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Friday, April 27, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Well, my book has been out for a couple of weeks now. It's starting to appear in libraries across the globe. I've been thinking about some grassroots ways to promote it when a former student tagged me in a Facebook photo.
Brilliant, Steph!
So, if you want to help, here's what you can do:
1) Request your local library bring in a copy (or three) of The Lasting Influence of the War on Postwar British Film.
When it comes in (or if they already have a copy)
2) Check it out.
3) Take a photo of yourself with the book and tweet it or email it to me.
Brilliant, Steph!
So, if you want to help, here's what you can do:
1) Request your local library bring in a copy (or three) of The Lasting Influence of the War on Postwar British Film.
When it comes in (or if they already have a copy)
2) Check it out.
3) Take a photo of yourself with the book and tweet it or email it to me.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Two things of interest in terms of my book:
1) The University of Winnipeg bookstore could be hosting a launch for my book. It might not be until fall - apparently they like to wait until there's an outside chance of an audience - but that's cool. I'll keep you posted.
Unfortunately I suppose it means that I'll have to get my fall 2012 textbook order by their new, ridiculously early April 15 deadline.
2) There are already a used copy selling through amazon.ca. Sure, it's selling for $85 which is more than amazon is selling new copies. Good luck with that. For an extra $2.50 I'll autograph a post-it note for you.
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1) The University of Winnipeg bookstore could be hosting a launch for my book. It might not be until fall - apparently they like to wait until there's an outside chance of an audience - but that's cool. I'll keep you posted.
Unfortunately I suppose it means that I'll have to get my fall 2012 textbook order by their new, ridiculously early April 15 deadline.
2) There are already a used copy selling through amazon.ca. Sure, it's selling for $85 which is more than amazon is selling new copies. Good luck with that. For an extra $2.50 I'll autograph a post-it note for you.
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Dreamland
All right, I get that I've been posting a lot of pictures of my dog lately, and that a lot of those pictures are of him sleeping. That's what he does. It's his move.
There's usually a daily burst of energy (typically around 8pm) when he tries to get someone to chase him around the living room. But for the most part, he's a sleeper.
And when he's sleeping, I find myself watching him, the shudders and whimpers that accompany his sleep, and wonder what goes on in his dreams.
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Sunday, March 25, 2012
It's 9:30 in the morning
And I'm just waiting for my dog to wake up.
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Sunday, March 11, 2012
It's available this week!!!
According to Amazon, my book will be available on March 13. As you can tell from the pictures, my copies arrived recently, and, in all honesty, it looks fantastic. I am so pleased with how it turned out - lay out, font, picture placement... everything.
As I have said before, because this book is considered "academic" - and therefore priced higher than trade books - I don't expect people to buy it. If you can afford it, are interested in the subject, please do. But I don't want people (even people who know me) to feel obligated to purchase it. However, I would also like to see this book sell out; if the initial run sells out, the publisher might consider a cheaper paperback version.
In order to make that happen, I'm asking people to do two things:
1) Go to your local library. Request that they bring this book in.
Here's the information you'd need.
The Lasting Influence of the War on Postwar British Film
Michael W. Boyce
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN-10: 0230116892 ISBN-13: 978-0230116894
Now, once the library brings the book in you should probably check it out, maybe read it, but that's between you and your god.
2) Spread the word. Tell your friends to do the same. I'd like to see this book in libraries all over the globe. I wrote it to be read, not to make money. Academics don't (usually) write for profit. We write to disseminate ideas.
If you are able to buy your own copy, here are some links to various online bookstores. Many of them are offering better discounts than I can get as the author.
Chapters Indigo (Canada)
Amazon.ca (Canada)
Amazon.com (U.S)
Amazon.co.uk (UK)
Blackwell’s (UK)
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As I have said before, because this book is considered "academic" - and therefore priced higher than trade books - I don't expect people to buy it. If you can afford it, are interested in the subject, please do. But I don't want people (even people who know me) to feel obligated to purchase it. However, I would also like to see this book sell out; if the initial run sells out, the publisher might consider a cheaper paperback version.
In order to make that happen, I'm asking people to do two things:
1) Go to your local library. Request that they bring this book in.
Here's the information you'd need.
The Lasting Influence of the War on Postwar British Film
Michael W. Boyce
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN-10: 0230116892 ISBN-13: 978-0230116894
Now, once the library brings the book in you should probably check it out, maybe read it, but that's between you and your god.
2) Spread the word. Tell your friends to do the same. I'd like to see this book in libraries all over the globe. I wrote it to be read, not to make money. Academics don't (usually) write for profit. We write to disseminate ideas.
