Ari Berk's Blog, page 3

New Blog site

Friends and Neighbors,

In an effort to centralize, I will be posting blog/journal entries over at my website for the foreseeable future.
Please join me over there....

http://www.ariberk.com/journal.php

Best,
Ari

THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOBGOBLINS Published!

So excited to just (literally) receive a copy of the long-awaited Secret History of Hobgoblins book!

There was, apparently, a tassel malfunction (I couldn't make this stuff up) that slightly delayed its publication, but the UK edition is now out and I am beyond thrilled with it. The stories of Hobgoblins are closely tied to hearth and home, and from where I sit on this rainy Saturday, leaves piling up around the house, it's the perfect book for Fall and Winter. The artists have done the most extraordinary job! Larry MacDougall, Alan Lee (of Lord of the Rings fame), Virginia Lee, Gary Chalk, Douglas Carrell, Fernando Molinari....the books is bursting with the most wondrous illustrations. But don't take my word for it, I've put some art and page spreads up on my website. Have a look!

http://www.ariberk.com/hobgoblins.html


And while you're at it, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE HIS LIFE AND TIMES is also now available in both its US and UK editions. This was a joint effort by Kris McDermott and myself...our first wife and husband bit of co-authoring! I've also put up some art, pages, as well as a video the publisher made of all the little flaps and pamphlets in the book being opened. It's gotten awesome reviews so far. You can see all that here:

http://www.ariberk.com/shakespeare.html

Enjoy!

Spring upheavals

Rescued from the vaults and just in time for Spring, here are some thoughts on seasonal "upheavals" and a retelling of the ancient tale of the Battle of the Trees.

http://www.ariberk.com/battleofthetrees.html

Forthcoming, from the website....

Reposted from
http://www.ariberk.com/forthcoming.html


January 1, 2010.

Up late New Year's Eve to write a few paragraphs on the novel, you know, just to start the year as I mean to go on...

Hobgoblins book slowly moving towards gettin' done. I've seen nearly all the art now, and WOW! In this book, there is art by both Alan and Virginia Lee, Larry MacDougall, Gary Chalk, and Fernando Molinari...oh just wait until you see it.

But day and night, it is the novel. Last month, I made a large map of the ...

Midwinter thoughts...

And as the old year went down into its grave,
they knew at last the Great Darkness was brought
not by death,
but by distraction.
So they looked up,
on this very night,
up, up, above the sleepless wires and ordered lines,
above the mad words colliding in the lower aires.
And in that one moment at midwinter,
they gazed upon the ever-living stars,
and the darkness fell away from them,
and for all the season,
and always.

California Dream in Critical Condition

Dire in California as well as here in Michigan. This is an insightful but heart breaking assessment of what's going on in education back in my home state. I remember when prop 13 went through in 1978 (I was eleven), and all of a sudden we had no money for drawing paper in school. Where are the politicians with **any** vision on either side? It leaves me wondering: at this point, is it too far gone to fix? Does it have to fall apart completely before we can even begin making it right? Are peo...

Sir Lanval

 Shooting began in late October on Sir Lanval, latest film by the Chagford Filmaking Group, from an original screenplay written by Ari Berk and Elizabeth-Jane Baldry. Here is some behind the scenes fun. Filming continues in Brittany next year. 

Behind the scenes on Sir Lanval.
Enjoy!

And while you're at it, check out the Chagford Filmmaking Group's great website where you can learn all about their numerous projects, see production stills, and donate to their ongoing work.   www.fairytalefilms.co.uk

The perils and delights of Fall

 A friend of mine calls them "The Autumn Fears." I love this term. I think it's about that strange feeling, deep down, that we need to be doing something just now, at every moment, something needs to be done and if we don't do it, well, something awful may come of it. Usually just before Spring.

After some mulling on this term, and after feeling a bit of the Autumn Fears myself, I've come to the conclusion that this is an ancestral condition, inherited from our very ancient agriculturalist pas...

Grendel The Outsider

Halloween Best Wishes to Everyone!

At this time of year when things are wont to wander and go bump in the night, it's only right and proper to give a thought to those who live beyond the warmth of hearth and home. 

So in the spirit of opening the door to the Twilight Folk who wish only to sit with us for a time by the fire, I'd thought I'd post a little something on my website that I wrote a while back on just this theme. It's about Grendel, surely the most famous of all the world's goblins...

"...

NEW WEBSITE UP -- www.ariberk.com

Well, I thought I'd never actually take the leap into the modern era, but, friends and neighbors, I have managed to put a little website together. It is basic, but all the various stuff from around the web that I've written (articles, etc.) as well as some poetry, book info, even some drawings are all on there. It is the "chimpanzee-uses-wet-stick-to-get-ants-out-of-anthill of websites, but I think it will serve for the time being.

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