Scribblings from the Cairo Jim chronicler

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[Walker Books info for Geoffrey McSkimming] [Buy Cairo Jim books here] [Random House Kodansha Cairo Jim site--JAPAN] [CAIRO JIM in JAPAN] [Old Cairo Jim Website--DEFUNCT] Below are the 50 most recent journal entries recorded in the "geoffrey_mcskimming" journal:

[<< Previous 50 entries]

November 9th, 2009
10:54 am [Link]	Happy Birthday Daisy! Princess Fourpaws is six! (Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
October 25th, 2009
05:14 pm [Link]	THE TWO LATEST CAIRO JIM BOOKS FROM RANDOM HOUSE KOREA Cairo Jim Amidst the Petticoats of Artemis & Cairo Jim and the Lagoon of Tidal Magnificence by Geoffrey McSkimming Just released in Korea! Swoggle me haphazardly! Current Location: "The Obelisks" (Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
October 19th, 2009
12:08 pm [Link]	Cairo Jim's Mysteries of the Mitchell Tours Premieres A SWOGGLING SUCCESS! On October 15 2009 we held the first three Mysteries of the Mitchell tours through the magnificent Mitchell Library in Sydney, Australia. All the tours were SOLD OUT before the day, and all were extremely successful. The lucky tourists were shown rare items from the Mitchell collection, including: The First Folio of William Shakespeare's Plays and Sonnets, published in 1623...the only copy in the Southern Hemisphere Convict manacles and other convictanalia Dame Nellie Melba's Cartier hairpin box Matthew Flinders's sword Henry Lawson's death (or life?) mask, his pen and his hat A lock of Captain Cook's hair A drop of blood from King Charles I of England and other strange (and inexplicable) features More tours will be held in 2010, to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Mitchell. Thanks to all who came and supported this great enterprise! Future details will be posted here, so watch this space! (1 pearl of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
October 8th, 2009
06:54 pm [Link]	SWOGGLE ME SIDEWAYS! Join Cairo Jim (aka me) for the MYSTERIES OF THE MITCHELL tours Premieres Thursday October 15, 2009 @ 11am-11:30am or 12:30pm-1:00pm or 1:30pm-2pm Bookings essential! Further details: http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au (Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
July 9th, 2009
10:30 pm [Link]	CAIRO JIM AND THE SECRET SEPULCHRE OF THE SPHINX by Geoffrey McSkimming Just published in Korea by Random House Korea "Perm my plumes!" Current Location: "The Obelisks" (2 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
June 23rd, 2009
01:22 pm [Link]	CAIRO JIM AT THE STATE LIBRARY OF NSW Tuesday 21 July, 10.30-11.30 am Enquiries & bookings: phone 02 9273 1770 bookings@sl.nsw.gov.au (Note: this will be a "normal" (ha ha) Cairo Jim show. The special Cairo Jim tours of the Mitchell Library will be held on October 15--more details to follow.) Photos by Bruce York, courtesy State Library NSW (Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
June 22nd, 2009
10:42 am [Link]	Last week was very busy. We did a Cairo Jim photo shoot at the Mitchell Library, Sydney, for the upcoming Cairo Jim appearances and tours which are going to be held there. I'll post more details and some of the photos very soon. On Friday I performed "The Startling Tale of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" at the Powerhouse Museum's theatre, for the Australian Independent Schools Association's Teacher-Librarians Conference. A great hoot, it went down well and most of my props managed to behave, even this stunning botania I recently had made in the US: Current Location: "The Obelisks"--preparing Cairo jim scripts (Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
May 20th, 2009
07:10 pm [Link]	Cairo Jim and the Sunken Sarcophagus of Sekheret by Geoffrey McSkimming as published in Korea...the fifth title released there so far, with plenty more to come. Well, swoggle me with seaweed... Current Location: "The Obelisks" (Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
May 12th, 2009
04:58 pm [Link]	What strange cold places are these where once dreams rode upon the breeze born for yesterday's diversions...? http://www.abandonedtheaters.com/ Current Location: "The Obelisks" --may these never be the Levity Theater (4 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
May 11th, 2009
03:33 pm [Link]	AN EXCELLENT MEETING This morning my agent and I had an excellent meeting at the State Library of NSW. I can't say much yet, but stay tuned, Cairo Jim aficionados...there will be some Cairo Jim happenings there in July, then something a bit bigger in October and then something VERY SPECIAL next year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the great Mitchell Library ... Current Location: "The Obelisks" with all guns firing (1 pearl of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
03:29 pm [Link]	ANOTHER LITERARY THEORY I've always believed that the two scariest characters in literature are Mrs Danvers from Rebecca by Daphe du Maurier and the goldfish from The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss. Current Location: "The Obelisks" (2 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
