Dear Subscriber,
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CONTENTS:
Australia Day
This month we posted 'The Coming of the British to Australia 1788-1829', by Ida Lee. See http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900091h.html
It is a little late to coincide with Australia day, but still makes interesting reading. Ida Lee documents the arrival of the first fleet and the subsequent development of Australia by Europeans.
Another posting on the subject of Australian history was 'New Light on the Discovery of Australia' at http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900011h.html which canvasses the issue of who may be said to have discovered Australia. Of course the indgenous people were already well aware that it was here.
Public Domain Day
I recently became aware of "Public Domain Day". This day is celebrated on 1 January each year, the day that books enter the public domain after copyright in them has expired. The idea of a "Public Domain Day" is an excellent one as it highlights the fact that copyright has only a limited term and that, thereafter, the books are freely available to anybody. It also highlights the effect of changing the term of copyright. In Australia we won't be able to celebrate "Public Domain Day" until 2026 because of recent changes in our copyright law which extended the period of copyright in Australia. No more books will enter the public domain until 2026. See http://gutenberg.net.au/newsandreviews.html#a14
The KinKong site at http://www.authorandbookinfo.com/abyod/1958.htm lists hundreds of authors who died during 1958 alone. Hundreds also died in 1955, 1956 and 1957. Their work will not enter the public domain in Australia until at least 2026!
Valentine'S Day
'Take 54'
A subscriber pointed out that the date mentioned in last month's newsletter for 'Australia Day' was incorrect. It is, of course, 26 January. Fortunately, I was able to correct my error in a timely manner, so that only a small nmumber of subscribers received the newsletter wth the incorrect date.
The headings for this newsletter are some of titles of the songs on Harry Nilsson's vinyl record album "Son of Schmilsson." This is my little tribute to Harry Nilsson who died in 1994, aged 52 years, following a massive heart attack.
'Remember'
Valentine's day is fast approaching: 14 February (yes, I have checked that date!) is nearly upon us. Wikipedia has a long article about the history and sigfificance of the day at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_day. And, though I did not know of it until I searched for the Wikipedia article on Valentine's Day for this newsletter, it seems that there is a 'simple' Wikipedia and it also boasts an article on Valentine's Day at http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day You want more? There is even a Wikipedia article concerning the reason for a 'simple' Wikipedia at http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_English_Wikipedia. The rationale is quite sensible, really.
The opening paragraph of the 'simple' Wikipedia article about Valentine's Day suits our purpose:
"Valentine's Day is a holiday that happens on February 14. It is the day of the year when lovers show their love to each other. This can be done by giving flowers, chocolates or Valentine's cards. Love notes can be given to one another. These notes are called valentines."
At this point one would expect that I would list a number of ebooks concerning Valentine's Day, or at the very least, concerning love and relationships. A few qoutations might also be in order. Well, you will not be disappointed in this regard, I trust. Firstly, however, I must indulge myself.
'Joy'
My wife and I received a turntable as a Christmas gift so that we could play vinyl records from our old collection. The old turntable gave up the ghost some years ago and, with all the other media around, we hadn't bothered to replace it. With a new turntable at hand, we didn't take long in getting out the records. Near the top of the pile was "Son of Schmilsson" (Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_Schmilsson), by Harry Nilsson. Now that gives a clue to my age. The tenuous link to this article on Valentine's Day is a song titled "Joy." An unlikely love song, Joy is so "true" and so witty that I must reproduce some of the words, albeit without the benefit of Nilsson's dulcet tones providing the delicious nuance.
The other day I met a girl named Joy
She said, "Come here, I'm gonna make you my joy boy"
Well, things went good and things went bad
Now every time I think of Joy
It makes me sad
The other day I met a girl named Joy
She said, "Roy, I'm gonna make you my joy boy"
Well, she took me for a ride, sort of a joy ride
Now every time I think of Joy
I get all weird inside
Oh, Joy to the world was a beautiful girl
But to me Joy meant only sorrow
Now if you haven't got an answer
Then you haven't got a question
And if you never had a question
Then you never had a problem
But if you never had a problem
Well, everyone would be happy
But if everyone was happy
There'd never be a love song
"Should" is a word I like to leave out of my vocabulary, but, if you like the words of "Joy", you SHOULD LISTEN to this song if you get a chance, even if it is just to indulge me.
Well, here we go...let's take a joy ride...
'You're Breakin' My Heart'
Over 2000 years ago Ovid said a lot about love. We don't have any of his work at PGA. However, see:
The Art of Love http://www.tonykline.co.uk/PITBR/Latin/Artoflovehome.htm
and
The Cures for Love http://www.tonykline.co.uk/PITBR/Latin/CuresforLove.htm
HOW TO FIND HER (From The Art of Love)
While you're still free, and can roam on a loose rein,
pick one to whom you could say: 'You alone please me.'
She won't come falling for you out of thin air:
the right girl has to be searched for: use your eyes.
