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Reference question of the day was about finding public domain images. Everyone’s got their go-tos. If I am looking for illustrations or old photos specifically I’ll often use other people’s searches on top of the Internet Archive’s content. Here’s a little how to.
1. Check the Internet Archive Book Images feed on Flickr. What I often do is search (which finds the words that surround the images) and then click straight through to the book (which is always linked in the metadata) and then fish around. For example…
The trick, I’ve found, is to try to get as close to 1927 as possible because you’re likely to have the best illustrations and still be out of copyright. Older books don’t have good illustrations because the technology was not there yet. Enjoy!
4 Comments on I need to find a public domain image of _______. How do I do that?, last added: 6/20/2015
Nice post! But why 1927? Do you mean 1922, perhaps? Works published in 1923 or later can be subject to copyright in the US (though many are not, having either been published without notice or expired). Unpublished works are a moving target, with the term being based on the date of death of the photographer.
jessamyn said, on 6/17/2015 7:29:00 PM
Oh my gosh just a ridiculous typo. Of course I mean 1923. Thanks for the catch.
Julia Thomas said, on 6/18/2015 10:31:00 AM
Try using this new resource: illustrationarchive.cardiff.ac.uk. There are around a million images, which are all out of copyright. It is much easier to search and find your way around than The Internet Archive because it is devoted specifically to illustrations. Users can also view the book in which the illustration appears.
Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, More: Saturday Morning said, on 6/20/2015 3:49:00 AM
[…] the always-awesome Jessamyn West, using the Interent Archive’s image feed on Flickr. “Reference question of the day was about finding public domain images. Everyone’s got […]
आजकल जिस तरह से दर्शक पूरे समय टीवी पर नजरे गडाए बैठे रहते हैं उससे घर का माहौल भी काफी तनावपूर्ण हो गया है इसलिए जरा सम्भल कर अगर आप भी क्रिकेट प्रेमी है तो ….
As I write this there are countless souls right now in Las Vegas attending the American Library Association Annual Conference. I watch your tweets with envy, my friends. Would that I were there. Some of the first timers have asked me what they shouldn’t miss, but since I haven’t seen the official schedule of events I cannot say. Obviously you’d want to attend the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet on Sunday night. That’s a given. Other than that, I always love watching the Notable Children’s Books Committee debate up a storm. This year I don’t envy them the discussion. LOTS of good books are on the menu and it’s being chaired by my fellow Newbery committee member Edie Ching. A little sad not to see Boys of Blur by N.D. Wilson, Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan, Grandfather Gandhi by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus, Curiosity by Gary Blackwood, Three Bears in a Boat by David Soman and other favorites on the list of books being discussed but they can’t cover ‘em all. Don’t miss it!
Anything I say on the subject of the recently deceased Nancy Garden will be inadequate. However I would like to note that she provided invaluable help with the book I recently co-wrote with Jules Danielson. Without her aid we would have been seriously up a tree. I am very sorry she won’t be able to see the final copy herself. She was a joy to work with.
On the one hand I’m rather grateful that Christian Science Monitor thought to present a list of 25 of the Best New Middle Grade Novels of 2014. With YA always hogging the media it’s very nice to see fare for the younger set getting attention from a publication that isn’t one of the usual suspects. On the other hand, we run into the old problem with defining what middle grade actually is. Threatened by Eliot Schrefer is great but he’d be the first to tell you that the book is straight up young adult. Ditto The Art of Secrets by James Klise, The One Safe Place by Tania Unsworth, Skraelings: Clashes in the Old Arctic by Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, The War Within These Walls by Aline Sax, A Creature of Moonlight by Katherine Hahn, and A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman. Otherwise, it’s very cool how the list concentrated a fair amount on small presses and Native American authors and publishers.
Credit Phil Nel with coming up with one of the most fascinating pieces on Dr. Seuss I’ve seen in a long time. Think you know all that there is to know about his famous chapeau donning feline? Then you haven’t seen Was the Cat in the Hat Black?
There are few thrills quite as great as unexpectedly running into the author of a book you admire. Special credit should go to those librarians that are able to spot the authors who aren’t yet household names but create truly remarkable fare. Extra special credit and cupcakes to those librarians who then get the authors to sit down for interviews. I am a BIG fan of Teri Kanefield’s The Girl From the Tar Paper School: Barbara Rose Johns and the Advent of the Civil Rights Movement. So imagine my delight when I saw that one of my librarians recently interviewed her. Well done, Jill!
Speaking of librarians I admire, behold this woman:
I’m mildly peeved that I didn’t learn that the Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced With Adversity had been awarded until I stumbled across the fact on Twitter. Reading this article I can see that the win of librarian Laurence Copel, the founder of the Lower Ninth Ward Street Library in New Orleans, is well and truly deserved. In fact, I sort of pity the committee in choosing anyone else after this. Copel kind of sweeps the floor with the competition. How on earth do you compete with THAT? Wowza.
