I’d been wondering if I knew the new parents Aileen was referring to here, and then found this account of Sarah Carey’s recent experiences. Aha, I thought, it all makes sense now; Aileen’s friend Tom is obviously Sarah’s unnamed husband.
Except he can’t be, because Aileen’s blog entry was written on 23 January, the day before Sarah’s last pre-birth entry. Is there an epidemic of husbands delivering their wives’ babies without medical assistance in Dublin?
Watching HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban now. A good way to unwind.
http://www.whathaseuropedone.org/
This is about the Slavic languages only – I’ll reserve comment on other languages written in Cyrillic until it becomes a live issue for me.
Everyone always starts with Russian, purely because it has the most speakers of the six Slavic languages written in Cyrillic. I will take it the other way round, and start with Macedonian, my favourite in any case.
Serbian alphabet: А Б В Г Д Ђ Е Ж З И Ј К Л Љ М Н Њ О П Р С Т Ћ У Ф Х Ц Ч Џ Ш and а б в г д ђ е ж з и ј к л љ м н њ о п р с т ћ у ф х ц ч џ ш – 30 letters, similar to Macedonian, but there is no Ѕѕ, and Ђђ and Ћћ replace Ѓѓ and Ќќ, even to the point of being in the same place in alphabetical order.
Bulgarian alphabet: А Б В Г Д Е Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ь Ю Я and а б в г д е ж з и й к л м н о п р с т у ф х ц ч ш щ ъ ь ю я – Like Serbian, has 30 letters, but with six differences. Bulgarian is linguistically very close to Macedonian, but orthographically more inspired by the eatern tradition around Russian. So instead of palatalization going on the preceding consonants, as in Serbian Ђђ Љљ Њњ and Ћћ, it is put on the next vowel, as in Юю and Яя, or Ьь (before Оо). The role of the Serbian semivowel Јј after vowels is taken by Йй. There is no Џџ. Щщ is shared with Ukrainian and Russian and Ъъ with Russian only, but both are pronounced quite differently in Bulgarian.
Belarusian alphabet: А Б В Г Д Е Ё Ж З І Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ў Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Ы Ь Э Ю Я and а б в г д е ё ж з і й к л м н о п р с т у ў ф х ц ч ш ы ь э ю я – 32 letters. Іі replaces Ии as used in all others (except Ukrainian which has both). Ўў is unique to Belarusian. Ёё Ыы and Ээ are used in only Belarusian and Russian. No Ъъ or Щщ.
Ukrainian alphabet: А Б В Г Ґ Д Е Є Ж З И І Ї Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ь Ю Я and а б в г ґ д е є ж з и і ї й к л м н о п р с т у ф х ц ч ш щ ь ю я – 33 letters, this really is a case of throwing in everything you can find. Ґґ Єє and ЇЇ are unique to Ukrainian; Іі is shared only with Belarusian.
Russian alphabet: А Б В Г Д Е Ё Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ь Э Ю Я and а б в г д е ё ж з и й к л м н о п р с т у ф х ц ч ш щ ъ ы ь э ю я – 33 letters. Chances are if you read Cyrillic at all this is the version you were taught, and it is of course used by roughly twice as many people as the other five versions put together. But of those 33 letters, only 23 – Аа Бб Вв Гг Дд Ее Жж Зз Кк Лл Мм Нн Оо Пп Рр Сс Тт Уу Фф Хх Цц Чч and Шш – are common to all six alphabets; Ии is used by all but Belarusian; Йй Ьь Юю and Яя are used by all four of the more eastern orthographical tradition; Щщ also by Bulgarian and Ukrainian; Ёё Ыы and Ээ only also by Belarusian; and Ъъ is only otherwise found in Bulgarian (but used there for a completely different purpose).
OK, so who can draw me a nice Venn diagram of all this?
4) His Majesty’s Starship, by Ben Jeapes
Gosh, you can get through a lot of sf while lying flat on your back. And oddly enough this one ties in to the grand political themes of my previous two reads as well. However it’s closer to The Ethos Effect than Heartfire, various factions of humans dealing with aliens, though in a less distant future than Modesitt was using. All good fun, if the hero is a little too admirable to be true.
3) Heartfire, by Orson Scott Card
Continuing the mild Mormon theme from yesterday. This is the fifth book in a fantasy series where traditional European folk magic is real and working in early nineteenth century America. For the first time, a helpful map shows that New England remains a puritan, law-based protectorate of England (still under Commonwealth rule) with John Quincy Adams in charge and his elderly father John as a senior judge; after the sudden death of his predecessor, William Henry Harrison, Andrew Jackson presides over the United States, with their capital in Philadelphia; and the Crown Colonies farther south are ruled by the King from Camelot, formerly Charleston, with his ambitious adviser John Calhoun. The cryptic expression “OK” is just becoming fashionable. Tensions are rising over the extent of slaveholding in the newly settled areas west of the moutains.
