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The Golden Age of Grotesque

The Golden Age of Grotesque is the fifth studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on May 13, 2003, by Nothing and Interscope Records, and was their first album to feature former KMFDM member Tim Sköld, who joined after longtime bassist Twiggy Ramirez amicably left the group over creative differences. It was also their final studio album to feature keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy and guitarist John 5, who would both acrimoniously quit before the release of the band's next studio album.

The record was produced by Marilyn Manson and Sköld, with co-production from Ben Grosse. Musically, it is less metallic than the band's earlier work, instead being more electronic and beat-driven. This was done to avoid creating music similar to hip-hop influenced forms of nu metal, a then-predominant genre that the vocalist considered cliché. Despite this, the album's sound has been compared to the likes of several nu metal bands, notably Slipknot and Korn. Manson collaborated with artist Gottfried Helnwein to create several projects associated with the album, including Doppelherz, a 25-minute surrealist short film which was released on limited edition units of the record as a bonus DVD. The Golden Age of Grotesque was also the title of the Manson's first art exhibition.

The album's lyrical content is relatively straightforward, and was inspired by the swing, burlesque, cabaret and vaudeville movements of Germany's Weimar Republic-era, specifically 1920s Berlin. In an extended metaphor, Manson compares his own work to the Entartete Kunst banned by the Nazi regime as he attempts to examine the mindset of lunatics and children during times of crisis. Several songs incorporate elements commonly found in playground chants and nursery rhymes. "Mobscene" (stylized as "mOBSCENE") and "This Is the New Shit" were released as singles, and a controversial music video was released for "Saint" (stylized as "(s)AINT").

The record received mixed reviews from mainstream music critics: some praised its concept and production, while others criticized its lyrics and described the album as uneven. Despite this, it was a commercial success, selling over 400,000 copies in Europe on its first week to debut at number one on Billboard's European Top 100 Albums. It also topped various national record charts, including Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the US Billboard 200. It was certified gold in many of these territories. "Mobscene" was nominated in the Best Metal Performance category at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards in 2004. The album was supported by the Grotesk Burlesk Tour.

Background and recording
After the band completed work on what became their triptych of albums (2000's Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death), 1998's Mechanical Animals and 1996's Antichrist Superstar), the band was free to begin a fresh project. In late 2001, the eponymous vocalist worked with composer Marco Beltrami and former KMFDM multi-instrumentalist Tim Sköld to create an original score for the 2002 film Resident Evil. This was the second project on which Manson collaborated with Sköld, after the band's cover of "Tainted Love", which became an international hit when released as a single from the Not Another Teen Movie OST in 2001. The Resident Evil OST was released in March 2002, and included a remix of "The Fight Song" created by Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison. The soundtrack to Queen of the Damned was also released that month, which featured Manson performing lead vocals on the Jonathan Davis-composed track "Redeemer". On May 29, Sköld became an official band member when Twiggy Ramirez amicably left the group, citing creative differences.

The album was produced by Manson, Sköld, and Ben Grosse. It was recorded at Ocean Way Recording and the band's own Doppelherz Blood Treatment Facility in Los Angeles, as well as Grosse's The Mix Room in Burbank, California. Most of the songwriting effort was shared between Tim Sköld, John 5 and Manson, with the latter describing it as the most focused record in the band's discography. During the album's early stages of development, Manson indicated that both Jordison and Canadian musician Peaches had contributed to material, although neither artist appears on the album. Several songs on the record feature backing vocals by Andrew Baines of Tennessee, a 16-year-old fan who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. This collaboration had been facilitated by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, with Manson saying that he "wanted to make Andrew a permanent part of history, sealed up in distortion and megabytes of plastic."

"Para-Noir" contains a distinctive guitar solo from John 5, who performed it in one take using an unfamiliar, out-of-tune guitar whilst blindfolded. "Ka-Boom Ka-Boom" was the final song composed for the record, and was written in response to criticism made by the head of the A&R division of Interscope Records, who said that the album "had no kaboom". In a 2008 interview with a now-defunct fansite, Manson claimed to have performed the majority of the keyboards and synthesizer on the album, and not the band's longtime keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy. According to Manson, Gacy displayed little interest in contributing creatively, and eventually detached himself from the rest of the group to such a degree that he refused to attend studio sessions when informed that recording was to begin in June 2002. As a result, Manson received musical composition credits for eleven of the fifteen tracks on the record, in addition to his usual lyrical credits.

Musically, the album is more electronic and beat-driven than preceding releases, with reviewers commenting that its sound is at times reminiscent of KMFDM. This has been attributed to Sköld, who was a member of that band immediately prior to his arrival in Marilyn Manson. It is also not as metallic as their earlier work, with Manson explaining to MTV that he wanted to create music which was dissimilar to the nu metal being played on radio at the time. He also noted the influence of early industrial rock acts such as Ministry, Big Black and Nitzer Ebb on the material. Early twentieth-century German composer Kurt Weill was also claimed as an influence, along with the lucid dreams Manson was having during the album's production, elaborating that he would "wake up and say, 'I want to write a song that sounds like a stampeding elephant' or 'I want to write a song that sounds like a burning piano'."

Themes and artwork
The vocalist would later describe the period surrounding The Golden Age of Grotesque as being one of his most creative. He was inspired by then-girlfriend, burlesque performance artist Dita Von Teese, into exploring the decadent swing, burlesque, cabaret and vaudeville movements of Germany's Weimar Republic-era, specifically 1920s Berlin. He explained to Kerrang! that the album's content was inspired by "the lengths that people [in pre-Nazi Germany] went to in order to live their lives to the fullest and to make their entertainment as imaginative and extreme as possible." He also found inspiration in the flamboyance of Dandyism, along with the cultural and artistic movements of Surrealism and Dadaism, the life of the Marquis de Sade, and the theater of the grotesque.

