There are several contenders at the moment including Angelina Jolie, Aishwarya Rai and many others have been given this title recently. But the question remains. A quick search on Google for ‘world’s most beautiful woman’ returns over 20 million results. With numerous articles on the subject in which authors name their favorites, or cite poll results from such and such publication, all claiming to know the answer. It would seem that with so many sources claiming the title belongs to one woman or another we may never have a definitive answer.

For decades beauty pageants have been held in attempts to discover the world’s most beautiful woman and put her in the public eye. The first ever Miss Universe was crowned in 1952, however pageant history stretches back to 1921 with the first ever Inter-City Beauty pageant held in Atlantic City, which would later be re-christened with the more familiar moniker of Miss America (not to be confused with Miss USA). Since then there have been countless beauty pageants crowning Miss this and Miss that. But in the last 30 years these pageants have become repetitive, stale and boring. Not to mention hard to get into. They have strict rules for eligibility that include age restrictions for the Miss Universe Organization you must be between the ages of 18 and 27. You cannot be married (or have children one would assume), you cannot currently or in the past have participated in previous Miss Universe Organization pageants; state, national or otherwise (ie Miss USA or state pageants). Not to mention the entry fees charged just to apply for entry. To get into Miss Universe you have to have won the Miss USA beauty pageant (or equivalent in another country), and you are not allowed to participate in any other beauty pageants while you are entered or while "holding the crown" if you win.

With most of these beauty pageants being held only once a year it is difficult for pageant fans to maintain interest in the "off season". Also consider that the pageant shows themselves remain the same year to year with very little variation or straying from the formula. The same competitions, questions and hosts, the only thing different is the women. Which of course is not a bad thing, however it is this repetitiveness that will be the undoing of beauty pageants as we know them today.

What would be the next logical step? What could someone do to evolve beauty pageants from what we are accustomed to and bring them into the 21st century? The answer is right in front of you, why not take the pageant online and make it available all year long? If you dig deep enough, or look in the right places you may find inklings that a person or two had this idea and there are a small handful of websites claiming to be online beauty pageants. Most of them seem more like afterthoughts or even a jest, but there is one that looks to be a diamond in the rough.

One of the most attractive looking sites on the web today, In Search of the World’s Most Beautiful Woman® is a website that will breathe new life into the beauty pageant scene with a fresh take on glamour competitions. Entry to the contest is done exclusively online, costs nothing and is free from most of the eligibility restrictions that prevent a lot of beautiful women from entering. You must be over 18 and have a good digital photograph of yourself to enter. That’s it! You can be in your thirties, married with children and still have a chance to participate in a world class beauty pageant. This contest will do away with the majority of stale ‘traditions’ that major beauty pageants still carry. The primary pageant is taking place online right now as you read this. There are over 50 beautiful Contestants from 14 different countries currently registered at In Search of the World’s Most Beautiful Woman® with more Contestants entering all the time. Everyone is welcome to participate either by entering as a Contestant or by becoming a Judge and casting their votes for these stunning women.

With this exciting new concept In Search of the World’s Most Beautiful Woman® aims to become the new leader in beauty pageants worldwide. The final pageant, set to take place in 2006, will feature large cash prizes for the winner, all expense paid trips to Las Vegas for the finalists and immense exposure for all Contestants to the world’s modeling and casting agencies. There are also plans for a large scale television show and with such innovation in a proven industry; In Search of the World’s Most Beautiful Woman® is certainly a name to watch out for.

Want to be a part of history? Here’s your chance! In Search Of The World’s Most Beautiful Woman®

=> http://www.insearchoftheworldsmostbeautifulwoman.com

=> gord@beautytv.net

Now, good men, God forgive you your trespass,
And guard you from the sin of avarice,
May my holy pardon save you all,
So you can offer coins,
Or else brooches, spoons or rings.
Bow down your heads before this holy bull!
Come up, you wives, and offer of your wool!
Your names I’ll enter on my roll, now,
Into Heaven’s bliss you will all go..