If you are able to buy your own copy, here are some links to various online bookstores. Many of them are offering better discounts than I can get as the author.
Chapters Indigo (Canada)
Amazon.ca (Canada)
Amazon.com (U.S)
Amazon.co.uk (UK)
Blackwell’s (UK)
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Monday, March 05, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
He likes it!
The other day someone was telling me about one of their Facebook friends who posts pictures of coffee cups whenever he "checks" in from a coffee shop. That gave me an idea to do a similar "garden gnome" thing with my book - take pictures of it all around town like people do with gnomes or Flat Stanley's.
Here is the first such picture:
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Here is the first such picture:
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Sunday, February 19, 2012
It's here!!!
My author copies arrived on Friday. I can't even begin to express how thrilled I am with the final product.
"With scrupulous and brilliant close analysis of key films and stars, Boyce reveals and complicates a new era of 'Britishness' in the immediate postwar years, one irrevocably marked by war trauma. In remarkably clear prose, The Lasting Influence of the War on Postwar British Film illustrates a social and historical unconscious that has largely been ignored yet emerges as a crucial period in the history of British cinema and nation (re)building." - Dina Smith, associate professor of English, Drake University
'Like Raymond Durgnat's and Charles Barr's exceptional studies of English cinema, Michael Boyce's work combines highly informed and nuanced cultural commentary with elegant close readings of individual films. Boyce offers surprising insights on a great many topics, from the strained rhetoric of accommodation and the beleaguered assertions of resistance dramatized in such 'conservative' films as Brief Encounter and In Which We Serve to the oblique, searching commentary on children displaced from their homes during the war in the adaptations of Dickens novels. Again and again, Boyce overturns received ideas about performers and genres in the austere, post-war environment, and does so in a manner that is witty, self-questioning, and alive to narrative pleasures of every sort.' - George Toles, University of Manitoba
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"With scrupulous and brilliant close analysis of key films and stars, Boyce reveals and complicates a new era of 'Britishness' in the immediate postwar years, one irrevocably marked by war trauma. In remarkably clear prose, The Lasting Influence of the War on Postwar British Film illustrates a social and historical unconscious that has largely been ignored yet emerges as a crucial period in the history of British cinema and nation (re)building." - Dina Smith, associate professor of English, Drake University
'Like Raymond Durgnat's and Charles Barr's exceptional studies of English cinema, Michael Boyce's work combines highly informed and nuanced cultural commentary with elegant close readings of individual films. Boyce offers surprising insights on a great many topics, from the strained rhetoric of accommodation and the beleaguered assertions of resistance dramatized in such 'conservative' films as Brief Encounter and In Which We Serve to the oblique, searching commentary on children displaced from their homes during the war in the adaptations of Dickens novels. Again and again, Boyce overturns received ideas about performers and genres in the austere, post-war environment, and does so in a manner that is witty, self-questioning, and alive to narrative pleasures of every sort.' - George Toles, University of Manitoba
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Thursday, February 09, 2012
Just one of those days
Yesterday, in order to best describe how things have been going lately, I turned the name Sisyphus into a verb.
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Update
Okay, I know I haven't been around here much lately. I think I have a reasonable excuse: I’m about to publish a book. It’s set to be released March 2012. I think it’s pretty good; in fact, so do a few other people.
The book is about postwar British film. Although most of the films made in the ten years after the war ended (1945-1955) never mention the war explicitly, the war and the postwar realities (rationing, rebuilding, and Britain’s diminishing role as world power) are just below the surface in films like Scrooge, The Third Man, The Ladykillers and others.
Now, here’s the thing: the book is priced as an academic book, which means it’s priced higher than most books. I’ve been told that if the initial print run sells out, the publisher would consider a reasonably priced softcover. So rather than asking people to order copies for themselves, I’m asking people for three things:
1) Request their local libraries (public or academic) to buy the book. Here’s the information you’ll need to know:
The Lasting Influence of the War on Postwar British Film
Michael W. Boyce
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (Mar 13 2012)
ISBN-10: 0230116892 ISBN-13: 978-0230116894
Chapters Indigo (Canada)
Amazon.ca (Canada)
Amazon.com (U.S)
Amazon.co.uk (UK)
2) Click the like on the amazon.com and amazon.ca pages.
