What's Going on Out There?

Hurray! I'm Going to Know What's Going on in England Again!: For a couple of months I've been unable to access Achockablog. Turns out it was totally my fault. Stupidity. My bad. I'm connecting again in time to catch a link to the Telegraph on Philip Pullman. Pullman has gone on record as being against school drills that enable kids to get good grades that will make the school look good. Children should not be "going to school in order to get qualifications so that the school doesn't fall down the league table, rather they should be "going to school for something interesting, for a first acquaintance with a delight that will last you a lifetime".

Of course I agree with him. The question is, though, how do you do that?

Pullman also says, "I was lucky enough to grow up at a time and go to church at a time when the King James Bible, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and Hymns Ancient and Modern were the three great texts."

I've heard others rave about The King Jamesversion of the Bible. In fact, once after hearing Madeline L'Engle rave about it at a public talk, I was inspired to stop at the mall on the way home and buy a copy.

I definitely didn't get what all the buzz was about.

Don't All Teenagers Read Pride and Prejudice?: I know I did. So that means it's okay for me to report that Jane Austen is big business in her home country. Sounds like something out of a Jasper Ffordenovel, doesn't it? Thanks to Arts Journal.com for the link.

The Outsiders is Going to Be Re-released! Personally, I'm not that excited about it. I saw the movie on video when a young relative was an enthusiastic fan of the book. He read the book well over ten times and became interested in Robert Frost because Hinton quoted one of his poems. I respect all that, but my biggest memory of watching the movie is sitting in my living room, looking at the clock on the mantel, and thinking, "Dear God, how much more of this will I have to take?"

However, I understand that many people are delighted the movie will get a limited re-release and is coming out on DVD. They should also be interested in The New York Times interview with S.E. Hinton.

Somehow, I didn't expect her to be older than I am.