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Dan Norder
Inspector
Username: Dannorder
Post Number: 315
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, September 30, 2004 - 3:49 am: |       |
October will soon be here, and that means another new issue of Ripper Notes. People were wondering if we could pull off another issue like July's (the "knock your socks off" new look). I believe we have got another winner on our hands.
Here's a look at the cover:
And, rotated and smaller, here is the back cover:
Yes, that's a color map of the East End with the five canonical victims' murder scenes marked. I figured that as long as we have a back cover to work with, there might as well be something useful there. The map also ties in with the front cover design (if you line it up right you'll see what I mean) and was chosen to help illustrate some of the interior articles. You'll have to see it up close and read the contents to fully appreciate it.
Oh, and the articles... So far it's looking like the line up will be (in alphabetical order by author):
*Paul Begg: "On The Matter of Milk" (Mrs. Maxwell's testimony about seeing MJK alive in the morning and where it leads us)
*Jan Bondeson: "Serial Sadistic Stabbers" (looking at knife-wielding lust maniacs)
*Bernard Brown: "The Witches of Whitechapel" (using history to link the site of one of the murders to a place where witches were put on trial)
*Amanda Howard: "Jack the Ripper: Not a World's First" (a short piece on some of Jack's predecessors)
*Dan Norder: "Connecting the Dots" (examining some of the claims that the Ripper crime scenes were specifically chosen to form a symbol)
*Jennifer Pegg: the latest "The Inquest" column (survey feedback)
*Wolf Vanderlinden: "The Supernatural Element" (the psychic links to the case) and "The Great Victorian Horror Story?" (listing some comparisons to fictional and legendary monsters)
*Tom Wescott: "The Vesica Piscis Connection" (examining what the Ripper crimes and the Lindbergh kidnapping ransom notes have in common, among other things)
Plus an introduction (announcing a new editor, among other things), News & Notes, reviews, letters, and probably a puzzle or two depending upon space.
I'm still working on laying out the issue, so that list is still a bit tentative. It may have a bit more or bit less depending upon how many pages that all fills up. But once again the page count will surpass the magic 100 number.
If you haven't subscribed already, you're going to want to head over to www.RipperNotes.com and find out how to, because you don't want to miss this. I've seen period map reproductions (which, granted, are usually larger and easier to hang on a wall) go for more than the entire subscription price, which gets you four full issues like this.
Dan Norder, editor, Ripper Notes |
Christopher T George
Chief Inspector
Username: Chrisg
Post Number: 964
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, September 30, 2004 - 10:28 am: | |
Hi Dan
Another interesting cover and an enticing table of contents. Sounds like a mighty, meaty issue, Dan. I look forward to receiving it.
All my best
Chris
Christopher T. George
North American Editor
Ripperologist
http://www.ripperologist.info
|
Thomas C. Wescott
Inspector
Username: Tom_wescott
Post Number: 225
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, September 30, 2004 - 11:19 pm: | |
Dan,
Yes, awesome cover. Of course, I'll say that about any cover that has my name on it. Too bad Howard Brown doesn't have an article in this one; but since we've got pieces from Bernard Brown and Amanda Howard, I suppose it makes up for it.  Incidentally, folks, Norder confided to me that 'Madmen, Myths, and Magic' pertains not to the contributions in the issue, but to the contributors! I've been looking forward to reading Paul's essay on Mrs. Maxwell for some time, and now I'll finally get to. Woo-hoo! And as for Jennifer's 'Inquest' this issue, my money is on Stewart Evans for winning fave Ripperologist. Any takers?
Yours truly,
Tom Wescott
P.S. Dan's not kidding...if you don't subscribe to RN, you're missing out on the Ripperological surprise of the year...and I'm not just saying that because Dan slipped a C-note in my last issue along with a note that read 'say my rag is the Ripperological surprise of the year and I'll keep printing your crap'. Although the money and sentiment were greatly appreciated, I'm saying it because it's the truth. We're very fortunate to have two professionally published magazines devoted to our education, enlightenment, and entertainment. They need your support and you need their schoolin', so grab your debit/credit card and go RIGHT NOW to www.rippernotes.com and www.ripperologist.info. You'll never be one of the cool kids if you don't. |
Dan Norder
Inspector
Username: Dannorder
Post Number: 341
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - 2:03 pm: | |
Just an update here...
Page layout took longer than expected (more articles and more illustrations in the same number of pages means more time, which I hadn't planned out well enough) and some other things popped up. That means this issue will not make it out to people before the end of the month, unfortunately.
