Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Just to note that in saying that Emma's book reminded me of elements
of other books wasn't a jab... it's just an acknowledgement of certain
genre memes  and common themes with other books I really enjoyed.
  

    
Dan--Thanks!

Squeeeee! Matrix totally rocks!  I love Yuen Wo Ping!  He is a genius!
 So many of the Seven Little Fortunes are.  Can't wait for the next
one.

Yay! Pterry made the 100 Best-Loved Books list *5* times!  And Good
Omens made it!  Yay!

And I got a 12" Deluxe Poseable Nightcrawler for myself.  Wheeee!

Mary (who was out *waaaaay* too late last night) 
  

    

Mary, just for the record, Yuen Wo Ping is not one of the seven little 
fortunes, nor is he related to them. There are TWO distinct groups of 
brilliant stunt-dude Yuens in HK cinema: Yuen Wo Ping is the son of Simon 
Yuen Siu-Tin and the brother of Yuen Cheung-Yan and some others. 

The fortunes were all students of Yuen Jim-Yuen, most of whom took Yuen as 
their last names in his honor. Besides Jackie and Sammo, they include Yuen 
Wah, Yuen Baio, and Cory Yuen Kwai. 

This was all discussed within the last week in the movies conf. 

(Disclaimer: No guarantee on the exact names above, even if there were 
"correct" transliterations.) 
  

    
Yuen Baio?  Suddenly I am picturing Chachi executing these airborne,
spinning kicks.
  

    

Oy. Typo. Yuen Biao. 
  

    
Still alive -- in Paris, and it's once again raining. It's my day off,
if you exclude getting up early and flying here from Italy. And I am
celebrating by saying hullo to the Well.

The schedule *should* have worked. If we'd understood Poland we could
have made it work -- the biggest problem was it's a small publishing
company who weren't used to national media asking them to interview one
of their authors, so nobody really knew how to say no to things. And
the way the tour is built is very solidly chugging along -- but it
doesn't really contain recovery time.

Glad you're all still alive and seeing movies and doing fun things...
  

    
Neil!!  <smiles and waves vigorously>
  

    
Happy Birthday, Mary!!!  :D

Wow, exactly a month after Maure's.  (You've essentially got the same
name, too.)
  

    
Neil--None of your tours contain recovery time.  That's the problem.
;-)  Hope you got lots of rest.

Tinymonster--Thanks!  I'm old.

Well, Printer's Row Book Fair says Neil will be doing something on
June 7 at 11:00 a.m.  It doesn't say *where* or *what*.  Ah,
organization........

Mary (not really reading lately, other than Premiere) 
  

    
Saw Matrix last night... really enjoyed it. For some reason I didn't
get adreneline rushes from it, but each image, each little monoluge,
was such a delight to experience. It made me want to see the final
movie, to have questions answered, to see if my understanding of
certain things is correct.
And Hugo Weaving just owns every scene he's in.
  

    


Holley Nowell writes:



The pvc skirt signed by Neil went for $152.50. Wow.

Sometimes things in my posts seem disjointed. I come into inkwell just after
going to Neil's journal and any comments like the black t-shirt one, is in
response to what he's talking about. I'm sure y'all guessed that though, huh?

Pamela-Bird: I also have precious little room for a gigantic china cabinet
but I made the room and now those pieces of furniture & the pictures &
shelves & stuff on that wall are slowly being integrated into the rest of the
rooms. Now. There's only one piece of furniture I still need. A tall dresser
with at least 5 drawers. One of those standing things. I used to have one but
it got vanished in a move. For all my material & craft goods. Oh. & a file
cabinet. Not so interesting & easily forgotten. The price was just too good
for this cabinet so I got it anyway. Mainly because, tho it's an antique, the
two parts don't actually match. But you have to know what you're looking at
to see that. This weekend I almost filled that cabinet, emptying another 6
boxes in the process. Yay.

Stagewalker: Almost funny isn't it that they won't let you go in the hospital
if you're sick. Hope you're doing better soon and the hospital visit does
what it's s'posed to. Also wishing you a good and comfy bed that doesn't
break. Wonderful nurses that go that extra mile to make you comfy. And if
you're having to share the room, good second person with good family that are
considerate of other patients (you). A television that works on all channels,
not just the surgery teaching channel (horrors).
  

