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READING
ROOM 'I STILL READ BOOKS,' HARPER LEE Harper Lee wrote To Kill A Mockingbird, which has won a Pulitzer prize and is also required reading for many students. Recently, the reclusive writer sent a long letter to O, The Oprah Magazine, in its July issue. In it she described her childhood and how reading was one of her few pastimes. "My mother read me a story every day," she wrote. "Usually a children's classic, and my father read from the four newspapers he got through every evening." Lee grew up in the poorer parts of Alabama. Lee reveals that she's no fan of modern technology, or e-books, writing: "Now, 75 years later, in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books." She asks: "Oprah, can you imagine curling up in bed to read a computer? Weeping for Anna Karenina and being terrified by Hannibal Lecter, entering the heart of darkness with Mistah Kurtz, having Holden Caulfield ring you up--some things should happen on soft pages, not cold metal." HISTORY OF WAR IN COMICS A UK publisher specializing in military history is starting a new imprint of war comics. Osprey Graphic History will arrive in September with titles covering the American Civil War and famous World War II battles. The lineup of talent is impressive. Larry Hama, a Vietnam vet who wrote all 155 issues of G.I. Joe for Marvel; British comic writers Dan Abnett and Steve White, who have written titles for Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper and many other British comics and Matt Wagner (Mage) is illustrating many of the covers. The first six 50-page trade paperback titles will feature three Civil War battles (Antietam, Shiloh and Bull Run) and three World War II battles (Pearl Harbor, Midway and Iwo Jima). The next six titles will arrive in spring 2007, among them the battle of Gettysburg and the Monitor vs. the Merrimac; and from WWII, the D-Day Invasion and the Battle of the Bulge. "The real nastiness and brutality [of war] are not really that evident in the written records. People don't like to talk about it. You have a responsibility to show the really bad side, though. That it's not glory and trumpets," says Larry Hama. Inevitably however, it's all the action and glory of war that the readers want. Osprey Graphic History is aimed at a younger audience. +
+ + + + RECORD LABELS ARE MISSING THE BOAT Rick Aristotle Munarriz who posts on his site The Motley Fool has just written an angry essay to call out the record industry for missing the bigger picture of file sharing - that it is a life boat for the sinking fortunes of the music business. Munarriz isn't a music journalist, he's an investment journalist. He points to the fact that file-sharing is actually creating more interest for music than it is harmful to the business. What's not happening is that record labels are missing on the opportunity to tap in. Instead the RIAA is out there suing music fans and closing sites that have acted as centers for music when they should be operating websites to sell music. The full
[sic] essay is here http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2006/commentary06060801.htm Amateur video buffs miming to a hit song are now the targets of the RIAA. You may have seen more than a couple of such videos on YouTube or Google where the performers are miming to a hit song that they obviously haven't paid the copyright for. That has led to a recent spate of cease-and-desist notices from the music trade group directed at some users of YouTube. Despite the fact that the recordings are generally of poor quality - especially where the audio is concerned - the RIAA is moving to rid the Internet of the scourge of amateur "Solid Gold" dancers. Typically, when the RIAA engages in some sort of enforcement action, it claims that the infringing activities are causing it a demonstrable financial loss. Read the
full post here http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060615-7065.html OF MICE AND MEN UK Publisher Penguin Books have just received a rude shock that they do not hold the publishing rights to 10 of John Steinbeck's works including Of Mice And Men, The Grapes Of Wrath and The Red Pony. A US judge has ruled that Steinbeck's son and granddaughter are the rightful copyright owners. The dispute arose because the Steinbeck family wanted the contract with the publisher to be renegotiated to give them a better value. Judge Owen found that copyright law gives heirs the right to renegotiate rights to works whose value has increased since the original deal was signed. A hardcover, limited edition, gilt-edged, water-proof version is probably in the works right now with a cover price to hit the ceiling.
