Gobshite Quarterly rootless cosmopolitan approach to everything

 

New writing from Algeria, Argentina, Croatia, Cuba, Switzerland, & Washington state.

Gobshite Quarterly issue Seven, your Rosetta Stone for the New World Order, at bookstores & newsstands in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Europe,
Australia, & Japan on Nagasaki Day, Aug. 2004. (& we're already in production on Issue Eight, Dias de Los Muertos, due Nov. 2004). Distributed
by FM Int'l, Kent News, Small Changes, Tower, Ubiquity, Doormouse (Canada) & BBR (UK & Europe).

Utne Magazine's Chris Dodge says: "Pan-lingual Gobshite Quarterly, where Paul Krassner meets Vénus Khoury-Ghata, is my favorite source for
Hungarian fiction that reads like a song ('hogy jaj. jaj. jaj. semmirol semmi fogalma nines...'). In its pages, English language poems, short stories, &
'reasoned rants' nervously traverse a dark alley, past a gauntlet of hipster Arabs, dangerous Czechs, & Spanish cantoras."

Think of Gobshite Quarterly as your Rosetta Stone for the New World Order, baptized in legible fonts. Think Harpers on ecstasy, the Atlantic
Monthly on an ether-absinthe bender, or a multi-lingual Granta liberated from theme issues; with Nick Cave reporting in from Rio de Jainero (Issue
3), Ivan Klíma offering fiction & essays; Hanan Al-Shaykh visits the Alhambra to sit down & weep in the Court of Lions in Arabic & English;
Mahmoud Darwish reports from Ramallah in Arabic, French & English; & Laura Esquivel taking a mythopoeic approach to transgenic agribusiness in
Spanish & English....
Gobshite Quarterly exists in a world where people watch the news & say to each other that what they've just seen is total gobshite.
People have talked about the Global Village since the 1960s. Yet things inevitably get lost in translation, or censored.
This is the Global Village, & any magazine operating within its borders should present the best writing from within the borders, i.e., from around the
world. To truly present the best writing from around the world, then works originally written in a foreign language ought to be published bilingually, or
sometimes trilingually.... Arabic, Bengali, Bosnian, Croatian, Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Latin, Polish, Slovenian, Spanish, w/ en
face English translation.

Gobshite Quarterly was first formed in July 2001 by a cabal consisting of a recovering Southern Californian, an Australian Expat, & a native
Portlander. A website was up & running by Spring of 2002, & a first print issue appeared in February 2003.

http://www.gobshitequarterly.com/

Poštovani gosp. Bach,

Srdacan pozdrav iz Zagreba uz molbu da ove info. o casopisu Gobshite stavite na vase stranice.
Unaprijed zahvaljujem i cestitam na vasem odanom radu
Biserka Cetinic
honos@zg.htnet.hr

Gobshite (n): Pernicious blatherskite (OED)

Our August 2004 (Nagasaki Day) Issue Number Seven

We were refered to you by one of our contributors, Julie Busic, & by Edo Popovic, Dubravka Oriac-Tolic, Tomica Bajsic, & Gordan Nuhanovic,
who feel that you might be interested in the multilingual nature of our magazine & its rootless cosmopolitan approach to everything...
We now have an inexpensive trans-Atlantic shipper, & are now setting up European distribution.
We are so impressed by the quality of Croatian writers that we will be featuring some Croatian writing in every issue for the forseeable future.
If you would like to order from us directly, let us know.

Or contact our UK distributor, BBR Solutions
distribution@bbr-online.com

Also, if there is some mutually-beneficial project we might be able to collaborate on, please Email....

