Penguin Books Blog » Spud- Learning to Fly

Spud gets around!

admin — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:16:11 +0000

Venusha Naidoo is pictured here reading Spud- Learning to Fly at the TAJ MAHAL in India!

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Penguins spoilt with double author visits- Adele Parks & John van de Ruit

admin — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:30:08 +0000

All at Penguin were treated with a visitÂ from two of Penguin’s best loved authors. First was sunny Adele Parks author of Love, Lies who stopped in to say hello and chat to the Penguin SA staff on her way to the Cape Town Book Fair. Later on in the morning a charming as ever John van de Ruit strolled into the Penguin SA Rosebank office to sign limited edition hardback Spud- learning to Fly copies for all at the Penguin colony.

Acclaimed Author Adele Parks Will Be Visiting South Africa From The 10 – 16th June Acclaimed author Adele Parks will be visiting SA from...
John van de Ruit launches Spud- Learning to Fly to a cold but cheerful crowd! Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Pre-Publication launch of John van de Ruit’s book...
A letter from Spud author John van de Ruit 12 January 2011 A THOUSAND MILES WITH HENRY CHARLES BUKOWSKI...

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John van de Ruit launches Spud- Learning to Fly to a cold but cheerful crowd!

admin — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:06:08 +0000

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Pre-Publication launch of John van de Ruit’s book Spud- Learning to Fly was a resounding success. The launch began with an exclusive Golden Ticket event for 150 people where the lucky few got to chat and mingle with John van de Ruit as well as have their copies signed. Each attendee was presented with a Spud goodieÂ bag which contained the Limited Edition hardbackÂ Spud- Learning to Fly and a Spud Journal.

The intimate Golden Ticket event was followed by the main Pre- Publication launch which was kicked off by the music band Wonderboom, who kept the crowd entertained while John began his limited edition book signing for the snaking que of peopleÂ waving their way aroundÂ Melrose Boulevard block. The enthusiastic crowd braved the winter chill in support of their favourite author and were rewarded by a smiling and engaging John who took time to thank everyone for coming out to support the book inspite of the cold weather.

Â All in all the eventÂ went superbly, the fans were smiling, JohnÂ van de Ruit was beaming- well done to the Penguin ‘colony’ and Exclusive Books for pulling off a wonderful event.

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Spud Launch Events Details

admin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:11:22 +0000

The Making of SPUD The Movie Launch Invitation Penguin Books and Exclusive Books Morningside take pleasure in inviting...
John van de Ruit – Spud Learning to Fly Book Launch ...
John Van De Ruit Prepares To Launch His Third Book Spud – Learning To Fly John van de Ruit, author of Spud and Spud...

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John van de Ruit- Journal Entry May 28th

admin — Fri, 29 May 2009 05:18:20 +0000

THE END OF THE ROAD
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Time is a trickster. One minute you stand with weeks stretched out before you, and the next the looming and predictable dead end casts a shadow across the face. Weirdly, Cambodia feels like it was the previous year and i can barely remember Kuala Lumpur at all, and may have to re-read my first blog to feel who i was back then. The added bonus to traveling for unseemly amounts of time, is that home always feels like an exciting place to return to, and yet the wandering spirit that has ruled you for so long desires more time to explore and more experiences to devour.
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For the last week my thoughts have been with Spud – Learning To Fly and how the following months might play out. I’ve thought about the book tour and the shift from an extremely private recent existence to something more public and amplified. Mostly though, my thoughts are with Learning to Fly, in the knowledge that the first copies of the book will be arriving at the Penguin Colony this afternoon. I hope to see my first copy upon landing on Sunday morning and will no doubt collapse into a heap in the corner and read voraciously and in a Vern-like manner. That will be the beginning of the next journey and perhaps that one will cast light onto the next and then the next.
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So in this, my final travel blog, i would like to thank you all for reading my idle ramblings and hope that you would have in some small way felt like you were taking a journey yourself. I hope too that it would inspire you to plan a trip somewhere unusual and see what Crowded House meant when they sang:
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“Give me time, give me time
because i want you to see,
round the world, round the world,
is a tangled up necklace of pearls.”
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To conclude, i have compiled a list of genuine items that have appeared on menus around SE Asia. Since many Asian people, and in particular the Thais, imitate the English language phonetically, some weird and wonderful spellings are to be had. I must declare that i have eaten none of the following items for obvious reasons, although Jules and i spent many a meal hooting with laughter over the following:
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ASIAN DELICACIES
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Fried Mike with Cashew.
Chicken Bugger in green salad.
Spicy Sheesh Kaboobs
Chicken Gordon Blun
Friend Fried with chicken nuggets.
Choice of sauces – chilli/garlic or tomato catsup
Toast with honey/jam/penus butter
Boiling egg on toast (poach)
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Oh and the sign at the entrance of Miami Bungalow reads:

INDIAN CURRY cooked in TENDOURI OWEN!
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Well, with a sigh and a grin, i must leave you for one last amble down the beach to drink it all in one final time.
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So long and bon voyage for the next time you’re feeling adventurous.
Â
It’s time to go home.
Â
Johnny

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John van de Ruit – Journal Entry- April 16th

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:02:50 +0000

MAD ABOUT KEP!
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I have always suspected that the ways of our modern society, and all of us that exist within it, are clinically insane if not stark raving bonkers. The notion of a mad world that refuses to acknowledge it’s inner lunatic has permeated just about everythingÂ I have ever written. The problem is – people have always assumedÂ I was joking – another one of the perils of being a deranged moth desperately circulating the glimmering light bulb of comic Nirvana. But believe it my friends, we are all insane and living a dire catch 22 existence of madmen in a world disguised as sane. Even Eckhart Tolle says so – and only an insane would dare argue with him.
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My friends, i don’t want you to be alarmed but i have embraced my inner madman in the last week and i am feeling all the better for it. No more of this “‘author in repose making a sage note in his emerald notebook” business. Oh no, not me! From this point onward i am stir-fried crazy until conclusively proven otherwise. I challenge you to do the same – it’s a highly liberating exercise.
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SoÂ I discovered my inner madness on the rooftop garden of our villa (ingeniously called La Villa) overlooking the tranquillity of mountains covered in jungle, and the turquoise waters of the gulf of Thailand below. Dotted before me amongst the jungle were the odd thatch and red -roofed backpacker hang outs and everywhere was the sound of birds, small creatures and hooting lizards. For the same price as a bog variety B&B in South Africa we lived like Lords over all we surveyed. Everything that seemed so precious over the last year, myself, and the new book, no longer seemed in any way important anymore. I was indeed small up there looking down on all that natural grandeur. You feel small being the only non-Cambodian around – perhaps it’s through utter anonymity that we find our true place in the world. Perhaps not?
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It wasn’t all staring at the view and contemplating our naval however. Jules and I also achieved the following:
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â€¢Â Eating a kilogram of crab each at one sitting. (It only worked out to a fork full of meat in the end but the mess and devastation on our table was a joy to behold.
â€¢Â Our Tuk tuk being driven off the road after being rammed by a Toyota Hilux.
â€¢Â Adopting a giant one-foot-long lizard called Kap Ke. In return for his undying love and attention we merely had to switch on the kitchen light.
â€¢Â Julia typically adopted a black cat which also shared our rooftop garden. We named her Nately’s Whore as a mark of respect to Joseph Heller
â€¢Â I nearly died of asphyxiation after sampling green peppers at the Kampot Pepper Plantation. The guide thought my attack was hilarious.
â€¢Â Attempted to cast our vote but were thwarted by the Khymer New Year which runs through the entire week. All government departments are closed until further notice, so i didn’t get a chance to spoil my ballot as a protest against all politicians and how badly they lead us – yes that even means you Mr Obama!
I have just read an email from my publishers to say that Spud Learning To Fly went to print yesterday. It seems strange to contemplate this possibility from across the world – like everything this week, let’s call it surreal. I wish my little lad well as he becomes more than just the mere sum of his parts, and ventures out into the world as another little voice in the wilderness. Just like us.
Â
I wish you all good spirits as you contemplate your insanity and that of the world you inhabit.
Big Cambodian love as always
Â
Johnny

