So Misguided

There are all sorts of cool jobs, and cool people who get to do those jobs, and today I read about a fantasy job come true.

J. K. Rowling announced today on her website that she is going to read from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the stroke of midnight on July 16 in Edinburgh Castle. Her audience will be 70 cub reporters, fans aged 8-16.

I have no desire to be 8-16 again, however, I would love to travel to Edinburgh, go to the castle, have a reading, get a signed book from Jo, and take part in the weekend of activities. How very magical.

BUT I can live vicariously through Emerson and Melissa. Emerson of MuggleNet.com and Melissa of TLC were personally invited by Jo to interview her at her house. Emerson and Melissa are some of THE hardest working Harry Potter fans out there. They have fantastic fan sites.

Can you imagine if your favourite celebrity called your cell phone and said, hey love your site, why don’t you pop over to Edinburgh and interview me? Oh but you can’t tell anyone for 10 days.

Well that’s what happened to these two. I read Melissa’s post about what the phone call was like and then the heartbreaking silence of the next 10 days. Here’s her post on TLC.

Melissa, Emerson and Jo are going to post their conversation in three corners of the Harry Potter world, i.e., on their three fantastic sites.

How freaking exciting.

But, ok, what if you’re not a Harry Potter fan? What would be your fantasy call come true?

Posted by Monique at 04:19 PM. Filed under: Blogging •

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Last night I celebrated Bob Hunter. There was a group of friends and family and Greenpeace supporters carrying on at Bimini’s yesterday. It was a celebration of Bob Hunter, one of the founders of Greenpeace (and quite a character). Bob passed away last week and although you could feel the sorrow in the room, you could also feel the joy and love.

Many legends of Vancouver and the Greenpeace movement told stories about Bob, and almost everyone mentioned his laugh. I was most moved by family friends who talked about losing a parent and how the best thing you can do for a family member, especially a child, is to tell them stories about their parents. As I get older, I’m more and more interested in family stories, in recording them and remembering them. One of the speakers mentioned that when you reach the age your parents were when they had you, you really start to think about their life.

I remember as a little girl how I couldn’t imagine my mom being a little girl. And maybe that’s it, you have to reach their age when they met you, and suddenly things make sense, you can now imagine that age.

My friend’s kids keep teasing her about writing down some crazy sayings she has. For my friend, these aren’t crazy sayings, these are her mother’s sayings that she’s suddenly rediscovered. Her retort to her kids has been, don’t worry about writing them down, they’ll come flooding back to you when you have kids.

My heart goes out to Bob’s kids and his wife. I still think about the family members that I’ve lost and it doesn’t necessarily get easier, but the painful moments seem softer.

Posted by Monique at 06:55 AM. Filed under: Personal •

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Known for its hip side, the CBC afternoon show has an exclusive on the latest k-os tune. Apparently it was commissioned by the CBC and features the CBC orchestra. The rest of the world can hear it on Friday. But oh sweet CBC listeners. The treat is yours on Thursday.

Posted by Monique at 07:20 PM. Filed under: Party Tricks •

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A couple of months ago I started talking about The Long Tail and the Cluetrain Manifesto. Both interesting things. I particularly like the point in the Cluetrain Manifesto about markets as conversations and engaging in conversations with your customer. The end of the corporate press release, or marketing speak ... these I see as things that do need moderating.

Well, this week I observed a “conversation” that if it had been a true face to face, undoubtably someone would have said shut up, no you shut up.

Conversations are interesting things. I certainly change my tone of voice when a survey person calls. Blah blah blah, calling on behalf of ____ marketing, are you the woman of the house? The greater the sense of intrusion, the sharper my voice. But I do remember that I’m speaking to a person, not to a feeling-less building, not to a corporation.

It strikes me that email is always the worst form of communication, you can misinterpret tone. It’s so many steps removed from the face to face conversation that people will often say or phrase things in an email that they wouldn’t in person. So in the Cluetrain Manifesto when it talks about markets as conversation, and paying attention to what is being said about you or your company in print, on the web, by bloggers. It seems the “corporate” person is disadvantaged. There is an expectation about what a “corporate” person will say, or what they’ll do with your information, or how they will talk and talk forever keeping you on the phone until you eventually give in and take the damn survey. But what if you contact the company—don’t you expect a response?

