The JANE AUSTIN BOOK CLUB is posted as a romantic comedy. I didn't think it was funny or "hilarious" like it says on the back of the DVD, but I did find this story interesting. I'm no Jane Austin expert but I suspect Karen Joy Fowler is, and while I was watching this film, I was thinking about writing workshops, and creative fiction, and how she must have plotted this story out.
Fowler, and then screenwriter Robin Swicord, wove a fiction story about a cast of characters (none of whom overplayed their part), friends, who form a book club to discuss the masterpieces of novelist Jane Austin, and find her stories relate to their 21st century lives. Starting, stopping, or ending romances...
1/3/12
MARK TWAIN Quote
"Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very" your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be." - Mark Twain
12/12/11
BEN FRANKLIN : ONE NATION UNDER SEX BY LARRY FLYNT and DAVID EISENBACH
ONE NATION UNDER SEX
How The Private Lives of Presidents, First Ladies, and Their Lovers Changed the Course of American History.
By Larry Flynt and David Eisenbach C2011
Palgrave-Macmillan Publishers
page 7
"Ben Franklin was not the first American newsman to realize that sex sells, he he was a pioneer in pushing the envelope of what was acceptable in print. When he entered the newspaper business in 1729, he attacked Philadelphia's only other newspaper for printing an article on abortion. Under the penname "Martha Careful," the 23 year old Franklin condemned his rival publisher in the voice of an outraged woman. "If he proceeds farther to expose the secrets of our sex in that audacious manner we will run hazard of taking him by the beard in the next place we meet him." Thus Franklin manufactured the first recorded abortion debate in America. He did not really care about the issue; he just wanted to sell newspapers and undermine the competition. A few year later, Franklin eliminated the rival newspaper and took control of the news business in America's largest city."
"Franklin started America's first gossip column, which he called Busy-Body, in 1729. Although he admitted to his readers that Busy-Body's content was "nobody's business," he vowed that "If any are offended at my publicly exposing their private vices, I promise they shall have the satisfaction in a very little time, of seeing their good friends and neighbors in the same circumstances." Franklin reported in 1731 how one unfortunate husband discovered his wife in bed with a man named Stonecutter... '
Page 8
"One of Franklin's most famous stories featured Polly Baker, who was on trial for having her fifth illegitimate child...The judges were so moved by her speech (while on trial) that one of them married her the next day. Franklin later admitted to Thomas Jefferson that he made up Polly's story and many others: "When I was a printer and editor of a newspaper, we were sometimes slack of news, and to amuse our customers I used to fill up our vacant columns with anecdotes and fables, and fancies of my own." More than any other founding Father, Franklin had a great appreciation for strong, sexually liberated, sassy women like the fictitious Polly Baker."
page 8-9
"He also invented America's first sexual and moral advice column. In 1731 he published an anonymous letter (which he wrote) asking, "Suppose a person discovered that his wife was having an affair with a neighbor, and suppose he had reason to believe that if he revealed this to his neighbor's wife she would agree to have sex with him, is he justifiable in doing it?" In the voice of the editor, Franklin self- righteously replied to his own letter,"Return not evil for evil, but repay evil with good."
Page 9
By attracting readers with salacious stories and an open discussion of sex, Franklin became the first American printer to make a profit from his newspaper. Other printers used their newspapers to advertise their other businesses - job printing and often a general store. Franklin puished ad sales and advised businessmen on the best ways to market their products in print. While other colonial newspaper crammed their ads onto the back page, he sprinkled his ads throughout his paper, making them harder to skip over. He plowed his fortune into funding other printers in cities up and down the seaboard and in return got a share of their profits and their big scoops. By age 42, Ben Frankin was America's first media mogul, with his own news network, and so rich that he could retire in 1747 to concentrate on the passions that would make him famous: inventions, science experiments, politics, and women."
How The Private Lives of Presidents, First Ladies, and Their Lovers Changed the Course of American History.
By Larry Flynt and David Eisenbach C2011
Palgrave-Macmillan Publishers
page 7
"Ben Franklin was not the first American newsman to realize that sex sells, he he was a pioneer in pushing the envelope of what was acceptable in print. When he entered the newspaper business in 1729, he attacked Philadelphia's only other newspaper for printing an article on abortion. Under the penname "Martha Careful," the 23 year old Franklin condemned his rival publisher in the voice of an outraged woman. "If he proceeds farther to expose the secrets of our sex in that audacious manner we will run hazard of taking him by the beard in the next place we meet him." Thus Franklin manufactured the first recorded abortion debate in America. He did not really care about the issue; he just wanted to sell newspapers and undermine the competition. A few year later, Franklin eliminated the rival newspaper and took control of the news business in America's largest city."
"Franklin started America's first gossip column, which he called Busy-Body, in 1729. Although he admitted to his readers that Busy-Body's content was "nobody's business," he vowed that "If any are offended at my publicly exposing their private vices, I promise they shall have the satisfaction in a very little time, of seeing their good friends and neighbors in the same circumstances." Franklin reported in 1731 how one unfortunate husband discovered his wife in bed with a man named Stonecutter... '
Page 8
"One of Franklin's most famous stories featured Polly Baker, who was on trial for having her fifth illegitimate child...The judges were so moved by her speech (while on trial) that one of them married her the next day. Franklin later admitted to Thomas Jefferson that he made up Polly's story and many others: "When I was a printer and editor of a newspaper, we were sometimes slack of news, and to amuse our customers I used to fill up our vacant columns with anecdotes and fables, and fancies of my own." More than any other founding Father, Franklin had a great appreciation for strong, sexually liberated, sassy women like the fictitious Polly Baker."
page 8-9
"He also invented America's first sexual and moral advice column. In 1731 he published an anonymous letter (which he wrote) asking, "Suppose a person discovered that his wife was having an affair with a neighbor, and suppose he had reason to believe that if he revealed this to his neighbor's wife she would agree to have sex with him, is he justifiable in doing it?" In the voice of the editor, Franklin self- righteously replied to his own letter,"Return not evil for evil, but repay evil with good."
