Wed, May 14 2008 Mister Ron's Basement # #1062 Another short but funny piece from 'Sketches from Texas Siftings' by Alexander E. Sweet and John Armoy Knox, published in 1882, reveals what brings folks to the Lone Star State in 'Why He Came to Texas.' Time: approx three and a half minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html
Tue, May 13 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1061 Here's a great story from 'Sketches from Texas Siftings' by Alexander E. Sweet and John Armoy Knox, published in 1882 -- It's called 'The Texas Desperado.' Time: approx six and a half minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html
Mon, May 12 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1060 TEXAS SIFTINGS was an enormously popular weekly newspaper created by Alexander E. Sweet and John Armoy Knox in 1881. In 1882, they published a book collecting some their best material, which we will be reading from starting this week. Today we feature the book's Preface and a look at the man who runs the trains -- 'The Conductor.' Time: approx eight minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Cat...
Sun, May 11 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1059 For Mark Twain Monday, we present Chapter Three of 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' from 1889 -- this chapter is called 'Knights of the Table Round' where our hero gets to hear the knights and Merlin the Magician spreading tall tales from 'the exaggeration mill.' Mister Ron's voice seems to have returned to him, at least enough to start reading stories again! Time: approx fifteen minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found...
Mon, May 05 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1058 SUNDAY SALAD features another rare Spoopendyke story by Stanley Huntley that originally appeared in Drake's Traveller's Magazine in 1883. It's called 'Hunt for a Nocturnal Garment in a Sleeper' and is pretty funny. However, be warned -- Mister Ron has almost completely lost his voice from a nasty virus, and this is pretty difficult to listen to. Sorry. We will probably have to take a few days off until the frog leaves Mister Ron's throat... Time: appr...
Sat, May 03 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1057 From 1886, we hear, perhaps for the first time, a theme that C. B. Lewis used quite often in Mr. Bowser stories over the next 38 years. Lacking a title for this story, we'll call it 'Colonel Bowser.' Time: approx seven and a half minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html The M. Quad (C. B. Lewis) Catalog of Stories is at: http://ronevry.com/quad.html The M. Quad (C. B. Lewis) Miste...
Thu, May 01 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1056 We're wrapping up a second week in a row of double-barreled Bill Nye stories! Nye explores the science of telling one's fortune via the bumps in the head in 'Bill Nye on Phrenology' from 1884. 'Table Etiquette' from 1881 explains the proper manners one should have at a dinner in the inimitable Bill Nye manner. Time: approx seven minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html The Bill Ny...
Wed, Apr 30 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1055 We're back with a second week in a row of Bill Nye stories, and we'll be presenting two each day! Bill Nye often made fun of his extremely bald head. Here's a couple of hilarious pieces dealing with his lack of fuzziness -- 'The Science of Baldness' from 1886 and 'The Stage Bald-Head' from 1882. Time: approx ten minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html The Bill Nye Catalog of Stor...
Tue, Apr 29 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1054 We're back with a second week in a row of Bill Nye stories, and we'll be presenting two each day! Today we explore the stuff you put in your mouth -- food! -- with two stories from 1888 -- 'Health Food' and 'Joking and Eating.' Note -- this episode and the last few offered way too many exploding consonants due to technical difficulties -- bear with us and this problem will be solved! Time: approx five and a half minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full ...
Mon, Apr 28 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1053 We're back with a second week in a row of Bill Nye stories, and we'll be presenting two each day! First, from 1888, we offer Nye's commentary on Washington, DC, 'Bill Nye on the Washington Fly' then we examine the terrible combination of flies and bald-headed men in 'The Fly' from 1881. Time: approx six minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html The Bill Nye Catalog of Stories is at...
Sun, Apr 27 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1052 For Mark Twain Monday, we present Chapter Two of 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' from 1889 -- this chapter is actually called 'King Arthur's Court' -- and in it, our hero comes to the realization that he is not in a lunatic asylum, but actually thirteen hundred years in the past! Time: approx thirteen minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html The Mark Twain Catalog of...
