The Friday Rock Show

Fri 25 Aug 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on The Friday Rock Show | Posted by: Gavin

Google leads to 87.9 somewhere a couple of months ago where a guy named Alex put together a show of live tracks and included the Sisters of Mercy playing Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” (starts at about 37.5 minutes [99MB file]).

Long ago there was a break-in at Small Beer central and someone removed our UniVac Central Computational System which included a copy of this song. (Hope they enjoyed it.) Since then there have been occasional looks for it on the web but nothing serious. Now it is Ours, Ours again. Before that? Someone else had it in a shared flat sometime in the late eighties. Someone, somewhere.
El DJ man also plays The Stranglers, Joy Division, OMD, The Smiths, Gang of Four, Toyah, Dead Kennedys, Nirvana, and ends it with Depeche Mode’s last song from their sold out show at the Pasadena Rose Bowl! (he says) in 1988.

Title? Radio 1 show on, yes, Friday night.


Year’s Best arriving at platform 19

Fri 25 Aug 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Year’s Best arriving at platform 19 | Posted by: Gavin

Arrived today (or so), the latest YB 19edition of the editing gig that eats years as appetizers, The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror: 2006. This one has stories from Isabel Allende, Robert Coover, etc. Full table of contents here, but you’ll have to tramp to the bookshop (or make the bookshop come to you) if you want to look at the Honorable Mentions or read the short and flighty Summation of the year in fantasy.
Other new books have been arriving around here, so there should be more pix of them at some point.

We’ve been running around (Hello Nantucket, yay!) and we’re going to add some more dates to Kelly’s calendar soon (hello Iowa City).

Congrats to Gwenda, who is right now out looking for a new schoolbag.

Also: The LA Times is the latest to run Hillel Italie’s AP story on Kelly. Wow. (Thanks Andrew, Google, etc!)

See, this thing ain’t no blog. It ain’t no journal. It’s a Site History. Or, A Spectacular Compendium of Companionable Pieces. (Links?)


Alan, Ellen, Condor

Fri 18 Aug 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , | Comments Off on Alan, Ellen, Condor | Posted by: Gavin

Worried about stagflation? Glaciation? Decapitation? Save your head and the global economy (can’t do much about global warming*) by getting multiple copies of Alan DeNiro‘s Book Sense Pick, Harvard Book Shop Select Seventy Pick, etc., etc:

SKINNY DIPPING IN THE LAKE OF THE DEAD: Stories, by Alan DeNiro “This is a great debut collection of loopy, off-the-wall, and still-somehow-packing-emotional-weight stories; DeNiro can weld words into some mighty strange configurations.”
–Caleb Wilson, Davis-Kidd Booksellers, Nashville, TN

Quick interview with Julie Phillips (have some rougher stuff that might post later — this was meant to be a longer interview, but ran out of time after the simple stuff).

Keep up with Ellen Kushner’s schedule (the hardcover is at the printer — more news when we have it). Good review of The Privilege of the Sword over at Green Man Review. If you’re in NYC, don’t miss Ellen et al at Shriek: the Movie Event.

Green Man Review also provides one of the first reviews of the Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror: 2006. More on this, too, when we see it!

Kelly is reading this Sunday on Nantucket. Doesn’t look like she will be at Worldcon next weekend — hope it’s a blast and that Anaheim gets to show off its hidden depths.
* A lie. Brought to you by G.W.Bush & Co. Ask Joe Turner from Three Days of the Condor what it’s all about.


home

Thu 17 Aug 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , | Comments Off on home | Posted by: Gavin

Home-ish. Sort of. Back in the office after a trip to Minneapolis and NYC. Photos may appear if the downloading thingy can be worked. (Unlikely anytime soon. If you would like to hold your breath until this happens, feel free. If you would like to come over and download the things: Away! To speak to a human customer service agent, please press Control-Alt(or Apple)-Delete on your keyboard.)