May 7th, 2009
04:55 pm [Link]	Let us go then, you and I What My Favourite Poem Means to Me I've just returned from walking Miss Daisy, and it was one of those lovely late Autumn walks where she happily trotted along, sniffing all the mysteries of the world and occasionally stopping for me to pat her lovingly which is always a chore. Ha. She gets walked twice a day and most times, upon returning to "The Obelisks", I'm filled with the most wonderful feeling of contentment and calm and wonder. Wonder that such a small creature can have such a large and important and loyal place in this enormous world. And, as often happens when I feel this way as the result of such a jaunt, I'm reminded of my favourite poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T S Eliot. You see, I've long held a theory (and some of my erudite friends have listened faithfully to this but have concluded that as far as literary theories go, it's more than a bit wonky), that this poem--this glorious blend of greatness and cosmic soaringness--is in part the love song of a man to his dog and a dog to the man. Sometimes--mostly--it's the man speaking, while at other moments, it's the dog. Sometimes when I walk Daisy, some of the lines fill me and everything feels just that bit more right than it did a few hours before. Read the poem if you haven't already, and if you have, go on and re-read it. See how wonky my theories can be. But it doesn't matter, because when you make sense of something--a deep sense that means a lot to you--it gives you no concern whether your idea means anything to anyone else. "And indeed there will be time" Current Location: "The Obelisks" (1 pearl of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
April 24th, 2009
08:16 pm [Link]	April's been a good month... I presented The Startling Tale of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark to Year 12 boys at Newington College, Sydney, as part of their literary festival. They were a good audience, and there were some terrific questions at the end, including one from a young man re the next Shakespeare retelling I'm planning. His question actually re-routed the way I'll be approaching the story from a character point of view. This is why I love speaking about and performing my work for students--often over the years a student has asked me a question and it has resulted in some new work or ideas being produced. You can't beat that sort of feedback/inspiration. Oh, and there was another good thing about this performance: about half a dozen Year 11 boys snuck in to the theatre to watch it...they remembered me from Cairo Jim talks years before and were curious to see what I am up to now. That was nice! Then I presented Cairo Jim to half of the Year 7 History girls at Abbotsleigh School, also in Sydney. (This is a regular gig--I do two of these sessions each year.) It was great fun and, as is usual with this fine school, the questions at the end were great. There was a small Cairo Jim unofficial fan club (it seemed) there, and they asked me questions about characters from the stories that I'd written such a while back, I had to stop to remember them. A fun and fine session, and the morning tea afterwards was marvellous (they do the best morning teas in any school I know). That was followed by another Cairo Jim presentation, this time back at Newington, to all the boys in Years 3 through 6. A huge audience and it went wonderfully. It was fancy dress day there (as part of their literary festival) and not only the boys, but the teachers and librarians as well, dressed up. In my audience there were skeletons, The Scream from Edvard Munch's painting, several Cairo Jims, some Harry Potters, an assortment of animals, a scare of monstery things and one boy (in Year 5 or 6) dressed in a long blonde wig, bright pink lipstick and a designer dress and high heels. The librarian told me that this boy had come as the main character from Confessions of a Shopaholic. Plus I've been finishing stories for Orbit and Touchdown Magazines--the final part of The Mysterious Whatsit of Gertrude Stein and a three-parter called Pencils in a Pickle, a strange tale wherein Pencils Barrymore gets kidnapped in Turkey, having been mistakenly confused with a notorious local gangster. And last week...this is the exciting bit...a ray of inspiration shot into my head and I got the impetus to push forward with a different sort of story that I've been kicking around for two years. I think, with this new twist, this story might just make it out of my head and into a place where it might do some good (whatever THAT means). It's lovely to be writing again. It's what I'm meant to be doing, after all. Current Location: "The Obelisks" (8 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
March 18th, 2009
