The Triumphant Victory battle for Mars takes place in the capital City of Isfenfearth and the Exiles accomplish their goal with the help of a celestial event, sending Madman Roth and his minions packing. In the course of the adventures there are instances of themes that deal with the environment, a handicap, greed, rejection, prejudice, the value of imagination plus creativity, heartwarming family values and morals, and a rich camaraderie in the style of the Marx Brothers humor with a real sense of the innocence of the past. The power of imagination, and creativity and their importance is illustrated by our hero possessing the seemingly magical quality of a dreamer and thus sometimes a creator. But, one of the main lessons here, is to be brave and hold tightly to your dreams especially in times when the whole world seems to have gone bad. So, with a little humor, a little history and a lot of entertainment The Streetcar to Andromeda is a fresh original approach to storytelling that can give young adults a perception in imagination and creativity that they can build upon. "Sometimes looking back can show us the way forward."

Twenty-three years of joint endeavors and extensive field collecting of the narratives referred to in the present volume have resulted in the availability of a multimedia archive of Philippine epics, ballads and rituals both at the Pardo de Tavera collection of the Rizal Library, Ateneo de Manila University, and online. The linguists, anthropologists, and ethno-musicologists who have contributed to this book have long been conscious of the close links between ‘Intangible Heritage’ and ‘Tangible Heritage’. In the Philippines, sung narratives have been recorded in situ (through both audio and audio-video media), transcribed, translated, digitized, and analyzed by scholars and knowledgeable persons from fifteen cultural communities in the islands of Luzon, Panay, Palawan, Mindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. Meanwhile, other scholars have dedicated their lifelong research to the Mergui Archipelago, central Sulawesi, southwest Maluku, and East Timor. Emerging from international collaboration, the scholarship provided here seeks not only to safeguard and comprehend the uniqueness and evolving beauty of ancient sung narratives that are currently performed in the islands of Southeast Asia, but also to defend their vitality in today’s changing world. This collection of twelve essays is the most recent achievement of ongoing studies of performances by singers of tales and ritualists in contemporary socio-cultural contexts by means of pioneering initiatives in the Digital Humanities, multiple analytical approaches and expert use of our growing technical capacity to safeguard and explore Intangible Heritage.

Ancient Knowledge Networks is a book about how knowledge travels, in minds and bodies as well as in writings. It explores the forms knowledge takes and the meanings it accrues, and how these meanings are shaped by the peoples who use it.Addressing the relationships between political power, family ties, religious commitments and literate scholarship in the ancient Middle East of the first millennium BC, Eleanor Robson focuses on two regions where cuneiform script was the predominant writing medium: Assyria in the north of modern-day Syria and Iraq, and Babylonia to the south of modern-day Baghdad. She investigates how networks of knowledge enabled cuneiform intellectual culture to endure and adapt over the course of five world empires until its eventual demise in the mid-first century BC. In doing so, she also studies Assyriological and historical method, both now and over the past two centuries, asking how the field has shaped and been shaped by the academic concerns and fashions of the day. Above all, Ancient Knowledge Networks is an experiment in writing about ‘Mesopotamian science’, as it has often been known, using geographical and social approaches to bring new insights into the intellectual history of the world’s first empires.

The concept of sign, a portent observed in the physical world, which indicates future events, is found in all ancient cultures, but was first developed in ancient Mesopotamian texts. This branch of Babylonian scientific knowledge extensively influenced other parts of the world, and similar texts written in Aramaic, Sanscrit, Sogdian, and other languages. The seminar will investigate how much do we know about the Babylonian theory and hermeneutics of omens, and the scope of their possible influences on other cultures and regions.

This concise and accessible introduction establishes the relevance of cultural anthropology for the modern world through an integrated, ethnographically informed approach. The book develops readers’ understanding and engagement by addressing key issues such as: What it means to be human The key characteristics of culture as a concept Relocation and dislocation of peoples The conflict between political, social and ethnic boundaries The concept of economic anthropology Cultural Anthropology: 101 includes case studies from both classic and contemporary ethnography, as well as a comprehensive bibliography and index. It is an essential guide for students approaching this fascinating field for the first time.