Mark Saha's Blog, page 5
February 7, 2018
Amanda Knox in Dublin
Word that Amanda Knox was flying to Ireland for a 2/5/18 Ray D’Arcy interview on RTE/TV riled haters at Perugia Murder File --
WHATSWISDOM: I also posted this on TJMK. I hope we can blitz Ireland and RTE and try to rip her a new one. Where’s “corpusville” these days? I will try to email him PM. He is located in Dublin.
ERGON [aka Naseer Ahmad]: Corpusville knows about it, whatswisdom
HUGO: Presumably he'll just ask her 'What's it like being so lovely and innocent and talented and misunderstood and hardly stabby at all and can I have a signed photo?'
WHATSWISDOM: Hi Ergon. Thanks for the heads up. Hi Corpusville! Wish I could be there to gatecrash the RTE event. I hope you can find a way to make some noise in Ireland. (I talked to you last year on the late lamented .org. Hope you're doing well.)
FAST PETE: Whatswisdom and Corpusvile: Knox people insist that all questions are on postcards so the Q&A components are pretty slanted. May or may not happen with RTE. I would highly suggest arranging a handout (flier) outside the theater. This happened before, outside the Katie Couric studio in NYC …
HUGO: We'll see tomorrow, but it seems likely that America's Most Exonerated will appear via video link from Seattle, as she did for that British TV interview a few years ago. She might fancy a trip to Dublin if RTE's paying, or she might be wary of hostile 'street recognition.' And it would cost quite a bit for RTE to bring her over and put her up at a nice Dublin hotel. (And Dublin does have some very nice hotels.)
FAST PETE: Hmmm. Could well be. Smart thinking. Right that the few notices dont make this clear.
* * *
Knox in fact arrived in Dublin accompanied by novelist/boyfriend Chris Robinson (“War of the Encyclopaedists). She was compelling and compassionate in an intense 28 minute appearance you can see here [The site will ask your permission to run Adobe Flash]. The interview opens with an Italian TV news clip from 2007 in which she is hustled into a police car for transport to prison. You won’t see the clip but D’Arcy opens by asking her to comment on it.
VIDEO:
https://www.rte.ie/player/us/show/the...
WHATSWISDOM: I also posted this on TJMK. I hope we can blitz Ireland and RTE and try to rip her a new one. Where’s “corpusville” these days? I will try to email him PM. He is located in Dublin.
ERGON [aka Naseer Ahmad]: Corpusville knows about it, whatswisdom
HUGO: Presumably he'll just ask her 'What's it like being so lovely and innocent and talented and misunderstood and hardly stabby at all and can I have a signed photo?'
WHATSWISDOM: Hi Ergon. Thanks for the heads up. Hi Corpusville! Wish I could be there to gatecrash the RTE event. I hope you can find a way to make some noise in Ireland. (I talked to you last year on the late lamented .org. Hope you're doing well.)
FAST PETE: Whatswisdom and Corpusvile: Knox people insist that all questions are on postcards so the Q&A components are pretty slanted. May or may not happen with RTE. I would highly suggest arranging a handout (flier) outside the theater. This happened before, outside the Katie Couric studio in NYC …
HUGO: We'll see tomorrow, but it seems likely that America's Most Exonerated will appear via video link from Seattle, as she did for that British TV interview a few years ago. She might fancy a trip to Dublin if RTE's paying, or she might be wary of hostile 'street recognition.' And it would cost quite a bit for RTE to bring her over and put her up at a nice Dublin hotel. (And Dublin does have some very nice hotels.)
FAST PETE: Hmmm. Could well be. Smart thinking. Right that the few notices dont make this clear.
* * *
Knox in fact arrived in Dublin accompanied by novelist/boyfriend Chris Robinson (“War of the Encyclopaedists). She was compelling and compassionate in an intense 28 minute appearance you can see here [The site will ask your permission to run Adobe Flash]. The interview opens with an Italian TV news clip from 2007 in which she is hustled into a police car for transport to prison. You won’t see the clip but D’Arcy opens by asking her to comment on it.
VIDEO:
https://www.rte.ie/player/us/show/the...
January 23, 2018
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Sure captures the mood of the nation and ought to win some Oscars…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jit3Y...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jit3Y...
December 21, 2017
Brevet Horses
I came across this anecdote in a memoir by Horace Porter, aide to General Grant in the Civil War. The Union Army was under siege at Chattanooga in 1863, and a relief force under General Hooker had won a position on the Tennessee River from which the city could receive supplies.
“As soon as the enemy recovered from his surprise […], Longstreet was dispatched to retrieve, if possible, the lost ground. His troops reached the Wauhatchie in the night of the 28th, and made an attack on Geary’s division of Hooker’s forces. The fight raged for about three hours, but Geary succeeded in holding his ground against greatly superior numbers.