It's already at the printers now and I hope to have copies ready for mailing within a few days. UK issues will be printed up in that country (assuming no glitches) and mailed from there, so doing it in separate batches from the country they are going to means shipping should be a lot faster process this time around.
The issue picked up a couple of other articles and authors not listed above, so I thought I'd let you know about them:
"Did Jack the Ripper Visit Leadville?" by Roger Peterson (details an example of Ripper hysteria that reached all the way to a booming Colorado mining community)
"Dutfield's Yard: A Change in the Methodology?" by Antonio Sironi (compares Stride's killings to the others)
I think overall this one is another stunner. Current subscribers should be pleased (albeit wishing they had gotten it sooner) and those considering subscribing should take the plunge (see www.RipperNotes.com for more info).
Dan Norder, editor, Ripper Notes |
Christopher T George
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Chrisg
Post Number: 1007
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - 2:47 pm: | |
Hi Dan
Thanks for the update. We will look forward to getting the issue when it finally mails. Good for you being able to arrange to get the mag printed in the U.K. as well as the U.S.! The additions to the contents sound intriguing.
With best regards
Chris
Christopher T. George
North American Editor
Ripperologist
http://www.ripperologist.info
|
Maria Giordano
Detective Sergeant
Username: Mariag
Post Number: 114
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - 3:32 pm: | |
Can't wait to read it, Dan, especially the Begg article. Mrs. Maxwell drives me nuts.
Mags |
Dan Norder
Inspector
Username: Dannorder
Post Number: 343
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, November 04, 2004 - 6:46 pm: | |
Latest update: The U.S. batch showed up here this afternoon, and I got 60% of them in the mail already today (including Canadian and Australian subscriptions). The rest will go out tomorrow for sure.
The UK batch got done printing earlier today and should be mailed out to European subscribers real soon now. Hopefully not having to cross the Atlantic means those will get there faster than they did when I mailed them from here.
Dan Norder, editor, Ripper Notes |
Christopher T George
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Chrisg
Post Number: 1043
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, November 04, 2004 - 9:34 pm: | |
Great, thanks, Dan, great to know Ripper Notes is on the way! Whoopee! 
Chris
Christopher T. George
North American Editor
Ripperologist
http://www.ripperologist.info
|
Stephen P. Ryder
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3158
Registered: 10-1997
| | Posted on Monday, November 15, 2004 - 1:40 pm: | |
Cover art, table of contents and sample article can now be found for the October 2004 edition of Ripper Notes at:
http://casebook.org/ripper_media/book_reviews/periodicals/rippernotes.2004_oct.html
Stephen P. Ryder, Exec. Editor
Casebook: Jack the Ripper |
Thomas C. Wescott
Inspector
Username: Tom_wescott
Post Number: 255
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 12:52 am: | |
REVIEW:
Another great issue of 'Bleeder's Digest' has arrived, and Dan Norder's sophomore effort is anything but sophomoric, let me tell ya. The cover art's not the best I've seen, but my name appears on it, so that helps some. The 'theme' of this issue is 'Madmen, Myths & Magic'. Let's take a look inside, shall we?:
* INTRODUCTION: For some reason Norder calls his editorial the 'introduction', like it's a book and not a magazine. I suppose, in a way, that's correct, given the binding, though to me RN is more 'digest-like' than 'book-like'. Anyway... He talks about how stressed out he is (only his second issue!) and how he's brought on a co-editor - (drum roll)- Wolf Vanderlinden. Big shock. If you don't know that name, you're not a real Ripperologist. Might as well head on over to www.zodiackiller.com and chat about the Jack wannabe, cuz you're movin' in the slow lane over here. Wolf rocks. Now that he'll be writing regularly for the mag, I hope to see him put Carrie Brown aside for a while and tackle issues directly pertinent to the case. We can only benefit from his insights. Alas, I digress. Turning back to Norder's 'Introduction', he gets chatty about cover prices, inflation, etc., and ends with 'We've got sadists, serial killers, psychics, monsters...', which reminds me, Paul Begg has an article in this issue, but more on that later.