09:05 pm [Link]	CHARACTERS FROM CAIRO JIM AND THE ALABASTRON OF FORGOTTEN GODS by Geoffrey McSkimming Some of the characters from the Japanese edition of Cairo Jim and the Alabastron of Forgotten Gods released today in Japan Can you discern who they are...? http://www.randomhouse-kodansha.co.jp/cairo/character/index.html#nav14 (Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
February 27th, 2009
05:56 am [Link]	*HERE IS THE NEXT CAIRO JIM* FOR JAPAN Cairo Jim and the Alabastron of Forgotten Gods #4 in the series for Japan Published by Random House Kodansha, March 2009 Current Location:** "The Obelisks" (Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
February 22nd, 2009
01:23 pm [Link]	Okito and Oriental Style Magic Well last year when I created The Startling Tale of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (which, incidentally, has a good number of performances already locked in for this year with more to come), my teenage interest in magic was rekindled in a big way. It's evolved now into a fascination with the magic of the great 20th century conjuror and inventor, Okito. Since late last year I've collected a growing number of Okito pieces made by the great Norm Nielsen, and others by Carl Williams and various craftsmen. I love the designs and the history of these and I'm having much pleasure rehearsing with them. Soon I will be performing for a select group of acquaintances (some of whom saw my magic performances--non-Okito and non-Hamlet--in December). Here are some pics. The first is of a beautiful Chinese cabinet I bought recently to house and display these splendid pieces. The others are the pieces within (the close-up) and the cabinet with the Okito-style pieces and, on top, marvellous props from Owen Magic Supreme. The little four-legged being at the bottom of the first photo is not a prop. She can, however, make food vanish instantaneously. Current Location: "The Obelisks" (4 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
February 7th, 2009
01:03 pm [Link]	TWO MORE CAIRO JIMs PUBLISHED IN KOREA Here are the next two Cairo Jim chronicles just published in Korea: Cairo Jim and the Alabastron of Forgotten Gods Cairo Jim and the Quest for the Quetzal Queen both written by Geoffrey McSkimming Current Location: "The Obelisks" (2 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
November 21st, 2008
05:13 am [Link]	TWO CHARACTERS FROM THE JAPANESE EDITION OF CAIRO JIM AND THE SUNKEN SARCOPHAGUS OF SEKHERET Released yesterday in Japan by Random House Kodansha Can you guess who they are? I believe they have been drawn by Mr Martin Chatterton... (3 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
November 20th, 2008
06:39 am [Link]	CAIRO JIM 3 RELEASED IN JAPAN Cairo Jim and the Sunken Sarcophagus of Sekheret out today in Japan! Published by Random House Kodansha (check out the Cairo Jim site by clicking here) (1 pearl of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
November 9th, 2008
04:16 pm [Link]	Happy 5th Birthday, Daisy! Current Location: "The Obelisks" Current Mood: celebratory (1 pearl of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
September 30th, 2008
11:58 am [Link]	Jocelyn Osgood in Italy After the Puce Empress Xylophones Above Zarundi Ascent into Asgard by Geoffrey McSkimming published by Salani Current Location: "The Obelisks" (7 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
September 25th, 2008
08:58 am [Link]	Last night I dreamt I was a yak. Oh dear... Current Location: Tibet in my dreams (2 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
September 9th, 2008
11:49 am [Link]	A publicity shot from The STARTLING Tale of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Current Location: On stage, delivering (4 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
September 6th, 2008
12:20 pm [Link]	The first two Korean Cairo Jims! Cairo Jim on the Trail to ChaCha Muchos and Cairo Jim in Search of Martenarten Both beautiful hardback editions: colour embellishments throughout and some colour illustrations. A superb production! The next 16 will be published in Korea over the next couple of years. Published by Random House Korea Current Location: "The Obelisks" Current Mood: Happily translated (3 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
12:15 pm [Link]	Here is the first Portuguese version of Cairo Jim... Cairo Jim on the Trail to ChaCha Muchos = Cairo Jim na Pista de ChaCha Muchos Published by Campo das Letras. More are coming soon! (2 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
September 1st, 2008
04:40 pm [Link]	"SUBTLE" is not his middle name... Book Week 2008. Thanks to the wonderful library staff and teachers at Warrawee Primary School for this startling image. Current Location: Warrawee, NSW, Australia Current Mood: Startled (2 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
August 28th, 2008