Eschewing the lyrical depth and volume of symbolism found on Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) (2000), the album is relatively straightforward: its lyrical content primarily deals with relationships, and, in an extended metaphor, Manson compares his own often-criticized work to the Entartete Kunst banned by the Nazi regime. The record utilizes the narrative mode of stream of consciousness as Manson attempts to examine the response of the human psyche during times of crisis, particularly focusing on the mindset of lunatics and children. These were of particular interest to the vocalist, as "they don't follow the rules [of society]." Several songs incorporate elements commonly found in playground chants and nursery rhymes, which Manson would "pervert into something ugly and lurid."

Manson began his long-term collaboration with Austrian-Irish artist Gottfried Helnwein in May 2002, collaborating on several projects associated with the album. In addition to the album artwork, the pair created large-scale multi-media installation art pieces that would go on to be exhibited in various galleries throughout Europe and the United States. These were also displayed at the album's launch party at The Key Club in Los Angeles. They also worked together on the music video to lead single "Mobscene" (stylized as "mOBSCENE"), as well as images which accompanied Manson's essay for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Helnwein later expressed disappointment that the latter was not selected as the album cover. Many of the images found in the album artwork were inspired by illustrations found in Mel Gordon's 2000 book Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin. Concerned that Gordon might take issue with use of the book's material, Manson called Gordon, who said he could not imagine a greater compliment than a popular music album based on an academic book. The Golden Age of Grotesque was also the title of Manson's first art exhibition, which took place in September 2002 at the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Center.

Release and promotion
On February 18, 2003, Manson revealed the album's release date and track listing via the band's official website. The album was preceded by the release of its lead single, "Mobscene", which was serviced to mainstream and alternative rock radio formats on April 21. Its music video was directed by Manson and Thomas Kloss. The single was backed by a remix of the song created by The Prodigy vocalist Keith Flint. The song became one of the band's biggest worldwide hits, peaking in the top 20 of numerous national record charts, and at number one in Portugal. It peaked at number 18 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart, making it their best-performing single on that chart since "The Dope Show" reached number 12 in 1998. The song was nominated in the Best Metal Performance category at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards in 2004, losing out to Metallica's "St. Anger".

A series of unique launch parties titled "Grotesque Burlesque" took place in advance of the album's US release on May 13. The first of these occurred in Berlin on April 4, followed by several more shows throughout Europe. The final event took place at The Key Club in Los Angeles on May 12. These shows featured large-scale artwork by Helnwein and Manson, a burlesque performance by Von Teese, and an acoustic set from Manson backed by two female pianists. Limited edition copies of the album included a DVD entitled Doppelherz (Double Heart), a 25-minute surrealist short film directed by Manson which featured art direction by Helnwein. The film's audio consists of a repeating loop of album opener "Thaeter", accompanied by a stream-of-consciousness spoken-word recitation from Manson.

On May 16, the band performed both "Mobscene" and "This Is the New Shit" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The latter was released as the album's second single, and its music video was shot in Belgium on June 17 and featured over 100 fans. A controversial music video was independently produced for the song "Saint" (stylized as "(s)AINT"). Directed by Asia Argento and containing scenes of violence, nudity, masturbation, drug-use and self-mutilation, Interscope considered it "too graphic" and refused to be associated with the project, although it was later included on international editions of the Lest We Forget: The Best Of bonus DVD. NME referred to the video as "one of the most explicit music videos ever made", and both Time and SF Weekly included it on their respective lists of the 'Most Controversial Music Videos'.

The album was supported by the Grotesk Burlesk Tour, with Peaches performing as opening act on select dates. It began with a series of headlining shows in Europe, followed by the band's stint as one of the headlining acts at the 2003 Ozzfest. Much of the elaborate attire and clothing worn by the band on tour was tailored by French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier. The stage was designed to resemble that of classic vaudeville and burlesque stage shows of the 1930s. Two female dancers would be present on stage for most of the show, and would be dressed in either vintage burlesque costumes or military uniforms and garters. They would also perform some live instrumentation, such as floor toms during "Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety-Zag", and piano during "The Golden Age of Grotesque". They performed the latter whilst dressed to resemble conjoined twins. Manson would change his appearance numerous times throughout each show: he would wear elongated arms which he would swing in a marching manner as he walked along the stage, and would don blackface while wearing an Allgemeine SS-style peaked police cap or Mickey Mouse ears. The stage also utilized a series of elaborate platforms and pulpits, from atop of which he would quote random lines from Doppelherz between songs. The tour was set to end with five concerts featuring Marilyn Manson opening for Jane's Addiction. However, these shows were cancelled by the latter band, with Perry Farrell citing exhaustion as the reason.

Controversies
On June 30, 2003, the mutilated body of fourteen-year old schoolgirl Jodi Jones was discovered in woodland near her home in Easthouses, Scotland. The injuries sustained by Jones closely resembled those of actress Elizabeth Short, who was murdered in 1947 and was popularly referred to by media as the Black Dahlia. Jones' boyfriend, then-fifteen year old Luke Mitchell, was arrested on suspicion of her murder ten months later. During a search of his home, detectives confiscated a copy of The Golden Age of Grotesque containing the short film Doppelherz. It was purchased two days after Jones' death. A ten-minute excerpt from the film, as well as several paintings by Manson depicting the Black Dahlia's mutilated body, were presented as evidence during the trial.

Although Mitchell's defense attorney argued that Jones' injuries were inconsistent with those found in Manson's paintings, Lord Nimmo Smith said during sentencing that he did "not feel able to ignore the fact that there was a degree of resemblance between the injuries inflicted on Jodi and those shown in the Marilyn Manson paintings of Elizabeth Short that we saw. I think that you carried an image of the paintings in your memory when you killed Jodi." Mitchell was found guilty of murder and sentenced to serve a minimum of twenty years in prison. Manson later dismissed claims that his work inspired the murder, arguing instead that "the education that parents give their children and the influences they receive" plays a more direct role in violent behavior, and criticised media who attempted to "[put] the blame elsewhere."