For I’ll absolve you, by my special power,
You that make offering, will be as clean and pure
As you were born.- And lo sirs, thus I preach.
And Jesus Christ, who is our souls’ physician,
So grant you each his pardon to receive;
For that is best; I will not you deceive.

In medieval times Pardoners were people who sold pardons or indulgences as a way for people to lessen their time in purgatory for the sins they had committed. These pardons were certificates from the Pope and pardoners themselves were sanctioned by religious houses given them the backing needed to sell these items. Pardoners became unpopular because many of them were seen as little more then frauds disguised as men of God. This image of unholy man playing at God’s work is the one Chaucer gives us in his Pardoners Tale where the last fifteen lines demonstrate not only how morally bankrupt the pardoner is as he tries to absolve others of their sins but it also is a reflection of the corruption in the church at that time as well.

The Pardoner begins the last lines of his tale by suggesting that the pardons he offers will be able to save those who purchase it from the sin of greed,

Now, good men, God forgive your trespass,
And guard you from the sin of avarice,
May my holy pardon save you all…

Having the Pardoner suggest that his pardons would be able to save anyone from any sin, including greed is a complete stretch of what Pardoners were supposed to be able to do. Buying a pardon might be able to lessen the time one spent in purgatory but in no way would be able to save anyone from their sins. To have the Pardoner make such an obvious lie, given the fact that we know he is well versed in Catholic doctrine due to his ability to quote scripture in his tale, Chaucer is making a statement about the credibility and the moral fiber of this man claiming to be a servant of God. More importantly the Pardoner is preaching against a sin that he admittedly embraces. His focus on greed is also important because his tale was a sermon on how greed can only lead to death, yet in having the Pardoner first relate a tale of the danger of money and greed and then portraying him as being as greedy as the men in his story Chaucer uses him to portray the dissatisfaction that people had with pardoners and money loving church officials at the time.

The Pardoner asserts his authority to be able to sell pardons when he tells the patrons at the tavern,

So you can offer coins,
Or else brooches, spoons or rings
Bow down your heads before this holy bull!
Come up, you wives, and offer of your wool!

This official edict of his ability to sell pardons goes right to the heart of the corruption the church would have been experiencing at the time. With the Pardoner being as morally bankrupt as he is having church sanctioned authority to participate in what amounts to a government sanctioned swindle, Chaucer indirectly questions the morality of those in position of power in the church. By having the Pardoner wield his “Holy Bull” around Chaucer suggests that whoever gave him this authority knows of his corrupt nature and is just as corrupt as the Pardoner. However, Chaucer’s attacks seem to be aimed at the people in the church not Christianity itself. Never once is there a questioning of Christian teachings or principles, just those delivering the message. The Pardoner offers wonderful lessons on the dangers of gluttony, gambling and swearing, quoting scripture, and imparting ideals that should be followed, yet he is a man who indulges in the same sins he preaches against. This raises the question of how well those in the church were following the teachings of Christ that would later lay rise to Luther and the Reformation.

Also in these lines the Pardoner shows his method of ensuring that no one can claim that they don’t have the means to pay him his fees. In his prologue the Pardoner makes it clear that he doesn’t care about those that he’s selling his indulgences too. That they can be poor and if they can’t feed their families because of the money they give him for his pardons so be it, it is not his concerns. There is a sense of urgency in the lines as he requests these goods, as if by offering many ways for people to pay he is eliminating any possibility that someone would be able to say they don’t have the money or means to purchase a pardon and in turn fulfilling his own greedy desires he expressed in his prologue.

As he continues with his final plea to the patrons in the tavern he ratchets up the sell by making even more extraordinary promises on what he is able to do for one’s soul,

Your names I’ll enter on my roll, now,
Into Heaven’s bliss you will all go.
For I’ll absolve you, by my special power,
You that make offering, will be as clean and pure
As you were born.-

Here the Pardoner promises to absolve the patrons of their sins, a statement that is in direct contradiction of Catholic doctrine as only priests are ones that would be able to offer absolution. Part of the dissatisfaction with Pardoners was that there was confusion on what “powers” they had and what they were really capable of doing. Chaucer’s Pardoner is no exception. He, as his tale established, is clearly a man well versed in church doctrine so he knows he has no power to absolve anyone of sins and it is just a device to assuage the concerns of anyone who may be skeptical of him and what he is selling. He even offers to place there names on his roll as another way to look official and to reassure the patrons of his authenticity. Also, his willingness to deceive those that are relying on him for their salvation is similar to the three friends in his story. They thought nothing of deceiving and killing each other to fulfill their greedy plans and while the Pardoner isn’t a murderer he demonstrates once again how willing he is to deceive for his financial gain.

