I’m sorry, but this already sounds tacky … the obligatory incipit:

The planned monument of Alexander the Great in the centre of Skopje will be accompanied by music, as well as light, sound and water effects, mayor of the Skopje municipality Centar, Vladimir Todorovic, announced recently.

The monument of Alexander the Great – the thorny figure in the side of Greek-Macedonian relations, will be created and installed in the centre of Skopje by the end of next year as part of the grandiose Skopje 2014 project, which envisions the construction and renovation of dozens of monuments and buildings in the capital’s downtown area, with the aim of enhancing its appeal and administrative functionality.

The Alexander the Great statue, together with the statues of eight lions, costs 4.5 million euro and the fountain – 3 million euro, Todorovic explained, cited by the Utrinski Vesnik newspaper. The publication commented that if the salaries of the commission members who selected the monument’s maker and her fees are included, its cost would reach 10 million euro. […]

via Balkan Travellers – Alexander the Great to Sing in the Centre of Macedonia’s Capital.

I wonder how long it will be before someone dyes the water of the fountain red and/or puts dishdetergent in it (the latter might be a Canadian thing)

Interesting backstory, but here’s the important paragraph:

In the end, though, we chose Mary Renault’s Fire From Heaven, the first volume of her trilogy about Alexander the Great, because it is exciting and vivid and takes you into an alien world; and Nina Bawden’s Birds on the Trees, a story about a middle-class family in crisis, which is so good, and so true, it reminds one why the words “Hampstead novel” used not to be a term of abuse. Who wins the Lost Booker is now in your hands. I’ve no idea which will triumph. All these books are truly fantastic. But if I had to pick one, it would be Troubles. It’s funny, sad, and beautifully written; it’s prescient, wise, original and unexpectedly eccentric. Vote JG, I say. Or, even better, just read him.

Click here to vote for your favourite Lost Booker. The winner will be announced in May.

• The Lost Booker: Rachel Cooke tells all | The Observer.

Related:

• Booker prize Lost Booker prize shortlist overlooks Iris Murdoch but plumps for Muriel Spark | Guardian

Lost in the mountain of email and on this weekend, apparently… this one’s going to be on CBC but I’m sure it’s on stations around the world … the incipit:

BEN HUR is a gut-wrenching, action-packed drama about the struggle between the Roman Empire and its rebellious conquest Judaea, and two best friends caught in a terrible moment in history. This brand new, Canadian co-produced, two-part miniseries premieres on CBC Television on Easter Sunday, April 4 at 8 p.m. and concludes on Sunday, April 11 at 8 p.m.

Joseph Morgan (Alexander, Master and Commander) stars as Judah Ben Hur and Stephen Campbell Moore (Amazing Grace, The History Boys) is Octavius Messala, life-long friends on the opposite sides of a war for Judaea’s national identity that tests their characters to the maximum.

The stellar international cast also includes Emily VanCamp (Brothers & Sisters, Everwood) as Esther, Hugh Bonneville (Notting Hill, Mansfield Park) as Pontius Pilate,

Ray Winstone (Beowulf, The Departed) as Quintus Arrius, James Faulkner (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Good Shepherd) as Marcellus Agrippa, Alex Kingston (ER, Law & Order: SUV) as Ruth, Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) as Tirzah, Lucia Jimenez (Butterflies and Lightning) as Athene, Ben Cross (Star Trek, Chariots of Fire) as Emperor Tiberius and Kris Holden-Reid (The Tudors, Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story) as Gaius.

BEN HUR is a universal, timeless story of a man wrongfully condemned, who becomes an outsider fighting for his identity and survival, gaining revenge and finding his true self again. While the story mirrors the famous 1959 eleven-time Academy Award-winning jewel, starring Charlton Heston, this BEN HUR offers a new dimension, recreating the classical world and its gritty spectacle and psychodrama. Filmed in Morocco this time, instead of a back lot, the production takes viewers to 1st century Jerusalem, a seething, restless melting pot at the end of the Silk Road and the edge of the Roman Empire.

via BEN HUR For The 21st Century New Miniseries Premieres on CBC | Channel Canada.

Interesting feature by Murray Smith (a PhD candidate in Ancient History at Maquarie University):

• Passion and power: the many portraits of Pontius Pilate | Brisbane Times.