The Golden Age of Grotesque is the final studio album to feature longtime keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy and guitarist John 5, who would both acrimoniously quit the group over the following years. John 5's relationship with Manson had soured over the course of the Grotesk Burlesk Tour. According to John, Manson spoke to him only once during the entire tour: "It was on my birthday and he turned to me and said, 'Happy birthday, faggot'—then walked away." Manson also displayed hostility towards the guitarist on stage. During a performance of "The Beautiful People" at the 2003 Rock am Ring festival, Manson kicked and then shoved John, who appeared to respond in anger by throwing his guitar to the ground and raising his fists to Manson, before resuming the song. John 5 later revealed that the "fight" was staged, and a regular occurrence in the band's stage performance, but that night John 5 had "snapped" because his sister had recently died. Gacy, who was also the band's last remaining original member – excluding Manson – quit shortly before the recording of the band's next studio album, Eat Me, Drink Me (2007). He would later file a $20 million lawsuit against Marilyn Manson for unpaid "partnership proceeds", accusing the vocalist of spending money earned by the band on "sick and disturbing purchases of Nazi memorabilia and taxidermy, including the skeleton of a young Chinese girl."

Critical reception
The album was released to mixed reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it received an average score 60, based on 12 reviews, which indicates "generally mixed or average reviews". Although appearing on several publication's year-end lists for 2003, other critics considered this to be the band's weakest album, arguing that it lacked thoughtful lyrics when compared to its predecessors. It won Metal Edge's 2004 Readers' Choice Award for "Album of the Year".

Several publications praised the album's concept, and for being more humorous than the band's preceding albums. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said: "In an era when heavy rockers have no idea what happened in the '80s, much less the '30s, it's hard not to warm to this, even if his music isn't your own personal bag." Barry McCallum of Independent Online called the album "reckless and uninhibited—but it's not all that hard to imagine Manson letting go; he's had fun here." Chronicles of Chaos also praised its concept, and went on to say that it might be one of the best albums in the band's discography. Alternative Press and Q each complimented the album's production, while Billboard highlighted the album's lyrical content and Manson's "diatribes on religion, sex and prejudice." Entertainment.ie called it an entertaining pop album, and summarized that "the pop world would be a much more boring place without [Marilyn Manson]—and that's what really counts."

PopMatters argued that while the album has several excellent songs, it is hindered by "inane" lyrics. BBC Music also criticized its lyrics, while Chris Long of BBC Manchester argued that while Manson was capable of producing "the finest metal around", The Golden Age of Grotesque demonstrated him "losing his touch". Barry Walters of Rolling Stone called the album uneven: praising its first half but criticizing the latter portion. A writer for Now Toronto claimed that Manson was lapsing into self-parody, and complained the album was not heavy enough. Although E! Online praised the band for being inventive, they said the album would not win over any new fans. This sentiment was echoed by Entertainment Weekly, who called it "inventive and powerful enough to merit intermittent attention, but ultimately crushed by the weight of its hoary pretensions."

Commercial performance
Industry forecasters predicted that The Golden Age of Grotesque was on course to become the band's second number one album on the Billboard 200, following 1998's Mechanical Animals, with estimated first-week sales of around 150,000 copies. The album debuted at number one with first week sales of over 118,000 copies, at the time the lowest opening week total for a number one-debuting studio album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data in 1991. This figure was just 1,000 copies more than the first week sales of Holy Wood, which debuted at number thirteen in November 2000. Sales of the album dipped to 45,000 copies on its second week, resulting in a positional drop on the Billboard 200 to number 21. This broke the record previously held by Nine Inch Nails' 1999 album The Fragile for the largest drop from number one in the chart's history. The Golden Age of Grotesque held this record until Incubus' Light Grenades dropped to number 37 in December 2006. As of November 2008, the album has sold 526,000 copies in the US, making it the lowest-selling number one-debuting studio album of 2003. This was the second year the band achieved this, after Mechanical Animals became the lowest-selling number one-debuting studio album of 1998. It also entered the Canadian Albums Chart at number one, selling 11,500 copies on its first week.

The record was more successful internationally than the band's previous albums, particularly in Europe, where it sold over 400,000 copies during its first week to debut at number one on Billboard's European Top 100 Albums. It topped various national record charts, namely Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, as well as the album chart of the Wallonia region of Belgium, and the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart. It also peaked within the top five in France, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. It attained gold certifications in several of these territories, including Austria (denoting 15,000 units), Switzerland (20,000 units), and France, Germany and the UK (100,000 copies each). In Australasia, the album peaked at number five in both Australia and Japan, and was certified gold in both countries for sales in excess of 35,000 and 100,000 copies, respectively. It also peaked at number 16 in New Zealand.

Track listing

 * Notes

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Golden Age of Grotesque.

 * Recorded at the Doppelherz Blood Treatment Facility and at Ocean Way Recording in Los Angeles, with additional recording at The Mix Room in Burbank, California.
 * Mixed at The Mix Room by Ben Grosse.
 * Mastered by Tom Baker at Precision Mastering, Los Angeles.

Marilyn Manson
 * Marilyn Manson – vocals, piano, keyboards, synthesizer bass, mellotron, saxophone, guitars, snare rolls, loops, digital editing, arrangements, producer, photography
 * John 5 – guitars, piano, orchestration
 * Tim Sköld – bass, guitars, accordion, keyboards, synth bass, loops, drum programming, digital editing, producer
 * Madonna Wayne Gacy – keyboards, electronics, synthesizer
 * Ginger Fish – drums, rhythm direction

Production
 * Chuck Bailey – assistant engineer
 * Andrew Baines – backing vocals
 * Tom Baker – mastering
 * Jon Blaine – hair stylist
 * P. R. Brown – sleeve design
 * Blumpy – digital editing
 * Jeff Burns – assistant
 * Ross Garfield – drum technician
 * Ben Grosse – engineer, digital editing, producer, mixing
 * Gottfried Helnwein – art direction
 * Lily & Pat – vocals ("Mobscene" and "Para-noir")
 * Perou – additional photography (inlay band photograph)
 * Mark Williams – A&R

title: The Golden Age of Grotesque


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The Dana Girls

The Dana Girls was a series of young adult mystery novels produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate. The title heroines, Jean and Louise Dana, are teenage sisters and amateur detectives who solve mysteries while at boarding school. The series was created in 1934 in an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of both the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories and the Hardy Boys series, but was less successful than either. The series was written by a number of ghostwriters and, despite going out-of-print twice, lasted from 1934 to 1979; the books have also been translated into a number of other languages. While subject to less critical attention than either Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, a number of critics have written about the series, most arguing that the Dana Girls' relative lack of success was due to the more dated nature of the series.