Comin' at ya multilingually in English, Croatian, French, German, & Spanish, your Rosetta Stone for the New World Order

The True & Secret History of Ike Eisenhower & Joey Ramone: Commander in Chief Meets General Punk Rock
Elvis Costello & Joan Jett & the Class of '77 Come to Praise Joey, Not to Bury HimŠ.
Michael Stipe's & Grant Lee Phillips' new Haiku Year
Christoph Keller's Threshold--Update/Schwelle--Update
Luisa Valenzuela's Life's A Bitch/Esta Perra Vida
Edo Popovic's Our Lady of the Whores/Gospa od bluda
Dubravka Oraic Tolic's 20th C. in the Rearview Mirror/Dvadeseto Stoljece U Retrovizoru
Rastas sling mud & Jonathan Demme starts making sense
This Ain't No Blog: Summer Travel Writing: Bombay Road Games in "Wrecks & Pissers"; Ithican deadbeat deads; Shanghai's migrant working stiffs;
& Rwandan triage....

INTERVIEW WITH WRITER JOSIP NOVAKOVICH

Croatian-born Josip Novakovich moved to the
United States at the age of twenty. He has published two story collections (Yolk and Salvation and Other Disasters), two collections of narrative essays (Plum Brandy: Croatian Journeys and Apricots from Chernobyl), and was anthologized in Best American Poetry, Pushcart Prize, and O.Henry Prize Stories. His textbook, Fiction Writer's Workshop, was a Book of the Month Club selection. HarperCollins will publish his novel April Fool's Day in September 2004, and his novel, Poppy Slopes, will be published in Spain (in Spanish). He received the Whiting Writer's Award (1997), Guggenheim Fellowship (1999), two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships (1991 and 2002), the Ingram Merrill Award, an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation and he has been a writing fellow of the New York City Public Library. His work has appeared in many journals, including Paris Review, Threepenny Review, The New York Times Magazine, European Magazine, and he contributes regularly to the Zagreb daily Jutarnji list. Mr. Novakovich teaches in the MFA program at Penn State University.

KT - How did you go about becoming a writer?

Gradually and imperceptibly. I enjoyed writing letters and I grew addicted to writing them but when I moved to the States, my friends from Croatia did not share my passion for correspondence. We were a group of ten or so, and one more or less did not make that much difference for the group and they did not miss me as much as I missed them. So, when I realized that writing to them was not a rewarding activity--or that the rewarding part was happening only at my desk but not in my mailbox--I realized that I could do some other kind of writing, journals, stories, and essays. Writing turned out to be a better friend than the friends of my youth.
There was another source of my writing habit: going to a liberal arts college in the States. I went to Vassar for two years and then to Yale Divinity School (as well as the graduate school, philosophy department), and there most of the requirements boiled down to writing essays, hundreds of pages each semester. After five years of such education, I realized that if I had learned anything it was how to write.

KT - Why do you write mostly fiction rather than say history or philosophy?

I grew bored by reading the dry texts of philosophy and theology. Fiction sounded alive and delightful after the quasi-precise language of the academia. I could make metaphors, make up stories, play. There is an element of freedom in making up stories that is hard to match. Jazz players experience something similar, exuberant freedom, but since I am not that musical, fiction is my way of improvising.

KT - Why do you write in English?

Since five years of my education preceding to my deciding to write took place in English, the choice of English as my main writing language was natural. Croatian was undergoing changes under political pressures from all the sides imaginable, and I hadn't kept up with the revisions of the language, so when I wrote my first story in Croatian and sent it to Bozo Kovacevic (now Croatian ambassador in Moscow), who edited a journal, Gordogan, he replied that my language needed updating before he could consider the story. I thought, the hell with that. If I am to "relearn" a language, I might just as well keep going in English.

KT - What is your new book about?

April Fool's Day, a novel (coming out from HarperCollins in September), chronicles the collapse of Yugoslavia and rise of Croatia in a satirical manner through the experiences of a Don Quixotic type of character who attempts many things and fails at most of them, as is easy to do in our region. I cover some tragic aspects of our history, but I also play with the ways we used to live under totalitarian socialism and later nationalism. I wanted to have fun with the strange stories of our native region. I get tired of humorlessness, moping, complaining and pessimism that our people are liable to resort to. Some joking is in order. We tend to take ourselves too seriously.

KT - What are you working on now?

A few short stories and another novel about immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century in the States. Another collection of mine is coming out from HarperCollins, next year.

KT - What advice you have to those who are starting out and writing?