It had been a while since we’d been to DreamHaven Books — wow. And woe-is-me because it is so far away. Happily they send is their monthly catalog but being there is an inspiring experience. So many good books to read! (And they have copies of zines like Say… and JPPN.) Kelly read there (with Bryan, see next) on Thursday night to a standing room only crowd. We also managed to get to Wild Rumpus (a bookshop with chickens), the Wedge (a huuuge coop: local, baby, local!), and some good eateries, as well as visit the Diane Arbus exhibit at the Walker and meet the Rain Taxiers….
Diversicon is a lovely convention — readers and writers (in the Midwest especially) should go if possible. It’s sort of in the same headspace as WisCon, smaller, but smart people talking about interesting things. Bryan Thao Worra, the Special Guest, is a suave, smart poet (download a pdf chapbook, Monstro) and activist whose writing is as funny as he is. He gave a great presentation on mysterious places in Laos (so says Alan — we saw the preview). Books were sold (yay!), the Mall of America was avoided (uh huh!), and a couple of trips into the Twin Cities were made. The hotel, a Holiday Inn Select (selected for oddness?) was just weird — hear that hoteliers? we will seek revenge! Petty revenge, at that. Reservation? Nope. Uh. Help? Maybe. Buggers. Fortunately the con folks had all the info at their fingertips (even when woken after midnight (sorry Rick!) — it really did take the hotel a while to get us in a room). Who cares?

Elizabeth Bear and Bill Shunn read at KGB, fantastic fiction was read, fantastic food at Grand Sichaun was had, and loud music was sung along to on the way home.

Let’s see: Beginning. yes, did that. Middle? Sort of. End? Uh, no. Maybe next time.


Off to Diversicon

Tue 8 Aug 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , | Comments Off on Off to Diversicon | Posted by: Gavin

Doesn’t Diversicon have a nice musical tone to it? Di-versy-chorus-versy-con. Say hi if you’re there (that would be in Minneapolis). Kelly will be reading at DreamHaven early Thursday evening, then off to the convention the next day with Goblinmercantileexchange and 32degrees. Or Kristin and Alan.


World Fantasy Noms

Sun 6 Aug 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on World Fantasy Noms | Posted by: Gavin

Nominations for the World Fantasy Award are out. Congrats to all the nominees, including Kelly Link whose collection, Magic for Beginners and her novella of the same name are up.

It’s a refreshing list with tons of good stuff on it. Wonder if H. Murakami will make it to the convention?

Speaking of Murakami (poor segues, the first sign of blogarrhea?), just read the Cloverfield Press edition of his story “Tony Takitani” (trans by Jay Rubin). Ordered it at AWP in March and even though it came a little while ago it somehow never managed to crawl near the top of the unending reading pile until now. First the book: it’s a beautifully made and designed objets d’fetish (no page numbers!).  The story, originally published in The New Yorker, is one of Murakami’s restrained wonders. It’s a soft, lonely story of art, marriage, and a Fitgeraldian quantity of dresses all in a lovely little edition.

Another beautiful thing that came to hand while tidying is The Monkeynauts, a nonfiction zine (as typed by bombo the monkey) about some of the monkeys who went (were sent) to space. It’s a series of incredible, thought-provoking stories — one monkey who, upon being rescued from his landing capsule, ran around ecstatically shaking everyone’s hands…! And again with the beautifully made thing. Got this one in a small stack from the catastrophe shop, a great resource for minicomics. (Because Quimby’s Atomic, Million Year Picnic, etc. aren’t enough??)


Moved in. Made a flick. Huge stars now.

Fri 4 Aug 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Moved in. Made a flick. Huge stars now. | Posted by: Gavin

Made a move that was meant to happen ages ago thanks to Michael here and Brianna and Josh at Utopian.

Lazy Sunday, it’s not, but Friday afternoons are a no-go area for work in publishing (try calling your editor, they’re at the beach). We’re not at the beach, but now it’s getting cooler (right?) we are outside in the sun. Jolly weekending chums.

