<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><rss xmlns:atom='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' version='2.0'><channel><atom:id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215</atom:id><lastBuildDate>Wed, 22 Nov 2006 20:56:44 +0000</lastBuildDate><title>Rob's all-purpose Writing Blog</title><description></description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/index.html</link><managingEditor>gtveloce</managingEditor><generator>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>18</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-4836155189985292651</guid><pubDate>Sun, 03 Dec 2006 22:41:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-12-03T22:58:48.575Z</atom:updated><category domain='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#'>publishing</category><category domain='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#'>writing</category><category domain='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#'>books</category><category domain='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#'>reading</category><category domain='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#'>ebooks</category><title>Books ain't going away</title><description>Book sales are climbing, despite the advance of online publsihing. Well so they say. I don't personally buy as many books. When I was in my 20s I used to buy 2-3 a week, and 3-5 magazines. Now I buy books in binges, for gifts (even for myself) about every 3-6 months. I've cut back about 70-80%. And magazines are down to 3-5 every 3 months. Now I'm no longer single, I have kids and I'm in my late 40s, so things &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;are&lt;/span&gt; different. I've changed, and so have my habits. It's not &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;just&lt;/span&gt; the Internet that has changed my ways, but it's a factor. I also don't send much mail. Most  - almost &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;all&lt;/span&gt; - of my writing is electronic and  well, the computer is king. If I could carry the computer around as easily as the printed word then I think I'd just about stop buying books - except as gifts, I guess. I need the &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;functionality&lt;/span&gt; of the book, not the book &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;per se&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However I do treasure &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;old&lt;/span&gt; books,and am loathe to let go of any of the thousand or so we have around the house. A really nice hardcover looks and feels right, and old tomes can be enjoyed in the hand in a way that the screen can't match. On the other hand when I want to read I do prefer to read online. Call me strange but the ability to call up references online, to cut and paste quotes, to add comments and to change font sizes at a whim are 'killer' advantages for me. Now as a 49-year old I'm probably odd in those habits, but how about the kids "growing up" online? What will they expect, books on their gaming consoles? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Forbes has an intersting article &lt;a href="http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/30/copyright-ebooks-internet-tech-media_cz_je_books06_1201copyright.html?partner=alerts"&gt;on this subject here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/12/books-aint-going-away.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-5293718266712927573</guid><pubDate>Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:53:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-22T12:56:22.952Z</atom:updated><title>Still slack.</title><description>Still slack after all these years. Well I have been busy at work! I have found some old manuscripts which I'll be scanning and re-writing - but that will take time.  2 plays and my unfinished novel - appropriately named&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; The Endless&lt;/span&gt;. In the meantime I'm still blogging away.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/11/still-slack.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-116129932500484326</guid><pubDate>Thu, 19 Oct 2006 23:01:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:24.091Z</atom:updated><title>Palimpsests</title><description>Occasionally I see a word that just has to be used, somewhere - anywhere. Today's word is &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;palimpsest&lt;/span&gt;. According to Wikipedia a &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palimpsest"&gt;palimpsest&lt;/a&gt; is a document that has been wiped clean and used again (comes from the Greek to 'wipe clean', roughly speaking). Cicero and his fellow Romans used wax-coated tablets that - &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;you guessed it&lt;/span&gt; - could be wiped clean and &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;reused&lt;/span&gt;. Sounds like a technology we could (re)use today. Historically speaking palimpsests are especially useful when we are able to decipher what was written before. One 'original' document may have &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;overwritten&lt;/span&gt; a previous version, like the Christian churches scrubbing out and writing over pagan beliefs (if not adapting them to suit their needs). It's a window into the past.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/10/palimpsests.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-116123364518500628</guid><pubDate>Thu, 19 Oct 2006 04:43:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:23.947Z</atom:updated><title>Blogs - useful or not?</title><description>This &lt;a href="http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1577&amp;CFID=306355&amp;amp;CFTOKEN=47784765"&gt;Wharton article&lt;/a&gt; can be summarised as describing a dichotomy formed from blog-readers (who believe that targeted reading in areas of speciality adds usefully to their own knowledge) and the blog-disbelievers (who don't recognise the credibility of bloggers and prefer the 'verified' accuracy of the established media). Take your pick. I'm biased. I write 'em. But I write because I love writing; and it leverages my personal learning agenda to research a topic and then write about it. That it is publicly accessible is a small yet significant bonus to me. If people read my work and get something out of it, great - I like to help. I also read blogs myself to get insights into other people's lives, interests and passions.  I don't believe or embrace &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;everything&lt;/span&gt; I read - certainly not in the established media, let alone the blogosphere - and I check the veracity of anything that &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;matters &lt;/span&gt;with other sources. It's not rocket science, folks. It's just another channel. If you ignore or disdain that channel, so be it. It's not my loss, it's solely yours.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/10/blogs-useful-or-not.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-116097787760653223</guid><pubDate>Mon, 16 Oct 2006 05:49:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:23.829Z</atom:updated><title>Yeah yeah I know</title><description>Yeah yeah I know - I really should follow my own advice and write more often. Sometimes it just doesn't happen... however I have updated this &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/"&gt;site&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/10/yeah-yeah-i-know.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-115862297928813888</guid><pubDate>Mon, 18 Sep 2006 23:38:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:23.698Z</atom:updated><title>My advice</title><description>FWIW, my advice is simple....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ol&gt;&lt;li&gt;Write everyday. Doesn't matter what it is, just write. You'll get better if you just practice&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use your tools. Don't hesitate to look up a definition. New words are new tools&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Get feedback from a wide range of sources and take note&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;In fact take notes all the time - carry a pen and paper or a PDA, something to jot down ideas&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Write about what you know, or what you want to know&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Research widely. Get to know your sources and your topic&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Get out and about, see things, do things and write about them... whenever you can!