Page 9
By attracting readers with salacious stories and an open discussion of sex, Franklin became the first American printer to make a profit from his newspaper. Other printers used their newspapers to advertise their other businesses - job printing and often a general store. Franklin puished ad sales and advised businessmen on the best ways to market their products in print. While other colonial newspaper crammed their ads onto the back page, he sprinkled his ads throughout his paper, making them harder to skip over. He plowed his fortune into funding other printers in cities up and down the seaboard and in return got a share of their profits and their big scoops. By age 42, Ben Frankin was America's first media mogul, with his own news network, and so rich that he could retire in 1747 to concentrate on the passions that would make him famous: inventions, science experiments, politics, and women."
12/3/11
11/28/11
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN : AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE. AN ELECTRIC MIND: CHRISTINE TRZYNA FILM REVIEW
LOVED this video about one of my favorite historical characters. Yes, if I had the opportunity to travel back in time it would be to Philadelphia, where I would, pre-American revolution, have some long coffee house discussions with Ben. This one showed how a person born to a candle maker, who had aspirations past his station in life, made that happen. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN was one of the FIRST NETWORKERS! Since he did not have associations due to station, he created clubs, joined clubs, and by working hard and clever, became a wealthy man, able to retire the publishing/ news business by 42 so he could be a gentleman of leisure and up to what he'd been interested in all along - science and invention. Ben also surpassed his religious upbringing mightily. This video/DVD came out in 2002 and was produced by PBS. Don't we just thrill to the PBS intro music, braced for yet another wonderful educational time?
11/26/11
11/25/11
GOT A QUESTION FOR YOU WRITERS OUT THERE!
Do we really have BETTER MEMORIES than most people?
I've long heard of the "long writer's memory" and I believe I am one of those people who has a very good memory. This doesn't mean I never forget anything or that I don't write things down. I often make lists of things I have to do, to try and stay on track with the ambitions of my day.
I've long heard of the "long writer's memory" and I believe I am one of those people who has a very good memory. This doesn't mean I never forget anything or that I don't write things down. I often make lists of things I have to do, to try and stay on track with the ambitions of my day.
11/23/11
MARK TWAIN HOUSE : WOMAN JAILED FOR STEALING A MILLION
Breaking News from Yahoo. "Twain, born Samuel Clemens in Florida, Missouri, had money troubles himself while living in the home from 1874 to 1891 -- a period in which he wrote such American classics as "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn."Twain ultimately had to leave the Victorian Gothic home for lecture tours of Europe because of financial troubles."
11/3/11
SOUTH AFRICAN CAVE HOLDS ANCIENT ART SUPPLIES
Lead researcher Christopher Henshilwood of the University of Bergen, Norway, said the find represents an important benchmark in the evolution of complex human mental processes.
The ochre could have been used for painting, decoration and skin protection, according to the researchers.
The discovery shows that even at that time "humans had the conceptual ability to source, combine and store substances that were then possibly used to enhance their social practices."
Linking to the Associated Press article!
The ochre could have been used for painting, decoration and skin protection, according to the researchers.
The discovery shows that even at that time "humans had the conceptual ability to source, combine and store substances that were then possibly used to enhance their social practices."
Linking to the Associated Press article!
10/31/11
JOHN KEATS : THIS LIVING HAND NOW WARM AND CAPABLE
THIS LIVING HAND NOW WARM AND CAPABLE
by John Keats 1795–1821
This living hand, now warm and capable
Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold
And in the icy silence of the tomb,
So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights
That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood
So in my veins red life might stream again,
And thou be conscience-calm’d–see here it is–
I hold it towards you.
by John Keats 1795–1821
This living hand, now warm and capable
Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold
And in the icy silence of the tomb,
So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights
That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood
So in my veins red life might stream again,
And thou be conscience-calm’d–see here it is–
I hold it towards you.
10/30/11
YE GHOST
Do you like to be afraid?
Mystics say that this time of the year is the best time for contacting those who've passed to the other side. And for them to contact us.
So maybe this why there is Halloween, Hallowmas, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, and the Day of the Dead celebrated in various cultures in late October and early November.
I'm not at all into horror and gore or the outrageous party scene that has emerged in recent years as a celebration for Halloween. I'd rather stay at home with a candle and a book.
Mystics say that this time of the year is the best time for contacting those who've passed to the other side. And for them to contact us.
So maybe this why there is Halloween, Hallowmas, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, and the Day of the Dead celebrated in various cultures in late October and early November.
I'm not at all into horror and gore or the outrageous party scene that has emerged in recent years as a celebration for Halloween. I'd rather stay at home with a candle and a book.
10/28/11
CROWDSOURCING:
"Your educated guess may be just as good as an expert's opinion. Statistics have long shown that large crowds of average people frequently make better predictions about unknown events, when their disparate guesses are averaged out, than any individual scholar — a phenomenon known as the wisdom of crowds."
Linking to the article : Are we all a little psychic?
Linking to the article : Are we all a little psychic?
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