Flickity film: Watch out for heatstroke.


Drop

Thu 3 Aug 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Drop | Posted by: Gavin

We have a bunch of signed books in stock. And some pressures prices have dropped. Just saying.


Happy Birthday Douglas!

Thu 3 Aug 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Happy Birthday Douglas! | Posted by: Gavin

Happy Birthday Douglas!

– John Scalzi (who earlier interviewed Alan) puts Ellen Kushner to the sword in a very good interview.

– Locus picked Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead for their Notable Books: “Deeply weird, sometimes challenging, but always smart and affecting.” Yes indeedy.

– Also: “Endlessly imaginative,” says Venus magazine.

– Local pop stars The Fawns have a new CD out, A Nice Place to Be. They had a launch gig the other night at The Elevens in Northampton (they’re playing next on Saturday, August 26, for free at The Basement). Delightful, funny, smart, what’s not to like? Poptastic. Makes a good break in between the Tilly and the Wall CDs. Pop for it! While that is in the mail to you, why not listen to their firstlCD, Smiling. Wonder if they’d go over well at Wiscon?


Alchemy 3 (Rest of the World 0)

Tue 1 Aug 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Alchemy 3 (Rest of the World 0) | Posted by: Gavin

Added the third and final issue of the rather wonderful Alchemy magazine to the other shopping page.

Alchemy 3Alchemy, from Edgewood Press, is a well designed and edited perfect bound magazine that paid top dollar for stories, cover art, and printing. The contributors to the third issue are: Frances Hardinge, Tara Kolden, Hannah Wolf Bowen, Theodora Goss, Sonya Taafe, Sarah Monette, Beth Adele Long (2 stories!), and Timothy Williams. The stories come from across the whole range of fantasy with the high quality of the writing being the only common factor. Sarah Monette’s comfortable stretch, “The Seance at Chisholm End”, to one of Sonya Taafe’s most accessible pieces, “Like the Stars and the Sand.” Beth Adele Long provides a little experimentation with voice, Hannah Bowen gets bloody-handed, and Frances Hardinge takes readers on a really fantastic ride. Timothy Williams provides the spookiest story with a Kentucky exploration of “The Hollows”, although Theodora Goss’s “Letter from Budapest” is almost right up there with a story of an inescapable artist. Damn shame this magazine never saw better distribution. You can pick it up for $7 an issue (including shipping) or there are mini-deals for more copies.

– Also deleted Urban Pantheist 3, sorry about that Michael. Now only the 4th issue left.


Pop! The sound of a mind exploding.

Mon 31 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on Pop! The sound of a mind exploding. | Posted by: Gavin

– Review of Alan DeNiro’s collection at Strange Horizons. Pop! The sound of a mind exploding. [Note: Here’s the wince inducingly-named Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet.]

– Also, an interesting story, “The Women of Our Occupation” by Kameron Hurley. (Thanks to Gwenda for pushing the story.) Which, with the wonders of the web, looks like this once it goes through Regender.com.

– It’s the last day of July. Celebrate! Or, dig a hole and hide underground from the heatttt.


Brudders of der Head

Fri 28 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Brudders of der Head | Posted by: Gavin

Check our email announcement list for some more news. Especially about “Brothers of the Head” which is a dark, elegant film about a proto punk band formed around a pair conjoined twins. Opens in NYC and LA Friday.


Delocate yourself for coffee, books, films

Fri 28 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Delocate yourself for coffee, books, films | Posted by: Gavin

Add things to Delocator, make it even more useful. You can find indie cafes, bookshops, and cinemas — this is what I’ve been looking for for ages. Brilliant idea. There are probably hundreds of such sites but this one didn’t have tons of distracting ads and so on, it just does what it says it does. But, it needs more content, so: add your fave coffee shop today.


