1464 – Diaphanous Dandelions | Pickwick 1 | Read With Me | SWM+ Sneak Peek

Episode 1464 – Diaphanous Dandelions | Pickwick 1 | Read With Me | SWM+ Sneak Peek

 

SCOOTER: Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s time for the podcaster here who’s here to read to you tonight, read with…not read with you; read near you or para…do a little paraphrasing. Though luckily tonight, not too much paraphrasing or commentary. What’s it called when you make commentary on your para…paracot…paraphrase commentary…para…para…a parometer sounds like something you'd measure paraphrasing commentary with. Say, every time I listen to Scooter, my parometer is going through the roof. Yeah, we’ve stopped using…we need a Kelvin scale parometer for him. Anyway, if you're wondering what in the name of parometers or commentary…I can't think of…it’s…why is it so hard for me to mash those words up into something mildly entertaining? Well, as a matter of fact, it’s because I make a sleep podcast, and that’s…as a matter of fact, I’ve just demonstrated my misqualifications.

 

So, welcome to Sleep With Me. It’s a friendly podcast to keep you company, take your mind off of stuff so you could fall asleep, which is a little bit different, right? I’m here to be your friend in the deep, dark night and just be here for you to barely listen to me. You could listen to me, or I could be background noise. I’m here to be a mild distraction, just like if you called a friend or you were hanging out with somebody. It is a bit different, so just give it a few tries and see how it goes. But I really hear…I really want to help you because of sleeplessness, right, or all the stuff around it and involved with it. If you're new or you're a regular listener and you need a refresher, we’ve got a long, meandering intro coming up. First there’s some support, then a long, meandering intro, and then later on I’ll be reading…I'll be starting our read-through of the Pickwick Papers, which we did a sample of over the holiday season of 2024.

 

So, I don't know, maybe you're hearing this at the holiday season of 20…I don't even know. At Sleep With Me we're always recording, so…so anyway, I’m glad you're here. If you're a new listener or you're going through something and you're here for a little while, I’m so happy to be able to help you, and I’m so proud that we do this together. The people that benefit from…the most from the podcast are who not only I count on but all of you, the people that are just going…in the middle of something tough right now or just checking the show out for the first time. It’s the people that listen on a regular basis that support the show back that makes all of this possible. Not me, not me. It’s all those people that do that, and we could always use more help. So, if you say, wait a second, I didn't realize that; Sleep With Me makes my life incredibly better whether it’s for the past week or the past four, five years. These are the ways you could say, how do I help? It helped me; how do I help? Here’s a couple ways you could do that.

 

Intro: Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press Play. I’m gonna do the rest. What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake. That could be thoughts, things on your mind, thoughts about the past, the present, the future, so thinking thoughts, it could be feelings coming up, feelings related to those thoughts or feelings that are just there, feelings about the past or about anticipation, feelings that are just…you say, what are you doing there? How’d you get there? It never sounds like this; surprise! It always sounds like, yeah, I’m here. Surprise.

 

So, it could be feelings, it could be physical sensations, it could be changes in time, temperature, routine, work schedule, personal schedule, family schedule, travel, guests, you could be in the middle of something, going through something, getting over something. Whatever it is, I’m here to try to help because, one, I can relate to what it’s like. Trouble getting to sleep; check last night. Trouble staying asleep; check last night. Trouble waking up; check last night, and also just not feeling restful, 'cause it was kinda like one of those things where I needed to get to sleep and then I didn't sleep good. I’ve been through it, right, and I know what it’s like for me, and I’ve been through a lot of different…of the ones I listed.

 

But I list all that stuff and I talk about it so you get a sense you're in the right place, that here we don't assume to understand you, but you could be understood, whether I understand what it feels like for you or what brought you here, or somewhere around the world somebody’s listening who’s been through something very similar, and they're the ones really, right now in this moment, listening and thinking of you positively. ‘Cause they say, wow, somebody new is here at the show, or somebody’s coming back to the show and they've been through what I’ve been through or something like that, and I know what it feels like for me, so I really hope this podcast can help you. That’s what they're thinking about you, someone you don't even know, somewhere across the globe. That’s where the magic happens for the show. It kinda happens passively in the background, but you get to be a part of that magic whether you come here once or you come here thousands and thousands of times.

 

You could be the receiver and the giver or both. Again, you say, well, I don't know if any of that’s real. I say, well, I’ve heard about it. It is actually real. It is direct. Or, it is indirect, and yeah, it’s a bit…I don't know, but it’s real. I’ve heard enough people tell me things that brought me to tears to know it’s real. It’s just nice. What a nice alternative, right, to be in your bed whether you've just been having trouble sleeping recently or you've had trouble your whole life, or you're in the middle of something, to be in your bed and know someone you don't know in the world cannot only relate to how you feel but is rooting for you — and that’s really happening — and to be somewhere…someone somewhere in the world and know someone’s listening for the first time or they're coming back who’s been through what you've been through, and they're having trouble sleeping, and they feel the…and you're like, man, I hope this can help you like it helped me. So, that’s why I make the show.

 

I also make the show because you deserve a bedtime where you can get the rest you need so your life is more manageable. You deserve a bedtime where you can…where you don't have to dread it, where you say, well, at least I have some comfort here. At least I have this dude rambling about nothing. That’s not too bad. At least I have a friend in the deep, dark night, the show that distracts me that I somewhat look forward to. Or, yeah, I found the show and I was going through this, and it worked for me for a little while. Whatever it is, it…I'm glad you're here and I really hope we can help you. The way the show works is I send my voice across the deep, dark night. I use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, and superfluous tangents. I go off topic, I get mixed up, then I forget what I was talking about, kinda like you've seen so far. Like I started the show out…when I read through Pickwick Papers, sometimes I’ll need to paraphrase to make it more sleepy.

 

Sometimes I’ll try to paraphrase 'cause I have no idea what they're talking about and I’m trying to picture it in my head, and then other times I’ll be making commentary. Reinvention, not so much. But, you know, there’s things…it’s amusing. There’s amusing events in here. I say, what is happening already? I say, which characters…? What do I think of these characters? But they're very sleepy. So, yeah, that’s…lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones means my voice is not traditionally soothing, and the show kinda always feels like it’s meandering, almost like I’m wasting time in a positive way, 'cause I’m wasting it to kinda be here with you, keeping you company so you could fall asleep. The thing is, when most people get here, obviously you're not gonna be at your best. You've had trouble sleeping, you're looking for a sleep podcast to help you get some sleep. Maybe you're not at your best right now. Maybe you're not in the best mood, and that’s welcome here. Skepticism is welcome here.

