Five memorable homes in literature (It was originally 6, I edited one out because it was stupid)
The March Family Home
The March family home in
'Little Women' by Louisa May Alcott was inspired by the real Alcott family
home, Orchard House, which still exists today, as a historic house museum in
Concord, Massachusetts. The author moved more than 20 times throughout her
life, living both in the bustling city of Boston and on a remote utopian
commune in the town of Harvard. The house was even recreated for the film
adaptation of the novel, directed by Greta Gerwig.
Jay Gatsby's Mansion
F. Scott Fitzgerald, in 'The
Great Gatsby' calls the property a “colossal affair” that “was a factual imitation
of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new
under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty
acres of lawn and garden.” Historians believe that the demolished Beacon Towers
mansion in Sands Point, Long Island, was the inspiration for Gatsby’s home. In
fact, when the novel was turned into a movie in 2013, set designers drew
inspiration from a 1928 Colonial-style castle in Long Island, New York.
Interestingly, the 14,551-square-foot house went on sale for $85 million in
2017.
Mr. Rochester's Thornfield Hall
Thornfield Hall is a fictional
location in the 1847 novel 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Brontë. It is the home of
the male romantic lead, Edward Fairfax Rochester, where much of the action
takes place. An isolated mansion of unspecified size, the house has a number of
apparently unused rooms that become important to the narrative during the
Bertha Mason episodes. Haddon Hall, an English country house on the River Wye
near Bakewell, Derbyshire, has been used to depict Thornfield on several
occasions.
The Woodhouse's Hartfield
Estate
Hartfield is an estate featured
in 'Emma' by Jane Austen. It is owned by the Woodhouse family and is located
near the village of Highbury, and is also relatively close to London. Hartfield
is part of “Highbury, the large and populous village, almost amounting to a
town, to which Hartfield, in spite of its separate lawn, and shrubberies, and
name, did really belong, afforded her no equals.”
Hill House
'The Haunting of Hill House' by
Shirley Jackson centers on the ghost-filled because the story revolves around
it. Hill House is said to have been inspired by the Winchester Mystery House, a
Victorian mansion in San Jose, California, that has its own supernatural
stories. The former owner of this home, Sarah Winchester, was the widow of William
Wirt Winchester, who built his fortune through his firearm company. It’s
believed that the Winchester Mystery House is haunted by the spirits of those
who lost their lives because of the Winchester rifle!
Seven Korean novels you must read (According to whomever wrote this article. “Must” seems a bit over the top but anyway )
Having witnessed an
overwhelming wave of Korean culture sweep over gen-z in the recent past, it’s
now time to get acquainted with the best that it has to offer - Korean Novels.
Following K-dramas and K-pop, Korean literature has arrived and is here to
stay. Encompassing a plethora of unprecedented themes, the novels are
characterized by ingenious storytelling and would appeal to any and every age
group.
Here are some Korean novels that you should read.
'The Wicked Fox' by Kat Cho
The story is set in the Korean
capital of Seoul, where the eighteen-year-old Gout Miyoung feeds on evil men to
survive. One night while on her hunt, she saves Jihoon’s life and ends up
losing the bead that contains her fox-soul. Nine-tailed foxes, shamans,
goblins, the occult, and what not, Kat Cho creates a parallel universe in her
novel where the friendship between human and non-human beings gradually
blossoms into love and makes for an interesting read, to say the least.
Diary of a Murderer' by Kim
Young-ha
A serial killer suffering from Alzheimer’s has his eyes set on his final, most important target- his daughter’s boyfriend. His amnesia, however, has forced him to maintain a journal in which he notes down details of everything that he witnesses or does. How then, will he accomplish his goal, being stuck between a real memory and a parallel one? The novel grips and entertains, but more importantly, thrills the reader to the core.
Pachinko' by Min Jin Lee
Set in the period between 1910 to the present, this is a story of survival, familial ties, identity, blood, resistance, and imperialism. A Korean family immigrates to Japan and has experiences that are unprecedented and uncontrollable. Poignant and engrossing, the book is a study of empathy and equity.
