When she could have been complaining about the TITLE.

EW!

Labels: Book Cover

The Walrus and the Carpenter

"The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done--
"It's very rude of him," she said,
"To come and spoil the fun!"

The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead--
There were no birds to fly.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
"If this were only cleared away,"
They said, "it would be grand!"

"If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose," the Walrus said,
"That they could get it clear?"
"I doubt it," said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.

"O Oysters, come and walk with us!"
The Walrus did beseech.
"A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each."

The eldest Oyster looked at him,
But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head--
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster-bed.

But four young Oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat--
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn't any feet.

Four other Oysters followed them,
And yet another four;
And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more--
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Walked on a mile or so,
And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low:
And all the little Oysters stood
And waited in a row.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

"But wait a bit," the Oysters cried,
"Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!"
"No hurry!" said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.

"A loaf of bread," the Walrus said,
"Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed--
Now if you're ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed."

"But not on us!" the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
"After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!"
"The night is fine," the Walrus said.
"Do you admire the view?

"It was so kind of you to come!
And you are very nice!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"Cut us another slice:
I wish you were not quite so deaf--
I've had to ask you twice!"

"It seems a shame," the Walrus said,
"To play them such a trick,
After we've brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"The butter's spread too thick!"

"I weep for you," the Walrus said:
"I deeply sympathize."
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.

"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,
"You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?'
But answer came there none--
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one."

-Lewis Carroll
(Illustration by fellow Wordcandy author Mervyn Peake)

Labels: Lewis Carroll, poetry

A new feature for the blog- snippets of Wordcandy goodness!

"Did you know," he said, "my cousin said that in America there's shops that sell thirty-nine different flavors of ice cream?"

This even silenced Adam, briefly.

"There aren't thirty-nine different flavors of ice cream," said Pepper. "There aren't thirty-nine flavors in the whole world."

"There could be, if you mixed them up," said Wensleydale, blinking owlishly. "You know. Strawberry and chocolate. Chocolate and vanilla." He sought for more English flavors. "Strawberry and vanilla and chocolate," he added, lamely."

From Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Labels: Neil Gaiman, Snippet, Terry Pratchett

If you're under 14 years of age and into creative writing, Wordcandy author Michael Buckley (author of the Sisters Grimm series) is holding an awesome contest through his website. Write your own fairy tale for a chance to win a trip to New York for you and a chaperone. For details, click here.

Labels: contest, Michael Buckley, Sisters Grimm

LOS ANGELES, February 1: Four bestselling novels from Nora Roberts will be adapted into original TV movies through a deal announced today between the author, Peter Guber's Mandalay Television and Lifetime Television.

The titles being considered for the four movies include Blue Smoke, Carolina Moon, Montana Sky, The Villa, Brazen Virtue and River's End. Guber will executive produce, alongside Stephanie Germain, whose credits include Ike: Countdown to D-Day for A&E; Lifetime's Gracie's Choice and The Pilot's Wife for CBS.

Trevor Walton, SVP of original movies at Lifetime, noted, "Selling an average of 21 books every minute, Nora's talent is endless and the American public cannot get enough of her work."

Peter Guber, Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group, added, "Building this exciting filmed franchise by combining Lifetime's powerful brand with Nora Roberts, a stratospheric author, will create a compelling entertainment experience."

Roberts has more than 280 million books in print. Since 1999, every book published under her name has hit the New York Times best-seller list.

Mandalay's television credits have included Intensity, a four-hour miniseries based on the best-seller by Dean Koontz, for FOX; and First Daughter, a two-hour TV movie for TBS. Mandalay is headed up by Guber, who was the studio chief at Columbia Pictures in the 1970s and later chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures. He founded Mandalay Entertainment in 1995. The studio's releases have included I Know What You Did Last Summer and Donnie Brasco. The company also operates Mandalay Mosaic Television Group, a producer of series and feature entertainment for broadcast and cable and owner of Dick Clark Productions.
(Source: http://www.worldscreen.com/print.php?filename=lifet201.htm)

Well. No offense to Nora Roberts- whom we here at Wordcandy totally view as an American Treasure- but twenty bucks says these are seriously going to suck.

Labels: Movie, Nora Roberts, TV

I don't know if you're alive or dead.
Can you on earth be sought,
Or only when the sunsets fade
Be mourned serenely in my thought?

All is for you: the daily prayer,
The sleepless heat at night,
And of my verses, the white
Flock, and of my eyes, the blue fire.

No-one was more cherished, no-one tortured
Me more, not
Even the one who betrayed me to torture,
Not even the one who caressed me and forgot.

-Anna Akhmatova

Labels: Anna Akhmatova, poetry

Well, kids, we have some new casting announcements for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix! Er... you kind of have to imagine these actors' potential. (Thought not so much in the case of the girl who was cast as Luna Lovegood. Evanna Lynch, an unknown, beat out 15,000 girls for the role and she looks perfect!)

Natalia Tena was cast as Nymphadora Tonks. I am not familiar with her but I am really excited to see what she can do with the role. Professor Umbridge will be played by Imelda Staunton. Bellatrix Lestrange, one of Voldemort's Death Eaters, will be played by Helen McCrory. (Although I can't remember who that character is in the book.) And Kathryn Hunter was cast as Mrs. Figg.

All and all, I am starting to get excited about seeing this one... but mostly because of the big role the Weasly twins play in the book!

Labels: Harry Potter, Hollywood, Movie

I am told that Marilyn Manson is to play Lewis Carroll in an upcoming film. Let's examine this casting choice, shall we?

Marilyn Manson:



Lewis Carroll:



Hmm. Not exactly a perfect fit- Mr. Carroll doesn't look like the kind of guy who was heavily into assless pants. I wonder, what role could a grown man who has compensated for his total lack of musical talent by going to ridiculous lengths to make himself unattractive play in a movie based on the imagination of Lewis Carroll...? Oh, wait. I have it:

Labels: Hollywood, Lewis Carrol, Movie