Image Comics
has a new graphic novel tracing the story of Stagger Lee aka Lee Shelton
whose life became a legend when Lloyd Price recorded the song, Stagger
Lee. The US$17.99 paperback blend a fictional narrative with a detailed
look at the documented information. The work is by Derek McCulloch and
Shepherd Hendrix. Amazing how the myth of Stagger Lee spread when the
bare bones account revolves around a fatal dice game in which Lee shot
and killed one Billy Lyons. The duo complete their tale in 232 pages.
New York
book packager Melcher Media has the patent for a technology to manufacture
"waterproof books". DuraBooks jackets and pages are completely waterproof,
durable and "upcyclable," meaning that the synthetic "paper" used in DuraBooks
can be melted down and be reused in perpetuity. The "paper" used in the
books is tear- and stain-resistant, made from plastic resins and inorganic
fillers, with nary a speck of wood pulp or cotton fiber. DuraBooks can
withstand water, dirt, grease and humidity-qualities that would appear
to lend themselves well to maps; field guides; travel books; children's
books; cookbooks; camping, boating and fishing titles; and books to be
read in the tub, on the beach or at the pool. Now that's what we call
an "invention". [Publishers Weekly] Read the
first online graphic novel about the Iraq War, by Anthony Lappe and Dan
Goldman. The year is 2011. After witnessing yet another terrorist attack
on New York, intrepid blogger Jimmy Burns goes to Iraq to get the real
story -- and tell the world. Don't miss a single episode of SHOOTING WAR,
exclusively at SMITH: http://smithmag.net/shootingwar Declining
sales and digital online piracy of comic books are threatening small U.S.
publishers, the Los Angeles Times reported recently. An informal Web poll
of 4,621 readers from December 2004 to December 2005 by Comic Book Resources,
an online magazine, found more than 30 percent had downloaded a comic
book at least once, and 12 percent said they downloaded comic books regularly.
Robert Burnett, whose Los Angeles production company, Ludovico Technique,
launched the "Living in Infamy" series last year about a witness-protection
program for super-villains, said he publishes about 2,000 to 5,000 copies
per issue, and so far isn't aware of any of his titles being shared online.
"Comic-book piracy for us would be a problem," Burnett said. "Our retail
price is $3. Every book that we sell matters." [LA Times] Where is Prata Man? INDIAN COMICS BIG SPLASH India, more fondly remembered for its curries and maharajahs, is now joining the big league of comics. To usher in their new line of comics, a joint venture with Richard Branson's Virgin group, Virgin Comics have signed up Alex Ross, the acclaimed comic book illustrator, to illustrate all their covers. His first work for Virgin is the cover of Ramayan Reborn #1 (in stores September 6). Ramayan Reborn is loosely based on India's greatest legend, Ramayana originally written in Sanskrit more than two thousand years ago. Ramayan Reborn from Virgin Comics is a graphic, post-apocalyptical reinvention of Indian mythology told by India's two greatest creators, bestselling author Deepak Chopra (Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Peace Is The Way) and acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth, Bandit Queen).
Follow these links to see artwork and preview pages of new Indian comics from Virgin:
Also comics
fans should look for "Virgin Comics Issue Zero" a free 24-page introduction
to Virgin Comics to be released at comic book stores and Virgin Megastores
on June 28. Alex Toth (June 25, 1928 - May 27, 2006) is best known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout the '60s and '70s. His work with Iwao Takamoto included Super Friends, Jonny Quest and Space Ghost. Toth is also known for his exhaustive study of other artists and his outspoken analysis of comic art past and present. For example, in a 2001 interview he criticized the trend of fully-painted comics, saying "It could be comics if those who know how to paint also knew how to tell a story! Who knew what pacing was, and didn't just jam a lot of pretty pictures together into a page, pages, and call it a story, continuity! It ain't!" He was found slumped on his drawing board.
