Just got a MacBook

I have just got a MacBook and am currently setting it up the way I want it, so I will try to post some more on books here soon.

I am now freed from the desktop and can post using the Mac, but it will take me a while to get used to it as I have been using Windows for many years. However I still own, and use an Acorn - the best computer in the world, and the best OS ever!! What Windows might be in 10 years from now :)

I am using a Firefox Extension - ScribeFire to post this instead of logging into Blogger which I always found to be a pain. It is very cool and lets you post from FireFox directly, just one click and you have access to your blog.

Powered by ScribeFire.

On holiday soon

Just to tell the two people who actually look at this site that in a month from now I will be away from t'interweb until mid August.

I will not be updating stuff here, and will be checking email only infrequently.

Until then I will try to post a few more things over the coming weeks, although things here are getting very hectic.

Jodi Picoult works on Wonder Woman

Bestselling author tackles comic books (source here)

"Jodi Picoult is known as a serious novelist. Her latest effort, "Nineteen Minutes," is currently sitting in the top five on the New York Times bestseller list and has earned rave reviews from such publications as The Washington Post and Publishers Weekly.

But "Nineteen Minutes" isn't the only new project bearing the 40-year-old writer's name. There's also the latest issue of DC Comics' "Wonder Woman."

Picoult's five-issue run doing the title makes her only the second woman to write the character in its 66-year history. But despite the assignment's historical significance, when DC originally approached her to pen the story -- the company had noticed a character in Picoult's "The Tenth Circle" was a comic-book penciller -- she wasn't entirely sure she had the time (or the desire) to do it.

Her children convinced her otherwise."

I thought this was interesting : I have not read any of Picoult's books (yet), but I probably will sometime. Sounds like this could be an interesting concept - Wonder Woman was originally portrayed in a 1970s TV series by Lynda Carter. Thirty or so years down the line, I think we are due an update.

Technorati face-lift

Technorati has had a makeover - they now refer to authority instead of rank (I think it was called that previously). They also seem to have got their ping problems sorted - at one point one of my blogs had not been updated for 450 days, although I had updated and pinged it often!! This seems to be ok now (fingers crossed).

They also have a new heading eg:

Everything in the known universe about lifelongreader

and a slightly nicer lay out - not exactly earth shattering news, but good to know they are working on issues and developing their site, at last.

All good news.

Who reads books anymore?

I just read this story on CNN

"It's not easy getting people to care about books.

Thursday, a small contingent gathered in front of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's building in downtown Atlanta, a couple blocks from CNN Center, to host a "read-in." The paper has decided to eliminate its book editor position and the activists want to show that books -- and readers -- matter. (The episode has received national coverage.)

So a handful of people quietly read books in front of AJC headquarters while others, standing in front of a poster saying "Save the Book Review" and a display of titles (Walker Percy's "Love in the Ruins," "Romeo and Juliet," Langston Hughes) praised AJC Book Editor Teresa Weaver and talked about why the paper was making a bad decision.

"The problem is, they're not making enough money, and this is easy to give up," said Vivian Lawand, a veteran Atlanta bookseller.

The paper says it will continue to have book coverage. "We will continue to use freelancers, established news services and our staff to provide stories about books of interest to our readers and the local literary community," spokeswoman Mary Dugenske told The New York Times.

The AJC isn't alone in its rethinking. The Times recently ran a piece about newspapers cutting back on book coverage. There's not enough advertising money, the thinking goes, and readers are gravitating online anyway and getting their book information from blogs and Amazon reviews. (I won't even go into all the questions surrounding the publishing business.)

But I'm not so sure cutting newspaper book coverage is the way to go.

I'll admit I'm biased -- in many ways. I don't know Weaver personally, but we have several friends in common; I subscribe to two newspapers (and several magazines); I'm in two book groups, one online and the other face-to-face; I like to see good writers succeed; and, of course, I oversee the entertainment and media page for a large news organization and I like to keep up with the field.

But at bottom, it's for a selfish reason: I read books. Lots of books. It's not just for my job. I love reading in general, and I know when I die I'll still have shelves -- cases -- of books I never got to. ("TBR stacks," my online group calls them -- "to be read" ... eventually.) I like books and I like reading about books, and Amazon and blogs aren't enough.

I fear I'm in the minority. How many people read books anymore, anyway? I'd like to think that book readers matter -- particularly to newspapers -- but it's not like the AJC's front steps were overflowing with demonstrators Thursday morning. The paper would probably get more protesting if it canceled "Mary Worth.""

read more (with 300+ comments, so there must be some readers on CNN :) )

This makes book reading blogs and forums even more important!!