3) Tell as many people as possible to do the same. Ask your friends all over the world to get their local libraries to order the book as well. I don’t expect the book to be a “best seller,” I don’t expect to make a lot of money from this book. I am proud of it and I would like to get as many copies out there as possible
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The book is about postwar British film. Although most of the films made in the ten years after the war ended (1945-1955) never mention the war explicitly, the war and the postwar realities (rationing, rebuilding, and Britain’s diminishing role as world power) are just below the surface in films like Scrooge, The Third Man, The Ladykillers and others.
Now, here’s the thing: the book is priced as an academic book, which means it’s priced higher than most books. I’ve been told that if the initial print run sells out, the publisher would consider a reasonably priced softcover. So rather than asking people to order copies for themselves, I’m asking people for three things:
1) Request their local libraries (public or academic) to buy the book. Here’s the information you’ll need to know:
The Lasting Influence of the War on Postwar British Film
Michael W. Boyce
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (Mar 13 2012)
ISBN-10: 0230116892 ISBN-13: 978-0230116894
Chapters Indigo (Canada)
Amazon.ca (Canada)
Amazon.com (U.S)
Amazon.co.uk (UK)
2) Click the like on the amazon.com and amazon.ca pages.
3) Tell as many people as possible to do the same. Ask your friends all over the world to get their local libraries to order the book as well. I don’t expect the book to be a “best seller,” I don’t expect to make a lot of money from this book. I am proud of it and I would like to get as many copies out there as possible
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Test
I haven't posted on here in some time, but I intend to correct that.
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Sunday, October 03, 2010
Thought I'd share some photos
On October 5th, Oliver will have been with us for two years. Time certainly flies.
This photo was taken that first week. We still thought he was going to be a 25-30 lbs terrier cross. He was so small - mostly from almost starving to death - that I could hold the little guy in my arms. He wore a cat collar and slept in a cat carrier.
This was taken today. He's grown so much, but is still the sweet little puppy at heart. I can't even count how many ways he's changed our lives, but we wouldn't trade him for the world.
This photo was taken that first week. We still thought he was going to be a 25-30 lbs terrier cross. He was so small - mostly from almost starving to death - that I could hold the little guy in my arms. He wore a cat collar and slept in a cat carrier.
This was taken today. He's grown so much, but is still the sweet little puppy at heart. I can't even count how many ways he's changed our lives, but we wouldn't trade him for the world.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Well, because Keira asked nicely, I'll try to do this on my iPod touch. Excuse typos and punctuation problems.
1) The Pumpkin Pie Show: Commencement. Best thing I've seen so far. Amazing.
2) Pitch Blond. The story of comic actor Judy Holliday's run in with the anti-communist movement in the 1950s.
3) Gibberish. Chris Gibbs works a crowd like no one else. If you don't laugh you are a sad, soulless human being. Or a robot.
4) Mal. Clowns are creepy and this show is great.
ADDED
To be honest, there's not much I haven't liked at this year's Fringe. Perhaps that's because I'm choosing most shows by companies I know rather than taking a chance on an unknown product. There's only one show I wasn't keen on, The Unlikely Sainthood of Madeline McKay, and even that wasn't that bad.
Jem Rolls's show, One Man Riot, was great. Rolls's is always good. Keir Cutler's Rant Demon was a solid show. Molly, a one woman show based on a section of Joyce's Ulysses was excellent, though, with it's frank sexual descriptions, not for every one's tastes.
My biggest problem this year has been the reviewers. I'm, frankly, often pissed off at Fringe reviewers (I'm at loss to figure out why Morley Walker goes to the Fringe at all - he hates almost everything). This year, I've notives that a significant number of both the CBC and the Free Press reviews were written about versions of plays performed at the Ottawa or Toronto Fringe earlier this summer and, as a result, don't necessarily reflect the version of the show currently running in Winnipeg. Let's leave aside the idea of theatre being a living art where no two shows are exactly alike. Don't you think that artists will tweak their plays based on the feedback they receive festival to festival?
1) The Pumpkin Pie Show: Commencement. Best thing I've seen so far. Amazing.
2) Pitch Blond. The story of comic actor Judy Holliday's run in with the anti-communist movement in the 1950s.
3) Gibberish. Chris Gibbs works a crowd like no one else. If you don't laugh you are a sad, soulless human being. Or a robot.
4) Mal. Clowns are creepy and this show is great.
ADDED
To be honest, there's not much I haven't liked at this year's Fringe. Perhaps that's because I'm choosing most shows by companies I know rather than taking a chance on an unknown product. There's only one show I wasn't keen on, The Unlikely Sainthood of Madeline McKay, and even that wasn't that bad.
Jem Rolls's show, One Man Riot, was great. Rolls's is always good. Keir Cutler's Rant Demon was a solid show. Molly, a one woman show based on a section of Joyce's Ulysses was excellent, though, with it's frank sexual descriptions, not for every one's tastes.