 

Doubt, frustration is welcome here, because why wouldn't you be doubtful, frustrated, skeptical? Maybe you found this show through a search, maybe you heard about it, maybe somebody told you about it, and then you tune in and I’m talking…I'm trying to paraphrase com…pair tree? That sounds more like…that sounds like, one, two trees together, or parrots…it’s performing parrots, or maybe someone that pretends they can throw their voice into a parrot’s mouth. You say, is that parrot really saying that, or is that a parrot tree? You'd say, that’s a parrotoquist. What is that? Ventriloquism with parrots. Why do you just teach the parrot to talk? Oh, 'cause it’s funnier. Then you can have…the parrot has two different voices, like a human voice and a parrot voice. I don't know. So, yeah, it’s…parrot tree, though…is a paraphrasing com…para tree. Para tree…that still sounds like parrot tree, just somebody saying it in a different way. Com…para…comma parrot…comma parrot.

 

That sounds like a romance novel or something. How I fell in love…comma, parrot. Love stories in…love…somebody else remind me of this one; love stories…bird-watching and love stories. Comma, parrot. Man, thanks for…somebody please remind me of this. I like that one. I don't know if I would read it. Here’s a question for…to put out to everybody; should we spell out comma parrot or should it just be comma, parrot? I could see it in the airport bookstore now. So, anyway, holy moly. What do we call this? Where am I? Does anybody know where I am? I fell onto another fugue state. I’ve been fugue stated by my own parrot tree. Don't worry, if you don't find this amusing, if you're skeptical or doubtful, that’s very common. As a matter of fact, it is really common. I’m only laughing because it’s so common. Most people do not like me at all. They can't stand me, and that’s okay. Alls…here’s the way it works; give the show a few tries — you got nothing to lose — and see if it helps you fall asleep.

 

I’ll explain more as part of the rest of the intro. But if you discover this show does not work for you, it doesn't change all the other stuff I said, and I have a website set up just for people like you that strongly dislike me. Or maybe you're already positive, like…you're like, I’d like to do some commentary and paraphrasing about you. I’d say, it’s been done, believe me. If you could see…I have a special pillow for…after I read these…those type of e-mails when I curl up. It’s my para tree pillow. The old para tree pillow, when I get commentary and paraphrasing from listeners. But I have a website set up, sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou. Or, I think you could put /nothanks and it’ll take you there. It has other sleep podcasts and sleepy stuff. I probably recommend like a million people from this show to other sleep podcasts and stuff like that, because you still deserve a good night's sleep.

 

But if you stick around for two or three episodes, what you may find is the path of the regular listeners who said, yeah, after two or three…at first I was like, what in the…what are you squawking about, man? Then all of a sudden I realized I fell asleep on the third listen. I didn't even remember when I fell asleep. The common theme is like, I had no idea something like this could exist. This is what I should have been looking for and I didn't even know to look for it, 'cause it is like TV on in the other room. It’s a podcast I just barely listen to, like a out-of-focus picture or when I stream something and I put it under my pillow on my phone, or a friend talking to me that I’m not listening to. That’s what your show is like. Thank you. But it takes a couple tries to get used to not…just barely listening to something, because everything else wants our attention. I only want to hold your attention softly, almost like one of those things…what are those, dandelions?

 

Like, I’m not here to blow the dandelion away and make a wish. I’m just here to hold it gently. Maybe the breeze will take it away, or maybe we’ll just look at it together. I’m like the dandelion holder. There you go; there’s another…what’s…not daffodils. Is there a bird…? Not ducks, 'cause I don't see…I mean, ducks could be a separate romance novel. I guess these would be short stories. But…comma parrot. But dandelions and…diaphanous dandelions? I don't know. But actually…are dandelions diaphanous? I mean, I guess you'd say, well, I don't think you understand what that word means, once again. But yeah, so, a regular listener…yeah, it’s just something you just barely listen to. I think I got that. This is also a sleep podcast I’ve been making since 2013, believe it or not, on a regular basis, week after week, episode after episode, multiple episodes a week, and this is kinda like the first idea of this grown-up bedtime stories sleep podcast thing. But I’m not even here to put you to sleep.

 

This show is not here to put you to sleep. There is no pressure to fall asleep with this show. I’m here to keep you company whether you're awake or asleep, 'cause there’s people listening who can't sleep at all, and I’m here to keep them company, too, or people that need a break during the day. So, this podcast is here, and you just fall asleep during it. I’m here to be your bore-friend, your bore-bae, your bore-sib, your bore-bud, your neighbore, your borefadil…borefadil; it’s like a daffodil but more boring. What is that, just the stem? I say, well, if you want to hurt a stem’s feeling…if you want to hurt a daffodil stem’s feelings, you just did. Congratulations. But borefadil…borefadil; it sounds like something new you watch on one of those TV commercials. The borefadil is not made from dandelions or dandelion stems. May cause sneezing. Whatever, borefadil. Ooh boy, how did we get here?

 

Bore-bud, your bore-bor, your bores, your boreman, your Boris Borelaf, your best bore-friend forever or for’eva. I’m here to keep you company while you fall asleep. That’s why the episodes are over an hour, so you don't have to think about falling asleep. There’s tons of episodes in the ad-supported version. We have a story-only version out there. So, just see how it goes and see what happens. But that’s my job, is to keep you company, not to put you to sleep but just so you fall asleep, like the daffodil. Eventually the wind comes and blows you away. But maybe some cute kid or something blows you away, too, or gently blows you on the breeze. That’s a little bit sleepier than blows you away. But I mean, sometimes when kids are…is that…do you make a wish with daffodils? Do you get a wish for every single one of those seeds? These are questions I could use the answers to. Okay, so, don't need to listen, no…not here to put you to sleep. Most people don't like the show.

 

What else do I need to know? Great question. So, the show’s structured in a very specific way to benefit the most people it can, and it is adjustable. So, I’ll just lay out why we structure the show the way we do and then how you can adjust it if you become a regular listener. So, all of our shows start with a greeting unless they're really old or something; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, so you feel seen and welcomed in. You say, oh, he said something silly, too. I might check that show out, or I’ll give it a try. Right, because we want to be a welcoming place where you say, oh, okay…and even if…you don't even have to come in to check the show out, right? You could check it out from the outside if you prefer.

 

Okay, then there’s support so that paying for the show is optional, 'cause a lot of people come and go as they're going through stuff, and most people that kind of are come and go or just aren't in a position to would prefer something with sponsor support so that paying for it’s optional. But if you prefer something ad-free or you get so much out of the podcast, you could support it at Sleep With Me+ and get ad-free episodes. Then after that, totally separate from the support, is a long, meandering intro about fifteen to twenty minutes long meant to ease you into bedtime. It’s where I try to explain what the podcast is, I do it in a very inefficient way, but it’s familiar. Every time I try to follow the same similar structure, but I go off on a different tangent. The reason for that is two reasons. One, yeah, it’d be more efficient if I just said a few words and had the same intro every time.