Characters
The series' principal characters are Louise and Jean Dana, teenage orphans who solve mysteries while attending the fictional Starhurst School for Girls in Penfield, not far from their hometown of Oak Falls. When on vacation, the girls stay at the home of their guardians, their uncle, Captain Ned Dana, master of the S.S. Balaska, and his spinster sister, Harriet Dana. The household also includes a bungling maid, the "buxom, red-cheeked" Cora Appel, often teasingly referred to as "Applecore" by Jean and Louise. Louise is seventeen at the beginning of the first novel. She is described as dark-haired, while her sister Jean is fair-haired. Louise is the more serious of the two, while Jean is described as "gay-hearted." In the second book, Jean is described as being a year younger than Louise, with "blonde, boyish-cut hair" and with "laughter in her blue eyes and a humorous tilt to her nose."

At school, the Dana girls are firmly under the control of the headmistress, Mrs. Crandall, who approves absences from class and other exceptions to the rules only when deemed absolutely necessary to the girls' detective work; however, as the series progresses and mysteries are solved to the benefit of the school, this becomes more and more frequent. One early example is Mrs. Crandall granting permission to the girls to conduct a search for a missing teacher, Miss Tisdale, in The Secret at Lone Tree Cottage. Mrs. Crandall often volunteers herself or her husband to assist with investigations, either by driving them, chaperoning them, or at times, actively engaging in activity such as spying from horseback. Her husband, the bookish Mr. Crandall, is usually occupied in his study and generally takes no interest in administrative affairs, although he is considered an excellent teacher. It is rumored that Mr. Crandall is engaged in writing a monumental English-language history of Ancient Greece in five volumes and he is usually left alone by the student body, but the Dana girls discover he can be a useful source of obscure facts relating to the clues in a mystery. He generally takes a less active role in sleuthing than his wife, acting as a driver, escort, or researching a clue academically. He is sometimes referred to, without explanation, as Professor Crandall.

The Starhurst School for Girls is sited on the former Starr family estate; avenues cross a broad lawn to the former Starr mansion, which now serves as the school dormitory. The last remaining Starrs have fallen into poverty; elder brother Franklin Starr does what he can to ensure that younger sister Evelyn is at least able to attend school in the family's former home. When Franklin is unable to fund his sister's full tuition, Evelyn is reduced to waiting tables in the school dining hall in order to continue in attendance; this makes her the target of school bully Lettie Briggs, below.

The Dana girls' principal recurring antagonists are the school bully, Lettie Briggs, the wealthiest girl at Starhurst, and her lackey, or shadow, Ina Mason, who is Lettie's only friend. Lettie and Ina frequently attempt to solve the Dana girls' cases themselves while throwing their rivals off the scent; these attempts invariably fail and redound to Lettie and Ina's profound discredit. Lettie becomes angry in the first volume upon not receiving the room assignment of her choice, which is instead assigned to the Danas, and serves as a rival (unsuccessfully) and prankster. Most of her pranks are to discredit the Danas scholastically, athletically, morally, or slander their detective skill. Lettie alters or steals school assignments, plagiarizes their work, destroys academic research, puts acid on Jean's towel before an athletic competition (to injure her hand), jeers/cheers against the Danas, short-laces shoes, hires a thug to disrupt an ice skating competition and winter carnival, and spreads rumors of all kinds about the Danas, along with making other character slurs. Incredibly, based upon their academic performance and favored status, Mrs. Crandall remains neutral, or at times, becomes angry with the Danas, and requires the sisters to make an explanation. In most circumstances, she is immediately satisfied with her investigation. This usually serves to delay Dana sleuthing, or to provide sub-plots with schoolgirl pranks in retaliation, on Lettie. Lettie, on the other hand, despite her disruptive, dishonest, and at times, actual criminal behavior, rarely receives due punishment. Lettie, despite receiving a large allowance, is miserly and invariably haggles; this costs her possession of the eponymous study lamp in the first volume in the series, By the Light of the Study Lamp.

The girls drive a "family roadster" whose make is not specified in the early books. Typical for the time, it has a starter button on the floor. This roadster is kept at Uncle Ned's house, and the girls do not drive it to school; instead, they take the train to and from campus, or else Uncle Ned comes and picks them up when he is not at sea. The girls know how to ride horses, and have access to horses kept in the school barn, and keep riding breeches in their room. In one of their adventures, they ride in a rented boat piloted by their Uncle Ned.

Series history
The Dana Girls series was created by Harriet Adams, who sought to capitalize on the popularity of both the Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys series. The series was produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book packager specializing in children's series books, and heavily marketed as similar to the Nancy Drew series; the same pseudonym, Carolyn Keene, was used for both.

