Best crime novels of the century

From the Rap Sheet -- again

Okay, I haven't worked out yet if the python was an April Fool's Joke or not, but this is such an amazing post from the Rap Sheet, that I reproduce it in full.  With comments.  Where appropriate.

It Was the Best of Crimes: Critics’ Choice 

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 02:11 PM PDT

In the summer of 2000, British critics H.R.F. “Harry” Keating and Mike Ripley were commissioned by the London Times newspaper to conduct a survey of the best crime novels (mysteries/spy stories/thrillers) of the 20th century, choosing one per year, 1900-1999. This, said the two critics, couldn’t be done so neatly, but what they would do was select 100 books to represent a century which began with the recall of Sherlock Holmes and ended with the death of Inspector Morse.

In the end, Ripley cheated a bit by nominating 101 titles to include Keating’s own The Perfect Murder from 1964, which modesty had forbidden its author from suggesting.

The survey, with a brief justification for each title, was published in a 16-page supplement to The Times on Saturday, September 30, 2000. The basic list of titles selected is republished here for the first time as a tribute to author and scholar Harry Keating, who died earlier this week at age 84. (Titles and years are as when published in the UK -- and I interpolate my thoughts, where I have any thoughts at all.)

1902: The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Yes, brilliant)

1903: The Riddle of the Sands – Erskine Childers (Have it; have trouble reading it.)

1905: The Four Just Men – Edgar Wallace (Oh yes, brilliant again)

1907: The Thinking Machine – Jacques Futrelle (Never heard of it)

1908: The Circular Staircase – Mary Roberts Rinehart (Remember reading that, and it was good)

1911: The Innocence of Father Brown – G.K. Chesterton (Oh yes, one of those books you remember ..)

1912: Trent’s Last Case – E.C. Bentley

1915: The Thirty-Nine Steps – John Buchan (Unreadable now, unfortunately)

1918: Uncle Abner – Melville Davisson Post

1926: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – Agatha Christie (This woman was so-o-o reliable, always good)

1928: Ashenden (The British Agent) – W. Somerset Maugham (Funny, that - thought I had read everything of his, but this is unfamiliar)

1929: Little Caesar – W.R. Burnett

1929: Red Harvest – Dashiell Hammett

1930: The Maltese Falcon – Dashiell Hammett (Tough times demanded tough sleuths, I guess)

1930: The Documents in the Case – Dorothy L. Sayers, Robert Eustace

1931: Malice Aforethought – Francis Iles (Who?)

1932: Before the Fact – Francis Iles

1933: The Nine Tailors – Dorothy L. Sayers (Oh yes, was it that long ago? Great book, even 80 years later)

1934: Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie (See above, but this was one of her greatest)

1934: The Postman Always Rings Twice – James M. Cain (Saw the movie, too violent for me; a hint of the Stephen King books to come)

1934: Death of a Ghost – Margery Allingham (Another great, reliable writer)

1935: They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? – Horace McCoy

1935: The Hollow Man – John Dickson Carr

1935: The League of Frightened Men – Rex Stout

1936: The Wheel Spins – Ethel Lina White

1938: Lament for a Maker – Michael Innes

1938: The Beast Must Die – Nicholas Blake

1939: The Mask of Dimitrios – Eric Ambler (Yes!  Chilling radio serial made from it)

1939: Ten Little Niggers (And Then There Were None) – Agatha Christie (Politically incorrect, dear, but great in its day - and a good movie, too)

1939: Rogue Male – Geoffrey Household (Totally brilliant book, still very apt.)

1940: A Surfeit of Lampreys (Death of a Peer) – Ngaio Marsh

1940: The Bride Wore Black – Cornell Woolrich

1942: Calamity Town – Ellery Queen (This guy made mysteries deliberately commercial -- the modern world owes him a lot)

1943: The High Window – Raymond Chandler

1944: Green for Danger – Christianna Brand

1946: The Big Clock – Kenneth Fearing

1947: The Moving Toyshop – Edmund Crispin

1948: Devil Take the Blue-Tail Fly –  John Franklin Bardin

1949: My Friend Maigret – Georges Simenon (Tried too hard to emulate Poirot)

1949: The Asphalt Jungle – W.R. Burnett

1950: Strangers on a Train – Patricia Highsmith (Oh yes, this one was great)

1950: Smallbone Deceased – Michael Gilbert (Was he the first lawyer to write mysteries?  Did them very well indeed -- teethed on his short stories in Argosy)

1950: The Stain on the Snow – Georges Simenon

1951: The Daughter of Time – Josephine Tey (Another one of those books that affects all your reading from then on -- wonderfully well researched, the first book that made me think deeply about history)

1952: The Tiger in the Smoke – Margery Allingham (Another superb choice)

1952: Last Seen Wearing – Hilary Waugh  (Great writer; not the book of his I would have chosen)

1953: Five Roundabouts to Heaven – John Bingham

1953: The Long Goodbye – Raymond Chandler

1953: The Burglar – David Goodis

1956: The Talented Mr. Ripley – Patricia Highsmith

1956: Mystery Stories – Stanley Ellin

1957: From Russia with Love – Ian Fleming  (You have to be joking!  Was 1957 that bad?)

1959: The Manchurian Candidate – Richard Condon (Great book, watchable movie)

1962: The Ipcress File – Len Deighton

1963: Gun Before Butter – Nicolas Freeling

1963: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – John Le Carré (Was I the only person in the universe who found this book unreadable?)

1964: The Deep Blue Good-bye – John D. MacDonald (Why choose this one?  They were all the same, and they all did well to pass long airplane flights away)

1964: Pop. 1280 – Jim Thompson

1964: The Expendable Man – Dorothy B. Hughes

1965: Black Money – Ross Macdonald

1967: Roseanna – Maj Sjowall, Per Wahloo

1968: Making Good Again – Lionel Davidson

1968: The Glass-Sided Ants Nest – Peter Dickinson (I tried so hard to read this book ...)

