Q1)17th October is the feast day of Saint Ignatius of Antioch. He’s usually depicted either in chains … or surrounded by which big cat?
Q2)The 17th is ALSO the International Day for the Eradication of … what?
Q3)17th October, 2018 — today — sees which country legalise the recreational use of cannabis …
Q4)Johannes Kepler spotted a new stellar object, on 17th October, 1604: in the constellation of Ophiuchus. What WAS that object?
Q5)Finally … the London Beer Flood happened on 17th October, 1814. The brewery the flood started at has long since gone. What theatre now stands on the site?
* That includes 2001: A Space Odyssey, possibly the best science fiction film ever made.
† Well … I’ve had to turn down a job, yesterday, Olga: in Witham. The money they were offering wouldn’t have covered the transport costs. But I ALSO had the phone interview, as well: for a very local job. Here’s hoping. Think I’ve got espadrilles, myself: what occasionally get called plimsoles. They’re VERY comfortable … (I think Umami got made up …)
‡ Yeah, thought something like that was the copyright case, Debbi. Still … it’s nice to it confirmed. (I don’t think it’s nicking … I THINK the technical term is ‘Homage!’ Ahem!). Sorry about the joke, I REALLY couldn’t resist it … ! “Why couldn’t the bicycle stand up by itself? It was two tired.” “I don’t like soccer. I’m just playing for kick …”
Q1) A lion Q2) Poverty Q3) Canada Q4) A supernova Q5) The Dominion Theatre Yes. Espadrilles are comfortable, as long as it's not raining, as the soles start sucking up water and you end up exercising your legs more than expected... The book prizes... The booker is never won by any genre books, at least as far as I remember. They are always "literary fiction" for lack of a better name. Genre books have a bad reputation, in general, although they are the ones that make huge money. Don't get me started on horror... (Some of the film adaptations of some books might do well, but it is rarely the case and they don't normally command much respect). Kubrick could make interesting movies in any genre and did not care too much about such things... (The Shining comes to mind as well, although I know some people dislike it enormously). Here in Spain, we had the Premio Planeta awarded on Monday, here in Barcelona. It is the biggest (by prize money) book award in the world (€600000) but they do go about it in a completely different way. They go with books with commercial potential and it is mostly awarded to well-known authors, and it results in a big increase in sales. The winner this year writes historical fiction (set in the Roman Empire) and has sold over a million copies of his books (in Spanish, of course), so they are playing a safe bet. He is also one of the authors of the publishing company (Planeta) so... Hey-ho. For what I've heard, there are no real surprises and people are approached plenty in advance about it. It seems if you are selling a lot of books they might offer you a nomination as an enticement to sign for them (mind you, sometimes they then proceed to kill your book, if it is in strong competition with one of their potential best-sellers). Oh well. I hope you get good news about the local job. Fingers crossed!
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Q1) A lion
ReplyDeleteQ2) Poverty
Q3) Canada
Q4) A supernova
Q5) The Dominion Theatre
Yes. Espadrilles are comfortable, as long as it's not raining, as the soles start sucking up water and you end up exercising your legs more than expected...
The book prizes... The booker is never won by any genre books, at least as far as I remember. They are always "literary fiction" for lack of a better name. Genre books have a bad reputation, in general, although they are the ones that make huge money. Don't get me started on horror... (Some of the film adaptations of some books might do well, but it is rarely the case and they don't normally command much respect). Kubrick could make interesting movies in any genre and did not care too much about such things... (The Shining comes to mind as well, although I know some people dislike it enormously).
Here in Spain, we had the Premio Planeta awarded on Monday, here in Barcelona. It is the biggest (by prize money) book award in the world (€600000) but they do go about it in a completely different way. They go with books with commercial potential and it is mostly awarded to well-known authors, and it results in a big increase in sales. The winner this year writes historical fiction (set in the Roman Empire) and has sold over a million copies of his books (in Spanish, of course), so they are playing a safe bet. He is also one of the authors of the publishing company (Planeta) so... Hey-ho. For what I've heard, there are no real surprises and people are approached plenty in advance about it. It seems if you are selling a lot of books they might offer you a nomination as an enticement to sign for them (mind you, sometimes they then proceed to kill your book, if it is in strong competition with one of their potential best-sellers).
Oh well.
I hope you get good news about the local job.
Fingers crossed!
Ugh ... double groan! :) Puns are either the highest or lowest form of humor. Or is it humour? :)
ReplyDelete1. leopards
2. poverty
3. Canada
4. SN 1604
5. the Dominion Theatre