All books in the series were published by Grosset & Dunlap and written by a number of ghostwriters under the supervision of the Syndicate. The first four titles were written by Leslie McFarlane, who also wrote 19 of the first 25 volumes in the Hardy Boys series. McFarlane, however, disliked the job intensely, only writing the fourth volume after requesting and receiving a higher fee than usual. He declined to write any further titles, writing afterwards that "starvation seemed preferable." McFarlane's antipathy towards the series stemmed largely from his discomfort from writing about two girls under a female pseudonym. Adams assigned the series next to Mildred Benson, who was also writing the Nancy Drew series. Benson also did not particularly enjoy writing the series, stating at one point that "I never felt the same kinship with the Danas that I did with Nancy." Benson nonetheless wrote volumes 5 through 16 before Adams began writing the series in 1955 with The Ghost in the Gallery. Adams wrote all subsequent volumes in the series, although at least one other title,  Strange Identities, was written by Harriet's daughter, Camilla McClave, but never published.

Publication history
The series went out of print twice before going out of print for a final time in 1979. The Dana Girls Mystery Stories began publication in 1934 and were discontinued in 1944. The series went back in print in 1949, although new titles were not published until 1952. At that time, the books' jacket art was updated, from stylized, art deco designs to pictures of the Dana Girls finding a clue or chasing a suspect. Although the art on many of these early volumes is less detailed than that of Nancy Drew and other Stratemeyer publications, the sisters are usually shown in a far more active role, rather than hiding and spying on the action. In 1962, the books were changed to picture cover format, but with the same artwork.

The books have also been translated into Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, German, and French. In Finland, girls have kept their original names. In Sweden, the Dana Girls are no longer Jean and Louise, but Mary and Lou. In France, they are known as Les Sœurs Parker ("The Parker Sisters"), Liz and Ann. In Germany, they are Barbie and Susan.

Critical assessment
Unlike Nancy Drew, the Dana Girls have garnered little critical attention. Some find the series simply uninteresting and argue that the Dana Girls series was not as successful as Nancy Drew at least in part because early series authors Leslie McFarlane and Mildred Benson were uninterested in their creations. Others have called the characters "pallid followers in the dazzling train of Nancy Drew" and suggest that the series was less successful than the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories because of its melding of the mystery story with the boarding school story, a genre that was "fading in popularity" even in the 1930s. The combination of genres has also been called unsuccessful because "the school's presence weakens the mysteries, as the mysteries detract from the school story."

Bobbie Ann Mason criticizes the series, The Secret of the Swiss Chalet in particular, for "[realizing] the authorized, glamourized dreams of our culture" by having the Dana Girls live privileged lifestyles. Carolyn Carpan, in contrast, argues that series such as the Dana Girls that were begun around the time of the Great Depression portrayed heroines as unrealistically wealthy in order to fulfill readers' fantasies. Carpan also argues that the Dana Girls' detective work was an outgrowth of the Depression in another way; many jobs and activities previously reserved for men were increasingly taken by women in 1930s due to economic necessity.

First series
1. By the Light of the Study Lamp, 1934

2. The Secret at Lone Tree Cottage, 1934

3. In the Shadow of the Tower, 1934

4. A Three-Cornered Mystery, 1935

5. The Secret at the Hermitage, 1936

6. The Circle of Footprints, 1937

7. The Mystery of the Locked Room, 1938

8. The Clue in the Cobweb, 1939

9. The Secret at the Gatehouse, 1940

10. The Mysterious Fireplace, 1941

11. The Clue of the Rusty Key, 1942

12. The Portrait in the Sand, 1943

13. The Secret in the Old Well, 1944

14. The Clue in the Ivy, 1952

15. The Secret of the Jade Ring, 1953

16. Mystery at the Crossroads, 1954

17. The Ghost in the Gallery, 1955

18 .The Clue of the Black Flower, 1956

19. The Winking Ruby Mystery, 1957

20. The Secret of the Swiss Chalet, 1958

21. The Haunted Lagoon, 1959

22. The Mystery of the Bamboo Bird, 1960

23. The Sierra Gold Mystery, 1961

24. The Secret of Lost Lake, 1962

25. The Mystery of the Stone Tiger, 1963

26. The Riddle of the Frozen Fountain, 1964

27. The Secret of the Silver Dolphin, 1965

28. Mystery of the Wax Queen, 1966

29. The Secret of the Minstrel's Guitar, 1967

30. The Phantom Surfer, 1968

Second series
1. The Mystery of the Stone Tiger, 1972

2. The Riddle of the Frozen Fountain, 1972

3. The Secret of the Silver Dolphin, 1972

4. Mystery of the Wax Queen, 1972

5. The Secret of the Minstrel's Guitar, 1972

6. The Phantom Surfer, 1972

7. The Secret of the Swiss Chalet, 1973

8. The Haunted Lagoon, 1973

9. Mystery of the Bamboo Bird, 1973

10. The Sierra Gold Mystery, 1973

11. The Secret of Lost Lake, 1973

12. The Winking Ruby Mystery, 1974

13. The Ghost in the Gallery, 1975

14. The Curious Coronation, 1976

15. The Hundred-Year Mystery, 1977

16. Mountain-Peak Mystery, 1978

17. The Witch's Omen, 1979

18. The Strange Identities, unpublished

19. The Thousand Islands Mystery, or Danger on Deception Island, unpublished

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: The Dana Girls


text:
Talk:Rubicon

Comments
The latest edit: 15:16, 30 November 2009 : has made a mess of some previously correct text, but I don't know how to revert it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.149.243.239 (talk)

How can one, even Emperor Augustus, 'abolish' the Province of Gallia Cisalpina (today’s northern Italy). What does this mean? Cisum.ili.dilm 13:47, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

The phrase that Caesar is said to have said after crossing the Rubicon was changed to iacta alea est. I don't know Latin, but the famous quote that most people are familiar with is alea iacta est. Is that wrong? If so, maybe a note should be made. -- AdamRaizen 03:44 28 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Alea iacta est sounds more familiar to me - although I am not an expert by any means. Also, I would have thought that the correct english phrase was "The die is cast" Gingekerr 14:07, 3 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Is it my understanding that Latin's declension make many issues of word ordering irrelevant. That there is no difference between iacta alea est and alea iacta est. (I've heard that the verb was customarily the last word in simple statements; a stylistic convention which lends such statements more force). So we could quibble over the word ordering quite a bit; and we should ultimately cite our sources for each argument. However, in this case, it would seem to be a pretty trivial detail as it doesn't change the meaning one whit.JimD 02:57, 2004 Nov 24 (UTC)

He's right, in Latin the order of the word does not matter because of the declining of the nouns to signify which part of speech that they are.