My biggest problem this year has been the reviewers. I'm, frankly, often pissed off at Fringe reviewers (I'm at loss to figure out why Morley Walker goes to the Fringe at all - he hates almost everything). This year, I've notives that a significant number of both the CBC and the Free Press reviews were written about versions of plays performed at the Ottawa or Toronto Fringe earlier this summer and, as a result, don't necessarily reflect the version of the show currently running in Winnipeg. Let's leave aside the idea of theatre being a living art where no two shows are exactly alike. Don't you think that artists will tweak their plays based on the feedback they receive festival to festival?
Thursday, June 24, 2010
This morning has been a bit of dramatic ordeal for me. Let me explain...
As I listening to the radio on my weekly drive across town, the deejay announced that he'd just received a text that dog had been hit by a car in the Grant Park area and had run off. The owener was looking for it and if any listeners in the area could help it was much appreciated. My wife came across a similar incident about a year ago: some scared and presumably very hurt dog went into hiding after being hit by a bus.
Now when I hear this, I look in my rearview mirror and see the big brown eyes of my dog, Oliver. If you know me at all you know how much my dog means to me. It broke my heart to think of him.
On my way home, traffic came to an unexpected stop on Osborne just south of Jubliee. I couldn't see what was happening at first. There was a guy on the road, moving back and forth between the street and the curb. After a minute or two cars started moving and I saw the man walking his bicycle with one arm and carrying a recently hit dog over the shoulder of his other arm. I don't know if the dog was dead - it was very limp but appeared to be moving; I don't know if it was his dog - there was another dog (off leash!) walking beside him. The dog appeared to be a grey hound or grey hound mix (which is what Oliver is) and looked to be the same size as my dog. I almost had to pull over...
Traffic again came to an unexpected stop on the bridge across from the Leg: a beautiful labor-doodle was standing in the middle of the southbound lanes. People were trying to coax it off the road. There was no sign of an owner.
As I listening to the radio on my weekly drive across town, the deejay announced that he'd just received a text that dog had been hit by a car in the Grant Park area and had run off. The owener was looking for it and if any listeners in the area could help it was much appreciated. My wife came across a similar incident about a year ago: some scared and presumably very hurt dog went into hiding after being hit by a bus.
Now when I hear this, I look in my rearview mirror and see the big brown eyes of my dog, Oliver. If you know me at all you know how much my dog means to me. It broke my heart to think of him.
On my way home, traffic came to an unexpected stop on Osborne just south of Jubliee. I couldn't see what was happening at first. There was a guy on the road, moving back and forth between the street and the curb. After a minute or two cars started moving and I saw the man walking his bicycle with one arm and carrying a recently hit dog over the shoulder of his other arm. I don't know if the dog was dead - it was very limp but appeared to be moving; I don't know if it was his dog - there was another dog (off leash!) walking beside him. The dog appeared to be a grey hound or grey hound mix (which is what Oliver is) and looked to be the same size as my dog. I almost had to pull over...
Traffic again came to an unexpected stop on the bridge across from the Leg: a beautiful labor-doodle was standing in the middle of the southbound lanes. People were trying to coax it off the road. There was no sign of an owner.
Friday, February 26, 2010
You see, ya can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself
So, it seems that that the IOC has decided to investigate the Canadians women's hockey team for their post-gold medal win over the US. After the team won, they celebrated on the ice with champagne, beer and cigars.
So what? The party took place AFTER fans had left the building.
Honestly, there are times when the IOC come across as whiny children. Gilbert Felli, the IOC's executive director of the Olympic Games, said, "It is not what we want to see ... I don't think it's a good promotion of sport values. If they celebrate in the changing room, that's one thing, but not in public." An empty arena is public now? A changing room full of media is somehow more private?
This whole thing stinks of a double standard. When asked what he planned to do to celebrate his gold medal for skeleton, Russell Manitoba's Jon Montgomery answered, "Probably have a pint or two." I have yet to see an interview where he HASN'T been drinking from a pitcher of beer. Can you imagine the men's team doing anything differently if they win gold?
So what? The party took place AFTER fans had left the building.
Honestly, there are times when the IOC come across as whiny children. Gilbert Felli, the IOC's executive director of the Olympic Games, said, "It is not what we want to see ... I don't think it's a good promotion of sport values. If they celebrate in the changing room, that's one thing, but not in public." An empty arena is public now? A changing room full of media is somehow more private?