* JAN BONDESON - Serial Sadistic Stabbers: Cutbush, the Monster, and Jack the Snipper: Personally, I always found it kind of amusing that a man who went around prodding women's privates with a knife should be named 'Cutbush'. I mean, what are the odds, right? So much for 'What's in a name?'. Ha ha. Bondeson is a well-respected, not to mention prolific, non-fiction writer. Recently he's graced the pages of Fortean Times and Ripperologist. Having read his book, The London Monster, I knew RN readers would be in for a treat with this piece, and indeed I was right. He talks about the long-gone epidemic of cutting women in the streets - not to kill them - just to wound them for your own sexual satisfaction. A hundred years before the Ripper, London had the Monster. Talk about one-upsmanship. A hundred years after the Ripper, they had Carmilla. But anyways, another great piece by Bondeson, and a credit to Dan Norder for having drawn him in.
* AMANDA HOWARD - Jack the Ripper: Not the First: When I saw the title and skimmed the first couple of paragraphs, I thought 'oh boy, here we go again, another 'revelation' that Jack wasn't the first serial killer'. And, I was right. BUT, and again, I say BUT...I was pleasantly surprised. The old chestnuts are all here - Vlad the Impaler (I still say Jack's name is awfully similar to old Vlad's), Gilles de Rais, Burke and Hare, Elizabeth Bathory. But Howard managed to throw some names and stories into the mix that I'd never heard before, and she kept my full attention for it. I do not wholeheartedly agree with her that the definition of a serial killer is one who commits a "series of murders that have no gainful motive" and, in fact, she contradicts this by including the stories of Burke and Hare and others whose motive was, in fact, money. But this is a small quibble given the gruesome assortment of ghouls you are to meet in her all-too short essay. A very impressive debut article.
* WOLF VANDERLINDEN - The Supernatural Element: An Otherworldly Look at the Whitechapel Murders: This is a very amusing look at all the nutcases who tried to work their way into the Ripper investigation by claiming to be physic or possess supernatural powers. Wolf turns up nugget after nugget that I'd never seen before (and plenty I had, but never taken into a full context with all else that's out there). In the end, we learn just how popular these silly notions were in 1888. But before we go getting all smug, check out how many 'Psychic hotline' ads are in the back of tabloids. We've come no further in 116 years. A very eye-opening piece from Wolf.
* PAUL BEGG - On The Matter of Milk: Unable to attract name talent to the magazine, such as David Radka or Dr. John Pope de-Locksley, Norder had to settle for Paul Begg, who discusses how one day he was pondering the story of Mrs. Caroline Maxwell (whose evidence he decides was mistaken), and a few questions occured to him - 'where there shops that sold only milk?', 'From where in the East End did milk shops get their milk?' and 'Does chocolate milk really come from black cows?'. Okay, so I made up the last one. But being sly and calculated as Begg is known to be, he sets us up for a rather gross tale of how unsanitary milk was in a time not very long before Mrs. Maxwell made her trip to the milk shop. This article is extremely informative, but almost made me a coffee drinker. Fortunately, we don't have such things to worry about today, so I'm over it already. But I DID think of this piece this morning as I ate my McGriddle and drank my McMilk! Kudos to Paul Begg for an excellent article. Though he did never tell us if there were such things as milk shops. Hmmm...
* WOLF VANDERLINDEN - The Great Victorian Horror Story?: Jack the Ripper and the Icons of Horror: Yep, the new editor is flexing his muscle with TWO articles this issue. And good thing, too, because I loved this one! It looks like he's been newspaper-trawling alongside Chris Scott, because both of his essays this issue contained numerous newspaper clippings I'd never seen before, and that's always a treat to the weary Ripperologist. In this article he shows how contemporary commentators were fond of comparing Jack to not only Mr. Hyde, but also vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein's Monster, etc. Yeah, it's a bit of a fluff piece, but even Wolf's fluff pieces end up teaching you something. I will point out, though, that Wolf makes the mistake of attributing the phrase 'The Great Victorian Mystery' to Christopher-Michael DiGrazia. I used to think that was the case, as well, but I was recently informed there's a Ripper novel by this name that came out many years ago.
* BERNARD BROWN - The Witches of Whitechapel: This is hands down one of my two favorite articles this issue, and one of the best Mr. Brown has produced to date (and believe me, that's saying ALOT!). Did you know that the spot Polly Nichols was killed on is where they used to dunk witches? Or that Buck's Row is corruption of 'Duck's Row' which in turn was shortened from 'Ducking Pond Row'? Me either. But it's all in here and more! Stuff like this is the reason ALL Ripperphiles should subscribe to Ripper Notes (www.rippernotes.com) and Ripperologist (www.ripperologist.info), or else get moving on to something else (www.zodiackiller.com).