I find the alternate equivalent translation given of "The game is afoot" less than compelling. It refers to hunting rather than to any sort of playable game. And since Caesar was already in pursuit of Pompey, the "start of the hunt" image also fails to make sense. 61.49.118.175 16:32, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)

The Rolling Stones use this phrase in their 2005 release, Streets of Love.

Straight up. Say no more. I don't care what the mamby pambys have to say to that. - DCS

Who gives a crap if the Rolling Stones used this phrase or not!!???? Come on!!!! What does that have to do with anything at all in this world??!! Do you really need to pander to all that is commercial and popular, to stretch so far as to refer to an aging, amoral, yet incredibly talented boy band?!! Aimee Mann, an American singer/songwriter of considerably less talent, used the phrase in her 2002 cd Lost In Space, the song, High On sunday 51. The Rolling Stones however wonderful musicians, really are not worth quoting.

 * I've got nothing against the Stones, but the sentence really is pointless and irrelevant to the article. I sort of can't believe it lasted this long... much like the band itself come to think of it... El Mariachi 06:24, 20 September 2005 (UTC)

 * "a lot of people on this planet have no taste in music"... as proved by your claim that Aimee Mann is "talented"? I suppose if insipidness is a talent...

 * Caeser was quoting Menander, as mentioned in the notes - it is likely he quoted in Greek, not Latin. Beeson_uk 20.09.06

Rubicon River Today
I deleted this section, since it looks suspiciously like it was copied from another source (maybe copyrighted). --JW1805 18:00, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

Roman road
From watching Rome (TV series), Rubicon is a small river wadeable on foot. What surprised me is that there seemed to be no paved way. I understood that Roman roads were very important for the deployment of the legions. Do we know if Caesar's army was marching on a certain via?

The conversion of miles into kilometres might be wrong. Other sources put Roma-Rimini distance to about 240 kilometres while this converiosn would mean about 300 if I'm correct. --Korovioff 15:18, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

Don't miss the new show on AMC called "Rubicon" about a bunch of CIA-like intelligence types. I saw a sneak preview on Sunday night and it was terrific! Renato —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.252.4.16 (talk) 03:31, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

"The mile zero of a Roman road, from which distances were counted," - this is incorrect. The golden milestone was symbolic, and distances were actually measured starting at the city gate. 2.247.241.29 (talk) 13:47, 1 September 2020 (UTC)

Redirect
The redirect thing should be more consistent with the rest of this wiki--88.104.132.120 (talk) 13:29, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

I agree--88.104.133.87 (talk) 16:15, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

I also agree!--88.104.138.119 (talk) 19:21, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

Someone keeps on undoing it.--88.104.138.119 (talk) 13:44, 18 April 2015 (UTC)

I'll put it back.--88.111.129.157 (talk) 14:25, 16 May 2015 (UTC)
 * They undid mine too. It was the one known as Widr — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.111.129.157 (talk) 14:57, 16 May 2015 (UTC)
 * Sorry I forgot to sign.--88.111.129.157 (talk) 15:05, 16 May 2015 (UTC)

What is the point of this? Your edits are against WP:MOS and serve no purpose at all. Looks to me like you are discussing this issue with yourself here. Widr (talk) 12:15, 30 May 2015 (UTC)
 * Looks like an edit war has started.--88.104.132.1 (talk) 12:10, 30 May 2015 (UTC)

Blatant error
Quote: "The locality of San Giovanni in Compito (now a western quarter of Savignano) has to be identified with the old Ad Confluentes. (Compito means "road junction," and is synonymous with confluentes.)"

That last claim is false. Despite the minot spelling error, compitum is a "road junction" or "road intersection", but "confluentes" is not synonymous, as confluentes = "river junction". -81.219.114.9 (talk) 18:26, 19 December 2015 (UTC)

Length?
Quote: "The modern-day river runs for about 80 kilometers" - but the table under the map on the right says "29 km". -81.219.114.9 (talk) 18:28, 19 December 2015 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Rubicon Global which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 15:18, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Rubicon Technologies which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 15:33, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

title: Talk:Rubicon


text:
Chinook (dog breed)

The Chinook is a breed of sled dog, developed in the state of New Hampshire during the early 20th century. The Chinook is New Hampshire's official state dog.

Appearance
Standing 21 to 27 in in height at the withers and weighing 45 to 90 lb, the Chinook is balanced and muscular. The United Kennel Club (UKC) breed standard states, "The ideal coloration runs from light honey color to reddish-gold. Black markings on the inside corners of the eyes are preferred. Dark tawny to black markings on the ears and muzzle are preferred. Guard hairs on the tail may be black. No white markings are allowed. Buff markings on the cheeks, muzzle, throat, chest, breeches, toes and underside are acceptable." The UKC standard faults any color other than tawny and disqualifies albinism. Other proposed standards state that the medium-length double coat is "tawny" in color, with darker shadings on muzzle and ears; white dogs are not allowed, nor are other colors. Eyes are brown to amber in color. Ear carriage is variable, but dropped is preferred and the head more strongly rectangular than other sleddog breeds. The tail is a well-furred saber and not the usual brush or plume of Arctic breeds.

Temperament
The Chinook is an affectionate and playful family companion with a special devotion toward children. It is a willing worker who is eager to please and enthusiastic to learn. The Chinook is highly trainable, adaptable, and versatile in his abilities. Gregarious with other dogs, the Chinook works well in teams and within family packs. The Chinook is a dignified dog; some may be reserved with strangers but should never appear shy or aggressive.

Health
Health issues include normal hereditary problems such as epilepsy, hip dysplasia, and atopy. Also common is cryptorchidism, which occurs in about 10% of all male dogs.