 

But then whatever part of us keeps us awake would adjust to that and come up with some new strategy. So instead, you have a familiar thing where we’re all kinda hanging out, just like a bedtime story starts, at…at the archetypal nap time. Everybody get on your piece of carpet or whatever. Okay, whatever, turning the lights out. You know, that kind of thing. So, it’s familiar, but the distractions are different every time so that it just helps. If you decide…if you start listening to the show and you're like, I don't like these intros, don't worry, we got you covered. Bedtime Stories from Sleep With Me is in every podcast app, and that’s shows with just the greeting and the story. So, that’s the intro. It also goes on and on and on to ease you into bedtime, so you could listen as you're winding down, getting ready for bed, or in bed getting comfortable. It’s not meant to put you to sleep.

 

It does put some people to sleep, and if it does, you probably should think about supporting the show, because the intro is more meant to ease you into bedtime. That’s just what’s been shown to work, is having a wind-down routine, and it’s what usually works for me. Last night it did not, but what are you gonna do? So, then after the intro is support, again, so paying for the podcast is optional for all those people that are just going through something temporary that listen or who aren't in a position to support the show. They count on the people that support the show back and support the sponsors. So, that’s that, and then there will be our bedtime story. Tonight it’ll be a reading of part of the Pickwick Papers, a Dickens story, so…or by Charles Dickens.

 

So, yeah, I think that’s it. I’m really glad you're here. Myself and a team of people work on producing the show to make it sound free and easy and comforting, and we all work really hard because we yearn and strive to help you fall asleep. So, thank you again for coming by. If you decide this podcast changed your life, it made your life better and you want it to be here for you and other…and make other people’s lives better, like you think you're gonna be listening to the show six months from now or a year from now, think about opting in to support the show back so we can be here for you and everybody else, and here’s a couple ways you could do that.

 

Hey everybody, this is Scoots. This is a episode of our read-through of the Pickwick Papers, and we’ve been doing this on Sleep With Me+ for about a year, and now it’s finally making its way out into the public feed. So, I really hope you enjoy it. If you're on Sleep With Me+ and you're hearing this, you got this episode about a year ago. So, make sure you're checking your full episode feeds so your story-only episode feeds, and don't forget to check your bonus feeds every once in a while. But this has been a really enjoyable series to cover with the friends meandering throughout England and friendship. So, I really hope you enjoy this episode of Sleep With Me and read with me the Pickwick Papers. Thanks, and goodnight, everybody.

 

Alright everybody, it’s Scoots here, and I’m gonna be reading from the Pickwick Papers. These Read with Me episodes were pretty popular when we started with Frankie and Victor. Originally it was just bonus content for people that supported the show on Sleep With Me+. If you support the show on Sleep With Me+, you're probably hearing this episode like super early because part of keeping the show sustainable is rethinking how we do everything. So, now we're like, hey, I think we want to put one of these Read with Me episodes out every single month, maybe more depending on how strong the positive feedback is, but probably starting with once a month because people got so much out of it. So, we’ll be doing that with Frankie and Victor, but now moving forward we’ll do…we're gonna do actual full intros and everything and read through it, and we’ll just see how long it takes. I got…let’s see if it has it.

 

But first I’m gonna read through the Wikipedia page just so we can familiarize ourselves on it. It’s kinda cool for me to be reading it because it’s like…I've been going to the Dickens Fair for so long and I didn't…I've never read this. There’s a stacked…there’s a place called Pickwick Square there. So, here’s from Wikipedia. This…the Pickwick Papers or the posthumous papers of the Pickwick Club is the first novel by English author Charles Dickens. His previous work was Sketches by Boz, a collection of short pieces that was published in various newspapers and periodicals from 1833 to 1836 and published in book form in 1836. This is a comic. It has…I don't know if this is for Sketches by Boz or what, but it has illustrations by illustrator Robert Seymour, and they're…connect things into a novel by Dickens’ pen name, Boz. The book became a publishing phenomenon with even bootleg copies, theatrical performances, joke books, and other merch.

 

According to a article in the Atlantic, literature was not a big enough category for Pickwick. It defined its own…it became a piece of entertainment. The Pickwick Papers was published in nineteen issues over twenty months and it popularized serialized fiction with its surprise endings. Let’s see what else we have here. Let’s see, Dickens had been a reporter, then was doing sketches, and then met a illustrator. It’s a sequence of loosely-related adventures written for serialization in a periodical, which…so, I don't know if…it was a serialized novel, which I guess in modern parlance or at least in my mind, I’m like, that’s a little bit different, right, than a novel. Serialized short stories? I don't know how I’d refer to it now. It says that it occurs in the novel…the novel is set between 1827 and 1828, though there are some things…and Samuel Pickwick is the protagonist, a kind and wealthy old gent. Perpetual president of the club.

 

This kinda starts off like the beginning of their journey, which goes throughout English countryside, and some other things happen in the character. There’s supporting characters. There was a sequel with some of them in it, briefly, and adaptations. Oh, there’s a silent three-reel film in 1913, then another one in 1921, then in 1936 BBC, a British music drama opera company, did a televised opera. Then ‘38, Pickwick Papers by…in Mercury Theatre on air. Then in 1952 there was the first sound film version, the only sound version of the story released to cinemas. 1985 is an animated adaptation. There was also, in 1985, the BBC twelve-part, 350 minutes…I don't know what that is divided by forty or fifty, but…see how many episodes. Twelve parts of Sleep With Me, maybe? I don't know. Will it be more or will it be less? Probably fourteen. I don't know. Then there was BBC four, a dramatization in 1977. There was theatrical adaptations with songs in the past. A lot of different stuff.

 

It was published in nineteen issues over twenty months. The first…the last was double length and cost two shillings. Numbers were typically issued on the last day of a given month. Looks like there’s fifty-seven chapters. Yeah, so, I guess that’s all we need to know for now. I remember there was animated…I wonder if that was the eighties. So, I wonder if those are on streaming anywhere, 'cause I remember the animated versions of Dickens stuff, but I don't think I watched any of it. So, I’ll have to check that and try to find this silent three-reel film from 1913, too. Alright everybody, thanks so much for listening, and here’s Scoots with the Pickwick Papers. Thanks, and goodnight.