As he ends his speech the Pardoner reminds the patrons of the salvation that really matters,

And lo sirs, thus I preach.
And Jesus Christ, who is our souls’ physician,
So grant you each his pardon to receive;
For that is best; I will not you deceive.

The Pardoner seems to catch himself in these lines. The previous lines of the speech are all a push, one that starts small and then reaches a crescendo with the promise of absolution but then he brings it back to Jesus Christ seemingly as way to add another of validation to his request. As the “Holy Bull” acted as church sanctioned authority, reminding everyone of their Lord and Saviour gives him the spiritual authority as well. The lines seem to be delivered a bit tongue and cheek. It’s as if the Pardoner has realized he’s pushed things to far so, as any good shady salesman would, he reassures those he’s trying to sale of his honesty. The line is interesting, however, in that the pilgrims know that the Pardoner is a liar, so his assurance of, “I will not you deceive,” seems to be for reassuring the patrons at the tavern as much as it acts as a capstone a, ‘See, I told you I was good at this,” to the pilgrims who know his true nature.

Chaucer offers us an interesting window into the politics of the medieval world with his Pardoner’s Tale. The satire and unflattering portrait of this holy pardoner offers a look at the problems facing the church at the time as well as one of the best villains in English literature.

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A few basic, descriptive words can define a person’s reputation in a mere brush stroke. Naïve, childlike, primitive - words like these have lived on long after the renowned French painter Henri Rousseau has left this world. Yet time and time again they are the tidbits of vocabulary, or the glaring labels that people give to Rousseau.

One has only to stare intently at his works with their bright shades, seemingly simple forms and fantasy like scenarios to see that they do have an unmistakable childlike aura about them, yet surely they show us more upon second glance.

The man Picasso would one day go on to befriend after seeing one of Rousseau’s canvases being sold for reuse, was born in Laval France on the 21st of May, 1844. Never a rich man by any means, Rousseau entered the army as a youngster and later became a toll clerk in Paris. At the somewhat early age of forty nine Henri Rousseau retired from his life in the civil service so he could devote night and day to his dearest passion, painting.

Rousseau belonged to an elite class of artists, though many of his peers and critics were not so quick to see Henri’s career as such. Rousseau was a self-taught artist through and through. Though he obtained the needed permit to sketch inside of the national French museums in 1884, Henri never so much as took a formal art class or apprenticed under any master of the day. Like so many with great loves, he simply had a burning passion for painting embedded in his soul.

The art world was alive in new and fantastic ways in the late nineteenth century; thousands of would-be artists clambered either in the shadows or in the limelight for recognition. This was the era that would produce such legends as Paul Gauguin, Edgar Degas and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec to name but three. So in this time of artistic explosion Rousseau worked – whether intentionally or not – in a style and manner that was delightfully unique and captivating. Though often grouped under the heading post-impressionism, Henri’s work somehow stands out from the crowd.

It is innovative and subtly provocative, surrealist and dreamy. He favoured animals, real life subject matter (including paintings of many of the people closest to him) and vivid, well-saturated colours. His passion for painting jungle scenery and wild beasts is thought to come from time spent in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, a lush botanical garden that housed a well stocked zoo of exotic creatures.

In his work we do see a sense of childlike innocence, but it may be because that is what Rousseau was attempting to do, rather than a by-product of his creativity. In an epoch of so many social, political, religious and technological – not to mention artistic – changes, living a lower class life (Henri and his wife Clémence had nine children to support on his meagre salary), and without formal training to sway him towards other more traditional or “in vogue” forms of art, perhaps Henri was trying to carve out the sort of life he secretly wished for through his work.