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/09/my-advice.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-115862245084984535</guid><pubDate>Mon, 18 Sep 2006 23:25:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:23.586Z</atom:updated><title>Writer's Links</title><description>Spend a few hours reading &lt;a href="http://www.internet-resources.com/writers/"&gt;these links&lt;/a&gt;, then start writing. Easy. Read &lt;a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/rhetoric.mb.txt"&gt;Aristotle's &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Rhetoric&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; online at MIT, free. It's a classic and remains influential to this day. Try &lt;a href="http://www.writing.com/?rfrc=inkspot.com"&gt;Writing.com&lt;/a&gt;, see what you think. It's extensive, anyway. Don't spend too much time hanging around reading, though. Why not &lt;a href="http://www.write4kids.com/"&gt;write for kids&lt;/a&gt;? Or go &lt;a href="http://freelancewrite.about.com/"&gt;freelance&lt;/a&gt;? Check out &lt;a href="http://www.google.com/Top/Arts/Writers_Resources/"&gt;Googles' writing resources&lt;/a&gt;. You still aren't doing any writng, are you? Why not &lt;a href="http://www.notwriting.com/"&gt;procrastinate here&lt;/a&gt;? More links, &lt;a href="http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/%7Ejlynch/Writing/links.html"&gt;from Rutgers&lt;/a&gt;. Will it never end?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/09/writers-links.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-115758544745833729</guid><pubDate>Wed, 06 Sep 2006 23:24:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:23.472Z</atom:updated><title>Myths and Legends</title><description>Myths and Legends - there's good writing material here. Witness Harry Potter and his ilk.  You can walk in the footsteps of J K Rowling's research by trawling for historical material on Nicholas Flamel, Cerberus and the Philosopher's stone. Or just read about it here, in my new &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/Mythoblogia/"&gt;Mythoblogia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's more than a passing interest... I've been addicted to reading the Greek and Roman myths since I was a kid... and that interest has spread to the dark arts as well as comparative religion. So yet again I am demonstrating a method behind my madness. &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Write about what you love, or write about what you want to learn.&lt;/span&gt; If you can do both at the same time, great!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/09/myths-and-legends.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-115631611999258389</guid><pubDate>Wed, 23 Aug 2006 06:54:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:23.314Z</atom:updated><title>Recommended reading</title><description>&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?p=38" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: Recommended reading - way out but worth it"&gt;Way out but worth it&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;            &lt;p&gt;Because I can, I will share here some &lt;strong&gt;weirder choices&lt;/strong&gt; from my personal bookshelf. You may not agree with 'weird', indeed&lt;strong&gt; weird&lt;/strong&gt; is the wrong word. Nevertheless I use it &lt;em&gt;advisedly&lt;/em&gt; in the sense that I will cover subjects &lt;em&gt;beyond literal truth&lt;/em&gt;. And I use &lt;strong&gt;truth&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;advisedly&lt;/em&gt; as &lt;strong&gt;mathematics&lt;/strong&gt; is the only &lt;em&gt;provable&lt;/em&gt; truth. Everything else is either &lt;em&gt;awaiting&lt;/em&gt; a mathematical proof or is a &lt;strong&gt;belief&lt;/strong&gt;, a &lt;strong&gt;theory&lt;/strong&gt; or an &lt;strong&gt;assumption&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Just to explain my thinking: you may &lt;strong&gt;believe&lt;/strong&gt; in what you can see, hear and/or touch, and that's cool; but it's not necessarily &lt;em&gt;a literal truth&lt;/em&gt;. Even if a thousand people see, hear and/or touch that &lt;em&gt;thing&lt;/em&gt; it doesn't make it true. It may be real enough to the people concerned but it's &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; an incontrovertible truth. It &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; be an illusion. It &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; be a shared thought. It &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; be a shared assumption. It's something, but it's not a literal truth. &lt;strong&gt;To be a literal truth requires proof&lt;/strong&gt;. To my mind we can only be &lt;em&gt;certain&lt;/em&gt; of &lt;strong&gt;mathematical proofs&lt;/strong&gt;, as I haven't seen any other proof that convincingly lives outside the mind &lt;em&gt;or perception&lt;/em&gt; of man.&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;And I could be wrong about maths.&lt;/strong&gt; Perhaps there is &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt; independent proof? Ahhh, but that's &lt;em&gt;an undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns&lt;/em&gt;....&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So to the first installment of my &lt;em&gt;'way out but worth it'&lt;/em&gt; booklist, in no particular order:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" title="No so weird - Bill's works in full" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&amp;tag=gtvelocecom-20&amp;amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;location=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0004704754%2Fsr%3D1-2%2Fqid%3D1156295615%2Fref%3Dpd_bbs_2%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks"&gt;Bill Shakespeare's works in full&lt;/a&gt;. An essential lesson in the use of the English language, up there with &lt;a target="_blank" title="Fowler's MEU" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&amp;tag=gtvelocecom-20&amp;amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;location=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0198610211%2Fsr%3D1-1%2Fqid%3D1156296837%2Fref%3Dpd_bbs_1%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks"&gt;Fowler's&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&amp;tag=gtvelocecom-20&amp;amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;location=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0375708111%2Fsr%3D1-1%2Fqid%3D1156297890%2Fref%3Dpd_bbs_1%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks"&gt;The Elegant Universe&lt;/a&gt; (by Brian Greene. Post-Einstein string theory to get you thinking.)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;Anything by &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&amp;tag=gtvelocecom-20&amp;amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;location=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0393315703%2Fsr%3D1-3%2Fqid%3D1156298192%2Fref%3Dpd_bbs_3%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks"&gt;Richard Dawkins&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&amp;tag=gtvelocecom-20&amp;amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;location=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0393303756%2Fsr%3D1-5%2Fqid%3D1156298302%2Fref%3Dsr_1_5%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks"&gt;Stephen Jay Gould&lt;/a&gt;. As I said, there are mathematical proofs and there are theories. Some theories are more compelling than others.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" title="Check out Amazon for the Torah" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&amp;tag=gtvelocecom-20&amp;amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;location=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F082760680X%2Fsr%3D1-4%2Fqid%3D1156291231%2Fref%3Dsr_1_4%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks"&gt;The Torah&lt;/a&gt; (the Pentateuch, the Book of Moses: a lively read, basis for Judaism and the Old Testment and a fascinating read on any level)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" title="Check out the Bible at Amazon" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&amp;tag=gtvelocecom-20&amp;amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;location=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0529064634%2Fsr%3D1-2%2Fqid%3D1156291728%2Fref%3Dpd_bbs_2%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks"&gt;The Bible&lt;/a&gt; (Greek for &lt;em&gt;'Books'&lt;/em&gt;; &lt;em&gt;The&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;Old&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;New Testaments&lt;/em&gt;: basis for the Christian cults and a brilliant read)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" title="Check out the Koran at Amazon" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&amp;tag=gtvelocecom-20&amp;amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;location=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0140445587%2Fsr%3D1-1%2Fqid%3D1156294214%2Fref%3Dpd_bbs_1%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks"&gt;The Koran&lt;/a&gt; (Arabic for &lt;em&gt;'Recital'&lt;/em&gt;: another excellent piece of writing and the basis for Islam. I have the Dawood translation)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" title="A compelling read... Amazon has it" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&amp;tag=gtvelocecom-20&amp;amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;location=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0877289298%2Fsr%3D1-1%2Fqid%3D1156294451%2Fref%3Dpd_bbs_1%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks"&gt;The History of Magic&lt;/a&gt; (by &lt;em&gt;Eliphas Levi&lt;/em&gt;: a great, compelling read. Spot the &lt;em&gt;a ha!