Don't be timid. Tell strange stories and make them stranger. There are so many stories out there, you have to make yours stand out somehow. Stories live in the details--observe, recount, paint with words. Have fun at least part of the time while writing. Otherwise, it's not worth it.
I actually don't like giving advice on how to write even though I teach writing, at Penn State.

KT - Can our readers get in touch with you?

Feel free, josipn@hotmail.com . I also have a webpage, www.josipnovakovich.com .
 

Largest Truffle

A white truffle (Eutuberaceae tuber) weighing 1.31 kg
(2 lb 8 oz) was found by Giancarlo Zigante of Pototoska on November 2, 1999 near Buje, Croatia. It measured 19.5cm (7.8 in) long, 12.4 cm (4.1 in) wide and 13.5 cm (5.3 in) tall.

WHO: Giancarlo ZiganteWHEN: November 2, 1999 WHERE: Buje, Croatia WHAT: 1.31 Kg (2.8 lb)

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/
 

Blanka Vlasic jumps 2.03 - personal best

Blanka Vlasic (CROATIA) (Göran Lenz)

Vlasic jumps 2.03
Wednesday 11 August 2004
Ljubljana, Slovenia - A 2.03 clearance by Blanka Vlasic of Croatia in the women’s High Jump, a final pre-Olympic tune up by Ana Guevara, and double sprint wins by Athens-bound locals, highlighted the Ljubljana EAA permit meeting in Slovenia’s capital.

Vlasic - personal best

After early misses at 1.87 and 1.96, Vlasic, the 19-year-old two-time World junior champion topped 2 metres and 2.03 on her first attempt.

“I‘m surprised with these heights because sometimes they’re really problematic for me,” said Vlasic, who has now bettered 2 metres three times this
season, including a previous PB of 2.02 from Bastad three-and-a-half weeks ago. “Two meters is still a barrier in my mind. I’m glad that I’m getting
over it more easily now.” While pleased with her efforts, her clearances, she said, weren’t perfect jumps, and she doesn’t want to read too much into
what might be in store in Athens.

“I don’t want to get too much confidence, because then it’s not right. This jump only means that I have a new PB of 2.03; it doesn’t mean that I’ll
finish in the top three in Athens.” Choosing to relax and avoid the hustle and bustle of Athens, Vlasic won’t be arriving in the Greek capital until
August 24, and will compete once more in Freiburg on Friday.

http://www.iaaf.org/OLY04/news/Kind=2/newsId=26575.html

"All truth passes through three stages,"

said the German philosopher Schopenhauer.

"First, it is ridiculed.

Second, it is violently opposed.

Third, it is accepted as self-evident."
 

TRUTH CONVENTION

Weapons of Mass Destruction vs. Weapons of Mass Deception

PRIVATE SCREENING at Times Square
Eight Blocks North of the Republican National Convention
and a real world away

PRESS RELEASE

GLOBALVISION AND FOUR SEASONS PRODUCTIONS
ARE PLEASED TO INVITE YOU TO A JOINT PRIVATE SCREENING AT OUR OWN TIMES SQUARE
"TRUTH CONVENTION"
Featuring the First New York Double Bill Preview of:

WMD $TATE OF THE UNION
WEAPONS OF MASS DECEPTION

Danny Schechter's Dissection of the media "coverage" of the Iraq War

There were two wars going on in Iraq - one was fought with armies of soldiers, bombs and a fearsome military force. The other was fought alongside it with cameras, satellites, armies of journalists and propaganda techniques. One war was rationalized as an effort to find and disarm WMDs - Weapons of Mass Destruction; the other was carried out by even more powerful WMDs, Weapons of Mass Deception.

click www.wmdthefilm.com  for the trailer narrated by Tim Robbins

the color of freedom is GREEN

It is clear that America has become a "for profit" enterprise. In this provocative and moving new film, we will take a critical but honest look at the interplay of money and politics and the impact on the underclass. This film is not an attempt to advocate the views of one party over another. The ideological lines between our two parties have become so blurred, as each tries to claim the center, that ideologue is no longer significant; It is clear that money drives politics and public policy. You may not like what you see!