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READ THE ETERNALS In June, Marvel are restarting Jack Kirby's 1976 comic The Eternals with a new creative team of Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr. As a taster to prepare new readers, Marvel is offering The Eternals #1 "The Day of the Gods" from 1976 that you can read on the net. The story, which will be reprinted in July's hardcover collection of Kirby's Eternals series, features the introduction of Ikaris, the first appearance of Kro, and the origin of the Eternals. Click on the thumbnails for larger versions. http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1982731
THE EXPATRIATES ARRIVE... AND THEN LEAVE B Clay Moore's and artist Jason Latour's The Expatriate has only published four issues since its indie debut in Feb 2005. It is now been made available for free viewing at artist Latour's website http://www.jasonlatour.com. They think not enough publicity has resulted in The Expatriate's poor sales. We like to think of this comic as a '60s styled spy thriller along the lines of The Prisoner or The Avengers that often cuts across borders into all sorts of genres and styles - horror, conspiracy and pop culture. Sadly, after the sixth issue is published, the duo will go their separate ways. The Expatriate will be in limbo until the creator's find time and money to catch up with the plot. +
+ + + + Imagine your
favourite novels and classic text books designed and illustrated, at least
on the cover, by some of today's top comics artist? Click on the link
to see just what's coming out soon: Doors co-founder
Ray Manzarek has written a comic book, Snake Moon. It's set in Civil War
era America and is about farmers and their harmony with nature to eke
out an existance. The press release says to expect "themes of violence,
heroism and the loss of innocence amid the horrors of war with captivating
intensity that builds to a stunning and unforgettable climax." This is
a ghost thriller to be published by Diamond Books as a hardcover graphic
novel due this month. BACK TO THE FUTURE NEVER SOUNDED MORE OPTIMISTIC "The rite of passage of rejecting the past has changed. Today's internet generation spend all their time cross-referencing, dipping into the musical past while embracing the musical 'now'. They listen to everything because it's available. They have the equivalent of a massive vinyl collection on their iPods." - Rock Critic Dan Cairns Despite their short-sightedness in suing their customers, record companies are slowly waking to the advantages of allowing P2P sharing of music. They are noticing that "clueless" preteens, teens and young adults are visiting the net to find out what's cool and trying out a variety of different music. Different in genres from pop, rock, rap, metal, jazz, country to whatever and crossing the wide distances from the '50s, '60s, '70s to the present for their experience. A recent article in the U.K. Sunday Times discusses the popularity of an imaginary cartoon pop star called Gnarls Barkley who is actually a morph of Cee-Lo Green and the mix-master Danger Mouse. Gnarls Barkley's single Crazy, has sold 31,000 copies in just five days via downloads and has outsold all the competition. The Times said "Gnarls Barkley['s]... music is a free-wheeling mixture of funk, soul and hip-hop, carrying the sonic references of James Brown, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye and the Beach Boys but tweaked with new technology and sounding cumulatively like none of them." It reflects the internet style of absorbing everything and anything paying no attention to style, era, class or race. Gnarls "himself" becomes a virtual persona. It is ironic that the duo who are now making money for the record companies once had been pursued with legal letters. In 2004, one half of Gnarls Barkley, Danger Mouse, was served by EMI with "cease and desist" orders for mixing the Beatles' White Album with The Black Album by rapper Jay-Z to create The Grey Album, an underground hit that was shared for free on the net. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2088-2136189,00.html +
+ + + + It's not what you think. Milo Manara who illustrated the X-rated Click, has signed up with Marvel to draw a graphic novel written by Chris Claremont on the women heroes of the popular X-Men series. With the recent news that Claremont has suffered a heart ailment, it is unclear when this project will debut. When will Malaysia throw up their own adult illustrators? + + + + + HARPER-COLLINS TO PUBLISH JAPANESE MANGA Comics are yellow culture. You bet. Japan has been a frontrunner for the longest time nurturing a unique comics culture all of their own - the manga. Now New York publishing giant HarperCollins is getting into the market by signing a deal with Tokyopop to bring more Japanese manga into American bookstores. With HarperCollins muscle, Tokyopop intends to distribute manga widely into the US. The deal is not isolated to distribution but will also have publishing. Tokyopop and HarperCollins will develop manga adaptations beginning with the bestselling young adult novels of Meg Cabot. And HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman said she wouldn't rule out getting involved in publishing licensed manga at some point. The distribution deal starts in June. Published works should roll out in 2007. The Japanese never banned anything. They let creative people be creative. +