Do you remember the other day when I wondered whether or not a posthumous children’s book debut had ever been a roaring success? Well thanks to the Bustle article 5 Favorite Children’s Books Turn 50 This Year, I now have my answer. See if you can spot it. Thanks to PW Children’s Bookshelf for the link.
What do J.M. Barrie, Rudyard Kipling, H. G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, P. G. Wodehouse, G. K. Chesterton, Jerome K. Jerome, and A. A. Milne all have in common? Apparently they were all on the world’s worst cricket team of all time. I don’t even know how I went through life unaware of this until now. Read the article. The amusing “greatest hits” are gonna go right over a lot of American’s heads. So if any of today’s authors are interested in creating, say, a dodgeball team, I’d say there’s a precedent.
Psst! Care to see some KILLER comics coming out this fall that you may have missed? Check these puppies out. I guarantee you’ve seen nothing like them before.
Daily Image:
And for today’s Daily Image, I bring you the coolest idea of all time. When Angie Manfredi tweeted that her library was doing a spy party for the kids called Spy Night, I was impressed. She asked for spy picture books, but all I could come up with was Andy Rash’s Agent A to Agent Z. At any rate, this is the laser maze set-up they created in one of the stacks.
So brilliant I could cry. Thanks to Angie Manfredi for the image!
0 Comments on Fusenews: Laser Mazes. Need I Say More? as of 6/27/2014 10:11:00 AM
I drew this on a scrap piece of paper while I was making dinner over the past two nights. They aren't the most accurate bugs but some are recognizable, such as the dung beetles holding out on the ball of poo at the bottom. All bugs like poo, right? For the sake of this sketch they all do, okay? Good.
Exciting news! First Book will now be offering Cricket and other award-winning kid’s magazines to the 27,000 schools and programs in our national network.
Thanks to our friends at ePals, we’ll be able to offer their full range of children’s magazine titles, including Cricket, Ladybug and Spider. These magazines are terrific; they’ve won pretty much every award possible, and they are loved by teachers and kids.
“This is exactly the sort of content First Book strives to bring to kids in need, so they’ll have the same great opportunities to fall in love with reading as more affluent children,” said Kyle Zimmer, president and CEO of First Book. “We’re really excited about being able to offer these magazines to the schools and programs we work with.”
The magazines will be available through the First Book Marketplace, our website available exclusively to teachers and program leaders who work with children from low-income families. An annual classroom subscription – 30 copies of each issue – retails for $1,018, but is available through First Book for $513.
If you work with children in need, sign up with First Book to get these great magazines for your kids. We also carry over 2,000 book titles at deeply-discounted prices, and distribute millions more every year – free of charge – to the programs in our network.
Brown, Bea (2011) Wally the Cockeyed Cricket. Mustang, OK: Tate Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61777-106-4. Recommended age 8 and under.
Publisher’s description: When Wally the Cockeyed Cricket finds himself trapped in Mrs. Grumpydee’s kitchen, he sings a sad song and Mrs. Grumpydee’s locks Wally in a jar. When the jar is knocked over and shatters, Wally the Cockeyed Cricket sings a different tune.
Our thoughts:
Read it—see it—listen to it! The great thing about books from Tate Publishing is that you do not need to choose between print and audio formats because books have a code that permits you to download the audio version on MP3 too! The print version has beautifully captivating illustrations. Yet the young man (ok, he sounds young to this old reviewer!) reading the audio does an excellent job at it. A great enhancement to teach reading to little ones :>)
Of course, the most important reason to consider adding this book to your child’s bookshelf is because they will enjoy the story! As evidenced by its title, Wally looks a little different than most crickets. He doesn’t think anything of this difference and is happy as can be. Until, that is, he unfortunately wanders into Mrs. Grumpydee’s kitchen! Captured, bullied and made a public spectacle, Wally never loses courage or confidence. Helped with the aid of a complete stranger, he is rescued and makes a new friend. Virtues exhibited are courage, justice and friendship. A feel-good story where the good guys win! Great parent-child sharing, Pre-3rd grade class or homeschool, bedtime reading, gift giving, therapy use, and family book club! Grab your copy at the Litland.com Bookstore.
0 Comments on So what do we think? Wally the Cock-Eyed Cricket as of 1/1/1900
I suppose it eventually had to happen, after 14 years of avoidance; this Sunday I served my first cricket tea. Ring out all ye bells! Although, to be fair to myself, there are very good logistical reasons for this, one of them being our midget kitchen. This photo was taken standing in the back door. Note the two ring table top cooker (no heat control on the plates) with bungee hook to hold the knackered door closed. It can only be used with the inside door shut. Cooking in a cell would be more fun. I daresay our landlord could find a space crunching solution and get a normal sized oven in, but he hasn't bothered so far...nor to provide a fire extinguisher. (Mind you, where would he put one?)