12:43 pm [Link]	What I've been up to this past fortnight... Two and a bit performances of The Startling Tale of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, written and performed by me with additional dialogue by William Shakespeare. Performances at Abbotsleigh School, Sydney Nine Cairo Jim presentations, at Abbotsleigh, St Lukes Grammar Dee Why, Warrawee Primary School (all in NSW), Terrace College and Nudgee College (both Queensland), Xavier College (my 13th year of appearing there) and Sacred Heart College Kyneton (both in Victoria) One talk on poetry to boys at Terrace College, Queensland (this was an impromptu talk I threw in because the library people at that school were so lovely to me) Getting laryngitis which I now have...I did nearly all of the above with a severe cold and my voice has gone to join the choir invisible for a while But, you know what? I loved every momentum of it all! Next week the Book Week theme apparently is something to do with safaris, and already we're getting bookings for August...I wonder why? I hope I stop feeling a little hoarse soon...and I'm not even going to make the old joke about that one. Current Location: "The Obelisks" Current Mood: hoarse (7 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
August 15th, 2008
11:15 am [Link]	The STARTLING Tale of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark ...had its world premiere performances yesterday at Abbotsleigh. Both shows went well, it seems: the girls enjoyed them, and there were some spirited questions afterwards, and the English Dept and the Head of English were very pleased with it all. Most of the magical illusions worked beautifully if I do say so myself, and now, drained and a tad exhausted, I am happy with what we achieved. On Wednesday I presented a ten minute teaser of the monologue at Abbotsleigh's assembly, in front of the whole school. A hoot, I was wearing the beautiful new 1920s-style tuxedo at 8:20 in the morning and had my 1930s gong for accompaniment. Afterwards, one of the librarians told me a lovely story. She said to one of the Year 7 girls, "Wasn't it just lovely to hear Shakespeare at a school assembly?" The girl, eyes wide with amazement, said, "Was that REALLY Mr Shakespeare?" Ah, to be in the same orb...tis a consummation devoutly to be wished! And now, this afternoon, back to Abbotsleigh in pith helmet and baggy shorts, to present a Cairo Jim romp... Current Location: In transit from stage to page and back again Current Mood: chipper (5 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
August 6th, 2008
10:30 pm [Link]	Old But New To Some Current Location: "The Obelisks" (Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
August 5th, 2008
09:48 am [Link]	SOME FAMILIAR CHARACTERS ...from the beautiful Japanese edition of Cairo Jim in Search of Martenarten, which came out recently. Drawn by Mr Martin Chatterton. Can you tell who they are? The Random House Kodansha version of Martenarten (and ChaCha Muchos) is beautifully produced, and comes with a special plastic bookmark. If you're a serious Cairo Jim collector, go and get a copy of this volume--the covers, endpapers, in fact the whole production is superb! (You may have gathered that I'm very happy with them...) Current Location: "The Obelisks"--learning verse (2 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
August 1st, 2008
06:36 am [Link]	TWO NEW CAIRO JIMS FOR THE UK THIS MONTH! Cairo Jim and the Tyrannical Bauble of Tiberius and Cairo Jim and the Chaos from Crete, both published by Walker Books. Current Location: "The Obelisks" (2 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
July 27th, 2008
03:11 pm [Link]	The rest is... Have finished writing The Startling Tale. I feel absolutely I know not what. To be surrounded for such a long time by Shakespeare's magnificent story, and to retell my own strange version, is weird. Some of it turned out very pleasingly, other bits, I'll work on. I've been learning it as I go but now, before the premiere on August 14--two performances in front of 300+ girls at each performance--I have a lot and I mean A LOT of memorising to do. And rehearsing. And getting the illusions right. And not bumping into the furniture. But you know what? It came out of me, my personality, my interests, my quirkiness. It's mine. MINE, all MINE, I tell you! Bwahahahahahahaha ... oops, excuse me, I came over all Colin Clive just then... Ye Gods what a tale! Current Location: "The Obelisks" da dum da dum da dum (6 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
July 15th, 2008
01:08 pm [Link]	CAIRO JIM 2 RELEASED IN JAPAN... ... on 25 July! Current Location: "The Obelisks", versifying... (Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
May 19th, 2008
