- The Sociology of Snow

After the recent giant snowfall, it suddenly became clear that snow made manifest all kinds of hidden things. It was like dusting for fingerprints. Suddenly, all kinds of things that are normally invisible, marked only in the air, are now marked in... water. And HA! The water is solid. It is snow. Everyone can see every step you have taken, the mark of your foot, the path you have chosen.

And what fascinated me in a city was that it also became a visual declaration of everyone's relationship with others—their social contract was declared for all to see: upheld, breached, broken. Leaving us to shake our heads. To speculate. To categorize.

Just down the street there's a house full of "those college kids." Here are their stairs and front sidewalk:

Yes, true to stereotype no one did anything ever. No effort was made to clear their own stairs—one can imagine the internal dialogue: "I'm cool. I can make it down. Why waste my time making any easier for anyone else?"  

As for sidewalk, the conversation might go, "Public sidewalk you say? Litigation? Hey, I'm not going to have to pay for anything. Someone's parents would have to ante up if something happens and we're out of luck."
Recent addendum: Boys had visitors of the female type after a giant snowfall and were heard to announce loudly as they toiled up the snow covered steps, "Someone stole our shovel!" Good line....
Then there's what I call the "Me 'n' Mine...but not You."
Yes, a carefully cleared personal walkway, but then all bets are off. The sidewalk? No additional effort expended for their fellow man—even though they are going to be walking on it fairly frequently too. The personal pain of shoveling is limited solely to the area of 100% personal gain. Anything that others might benefit from (even though they also benefit) is not effort worthy.
Below we seem to have a No Man's Land in front of a Gas Station. Perhaps they are not liable? They certainly don't seem to have made any effort to clear the sidewalk, allowing the path to be created by many feet heading for bus stop, etc.
 
I titled the one below "Me 'n' You 'n' My Car." Here, the person (I'm thinking guy, but don't want to be sexist) cares enough about the car to buy it a little outfit, to clear their own stairs, to clear the car's path AND to clear the public walkway while 
they were at it. Nice, eh?
Below is another ode to one's car. Someone had not only cleared the sidewalk, and the car, but also created this adorable little path to their Mini. I've titled this "Me 'n' My Mini." I thought this especially charming as it may only work once. When they drive off, there's no guarantee the spot will still be there on their return.  

And just down the road there was the sad sight of a comparatively uncaring and neglectful car owner. Their formerly "hot" new VW Bug lies buried under a heap of snow. No path, no interest, no warm intentions. Can you see how snow has made everyone's intentions and attitudes almost uncomfortably visible in a way previously invisible to all?

Some techniques: here's exactly a one shovel width walkway. Beware people with strollers! You have to back up and find a pull out to allow them to pass, just as if you were a car or trying to get to the bathroom on an airplane!  
Unlike the nearby Gas Station, this stately home and museum (Tudor Place)takes up almost an entire block and they always clear the sidewalk, even though most is just along their garden. (Just discovered their secret: Snow Blower!) The dog walkers and joggers are very appreciative.
And of course, if there's money in it, effort is expended. Commercial establishments tend to have very welcoming sidewalks.  
And I haven't even touched on methodology! The shovelers (elbow grease & the muscle power), the sweepers (getting those nooks and crannies), the salters (no expense spared, little effort, maximum result, maximum negative environmental impact). And snow blowers--rare in a city, but I'm much more sympathetic to them than the irritating leaf blowers! Then the participants themselves: the do-it-yourselfers (voluntary and volunteered), the hire-it-outers, the hire-me-please-ers.
So that is my photo essay on the sociology of snow.  For those of you that live snow-deprived lives, this may be a glimpse into a new world. For those whose winter starts in October and ends in May, this may not go far enough....
Isn't it fascinating how snow makes people's attitudes to others, to their possessions, to what they consider "worth their effort" so visible? And while our interpretations may not always be accurate—an owner may be absent, infirm, equipment-less, whatever—I do enjoy speculating!
Do you live in a city or town? What do you do/not do and why? I'm fascinated!

Amazon Vs Mcmillan--or "Yes, Amazon's at it again..."

Well, some may get their entertainment by watching those Taiwan reenactment animatronic clips of Tiger & Elin, or Jay and Conan in superhero outfits going at it, we get to be entertained by chest thumping in our own publishing space, with Amazon taking a page from James Mason in The Seventh Veil ("If you won't play for me, you won't play for anyone!") in classic monopolistic strong arm technique, as, indeed they have done before.