Into all this we inject Alvin, central character of the series, who goes by the name of Smith; it’s not difficult to work out which historical character he is meant to remind us of. His dream is to build a Crystal City far into the west, and he has assembled an elect band of followers to help him. By the end of the book they are not much closer to fulfilling the dream; they have gained a new member of their circle, made deep changes to society in New England and Charleston/Camelot, and possibly tamed an enemy, but we’re still left a bit in the dark as to where it’s all going to end. Audubon and Balzac also make appearances. Light enough reading, and comes tolerably close to giving America a mythological interpretation of its own history.
Thanks to
2) The Ethos Effect, by L.E. Modesitt Jr
I got this largely at
Well, I’ve taken advantage of my extra hours in bed between naps today to finish it, and yes, I did indeed find it an interesting read, enough to make this more of a meta-review than I usually do. Our hero, Van C Albert, is a military officer posted unexpectedly as an embassy attaché; after a series of further unexpected events his military career ends suddenly and he ends up involved with an independent foundation which is in and of itself a major player in interstellar politics.
And I can see what
There are some slightly negative reviews out there – see Clinton Lawrence in Science Fiction Weekly, Patrick Hudson in The Zone, and Donna McMahon on The SF Site. I’m inclined to agree that an awful lot of the set-up of the first half of the book then becomes completely irrelevant for the second half, and that the creative energy expended in fleshing out restaurant menus and beverages might have been better utilised in fleshing out the characters. (I’m amused to note that despite his negative portrayal of people with odd fanatical religious beliefs who name their children Brigham, the author lives in Utah.)
But in fact I find his portrayal of trying to gather sensitive information via meetings with similarly positioned officials and networking with long-lost contacts perfectly accurate (though I can see why those who wish the truth were more glamorous might have wanted it otherwise), and I’m not surprised to find out that Modesitt has spent time in such positions, notably as head of Legislation and Congressional Affairs for the Environmental Protection Agency under Reagan – “most of the Reagan political appointees in the environmental area never did understand government, politics, or the environment – and didn’t want to learn.” I’m inclined to the overall more positive take of Andy Stout in SF Crowsnest and indeed
I got lots of little bits done yesterday but no progress on the current Big Task. Had one diplomatic meeting this morning but am feeling well out of it. Going home to bed.
Our office in Jakarta is going to be closed tomorrow, for Chinese New Year, and the day after, for Muslim New Year. Somehow I find that pleasing; I suppose it’s only a few times each century that the two fall so close together.
(And yes, my colleagues who were expelled from Jakarta last year are still expelled; but they are expats, and the local Indonesian staff are still there.)
Mysterious streak in the sky over Hawaii.
Michael Underwood on Tom Godwin’s “The Cold Equations” (thanks,
Failed to buy the Guardian last Saturday, so missed this from Jessa Crispin. But since I read
Got this from a draft speech from a former negotiator in a particular unresolved conflict:
One other blind alley I would advise against heading up, is the idea of negotiating confidence-building measures. Whenever there has been a pause or a setback in the negotiations for a comprehensive settlement, someone comes forward with the idea of negotiating confidence building measures; and they never lead anywhere except to a major diversion of negotiating energy and more friction. The reason is clear. One or the other, or sometimes both, sides believe that the other side is going to get some unrequited benefit out of the measures proposed or that some sensitive aspect of a comprehensive settlement is going to be prejudiced. Far the most successful and beneficial confidence building measure in recent times, [specified], took place without any negotiation at all. Indeed one could wager that, if there had been any attempt made to negotiate [it], it would never have taken place at all. Let us by all means have plenty more of that sort of confidence building but not a return to the failed remedies of the past, which in any case presume a continuation of the status quo rather than an end to it.
A very interesting point – that confidence-building measures are pretty useless as a substitute for real conflict resolution, and can only work in the context of a shared understanding of where the process will end up. In other words, once you’ve sorted out the easy bits, and are left with small difficult bits and large difficult bits, much better to tackle the large difficult bits as that will inevitably also involve sorting the smaller ones.
Me waiting to speak at the European parliament two weeks ago. Makes me look younger than I really am. Also makes me look like I need a haircut (which is true).