&lt;/em&gt; 'Harry Potter' moments and see the footprints of Rowling's research)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a title="a charming read... buy it at Amazon" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&amp;tag=gtvelocecom-20&amp;amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;location=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0140193650%2Fsr%3D1-1%2Fqid%3D1156294612%2Fref%3Dpd_bbs_1%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks"&gt;The Theory of Celestial influence&lt;/a&gt; (by &lt;em&gt;Rodney Collin&lt;/em&gt;: immensely detailed, it wallows around trying to 'prove' a case scientifically but falls &lt;em&gt;magnificently&lt;/em&gt; short. Can be heavy, clumsy and painful to read... but still worth it for the determined!).&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;That's just for starters.&lt;/strong&gt; Let me know what you think.&lt;/p&gt;                    &lt;small&gt;       This entry was posted               on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006 at 9:51 am      and is filed under &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=1" title="View all posts in No idea where this one goes" rel="category tag"&gt;No idea where this one goes&lt;/a&gt;,  &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=11" title="View all posts in Writing" rel="category tag"&gt;Writing&lt;/a&gt;,  &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=12" title="View all posts in Religion and Essential Truths" rel="category tag"&gt;Religion and Essential Truths&lt;/a&gt;.       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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/08/recommended-reading.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-115561302885090489</guid><pubDate>Tue, 15 Aug 2006 03:33:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:23.158Z</atom:updated><title>Latest written words</title><description>&lt;div class="post" id="post-35"&gt;Sometimes blogging is all that write. I am working on a book and a play but that may take some time yet. So here are some snippets of blog-writing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?p=35" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Why vote anyway?"&gt;Why vote anyway?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;     &lt;small&gt;August 10th, 2006 &lt;!-- by Administrator --&gt;&lt;/small&gt;          &lt;div class="entry"&gt;       &lt;p&gt;Love this &lt;a title="Elect Frozen Peas!" href="http://www.payattention.org/candidates/FrozenPeas/"&gt;campaign in the US&lt;/a&gt; urging people to vote (being a midterm election coming up and all). It’s cute. Here in Australia we shoot you if you don’t vote. Kidding. We actually pretty much do nothing – but we do ask you for a good reason like, &lt;em&gt;‘I was napping at the time’&lt;/em&gt;. They &lt;strong&gt;can&lt;/strong&gt; fine you for not voting, or at least not turning up at the poll booth anyway. Not so in the US of A where apathy is your demo-o-cratic right!&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;The &lt;a title="Frozen peas advert" href="http://adcouncil.wmod.llnwd.net/a540/o1/adcouncil/tv/youth_voter/youthvote_frozenpeas_30.wmv"&gt;Frozen Peas video&lt;/a&gt; is cool.&lt;/p&gt;      &lt;/div&gt;        &lt;p class="postmetadata"&gt;Posted in &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=2" title="View all posts in Raves" rel="category tag"&gt;Raves&lt;/a&gt;,  &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=4" title="View all posts in Humanity" rel="category tag"&gt;Humanity&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&amp;post=35"&gt;Edit&lt;/a&gt; |   &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?p=35#respond" title="Comment on Why vote anyway?"&gt;No Comments »&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;/div&gt;             &lt;div class="post" id="post-34"&gt;     &lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?p=34" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Toyota’s massive profit"&gt;Toyota’s massive profit&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;     &lt;small&gt;August 10th, 2006 &lt;!-- by Administrator --&gt;&lt;/small&gt;          &lt;div class="entry"&gt;       &lt;p&gt;There’s money in cars, isn’t there? Carconnection.com reports:&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto_News/Auto_News/Toyota_Earnings_Soar_39_Percent.S175.A10736.html"&gt;Toyota Motor Corp. continued its unprecedented profit run by reporting a 39-percent jump in income for first quarter of its new fiscal year. Takeshi Suzuki, &lt;span class="caps"&gt;TMC&lt;/span&gt; senior managing director, said the results, which included a 13-percent increase in revenue from the same period a year ago, were the result on the plans for the growth the company had set in place. “We posted substantial increases in both revenues and profits, achieving record levels. We believe this is a result of the company-side efforts to implement the plans that we set at the beginning of the fiscal year.”&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wow. Over 11billion US dollars profit.&lt;/strong&gt; I have some thoughts here.&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;One, how the mighty US car makers have crumbled.&lt;/strong&gt; GM and Ford have been selling assets to prop up ailing businesses over the last few years. You look at their products and think: too fat, too truck-centered, too thirsty. Then you look at nimble, efficient Toyota. Able to match anyone with trucks, 4wds, big, medium or small cars…hybrids as well. They have the production processes, the speed of design and development and the low cost manufacturing needed to survive down pat. I suspect only a few car companies can compete, possibly only the Koreans, the Chinese and the Indians will have the wherewithal to survive in the global marketplace, with local markets aggregating into perhaps one or 2 European and US manufacturers, propped up with subsidies. Everyone else will go niche or go bust. There’s a lot at stake here, including national pride and loads of jobs.&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Which brings me to my next thought. &lt;/strong&gt;What if global climate change and the effects of rising water levels and fiercer weather can be proven, or at least sufficently so that a case against can be made? Will we see liability cases claiming damages against the big, profitable oil and automotive corporations for continuing to make ridiculously inappropriate products in the face of diabolical climate effects? Does this leave GM and Ford off the hook (as they are unprofitable, or look pretty shaky at best) or will such damages claims actually sink their collective ships?&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Maybe Toyota will need its ‘war chest’ of cash to pay some future ‘social responsibility’ claims?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;      &lt;/div&gt;        &lt;p class="postmetadata"&gt;Posted in &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=5" title="View all posts in Global Warming" rel="category tag"&gt;Global Warming&lt;/a&gt;,  &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=6" title="View all posts in Motoring" rel="category tag"&gt;Motoring&lt;/a&gt;,  &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=7" title="View all posts in Business" rel="category tag"&gt;Business&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&amp;amp;post=34"&gt;Edit&lt;/a&gt; |   &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?p=34#respond" title="Comment on Toyota's massive profit"&gt;No Comments »&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;/div&gt;             &lt;div class="post" id="post-33"&gt;     &lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?p=33" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Oh please all wake up!"