History
The Chinook owes its existence to one man: Arthur Treadwell Walden of Wonalancet, New Hampshire. The breed derives principally from one male ancestor born in 1917, named "Chinook", who was Walden's lead dog and stud. Walden began his efforts to create what he believed could be the ideal sled dog after an expedition to the Yukon where he worked alongside a native american guide and his dog named Chinook. Walden, in his effort to create his own Chinook, bred a Greenland Dog directly descended from the lead of the Peary North Pole expedition named Ningo with a large, tawny male Mastiff/St. Bernard mix named Kim. The pair had three pups. Walden's wife, Katherine Sleeper Walden, named them Rikki, Tikki, and Tavi in reference to The Jungle Book. As Rikki grew, he showed the traits which Walden had searched for and was renamed Chinook after his native american companion's dog. "Chinook" derived from crossbreeding of a female. Photos of "Chinook" show a drop-eared dog with a broad Mastiff head and muzzle. Walden's leader was bred to Belgian Sheepdogs, German Shepherd Dogs, Canadian Eskimo Dogs, and perhaps other breeds; the progeny were bred back to him to set the desired type and he was apparently a strong reproducer of his own traits. Arthur Walden was an experienced dog driver with years of experience in the Yukon; he was lead driver and trainer on Byrd's 1929 Antarctic expedition. He is credited with bringing sled dog sports to New England and founding the New England Sled Dog Club in 1924. The 12-year-old "Chinook" went missing on the Byrd expedition while hauling supplies miles overland from ship to shore, and was presumed to have died.

Control of the core breeding stock passed from Walden to Julia Lombard and from her to Perry Greene in the late 1940s. Greene, a noted outdoorsman, bred Chinooks in Waldoboro, Maine, for many years until his death in 1963. Rare and closely held by Greene, who was for many years the only breeder of Chinooks, the population dwindled rapidly after his death. By 1981 only eleven breedable Chinooks survived. Breeders in Maine, Ohio and California divided the remaining stock and managed to save the type from extinction.

The Chinook obtained registered status with the UKC in 1991; the current number of registered animals is around 800. Only about 100 puppies are born annually worldwide. The registry has a cross-breeding program under which Chinooks are bred to individuals of other breeds thought to have contributed to Chinook development; fourth-generation backcross descendants of such crosses may be accepted as UKC purebred Chinooks if they meet the Chinook Owner Association's Cross Breeding Program requirements.

Chinooks joined the American Kennel Club (AKC) Foundation Stock Service  in 2001 and were later added to the AKC's Miscellaneous Class in 2010. Finally, in January 2013 the Chinook became the AKC's 176th breed and joined the working group. Chinooks are still working for recognition from other major kennel clubs.

Working life
Although still used for recreational dog sledding by some owners, Chinooks today appear to be used largely as family pets. Individuals are also used for dog-packing, search and rescue, skijoring, and obedience and dog agility trials.

title: Chinook (dog breed)


text:
Talk:Hindutva

Refs for attacks on Truschke
One ref is a primary source from her and the other barely reporting on the incident. Could we get a generalized source for her? — DaxServer (t · m · e · c) 19:23, 5 June 2023 (UTC)

The Venn diagram of Hindutva and classical fascism
"India's Uprising: The world’s largest democracy, united as never before" by Christopher Caldwell at https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/indias-uprising raises points against the general charge of "fascism" this entry makes. The nuances can't be covered here, but to raise some questions.

1.“When a demagogue like Modi takes a swipe at the likes of [Nobel-winning Harvard economist] Amartya Sen with a motto like ‘hard work is better than Harvard,’ knowing anglophones might snigger but it resonates amongst people who have been at the receiving end of this privileged knowingness forever.”

The article makes a strong case that Hindutva under Modi has had a far higher benefit/cost ratio than German fascism of the 1930s in terms of including more of the electorate than ever before in the day-to-day task of governance.

2. "Although the BJP’s Hindu ideology is not necessarily radical, the voters’ democratic mood can be very radical indeed. That the BJP is in power in the first place means that the old “managed” democracy of the Congress party system has been replaced with a more freewheeling variant—a more democratic democracy, if you will, a democracy that answers not to “values” but to the society as it actually exists."

In society as it actually exists, we ask things of each other, be it attention, taxes, or participation in an economic system. (For example, homelessness results on the part of those who resist, refuse, or are ineligible for that economic participation.) And it raises the question of what we have a right to ask of each other. Hindutva as a cultural idea addresses some of these issues. Should we conflate this with fascism? I think not.

3. "The problem of respecting the decisions of majorities while defending the rights of minorities is an anthropological one, not a moral one. We like to pretend that, when it comes to balancing majority and minority interests, there is a knowable “right thing to do.” Often there isn’t. We also like to pretend that protecting minorities always means protecting them against abuse and persecution by majorities. Sometimes it does. But just as often it means claiming prerogatives for minorities against the innocent preferences of democratic majorities. When progressive change is about protecting minorities from majorities, it can become not just undemocratic but anti-democratic. It may be for the people, but it will not be of the people or by the people. Eventually it draws the people directly into the political fight, to unpredictable effect."

This ends my comments on this article. There are many who understand Hindutva and Indian history better than I do and perhaps my concerns are invalid.