+ + + + Award-winning
Australian artist Eric Shanower is considering distributing his comic,
Age Of Bronze, on the internet. Age Of Bronze is currently published sporadically
by Image as and when Shanower finishes a 32-page issue. But of late, sales
have dipped for the award-winning comic. It cannot break even selling
below 2,800 copies. However, Shanower says the compiled version of Age
Of Bronze that comes out as a graphic novel sells in excess of 10,000
copies. He is now considering only printing Age Of Bronze once he has
enough material to publish it as a graphic novel. To keep readers entertained,
Shanower wants to serialize Age Of Bronze at his website. "To charge or
not to charge", that is the question. Comics may have finally found a home in the arts if Yale University Press decides to publish comics. Nearly 100 years old, Yale University Press is now turning its attention to the comics medium as well. According to Tina C. Weiner, publishing director of Yale University Press, "As part of our art book program, Yale has published several beautiful books highlighting the artistic value of the comics genre. Our fall 2006 list presents two amazing new books that consider the role of the comic artist in American culture and the place of the graphic novel in literature." +
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JACK KIRBY'S POST-HUMOUS COMIC Marvel Comics is working with Jack Kirby again. In July, Kirby's latest comic Galactic Bounty Hunters will debut under Marvel's Icon imprint. Death has never stopped Mammon before. The team doing "Jack Kirby" is a collective of artists and writers called Genesis West. It is led by Kirby's daughter, Lisa, together with Rick French, Mike Thibodeaux, and Steve Robertson. According to Lisa Kirby, her father had created the characters and outlined the story before his death. But there it lay undiscovered until the family archives were inventoried following the death of Lisa's mother, Rosalind, in 1998. "I happened upon a page depicting a group of characters he originally called the Wonder Warriors," Lisa said at the WizardWorld Comicon. "They were originally created as villains for Captain Victory #7 (Oct '82)." "When I first saw the page, these particular characters really jumped out at me! At this point Mike suggested that I should try my hand at writing, and develop these characters for a future project. So using some original notes my father left behind, and with the help of Mike, Richard, and Steve, we developed the concept for The Galactic Bounty Hunters." Lisa reckons about 30 percent of the comic will contain original Jack Kirby pencils while the rest will imitate his style. There are already eight issues finished. Galactic
Bounty Hunters' hero is one retired supercop, Jack Birkey [!], whose son
Garrett is abducted by a super villain. The comic tells the story of Birkey's
quest with the help of his old teammates to find his son. Japanese Independent Music is a handbook and CD to Japan's underground rock scene of the '80s to now. Packed with information, essays, biographys and photos. Indispensible, and with an original cover by 'ero-guru' artist Daisuke Ichiba. The only guide to one of the most fascinating scenes on the planet". The fully illustrated book has 365 pages and costs £21.99. + + + + +JOE CASEY'S GODLAND
Joe Casey follows up his fine offer of the entire Godland #1 comic with a free preview of issue #8. Click here for the preivew. Godland is an Image comic by Joe Casey with art by Tom Scioli. Both are obvious fans of Jack Kirby and the artwork and stories say it all. Godland is the return of the cosmic superhero epic. It's got heroes and villains, aliens and junkies. On the surface, it's the story of Adam Archer, a hapless astronaut who accidentally receives incredible cosmic powers. But those powers are a key to unlocking a much bigger story, dealing with the evolution of the human race and its place in the greater cosmos. If that isn't a Jack Kirby plot, what is? This is good retro to take the weight off all the recent ultra-dark and serious stuff coming out from both comics houses. +
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And we don't mean John Lennon's "God is a concept by which we measure our pain". Currently ready to roll are three new books about The Beatles' Jesus connection. First, there is Steve Turner's The Gospel According To The Beatles [due in August] which shows the intersection between pop culture via The Beatles and religion. Turner is a noted music writer from England who also wrote The Man Called Cash: The Life, Love and Faith of an American Legend. Joshua Greene is writing on the most spiritual Beatle with Here Comes The Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison that explores Harrison's climb to fame, his disillusionment with the material world and his return to the spiritual. Greene is a historian of religion at Hofstra University and a filmmaker. Finally, another writer on George Harrison is Dale Allison, the Errett M Grable Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Early Christianity at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary whose new book is The Love There That's Sleeping (Continuum, Oct. 2006). This book dwells with Harrison's songs and their deeper meanings. The Beatles
are gone but their songs left a significant impact on a generation that
"all you need is love". Maybe Pope B should pay them royalties for his
encyclical.
