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Just had a long chat with Kelly Jones at Harpers, the webmistress. They're solving some of the problems with blogging on the new website currently, and we're figuring out what the roll-out date for the New Incarnation of this website is going to be. (I make this version number three. Which means I suppose that the next one is the Tom Baker Incarnation of the website, except then someone always has to point out that Peter Cushing played the Doctor in the movie and spoil it for everyone.) I suggested that it might be fun to have a better, downloadable to your iPod etc, video section of the site -- if anyone has any good quality videos of any of the readings or Q&As I've done, get in touch with Kelly and maybe we could put them up.
Good news on the CBLDF front -- Four of the seven counts against Gordon Lee have been dismissed: http://www.cbldf.org/pr/archives/000282.shtml Four out of seven counts against Lee were dismissed before Judge F. Larry Salmon at a pretrial hearing in Rome, Georgia. Prosecutors dismissed both felony counts (1 & 2) of Distribution of Material Containing Nudity or Sexual Conduct (OCGA �16-12-81), as well as the two misdemeanor counts (6 & 7) of Distribution of Harmful to Minors Material (OCGA �16-12-103) to alleged John Does. Three misdemeanor counts (3, 4, & 5) of Distribution of Harmful to Minors Material to the alleged victim were the subject of arguments not yet ruled upon.
It's a start. It also cost $40,000 to get this far.
There's an ebay auction going on with cool stuff -- http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZcbldf. Check it out. You may find a present for someone there...
Let's hope that the last Funky Winkerbean storyline was a good omen. (It starts at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/funky.asp?date=20051113).
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I need to close some tabs. Here's an interesting story about a plagiarist -- http://www.nypress.com/18/48/news&columns/RobertClarkYoung.cfm ; an article on "why none of the Greats of comics are women" -- http://www.artnewsonline.com/currentarticle.cfm?type=feature&art_id=1924 -- an article which manages not to mention Posy Simmonds, who is, in my opinion anyway, easily up there with the Grand Masters they list (and better than several who actually made it into the exhibition) but who is English and exists under the radar of the kinds of people who write such articles or put exhibitions like this together (her current story, Tamara Drew, is being serialised in the Guardian starting http://books.guardian.co.uk/tamaradrewe/page/0,16538,1577172,00.html -- beware, the archives page is a bit higgledy piggledy, and the archives is the only way to get from episode to episode).
Hi Neil,
You may be mildly excited to hear that Anansi Boys features in the recent Yossarian Awards, which were voted on and given out recently at my desk. The Awards are a bit like the Whitbreads, but without the glamour, media attention, celebrity judges, slap up awards ceremony or even prizes. Apart from that - exactly the same.
http://www.ottakars.co.uk/Internet/yossarian/default.jsp
Best wishes,
Yossarian
He's right, you know.