And so, like a child who daydreams incessantly in the face of reality, Henri Rousseau painted the world in a way that showed both its colourful simplicity and its mysterious secrets; a place of ambiguity, a fascinating jungle of fantasy amidst the harsh backdrop of late nineteenth century Paris.

Born is Vancouver, BC Jessica Cander is a professional freelance writer who currently calls the Southern tip of Ireland home. She intensely enjoys writing on all aspects of culture and the arts, and is a fan of Henri Rousseau’s painting.

There are so many protests, which get out of hand and turn into riots. It starts with a meaningful crowd with a legitimate grievance or upset from misinformation from the promoters of the protests. The group of humans exercising their freedom of speech shows solidarity by coming together in a common cause. This cause could be any number of things. Sometimes it serves the civilization in airing the situation rather than sweeping dirty problems under the fiber of our United States.

Typically most vocal groups are Black Americans, Anti-Capitalist and Gay Protestors, generally they start out fine, but somewhere along the way they start shouting and yelling and carrying on. Generally individuals in the group who cannot control them selves start throwing stuff, the groups become out of control because they themselves lack unity in their mission. Their mission changes dynamically into a mission of anger venting and rage. Unable to control the negative synergy of the group, these groups of humans always seem to turn radical and uncontrollable. If left to their own devices without re-channeling that energy they will turn to violence and destruction of property.

As we watch in other nations as such radical Islamic groups protest and start burning of flags and scarecrow type bad art of real people, we cannot believe what we see. Yet in our own nation we have had Black Riots and unruly and out of control male gay protestors do the same things. I therefore propose using acoustic crowd control devices which will be non-lethal but put the fear of god back into them and send them to the ground in paid, if they start violence against police, riot or start burning stuff.

Freedom of speech is one thing, but these events show us that we have a severe problem with folks who just do not understand what this country is about. Don’t kill them, but lets draw the line and hold that line with acoustic pain crowd control devices if they get out of hand. Think on this, I am tired of watching these ridiculous protests.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Rattanakosin came into being when King Rama I ascended the throne in 1782. He decided to establish the new capital on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River for better security from Burma. King Rama I was determined to build a new capital to revive the glory and splendor of old Ayutthaya. The new capital was proclaimed

Krungthep Mahanakorn Amorn Rattanakosin Mahintra Yuttaya Mahadilokpop Noparat Burirom Udom Rachnivet Mahasathan Amornpimarn Avartarnsathit Sakkatiya Witsanukamprasit

and hence began the Rattanakosin era or Bangkok period under the glorious reign of the Chakri Kings.

King Rama I choose a site just north of Wat Po, an old temple from the 17th century. With the Chao Phraya on the west and the Lod Canal on the east, the new capital was far more defensible.

In accordance with Thai customs, the first task was laying the foundation pillar for the new city. The City Pillar Shrine or Sao Lak Muang was established on 21 April 1782. Later King Rama IV, an avid astrologer, felt that a more auspicious location was required. The shrine was moved to the present location on 5 December 1852.

Construction of the Grand Palace commenced on 6 May and King Rama I occupied the royal residence on 13 June. Hundreds of boatloads of rubble were shipped from the ruins of Ayutthaya to build the city walls and public buildings of Rattanakosin.

At the same time, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha or Wat Phra Kaeo was constructed and completed in 1784. The Emerald Buddha was brought across the river from Wat Arun and installed in the new temple in the same year.

King Rama I appointed his younger brother the Uparat or Prince of the Front Palace, the equivalent of a second or deputy king. Part of the Front Palace is now the National Museum and National Theater.

In 1934, the palace grounds south of the National Museum was taken over by the government to start Thammasat University, one of the leading universities in Thailand. The remaining Front Palace wall line the southern edge of the university along Phra Chan Road.

Across Phra Chan Road is Wat Mahathat, another old temple since the pre-Rattanakosin era. The statue at the entrance to the temple is in honor of the Uparat or Prince of the Front Palace, who played a pivotal role in establishing the new capital. Also located here is the Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University.

