The Print Media Thread (Books, Magazines, Newspapers, etc.)

[Gazoo]

Book: the origin of feces

[Tinka Cat]

Check your loo!
Rare Darwin book found on toilet bookshelf
(11-22) 07:31 PST LONDON, United Kingdom (AP) --
An auction house says it is selling a rare first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" found in a family's guest lavatory in southern England.
Christie's auction house said Sunday the book — one of around 1,250 copies first printed in 1859 — had been on a toilet bookshelf at a family's home in Oxford.
The book will be auctioned on Tuesday, the 150th anniversary of the publication of the famous work. Christie's said the book is likely to sell for 60,000 pounds ($99,000).
Darwin's "The Origin of Species" outlined his theory of natural selection, the foundation for the modern understanding of evolution.
Celebrations around the world this year have marked the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth.
On the Net: Darwin's Collected Works: http://darwin-online.org.uk/

amazing..  It was purchased for a few shillings in a shop about 40 years ago. 

I bet it won't fetch nearly enough since it was in the bathroom all that time.  (Anyone remember the Seinfled episode where George was browsing in Barnes and Noble's and then had to buy a book after he took it to the men's room..?  )

[RGMike]

So the biggest movie of the month (if not the year) opens and the Chron assigns the mediocre, Houston-based Amy Biancolli to review Avatar.  Mick was busy?  Lots of irate comments on SFGate about this turn of events.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/17/DDUR1B4K4H.DTL

[urth]

Noted that as of today, the Chron is withholding some of its content from SFGate until Tuesday to "provide a better reading experience for our print subscribers." Sounds more like "we're hoping a few of our Internet readers will kick down the $3 for a Sunday paper to read Ostler, Ratto, Matier & Ross, and Willie Brown." I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/stew/detail?entry_id=55385

By the way, I found Ray Ratto's column with today's date quite easily on the SFGate today, so not sure why his name is included in those being embargoed from the web.

[Tinka Cat]

Noted that as of today, the Chron is withholding some of its content from SFGate until Tuesday to "provide a better reading experience for our print subscribers." Sounds more like "we're hoping a few of our Internet readers will kick down the $3 for a Sunday paper to read Ostler, Ratto, Matier & Ross, and Willie Brown." I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/stew/detail?entry_id=55385

By the way, I found Ray Ratto's column with today's date quite easily on the SFGate today, so not sure why his name is included in those being embargoed from the web.

Yes, that's kind of how it's supposed to work.  "Please buy the print so you can read what Willie Brown has to say right now.  Or wait until Tuesday."  One wag in the comments commented "I can wait until Tueswday or 2015 to hear what Willie has to say... whichever comes first."  I can understand that.   

People are so used to getting it for free by now.  The horse is out of the barn.  Stay tuned for different monetization choices, y'all, like paying to read online.  Someday that will happen... *gulp*

PS: while you found a piece written by Ratto yesterday, it wasn't his Sports front page column -- it was just a short rundown of the upcoming NFL games.

[Lightnin' Rod]

Noted that as of today, the Chron is withholding some of its content from SFGate until Tuesday to "provide a better reading experience for our print subscribers." Sounds more like "we're hoping a few of our Internet readers will kick down the $3 for a Sunday paper to read Ostler, Ratto, Matier & Ross, and Willie Brown." I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/stew/detail?entry_id=55385

By the way, I found Ray Ratto's column with today's date quite easily on the SFGate today, so not sure why his name is included in those being embargoed from the web.

Yes, that's kind of how it's supposed to work.  "Please buy the print so you can read what Willie Brown has to say right now.  Or wait until Tuesday."  One wag in the comments commented "I can wait until Tueswday or 2015 to hear what Willie has to say... whichever comes first."  I can understand that.   

People are so used to getting it for free by now.  The horse is out of the barn.  Stay tuned for different monetization choices, y'all, like paying to read online.  Someday that will happen... *gulp*

PS: while you found a piece written by Ratto yesterday, it wasn't his Sports front page column -- it was just a short rundown of the upcoming NFL games.

No Jon Carrol column in SFGate today.  Did he have a day off, or will today's column show up tomorrow?  No way of knowing, which maybe defeats the purpose.  The paper followed my old roomate when I moved.  Thinking about subscribing ...

I have no issue with them trying to find ways to make some money.  It'd a horrible situation.  If nothing else, they need to be able to pay Tinka (and Jon Carrol).

[Tinka Cat]

EXTRA! EXTRA!

SFGate editorial cartoonist Mark Fiore wins Pulitzer!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/13/MNON1CTHIB.DTL

So who wants to buy a subscription to sfgate.com?   

Oh, wait.... never mind... it's free...   aw, crap.

[RGMike]

EXTRA! EXTRA!

SFGate editorial cartoonist Mark Fiore wins Pulitzer!

so Mick LaSalle was passed over again, eh?

[RGMike]

Holy s**t!! Tim Goodman's last column for the Chron -- he's going to the Hollywood Reporter (but he gets to stay in SF):

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/29/DDMH1G2MHR.DTL

[sundaygal]

Ryan Reynolds was just named Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine.  He must have one helluva PR manager.

[RGMike]

Ryan Reynolds was just named Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine.  He must have one helluva PR manager.

he's one of the great Hollywood man-whores, IMHO. But he gets to be married to Scarlett Jo...

[Tinka Cat]

if any of you read the Chronicle or SFGate (hellooo? ....  *crickets*) rest assured that you should be spared trite holiday themed expressions.  (Messages on this board should be so lucky!   ) This email from the Copy Desk went out to everyone today:

Want to see a copy editor's head explode? Use a holiday cliche, especially in the lead. As tempting as that may sound, know that readers have seen all those tired expressions before, they're not original, and they will be taken out. So save yourself the hassle of having your story tossed back and skip the cliches. Also, it will also save the company the cost of cleaning up the remnants of the exploded copy editor.
Some holiday cliches to avoid:
— ’Tis the season
— bah, humbug
— it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
— yes, Virginia
— ho, ho, ho
— holidaze
— Christmas came early (for anyone or anything)
— Calling anyone or anything a Grinch
— deck the halls
— the white stuff (in reference to snow)

Stylebook has this to say about cliches and overused phrases:

Some words and phrases tend to be overused, in either headlines or text. Using the same words over and over makes for a dull paper. There is a consensus among observers that avoiding hackneyed words is an easy way to improve a newspaper.

[RGMike]

if any of you read the Chronicle or SFGate (hellooo? ....  *crickets*) rest assured that you should be spared trite holiday themed expressions.  (Messages on this board should be so lucky!   ) This email from the Copy Desk went out to everyone today:

Yes, Virginia, sounds like your copy editor is a Grinch!

[RGMike]

I made note of this on FB last nite, but Sports Illustrated debuted a new feature this week: a full-page hits-and-misses-of-the-week thing called "The Strike Zone". Which bears an eerie resemblance to EW's "The Bullseye". I realize both mags are owned by Time Inc but jeezus.

[RGMike]

Question for Tinka --sorry if I've asked this before but... where does sfgate get their outside bloggers? Who picks these people? Zennie 62 is such a f***ing idiot. He makes LaSalle seem like Einstein. Truly, the guy is a moron.