02:19 pm [Link]	A Numbskull Thing Turned To A Monologuist's Advantage Well, writing novels was EASY! This Hamlet thing has me wearing so many hats: writing, performing, stage directing, designing, stage managing, oh the list goes on, like me. But I'm loving it all and greatly enjoying the freedom of not having to deal with publishers and their types. The deadline for the first two performances approaches creepingly and I still have a lot of versifying to do... How I turned adversity into a strange piece of creativity: I've been ordering lots of props for this performance--many items from an old magic shop in New York and some fake weapons, crowns and other odd bits of paraphernalia from all around the globe. Last Monday I had my first fitting for the 1920s style tuxedo which will be my costume. It will have many surprises concealed within (and I'm not including myself there). Now, about six weeks ago I ordered a medical replicated plastic skull over the internet. Never heard back from the supplier--no email notification, nothing appearing on credit card statements etc. I tried to ring the supplier but the phone rang out, so I assumed that the site where I ordered the skull was one of those "dead" sites, just floating out there in cyberspace. So of course, after six weeks, I ordered another medical replicated plastic skull from another supplier. Last Thursday the first skull arrived in the post. Today my second skull appeared. They are both marvellous pieces, detailed to the finest bone, but I'm stuck with two. Alas! And this is why, in The Startling Tale of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, for the first time in the history of this story, poor Yorick has a twin, named Dorick. There will be a bizarre interlude with both of them in my monologue. Surprises are around every corner, and in the curtains so it seems... Oh and I couldn't help myself...when I ordered the tuxedo I also ordered another suit from my tailor--a 1930s style double-breasted blue pinstripe, which will be made at the same time as the tux. It will be good to wear for my meetings in Japan next March (when I'm not kitted out in the Cairo Jim gear, which was also made by same tailors some years back). Current Location: "The Obelisks", soon to have new California bungalow fence (Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
May 11th, 2008
11:57 am [Link]	Here is the latest on Cairo Jim in Japan: Cairo Jim on the Trail to ChaCha Muchos is already published. Cairo Jim in Search of Martenarten is being published in JULY. Cairo Jim and the Sunken Sarcophagus of Sekheret is being published in NOVEMBER. Cairo Jim and the Alabastron of Forgotten Gods is being published in MARCH 2009. Plans are underway for me to visit Tokyo in March, pith helmet in tow, when the fourth book appears... Current Location: "The Obelisks" with the Gloomy Prince (Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
May 1st, 2008
07:10 am [Link]	CHECK OUT THE JAPANESE CAIRO JIM SITE ... Random House Kodansha has set up a great new Cairo Jim site! Check it out here (and watch Doris's tailfeathers)! Current Location: Jungle traipsing... (9 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
April 28th, 2008
03:04 pm [Link]	Writing in couplets... ...as I work towards a strange phase in the writing of The Startling Tale of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, seeps into my head. The whole rhythm of what I'm doing starts to define how I speak (which makes it a slightly unnerving experience when talking with the women at the local post office and finding myself lapsing into the da-da-da-da-da-dada-dada strain) and even how I move sometimes. Today I took delivery of a prince's crown, a retractable sword (most ingenious) and a black cloak. The classical plastic skull with the hinged jaw which I ordered last week is still to arrive... ...and still come the schools bookings for Cairo Jim author appearances, which spring me with a different -- and still zingingly excitable -- rhythm altogether. Oh I do enjoy earning my living. Current Location: Elsinore, Cairo and "The Obelisks" (1 pearl of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
April 12th, 2008
04:32 pm [Link]	THE STARTLING TALE OF HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK A monologue in verse Written and performed by Geoffrey McSkimming (With additional dialogue by William Shakespeare) World Premiere Friday August 15, 2008 at the Betty Archdale Inaugural Literature Festival Abbotsleigh School Sydney (and who says we authors need publishers?) Performance bookings and further details: Pippa Q Masson Curtis Brown pippa@curtisbrown.com.au Current Location: Elsinore and about (1 pearl of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
April 8th, 2008
11:06 pm [Link]	Cairo Jim in JAPAN HERE IS THE COVER, Cairo Jim aficionados, for the first Cairo Jim story, just released in Japan by Random House Kodansha. The Japanese title is: カイロ・ジム　１インディオの秘薬と謎の空中都市カイロ・ジム　　　１ which roughly translates to: Jim Cairo 1: Indio City's air of Mystery and Arcanum. My name is ジェフリー・マクスキミング／著　貴美島紀／訳 which translates as Jeffrey Makusukimingu. Just as I thought, I am a mouthful in more than one language. Mr Martin Chatterton (who did this cover, which is adapted from the UK Cairo Jim covers) was asked to produce some artwork for Cairo Jim bookmarks for Kodansha, which are now available in Japan. Here are some of the wonderful characters he realised. Can you discern their identities (they all appear in Cairo Jim on the Trail to ChaCha Muchos -- カイロ・ジム　１インディオの秘薬と謎の空中都市カイロ・ジム１)? Current Location: "The Obelisks" (5 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
March 22nd, 2008