“During the fight Geary’s teamsters had become scared, and had deserted their teams, and the mules, stampeded by the sound of the battle raging around them, had broken loose from their wagons and run away. Fortunately for their reputation and the safety of the command, they started toward the enemy, with heads down and tails up, with trace-chains rattling and whiffletrees snapping over the stumps of trees, they rushed pell-mell over Longstreet’s bewildered men. Believing it to be an impetuous charge of cavalry, his line broke and ran.
“The quartermaster in charge of the animals, not willing to see such distinguished services go unrewarded, sent in the following communication: ‘I respectfully request that the mules, for their gallantry in this action, may have conferred upon them the brevet rank of horses.’ Brevets in the army were being bestowed pretty freely at the time, and when this recommendation was reported to General Grant he laughed heartily at the humor of the suggestion.”
– Porter, Campaigning With Grant
[Brevet = an appointee who did not rise up through the ranks; e.g., Brevet-Major. This was common on both sides because large armies had to be raised so quickly.]
“As soon as the enemy recovered from his surprise […], Longstreet was dispatched to retrieve, if possible, the lost ground. His troops reached the Wauhatchie in the night of the 28th, and made an attack on Geary’s division of Hooker’s forces. The fight raged for about three hours, but Geary succeeded in holding his ground against greatly superior numbers.
“During the fight Geary’s teamsters had become scared, and had deserted their teams, and the mules, stampeded by the sound of the battle raging around them, had broken loose from their wagons and run away. Fortunately for their reputation and the safety of the command, they started toward the enemy, with heads down and tails up, with trace-chains rattling and whiffletrees snapping over the stumps of trees, they rushed pell-mell over Longstreet’s bewildered men. Believing it to be an impetuous charge of cavalry, his line broke and ran.
“The quartermaster in charge of the animals, not willing to see such distinguished services go unrewarded, sent in the following communication: ‘I respectfully request that the mules, for their gallantry in this action, may have conferred upon them the brevet rank of horses.’ Brevets in the army were being bestowed pretty freely at the time, and when this recommendation was reported to General Grant he laughed heartily at the humor of the suggestion.”
– Porter, Campaigning With Grant
[Brevet = an appointee who did not rise up through the ranks; e.g., Brevet-Major. This was common on both sides because large armies had to be raised so quickly.]
September 13, 2017
New Lady Joe Giveaway
Apologies to anyone who entered my Giveaway ending August 30. I made an edit to the descriptive material and the offer expired while edits were awaiting Goodreads approval. Goodreads canceled the giveaway and said I should start another so here it is --
I've doubrd the offer from 5 to 10 copies each signed to the recipient. Contest runs thru October 31st.
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
I've doubrd the offer from 5 to 10 copies each signed to the recipient. Contest runs thru October 31st.
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
June 19, 2017
Lady Joe Giveaway
Runs June 22 – August 30 2017
Enter for a chance to win one of 5 copies of Lady Joe, each autographed to the recipient.
Enter for a chance to win one of 5 copies of Lady Joe, each autographed to the recipient.
June 16, 2017
June 14, 2017
Bob Dylan’s Nobel Lecture
Excerpt --
"The Odyssey is a great book whose themes have worked its way into the ballads of a lot of songwriters: "Homeward Bound", "Green, Green Grass of Home," "Home on the Range," and my songs as well.
"The Odyssey is a strange, adventurous tale of a grown man trying to get home after fighting in a war. He's on that long journey home, and it's filled with traps and pitfalls. He's cursed to wander. He's always getting carried out to sea, always having close calls. Huge chunks of boulders rock his boat. He angers people he shouldn't. There's troublemakers in his crew. Treachery. His men are turned into pigs and then are turned back into younger, more handsome men. He's always trying to rescue somebody. He's a travelin' man, but he's making a lot of stops. […]
"In a lot of ways, some of these same things have happened to you. You too have had drugs dropped into your wine. You too have shared a bed with the wrong woman. You too have been spellbound by magical voices, sweet voices with strange melodies. You too have come so far and have been so far blown back. And you've had close calls as well. You have angered people you should not have. And you too have rambled this country all around. And you've also felt that ill wind, the one that blows you no good. And that's still not all of it."
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_priz...
"The Odyssey is a great book whose themes have worked its way into the ballads of a lot of songwriters: "Homeward Bound", "Green, Green Grass of Home," "Home on the Range," and my songs as well.