1969: Blind Man with a Pistol – Chester Himes

1970: Jack’s Return Home – Ted Lewis

1971: The Day of the Jackal – Frederick Forsyth (A whole new genre, and OMG he did it well)

1972: The Friends of Eddie Coyle – George V. Higgins

1972: Sadie When She Died – Ed McBain (Why this one?  They were all pretty much the same, like watching a TV series.  Mind you, all his Ed McBain books were Evan Hunter lite)

1972: The Players and the Game – Julian Symons (Brilliant writer -- I was addicted to him at the time)

1974: Other Paths to Glory – Anthony Price

1976: The Wrong Case – James Crumley

1976: A Demon in My View – Ruth Rendell

1976: A Morbid Taste for Bones – Ellis Peters (Yes, still very readable)

1977: A Judgement in Stone – Ruth Rendell

1977: Laidlaw – William McIlvanney

1978: SS-GB – Len Deighton

1979: Whip Hand – Dick Francis (Another reliable writer -- don't stick with just this one, as the other years were just as good)

1979: Skinflick – Joseph Hansen

1979: Kill Claudio – P.M. Hubbard  (Why three 1979s?)

1981: Red Dragon – Thomas Harris

1981: Thus Was Adonis Murdered – Sarah Caudwell

1982: The False Inspector Dew – Peter Lovesey

1982: Indemnity Only – Sara Paretsky

1982: The Artful Egg – James McClure

1984: Stick – Elmore Leonard

1984: Miami Blues – Charles Willeford

1986: A Perfect Spy – John Le Carré

1986: A Taste for Death – P.D. James

1987: The Black Dahlia – James Ellroy

1988: Double Whammy – Carl Hiaasen

1989: Lonely Hearts – John Harvey

1990: Postmortem – Patricia Cornwell (Another new take on the genre -- and only take it if you have a strong stomach for ersatz pathology)

1991: Devil in a Blue Dress – Walter Mosley

1991: Dirty Tricks – Michael Dibdin

1993: The Sculptress – Minette Walters

1993: In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead – James Lee Burke (One of the first literary mystery writers)

1995: The Mermaids Singing – Val McDermid

1998: On Beulah Height – Reginald Hill

1998: The Hanging Garden – Ian Rankin

1999: The Remorseful Day – Colin Dexter

2000?  2001? etc.?  And why not Elizabeth George?

Suggestions welcome.

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11:13 PM | 0 comments

Python eats CFR, creates havoc

Government Printing Office invaded by serpent


On Sunday, March 27, the Government Printing Office (GPO) announced that a

27-foot Bolivian python (an endangered species) from the National Zoo

slithered into the underground vault holding the official copies of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

Before it was incapacitated by numerous darts filled with strong sedatives, the snake managed to swallow Titles 33 and 46 of the CFR. It took veterinarians 12 hours to extract the important

documents.

In the interim, the US Coast Guard, Maritime Administration(MARAD), St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, Federal Maritime Commission, and US Army Corps of Engineers had to curtail operations for lack of authority.

~ Bryant's Maritime Blog ~

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12:46 PM | 0 comments

Who Can Stop Novak Djokovic?

I remember when Rafael Nadal was desperately trying to catch up to the pacesetter on the ATP Tour, working to expand beyond his clay-court empire and get within striking distance of the top. And I recall when Roger Federer was likewise engaged, hoping to unseat seemingly perpetual No. 1 Pete Sampras.

But I can't remember a time when Nadal and Federer were both eating the dust of a player who, if not more highly ranked, was certainly playing better and more consistently over an extended period.

Of course, I mean Novak Djokovic, who just may turn in a perfect score in the first (or Australian Open) quarter of the tennis year. Djokovic hasn't lost a match this year. In fact, he hasn't lost one since November, and it was pretty apparent that he lost that partly because he was preoccupied, looking ahead a few weeks to what would be Serbia's first taste of ultimate Davis Cup glory.

You have to go pretty far back to find a guy who rolled through the first three months of the year undefeated, although the number of events a player chooses to enter certainly has a bearing on that. Among the past five men to win the first major of the year (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Marat Safin and Andre Agassi, which takes us back nine years to 2003), only Djokovic has gone into Miami, the last event of the early hard-court segment, with a chance to run the table and finish the segment at 24-0 (he's currently 18-0).

But this isn't just an opportunity for Djokovic, it's also a great chance for Nadal or Federer to play an unfamiliar role for men of their status -- that of the spoiler. Strange as it seems to think of them in that light, it's about the best either man could do to salvage his early season. Federer has already lost to Djokovic three times this year (although he still has a superior 13-9 head-to-head record). Rafa Nadal is 2-4 in his past six matches with Djokovic, including Sunday's Indian Wells final, and has yet to win a tournament this year (Djokovic has played and won three).

Even if such august personages as Federer and Nadal relish the role of the spoiler, it's going to take more than willingness to beat Djokovic. He's shown this year that Federer just can't hit through him anymore; Djokovic's groundstrokes are too heavy, his court coverage too good, and he changes the direction of the ball and moves from defense to offense too expertly.

Nadal is better-equipped to handle Djokovic off the ground, but the very serve that pulled the No. 1 player through the U.S. Open final against Djokovic hasn't been seen much this year. An excellent returner, Djokovic can neutralize and pressure Nadal -- in essence, set him back on his heels and keep him off balance with a combination of great defense and quick-strike offense.

On top of that, Djokovic has always had a cocky streak, and now that has morphed into formidable level of confidence. The main question in my mind is whether Djokovic is fully focused on completing this transcontinental double. Only five players have won Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back: Michael Chang, Pete Sampras, Agassi, Rios and Federer (who did it twice, in 2005 and 2006).

