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September 29th 2008 02:00
Uniting Humanity with Matt Harding
This Beagle has doggedly pursued and reported on examples of humanities decline. Article after article, example upon example, we have seen some of the worst elements of those we call our fellow humans. On a larger scale, the media bring us horrific stories of even worse atrocities committed against our own kind. Terrorism, murders, kidnappings, human slave traders, child abusers, the list goes on.
In an age of mass media, the internet, and computers that masquerade as phones, the world is now a much smaller place. We are connected to one another via new media such as U-Tube, Facebook, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and so many others.
Here I sit on the Gold coast, Australia and blog to you on a United States blog site on issues in Russia, Italy, and so forth. I receive feedback and comments from as far away as Sweden, the United Kingdom, Canada and Thailand. And, so it is, that with this revolution in world-spanning media comes the ability to touch millions of lives in a positive way with something as simple as song, video and dance. Ok, maybe I should have said movement instead of dance, but this Beagle is being positive today.
I am talking about Matt Harding and his renowned series of U-Tube clips Where the hell is Matt Harding? (2008). What started with one man deciding to travel the world with a colleague and on an impulse doing his silly dance on location at one of his destinations to be recorded by his friend, has exploded into an internet and social networking phenomenon that has captured the spirits of millions of people. No matter where you live, what language you speak, what religion or culture you call your own, you will find yourself smiling as you watch this amateur video clip and listen to the accompanying song titled Praan by Garry Schyman.
Most people wont even understand the lyrics, (I know I dont), and it wont matter a whit. The angelic vocals are by 17 year old Palbasha Siddique in Bengali and the lyrics are adapted from a Rabindranath Tagore poem called Stream of Life, where the poet describes an epiphany in which he sees all of existence, from the natural world around him to the entire history of humanity, dancing with the same blood the same stream of life. Really Long Link
The above link is a more detailed account of this truly remarkable compilation. And for an interview with Matt Harding by Jim Walsh, visit Really Long Link
For me, these few people Matt Harding, Melissa Nixon, Garry Schyman, Palbasha Siddique have managed to reach out and touch the world. For a species capable of such unfathomable cruelty and senseless destruction, this video clip for me is a shining beacon of hope that as a race of beings, we are not totally without redemption.
It brings a tear to the eye to see people from all over the world join with Matt and dance, laugh, cheer and love as one. Why does it take something as simple as music and dance to demonstrate that we are not a world of nations, a world of differing religions, languages, tastes, cultures or colours. We are human.
Its time to stop furthering the interests of self at the expense of others. Its time to stop squabbling over pieces of land, differences in beliefs and religions. If you dont do something exactly as I do, it does not make you wrong or less deserving of my respect. I do not need to tear someone else down and ridicule them to elevate myself in the eyes of others. There is room on the podium or dais for everyone.
I watched a man play poker the other night. He was deaf, although that has no real bearing at all on this example, except to say that at least he could not hear the derisive snickers of those around him. He played in a manner different to the accepted norm. He played cards that were considered ill suited to be a winning hand. The gallery of observers scoffed at his style of play and rolled their eyes when he revealed his cards, amazed that anyone would play such garbage. But, the man won, hand after hand, after hand. Although I did not keep count, he lost around 1 in 7 of the hands he played and out of sixty players; he was still playing at the final table where only 6 remained. Scoff all you like, but how he played seemed to work just fine for him.
I did not see if he won the night, but even had he won, the more seasoned, regular players would still be scoffing at his beginners luck, still laughing at his poor skills compared to their own vaunted talents. Of course, they had already lost and were part of the gallery.
It is intolerance of anything other then what we deem to be the best way that is one of the root causes of humanities continued in-fighting. The act of doing something differently does not automatically infer that how you do it is in any way inferior. It is just different.
Matt Harding didnt care how people danced; he just wanted them to dance together.
For the Americans right now, preparing to vote for a new president, you do not have to ridicule a candidate to make your choice of the other candidate valid. There are now two choices and both of them have strengths and weaknesses. Both of them are human and both of them would strive to do the best they can for their people. Identify the positives rather then target the negatives. Vote for whom ever you like, but do not assassinate the character of their opponent as you pass them by, for it will achieve nothing and offer no additional support for your individual choice.
If you know of other examples of inspirational people uniting the globe under a positive auspice, then please let me know. Maybe we can help them make a difference.
Woof.
Business Beagle
September 23rd 2008 12:13
The Secret Society of Publishers
Well, youd be better off chiselling your memoirs into stone tablets to be found and published hundreds of years from now, then waste your time, effort and money trying to convince the established fortress of the self-titled literary elites of the worth of your story.
Dont believe me? Allow me to tell you a true story, a factual account that will highlight the blind arrogance of a few of these publishers and their equally flawed system.
Two days ago, I attended a local writers festival and paid $63 to attend a one and a half hour presentation on How to get Published featuring two local and one international publisher Jane Palfreyman (Allen & Unwin), Ann Patty (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, US) and Henry Rosenbloom (Scribe).
