Comments on: Quoth the Raven, Baltimore!?!

Quoth the Raven, Baltimore!?!

Artw — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:12:01 -0800

Today marks the 200th birthday of Edgar Alan Poe, and as happens every year the mysterious Poe Toaster marked the date by placing three red roses and a half-filled bottle of cognac at his Baltimore grave. The identity of the toaster isn't the only question surrounding Poe - his presence in Baltimore and the circumstances of his death remain a mystery. Some speculate that he may have had rabies, others that he may have been a victim of cooping. And while Baltimore embarks on a year long celebration of Poe some argue that his body shouldn't be there at all.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:13:17 -0800

The Poe Toaster was the final cylon.

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:14:41 -0800

Heh. Be careful there. Some of us still have that on DVR, unwatched.

By: Plutor

Plutor — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:16:57 -0800

Astro Zombie: "The Poe Toaster was the final cylon." I have a sinking feeling I'm going to have to stay away from MeFi entirely until I get a chance to watch that episode. </derail>

By: Senator

Senator — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:19:30 -0800

Apparently Mel Gibson is obsessed with doing a movie about Poe. I am guessing somewhere in the plot line, Poe single handedly kills dozens of invading Germans while in concert writing great mythic Indian prose.

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:20:28 -0800

My theory: The whole thing is actually a viral marketing piece for a teen-orientated supernatural romance: Poe's "rabies" was actually werewolfism, and his mysterious presence in Baltimore was due to an encounter with a Vampire. They fell in love – a forbidden love that was not to be! – an it ended in tragedy. Each year Poes immortal lover places the booze and roses on his grave. of course, I bet some fucker has already done that, otherwise it would be GOLD.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:22:28 -0800

Sounds like someone has been reading Twilight. And that someone is Artw.

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:23:47 -0800

Always have an eye on prospetive markets. Oh yeah, and Virginia Clemm, the thirteen year old cousin that he married? Try ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY years old.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:24:41 -0800

Brain-damaged pedo, if you ask me. Also, one of my childhood favorites. Happy birthday, you sad, strange man.

By: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:29:50 -0800

I can understand the claims from Boston, Richmond and even the Bronx. Poe's first published works, an anonymous collection of poetry, was credited to "a Bostonian". He wrote a pile of material when he lived in Richmond. And he spent some of his last years in the Bronx. But it was in Baltimore where Poe wrote "The Raven" and launched his carreer, where he developed a reputation as a critic to be reckoned with, where he pioneered in both prose and poetry, and where he died. Poe the Historical Figure was a product of Baltimore.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:31:35 -0800

Poe Toaster revealed! Scary as all get-out!

By: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:32:40 -0800

I'm pretty sure the Poe Toaster is the Poe house curator, and a couple accomplices.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:34:56 -0800

The team known as the Baltimore Ravens lost last night–coincidence? I THINK NOT MUST CONSULT TIMECUBE AND CONSTRUE MEANING MATRIX

By: padraigin

padraigin — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:42:48 -0800

Ha! I just caught on to the whole "Baltimore Ravens" thing. I should have majored in English at a better school, man.

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:46:26 -0800

You can't help it that you were educated-stupid. [/TIMECUBE REF]

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:47:31 -0800

Today marks the 200th birthday of Edgar Alan Poe, Maybe somebody can buy him a second 'l' as a present.

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:58:30 -0800

of course, I bet some fucker has already done that, otherwise it would be GOLD. Poe turns up as a vampire in, The Bloody Red Baron...

By: Postroad

Postroad — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:00:01 -0800

I had been told by Mabbott, the editor mentioned in one of the pieces here, while visiting him in NY (he taught at the time at Columbia) that it might well be that Poe had a curious problem, not unusual, with processing alcohol, and that even a little could render him (or someone with the problem) very drunk. Poe, like Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) a favorite among the French, which may or may not be a good thing for one's reputation.

By: ob

ob — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:00:27 -0800

Happy Birthday Mr. Poe you creepy man, you.

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:01:32 -0800

NEWMAN!!!!!!! /shakes fist Fucker steals everything for himself.

By: everichon

everichon — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:15:46 -0800

I recently enjoyed this heavily fictionalized account of his life. Who's got a pipe of Amontillado to share for a toast?