Pic credit: Apollo
'The Disaster Tourist' by Yun
Ko-eun
Yona is a trip coordinator at a travel company that organizes trips to regions that have been hit by disasters. Sexually predated on by her boss, she finds herself on the horns of a dilemma as she has to choose between a fresh start or the company whose cause she has always believed in. A novel take on the climate crisis and feminism, the book defies genre and cuts across multiple themes that require attention.
'The Plotters' by Un-Su Kim
Reseng, a blithe assassin who seldom asks questions, ends up messing up his job only to find out that the assassinations that he has been carrying out are planned by three women, one of whom is his handicapped sister. A full-fledged adrenaline ride, 'The Plotters' is a treat for thrill enthusiasts!
'The Vegetarian' by Han Kang
Based in Seoul, the novel is the story of Yeong-hye, a young woman who decides to embrace a plant-based lifestyle after she starts having thoughts that are spattered with blood and carcasses. What will the consequences of such a decision in a society like hers be?
7 reasons many people like books more than humans
7 reasons many people like books more than humans
1/7 reasons many people like books more than
humans
02/Books are a great company
3/They don't disappoint
4/They are exciting
5/Books teach us many lessons
6/They
never judge
7/Books give you many options
8/They
make us smarter
George Washington Johnson
George Washington Johnson (c. October 1846 – January 23, 1914) was a singer and pioneer sound recording artist, the first African-American recording star of the phonograph.
Johnson was born in or near Wheatland
in Loudoun County. His father was a slave. Johnson was raised as the companion
and servant of a prosperous white farmer's son. During his time with this
family, he developed his musical ability and learned to read and write, which
was illegal for a black child in Virginia at the time.
In his late twenties, he moved to
New York City. By the late 1870s, he was making his living as a street
entertainer, specializing in whistling popular tunes.
In 1890, Johnson was recruited by regional phonograph distributors who were looking for recording artists for the company’s coin-operated machines. Charles. His first big seller was a popular vaudeville novelty song called "The Whistling Coon". (The song’s lyrics compared a black man to a baboon.)
Johnson was able to give out a rowdy laugh in
musical pitch which gave him his next popular tune, "The Laughing
Song" that was followed by "Listen to the Mockingbird"
In the earliest days of the
recording industry, every record was a "master". A singer with a
strong voice could make three or four usable recordings at once, with as many
machines running simultaneously with their recording horns pointed towards the
singer's mouth. Johnson would sometimes sing the same song over and over again
in the recording studio fifty or more times a day.
By 1895, Johnson's two tunes
"The Whistling Coon" and "The Laughing Song" were the
best-selling recordings in the United States. The total sales of his wax
cylinders between 1890 and 1895 have been estimated at 25,000 to 50,000, each
one recorded individually by Johnson. At least one of his 1891 recording
sessions was held at Thomas Edison's laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey.
During those years, two of his
common-law wives ended up dead. The first, a German immigrant, was found dead
in their apartment on West 39th Street in late 1894 or early 1895. No charges
were filed. The second, Roskin Stuart, was found beaten and unconscious in
their apartment on West 41st Street on October 12, 1899. Stuart was taken to
the hospital and died a few hours later. Johnson was tried for first-degree
murder and found not guilty.
By 1905, Johnson's popularity declined, he was
forced to take a job as an office doorman and lived in the office building for
several years before moving to Harlem. Hw died from pneumonia and myocarditis
in 1914 at the age of 67. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Maple Grove
Cemetery in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York.
