March 2009

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"Math Spicy Foods" -- video review of "Holy Enchilada!", by Henry Winkler, Lin Oliver, and Jesse Joshua Watson

Part of the reason I’ve been absent from this blog is that, when I do have time for blogging, I’ve been focusing my energy on a new blog for the past few days. I’ve started a blog called “crossing the ocean” about going to Germany. Of course, because I’m not there yet, it’s mostly my thoughts about the decision and some pictures I’ve found online of Bremen and such things, but it’s to document my journey and the journey starts when the decision is made. Of course, it’ll be more interesting in August when I’m actually in Germany! Still, I think about it so much that I’ve been managing to post quite a bit, so check it out.

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Empire of the Sun, French edition, Denoël (1985), with cover art ‘Singapour 1945′ by Ronald Searle. Thanks to Herve for all cover scans.

Interview by Tony Cartano & Maxim Jakubowski.
Translation by Dan O’Hara.

The following interview, originally titled ‘Le passé composé de J. G. Ballard’, appeared in Magazine Littéraire in May 1985, to mark the publication of the French edition of Empire of the Sun. As the interviewers, Tony Cartano and Maxim Jakubowski, observe, Ballard was almost the subject of a cult in France, where Crash in particular had been read rather more sympathetically than in England. In 1984 Denoël, who had previously published the French editions of The Drowned World, The Crystal World and

I just thought I’d let you guys know I’ve made my decision. Next year, I’ll be going to Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany. If you’re interested, the school website is here and there are some cool panoramas of Bremen here. And here is a video of free hugs made in Bremen:

I quite enjoy it. And I like the song. 
Anyway, now that we’ve all seen the video, you’re wondering, what does this mean for the books and the blog? You must be interested in that, or else why would you be here? 
And the answer is: I don’t really know. 
Sometime in August, I’ll be heading to Europe. If authors/publishers are willing to send me books in Germany, I’ll still take review copies. If not, well, my parents will still be in the U.S. and I’ll be able to pick up books when I come home for Christmas/summer. I’m really not sure about access to English-language books or time to read them and I’ll work out all the details about review copies when the time comes....

Apologies for the inactivity at this site recently, and the usual grovelling apologies to anyone who has sent links, tips, messages, emails over the past month and a bit. Chaotic off-site scenarios shut me down for a while, but I’m back posting and pretty pleased with the first post-revival post: the conclusion to my Shepperton photo essay.
Still, I haven’t been completely idle. There is a Last FM page associated with this site, which probably reveals the full extent of my recent procrastination — there’s always time to be completely bloody obsessive about music and fiddling with iTunes playlists. I have also been on Twitter, which I find hugely enjoyable — like discovering a secret passageway under the house filled with freaks and people who never sleep, my type of people.
This has all been feeding and tweeting away in the sidebar while I’ve been away, however I read a study of website optimization that claimed virtually no one bothers to read sidebars anymore, so I take it as read ...

I have a couple of tidbits to share with you right now. First, Liviania has nominated me for the Premio Dardos award! Apparently it means “prize darts” which is weird because the text of the award when I first got it was apparently in Portuguese (confirmed by Lenore) and what do darts have to do with anything? I think it’s a weird award, but I LOVE it. I think I might even love it as much as the gramatically incorrect award which I never received that seems to have died out (if you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t worry about it). I rambled on about it and passed it on already here, but I wanted to thank Liviania and post her cool graphic here. I am honored to be nominated for the award. 
While we’re talking about Liviania and her great blog, In Bed With Books, I should mention what I forgot to before, when I was talking about contests. She’s running some great contests all month in celebration of her blogiversary, and you can check out the rules

Mary’s entire world is a tiny village surrounded by tall fences. Outside the fences is the Forest of Hands and Teeth, filled with the Unconsecrated. Zombies. Anyone they bite becomes one of them, and fear of the Unconsecrated has ruled the world since the Return. As far as the villagers know, they are the last living people in the world. The rules of their tiny society are strict, and above all, they are ruled by the Sisters, a religious order that controls every aspect of life, and hides what could be vital knowledge from the people. Their society is about order and commitment and rules, but Mary dreams of more. She dreams of the wider world, and of love, which comes second to duty and commitment in the village (if it is to be considered at all). She dreams of seeing the ocean, just like the picture her mother used to show her, a place without the Unconsecrated that reaches as far as the eye can see. 
The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a beautifully written book. From page one, I was simultaneously marveling at the gorgeous, eloquent words, wanting to slow down ...

Alyssa and Karin were kind enough to nominate me for the Your Blog Is Fabulous Award. Thanks, guys!
The rules: List five things you are obsessed with/addicted to and then nominate five other fabulous blogs to pass on this award on to!
My obsessions, in no particular order….
1. Books. Duh! I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention books. I don’t really need to elaborate here, I don’t think, since this entire blog is an elaboration of my book obsession. I also tend to be obsessed with specific types of books–lately, the Animorphs. Although now that I’ve reread them all I have to move on. Sigh.
2. Television. I watch way too much TV! Some shows I love include Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Angel, Boy Meets World, Fringe, Pushing Daisies, Heroes, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill…Okay, I’m stopping now.
3. The internet. Again, not a lot of elaboration necessary. I blog. I read blogs (not just book-related). I check my email. I check we...

Three days left to listen to the first episode of BBC Radio 7’s radio adaptation of The Drowned World. Three more eps to go.
This first installment begins with a snippet from Can’s suitably decadent/enervated track ‘Future Days’, and later on drops PiL’s ‘Phenagen’ and another Can track, ‘Soup’, into the soundscape. Someone’s been doing their research into ‘Ballardian’ music!