Tuesday, May 17, 2011

I remember when this was all fields


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Indonesian man rides moped


YouTube link.

Meanwhile in Libya


YouTube link.

Girl punished after witnessing sex on school bus

An Ohio girl has been banned from attending her eighth-grade prom after she did not immediately tell teachers at Dayton View Academy that she saw two fellow students having sex on a school bus.

The girl's mother, Saundra Roundtree, says her 14-year-old daughter changed seats with a classmate on a school trip on April 22, before she noticed the two having sex. The girl, who has not been identified, told her mother straight away but refrained from telling school authorities because she was scared her classmates might gang up on her.


YouTube link.

"She wasn't sure what the boy might do in response," Roundtree said. "He might have retaliated against her." Ms Roundtree then told school officials herself and was told an investigation would take place.

On Friday, the school informed Ms Roundtree her daughter was not allowed to attend her prom or an upcoming class picnic. Ms Roundtree says her daughter’s punishment is sending the wrong message. "It sends the message that she shouldn't have said anything," she said.

Eagle inadvertently swoops poodle away to a better life

She's a toy poodle, named May by SPCA staff because earlier this month she fell out of the sky and landed in the grounds of Sechelt's Shorncliffe Nursing Home. How she came to be flying over the Canadian nursing home is explained by the deep talon marks in her back and sides, showing she was probably the unwilling passenger of a hungry eagle that had picked her up but eventually found her 18 pounds too much to hold on to.

May, her ribs broken, her body lacerated, was found by nursing staff on May 2 and delivered to the Sunshine Coast SPCA. The fall injured her, says BC SPCA official Lorie Chortyk, but the whole unnerving ordeal likely saved her life.



She carried no identification and her generally poor condition indicated she had been wandering without care for some time before attracting the eagle's attention. "Ironically, if it hadn't been for this we might never have found her," said Chortyk. "She's been a stray. There's been severe neglect, and who knows how long she's been out there," said Chortyk.

May was taken to the appropriately named Eagleridge Veterinary Hospital for treatment to her immediate injuries and is now recovering. "May's survived so much, the least we can do is find her a good home. If anyone deserves a happy ending it's her," said Chortyk.

There's a news video here.

'Apartheid toilets' become battleground in South African local elections

The symbol that might be the defining image of the 2011 South African local elections will be made of porcelain.



The toilet, of all services government is supposed to deliver, has become the focal point of unceasing quarrels between the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA), which is looking to become a more forceful opposition.

The ANC accused the DA of failing to enclose toilets built in a municipality under its control. The DA shot back, saying the residents were supposed to build their own privacy walls. The ANC responded that it would never let down the under-classes of South African society, its core supporters. It has accused the DA of being a white party.


YouTube link.

The head of the DA, Helen Zille, a white woman, is often referred to by leading ANC figures as a 'madam' and the black members of her party as 'boys' or 'stooges,' harking back to apartheid language. Over 23.1 million South Africans are eligible to vote in 278 municipalities for 4,275 ward and 460 proportional representation seats today. Over 120 parties are fielding 53,000 candidates.

Russian investigators arrest liver stew eating cannibal

Police in Moscow have arrested a man who dismembered an acquaintance and kept him in his fridge, eating the liver, investigators said on Tuesday.



Nikolai Shadrin has been arrested after police located the apartment where he killed a 40-year-old Muscovite, named as Ilya Yegorov, in early May.

"During the search of the apartment, tools used to dismember the victim and a human liver were found. Shadrin confessed to the crime and to having eaten part of his friend's liver," the Investigative Committee said in a statement.


YouTube link.

Yegorov was killed on May 2, and police found human body parts, including feet, a hand, and part of a shoulder, in the Moscow river and various basements in western Moscow, said Aleksei Saveliev of Moscow's western district police. At the time of his arrest, Shadrin was eating a stew of human liver, Saveliev said.

Taiwanese woman creates shoes and accessories from hair

Taiwanese hairdresser Tsai Shiou-ying has won many prizes for her cutting and decorative hair extensions in a four-decade career. Now she has gone one step further, turning the hair left on the salon floor after haircuts into decorations including shoes, brooches, fruit and animals.



Tsai, 54, who started working with hair in her teens and learned the skills of styling from her mother, recently showed off some of her creations in her small salon in Greater Taichung. Her pride and joy is a pair of high heels made entirely from human hair. A single heel needs hair from at least three people, and she asks her neighbours and relatives to contribute to her stock. It takes a month to make a single pair of hairy heels.

To develop her hobby further, Tsai is now planning a range of hairy corsets and dresses. But her works, which also include elaborate flower-shaped brooches in purples and greens, a life-size pineapple and a black rat with bright blue eyes, are not for sale.


