Monthly Archives: July 2009

Tragedy Day (The New Doctor Who Adventures) by Gareth Roberts (1994) Birthright (The New Doctor Who Adventures) by Nigel Robinson (1993) "Doctor Who": The Nemonite Invasion (Dr Who Audio Original 3) by David Roden (2009) Doctor Who: The Face of … Continue reading →

Blue Zones – Places In the World Where People Live to 100 and Stay Healthy | Singularity Hub (tags: health) Nonprofit Online News: Outsmarting the Facebook Lobster Trap: Three Worries, One Guideline, Seven Principles (tags: facebook)

Non-fiction: 10 (YTD 55)           Fiction (non-sf): 4 (YTD 32)     SF (non-Who): 7 (YTD 48)        Doctor Who and Torchwood: 11 (YTD 27)            Comics: 2 (YTD 18)   8 (YTD 42/199) by women (Scroggins, Lawrence, Kingston, Hopkinson/Mehan, 4 x Rayner) … Continue reading →

This book is essential reading, not just for the Doctor Who fan, but for anyone who is even slightly interested in the show, or more broadly who is interested in the process of writing for television. It is structured as … Continue reading →

This has been on my to-read list for a while. I read Carlyle’s 1849 translation of Inferno many years ago, but this is the 1814 blank verse version by H.F. Cary, in a bargain edition which also includes Doré’s famous … Continue reading →

I now know how I will fill the Who-less weeks of November… (Isn’t McKellen fantastic?)

Genuine Sinn Fein community activist resigns himself to his fate – The Irish Times – Wed, Jul 29, 2009 Newton Emerson on top form (tags: ireland) McAllen, Texas and the high cost of health care : The New Yorker It’s … Continue reading →

An old favourite, of course; but it must be a very long time since last I read it. I anticipated correctly that the lack of female characters would now seem an obvious gap; I had forgotten that there were so … Continue reading →

Teatime Brutality: Canon There is no canon in Doctor Who. With evidence. (tags: doctorwho)

We lucky subscribers to Doctor Who Monthly get to download this for free from Big Finish’s website: a new Companion Chronicle, filling the gap I guess between the third and fourth seasons of the regular BF releases, starring Katy Manning … Continue reading →

The first of the non-printed series of Torchwood audio books, by Stephen Savile and read by Naoko “Tosh” Mori, set before the end of Series 1, so with a full five-member team. I am getting into these, I must say, … Continue reading →

Bought a book on eBay. The seller sent me the wrong one. Now they refuse to send the right one unless I send the other one back first. (Though they say they will refund postage.) Advice?

Harry Towb, a Northern Irish actor who made it moderately big on the British stage and screen, died at the weekend (a few days before his 84th birthday), and I just wanted to acknowledge his two roles in Doctor Who … Continue reading →

Samuel Pepys is at war. Or rather, England is at war with the Dutch; and Samuel Pepys, as senior administrator with the Navy Board, is deeply engaged with it. Last month, in a prolonged battle fought from 1 to 4 … Continue reading →

Thanks to for pointing the way out of my earlier dilemma, especially given that she has better things to do. I sent my friend more or less the message she suggested, and he replied with good grace, explaining that he … Continue reading →

In the unlikely case that you didn’t catch my ZDF interview from early June and still want to see it, I have uploaded my two-minute segment as a 45 MB .wmv file to http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5QC96YER – it is from a longer … Continue reading →

American Snooker and the Pit of Despair (tags: snooker) OECD Health Data 2009 – Frequently Requested Data Comparison of health care data in 30 developed countries including the USA (tags: ushealth) Daily Kos: State of the Nation Horror stories of … Continue reading →

A graphic novel sequel to The Prisoner, published 20 years later. The Village has been closed for years, but a former Number Two exposes many of its secrets in a Spycatcher-like memoir. Meanwhile Alice Drake, an agent on a sailing … Continue reading →

An enjoyable but not very demanding read. Some interesting ideas which didn’t feel like they completely came together.

Moldova: new generation, new politics? | open Democracy News Analysis A very informed commentator comments on the latest developments (tags: moldova) B92: New Citroen ad sparks Bosnian outrage If you are putting maps in your advertisements, it is wise to … Continue reading →

A friend of mine has written a short book about international politics, and sent it to me to ask if I would give him a quote for the blurb. I accepted with some interest – I know my friend really … Continue reading →

I was a bit surprised when my morning meditation announced to me that today is the feast day of St Bridget. Back in Ireland, the euhemerised deity is commemorated on 1 February. When our eldest was a few months old, … Continue reading →

K, an old friend, got back in touch after a few years yesterday, and while composing my reply to him I googled him and his wife, E, to see what they have been up to recently. I discovered that they … Continue reading →

Just been to a working dinner in Brussels: nine participants, of whom six were Germans, one French, and myself and a Manxman. Discussion was of course in English, although all of ud could probably have done it in French, or … Continue reading →

How I use social networks – a public note: Livejournal is my preferred platform still. I normally read all my friends-list, at least skimming it fairly continuously. I also use my friends list as an RSS feed, so catching up … Continue reading →

We Belgians celebrate the anniversary of the inauguration of King Leopold I in 1831 today, and I have been doing so by sitting in the garden, ignoring the current internet slapfight, and reading the gripping account of one man’s battle … Continue reading →

This book is about a rich old man who gets rejuvenation treatment in a future Britain subordinated to a federal Europe. Hamilton has a pretty good reputation, but I think that must be based on other works than this. It … Continue reading →

International Crisis Group – Can Cyprus buck the partitionist trend? (tags: cyprus) Readability – An Arc90 Lab Experiment Too many web pages are just unreadable. This is a nice tool to fix that. (tags: internet)

A book of simple facts about the 46 men who have served as vice-president of the USA, pointed out to me by a while back, nicely produced by comics publishers Top Shelf Productions. I have a feeling that a lot … Continue reading →

An interesting memoir of life as a Chinese girl growing up in California, very much concentrating on the Chinese family background and history, including untold stories, the nearness of myth and of symbolism, the alienness of the Californian environment (the … Continue reading →