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John van de Ruit – Journal Entry- April 7th

admin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:54:30 +0000

64 DAYS TO LAUNCH!!!
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Dear Spud fans, friends, Romans and people at the wrong website.
Â
Greetings from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It’s a week into the trip and I have thankfully settled down after the flurry of finishing the book and then roaring off to bustling Kuala Lumpur. I have finally, after a number of torturous nights watching CNN until dawn, taken control of my jetlag. After attempting numerous techniques to combat this mysterious sleeping disease, i have settled on the cunning ploy of brushing my teeth with single malt whiskey before a bout of shadow wrestling with myself. Works a treat and the headrush is to die for.
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So Phnom Penh is by far the largest city in Cambodia. It’s wild and intimidating when you first arrive, everything is loud and in-your-face and your’e not so sure this is the place for you at all. Within hours of your arrival it begins seducing you, after 3 days of exploring, it’s a love affair. Ramshackle slums and markets sit side by side with centuries old Pagodas and restored French colonial buildings. Beggars and tuk-tuk drivers accost you and small children sell books on genocide in the street cafes and sulk if you don’t make a purchase. Our hotel – The Hotel Castle lies on the riverside overlooking where an elephant strolls past every afternoon blocking up the rush hour traffic on his way home. He works at Wat Phnom, the city’s holiest site, where he offers rides to tourists for five dollars and eats their sticks of sugar cane in return for a posed pic. I kid you not.
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Just cruising the streets or stopping off at a restaurant or bar can be an experienced, although Julia has a growing addiction to adopting mangy street cats so i have to be aware of small furry Rogers wherever i go. Saddened to report that i haven’t yet seen Brad and Angelina scouring the orphanages and backalleys looking for more children athough my recent avid CNN watching revealed Madonna’s hardship in childtrafficking closer to home. Ouch!
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On a more serious tone, the weekend saw usÂ exploring the Killing Fields where Pol Pot’s murderous regime slaughtered thousands of Cambodian men, women, and children who were accused of being enemies of the state. Pol Pot’s Khymer Rouge which devastated the country from 1974-1979 was unimaginably cruel and bloodthirsty. We witnessed a three storey glass monument packed with human skulls and the shallow pits in which the bodies were buried. When you see evidence of so much sensless death, you realise it’s such a fine line between everything you assume that is in your control and the reality that often it isn’t.
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Yesterday and today i have found myself musing about Spud and his incredible journey that began on his first day of boarding school. I think about Leearning To Fly more often now and chuckle at some of the moments that still amuse me. I think too about the new character that i have created and how the readers might react to him. His name is Garlic, and he could be the original Malawian village idiot. I wonder if readers will find him irritating or funny, ideally it will be both – funny how it’s always the newest chicks you feel most protective over.
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I was hoping to share some movie news – but this may have to wait. I can, however, tell you that things are moving along at pace with a few exciting developments. For those of you that dream of movie stardom please DON’T panic. There have been no SA auditions as of yet and when there are, this will be the place you hear it first. I have asked the movie producer Ross Garland to write a movie update, but he seems to be ignoring me. Don’t worry i’ll keep nagging.
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So from here, we’re heading Southwards on Thursday to the remote seaside village of Kep near the Vietnam border. It promises some rural R&R on a hillside above the Gulf of Thailand. I plan to read, walk the hills, and enjoy my sundowners. I’ll catch up with you there if i can find an internet cafe, and i’ll share a few more random tales from the orient.
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In the meantime please consider the following question:
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Should one pat a muzzled dog?
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Spud love
Johnny

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