As you can see, there isn't a lot of space and most of it is taken up by cupboards/sink/fridge & washing machine crammed into an area the size of a large broom cupboard. Things get placed randomly wherever there is a gap, hence the washing powder in the pile of mixing bowls. Anyhow, I managed to get four cakes baked on Friday. By hand of course, as there is no room for a mixer. The other problems are that we live 15 miles away from the home ground and only have a motorbike to transport everything over. Tea for a minimum of 24 people is a lot of tucker.
However, Andy took the cakes over to the clubhouse on Saturday, as he was playing that day too. I stayed at home, made two trays of flapjacks, began the quiches and then caught two buses over to the village, to deliver the bread. After a frantic rush on Sunday morning to make egg mayonnaise, cook chicken, make buttercream icing and another quiche, we strapped a chiller bag to the bike, got the rest into a rucksack and the topbox and set off. The club kitchen is a luxurious palace compared to ours - look at all that space!
Wow, Wonder Woman ... you must have been wearing your star-spangled knickers!! Two buses and motorbike couriering sounds like true dedication and I hope they were all truly grateful. I would have stuffed my face with your quiche AND delicious looking cakes. Well done you! M x
It was a top tea, Gretel Parker and the fact that you made it in such a teensy-tiny space is a testimony not only to your resourcefulness but also your grit and determination.
I thank my lucky stars (and a team of under-age players) for a feast of cake and mountain of sandwiches to fall into when I got there. A bottle of cider was poor payment for such riches, but, hey ho, it seemed to pass as more than adequate, and Gretel sent me packing with not only a round tummy of my own, but also sufficient home-baked cake to furnish my very happy hubby with sufficient cake for a round tummy too :-)
I hope I don't have to wait another 14 years for an afternoon tea like that again, Gretel. You should think about serving them professionally!
Love and recovery wishes as you get over that feat of human endeavor xx
What a magnificent spread!! My Mum used to do the teas sometimes - but all I remember her making is a loaf of egg mayo sandwiches (actually salad cream, I doubt they even sold mayo in Airdrie way back then!!)
That food just looks might scrummy yummy indeed, well done you twinkle. As for the cakes they'd have vanished as quick as they got put out! MmmMmmmmmmmm. Loves Ionwen X
You are amazing, whatever you turn your hand to! What an accomplishment. I'm sure they were all grateful for the wonderful spread. Well done, you! I sure wish I'd have been around, I'd have found a home for some of those goodies, in my stomach. I'm sure glad you got a chance to get some pictures to share with us.
Wow Gretel, I'm exhausted just reading about all that juggling and cooking and no food processor used either. Glad you didn't mix up the flour with the laundry detergent.......
Seems you did the whole thing on your own, were there no other women to help out?
You put on a wonderful afternoon tea, it all looks and sounds delicious. Lemon drizzle cake.....I have a tree groaning under the weight of lemons, hmmm....
You probably don't want to look at another recipe for the next six months.
Wow, Gretel, what a feast you created in that tiny kitchen of yours! My kitchen is also pretty tiny, and I just wonder what I might be able to turn out under pressure. Not what you did, that's for sure.
I am sure that folks who truly appreciate home cooking and baking knew what a treat was laid out before them.
You made a fantastic job of that cricket tea. It brought back memories of long ago Sundays. I love the look of your cakes: I will send you my boy and his friend Jack: both fans of old fashioned cake.
What a beautiful tea. I was puzzled about what something was however. What are flapjacks? Here in Austin (the liberal part of Texas) flapjacks is another words for pancakes (griddle cakes, We eat them hot for breakfast with butter and sryup (usually maple) although I've had them with butter and sugar. Are flapjacks similar? Still I'd love to have had that tea - it was lovely.
A very interesting reading about a side of life, completely unknown to me! I think you managed perfectly with everything, Gretel! Your cakes look so delicious, that I'm sure those who ate them, were grateful to you...:)
Were the quiches superfluous because 'real men don't eat quiche' do you think? I am shocked that the cakes were barely touched though... they look truly, madly, deeply scrummy!
You deserve a medal for producing such a wonderful tea in such a tiny space and singlehanded too! What happened to all the other wives, girlfriends, mums etc?
Looking Back on CWIM: The 1993 Edition: An Interview with Ladybug/Cricket Art Director Ron McCutchan...
I was not yet working on CWIM when the 1993 edition was produced. It was about 350 pages long (at $18.95) with the addition of Audiovisual and Audiotape markets and included a piece by Jean Karl called "The Picture Book Troika" and, for the first time, a "First Books" feature.
