I am grateful to June, Richard, Gina, Steve, Gwynne, Christopher and Lidka as well as Michael for the extended family they provided for me this week.
In my bohemian Freudean eyes and mind, S stands for Sweetheart - Chef extraordinaire, connoisseur of oysters, champagne, pinoir noir, ancestoral scotch and politically correct havana cigars ;-PPP What a cultural week peppered with Indian monsoonish birthdays, Kobe Jones japanese dining and Golden Coast stories of Norwegian proportions ....
Successful publishing is often described as a balance of art and an ugly science. There is one thing worse than being exploited – not being exploited. Not only are physically unattractive teenagers, like Jozef Imrich, likely to be stay-at-homes on prom night, they're also more likely to grow up to be criminals The Ugly Face of Publishing Crime - I'm too ugly to get a job ;-)
Art of Living & Literature Across Frontiers: Authors in a flap over cut to book royalties
In Australia, it is the industry norm for authors to maintain a 10 per cent royalty for first and subsequent editions.
PENGUIN, the nation's biggest publishing house, plans to cut the royalties of Australian authors whose books go into reprint in a move writers say will punish them for success.
• Penguin's stable of Australian writers [Publisher cuts royalties to Australian authors ; The book-selling industry remains competitive Barnes & Noble CFO says growing online sales profitably ; I have more confidence in the dead than the living ... Cold Water aka Cold River finds its mark mark in Barnes & Noble: Women Who Do Elvis and Jozef' Iron Curtain Brought to Book ; Damn those Communists! They're trying to win the Cold War in retrospect. Another World Was Possible: A Century of Movements ]
• · Maureen Dowd's 'Are men necessary?' - dumb and dumber ; Czech born - Tom Stoppard on Free speech as inherent right or group consensus ... How did the concept get into such a mess? Playing the trump card
• · · Getting work down under; To quote a minister, ... a group of academics is no substitute for commonsense Why Australians dislike academics
• · · · The utopia of cosmopolitanism, multiculturalism, and mobility brought about by the liberalization of the Soviet bloc during the 1980s, which climaxed with the collapse of communism, to a great extent legitimated the process of the destruction of the state. Another frequent reason to return is the wish to be buried "at home" Fluid citizenship ; The news about CIA "torture flights" and secret prison camps on European soil currently occupies public debate all over Europe The neighbour as spy
• · · · · David Copperfield couldn't keep these kids from running around wild. I can do that Do you want me to refund your money and leave? ; Gathering to discuss bills to promote competitiveness, House members end up talking about dating and culture. Everybody agreed on one thing. I concede that the Democratic Party is also plagued by 24-year-olds who are remarkably self important. But can they get a date? Sex and the Single Scientist
• · · · · · Positive Psychology is the most popular course at Harvard. Is happy the new sad? I want to reawaken people’s desire to do good, people’s desire to improve their lives and the lives of other. I wasn’t depressed. It was closer to what Thoreau says, that most men live lives of quiet desperation. I was okay, but okay wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough for squash and it wasn’t enough for my subjective well-being. People have lost their sense of awe and idealism ... They’ve lost their sense of gratitude, wonder. The Science of Smiling ; Joel Marks discusses a moral moment: Real epistemology, or on being your own scientist The words “and other” are a part of the name of this column because occasionally I like to discuss topics other than morality and ethics Real Epistemology, or On Being Your Own Scientist ; With the Beatles On Ringo, a Passage to India, and a Wonderful, Ink-Stained Life
• · · How life on Earth got going is still mysterious, but not for want of ideas In the beginning... The origin of pieces ; Michael Gazzaniga on why all clones are not the same All Clones Are Not the Same
• · · · A look at how blade escalation and plastic have feminized today's young men Shaving Like a Man ; I've always been proud of my irrelevance. Someday the Sun Will Go Out and the World Will End (but Don't Tell Anyone) ; As the back cover blurb of this book states, 'suicide is an ageless concern that has been with us as long as man has existed Suicide