I just found the attached poignant and illustrative story in the wikipedia excerpt for "memory hole" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_hole)--thought you might enjoy:

"In an ironic twist of fate, in 2009, Amazon.com's electronic book, the Kindle, was purged of copies of Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm. Customers who earlier downloaded those books, found them surreptitiously erased from their Kindles, in what some said was the books' being "sent down a memory hole."[4] The book retailer denied accusations of "Big Brother-like behavior", and stated that the books were uploaded to the Kindle store by a publisher who did not have reproduction rights, thereby necessitating the deletion. "We removed the illegal copies from our systems and from customers' devices, and refunded customers," a spokesman said.[5] Some critics likened this to Barnes & Noble selling a book, then burglarizing a house to reclaim it whilst leaving a check. Amazon.com stated that they might not repeat the actions in the future.[6] A Shelby Township, Michigan student is the lead plaintiff in a proposed class action lawsuit, which claims that his annotated notes for a class were rendered "useless" when his Kindle's copy of 1984 was purloined using secret technology to invade his computer via an undisclosed Trojan horse.[7]"

I've included a bit from a recent Publishers Marketplace, and John Sargent's letter, posted there, but there's stuff all over the web, on various sites, Publishers Weekly, Publisher's Marketplace, and of course some of Amazon's Kindle users are a bit hot under the collar if you want to look further.

So just to say--support all your bookstores and choices in the electronic sphere if you can.  Allowing one to be overly dominant is not good for business.  And if we need additional proof, Amazon has amply demonstrated that should it dominate the market, it would not hesitate for an instant to behave ruthlessly in its short term self interest, to the detriment of it's customers and content providers.  I did just see the Darwin movie. I should know this!

Publisher's Marketplace Saturday, January 30, 2010

Since I couldn't figure out how to do a link to the newsletter I'm just excerpting my favorite bit:

"Another senior publishing executive said that "Amazon may 'spin' that the consumer is at the heart of the decision, but really their goal is a monopoly position in books. Publishers don't want a monopoly - they want consumers to have choice through a number of partners and channels. They want digital pricing which allows bricks and mortar retailers to survive and thrive alongside a growing digital market." That person added, "This reaction proves what Amazon's true motives are. It is a signal to any other publishers not to change the model and weaken Amazon's pathway to a monopoly. I hope authors, agents and publishers see what these motives are and stand by Macmillan."

To: All Macmillan authors/illustrators and the literary agent community
From: John Sargent

This past Thursday I met with Amazon in Seattle. I gave them our proposal for new terms of sale for e books under the agency model which will become effective in early March. In addition, I told them they could stay with their old terms of sale, but that this would involve extensive and deep windowing of titles. By the time I arrived back in New York late yesterday afternoon they informed me that they were taking all our books off the Kindle site, and off Amazon. The books will continue to be available on Amazon.com through third parties.

I regret that we have reached this impasse. Amazon has been a valuable customer for a long time, and it is my great hope that they will continue to be in the very near future. They have been a great innovator in our industry, and I suspect they will continue to be for decades to come.

It is those decades that concern me now, as I am sure they concern you. In the ink-on-paper world we sell books to retailers far and wide on a business model that provides a level playing field, and allows all retailers the possibility of selling books profitably. Looking to the future and to a growing digital business, we need to establish the same sort of business model, one that encourages new devices and new stores. One that encourages healthy competition. One that is stable and rational. It also needs to insure that intellectual property can be widely available digitally at a price that is both fair to the consumer and allows those who create it and publish it to be fairly compensated.

Under the agency model, we will sell the digital editions of our books to consumers through our retailers. Our retailers will act as our agents and will take a 30% commission (the standard split today for many digital media businesses). The price will be set for each book individually. Our plan is to price the digital edition of most adult trade books in a price range from $14.99 to $5.99. At first release, concurrent with a hardcover, most titles will be priced between $14.99 and $12.99. E books will almost always appear day on date with the physical edition. Pricing will be dynamic over time.

The agency model would allow Amazon to make more money selling our books, not less. We would make less money in our dealings with Amazon under the new model. Our disagreement is not about short-term profitability but rather about the long-term viability and stability of the digital book market.

Amazon and Macmillan both want a healthy and vibrant future for books. We clearly do not agree on how to get there. Meanwhile, the action they chose to take last night clearly defines the importance they attribute to their view. We hold our view equally strongly. I hope you agree with us.

You are a vast and wonderful crew. It is impossible to reach you all in the very limited timeframe we are working under, so I have sent this message in unorthodox form. I hope it reaches you all, and quickly. Monday morning I will fully brief all of our editors, and they will be able to answer your questions. I hope to speak to many of you over the coming days.

Thanks for all the support you have shown in the last few hours; it is much appreciated.

All best,
John

- Are you a member of the Academy? Do you know someone who is?

There needs to be an Oscar for Best Performance by an Animal.

Really.

