All entries for January 2010

More Amazonian Clout!

Follow-up to Amazonian Clout from George Ttoouli, Warwick Writing Programme

Just spotted this article via Alvin Pang:

Books published by Macmillan mysteriously poofed from Amazon yesterday. The reason, according to the NYT, is that Amazon is punishing the publisher for arguing that the price of Kindle books should go up to $15. This won't end well.

Get your war on, anyone? This is going to play out badly over the next few months.

Unless all the major ebook publishers form an alliance to remove their content from Amazon's Kindle line, Amazon maintains its stranglehold on the ebook market. They won't do that, because the fewer competitors delivering Kindle content, the more monopoly a publisher will have over Amazon's ebook retail. Macmillan's departure is a boon to Random House et al, who are still tapping that vein.

And meanwhile, iBooks sound like a joke - without the no-light technology of e-readers like Kindle, what's the point in burning your eyes out on an iPad, or any other Apple screen-based product, when you could use audio book formats instead?

I still maintain that the excuse given by book retailers - that 'readers win' when books are cheaper - is a short-term view doing harm to the industry as a whole. The cancer spreads.

George Ttoouli : 31 Jan 2010 12:00 |  Tags: Amazon Apple Crisis Ibooks Publishing |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Detachable Penis by King Missile (remix), Or, Making the Strange Stranger

Writing about web page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivuBVBDLVXs&feature=related

George Ttoouli : 31 Jan 2010 09:00 |  Tags: Music Weird |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Peter Blegvad is… Holden Caulfield

Writing about web page http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00q43p3/Last_Word_29_01_2010/

Peter's written a goodbye from Holden Caulfield to JD Salinger, just on BBC Radio 4's 'Last Word'. Available on Listen Again until Thursday 1st January 2099.

"I like to know when I'm leaving a place. I try to feel some kind of goodbye. If you don't, you feel even worse."

Bittersweet.

George Ttoouli : 30 Jan 2010 16:00 |  Tags: BBC Peter Blegvad |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Amazonian Clout

Writing about web page http://mhpbooks.com/mobylives/?p=11367

Further evidence that the publishing industry is reaching a crisis, to go hand in hand with the closure of Borders, one or two Christian-focused bookshop chains and various independent book shops, over December:

The move by three of New York’s big six conglomerate publishers — Simon & Schuster, the Hachette Book Group, and HarperCollins – to stand up to Amazon’s drastic discounting demands took a perverse twist yesterday when Amazon did what it does: act thuggish when it’s time to negotiate

...

this isn’t a war about pricing as much as it is about standing up, finally, to Amazon.com and its destructive behavior towards the entire industry.

Full article here.

George Ttoouli : 30 Jan 2010 09:00 |  Tags: Amazon Crisis Publishing |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Trackbacks (1) |  Report a problem

The Many–tentacled Vampire of Andrei Codrescu

Political parties appeared and disappeared like the thick grounds at the bottom of Turkish coffee cups. Gipsies read fortunes and played addictive violin music that made one lascivious and light-headed. All this frivolity rested like a multitentacled vampire above a huge, backward peasant mass that lived in hunger and rags in villages. The aristocratic vampire with its grotesque appetites sucked dry the energy of millions of wretched humans.

--Andrei Codrescu, 'The Posthuman Dada Guide: Tzara & Lenin Play Chess'

Notes:

- Are political parties necessarily 'thick'? If the coffee referenced had been Greek, a culture known for a better quality of coffee grinder, or perhaps more time on their hands, or more muscly-armed coffee grinders (most of whom are women, I should add) then perhaps the coffee grounds and, thereby, the political parties, would have been 'thin'.

- For 'Gipsies' read 'Gypsies'. The differences are slight, but important: American gipsies have lighter hair, a tendency towards baldness, particularly in the eyebrows (often mistaken for alopecia) and commonly occupy positions in local government. European gypsies are more peripatetic, with longer arms used to keep better hold of the reins of their caravan horses. Often with innate artistic abilities, they congregate in hinterlands and have an aversion to tentacles.

- the inaccuracy of the reference to 'addictive violin music' is an easy one to make; Italian gypsies and their genetically displaced Irish cousins were known to lace their melodies with atomised heroin derivatives in the early part of the twentieth century, often disguising themselves among Romanian travelers to displace xenophobic sentiments upon their rival counterparts. (A form of ground Turkish coffee mixed with Greek squid ink was used to dye the red hair of Italian and Irish gypsies, often bought from the coast of what is nowadays called Croatia, though the recipe existed in the days of Sparta.) Conventionally, Romanian gypsy violin music is designed to thread well with various herbal smokes, particularly that of burnt cloves, which, while habit forming, is not considered physically addictive.

- Since when have vampires been folklorically connected to tentacles? Perhaps Codrescu is thinking of a rare breed of winged Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni.