I noted last week that the international observers’ report on the US elections has mysteriously not yet been published. The Secretariat in Warsaw have just informed me that “The report has been delayed somewhat, due to a high number of election observations during the last few months. I expect the report to be out soon.” I’m inclined to take that at face value – sounds very like my own work pressures. Will keep y’all posted as to when it appears.
From the incomparable Dave Barry:
A while ago The New York Times printed an item concerning an 11-year-old girl who was overheard on the streets of East Hampton, N.Y., telling her father, “Daddy, Daddy, please don’t sing!” The daddy was Billy Joel. The irony, of course, is that a lot of people would pay BIG money to hear Billy Joel sing. But of course these people are not Billy Joel’s adolescent offspring….
Yes, parents: In the ongoing battle between you and your adolescent children, you possess the ultimate weapon — The Power To Embarrass. Use this power, parents! If your adolescent children are in ANY way displeasing you — if they are mouthing off or engaging in unacceptable behavior — do not waste your breath nagging them. Instead, simply do what Billy Joel and I do: Sing.
“Tuonela, the Kingdom of Death, the Hades of Finnish mythology, is surrounded by a broad river of black water and rapid current, in which the Swan of Tuonela glides in majestic fashion and sings.”
It’s my favourite piece by my favourite composer; one of the most atmospheric pieces of music I know. Swans, according to legend, sing only on the verge of death – the Swan of Tuonela sings for ever. The cellos hint at dark currents in the river; the strings and other woodwind suggest the wind stirring the reeds; and eventually we hear echoes of the swan’s song – but from where?
Of all the various abusive responses I’ve been getting over our recent Kosovo report, the only one that actually hurt was the piece by Jason Miko I referenced earlier in the week.
But what really annoys me is Miko’s accusation that I don’t know how the people of the Balkans feel and think. Like him, I have been involved with the region for just over eight years. I lived in Banja Luka for 16 months, and in Croatia for eight, and I’ve been back and forth between here and the region as often as I can since moving to Brussels six years ago. I never miss an opportunity to meet with officials from all sides in the Balkans (Miko, on the other hand, refuses to meet with the political leader of the Albanians in Macedonia). I spend over an hour every day reading the lastest news headlines from Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia. I am totally caught up in the magic of the place.
But there is a huge difference between sympathy and empathy. I’ve always felt this, but it was first really formulated for me when I read Feeling Good by David Burns a few years back. Sympathy is what Miko displays: the ability to imagine how your friend must feel and become outraged on his or her behalf, to judge other people according to the amount of upset that they cause you and your friends. That’s all very well, but sometimes to be a useful friend to someone you have to display empathy as well – that means considering both points of view; that means trying to understand motivations on both sides; that means realising that sometimes clinging to their dreams doesn’t really help people.
My colleague in Belgrade put it rather well on a TV programme the other day. Serbia and Kosovo are, essentially, dealing with the catastrophic breakdown of their relationship. In such circumstances, which is it better to do? Tell the Serbs, as Jason Miko would, that they shouldn’t worry because Kosovo will be made to come back to them? Or say, as we do, that to formalise the divorce there will be a certain price for both sides to pay? Sometimes a good friend is someone who tells you not what you want to hear, but what you need to hear.
1) Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
Wow. I slightly regret reading Jeff VanderMeer’s piece in Locus before I was half way through – there is a spoiler for the book’s structure, though not the plot. Or plots. Nineteenth century Pacific, to 1930s Belgium, to 1970s California, to contemporary England, to future ?Korea, to far future ?Hawaii; all linked together by objects and by themes of power and writing. Not very surprised to learn that he was partly inspired by Jared Diamond’s excellent Guns, Germs and Steel. I felt the California bit was perhaps a little too convoluted, and the tone of the Victoriana and one or two of the other bits slipped a bit in places, but I really enjoyed the ride, especially the Belgian and ?Korean bits. Strongly recommended.
My professional wanderings will take me to London three times in the next six weeks – I have first-thing-in-the-morning meetings on Friday 18th February and Friday 4th March, and a slightly more civilised Friday-during-the-day meeting on 18th March. So I hope to make it to the First Thursday on 3rd March, which I understand is now going to be in the Silver Cross in Whitehall (correct me if I’m wrong), and will perhaps see some of you there.
I’m devastated by the news that New Worlds, the sf section of Murder One on Charing Cross Road, is to close as part of the shop’s coming relocation. I always found it just that bit more user-friendly than Forbidden Planet, and thanks to recent events I am of course boycotting Waterstone’s. The (modest) silver lining is that they don’t close until the end of March so I have three last opportunities to visit it to look forward to.