OK.  Maybe not every year.  Every other year?  Every five years?  I feel certain that at least once every five years there will be enough Oscar worthy performances by animals for a compelling race.

What has inspired me, you wonder?  Is this a frivolous thought? 

No.

Years —  no DECADES ago, I recognized that the dog in Road Warrior (scroll down for photo of same if you click) delivered an Oscar-worthy performance.

Yes, I know.  It's not without its challenges.  What about situations like Seabiscuit, with countless horses playing the part.  Inappropriate, I would agree.  And what about the animal handler(s)? Eh?

Though I certainly would allow "crossdressing" if you could call it that for creatures who don't normally wear clothes.  For example I believe Lassie was played (for the most part) by a laddie.  But since we're not giving Best Animal Actor and Actress here, I don't think we need to open the kimono, so to speak.

My inspiration now is Jenny, the orangutan in Creation, the film about Darwin. Truly an oscar-worthy performance.

Of course, it's not going to happen.  There will never be an Oscar for Best Animal Performance.  Not because animals can't be satisfactory celebrities—sure, they could give endorsements; they're cute enough, and likely a lot cheaper.  Though it's going to be hard to find a breed that can (or would even want to) play golf.

And no—with animals there wouldn't ever be a problem with tarnishing their image.  Hey, monkeys are SUPPOSED to have wild monkey sex!  They're monkeys! A stallion having sex with countless mares?  All part of the DNA.

No, the sad reason it won't happen is because it will make the human actors look bad.  If an animal can deliver an Oscar worthy performance, what does it say about us, the humans?  And since it's the humans that are putting on the show, some great natural performers and performances will go unrecognized.

Do you have a favorite to share?

Harlequin launches digital-only publishing house

For Immediate Release

Harlequin launches digital-only publishing house
Carina Press™ currently accepting submissions

Toronto, ON (November 9, 2009) – Harlequin Enterprises Limited, the global leader in series romance and one of the world’s leading publishers of women’s fiction, announced today the launch of Carina Press™,a digital-only publishing house that will operate independently of their traditional publishing businesses.

Carina Press is a digital-only publishing house whose eBooks will be sold direct to consumers through the Carina Press Web site and numerous third-party Web sites. Carina Press will publish a wide range of women’s fiction—from romance to erotica, science fiction to mystery, family sagas to choose your own adventures, horror to thriller and more, including every conceivable subgenre of these categories.

“As a digital-only publisher Carina Press is a natural extension to our business; it builds on our digital strength and leadership position. We expect to discover new authors and unique voices that may not be able to find homes in traditional publishing houses,” said Donna Hayes, CEO and Publisher of Harlequin Enterprises. “It definitely gives us greater flexibility in the type of editorial we can accept from authors and offer to readers. As well, we hope to reach a new group of readers with niche editorial.”

Brent Lewis, Vice President Digital, is delighted to announce Angela James is joining Carina Press as Executive Editor. A veteran of the digital publishing industry, James is a well-known advocate for digital publishing. James has enjoyed a long and varied publishing career including senior editorial positions at digital-first publishers. “I have admired Harlequin's digital initiatives for years, and have always thought of them as leaders in the digital arena, so I'm unbelievably excited to join the Carina Press team,” said James. “I believe Harlequin can bring digital publishing to the next level for both authors and readers.”

Lewis added, “Angela has been a key player in growing the digital marketplace for romance. Her experience and insight is a tremendous benefit to the Carina Press team.”

Carina Press is currently accepting submissions in all genres of commercial fiction. Carina Press will consider shorter length stories, genre novels between 50,000 to 100,000 words and longer and complex narratives of over 100,000 words. Carina Press will also acquire books that have been previously released in print form, but for which the author has either retained digital rights or had digital rights revert to them. All submissions should be sent to submissions@carinapress.com.

Carina Press plans to launch in summer 2010 and will release new titles on a weekly basis. Between now and the launch, readers and writers can follow the progress of Carina Press via their blog.

For full submission guidelines and more information on Carina Press please go to www.carinapress.com.


About Harlequin Enterprises
Harlequin Enterprises Limited is the global leader in series romance and one of the world’s leading publishers of books for women, with titles issued worldwide in 28 languages and sold in 114 international markets. The company produces over 110 titles monthly in print and digital and publishes more than 1,100 authors from around the world. Harlequin Enterprises Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation, a broadly based media company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TS.B). Harlequin’s Web site is located at www.eHarlequin.com. Harlequin has offices in 19 countries, including offices in Toronto, New York and London. For more information please visit www.eHarlequin.com or press.eHarlequin.com.

For more information, please contact:
Malle Vallik
Director, Digital Content & Social Media
416-445-5860
malle_vallik@harlequin.ca

- Happy Halloween!

