Category Archives: Literature

Maxwell’s Silver Hammer

June 21, 2009 – 10:37 am

As Legal Eagle, Deus Ex Macintosh and a couple of others know, I have three characters in this novel who are — to greater or lesser degrees — torturers. One of them also has an excellent sense of humour. I mean, the little shit’s actually outstandingly funny. I tried to change this early on in [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Fark!, Music, Popular culture | Tagged , , | Comments (5)

There are only 7 plots…

June 9, 2009 – 4:51 am

… And all of ‘em are in Homer.
Well, that’s the story, anyway. Sometimes the magic number is eleven. Sometimes the magic number is three. Sometimes it’s something else. Sometimes Virgil gets a look-in, but usually Homer gets the blame for the sum total of basic plotlines in Western Literature. I used to think this assertion [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Books, Fark!, Popular culture | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (50)

What crime? They were just breaking the Ramadan fast with a BBQ! (or Things to do in Ramadan when you’re dense…)

May 16, 2009 – 5:58 am

A radical Muslim who dressed his baby daughter in a hat with “I love al-Qaeda” on it tried to firebomb the home of the publisher of a controversial novel about the Prophet Mohammed.
Ali Beheshti, 40, along with Abrar Mirza, 22, have admitted conspiracy to recklessly damage property and endanger life after they poured diesel through [...]

By DeusExMacintosh | Also posted in Books, England, Free Speech, Funnies, Law, Personal liberty, Politics, Religion, Terrorism | Tagged , , | Comments (49)

Need to know about cheese?

March 28, 2009 – 8:27 am

Every year, British magazine The Bookseller runs a competition for the oddest book title. The winner for 2008 is “The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais”. It costs $795 on Amazon.
I was wondering how there could possibly be a market for a book like this, or why anyone would write it?  The [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Books, Fark! | Tagged | Comments (16)

R.I.P Kilmeny Niland

March 1, 2009 – 6:17 am

Those of you with any interest in Australian children’s literature would be aware of illustrator Kilmeny Niland. Like her mother Ruth Park, she played a significant and ongoing role in Australian literature, and in my appreciation of the various books she illustrated. I’ve long thought her beautiful artwork ensured that some books meant more to [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Art, Blogging, Books, Skeptics | Tagged , , , | Comments (6)

Welcome to our dinner party

February 16, 2009 – 12:29 pm

Our “About Us” section says, “Pull up a pew, grab a beer (or three) and join in the conversation.” Helen wrote that, and I’ve always found it very evocative. I see our blog as reminiscent of the discussions I used to have with friends at uni, frequently over a cup of coffee or a bottle [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Blogging, Internet, Media | Comments (12)

How to spot bad sci-fi/fantasy writing

February 10, 2009 – 7:39 am

Kim at LP links to a post at Feminist SF - The Blog! which gives tips on how to spot if you’re reading bad sci-fi/fantasy:

Are the characters’ names impossible to pronounce? Alternatively, when you pronounce them, do you realize that they are actually homonyms for scary-sounding English words? If the book is not written by [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Books, Feminism, Science | Comments (12)

Recessional

January 22, 2009 – 8:50 am

As I’ve had to explain to various people today (not just on blogs) — many of them complaining about the risible quality of Obama’s inauguration poet (she really did evacuate the National Mall; they may as well’ve set off an air raid siren) – this is how you do public poetry. Below is Kipling’s ‘Recessional’, the [...]

By skepticlawyer | Comments (38)

Bangkok Hilton

January 20, 2009 – 5:05 pm

Melbourne man Harry Nicolaides has been imprisoned in Thailand for committing the crime of lèse majesté, or offending the dignity of the sovereign. Nicolaides wrote a novel in which he referred to an unnamed crown prince in a way which was deemed to be insulting. The novel had a negligible print run, and was self-published.
Read [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Free Speech, Human/Civil rights, Law, Personal liberty | Comments (38)

Katherine Wilson is not Muttiah Muralitharan

January 12, 2009 – 1:42 am

Yes, I found a cricket angle. Sad but true. The graphic at left was generated by the genius that is Tony the Teacher over at the After Grog Blog (and do follow the link; a beautiful funny awaits you there, quite apart from the picture). The cricketing point that Tony and his commenters make helps to [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Cricket, Law | Comments (17)