“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.” ― Jack Kerouac, On the Road
When my boy was a child, the teachers at his school decided....without any medical or therapy training.....that he had a learning problem. I knew he didn't. They fought me and were determined to place him in a "special school" ....no way in Holy Hell was going to allow that to happen because I knew they were wrong.......to teach him things we would go for long rides across the state and I would point out different trees and plants and explain why they were what they were. We went to historical locations and learned about that, we went Black neighborhoods and Latin neighborhoods and saw those cultures, we are in every ethnic restaurant we could find and asked the waiter about their native country....he learned and I learned.....on the long ride back home I played books on tape (This was in the 1980s) and we played On The Road and he was amazed that the beat of the book kept time with beat, the movement from our wheels.....it was a life-changing moment for him.....we took him out of that school and got him away from those dangerous teachers. He now has a BA in writing and produces short stories.
_Perpetuity.
The Latin perpetuus, meaning "continual" or "uninterrupted" is the base root for the perpetuity.
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
THINK FAST: Annual One-Act Play Competition
The Theater Project’s annual short play competition awards the winner for Best Play a $500 prize. The contest is open to adult playwrights, 18 and up. There is no fee to submit your play for consideration, but there is a participation fee for the finalists who present (see below). Plays are accepted in the fall for the March 4,5,6 event. Eight to ten short plays are selected for three prerecorded broadcast performances.
***
The Plain Site Theatre Festival returns for a third season and is currently seeking new LGBTQIA2+ centered plays to develop and produce.
The Plain Site Theatre Festival returns for a new season. Curated by Alex Rioux and run by Theatre St. Thomas in partnership with Solo Chicken Productions, the festival has become an annual part of programming on the St. Thomas University campus presenting new LGBTQIA2+ centered plays with the aim of fostering queer visibility in the local arts scene and on campus.
***
At Hominum Journal, we see the writer and the body as indivisible. Beyond the anatomy of narrative, we believe that there is language deep within our bone marrow and muscle tissue. A language that reconciles the mind/body/spirit divide. A language that, when pushed beyond the physical, has the power to challenge, heal, and embody.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site at https://www.nycplaywrights.org ***
*** THEATER SCAMS ***
It sounds like something out of a Broadway musical: a producer approaches investors, hyping a fantastic, inspirational show about a famous opera singer, starring a famous actress. Only this was real life, with a real person accused of scamming seven people out of $165,000.
Prosecutors in New York indicted a theater producer who allegedly orchestrated a scheme revolving around a new Broadway play he was producing, The KB Project, which would be based on the life of singer Kathleen Battle, reports NBC 4. Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o would star in the play, he claimed, and he had reserved the Booth Theatre on Broadway for the production. Representatives for all those parties say the man never approached them, and there were no deals in place.
Not only that, but in January 2015, according to court documents, the producer claimed to have a deal with Netflix to run the play on its platform, and allegedly used that as leverage to convince investors to give him more money in a second round of funding. Two of the victims invested additional money, prosecutors said.
The cracks started to show in the fall of 2015 when several investors asked where their money was. The producer sent them all checks — which bounced due to insufficient funds, prosecutors said, and the suspect ceased all communications.
More...
***
In December 1794, a young man in London named William Henry Ireland brought his father, Samuel, a devoted collector of antiquities and curiosities, a parchment document sealed with wax. After carefully opening up the parchment, Samuel was astonished at what he saw: a mortgage deed dated 1610, signed by William Shakespeare and John Heminges, an actor in Shakespeare’s King’s Men troupe of players.
At the time, only a handful of signatures were known to have survived from Shakespeare’s handwritten records, so to have a personal document like this was an extraordinary coup. William Henry explained that the document was one of dozens like it he had found while rummaging in an old chest belonging to a rich gentleman whom William Henry described only as "Mr. H." The gentleman wished to remain anonymous to avoid being bothered, William Henry explained, but had assured the young man that he had little interest in the documents and could take whatever he liked.
More...
***
“Fraudsters use the power of theater – pretending to be someone they are not – to scam seniors. SAGES fights fire with fire,” says Christine Hamacher, Executive Director of Senior Actors Guild and Education Services.