After Indian Wells ended Sunday, Djokovic flew to Colombia to play an exhibition with Nadal, and then he threw the weight of his name and presence behind a worthwhile cause, the charity soccer match and dinner to raise money for Japan in the wake of the recent earthquake tragedy. Djokovic can be distracted, we've seen that in the past. And with three titles under his belt and the European clay-court circuit looming, he might be tempted to take his foot off the gas.

And I have a feeling Federer and Nadal would me more than happy to help him remove it.

Courtesy: ESPN

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4:48 AM | 0 comments

Djokovic - Post match interview - transcript

Courtesy: Official Website

N. DJOKOVIC/K. Anderson

6-4, 6-2

An interview with:

NOVAK DJOKOVIC

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. If you look at the numbers, it sounds like an easy game, but didn't look an easy one.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, it was anything but easy. Almost two hour match for 6 4, 6 2, I mean, result doesn't show what we had on the court definitely. I mean, I kind of expected him to be aggressive, but he was really going for the shots. He was really putting a lot of pressure on me. A lot. His serve was exceptionally well and hard to read.

In the second set I found that momentum, but I went through situations where I faced couple of breakpoints in the first and second set, and I saved them. You know, I was fortunate in those moments. If he broke me, who knows in which direction the match would go.

Q. But you looked very comfortable and you were enjoying the match. Looked like you were having fun?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: When I was two breaks up in the second set I was comfortable sure, but not before that.

Q. You play against a guy with a big serve. Is there a special way to prepare for that kind of match?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I had Karlovic serving on my warmup. I was trying to prepare in some ways, but, you know, it's very challenging to play a big server who's very aggressive. And if he serves well and very precise and if he manages to get some free points on his service games, he puts a lot of pressure on your serve, and then you're in trouble.

Then you need to try to get as many returns back and get into the rallies. I knew that in the rallies I have a little bit more chance. Some bit slower conditions in the night, so I was kind of relying on that. But he really played well.

Q. Can you tell me about your next opponent, what you think about?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I think he's on a great run. He's been playing some really good tennis this week, beating high ranked players, quality players. Today he looked really confident on the court. If he serves well, then he can really beat anybody, I think. It's going to be really unpredictable what's going to happen. Very good match. I look forward to it.

Q. Your next opponent says that playing during the day and night in this tournament is two completely different tournaments.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah.

Q. You've played both during the day and night...
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I think I've played all during the night actually, all four matches. So it's going to be different playing during the day. It's going to be faster, and I think it's a little bit more suitable to him.
But, you know, I have a day to recover, to get used to it, to get some practice. I'm sure I'll be fine.

Q. You had five breakpoints to save. You saved all of them. Isn't it the best proof of your confidence and hat your confidence is as high a possible?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, yes. You know, I served well in the moments when I needed to. Okay, he missed some shots, but, you know, I feel that mentally I'm more stable nowadays. Obviously with confidence you're you believe in your shots. You're going for some shots, and it comes back to you.

Q. That's 24 wins in a row going back to last year.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Uh huh.

Q. That must develop its own confidence.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I mean, you obviously get confidence with 24 wins in a row. I mean, it keeps getting better, of course. But I don't want to be carried away from that. I want to keep on working hard and taking one match at a time. You know, when it stops, it stops, but I'm definitely focusing on the next opponent.

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4:23 AM | 0 comments

Samsung Installing Keylogging Software In Laptops

Network World unveiled that Samsung has been installing a key logging software on its laptop and desktop computers. One guy who has just recently bought a brand new Samsung laptop has been discovered an application called StartLogger on his laptop. He said that the software was installed in C:\ drive and it was recording every keystroke, including emails, documents, usernames and passwords.

He reached to Samsung Support Center and told them about the software and reports this to Samsung Support and logged incident number 2101163379 with them. Samsung's support Center denied the existence of any such software on its laptops.

After being informed of two different models which had been tested for the keylogger, Samsung changed its tune and, instead, blamed Microsoft by saying "all Samsung did was to manufacture the hardware." This answer was not accepted by Mohamed and he told them that it "did not make sense", the incident was then moved higher up the support chain to a supervisor, who explained to Hassan that he was "not sure how this software ended up in the new laptop," but confirmed that "yes, Samsung did knowingly put this software on the laptop to monitor the performance of the machine and to find out how it is being used."

In 2007 the FTC Chairman, Deborah Platt Majoras, said "Installations of secret software that create security risks are intrusive and unlawful." If this story turns out anything like the Sony rootkit fiasco we may see lawsuits, and quite a few of them.

The two models currently known to contain this software are the R525 and R540. CNET has published a helpful guide on how to remove this software, to read it click here.

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3:40 AM | 0 comments

Google +1 Feature for Search Results - New Social Feature

Still Google don�t want to stop and really trying to get upper hands in social arena. Google has announced a new social feature for its search engine, a new social service called Google +1 that competes directly with the Facebook like button as a signal for determining what content is most relevant to an individual.

Google +1 feature is only available on search results, but Google plans on rolling this out to many different Internet objects eventually. The functionality requires you to have a public Google profile, and your +1 rating will be posted to your profile.

According to Google Blog; Google +1 to give something your public stamp of approval, so friends, contacts, and others can find the best stuff when they search. Get recommendations for the things that interest you, right when you want them, in your search results. Your +1's are public. They can appear in Google search results, on ads, and sites across the web. You'll always be able to see your own +1's in a new tab on your Google Profile, and if you want, you can share this tab with the world.

How to Use Google +1 Feature?

• Make sure you're signed into your Google Account (required)
• Click 'Join this experiment'
• Search for something you love on Google.com
• Click the new +1 button, and make your mark on the web

Check out Google +1 Video:

You can also check Google's New Experimental features here.