 

The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. The big-farm-esque papers of the Pickwick Club, Episode 1, Chapter 1, The Pickwickians. The first ray of light which illuminates the gloom and converts into a dazzling brilliancy, that obscurity in which the earlier history of the public career of the immortal Pickwick would appear to be involved is derived from the perusal of the following entry and the transactions of the Pickwick Club, which the editor of this paper feels the highest pleasure in laying before his readers as a proof of the careful intention, indifigidable…[mumbles], a nice discrimination with which his search among the multifarious documents confided to him has been conducted. May 12, 1827. Joseph Smiggers Esq., PVP MPC, perpetual vice president, member of Pickwick Club presiding. My official voice taking over.

 

The following resolutions are unanimously agreed to; that this association has heard read with feelings of unmingled satisfaction and unqualified approval the paper communicated by Samuel Pickwick Esq., GC MPC, general chairman, member, Pickwick Club. Entitled Speculations on the Source of the Hempstead Ponds with Some Observations on the Theory of Tittlebats — maybe one of the original sleep podcasts — and that this association does hereby return its warmest thanks to said Samuel Pickwick Esq., GC MPC, for the same. That, while this association is deeply sensible of the advantages which must accrue to the cause of science, from the production to which they have just averted, no less than the wearied reaches…researches or reaches…reaching research of Samuel Pickwick Esq., GC MPC, in Hornsy, Highgate, Brixton, and Camberwell. They cannot but entertain a lively sense of the inestimable benefits which must inevitably result from carrying the speculations of that learned man into a wider field from extending his travels and consequentially enlarging his spear of observation to the advancement of knowledge and the diffusion of learning.

 

That, with the view just mentioned, this association has taken into serious consideration a proposal emanating from the aforesaid Samuel Pickwick Esq., GC MPC, and three other Pickwickians here and after named for forming a new branch of united Pickwickians under the title of the Corresponding Society of the Pickwick Club, that the said proposal has received the sanction and approval of this association, that the Corresponding Society of the Pickwick Club is therefore hereby constituted, and that Samuel Pickwick Esq., GC MPC, Tracy Tupman Esq., MPC, and Augustus Snodgrass Esq., MPC, and Nathaniel Winkle Esq., MPC, are hereby nominated and appointed members of the same, and that they be requested to forward from time to time authenticated accounts of their journeys and investigations of their observations of character and manners and in the whole of their adventures, together with all tales and papers to which local scenery or associations must…may give rise to the Pickwick Club stationed in London; that this association cordially recognizes the principle of every member of the Corresponding Society, deferring his own travelling expenses, and that it sees no object whatsoever to the members of the said society pursuing their inquiries for any length of time they please upon the same terms; that the members of the aforesaid corresponding society be and are hereby informed that their proposal to pay the postage of their letters and the carriage of their parcels has been deliberated upon by this association, and that this association considers such proposal worthy of the great minds from which it emanated, and that it hereby signifies its perfect acquiescence therein.

 

The casual observer, adds the secretary, to whose notes we are indebted to the following account. The casual observer might possibly have remarked nothing extraordinary in the bald head and circular spectacles which were intently turned towards his, the secretary’s face, during the reading of the above resolutions. To those who knew that the gigantic brain of Pickwick was working beneath that forehead and that the beaming eyes of Pickwick were twinkling behind those glasses, the sight was indeed an interesting one. There sat the man who had traced to their source the mighty ponds of the Hempstead and agitated the scientific world with his theory of tittlebats as calm and unmoved as the deep waters of the one on a frosty day, or as the solitary specimen of the other in the inmost recesses of an earthen jar.

 

How much more interesting did the spectacle become when, starting into full life and animation, as the simultaneous call for Pickwick burst from his followers, that illustrious man slowly mounted into the Windsor chair on which he had been previously seated, and addressed the club himself had founded. What a study for an artist that exciting scene present, the eloquent Pickwick, with one had gracefully concealed behind his coat tails and the other waving in the air to assist his glowing declamation, his elevated position revealing those tights and gaiters which, had they clothed an ordinary man, might have passed without observation, but which, when Pickwick clothed them, if we may use the expression, inspired involuntary awe and respect surrounded by the men who had volunteered to share the perils of his travels and who were destined to participate in the glories of his discoveries.

 

On his right sat Mr. Tracy Tupman, the two susceptible Tupman, who, to the wisdom and experience of mature years, had super-added the enthusiasm and ardor of a boy in the most interesting and pardonable of human weaknesses, love. Time and feeding had expanded that once romantic form. The black silk waistcoat had become more and more developed. Inch by inch, the gold watch chain beneath it had disappeared from within the range of Tupman’s vision, and gradually had the capricious chin encroached upon the borders of the white cravat, but the soul of Tupman had known no change. The admiration of others was still its ruling passion. On the left of his great leader sat the poetic Snodgrass, and near him again, the sporting Winkle. Oh, Snodgrass and Winkle, the former poetically enveloped in a mysterious blue cloak with a canine-style collar, and the latter communicating an additional lustre to a new green coat, a plaid neckerchief or neckerchief, and closely-fitted drabs.

 

Mr. Pickwick’s oration upon this occasion bared repeating, because together with the debate thereon, is entered on the transactions of the club. Both bear a strong affinity to the discussions of other celebrated bodies, as it is always interesting to trace a resemblance between the proceedings of people, meetings, leaders, they call themselves. We're gonna transfer the entry to these pages. Ahem, ahem. Mr. Pickwick observed, says the secretary, that fame was dear to the heart of every person. Poetic fame was dear to the heart of his friend Snodgrass. The fame of conquest was equally dear to his friend Tupman, and the desire of earning fame in sports of the field, the air, and the water, was utmost to his friend Winkle. He, Mr. Pickwick, that is, would not deny that he was influenced by human passions and human feelings, cheers, in particular, possibly by human weakness. Then there was ‘no’s’ from the audience.

 

Those were cheers not…before, not just that he loved, but the cheers he received from the audience. But this he would never say, that if ever the fire of self-importance broke out in his bosom, the desire to benefit human beings in particular, his preference for that effectually quenched it. The praise of human beings was his swing, man. Philanthropy was his insurance office, philanthropy insurance. We insure lacked philanthropically. This brought on vehement cheering from the crowd. He had felt some pride, he acknowledged freely, and let the people he had strong disagreements with make the most of it. He had felt some pride when he presented his tittlebatian theory to the world. The tittebatian theory; yes. It might be celebrated or it might not. A cry of the crowd, with a great cheering of, it is! Tittlebats, tittlebats, tittlebats. Now, he would take the ascertation of that honorable Pickwickian, whose voice he had just heard.