Strolling through the neighborhood, the decorations were impressive and I wanted to share them with you. As I looked at the houses, I realized the focus was on setting the tone, first impressions--just like the opening of a story.

While some of these entryways may over promise in terms of delivering something similar inside, don't you just want to check it out?

Here this real estate agent is clearly calling attention to the key element they want you to focus on (Yes, the agent's name really is Bubes. Perhaps it's pronounced in a special way):



Here a daunting uphill climb is accompanied by ghosts and an organist, luring you to the top...



It's all about the entry way:



Step right in...



Where are you going, and what makes you want to go there?



This was the "piece of resistance" (never have been able to understand how that phrase works in French--shouldn't it be irresistible?). Quite an entrance, isn't it? I like the skeletal remains on the pathway.  The witch is almost too scary...



And here there's room for some added support (don't they look like a ghostly version of Rodin's The Burghers of Calais?), directing you too that compelling opening. Nice, eh?



If your story were a house, would you want to go inside? What does the entry way look like?

- Have you seen Julie and Julia?

Turns out there's a story behind the story (OK, when isn't there?).

Apparently Streep had encountered Childs some years ago when seeking Childs' endorsement and support to back one of Streep's 'we are being poisoned by food' agendas, which Julia (who seems to feel that most anything in moderation is fine ) was utterly uninterested in.

Childs was also vehemently against the scare tactics and fear mongering utilized by purveyors of these agendas. That seems to have annoyed Streep, who made some accusations in a recent UK Telegraph article about Julia and the American Council for Science and Health.

So then the ACSH had to weigh in. You'll find Dr. Whelan’s response to the Meryl Streep interview here.

Don't you love getting a glimpse of the complexities of human relationships, the occasional myopia of personal agendas, and general (IMHO) lack of common sense? It does make me appreciate and strive for a measured assessment of information.

Despite her personal differences, Streep offered a lovely redition of Julia, a woman with a delightful joi de vivre. I really enjoyed the film, and if you have a chance next time you're in Washington, D.C. go to the Smithsonian's Museum of American History and visit Julia Childs' kitchen.

Bon Appetit!

- Favorite Things: Alfi

I had dinner last night with friends & discovered there were avid tea drinkers among them, so I made them a pot of tea and expounded on my love for my Alfi. That made me realize I should share my delight with other potentially like-minded souls!

First, let me position my tea drinking habit: I am a tea philistine. I like black tea, fairly dark, with a lot of milk and sugar. My needs and requirement are simple and unrefined. I just like the taste. I do not worry about whether the water is boiling, just under, or whatever temperature releases (or does not release) unattractive tannins. Whatever! For me the issue is simply: does the water turn dark enough and if I put a lot of milk in it, does it stay hot enough (but not too hot) to sip and enjoy immediately?

Like a baby gosling, I am imprinted on Twining's Earl Grey blend as my tea of choice, but I've been willing to branch out--Bigelow's English Teatime, Twining's Irish Breakfast & have even liked some loose teas: Red Blossom's Keemun and their Hunan Black are in my cupboard

So why do I think this Alfi is great? Well, in general, I make myself a pot in the morning & then drink it throughout the day. I used to have various tea cosies to fit various tea pots to try to keep it warm, etc. but by the third cup, I needed a microwave to warm it up. Yes, I have done it and lived to tell the tale. If you microwave with the milk in, you don't have to do it as long & usually it tastes OK to me.

But this Alfi has an internal glass thermos with a sealed lid that opens and pours with a finger press. It keeps that pot of tea (without a stained tea cosy) beautifully hot and drinkable for a very long time. Even if you're a more refined tea drinker (or even a coffee drinker who may not care for having the coffee pot sit on the heater for hours) I think you'll find the Alfi a highly useful and lovely addition to your life.

I still use my tea pots for loose tea, but the Alfi is my pot of choice for tea bags. I only use one tea bag per pot and get about three mugs of tea per pot. And it's very cute! Once I realized how wonderful the Alfi was, I ordered 10 more to be sure I had one in every house I spent time in (that is I gave them as Christmas presents to all close family and friends...).

My handy plug-in Capresso water boiler (pictured on the right) was used it in my office, but I've migrated one use at home as well, so I never have to worry about forgetting water on the stove. In my office, an Alfi, a water boiler, a small refrigerator for milk, a supply of sugar, spoon and mug and I never needed to go to the kitchen.

Here is one of my Alfis at home. It's sitting on a tile my husband bought me when he went to the Taj Mahal. Nothing's too good for my Alfi....

I am not (alas) getting any kickbacks from Alfi on this. The information shared is solely to let you know about what I think is a great product that may meet your needs.

Drink up!