YouTube link.

Asked if she was worried that some people might think her hobby is in rather bad taste, Tsai said there was nothing to fear from hair. “All the hair was cut off on-site, and even if it was given by my friends, it would be just cut off from someone, so this won’t have anything to do with taboos about dead people’s hair. Some people watch too many horror movies, so they imagine paranormal events and become afraid,” she said.

Indian man breaks wheelchair-spinning record

Gulshan Kumar has broken the world record for spinning his wheelchair the most times in a minute.

The 18-year-old from the suburbs of Delhi made 63 spins in a minute, breaking the existing world record of 32 spins previously held by Jeffrey of France in the Guinness Book of World Records.


YouTube link.

"I am really feeling on top of the world after breaking this record. I want to say that people like us need encouragement and opportunity rather than sympathy," says Gulshan who was crippled after a dose of a wrong medicine in 1992.

He is a disciple of renowned disabled dance theatre director and founder of 'Ability Unlimited Foundation', Guru Syed Salaudin Pasha. "Gulshan has been training under me since the past ten years now. He has overcome his disability and poor background to break this record. It shows that given an opportunity, the differently-abled people can do wonders," says Pasha."

The video above shows Gulshan practising. You can see his record-breaking spin here.

Chinese man has chilli pepper removed from lung after year-long cough

A chilli pepper has been removed from the lung of a man in China's Heilongjiang province, one year after he choked on it.



Wang Yuxiang from Longjiang county visited his local hospital to treat his year-long cough, but doctors soon found the cause to be something rather unusual.

Video.

Pink kittens rescued from concrete factory

Four kittens whose fur turned pink while they were living at a concrete factory in Cornwall have been rescued by a cat charity. The four-week-old kittens, who all sported the colourful tint, were discovered living rough at the factory in Redruth last Friday and are now being looked after by Cats Protection.

It is thought that the kittens must have come into contact with some red pigment used in concrete manufacturing, which has caused their rather unusual appearance. The kittens are being cared for by Cats Protection’s Truro Adoption Centre.



Manager Claire Rowe said: “We see cats of many colours, shapes and sizes but this has to be a first for us. We’ve started cleaning them but it is going to take a bit more time to get them all back to their natural colours. We think the kittens were abandoned by their mum but we’re hopeful they will fully recover and be able to enjoy a bright, but preferably not pink, future.”

Beth Skillings, Clinical Veterinary Officer at Cats Protection said: “Our priority at the moment is to monitor the kittens closely in case they have ingested or inhaled any of the pigment. However, early indications are good so we’re hoping they will come through with a clean bill of health." Named Pink Panther, Clouseau, Dusty and Cerise, the one male and three female kittens should be available for adoption in just over a month’s time, depending on their recovery.

Golfer battered tame fox with club because it stole his chocolate biscuit

A golfer has been fined £750 for battering a tame fox with a golf club after it stole his chocolate biscuit. The fox had become a popular fixture at Peterculter Golf Club, Aberdeen, where some members used to feed it.

Donald Forbes, 55, lashed out at the animal, striking it on the head, after he spotted it rummaging through his golf bag. It was so badly injured it had to be killed by another golfer. Forbes went on trial accused of striking the fox with the "intent to inflict unnecessary suffering" at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.



He told how the creature managed to sink its teeth into his Tunnocks Caramel Wafer by chewing through his bag as he played. He claimed he felt so threatened that he tried to scare it away with his driver. Other golfers told the court how they saw the company boss run at the creature moments before he hit it over the head on 10 September last year.

But Sheriff Annella Cowan said the evidence proved he was out for revenge on the fox and had used his club as a weapon. She told Forbes: "My understanding was you had seen it, you became annoyed with it going for your chocolate biscuit, you hit it on the head with your driver. You did it deliberately. I am satisfied you are guilty of this offence." As well as imposing the fine, Sheriff Cowan ordered forfeiture of Forbes' driver.

Police admit boy aged nine arrested for drink-driving was actually nineteen - Update

A police force has admitted a records mix-up after it wrongly declared that a nine-year-old boy had been arrested for drink-driving. The "schoolboy" was in fact a 19-year-old male but his date of birth had been initially inputted incorrectly on to the custody system.

Cumbria Constabulary released the information at the weekend in response to a Freedom of Information request for details of under 18s arrested for car crime in the north of England over the past two years. However, the birth date error was repeated as the disclosure made national and local newspaper headlines.



A spokeswoman for Cumbria Constabulary said: "The information used in this article came from a Freedom of Information request that was submitted to Cumbria Constabulary regarding the number of people under the age of 18 involved in vehicle-related crime.

