foto: fathom.com

15 Eylül 1890’da İngiltere, Oxfordshire’da dünyaya gelen ve tam adı Agahta Mary Clarissa Lady Mallowan olan Agahta Christie, dünyanın en ünlü kadın polisiye roman yazarı olma özelliğini taşıyor.

Ayrıca, Mary Westmacott ismiyle aşk romanları da yazmış..yaşamı boyunca 66 polisiye roman yazan Agahta Christie’nin romanlarındaki, ‘beyninin gri hücrelerini’ kullanarak, cinayetleri çözen dedektif Hercule Poirot ve cinayetleri çözmeye meraklı, evde kalmış bir kız olan Miss Marple karakterleri de dünyaca ünlü oldu. Agatha Christie, dünyada ‘cinayetler kraliçesi’ olarak tanındı.

Agahta Christie, Shakespeare’den sonra ençok okunan yazar olma özelliğiyle Guiness Rekorlar Kitabına da girmiş, İngiltere’de 1 milyon kitabı satılmış, romanları 103 lisana çevrilmiş. 12 Ocak 1976 yılında 85 yaşında hayata veda etmiş.

Babası Amerikalı, annesi İngiliz olan Agahta, hiçbir zaman ABD vatandaşı olmayı talep etmemiş, annesi bir İngiliz soylusuymuş, genç yaşta babasını kaybetmiş, annesi Agatha’ya evde eğitim vermiş ve genç yaşta yazmaya teşvik etmiş. 16 yaşındayken, Paris’te bir okula gitmiş, piyano ve şan dersleri almış. 1914’te albay Archibald Christie ile mutsuz bir evlilik yapmış, bir kızları (Rosalind Hicks) olmuş ama boşanmışlar.

1. Dünya Savaşı’nda bir hastanede ve sonra eczanede çalışmış, bu onun romanlarını etkilemiş, çoğu cinayet zehirle işlenmiştir. 8 Aralık 1926 tarihinde, 10 günlüğüne ortadan yok olması, basının büyük ilgisini çekmiştir. Arabası boş halde bulunmuş, kendisiyse sonradan şimdiki ismiyle Swan Hotel’de, eşinin aşk macerası yaşadığı kadının ismiyle ortaya çıkmıştır. Yazar, o dönemde eşinin ihaneti ve annesinin ölümü yüzünden geçici bir hafıza kaybı yaşadığını söylemiştir. Bunun bir reklam mı, gerçek mi olduğu hala tartışılmaktadır.

1930 yılında, arkeolog Sör Max Mallovan ile evlenmiştir, onunla Orta Doğu’ya yaptığı seyahatlerin etkisi romanlarına yansımıştır. Evliliği, eşinin başka kadınlarla ilişkilerine rağmen başta mutlu geçmiştir. 1971’de İngiltere’nin önemli bir imparatorluk nişanı kendisine taktim edilmiştir.

Doğu Ekspresi’nde Cinayet isimli romanın İstanbul, Pera Palas’ta yazmıştır.

Agahta Christie’nin romanların çoğu televizyona, sinema filmlerine hatta video oyunlarına uyarlanmıştır.

Yazarın romanlarından bazıları, On Küçük Zenci, Bacaların Esrarı, Mavi Trenin Esrarı, Doğu Ekspresi’nde Cinayet, Cinayet Alfabesi, Nil’de Ölüm, Ölümle Randevu, Beş Küçük Domuz, Güvercinlerin Ortasındaki Kedi, Filler Unutmaz, Perde’yi sayabiliriz.

Galiba dünyanın en ünlü kadın romancıları İngiltere'den çıkıyor, J. K. Rowling, Agatha Christie, Jane Austen, Bronte kardeşler...Havasından mı, suyundan mı? ben sırrını çözemedim...

Fiche IMDB

La riche et belle héritière Linnet Ridgeway s'éprend de Simon Doyle, fiancé de sa meilleure amie, Jacqueline de Bellefort, et l'épouse dans la foulée. Les jeunes mariés partent en voyage de noces, mais ils sont poursuivis par la jeune femme délaissée, dans leurs étapes successives, jusqu'en Égypte, où ils séjournent dans un hôtel où se trouve également Hercule Poirot qui pressent une situation dramatique. Poirot, les jeunes mariés et leur poursuivante, ainsi que divers clients « aisés » de l'hôtel se retrouvent fortuitement pour faire une croisière à bord du vapeur S.S. Karnak... jusqu'au jour où Linnet est assassinée. Les deux suspects les plus probables, Simon Doyle, qui pourrait avoir voulu hériter de sa richissime épouse, et Jacqueline, par vengeance, sont pourtant les deux seules personnes à avoir des alibis irréprochables. Mais les cellules grises de Poirot vont mettre à mal tous les alibis et révéler une machination diabolique.

A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS presents in association with GRANADA TELEVISON a CARNIVAL FILMS production DAVID SUCHET "AGATHA CHRISTIE'S POIROT : DEATH ON NILE" JAMES FOX EMMA GRIFFITHS MALIN JJ FEILD EMILY BLUNT JUDY PARFITT DAISY DONOVAN BARBARA FLYNN DANIEL LAPAINE DAVID SOUL and FRANCES de la TOUR
music by CHRISTOPHER GUNNING screenplay by KEVIN ELYOT directed ANDY WILSON

Mort sur le Nil, le célèbre roman d'Agatha Christie, a été adapté pour le cinéma en 1978, avec Peter Ustinov, parfait dans le rôle d'Hercule Poirot. Ce roman a aussi été adapté pour la télévision en 2004 pour la série Hercule Poirot, avec le génialissimme David Suchet.

Cette série a tout d'abord repris les nouvelles d'Agatha Christie ayant pour héros le détective belge, puis le succès étant au rendez-vous, les romans le mettant en scène. Ainsi, chaque nouvelle bénéficie d'un épisode de 45 minutes et presque chaque roman (les derniers seront bientôt réalisés) d'un téléfilm d'1h30.

David Suchet est sans conteste le meilleur acteur pour Hercule Poirot. Doublé par Roger Carel (également la meilleure voix pour Hercule Poirot), qui avait aussi doublé Peter Ustinov pour le même rôle, David Suchet surpasse les prestations d'Albert Finney et de Peter Ustinov.

Mort sur le Nil répond tout à fait aux attentes du spectateur. Le scenario est l'un des meilleurs de la série. Un vrai divertissement pour les amateurs d'histoires policières au début du XXème siècle.

Ma note:

Agatha Christie

In ungespanntem Zustand sieht man ein interessantes Relief.

Im Gegensatz zu vielen anderen Tüchern ist hier die Borte der einfachste Part.