The session started with the usual housekeeping rules about keeping your mobile phone switched off as a standard courtesy in such seminars etc before Henry Rosenbloom kicked things off with his take on how to improve your chances of attracting a publishers interest in your manuscript. To begin with, he rather bluntly told the audience that unless you come from the appropriate literary stock, with parents that have had an active interest in reading and the literary field, it would be very unlikely you could ever become a writer of any merit. Apparently, in his opinion, good writing is a talent that you are born with rather then a skill in which you can hone through practice.
I could get sidetracked here with a debate on genetics and its relationship to creative writing, but I want to stay on the main topic here.
Mr Rosenbloom then went on to highlight the unavoidable aspect of the manuscript appraisal process the subjective nature of one person reviewing a manuscript and all of the resulting problems of; first impressions, subject bias, having a bad day, etc. He made particular mention of first impressions and how he himself was guilty of such a method of appraisal that could and often did lead to premature and unqualified rejection of potentially profitable material. Mr Rosenbloom took particular affront to a poorly written initial email enquiry attached to a submitted manuscript. According to Mr Rosenbloom, if you cant get your email enquiry right, why should he bother to waste his valuable time on your manuscript?
It was at this point that Mr Rosenblooms mobile phone interrupted proceedings with its little chirrup of rings.
The thought crossed my mind that if Mr Rosenbloom could not get something as basic as the house rules right, why should I deign to pay any attention to anything else he might have to say? Perhaps Mr Rosenbloom needs to take a fresh look at the issue of fallibility both within himself and within the manuscripts and covering emails that cross his desk. A mistake in spelling or grammar should not preclude any manuscript from receiving the full and careful review that the publisher would expect from a piece of his or her own work. This should be irrespective of the inclination for humans to make a hasty first impression.
To be fair, Mr Rosenbloom did later mention a manuscript he received that was riddled with basic errors and yet he decided to publish it anyway. Inconsistency must be another human trait we all share.
The remaining speakers continued the theme begun by Mr Rosenbloom, so I wont paint him as the sole villain of this piece. The impression this Beagle got from the entire session was that these three publishers loved the books they had published, respected many of those authors and felt nothing but contempt for every other writer that had the temerity to occupy a portion of valuable office furniture real estate within their hallowed halls.
Rather interestingly, Ann Patty mentioned that only around 10% of the books published are ever really profitable for the publisher. I found this to be quite remarkable. I suspect her point was to allude to the fact that even if your manuscript was the chosen one selected because it struck a resonating chord within the breast of the reviewing publisher, that it still might be a total flop in the marketplace, so dont get your hopes up people!
Call me crazy, but I had a slightly different take on her statistic. Perhaps the low conversion rate of economically successful books spoke more about the flawed review and selection process then it did of the quality or merit of the book itself. I know that I speak sacrilege in the criticism of my literary betters, but maybe, just maybe, its not all the fault of the author.
In the United States, you must obtain an agent before you can get your manuscript before a publisher for review. In Australia, you are able to send your manuscript direct to a publisher, however such submissions are put into a slush pile for eventual cursory examination before becoming landfill. Mr Rosenbloom enlightened the audience on the publishing industrys rejection letter system and what it all really means. The shortest version of the rejection letter in his words means drop dead and find a new career choice. The next higher version is not much more encouraging and the best version is a very encouraging and obscure invitation to send in a little more for review because we might just like it, but dont get your hopes up.
Publishers earn a living bringing the writers work to the public masses. Im assuming here that it is not purely a hobby for them, but a job, a job that requires profits for owners or shareholders. A job that has clients, and those clients are writers. Ann Patty mentioned that in her experience, it is often more profitable to publish a new authors work then to publish a third or fourth work from an existing author. Taking her on her word (after all, she is one of the panel of experts), then unpublished writers attending a seminar on how to get published would be the absolute target market for publishers. They would have to be the proverbial golden goose.
So, it beggars belief, that for an hour and a half, these three publishers focused their presentation solely on the barriers to entry into the secretive, cult-like world of mainstream publishers and why the chances of attaining the attention, let alone the affection of a fickle publisher was so infinitesimally slim as to make the lottery a sure bet by comparison.
To be told, in summary, that:
1. We often use first impressions to judge your entire manuscript without deigning to give it a proper review based on some consistent, measurable and dare I say it, accountable standard.
2. Creative writing is a talent more likely the product of the genetic lottery then a skill you could ever hope to hone to our exacting standards through hard work.
3. On average, the success rate of our dubious selections in terms of profitability in the marketplace is around 10%.
I cannot help but feel that I wasted $63.00 on a presentation by elitist, condescending literary snobs with a proudly stated track record of failure.
I wonder, should you wish to challenge the decision of a publisher, is there a regulatory body that governs them? An Ombudsman perhaps? The court of public opinion has clearly had no impact upon them or their methods.
Publisher: I, the self appointed custodian of the English language do hereby sit in judgement upon your scribbling and find them unworthy. Be gone.
Publishers lackey: My Lord, it would appear that the peasants are revolting!
Publisher: Well done lackey, your sentence structure was adequate and indeed, I too find the peasants rather distasteful.
Publishers lackey: I think Ill just go stand over there with the peasants.