&gt;Oh please all wake up!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;     &lt;small&gt;August 8th, 2006 &lt;!-- by Administrator --&gt;&lt;/small&gt;          &lt;div class="entry"&gt;       &lt;p&gt;&lt;a title="Crikey.com.au" href="http://www.crikey.com.au/"&gt;Crikey&lt;/a&gt; just sent me an email, as they do. In part, it reads…”&lt;em&gt;What generally prevents commodity shortages doing major damage to the economy is the price mechanism. As things get scarce, their price rises, and that provides incentives to (a) produce or discover more of them, (b) find or invent substitutes for them, (c) use less of them, and (d) recycle them or use them more efficiently. The combination of these effects minimises dislocation and allows us gradually to shift to different ways of doing things. But if governments are so short-sighted – or just plain stupid – as to try to keep petrol prices artificially low, then none of this will happen. Instead, we’ll continue happily consuming cheap fuel until we wake up one morning and discover we’ve run out, just as the “peak oil” people say.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Well d’oh! It’s not that complicated, is it?&lt;/strong&gt; So why are we waking up in 2006 to the need to price resources properly and avoid market distortions? We pump &lt;strong&gt;millions of public dollars&lt;/strong&gt; into shared infrastructure like roads, seemingly unaware that this is &lt;em&gt;subsidising road transport&lt;/em&gt;. We whinge about road tolls. We pay enormous sums in public medical care for car accident victims. We even (in Australia at least) make driving and leasing cars &lt;em&gt;a tax saving&lt;/em&gt;!We are subsidising cars in the name of freedom, left right and centre.&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;The oil took aeons to make, it lies in pools underground. &lt;strong&gt;It was always going to run out sometime.&lt;/strong&gt; Some of the pools are large, some small. Some are easier to get to than others. Some are dirtier, some cleaner. Some are on shore, some off. Some still pump at high pressure, some are losing oomph. More than likely we have found the easiest, cheapest places to pump oil and only with higher prices will it become profitable to extract it. As the price rises it gets cheaper to use not only harder-to-get-to oil but also smaller bodies, gas bodies and finally other alternatives like coal, oil shale and so on. With higher prices we can stretch this out 100, maybe 150 years?&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Let’s not forget that it’s not just transport that uses oil. The petrochemical companies use it to make plastics, for instance. Indirectly but pretty importantly tourism is a big current user, too.&lt;br /&gt;But the bottom line is that these are &lt;strong&gt;all fossil fuels&lt;/strong&gt;. It’s not just that we may or may not have reached peak oil, we always knew that would happen. Nor is it that our governments are concerned about price hits and may do something silly like cut excise on the damned stuff. &lt;strong&gt;These are all climate-changing fuels.&lt;/strong&gt; If we keep consuming and pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere we will &lt;em&gt;dramatically&lt;/em&gt; alter our climate and wreak havoc all around – if we haven’t already done so.&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Let’s not quibble about the &lt;em&gt;economic&lt;/em&gt; effects of peak oil, let’s look at the bigger picture of our global addiction to cars, and probably air travel as well. Just making cars consumes energy resources, covers arable land in concrete and tar, and adds to the overall carbon problem – without even driving the damned things. We need to wake up and have a really good think about what we want here. And ask what’s sustainable. &lt;strong&gt;And price our resource use &lt;em&gt;not just on what they cost to extract &lt;/em&gt;plus a margin, but on what they cost in terms of &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; effects, including climate change and biosphere damage.&lt;/strong&gt; Unfortunately we are so dependent on selling complex manufactured goods, and cars are such a good employer of people and such a wonderful empowerer, that we &lt;strong&gt;all&lt;/strong&gt; want one. (Indeed I guiltily have 3.)&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;But is there enough planet to go around?&lt;/p&gt;      &lt;/div&gt;        &lt;p class="postmetadata"&gt;Posted in &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=2" title="View all posts in Raves" rel="category tag"&gt;Raves&lt;/a&gt;,  &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=4" title="View all posts in Humanity" rel="category tag"&gt;Humanity&lt;/a&gt;,  &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=5" title="View all posts in Global Warming" rel="category tag"&gt;Global Warming&lt;/a&gt;,  &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=7" title="View all posts in Business" rel="category tag"&gt;Business&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&amp;post=33"&gt;Edit&lt;/a&gt; |   &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?p=33#respond" title="Comment on Oh please all wake up!"&gt;No Comments »&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;/div&gt;             &lt;div class="post" id="post-32"&gt;     &lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?p=32" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Technology, evolution, string theory and religion"&gt;Technology, evolution, string theory and religion&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;     &lt;small&gt;August 7th, 2006 &lt;!-- by Administrator --&gt;&lt;/small&gt;          &lt;div class="entry"&gt;       &lt;p class="ArticleBody"&gt;Tom Yager, in his 2002 column  “&lt;a class="regularArticleU" href="http://www.infoworld.com/4349"&gt;Losing My  Religion&lt;/a&gt;”, called it &lt;strong&gt;technology attachment disorder&lt;/strong&gt;: “an unshakable, impractical devotion to a brand, platform, product line, or programming language.” Such devotion is a kind of religion argument, like Windows vs Linux or Christian vs Muslim. It doesn’t have to be so, surely, but sometimes it gets aggro. John Udell comments on this subject (starting with the Mac vs PC debate) in his &lt;a target="_blank" title="John Udell's blog" href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/02/32OPstrategic_1.html"&gt;Infoworld blog&lt;/a&gt; and brings the philosopher Daniel Dennett into the story. Dennett’s recently been exploring religion as a product of evolutionary processes in the domains of biology (genes) and culture (memes).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="ArticleBody"&gt;As Udell notes, group performance of ritual song and dance is a central feature of religious activity. This may be rooted in oral culture, as Dennett apparently points out, where there was only such majority consensus available to provide any sort of accurate transmission of messages. To avoid the ‘Chinese Whispers’ effect. However I would suggest that the Greek and Roman orators had their own tricks in order to preserve stories intact – look at the story of Ulysses as just one example. It’s been handed down to us by word of mouth over many generations before being committed to the written word. It’s not necessarily just religion that needs or solves this problem. Indeed, all of our technology, our entire civilisation, was passed down the line in some oral way for thousands of years before writing was even developed or popularised. It wasn’t just religion that solved the accuracy problem.&lt;/p&gt;Anyway, Dennett apparently builds upon Richard Dawkins’ thinking. Dawkins’ books have pushed the line that evolution can be usefully regarded as competition among genes as well as competition among the organisms they encode and that ideas, beliefs, or behaviors – also called &lt;em&gt;memes&lt;/em&gt; – are the cultural analogs of genes. Dennett’s extension apparently – I’m relying upon Udell here – considers that the meme pool survives in the face of relentless selective pressure, just as does every gene and its phenotype. Thus every idea, belief or behavior must deliver an adaptive benefit or be lost. And whilst these memes may assist us, as in generating a fully formed living ‘religion’ and successfully passing on moral precepts generation after generation, sometimes only the memes benefit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="ArticleBody"&gt;Udell likens this to successful marketing spin. For example where Macs are seen to “suck” and PCs are seen to be “cool.” It’s important to understand, he says, how this all works – it could be useful at least to unravel some of these meme-driven myths. Linux vs Windows. ID vs Evolution. Ford vs GM. Newtonian vs quantum physics. 