Quotations Weblog

Second Life is a 3-D interactive world where you can create an avatar and interact with other people. Some people call it a game. Some people are making a living just working in Second Life. There have been some good video games that have come out of Second Life. There have even been people who have met, fallen in love and married in the real world because of Second Life.

All of this is completely disinteresting to me.

When my friend, Aliza Sherman, showed me around Elysian Isle, however, my mind opened up to the possibility that Second Life might have a spot for me. Random House Publishing owns Elysian Isle. They have made a beautiful and relaxing spot where you can enjoy the company of others who like to read.

This is Second Books, where you can find information about books and reading groups. There is one that meets every Tuesday from 1-3pm SLT at the Elysian Isle Cafe.

If you need directions to Elysian Isle, this link should get you there:

• Elysian Isle – A region devoted to books, authors and readers

If you are new to Second Life, but are interested in getting started, try here:

• Second Life: Your World. Your Imagination.

Unshelved made a comic about one of Oscar Wilde’s most famous stories:

• Unshelved comic strip – The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray addresses two issues for me: aging and secret desires. Dorian stayed looking forever young because it was his portrait who aged for him. Because the portrait took on all the visible aspects of Dorian’s vices, he was able to chase after them with abandon without the visible markings of an evil man (scars, disease, etc.). We all must face our own secret desires and aging and the idea of escaping both is enticing.

Because Oscar Wilde’s story touches us in such a base manner, it has been beloved in literature and film adaption. You can find it on Amazon in many forms:

You can read original story at your library, on The Literature Page, or in your own book from Amazon:

• Find your local library
• Read The Picture of Dorian Gray on The Literature Page
• Buy The Picture of Dorian Gray at Amazon.com

You can also enjoy the story by watching the movie:

• Picture of Dorian Gray (1945): Starring George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield, Donna Reed, Peter Lawford, and a very young and beautiful Angela Lansbury. Sorry, it’s only available on VHS right now.

• Picture of Dorian Gray (1973): Starring Shane Briant, Nigel Davenport, Charles Aidman, Fionnula Flanagan, and Linda Kelsey.

• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003): Starring: Sean Connery, Naseeruddin Shah, Peta Wilson, Tony Curran, Stuart Townsend. This story is not a retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray, but Dorian is a main character in this movie.

Oscar Wilde was very familiar with stifling his secret desires, so he was able to write a story that would last over a century. If you have ever feared aging or have lost your battle with your own secret desires, you will find a kindred spirit in Dorian Gray.

We add new quotations to this site every day, and in the process new author pages are added. Despite the size of our collection, many famous people aren’t included here yet. The following are some of the new author pages we added last month:

• Mike Meyers, Canadian-born actor
• Seth Godin, Bestselling author and blogger
• Jimmy Hoffa, Union leader
• Michael Landon, Actor
• Che Guevara, Latin American revolutionary
• Seth MacFarlane, Creator of “Family Guy”
• Denzel Washington, Actor
• Dave Matthews, Musician
• Ernie Kovacs, TV Pioneer
• Tupac Shakur, Rapper
• Stephen Covey, Motivational Writer
• Zach Braff, Actor and director

Since these are new authors to the site, most have few quotations so far, but we’ll continue to expand them. Stay tuned for highlights of the authors we’ve added in July, and as always let us know if we’re missing one of your favorite authors.

This week on Unshelved, they talk about the similarities between The Fantastic Four and Furies of Calderon. You can see the comic here:

• Unshelved comic strip – Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

The first Fantastic Four movie came out in 2005 and they have gotten the same cast for the second movie, Rise of the Silver Surfer. If you enjoyed these movies then you might enjoy elements of many other illustrated novels and fictional series.

One that you might find interesting is Furies of Calderon, the first in a series of fantasy novels about defeating the incoming armies with magical forces that depend on the four elements. Just like the Fantastic Four were fire, water, earth and air, the people of Alera use these elements to protect themselves from Quintus Sextus’ armies.

If you liked the Fantastic Four movies, you might find yourself enthralled with the series of books that Jim Butcher has created, starting with Furies of Calderon.

Arrow started a word puzzle in the Quotations Page Forum last week and it has been an interesting and fun game for all the readers there.

• Quotations Page and Literature Page Forum – World Puzzle Page 1

Her description of the puzzle is as follows:

The rule is simple. Just guess the question right with the given clue. Let’s try.

A word that starts with letter P which is given to a number of media correspondents?

Very quickly, the answer, paparazzi, was given. It was then that person’s turn to give us a puzzle and judge the answers.

This has been going on for over a week now and the questions have gotten continually harder and more interesting! If you like word puzzles, come join us in the Quotations Page Forum and play!