Today I'm excerpting something for illustrators from a Close-up with Ron McCutchan, then art director for Ladybug and Cricket magazines. (The piece was written by my cousin Jennifer Hogan Redmond who was responsible for getting me my first job at F+W as editorial assistant for The Artist's Magazine and Decorative Artist's Workbook. Thanks Jen!). Here's McCutchan's advice to illustrators in a world before online portfolios:
Ron McCutchan's final word of advice to illustrators is simple: although the recent boon in children's literature provides a market rich with opportunity, remember that budgets are forever shrinking. To make yourself and your work as attractive as possible, be sure that your query package is professional, but don't get too fancy, he warns. "If you go overboard, I might ask 'Can I afford you?' Let your work stand on its own." In your initial mailing, include only 8 1/2 x 11-inch sample or slides of your artwork that can easily fit in a file drawer. And be sure to send a SASE if you want your work returned.
Be smart and leave an art director not only with a sense of your personality and ability, but with something memorable to keep. A clear, modest photocopy (clearly labeled with your name, address and telephone number) can tell as much about you as a slick, oversized promotional brochure, McCutchan stresses. The difference is, the latter item is less intimidating to an art director with a budget, easy to store and easy to find. In a market deluged with capable illustrators, these seemingly small details can make a huge difference.
For the October 2009 issue of Click magazine (part of the Cricket/Carus children’s magazine series), I was asked to created some cartoony bat to accompany and article entitles, “Inside Caves”. The bat is giving a tour of his cave-home, and wearing appropriate attire to what he’s talking about at each juncture of the article. A [...]
4 Comments on Samples: Bats in Cave, last added: 12/3/2009
WOW!!!…nice bright colour on your blog site’s new header, I like it!
Your bat is adorable, and quite the snazzy dresser! He’s right at home when giving the required cave tours!
Paula said, on 11/11/2009 10:52:00 AM
Oh yeah…And I changed my blog header. Thanks, Debbie! I like it too. Thanks for your comment on the bats!
So I have no idea that Australia only need two more wickets and England a handful of runs to make Aus bat again and thus reduce overs and increase chance of securing draw. Only 15 overs remaining.
I AM NOT FOLLOWING IT AT ALL.
Writing, working hard, ignoring the nail biting finish.
COME ON AUSTRALIA!!!
3 Comments on Writing, Not Following Last Few Overs of First Test, last added: 8/6/2009
So I have no idea that Australia only need two more wickets and England a handful of runs to make Aus bat again and thus reduce overs and increase chance of securing draw. Only 15 overs remaining.
I AM NOT FOLLOWING IT AT ALL.
Writing, working hard, ignoring the nail biting finish.
COME ON AUSTRALIA!!!
Justine said, on 7/14/2009 8:12:00 AM
I did not select winners myself because too many of you chose dialogue written by friends of mine and I didn’t want anyone to think there was bias going on. The winning comments were decided by randomly generating numbers at random.org. :
7: Celia:
From Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens:
Eventually Crawly said, “Didn’t you have [...]
Justine said, on 8/6/2009 4:41:00 PM
As you’ve probably heard by now Liar is getting a new cover for its publication in October.1 First Bloomsbury considered going with the Australian jacket of Liar and specifically with the black and red version you can see here because that would be the easiest thing to do. The design already exists after all and the window to make the change was very narrow.
However, given the paucity of black faces on YA covers, and the intensity of the debate around the original Liar cover, Bloomsbury felt really strongly that a more representative approach was needed. Rather than using a stock photo, Bloomsbury went the whole hog and did a photo shoot.
Here’s the result:
I am extremely happy to have a North American cover that is true to the book I wrote. I hope you like it as much as I do. I also hope we can prove (again) that it’s simply not true that a YA cover with a black face on the cover won’t sell. But let’s also put it to the test with books written by people of color. You don’t have to wait to grab your copy of Coe Booth’s Kendra2 or any of the many fabulous books recommended by Color Online etc.
If this happens I will be an extremely happy bunny rabbit:
Australians Jason Gillespie and Damien Martyn head a group of rebel cricketers recruited for the American Premier League, the latest international Twenty20 tournament that is gathering momentum in New York City.
Because as you all know the one thing wrong with New York City is the absence of international level cricket. Well, that and the absence of rainbow lorikeets and flying foxes and good Thai food. Oh, and the crappy winters. And that there’s no southerly in the summer to blow the excessive heat away and . . . .
Oh, never mind.
3 Comments on Twenty20 League in NYC?!, last added: 5/25/2009
I have many many many posts in various states of undress, which I cannot get to because of other pressing matters. But I do not want to leave you with nothing so here is a sample of some links which have amused me:
Which monkey is cuter? Go to Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ blog and vote on which of her monkeys attracts more mates. I think it’s completely obvious.
An excellent article by Meg Reid on the new Disney movie, which features a black princess.
