Monthly Archives: December 2018

I read 262 books this year, the seventh highest of fourteen years that I have been keeping count, so squarely in the middle. (Full numbers: 238 in 2017, 212 in 2016, 290 in 2015, 291 in 2014, 237 in 2013, … Continue reading →

Monday Reading Current The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2010 Edition, ed. Rich Horton Heartspell, by Blaine Anderson Last books finished Finding Time Again, by Marcel Proust Ergens Waar Je Niet Wilt Zijn, by Brecht Evens Freddie Mercury: An … Continue reading →

Sun, 12:56: RT @EU_Commission: In 2019 Europe will be more international than ever! The #EUJapan trade agreement will enter into force in Februa… Sun, 14:48: How Newt Gingrich Destroyed American Politics https://t.co/4lPLq8WfRG Fascinating and horrifying. Sun, 15:32: Freddie Mercury: An … Continue reading →

Second paragraph of third chapter: The researchers had collected all the Ebola data since the start of the epidemic and used it to calculate the expected number of new cases per day up to the end of October. They showed, … Continue reading →

Second paragraph of third chapter: A few entries earlier, though, [in Roger Taylor’s April 1970 diary] the group was considering another name, Build Your Own Boat, for which Roger had designed a logo. The drummer shook his head at the … Continue reading →

Sat, 12:19: This is awful. It was a tremendously moving statue, a man on his own in Kossuth Square, wearing his trademark hat,… https://t.co/kMJXAE9nES Sat, 12:25: RT @Freedland: Distraught to hear of the death of Amos Oz, a guiding light … Continue reading →

Second frame of third section (Gert's new boss is explaining the school philosophy to him): School principal: I believe that in this school we are doing a reasonable job of preparing* the boys and girls for the challenges of the … Continue reading →

Second paragraph of third chapter: Ma longue absence de Paris n’avait pas empêché d’anciens amis à continuer, comme mon nom restait sur leurs listes, à m’envoyer fidèlement des invitations, et quand j’en trouvai, en rentrant — avec une pour un … Continue reading →

Fri, 12:41: A must-read thread. https://t.co/0a43PxUWwT Fri, 12:56: TIFU by buying everyone an AncestryDNA kit and ruining Christmas https://t.co/ljhbTA3OMz Seems a little too good to… https://t.co/6iJxGI3mTO Fri, 15:05: Perilous Dreams, by Andre Norton https://t.co/5DqlqVZ2MC Fri, 15:16: RT @Dublin2019: To be … Continue reading →

Second frame of third story ("Crossroads of Time", written by Simon Furman, art by Geoff Senior): (This frame is the first appearance of the Marvel character Death's Head outside its original environment in Transformers comics. In the story, the Doctor … Continue reading →

Second paragraph of third chapter: Though she was not seated in an easirest which would automatically afford her slim body maximum comfort, she hoped she gave the woman facing her the impression she was entirely relaxed and certain of herself … Continue reading →

Thu, 12:56: RT @AeroDork: @NewHorizons2015 The data @NewHorizons2015 sent back from Pluto was jaw-dropping stuff. There’s no overstating it. https://t.… Thu, 15:35: The Name of This Book Is Secret, by Pseudonymous Bosch https://t.co/utzRxzg7ya Thu, 16:05: Latest in an occasional series … Continue reading →

Second paragraph of third chapter: Among them was a very dark-skinned Jesuit who had some Indian blood, the face of a satyr, large ears glued to his head, piercing eyes, a loose-lipped mouth that was always watering, thick hair and … Continue reading →

Second paragraph of third chapter: None of his classmates laughed. Or even smiled. Particularly recommended for readers of ten and up (or advanced readers of eight and up), it’s a mystery story somewhat in the manner of Lemony Snicket but … Continue reading →

Wed, 12:56: This is pretty glorious. https://t.co/ZaAszhdWIr Wed, 13:37: RT @SherazadeSemsar: 2018: The year in figures and charts https://t.co/kONxfMbeGR Wed, 16:05: The World through the Eyes of the US https://t.co/u9f3y0VtYG The countries that have dominated NYT headlines every… https://t.co/Sa8xYEE93B Wed, … Continue reading →