Directed by DJ Kadagian
click www.4Seasonsproductions.com for video highlights

Seating is limited. Please RSVP by replying to this email or calling 800-728-2008 and specify the number of seats. We recommend arriving at least 30 minutes prior to show time to be assured of your seat as this is a first come first serve event.

TUESDAY AUGUST 31 / 7-9 PM
LOEWS CINEMA 1
8th AVENUE AND 42nd STREET
AT TIMES SQUARE
click here for map and theatre information
Visit our website at www.4seasonsproductions.com or call (800) 728-2008 to reserve your seats today. Click hereto visit our site and see streaming video highlights of our series!

Danny Schechter, News Dissector
Editor, Mediachannel.org
GLOBALVISION
575 8th Avenue
New York, New York l0018
212 246-0202x3006
danny@mediachannel.org

VISIT "DISSECTORVILLE"
A New Virtual Home Away From Home
http://www.newsdissector.org/dissectorville

Furniture for Free

Dear all,

Maria Heindl offered this furniture for free. Thank you for your generosity,
If you do not need it, maybe you know someone who does. Help them.

Location for pickup is Yorktown, New York (Westchester County)

Contact Maria:zaluka@yahoo.com

Postovani svi,

Maria Heindl Vam nudi ovaj namjestaj za badave. Hvala na ovakvo dobrohotnoj gesti.
Ukoliko Vi niste ti kojima treba namjestaj, mozda znate obitelj ili osobu kojoj bi ovako nesto dobro doslo.Lokacija je Yorktown, New York (Opcina Westchester)

Kontakt Maria :zaluka@yahoo.com

Nenad

BOOK REVIEW OF "THE STONE FIELDS"

The fantastically talented Courtney Angela Brkic wrote "The Stone Fields - An Epitaph for the Living," a book that will grab you from page one. The powerful story will make you cry, laugh, think and feel. Brkic wrote her fascinating family saga interwoven with 21st Century Croatian history.

The beauty of Brkic's true story is how all of us Croatians can relate to it. A devout Catholic family with numerous children tries to raise them despite most severe conditions. Barefoot, hungry and sickly only the strongest children survive to scramble for a better life.

The heart of Brkic's book is the bittersweet love story of her grandmother Angela from Herzegovina and Sarajevo Jew who was shot in the back by Ustase in Jasenovac concentration camp. Her aunt Ljubica dying a slow death after her beloved Ante joined Ustase and tragically died in Bleiberg.

Brkic joined a forensic team working in Bosnia & Herzegovina. She excavated the bodies of people killed in the massacre of Srebrenica, assisted pathologists with autopsies, and arranged personal effects for photographing. The book includes most tragic events of Vukovar, mass rapes and killings. "The Stone Fields" explores how the devastating consequences of war linger for generations.

Brkic is also the author of "Stillness," a book of short stories for which she won a prestigious Whiting Writers' Award. She has worked for the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague and for Physicians for Human Rights. She is a graduate of the famed Master of Fine Arts Degree program at New York University.

Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux www.fsgbooks.com  $24.00
 

Deepest hole in world found in Croatia

August 10, 2004

ZAGREB, Croatia -- Cave explorers discovered a pit inside a mountain range in central Croatia believed to have the world's deepest subterranean
vertical drop, at nearly 1,700 feet, a scientific institute reported Monday.

The cave, in Croatia's mountainous Velebit region, has a steady, weaving descent of 203 feet before it takes a direct vertical plunge of 1,693 feet
through the ground, said Ana Sutlovic Baksic, a researcher at the Velebit Speleological Society.

The cave's widest stretch is about 100 feet.

''We have even bigger caves in Croatia, but according to available data, this cave has the world's deepest vertical drop,'' Sutlovic Baksic said.

At the foot of the Velebit cave are small ponds and streams, including one of the largest known colonies of subterranean leeches, Sutlovic Baksic
said.

It is located in the Rozanski Hip National Park reserve in the rocky Velebit mountain range in central Croatia. The pit was discovered by a team of
explorers from around the country.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-hole10.html