This one just made me laugh. English writers TAKE ON THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE and WIN. Cause that’s how writing works. It’s all a death match.
And now back to the pressing matters, which have nothing to do with clothes. I have never pressed clothing in my entire life.
Justine said, on 5/1/2009 12:07:00 PM
I think the most important thing you can do today other than, you know, getting the workers’ revolution going is to buy a copy of Maureen Johnson’s Suite Scarlett. It’s Maureen Johnson’s funniest book to date and is now appearing in the eminently affordable paperback edition.
Highlights include:
A most appealing heroine: I hug Scarlett to my chest!
Romance!
Romance gone wrong!
Romance gone right!
Romance gone in between!
New York City as you’ve never seen it before!
The shabby gentility of a crumbling hotel!
A crazy Broadway lady!
A unicycle-riding, prat-falling, seriously hot older brother, Spencer!1
Many!
Other!
Wonderful!
Things!
I urge you all to go forth and buy it! If you’re broke and cannot afford it right now I urge you to encourage your library to buy a copy. Or bully your richer friends into buying one so you can borrow theirs. This tends to only work for books. I tried to get a richer friend of mine to buy a Vivienne Westwood ballgown in my size. She did not and now she isn’t my friend anymore. I’m not sure what went wrong . . .
Other things you could do on May Day:
If you’re sick you could lie in bed and shiver or sit on the couch coughing up a lung.
If you’re well why not prank call your enemies from a different enemies mobile phone?
Or if you’re in New York City you could go back to bed because it’s cold and grey and miserable. But that would be deaftist!
The best plan of all is to wear red and dance in the streets. Well, unless there’s sniper fire. Or a zombie apocalypse . . .
Happy May Day, Everyone! Have a good one!
I know he’s fictional and much younger than me but I can’t help it I really heart Spencer.
Justine said, on 5/25/2009 11:37:00 AM
Last week my parents saw Samson & Delilah a debut film directed by Warwick Thornton. They say it’s the best Australian film they’ve seen in years. Here’s my mum, Jan’s, first reaction:
It was a brilliant movie. An indigenous-centric, totally engaging, no holds barred, slice of life from central Australia. An often subtle, informative, but never pedantic insight into community existence. Powerful and sad with splashes of humour, capturing it all with a moving allegorical ending.
Turns out the good folks at Cannes agree with Jan. Samson & Delilah just won the Camera d’Or for the best first feature film across all sections of the festival. How wonderful is that? Congratulations, Warwick Thornton.
Now I have to hope it’s still in the theatres when I get home in August. Maybe the Camera d’Or win means it’ll get distributed here?
Have any of my Aussie readers seen it? What did you think?
I wonder why it is that women in sports get so little attention. Unless they’re tennis or golf players and pretty. Or winning gold medals during the Olympics.
I’ve been following the women’s world cup online, but apparently I don’t have much company online or offline where very few folks have been going to their games. I don’t get it. The NZ v Pakistan game sounds like it was amazing. Wish I’d been home to see it.1 Games were $5 each or $35 for a pass to see all of them. Standards were high yet attendance was crap.
And then there’s the WNBA which I love passionately. But the only coverage it gets is all about Candace Parker, who isn’t even going to play this year. Don’t get me wrong, I think Parker’s phenomenal, but she’s not the only phenomenal player in the WNBA. Why do articles about female athletes always begin by disquisiting about how gorgeous they are? Yawn. Who cares how pretty she is when she can play like that?
It’s 2009 and I’m watching Mad Men and there are so many ways in which the world has changed not one iota. Having a women’s basketball league and a women’s world cup in cricket does not make the world cease to be sexist. Neither does having a black man in the white house end all racism.
But I am an optimist. Some day, I’m sure, all those isms will disappear. Some day . . . I just don’t think I’ll be alive to see it.
Here’s hoping the Kiwis can crush the Poms in the final. Guess, I’ll find out when I wake up.
0 Comments on Women in sports as of 1/1/1900
Justine said, on 3/21/2009 11:26:00 PM
Jenny Davidson links to a lovely article by David Hajdu where he talks about Riverside Park on the west side of Manhattan beside the Hudson river.1 I especially linked this bit where he writes about the thinking that goes into a book. I spend a vast part of my writing time figuring things out in my head, what if-ing, and just randomly musing. It all goes into the books. I adore reading people write about that elusive part of writing:
Since college, I have lived mostly on the Upper West Side, and I’ve done a great deal of work in Riverside Park. By work, I mean not just the labor of making sentences; I mean the different sort of effort involved in reading or listening to music that I want to write about. I had the author photos for my first two books (“Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn” and “Positively 4th Street”) taken in Riverside Park, because the books were essentially made there. The park is where I did the musing that can be the most important part of writing.
