Monthly Archives: November 2012

2003 Why is Sex Fun?, Jared Diamond American Gods, Neil Gaiman City of Saints and Madmen, Jeff VanderMeer Floater, Lucius Shepard Double Star, Robert Heinlein The Separation, Christopher Priest Ersatz Nation, Tim Kenyon Sandman IV: Season of Mists, Neil Gaiman … Continue reading →

Non-fiction: 5 (YTD 49) A History of Christianity, by Diarmaid MacCullough The Invention of Childhood, by Hugh Cunningham Catholics in Western Democracies, by John H. Whyte Between the Continent and the Open Sea, by David Rennie Interview Secrets, by Heather Salter … Continue reading →

Not that I am actively looking for another job myself, but I found this very short book on job-hunting rather lucid, and perhaps particularly helpful for people who need advice on just getting a job rather than finding a career … Continue reading →

Two stories here both told in the first person by companions of the Eleventh Doctor, and neither of them available in dead tree format. The Sleepers in the Dust, by Darren Jones This is an audiobook narrated by Arthur Darvill … Continue reading →

No Land Ho: Sandy Island and the Age of Un-Discovery Frank Jacobs takes on the disappearing island story.(tags: maps ) 10 things that are different about British and Irish politics. The excellent Jason, as ever.(tags: ireland ukpolitics ) Is Fox … Continue reading →

A few months ago the Economist's David Rennie wrote a pamphlet for the Centre for European Reform, a London-based pro-EU think tank. The paper, like Rennie himself, is only barely pro-EU, and the best bits are not in the conclusions, … Continue reading →

Can Ivan Teleguz, on death row in Virginia, save his life by claiming he’s Ukrainian? Chipping away at the death penalty.(tags: uspolitics ) A UKIP breakthrough in 2015? Gerry thinks not. Let’s see what happens in Rotherham.(tags: ukpolitics )

2003Sandman IV: Season of Mists, Neil Gaiman 2005Safe Area Goražde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-95, by Joe Sacco 2006Preacher [#2]: Until the End of the World, by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon 2008Burma Chronicles, by Guy DelisleAlias vol 4: … Continue reading →

Revenge of the Reality-Based Community A disaffected conservative writes.(tags: uspolitics ) Why It Sucks to Be a Woman in the Video Game Industry Background to #1reasonwhy.(tags: ) Ted Chiang’s Story Of Your Life to be filmed Chiang’s writing, like Philip … Continue reading →

As usual, I’m writing these up in continuity order rather than in release order or in the order I listened to them. Return of the Rocket Men, by Matt Fitton, brings back the Rocket Men of last year’s play by … Continue reading →

Future Classics: Readers of 1936 Predict Which Authors Will Endure Some of these were right, and some were not.(tags: books ) The Encyclopedia of Fantasy Now online! For free!(tags: sf ) A Psychochronography in Blue: Recursive Occlusion (Logopolis) Does what … Continue reading →

Of my father's four books, this was much the least successful; rather than addressing a concrete issue in Irish history or politics, he attempted a wide survey of the extent to which Catholics were organised as such, in a rather … Continue reading →

p.o.v. – A Danish Journal of Film Studies – Number 14, December 2002 Fourteen essays about Casablanca.(tags: ) Casablanca :: rogerebert.com :: Great Movies Roger Ebert on Casablanca, first shown 26 November 1942.(tags: ) Matthew Bell: As time goes by, … Continue reading →

I was totally startled to reach Book V of The Faerie Queene and encounter Talus, a servant given by the goddess Astræa to the young knight Artegall: His name was Talus, made of yron mould,     Immoueable, resistlesse, without end.     Who … Continue reading →

I just found this on YouTube – a fifteen-minute extract from the 1944 film Time Flies starring Tommy Handley, which includes some elements which are also found in "An Unearthly Child", the first episode of Doctor Who, from 19 years … Continue reading →

This is one of the curiosities of the English language, a long poem written in its own peculiar verse structure in which archetypal figures based on myths of many different origins contend for mastery of spoils, women and virtue in … Continue reading →

Radicals threaten Salmond and Scottish independence campaign Iain Banks stirring up trouble!(tags: sf Scotland )

I was starled this morning to receive this text from a lady friend: Bonne journée mon chaton adoré. Te miaouuuuu mucho mucho mucho All was explained a few minutes later with another text from the same source: Sorry i sent … Continue reading →

As you all know, it was the 49th anniversary of the first episode of Doctor Who yesterday; so I am picking up where I left off in August 2010, with the first televised Who story since The Movie, also the … Continue reading →

Maps as War by Other Means “Maps are an excellent propaganda weapon against a (geo)political enemy. We trust cartography instinctively to ‘show us the right way’, and thus be truthful; but maps always reflect the mapmakers goals”(tags: middleeast maps )

Foolishly assuming that the EU summit would be over by dinnertime, I arranged to meet eight friends at the 1898 Brasserie after work. Three of us got there at about 6 pm, to discover that it was closed due to … Continue reading →

False Friends – English and Dutch words that look identical but have a different meaning Just for reference.(tags: language dutch ) New world, same old Israel “Every nation is entitled to defend itself. But unless violence is part of a … Continue reading →

When I realised that I was getting to the end of the Nebula winners, I began to consider my next SF reading project. Apart from the Hugos and Nebulas, the only other awards that really interest me are the BSFA … Continue reading →

A LOVER OF LIBRARIES BRINGS “BIG IDEA” BOOKS TO GEORGIANS IN THEIR LANGUAGE What @TxTbUk has been up to.(tags: georgia books ) UN Mediator Presents New Macedonia ‘Name’ Proposals :: Balkan Insight Here’s hoping….(tags: macedonia ) Medieval Robots: Nate Silver’s … Continue reading →

“And for a Christian it’s never enough to say ‘I don’t trust you’, unfortunately, because if St John is right, the next question is how do I put trust – and how do I become trustworthy? “So I hope that … Continue reading →

I had been looking forward to reaching this for some time, under the impression that it was an interesting step away from Kipling's usual writing. Not sure if that is really true – it was his first novel, so not … Continue reading →

This is an attempt to tell the story of Beowulf from the side of the monster, an experimental early 70s novel (with super illustrations by Emil Antonucci), which obviously ends with Grendel's death, though his mother and the dragon are … Continue reading →

UK’s ‘last typewriter’ produced End of an era.(tags: technology ) Vittoria, la petite fille que l’on voit grandir au Parlement européen The youngest participant in European Parliament sessions, now aged two.(tags: cute eu ) Gaza abacus The Economist looks at … Continue reading →

Justice Atlas of Sentencing and Corrections. Fascinating.(tags: maps crime ) 3 Ladies of the Tardis @thenicolabryant, @Sophie_Aldred & @Lou_Jameson (with @SylvesterMcCoy and @tuckerspatch, sort of)(tags: doctorwho ) Poul Anderson, Stanislaw Lem, Philip K. Dick and me How and why Lem’s … Continue reading →

Does chocolate make you clever? The correlation between chocolate consumption and Nobel prizes.(tags: nobel mathematics ) Let’s imagine our lives without a bailout Reporting the imminent economic disaster facing Cyprus.(tags: cyprus ) Abortion in the Ancient World Review by David … Continue reading →