12:36 pm [Link]	Laos and Thailand I've recently returned from a marvellous trip to Laos and Thailand. Both countries I enjoyed immensely, the people especially. The beautiful scenery and locations came a very close second, tied perhaps with the delicious food. I love travelling and I love the art of travel. This trip satisfied me on all counts. A few days at the beginning in Bangkok, visiting temples, markets, the house-museum of Jim Thompson (who restarted the Thai silk industry before his strange disappearance in the 1960s), and then we boarded the sumptuous 1920s style Eastern and Oriental Express for three days. This great old train took us north-east into Thailand. It was only the second time this august locomotive had done the journey up to Vientiane (the capital of Laos) and I loved every minute of it, even the unexpected bumps (it is a VERY narrow track) and the occasional jerks on the trip. That last part of the comment is intentionally ambiguous. Vientiane was beautiful. We stayed at the Settha Palace Hotel, a grand old French-style mansion. Had three days there, visiting temples and nearby villages to buy silk weavings, which are exquisite and (most of which) are now hanging in The Obelisks. Then we headed out to Vang Vieng and thence to Luang Prabang. Luang Prabang is a marvellous, World Heritage listed site on the caramel coloured Mekong. Bought more beautiful silk weavings here and fell in love with the town. At various temples on the way and here at Luang Prabang we also bought tiny bamboo cages with sparrows inside, and we freed the birds. It was uplifting in a totally unexpected way, and remains one of the small highlights of the whole trip. I also visited the remote grave of Henri Mouhot, the French explorer who rediscovered the ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and who died at the too-young age of 26. After a few days we boarded a handsome teak boat and cruised for two days along the Mekong, past jungles, temples and remote hill villages. The scenery was astonishingly calming. Visited some caves filled with Buddha statues of all sizes. Crossed the border back into Thailand, to Chiang Rai, then on to Chiang Mai, where we stayed for a while at the magnificent Chedi Hotel. I will return to this gorgeous hotel...it is one of the best I've stayed at anywhere in the world. It was fabulous travelling through these two Buddhist countries and being made to feel so welcome. Everywhere was a pleasure to be, and every face had a story. It was refreshing to get back into jungles again and to climb steep tracks to the tops of waterfalls and just to travel and see things without knowing that I had to write a story about my experiences (the first time in 20 years of travelling that this is so). But, knowing my story-making tendencies, I have a sneaky feeling that some tale will eventuate from these sublime places... Current Location: "The Obelisks"--home again (5 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
February 14th, 2008
01:59 am [Link]	Well, the US seems to like Ogre in a Toga... What do Jack Prelutsky, Michael Bond, Stephen Fry, William Steig, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Geoffrey McSkimming have in common? This may tell you... (2 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
January 25th, 2008
06:11 am [Link]	Tours at the Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, Australia A few years back I was commissioned by the good people at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney, Australia, to come up with four characters and to write scripted tours for each of them that would take place through four different collections in the Gallery. It was a marvellous job, and the character tours have been so popular that they have been running for I think the last five or six years, free. Click on the link below if you want to find out more: http://www.gallerykids.com.au/characters?MySourceSession=a9fc695dc29ddb6a07f7ba26bb0c4182&maintain_session=1 Well, in December we had a meeting with the Gallery people and they would like me to write another character tour for this year. I'm all primed up and ready and have some weird but not unrealizable ideas which I think will be a lot of fun. If things go to plan (ie if the Gallery's corporate sponsorship comes through as expected), I'll start work on this new character and script after I return from Thailand and Laos in the next few months. Writing for performance seems to be the way I'm heading right now... Here are some pics of the first four characters--they're played by professional actors, all of whom give cracking performances of the words I scribbled: Current Location: "The Obelisks"--awaiting visas & vaccinations (4 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
January 24th, 2008
05:03 am [Link]	Cairo Jim in Japan Random House Kodansha is bringing out the first Cairo Jim story in Japan on MARCH 12th. They've asked me to write a brief message to the Japanese readers which will be included in this edition. I'll post the cover/s here as soon as I see them. Current Location: "The Obelisks", dusting off the travelling trunks... (2 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
