So here is another Round-up this week, largely because I discovered a few tidbits sitting in a draft that I forgot to put in my last “round-up” post…so while this is mostly old news, it is still perhaps good enough news to pass on…

• This is for THIS WEEKEND, so head over there if you can!:  A reminder about the Jane Austen Weekends at the Governor’s House in Hyde Park, Vermont.  For more information, go to the website… the first scheduled weekend is August 15-17 (but there are others if you missed out on this one!)
•  Obama as Darcy??   see the New York Times article by Maureen Dowd “Mr. Darcy Comes Courting” comparing Obama to our Mr. Darcy… please bring your sense of humor! (the Austen discussion boards are filled with chatter about this!)…and now this is such old news, I am embarrassed!
• Send an Austen e-card to your favorite Janeite!  see the cards at the Austenfans site:  (as reported on Jane Austen Today blog) 
• Throwdown poll at Jane Austen Today blog (you must go there to understand it!)
• There is a Pride & Prejudice quiz at About.com, so test your knowledge! 
• And this is likely VERY old news, but I just discovered Mrs. Darcy’s Story, so take a look at what this fanfiction site offers….  
• Read Ms. Place’s review  along with Ellen Moody’s analysis of the 1971 film adaptation of Sense & Sensibilty.
• And more news on the ITV show Lost in Austen, billed as Jane Austen Meets Life on Mars…
• And I have certainly noticed this, but the Central New Jersey JASNA Chapter has posted how journalists are crazy for the phrase “it is a truth universally acknowledged…” to apply to any number of thoughts…little did Austen know that “it [would] be a truth universally acknowledged that the new two-door Ford Capri is a dream to handle.”  See the full article at the Telegraph.UK site.

And now for some current news items:

• Read about Stoneleigh Abbey…the house that inspired Austen…. from the Leamington Spa Courier.
• If you are in the market for buying real estate in the U.K., the Pynes, widely considered the model for Barton Park in Sense & Sensibility, is on the market for £2.5 million.
• Ms. Place at Jane Austen’s World has another fashion-filled post on The Regency Gentleman’s Neckwear.
• At Australian Women Online, August is Jane Austen Month:  you can purchase various books and DVDs of Austen movies from their ABC Shop (there is a nice write-up of the products, but you will need an Australian DVD player to view the movies….)
• Pride & Prejudice is offered as an ebook at Project Gutenburg (available in MP3, iTunes, Ogg Vorbis and Speex formats). Northanger Abbey, Emma, Sense & Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, Love & Freindship, and Lady Susan are also downloadable audiobooks.
•  John Kessel’s “Pride and Prometheus”is available online as a podcast…..”Miss Mary Bennett, the bookish younger sister of Elizabeth Darcy…” (Originally published in 2008 in Fantasy and Science Fiction)
•  Graeme Blundell of The Australian writes of his “pride in overcoming his prejudice against bonnet dramas”…he reviews Cranford and other costume-laden television productions in “The Eyes Have It.”
• Jane Austen’s Sailor Brothers is now available for download at Manybooks.net.  The book was written by J.H. and Edith Hubback and first published in 1906.

And please visit Austenprose every day for the next two weeks for the “Mansfield Park Madness” journey of Laurel Ann….post a comment and become eligible for all sorts of giveaways and learn to love Fanny in the process!