By: Rangeboy

Rangeboy — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:17:48 -0800

"Edgar Alan Poe hated New York so much he had to come down to Baltimore to die."

By: Caduceus

Caduceus — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:19:10 -0800

For the love of God, Montressor! (Happy birthday, Poe. Hope you weren't buried alive.)

By: cazoo

cazoo — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:27:40 -0800

The Poe Toasters, my new band name.

By: Ian A.T.

Ian A.T. — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:35:13 -0800

Happy to read that the new guy didn't leave any dumb notes this year.

By: ghost of a past number

ghost of a past number — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:44:12 -0800

The article in the second link is somewhat unclear, but I get the impression people have been watching the toaster do his thing, which is kind of a let-down. One would hope Poe fans could do better in the mystery department.

By: Joakim Ziegler

Joakim Ziegler — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:08:18 -0800

I've been getting facebook messages and emails and various invitations to events for the anniversary, and they all get the name wrong. It's "Allan", people. Is that so hard? You all claim to love the guy, but you can't be bothered to get his name right?

By: Cranberry

Cranberry — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:22:35 -0800

Cooping is forcing drunks to vote repeatedly? I thought it was the practice of naughty cops sleeping on duty in their cars.

By: longsleeves

longsleeves — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:04:35 -0800

a half filled bottle of cognac?

By: niles

niles — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:07:16 -0800

huh. Wikipedia spells it "Allan"

By: niles

niles — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:08:37 -0800

Because, of course, that's how it's spelled. Just making sure you all read Joakim Ziegler's comment correctly. 'Cause I sure did.

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:58:13 -0800

I had a 7th grade teacher who taught us that the word poetry was drived from the name Edgar Allan Poe. (This was not the same teacher who tried to convince us that there was no such thing as Australia because none of us had ever been there.)

By: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:02:49 -0800

I had a 7th grade teacher who taught us that the word poetry was drived from the name Edgar Allan Poe. While that's not true, Poe can be credited with another invention. Working long hours as a critic, poet and prose artist proved gruelling to Poe, especially having to write all that out by hand. One of the ironies of handwriting over typing is that you can more easily eat with a pen in your hand than you can with both hands on a keyboard. And so Poe was, as you might imagine, fond of the sandwich. Despite his lanky frame, Poe was actually a big eater. Contemporary accounts attest to his voracious appetite: one story tells how he once ate an entire ham shank while talking to his editor at The Saturday Visitor. So a regular sandwich wasn't enough for him. One day, Poe received a brainstorm, and went with his idea to the local baker, himself an amateur poet. Poe asked him to bake special oblong rolls, custom made for the type of sandwich Poe envisioned, in exchange for writing a favorable review of his poetry collection "Ode to An Upturned Barrel and Other Poems". The sandwiches Poe could build with these long rolls satisfied him immensely. Soon Poe was taking these sandwiches to card games, and the snack caught on. Eventually, the sandwich made its way to New Orleans where it would gain lasting fame, and the name by which it is known to this day.

By: IndigoJones

IndigoJones — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:10:41 -0800

No post complete without a mention of UVA's Raven Society.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:31:31 -0800

Get a rope.

By: Huplescat

Huplescat — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:50:29 -0800

Baltimore can't figure out what to do with its main claims to international notoriety: Edgar Allan Poe, Frank Zappa, John Waters and Nancy Pelosi.

By: Tube

Tube — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:14:57 -0800

I confess to having been unfamiliar with the term "cooping". Poe was an erudite sort, a man of letters. Perhaps he was admonished verbally, though with uncharacteristic zeal; "Vote or die motha fucka, Mutha fucka vote or die Rock the vote or else I'm gonna stick a knife through your eye."

By: Esoquo

Esoquo — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:51:56 -0800

Baltimore can't figure out what to do with its main claims to international notoriety: Edgar Allan Poe, Frank Zappa, John Waters and Nancy Pelosi. Cage match.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:21:37 -0800

One thing that fascinates me with Poe, is the fact he was the first person to solve Olber's Paradox.

By: Forrest Greene

Forrest Greene — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:43:10 -0800

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing's account of Poe's invention of a particular sandwich reminds of the time he awoke suddenly after a night of debauchery. He jumped up, went over to his desk, & immediately began composing a dark & creepy poem. In doing so, Poe had gone from bed to verse.