YOUR MISSION...

... should you choose to accept it, is...

... for one of you yahoos to find me a copy that I can afford; that goes without saying of Bagthorpes Battered by Helen Cresswell. My online avenues have all come up empty, and I can't ILL it because it's only in libraries in Europe, it seems. It exists! Here's the amazon.co.uk entry. If all else fails, I'll sign up on the Amazon.com used-book search, but after the experience of a friend,* I'd prefer to leave that as a last resort, just on general principles.

Yes, I have tried abebooks.com, alibris.com, powells.com, bibliofind.com, basically everything that comes up on the first page of a Google search for "used books."


* She was searching for a book for her PhD research, and called all over the country. She'd put an Amazon search order on it, found it in a small used bookstore someplace, and before she could get there Amazon bought it from them, and then emailed her saying they'd found a copy and would she like to buy it at this (she now knew) inflated price? I'll set it up through them after I've given up any other way.

Next Studio Ghibli movie

Cut-and-pasted from a friend's email to a mailing list:

Some few of you may have previously been aware that there were rumors that the next Ghibli film was going to be based on Le Guin's Earthsea. Well, it's no longer just a rumor.

Announcement blatantly copy-and-pasted from the Miyazaki mailing list:

Studio Ghibli has officially announced that their next feature film will be Gedo Senki (Gedo War History) [1], directed by Hayao Miyazaki's son, Goro Miyazaki. The film will be an adaptation of Ursula K Le Guin's "A Wizard of Earthsea," and will be released in the Japanese theatres in July 2006.

The Studio's official site has also undergone a revamp [2]. Details of the new film can be found there. There are also dedicated sections of production diary and director's diary. Goro Miyazaki has posted some comments on his father's opposition towards his work as a director.

[1] http://www.ghibli.jp/images/ged_poster01.jpg
[2] http://www.ghibli.jp
[3] http://www.ghibli.jp/ged_02/10maekoujyou/000112.html#more

Channelling Sei Shonagon...

...from the comments in kate_nepveu's latest Genji entry on reading_genji

Things that evoke fond memories

* The sight of a man in glasses holding a stuffed rabbit
* A platter of scones, served with runny lemon curd
* Echoes of the word "SKAAAAAAAAAANK!" here and there on LiveJournal
* A pair of damp pants draped carelessly over a halogen lamp