Working in Riverside Park, one is reminded from time to time of the porous line between musing and daydreaming. My bench of choice faces the river, and I sometimes find the steady, endless rolling of the water lulling me to dreaminess. I like to think of this state as one conducive to epiphany, although it more often leads, in my case, to naps.
All so true. I can’t tell you how many times that wavering state where you’re not asleep but you’re not entirely in the here and now leads to insights and connections and ways to make the book I’m writing so much better.
It’s also very true that the same state can slide straight into sleep. As risks go that’s not a bad one. I quite like sleeping, me.
For the New Yorkers, who are scornful of that description, may I remind you that many of my readers have never been to NYC and have no idea where or what the Upper West Side is.
Is on in Sydney and thereabouts right now. And I am not able to view ANY OF IT. Even though many of the games are dead easy to get to and cheap as chips.1
There are deadlines, there is packing, then there’s leaving of beloved Sydney and beautiful and wondrous brand new digs. So no women’s cricket for Justine. But next time, next time I will enjoy every second of it!2
I hope that the Sydney based cricket fan readers of this blog, of which I happen to know there are at least three, manage to get to some of the matches in my stead. Lucky ducks!
I get back to the never ending rewrite of tortuous horror wonderful rewrite of my next book what comes out in October and is in no way annoying me at all.
I leave you with a photo by the lovely Sarah Dollard taken from deck of brand new digs:
Though had I gone to today’s Oz v NZ match at North Sydney oval I would have spent much time huddling against the rain.
Also, thank Elvis for the radio.
1 Comments on Women’s World Cup, last added: 3/9/2009
Several people have written to ask that I talk about what happened in Pakistan yesterday. I’m not sure what to say.
For those who don’t know the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked on their way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The team members sustained some minor injuries, the fourth umpire, Ahsan Raza, who travelled with the team is in hospital with critical injuries, eight people were killed: six policeman and two civilians. The Sri Lankan team has returned home. The test has been cancelled and many people are saying this is the end of international cricket in Pakistan.
I hope not. But several international teams, including India and Australia, had already cancelled tours to Pakistan. Australia will shortly be playing Pakistan in an ODI, safely hosted by another country. I suspect that’s the way it will go for some time.
Because obviously this is not just about cricket. There is a great deal of anger and sadness being expressed by the Pakistan cricketing community and by Pakistanis in general. I can only imagine how they must feel.
0 Comments on Attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Pakistan as of 3/3/2009 7:18:00 PM
So, this is very weird but I’ve had three people write to ask if it’s true that I changed hotels in Perth in order to watch the South Africa v Australia test.
Yes, it’s true. The Duxton did not have Fox 3, the Hyatt did. What else could I have done?
1 Comments on The rumours are true, last added: 3/23/2009
There’s something wrong with comment moderation at the moment. Currently WordPress simply will not allow me to approve a handful of the comments. So if your comment disappeared into moderation never to re-emerge that’s what’s going on. My apologies! Me and my genius tech staff are working on it! (Well, mostly them cause I have no idea how to fix the damn thing.)
Even if you don’t like cricket you must admit that this catch is pretty bloody speccie:
Update: Due to Cricket Australia’s bloodymindedness you can no longer see the truly fabulous catch by Adam Voges. I’m not sure what they think they’re achieving cause having a catch like that go viral increases the number of people round the world who get curious about the game. I don’t know about you, but I’d've thought that would be a good thing for cricket. How come institutions like Cricket Australia don’t get the intramanets?
Update the second: Narelle in the comments points out that the catch can be seen on the front page of www.3aw.com.au. This is no way lessens my anger with Cricket Australia’s stupidity. Having a few minutes footage of a genius catch go viral is what you want, you fools! It’s not like youtube was hosting the entire match. Gah!
1 Comments on Best catch ever? (updated x 2), last added: 3/10/2009
First the Kiwis were robbed by the rain in the final ODI, excuse me, Twenty20 match, which they were so totally going to win. Stupid rain! Stupid umpires for not letting play continue for a mere six more overs. Guptill did great. What little cricket we did see was wonderfully entertaining. And then the rains returned.
But much much much worse is the abandonment of the second test between the West Indies and England after a mere ten balls. Cricket cannot be played on sand. It’s dangerous. I was pretty sure the West Indies authorities were aware of that, but apparently not. At the Gabba in Brisbane in 2002-2003 the sandy outfield led to Simon Jones buggering his knee as he slid to prevent a four.
Here’s the great Sir Vivian Richards on what happened at the ground named after him: “This is not shooting me in the foot. This is shooting me straight through the heart.”
Makes me want to cry.
0 Comments on Not a good day for cricket as of 2/14/2009 2:20:00 AM
I love Boxing Day.1 It is the most excellently lazy day ever. Right now I have my feet up, watching the beginning of the Boxing Day test, while eating my brekkie of mango, banana, sheep’s milk yogurt and granola. (We ran out of passionfruit. Get some more tomorrow.) Is there anything better than this? I don’t think so.