"Unfortunately, the data provided by the constabulary about a nine-year-old drink-driver was incorrect. This error occurred because the male's date of birth was initially recorded on our custody system incorrectly, but this was later amended to his correct age of 19. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."

Previously.

Turf war as thieves escape with part of city meadow

Derby is at the centre of a turf war after thieves twice stole part of a city meadow. The volunteer group that runs Mickleover Meadows has described the crooks as "mean and selfish". And police are appealing for witnesses who may have seen people transporting large quantities of grass at the time of the thefts.

The nature reserve is run by volunteers from the Friends of Mickleover Meadows. The group's chairman, Sean Andrews, said: "The grass has been taken out neatly by a turf-cutter, leaving a gap about the same size as half a tennis court. It's shocking, it's bizarre and it's mean. A lot of hard work goes into maintaining the meadows and someone has done this for their own selfish gain."



Mr Andrews said the thieves struck first on Tuesday or Wednesday night last week and again on Saturday night. They took 20 square metres and then another 10. He said it was not clear why the thieves had targeted the meadow. "They might be laying their lawn but it's not very good quality grass."

A police spokeswoman said both thefts were reported on Sunday afternoon. She said: "We believe it was taken using a turf-cutter. We would like to hear from anyone who saw people transporting a large quantity of grass – perhaps in a wheel-barrow – on the nights in question."

You know you’re from Christchurch when …





In the spirit of laughter being the best medicine comes a little book of ‘red and black’ humour . . .

After the February 2011 earthquake that hit Christchurch, Cantabrian Bruce Raines was helping his friends move when he decided he wanted to do more, he wanted to cheer people up, so he set up the ‘You know you’re from Christchurch when’ Facebook page.

It became an instant sensation and a humorous lifeline for many of those affected by the earthquake.
Postings have flooded in from around the region and the world in their thousands, as the people of Christchurch rebuild their community stone by stone and giggle by giggle.
To date, 11,960 people ‘like’ this page, with new reasons to ‘know you’re from Christchurch’ being added every day.

Now Bruce brings us You know you’re from Christchurch when …, the book which draws together the best of hundreds of contributions to the Facebook page, such as:

You know you’re from Christchurch when …

Your local drunk staggers, when sober.

Your mayor has to explain to Prince William what ‘munted’ means.

Your city has so many men in uniform you think you must be in a Village People video.


You know you’re from Christchurch when … shows how, in the face of adversity, Cantabrians are showing their true red-and-black spirit.

A percentage of the proceeds from the sales of this book will be donated to the Christchurch Earthquake Mayoralty Fund.

Release Date:  20 MAY 2011 | RRP: $16.99 | HARPERCOLLINS Publishers

STOP PRESS:
Meet Bruce Raines the creator of the Facebook phenomenon and now the book,
You Know You’re From Christchurch When ...

On Thursday, 26 May Bruce will be at:
Paper Plus Bush Inn, Bush Inn Shopping Centre, 1.00-1.30pm
Paper Plus New Brighton, 72 New Brighton Mall, 3.00-3.30pm
Paper Plus Merivale, Merivale Mall, 4.00-4.30pm
Paper Plus Northlands Mall, 5.00-5.30pm



The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn Trailer Released

By Jason Boog on Galley Cat, May 17, 2011

The first trailer for Steven Spielberg‘s The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn has been released. Link here to view the trailer.

What do you think about this first peek at the footage? The adaptation of Herge’s beloved Tintin series hits theaters December 23rd.

Here’s more about the film: “Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures Present a 3D Motion Capture Film ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Steven Moffat and Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish. Starring Jamie Bell (“Billy Elliot,” “Defiance”) as Tintin, the intrepid young reporter whose relentless pursuit of a good story thrusts him into a world of high adventure, and Daniel Craig (“Quantum of Solace,” “Defiance”) as the nefarious Red Rackham.” (Via i09)

Neil Gaiman Doctor Who Episode Spawns T-Shirts & Mugs

By Jason Boog on Galley Cat, May 17, 2011 2:23 PM

This week the BBC aired its highly anticipated Doctor Who episode written by author Neil Gaiman–instantaneously spawning a line of t-shirts and mugs.
The Doctor’s Wife” episode took a surreal trip through the time-traveling mythology behind the science fiction series, earning the author 20,000 Twitter messages in a single day.
Follow this link to watch an interview with Gaiman offering advice for writers who want to write for a famous series like Doctor Who.