 

It was celebrated, but if the fame of that treaty were to extend to the farthest confines of the world, the pride with which he should reflect on that authorship of that production would be as nothing compared with the pride with which he looked around him, on this, the proudest moment of his existence. Oh, the cheers did roll in then. But despite all that, he was a humble individual. No, no, no, the crowd could not agree. Still, he could not but feel that they had selected him for a service of great honor, and of some challenge, unexpected ones, turbulence, you may even say. Travelling at this time was not easy, and the minds of coach drivers was unsettled. Let them look beyond and contemplate the scenes which were enacting around the world. Stage coaches were heading in all directions, some quick, some slow, some not at all. Some horses refused to go. Boats, they were…some were boating and some were not.

 

The boilers on what I can only assume were locomotives, some were working and some were not. Cheers from the audience in all that of no, no, no. Well, let that honorable Pickwickian cried ‘no’ so loudly come forward and deny it, if they could. That brought on cheers. Who was it that cried ‘no’? Enthusiastic cheering. Was it some vain and disappointed person? They would not say haberdasher, which brought on loud cheering, a haberdasher jealous of the praise which had been perhaps undeservedly bestowed on Mr. Pickwick’s researches, and smarting under the censure which he had heaped upon his own feeble attempts at rivalry to Pickwick. Sorry, it’s time. Mr. Bolton of Aldgate rose to order. Did, my finger raised, the honorable Pickwickian allude to him? Cries of order, chair, yes, no, go off, leave off, have a sack, or whatever people might say. Mr. Pickwick would not put up to be put down by clamor. He had alluded to the honorable gentleman. There was great excitement.

 

Mr. Blotton, not Bolton as I had said earlier mistakenly, would only say then that he repelled the honorable gentleman’s false and scurlesses accusations with profound contempt. This brought on great cheering. One can even imagine if you were reading through the pages of this whether…when it was first released as a serial or in early printing, a painting or a woodcut of this…thus this meeting and the disarray it was in, the smoky room, the walls, the hands, the pipes, the candles, the books, the glasses, the smoke, the positions of sitting, and oh, the…are those topcoats or petticoats? I do not know. Anyway, the honorable gentleman was a humbug. This was…immense confusion caused, and people yelled ‘chair’ and ‘order’. Speaking of order, Mr. A. Snodgrass rose to order. He threw himself upon the chair. Hear, hear. He wished to know whether this disgraceful contest between two members of that club should be allowed to continue. Yes, hear, hear.

 

The chairman was quite sure that the honorable Pickwickian would withdraw the expression he just made use of. Mr. Blotton, with all possible respect for the chair, was quite sure he would not. The chairman felt it was his imperative duty to demand the honorable gentleman whether he had used the expression which had just escaped him in a common sense. Mr. Blotton had no hesitation saying that he had not. He had used the word in the Pickwickian sense. Hear, hear. He was bound to acknowledge that personally he had entertained the highest regard and esteem for the honorable gentleman. He had merely considered him a humbug in a Pickwickian point of view. Hear, hear. Now, Mr. Pickwick felt much gratified by the fair, candid, and full explanation of his honorable friend. He begged it to be at once understood, that his own observations had been merely intended to bear Pickwickian construction. This brought cheers.

 

Here the entry terminates, as we have no doubt the debate did also, after arriving at such a highly satisfactory and intelligible point to most except for I, your dear reader, reader. I believe the debate was over…was it over the use of the term humbug? What was Pickwickian about it? But maybe as we discover the workings of this club and the personalities within, we will gauge a better understanding. I know that once they would say bah humbug. So, the fair, candid, and full explanation which satisfied Mr. Pickwick, Mr. Pickwick begged that it be once understood, that his own observations had merely intended to be a Pickwickian construction. So, that is the intelligible point that still my intelligence cannot grasp. We have no official statement of the facts which the reader will find recorded. No, we do; we have no official statement of the facts which the reader will find recorded in the next chapter, but they have been carefully collated from letters and other MS authorities. So, unquestionably they are genuine as to justify their narration in a connected form.

 

That leads us to Chapter 2, The First Day’s Journey and the First Evening’s Adventures. Part 1 of this part, which will no longer be numbered, probably, but…with their consequences. That punctual servant of all work, the sun, had just risen and begun to strike a light on the morning of the thirteenth of May, 1827 — that’s 1827 — when Mr. Samuel Pickwick burst like another sun from his slumbers and threw open his chamber window. He looked out upon the world beneath. Goswell Street was at his feet. Goswell Street was right on his right hand as far as the eyes could reach. Goswell Street extended on his left. On the opposite side of Goswell Street was over the way. Such, thought Mr. Pickwick, are those narrow views of those philosophers who, content with examining the things that lie before them, look not to the truths which are hidden beyond.

 

As well as I might be content to gaze upon Goswell Street forever, without one effort to penetrate the hidden countries on which every side surround it, and have given vent to his beautiful reflection, Mr. Pickwick proceeded to put himself into his clothes, and his clothes into his portmanteau. Great people are seldom over-scrupulous in the arrangement of their attire. The operation of shaving, dressing, coffee-imbibing was soon performed, and in another hour, Mr. Pickwick, with his portmanteau in hand, his telescope in his great coat pocket, and his notebook in his waistcoat, was ready for the reception of any discoveries worthy of being noted down. He arrived at the coach stand in St. Martin;s, Le Grand. Cab, said Mr. Pickwick. Here you are, sir, said a strange human being wearing an apron with a brass label and number on it. He looked around as if he were catalogued in some collection of rarities. This was a water-person. Here you are, sir.

 

Now then, first cab, and the first cab, having been fetched from the public house, where he had been smoking his first pipe, Mr. Pickwick in his portmanteau got into the vehicle. Golden Cross, said Mr. Pickwick. Only a bob’s verse, Tommy, cried the driver sulkily, for the information of his friend the waterman, as his cab drove off. How old is that horse, my friend? Inquired Mr. Pickwick, rubbing his nose with the shilling he had reserved for the fair. Forty-two, replied the driver, eyeing him ascant. What? Said Mr. Pickwick, laying his hands upon his notebook. The driver reiterated his former statement. I said forty-two. Mr. Pickwick looked very hard at the man’s face, but his features were movable, so he noted down the fact forthwith. And how long do you keep him out at a time? Inquired Mr. Pickwick, searching for further information. Two or three weeks, replied the man. Weeks? Said Mr. Pickwick in astonishment. Out came the notebook again.