This whole thing stinks of a double standard. When asked what he planned to do to celebrate his gold medal for skeleton, Russell Manitoba's Jon Montgomery answered, "Probably have a pint or two." I have yet to see an interview where he HASN'T been drinking from a pitcher of beer. Can you imagine the men's team doing anything differently if they win gold?
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Oh, oh, oh the sweetest thing
I wanted one as soon as I’d heard they existed. They sounded so good, so decedent, so terribly, terribly wrong. And a few weeks ago I fulfilled my five year quest: I finally had a deep-fried Mars bar.
I can’t remember where I heard about them – probably some Brit comedy – but I was immediately curious. Curious the way people are intrigued by car accidents and the first couple of episodes of each season of American Idol: a combination of shock, horror and awe. And while I can’t remember where I heard about them, I do remember my inner-monologue when I heard: “You mean they take something that’s already not-very good for you and deep fry it, making it really, really bad for you? I must have one.”
I told it was a British thing and so when I found myself in Britain I sought the DFM out. My excited inquiries at were met with expressions vague disgust and contempt (which is only slightly different from a regular “pleased-with life” Britsh expression). “That’s not English,” I was told. “That’s Scottish.”
So imagine my thrill when, out for fish and chips with my in-laws, the waitress tried to tempt us with dessert. The DMF was the last thing she mentioned and I audibly gasped when she said it. My wife looked across the table at me and sighed. Despite the fact that I had just consumed a large deep fried piece of fish and deep fried fries, she knew that she was going to watch me eat a deep fried chocolate bar.
And it was one of the best thing I have ever put in my mouth.
I can’t remember where I heard about them – probably some Brit comedy – but I was immediately curious. Curious the way people are intrigued by car accidents and the first couple of episodes of each season of American Idol: a combination of shock, horror and awe. And while I can’t remember where I heard about them, I do remember my inner-monologue when I heard: “You mean they take something that’s already not-very good for you and deep fry it, making it really, really bad for you? I must have one.”
I told it was a British thing and so when I found myself in Britain I sought the DFM out. My excited inquiries at were met with expressions vague disgust and contempt (which is only slightly different from a regular “pleased-with life” Britsh expression). “That’s not English,” I was told. “That’s Scottish.”
So imagine my thrill when, out for fish and chips with my in-laws, the waitress tried to tempt us with dessert. The DMF was the last thing she mentioned and I audibly gasped when she said it. My wife looked across the table at me and sighed. Despite the fact that I had just consumed a large deep fried piece of fish and deep fried fries, she knew that she was going to watch me eat a deep fried chocolate bar.
And it was one of the best thing I have ever put in my mouth.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Disappointment, you shouldn't have done
Like most of the civilized world, I saw Avatar over the Christmas holiday. Unlike most of the civilized world, I was pretty disappointed with the whole experience.
Let me just get my biases out of the way: I'm not a huge James Cameron fan. I think he's a largely overrated, under talented filmmaker. The Terminator films (by which I mean, and mean only, the first and second ones) are solid. Aliens is very good. And I'm eagerly awaiting a Pirahna 2 special edition 4 disc DVD box set. But I have no patience for True Lies, The Abyss or Titanic. I didn't even want to see Titanic. Someone made me. His films look good, but his stories are contrived, bland and predictable.
Avatar is no expection. Visually, this film is stunning. The alien world Cameron (and, I guess, a bunch of pasty skinned nerds at computers) creates looks amazing. And if you're going to see this, you should see it in 3D to get the full effect. But the story is so paint-by-numbers that even the kids in the audience could tell you what's going to happen.
Cameron has stated that he's spent nine years developing the technology to make this project work. You'd think in those nine years, he'd have worked on the plot and character development a little bit.
Let me just get my biases out of the way: I'm not a huge James Cameron fan. I think he's a largely overrated, under talented filmmaker. The Terminator films (by which I mean, and mean only, the first and second ones) are solid. Aliens is very good. And I'm eagerly awaiting a Pirahna 2 special edition 4 disc DVD box set. But I have no patience for True Lies, The Abyss or Titanic. I didn't even want to see Titanic. Someone made me. His films look good, but his stories are contrived, bland and predictable.
Avatar is no expection. Visually, this film is stunning. The alien world Cameron (and, I guess, a bunch of pasty skinned nerds at computers) creates looks amazing. And if you're going to see this, you should see it in 3D to get the full effect. But the story is so paint-by-numbers that even the kids in the audience could tell you what's going to happen.
Cameron has stated that he's spent nine years developing the technology to make this project work. You'd think in those nine years, he'd have worked on the plot and character development a little bit.
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