Auch die Form des fertigen Tuches ist ungewöhnlich. Durch mehr Zunahmen am Rand als üblich ergibt sich kein Dreieck, sondern die Katheten bekommen mehr Weite . Das kommt der Passform zu Gute: Die Spannweite nimmt ebenfalls überdimensional zu, was den Tragekomfort sehr erhöht. Man hat längere Zipfel zur Verfügung, die man sich dekorativ um den Hals drapieren kann.

Wie schon beim "Lily of the Valley Shawl" habe ich auch hier Drops Garnstudio Alpaca verwendet, allerdings nur mit Nadeln 3.75 gestrickt, da die Designerin "more density" empfiehlt. Dank dieser Dichte und der Farbe hellbraun ist ein sehr alltagstaugliches Tuch entstanden.

Übrigens fiel diese Wolle nicht wie ihre weiße Schwester durch sehr unangenehmen Geruch in nassem Zustand auf! Komisch, oder? Verbraucht habe ich genau 3 Knäuele, was 540 Metern entspricht. Die Spannweite beträgt 180 cm, die Höhe 80 cm.

Wenn es nicht so anstrengend wäre, würde ich mir dieses tolle Tuch ja glatt nochmal in einer anderen Farbe stricken!

www.queenofcrime.com heeft de hand weten te leggen op het testament van Agatha Mary Clarissa Mallowan, bij het grote publiek uiteraard beter bekend als misdaadschrijfster Agatha Christie. Interessante paperassen met enkele opmerkelijke passages.

In de eerste versie van het testament (26/05/1970), werd onderstaande personen geld of voorwerpen nagelaten:

Echtgenoot Sir Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan kreeg 10,000 Britse ponden toegestopt mits hij Agatha tenminste een kalenderjaar zou overleven. Op dit moment zou het een bedrag van ongeveer 200,000 Pond betreffen; omgerekend ruim een kwart miljoen in Euro's.

Lees verder voor het volledige bericht...

Schoonzoon Anthony Hicks viel 1,000 Pond ten deel (nu 20,000 Pond, circa 25,000 Euro) alsmede Agatha's collectie kostbare boekenleggers en Turnbridge Ware (opberg)doosjes en een stenen Boeddhabeeldje.

Shoonzus Dolores Mallowan kreeg 500 Pond (10,050 Pond, bijna 13,000 Euro) op haar bankrekening bijgeschreven. Hetzelfde bedrag viel ene Nellie Cheffey ten deel.

Peter Saunders (de man achter het succes van The Mousetrap in Londen, red.) mocht zich verheugen op niet minder dan 25 boeken uit de serie British Theatre. De werkjes bevonden zich toentertijd nog in Greenway House.

Uitgever Edmund Cork van Hughes Massie & Co, kreeg de zwarte Wedgwood buste van Mercury (Greenway House) en een ladenkastje (type Damascus) met de naam 'Agatha Christie' in Arabisch schrift in parels ingelegd op de bovenzijde.

Kleinzoon Mathew Caradoc Thomas Prichard werd een groene Venetiaanse glazen vis (Greenway House) in het vooruitzicht gesteld. Ook alle souvenirs van het toneelstuk The Mousetrap zouden naar Mathew gaan.

Jennifer - Agatha's achterkleinkind - kreeg een enveloppe met 500 Pond (10,000 Pond, circa 13,000 euro). Eenzelfde bedrag ging naar Frank Levin, tuinman en Garden Manager van Greenway House.

Tenslotte ging nog eens 1,000 Pond (20,000 Pond, een kwart ton in euro's) naar Lily Belson.

De rest aan bezittingen (zowel financieel als ook in materiele zin, red.) werd nagelaten aan Agatha's enige kind en dochter Rosalind Margaret Clarisse Hicks. Mits... zij haar moeder met tenminste een kalendermaand zou overleven. Anders mocht Rosalinds enige zoon - Mathew Prichard - in zijn handen wrijven.

Overigens liet Agatha een passage in haar testament opnemen waarin zij aangeeft waarom ze voornemens was om kleinzoon Mathew enkel een groene glazen vis en wat souvenirs na te laten. De reden (vrijvertaald)? '... ik heb al genoeg voor hem gezorgd tijdens mijn leven.' Agatha doelt hiermee op de rechten van 's wereld bekendste toneelstuk - The Mousetrap - die Mathew, reeds op jeugdige leeftijd, door zijn grootmoeder cadeau werden gedaan.

Op 22 oktober 1975 herziet Agatha haar 'laatste wil' gedeeltelijk. Het wordt dan ook een aanvulling op het reeds bestaande testament.

Lily Belson kreeg een extra bedrag van 2,000 Pond (40,000 Pond, een slordige halve euroton) bovenop het al eerder toebedeelde bedrag.

Ook tuinman Frank Lavin was kennelijk gestegen in Agatha's achtig. Hij kreeg nog eens 50 Pond (1,000 Pond; zo'n 1,250 euro nu) extra.

Nieuw waren de bedragen voor Millie Bush (500 Pond, 10,000 Pond, 13,000 euro), tuinier W. Cox (eveneens 500 Pond) en secretaresse Daphne Honeybone (250 Pond, 5,000 Pond; ruim 6,500 euro).

Watch this.

I don't know about anyone else, but this is how that particular interview looks to me:

Little Sarah Palin was playing ball with some friends last week, having a real fun time too. And what happened... well it kind of happened like this... and the thing you've got to understand is that it's not Sarah's fault, she didn't mean for it to happen at all... But the thing is that Sarah just threw the ball to her friend, but it went a little too high and it kinda... broke Mrs Couric at number 33's window.

Sarah totally knows that this is serious, and she knows that she's going to have to go and apologise to Mrs. Couric (even though she shouted at her real loud, which was totally unfair because it was an accident). But Sarah doesn't want to go on her own, because she's scared of mean old Mrs. Couric now, so Grampa Walnuts says that he'll go with her to make her feel less frightened.

It's important to understand that Grampa Walnuts isn't planning to make any excuses for lil Sarah. He believes in strong discipline (preferably in increments of FIVE AND A HALF YEARS), and he fully expects that Sarah will have to do some yard work to make up for breaking that window.

Where it all goes wrong is when Mrs. Couric starts trying to speak to Sarah like a mature and responsible young adult (asking her probing questions like "Why were you playing so near to my windows"/"Don't you realise that there's a reason they keep giving you those briefing documents?"). At this point something in Walnuts' brain engages, everything else disengages, and he elbows Sarah aside so he can square up to Mrs. Couric...