 

He lives at Pentonville when he’s at home, observed the driver coolly, but we seldom takes him home on account of his getting tired. Forty-two. On account of him getting tired? Reiterated the perplexed Mr. Pickwick. When he’s not pulling the cab he likes to lay down, continued the driver. When he’s pulling the cab he likes…he has tons of energy. It takes some weary short as well. You can't weary well…rest. We’ve got a pair of precious, large wheels on, so when he does move, he moves with the wheels. Mr. Pickwick entered every word of this statement in his notebook with the view of communicating it to the club as a singular instance of being confused and not being certain what was even happening. Said, I don't know if this guy’s…maybe I should take this horse with me. The entry was scarcely completed when they reached Golden Cross. Down jumped the driver and out got Mr. Pickwick.

 

Mr. Tupman, Mr. Snodgrass, and Mr. Winkle, who had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of their illustrious leader, crowded to welcome him. Here’s your fare, said Mr. Pickwick, holding out the shilling to the driver. By the way, here’s something to set this horse so it can rest whenever it wants to or pull a cab whenever it wants to, too, inserted by an imaginary podcaster. But what was surprising was Mr. Pickwick’s astonishment when the person flung the money on the pavement and requested in figurative terms to be allowed the pleasure of debating him for the amount. Debating Mr. Pickwick? What, are you wild? Said Snodgrass. Have you had too much to drink? Said Mr. Winkle, or both? Said Mr. Tupman. I’ll have a dance-off with ye, said the cab driver. Come on, I’ll dance-off all four of you for the horse and the cash. Now, here’s a lark, shouted a half-dozen coachmen nearby. Go to work, Sam, they said, and they crowded around with glee. Sam’s a dancer. What’s the row, Sam?

 

Inquired one gentleman. Row? Said the cab man. This guy’s always telling me how to run my show. What? I wasn't telling you how to run your show, said Mr. Pickwick. What’d you get in my cab for, then? Inquired the cab man. I don't know what you're talking about, said Mr. Pickwick indignantly. Wouldn't anybody believe, continued the cab driver, wouldn't anybody believe but this dude, coming in a cab and telling his friends I don't know what I’m doing. Every word he says into the bargain. A light flashed upon Mr. Pickwick. It was the notebook that the man took offense to, he realized within his mind. But one of the cab man’s friends said, are you sure about that, Sam? Yeah, he did. He was writing stuff down about me, not nice things. Then he [inaudible] me, and he gets here and he’s got these guys here, too. But don't worry, I’ll dance him right off. I’ll give him six months of blisters when he dances with me. Come on.

 

The cab man…cab man dashed his hat upon the ground with a reckless discard of his own private property. This over-the-top action knocked Mr. Pickwick’s spectacles off and followed up with the guy starting to dance right up close to him, tap-dancing and shuffle-ball stepping and shuffling off to what would be known as Buffalo. Then he started dancing around Snodgraff and then Tupman. Then he danced into the road and then back again to the pavement, and then danced around Mr. Winkle, all in a half-dozen seconds. What the…? Isn’t there an authority figure nearby? Said Snodgrass. Then he said, make him dance under the water pump, said another hot-pie man. You'll…guilty feet have got no rhythm, said Mr. Pickwick. Informers, shouted the crowd. Tattletales, they said. Come on, said the cab man, who had been dancing without cessation the entire time. His dancing was infecting the crowd. They were waving along with him in the same business manner and clapping to give him a beat.

 

While they were passive spectators of the scene, they were a part of the rhythm. But as the intelligence of the Pickwickians…the Pickwickians were tattletales started to spread. They started to think with vivacity of getting the Pickwick party wet, as well, just like the heated pastry vendor’s proposition. This was going to be not just a dance-off but a wet dance-off, had the fray been unexpectedly terminated suddenly by a newcomer. Again, you could see a picture of this if you read through one of the original versions, including the grouchy pie man with his basket. Quite the scene. But a new person in a…younger in a green coat emerged from the coach yard. What’s all the ruckus? They said. Tattletales, yelled the crowd. Are not; you are, said Pickwick in a tone to which…to any dispassionate listener carried conviction with it. Aren't you, though? Ain’t you? Said the young man, appealing to Mr. Pickwick.

 

The young man made his way through the crowd by the infallible process of skipping and dancing through its component members. This man, in a few hurried words — or someone — really explained the state of the case. Come along, then, said he of the green coat, lugging Mr. Pickwick after him and talking the whole way. Here, number 924, take your fare and take yourself off. There’s a lot of noise then of…we’ll run through some of the dialogue. Respectable gentleman…know him well. None of your nonsense. This way, sir. Where is your friends? All a mistake, I see. Never mind. Accidents happen. Dance-offs have to happen. Even regulated families dance-off. Never say don't dance. Down upon your luck…pull him up. Put that in his pipe, like the flavor of damned rascals. With a lengthened string of similar broken sentences delivered with the extraordinary volubility, the stranger led the way to the traveller’s waiting room, where he was closely followed by Mr. Pickwick and his friends.

 

Here, waiter, shouted the stranger, ringing the bell loudly. Glasses round. Brandy and water, hot and strong, sweet and plenty. You men been dancing, eh? You got sweaty eyes, sir. Waiter, how about some beefsteak for the gentlemen? Nothing like beefsteak for sweaty eyes, other than the kiss of a cold lamppost. But a cold lamppost is inconvenient. Standing out in the open kissing a lamppost; how ridiculous to be. Why are you kissing a lamppost? I got sweaty eyes, ha, ha. The stranger, without stopping to take a breath or a bath, swallowed a droughtful, half a pint of the reeking brandy and water, and flung himself into a chair with as much ease as if nothing uncommon had occurred. With his three companions…while his three companions were busily engaged in proffering their thanks to their new acquaintance, Mr. Pickwick had leisure to examine his costume and appearance.

 

He was about the middle height, but the thinness of his body and the length of his legs gave him the appearance of being much taller. The green coat had been a dress garment in the days of swallowtails, but that had evidently in those times been adorned by somebody much shorter than this person, for the soiled and faded sleeves scarcely reached to his wrists. It was buttoned up closely to his chin in the imminent hazard of splitting at the back, and an old stock without a vestige of a shirt collar ornamented his neck. His scanty black trousers displayed here, and those shiny patches which bespeak long service and were strapped very tightly over a pair of patches and mended shoes seemed to conceal dirty white stockings which were nevertheless distinctly visible. His long, black hair escaped in negligent waves from beneath each side of his old, pinched-up hat, and the glimpses of his bare wrists might be observed between the top…how dare he observe his bare wrists…between the tops of his gloves and the cuffs of his coat sleeves.