I have high hopes for this series between Australia and South Africa. The first test was splendid. Every day (except the last) was full of reversals and much excitement. I didn’t see the series in India so this is the first time I’ve seen the Aussies up against a team that can beat them in ages. It’s most excellent. If only we had a better captain. Ponting’s a great cricketer but I’m deeply unimpressed by his captaincy skills.
Mmmm. Boxing Day, cricket, mangoes, laziness. I’m home, aren’t I? If it were up to me I’d never leave.
Hope you’re all having a marvellous day wherever you are and whatever day it is. Hope you are having as much relaxing fun as I am!
I know the date stamp for this post says Xmas Day, but it’s not. I was too lazy to change to east coat aussie time from east coast usian time.
I am now almost up to November answering my correspondence. There’s only a hundred more emails to answer! Yay!
If you’ve written to me this year and not heard back from me, that means I either didn’t get your email, or you did not get my response. Either way best thing to do is to write me again.
I received more fan mail this year than all previous years added together. (Which, admittedly, was not hard as I received very few until this year.) Of all the fabulous things that have happened to me in 20081 those letters are by far the best. The majority were about posts and essays on this website—especially requesting writing advice. The next biggest group of letters were about the trilogy, and lastly about How To Ditch Your Fairy. Though to put that in perspective HTDYF has already attracted more letters in the few months since it was published than Magic or Madness did in its first 18 months of publication. Yay, fairy book!
Thank you so much for the wonderful letters. Each one gave me a tremendous lift. Even if I was already in a good mood they made me happier still. While I’ve always wanted to be a writer, until my first book came out, it had never really occurred to me to think about what that would actually mean, about what it would be like to have readers. I know that sounds a bit bizarre, but I was so focussed on my writing, and on getting published, that I just hadn’t considered that part of the equation: that being published means being read by people I’ve never met. I’m glad that part didn’t occur to me ahead of time. I think it would have spooked me. But it turns out to be fabulous.
Thank you for all the letters pointing out the typos and errors in my books and my blog. I really appreciate them and do what I can to fix future editions. Keep ‘em coming!
Thanks to everyone who wrote and begged for more books in the Magic or Madness and HTDYF universes. I’m pretty sure that HTDYF is a standalone and the MorM series a trilogy, but I’m thrilled my books left you wanting more. The best way to get more is to write it yourself. There are gazillions of wonderful fanfic sites out there. You could add your own stories about the further adventures of Tom and Charlie. Go forth and create more fanfic! Mash up MorM with Buffy or Nana. Or HTDYF with Naruto! What would be cooler than that?
Thanks for all the tips on quokkas and mangosteens and cricket and 1930s fashions and photo sites. Much appreciated! Though I’m horrified that any of you are settling for dried mangosteen or mangosteen juice. Ewww. There are no substitutes for the actual fresh fruit!
Good luck with your writing. Yes, sometimes it can be hard and you don’t know what’s going to happen next. That happens to the professional too. The only thing you can do is keep pushing through. Don’t give up. But remember to have fun with it too. One of the best things about not being published yet is that you have heaps of time to experiment. Write the same story in all the different points of view. See which one works best. Try writing a story backwards. Starting at the end and working your way towards the beginning. Write in lots of different genres. Muck around! Have fun!
Thanks for your letters, your comments, and all your support. It means the world to me.
Someone just wrote and told me they have a hiccup fairy. Whenever they get the hiccups this fairy makes them go away within a minute. Fabulous!
D’you know it never occurred to me when I was writing How To Ditch Your Fairy that so many people have fairies. I have enough fairies now for about a million sequels. Tis a pity I’m unlikely to be writing them.
Anyone got a fairy they haven’t told me about yet?
Look at my pretties! Two different kinds of mango and passionfruit, mangosteens, sugar bananas! I couldn’t figure out how to fit the yellow and white nectarines and the peaches into the bowl as well. Or the box of black cherries.
Mmmm, summer home in Sydney. Happiness. Ain’t nothing else I want.
I believe I’ll help myself to another mangosteen. Or am I in more of a peach mood? Or how about those rambutans? Decisions, decisions . . .
so 'cricket the superhero' story is continuing :) i'm working on a tale with autumnal colours and my cricket-character whom you can see at my earlier post.
here's some doodles from the storyboard:
and double pages from a work in progress book:
8 Comments on doodles for the storyboard and double colour pages, last added: 11/1/2008
Our super Hero looks great. The color palette is fresh and new. Enjoyed the story board very much. I love to see that part of the project because it's all about mapping out and turning pages. It's shaping up very, very nicely.