"The thing is, Mrs. Couric, that my Sarah wasn't playing with the type of ball we normally have her play with (on the rare occasions she's allowed to play). It was a much smaller ball, and she didn't really get how to play with it properly. Something about pizza. Mmmm... Pizza. Anyway, the point is that the ball that broke your window isn't a standard ball, so if you think about it logically it didn't break the window at all. You're just making up a broken window so that you can frighten little Sarah before she goes to play with that Biden boy later in the week. Well I can tell you, ma'am, and all your friends in that MSM stitch and bitch crowd too, that Sarah is perfectly co-ordinated when nobody's criticising her. And if you upset her you're going to end up with a lot more broken windows."

I'm serious. This is all I could think about when watching this. I almost feel sorry for her going up against Biden, not that I think that much of him, but I've got to assume that he's going to destroy anyone who uses hand gestures to describe the relative positions of Canada, Alaska and Russia.

It gets worse, as well. According to Michael Tomasky there's a bit of unshown material from the Palin-Couric interviews in which she's unable to name any Supreme Court decision other than Roe vs Wade. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. I'm not for a moment suggesting that you're automatically a cretin if you're not up on the SC, but I agree with Tomasky's excellent analysis that a potential VP SHOULD FUCKING KNOW AT LEAST SOME OF THIS STUFF. Being a 'normal person' is not a fucking qualification for being one of the leaders of the free world! The distinction between 'normal person' and 'leader' exists for a reason! I am a (reasonably) normal person, and I am not qualified to hold executive office - that's fine. There is nothing elitist about it. I want, fuck it, I NEED the people in charge to be obviously smarter than me. I've enough trouble getting to sleep as it is.

I find it so strange that the standard practice for hiring a new member of staff doesn't seem to reach up as far as the Presidency. If you're looking to hire someone into an office job you ask questions to make sure they can do it. If they signally fail to provide adequate answers they get a rejection letter. Simple as. And yet when it comes to the most powerful jobs on earth these criteria (not the specific criteria, although I guess being able to use word and email is a prerequisite, although maybe not) get thrown aside. Apparently one of the most important things for the American voter (and looking at the UK polls, presumably for us too) is the thought that they could have a beer with a candidate. Now I like Barack Obama, I like him a lot. I really, really, really want him to be President. I also like beer (Guiness, if you're buying). So you'd think I'd like to have a beer with Obama. You'd be wrong. I want the damn president to be getting on with presidenting so that I can enjoy my beer. I have no idea why anyone would want that goddamn job, if it's done right it should involve four to eight years of late nights and no fun.

Based on what I've seen of McCain he looks as though he'd be awesome fun (come on, you know that he announced his decision to suspend the campaign last week by calling his advisors together, whipping out a beer bong and shouting 'ROAD TRIP!!'), but I have grave doubts about his ability to do the job properly. He seems really erratic, more and more so as time goes on. Although I've always had a strong preference for Obama there was a time, as recently as July, that I wasn't actively scared of a McCain presidency. He seemed like the worst of two options, but not a bad option at all. Since then continued lurches to the right; nominating someone supremely qualified to narrow the race, but totally unqualified to be VP; lying ads and a mouth-foaming, Nixon-esque attack on the MSM have put me all the way off. This is terrifying stuff. He's also totally disrespectful of his opponent, smirking throughout the debate, lacking the basic courtesy to look at Obama when he made a point, lying more and not apologising when called out for it. Jesus wept. I used to like this guy, I could imagine feeling sorry for him if he lost. Now I want him to lose hard and cry about it.

Back to Palin... One of the things that keeps getting bandied about is the idea that the worst thing about electing her is that she'd be 'one heartbeat away from the presidency'. I don't buy this, for several reasons:

1. Don't you think it's kind of morbid to assume that McCain's going to die during his first term in office? I mean, yeah he's old, but he's not THAT old. Speculating on the death of a man, even if he is a presidential candidate, is just distasteful (cf: Obama assassination worries). Much has been made of McCain's refusal to release his medical records, as though he's hiding something, to which I say: back the hell off. That's out of order; whatever else you may think of McCain there's no question that he sincerely loves his country, and I don't believe that he'd have put himself up for the job if he thought there was a serious chance that he'd not make it through his term (think about the upheaval attendent on the removal, via death or impeachment, of a President).

2. It doesn't make sense as a phrase. Surely she'd be 'no heartbeats away from the presidency', or 'one massive stroke away from the presidency', 'some particularly aggressive cancer away from the presidency'. All the time the McCain ticker ticks she's not one heartbeat away from the presidency, she's as far from it as any VP.

3. Most importantly, while a Palin presidency would be flabbergastingly dreadful, a Palin Vice-Presidency is quite bad enough. Gone are the days when the Veep was just there to pull in a swing state and not trip over at important state functions. Under Cheney the vice-presidency has accrued massive powers and control over a swathe of stuff, most importantly the power to classify intelligence - tantamount to giving the VP the same control over message and information presented to the public as the President (most people won't want to read the actual executive order, so here's a summary and analysis). The problem with this, in the abstract, is that having two people have that level of control, and no requirement for them to talk to each other (although in practice they mostly will) leads to massive confusion. When specifically applied to Palin, the scary thing is her record on controlling information. OK, she didn't actually ban any books from the Wasilla library, but all the evidence suggests that she seriously entertained the idea. That's bad enough, but is even worse when combined with her apparently totally superficial grasp of detail. Consider, returning to the Couric interview, Palin's answer to questions about (McCain campaign manager) Rick Davis's (alleged) ties to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (skip to 0:30 and watch till about 1.10). It's pretty clear to me that Palin's been given a line to spout, but was expected to bone up on background herself in order to deal with follow ups. Either she assumed that there wouldn't be, which is really stupid, or she just doesn't get that these you need more than pat answers in this job. It's completely outrageous, the equivalent of going to an interview (to return to an earlier metaphor) and claiming that you can use excel without being willing to offer any evidence of the fact. It points to a complete lack of awareness and preparedness, and is a chilling insight into a potential Palin Vice-Presidency. If this woman had the level of control over information that Cheney has god alone knows what would happen. Cheney's an evil fuck, and it's pretty safe to assume that he uses his discretionary power to keep lots of stuff as under wraps as (in)humanly possible. Palin, on the other hand, may or may not be evil (it's genuinely impossible to see through the fog of idiocy), but would certainly be more dangerous. If, as it appears, she can't/won't read briefing documents what hope has she got of making the right call on dissemination even half the time?

If, by chance, you are reading this in America please let me make the following plea to you: if you like McCain that's fine. I can see why you would, although I've come to disagree with you for the reasons given above. But please, don't vote for him while Palin's on the ticket. Concentrating that level of power in someone like her is just not safe. I'm not saying vote for Obama, because I expect that most Republicans wouldn't under any circumstances, but I am saying that if you are a Republican, your candidate made a decision so bad that it disqualifies his ticket from office. Do the decent thing, stay home and don't vote; accept that every so often it comes time for a change in who holds office and that the good or bad decisions of candidates affects how often these moments come along. Resign yourself to 4 years of Democratic rule (it's not like Obama's going to change the whole world in that time) and hope for a really strong Republican ticket to knock him out of office in 2012. Hope that your party spends the period out of office reflecting and reforming itself into something fit to rule again. If nothing happens as a result of this disastrous, shambling presidency and reactionary election campaign then your party will remain unfit for power. And leaving a one party system through failure to fix yourself up would be a terrible abdication of responsiblity to the nation and the world.