December 20th, 2007
03:43 am [Link]	Shudders of the Season The Season is once again upon us. One thing about this time that has arisen in the last five years or so, and which makes me shudder visibly, is the seemingly uncontrollable urge that various acquaintances get to inform the world that they are not sending out Christmas cards because they have given a donation to a charity. Oh puh-LEASE! Should one from now on post an entry on one's journal every time one buys a copy of The Big Issue? Or makes a quiet donation to a worthy cause during the course of the year? Should one scan one's Legacy badge purchase and stick it up on the Net? Yeeeerrrrgggghhhhh... On an altogether different note, early next year I will be travelling to Thailand and Laos. Part of the trip will be taken on the Asian Orient Express. I will not wear a beret: Wishing you all peace, happiness and contentment for the holiday season and beyond... G Current Location: "The Obelisks" Ho Ho Ho (6 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
November 20th, 2007
09:11 pm [Link]	A new poster for the collection... Original window card poster, 1927, 14 inches x 22 inches. A strange Harry Langdon feature directed by Frank Capra. Current Location: "The Obelisks" (Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
November 9th, 2007
07:19 am [Link]	Happy 4th birthday Daisy SkyWatcher Hip Hip Hooray to the Princess Fourpaws. Current Location: "The Obelisks"--raining (Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
November 1st, 2007
07:45 am [Link]	Cairo Jim and the Astragals of Angkor --audio version, read dramatically by the author, released today. The Astragals of Angkor, strange ancient carvings from Cambodia, are discovered in the Vaults of Abandonment, deep below the Old Relics Society in Cairo. Where did they come from? Who are the people depicted on the Astragals? And why are they shown in such outrageous positions? Cairo Jim, that well-known archaeologist and little-known poet, finds himself faced with the most astounding revelations of his career, in this 18th title in the Cairo Jim chronicles. Little does he know that such bizarre contortions may lead to monumental destruction of all that we know... Yet more unexpected uncoverings from the chronicler of these annals of audacity, Geoffrey McSkimming! http://www.bolinda.com/aus/search/results.aspx?/1/2B196B8D-03B0-4483-8D45-12EDE470FD1D/1/23/1/1/1/1/1/4/mcskimming Current Location: "The Obelisks" (4 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
October 30th, 2007
08:51 pm [Link]	Some new Cairo Jim editions... ...soon to be published in the UK by Walker Books. Artwork by Martin Chatterton and design by Jacky Paynter. These will be the ninth and tenth Cairo Jim stories to be released in the UK. Current Location: "The Obelisks" (2 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
October 29th, 2007
05:03 pm [Link]	Today in Brisbane Am waiting in the Qantas Club lounge in Brisbane after a full-on day of four author talks at a lovely school just out of the city. Another author, Deb Abela, and I spent three hours getting to the school (it should have taken forty minutes) from the airport because the highway was being dredged. The sessions went really well, and there was something else: I was told by three members of staff (separately) that there would be a girl who suffered from Turette's Syndrome in one of the sessions and that she would make a high-pitched noise throughout my talk. I thanked the teachers for the advance notification. Then, in my second last session, I heard the sound. It was a little, gently piercing, squeak, not unlike the sound I have heard made by baby cheetahs on the African plains. It was a beautiful sound, punctuating my presentation regularly, and what was even more beautiful was that all the other 100 or so students just took it as normal and no fuss was made. I felt priveleged to be talking to this group at this school. Current Location: Brisbane, Australia (1 pearl of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)
October 11th, 2007
05:58 am [Link]	CAIRO JIM AND THE ASTRAGALS OF ANGKOR ...is published TODAY. "With some 17 books behind him, Geoffrey McSkimming has once again painstakingly relayed the adventures of Cairo Jim and his unusual companions. Told in old-world "Boys Own" adventure style, Cairo Jim and the Astragals of Angkor takes readers on a fantastic journey across the globe to defeat the dastardly Captain Neptune Flannelbottom Bone (and) to stop Bone from entering the Realm of Eternal Power. Like good adventure tales, Astragals of Angkor doesn't take itself too seriously...pre-teens will love the sense of adventure and the humour. This is the final chapter* in McSkimming's 17 year quest to relate these tales, leaving some to question: Is this really the end for Cairo Jim?" --Australian Bookseller and Publisher * ????????????? Current Location: "The Obelisks" (21 pearls of persiflage \| Leave your 2 piastres' worth)

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