11 or 13 dimension string theory? Our sometimes feral and driven attachment to ideas can seem pretty illogical at times. &lt;strong&gt;Is it our memes at work?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;      &lt;/div&gt;        &lt;p class="postmetadata"&gt;Posted in &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=2" title="View all posts in Raves" rel="category tag"&gt;Raves&lt;/a&gt;,  &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=4" title="View all posts in Humanity" rel="category tag"&gt;Humanity&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&amp;amp;post=32"&gt;Edit&lt;/a&gt; |   &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?p=32#respond" title="Comment on Technology, evolution, string theory and religion"&gt;No Comments »&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;/div&gt;             &lt;div class="post" id="post-31"&gt;     &lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?p=31" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to OK, it looks pretty bad"&gt;OK, it looks pretty bad&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;     &lt;small&gt;August 7th, 2006 &lt;!-- by Administrator --&gt;&lt;/small&gt;          &lt;div class="entry"&gt;       &lt;p&gt;When Floyd Landis won that bizarre stage when he broke away and caught a bunch up ahead and then dropped them all, finishing alone, I didn’t think “drugs”. I thought “angry”. Angry at his own mistake the previous day, when he “lost” all chance. I also thought “stupid” as in ‘it is stupid letting him take all this time back’. Just at it appeared foolish when Oscar Pereiro’s breakaway was allowed 28 minutes or so. Now it was the making of Oscar and it appears to have been the unmaking of Floyd. But why testosterone? And why test positive just on that day?&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;It doesn’t make sense that testosterone would give Landis the boost he needed to make that one break. Testosterone is generally applied as a course over time to make longer-term physical improvements. One dose won’t do it. It may have given him a psychological boost, but not a physical one. Maybe it made him angrier, but not that angry, surely?&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;So has he been set up, or is he in denial? Is he lying? Is the lab wrong? Both labs, I mean. If he is guilty as charged then a look back through the records should reveal a longer term change in his testosterone levels. All the more reason to use baseline testing of athletes and their blood, so a longitudinal record is kept. Any change that shouldn’t occur naturally would then be investigated. There must be trust in the process and the labs, as well as the athletes. Alround, it’s just sad.&lt;/p&gt;      &lt;/div&gt;        &lt;p class="postmetadata"&gt;Posted in &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=4" title="View all posts in Humanity" rel="category tag"&gt;Humanity&lt;/a&gt;,  &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?cat=9" title="View all posts in Bikes and bike racing" rel="category tag"&gt;Bikes and bike racing&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&amp;amp;post=31"&gt;Edit&lt;/a&gt; |   &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/?p=31#respond" title="Comment on OK, it looks pretty bad"&gt;No Comments »&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/08/latest-written-words.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-115500672098766985</guid><pubDate>Tue, 08 Aug 2006 03:10:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:23.030Z</atom:updated><title>I have been writing - really I have</title><description>Sometimes I'm just writing &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;elsewhere&lt;/span&gt;. Like at my other blogs. This gives you a flavour of my 'daily drivel'.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;h2 class="date-header"&gt;Sunday, August 06, 2006&lt;/h2&gt;               &lt;!-- Begin .post --&gt;   &lt;div class="post"&gt;&lt;a name="115482697560622301"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;                &lt;h3 class="post-title"&gt;       Brown wins Stage 4 in Germany        &lt;/h3&gt;                &lt;div class="post-body"&gt;     &lt;p&gt;       &lt;/p&gt;Graeme Brown finally delivers for Rabo (Cyclingnews quote and link): &lt;a href="http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2006/aug06/germany06/?id=results/germany064"&gt;However, with 500 metres remaining, the field came back together, just in time for one last suicidal attempt from Jens Voigt (CSC). With that over before it even started, Australian Graeme Brown threw his bike across the line and took his first victory of the year, beating Schumacher and Zabel to the post.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What a relief! He's had his ups and downs, but he looks pretty happy about winning a stage of the Deutschland Tour. Renshaw was in the Top 5 and Zabel has taken the lead. Can he hold on over the mountains? You'd like to hope so, but with Vino one of many contenders just 48secs back, highly unlikely.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On Landis: It's hard to know who's clean, what with masking agents and autologous transfusions, and we have to trust the integrity of the sampling and testing procedure. So is it as robust as we'd like? Cyclingnews gives a rundown on the B sample result here:&lt;a href="http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/aug06/aug06news"&gt;Christian Prudhomme, Director general of the Tour de France, said Landis is no longer considered champion of the 2006 event, but added: "Until he is found guilty or admits guilt, he will keep the yellow jersey. This is normal. You are not sanctioned before you are found guilty.&lt;/a&gt;          &lt;/div&gt;          &lt;p class="post-footer"&gt;        &lt;em&gt;posted by gtveloce at &lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/08/brown-wins-stage-4-in-germany.html" title="permanent link"&gt;8/06/2006 01:11:00 AM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;        |                  &lt;a class="comment-link" href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/08/brown-wins-stage-4-in-germany.html#links"&gt;links to this post&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;span class="item-action"&gt;&lt;a href="email-post.g?blogID=21409043&amp;postID=115482697560622301" title="Email Post"&gt;&lt;span class="email-post-icon"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="item-control admin-1772914687 pid-2128661364"&gt;&lt;a style="border: medium none ;" href="post-edit.g?blogID=21409043&amp;postID=115482697560622301&amp;amp;quickEdit=true" title="Edit Post"&gt;&lt;span class="quick-edit-icon"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;     &lt;/p&gt;      &lt;/div&gt;   &lt;!-- End .post --&gt;&lt;!-- Begin #comments --&gt;         &lt;!-- End #comments --&gt;           &lt;h2 class="date-header"&gt;Saturday, August 05, 2006&lt;/h2&gt;               &lt;!-- Begin .post --&gt;   &lt;div class="post"&gt;&lt;a name="115473819515580562"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;                &lt;h3 class="post-title"&gt;       Aussies in Germany and Denmark        &lt;/h3&gt;                &lt;div class="post-body"&gt;     &lt;p&gt;       &lt;/p&gt;A good result for 2 Aussies in Stage 3 of the Tour of Germany, as reported by Cyclingnews:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2006/aug06/germany06/?id=results/germany063"&gt;1 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Akud 4.56.22 (41.16 km/h)&lt;br /&gt;2 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram&lt;br /&gt;3 AndrÃ© Greipel (Ger) T-Mobile Team&lt;br /&gt;4 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team CSC&lt;br /&gt;5 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Credit Agricole&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And O'Grady takes yellow in Denmark, again reported by Cyclingnews:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2006/aug06/postdanmark06/postdanmark063"&gt;Stage 3 - August 4: Kolding - Odense, 203.7 km FÃ¶rster scores for Gerolsteiner, as O'Grady takes yellow&lt;/a&gt;          &lt;/div&gt;          &lt;p class="post-footer"&gt;        &lt;em&gt;posted by gtveloce at &lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/08/aussies-in-germany-and-denmark.html" title="permanent link"&gt;8/05/2006 12:34:00 AM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;        |                  &lt;a class="comment-link" href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/08/aussies-in-germany-and-denmark.html#links"&gt;links to this post&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;span class="item-action"&gt;&lt;a href="email-post.g?blogID=21409043&amp;postID=115473819515580562" title="Email Post"&gt;&lt;span class="email-post-icon"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="item-control admin-1772914687 pid-2128661364"&gt;&lt;a style="border: medium none ;" href="post-edit.g?blogID=21409043&amp;postID=115473819515580562&amp;amp;quickEdit=true" title="Edit Post"&gt;&lt;span class="quick-edit-icon"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;     &lt;/p&gt;      &lt;/div&gt;   &lt;!