Peter Robertson writes from London:


Issue 15 of Interlitq (www.interlitq.org) has just been published, and we are currently in the production phase for Issue 16 of the review.
 Issue 16 of Interlitq, to be published in early June 2011, will include work by Rosetta Allan, Jenny Argante, Gigi Fenster, Helen Heath, Kerry Hines, David Howard, Robert McLean, Andre Naffis-Sahely, James Norcliffe, Maris O' Rourke, Jack Ross, L.E. Scott, Campbell Taylor, Hayden Williams and Alan Wall, and the Guest Artist will be Tom Mutch.

Houston's International Festival Rocks!


Note:  I've been nominated for Babble's 100 Top Food Blogs!  I have 27 more votes to get into the top 50.  If you like what I've done here, would you follow the side link to Babble and vote for me?  I am on page #2 "Snippets of Thyme"







The International Festival of Houston, titled "The Silk Road", was an amazing amalgam of cultures, food, music, and dance.  I don't know that I have ever attended  a festival that dazzled the senses,  oozed hopeful thoughts,  and poured a sense of global unity at every venue.  With the world in a current state of unrest, intolerance, distrust, and fragileness, this festival checked all that negativity in at the entrance. Harmony, joy, and celebration of life was replaced in spades as families and couples mingled elbow to elbow in celebration of the beauty of life, food, family, and fun.




This festival was hot.  The food was hot.  The entertainment was hot...but...the temperature was really HOT.  Temperatures soared into the mid-90's for this huge event.  We braced ourselves for a sizzling day but I didn't see anyone daunted by this sultry air or searing sun.  The mood was alive, jazzed, and festive.




The first incredible smells that affronted us were the barbecued skewers of chicken.  Not only did they look sticky and caramelized but they lured us right over with the  crackling and hissing of the huge barbecue grills.  Would it be wrong to take 10 steps into the festival and make a foodie purchase that soon?  


Quickly, we were diverted by the booming and thumping of loud drums a little further ahead.  An amazing, talented, and stunning troupe of Chinese dancers were flipping, spinning, and stretching their limbs in impossible ways.  




Between the grills smoking at every turn and the sounds of music coming from about three different directions, I was a jangle of excitement and anticipation.  Mom with a camera and a fervent desire to capture all of this beauty.  I love this city!







If world harmony could be bottled up, the International Festival in Houston would be the laboratory site for assembly of a harmonious mixture that would be sure to impress even the United Nations right now.




The food, the glorious food!  Honestly, every stall had amazing looking food.  We sampled soft tacos that were superb, sweet french crèpes, aromatic Greek gyros, and crunchy Indian samosas. 


You could literally walk through the festival as if walking along the silk road of the ancient times.  Between the music venues, food selections, and dance troupes,  families could begin their journey in Africa or Europe, cross over the Mediterranean into Turkey, journey to the Middle East, be dazzled in China, intrigued by Russia, and then slide down into mystical India.








There were the festival souvenir types of trinkets for the kiddos but prominently displayed in abundance were true artisan discoveries.  Carved wooden masks from Africa, round ceramic gas lamps from Morocco, brightly painted nesting dolls from Russia, and wiggly squiggly carved snakes from Africa were just some of the eye-catching crafts that caught my eye.






I am a total people-watching person.  Often in restaurants, someone at another table catches my eye and I lose myself in unraveling their world coming up with scenarios that I have no idea are accurate.  


Partly entranced by the talented performers on stage, I nevertheless, continuously diverted my attention to the many colors, various dress, and assorted languages of so many people sitting on the lawns enjoying the entertainment.  Families huddled together in the shade of the trees, relaxed and enjoying their time together.  Children ran around dancing and playing with other children innocently unaware of any difference is appearance, just a yearning for playful fun.  


Amazing it was, indeed.  Simply Amazing.








This drink flew past me, smoky dry ice billowing out of the neon blue plastic cup.  What was this?  I have no idea.  What country is it representing?  I have no idea.  Next time, I am going to be brazen (my family would chortle at this scene and be completely unsurprised) and chase after that drink owner to find out what in the world was that!  How should I google this?  Smoky, neon blue festival drink?  Icy, frothy, gazzy liquid festival libation?








Look at the ingredients on this huge savory crèpe how fresh.  The smell was divine and it competed with the heavenly sweet crèpes being smoothed and flipped on the adjacent burner.  




I wonder how many cultures were wandering around enjoying the festivities?  Disney World has Epcot Center but this was the real deal.  The food was authentic, the people were fascinating, and the experience of it all together in one amazing venue was deep and heartfelt.




These Greek gyros smelled amazing.  Truly amazing.  I have a weakness for gyros and falafels and if I weren't bursting with emotions trying to capture the vivid scenes dancing before my hungry eyes, that would have been my foodie pick.  I do regret not sinking my teeth into one of those gyros!