Here’s my related thought. When buying something there is the anonymous research stage, then the ok here’s my details buying stage. There isn’t a nice way to figure out what stage a person is in when they contact your company. Some things are easy. Hey you, your product sucks and I want a refund. Personalized contact and an exchange of details is pretty clear. Hey I want your newsletter. Maybe less clear.

How do you approach companies? What types of interaction are you looking for? Are there best practices listed somewhere? Every email marketing newsletter I’ve read, for example, suggests personalizing and segmenting the subscriber list. Do people find this helpful or intrusive? I wonder ...

Posted by Monique at 02:09 PM. Filed under: Personal •

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Did you notice that today was 05 05 05? Fifth month, fifth day, 2005 year? At 5:05 I was making wishes, mostly for the work day to end.

Over the week I have been recording quotes, which taken out of context seem even more bizarre, and some even poignant. Here are my favourites:

“I know just enough about astrology to be dangerous.”

“It’s hard to bomb a country if you’ve broken bread with its people.”

“Choose your destiny. You &*#@*^”

“Africa is the new India.”

It has been an interesting week.

ADDITION: How could I forget! The week started with “Pimping ain’t easy, but it’s easier in these.”

Posted by Monique at 07:33 PM. Filed under: Party Tricks •

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Canadian Press last week reported that Sears Canada Inc. has hired the services subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc. to provide “a more robust online shopping experience” at sears.ca.

Oh the joy. What does this mean tech-wise? Will there be books?

“This is a significant business initiative with aggressive growth opportunities and other long-term benefits and is planned with a substantial return on investment,” stated Brent Hollister, president and CEO of Sears Canada. “It is important to us to incorporate web features that make sears.ca as user-friendly as today’s technology allows,” Hollister added. Sears will concentrate on its “core competencies including merchandising, marketing, fulfillment and customer service.”

Other Amazon Services clients include Target.com and NBA.com.

Now whatever happened to the talks between Zellers and Target? Have you been to a Target. They’ve got books. What are the odds of Sears adding books? Does anyone remember the book department at the Bay? Mmmm. Memories. I think I got a Zamfir record signed in book department of the Bay in 1982 or ‘83.

Posted by Monique at 07:58 PM. Filed under: Books •

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What’s the deal with this single transferable vote? Well I think it is probably the only exciting thing about the upcoming election.

The May 17 provincial election ballot in British Columbia will contain a referendum question about whether the province should switch to a new method of voting, called the single transferable vote.

The Citizens Assembly, which proposed the concept, shows how the proposed system works.

Here’s the link to the Citizensassembly.bc.ca Resource page with a flash animation on how it works.

Posted by Monique at 07:31 PM. Filed under: News •

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Below is an abbreviated message from THE CORPORATION Producer/Director Mark Achbar and Campaign Strategist Katherine Dodds. They’ve started a movement against corporate misrule and are encouraging people to mark May 7 as THE CORPORATION DVD House Party and live online debate.

Check out TheCorporation.com/debate for details.

There are 8 hours of extra features on the 2-DVD set. It includes a “toolkit” called “What to do?” in the Q’s & A’s section of Disc 1, and the “Topical Paradise” on Disc 2 offers a road map to the extra info on the issues, including a wide-ranging one-hour section on “Strategies For Change.” As well, there are many more weblinks listed and a DVD ROM feature that works in PCs and Macs to make those links live and clickable. —Mark Achbar

It’s party time:

If we can generate 1000 house parties across North America, and they have on average 10 people attending, then we have 10,000 people brainstorming about what we can do to effect change. If each of those 10,000 people forward the email about our campaign to 10 more, well you get the picture!

Katherine wants to create a “Framework For Action” document, leading to a campaign to reduce corporate harm. She is collecting online feedback from partygoers and is working on an online grassroots network through HelloCoolWorld.com.

MAY 7, 2005 is the day to party!

INFO ABOUT THE DVD HOUSE PARTY CAMPAIGN & DEBATE AT:
http://www.TheCorporation.com/DEBATE

Posted by Monique at 03:21 PM. Filed under: News •

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I bought a PSP this week. Mmmmmm. It is a handsome little machine. Unfortunately for me I have to give it to someone else. Regardless, portable entertainment has arrived. It is a very sweet looking package, slim, great screen, and you can play games, music and movies. Also good for photos. I fear the thing will get easily scratch, but what’s a little wear and tear. Love nips really.