-- End .post --&gt;&lt;!-- Begin #comments --&gt;         &lt;!-- End #comments --&gt;           &lt;h2 class="date-header"&gt;Friday, August 04, 2006&lt;/h2&gt;               &lt;!-- Begin .post --&gt;   &lt;div class="post"&gt;&lt;a name="115465458273828817"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;                &lt;h3 class="post-title"&gt;       Aussies in Denmark        &lt;/h3&gt;                &lt;div class="post-body"&gt;     &lt;p&gt;       &lt;/p&gt;Some Aussies are doing well in the Tour of Denmark... stage 2 - see Cyclingnews for the report: &lt;a href="http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2006/aug06/postdanmark06/postdanmark062"&gt;2 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 0.21, 4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 0.23, 5 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.com, 14 Gene Michael Bates (Aus) Team L.P.R. 0.39&lt;/a&gt;          &lt;/div&gt;          &lt;p class="post-footer"&gt;        &lt;em&gt;posted by gtveloce at &lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/08/aussies-in-denmark.html" title="permanent link"&gt;8/04/2006 01:20:00 AM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;        |                  &lt;a class="comment-link" href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/08/aussies-in-denmark.html#links"&gt;links to this post&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;span class="item-action"&gt;&lt;a href="email-post.g?blogID=21409043&amp;postID=115465458273828817" title="Email Post"&gt;&lt;span class="email-post-icon"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="item-control admin-1772914687 pid-2128661364"&gt;&lt;a style="border: medium none ;" href="post-edit.g?blogID=21409043&amp;postID=115465458273828817&amp;amp;quickEdit=true" title="Edit Post"&gt;&lt;span class="quick-edit-icon"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;     &lt;/p&gt;      &lt;/div&gt;   &lt;!-- End .post --&gt;&lt;!-- Begin #comments --&gt;         &lt;!-- End #comments --&gt;           &lt;h2 class="date-header"&gt;Monday, July 31, 2006&lt;/h2&gt;               &lt;!-- Begin .post --&gt;   &lt;div class="post"&gt;&lt;a name="115431611629044140"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;                &lt;h3 class="post-title"&gt;       Other sports and doping        &lt;/h3&gt;                &lt;div class="post-body"&gt;     &lt;p&gt;       &lt;/p&gt;Because I can, I will comment on &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;drugs, doping and what have you&lt;/span&gt;. It's just my opinion but I personally realised something was &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;truly&lt;/span&gt; happening - as against being told by press or dodgy friends what &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"was"&lt;/span&gt; happening - when I spent time in an eastern suburbs gym in Sydney, building up for bike racing (more of a psychological boost than a physical one). This was the mid 1980's. These big, shiny, oily pimply guys were always there lifting massive weights (and gazing into mirrors) and they could sell you &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"stuff"&lt;/span&gt;. It reminded me of '&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;under the stairs&lt;/span&gt;' deal at high school, actually, but &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;different&lt;/span&gt; stuff. That &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;other stuff&lt;/span&gt; you got at the pub and was &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;detrimental&lt;/span&gt; to sports performance, or general sanity for that matter. (Not that I did, but some people did do that other stuff, anyway!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So you could buy any sort of body-building drug at that particular gym, in my experience. Presumably other gyms as well. I also &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"knew"&lt;/span&gt; about the occasional cyclist's drink bottle (&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"bidon"&lt;/span&gt;) that (it was suggested) contained alcohol, to give some sort of kick up hills or before a sprint. Don't know how effective it was, but a few people seemed to like it and claimed to "know". Bikes of course are build to carry bidons as well as riders and musette bags, but what about other sports?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;'No-Doze' was also big in the '80s for that caffeine kick, and coffee itself gained notoriety in sports where being "aware" and awake was important. Again in cycling there were "special" bananas to be eaten just before a race finish. Now these were &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;reputedly&lt;/span&gt; spiked with amphetamines, but who knows the truth? No-one did a laboratory analysis on this sort of stuff at the time and it may have been riders just bragging. But very, very few people were drug tested pre or post race, even at elite State level back then, so anything could have happened. (And I have yet to see a club-level drug test, even now. Tell me if you've seen one!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So I can imagine, and &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;it is just imagination&lt;/span&gt; fueled by innuendo and availability (particularly via the Internet), that some bike racers &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;are&lt;/span&gt; using performance enhancing agents to "get noticed"; firstly at club level (basically weekly racing thoughout the year) and probably at State level. They would effectively get away with it. Testing remains something done at higher levels of the sport, not below. Not often, anyway, in my experience, would they get caught. On the other hand I have never myself seen a culture of drug use in cycling at first hand, beyond caffeine and stories of what other riders did. I heard about but didn't see the evidence.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nevertheless we quite possibly get riders started on this stuff early and then they either chicken out, or get smarter. Or dumber? &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;If there's money involved there's temptation. &lt;/span&gt;Of course cycling is not as "wealthy" as some other sports.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;So what happens in other sports?&lt;/span&gt;          &lt;/div&gt;          &lt;p class="post-footer"&gt;        &lt;em&gt;posted by gtveloce at &lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/other-sports-and-doping.html" title="permanent link"&gt;7/31/2006 03:15:00 AM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;        |                  &lt;a class="comment-link" href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/other-sports-and-doping.html#links"&gt;links to this post&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;span class="item-action"&gt;&lt;a href="email-post.g?blogID=21409043&amp;postID=115431611629044140" title="Email Post"&gt;&lt;span class="email-post-icon"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="item-control admin-1772914687 pid-2128661364"&gt;&lt;a style="border: medium none ;" href="post-edit.g?blogID=21409043&amp;postID=115431611629044140&amp;amp;quickEdit=true" title="Edit Post"&gt;&lt;span class="quick-edit-icon"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;     &lt;/p&gt;      &lt;/div&gt;   &lt;!-- End .post --&gt;&lt;!-- Begin #comments --&gt;         &lt;!-- End #comments --&gt;           &lt;h2 class="date-header"&gt;Sunday, July 30, 2006&lt;/h2&gt;               &lt;!