The Silapakorn University of Fine Arts and the Fine Arts Department were built on the site of three former palaces in the first reign.

Northeast of the Grand Palace is the Royal Field or Sanam Luang where royal cremations were held in the past. Today it’s a location for local fairs and festivities. An important annual event that takes place here is the Royal Ploughing Ceremony in May to mark the start of the agricultural year.

The first canal, Lod Canal, was dug during the reign of King Taksin. In 1785, the second canal ring called Rob Krung (literally around the city) turned the city into an island and so gave rise to the name Rattanakosin Island.

Forts were built along the Chao Phraya River and the Rob Krung Canal for the defense of Rattanakosin. The third canal ring, Padung Krung Kasem Canal, was added in 1851-54.

Opposite the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, is the Ministry of Defense with old cannon displayed on the front lawn. This was built in 1882, during the reign of King Rama V, on the grounds of three old palaces from the reign of King Rama I.

The Saranrom Palace, opposite the Grand Palace, was built in 1866 during the reign of King IV. In 1960, part of the palace grounds became a public park, the Saranrom Park.

It’s a pity that modern buildings have replaced some of the old palaces. The old walls and forts protecting the city have been demolished; only two forts and part of the old city walls remain. But the remaining buildings in Rattanakosin give a glimpse of old Bangkok and recapture the glory of that era.

This article first appeared in Tour Bangkok Legacies a historical travel site on people, places and events that shaped the landscape of Bangkok. The author Eric Lim, a free-lance writer, lives in Bangkok Thailand.

Charles Dickenn’s Great Expectations is a story about a boy, Philip Pirrip, who comes to a point in his life where his life changes drastically from the way it was when he was growing up. Whenever this change occurs, he does his best not to let people know about his past life where he was just a common boy. Throughout the novel, Dickens points out how people sometimes lead two lives that they want to keep separate.

The change in Pip’s life is characterized in several ways. First of all, there is a physical change, when he moves to London. That just accentuates the difference between the two ³lives. Before, he lived in a small town that was near some marshes, both of which reflect the common side of his life. London is seen by Pip as a great and wonderful city which symbolizes his expectations of what is to come in his future. Another change in his life is that he is treated better by others. Mr. Trabb, the tailor, takes exception to Pip after he hears that he has come into a fortune. He measures Pip very quickly, and gets angry at his son for not showing the same respect of Pip’s wealth. Then, when he next sees Pumblechook, he repeatedly asks Pip if he may shake his hand, as if it is some great honor. Before the news, he hardly treated Pip any differently than any other common boy. Pip also looks to the way his new acquaintances are treated, most notably Mr. Jaggers. He is treated with a great deal of respect by everyone, and even invokes fear in some. Pip had never seen this level of respect for someone that was his direct acquaintance before, except for Miss Havisham, who he knew had great wealth.

This dual lifestyle is paralleled in Mr. Wemmick, the clerk for Mr. Jaggers. Mr. Wemmick, when at work, only thinks about his work, and doesn’t let his personal life affect how he goes about his business. The flip side of the coin is also true, as when he goes home, he forgets about anything that happened at work, and concentrates on making his deaf father happy. The scene when he takes Pip to work shows the change that he goes through on his way to work: By degrees, Wemmick got dryer and harder as we went along, and his mouth tightened into a post-office again. Just like Pip, he changes how he acts according to which role he is playing.

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There is something about Charles Dickens’ imaginative power that defies explanation in purely biographical terms. Nevertheless, his biography shows the source of that power and is the best place to begin to define it.

The second child of John and Elizabeth Dickens, Charles was born on February 7, 1812, near Portsmouth on England’s south coast. At that time John Dickens was stationed in Portsmouth as a clerk in the Navy Pay Office. The family was of lower-middle-class origins, John having come from servants and Elizabeth from minor bureaucrats. Dickens’ father was vivacious and generous but had an unfortunate tendency to live beyond his means. his mother was affectionate and rather inept in practical matters. Dickens later used his father as the basis for Mr. Micawber and portrayed is mother as Mrs. Nickleby in A Tale of Two Cities.