- Due to the middle-clawed feeding technique of the colossal squid, the peasant masses may well have found themselves inverted, or 'backwards', during consumption, but traditional depictions, particularly in woodcuts from the region, show peasant masses to be facing forwards.

- The association of the vampire with aristocracy is a simplistic one, arguably deploying a crass 'Scooby Doo Effect' (cf. Toby Litt, et al) that reduces the pure solution of the monstrous to an ugly analogical residue. This perhaps may be a misprint for 'arithmetic vampire', a far more terrifying concept, linked to the rice-grain counting Old Higue of Caribbean folklore. Similarly, for 'grotesque appetites', read 'grotesque algebras'.

- This narrative fails partly for the inconclusive disposal of the enervated masses. Although indisposed in terms of kinetic and heat energies, the waste corpus of the masses still has a functionality in terms of weight and inertia that implies a continuation of the masses. The bodies of the dead will nourish the seeds of the new masses, re-energised and shooting anew against the calculating demon. While the demon may continue to feast upon the equations of the new masses, in that period of dead mass one can see the opportunity also for the dependent vampire to dwindle into irrelevance, or the madness of starvation. Vampires require an energy source, while the masses do not, are not, addicts, though they are capable, in their music of creating addictions.

George Ttoouli : 29 Jan 2010 09:00 |  Tags: Andrei Codrescu Dada Dadaist Analysis Tentacles The Posthuman Dada Guide Vampires |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Frankly Terrifying Post–Larval Octopus

Writing about web page http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/jan/24/david-liittschwager-photos-cubic-foot

An interesting project outlined in a recent Guardian article about a photographer working on 'found animals'. One line caught my eye:

In Moorea, in French Polynesia, they discovered a vast array of species (pictured) thought to only be a very small selection of the reef's full diversity. Among their findings were the inch-long file clam, the whitespotted boxfish, sacoglossan sea slug and the frankly terrifying post-larval octopus.

What, exactly, is terrifying about the post-larval octopus?

George Ttoouli : 28 Jan 2010 09:00 |  Tags: Found Animals Guardian Tentacles |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Diary of a Permaculturalist 17: Palm Oil

Writing about web page /ttooulig/entry/diary_of_a_1_2_3_4_5_6_7_8_9_493/

Link from a while back on Unilever suspending palm oil purchases from a particular company. Interesting that they aren't stopping the purchase entirely.

Unilever, which consumes 4 per cent of the total global supply of palm oil for use in products including food spreads, ice cream and toiletries, said it was suspending future purchases from PT Smart, part of the Sinar Mas group over its environmental practices.

Another article I found while digging around points to General Mills, responsible for, among hundreds of other products, Cheerios, is accused of causing deforestation:

RAN says that at least a hundred General Mills products, including goods sold under Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Stovetop Hamburger Helper and Toaster Strudel brands, contain palm oil or palm oil derivatives. RAN is calling for General Mills to commit to buying only responsibly-sourced palm oil.

It would be handy to have a list of products that contain elements grown on lands annexed from rainforests, but that kind of information ain't throwing itself up at me easily. Probably could be sourced from placing like the above-mentioned RAN - Rainforest Action Network - in the US. Trouble is, while the corporations exploiting these resources are globalised through financing, the action networks are localised. I've no idea if there's any kind of hub for international communications for this kind of thing - any thoughts welcome.

George Ttoouli : 27 Jan 2010 09:00 |  Tags: Creative Writing Permaculture |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Trackbacks (1) |  Report a problem

Writers' Archive Live

Writing about web page http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/writingprog/archive/

A message from David Morley about a fantastic resource:

After a number of years in development, the Writers at Warwick Archive is now live on the English Department's website. It contains over 200 recordings of writers in many genres and disciplines, from poets of the 1970s to speakers at the most recent Writers at Warwick events, among them Basil Bunting, Carol Ann Duffy, Seamus Heaney, Germaine Greer, Salman Rushdie and Sarah Waters. You can use an A-Z index of writers, view collections of recordings or browse by date, genre or theme.  The archive can be used only for educational and research purposes, and is free of charge. Go to http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/writingprog/archive/ (you need to sign in),

George Ttoouli : 26 Jan 2010 09:00 |  Tags: Creative Writing David Morley |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Diary of a Permaculturalist 16: 100 Months: A letter from Mario Petrucci

Follow-up to Diary of a Permaculturalist 14: Greenpeace Scales Parliament from George Ttoouli, Warwick Writing Programme

Mario Petrucci emailed the other day, with a sound a wonderful perspective on the current state of climate change. He kindly gave me permission to pass it on in full, below.

If you're busy, scroll down to the ten points he lists in the middle, and if you're feeling the urgency as well, copy, paste and post on your own blog.