Nonetheless, I appeal for a less-strident conflation of Hindutva and fascism than given in this article, which rests often on appeal to authority rather than the kind of analysis made by Christopher Caldwell. Drienstra (talk) 18:34, 6 August 2023 (UTC)

 * Please see WP:NOTFORUM - you appear to mistakenly assume that this talk page is a forum for posting personal thoughts about such a source and engage in musings about society as it actually exists etc. Caldwell's article mentions fascism exactly once, and Hindutva only in two paragraphs (in a different section). So it seems that these observations about the Venn diagram of Hindutva and classical fascism are your own original research.
 * To highlight just one example: The article makes a strong case that Hindutva under Modi has had a far higher benefit/cost ratio than German fascism of the 1930s in terms of including more of the electorate than ever before in the day-to-day task of governance. - the article doesn't mention Germany, Hitler or Nazism at all, so it looks like this is yourself making this case instead. We could go on to examine your weird assumption that fascism can be measured in the share of the electorate that is included "in the day-to-day task of governance" (you are quite clearly unaware of the mass movement aspects of fascism, which are often included in the very definition of the term, or e.g. of the Nazi regime's extensive "inclusion" of average citizens in its "governance", see e.g. blockwart). But fortunately Wikipedia's no original research policy alleviates the community of the need to spend time debunking amateur historians' personal theories.
 * this article, which rests often on appeal to authority rather than the kind of analysis made by Christopher Caldwell - this looks like a criticism of both Wikipedia's Neutral Point of View policy, which says that articles must proportionately represent all the significant views that have been published by reliable sources [you might call it "authorities] on a topic, and of the aforementioned "no original research" policy against editors coming up with the kind of analysis done by scholars or journalists themselves and add it to Wikipedia articles. Of course, if Christopher Caldwell has provided such an analysis himself, that would be a different discussion - but as mentioned above, he quite clearly hasn't in this article.
 * Regards, HaeB (talk) 20:40, 6 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Who keeps check on the Neutral policy of Wikipedia? 80.32.121.169 (talk) 23:36, 7 August 2023 (UTC)
 * This talk page is meant for specific discussions about improving the article Hindutva (see Talk page guidelines). So it is not the best place to ask general questions about how Wikipedia works or what its policies are. Try at Teahouse instead, or see if you can find answers in documentation pages like this one (and various others linked there). Regards, HaeB (talk) 06:09, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

Rquest for deletion or reviewing of certain articles
I would be really thankfull if you give a second view of the 2nd and 3rd paragraph of intorduction. These are the typicall western@ media's stereotypical lines and would really promote of the rewritting of the article by an INDIAN or atleast of INDIAN ORIGIN.  Thank you Regards Yamantakks (talk) 10:53, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

 * To @Daxserver,
 * Dear I also wrote the same on your talk page and i am writting here but i want to add something, there may be many people on wikipedia and yes they have different views but on the basis of such an abstract fact you can't justify for the 2nd Paragraph as it misleads the reader by first telling extrememly megative things about it and saying that some believe that. I would be really happy if you unrevertef my changes. Yamantakks (talk) 17:19, 8 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Sometimes "megative things" are just simple matters of fact. Wikipedia appeals to general consensus. You might feel differently, but Wikipedia is not an ideological battleground. It's an encyclopedia. The article about Hindutva is unkind because, to quote Dan Olson, "the facts are just, prima facia, unkind". Hindutva is a fascist ideology, which means it supports things the average world citizen would likely find upsetting. Documenting these things as they are - abhorrent - is not ideological per se, it's standard procedure post World War II. Racial mob violence and concepts of ethnic purity/homeland are things anyone with knowledge of political history can recognize as part of a violent, far-right ideology.
 * There's precious little space for debate when we are dealing with definitions as given.
 * Best regards,
 * Magpiesmeanstoeuphoria (talk) 20:45, 25 January 2024 (UTC)

Needs work to make it less partisan
This article is partisan because of selective sourcing, despite the NPOV policy. For example, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, the leading ideologue of modern Hindutva and the inspiration for Modi, is nowhere mentioned. Statements by current RSS leadership that expand Hindutva to include anyone living in India are ignored. Secondary sources related to these statements are available, but ignored. All relevant sides must be presented to justify the NPOV label.

A section called "dissenting views" or "rebuttals to fascism", or similar wording should be added, unless the partisanship is deliberate. I can submit draft content if this is approved. Sooku (talk) 20:57, 14 December 2023 (UTC)

 * @Sooku There are multiple sources given in the article. Just because you do not like them, doesn't mean it's partisanal in nature. Which sources or opinions provided here are "partisanal" to you?
 * NPOV is not violated just because undue weight is not given to Hindutva politician's views. It's well established procedure to not include overtly biased opinions in WP articles, especially in the main sections.
 * I do believe that such dissenting views should be included under a separate subheading. You should submit a draft on it if you want to. SoloKnowHow83 (talk) 10:29, 1 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia is written by summarising WP:SECONDARY sources, scholarly sources when available. The OP is citing WP:NPOV, which is a policy, but they do not seem to have actually read the policy.-- Kautilya3 (talk) 15:24, 1 February 2024 (UTC)
 * There is Systemic bias in Wikipedia, especially Western (Global North) and Left-Liberal bias. A prima facie investigation on the authors of the secondary and primary sources in this article confirms such biases, especially the western bias. @Sooku may have misinterpretated such biases with the non-applicability of the NPOV policy, which in itself is mostly followed but a systemic study will show the policy itself favors the biases involved just like most other policies. This contention shouldn't be ignored nor their views be dismissed based on personal assumptions about the user.
 * Hindutva is a very India based topic and it's sad to see that Indian based secondary or primary sources are not present in an adequate quantity. Hopefully the situation will improve. SoloKnowHow83 (talk) 17:13, 1 February 2024 (UTC)

Keep The redirect as well
Hindutva should be kept redirected to Hindutva Politics, if there’s any problem lets have discussion over it, I’m sure others will agree to it. EntrepreneurPedia (talk) 21:44, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

 * I'm not so sure others will agree. I've reverted the move. The concise "Hindutva" is commonly used by reliable sources, and it generally refers unambiguously to this topic. The article does briefly discuss a historical alternate usage. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 22:10, 20 May 2024 (UTC)
 * I agree, to the sources but title should definitely be changed because Hindutva refers to religion not just politics, and the whole article is about Hindtuva Politics I suggest there needs to be discussion. Because I came to this article via search on google so I’m felt quiet miss directed. Why not have discussion? EntrepreneurPedia (talk) 22:15, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Hindutva