If only it could offer wireless phone and internet ... I looked at the Fido Hiptop2. Blech. It looks big and ugly.

I’m waiting for the sexy little machine that will solve all my wireless work/play needs.

James sent me this peek at things to come, check out Jason Kottke’s post:

The Sony Librie.

The thing that blew me away was the Sony Librie, the first commerically available electronic ink e-book reader. Here’s a photo I took:

What you can’t see from the photo is how insanely crisp and clear the text on the “screen” is. It was book-text quality…it looked like a decal until you pushed the next button and the whole screen changed. It was *really* mind-boggling and you could instantly see how most books are going to be distributed in the very near future.

Ah, books and the future, a subject close to my heart.

I think there’s a separate post in me regarding future distribution models for books. Stay tuned, the life of the mind isn’t exactly reliable or timely. I find lately I’ve been reflecting on the book industry and where it should be going. These are fleeting moments of brilliance that have yet to make it onto paper.

Not associating myself with genius, just an interesting segway, Albert Einstein apparently felt like an underachiever.

In my case, I’m testing Newton’s theory of relative motion. A body at rest will remain at rest. I’ve noticed in my house this does not apply, “oh, are you having a nap?”

What gave it away? The pillow? The horizontal position? The closed eyes?

Posted by Monique at 05:46 PM. Filed under: Books • Technology •

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Last night I went on a guided literary tour with host and author Michael V. Smith. As one friend put it, “I’d follow Michael V. Smith anywhere.” The Literary Tour was part of BC’s Book and Magazine Week.

Fun and prizes were involved.

Destination 1 was Pulp Fiction. Talon Books presented bill bissett, Jamie Reid and George Bowering.

Destination 2 was Lark. Raincoast Books presented Karen X. Tulchinsky. Whitecap Books presented Julie Van Rosendaal. And apparently delectable finger foods were provided. I joined the tour a little late.

Destination 3 was Burcus’s Angels. Event Magazine presented a reading.

Destination 4. Enter Monique. Soma Coffee House. Anvil Press and Nightwood Editions presented Fiona Tinwei Lam—I liked her poems, Matt Rader—he was good too, but the music from Monsoon was rattling off the window I was sitting against and I got distracted, but his new book looks beautiful, and last was Lyle Neff whose son was in the audience. Lyle read a poem about his son’s death. He did, of course, make a joke about the darkness of his work, “there are happy poems in the book.”

Destination 5. I got my second event punch, one more and I was on my way to winning prizes. Our Town Cafe, my most favourite haunt and home of Henry’s Americano. Dance International Magazine presented a dance and a dance critic introduced the soloist. It was a modern piece that moved around the room. And I won a prize for knowing that Bournonville worked with the National Ballet of Denmark. Oh it was my good fortune to have a copy of the Spring 2005 issue on my table, with the headline “Bournonville’s Legacy—Danish Dance and Beyond.” Denmark was fed to me.

Destination 6 was in THE most interesting building, home of FRONT Magazine. There was a sign on the stairwell that said “denouement” and at one point everyone at my table upstairs passed around a sign “Climax.” I had a Lager and another chance at prizes. There was also a stack of Tylenol on my table.

It was pretty fun, essentially we followed Michael V. Smith around. He was dressed as a ringleader with pink and red knee high socks, black suit and top hat. Under the top hat was a frog.

And people think the arts are unaccessible?

Posted by Monique at 05:04 PM. Filed under: Books •

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Here’s a random round-up of book news:

Grumpy Old Bookman is talking about the UK publishing industry’s support or denunciation of Google Print. The comments can be extended to the North American publishing industry. Are we for or against? It depends what day it is and who’s asking. Here’s the post.

On The Tyee, Lisa Richardson comments on “The Art of Book Dropping.” In particular she talks about BookCrossing.com. Let your books wander. Read the article.