Woof!
Business Beagle
September 17th 2008 23:26
Virginity for sale? Ka-ching!
Two very disturbing news articles are highlighting what I pray is not the beginning of a new trend in the continuing decline of humanitys values. Oh, it is nothing new, there have been examples of it before, but now we are seeing a US and an Italian girl jumping on the bandwagon and with the resultant media coverage, it wont be long before it is glamorised into the latest pop-culture phenomenon.
The latest example is the Italian girl, 20 years of age, who just happens to be a bikini model and showgirl, offering up her virginity for $1 Million Euros ($1.8 Million Dollars).
First the Ludicrous Humorous The girl is selling her virginity. Yes, its prostitution, and in this case, given the nature of the female body and the concept of virginity, it is technically the sale of body parts, or the destruction of said parts. The news article states that her family backs her claims of virginity, citing her devout catholic faith and discipline with prayer every night
Now, Im not a Catholic, so I cant speak from personal knowledge, but I cant imagine that a career path of prostitution and the sale of body parts is in keeping with the religious doctrine of the Catholic Church. Call this Beagle crazy but
What the?
A prior example is the 22-year-old (some news articles put her age at 18) United States woman auctioning her virginity off at a Nevada brothel, apparently where her sister works to put herself through college. Now, clearly education is not getting any cheaper, but what ever happened to the glamour job of checkout chick at the local grocery store? The price tag for this girls body parts is also around $1 Million dollars. Before her, a Peruvian girl had auctioned her virginity for $1.5 Million in 2005 but didnt go through with the transaction at the last minute.
The problem I see with this is the creation of a new high priced market for virginity. I guess we can just call it female virginity, as I dont expect many guys are going to be able to sell their virginity off anytime soon. Do we really want to see a greater and more public market for the trade of women and their sexual initiation? This is not just prostitution; this could lead to something far far worse.
What about when parents decide to auction off their daughters virginity for them? What about when some start auctioning off the virginity at ages under 18? Where is the scrutiny or the protection against the obvious opportunity of abuse? Why bother saving for your retirement when you can just have a couple of daughters and earn a cool $2-3 Million upon maturity of your new fleshy investment nest egg?
- Ka-ching!
Sounds gross I know, but this is the slippery slope that such a new market trend is going to lead down.
I dont think you can legislate against something like this, or at least, I can not see how any such legislation could be enforced, but please, people, ladies, stop and think about what you are starting. Stop looking at the easy short term gains and think about the long-term effects on yourself and other women around the world. Is this really what we want for the future generations of women?
Woof!
Business Beagle
September 11th 2008 03:49
Current Affairs Program bombshell transcript Read the truth!
A luxury car turns into the street and slows, looking for a park in front of a range of upmarket homes. The driver spots a space and carefully negotiates the car park. The reporter snaps to full alertness on sighting her quarry and with cameraman Joe in toe, they exit the unmarked van and descend upon the unsuspecting driver
[ Click here to read more ]
Paralympics Coverage Its an embarrassment!
Well, another glorious day in Beijing for our heroic paralympians! I would expect the nation is firmly fastened in to their arm chairs for the 24 hour coverage provided by our Olympic broadcaster, Channel 7
sorry, ohh, ok, yeah, it seems these athletes arent photogenic enough to get much air time in this country
[ Click here to read more ]
Russias place in new world order
The sleeping bear has been rumbling for some time now and it occurs to me that in all the excitement over other world events, wars, and the focus on the fight against terrorism, we may be missing the resurgence of a world power that is determined to take back a position of authority in tomorrows world order
[ Click here to read more ]
Stuck in the middle no place for a child.
A sad tale is unfolding in the world of adoption. As reported by Sean Parnell and the Australian newspaper, it appears that the birth parents of a young Indian girl are now seeking to be reunited with their child after 7 years of separation
[ Click here to read more ]
Gravy Train Derailed
The fall out continues for Queensland Rail and its beleaguered chief executive Lance Hockridge. Not only did the media, courtesy of Steven Wardill and AAP to name a few, burst their balloon of excess planned for Riverfire 2008. But, now it seems that their State Government Minister John Mickel, who was rather conspicuously not invited to the shindig in the first place, has come down hard on their extravagant social activities and grand plans for the future
[ Click here to read more ]
Sanity prevails at $12 a piece
It may be better late then never but as reported by the Daily Telegraph and AAP, the Australian Governments minister for Veterans Affairs Alan Griffin has confirmed that veterans of the Battle of Long Tan will receive their Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry unit citation with palm without having to pay for it themselves
[ Click here to read more ]
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Comment by Business Beagle
on The Secret Society of Publishers
Business News
Robert Keanalley
I mean no disrespect Alt_ed to your publisher or those you know and vouch for. I also know and fully appreciate the value of a skilled editor and what they bring to a project.
I guess, beneath the sarcasm of my article, I would like to see more publishers look at a project they receive as a sculptor would view a piece of raw marble. Apply or recommend an editor with whom we can work with to polish the project for future publication, should it be worthy. As you mentioned, guidance is the key to bringing more successful writers to the marketplace.
Woof!
Beagle