So that's the US election. Now Microsoft...

Those who know me well will not be suprised to learn that I have nothing but appreciation and affection for the internet. It's the most wonderful invention since the written word, since it allows all the lovely knowledge captured therein to be shared by pretty much anybody. With my little laptop and a wifi connection I can listen to virtually any song I like, watch TV, listen to the radio, read the news, get analysis from experts and amateurs, read books, write book-length blog posts, apply for jobs, stay in touch with friends regardless of distance... You get the picture. I fucking love the internet. But I don't love all the people on the internet, because some of them are evil idiot fucks who make viruses. If you make viruses allow me to inform you that you are the lowest form of pond scum out there and I hope that you become very uncomfortable later in life (unless you're this virus maker, in which case rock on).

So last night, I won't say what I was doing, because it kind of undermines the moral force of my argument, but the squeamish amongst you can rest assured that tactile self-stimulation was not involved. In fact I was trying to do a favour for a friend (not that I'm trying to make them feel guilty by bringing that up... Actually, who am I kidding? It's not like anyone I know actually reads these blitherings - they exist solely for randomers to stumble on and to warn potential employers...) As I was in the act of performing this favour (why can't I make this not sound obscene?) by unzipping an unknown archive format (you see?!) I managed to contract a virus (and that, kids, is why you should always wear an e-condom. Or never use the internet - abstinence education is the best kind of education...)

Said virus proceeded, in technical terms, to completely fuck my computer. To the point that it would hang on startup for up to an hour (at which point I stopped waiting). Honest to God, if this hadn't happened after everyone else in the house had gone to bed I'd have shouted down the house. The only thing to do, sadly, was a full destructive recovery on the feckin' harddisk - reinstall the whole bloody os from a read only recovery partition (incidentally, this is a fantastic feature, and I heartily recommend any computer that comes with it). Of course, being the moron that I am, I hadn't backed up anything (just like the last 4 times that my over-active curiosity had led to this pass), so I lost, in no particular order:

1. All of my design programs (which I had on disk, but which are a bitch to install)

2. All of my fonts (which are also on disk, but which are in a ridiculous archive format which requires each one to be installed separately - there are four thousand of the fucking things. Actually that's not true, I found a workaround, but only after about half an hour, and I had such a damn headache that every minute was bringing me closer to tears - although not closer to the point that I'd stop working and go to bed...)

3. All my files - movies, music, job applications, website files, invoices, half finished work, the first couple chapters of my Mills & Boon effort (seriously). This was heartbreaking (especially the M&B thing).

4. All my settings (it's surprising how many tweaks you add to FF without really thinking about it. And then suddenly they're gone and you can't tell why your browser's working differently to how you remember it, but it is.)

5. 3 hours of my life.

The moral of the story, children, is to back up everything at least once a week. Or to never use windows. Or to be less inquisitive. Or never to try and do someone a favour. Or to invent and use e-condoms. Do you know what? I'm sick of picking out the moral for you people. There are your options. You pick one.

And now to balance all that rancour with something a little bit nicer. Have you read W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage? It's really, really good. I first read it when I was 18/19, and I enjoyed it then, but I don't recall it making such an impression first time around. For those who are interested, it's a bildungsroman - highly autobiographical, and written an explicitly realist style (think Great Expectations shorn of all the sensationalism. Actually, don't think of that, it won't leave anything: best just to read them both). Regular readers of this column will know that I started reading this some time ago and was unable to carry on because of a printing error in the edition I had. When I got my hands on another copy I decided to read in a deliberately desultory fashion, just picking it up now and then in between other books. I find that books read in this manner tend to act like prisms, refracting the experience of everything else I take in - so I don't do it very often.

Anyway, I'm about half way through, just a little way into the development of Philip's (the protagonist) sordid, mean and horrid relationship with Mildred (a name which makes me shudder). It's wonderful, so bare, so sparse, so reflective of the barrenness of Mildred's mind infecting Philip's and turning it to mush. What really appeals to me is the way that Philip's life is full of reboots and direction changes, some his active decision and others forced upon him by a combination of circumstance and mediocrity (I won't belabour the point). I'm always drawn to stories about a person coming to recognise and accept their own mediocrity - they reassure me that it won't be the end of the world if (when) I finally have to do it myself. I especially like it when such stories are told in fantastic novels which have gained thier authors immortality - because it's even better when the message is belied by it's medium...

So, yes, read that. If Catcher in the Rye is the book for adolescents (although I never warmed to it, and can't help feeling jealous of a friend from University, with whom I've all but lost contact, whose own pick for 'most influential book of my teens' is Portrait - pretentious git) then I'd like to put in a case for Of Human Bondage as the book for people in their late teens/early twenties.

Next time: something else, possibly about music.

·         Victor completes his creation, brings it to life, but it is very ugly.

·         Victor tries to sleep, but thinks about Elizabeth and his mother’s corpse and cannot sleep.

·         Opens eyes to find the creation smiling over him.

·         Paces courtyard all night then walks to the town of Ingolstadt to avoid returning to his haunted apartment. Meets Henry Clerval and Henry reminds Victor of his family, then returns to his apartment, where there is no sign of the monster.

·         Victor has worked for months and is shocked at the creature he created, and gets a fever. Henry nurses him back to health, and then gives him a letter from Elizabeth that got there while Victor was ill.

·         The letter is about Elizabeth’s concern for Victor being sick, tells him to write to his family in Geneva, and that Justine Moritz (girl who used to live with the Frankenstein family) has returned after Elizabeth’s mother died.

·         Victor recovers then introduces Henry to the professors at the university.

·         The sight of any chemical instrument worsens Victor’s symptoms including talking to his professors.

·         Victor decides to go back to Geneva, but has to wait for a letter from his father telling Victor the date of his departure.

·         Victor and Henry take a walk through the country.

·         Victor gets a letter from his father that says his youngest brother (William) has been murdered. Victor leaves immediately for Geneva.

·         When Victor gets to Geneva, the gates in have been closed, so he walks around the woods and to where his brothers body was found. When he gets closer he sees the monster and is convinced it was his creation’s fault.

·         Victor learns that Justine has been accused of the murder because she had a picture that had been seen with William last.