After a transfer to London in 1814, the family moved to Chatham, near Rochester, three years later. Dickens was about five at the time, and for the next five years his life was pleasant. Taught to read by his mother, he devoured his fathers’ small collection of classics, which included Shakespeare, Cervantes, Defoe, Smollet, Fielding, and Goldsmith. These left a permanent mark on his imagination; their effect on his art was quite important. dickens also went to some performances of Shakespeare and formed a lifelong attachment to the theater. He attended school during this period and showed himself to be a rather solitary, observant, good-natured child with some talent for comic routines, which his father encouraged. In retrospect Dickens looked upon these years as a kind of golden age. His first novel, The Pickwick Papers, is in part an attempt to recreate their idyllic nature: it rejoices in innocence and the youthful spirit, and its happiest scenes take place in that precise geographical area.

In the light of the family’s move back to London, where financial difficulties overtook the Dickens’s, the time in Chatham must have seemed glorious indeed. The family moved into the shabby suburb of Camden Town, and Dickens was taken out of school and set to menial jobs about the household. In time, to help augment the family income, Dickens was given a job in a blacking factory among rough companions. At the time his father was imprisoned for debt, but was released three months later by a small legacy. Dickens related to his friend, John Forster, long afterward, that he felt a deep sense of abandonment at this time; the major themes of his novels can be traced to this period. His sympathy for the victimized, his fascination with prisons and money, the desire to vindicate his heroes’ status as gentlemen, and the idea of London as an awesome, lively, and rather threatening environment all reflect these experiences. No doubt this temporary collapse of his parents’ ability to protect him made a vivid expression on him. Out on his own for a time at twelve years of age, Dickens acquired a lasting self-reliance, a driving ambition, and a boundless energy that went into everything he did.

At thirteen Dickens went back to school for two years and then took a job in a lawyers office. Dissatisfied with the work, he learned shorthand and became a freelance court reporter in 1828. The job was seasonal and allowed him to do a good deal of reading in the British Museum. At the age of twenty he became a full-fledged journalist, working for three papers in succession. In the next four or five years he acquired the reputation of being the fastest and most accurate parliamentary reporter in London. The value of this period was that Dickens gained a sound, firsthand knowledge of London and the provinces.

Dickens was very active physically. He loved taking long walks, riding horses, making journeys, entertaining friends, dining well, playing practical jokes. He enjoyed games of charades with his family, was an excellent amateur magician, and practiced hypnotism. One tends to share Shaw’s opinion that Dickens, in his social life, was always on stage. He was like an eternal Master of Ceremonies, for the most part: flamboyant, observant, quick, dynamic, full of zest. Yet he was also restless, subject to fits of depression, and hot tempered, so that at times he must have been nearly intolerable to live with, however agreeable he was as a companion.

In view of his very strenuous life it was not surprising that he died at fifty-eight from a stroke. At his death on June 9, 1870, Dickens was wealthy, immensely popular, and the best novelist the Victorian age produced. He was buried in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey, and people mourned his death the world over.

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What was the funniest novel of the 20th century? Christopher Hitchens recently pondered that question in the course of awarding the palm to Lucky Jim. I want to ask a more modest question. What is the funniest novel of the 21st century — this brand-new, post-9/11 century that already shows so many promising signs of being even more fouled-up than the last? To anybody who has read A Dancing Bear, that vast and rowdy tale of love, post-modernity, serial murder and terrorism, the answer won’t be in any doubt. Unfortunately almost nobody has read it. To date the book has only been published online. Its author, who variously calls himself Mark Osher, David Free and Kirk Kinbote, and who — if you believe his website — may not even still be alive, is rumored to have pulled out of at least two publication deals at the eleventh hour, after the houses involved sought to make unacceptable cuts to his text. In consequence the book is little known of outside its author’s native Australia, and even within Australia it has reached only a tiny circle of readers.

