The Castaway
Edition 3 - February 2000
Read here about The Island, Ion Idriess, New stories, Nevil Shute, Big Cats, Roald Dahl, Movies, Music and Other Links, James Bond's Cars, some personal updates and greetings, and more!
The entire site has been re-developed for the new year, using a new Web editor. This has only caused minor changes to some pages, but a number of pages have been extended. I am about to have my own little '2k' experience, as the hit counter shows almost that many visits since last April. There are lots of new "Message in a Bottle" entries for this year, and lots brought up to date for last year as well - see if yours is there! Many of these cover existing subjects at The Island, but a few new ones are started. There is some info on another Australian author, Peter Pinney. A number of people have Ion Idriess or other books to sell, or are looking for titles. These are all included in the Messages pages. Other items of interest are as listed below. See:
This is the big news - the Ion Idriess page has finally been extended. Read all about the Australian author. Complete bibliography, notes and much more! I have structured the bibliography as I think it should be - I welcome any comments. I believe that this is the only complete Idriess bibliography on the Web. In particular, I welcome any additions to these pages in the way of notes, descriptions or reviews of each title.
There is also a page which attempts to group Idriess's books into categories, with appropriate general info and Web links - again, all submissions gratefully accepted. I will credit all submissions (subject to editing).
Finally, there is a page with miscellaneous info, such as links to other general Idriess sites, trivia, where to buy, etc. There have been a fair few messages coming in on the subject of buying and selling. If there is sufficient interest, I may consider setting up a new section on the site, to be titled The Island Trader, and see if we can do a little e-business! There are books by a few other authors that seem to be of interest, as well.
Another suggestion from John Vance, of Melbourne, is that the feasibility of posting the actual text of Idriess books on the Web be investigated - a Project Gutenberg. I welcome any thoughts on this - I expect that there will be copyright issues. All the Idriess sections of the site can be accessed from:
There are a few new articles posted to the site. The topics are Millennial Momentum, This is the Title of this Article and Bradshaws and Boabs. See them all at:
I have now posted an extensive update on Mr. Norway. Read about Nevil Shute Norway's career as a racing driver, and other anecdotes, trivia and Web links. A copy of the original article is now also published elsewhere on the Web. Read all about it at:
See the update Mystery kangaroo deaths at Prom, at:
Black Panther Sighting at the Prom.
See some updated Roald Dahl links, etc. at:
I have added a few new links to the Sail Away page. A good reference for those seeking an understanding of the Australian psyche is at Ten Influential Australian Movies, at:
My nephew Andrew Pingree now has an interesting music site at The Music Page. See the link and other info at:
There are now at least 20 links to The Island; my list of them has been updated, too. Let me know if you have one that is not listed! See:
Read about where some of Ian Fleming's cars are now, at:
The Name's Fleming - Ian Fleming.
Holidays continued over January, with a week and a half at Wilson's Prom, but we didn't see the Big Cat this time. Sadly, it rained most of the week, but we still got a few walks in. We drove up to the Tarra Valley - Bulga National Park one day, and saw another strange animal - most likely a tiger cat, and some lyre birds. We are all back at school and work now!
It was great to meet Antonella for the first time in Sydney last week, with Kate and Terri.
Helen - thanks for the nice Web link. Love the new graphics! (If you haven't seen Helen's site, have a look, and buy the tee-shirt!)
Kath - How's Bendigo treating you this year?
Barry & Marg - All the best with moving. Have you settled down yet?
Barbara - What do you think of the Idriess pages? I hope to get your graphics up there soon.
Rod - Thanks for putting the story up.
Lynn-Philip - Thanks for the book; it arrived OK.
Barry - Thanks for your input.
This mailing now goes out to 120 e-mail addresses, plus a few "once-off" additions. Thanks everyone for your attention - see you next time!
- Keith.
This is the third of an irregular series of newsletters. They are sent monthly at the most often; probably much less frequently! The contents include a brief summary of updates to my Web site, and any other interesting bits of trivia and ephemera that may be of interest to people that either know me, or visit the site.
Copyright © Keith De La Rue 10 February 2000
Updated: 14 Oct 2000
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