Vonnegut mp3s

A bit late in the day, I know, but have a look here for a few mp3s of Mr Vonnegut reading from his works.

I haven't listened to them myself - I will grab them later.

Carnegie and Greenway

Here is a link to the Carnegie and Greenway site with a list of their award winning books. They are having a 70 year celebration this year and list books that have won awards over the years. There are some great titles in there.

What are your favourite books, you can vote and let them know.

Holes by Louis Sachar

My students here in Year 8 are working on developing a wiki based on the book Holes by Louis Sachar. Have a look at it here and let me know what you think. We have just started and some of them still need to sign up yet to edit it, but when I logged in just recently, new pages were being added and more content put there.

It is starting to look good, and we should have some pictures of some work there in the next day or two.

The Beatles do Shakespeare

Here are the Beatles doing the death scene of Pyramus and Thisbe, from A MidSummer Night's Dream :) It is hilarious even though the sound quality is not great.



I get the feeling that in Shakespeare's time, it might have looked somewhat similar to this, even with the audience participation and heckling.

Amber Spyglass

I have just finished reading The Amber Spyglass which completes my reading of the Dark Materials series. I enjoyed this one even more than the other two.

It is a long book, but whizzed by - a great page turner. Will and Lyra this time move between multiple worlds and meet up with some old friends at various times. They seem a lot more mature in this book, even though they are still relatively young. With the events they have been through, that is hardly surprising.

I loved the mulefa who appear about half way through the book - they are so cool. The description of them is just weird - I find it hard to visualise them. The descriptions of the travel from and to the other worlds is very well described, and raises some interesting points about the universe as we see it.

There is a lot more theology in this book, which might put some people off, and the Church is not painted in a very good light. Also some of the characters seem to have changed drastically in this book.

I suggest that if you are interested in reading this, then you should get your hands on the other books in the series so that you follow the characters through different universes and storylines in order to understand the worlds they inhabit.

Overall 5 stars.

Shakespeare's plays I have read

Below is a list of plays by Shakespeare and the ones I have read are crossed out. For Erin's challenge I will read a few more, or reread my favourites. As you can see, I am not a fan of the historical plays - I prefer the tragedies and comedies - a good laugh and a good cry.

COMEDIES

All's Well That Ends Well
As You Like It
Comedy of Errors
Love's Labour's Lost
Measure for Measure
Merchant of Venice
Merry Wives of Windsor
Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado about Nothing
Taming of the Shrew
Tempest
Twelfth Night
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Winter's Tale

HISTORIES

Cymbeline
Henry IV, Part I
Henry IV, Part II
Henry V
Henry VI, Part I
Henry VI, Part II
Henry VI, Part III
Henry VIII
King John
Pericles
Richard II
Richard III

TRAGEDIES

Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Hamlet
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Macbeth
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus
Troilus and Cressida

Book fair

There is a book fair on today so I will be having a look for some of the books people have recommended, then I can add them to the pile TBR. I will post later what I get (if anything) - hopefully they will have a good selection.

Later : I only picked up InkSpell, which people have given mixed reviews from what I remember, but I will make up my own mind about it. Not much from my TBR was there, which was disappointing, but the staff were very helpful and I had a good chat with the lady there about new books.

Shakespeare

There is a Shakespeare challenge over at Miss Erin's site - no time limits, no firm rules - just set your own and read anything by the Bard!

I have just read MidSummer Night's Dream and that was fun - also saw it performed by a troupe called Shakespeare 4 Kidz and that was really good. I think that they should keep more original language though as they re-enact the scenes in modern language, and lots of modern day references from movies. Anything that gets kids interested in Will is great in my opinion.

I will be reading a few more in the next few months.

randomness meme

Meme from randomness

1. favorite tv programs
Prison Break
Lost
Fawlty Towers

2. favorite foods
chicken curry
chocolate cake
pasta

3. favorite books
Sophie's World
Foucault's Pendulum
L'herbe rouge - Boris Vian

4. favorite people
Christina Noble
Michael Franti
Mahatma Ghandi

5. favorite movies
Fifth element
Elephant man
2001: A Space Odyssey

6. favorite vacation spots
home
Thailand
South of France

My daemon

Here is my Daemon - it seems that everyone has one. And theirs are all much cooler than my hare!!

Based on the series of books by Philip Pullman, and the upcoming movie - The Golden Compass.



Thanks to Big A little a for mentioning this.

Pretty accurate description, I would say - but then, that is what the questions are for :)