Time for a bit o' fun

It is getting a tad serious here. I am afraid I might be exhausting people with all the heavy pondering. Therefore, in response I'd like to show how I look - if I were on The Simpsons [TM].

An intriguing likeness. I wonder what I might do in an actual episode - get shot through and acid factory like Luke Perry perhaps? Hmm...

I am probably waaaay behind; you all have probably known about Simpsonising [TM] yourselves for ages. I would love to see what you guys might look like as citizens of Springfield [TM] - not sure how though - perhaps you could post them somewhere then leave links in the comments? Maybe that'll work?

By the way, I am digging the polls - very informative, I love getting feedback. I hope people are enjoying them. Anyone got a good idea for any other questions I could be asking? Also, does anyone have a real world term they would like to challenge me to turn into a Half-Continent term? (It has been soooo long since I last had a go at this - so go on, challenge me.)

An objectionable question

After the last post I have some questions rolling about my head.

If a book that truly was objectionable is published would it be best to ban it (no doubt increasing focus on it and therefore sales) or leave it be and hope it evaporates into obscurity?

If a child you knew (son, daughter, niece, nephew, younger sibling and all the rest) wanted to read a book you had doubts about do you let them just read it - not wanting to impact their liberties - or ban them entirely - seeking to preserve their innocence? Or would it be better (though a whole lot more work) to read the text first or along with the child and then discuss the objectionable parts and give then some perspective?

Being that I have been married a little over a year and children are a possible future for me, this is becoming startlingly relevant. Anyway, nothing particularly new in these queries, they have been a vexed issue for long before I was ever pondering them.

Objectionable Book

Discovered this little gem not so long ago - found here and written by THE HON. DR GORDON MOYES.

'I knew Scholastic also had an Australian Book Club. I later found in some of their promotional material: “Welcome to Scholastic Book Clubs, where you’ll always find fabulous books, terrific value and wonderful resources! The most affordable books!” They were advocating the sale of “Harry Potter”, “Halloween” and “Monster Blood Tattoo” so I could expect to find the objectionable books with these if they had them.' (bold type added by me.) (I do not have any issue with the general content of the article - I am not that keen on wolves in sheep-clothing either.)

So if I read it right by the inference, I reckon I can say it is official: MBT is an objectionable book.

I wonder if the Honourable Mr Moyes formulated his opinion on a thorough reading of the text or rather by a cursory and shallow assumption based on the title alone? I fear it was probably not the former.

Either way, I feel like I've won something and do not know who to thank first.

A few of my favourite things.

A new month, a new post - got to give this regularity thing a chance. And to help keep things interesting I am introducing a reader poll (yipee!) - over there on the right, just down a bit, feel free to answer.

On with the show...

Mooseguy asked: "1. What is/are your favourite animal(s)? 2. What sort of music do you like? Do you have any favourite bands? Oooh! And poets? Any favourite poets?"

Animals would definitely have to be the deep-sea viper fish, gulper eel, sperm whales, whale sharks, land crabs, moon jellyfish, pangolins, goats & sheep, the common house fly, any kind of bird, dogs in general - though those small out-of-control yappy ones are hard to appreciate.

With bands I would say go check out my profile for a more comprehensive list, but in direct answer to the question most certainly New Order were my first big love. Right now I am getting into a great debut album by Abby Dobson - sweet gentle Australian sounds, an amazing voice. In fact, I also have made some of my own electronica for many years calling myself Methods of Recorder - no official releases though, just what I call "grey" labels, that is self-made cds for friends. I am no musical genius - that is for sure - but I do (dare I admit it) like my own tunes.

As to poets my clear favourites are Wordsworth, Shel Silverstein (I L-O-V-E Where the Sidewalk Ends), Lewis Carol, Mervyn Peake and Aidan Coleman whose words are a sweet suburban lullaby, the lyric of tiled roofs, treed streets and empty ticking rooms waiting for their owners to return home.

Part of my initial post for the new month it is also going to have a wierd kind of housekepping vibe. I have a request of you all: not sure the blog is looking to some of you as it should, so (and I hope this ain't too tacky) am going to put an image of how it looks to me and would kindly ask you to let me know if that is how it looks to you.


Does it look something like this on you browser? If so tell me, if not tell me even more.

Cheers very muchly.

And the dust settles

I must say the thorough-going discussion in last post's comments about what evil might or might not be was deeply interesting and thought provoking and I thank everyone who had a word in it. A most excellent debate. I hope it was edifying to both commentators and readers alike.

It makes me wonder whether open questions are better than closed answers - by which I mean is it better to always be searching? And if we do find answers, what happens if we do not like them? Discard them and keep searching? What if the answer with the best fit is the most uncomfortable?

Anyway, enough philosophising - this is a blog about a frivolous adventure story not the depths of the human condition.

On that note I am happy to say that (for the ANZ edition at least) MBT Book 2 goes to the printing press in a little over a week - around the 7th of November. I'll see what I can do about other parts of this world of ours. I am running my eye over the actual typeset pages and am becoming more confident with the text as a worthy continuance to Foundling - and for those who thought Book 1 not long enough, I can say the actual story text of Book 2 will be ...

600 pages!

Give or take.

The Explicarium will be about the same length as Book 1 - roughly 100 pages, with whole new maps, floor plans, schedules and drawings of clothes and equipment.

I hope this is happy news.