The hunter knows where to spread nets for the stag,
he knows what valleys hide the angry boar:
the wild-fowler knows the woods: the fisherman
knows the waters where the most fish spawn:
You too, who search for the essence of lasting love,
must be taught the places that the girls frequent.
Nothing much has changed in 2000 years! (My words, not those of Ovid!)
'Ambush'
Even earlier than Ovid, in Homer's "Odyssey", Odysseus took 10 years to get home after being waylaid following the ten-year Trojan war. Penelope, his wife, waited for him and had to deal with a group of unruly suitors competing for her hand in marriage, since most had assumed that Odysseus had died. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Odyssey
However, all's well that ends well, and in the translation of The Odyssey by Samuel Butler, at Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/dyssy10.txt we find, upon the return of Ulysses, that:
"When Ulysses and Penelope had had their fill of love they fell talking with one another. She told him how much she had had to bear in seeing the house filled with a crowd of wicked suitors who had killed so many sheep and oxen on her account, and had drunk so many casks of wine. Ulysses in his turn told her what he had suffered, and how much trouble he had himself given to other people. He told her everything, and she was so delighted to listen that she never went to sleep till he had ended his whole story."
Nothing much has changed in 2000 years!
'The Most Beautiful World in the World'
If we fast forward our joy ride" to the 20th Century, the following ebooks come to mind as they all, in one way or another concern love found and love lost and sometimes, perhaps, even a little "hapily ever after". Remember, nothing much has changed in 2000 years!
* LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER by D H Lawrence
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Chatterley%27s_Lover
And, the ebook at http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-a-m.html#lawrence
"But a great deal of us is together, and we can but abide by it, and steer our courses to meet soon. John Thomas says good-night to Lady Jane, a little droopingly, but with a hopeful heart."
* THE GOOD SOLDIER by Ford Madox Ford
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Soldier
And the ebook at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2775
"So, you see, he would have plenty to gurgle about to a woman--with that and his sound common sense about martingales and his--still sentimental--experiences as a county magistrate; and with his intense, optimistic belief that the woman he was making love to at the moment was the one he was destined, at last, to be eternally constant to..."
* GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_with_the_wind
And the ebook at http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-a-m.html#mitchellm
"She had never understood either of the men she had loved and so she had lost them both. Now, she had a fumbling knowledge that, had she ever understood Ashley, she would never have loved him; had she ever understood Rhett, she would never have lost him. She wondered forlornly if she had ever really understood anyone in the world."
'Turn on the Radio'
Words are really cheap (or should I say inexpensive?) in the digital age. There is virtually no cost to distribute them. Take this newsletter, for instance. At issue is the fact that we risk devaluing words by wasting them or using boring ones or using too many, so that people stop paying attention. I hope you had some fun reading this newsletter and that I kept your attention. I certainly enjoyed writing it. You are welcome to let me know what you think about the newsletter and to make suggestions about its form or content. To contact me, Colin Choat, go to http://gutenberg.net.au/contactform.htm
[Or, 'The Lottery Song'--Well, what you get is like the result of a lottery, isn't it.]
A list of all the books we provide is available from http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty.html
Check there to see if there are other works by the authors listed
below
-- JANUARY POSTINGS -- Jan 2009 The Bindles on the Rocks, Herbert Jenkins [090010xx.xxx] 1733A http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900101.txt or .zip http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900101h.html Jan 2009 The Coming of the British to Australia, Ida Lee [090009xx.xxx] 1732A http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900091.txt or .zip http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900091h.html [Title: The Coming of the British to Australia 1788 to 1829] Jan 2009 Bosambo of the River, Edgar Wallace [090008xx.xxx] 1731A http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900081.txt or .zip Jan 2009 Lieutenant Bones, Edgar Wallace [090007xx.xxx] 1730A http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900071.txt or .zip Jan 2009 The Karen Apostle or Memoir of Ko Thah-Byu,F Mason[090006xx.xxx] 1729A [Author full name: Francis Mason] http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900061.txt or .zip http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900061h.html Jan 2009 A Vocabulary of the Sgau Karen Language, J Wade [090005xx.xxx] 1728A [Author full name: Jonathan Wade] http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900051p.pdf Jan 2009 Letters to a Young Woman, Rainer Maria Rilke [090004xx.xxx] 1727A [Title in German: Briefe an eine junge Frau] [Translator: William Needham] http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900041h.html Jan 2009 The Green Archer, Edgar Wallace [090003xx.xxx] 1726A http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900031.txt or .zip Jan 2009 Sea and Sardinia, D H Lawrence [090002xx.xxx] 1725A http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900021.txt or .zip Jan 2009 New Light on the Discovery of Australia, H Stevens[090001xx.xxx] 1724A [Author: Henry Stevens] http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900011h.html
[or 'Spaceman', or 'At my Front Door', or 'I'd Rather be Dead'--Well, I had to work the rest of the titles in somewhere, didn't I?]
Newsletter Editor: Colin Choat.
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