A bright spot

Fri 28 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on A bright spot | Posted by: Gavin

Try Robert Sydney’s The Bright Spot is a paperback noir/sf original from last year with a great cover design that just grabs you and says read me! Nick Bainbridge (not his real name) is an actor on the second go around after everything he was in in his first shot bombed. He’s picked up work at a crappy educational film maker (ok, it’s virtual something or other, but think low-rent film production studio) who remake lit classics in more populist forms (you have to read it to find out what they do to Frankenstein). Nick and his costar Lu are offered under-the-table parts in a weird sting operation on a powerful old man, James Dumfries — the inventor of “ware”, software that runs on people so that they can do anything. The software helped the USA win the last (unnamed) war but is now used for everything from roadworkers to chefs. The sting goes off but something goes wrong and Nick and Lu’s contact disappears and they don’t get paid. The government starts keeping tabs on them and Nick can’t let go the feeling that there’s more to their own story than meets the eye. All the right parts are here: beautiful blondes (who don’t automatically end up dead!, conspiracies and backroom deals, and through it all smart biting comments on the world today. The Bright Spot is perfect for a bus or train ride or just sitting in a cafe or a bar.


Aug 20, Nantucket

Fri 28 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Aug 20, Nantucket | Posted by: Gavin

Added a new reading (and wine and cheese reception) for Kelly out on Nantucket island, yay! Sunday August 20, 7 PM. Brant Point Books, 17 N. Beach Street, P. O. Box 1123, Nantucket, MA 02554 508-228-5856


Poetic fruit and some readings

Mon 24 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on Poetic fruit and some readings | Posted by: Gavin

Meanwhile, we are out the back with Seamus Heaney Blackberry Picking. We are not, however, entertaining takeover bids from the Ocean Spray cranberry collective, no matter what you may have read in today’s Wall Street Journal.– More readings: Kelly is teaching the final two weeks of the Clarion East workshop with Holly Black and is reading with Holly on the 26th at 7 PM -at the Capital Area District Library, 401 S. Capital Ave, Lansing, MI 48933 517-367-6363 and by herself at the lovely Archives Book Shop, 517-519 W. Grand River, East Lansing, MI 48823.

Half Life– Should you be on the west coast tonight, you have the chance to go see Shelley Jackson read from her new novel Half Life:

July 24, 8 PM – Dog Eared Books, 900 Valencia St (@ 20th), San Francisco (415)282-190
July 25, 7 PM — Cody’s Books 1730 4th Street, Berkeley 510-559-9500
July 26, 7:30 PM — Powells City of Books 1005 West Burnside, Portland 503-228-4651
July 29, 7:30 PM — Elliot Bay Books 101 South Main St, Seattle 206-624-6600
More here.


critical mass

Thu 20 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on critical mass | Posted by: Gavin

Stop everything, read this hilarious review of the new M. Night Shyster “film” from the Philly Weekly. (Maybe it will be as bad as Signs!)– Critical Mass is one of the best new lit blogs around and John Freeman put together a good post on “The Middle East — a poetical primer.” Among those he mentions is Naomi Shihab Nye who read at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, NC, while Kelly was teaching there. Ms. Nye is an incredibly thoughtful writer and a great reader: funny, insightful, a little dramatic but never anywhere near over the top.


Sarah Langan

Thu 20 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Sarah Langan | Posted by: Gavin

Smartest reader at KGB? Sarah Langan! Paul Witcover knows we’re huge fans (review his books, beg him to proofread our books), so he’s pretty secure there. Sarah brought home made cookies (UK readers: biscuits) to the reading at KGB. We are so easily bought! Paul and Sarah both gave great spooky readings. Pre-order The Keeper now! Dracula: Asylum is a semi-sequel to Todd Browning’s Dracula movie and the section Paul read was deeply intense, some fantastic grim writing about a battlefield in World War One. Thought-provoking stuff to hear in a country that just keeps opening up new battlefronts.


Alan at Magers & Quinn

Mon 17 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Alan at Magers & Quinn | Posted by: Gavin

Tomorrow night Alan DeNiro whoops it up at a local(ish) bookshop: 7 PM — Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN 55408. (612) 822-4611 and the good news is there’s a reception afterward where Alan will probably not be leading the karaoke charge. Probably….