What, then, is the novel about? It opens on an unnamed university campus, where the protagonist — an amiable enough young cipher named Fenton Bland — has just joined a society of student Maoists in order to get near the girl he loves. These Maoists will prove a troublesome bunch. In an effort to demonstrate that communism is not yet dead, they perpetrate, or at least try to perpetrate, an increasingly rococo series of terrorist outrages. Bland, who is at heart a law-abiding fellow with no authentic taste for radical politics ("Like fellatio and death," we are told, "Maoism had always struck him as one of those things that happened to other people") finds himself in an increasingly urgent quandary: he must either go on pretending to be a terrorist, running the risk that one of the Maoists’ outlandish plots might one day succeed, or he must forever wave goodbye to his slender hopes of making the girl his.

That is the book’s spinal storyline, its central moral MacGuffin. Further plots and characters cavort on the book’s periphery. There is Pamela Scratch, a former childhood acquaintance of Bland’s who has now morphed into an incredibly fiery student activist. Her current project is to lobby for the unconditional release from custody of a patently guilty thrill-killer named Neville Aggot ("Campaigning for the release of a multiple murderer … even Bakunin would look at that and say, ‘Jesus that’s left-wing!’"). Bland intensely dislikes her but is nonetheless condemned to go on having coffee with her on a bi-monthly basis in perpetuity, because he believes, although his memory is shaky on the point, that he might well have touched her, when they were playing in a sandpit at the age of five, on the pudendum.

Then there is the eminent post-structural theorist Ivan Lego, who, in keeping with his thesis that "every speech act is an act of linguistic genocide," produces a book consisting wholly of blank pages. The work becomes a bestseller. Osher/Free/Kinbote reproduces a four-page "extract" of Lego’s book by leaving four pages of his novel blank. This is but one instance of what is, at least for this reader, one of the novel’s central mysteries. Is it an attack on post-modernism, or an exercise in it? Or is it both things at once?

Meanwhile the Maoists’ terror campaign is hotting up. Various kinds of atrocity are contemplated. A junior Maoist proposes the use of a car bomb. "I’m listening," replies the chief Maoist, "provided you’re not referring to my Kombi." Death lists are drawn up. The Maoists resolve to target the increasingly famous — and increasingly fatuous — Ivan Lego. The option of running him over with a motorbike ridden by a suicide bomber is canvassed, but scrapped as a logistical nightmare. ("Why bother with a bomb at all, if you’re already going to be creaming the bloke with a motorbike at top speed? You can’t kill the guy twice. And what if the bomb doesn’t go off at exactly the right instant? What do we do then? Dismount from the wreckage and just sort of run after him till the thing explodes?")

It soon dawns on the reader that all the book’s plots are coming marvelously together. Neville Claude Aggot escapes, and attempts (with merciful lack of success) to go on a rampage of "non-consensual sex and death." The Maoists decide, for reasons too complicated to go into here, to slay Lego in the style of a serial killer and pin the crime on the still-at-large Aggot. The scene in which Bland and the chief Maoist, packing a meat cleaver and a tomahawk respectively, attempt — with wildly differing levels of enthusiasm — to enter the theorist’s home in the dead of night is a tour de force of comic writing.

As indeed is the whole book. This novel, believe me, is not destined to remain obscure for long. It is only a matter of time before everyone will be talking about it. Check it out while it’s still a curio, a cult item, a hidden pearl in the great weedy dripping haul of the Internet.

Richard Corvo is a veteran commentator on Australian cultural affairs. His articles have appeared in many of the country’s foremost journals, including Malvolio and Arts & Ideas. His comments here refer to the online novel A Dancing Bear, which can be read at http://www.adancingbear.com/

I think that people who are unfamiliar with mermaid stories will be surprised by them. Most probably think that the mermaid is a passive, vulnerable creature like the mermaid in the movie "Splash". Nothing could be further from the truth. These are powerful beings with strong personalities. In various legends they cause storms, sink ships and drown the crews, cure illness, foretell the future and, of course, bewitch men.