This french crèpe maker was studiously at task.  The crèpes were beautiful and watching him deftly pour and smooth the batter reminded me of our incredible time in France last fall.  These girls (right) were giggling and smiling as they passed me by.  They were having so much fun that I had to break in and ask for their picture.  I was going to try for a loose carefree photo but they excitedly arranged themselves in this adorable pose and were thrilled to have their picture taken.  I would love to have been a  little birdie and followed them along catching glimpses of their laughter and amusements.


Attending this festival just makes me curious to continue uncovering more of Houston's incredible offerings.  Being the fourth largest city in the U.S. brings in a diversity of cultures and traditions that spill into venues like this one and showcase the many faces of this vast city.  Good job Houston!

PAPAYA PEACOCK (Table Decoration)



Things Required:
1 Ripe and firm papaya
Lettuce leaves
Cloves
Cherry tomatoes
Toothpicks

Method:
1. On the papaya, carefully mark the shape of the bird's face, neck, wings and the back tail piece should be in an oval shape and a little higher than the face
2. Carefully cut the shape of the face and the neck with a thin, sharp knife.
3. On the sides of the papaya, make 4-5 slits for the wings.
4. Fix cherry tomatoes on the tail piece.
5. Place some lettuce leaves in the papaya and adjust the slits of the wings in a slightly slanting position.
6. Use cloves for the eyes.
7. Make a beak and a crown from a firm, red tomato or red capsicum.

This goes to: Create N Carve
Hosted by:

Greece Going Over The Falls

Bloomberg says the Euros are talking about allowing Greece to extend the maturity dates of their loans. That is, Greece will pay you back, but more slowly than they promised.
May 17 (Bloomberg) -- European finance ministers for the first time floated the idea of talks with bondholders over extending Greece’s debt-repayment schedule, saying that last year’s 110 billion-euro ($156 billion) rescue has failed to restore the country to financial health.
Der Spiegel points out how they're doing everything they can to avoid facing the facts.
More than a year ago, they created a €110 billion ($157 billion) bailout fund for Greece. Since then, however, the likelihood of a government bankruptcy has only increased. The country's mountain of debts is growing, the economy is at risk of collapsing and the promised austerity programs are not progressing as planned ...

"A restructuring of Greek debts is absolutely out of the question," says French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, while Schäuble notes: "A debt restructuring is not under consideration and is completely speculative."

Instead, the European Commission intends to fight the crisis with new debts, even though government officials in European capitals are still denying this, as usual. There is talk of a €60-billion loan package, additional austerity programs and even tougher austerity.
Greece couldn't pay back its loans before the added loans from their "bailout" and they can't pay them back afterwards, either. Extending the life of the loans doesn't make it better, it just delays the inevitable. The Greeks are insolvent and that's a fact. If the EU wants to avoid a default, they're going to have to do what the Fed has done which is print money and hand it out at 0% interest. The other alternative is to blow up the EU entirely through a Greek restructuring.

As I understand it, these bailouts require unanimous consent by all EU members and the Finns, for one, won't stomach another. I can't see how a Greek default results in anything other than a break in the EU and that's why they're frantic to prevent it. They're like kayakers in rapids. They'll be able to control their path to some extent, but the end result is going to be going over the falls no mater what they do.

Book Industry Conference – the need for books in media information




Book Industry Conference – the need for books in media information
The need for information on books in the media – the sector covered exclusively by Books & Media – was stressed at BIC this week.

BookBrunch reported that Mark Bell of the BBC boasted of the Corporation's role as "the biggest producer of books programmes in the world": Dominic Myers, MD of Waterstone's, asked him how information about books on TV and radio might be broadcast more efficiently to booksellers. Cathy Rentzenbrink of Waterstone's reminded the audience that "the conversation with the customer is at the heart of everything we do", and that when customers went into bookshops because they had heard about books, they wanted to buy those books immediately, or at the very least to speak to booksellers who knew the books and could order them.

 Such conversations were enabled by good contacts, and efficient flows of information, between booksellers and publishers. [A service such as Books & Media, BookBrunch's cousin within BDS, can help too.] In a message later, Rentzenbrink referred to the B&M site as “wonderful”.

Books & Media email newsletter goes out to over 10,000 industry professionals each week. The site is soon to become a paid-for subscription service, but visitors can still see the assets of the site and its invaluable tie-in databases covering newspapers, TV, radio, movies and social networking by simply taking a few minutes to register at
www.booksandmedia.co.uk/register.asp.