 

His face was thin and haggard, but an indescribable air of jaunty imprudence and a perfect self-possession pervaded the whole man. Such was the individual on whom Mr. Pickwick gazed through his spectacles, which he had fortunately recovered, and to whom he proceeded, when his friends had exhausted themselves, to return in chosen terms his warmest thanks for his recent assistance. Never mind, said the stranger, cutting the address very short. You've said enough. No more. Smart chap, that cab man. Handled his fives well. But if I had been your friend in the green jimmy, I’d have danced right off, and that pie man, too. No gammon. This coherent speech was interrupted by the entrance of the Rochester coachman to announce that the commodore was on the point of starting. Commodore? Said the stranger, starting up. My coach. Place booked. One outside. Leave you to pay for the brandy and the water. Want change for a five…bad silver. Bromegan buttons won't do. No go, eh.

 

And shook his head most knowingly. Now, so it happened that Mr. Pickwick and his three companions had resolved to make Rochester their first halting place, too, and having been intimated to their newfound acquaintance that they were journeying to the same city, they agreed to occupy the seat at the back of the coach where they could all sit together. Up with you, said the stranger, assisting Mr. Pickwick to the roof with so much precipitation as to impair the gravity of that gentleman’s deportment very materially. Any luggage, sir? Inquired the coachman. Who, I? Brown paper parcel here. That’s all. Other luggage gone by water. Packing up cases, boxes big as houses, heavy, darned heavy, said the stranger as he forced into his pocket as much as he could of the brown paper parcel, which presented most suspicious indications of containing one shirt and a handkerchief.

 

Heads, heads, take care of your heads, cried the loquacious stranger as they came out of the low archway, which in those days formed the entrance to the coach yard. Terrible place. Rough work. One day…five children. Mother, a tall lady eating sandwiches…forgot the arch. Whish, whish, whish, knock, knock. Children, look around. Mother, sandwich in her hand, feeding, feeding, feeding. Head of a family. Surprise, surprise. Looking at Whitehall, sir? Fine place. Little window. Somebody’s off there. Huh, sir. He didn't keep a sharp lookout, either. Eh, sir? Eh? Ahem, ahem. I am ruminating, said Pickwick, on the strange mutability of human affairs.

 

[End of recording]

Transcription performed by LeahTranscribes

Read With Me

 

Dandelions

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/236934/engineers-uncover-secret-thinking-behind-dandelions/

https://atmos.earth/spreading-seeds-how-dandelions-propagate/

https://www.snexplores.org/article/why-dandelion-seeds-scatter-wind

 

The Pickwick Papers

https://www.thehistoryreader.com/historical-fiction/pickwick/

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/13/why-pickwick-was-like-peaky-it-brought-dickens-devotees-together

https://victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/pickwick/wrt.html

 

Pickwick  Illustrations / Robert Seymour

https://www.charlesdickenspage.com/illustrations-pickwick.html

https://archive.org/details/pictorialpickwic01greguoft

https://www.charlesdickensillustration.org/copy-of-the-pickwick-papers

 

Dickens Film Adaptations

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/g33525265/best-charles-dickens-movies-shows/

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jun/13/streaming-best-dickens-adaptations-film-tv-personal-history-david-copperfield-armando-iannucci

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/473285/index.html

 

DOWN TO BUSINESS

I’m here to read near you

Luckily tonight, there won’t be too much paraphrasing

Paraphrase Commentary

Is a para-meter a thing?

A Kelvin Scale Para-meter for Scoots

I just demonstrated my misqualifications

 

PLUGS

Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Story Only Feed; Emily Tat Artwork; Crisis Textline

 

SPONSORS

Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; Progressive; Quince; Talkiatry; AquaTru; DripDrop; Cozy Earth

 

INTRO

Feelings about the past or anticipation

How did you get there, feelings?

It’s never a happy kind of surprise

Oh boy, can I relate

Checking off the checklist of having trouble sleeping

Someone is listening and welcoming you right now

At least I have this dude rambling about nothing

There are some amusing events in The Pickwick Papers so far

What do I think of these characters?

Wasting time in a positive way

Skepticism is welcome here

Paraphrasing in a pear tree

A Para-Tree

A Parodiquist, a parrot ventriloquist

Comma Parrot

Birdwatching and love stories

What’s going on, where am I?

sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou

I’ve probably recommended a million people to other shows through that website

What are you squawking about?

I’m not here to blow the dandelion away

I’m just here to hold it

The Dandelion Holder

Diaphanous Dandelions

I definitely don’t know what “diaphanous” means

Your Borefodil

Congratulations, you just heard a daffodil stem’s feelings

Do you make a wish with daffodils?

Same structure, different tangents

The Archetypal Naptime

Wind down routine (usually) work

Reading The Pickwick Papers tonight

 

STORY

These episodes have become really popular

We’re gonna do full intros with them for now

Reading through the Wikipedia page

Shoutout to the Dickens Fair

Dickens’ first full novel

Robert Seymour did illustrations

Published over 20 months

It popularized serialization with cliffhanger endings

A serialized novel

1827 – 1828

The adventures of the Pickwick Club

There was a sequel??

1913 – silent 3 reel film

1936 – BBC did a televised opera

1938 – Mercury Theatre did a radio version

1952 – First Sound Film Version

1985 – Animated Adaptation

1977 – BBC4 Dramatization

Typically issued on the last day of the month

57 chapters

I wonder if that animated version is available for streaming

Episode 1, Chapter 1 – The Pickwickians

Joseph Smiggers, Esq. – Perpetual VP of Pickwick Club

Resolutions being passed

Samuel Pickwick

These papers might be one of the original sleep podcasts

The diffusion of learning

A proposal

A new branch of United Pickwickians

The Corresponding Society of the Pickwick Club is constituted

The Gigantic Bald, Brain of Pickwick

The mighty, interesting Pickwick

The simultaneous call for Pickwick

Pickwick addresses the club

Participating in the glory of his discoveries

The too susceptible Tubman

The growing belly of Tubman

Oh, Snodgrass and Winkle

Reading the entry

Fame was dear to the heart of every person

Philanthropy Insurance

Tittlebattian Theory

Who objected to this praise for Pickwick’s research?

Blotten  objected

Pickwick would not rise to be put down

A woodcut of this disarrayed meeting

Are those topcoats or bedcoats?

The honorable gentleman was a humbug

Blotten vs Pickwick

A humbug in the Pickwickian sense

No real record of fact

Chapter 2 – The First Day’s Journey and the First Evening’s Adventure

Servant Walworth awoke in 1827

Samuel Pickwick woke and opened his window

Goswell Street

Great people are seldom overscrupulous in the arrangement of their attire

Pickwick gets ready for a cab

This horse is 42 years old!

