Sunday, July 17, 2005



Whoever invented the meeting must have had Hollywood in mind. I think they should consider giving Oscars for meetings: Best Meeting of the Year, Best Supporting Meeting, Best Meeting Based on Material from Another Meeting.
-William Goldman, Adventures in the Screen Trade

The campaign for The Halo Effect started officially four days after the book appeared in stores on Wednesday, July 5th Good Cause/Good Effects

Art of Living & Literature Across Frontiers: Reinventing the typical Czech
Czechs are a nation of simple, melancholic villagers. They seem to have no ambition or initiative. They live in a rural backwater. And do they even have mobile phones?

A government-sponsored survey of how foreigners see the Czech Republic — which only four in 10 Frenchmen can place on a map — found that the national image leaves much to be desired. For a country in hot competition with neighbors such as Poland and Hungary to attract tourists and foreign investment, that comes as bad news


Toil-worn farmers with lined faces [Like in Cold River, there are no car chases and no emotion. Why, then, is Crime Scene Investigation so compelling? The answer lies in our deepest fears Heart of darkness ; At death's door ]
• · The difference between this generational tag and others such as the Baby Boomers is that the iPod Generation is derived strictly from a consumer product, not a historical event. But has the term iPod Generation come to encompass more than just the little white box? The Iconic iPod: Advancing Music and Mindsets ;
• · · The Guardian reports on Harry Potter and the stony broke authors. No surprise, but not all authors of books for children rake in the big money like Harry Potter-author Rowling does Harry Potter and the stony broke author ; Brit Lit Blogs.com: the latest posts from six British blogs about books, literature, culture and more Ready Steady Book
• · · · In Nicholas Blincoe recounts his own sad translation experiences: As you can imagine, it is bad enough to be told that your translator is a psychopath. It is even worse when the novel in question deals with relations between Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem Under the influence ; After watching hundreds of books come and go each week - most that will never get publicity of any kind - I would say this: Honey, if you're looking for riches, buy a lottery scratch ticket instead Thorn: Writing is easy part; real story is selling your book
• · · · · Pat Boardman Cold River Blues ; We know about the power of words whose sound echoes their sense. Yet some words seem to become what they mean, to somehow grow into their semantic clothes Words are powerful. Who needs convincing of this?
• · · · · · A family's post-September 11 grief becomes a tale of small losses Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close ; FOR one who writes so chillingly about murder by dismemberment and furniture-making with human bones, about evil angels trapped inside silver statues and demons inhaling the dying breaths of their victims, John Connolly seems normal enough. Hibernian noir What strange obsession drives the authors of grisly true-crime books? Mining the Minds of Killers