June 2007 - Posts
We should not put too much faith in the wisdom of the ancients. It has resulted in every disaster it is possible to think of, including holy wars and determined people being martyred for errors in translation. Also, of course, ancient medicine usually resulted in an early and painful death. However as our beloved former Prime Minister heads for the Middle East and a shot at the Nobel Peace Prize we might consider the ancient book he should have read some years ago. 'Art of War', by Sun Tzu was written in the middle of the first millennium BC. Sun Tzu writes, 'If you expose the army to a prolonged campaign the state's resources will be inadequate.....No country has ever profited from protracted warfare.' It is regretable that although generals read Sun Tzu politicians do not.
A small celebration as the first draft of 'Horse Painters' is now finished. So collapse for a week and then back to the beginning again for draft two. On the same day I was asked for another short story by 'Dimdama' magazine. Difficult to change gear, I have told the editor she will have one 'shortly.'
As 'Horse Painters' wings its way to a trumphant conclusion (probably) I find I miss writing short stories. The AHP (after Horse Painters) project is to have a story accepted in the prestigious 'Antioch Review' magazine. To this end I needed to look at what they publish and taylor a story accordingly. A copy of the magazine seemed expensive, even allowing for the prestige, so I went into Plan A mode and looked at its website. To my delight online back issues were available for access. I then found that they only featured the first few lines of selected stories. Out manoeuvred I am now into Plan B. Buy a copy.
This week I visited the good old British Library to see the Codex Sinaiticus. Written in the fourth century it is one of the two earliest bibles we have remaining. It came from St. Catherine's Monastery near Mount Sinai hence its name. Sadly the book has been broken up and is dispersed between St. Catherine's Monastery, The British Library, Leipzig University and the Russian National Library in St Petersburg. The British Library has all of the New Testament. There is a plan to reunite the parts of the bible in virtual form on the internet, which seems a Good Thing.
The Codex is displayed in the excellent Sacred Books Exhibition. It is free to enter but you will need a ticket. The ticket can be obtained (free) from a woman on a desk nearby, you then go to the entrance to the exhibition where a man tears the (free) ticket in half and lets you in.As our heroic goverment is under funding the library it seems a strange time for job creation.
'Publisher's Lunch' is a daily email on matters relating to books and publishing. Although a lot of it is of marginal interest it does make subscribers feel cool and up to the minute which, no doubt, is a good thing. Items today included reports on 'Book Expo America', news that LibraryThing.com is giving away pre-publication books in exchange for reviews and details regarding jobs in New York. It is easy to join, just Google 'Publisher's Lunch', and it is free for the shorter version. The long version, which is not free, is so detailed that one must give up the day job to have time to read it. As you will have gathered it is USA based, but then most helpful literary information comes from there anyway.
Now for something completely different. When you are surfing YouTube for author's lectures, and maybe pole dancing babes, check out 'Battle at Kruger', it is the most amazing wildlife film I have ever seen.