-- Begin .post --&gt;   &lt;div class="post"&gt;&lt;a name="115422816197563513"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;                &lt;h3 class="post-title"&gt;       Web resources - Roadcycling UK        &lt;/h3&gt;                &lt;div class="post-body"&gt;     &lt;p&gt;       &lt;/p&gt;An interesting take on the UK road and TT scene is to be found at RoadcyclingUK. Worth checking out. Here's a snippet on starting road racing in the UK:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/news/article/mps/UAN/141/v/1/sp/"&gt;Road Racing from scratch &lt;/a&gt;By RCUK "I could do that!" Almost invariably it's around the time of the three great tours that many occasional cyclists get so carried away by the unfolding drama, passion and competitive spirit of the Giro d'Italia,Tour de France and Spanish Vuelta that they picture themselves flying along in the midst of an illustrious bunch or riding with relative ease up steep mountain climbs with cheering crowds lining the road. At least that's what appears to be the case, even though you know that the apparent ease at which the riders are "flying" along at an average speed of 45k per hour is deceptive and the whole idea, in fact, may seem totally mad and completely and utterly out of my league - even more so as the prerequisite is incredibly hard training, unbelievable talent and a super-human physique. But cycling is all about sticking at it.          &lt;/div&gt;          &lt;p class="post-footer"&gt;        &lt;em&gt;posted by gtveloce at &lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/web-resources-roadcycling-uk.html" title="permanent link"&gt;7/30/2006 02:52:00 AM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;        |                  &lt;a class="comment-link" href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/web-resources-roadcycling-uk.html#links"&gt;links to this post&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;span class="item-action"&gt;&lt;a href="email-post.g?blogID=21409043&amp;postID=115422816197563513" title="Email Post"&gt;&lt;span class="email-post-icon"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="item-control admin-1772914687 pid-2128661364"&gt;&lt;a style="border: medium none ;" href="post-edit.g?blogID=21409043&amp;postID=115422816197563513&amp;amp;quickEdit=true" title="Edit Post"&gt;&lt;span class="quick-edit-icon"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;     &lt;/p&gt;      &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/08/i-have-been-writing-really-i-have.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-115389951536559240</guid><pubDate>Wed, 26 Jul 2006 07:32:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:22.895Z</atom:updated><title>Le Tour de France 2006, the final wrap-up</title><description>&lt;h2&gt;My 2006 Tour de France Wrap up, all wrapped up&lt;br /&gt;      &lt;/h2&gt;  &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/back-to-normal.html"&gt;Back to normal&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;   &lt;br /&gt;     &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-20-le-tour-2006-dust-settles.html"&gt;Stage 20 - Le Tour 2006 - the dust settles&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;br /&gt;       &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-19-le-tour-2006-tt-decides.html"&gt;Stage 19 - Le Tour 2006 - the TT decides&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;br /&gt;       &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-18-le-tour-2006-status-quo.html"&gt;Stage 18 - Le Tour 2006 - Status Quo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;   &lt;br /&gt;       &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-17-le-tour-2006-floyd-flies.html"&gt;Stage 17 - Le Tour 2006 - Floyd flies!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;br /&gt;       &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-16-le-tour-2006-floyd-falters.html"&gt;Stage 16 - le Tour 2006 - Floyd falters&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;br /&gt;       &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-15-le-tour-2006-alpe-dhuez.html"&gt;Stage 15 - Le Tour 2006 - Alpe d'Huez&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;br /&gt;       &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/rest-day-2-le-tour-2006.html"&gt;Rest Day 2 - Le Tour 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;br /&gt;       &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-14-le-tour-2006-france-over.html"&gt;Stage 14 - Le Tour 2006 - France over Italy this time&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;br /&gt;       &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-13-le-tour-2006-voigts-day-in.html"&gt;Stage 13 - Le Tour 2006 - Voigt's day in the sun&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;br /&gt; &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/07/le-tour-de-france-2006-final-wrap-up.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-115292269283205974</guid><pubDate>Sat, 15 Jul 2006 00:15:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:22.773Z</atom:updated><title>Le Tour 2006 - the daily writing exercise</title><description>Have you missed a stage? I practise what I preach here on Rob's Writing blog. If you want to write, write &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;daily&lt;/span&gt; and write about what &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;interests &lt;/span&gt;you.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul id="recently"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-12-le-tour-2006-discovery-bounce.html"&gt;Stage 12 - Le Tour 2006 - Discovery bounce back&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-11-le-tour-rabobank-strongest.html"&gt;Stage 11 - Le Tour - Rabobank strongest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-10-le-tour-mountain-tactics.html"&gt;Stage 10 - Le Tour - The mountain tactics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-9-le-tour-spaniard-returns.html"&gt;Stage 9 - Le Tour - The Spaniard returns&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/le-tour-rest-day-1.html"&gt;Le Tour - Rest Day 1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-8-le-tour-calzatis-day.html"&gt;Stage 8 - Le tour - Calzati's day&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-7-le-tour-2006-t-mobile-win.html"&gt;Stage 7 - Le Tour 2006 - T-Mobile win&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-6-le-tour-2006-mcewens-3rd.html"&gt;Stage 6 - Le Tour 2006 - McEwen's 3rd.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-5-le-tour-2006-spaniard-takes-it.html"&gt;Stage 5 - Le Tour 2006 - the Spaniard takes it&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-4-le-tour-2006-mcewens-2nd.html"&gt;Stage 4 - Le Tour 2006 - McEwen's 2nd&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-3-le-tour-2006-cauberg.html"&gt;Stage 3 - Le Tour 2006 - the Cauberg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-2-le-tour-2006-chaos-and-viking.html"&gt;Stage 2 - Le Tour 2006 - Chaos and the Viking&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/stage-1-le-tour-2006-blood-on-road.html"&gt;Stage 1 - Le Tour 2006 - Blood on the road&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/07/prologue-le-tour-2006.html"&gt;Prologue - Le Tour 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/06/le-tour-and-aussie-contingent.html"&gt;Le Tour and the Aussie contingent&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/2006/06/we-get-so-close-and-rug-gets-pulled.html"&gt;We get so close and the rug gets pulled&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/07/le-tour-2006-daily-writing-exercise.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-115249630264727237</guid><pubDate>Mon, 10 Jul 2006 01:44:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:22.665Z</atom:updated><title>An example of purposeful blogging</title><description>Folks, here's an example of how to leverage what you know by use of a blog. I want to write a how-to guide for beginners to bike racing. Now I have already written one but it needs an update and I'd like to start from scratch anyway, to focus it a bit more. I will use &lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/bike/bike4.html"&gt;my existing work&lt;/a&gt; as a reference plus add in references to other folks' work as I go.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You can follow progress &lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/bike/index.html"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now I have to exercise &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/07/discipline.html"&gt;discipline&lt;/a&gt; and ensure it gets done. Later I will edit it all into an ebook and sell it via &lt;a href="http://www.lulu.com/gtveloce/"&gt;Lulu&lt;/a&gt; shop. Good plan?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/07/example-of-purposeful-blogging.