Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Peace and Quiet in Bookstores

Piped-in music drives me out of bookstores.

I once told a Barnes & Noble sales person I wished there were no music on.
"You need to learn to live with other people," she responded.
[That is more or less exactly what she said.]

They're closing that branch now, but I'm sure it's a coincidence.

Not every moment in life needs a soundtrack.
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Monday, May 28, 2007

Finished a radio play

I sent my radio play ("THE FARTHER IT GETS, THE HARDER IT IS") to the BBC World Service radio playwriting competition.

The entry certificate has a stylin' picture of a sixties transistor radio.

One reads of writers being surprised by their own characters - this actually happened with THE FARTHER IT GETS.

How nice that radio has an infinite budget for space and time.
As I've often said, reality is just a crutch for people without { radio : Photoshop : you name it }.
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Holy haggis

Great trip to Edinburgh and thereabouts. A lovely city, lots of places to sit and drink beer (and now there's no smoking in bars, even ones with live music, which was great). At one point I turned a corner and ran into a crowd of boys milling around playing bagpipes. I'm pretty sure that wasn't staged for my benefit. Stayed in a beautiful country house outside the city, guarded by large red cows with wide horns. Cold all the time. And lovely.
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Prague Rock

I gave a talk about scam-baiting at an IT conference in Prague, on the grounds of the lovely Prague Castle. The unexpected treat was a performance by a Czech string band, Poutnici (Pilgrims). They did a terrific cover of Telegraph Road. The CzechR seems to be a hotbed of string, jazz & bluegrass music. Maybe this used to be a political choice? Or maybe it's just like that. I am slowly learning more about Czech culture, and how the Czechs have navigated the rough waters of politics over the centuries.

The good soul on the program committee who translated my paper told me he had a hard time finding an exact translation for 'scam-baiter'. Everyone was familiar with the subject, though, if only because of the tragic incident in which a Czech scam victim shot the Nigerian consul in Prague. Prague must have seemed like a pretty sweet post too.

I enjoy this country every time. Of course my view has been colored by the wonderful treatment I've received. But it really is a great place.
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