MaryAnn Bernal's Blog, page 302
March 19, 2014
Congratulations Independent Author Index - Happy 2 years
http://indaindex.com/ Started on 18 March 2012, the Independent Author Index was created by Faydra D. Fields, known across the web as Faydra Deon, to give authors who are self-published and/or published by small presses another avenue to showcase their work.By design, the Index was created to offer more than just an avenue of exposure for independent authors.
Readers can also learn about what’s going on in the independent publishing movement, participate in giveaways and accumulate points for prizes by writing and playing word-related games.
There is also a services directory, where those who offer services for authors can get listed.
Aside from the author profiles and book listings, there are book bios, book reviews, an events list and author spotlights (coming soon).
Learn more about Faydra by visiting her author profile.
Happy Anniversary
The Briton and the Dane featured on ebookSoda
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http://www.ebooksoda.com/ebook-deals/the-briton-and-the-dane-by-mary-ann-bernal
The Briton and the Daneby Mary Ann BernalEpic 9th century adventureIn captivity, a hostage to fortune, and the focus of political intrigue, Gwyneth is submerged in a world of betrayal and black treachery. Slowly, she realizes the truth is suspect, nothing is what it appears and her reality cannot be trusted. Get it now$0.99 (£0.77) Amazon Kindle UK Amazon Kindle US
http://www.ebooksoda.com/ebook-deals/the-briton-and-the-dane-by-mary-ann-bernal
The Briton and the Daneby Mary Ann BernalEpic 9th century adventureIn captivity, a hostage to fortune, and the focus of political intrigue, Gwyneth is submerged in a world of betrayal and black treachery. Slowly, she realizes the truth is suspect, nothing is what it appears and her reality cannot be trusted. Get it now$0.99 (£0.77) Amazon Kindle UK Amazon Kindle US
Captain Bear beamed up an advanced copy of The Night Porter, print edition, by Mark Barry
Captain Bear's advance copy of The Night Porter by Mark Barry, print edition, has arrived. Contact Marky the Wizard on twitter: @GreenWizard62 to be notified when the paperback is launched.
Can't wait for the print edition, pick up your kindle version at:
Amazon US
http://www.amazon.com/The-Night-Porter-Mark-Barry-ebook/dp/B00J1LJZPA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1395058992&sr=8-2&keywords=the+NIght+porter+by+mark+barry
Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Night-Porter-Mark-Barry-ebook/dp/B00J1LJZPA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395058922&sr=8-1&keywords=the+night+porter+by+mark+barry
History Trivia - Douglas Larder raid - Sir James Douglas razes castle
March 19
235 Maximinus Thrax was proclaimed Emperor of Rome.
1179 The Third Lateran Council of the Catholic Church called a crusade against Cathar heretics in Toulouse.
1307 The Douglas Larder raid - Sir James Douglas was a Scot who returned home from school in Paris to find his estates had been claimed and occupied by an Englishman, Robert de Clifford. Joining with Robert the Bruce for a time, he returned in an attempt to take back his land, attacking his own castle three times. After his final assault, known as the Douglas Larder, he razed the castle to the ground.
1330 King Edward II of England's younger brother, Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Kent died.
235 Maximinus Thrax was proclaimed Emperor of Rome.
1179 The Third Lateran Council of the Catholic Church called a crusade against Cathar heretics in Toulouse.
1307 The Douglas Larder raid - Sir James Douglas was a Scot who returned home from school in Paris to find his estates had been claimed and occupied by an Englishman, Robert de Clifford. Joining with Robert the Bruce for a time, he returned in an attempt to take back his land, attacking his own castle three times. After his final assault, known as the Douglas Larder, he razed the castle to the ground.
1330 King Edward II of England's younger brother, Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Kent died.
March 18, 2014
Israel to build national centre for ancient artefacts
Centre will showcase Israel's rich collection of 2m artefacts including world's largest collection of Dead Sea scrolls
Associated Press in Jerusalem
The Guardian,
An Israel antiquities authority employee works on fragments of the Dead Sea scrolls in Jerusalem. Photograph: Dan Balilty/AP Israel is building a national archaeological centre to store and showcase its rich collection of 2m ancient artefacts, including the world's largest collection of Dead Sea scrolls, Israel's antiquities authority said on Tuesday.
Most of Israel's state antiquities collection, currently stored in large warehouses that are closed to the public, will be moved to a new 35,000 square metre (377,000 sq ft) centre – the antiquities authority's first public centre for exhibiting its hoard of treasures that date back as far as 5,000 years. Parts of the centre will be open to the public.
Israel is calling the archaeological library and archives the largest of their kind in the Middle East.
"It's dazzling … to look at 12,000 ancient glass pieces complete, or the entirety of ancient textiles, or 10,000 oil lamps," said Jacob Fisch, director of the Friends of the Antiquities Authority, a fundraising group involved in the project.
"You will be able to walk through actual national treasures and look into the wealth of the archaeological heritage of the land of Israel."
The centre, currently under construction in Jerusalem and scheduled to be inaugurated in 2016, will serve as a research base for Israeli archaeology and history. It will house a library of some 150,000 books, including 500 rare books, archives of maps, permits and plans of local excavations from the past century, and restoration labs with observation windows for the public to take a peek at conservation work.
