Bookbabble Episode 49: If It Were A Festival, There’d Be More Balloons

Oct 21, 2009 by donny

Bookbabble Episode 49: If It Were A Festival, There’d Be More Balloons 
Recorded 19 October 2009
Babblers: Bjorn, Lone, Donny

 

Synopsis:

A tight group this week, and we’re talking offensive literature.  Things that sets us off.  I suppose we weren’t surprised when the three of us shared the same view about things that offend us in literature, which isn’t what the topic itself would lead you to believe.  Also, problems with the Kindle International edition, NaNoWriMo, Google Wave and the call for the banning of fantasy movies in Malaysia, and Lamb in Vodka!

 

Show Length: 1:21:10 mins

 

Mentioned

• The Silver Spoon – Lone’s new Italian cook book
• Left Behind, Tim LaHaye, Jerry B Jenkins (review by Bjorn)
• Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, Azar Nafisi 
• Hej Menneske, Merete Pryds Helle (Danish)
• In the Kitchen, Monica Ali

 

Links

• Move to ban fantasy, horror movies in Malaysia
• Peter Lundin
• Antichrist, movie by Lars von Trier
• NaNoWriMo
• Kindle International Edition
• Google Wave

 

 

Note: Strong Language.

 

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Bookbabble Episode 47: Music & Literature

Oct 12, 2009 by donny

Bookbabble Episode 47: Music & Literature
Recorded 5 October 2009
Babblers: Bjorn, Renee, Lone, Donny

 

Synopsis:

The babblers talk about the influence of books on musicians, books by musicians, books on music, music on books, and other permutations of the theme.  Somehow we managed to fit Bill Clinton and Viggo Mortensen’s hot body (don’t ask) into this as well.

Also, Bjorn’s experience in a book festival pitching ebook tech, and find out who’s the worse drummer ever in a metal band.

 

Show Length: 1:38:28 mins

 

Books Mentioned

• Graceland, Chris Abani
• And the Ass Saw the Angel, Nick Cave
• Chronicles: Vol 1, Bob Dylan
• The English Roses, Madonna
• Double Trouble: Bill Clinton and Elvis Presley in a Land of No Alternatives, Greil Marcus
• Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, Legs McNeil, Gillian McCain
• England’s Dreaming, Revised Edition: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond, Jon Savage
• Lit Riffs, Jonathan Lethem, Tom Perrotta, el al
• Beautiful Losers, Leonard Cohen
• You Don’t Love Me Yet, Jonathan Lethem
• The Motel Life, Willy Vlautin
• I’m with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie, Pamela Des Barres
• Miles, Miles Davis
• Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions, 1960-1994, Clinton Heylin
• Tarantula, Bob Dylan
• Johnny Cash: The Autobiography
• Bad Vibes: Britpop and My Part in Its Downfall, Luke Haines
• Freddie Mercury: His Life in His Own Words, Freddie Mercury
• Three Novels: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable, Samuel Beckett
• The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Salman Rushdie
• Soul Music, Terry Pratchett

 

Links

• Thomas Pynchon’s Soundtrack to Inherent Vice

 

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Commentary on the Mumbai Attacks by Arundhati Roy and Salman Rushdie

Apr 3, 2009 by donny

A lot has been said about the tragic Dec 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai India.  It has been covered by the various news channels from around the world in infinitely more detail than a humble podcast can possibly muster. 

However, in our last show Gem mentioned a commentary made by Booker Prize winning author Arundhati Roy in the Guardian on the attacks, who summed it up as:

The only way to contain (it would be naïve to say end) terrorism is to look at the monster in the mirror. We’re standing at a fork in the road. One sign says Justice, the other Civil War. There’s no third sign and there’s no going back. Choose.

 

Mr Rushdie begged to differ, and responded in this video:

 

This isn’t new by a longshot, but something about publicly debated literati fisticuffs appeal to me.

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Bookbabble Episode 28: It could have been so much better!

Mar 14, 2009 by donny

Bookbabble Episode 28: It could have been so much better!

Recorded 15 March 2009

Babblers: Bjorn, Gem, Renee, Donny

Synopsis:

This week’s topic is about authors who suck over time; examples of writers who start off their careers with a bang, but slowly whimper and choke as their output quality deteriorate over time.  The babblers discusses why this happens, and touch on authors who do not suck as they go along.  Also, Donny talks about an attempt to improve on a timeless Jane Austen classic with, uhm, something you might not expect.

Show Length: 63:50 mins

Authors mentioned in show:

• Stephen King
• Hermann Hesse
• Paul Auster
• Chuck Palahniuk
• Thomas Pynchon
• Philip Roth
• Kazuo Ishiguro
• Salman Rushdie
• Gore Vidal
• Arthur Conan Doyle
• Agatha Christie
• Terry Pratchett
• Harper Lee
• Frank Herbert
• Orson Scott Card
• Robert Jordan
• Jim Butcher

Links:

• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
• Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me

Note: There’s a bit of static when I speak, and I apologize for that.  Looks like I may have to start investing in a professional mic… (or just a professional to replace me).

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