"The Odyssey is a strange, adventurous tale of a grown man trying to get home after fighting in a war. He's on that long journey home, and it's filled with traps and pitfalls. He's cursed to wander. He's always getting carried out to sea, always having close calls. Huge chunks of boulders rock his boat. He angers people he shouldn't. There's troublemakers in his crew. Treachery. His men are turned into pigs and then are turned back into younger, more handsome men. He's always trying to rescue somebody. He's a travelin' man, but he's making a lot of stops. […]
"In a lot of ways, some of these same things have happened to you. You too have had drugs dropped into your wine. You too have shared a bed with the wrong woman. You too have been spellbound by magical voices, sweet voices with strange melodies. You too have come so far and have been so far blown back. And you've had close calls as well. You have angered people you should not have. And you too have rambled this country all around. And you've also felt that ill wind, the one that blows you no good. And that's still not all of it."
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_priz...
June 11, 2017
Amanda Knox turns 30
Amanda Knox turns 30 this summer, and it is wonderful to see her looking so good and doing so well these days.
For those who don’t remember, she was arrested in Italy at the age of twenty for the murder of her roommate and spent four years in an Italian prison. Final acquittal in 2015 did little to restore her reputation after years of courtroom and tabloid slanders. She continued to receive death threats and receive verbal abuse when recognized on the street. Many on social media urged her to change her name and “go away”. She refused to change her name, she said, because “Amanda Knox is a good person.” And she wanted to engage the world again, not go into hiding.
Last month she appeared on King 5 News in Seattle to explain how she managed the “hard work” of recovery, and how she is “passing it along” by helping other recent exhonorees. “Most of them don’t make it” and slip into alcohol or drug abuse, she says.
Her conviction for the false accusation of Patrick Lumumba in an unrecorded abusive interrogation is under review by the European Court of Human Rights.
Knox lives with novelist boyfriend Christopher Robinson (War of the Encyclopaedists).
Video:
http://www.king5.com/entertainment/te...
For those who don’t remember, she was arrested in Italy at the age of twenty for the murder of her roommate and spent four years in an Italian prison. Final acquittal in 2015 did little to restore her reputation after years of courtroom and tabloid slanders. She continued to receive death threats and receive verbal abuse when recognized on the street. Many on social media urged her to change her name and “go away”. She refused to change her name, she said, because “Amanda Knox is a good person.” And she wanted to engage the world again, not go into hiding.
Last month she appeared on King 5 News in Seattle to explain how she managed the “hard work” of recovery, and how she is “passing it along” by helping other recent exhonorees. “Most of them don’t make it” and slip into alcohol or drug abuse, she says.
Her conviction for the false accusation of Patrick Lumumba in an unrecorded abusive interrogation is under review by the European Court of Human Rights.
Knox lives with novelist boyfriend Christopher Robinson (War of the Encyclopaedists).
Video:
http://www.king5.com/entertainment/te...
November 23, 2016
Lady Joe Giveaway
Runs November 20 2016 – January 20 2017
Enter for a chance to win one of 10 copies of Lady Joe, each autographed to the recipient.
Enter for a chance to win one of 10 copies of Lady Joe, each autographed to the recipient.
September 3, 2016
Laugh of the Day
Laugh of the day:
Today I received the following notice from Amazon:
"Thank you for submitting your ad campaign, ‘Mark's Account 09/02/2016 8:40’ for review.
“To help provide a welcoming experience for customers of all faiths and beliefs, we restrict religious advertising at Amazon. Our creative acceptance policies for books, notes that we are unable to approve your ad if it contains overtly religious or spiritual ad copy, images, or symbols (for example, the Star of David, a crucifix, the Star and Crescent)."
I replied:
Dear Amazon …I suspect you misread something. My ad copy reads:
"Two SLO cutters in deep horse and women trouble."
SLO = San Luis Obispo, California. Cutters = the sport of cutting cows from a herd on horseback. “Deep trouble” = serious trouble. This is a modern western story and the colloquial wording will be obvious to the intended audience.
Please either (1) reconsider this decision, or (2) explain what is religious or offensive about the ad so I can bring it into compliance. I’m willing but frankly clueless.
Today I received the following notice from Amazon:
"Thank you for submitting your ad campaign, ‘Mark's Account 09/02/2016 8:40’ for review.
“To help provide a welcoming experience for customers of all faiths and beliefs, we restrict religious advertising at Amazon. Our creative acceptance policies for books, notes that we are unable to approve your ad if it contains overtly religious or spiritual ad copy, images, or symbols (for example, the Star of David, a crucifix, the Star and Crescent)."
I replied:
Dear Amazon …I suspect you misread something. My ad copy reads:
"Two SLO cutters in deep horse and women trouble."
SLO = San Luis Obispo, California. Cutters = the sport of cutting cows from a herd on horseback. “Deep trouble” = serious trouble. This is a modern western story and the colloquial wording will be obvious to the intended audience.
Please either (1) reconsider this decision, or (2) explain what is religious or offensive about the ad so I can bring it into compliance. I’m willing but frankly clueless.