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3:08 AM | 0 comments

Djokovic - on court interview

Very short video from after the win against Kevin Anderson

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1:42 AM | 0 comments

Djokovic to face the new US #1

Novak Djokovic reached the Miami semifinals Wednesday by beating Kevin Anderson, extending his winning streak and avenging a loss two years ago to the South African in the same city.

World No 2 Djokovic defeated unseeded Anderson 6-4, 6-2 in a quarterfinal match at the $9 million ATP Masters 1000 hardcourt tournament.

"When I was two breaks up in the second set I was comfortable sure, but not before that," Djokovic said. "In the second set I found that momentum, but I went through situations where I faced a couple of break points in the first and second set, and I saved them.

"I was fortunate in those moments."

Djokovic, who has won all of his 22 matches this season, will face American Mardy Fish in the semifinals.

Djokovic has now won 24 consecutive matches dating back to last year's Davis Cup final.

"You obviously get confidence with 24 wins in a row," he said. "It keeps getting better. But I don't want to be carried away with that.

"I want to keep on working hard and taking one match at a time. When it stops, it stops."

The Serb is looking for back-to-back titles in Indian Wells and Miami. It would be his fourth title this season to go with victories in Dubai, Indian Wells and the Australian Open.

Anderson became South Africa's first ATP winner in more than five years when he took the title in Johannesburg in February.

Anderson won their only prior meeting by beating Djokovic in three sets in the second round here three years ago.

At the time, Djokovic was ranked third in the world and Anderson was ranked 122nd.

Djokovic will be the heavy favourite against 14th seeded Fish who will pass Andy Roddick as the No 1 ranked American player when the next ATP Tour rankings come out.

Fish has had an up and down year, making two semis in Delray Beach and Memphis but losing in the second round of both the Aussie Open and Indian Wells. He lost twice this year to 20-year-old Milos Raonic of Canada in the second round at Indian Wells and the semis in Memphis.

Fish ousted an ailing David Ferrer 7-5, 6-2 to reach the semifinals.

While Ferrer had plenty of praise for Fish's strong performance on serve, he said he could not really rise to the challenge because of a stomach ailment.

"I think it's the digestion," Ferrer said. "I went to the court, and I when I run to rallies, a lot of pain in my stomach. In the second set, I cannot run anymore."

Djokovic said like Anderson, he can't look past the match with Fish.

"I think he's on a great run," Djokovic said. "He's been playing some really good tennis this week, beating high-ranked players, quality players.

"I watched him play today and he looked really confident on the court. If he serves well, then he can really beat anybody."

The victory ensures Fish will climb to at least 11th when the rankings are next released, while Roddick will fall from eighth to 14th after losing his tournament-opener last week.

"It's very humbling," Fish said.

Courtesy: Supersport

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1:03 AM | 0 comments

And Round Four of the Amateur Sleuth Competition

Wiki Coffin missed out but the contest is getting interesting

Also from the Rap Sheet (see link in previous post) -- Four Rode Out

Blogger Jen Forbus has announced the Round Four winners of her “World’s Favorite Amateur Sleuth Tournament.” From a previous pack of eight contenders, online readers have now narrowed the finalists down to this quartet: Nancy Drew, Jane Marple, Carter Ross, and Lisbeth Salander. Forbus will post the revised ballot in her blog later today, and you’ll have through Saturday to choose a favorite.

Mystery -- Who the hell is Carter Ross?  I can't find him or her!

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11:47 PM | 0 comments

Maverick rides again

Is the golden age of Westerns about to reopen?

The Rap Sheet reports that James Garner is to publish his memoir.

Simon & Schuster announced Wednesday that it will publish a memoir by James Garner.

The Garner Files is due to hit shelves in November 2011.
“I’ve avoided writing a book until now because I feel like I’m really pretty average, and I didn’t think anyone would care about my life. I’m still a little uncomfortable, but I finally agreed, because people I trust persuaded me people might be interested and because I realized it would allow me to acknowledge those who’ve helped me along the way. I talk about my childhood, try to clear up some misconceptions, and even settle a score or two,” Garner said in a press release.


Simon & Schuster’s publisher, Jonathan Karp, added, “This book is charming and disarming and always entertaining--just like James Garner, or Jim Rockford, or Bret Maverick. And it’s the story of a big American life, from growing up in Oklahoma during the Depression to the Korean War and to Hollywood stardom.”

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10:15 PM | 0 comments

Djokovic - post match video interview

Post match interview

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4:31 AM | 0 comments

Copy-editing Harry Potter was a top-secret job

From the State-Journal Register, of Springfield, Illinois, comes an illuminating story

Some people get jobs that yield a life-time's worth of dinner-table stories, as Dave Bakke reports after interviewing copy-editor and proof-reader Susan Jeffers (pictured right).

Susan, employed by Scholastic, was a proof-reader for Harry Potter books one-through-three, and copy-edited all the rest, save book four.

What is astounding about her stories is the secrecy involved.  "We had a secret location in which we would work on the book," she said. "Several people had access to that room.  Nobody else knew where we were or who was involved."  As she admits, "I still feel funny talking about it.  The secrecy was so ingrained in me."

None of the people involved kept the manuscript in their possession very long.  Though each was more than 1,000 pages long, it had to be copy-edited in two weeks, before being passed onto the next step in production.  And there were no electronic copies.  It was all printed manuscript. None of the editing was on computer, as it would have been too easy to forward an electronic version.

Some months after the final book was published, she said, she was sitting in a New York subway car, and saw half a dozen adults eagerly reading the story she had read many months earlier.

As Bakke observes, she could be excused for enjoying a quiet private grin.

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5:17 PM | 0 comments

Djokovic - A few videos

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4:43 PM | 0 comments

OMG

OMG, it's now official

The abbreviation for Oh my God! has passed the Oxford English Dictionary test, and is now an official word.