Whitcoulls - the ongoing saga

NBR


Whitcoulls’ flagship Queen Street store will close on Saturday for stocktaking as administrators of its troubled parent company prepare to offload the iconic bookseller chain.
NBR understands a deal to sell the New Zealand business is imminent with local buyers having been involved in the bidding process.
Whitcoulls was placed in administration in February when its Australian parent company, RedGroup Retail, collapsed under a mountain of debt.
Administrators Ferrier Hodgson would not take calls yesterday but a local spokeswoman said they were hoping to make an announcement relating to the sale later this week.
This time around there are no obvious trade buyers, although names like PaperPlus, Dymocks and even Harvey Norman have been speculated on.


Photo - Chris Skelton.

Authors should be paid for events - BIC

The Bookseller - 17.05.11 | Lisa Campbell

Authors should be paid for hosting events, the Society of Authors new general secretary has said.
Nicola Solomon told delegates at the Book Industry Conference yesterday (16th May) that if authors give up a day of their free time to stage a reading, book signing or other event at a bookshop where that establishment is making money, then they should receive around 10% of it.

During a debate she chaired looking at how live events create a buzz about books and impact on the bookselling market, Solomon said: "On the whole authors should be paid. If a venue makes over £1,000 in book sales, £100 of that should go to the author. Sometimes it is someone giving up their whole day, I think we should be paying them to be there."

However, event consultant and fellow panel member Jo James argued authors shouldn't be paid because many have an obligation to partake in publicity written into their contracts with publishers.
She said: "I feel quite strongly that if you have to pay authors to come along and do events, events would disappear a lot quicker."

Jonathan Davidson for Midland Creative Projects, an agency which runs events in the arts sector, said he often paid poets and authors' travel expenses.
"I do think it is getting more and more difficult to say to authors 'you will get a return on this eventually'. I think we are in a changing situation," he told the conference.

Kate McCann's personal account of the disappearance and continuing search for her daughter

madeleine
Kate McCann
Bantam Press - $42.99

 Kate McCann says: "The decision to publish the book has been very difficult, and taken with heavy hearts... My reason for writing it is simple: to give an account of the truth... Writing this memoir has entailed recording some very personal , intimate and emotional aspects of our lives.  Sharing these with strangers does not come easily to me, but if I hadn't done so I would not have felt the book gave as full a picture as it is possible for me to give.  As with every action we have taken over the last four years, it ultimately boils down to whether what we are doing could help us to find Madeleine.  When the answer to that question is yes, or even possibly, our family can cope with anything... othing is more important to us than finding our little girl."

Gerry McCann says: "It is a sad fact that not a single police force anywhere is proactively looking for Madeleine (as is the case for many other missing children). I am sure this book will re-energize the search for our daughter and the public will get behind the Find Madeleine campaign once again.  It is simply not acceptable that the authorities have given up on Madeleine - especially when no comprehensive review of the case has been undertaken.  Our daughter, and whoever took her, are out there.  We need your help to find them."

Such a sad story. Includes 16 pages of colour photos including Artist's impressions of the man and child seen on the evening of 3 May 2007 around the time Madeleine was abducted  in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

Kate and Gerry McCann established Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned in 2007, to enable them to continue the search for their daughter.  
As there is now no law-enforcement agency in the world actively looking for Madeleine, the fund enables a small team of very committed and experienced  people to investigate Madeleine's disappearance.  It also runs awareness campaigns in several countries, to ensure the public know that Madeleine is still missing, and to encourage them to remain vigilant.  There is no evidence to suggest that Madeleine has been harmed and it is therefore vital to keep looking for her and those who took her.  It is for this reason that all royalties earned from the sales of 'Madeline' will be donated to Madeleine's Fund.

The official site to find Madeleine McCann: http://www.findmadeleine.com/index.html

Long Novels......

"Reading a novel of punishing difficulty and length is a version of climbing Everest for people who prefer not to leave the house. And people who climb Everest don't howl with exhilaration at the summit because the mountain was a good or a well made or an interesting mountain per se, but because they're overawed at themselves for having done such a fantastically difficult thing."

--Mark O'Connell, from his essay "The Stockholm Syndrome Theory of Long Novels" in the Millions - from Shelf Awareness

Quercus publisher of the year at The Bookseller Industry Awards

The Bookseller17.05.11 | Lisa Campbell

Quercus has been crowned 2011's best publisher at The Bookseller Industry Awards, as Sainsbury's scooped the Bookseller of the Year award.
Quercus was presented with the Bonnier Publishing Publisher of the Year Award at the black-tie event attended by around 600 people in London's Park Lane Hilton yesterday evening (16th May) after experiencing 100% growth in the past 12 months to become the 11th largest publishing house in the UK. One judge said: "They've got the numbers, the people and the energy. I admire them, and their achievements."

Sainsbury's was honoured with the Martina Cole General or Chain Bookselling Company of the Year Award after reinvigorating book zones, increasing book sales by more than 33% and attracting new book buyers to the market. One judge said: "We should celebrate the fact that they are embracing books and offering people an alternative place to buy—somewhere they can spend time browsing as well as buying."