Hamacher and her team at SAGES invite seniors from across Tampa Bay to experience their newest production, “Phoney Baloney,” an original play that spotlights reality on both ends of a scam phone call. Thanks to grants from the RRF Foundation for Aging and the Pinellas Community Foundation Senior Citizens Services, DVDs of a live performance are free for use at 55+ communities in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties to help keep seniors from falling victim to scams.
More...
***
I love it. What is the biggest scam you’ve ever pulled off?
Getting a show on Broadway as a producer. I think that’s the one. Being a producer on Broadway wasn’t financial for me, it was about the title. I don’t need more money for this, but it does now give me the chance to be, like, a producer. Broadway producer Jeremy O. Harris. Which is something very few people can say.
But wait, you also did a public scam once. Like, you did one on a late night talk show.
I did, I did. I scammed [Steph]. That was very fun. I love [Steph] so much.
More...
***
The Producers is the story of down-on-his-luck theatrical producer, Max Bialystock, and Leo Bloom, a mousy accountant. Together they hatch the ultimate scam: raise more money than you need for a sure-fire Broadway flop and pocket the difference. Their "sure-fire" theatrical fiasco? None other than the musical Springtime for Hitler.
The day after its opening, The Producers broke the record for the largest single day box office gross in theater history, taking in more than $3 million, and then went on to break its own record in 2003 with over $3.5 million in single day ticket sales.
More...
***
Acting scams are made to appeal to the hopes and dreams of aspiring actors. They exist around every corner of the entertainment business. Seasoned actors know what acting scams look and sound like and so should you. Recognize the red flags: promises of instant stardom, amateur phrases like “no experience necessary,” and guarantees of work or representation. For young people who are just starting out in show business, the difference between the legitimate and the bogus is not so obvious, and scammers know that aspiring performers make the easiest prey.
Acting scams are always too good to be true
The best way to tell legit acting opportunities from acting scams is to educate yourself on the audition process. For an industry shrouded in mystery, the mechanics of casting are really quite simple. You book an audition, either through an agent or on your own. The person holding the audition, after seeing you, decides if you are right for the part. If you are what they are looking for then they ask you to return for a callback or you just might book the job then and there. If they don’t like you, better luck next time and that’s the end of it. It’s that simple.
More...
***
Having a literary agent is the dream of many writers. Countless blog posts, forums, and writers’ handbooks begin with the question: How do you get a literary agent? To these sources, it seems that all a writer needs to do is secure an agent, and every other problem, from finding a publisher to making a living as a writer, is solved.
However, there are many ways in which your relationship with a literary agent can go wrong, and end up causing more damage to your career than if you had never contracted to have that person represent you. This applies not just to visibly dodgy agents, who charge fees upfront (never work with these!). Dangers also arise in connection with agents who are entirely legit and respected in the world of publishing.
Below I tell three horror stories relating to highly reputable agents, the kind that writer’s advice columns are geared to helping you secure, and whom writers are congratulated on signing with. These examples show that, while it has its advantages, being represented by an agent is not as uniformly wonderful as it is cracked up to be.
The embezzler: Donadio & Olson
The first literary agent horror story is linked to Darin Webb, the former bookkeeper for Donadio & Olson literary agency in New York City. Donadio & Olson was a major literary agency until it filed for bankruptcy following an embezzlement scandal in 2018.
Its clients included authors like Chuck Palahniuk as well as the estates of Mario Puzo, Peter Matthiessen, Studs Terkel, Thomas Pynchon, William Gaddis, Robert Stone, Frank Conroy, Nelson Algren, and Joseph Heller.(Disclaimer: I interned here many years ago, in 2000–1, and was overwhelmed by the agency’s alpha male atmosphere.)
As Donadio & Olson authors later learned, Webb spent years siphoning off millions of dollars of royalties due to them during the course of his work as the bookkeeper for Donadio & Olson’s financial accounts. By the time he was caught, Webb had stolen $3.4 million dollars from the money that the agency owed to its clients.
More...
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