Saturday, February 20, 2010

The Google Settlement - A Day at the Races, A night at the Opera

The Google Settlement debate continues:

Google Settlement Gets Day In Court: "Before he began his remarks, Authors Guild attorney Michael Boni, being f..."

Thursday, February 18, 2010

One Lump or Two


I've been following some of the "Tea-Party" antics, and quit frankly there's nothing new here.
Throughout history, people have fallen for the same lines, the same rhetoric, only delivered in different forms by unscrupulous or misguided (intentionally and otherwise) leaders who play on societies fears.
And people fall for it. They suck it up like a dry sponge, and they do it because most citizens want to believe (in an act of what can only be called blind-faith) that their government is doing what is best for them.
They do this because they do not want to get involved in the necessary debate.
They do this because they do not want to be responsible.
Want to make someone's blood boil? Want to make them want to get up and fight for something?
Wave the flag in their face and tell them who’s to blame for their lot in life.
... the Jews, the blacks, the communists, the gays, the young, the elderly...
Lie to them! Tell them they must do this or support that
for the betterment of society.
In the absence (enforced by threats of persecution by misuse of, or blatant disregard for, the law) of open public debate and opposition, people who crave leadership and direction will believe what they're told... or sold.
... And because society seems bent on refusing to learn from the past, like the man who drinks the sand in the mirage because he is so thirsty, he does so because he doesn't know any better.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Midweek Musings

Worthwhile Reading


There is a lot of discussion in The Book World about the advantages and disadvantages of having agents & publishers versus self-publishing. For myself, I believe that having a good agent and a publisher I can work with is worth its weight in gold.


Author "Jay Lake"  has an excellent column on his blog that is more than worth the time to go and read, regardless of whether you're a teacher, student, aspiring author or one who is already already published.


The article is entitled: What my publisher does for me, and why I won't just quit.




NODS & ENDS


One of my favourite commercials: How the snow-plow driver gets to work



                                                                       
                                                                                    

Friday, February 5, 2010

The Friday Fish Wrap

An enigma wrapped in a mystery: What do you mean, who was J.D Salinger?

Jerome David Salinger, Author. Born 1 January, 1919, died at age ninety-one on 27 January 2010. Successful author and perennial contributor to The New Yorker magazine on the subject of cultural criticism.

His seminal work was 
Catcher in the Rye.

It is apparent from what has been written about what we did not know about him since his death that his relentless pursuit for privacy had been largely successful.

For many, myself included, it was the mystery of his silence, punctuated by occasional outpourings of brilliance that made him so interesting.  For thirty years, the mystery of his life kept us waiting with baited breath.

Now, after being denied entrance to his private sanctum for so long, the questing for answers has begun.

Writers and readers alike are wondering what will be found. Perhaps reams of manuscripts filled with cultural criticism that will incite a millennium of debate. Perhaps Salinger left behind a trove of new Holden Caulfield's for them to discover, or maybe more tales of members of the Glass family.

Whatever comes, I am neither immune nor alone in the hope that other works will surface.

When that day comes, whether we shall be moved to gladness or sadness, I cannot say.

... but whatever it is, by Salinger we will be moved.


                                                           




From the odd-bins:

WANTED:Translator with experience in child-speak 

Part-Time owner-operator of small child requires translator conversant in one-year-oldish.

Proof of experience required. Please provide translation of the following;

gillanenous throth of fwowl

and 

thilmeth prompthle wazzzal


P.O. Box 999
Somewhere


 
... and finally...


For Sale: Cheap

A bitter pill, a spare pet peeve, a couple of virulent viruses, a rancourous rage , a spiteful mischief, another vicious circle, a couple of vitriolic criticisms, a savage beast, a half dozen ferocious fears, a hate-filled Hattie [don' ask], a venomous villain ,a couple of poison pens, a poisonous piety for which there is no antidote , several acrid smells, and a rather nasty headache.