Faber & Faber was a double winner, clinching the Ingram Independent Publisher of the Year Award and the FutureBook Digital Innovation Prize with Touch Press for their Solar System for iPad app. The judges complimented Faber's successful schemes such as the Faber Factory, a digital service launched last September. One panel member said the publisher boasted a back-end that was doing "amazingly well" alongside "tonnes of poetry successes".
Faber c.e.o. Stephen Page was also praised for the range of innovations under his leadership, with one judge claiming "he has done a huge amount for the industry".

With a list including Rose Tremain's Trespass and Edmund de Waal's The Hare with Amber Eyes, Clara Farmer was awarded Imprint and Editor for the Year for her stewardship of Chatto & Windus. Her first year in charge saw the second highest turnover in its 156-year history. Scholastic's Alison Green was highly commended for the Alison Green Books imprint. Children's Publisher of the Year went to Penguin Children's Books for "an amazing all-round performance". Simon & Schuster was highly commended for "good taste, vibrant publishing and numerous award wins".

Initiatives such as the launch of a UK-specific e-book store and e-reader led Amazon.co.uk to win Direct Bookselling Company of the Year. Waterstone's won the Usborne Children's Bookseller of the Year.
London independent Tales on Moon Lane was another double winner on the night. The indie bagged the Walker Books Children's Independent Bookseller of the Year, while employee Georgina Hanratty won the HarperCollins Sue Butterworth Young Bookseller award—the latter gong was jointly given to Micha Solona from Blackwell's Royal Bank of Scotland shop in Edinburgh. It was Blackwell's second award of the evening, with Zool Verjee voted Lynda La Plante Manager of the Year for his work at its Broad Street Oxford branch.

The Gardners Books Independent Bookseller of the Year was Bath's Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights, complimented for striking a balance "between old-style bookselling and new things outstandingly well". The Main Street Trading Company in St Boswell's, Scottish Borders, and The Gutter Bookshop in Dublin were all highly commended in this category.

Corvus' Rina Gill won PPC Publicity Campaign of the Year for her work on Karl Marlantes' Matterhorn, with Ruth Waldram at William Heinemann highly commended for her work on Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird's 50th anniversary campaign.

The Orion Literary Agent Award was given to Robert Kirby of United Agents, and Frankfurt Book Fair Rights Professional of the Year was bestowed on Jake Smith-Bosanquet of Conville & Walsh.

Harlequin UK won Nielsen Marketing Campaign of the Year for Mills & Boon New Voices. The London Borough of Hillingdon Libraries was crowned Library Innovation of the Year for its library refurbishment programme, which was described by one judge as helping to make libraries "a better place to visit".

The Bookseller editor-in-chief and chair of the judging panel Neill Denny said: "Despite operating in a fast-changing market, the winners of these awards have shown themselves to be innovative and successful during a challenging time for the industry."

Issue Five of "Poetry Notes" available now for download



"The fifth issue of the newsletter from Poetry Archive of New Zealand Aotearoa is available now for download as a pdf.


Inside Autumn 2011, volume 2, issue 1: Mark Pirie on the Alistair Te Ariki Campbell Exhibition; poem-tributes for Alistair Campbell by Mark Pirie and L E Scott; classic New Zealand poetry by John Barr; young New Zealand poet Rhys Brookbanks dies; donation from the family of Marie Weldon Parker; recently received donations; about the Poetry Archive.

The Poetry Archive catalogue has also been significantly updated to include recent acquisitions in March and April.

eNews: BN Seeks Trademark for A “Simple Touch Reader” (And Moves 1 Million Nook Apps)

PublishersLunch

With Barnes & Noble's new ereader announcement set for 10:00 on Tuesday, May 24, CNet has researched some of the company’s recent trademark filings (which are made through Fission LLC) for clues. They filed to protect the phrase “the simple touch reader” at the end of March in the category of “portable electronic apparatus for reading”–which CNet logically says “we take as a strong indication that the upcoming Nook will be an affordable monochrome e-ink touch-screen model that operates similarly” to the Sony Reader. A more recent filing also seeks to protect MyNook, a web portal service “to remotely manage, administer and control electronic readers” and files, and on April 22, they filed to protect the slogan “If You Love Reading, This Is Your Tablet.”


As we linked in brief yesterday, Barnes & Noble announced that customers downloaded more than 1 million paid and free Nook apps in their new app store. The top five paid NOOK Apps are Angry Birds, Drawing Pad, Solitaire, Aces Jewel Hunt and Astraware Mahjong. Among the top free apps is Nook Word of the Day. When the company first announced the initiative last fall, they indicated they were launching their own app store (instead of tying in directly to the Android app market) to focus on “developing reading-centric applications” and presenting users with a “curated, organized commerce experience.”