THE SECRET LIFE OF JESUS AND MARY Mary Magdalene
not the Virgin. A new book, The Sacred Embrace of Jesus and Mary: The
Sexual Mystery at the Heart of the Christian Tradition by Jean-Yves LeLoup
is out now. The 160-page book addresses the current debate about the relationship
between the carpenter and the scarlet woman. LeLoup takes the academic
route "dissecting the textual attitudes regarding sexual relations as
he does examining the contextual sexuality of Jesus and the parameters
of his relationship with Mary". He studies the Hebrew and Greek texts
as well as the Christian gnostic gospels, one of which is attributed to
Mary Magdalene. Due in May. ASIAN VALUES Water in
five of China's largest rivers is now so polluted it's dangerous to touch,
acid rain bathes 30 percent of its land, half its forests are gone, and
two-thirds of major Chinese cities fail air-quality standards, with officials
admitting that in some areas breathing is the equivalent of smoking two
packs of cigarettes a day. But the picture hasn't always been this bleak...
If the free
press is paid for, imagine what ad agencies are used for? In Kalle Lasn's
new book, Design Anarchy, he takes an unflinching look at contemporary
art and design, implicating its seemingly innocuous practices in crimes
against our culture and our planet. The book is an urgent call for students,
artists, designers, architects and communicators to re-engage with the
world, to explore their role in the pollution and future redemption of
our mental and physical commons. In the battle for a new kind of meaning,
Design Anarchy is 400 pages without precedent. Lasn started AdBusters. +
+ + + + MARVEL'S CIVIL WAR This year's multi-parter from Marvel is Civil War, in seven parts. The story is about how superheroes in America take sides when the government decides that all super humans must be registered as they are now considered living weapons of mass destruction. The Registration Act will divide the heroes into two camps, one led by Captain America, the other by Iron Man. Along the way, Marvel will unveil its version of Guantnamo Bay, enemy combatants, embedded reporters and more. The question at the heart of the series is a fundamental one: "Would you give up your civil liberties to feel safer in the world?" To bolster the new series, Paul Jenkins will concurrently write a 10-parter weekly series called Front Line which offers smaller stories of the people affected by the larger conflict. Mark Millar handles the writing chores for Civil War.
BILLY TAN'S HEROES Click on the pic above to read a brief review of Chris Claremont and Billy Tan's Uncanny X-Men #469. +
+ + + + FROM ASTRO BOY TO KIRIHITO [pronounced Ki-rish-to]
The Japanese pronounce Christ as Ki-rish-to. Osamu Tezuka is the unlikely storyteller of Christ's teachings on humanity. Tezuka is best remembered for his creation, Astro Boy. He also created the cartoon Kimba The Lion, said to be the influence for Disney's Simba, The Lion King. The 1970 work in three volumes, Kirihito, will finally get an English translation via Vertical and be on bookshelves in December 2006. The English edition will contain all three volumes in 800 pages. Kirihito is the story of Christ's teachings as an ode to humanity. In the story, a young doctor searches for the cure to a disease that turns its victims into dog-like animals. Humanity, reflected by the qualities of compassion and nonviolent philosophy, is contrasted with beastliness, which Tezuka portrays through animal violence and the eating of raw meat. Tezuka's
other adult comic is the eight-volume Buddha, the story of Gautama. This
project was finally completed when Vertical published Volume Eight in
January 2006. Vertical's hardcover editions cost US$25 each. Tezuka's
Buddha has gone on to win the Eisner Award for Best Foreign Work. Both
titles are worthy of purchase.
