There's been a ton I've wanted to post lately, but I am revising and revising my second book - A Story Of Love rather than of Escape. But again, in fact, it is in a way also a story that includes a bit of both! In addition, the film treatment of my virgin book, Cold River, has a still a long way to go before it is ready to be sent out to all kinds of directors and misdirectors. To boot, I am still trying to determine how best to reach Milos Forman and a gang of visionary characters ... I know I am a total dreamer and as always when I do finally I wake up I tend to end up with several broken bones and the feeling you get sometimes that some practical joker has suddenly removed all the bones from your legs, substituting for them an unsatisfactory jelly ;-)
Dead Set: Despite Beckett's pessimism, his works are frequently very funny. His poems, plays, novels and essays also exude humanity, and a dogged determination to carry on against the odds. No matter, he wrote in the novel Worstward Ho. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
Risk-aversion is the single biggest innovation killer, and of course it's not just Microsoft that's been infected. Taking risks is... risky. But if not taking risks is even riskier, then WTF? Death by risk-aversion: Thank You for Smoking
Australian writers have been slow to use Canberra as a setting for their fiction. An entertaining look at political infighting and adultery Canberra-style
Art of Living & Literature Across Frontiers: A Carefully orchestrated symphony of despair
Blokes have it tough when it comes to deciphering our mixed-messages. So this Easter we thought we'd help out those singletons in search of some telltale signs... Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus: We are not saints, but we have kept our date. How many people can boast as much? If we could survive without a wife, citizens of Rome, all of us would do without that nuisance ...
Blokes have it tough when it comes to deciphering our mixed-messages. So this Easter we thought we'd help out those singletons in search of some telltale signs...
OK gents, we know you have a tough time when it comes to working out whether or not we're interested in you. It's a tad easier for us chicks, (after all we've got a gamut of guides telling when he's not that into to us to help us out), but it seems modern blokes are getting it all wrong.
Give a man health and a course to steer; and he’ll never stop to trouble about whether he’s happy or not.
-George Bernard Shaw, Captain Brassbound's Conversion
• Brilliant Sam speaks for all women in Sydney ;-) A Bohemian Smile Doesn't Mean She's Into You [Women are perhaps the most under-utilized resource on the planet. Yet the future of the world economy lies in their hands A guide to womenomics ; We continue to trial new store environments, increased ranges and different levels of service in books. In the second half of the year we will increase the space devoted to books in more stores Smith's Celebrates Their Sales Decline ; Shvoong" is a multi-language abstracts writing site with a goal to enable any reader to quickly navigate through long texts. The site focuses on books, scientific articles and written press abstracts - Money and the Meaning of Life Write and earn money ! ]
• · How Simcity Influences Planning Culture PLAYING WITH URBAN LIFE; “Are we animals?” Winston Churchill blurted out, watching film of his bombers over the Ruhr. Well, yes, maybe you were... A distinguished philosopher asks if killing innocents is ever justifiable ; Anna Akhmatova: “So much to do today: / kill memory, kill pain, / turn heart into a stone, / and yet prepare to live again”... Michael Dirda
• · · How generosity in business is natural and essential. Doc Searls: Business as Morality ; “My husband? He’s a writer dude.” She loves hip-hop, pillow fights, and decorating her jeans. Yes, she is Mrs. Salman Rushdie. I just want people to see me for my work and not just as somebody’s wife
• · · · “The most courageous, remorseless writer going,” says Harold Pinter. “The more Samuel Beckett grinds my nose in the shit, the more I am grateful to him”. ... one day we were born, one day we shall die, the same day, the same second, is that not enough for you? They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more He left 'no maggot lonely' ; For Tatranka dancers like me dance is not a fleeting art, or purely ephemeral. In fact, dancers are the living archives of dance history. Long after they leave the stage, in their minds and muscles they hold the memory of form, rhythm, mood, and intent, constituting an irreplaceable resource for performers, historians, and frequently the choreographers themselves. Dancers as Living Archives
• · · · · You only have to look at that dreadful American man, Henry James. The worst writer in the world. He never risked anything.” V.S. Naipaul minces no words... S Naipaul talks to Farrukh Dhondy; Six decades of Playmates: the face of Shirley Temple above the body of Jayne Mansfield. Hugh Hefner knew what he wanted... THE GIRLS NEXT DOOR ; Childless, middle-aged couples may regret the life choices that ended their family lines. Yet they have no children with whom to share their newfound wisdom The Return of Patriarchy
• · · · · · Convoluted academic language is OK for the initiated, but the rest of us need plain English, says Michael McCarthy Message understood? ; Language Crimes: A Lesson in How Not to Write, Courtesy of the Professoriate ; The Illusion of Destiny Enemies, a Love Story ; It’s convenient to have good memory. But what if you could recall everything: every event you saw, every item of news, and every date? “We are survival machines, robot machines, blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.” The idea still fills Richard Dawkins with astonishment. We are survival machines; The Pope urges his listeners to show humility to others by carrying out good works Pope tells flock to humbly serve the poor and suffering