* TOM WESCOTT - The Vesica Piscis Connection: Jack the Ripper, Jesus Christ and the Lindbergh Tragedy: I'll let others comment on this, since I wrote it. But I like it!
* DAN NORDER - Connecting the Dots: Were the Ripper Crime Scenes Chosen to Form a Pattern?: This is my other favorite article from this issue. Although a little hard-going at times, I'd go so far as to say this essay is a must for anyone pondering the idea of whether or not the Ripper chose his sites in advance in order to form some sort of symbol or design. An amazing debut article from Dan!
* ANTONIO SIRONI - Dutfield's Yard: A Change in Methodology?: To anyone who visits www.jtrforums.co.uk, Antonio is known as 'BlackMagic'. He hails from Italy, and this is his FIRST English language article, and my hat's off to him. It originated from a post he'd placed on the forums that caught my eye, as he suggested a possibility as to why Stride was killed where she was that I had never considered before. I encouraged him to flesh it out and write it up as an article to share with other Ripper-heads, and here it is. It's thoughtful, pleasant, insightful newcomers like Antonio who keep me coming back to the boards, and I hope others like him will follow his lead and not be afraid to put their viable, logical, new ideas into print and submit them to one of the periodicals. Someone needs to teach the old dogs some new tricks!
* ROGER PETERSON - Did Jack the Ripper Visit Leadville?: This is an interesting piece that originally appeared in a somewhat recent Colorado newspaper, illustrating how the Ripper frenzy crossed the pond to terrorize a rather small community when, in 1889, the Leadville, Colorado, Marshall received a letter from 'Jack the Ripper', threatening to set up shop in his town.
* JENNIFER PEGG - The Inquest: Your favorite Ripperette and mine, 'The Peggster', is back letting us know what the readers of RN think of Ripperology. She asks the questions (she's not afraid to, you know), we send in the answers, and a selection of them are published anonymously. Roslyn D'Onston got the greatest number of votes for favorite suspect, which is cool. The Royal Conspiracy theory got top honors for least likely theory. For 'Favorite Ripperologist', RN was too polite to say who got the most votes (though I know! He he), but a ton of names were thrown out. All of the obvious ones, of course, but it was nice to see serious and talented researchers who HAVEN'T published books getting recognized - and no, I didn't get any votes, get serious - like Alex Chisholm and Wolf Vanderlinden. Nick Warren got a vote, as well, serving to remind us that there's no accounting for taste.
* NEWS & NOTES: Nothing much to get excited about here, except the notion that Chris George may be writing a book on the Ripper! To those of us who know Chris, his standards, and his skills, this is exciting news indeed! I only hope it's true (you out there, Chris?).
* REVIEWS: Paul Begg's 'JTR: The Facts': He basically says the same as what I wrote on here, only more eloquently, of course - that this book is a must have, chock full of interesting stuff, but contains more speculation than should be expected in a book called 'The Facts', and a surprising number of errors. Still, a must-have for any serious Ripper researcher. Wolf then reviews Stan Russo's 'JTR Suspects', where he states that the concept of the book was brilliant, though it was poorly executed. I agree on both counts. Jim DiPalma, who follows this with his own review, disagrees and gives Russo a thumbs-up on his first Ripper book. Chris Scott's e-book, 'JTR: A Cast of Thousands', is deservedly given a rave review, as Chris is the premier researcher of this era, or, as I like to say, the 'Keith Skinner of the 21st Century'. Although the reviewer failed to mention it, I do believe this book has more typos in it than any other Ripper book. I hope this is rectified before it sees print. He then goes on to review some more stuff, including the last two issues of Ripperologist, singing due praise for the wonderful scholarship to be counted on coming from Begg and Co., but also pointing out, as I've often done in vivid colors, that there's hardly ever any actual Ripper content in the mag any more (though I've learned from a reliable source that this is being resolved and the Rip is coming back meaner than ever!).
The mag ends with the 'Whitechapel Letterbox' and a few letters of praise for Norder's debut issue, and, dammit, we have to wait three more months for the next RN! But, I've no doubt, the wait will be worth it. Not a subscriber yet? Shame on you! It's not too late, though, just hop on over to www.rippernotes.com, give Dan your digits, and he'll take care of the rest. You'll be damn glad you did. And before you put your plastic up, go do the same at www.ripperologist.info. Which is the best Ripper mag? Don't ask me, go find out for yourself! But tell them Tom sent you, so maybe, one day, they'll put my stuff towards the FRONT of the magazine!
Yours truly,
Tom Wescott |
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