·         Victor tells everyone that she is innocent, but won’t say why because he doesn’t want people to think he is crazy. So, Justine confesses believing that she will gain salvation. Tells Elizabeth and Victor she is innocent and miserable. Justine gets executed. Victor feels guilty because his creation was responsible for two deaths of his family.

·         Victor starts to consider suicide, but doesn’t because Elizabeth and his father (Alphonse). Alphonse takes Victor to his family home in Belrive. Victor wanders toward Chamounix. Scenery cheers him up for a little while.

·         Victor travels to Montanvert hoping to revive his spirits. Reaches a glacier and spots the creature he made running toward him. Threatens to attack monster, but monster had speed and strength.  Victor tells him to go away. But monster convinces Victor to follow him inside a cave and tells Victor his life story. Monster tells Victor his confusion, flight from Victor’s apartment to the wilderness, gradual acclimation to the world through his discoveries of light, dark, hunger, thirst, cold, and so on. He discovers fire and how it is good for warmth and making food taste better.

·         The monster finds a hut with an old man inside, the old man runs away. Monster went to a village where people run away from him. Monster therefore decides to stay away from all humans.

·         Stays one night near a cottage, where he sees two men and a woman.

·         Monster notices they’re unhappy and finds out it is  because they are in poverty. Monster has been stealing their food. Monster feels bad, so gathers wood and puts it by their door at night.

·         Monster vows to learn their language. Sees self in water and notices how ugly.

·         Safie goes to cottage and Felix is excited to see her. She moved in, mood of cottage brightens.

·         Monster starts to learn to read and learn world history. Monster reflects and notices how he is all alone, has no obligations, no relations, and is isolated.

·         Monster starts to pick up the history of the villagers. Safie wants to marry a European man. Felix, Agatha, and De Lacey were exiled from France where they were rich.

·         Monster finds some clothes and books. (Books were Sorrows of Werter by Johann Wolfgang con Goethe, Plutarch’s Lives, and Paradise Lost by John Milton.) Reads all as if were factual history.

·         Gets Victor’s old journal and reads how Victor is discusted with the monster. Then monster wants to get to know the villagers so he knows someone. De Lacey is blind, so he wants to get to know him first. Once the monster starts to talk to De Lacey, the other three walk back in, and tell the monster to leave.

·         Then monster wants to revenge himself against everyone, especially Victor. Journeys toward Geneva. Monster rescues an almost drowning girl. Man shoots him because thinks monster attacked girl.

·         Monster runs across William in the woods. William mentions who his father is, and monster gets mad. Takes William’s picture and puts it in Justine’s dress while she is sleeping.

·         Monster tries to convince Victor to make another monster to be with him and so he can mate, and tells Victor that it is his right and responsibility. Monster tells Victor all his actions are because he is lonely. Monster promised victor to take mate to South America and hide in a jungle and will not kill.

·         Victor agrees to create a female monster.  Monster says he is going to monitor Victor.

·         Victor puts off creating a female monster and begins to have doubts. Victor’s father notices Victor is down most of the time because guilt over deaths of William and Justine. (Father doesn’t know about guilt).

·         Victor says he is unable to marry until he has completed his obligation to the monster. Victor decides to travel to London, England  and Scotland with Henry.

·         Victor leaves Henry with  a friend in Scotland, and travels to an isolated island, where he can work on creating a new creature. He has trouble because he knows how ugly, unsatisfying, and grotesque the finished creature is going to be.

·         Victor starts to imagine what might happen. Maybe the new creature will not want to be isolated. Maybe the monsters will have children and will all be “devils... on earth”. However, when Victor looks up, the monster is smiling. Victor destroys all work because how ugly the monster is. Monster gets mad vowing revenge, then leaves.

·         Victor throws remains in water while in boat, then naps. Wakes up and finds he is stuck, but eventually gets back to shore and finds an angry mob of people telling him he is being accused of murder the previous night.

·         Townspeople take Victor to Mr. Kirwin, the town magistrate. Victor hears all the witnesses testify against him saying they found a body along the beach and saw Victor’s boat.

·         Mr. Kirwin makes Victor look at the body thinking he will have some reaction. The victim is Henry, with the marks of the monster around his neck. Victor falls into convulsions and gets an illness for 2 monthes.

·         Recovers, and is in prison. Kirwin becomes compassionate and sympathetic and visits Victor. Victor’s father has also come to visit him. Victor is very happy to see his father, who stays with him until court.

·         Kirwin finds Victor innocent because no hard evidence.

·         Victor gets released and travels back to Geneva with his father.

I Notice and I Hear:

                I notice how the creature is called a monster. I would like to know what people think of him. Since he is so weird and ugly, why wouldn’t people just kill him when they saw them? If there was a monster in Chestertown, I think that someone would kill him because they would be so scared of him and not know what he would do in the future. I think, especially if murders were happening, someone would kill the monster.

                I would like to know why the monster came out to Victor and told him that he had murdered his family. Did the monster tell Victor this and not understand how he would feel? If Victor knew the monster murdered people, why didn’t he either isolate the monster, or kill him?

                I would like to know how the monster knew what to eat. When you are in a forest there are a lot of things that are poisonous. So did he eat them and get sick? Is he immune to them? We know he feels hunger because that is what the book says.

                I think it would be cool to know what the monster thought of the books also.

                Did the monster stalk Victor? It seems like when Victor went into the cottage to create a female monster, the male monster knew where he was. But then in the beginning, he said he went in the middle of the forest to hide. So how did he find Victor the first time? Coincidence?

                Why does Victor only get sick after something tragic happens? Is it a coincidence or is he forcing himself to feel bad or faking the illnesses? Is that how he gets over tragedy?

                Should Victor have stayed with the monster that he created? The monster didn’t have a choice of whether or not to be created and was therefore left with no one to teach him language, right versus wrong, what to eat, or anything else he would need to know in life to get by. With the isolation of the monster, is that how Victor felt? Did Victor let the monster go because he felt isolated and felt as if the monster would isolate him more?

                Why does the monster have to be a man? Why does the monster have to want a female mate? Why doesn’t the monster just want a friend? How does the monster find out about mating if he had no one to teach him about all that?

                Why does the monster have to be ugly? If the monster was pretty but different, would everyone have the same reaction? Is the monster ugly because he is unlike everyone else? Is the monster taller or shorter than humans? Fatter or skinnier? Would it be different if the answer to those questions were different? How would these questions affect the monster’s life?

                Would the monster enjoy company or would he not like it? He is asking for it now, but once he gets company, what if the new monster is annoying, they don’t get along, the new monster doesn’t want to obey the rules the old monster has promised Victor? What if they do mate? Will the monsters start to murder random people to get revenge when they get mad? How long does the monster live? Will the action or mistake last a long time or short while? How much damage will two monsters do together? What if they team up and do a lot of killing?