Paul Kennedy of CBC fame is quoted in John Mullan’s column in the Guardian, regarding a movement to make Leonard Cohen the next recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

“Now one of the best-known radio broadcasters on the CBC, the Canadian equivalent of the BBC, is leading a campaign to have Montréal’s own bard given this year’s Nobel prize for literature.”

Get the full meal deal, read the Guardian article or just listen to The Man, leonardcohen.com.

Posted by Monique at 05:05 PM. Filed under: Books •

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BBC News reported yesterday that the writings of Joseph Ratzinger had ousted Harry Potter from the German book charts.

Seems everyone’s favourite wizard was put in his place on Thursday. The German version of Amazon had three of the Pope’s books in the top spots on the charts, pushing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (coming July 16) to fourth place.

Fourth place. Outrageous! Well, outrageous really that an unpublished book has sat at #1 since its publication was announced in December.

From Regular Joe to JO. Both JOs have gone from unknown to superstar. Both JOs have a small empires. Both JOs have book deals. It is nice that someone is making money in publishing.

Posted by Monique at 09:27 PM. Filed under: Books •

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April 21 is Earth Day. It’s better being green.

My favourite independent US bookstore, Powells, has posted a Green Press Initiative section in recognition of publishers who support the forest-friendly paper initiative. Read about Green Press Initiative.

I was also pleased to see mention of Alice Munro on the wire today. Canadian Press is reporting “The fictional wizard Harry Potter and real-life renowned writer Alice Munro are helping to spearhead a made-in-Canada environmental campaign designed to save the world’s endangered old-growth forests.” Go team!

Markets Initiative is the Vancouver-based environmental group who is working with the Canadian publishing industry to shift from printing on paper that originates from ancient forests to more ecologically sound alternatives, like 100% post-consumer recycled paper.

I’d like to point out that recycled paper is not what it was originally. It is not grey or brown or trashy like newspapers. High-quality recycled paper is out there, and it makes a lot of sense to support the publishers and authors who take a stand—Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Farley Mowat, Barbara Gowdy, Alice Munro, McClelland & Stewart, Raincoast Books, 35 Canadian mags including Canadian Geographic, Walrus, Harrowsmith Country Life, Owl and Cottage Life. I know I’m missing people and I apologize. The point is the economies of scale, the more demand for this paper, the more the printers will source it, the less it will cost, the better it will be for the world.

Here are some of the facts from the CP story:
• 80% of the world’s large tracts of old-growth forest have already been logged.

• Canada, Russian and Brazil hold the vast majority of what’s left

• Northern Canada is home to 25% of the world’s remaining frontier ancient forests

• Globally, 71% of the world’s paper comes from ecologically valuable forests, rather than from tree farms.

Check the back cover or the copyright page for the tag line on forest-friendly books. It usually something like “This book is printed on acid-free paper that is 100% recycled, ancient-forest friendly (100% post-consumer recycled).”

It’s Earth Day on Thursday. Love the rock you live on.

Posted by Monique at 05:37 PM. Filed under: Books •

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So my learning curve on blogging has been a bit like the silhouette of a hockey stick, I’m still on the straight and narrow, no upward curve yet.

Well, slight upward curve. I discovered today that the comments feature is not working correctly. Why? Because there was an error in the template I downloaded. So part of that is fixed. Also I realize there was no preview comment ... that is sort of fixed. I have a template but it sucks and needs some help. But it does basically what you’d hope it would do. Preview the comment.

My apologies also to my new “members”. I’m glad that you’ve discovered this option. But I have no idea how it works. Welcome to my club. I’d love to tell you what membership entails, but it’s an elusive entity.

At this point, things can only improve. I hope you visit again.

Posted by Monique at 09:26 PM. Filed under: Blogging •

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The Litblog Co-op was all over the news this week. I love it. I’ve been following the progress on Bookdwarf and Elegant Variation.

What is it? The Litblog Co-op: “Uniting the leading literary weblogs for the purpose of drawing attention to the best of contemporary fiction, authors and presses that are struggling to be noticed in a flooded marketplace.”

Ya, so what is it? On May 15, the 20 participating litblogs will announce the 5 titles they think everyone should read. Apparently this will happen 4 times a year.

What I like is that the objective is to give little-known books more attention. Like my favourite book, Up In Ontario.

Posted by Monique at 12:44 PM. Filed under: Blogging • Books •

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