December 13, 2005

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Grumpy Old Bookman:

“I am not as severely critical of the mainstream media (MSM) as some web-based observers. However, there is increasing evidence that if you want to be up to date on what is happening in the digital world, the last place to look is your daily newspaper.

Here, for instance, are a couple of UK newspaper articles highlighted yesterday by booktrade.info.

First, a Guardian article on the long tail concept — an article which tells you very little that you haven’t read before, if you’ve been paying attention…

And then there’s a piece in the Times, which gives a very quick skim through podcasts, ebooks, digital rights management, and the developments at Google and Amazon.

I am pretty confident that the authors of both these articles are better informed on their areas of expertise than I am. I simply make the point that the editors of a couple of top-class UK newspapers seem to have decided that their role is not to provide really cutting-edge information, but to offer a kind of bland beginner’s guide.”

Brilliant point by the Grumpy Old Bookman.

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A Fantasy Realm Too Vile for Hobbits - New York Times: “In the meantime, Mr. Martin has two more volumes planned in the series after ‘Dragons,’ with noble houses in new wars; strange, spotted children; immense climactic changes; incest; peril; portents; and magic.”

1. Mainstream media validation = late to the party.
2. What about these “strange, spotted children?” Has anyone verified that GRRM meant to say this?

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ETonline.com Movies: Countdown to ‘The Da Vinci Code’:

DAN BROWN’s best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code has become a cultural phenomenon, and now Hollywood is taking on the classical murder mystery with a new movie starring TOM HANKS!

Academy Award� winning producing-directing duo BRIAN GRAZER and RON HOWARD are at the reigns of the fascinating tale which reveals stunning historical secrets following the murder of a curator at the Louvre museum in Paris at the foot of the Mona Lisa.

Hanks plays Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, who teams up with the late curator’s granddaughter, Sophie Neveu (’Amelie’ star AUDREY TAUTOU) — a gifted French cryptologist — to follow a trail of clues through Paris, London and beyond to solve the murder. Along the way, the pair discovers that famed artist Leonardo Da Vinci left a variety of clues hidden in plain sight within his paintings that may point to the location of the Holy Grail itself. But with two secret societies stopping at nothing to keep the Grail hidden, will Langdon and Neveu be able to solve the crime? Or will they become suspects themselves?

And for those purists who are worried Hollywood will mess up one great book, producer Brian Grazer assures ET that he and director Ron Howard plan to remain faithful to the tome and do it justice. “The Da Vinci Code will probably be the biggest, bestselling book ever in history and we want to do it right for everybody,” he says.

Watch ET for an exclusive first look at the all-new ‘Da Vinci Code’ preview trailer!

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