The Bodleian Library, The Main Research Library of The University of Oxford

"A man's library is a sort of harem." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." - Cicero

"The library is not a shrine for the worship of books. It is not a temple where literary incense must be burned or where one's devotion to the bound book is expressed in ritual. A library, to modify the famous metaphor of Socrates, should be the delivery room for the birth of ideas--a place where history comes to life." - Norman Cousins

"A great library contains the diary of the human race." - George Mercer Dawson

"A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone." - Jo Godwin

--Kate (by the way, I've been to that library... I found it utterly wonderful!)

Buy This Book -- Read This Book!

The Now "Grown Up" Howdy Doody, Famous Previously For A Brief TV Career And For Servicing Elderly Women, Clearly Relishes His New Gig As James Bond!

You Might Hit My Left Thigh Aiming Like That, Mr. Bond, But I Will Shoot Out Both Of Your Eyeballs In The Meantime!

Proof Positive That Daniel Craig Was The Wrong Choice For Bond

Bond... James Bond.

New Bond film unveils title

'Quantum of Solace' shooting at Pinewood

By ALI JAAFAR

The new James Bond film is to be called “Quantum of Solace,” producers announced Thursday at Blighty’s Pinewood Studios.

The title comes from a short story published as part of a collection by Bond creator Ian Fleming in 1960.

Pic, previously known simply as “Bond 22,” follows on directly from “Casino Royale” with Daniel Craig reprising the role of British super spy and embarking on a revenge mission following his betrayal by Vesper Lynd — Eva Green’s ill-fated character in the previous film — that takes him to Austria, Italy and South America.

As previously announced, Gallic thesp Mathieu Amalric (“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”) plays Bond nemesis Dominic Greene, a ruthless businessman and member of a shadowy org. seeking to control large portions of the world’s natural resources.

Ukrainian actress Olga Kurylenko plays Bond girl Camille, who leads the Martini-shaking spy to Greene, while Brit actress Gemma Arterton (“St Trinian’s”) will play MI6 Agent Fields.

Marc Forster helms Craig in his second outing as Bond.

Returning from “Casino Royale” are Dame Judi Dench as M, Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter and Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis.

Pic started lensing at Pinewood earlier this month.

Producers are Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of Eon Prods., Sony Pictures Entertainment and MGM.

Sony Pictures Releasing Intl. is releasing pic worldwide on Nov. 7.

--Kate

Perth's Own, Actor Heath Ledger Dies, at Age 28, of a Tragic Accidental Overdose of Sleeping Pills in His New York Apartment

We sincerely mourn the loss of this extremely gifted actor. The world is far the worse for the great tragedy of his passing. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to all of his family members.

Naturally, there will be speculations in some quarters as to whether Mr. Ledger's death was an intentional suicide. No doubt, some wags will even go so far as to suggest that his death was prompted by a deep depression over the recent loss of his left arm. We do not put any stock in such crude and baseless rumors. Heath Ledger was a true inspiration to all, and a great hero to many all throughout the gay community. He will be sadly missed forever!

May you REST IN PEACE, dear Ennis Del Mar!

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Suzanne Pleshette Dies At Age 70, In Los Angeles

Suzanne Pleshette Dies in Los Angeles

Jan 20, 2:05 AM (ET)

By BOB THOMAS

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Suzanne Pleshette, the beautiful, husky-voiced film and theater star best known for her role as Bob Newhart's sardonic wife on television's long-running "The Bob Newhart Show," has died, said her attorney Robert Finkelstein. She was 70.

Pleshette, who underwent chemotherapy for lung cancer in 2006, died of respiratory failure Saturday evening at her Los Angeles home, said Finkelstein, who is also a family friend.

"The Bob Newhart Show, a hit throughout its six-year run, starred comedian Newhart as a Chicago psychiatrist surrounded by eccentric patients. Pleshette provided the voice of reason.

Four years after the show ended in 1978, Newhart went on to the equally successful "Newhart" series in which he was the proprietor of a New England inn populated by more eccentrics. When that show ended in 1990, Pleshette reprised her role - from the first show - in one of the most clever final episodes in TV history.

It had Newhart waking up in the bedroom of his "The Bob Newhart Show" home with Pleshette at his side. He went on to tell her of the crazy dream he'd just had of running an inn filled with eccentrics.

"If I'm in Timbuktu, I'll fly home to do that," Pleshette said of her reaction when Newhart told her how he was thinking of ending the show.

Born Jan. 31, 1937, in New York City, Pleshette began her career as a stage actress after attending the city's High School of the Performing Arts and studying at its Neighborhood Playhouse. She was often picked for roles because of her beauty and her throaty voice.

"When I was 4," she told an interviewer in 1994, "I was answering the phone, and (the callers) thought I was my father. So I often got quirky roles because I was never the conventional ingenue."

She met her future husband, Tom Poston, when they appeared together in the 1959 Broadway comedy "The Golden Fleecing," but didn't marry him until more than 40 years later.

Although the two had a brief fling, they went on to marry others. By 2000 both were widowed and they got back together, marrying the following year.

"He was such a wonderful man. He had fun every day of his life," Pleshette said after Poston died in April 2007.

Among her other Broadway roles was replacing Anne Bancroft in "The Miracle Worker," the 1959 drama about Helen Keller, in New York and on the road.

Meanwhile, she had launched her film career with Jerry Lewis in 1958 in "The Geisha Boy." She went on to appear in numerous television shows, including "Have Gun, Will Travel,""Alfred Hitchcock Presents,""Playhouse 90" and "Naked City."

By the early 1960s, Pleshette attracted a teenage following with her youthful roles in such films as "Rome Adventure,""Fate Is the Hunter,""Youngblood Hawke" and "A Distant Trumpet."

She married fellow teen favorite Troy Donahue, her co-star in "Rome Adventure," in 1964 but the union lasted less than a year. She was married to Texas oilman Tim Gallagher from 1968 until his death in 2000.

Pleshette matured in such films as Hitchcock's "The Birds" and the Disney comedies "The Ugly Dachshund,""Blackbeard's Ghost" and "The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin." Over the years, she also had a busy career in TV movies, including playing the title role in 1990's "Leona Helmsley, the Queen of Mean."

More recently, she appeared in several episodes of the TV sitcoms "Will & Grace" and "8 Simple Rules ... For Dating My Teenage Daughter."

In a 1999 interview, Pleshette observed that being an actress was more important than being a star.

"I'm an actress, and that's why I'm still here," she said. "Anybody who has the illusion that you can have a career as long as I have and be a star is kidding themselves."

Bobby Fischer, The Greatest Chess Player of All Time, Dies At Age 64, in Reykjavik, Iceland

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Click HERE for the Sports Illustrated article.

Click HERE for an "unofficial" Bobby Fischer web page.

Click HERE for another, more interesting Bobby Fischer web page.

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Spencer