The origin of the mermaid reveals the source of their strength: they were goddesses – and important ones at that. In the oldest religions the creator god is usually a goddess. Later goddesses are often associated with fertility which is another form of the power of creation. Long before the theory of evolution, the ancient philosophers believed that life came from the sea. From the intersection of these two ideas we have Aphrodite and Venus. Goddesses of love, and therefore fertility and creation, they are also associated with the sea. ‘Aphrodite’ means foam-born (born from the foam of the ocean waves). Venus is often associated with the sea as in Botticelli’s famous picture "The Birth of Venus" which shows the goddess riding in a scalloped seashell. Do not let the title "goddess of love" fool you. Aphrodite was also called the goddess of Life-in-Death, and was said to be the oldest of the Fates and punisher of the sinful. She was frequently cruel, jealous and proud.

I am using Aphrodite and Venus as examples of the fertility goddess but there are many others that share some or all of their attributes. From these goddesses come the legends of the mermaid. Mermaids are beautiful and Aphrodite and Venus are known for their beauty. There is a popular image of a mermaid combing her hair while she holds a mirror in her hand – the mirror and comb are symbols of Venus. Raising storms and dominion over the creatures of the sea are common attributes of sea gods.

Folk tales about mermaids incorporated these ideas. In folklore, mermaids are usually the aggressors. They are strong and willful and sometimes murderous. In some folk tales mermaids go on land to search for lovers. Lovers they will destroy when they are finished with them. If the local population gives them trouble they will call down on them monsters and foul weather. They have used their magical powers to curse individuals and entire families.

Mermaids, like the goddesses they evolved from, have a sunnier side, too, especially if they are treated with respect. They can be kind, generous, affectionate and loving. There is a family in Ireland that claims descent from a mermaid. She taught them the secrets of healing and made many of them famous physicians. Mermaids have given men the boons of wealth and knowledge, and sometimes their own love. It should be noted that having the love of a mermaid is a dicey affair. The men involved have come to bad ends more often than not. It is the same for men who have had the love of goddesses like Aphrodite or Venus.

To read a selection of mermaid tales and the myths of various sea gods and goddesses visit my site http://www.beautiful-mermaid-art.com I also have some of the best mermaid images on the net.

As an entrepreneur, fledgling creative person and travel enthusiast myself, I always keep learning from other entrepreneurs who have successfully combined business, creativity and travel in their own way. Last fall I took a seminar at the Learning Annex in Toronto with the title “How To Support Your Wanderlust”, which ended up being a very entertaining and informative seminar.

Barbara Winter is a Minneapolis-based entrepreneur, writer and speaker who has spent the past 17 years helping people discover their passions and turn them into profitable businesses. She is the author of the best-selling book, Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways for Creating Work That You Love (Bantam, 1993), and the publisher of Winning Ways, the newsletter for people living and working with passion.

In addition, Barbara teaches seminars and teleclasses on “Establish Yourself as an Expert”, “Making a Living Without a Job”, and “How To Support Your Wanderlust”. Barbara’s most recent endeavour, her book Jumpstart Your Entrepreneurial Spirit is hot off the press and just came out last month.

One of Barbara’s mantras is to turn artists into entrepreneurs and to turn entrepreneurs into artists. This is incidentally exactly where I am at in my life right now: after 2 business degrees and 15 years in business as an independent entrepreneur, the time has come for me now to reintegrate creative passion back into my life, which the website and my travels will offer me to do.

Barbara likes to turn people into inspired entrepreneurs who expand their horizons. I knew that Barbara would be a great candidate for an interview, she is funny, creative and full of great ideas and energy. I am sure that her seminars and books have inspired thousands of individuals to get up and pursue their passion and create their own businesses.

What I like to do in my interviews is I like to talk to the person, get to know them a bit better on the phone so I can compile written questions (hopefully semi-intelligent ones..;) for them that they can answer in their own words. The hour I spent on the phone with Barbara has been very entertaining and informative for me at the same time and I felt totally energized after talking to her.

As a novice writer myself, just listening to Barbara gave me lots of ideas for my own writing and publishing endeavours. Barbara really knows how to capture her audience and I am actually planning to take her upcoming teleclass A Beginner’s Guide to Getting Published.

Barbara is an interesting, inspiring individual that many of us can learn from. Stay tuned for my first interview!

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.

Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.

"Life is a Journey ­ Explore New Horizons".

The interview with photos is published at Travel and Transitions - Interviews