Fri 14 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on | Posted by: Gavin

TrickedAlex Robinson, whose Tricked ain’t a bad book, writes a great piece on the music behind the book. (Which is one of those books with pictures.) One of the very enjoyable aspects of the book is that all the music and the bands are imaginary — which, for a book about a musician, is amazing fun. All this band history and hagiography gets tossed around, with tons of injokes and references, but instead of being some music scene you know/don’t know, care/don’t care about, it’s all part of the furniture and decoration of the novel. One quote:

Reading Albert Goldman’s THE LIVES OF JOHN LENNON was actually a big influence on the conception of the book. Though it seems pretty much forgotten today, Goldman’s book was very controversial when it came out in the late 1980s. Basically, Goldman said that the Lennon-Ono version of their life (Lennon and Ono madly in love and off drugs, Ono runs business while Lennon “retires” to raise son, bake bread and be a house husband, etc) was a big fat lie. In Goldman’s version, Lennon was a reclusive, violent drug addict who was about to leave the cold, cunning Ono until she had him hypnotized (!) into staying.


Fri 14 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on | Posted by: Gavin

TrickedAlex Robinson, whose Tricked ain’t a bad book, writes a great piece on the music behind the book. (Which is one of those books with pictures.) One of the very enjoyable aspects of the book is that all the music and the bands are imaginary — which, for a book about a musician, is amazing fun. All this band history and hagiography gets tossed around, with tons of injokes and references, but instead of being some music scene you know/don’t know, care/don’t care about, it’s all part of the furniture and decoration of the novel. One quote:

Reading Albert Goldman’s THE LIVES OF JOHN LENNON was actually a big influence on the conception of the book. Though it seems pretty much forgotten today, Goldman’s book was very controversial when it came out in the late 1980s. Basically, Goldman said that the Lennon-Ono version of their life (Lennon and Ono madly in love and off drugs, Ono runs business while Lennon “retires” to raise son, bake bread and be a house husband, etc) was a big fat lie. In Goldman’s version, Lennon was a reclusive, violent drug addict who was about to leave the cold, cunning Ono until she had him hypnotized (!) into staying.


A. in NE

Tue 11 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on A. in NE | Posted by: Gavin

Tons of people at the reading in Boston last night — yay! Now A. + Kristin are off back to Minneapolis and he gets a break until the next reading. The Boston Phoenix blog points toward Alan and Theodora Goss’s reading tonight.

Last night’s reading at the Amherst Bookshop was great fun. To celebrate the new issue of LCRW we had a couple of people read pieces from the new issue.

Caitlin Beck and Lauren Smith read (or, really, performed) David Schwartz’s story “Play” — a playful story in two voices which was hilarious. Michael DeLuca read Fred Coppersmith’s short piece “At Uncle Ogden’s House.” Then the three of them read Dear Aunt Gwenda‘s latest column — with Caitlin reading Aunt Gwenda’s incisive and informative responses while wearing an orange boa! Jeanette Westwood (whose story “Crimson-lady at the Auction, Buying” is in the issue) dropped by to say hello but couldn’t stick around for the reading. Next time!

Nice people from One Less and Zygote Games and lots of readers turned up for the wine and the reading. The evening was recorded so at some point we may be able to add it to the audio pages. We’ll send you an email when and if . . .


TOChicago

Mon 10 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on TOChicago | Posted by: Gavin

Time Out Chicago likes Skinny Dipping:

“DeNiro’s greatest gifts are those of a poet, and his prose is filled with stunning images and incantatory rhythms. Debuts often come along with press releases touting them as “assured,” and sure enough, DeNiro’s was no different. But with talent as deep as his, it’s no wonder Deniro is confident in touring us around his strange worlds.” —Jonathan Messinger

Tonight: a reading!


Book Sense!