And while I'm in utopia-mode: wouldn't it be nice if every website in the world added a sidebar menu link to ways of reducing carbon? This is a good link. At least for starters. I'm on approx 5 tonnes/year, and it gives a range of suggestions for cutting that to a recommended 4 tonnes.

And bear in mind also that the '100 months', while a contested figure, was released last year. So if you agree with it, we've more like 84 months to act. Or seven years.

===

100 months: a letter from Mario Petrucci [ecologist, physicist, writer]

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has estimated we have just 100 months left before Climate Change is irreversible. What they mean is that we'll probably not be able to contain CC, thereafter, at 2deg above pre-industrial levels. That could prove pretty serious.

As a scientist and ecologist, I can assure you that such vast alterations to global systems may well be much more catastrophic and rapid than our science predicts. What's just about certain, now, is that we're already past the point of getting off 'scot free'. On an unimaginable scale, it's Russian Roulette we're playing.

A key problem, for me, is that awareness can only be part of the response. Many of us are strongly informed on Climate Change and would do much more if we could - but we have commitments, families, difficult jobs to maintain, and so on. Also, some of us may have reservations about the whole issue, eg the possibility of CC itself becoming big business manipulated by powerful interest groups, or a sense of unease over who that 'we' in the political rhetoric might turn out to be. And, somewhere deep down, secretly, I find it easier to hope that the 'authorities', companies and NGOs are getting on with it. Meanwhile, another part of me is somewhat resigned to the powerful historical evidence of ongoing human folly.

But I've come to realise that fear, apathy or skeptical reticence have (for me) now become luxuries in this context. If you feel the same, may I propose some of the following actions, which don't take very long at all and could, if enough people got on board, who knows, begin to swing it...?

1. Share any news/ information you have on CC with colleagues and friends - everyone

2. Make CC a frequent topic of conversation, even at dinner parties and at work

3. Include CC as a major issue in any suitable talks, lectures and readings you give

4. Educate and prepare (but not frighten) our teenagers with regard to the issues (though many of them are already far ahead of us in terms of willingness to respond...)

5. Be alert to any opportunity to raise CC in the ordinary turn of daily events

Most importantly, seize on anything that can systemise the political and economic pressure for change, anything that acts as an amplifier for the individual will...

6. Lobby your MP; raise CC with anyone knocking on your door for a vote; ask them about 'Transition Towns', energy, or how they might encourage local initiatives over big business

7. Mention CC as a core concern in any relevant questionnaires you fill in (local council, etc)

8. Join Green organisations to swell their numbers and coffers (along with Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, CND, etc. there are many reputable organisations such as 'Scientists for Global Responsibility')

9. Transfer some savings to genuinely eco-aware banks; buy eco-friendly products

10. Invest, if you can, in wind companies and other alternative energy initiatives, or in local consortiums such as 'The Good Fuel Co-op' (ironically, some of these may well become important ventures in the future (if there is one) which will reward the canny investor)

Many of you, I'm sure, will already be doing much of this; if so, apologies for the distraction. I just feel that, somehow, acting for the future has to made easier. And I believe, on good days, that the post-carbon world needn't be a terrifying, brutal place.

It seems to me that my little boy was only just born, and already he's 11 months old. 11% of that IPCC deadline. No deadline is definite, of course: there may be much more time than that; or much less. Which is why I've overcome my reticence in sending this out. If you agree with the message, please feel free to forward this e-mail to your e-list. It might just be the prompt someone needs; and maybe it will start something that spreads beyond our control (in a good way, for once).

Probably, you're hellishly busy. I know I am. Then give the 10 steps just 10 minutes? 10 minutes, let alone 100 months, can be a long time in politics, or to a species. Please, redouble your efforts. The time for mere awareness has passed.

George Ttoouli : 25 Jan 2010 09:00 |  Tags: Creative Writing Permaculture |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Maureen Freely story on Radio 4

Writing about web page http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pzhcp

Maureen's short story, 'City of Two Continents', was read by a camp actor on Radio 4 last week. Still available on Listen Again. Maureen tells me it's based on two side-characters in her current novel in progress, and how they cope with the end of the world. I took it in a metaphorical sense when she first said that, not thinking that people (as in, non-mad-cultists) actually believed the end of the world might actually be happening to them. Then again, with the Hadron Collider experiments, possibly the end of the world should be a little more plausible in my head than as some kind of 2012 apocalypse-fest.

Meanwhile, in his review of Orhan Pamuk's latest novel, 'The Museum of Innocence' in January's issue of 'Prospect', Julian Evans had some nice things to say about Maureen's translation:

To emphasise the poet in Pamuk is just to underline his magnificent gift for constructing sentences, matched in the English edition by Maureen Freely's superb gift for transparent translation.

Personally, I think Evans could have laid it on a bit thicker, as anyone who's read pre-Freely translations of Pamuk's work would attest to.

George Ttoouli : 24 Jan 2010 21:22 |  Tags: Maureen Freely Short Story |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem