Found this today:

"Joyce to the World - a celebration of
Bloomsday. A documentary celebrating
James Joyce's Ulysses, the greatest
novel of the 20th century that no one's
actually read. This DVD format will
play in all regions worldwide.

Please inquire about discounted pricing
for bookstores and classes, and
screening fees for larger events.
E-mail: screenings@joycetotheworld.com"

I thought the "no one's actually read"
a bit odd.

Did a very short bit of research on Joyce's
family tree, expecting someone had already
covered that topic.

I found surprisingly little. What I did
find is located here.

One new piece of information: The real first
name of Annie Healy, Nora's mother, is
Honoraria.

Joyce gets his first Vietnamese translation.
Read more about it here.

I remember a CSUC Professor speaking at
one of Chico's Bloomsday celebrations about
the difficulties China encountered when
translating Ulysses into Chinese. The "dirty"
words presented a special problem. And
apparently, the Chinese had issues with the
concept of orgasm. (at that time...)

Every once in a while I go to eBay and type in
James Joyce and see what comes up. I've gotten
some interesting items there, a few good books,
a poster from Poland from a Joycean play and
today, the NEW JAMES JOYCE fingerpuppet
fridge Magnet doll.

Off to Portland OR today. Missing my normal
Bloomsday activities but I send best wishes
to all Joyce fans who will be celebrating
today.

The one connection I'll have to Bloomsday
today is that I plan on seeing Irish fiddler
Kevin Burke this evening. Mr. Burke, on his
CD Up Close, does a flawless version of
Stack of Barley, the only tune mentioned
(that I know of) in Ulysses.

Spokane WA is now the closest big city to me.
Here's how they spend Bloomsday. Isn't
this very, very sad?!

I received this announcement via email. Sounds
like a lovely time. If anyone goes I'd love
to hear about it:

"Bloomsday 2005
AN EXTRA-ORDINARY DAY ........To celebrate
that special day known as Bloomsday, the Irish
Community Arts Project will present a reading
by invited literary figures at the graveside of
Lucia Anna Joyce who died in Northampton in
1982. The event will take place at 7pm in
Kingsthorpe Cemetery on Thursday 16th
June 2005.

Further details from Peter Mulligan
Project Co-ordinator, The Irish Community Arts
Project. Northampton Connolly Association
Northampton NN3 2BY / Tel. 01604-715793
e-mail: _pmcelt@aol.com_ (mailto:pmcelt@aol.com)"

I found an interesting discussion board
on the critical Joyce question:

What was Joyce's favorite apple?

The answer:

"James Joyce's favorite apple was
Calville Blanc"

Some people have no appreciation
of history as evidenced by this
article in the Telegraph entitled
Developers Threaten Joyce's Seafront.
The development referred to in the
article would include a huge shopping
area, concert venue and 180 flats taking over
the area Joyce described as: "Woodshadows
floated silently by through the morning
peace … Inshore and further out the
mirror of water whitened, spurned by
lightshod hurrying feet."


Here's an excerpt from the article:

Lovers of literature are fighting proposals
for a huge development that will dominate a
picturesque Victorian seafront which inspired
James Joyce's classic novel Ulysses....

..The plan involves reclaiming five acres
of the coastline for a 10-storey building
that will extend 200 yards into the sea,
dwarfing Regency and Victorian crescents....

...The port, which was created by the great
Scottish engineer John Rennie, has an emotive
place in Irish history. It was the scene of
great heartache as the main harbour for the
emigration of hundreds of thousands of people
to America....

Raising the Wind has a new Joyce
Message Board.

Very cool.

" By popular demand, we've established
a raising the wind message board where
visitors can post comments, share
information, or generally raise the
wind. You will notice that there is a
banner ad. That is the modest price that
this hosting service extracts from us.
Enjoy!

My new job is with the Capital Habeas Unit of
the Federal Defenders Office. So after being here
for seven months, my thoughts finally turn to
Joyce and the Death Penalty. The only mention
I remember in Ulysses is the one in Cyclops where
Bloom discusses the one area in which executions do
not serve as a deterrent: erections.

I don't believe that holds true when the method is
lethal injection.

I'll have to dig a little deeper to find Joyce's
personal view of capital punishment.

This time of year is usually fraught with
Bloomsday planning, but now that I no longer
live in Chico, I find myself facing the
prospect of a Bloomsday alone.

I didn't get started on creating a Moscow
Bloomsday because I had planned to return
to California on the big day, but now it
looks like here I'll stay.

The nearest Bloomsday event is in Spokane
Washington, 90- miles away where they hold
a Bloomsday marathon. That's right -running
on Bloomsday ...no reading, no singing...
a travesty.

I received my copy of the Sotherby's catalog from last July's big auction in the mail on Saturday. It cost $22 and was speedily shipped. It features nice photos and descriptions of the Joyce items up for sale. The cover is the best part: Joyce's singing medal. If only I'd had this job then I would have bid on that medal, or Joyce's spectacles. You can order a copy here.