And so are LOL (laughing out loud), IMHO (in my humble opinion), and BFF (best friends forever).

One would imagine that the internet has a lot to answer for.  However, the OED relates that the first confirmed use of OMG was in 1917.

The update also includes "flat white" (a way to take your coffee that was invented in New Zealand, I believe), and "muffin top."

Muffin top?  Apparently, it is the unpleasant roll of flesh that forms over the waistband or hipband of an overly tight pair of pants.

OMG!

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2:08 PM | 0 comments

Six reasons Borders is going bust -- or is it seven?

Former Borders merchandizing strategist and analytics director Mark Evans has outlined six reasons Borders has failed

# Over-investment in music

# Failure to adjust to the e-book revolution

# Situation, situation, situation -- the wrong real estate choices

# Too wide a range of titles

# Inefficient infrastructure

# Failure to establish a distinctive brand.

Now he can add a seventh.

Jason Boog of GalleyCat reports that bankrupt Borders plans to pay $8 Million Plus in bonuses to 17 executives, most of whom have been with the company less than 18 months, and many less than a year.

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1:48 PM | 0 comments

Djokovic - Round 3 match highlights

Courtesy: SBSportsGuy

Includes a short on court interview

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1:38 PM | 0 comments

Djokovic - Hope For Japan - Video - extra footage

More footage from the Hope for Japan charity football match.



Courtesy: ksyuzi

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9:19 AM | 0 comments

Novak on a roll in Miami

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic became just the third player in the past 30 years to open a season with a 20-0 mark as he defeated James Blake 6-2, 6-0 in a third-round match Sunday night at the Sony Ericsson Open.

Only John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl have posted longer winning streaks to start a season since 1980; McEnroe ran off 39 straight victories in 1984 and Lendl won 25 in a row in 1986.

It's an extraordinary feat, but not something the 23-year-old Djokovic is concentrating on. "To be honest, I'm taking it one match at a time and trying to win against the opponent that I have today and not thinking about what happened or what can happen," said the Serbian, following his win over Blake.

After taking Djokovic to deuce on the Serbian's opening service game, Blake would not have another chance in the match, winning just 22 per cent of his return points. Everything was clicking for the second-seeded Djokovic and he raced away after breaking Blake in the fourth game of the first set to lead 3-1. The American would win one more game, but at 4-2, Djokovic ran the table, winning eight straight games to ultimately triumph in 52 minutes.

When asked about any areas of his game that may call for improvement, Djokovic joked about the need to sharpen his drop shot, but attributed the upgrading of his first serve as a confidence boosting shot. "I have been working really hard on my serve in the last ten months, and now it's coming back to me," he said.

"I have been really trying to use that serve and trying to get some free points out of it, and tonight it was working really great. I think I'm quite a complete player. My game is based obviously on the baseline, but I need that serve so I can get more free points and put a lot of pressure on my opponent. That's where I'm getting lately, so I'm happy with that."

A familiar face stands in the way in the fourth round, his close friend and Davis Cup teammate Viktor Troicki, a player he's known since they were nine years old. Djokovic has swept their past eight meetings after Troicki won their first encounter four years ago in Umag. The two have played twice this year already, including last week at the same stage at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, where Djokovic routed his countryman 6-0, 6-1.

Although Djokovic has dominated their head-to-head series, Troicki does have something on the two-time Australian Open champion. "The first tournament in my life that I played, I won my first match and then I lost to him. And he gave me a bagel. It was 9 0. I still have a video of that match, and we still joke around a little bit," laughed Djokovic.

Courtesy:ATPWorldTour

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1:25 AM | 0 comments

Google To Launch Mobile Payment System

Google is now joining hands with Mastercard and Citigroup to setup a mobile payment system for Android phones that will turn Android phones into a kind of electronic wallet. This new technology, which is in its early stages, will allow Android consumers to use their Android phones in a form of checkout counter to make payments.

The planned payment system would allow Google to offer retailers more data about their customers and help them target advertisements and discount offers to mobile device users near their stores, the sources told the WSJ.

Google is not expected to get a cut of the transaction fees, the paper said.

Initially, holders of Citigroup-issued debit and credit cards would be allowed to pay for purchases by activating a mobile payment application developed for one current model and many coming models of Android phones, the paper said.

Google, Citigroup and Mastercard could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.

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12:27 AM | 0 comments

Amazon Launches App Test Drive Feature for AppStore

Amazon has introduced a new platform where Android users can test their apps directly from app store before buying any app of android. Today in any App stores it�s really hard to take a test drive of any particular app so if you purchase an app that you do not like or want then there is a little chance of being able to return it. In most cases, you can�t even try a demo version of the application, so what did Amazon do? They have actually created a virtual machine that allows app users to test out any app from their store in your browser before you buy it.

Amazon more said that; App Test Drive feature is a great solution to an issue that end users currently face. The one downside to Test Drive is that you have to be at a PC and it currently does not work if you are browsing on your mobile device.

According to Amazon Spokesman;

Clicking the "Test drive now" button launches a copy of this app on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), a web service that provides on-demand compute capacity in the cloud for developers. When you click on the simulated phone using your mouse, we send those inputs over the Internet to the app running on Amazon EC2 - just like your mobile device would send a finger tap to the app. Our servers then send the video and audio output from the app back to your computer. All this happens in real time, allowing you to explore the features of the app as if it were running on your mobile device.

Amazon has already launched its AppStore for Android users. It will help users to take a Test Drive of any Android App within their Appstore. In a market where features drive consumers, Amazon has unleashed a top notch product that may draw users away from Google's own Marketplace.