FRANK MILLER GOES AFTER AL QAEDA We read a year ago that Frank Miller was planning to do a comic on Jesus Christ. Then on August 15 last year, movieweb.com reported that Miller was working on a new graphic novel for DC, Holy Terror Batman. In that interview, he said he had finished 120 pages. He said: "...it's essentially Batman versus Al Qaeda." [http://www.movieweb.com/news/01/8901.php] Then on Feb 16, 2006, The Guardian ran a story "Holy comic book! Batman returns to wage war on Al Qaeda" that was picked up by newspapers around the world. This time, Miller was attending a comic book convention in San Francisco, Feb 11-12, 2006. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,,1710676,00.html] The new Miller quotes were aimed for maximum provocation of good vs evil: "Superman punched out Hitler. So did Captain America. That's one of the things they're there for." "These are our folk heroes. I just think it's silly to have Batman out chasing the Riddler when you've got Al Qaeda out there." This has all the smell of money and even Miller knows that for he himself quipped: "Not to put too fine a point on it, it's a piece of propaganda." The title of Miller's new graphic novel copies an earlier Elseworlds' title, Batman: Holy Terror, by Alan Brennert and Norm Breyfogle that was published in 1991. In that comic, England and America are ruled by a Christian theocracy, "one which had become tyrannical and corrupt by the twentieth century". Bruce Wayne is a would-be priest who decides to become Batman instead when he finds out his parents were really executed by the church for running an underground clinic [pro-choice?]. Batman then battles a secret group in the church to find truth. Just as religious fanatics don't misconstrue holy teachings, they merely adhere to them selectively, propaganda equally misleads. Frank Miller's latest graphic novel is the real Sin City. +
+ + + +
At least for folks who don't read Japanese. Anne Freaks gets its first volume published in the U.S. by ADV Manga. Anne Freaks is a girl who shows up whenever a schoolboy has committed a murder. She forms a trio with two boys who killed. One of them, Yuri, killed his mother. The comic explores how kids behave, why they get violent and why they kill. It is all done without exploitation. Artist Kotegawa makes it easy for the eye to follow all the action and the panels, never succumbing to overcrowding even in the most horrific sequences. She draws the characters in the deformed "cutesy" way used to signal extreme emotion in manga. Due in March. Priced at US$9.99. +
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$INGAPORE
BESTSELLER ON AMAZON.COM The book Escape From Paradise has been selected as Amazon.com's bestselling book among its $ingapore customers for the past few months. It is written by May Chu and John Harding and is about the life of a great granddaughter of the Haw Par family who founded Tiger Balm. The Book Reader had this to say of the book: "Americans have a saying: luck is a lady. And this lady and her subsequent husband have written a somber, very human tale of a woman's remarkable journey". Barnes and Noble called the book "$ingapore Confidential at its best". Escape from Paradise is still Amazon's #1 best seller for Singapore and was ranked at 7,824 overall on July 24, 2003 by Amazon, which is ahead of books by Lee Kuan Yew. The book is now available in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the Kinokuniya Bookstore, in Petronas Twin Towers and in their branch in Sydney, Australia. Read more at http://www.escapefromparadise.com/NewFiles/bc.html + + + + +
LIKE A ROLLING STONE Nashville City Paper review: "Those who missed the earlier incarnation of Rolling Stone, when it was a serious music journal, will savor the new book, The Alt.Culture.Guide: A Journal of (Un)Popular Culture (Anthem Pop/Kult), which just published its inaugural edition. "Its primary writer and editor is Rev. Keith A. Gordon, a three-decade journalism veteran and former music editor of Take One magazine, and contributor to Bone, and In Review among many others. The book evolved from Gordon’s webzine, and was expanded via interviews and other columns. Gordon currently writes for the The All Music Guide and several other regional and national magazines and newspapers. Bill Glahn, who also served as co-editor, Charlie Braxton, Tommy Hash and Keis Koch are the first edition’s other contributors." Click
here for the full review. You can order a copy from Bill Glahn, 414 Howard Chapel Road, Urbana, MO 65767. Postpaid it's US$11.50 to anywhere in the U.S. Outside of the US please contact Bill for rates at billglahn@hotmail.com
BUSH’S BURNING DESIRE Many have
said US President George W Bush is building the second Roman Empire with
the start of the invasion of Iraq. Now comes a book that explains America’s
military occupation of Iraq. Bush In Babylon: The Recolonisation of Iraq
by Tariq Ali [Verso, US$20, 224 pgs] is a serious analysis by a mainstream
publisher. The book has been described by Amazon.com as "unique"
in moving beyond the corporate looting by the US military government to
offer an in-depth analysis of the extent of resistance to the US occupation.