The government's collection of some 15,000 Dead Sea scroll fragments – the largest collection in the world – will also move from a small, secure government-operated facility on the Israel Museum campus to a new, state-of-the-art conservation laboratory at the centre. A gallery is also being built to exhibit newly restored scrolls as they are finished being treated.
Written about 2,000 years ago, the Dead Sea scrolls are the earliest copies of the Hebrew Bible ever found, and the oldest written evidence of the roots of Judaism and Christianity in the Holy Land. Israel considers the scrolls a national treasure.
The Israel Museum's seven Dead Sea scrolls, among the most famous and complete scrolls in existence, will remain at the Shrine of the Book, a special gallery dedicated to the museum's scrolls.
The new archaeological centre, designed by Israeli architect Moshe Safdie, is being built next to the Israel Museum and will eventually serve as the antiquity authority's headquarters. Some $80m (£50m) in mostly private funding has been earmarked for the project, provided by some 30 donors from the US, Europe and Israel.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/18/israel-build-national-centre-ancient-artefacts
Associated Press in Jerusalem
The Guardian,
An Israel antiquities authority employee works on fragments of the Dead Sea scrolls in Jerusalem. Photograph: Dan Balilty/AP Israel is building a national archaeological centre to store and showcase its rich collection of 2m ancient artefacts, including the world's largest collection of Dead Sea scrolls, Israel's antiquities authority said on Tuesday.Most of Israel's state antiquities collection, currently stored in large warehouses that are closed to the public, will be moved to a new 35,000 square metre (377,000 sq ft) centre – the antiquities authority's first public centre for exhibiting its hoard of treasures that date back as far as 5,000 years. Parts of the centre will be open to the public.
Israel is calling the archaeological library and archives the largest of their kind in the Middle East.
"It's dazzling … to look at 12,000 ancient glass pieces complete, or the entirety of ancient textiles, or 10,000 oil lamps," said Jacob Fisch, director of the Friends of the Antiquities Authority, a fundraising group involved in the project.
"You will be able to walk through actual national treasures and look into the wealth of the archaeological heritage of the land of Israel."
The centre, currently under construction in Jerusalem and scheduled to be inaugurated in 2016, will serve as a research base for Israeli archaeology and history. It will house a library of some 150,000 books, including 500 rare books, archives of maps, permits and plans of local excavations from the past century, and restoration labs with observation windows for the public to take a peek at conservation work.
The government's collection of some 15,000 Dead Sea scroll fragments – the largest collection in the world – will also move from a small, secure government-operated facility on the Israel Museum campus to a new, state-of-the-art conservation laboratory at the centre. A gallery is also being built to exhibit newly restored scrolls as they are finished being treated.
Written about 2,000 years ago, the Dead Sea scrolls are the earliest copies of the Hebrew Bible ever found, and the oldest written evidence of the roots of Judaism and Christianity in the Holy Land. Israel considers the scrolls a national treasure.
The Israel Museum's seven Dead Sea scrolls, among the most famous and complete scrolls in existence, will remain at the Shrine of the Book, a special gallery dedicated to the museum's scrolls.
The new archaeological centre, designed by Israeli architect Moshe Safdie, is being built next to the Israel Museum and will eventually serve as the antiquity authority's headquarters. Some $80m (£50m) in mostly private funding has been earmarked for the project, provided by some 30 donors from the US, Europe and Israel.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/18/israel-build-national-centre-ancient-artefacts
Thieves steal section of Pompeii fresco
Vandals chip off 20cm section of fresco depicting goddess Artemis, adding to degradation of Unesco world heritage site
A custodian stands in front of the Modesto way, where last week the Artemis fresco was found to have been chiselled off. Photograph: Carlo Hermann/AFP/Getty Images Reuters in RomeThe Guardian Thieves detached and stole a section of fresco in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii last week, adding to the degradation of one of the world's outstanding archaeological sites after heavy rain caused sections of wall to collapse.
Officials from Pompeii's archaeology service said the thieves chipped off a 20cm wide section of fresco depicting the goddess Artemis from a site known as the House of Neptune and Amphitrite, which is not currently open to the public. Security at the site (left) has since been stepped up.
Police said news of the theft, which occurred on 12 March, had been withheld so as not to compromise their investigation of the case, which they described as "particularly delicate".
The latest theft occurred two weeks after sections of wall at the site collapsed during heavy rain, prompting the new culture minister, Dario Franceschini, to promise to increase maintenance work at the site.
One of Italy's most popular attractions, Pompeii was preserved under ash from a volcanic eruption in 79AD and rediscovered in the 18th century. It has become a symbol for decades of mismanagement of Italy's cultural sites after a series of collapses that have brought an international outcry. Reuters
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/18/thieves-steal-fresco-pompeii-italy
A custodian stands in front of the Modesto way, where last week the Artemis fresco was found to have been chiselled off. Photograph: Carlo Hermann/AFP/Getty Images Reuters in RomeThe Guardian Thieves detached and stole a section of fresco in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii last week, adding to the degradation of one of the world's outstanding archaeological sites after heavy rain caused sections of wall to collapse.Officials from Pompeii's archaeology service said the thieves chipped off a 20cm wide section of fresco depicting the goddess Artemis from a site known as the House of Neptune and Amphitrite, which is not currently open to the public. Security at the site (left) has since been stepped up.