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12:09 AM | 0 comments

Wiki Coffin starred in The Herald on Sunday

And the rave is repeated in Crime Watch

Craig Sisterson, the hard-working blogger and promoter of Kiwi crime fiction (see righthand column for the link), is also the face behind a monthly column in The Herald on Sunday, one of New Zealand's most well-read papers.

In this weekend's crime fiction round-up, he highlights Wiki Coffin and A Watery Grave, as well as Andrew Grant's Death in the Kingdom (Monsoon) and The Crime of Huey Dunstan by James McNeish (Vintage).

Says Craig:  "Druett marvellously combines mystery and history in a unique crime novel setting.  Wiki is a terrific and engaging lead, the book is drenched in maritime colour and detail, and the murder mystery itself twists to a satisfying end."

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7:53 PM | 0 comments

Historical fun with names of occupations

The newsletter of Cambridge University reveals that pastors of the past took liberties with birth records

As the 2011 national census approaches, a historical survey of occupations being undertaken by Cambridge University academics has revealed some of the oddest job titles in the land.

Faced with filling in the census form plenty of people will be tempted to put frivolous answers into the boxes asking for details about their lives. In the last census ‘Jedi knight’ emerged as the fourth most popular religion and it is expected that ‘heavy metal’ will figure strongly this year. Those determined to have a spot of fun with their answers should, however, be prepared for a fine as it is an offence to supply inaccurate information.

New research has revealed that in the early nineteenth century, the maverick vicar of the tiny parish of Middleton in Norfolk had no qualms about being creative with the truth. Every time there was a birth in the scattering of farms and cottages around the church of St Mary, it was his duty to record the details of the new child including the “qualification, trade or profession” of the father (or failing that, make some reference to the mother) – the equivalent to question 34 in this year’s census.

Taking up his pen, the Very Reverend Dr Peter Scrimshire Wood inscribed a series of wonderfully fanciful job descriptions into the parchment-bound parish baptism register. Among the mention of the mundane (coachman, labourer, farmer, workman) he added occupations that speak volumes about his sense of humour and his far-from-impartial opinions of the people involved.

Listed for 1819 are “lamb gelder”, “chopper of chips”, “good workman”. During the following year, warming to his theme, he listed “cut throat of pigs”, “publican and beggar maker”, “turn coat and knight of the needle”, “master of the rolls and burn crust”, “farmer and fortune hunter” and – perhaps best of all – “cabbage gelder”. Not a man to mince words, he listed mothers of illegitimate children as “whore and man trap”.

Cambridge historian Dr Peter Kitson came across the delightfully quirky entries in the Middleton baptism register while processing data from the 800 or so parishes of rural Norfolk from the early 19th century.

Kitson is one of a team of Cambridge University historians and geographers undertaking the biggest ever survey of occupations in England and Wales from 1379 to 1911. Their key source materials are the eight detailed censuses of occupations carried out between 1841 and 1911, and the 11,400 parish registers housed in county record offices up and down the country.

Tabulating and analysing vast amounts of data is a relentless task. “When one morning my eyes lit on the records for Middleton, I was alone in my office in Cambridge and I actually laughed out loud – I was so happy to be sharing a joke with someone who lived 200 years ago and was clearly trying to enliven the tedium of record-keeping,” said Kitson.

“After sharing my find with my colleagues, I began googling for some of the terms I’d come across and working out what they were. Some – like crispin which means shoemaker and manuary which means someone engaged in manual work – are obscure terms while others are pure inventions – cabbage gelder for market gardener or greengrocer. It’s been fun to decipher the thinking behind the entries – and to speculate why the compiler of the register felt the urge to do this.”

It turns out that the archivists at Norfolk Record Office in Norwich, where the Middleton baptism register is held, had also been chuckling about the entries. “The Very Revd Dr Wood was vicar of Middleton from 1810 to 1856, a very long period of incumbency, but he made his irregular comments in the register only between 1818 and 1822,” said Norfolk County Archivist, Dr John Alban.

“Why did he start writing entries of this kind and then suddenly stop? Was he merely being mischievous or did he have a rather low opinion of his parishioners, as some of the comments suggest? We shall probably never know the answers, although a baptism entry for one of his many children reveals a streak of eccentricity. On 14 May 1815, inspired by current affairs, he christened his own daughter Congress Vienna Amelia Wood.”

There is, of course, a much more serious side to the research being undertaken by Kitson and his colleagues. Starting in 1911 and working backwards through the nineteenth and eighteenth centuries to the ultimate target of 1379, the project will enable scholars to follow the changing occupational structure of England and Wales. A series of maps, some of which are already available online, now show the distribution of occupations throughout the country at the time of each census.

“It’s fascinating to see how occupations were distributed – for example, how many bakers there were in southern England in 1851 and how few bakers there were in the North. Presumably that’s because people in those areas baked their own bread. The data also enables us to trace the clustering of occupations, such as the growing concentration of textile-related jobs in Lancashire and Yorkshire,” said Kitson.

 Peter Kitson works on a research project entitled ‘The occupational structure of Britain 1379-1911’. It is run by Dr Leigh Shaw-Taylor and Professor Sir Tony Wrigley, and aims to reconstruct the evolution of the occupational structure of Britain from the late medieval period down to the late nineteenth century.

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4:53 PM | 0 comments

An Author's Story of the Christchurch Earthquake

The biggest after-shock in the world, perhaps -- the Christchurch quake of 22 February 2011 

Animal-friend and historical fiction writer Beverley Broad (West Coast Reins, Fool's Gold, Erupting Lies, Ostrich chick hatching and raising in New Zealand: a practical guide) sent me an evocative account of how she heard the news of the quake, and what followed afterward.

As Bev tells the story, she was coming out of the surf at Tauranga, when her hostess ran out with the news that she had just received a phone call.


As she goes on to say, “I knew straight away from her face that it was Christchurch and the most awful ice-cold hand clenched my heart even before she turned on the TV and we watched in horror our beautiful city falling to its knees.