What decent sf bookshops does this leave in London? I only know the one on Holloway Road, and Forbidden Planet as mentioned above. Are there any others I should start to explore?
(Oh, yes, and should I consider extending the first of these trips to take in PicoCon?)
All of this information thanks to Ansible, which also includes the cheering information that asteroid 2001 DA 42 has been given the official name Douglasadams. (It is also officially asteroid #25924 and was first identified as 1999 VX 149.)
You are Kermit the Frog.
You are reliable, responsible and caring. And you
have a habit of waving your arms about
maniacally.
FAVORITE EXPRESSIONS:
“Hi ho!” “Yaaay!” and
“Sheesh!”
FAVORITE MOVIE:
“How Green Was My Mother”
LAST BOOK READ:
“Surfin’ the Webfoot: A Frog’s Guide to the
Internet”
HOBBIES:
Sitting in the swamp playing banjo.
QUOTE:
“Hmm, my banjo is wet.”
What Muppet are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania died last night. He was found dead at a friend’s apartment by his bodyguards. Raul Usupov, deputy governor of Kvemo Kartli, also died together with him. Gas poisoning is currently being cited as the cause of their death.
At a special press conference Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili, said “At about midnight Mr Zurab Zhvania arrived at his friend’s apartment. His security team waited for him for a long time outside. Since the prime minister was not answering either telephone calls or the door bell, at about 0400 or 0430 the security officials broke a window [to gain access to the apartment] and discovered the bodies of Mr Zurab Zhvania and his friend in the apartment.
We can now say that it was a gas poisoning incident. An Iranian-made gas heater was installed in that room. This must have occurred instantaneously because Mr Zurab Zhvania was sitting in an armchair at the time. The body of his friend was in the kitchen. Food and drinks were on a table, as was a backgammon board… An investigation is under way.
The bodies of Mr Zurab Zhvania and his friend have been transferred to a morgue where they are being examined.
Zhvaniya had been prime minister since February 2004. In 1995-2001 he was the parliament speaker. He was 42.
EXPERTS: NO GAS LEAK IN APARTMENT GEORGIAN PREMIER DIED IN
TBILISI, February 3 (RIA Novosti) – Experts found no gas leak in the apartment where Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania had died, Tbilgaz General Director David Morchiladze told the media.
“There were no gas leak,” he said. “It looks like there was a carbon dioxide accumulation in the apartment.”
A gas heater had been installed two days before and it is likely that the apartment had not been aired since then, Mr. Morchiladze added.
Initially, utility gas leakage had been cited as the cause of the death of the Georgian prime minister.
“The prime minister came to the apartment of a friend of his at about 12 o’clock,” Police and Public Security Minister Vano Merabishvili said. Later on, the premier’s guards tried to raise him on the phone but he would not pick up the receiver.
According to Mr. Merabishvili, the guards entered the apartment and found the bodies of Zurab Zhvania and his friend at about 4 a.m.
Mr. Merabishvili specified that Mr. Zhvania had been at his friend’s, Raoul Yusupov, deputy governor of the Kvemo Kartli region.
“This is an accident. I have been on the scene,” the minister emphasized. “There was an Iranian-made gas heater in a room. Probably, everything happened suddenly, because Zhvania remained seated in a chair and the body of his friend was found in the kitchen.”
Police has sealed off the area around the entrance to the building the tragedy took place in, with only the residents being allowed in.
Reporters are not allowed to the central hospital where the bodies have been taken. According to a doctor, hospital staff will not talk to the media until the postmortem has been completed.
“We were told that the president had ordered no contacts with the media,” the doctor said.
Someone thinks we’re being effective at work – and isn’t happy.
Zurab Zhvania, the Prime Minister of Georgia, died of carbon monoxide poisoning last night. He had gone to visit the deputy governor of Kvemo Kartli (the region of Georgia with a strong Azeri population); his bodyguards became concerned when they realised he’d been in the apartment for a long time and wasn’t replying to phone calls; and they eventually broke in and found both men dead.
I only met Zhvania once, but he was a jolly and intelligent man, an essential voice of maturity and experience in what was otherwise a young and excitable government. Georgia is trembling on the brink with South Ossetia anyway, and the international border monitoring mission has just been killed off by the Russians.
This is not good news. You heard it here first.
You’ve probably all heard this but I had a sudden impulse:
How many ears does Spock have?
Sorry.
The full international monitors’ report on the US presidential elections was originally promised for six weeks after the vote. Thirteen weeks later, it hasn’t appeared yet. How odd.
If
