The Bat Segundo Show continues its frenetic pace of podcasting (do they ever sleep at Segundo headquarters?). This week, William Vollmann tries to keep up with the craziness, managing to discuss everything from Copernicus (no podcast is complete without that) to the use of narrators in fiction (helpful, if you’re wondering). BS would like to note that no bats were harmed in the making of this program. We cannot speak for the humans. The Bat Segundo Show #26: William Vollmann
Sometimes we do have nice things to say about other people. Like the inimitable Jayne Ann Krentz. For those who think we spent our evenings in Texas hanging out at bars, uh uh, not us — we were working hard with the lovely HelenKay Dimon on a Krentz appreciation. Then we hit the bars. Perfect Partners by Jayne Ann Krentz
Our Austin journey, as all Austin journeys must, has come to an end. Only one more night of drinking and carousing (we, of course, always watch from sidelines or something like that) and then it’s back to the Center of the Universe and real life. We’re still writing up our thoughts on various sessions — most of the remaining items are more relevant to Medialoper, so look for them there. Remember: all you have to do is substitute the word “publishing” for any of the other media types listed. We were very excited to meet the Pinky behind Pinky’s Paperhaus
It is the year 2006, and librarians, historians, and archivists have a serious question: are they too late when it comes to archiving blogs. Oh sure, you might ask if blogs are worthy of such weighty thought, but unlike a diary written in the 1800s, today’s world moves too fast to wait to discover what, if anything, is the long-term impact of today’s blog and/or web environment. At the SXSWi panel “Digital Preservation and Blogs”, not only was the question of time addressed, but also the question of what should be archived for the future. As much as preserving the
Our nascent educational career nearly ground to a halt when we first encountered “handwriting”. Prior to this, we’d kept the mother on staff as a sort of stenographer (“Please excuse Booksquare early today as she has to explain to the dentist why she refuses to floss”). As it turns out, making all those letters and dots and whatnot is hard word and our early teachers did not appreciate that we were making art — and sometimes that means illegible. Later, we encountered “typing”. There used to be this machine called a typewriter. It came in manual and electric. You put
Kate Braverman has been getting a lot of press lately, including a pretty nice interview in the Los Angeles Times (which thanks to the paper’s lame search engine can’t be found, though a letter to the editor about the article is [almost] easily located). Now comes the kind of press no author wants, even one who believes that there is no such thing as negative publicity. Apparently, Braverman broke up with her publisher, Graywolf, in a messy, public, take-no-prisoners sort of way. Based on available evidence, Braverman doesn’t look good. Braverman’s list of grievances appear to be myriad, centering around
Let us assure you that there was no way we were going to miss a panel discussion called “Revenge of the Librarians” during our week at SXSW. It was so worth running through a massively huge convention center in high heels. Of course, we’re super-lazy and only wrote one post on the topic. It’s over at Medialoper. So many blogs to feed, you know…. Librarians Versus The Search Giants
We have been in a pre-SXSW frenzy for the past few days and consumed with the process of finding just the right outfit for 85 degree weather. Also looking up the meaning of humidity on the off chance it’s changed since we last encountered it. It hasn’t. Now we’re catching up on cool stuff to write about. Or maybe we’ll head out for a margarita. It’s so hard to make these decisions.
We cannot be bothered to put much energy into the Da Vinci case. It is too silly for words, though we do appreciate the fact that the British taxpayers are covering the costs for the most intriguing marketing campaign of the season. Yes, we are counting the James Frey scandal in our reckoning. So in addition to increasing sales for Holy Blood, Holy Grail, at least one of the authors has suggested that the case he filed was a bit…broader than strictly necessary. There’s a phrase, something like casting a wide net, fishing expedition, hoping nobody’s paying attention. Only someone
We are worrying about our caffeine. Normally, we’d be fully invigorated by now. We are so sluggish that we’re worried — it’s almost as if (and this is so terrifying, even typing the words makes us shudder) someone gave us, oh dear, decaf. It’s almost enough to make a girl cry. If you need further evidence, look no further than the first item to raise our pulse today: an introduction to “Spoetry”, the irritating, yet oddly compelling nonsensical spam. Admit it, sometimes you read it for the sheer (unintentional) poetry of the message. Or not. You’re probably deleting with wild