Sat, Apr 26 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1051 SUNDAY SALAD features THREE Stanley Huntley stories concerning shaving today -- first, an early effort from 1879 reveals 'Why Barbers Are Talkative.' Then, from 1881, a terrified customer at a barber shop gets 'A Shave.' Finally, Mr. Spoopendyke is thrown into a tizzy as he gouges his face while shaving in 'A Desperate Situation' from 1882. Time: approx ten minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_...
Fri, Apr 25 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1050 Mr. Bowser makes sure everyone around him gets his own brand of medical treatment -- whether they need it or not! -- in C. B. Lewis's 1886 tale, 'Dr. Bowser.' Time: approx eight minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html The M. Quad (C. B. Lewis) Catalog of Stories is at: http://ronevry.com/quad.html The M. Quad (C. B. Lewis) Mister Bowser Catalog of Stories is at: http://ronevry.co...
Thu, Apr 24 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1049 We have dug up some fascinating and funny short newspaper stories by Edgar Wilson Nye, whom we all know better as Bill Nye, the 19th Century Guy! Bill Nye digs up a significant historical document, that reads more like one of George Ade's Turn-Of-Of-The-Century Fables in Slang, but honest-to-gosh, was written in 1881. It's called 'A Relic of Pocahontas.' Time: approx five minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.c...
Thu, Apr 24 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1048 We have dug up some fascinating and funny short newspaper stories by Edgar Wilson Nye, whom we all know better as Bill Nye, the 19th Century Guy! Today we get a 19th Century lesson on birds, and singing, and bugs, and other stuff in 'Discoveries in Ornithology' from 1880. Time: approx six minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html The Bill Nye Catalog of Stories is at: http://ronevr...
Tue, Apr 22 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1047 We have dug up some fascinating and funny short newspaper stories by Edgar Wilson Nye, whom we all know better as Bill Nye, the 19th Century Guy! From 1884, Nye gives a scientific-ish analysis of the mental process called 'The Thinkist and His Think.' Time: approx six minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html The Bill Nye Catalog of Stories is at: http://ronevry.com/billnye.html...
Mon, Apr 21 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1046 We have dug up some fascinating and funny short newspaper stories by Edgar Wilson Nye, whom we all know better as Bill Nye, the 19th Century Guy! Today we feature TWO Nye pieces -- first we hear all about the information age in the 1884 tale, 'Gen. Sheridan's Horse.' Then we get some terrific suggestions for putting one's life in order in the 1881 piece, 'Advice to Young Men.' Time: approx seven minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be fo...
Sun, Apr 20 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1045 For Mark Twain Monday, we present Chapter One of 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' from 1889 -- yes, there is an episode before this one, so go back and get it -- This one is called 'Camelot.' Time: approx six and a half minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html The Mark Twain Catalog of Stories is at: http://ronevry.com/Twain.html The Mark Twain Connecticut Yankee Nove...
Sun, Apr 20 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1044 SUNDAY SALAD offers THREE funny Stanley Huntley stories today! First, a wild westerner visits a Brooklyn Bar looking for a taste of the real stuff in 'Couldn't Feel at Home' from 1881. Next, another, even wilder westerner visits a different Brooklyn Bar and gets a taste of the real stuff in 'A Mistake Somewhere' from 1883, and finally, Mr. Spoopendyke tries on a pair of gloves to wear at a funeral in an 1884 tale, (probably from Drake's Traveller's Ma...
Fri, Apr 18 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1043 'Mr. Bowser Raises Chickens' from 1886, by C. B. Lewis. What more needs to be said? Time: approx eight minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html The M. Quad (C. B. Lewis) Catalog of Stories is at: http://ronevry.com/quad.html The M. Quad (C. B. Lewis) Mister Bowser Catalog of Stories is at: http://ronevry.com/mrbowser.html...
Thu, Apr 17 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1042 Presenting the concluding fifth part of an 1880 spoof of Jules Verne's 19th Century Science Fiction stories from Stanley Huntley, written as Verne was at the height of his career. It was serialized for three weeks in the Brooklyn Eagle. Perhaps the funniest part of this story, our heroes are stranded on a melting iceberg in the tropics, in 'Book Five -- The Deliverance, by Jules Verne, Jr.' Time: approx eight minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Cat...