This horse gets tired quickly

Pickwick makes notes to communicate to the club

Communicating Confusion

Snodgrass and others welcome Pickwick

He gives the driver a shilling and the horse a gift, too

The drive flung the money on the pavement

Driver wants to debate Pickwick

Driver wants to dance off with all of them

Driver doesn’t want to be told what to do

The driver took offense to Pickwick taking notes

Cabman dashes his hat on the top

He’s dancing and tap dancing right around all of them

A wet dance-off

A newcomer ended the fray

A new, young man in a green coat

He lugs Pickwick after him

Dance offs are bound to happen 

To the waiting room

Asking for water and brandy and beefsteak from the waiter

Nothing like beefsteak for sweaty eyes

The stranger swallows a draughtful of brandy and water

A middle height, very thin, with long legs

He’s wearing a far too short jacket

Scanty Black Trousers

Over patched and mended shoes

Negligent waves of black hair

How dare we see his bare wrists!

The Rochester coach is on the way

Pickwick want to go to Rochester too

They’ll travel with their new acquaintance

The stranger has big, heavy boxes

Parcels containing clothing

Pickwick ruminates on the strange mutability of human affairs

 

SUMMARY:

Episode: 1464

Title: Diaphanous Dandelions | Pickwick 1 | Read With Me | SWM+ Sneak Peek

Plugs: Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Story Only Feed; Emily Tat Artwork; Crisis Textline

Sponsors: Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; Progressive; Quince; Talkiatry; AquaTru; DripDrop; Cozy Earth

Notable Language:

• Wasting time in a positive way
• Paraphrasing in a pear tree
• A Para-Tree
• A Parodiquist, a parrot ventriloquist
• Comma Parrot
• What are you squawking about?
• The Dandelion Holder
• Diaphanous Dandelions
• Your Borefodil
• The Archetypal Naptime
• Assiduity
• Philanthropy Insurance
• Tittlebattian Theory
• A humbug in the Pickwickian sense
• The strange mutability of human affairs

 

Notable Culture:

• The Pickwick Papers

• • sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou

• Comma Parrot

• Diaphanous Dandelions

• • Charles Dickens
  • Wikipedia
  • SF Dickens Fair

• Sketches By Boz

 

Notable Talking Points:

• Feelings about the past or anticipation
• How did you get there, feelings?
• It’s never a happy kind of surprise
• Oh boy, can I relate
• Checking off the checklist of having trouble sleeping
• Someone is listening and welcoming you right now
• At least I have this dude rambling about nothing
• There are some amusing events in The Pickwick Papers so far
• What do I think of these characters?
• Wasting time in a positive way
• Skepticism is welcome here
• Paraphrasing in a pear tree
• A Para-Tree
• A Parodiquist, a parrot ventriloquist
• Comma Parrot
• Birdwatching and love stories
• What’s going on, where am I?
• sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou
• I’ve probably recommended a million people to other shows through that website
• What are you squawking about?
• I’m not here to blow the dandelion away
• I’m just here to hold it
• The Dandelion Holder
• Diaphanous Dandelions
• I definitely don’t know what “diaphanous” means
• Your Borefodil
• Congratulations, you just heard a daffodil stem’s feelings
• Do you make a wish with daffodils?
• Same structure, different tangents
• The Archetypal Naptime
• Wind down routine (usually) work
• Reading The Pickwick Papers tonight
• These episodes have become really popular
• We’re gonna do full intros with them for now
• Reading through the Wikipedia page
• Shoutout to the Dickens Fair
• Dickens’ first full novel
• Robert Seymour did illustrations
• Published over 20 months
• It popularized serialization with cliffhanger endings
• A serialized novel
• 1827 – 1828
• The adventures of the Pickwick Club
• There was a sequel??
• 1913 – silent 3 reel film
• 1936 – BBC did a televised opera
• 1938 – Mercury Theatre did a radio version
• 1952 – First Sound Film Version
• 1985 – Animated Adaptation
• 1977 – BBC4 Dramatization
• Typically issued on the last day of the month
• 57 chapters
• I wonder if that animated version is available for streaming
• Episode 1, Chapter 1 – The Pickwickians
• Joseph Smiggers, Esq. – Perpetual VP of Pickwick Club
• Resolutions being passed
• Samuel Pickwick
• These papers might be one of the original sleep podcasts
• The diffusion of learning
• A proposal
• A new branch of United Pickwickians
• The Corresponding Society of the Pickwick Club is constituted
• The Gigantic Bald, Brain of Pickwick
• The mighty, interesting Pickwick
• The simultaneous call for Pickwick
• Pickwick addresses the club
• Participating in the glory of his discoveries
• The too susceptible Tubman
• The growing belly of Tubman
• Oh, Snodgrass and Winkle
• Reading the entry
• Fame was dear to the heart of every person
• Philanthropy Insurance
• Tittlebattian Theory
• Who objected to this praise for Pickwick’s research?
• Blotten  objected
• Pickwick would not rise to be put down
• A woodcut of this disarrayed meeting
• Are those topcoats or bedcoats?
• The honorable gentleman was a humbug
• Blotten vs Pickwick
• A humbug in the Pickwickian sense
• No real record of fact
• Chapter 2 – The First Day’s Journey and the First Evening’s Adventure
• Servant Walworth awoke in 1827
• Samuel Pickwick woke and opened his window
• Goswell Street
• Great people are seldom overscrupulous in the arrangement of their attire
• Pickwick gets ready for a cab
• This horse is 42 years old!
• This horse gets tired quickly
• Pickwick makes notes to communicate to the club
• Communicating Confusion
• Snodgrass and others welcome Pickwick
• He gives the driver a shilling and the horse a gift, too
• The drive flung the money on the pavement
• Driver wants to debate Pickwick
• Driver wants to dance off with all of them
• Driver doesn’t want to be told what to do
• The driver took offense to Pickwick taking notes
• Cabman dashes his hat on the top
• He’s dancing and tap dancing right around all of them
• A wet dance-off
• A newcomer ended the fray
• A new, young man in a green coat
• He lugs Pickwick after him
• Dance offs are bound to happen 
• To the waiting room
• Asking for water and brandy and beefsteak from the waiter
• Nothing like beefsteak for sweaty eyes
• The stranger swallows a draughtful of brandy and water
• A middle height, very thin, with long legs
• He’s wearing a far too short jacket
• Scanty Black Trousers
• Over patched and mended shoes
• Negligent waves of black hair
• How dare we see his bare wrists!
• The Rochester coach is on the way
• Pickwick want to go to Rochester too
• They’ll travel with their new acquaintance
• The stranger has big, heavy boxes
• Parcels containing clothing
• Pickwick ruminates on the strange mutability of human affairs