Aaaaaaaaannywaaaaaaay... the point is that I'm trying to think of a name for said business, and so far, despite being terribly creative and all, I can't come up with anything that doesn't suck. So, readers, any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Ini hari pertamaku bertugas, jadi Marry (petugas perpustakaan) menjelaskan banyak hal. Dia menunjukkan folder berisi daftar orang yang akan dikunjungi, alamat, dan keterangan. Yang dimaksud dengan keterangan adalah:

LP: maksudnya Large Print. Kebanyakan orang tua milih buku yang tulisannya besar, agar lebih mudah dibaca.

SP: maksudnya Small Print. Meskipun sudah tua, ada sebagian pelanggan yang tidak suka buku-buku bertulisan besar.

Mystery/ Thriller/ History/ CD/ DVD/ casette: keterangan buku jenis apa yang mereka suka baca. Ada pelanggan yang tidak suka buku romance sama sekali, ada yang sangat suka dst. Pelanggan juga boleh meminjam CD, kaset atau DVD.

Doesn't always come out to the van: maksudnya orang tersebut tidak selalu keluar rumah untuk memilih langsung buku yang akan mereka baca di mobil perpustakaan keliling. Jadi petugas harus mengetuk pintu untuk memberi tahu bahwa mereka datang. Sebagian pelanggan sudah duduk-duduk di luar rumah menunggu mobil perpustakaan keliling datang.

choose 6 DVD, drama, no war: maksudnya, orang ini meminta petugas perpustakaan untuk memilih 6 DVD drama yang bukan mengenai perang. Orang ini akan senang hati menerima 6 DVD itu tanpa perlu memilih sendiri.

Ada pula pelanggan yang tidak pernah bertemu dengan petugas. Jadi petugas memilih buku untuk mereka tergantung pesanan, kemudian meletakkannya di dekat pintu, dan mengambil buku-buku yang sudah dibaca untuk dikembalikan ke perpustakaan.

Marry juga mengajari bagaimana melakukan scanning barcode buku saat peminjaman dan pengembalian.

Banyak hal-hal menarik yang kupelajari dari pengalaman pertama ini.

Aku belajar betapa personalnya pelayanan perpustakaan kepada pelanggannya. Hal ini tercermin dari pemilihan buku oleh petugas. Ada pelanggan yang buta, karenanya petugas tidak bisa memilih buku, namun mereka harus membawakan kaset-kaset untuknya. Petugas harus dapat memilih dengan benar buku yang pelanggannya mau baca, dan belum pernah dibaca. Unik sekali cara pelanggan memberi tanda bahwa mereka sudah pernah membaca suatu buku. Kebanyakan pelanggan akan menulis inisial nama mereka di kertas putih yang ditempel di halaman pertama buku tersebut. Tapi ada juga pelanggan yang menggambar bentuk, seperti awan, untuk menandakan bahwa dia sudah membaca suatu buku. Ini membuat petugas ingat. Marry memintaku memastikan bahwa buku-buku yang akan diberikan ke Mrs Hew belum ada gambar awan-nya.

Dengan Mrs Hew pula, ada suatu pelajaran yang benar-benar mengena. Ceritanya, sebagian buku yang Marry pilih, tidak tepat. (Marry juga belum lama menjalankan program ini, jadi belum hafal). Mrs Hew tidak suka buku bertulisan besar, dan ada satu buku yang dia tidak suka temanya. Saat kami sampai ke tujuan berikutnya, ternyata Mrs Hew mengikuti, naik mobil. Dengan tertatih-tatih, Ia mengembalikan buku-buku itu dan meminta petugas mengganti dengan buku bertulisan kecil, dan sesuai dengan minatnya. Marry agak panik karena dia tidak yakin di mobil ada buku bertulisan kecil dengan tema misteri. Dia berusaha keras menelusuri deretan buku untuk menemukan buku yang kira-kira akan disukai Mrs Hew. Mrs Hew melihat ke arahku yang berdiri di sampingnya tanpa tahu harus berbuat apa. Dia berkata, "Maaf, saya tidak bermaksud merepotkan, tapi buku benar-benar penting bagi saya. Membaca buku adalah satu-satunya yang bisa saya lakukan." Seketika itu juga aku sadar, betapa pentingnya buku bagi mereka, orang-orang itu. Mereka mengisi hari tuanya hanya dengan membaca buku. Hiburan mereka. Mereka tidak hidup dengan keluarganya. Sebagian hidup sendiri di rumah, sebagian tinggal di panti jompo. Memang, di panti jompo ada kelas craft, dimana mereka bisa membuat kerajinan, atau ada kelas senam, tapi setelah itu? Membaca buku menjadi salah satu pilihan tepat untuk melewatkan waktu.

Karena itu, aku mengerti, kenapa saat kami bilang "sampai jumpa 2 minggu lagi", ada pelanggan yang ngotot bilang "see you next week". Mereka benar-benar butuh buku datang sering-sering.

Christie has been called — by the Guinness Book of World Records, among others — the best-selling writer of books of all time and the best-selling writer of any kind, along with William Shakespeare. Only the Bible is known to have outsold her collected sales of roughly four billion copies of novels. UNESCO states that she is currently the most translated individual author in the world with only the collective corporate works of Walt Disney Productions surpassing her. Christie's books have been translated into (at least) 56 languages.

Her stage play, The Mousetrap, holds the record for the longest initial run in the world, opening at the Ambassadors Theatre in London on 25 November 1952, and as of 2008 is still running after more than 23,000 performances. In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's highest honor, the Grand Master Award, and in the same year, Witness for the Prosecution was given an Edgar Award by the MWA, for Best Play. Most of her books and short stories have been filmed, some many times over (Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile and 4.50 From Paddington for instance), and many have been adapted for television, radio, video games and comics.

In 1968, Booker Books, a subsidiary of the agri-industrial conglomerate Booker-McConnell, bought a 51% stake in Agatha Christie Limited, the private company that Christie had set up for tax reasons. Booker later increased its stake to 64%. In 1998, Booker sold its shares to Chorion, a company whose portfolio also includes the literary estates of Enid Blyton and Dennis Wheatley.

Tem coisa melhor do que fazer uma lista de itens pra levar na mala de viagem ou uma lista com os 10 melhores discos lançados, ou melhor ainda, lista dos lugares para ir antes de morrer... Não tem jeito melhor de organizar informações, das mais úteis às mais bizarras, do que uma boa lista.

O blog Lista10 é exatamente sobre isso e traz sempre posts sobre listas, todas muito organizadas em uma lista por categorias... O blog mostra os 10 mandamentos do Messenger, as 10 celebridades que as pessoas mais gostam de ressucitar ou o Top 10 de Jogos Viciantes, entre outras bobeiras.

