-------- MANTEX NEWSLETTER --------
Number 118 - July 2006 - ISSN 1470-1863
Art - Bloomsbury - Literature - Quiz
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0--- 'What Good Are the Arts?' - new book
John Carey is a literary critic who often
appears on 'Newsnight Review' - a BBC arts
programme which looks at recent works in film,
painting, TV, literature, and culture in general.
He's very good at bridging the gap between popular
and 'high' art - and this book is his take on
questions of profound importance.
Is high art any better than low art? Does art make
us any better? What exactly is a work of art?
And you might be surprised by some of his answers.
I particularly enjoyed his taking the self-aggrandising
Jeanette Winterson down a peg or two.
It's a very witty and entertaining approach to
a deep subject. Read more at -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/carey.htm
0--- Pub quiz - Question #1
How does Anna Karenina die in Tolstoy's novel?
0--- 'Portrait of a Marriage' - Bloomsbury again
Yes, there's no end to the gossip and scandal
surrounding Bloomsbury. But this one takes the
biscuit - or madeleine, as it were.
Vita Sackville-West, married to Harold Nicolson,
a diplomat, developed a violent passion for Violet
Trefusis, who was engaged to a first word war hero.
Undeterred, she dressed up in men's clothes and
'eloped' with her to France, conveniently leaving
behind her husband and two children.
If you want to know what happened after that,
read her son's edited version of her confessional
diary, which charts the whole affair. It's steamy!
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/nicholson-2.htm
0--- Pub quiz - Question #2
Who was the head of the German SS?
0--- 'Jamie's Italy' - new book
Newsletter subscriber Gillian Gray from Tel Aviv
sent us her review of the latest offering from
celebrity TV chef Jamie Oliver.
It's a tie-in from his latest series on the cuisine
of Italy - home of mouth-watering recipes.
He sticks with his principles of healthy options
and fresh produce, yet offers some scrumptious
variations on pasta, pizzas, and Italian delicacies.
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/oliver-2.htm
0--- Pub quiz - Question #3
What type of creature is a turnstone?
0--- If you would like to receive your news and reviews
earlier, why not visit our blog, where they often
appear first. Just go to
http://mantex.blogspot.com
And if you would like the news *sent* to you, why
not subscribe to the RSS feed at the blog.
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http://mantex.blogspot.com/atom.xml
0--- Pub quiz - Question #4
Where do cars with CDN plates come from?
0--- 'Information Dashboard Design' - new book
This is one for web developers or anybody who
is interested in the efficient presentation of data.
Dashboards are a popular way of displaying data
that needs to be monitored on a regular basis.
The secret of a good dashboard is that it needs
to present all the most important data in as
simple a manner as possible.
Clocks, dials, gauges, and graphs can all do
this, and Stephen Few offers a variety of good
examples - as well as a rogues' gallery of common
mistakes. It's a very elegant production.
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/few.htm
0--- Pub quiz - Question #5
When do ducks always lay their eggs?
0--- 'Eminent Victorians' - English classic
This book helped to change the way the British
thought about themselves. And it also marked a
watershed between the nineteenth and the twentieth
centuries.
Lytton Strachey wrote the potted biographies of
Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Thomas
Arnold of Rugby School, and Colonel Gordon - but
his portraits were witty, satirical, irreverent,
and deeply critical of the Victorian age.
The result is an incisive study of the strains
in Victorian belief (particularly its struggle
with Christianity) which led to their breakdown
following the first world war. More here at -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/strachey.htm
0--- Pub quiz - Question #6
What was a minster originally attached to?
0--- F.r.e.e phone calls via the Internet
I've not tried this out, but Jajah are offering
a f.r.e.e call service - which requires no
software.
It applies to land line and mobile calls to and
within: the United States; Canada; China; Hong Kong,
Singapore and Taiwan, and to landline calls to and
within: Australia; UK; Germany; France, Italy and
most other European nations.
http://www.jajah.com/
0--- Pub quiz - Question #7
Who was called the Father of Medicine?
0--- 'Little Red Book of New Labour Sleaze'
This book has an amazing history. At the height
of Tony Blair's worst week in politics, two
bloggers decided to publish an account of the
lies, corruption, and scandals in government.
They invited other bloggers to write the
materials, pulled them all together, and
three weeks later the book was published.
In fact three weeks after that the first
print run had sold out - but you can still
get copies at Amazon.
Read all about Blunkett's bonking, Margaret
Beckett's fiddled expenses, Blair's lies,
Prescott's multiple homes, cars, and sex
lives, and Lord Irvine's £300 a roll wallpaper.
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/dale-fawkes.htm
0--- Pub quiz - Question #8
Which is the oldest university in the USA?
0--- 'Info-Tool: Business reference' - new book
This is just about the biggest single-issue
dictionary I've ever clapped eyes on. It's
big in both format and in content. It contains
definitions of 22,000+ words and expressions
related to all aspects of business, e-Commerce,
and the Internet.
The topics covered include - accounting,
advertising, banking, business and company law,
credit control, customer service, data
communications, finance, foreign exchange,
human resources, information technology,
knowledge management, marketing, planning,
purchasing, risk management, securities trading,
shipping, stock market, and training. And that's
just a selective list.
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/luthra.htm
0--- Pub quiz - Question #9
Who directed Britain's first talking picture?
0----- 'Whitaker's Almanack' [reference book]
This is one of the most popular one-volume
works of reference dealing with current
affairs, recent history, and just about
every facet of public life in the UK.
It also provides basic information on all
the other countries of the world, lists the
current members of parliament, gives
details of currencies and exchange rates,
laws on births, deaths, and marriages - and
you can even check the tides for the coming
year.
It's a famous compilation, now in its 135th
edition. The 1878 edition was included in the
time capsule beneath Cleopatra's needle;
Sherlock Holmes used it in when deciphering
a code in 'The Valley of Fear', and during
World War II, Winston Churchill wrote to the
editor asking that publication would not be
interrupted by the Blitz. Full review at -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/whitak-2.htm
0--- Pub quiz - Question #10
In which country did denim originate?
0--- Pub quiz - ANSWERS
#1 How does Anna Karenina die in Tolstoy's novel?
ANSWER: She throws herself under a train.
#2 Who was the head of the German SS?
ANSWER: Heinrich Himmler
#3 What type of creature is a turnstone?
ANSWER: A bird
#4 Where do cars with CDN plates come from?
ANSWER: Canada
#5 When do ducks always lay their eggs?
ANSWER: In the morning
#6 What was a minster originally attached to?
ANSWER: A monastery
#7 Who was called the Father of Medicine?
ANSWER: Hippocrates
#8 Which is the oldest university in the USA?
ANSWER: Harvard
#9 Who directed Britain's first talking picture?
ANSWER: Alfred Hitchcock
#10 In which country did denim originate?
ANSWER: France (de Nimes)
0--- COMING SOON
'Bauhaus'
'Architecture Now! 4.0'
'Art of the Digital Age'
'Web Design: Flash Sites'
'Oxford Dictionary of Music'
'Web Services Essentials'
'Oxford Companion to English Literature'
'eBay - The Missing Manual'
'Penguin Dictionary of Jokes'
'Yahoo! Hacks'
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News-118-July-2006
ISSN 1470-1863
The British Library