I love your sketches and color sample ... I think the composition is great and really leads your through the spread .. I wonder how it would look in reverse (mirrored), so he is flying in from the top left corner ... just curious... as this might carry the reader through your book better... bravo K, it looks marvelous!!!!
. . . Is USians what know zero about cricket writing about it. Today’s example comes from the New York Times and concerns a novel that’s been written about the Staten Island cricket club1 by one of the members, Joseph O’Neil. Here’s my favourite bit:
That Mr O’Neill in his other life happens to be a novelist is a matter of indifference to most of his teammates. They’re more interested in him as an accomplished batsman, a sure-handed fielder and a decent off-speed bowler.
Off-speed! Hahahahahahah! Perhaps they meant “off-spin“? Or has the Staten Island cricket club invented a whole new kind of bowling?
Made my day. Bless you, New York Times.
And apparently other things such as 9/11, family, politics, identity. That kind of stuff. Obviously, none of it as important as cricket.
5 Comments on A genre I never tire of . . ., last added: 5/19/2008
I think it was about ten years ago that the New York Times had a front page article about how New York City’s dialect was dying. Every expert they quoted said, quite plainly, that the New York Metropolitan Dialect was changing.
That’s when I stopped relying on the NYTimes for accurate news. The US newspaper I find most accurate is USA Today. Which astonishes some people, because it’s not One of the Most Respected.
Justine said, on 5/17/2008 2:09:00 PM
Some people seem to think that change is death . . .
marrije said, on 5/17/2008 2:59:00 PM
haha, a genre i never tire of is dutch names in USian books. the original Hans van den Broek is a former cabinet minister of ours, and his (v. pretty and sensible) daughter married one of our princes. think i’m going to re-read suite Scarlett in sted of Netherland, though - probably a lot better for my mood.
PixelFish said, on 5/18/2008 9:44:00 AM
I’m curious to find out if you’ve read Elizabeth George’s Playing For the Ashes. It’s about a cricket star who gets killed in an arson incident. (I’m pretty certain that much is on the back of the book so I wouldn’t be spoiling much by mentioning that’s the crux of the plot.) If so, what did you think about the cricket in that book?
David S. said, on 5/19/2008 6:41:00 AM
Funny, when I read that over the w/e I laughed too, and thought “I’ll bet Justine L. will be unimpressed when she sees that…”
And also—how embarrassing! I have been very remiss of late when it comes to cricket blogging. I mean I haven’t mentioned the blessed sport since March and not written anything proper since January. Largely because (for reasons beyond my control) I have not been home since May of last year.1 Thus I have not been immersed in cricket culture and have not been keeping up with things such as the new Twenty20Indian Premier League. 2
I like the idea of it in theory. But I hate the idea of it as a replacement for Test cricket. That will never happen! Or at least not in my lifetime.
I miss cricket. I must find ways to re-immerse myself. Or, I will, when this book is finished.
Waaaaahhhh!!!!!
The link is to a NYT article explaining the League which will amuse those of us who know about cricket and hopefully be a clear-ish explanation for those who know nothing.
Have you seen any of the coverage of IPL, Justine? Here in Australia the news and television coverage was something akin to a bunch of sports journalist covering the Eurovision Song Contest. Highly entertaining to say the least!
Mary Elizabeth S. said, on 5/12/2008 12:39:00 AM
Ooh, congrats!
But does this mean we won’t be seeing that post on the sport of quokkas? I was really looking forward to that one. Go quokkas!
~Mary
Cheryl said, on 5/12/2008 1:45:00 AM
Hey, congratulations!
If you want a quick way to follow the IPL, I’ve been blogging every game. Of course you will have to put up with my adoration of Warnie, but I’m sure you can cope with that.
jrod said, on 5/12/2008 2:16:00 AM
Regardless of your recent tardy cricket ethic, well done in making the list.
Happy Australia Day. What better thing to celebrate than the wonderful country where I live. As the new Australian of the Year, Lee Kernaghan said in his acceptance speech, there is no greater honour than to be Australian.
Anyway, here I am dressed up for the Corrigin Australian Day Breakfast. I had fun with the temporary tattoos, though you can see only one in the photo. The other essential
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Nice post! But why 1927? Do you mean 1922, perhaps? Works published in 1923 or later can be subject to copyright in the US (though many are not, having either been published without notice or expired). Unpublished works are a moving target, with the term being based on the date of death of the photographer.
Oh my gosh just a ridiculous typo. Of course I mean 1923. Thanks for the catch.
Try using this new resource: illustrationarchive.cardiff.ac.uk. There are around a million images, which are all out of copyright. It is much easier to search and find your way around than The Internet Archive because it is devoted specifically to illustrations. Users can also view the book in which the illustration appears.
[…] the always-awesome Jessamyn West, using the Interent Archive’s image feed on Flickr. “Reference question of the day was about finding public domain images. Everyone’s got […]