Tariq Ali concludes that there is a need to refound Mark Twain’s
mammoth American Anti-Imperialist League to carry forward the momentum
of the anti-war movement that gathered to stop the Iraq War. Tariq Ali’s
previous book was The Clash Of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity.
Arundhati
Roy’s new book, War Talk [Alternative Tentacles, US$12], is an eloquent
and passionate collection of essays that highlights the global rise of
militarism and religious and racial violence, calling into question the
equation of nation and ethnicity. This brand new book is a great companion
to her brand new spoken word release Come September — In Conversation
with Howard Zinn. Looking to do business with the Burmese generals in "Myanmar"? Where else to look for advice than in all-good, no-bad $ingapore where money is not far from everyone’s mind. Myanmar On My Mind is a unique one-of-its-kind book written by the former First Secretary [Commercial] at the $ingapore embassy in Yangon, Matthew Sim. Sim’s tour of duty lasted from 1995 to 1997 and he offers first-hand insight into "the minds of the Myanmar people, from military generals and government officials to businessmen and employees." Sim was in charge of $ingapore’s trade and investments with Burma. On a sub-chapter, Spies And Spying, Sim wrote: "Manpower in Myanmar is relatively cheap and readily available. The Military Intelligence [MI], for example, is quite extensive and pervasive. As a result, prominent foreign diplomats and international businessmen in and around Yangon are always escorted by MI officers. "Both my telephone lines, one at the Embassy and one at home, were bugged. The technology used during my stay in Myanmar was pretty low-end. There was a hollow, echoing sound whenever you used the phone." Sim adds: "I have never been overtly concerned with Myanmar politics. It is neither an area of responsibility nor interest." Business to $ingaporean Sim is business and he says: "An international businessman should try not to mix politics and business. Money should not be coloured by politics." Published by Times Book International in 2001. If you are interested in learning more about $ingapore’s business relationship with the generals of Burma follow these links: $ingapore
is Burma’s biggest investor with between US$770 million to US$1.5
billion in 65 projects in the country [AP report Mar 25 1998]. $ingapore
to promote economic cooperation with Burma $ingapore
links 'aiding drug trade' Burma-$'pore
Axis: Globalising the heroin trade Goh leaves
Burma without meeting Suu Kyi $uspected
drug traders have S'pore connection $'pore backs
Burma in Asean-EU dialogue $'pore helps
Burma's spies Blood money:
hanging drug couriers but investing with their suppliers Protesters
demand accountability from PM Goh on drugs Asean reeks
of double standards For more... email singbigo@singnet.com.sg with the message, "Put me on your mailing list."
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THE STORY OF STAGGER LEE
WATERPROOF BOOKS
CLASSICS WITH NEW COVERS BY COMICS ARTIST
THE BEATLES' SPIRITUAL MESSAGE 
