Square Pegs

When authors of a certain stature release new works, profiles inevitably follow. After you’ve read two or three of these, there really is no need to go further. The questions follow a predictable pattern, and the answers? There are only so many ways to to say the same thing over and over. This makes the rare interview that exposes something more about an author all the more exciting to us. Like, oh, this profile of VS Naipaul. While we know you’ll immediately follow the link to read the full article, we pulled out a few of our favorite quotes. Each […]

By our estimation, copyright law has been around a long time. Yet it continues to evolve in new and different ways. While those of us who are fascinated by this stuff get a continual fix of information, others may find themselves scrambling to keep up with rapid changes. For those fine folks, we suggest that the wind will change tomorrow. For authors, the fair use concept has been entrenched for some time. We once read a thread on a list where a group of published authors debated how many words from a song could be used before the Fair Use

Two interesting copyright-related stories caught our attention this morning — the first because we’ve picked it up, turned it sideways, and looked at the back, and it still doesn’t make sense. Now, admittedly, we haven’t reviewed The Walt Disney Company’s financial statements, especially those relating to South Africa, but our vaguest recollection of the Disney machine hints to us that it has oodles of money. We’re willing to accept that copyright laws differ from country to country (thus adding another layer of confusion to the whole thing), but we cannot see how losing this particular case could mean the loss

We are in awe by Ken Jennings’ winning streak on Jeopardy. We love a winner. Mostly. But we do love a smart guy. But despite our resolution (see earlier today), we cannot let the winning streak myth pass. He didn’t go on hiatus and then return to defend his crown. That’s not how things work. These episodes are (close your eyes if you hate reality) taped in advance. The program has returned from hiatus. It’s a subtle, but important difference. This does not make KenJen (yes, we really typed that) less of a competitor, but it does remind us that

The last time we were in London, we were working. Getting up every morning, blow drying our hair, stumbling to the Tube, buying tabloids, making sure we were on the right color train, arriving at the office, that sort of thing. Pretty much like home except we let someone else do the driving. While we were earning our keep, the husband (who joined us on the trip as “technical support”) became addicted to something called The Big Breakfast. As he was thinking of storming Parliament that week, we supported anything that kept him out of trouble. He still misses that

We could have predicted the headline to the Boston Globe’s Zane interview. But let’s not dwell on that right now. Just this weekend we had a conversation with our friend Jill — she was, with great interest, reviewing a list of self-published books. Her conclusion at the end of the project? Lots of them out there. We couldn’t agree more. As the, uh, mysterious author Zane has, um, uncovered herself in recent weeks (an interview here, an interview there), so much has been made about her subject matter. Yeah, women write about sex. Yeah, women read about sex. The fact

We must confess: we don’t always get the visual arts. Some stuff, sure, but more often than not we’re confused. That’s right — we can stare at works by Jackson Pollack all freakin’ day and end up as enlightened as a lamp post. Or the one where the artist framed the canvas that formerly lived under another work of art. Oh yeah baby, nothing says creative expression like a square formed by paint splotches. On the other hand, nothing offers us more pleasure than attending openings at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. We cannot pick our favorite moment,

We don’t get excited easily*, but sometimes we get caught up in buzz to the point we tingle. In a good way. At least that’s what the doctor said. Damn…why don’t we get ARCs anymore? Right. We no longer review.** Privileges were revoked when we couldn’t refrain from pointing out that we could write the whole thing better, had we the time. Now we regret our actions because the buzz is building and we’re feeling like the kid without a Razor. Yeah, we’re looking for someone to put us out of our misery. Either that, or we’re voting in favor

We know more than a few of our readers enjoy music, so we feel compelled to bring this cautionary tale to their attention: loud music can be bad for you. The article contains the gory details, but, if you value your life, you’ll turn down the volume. Save “eleven” for only the most special of songs. It makes us thankful we escaped that long-ago Sugar show with only a powerful appreciation for the ability of sound to move heavy objects. Music Fans, Beware the Big Bass /ul>