Thu, Apr 17 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1041 Presenting the third and fourth parts of an 1880 spoof of Jules Verne's 19th Century Science Fiction stories from Stanley Huntley, written as Verne was at the height of his career. It was serialized for three weeks in the Brooklyn Eagle. The four travelers on ice manage to acquire food, housing, and deal with wild creatures in 'Book Three -- How to Sustain Life' and 'Book Four -- An Invasion, by Jules Verne, Jr.' Time: approx nine and a half minutes T...
Tue, Apr 15 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1040 Presenting the second part of an 1880 spoof of Jules Verne's 19th Century Science Fiction stories from Stanley Huntley, written as Verne was at the height of his career. It was serialized for three weeks in the Brooklyn Eagle. Today, the four adventurers reach the Pole and must deal with the six-month long darkness in 'A Trip to the South Pole; Book Two -- The Pole' by 'Jules Verne, Jr.' Time: approx five and a half minutes Please note that it is a sh...
Mon, Apr 14 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1039 Presenting an 1880 spoof of Jules Verne's 19th Century Science Fiction stories from Stanley Huntley, written as Verne was at the height of his career. It was serialized for three weeks in the Brooklyn Eagle. We will offer it over the course of four Episodes. Here then, is 'A Trip to the South Pole; Book One' by 'Jules Verne, Jr.' Time: approx seven and a half minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Ron...
Sun, Apr 13 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1038 Today we begin a NEW Monday Book Serialization with a true classic -- Mark Twain's 1889 novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.' We start with the 'Preface' and 'A Word of Explanation.' This is a long book -- expect it to take over a year reading a chapter every week. So take your time and enjoy! Time: approx seventeen minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html The Mark ...
Sat, Apr 12 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1037 SUNDAY SALAD has us laying our cards on the table with TWO Stanley Huntley stories from 1883 -- first a champion poker player from Dakota fleeces a pale and innocent Brooklyn man in 'Another Ranger' then 'The Spoopendykes Play Poker' in a rare funny tale from Drake's Traveller's Magazine. Time: approx eleven minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html The Stanley Huntley and Spoopend...
Fri, Apr 11 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1036 Mr. Bowser displays his stubborn brand of idiocy in a theme that would be repeated quite a few times by author C. B. Lewis (writing as M. Quad) over the next 38 years. Bowser shows his wife that 'business is business,' even when buying ladies wear in a story we call 'Making A Dress' from 1886. This was the third Mr. Bowser story ever published. Time: approx eight minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister...
Thu, Apr 10 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1035 Just for the fun of it, we're presenting a Max Adeler story from 1873 that has nothing to do with his feud with Mark Twain, but is a nifty little tale of a liar, in the spirit of the Abner Byng stories. It's called 'The Persecution of Jones' and originally appeared in the Saturday Evening Post. Time: approx four minutes The Mister Ron's Basement Full Catalog can be found at: http://ronevry.com/Mister_Rons_Full_Catalog.html The Max Adeler Catalog of St...
Wed, Apr 09 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1034 The two Abner Byng stories we read in the last two episodes may have been warm-ups for today's tale, where Max Adeler attacks Mark Twain (who was known to use the pen name Carl Byng ) as a phenomenal liar. Originally introduced in 'Beeton's Christmas Annual' in England back in 1878, it was finalized and included in Adeler's book 'Random Shots' in 1879. Here then, is 'The Adventures of Abner Byng; With Some Reflections Concerning Certain Moral Idiots.'...
Tue, Apr 08 2008 Mister Ron's Basement #1033 Today we offer another Max Adeler story about the world's greatest liar, by the name of Abner Byng. Adeler had engaged in a long feud with Mark Twain, who once used the pen name of 'Carl Byng.' Were these 'Byng' stories digs at Twain? Probably. Today we offer a story from 1879 called 'The Most Marvelous Shooting on Record.' We previously read this tale a few years ago in Episode #211, under another title, but it does take on new meaning knowing what w...