Police said news of the theft, which occurred on 12 March, had been withheld so as not to compromise their investigation of the case, which they described as "particularly delicate".
The latest theft occurred two weeks after sections of wall at the site collapsed during heavy rain, prompting the new culture minister, Dario Franceschini, to promise to increase maintenance work at the site.
One of Italy's most popular attractions, Pompeii was preserved under ash from a volcanic eruption in 79AD and rediscovered in the 18th century. It has become a symbol for decades of mismanagement of Italy's cultural sites after a series of collapses that have brought an international outcry. Reuters
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/18/thieves-steal-fresco-pompeii-italy
Blarney Stone mystery solved
By Rob QuinnIreland's famous Blarney Stone isn't a slice of Stonehenge, part of Robert the Bruce's "Stone of Destiny," or anything else more exotic than local limestone, researchers say.
The stone reputed to give those who kiss it the "gift of the gab" has been revealed to be fully Irish by tests on a fragment scraped from the stone embedded in the battlements of County Cork's Blarney Castle, the Herald reports.
Some legends had claimed the stone set into the castle in 1446 had associations with Moses or King David. Researchers at University of Glasgow's Hunterian Museum found the sample amid a collection of thousands of 19th-century geological slides.
"Very few pieces of the Blarney Stone seem to exist outside Blarney Castle," the museum's curator tells the Guardian "Apart from our microscope slide, the only other one I'm aware of is in a monument at the University of Texas," though that piece "seems to have its origins in a beer-fueled party, and the genuineness of the fragment must be in doubt." Tests on the rediscovered slide, which was likely made between 1850 and 1880 by Matthew Forster Heddle, a St.
Andrews professor renowned for his investigations of the country's rocks, revealed that the fragment contained bits of of fossil brachiopod shells and bryozoans, which are specific to the region.
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/03/17/blarney-stone-mystery-solved/?intcmp=trending
Here I am kissing the Blarney stone
Mary Ann Bernal's review of The Night Porter by Mark Barry
If you loved The Remains of the Day, you’ll love The Night Porter
The story takes place in the modern era and focuses on a two week period when The Saladin hotel hosts four renowned authors competing for the prestigious Arkwright Literary Fiction Award.
The author gives the reader an insight into a dying profession, reminding one of the performance given by Anthony Hopkins in “The Remains of the Day”. Mr. Barry delves into the mindset of the British servant personified. The position was not just a job, it was and still is in some instances, a way of life, which is an alien concept with today’s youth.
The reader becomes familiar with the four authors as snippets of their lives unfold. There is discourse amongst the contenders as the British and American writers await press conferences and the awards ceremony itself. Scandalous behavior unbefitting to such a prestigious establishment, but not uncommon in today’s society.
A few days before the ceremony, the porter finds Julian lying on the floor after having been struck in the head, and definitely not an accident. And the thrilling ride begins. As the powers that be attempt to keep a lid on the incident until after the awards ceremony, tension mounts amongst the key players.
Mr. Barry sweeps the reader into the celebratory arena where expectations are rife, building a climatic finish one does not see coming. An excellent read by a superb writer and storyteller. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more of Mr. Barry’s works.
Amazon UShttp://www.amazon.com/The-Night-Porter-Mark-Barry-ebook/dp/B00J1LJZPA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1395058992&sr=8-2&keywords=the+NIght+porter+by+mark+barry
Amazon UKhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Night-Porter-Mark-Barry-ebook/dp/B00J1LJZPA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395058922&sr=8-1&keywords=the+night+porter+by+mark+barry
The Phil Naessens Show: Dave Joerger’s Crazy Rotations Don’t Make Sense!
http://phillipnaessens.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/dave-joergers-crazy-rotations-dont-make-sense/
On this edition of the Phil Naessens Show Kevin Lipe and Phil are both frustrated with Memphis Grizzly Head Coach Dave Joerger’s puzzling rotations and the guys look to the Grizzlies week ahead. David Deckard joins Phil to give his take on the Knicks, Phil Jackson and then the guys examine what the LeMarcus Aldridge injury means to the Portland Trailblazers and the guys look to the Trailblazers upcoming games. Amar joins Phil to take a closer look at the NBA Western Conference, potential playoff matchups and much more NBA talk.
On this edition of the Phil Naessens Show Kevin Lipe and Phil are both frustrated with Memphis Grizzly Head Coach Dave Joerger’s puzzling rotations and the guys look to the Grizzlies week ahead. David Deckard joins Phil to give his take on the Knicks, Phil Jackson and then the guys examine what the LeMarcus Aldridge injury means to the Portland Trailblazers and the guys look to the Trailblazers upcoming games. Amar joins Phil to take a closer look at the NBA Western Conference, potential playoff matchups and much more NBA talk.