O The List Universe é o irmão mais velho do Lista10, já que além de listas completíssimas, tem até lojinha virtual para os loucos por listas. Bacana também são as dicas super úteis como "10 jeitos de economizar dinheiro com comida" e "10 dicas para conquistar a independência financeira".

Pra quem ficou com vontade de criar a própria lista de qualquer coisa, basta entrar no listography e começar a listar a vida... ;-)

"É uma epidemia que pode atacar a qualquer um. Começa inofensiva, com um celular, um perfil em comunidade online ou em um comunicador instantâneo. Mas não falta muito para essas telas eletrônicas invadirem cada pedaço da sua vida..."

Se você quer lutar contra esse excesso de tecnologia, ferramentinhas e gadgets transformando as relações pessoais em virtuais, entre nesse site e se desplugue.

Envie um e-mail/intervenção personalizado para um amigo viciado no monitor do computador ou na tela do celular, do qual você só tem notícias via twitter.

Uma realização do site Meetup, uma rede mundial especializada em organizar encontros entre grupos locais e fazer com que eles se vejam, troquem idéias e se socializem...

Participem! ;-)

Para quem não quer perder o estilo independente do fuso horário, a Diesel criou esse relógio que mostra as horas locais dos aeroportos de NY, LA, Londres, Paris e Tóquio. Isso sim que é neurose!

Mas relógio bom mesmo é esse aqui, na versão ventilador e 10 vezes mais barato. Pena que ainda não fizeram para pulso... =(

Vi no Gizmodo.

Dia 31 de agosto foi dia do Blog This!, um movimento da blogosfera cujo objetivo é fazer com que os blogueiros conheçam a "criação" de outros, indicando em um post os 5 blogs mais bacanas.

Falou em lista, "tamo junto"! Mas acabou sendo um bom incentivo para eu re-organizar minha lista de feeds, links e favoritos... tarefa nada fácil, por sinal...

Área 3. Blog sobre sustentabilidade e 3o setor da família Update or Die. Sempre com ótimas referências e projetos interessantes que servem de exemplo na busca de um equílibrio entre lucro e benefícios da sociedade e do meio-ambiente.

Campanha no ar. Aproveitando o período das eleições, indico o blog da Folha que fala sobre as campanhas políticas pelo país. O desgosto é grande, mas estou me forçando para acompanhar, já que a propaganda na TV e no rádio é intragável.

Cuarto derecha. Vale a pena se esforçar para entender o espanhol escrito pelo Toni e pelo Delf, de Córdoba. Sempre com conteúdo bacana e quase sempre inédito em arte, design e todas as suas vertentes.

[Olhar Beheca] Blog sobre behaviourismo radical, uma filosofia que "entende o comportamento como objeto de estudo da psicologia". Pode parecer complicado, mas eles abordam o tema de forma bastante fácil e didática, por vezes trazendo textos teóricos, em outras, contextualizando com cenas do dia-a-dia.

tecoapple.com. Um dos meus blogs favoritos de música, cinema e cultura pop. Talvez seja porque compartilhamos os mesmos gostos musicais e cinematográficos, porque o teco sempre descobre e compartilha as últimas notícias e projetos dos caras mais bacanas da "ceninha". Enfim, virou leitura diária.

Ano que vem tem mais...

Não nego, sou viciada em promoções e concursos culturais. Embora o meu maior prêmio até hoje tenha sido um par de ingresso para assistir "Meu Monstro de Estimação", eu sou brasileira e não desisto nunca, continuo participando fielmente. Afinal, de graça até injeção na testa.

Mas hoje eu não agüentei quando vi esse concurso no blog Promoções na Internet! Veja só, a rede de restaurantes de comida japonesa Gendai lançou um concurso que provou que tem uma agência ninja! Juntou o prêmio mais hype do mês - um wii fit, escolheu um lutador de judô como garoto propaganda, para aproveitar as olímpiadas e a associação com o centenário da imigração japonesa e criou o mais sensacional dos temas:

Concurso Cultural Servir com Estilo. Prato do dia: Nintendo Wii Fit.
Responda: Porque a culinária japonesa ajuda os atletas brasileiros a serem vencedores?

Alguém me diz, o que o esporte brasileiro tem a ver com a culinária japonesa? E o que o nome do concurso tem a ver com o tema ou com o prêmio? E o que o c* tem a ver com as calças? Ai senhor... dai-me paciência!

Enfim, pelo menos o prêmio é bacana e eu vou quebrar a cabeça para responder. Sugestões?

Mais promoções, você encontra em:
Promoções pra você!
Promoções na rede
Só Promoções
NaSorte

O vício da Internet já chegou às crianças e o pior é que ela não vem sozinha... Em uma pesquisa realizada pela Cartoon, 70% dos meninos e 79% das meninas de sete a 15 anos afirmaram realizar mais uma atividade enquanto estão navegando na Internet.

E quanto mais velhos, mais multitarefas eles vão se tornando. Enquanto uma criança de 7 anos combina em média 3 atividades, uma de 13 anos combina 8 (ver TV + dvd, ouvindo música, no pc, jogando um game, falando ao celular, conversando com amigos, estudando, pesquisando no Google, comendo uma bolacha... e por aí vai).

Essa geração M, de crianças multidisiplinares, multitasking, multiinformados, multitecnológicos, multiconectados e mobile. Dá pra imaginar como vai ser quando eles chegarem aos 30?

Tem muita gente preocupada com essa influência toda na mídia sobre as crianças e no Brasil, já existe um projeto de lei pedindo a proibição de publicidade para crianças, seja na TV, seja por e-mails ou celular. Lá fora, onde já se discute isso há algum tempo, dois projetos visando a educação e orientação das crianças merecem destaque.

O Children and Media busca ajudar os pais a desenvolverem e explorarem da melhor forma o contato dos filhos com a mídia com artigos divididos por faixas etárias sobre video-game, computador, publicidade, TV e filmes.  Outro projeto bacana é o Media Smart, um programa desenvolvido junto com escolas para discutir sobre a publicidade na TV. Eles explicam por exemplo, porque os anúncios são feitos, como são criados e porque a TV os veicula.

O diálogo sempre se mostrou mais efetivo do que a probição total. Aguardemos para ver...

Um estranho ícone da cultura ganha um museu na Europa: a batata, Tudo bem que ela já tem mais de 10,000 anos, quando já era consumido no Peru e Chile, e que ela alimenta uma indústria de milhões tanto congelada nos supermercados quanto fritinha nas lanchonetes fast-food, mas sei lá, um museu inteirinho só pra ela é meio exagero, não?

O Friet Museum, primeiro e único museu dedicado à batata frita foi inaugurado em Bruges, na Bélgica. Ele conta a história da batata e como ela se transformou no que é hoje, sua origem belga, e por último, conta a melhor forma de fazê-las. No final, o visitante ainda é convidado para provar as melhores batatas fritas na hora.