I still cannot decide which is worse, actually suffering the terror of enduring the two and a half minute 7.2 in the dark on the morning of 4th Sept, or being so far away and unable to find our children in the carnage of the 22nd Feb. All telephone links were lost, and to make things worse I had a new cell phone that I wasn’t familiar with and I just could not even see it through my tears let alone make it work with my shaking fingers. Eventually I managed to contact Lucy our daughter in law in Wellington and she acted as a go between for messages. She was able to tell me that Nicola was safe at the school with her kids, but we could not find Rebecca or her family. And of course they had gone to lunch downtown to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

But Arron was late! Too long in the shower! So they decided against the inner city restaurant and were just getting out of the car when they looked up Manchester St and saw clouds of dust as buildings toppled, they did a frantic U turn and headed for the hills where the kids were at school. Rebecca said the drive was diabolical, cracks opened up, mud and water gushed, and the tar seal rippled like a rug being shaken. Rebecca ran into the classroom narrowly missing a brick wall falling on her, found the kids, then got them home. They put up a tent on the lawn and Nicola and family came to share it, they were all still sleeping in it when we got home.
Lucy had managed to get us a flight to Christchurch along with a plane-load of Govt. officials. We flew in with a case-load of food, bread and milk, as at that point essential supplies were critical and queuing for what shops were open, hours long.
At the Animal and Bird Hospital the girls were heroically trying to keep the clinic open with, initially no power, water or sewerage. To date the first 2 have been restored, but sewerage is a long time away; there are portaloos lining all the streets and all water must be boiled. Initially animals coming for help got it free as there was no money and no eftpos. The girls did what they could; common injuries were dogs left locked inside who had ripped out claws and worn their teeth to bleeding gums trying to claw or chew their way out. Mostly their traumatised owners just needed to talk, as everyone did.
We watched in horrified awe as the tsunami rolled over Japan. Tears poured down my cheeks as I watched the clip of the shaking and heard that dreadfully familiar cacophony of sound, and relived that awful few moments on 4 Sept. I had to look around the room and reassure myself that it was not happening again. I had to turn off the TV in the end; it is just too raw and traumatising, especially knowing we are getting so many earthquakes just off shore out from New Brighton beach where we used to live on Marine Parade. So far they have thankfully all been of a small magnitude, but only 5 ks deep and one cannot but help ask “What if….”
What is Christchurch’s future you are probably asking?
I just don’t know, but I will keep you posted.

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1:13 PM | 0 comments

Djokovic- Round 2 post match interview

Courtesy: Official Website

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Considering that you played so much tennis, is it helpful that tonight's match was so short?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, definitely helpful. You know, in opening rounds, especially in the first round, you're trying to get used to the conditions and you don't want to underestimate your opponent, so you want to step into the court and try to be focused from the start and try to, you know, get as quickly as possible out of the court. So I did a great job tonight.

Q. How did you feel out there?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Um, I mean, I couldn't feel better, you know. Most of the shots I was hitting were winners, so I wasn't making a lot of mistakes.

Everything was working perfect.

Q. When you're playing like this, are you just chomping at the bit to get back out there as quickly as possible? Is it hard to wait between matches?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, it's confidence that plays a very important role in our sport, and in any other sport. So I guess you're trying to keep that confidence level very high, and when you step on the court, you know, you're hitting the ball and everything comes in.

You know, you have a lot of self belief that, you know, you can hit the ball hard and you can step in and take your chances, be aggressive, and that was the case tonight. That's the case, you know, lately for me.

I do look forward to my next challenges. You know, I've played a lot of matches, so it's good that I have an extra day tomorrow where I play doubles and where I take some time and get ready for next one.

Q. How much do you think you'll have to rely on your net game this tournament?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Excuse me?

Q. How much do you think you'll have to rely on coming to the net in this tournament?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Coming to the net? Well, look, I'm not a classic serve and volley player and I'm not coming that often to the net, but I try to put some variety in my game and use the chances that are given to me to come to the net.

It's something that I've been working on lately. It's well. You know, it takes time. I know I have to, you know, mentally kind of convince myself that I can come to the net, I can play well. I'm just happy with the way I'm playing.

Q. Considering the fact that you've been really unbeatable this year, does playing so well bring another level of pressure to maintain that high level of play?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes, but, you know, I'm not thinking too much about being unbeaten this year or, you know, what it carries with it, you know, some kind of pressure or expectations.

I got used to that. You know, I'm playing for many years already on a high level in professional tennis, and I'm using this experience this year to be able to perform my best on the court.

I'm fresh mentally, motivated to have even more success. I'm looking to upcoming challenges. I know it's only been a couple of months of the year, but I have been playing great, and I want to keep on doing that.

I need to stay physically fit and healthy in order to, you know, be consistent with the success.

Q. You've got James next; is that right?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes.

Q. Your thoughts about that matchup?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, you know, James has been around for a while. He's a great competitor. He's very exciting to watch. He hits the ball very clean, very powerful. He's a great mover. He's very fast.

You know, he's gonna be having a lot of support from the crowd. You know, it's definitely not an easy one. I have to step on the court and be on top of my game.

Q. You talked about confidence. Andy at the moment has no confidence, I guess. Can you feel for him? Do you understand what he's going through at the moment?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I absolutely understand. Today when I saw when he lost, I mean, that gives you it proves and it gives, you know, another reason and another example, actually, that this sport is all mental in the end, you know.

You can work as hard as you can and you can practice for hours and hours, but if you don't have that self belief on the court, if you don't have that confidence, you know, it can easily turn against you.

I felt it, you know, last year in this period for first five, six months. I had similar early round losses. I know how it feels like, you know. It's incredible, you know, how mental it gets.