Second frame of third chapter: Bookblogging has been a bit slow of late, partly due to end-of-year exhaustion, but also I have rediscovered Civilisation (for the iPad, in this case) and it's proving as big a temptation as it was … Continue reading →

Tue, 13:11: The King of the Belgians delivers a surprisingly forthright Christmas message. He calls on politicians to listen to… https://t.co/PHKviXgtKb Tue, 18:35: No TV #DoctorWho Christmas special this year, but here’s the first ever seasonal Who story, as published … Continue reading →

Mon, 15:56: The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) https://t.co/VN76EfZaeb Mon, 17:11: RT @urbanthoughts11: This is the Shanghai-Beijing train going at 350 km/h As @yfreemark said: “The distance between NYC and Chicago is al… Mon, 18:19: RT @EU_Commission: Together, we …made … Continue reading →

I did something tonight that I haven’t done before; I walked two kilometers through the woods to the ancient chapel of Our Lady of Steenbergen for Midnight Mass. (I’d been there for Midnight Mass once before, but that time I … Continue reading →

Second last of these for the year Current Finding Time Again, by Marcel Proust The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2010 Edition, ed. Rich Horton Last books finished The Name of This Book Is Secret, by Pseudonymous Bosch A … Continue reading →

Sun, 12:19: RT @Axle_Tree: Nein! by Paddy Ashdown review – the Germans who stood up to Hitler https://t.co/zrqA4mn4Hv Sun, 12:36: RT @LizzaAiken: Best Midwinter wishes for you from Joan Aiken’s ghostly garden, and a lovely reminder to visit another wonderful … Continue reading →

The last of six posts about my media and social media profile this year (previously: traditional media, Instagram, LinkedIn, Livejournal, Twitter). Facebook remains dominant among my social group, despite its well-publicised problems and issues. It takes some effort to delve … Continue reading →

(Fifth of six posts: see also traditional media, Instagram, LinkedIn, Livejournal, and Facebook.) My most successful tweet of the year, topping the metrics for impressions, engagements, retweets, replies, media views and media engagements was a clip of Frans Timmermans, the … Continue reading →

(Fourth of six posts: see also traditional media, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.) As the tumbleweed grows deafening, I have stayed on LJ, entirely out of inertia. Some time Real Soon Now, I will switch to the WordPress solution that … Continue reading →

(Third of six posts: see also traditional media, Instagram, Livejournal, Twitter and Facebook.) LinkedIn doesn’t make it all that easy to assess the impact of your posts, which is one of the reasons I am less active there than on … Continue reading →

(Second of six posts: see also traditional media, LinkedIn, Livejournal, Twitter and Facebook.) My top post on Instagram, with 203 likes (no doubt due to cunning use of hashtags) was my first picture from the London Film and Comic Con … Continue reading →

Sat, 19:35: Quite a tough one. Craig Hinton was a strong contributor to the glory days of Who spinoff fiction before his untime… https://t.co/xeOu8UQGCU Sat, 19:43: RT @Moedas: Saying goodbye to roaming charges was a game-changer: use of mobile data … Continue reading →

Fri, 12:12: Yep! https://t.co/NwQpIOI9Pw Fri, 12:56: Saturn’s rings are halfway to their death https://t.co/vQzeV0xCcy Look at them while you can. They may only last another 100 million years. Fri, 13:37: RT @ce_murphy: @bellinghman @cstross @nwbrux @JulietEMcKenna @pnh No, that was … Continue reading →

Thu, 12:13: RT @kevinhorourke: @nicholaswatt reporting on @BBCNewsnight that HMG ministers hopefully speculating that Ireland will be reduced to needin… Thu, 12:56: Strangest Time Zones of the World (YouTube) https://t.co/EYrLZ21GVI Very enlightening. Thu, 14:11: Letter From Post-Brexit Britain, March 2029 … Continue reading →