Pra quem se interessar, o Friet fica na Vlamingstraat 33.
;-)

I initially switched to Linux about two years ago. My then computer (Manuel, another advent, about five years old) was riddled with viruses and didn't so much run as crawl. It was pretty clear that Manuel was on the way out, but I didn't have the cash for a new computer, so I decided to see if I could give him a new lease of life by switching across. I originally went with a KDE based distro called Simply Mepis, which was pretty good, but, to be honest, ugly as sin. After a while my flatmate James got hold of a liveCD for Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) and gave it a try. At the time he wasn't that fussed about it (although I think he's running the latest version these days), but I was really impressed with the look and feel, so I switched over. Ever since then I've used Ubuntu exclusively, which has been great fun. I love tinkering with things, and while most of Ubuntu runs perfectly out of the box I've managed to find enough to play with that I've never been bored!

Since then I've run Ubuntu exculsively, first on Manuel, then on Oscar (who came with a preinstall of Windows Vista - which lasted for one boot up, because I couldn't work out how to open the drive without turning him on). When I bought Agatha it struck me that, great as a Microsoft free life is, there are a couple of programs that I haven't found decent substitutes for. I'm not really a gamer, so that's not an issue, but I am a designer (of sorts) - and I've got to say, closed source or not, inDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator are just better than Scribus, Gimp and Inkscape. Long story short, I decided to keep a Windows partition to use for the bits of design work that I occasionally need to do.

The problem is that I've kind of lapsed back into automatically booting Windows, despite the fact that I have to keep antivirus software running all the time (AVG Free and Avira - because I'm twice as paranoid as the normal user), despite the fact that it's slower, and despite the fact that I'm really not a fan of the look and feel. It may be simple laziness (Windows is first in the bootloader), or it may be that I've not sat down and fully customised the Ubuntu install the way I like it yet. I suspect that a large part of it is that I'm trapped between not wanting to properly partition the hard-drive without more reading on the subject and a worry about the fact that Ubuntu has a tendency to hang on the screensaver, requiring a hard reboot. The last is a worry because each time you do that you run the risk of corrupting the ntfs (Windows default) filesystem that the Ubuntu virtual machine lies over.

The other problem with the current setup is the lack of a quick switch between the Windows and Ubuntu systems. This isn't a massive deal, but it does cause irritation - I'll give you an example. At the moment I'm applying for a job with the Natural History Museum in London (in case Dublin doesn't work out); CV's being done in inDesign, covering letter in OpenOffice on the Ubuntu system. Since the files are effectively being produced on separate computers, which can't be consulted at the same time, it's a bit of a headache keeping everything updated live. What I'd really like is something along the lines of Apple's Parallel Desktops, which would allow me to change systems with a simple shortcut. At the moment I've got a means of switching, but given that it involves rebooting it's not what you might call an optimal solution...

So the options are these:

1. Keep the system the way it is now, with a basic Windows install and a virtual Ubuntu disk.

2. Give Ubuntu its own dedicated partition using GParted and the Loopmounted Virtual Partition Manager. (Doesn't solve the problem of a quick switch between platforms, but may speed Ubuntu up - not that it needs it - and reduces the danger of screwing up the filesystem.)

3. Remove Windows entirely, install Ubuntu as the only OS, and then run Windows as a virtual machine. (Effectively inverting the current situation, also reducing the risk of viruses. On the other hand, if I screw it up then I don't have Windows anymore, so no CS3. Also, even if I do get it right installing CS3 was a stone cold nightmare on the real machine, so doing it on a VM would probably be even more hellish. Realistically it would also run pretty slowly without a RAM upgrade.)

I suppose I could go for option 1, but install a Windows virtual machine under Ubuntu. I'd be worried about infinite recursion though.

Anyway, any thoughts (particularly from people who're better with computers than me) would be gratefully received.

Ecco qui il primo episodio del Rock House podcast! Ancora tanto da imparare e tanta strada da percorrere! Ma mi faceva piacere iniziare a diffondere un po' di sano Rock and Roll!

Tra i vari deliri si parla di Rock FM di podcasting e di qualcosa di personale senza svelare troppo! La scaletta piuttosto massiccia tutta tratta da Jamendo ci regala (o almeno a me l'ha regalata.. :-) ) un po' di carica!

Siate comprensivi nei confronti di un podcaster alle primissime armi! Accetto ogni tipo di critica e/o incoraggiamento!

Scaletta:

Metamorfosi plausibile -Il Maniscalco maldestro

www.ilmaniscalcomaldestro.com

Where penguins are famelic – Dogma

http://www.myspace.com/dogmahate

Time - Urban Castle Magic

http://www.urbancastlemagic.com

Maglietta – Acamporas

www.acamporas.it

Per ascoltare e scaricare l'album degli Acamporas potete andare nel link sulla sidebar!

I feel so lonely – EspriM

http://espriem.free.fr

Se voce está pensando em viajar, o TripIt é o assistente pessoal  que organiza viagens. Basta criar o seu plano de viagem e incluir passagens aéreas, reservas de hotel, trem e até locais que desejar ir como restaurantes ou ponto turísticos. O TripIt te dá o itinerário completo e ainda dá as informações sobre o local, com mapas e guias.

Depois disso, você ainda pode checar tudo via e-mail, celular ou no seu iCal e também dividir com os amigos o plano da viagem, com os comentários de cada local visitado. Bom também pra saber se você checou tudo e não esqueceu nenhum detalhe da viagem.

Agora, se você tá longe de tirar férias e tá p*to com a falta de feriados desse ano, entre numa viagem online no site da Cláudia Creamy.  Tudo bem que não é a mesma coisa, mas dá pra dar uma boas risadas...

Created by OnePlusYou

A melhor coisa da Internet é perceber que você não é tão estranho ou maníaco quanto pensava...

No "i am neurotic", as pessoas aproveitam o anonimato oferecido e enviam suas histórias de neuroses. Tem várias histórias que beiram a loucura, mas não deixam de ser engraçadas.

Como a doida que sempre que sai de casa, deixa o 911 de emergência no número pré-discado do celular. Assim, se algo acontecer com ela no caminho, só vai precisar apertar a tecla verde de discar para chamar a polícia.

E o trauma de infância do coitado que ouviu do primo que dormir de meias dava fungos no pé e até hoje dorme sem elas, não importa quão frio esteja.

Proposta semelhante tem o blog PostSecret, mas um pouco mais sério. Ali, as pessoas enviam confissões em postais artísticos que em muitos casos, mais parecem pedidos de ajuda desesperados. O blog cresceu, virou livro, comunidade e ganhou versões em alemão, espanhol e francês. Imperdível...