Thu 6 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on Book Sense! | Posted by: Gavin

Big News: A.’s book is a Book Sense Pick for August with a great quote from Caleb Wilson of Davis-Kidd who obviously got the book. (Thanks go all those bookshops who nominated it!) So now the bookshops should have it and hopefully be selling the heck out of it!

SKINNY DIPPING IN THE LAKE OF THE DEAD: Stories by A. DeNiro
“This is a great debut collection of loopy, off-the-wall, and still-somehow-packing-emotional-weight stories; DeNiro can weld words into some mighty strange configurations.”
— Caleb Wilson, Davis-Kidd Booksellers, Nashville, TN

If you are in Massachusetts, come meet A. Deniro, hear him read, pick up a reader’s guide (and drinking guide), join the LCRW launch party, and see him and Theodora Goss all in the next few days:

7-9: Readercon 17, Burlington, MA (where Small Beer will have a table and many interns will attend!)

10 (Monday): Amherst Books, 8 Main Street, Amherst, MA 01002 413.256.1547 — 800.503.5865
— with LCRW 18 launch party

11 (Tuesday) — Porter Square Books, Porter Square Shopping Center, 25 White Street, Cambridge, MA 02140 · (617) 491-2220
— with Theodora Goss (In the Forest of Forgetting)

Also on the Book Sense list in case you didn’t believe us earlier. This is a damned good book:

JAMES TIPTREE, JR.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon by Julie Phillips (St. Martin’s)
“Alice Sheldon trekked across Africa with her parents in the 1920s, became an accomplished painter, joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary, worked for the CIA, received a Ph.D. in psychology, and married twice. She also had a career as an influential writer of science fiction as James Tiptree. Her complex gender identity and sexual orientation is utterly fascinating, as is her remarkable life, which is made all the more vivid in this rich biography.”
— Kris Kleindienst, Left Bank Books, Saint Louis, MO


SBP1 – Erik the Shipping Tzar

Thu 6 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on SBP1 – Erik the Shipping Tzar | Posted by: Gavin

Erik the Shipping Tzar (self-declared) tells the whole truth on YouTube. (More lo-res videos to come.)


Fireworks +

Tue 4 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on Fireworks + | Posted by: Gavin

Get out there and celebrate the freedoms you have!

– Sean Stewart came and went and signed lots of books in the meantime. And … left us an ARC of Cathy’s Book — yay!


20 rainstorms

Mon 3 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on 20 rainstorms | Posted by: Gavin

In 20 Epics there is some rain. We sold all the copies we had at Readercon. It was an epic job of salespersonship by interns, friends, us, others. Finding the epically designed books was a long sordid tale of hidden icons, misdirection, and dead letter offices which was only concluded when Mary “I live in Iceland” Robinette “Shimmer” Kowal tracked them down far into the Labyrinth past the Steaming Kitchens of Despair. The books sold grandly, richly, with bread and cheese and some ale. They found spots by the fire in inns, they were purchased by plucky, heartfelt, surprisingly good looking kids who in a certain light looked like writers. The books were prizes, ill-gotten gains, kept in saddlebags, used as hats, ripped in two and kept by distance-separated lovers. There are at least twenty epics in the book but you only have to buy one. Lulu. Powells.

– Damn rainmakers. Damn rain gods. Damn all the Rain Cowboys. Living in the rain forest. No rainbows. Would love a rain check on the rain, thanks. Refuse to get out the rain wear. This is more of a squall than a storm. Being rained out. Sad not to be rain proof.

– A. DeNiro interviewed by John “Whatever” Scalzi. Read a couple of the stories in a funsize PDF edition.


Publication day!

Sat 1 Jul 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Publication day! | Posted by: Gavin

A. DeNiro’s Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead officially hits the bookshops today. Street Team Alpha will be facing out the book in stores near You. Street Team Beta are being held in reserve in case they get last minute tix for the Brazil France game later today. Street Team C will be skinny dipping in lakes all over the country. Go do the same!


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