You know, if you believe in your shots, if you're just relaxed on the court, then you he has a quality, I mean, to beat anybody on the tour. He's just going through that period that I'm sure it's gonna be over very soon.

Q. What are you going to do in doubles tomorrow to cheer him up?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, look, you know, I still haven't heard from him, so I'll let him sleep over and see hopefully tomorrow. He's gonna be fresh and motivated to win doubles. I'm really looking forward to that doubles.

Q. How does it come to pick Andy as a partner for doubles? You were both practicing doubles to be better later?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, you know, it's idea we had for a long time already, but we weren't managing to kind of organize and play together. We played in 2006 I think in Australian Open and, you know, since then we had a lot of success in our singles careers.

That's what we prioritize, and we didn't play that much doubles. But now that we play together, we should enjoy it. You know, I really look forward to that.


Q. Would you like to see more top guys play doubles? Do you think it's good for the game?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: At Indian Wells I think you had 9 of top 10 players, singles players, playing doubles. So, you know, it gives you example of, you know, singles players getting involved more in doubles.

You know, it's good for serve and volley, it's good for it's good for us to have some practice and enjoy sharing the court with somebody, as well. You know, because most of the time we're alone.

Q. You were this week in my country, in Colombia. How did you enjoy that experience?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I enjoyed it so much. You know, I didn't feel that kind of atmosphere ever in my life in exhibition event. It was incredible. It was very loved. It was just being a part of that exhibition event and the whole day being in Colombia, we felt like rock stars, you know. It's just great experience. I will definitely come back.

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12:49 PM | 0 comments

Novak Djokovic - Jelly legs after Wingtennis

Courtesy: HEADTennis

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10:32 AM | 0 comments

Novak Djokovic - Point Of The Year & photos

Absolutely fantastic point during the Doubles match yesterday.  Unfortunately Nolandy lost on the match tiebreak :(



Courtesy: ATPWorldTour

A few photos from the match

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5:41 AM | 0 comments

You know you're from Christchurch when . . .

You have to admit that it takes guts to be funny in the face of ongoing disaster

 I can't find who to credit, but the Saturday Dominion Post has a very amusing list of what identifies a citizen of Christchurch, as the after shocks go on and on ... and on.  Here is a sampling:

# Geonet or ChristchurchQuakeMap is your homepage

# The rest of the country offers you a place to stay

# You sleep in one suburb, shower in another, and collect water from yet another

# You are happy two police officers came to visit

# You think it is fine for a soldier to be stationed at the end of your street

# It is normal to greet people with "do you need a shower?"

# Every house is a crack house

# Little boys don't get excited when they see (another) digger or a dozer -- but all the adults in the street cheer wildly

# When a massive group of students appears in your street, you feel overwhelmed with gratitude, instead of calling the police.  And what's more they leave the street in better condition than when they arrived.

# The answer to where anything is -- "It's on the floor."

# Your teenagers are only too happy to sleep in the same room as their parents.

# You smile at strangers and greet people like you're one big family

# Going to Wellington to escape earthquakes makes sense.

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9:02 PM | 0 comments

Djokovic - Prematch Press Conference - photos

Courtesy: Zimbio

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6:53 PM | 0 comments

Djokovic - Round 2 in Miami - photos

Nice entrance Nole :-)

Even better match with the loss of 1 game!

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6:43 PM | 0 comments

Djokovic - More Wing Tennis footage

Novak has posted a new message on his Facebook page.  It is another video from the Air Tennis stunt with HEAD.

http://www.facebook.com/djokovic.official#!/djokovic.official?sk=app_2392950137

Check the other 2 new videos there.  One is from Beijing and the other Bogota :-)

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2:08 PM | 0 comments

Oxford DNB Literary biography of the day: Paul Scott

Paul Mark Scott (1920-1978)

A while back some blogger (the inestimable Graham Beattie?) asked for names of Books that Changed Your Life.   I would have to include Towers of Silence by Paul Scott, because yes, reading it changed my view of the British Raj in particular and colonization in general, and it has certainly influenced all my reading about India since.

Today, the Oxford Dictionary of Biography features Hilary Spurling's  very well-written and perceptive account of the agonizing that went into "The Raj Quartet" (televised in 1983 as "The Jewel in the Crown"), of which Towers of Silence is volume three.

The son of a clever commercial artist and a romantic, restless working girl from London, Scott was a contradiction from the start.  An accountant's clerk at the age of 14, he spent his lunch hours tapping out poems, and his leisure observing the rigid class distinctions and ruthless social codes of suburban Southgate (north London), where old mansions were increasingly crammed in with massive housing developments. This, he vividly understood later, was how the colonial caste system worked in British India.

His close association with the sub-continent was triggered by a posting as an officer cadet in the Second World War.  Initially appalled by the poverty and overcrowding, he came to love the place.  On return to London, however, he stayed there, first as accountant to two publishing houses, and then as a literary agent, representing writers of the stature of M.M. Kaye, Arthur C. Clarke, John Braine, and Muriel Spark.  In 1960, having had mild success with a series of novels, he left, to take up the highly uncertain life of a fulltime writer.  Four years later, he staked everything on India, flying there to immerse himself in Indian culture, at the expense of his bank account and his liver.

The first of the Raj series, The Jewel in the Crown, was published in 1966, to be followed by The Day of the Scorpion (1968), The Towers of Silence (1971), and The Division of the Spoils (1975).  Known collectively as "The Raj Quartet," as Spurling says, they "achieved an epic sweep and power rare in the English novel and quite unlike E.M. Forster's Passage to India, with which they were unfavourably compared".

A fifth in the series, Staying On, won the Booker Prize in 1977.  Unfortunately, Scott could not accept it personally, as he was in hospital, terminally ill with cancer.  He passed away in March 1978.

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1:18 PM | 0 comments