Catch


I just started using Catch to share notes, links and images across all of my devices and I love it. It's like a personal version of Twitter. In the past, when I took the dogs to the dog park, I'd sit and surf the web on my Droid 2 while they played. When I found something I wanted to blog or share with others, I'd email it to one of my accounts. Catch allows me to post it to my Catch account where I can pick it up anywhere. I can do the same for photos. Awesomeness!

Link of the Day

Click on the image.

Recipe of the Week Blog Hop - Strawberry Amaretto Pastries

This is a recipe that I make during Pampered Chef parties. It is extremely easy and tastes great!!

Strawberry Amaretto Pastries 

1/2 pkg (17.3 oz) frozen puff pastry sheets
(1 sheet), thawed
1/2 cup sliced almonds, divided
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 container (8 oz) sour cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups thawed frozen whipped topping
12 large strawberries, sliced
1 orange

 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Unfold pastry dough onto large cookie sheet or baking stone . Finely chop half of the almonds using a food chopper. Combine chopped almonds and granulated sugar in a bowl; sprinkle evenly over surface of dough. Lightly press almond mixture into dough.

2. Using a pizza cutter , cut dough lengthwise into three strips; cut strips crosswise into four squares for a total of 12 squares. Using a spatula , separate squares evenly over surface of bar pan. Bake 16-18 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Remove from bar pan to cooling rack ; cool completely.

3. Meanwhile, place remaining almonds in sauté pan . Cook over medium-high heat 2-3 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring occasionally; remove from heat and cool completely. Coarsely chop using food chopper and set aside.

4. Whisk sour cream, powdered sugar and almond extract in a bowl using. Fold in
whipped topping. Slice strawberries. Split open each pastry square; arrange half of the strawberries into bottom of each shell. Top each with about 2 heaping tablespoons of the filling and sprinkle with chopped almonds. Top with remaining sliced strawberries. Zest orange over strawberries. Place tops of pastry shells over filling. Serve immediately.







Now it's your turn to share a recipe! Please be sure to link back to Recipe of the Week and get the word out about this recipe blog hop! The linky will be open until Friday evening at 11:59pm! 

Turkish publisher faces jail time for publishing William S. Burroughs novel

Melville House Publishing
17 May 2011



Irfan Sanci
Turkish publisher Irfan Sanci is going to court again over publishing something that has offended some people, for which he faces some time in jail.
In November, it was his decision to publish Guillaume Apollinaire’s Adventures of the Young Don Juan that got him into hot water with authorities. Now, he faces obscenity charges again over his plans to publish Williams Burroughs‘ novel The Soft Machine according to this report in the Associated Press by Christopher Torchia.
In March, the “Prime Ministerial Board for the Protection of Children from Harmful Publications,” a government board that oversees newly published works, said that The Soft Machine “ lacks narrative unity” and is “written in an arbitrary fashion that is devoid of cohesion in meaning.” They went on to say that “The way the book deals with the coarse, sleazy, vulgar and weak aspects of humans will develop an attitude that allows the justification of criminal activities in the readers’ minds.”
As the AP points out, the board’s conclusions aren’t legally binding but prosecutors have decided to go after Sanci anyway. ”There is a conflict between society, and the laws and the government,” said Sanci.
Torchia outlines the context of the case within Turkish society with respect to free expression thusly:
The case is part of a debate about free expression under a government that has successfully battled over Turkey’s secular political system with the military and other hostile state institutions. The ruling party, led by devout Muslims who call themselves “conservative democrats,” leads in the polls ahead of June elections, but opponents say its vows to pursue democratic reform mask an autocratic streak.
On Sunday, protesters in Turkish cities demonstrated against government plans to implement Internet content filters, saying the new system amounted to more censorship in an already heavy-handed effort to control information. Thousands of websites are banned under regulations aimed at curbing child pornography, illegal gambling and other cybercrimes.
As Bilge Sanci, the publisher’s daughter and executive editor at Sanci’s publishing house Sel Yayincilik, notes about the disconnect between the government board and the classic Beat novel, “You can’t judge the moral code of the Beat Generation” if you don’t understand ”literature or aesthetics.” (Ruhi Ozbilgic, the head of the advisory board, has worked in customs, agriculture and state planning.)
The print run for the new edition of The Soft Machine is a modest 2,500 books. Yet depending on the government’s ruling, it may be more than the cost of those books that Sanci will have to eat. If convicted, he faces steep fines. Or jail time.