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-115223824814207269</guid><pubDate>Fri, 07 Jul 2006 01:54:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:22.550Z</atom:updated><title>On Blogging</title><description>&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Blogging gives me another reason to write.&lt;/span&gt; As I do &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;want&lt;/span&gt; to write, and I want to &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;practise&lt;/span&gt; writing, it seems to me that any method is better than no method. Blogging is a &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;style&lt;/span&gt;, one that I break regularly. There's an &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;etiquette&lt;/span&gt; as well, which I choose to ignore. The point to me is that I can write what I want, when and where I want. Now I always could - and did - do that. However now my scraps of paper are not filed away in a folder but published on the web. Apart from added colour and motion I have gained a small readership. Potentially, anyway. Somehow it's both inspiring and limiting to have this level of openness. Inspiring that what I write will be viewed and critiqued, and limiting in the sense that now what I write is not just for me. So I tend to edit a bit more harshly. Or not. It's my choice, and I am aware of it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway, most of my recent writing has been in &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;my blogs&lt;/span&gt;. I blog about &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/"&gt;writing&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/photavions/flora/index.html"&gt;photography&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://thespiel.com/"&gt;business&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/gtv/index.html"&gt;cars&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/addicted2wheels/index.html"&gt;bike racing&lt;/a&gt;. Plus I &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/"&gt;rant&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/mustknow/"&gt;rave&lt;/a&gt;. Or just share &lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/blog/offline/"&gt;opinions&lt;/a&gt;. There's some overlap, but mostly they stay on track. Feel free to critique.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/07/on-blogging.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-115223029087939260</guid><pubDate>Thu, 06 Jul 2006 23:52:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:22.438Z</atom:updated><title>Discipline</title><description>&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Discipline. &lt;/span&gt;If I write &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;every day&lt;/span&gt; I get better at writing. If I get read, and better still - &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;critiqued&lt;/span&gt; - I get better at addressing my words and thoughts &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;to an audience&lt;/span&gt;. Well an audience as in you can &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;hear&lt;/span&gt; in your head what I have written as you read it. Unless of course you have linked your browser to a speech synthesizer. Entirely possible and reasonable. The &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;bottom line&lt;/span&gt; is that by writing &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;something&lt;/span&gt; every day you are exercising your literary skills. Can't be bad. (Hmmm, perhaps that was my second bottom line, a bit like the fabled triple bottom line in business. )&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/07/discipline.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-115206590826572680</guid><pubDate>Wed, 05 Jul 2006 01:48:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:22.328Z</atom:updated><title>Resources at Rob's writing blog</title><description>Folks&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've written all of my life. Well, since I learned to write anyway. I may not be entirely correct in what I've written but &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;by gosh&lt;/span&gt; I've written some stuff. Plays. Novels. How-to guides. Blogs. Especially blogs (lately at least).  Let me catalogue a few things and we'll go from there to wherever we may want to travel.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;My own writing. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Let's start with &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;a play&lt;/span&gt; I wrote in about 1992 about a few rock legends and the similarities that existed in their lives - especially the '&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;died at 27 years old&lt;/span&gt;' link. It's a bit rough and needs a reformat but it's called &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/Littleboyblue.htm"&gt;Little Boy Blue&lt;/a&gt;. I never got around to workshopping it but it's not too unreadable as is...&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Here's a &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;very short script&lt;/span&gt; meant to be played out in front of a Leadership and Motivation class... it's &lt;a href="http://thespiel.com/mba/leadership/index.html"&gt;a spoof courtroom scene using Hitler&lt;/a&gt; as one example of a leader... &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;When my mother died I wrote &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/Eulogy%20Patricia%20Marjorie%20Russell.htm"&gt;this Eulogy&lt;/a&gt;. Probably quite readable but better if you knew&lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/archive3/2006/06/patricia-marjorie-russell-nee-brown.html"&gt; the woman&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I wrote this &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/ARCHAE.htm"&gt;spoof interview&lt;/a&gt; (in collaboration with &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Ian Robinson&lt;/span&gt;) in or around 1979 about some work colleagues. The less said the better but it's meant to be &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;humorous&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;And again, &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/blackknight.htm"&gt;same deal&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;And how it all fits together in &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/YGIAGAM.htm"&gt;a newsletter format&lt;/a&gt; (remember it's from 1979 and relates to a workplace... it's still quite funny in a quaint way!). Remember, &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;it's meant to be a laugh!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;A short, &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;serious&lt;/span&gt; unfinished piece on &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/flipside.htm"&gt;belonging&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;No laughing here.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;A link to my &lt;a href="http://thespiel.com/2006/06/looking-for-mba-resources.html"&gt;MBA study guides&lt;/a&gt; and other related writing.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;And my how-to guide to &lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/bike/bike4.html"&gt;bike racing.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;And more writing &lt;a href="http://gtveloce.com/gtv/2006/06/car-stuff-not-just-alfa-stuff.html"&gt;on cars&lt;/a&gt;, of all things.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;And &lt;a href="http://klausenrussell.com/WordPress/"&gt;Out Out Damned Blog&lt;/a&gt;, a general rave by me.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In due course I will put some &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;worthwhile&lt;/span&gt; content here. I hope. So please come back.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cheers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rob.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://klausenrussell.com/Writing/2006/07/resources-at-robs-writing-blog.html</link><author>gtveloce</author></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30583215.post-115191139348629700</guid><pubDate>Mon, 03 Jul 2006 07:21:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2006-11-15T05:35:22.224Z</atom:updated><title>Welcome to Rob's all-purpose Writing Blog</title><description>Welcome. It's &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;my stuff&lt;/span&gt; plus what I find around the joint. Internet stuff. &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Writing stuff.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Cheers, Rob.&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!--
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