What Would You Ask Haruki Murakami?
Gotta question for the hippest Japanese novelist (and memoirist) around? Log in to Time magazine's Web site, where you can ask Haruki Murakami a question and possibly read the answer in a subsequent interview. Be careful what you ask for. Your question will be posted underneath the submission form after you enter it, along with your name and location.
So what does America want to know about Mr. Murakami? Here are some gems:
Posted by Kwok Sing in Amsterdam:
In stories like ‘Slow Boat to China’ or in your novel ‘wind up bird’, you are cautiously tackling the problematic relationship between Japan and China which of course is shaped by the historical events in the 20th century. read more »
Gold Star for Doubleday Publicity! More Advance Press for The Gargoyle
There's a myth among book publicists that if a title gets coverage before it hits stores then the press has been wasted. This is an absurd notion, not only because advance press can stir anticipation but because these days, people just go online after they read about a thing and preorder it on Amazon.
Kudos, in light of the conventional wisdom, to Doubleday's Alison Rich, who has managed to place not one but two major pre-pub features—one in The Wall Street Journal on June 20, the other in this morning's USA Today—about Andrew Davidson's historical thriller The Gargoyle. It's a coup, really, to have two pieces like this comparing the thing to The Da Vinci Code and asking whether it will be a massive best seller, and it'll be interesting to see whether it becomes one as a result. read more »
NYPD To Lead World Trade Center Security
The NYPD will oversee security at the new World Trade Center, as the city and the Port Authority have reached an agreement on the structure of a security plan at the 16-acre site.
The agreement, announced today, leaves NYPD in charge of security at the vast majority of the site, a role the Port Authority Police Department currently has (the move has angered members of the Port Authority police). The Port Authority would control security at the PATH hub at the site, but the NYPD would have access to that space, according to a memorandum of understanding between the city and the Port Authority made public today. read more »
Cartoonists Agree: John McCain Old; Wife Fond of Pills; Constitution Very Flammable
On Tuesday, Vanity Fair's Power & Politics blog posted a satire of The New Yorker's now legendary Barry Blitt cover of Barack and Michelle Obama as flag-burning, Osama bin Laden-honoring terrorists. In VF's version, drawn by illustrator Tim Bower, John and Cindy McCain are portrayed as their own worst caricatures: The presumptive Republican nominee for president is seen hunched over a walker, while his wife is juggling various prescription pills. On the wall is a painting of George W. Bush; in the fireplace, the Constitution.
But to several commenters—you know, those scourges of civilization—on VF.com, the cartoon was a little too similar to one by The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's David Horsey that ran a week earlier. In it, the McCain's appear on the cover of The National Review, he's drooling in a wheelchair (mumbling to himself, "Bomb, bomb, bomb—bomb, bomb Iran"), she's pouring prescription pills into her hand. On the wall is a painting of Dick Cheney; in the fireplace, the Constitution. read more »
Chanel UFO to Descend Onto Central Park
If you’re strolling through Rumsey Playfield in Central Park between Oct. 20 and Nov. 9, and you stumble across a grounded UFO, don’t panic. It was sent by Chanel (not the Sci-fi Channel) as a nomadic exhibition of artistic interpretations on its classic 2.55 quilted-style handbag, named not for its price but for its debut month of February 1955. Coming off stops in Hong Kong and Tokyo, the 7,500-square-foot space donut will round up its voyage in London, Moscow and Paris.
The pieces inside the mobile museum come from origins as international as the trip’s itinerary. The Russian arts collective Blue Noses submitted a collection of boxes with a series of satirical handbag videos called “Fifty Years After Our Common Era or Handbags Revolt. read more »
Sam Zell, Now in Delicious Cake Form
Jim Romenesko posted the above photograph of a Sam Zell-themed cake served up by employees at the Tribune Company's Hartford Courant. As Mr. Romenesko wrote, "A Courant staffer couldn't resist poking Zell's eyes out—on the cake, of course."
Mmmm. Revenge has never tasted so ... bitter.
Sabato: Obama's 'Risky' Trip Has a Big Payoff
The McCain campaign just released another statement taking issue with what they argue is the presumptuousness of Obama's speech in Berlin today:
"While Barack Obama took a premature victory lap today in the heart of Berlin, proclaiming himself a 'citizen of the world,' John McCain continued to make his case to the American citizens who will decide this election," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement. "Barack Obama offered eloquent praise for this country, but the contrast is clear. John McCain has dedicated his life to serving, improving and protecting America. Barack Obama spent an afternoon talking about it." read more »
McMahon Gets Teachers' Endorsement (and a Quinn Staffer)
One of Christine Quinn’s spokesman has taken a leave of absence and is now the interim director of communications for Democrat Mike McMahon’s Congressional campaign.
The spokesman, Anthony Hogrebe, was listed as the contact on a campaign press release announcing that McMahon has been endorsed by the United Federation of Teachers, which, according to the release, has 12,000 members in the district. McMahon is seeking to win the seat currently occupied by Vito Fossella, who is not running for reelection.
In a public statement, UFT's president, Randi Weingarten, said McMahon "is a champion for children and working people."
Before joining Quinn’s operation, Hogrebe worked on Gifford Miller’s 2005 mayoral campaign.
In other Quinn staffing news, her chief of staff, Maura Keaney, is expected to return from maternity leave in early September, according to another Quinn spokesman.
McCain Camp Strikes After Obama Cancels Visit to Troops
After Der Spiegel reported that Barack Obama canceled a trip to visit injured American troops in Germany, campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs said it would have been inappropriate to go on a campaign-funded trip.
Not surprisingly, the McCain campaign does not agree.
“Barack Obama is wrong," said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers. "It is never ‘inappropriate’ to visit our men and women in the military.”
Monocle Is Not A Lifestyle Magazine
The nice folks at Monocle, Tyler Brûlé's younger, chic-er take on The Economist for whoever remains of the international jet-set, sent Media Mob a copy of the latest edition featuring its "Global Quality of Life Survey."
There are many things to learn in this issue, like the fact that Copenhagen is now the world's most livable city (suck it, Fukuoka!), but we were most intrigued by the short fact sheet Monocle's PR reps included with the issue.
Printed on the sort of heavy-bond paper people used to print their résumés on (back when people printed résumés) and under a bold header that reads "Note to editors," the flack wrote in perfect English grammar:
Monocle magazine offers a briefing on global affairs, business, culture and design. read more »