    
Well, i'm back. thanks for the wishes, Holley, but the bastards didn't
even use ANY sedative at all. they just used lydecaine to numb the
area and went at it. Procedure took about five minutes, although time
is hard to gauge when you've got a two foot long metal snake up your...
well, never mind about that.

the important thing is that it's over.

I think I'm gonna go lie down now
  

    

Um. Good call, dude.
  

    
Dan -- Ughhh... hope you're feeling better.  (((hugs)))

You speak Portuguese!?

And which one's Hugo Weaving?  (Sorry, imdb crashes my laptop.)
  

    
Mary -- Hope you weren't sick for your birthday!  :(

You're older than I am, anyway... one of the many reasons I like ya! 
;)
  

    

Hugo Weaving is Agent Elrond, er, Agent Smith.
  

    
Tiny - I'm learning... veeerrrryyyy slowly
  

    
Monoluge (n): A one-person performance that travels nonstop at very
high speed and corners brilliantly from start to finish, unless the
performer's concentration fails, in which case the wipeout is
spectacular.

Hugo Weaving was also one of the three protagonists in "Priscilla,
Queen of the Desert," along with Terence Stamp and Guy Pearce.  It is
too bad there isn't some kind of award for Casting Direction.
  

    
Thanks, madman!  He was Elrond, too?  Now that you mention it, I can
picture it!

Hey, look!  Mike has Dictionary Tourette's!
  

    
OK, here's the idiot question for the week: I'd like to dive into
Neil's work -- or, if you're Neil reading this, into *your* work -- but
don't know where to start.  The illustrated novels?  American Gods? 
I'm looking forward to reading all of it, but need a shove in the right
direction.  Many thanks...
  

    

IMO, depends on what you like. Got time and access to them, I'd push the
Sandman novels at you first. If you want to try one thing and see what you
think, I'd either push Stardust or Smoke and Mirrors.
  

    
I'd second Smoke and Mirrors... nice bite sized chunks of goodness.
  

    
Or if you like action adventure stories, Neverwhere.  But mostly Smoke
& Mirrors, I think.

Or Good Omens, if you like funny.  Or.....

I'll shut up now.  
  

    
I've got several lined up at the local bookstore and will be taking
the Neil plunge soon.  Smoke and Mirrors looks like a good place to
start, with the Sandman books also a strong contender.  I'm going to
love it.

Thanks to all for the suggestions.  
  

    
Hi, David. Yeah, I agree with Smoke and Mirrors...er, or all of them. 

Pamela- Will do. I may be out the way at the beginning of September
for an art extravaganza thingy that I'm writing a one act play for. I
don't know anything yet, though. I don't even know here I'll be working
next month. Are you still quitted smoking? Good luck to you. I've been
quit for almost exactly one year now (horray!) and I've never felt
better (I used to smoke near two packs a day. Yes, I was a fiend). I
recommend tricking your brain into becoming addicted to something else.
In my case, it was cinnamon gum. Now I'm a Trident fiend. Seriously.
Now, when I get stressed out or angry I'm all, "Where's my gum? I need
my gum!" But, for me, the most important thing was accepting that I was
going to neurotic for the first couple of months. That it was
something that I had to get through. I think most of the neurosis is
over now...at least I think so;) Hope all is well. 

Dan- Ouchie! I hope all of your kidney problems end soon. It makes me
twinge just thinking about it. 

Christy- Ewwww! Those poor goats!

Neil- Hello! Yes. Get rest when you can. Or get new Event Organizers
(or whoever is responsible for your getting no rest.)

Squeaks- Allo. Ack. Clean socks! THat's what I forgot to pack!

Dodge- Painting the carpet?! That's awesome. We're moving in a month
so I can't do anything about anything in this place. But I hope we'll
stay in our next dwelling long enough to do something exciting. I miss
paining walls. I don't, however, miss painting ceilings. I hope to
never have to do that again. Ever. 

I'm off to Nashville with friends to see a friend tomorrow starting at
5 AM. It's been a long LONG time since I've done anything with just
the girls. I'm baking lots of cookies for the occasion. We're going to
go camping, knit, drink sweet tea, and be Southern. Weeee!