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Categories
Meta
Monthly Archives: December 2019
My 2019 books
I read 234 books this year, the fourth lowest of fifteen years that I have been keeping count. (Full numbers: 262 in 2018, 238 in 2017, 212 in 2016, 290 in 2015, 291 in 2014, 237 in 2013, 259 in … Continue reading
Tuesday and December books roundup
Current Seraphina, by Rachel Hartman Exhalation, by Ted Chiang Last books finished The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey Doctor Who: The Target Storybook, ed. Steve Cole Dragonworld, by Byron Preiss (did not finish) The Story of the Trapp … Continue reading
My tweets
Mon, 12:56: 12 ways that life in Brussels has changed in 10 years https://t.co/pgZWPeQy1s Had you noticed? (Actually, most of t… https://t.co/zME79EcNrI Mon, 15:47: July 2004 books https://t.co/IdZj9zapuM Mon, 16:05: Children’s fantasy literature of the Oxford School must be read … Continue reading
July 2004 books
July 2004 began and ended with travels for me – beginning with an epic journey by train to Paris, then flying to Berlin, and then Belgrade, then driving from Belgrade to Pristina and Skopje before flying home again via Budapest, … Continue reading
My tweets
Sun, 12:56: Alan Bennett’s 2019 Diary https://t.co/5Xa1TFwS0Q Glorious as ever. Sun, 14:48: Obituary: Fleet Street veteran Paul Eccleston, 1951-2019 https://t.co/AdQAXiJnns Christopher Eccleston’s uncle, who… https://t.co/dDDilHyjJv Sun, 16:05: RT @andrewteale: I much enjoyed this review of The Sound of Music, which … Continue reading
My tweets
Sat, 15:39: The Sound of Music (1964) and The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (1949) https://t.co/HWzryENJvZ Sat, 15:50: The Three Musketeers, by Alexander Dumas https://t.co/9fjM70puxa Sat, 16:14: RT @ChuckTingle: folks say they know chuck. part of this is making … Continue reading
“She Was Good-She Was Funny”, and My Morning Glory etc, by David Marusek
Third para of "She Was Good-She Was Funny": In the meantime there was plenty to do. Walt hauled water uphill by sled from a hole he had chopped in the lake. He split and stacked firewood. He shoveled snow from … Continue reading
The Three Musketeers, by Alexander Dumas
Second and third paragraphs of third chapter: — Athos ! Porthos ! Aramis ! Les deux mousquetaires avec lesquels nous avons déjà fait connaissance et qui répondaient aux deux derniers de ces trois noms, quittèrent aussitôt les groupes dont ils … Continue reading
The Sound of Music (1965) and The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (1949)
The Sound of Music won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1965, and picked up another four: Best Director (Robert Wise), Best Music (Irwin Kostal), Best Sound Recording and Best Film Editing. Doctor Zhivago also won five Oscars that year, … Continue reading
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My tweets
Fri, 15:27: The monuments of Laeken cemetery, especially those by Ernest Salu https://t.co/nf1v4n4n1c Fri, 18:11: Revelation of the Daleks: novelisations by Eric Saward and Jon Preddle https://t.co/V1r8pvUT5A Fri, 18:54: RT @kateheartfield: Overall I find Wikipedia really useful for a historical … Continue reading
Revelation of the Daleks: novelisations by Eric Saward and Jon Preddle
Second to fifth paragraphs of third chapter of Eric Saward's novelisation: 'You were mistaken,' said Grigory. Natasha tugged at the body-bag. 'Unwrap him.' 'Are you sure you want to see this?' 'There is no other way of proving he's actually … Continue reading
The monuments of Laeken cemetery, especially those by Ernest Salu
The other half of yesterday's trip was to inspect Laeken cemetery in northwestern Brussels. There is a cluster of spectacular monuments close to the church by one or other of the three generations of sculptor who shared the name Ernest … Continue reading
My tweets
Thu, 13:04: How to say Merry Christmas in 41 languages, mapped https://t.co/fPe7MFqjrv Thu, 13:41: A tale of two cities – a lunch in Brussels, and a dinner in Belfast. About a month ago I was having lunch on Place… https://t.co/FlncPWQ0pZ … Continue reading
“Superheroes Never Die. Comics and Jewish Memories” exhibition at the Jewish Museum of Belgium
So, I went to the "Superheroes Never Die. Comics and Jewish Memories" exhibition at the Jewish Museum of Belgium yesterday. It was as good as I had hoped, linking the origins of the American comics tradition with the authors' experience … Continue reading
My tweets
Wed, 21:21: When Salvador Dal� Created Christmas Cards That Were Too Avant Garde for Hallmark (1960) | Open Culture https://t.co/gHw1b9iGPJ Thu, 10:45: RT @johnb78: If the courts had declared me to be a massive bigot, I would simply spend Christmas … Continue reading
My tweets
Tue, 12:56: RT @chriscurtis94: So I have finally got around to releasing my post election research on why voters left Labour in the election. Much of… Tue, 13:42: RT @Julian__West: @nwbrux Still relevant today and still as an effective a … Continue reading
Tuesday reading (last of the year)
I’ll do a reading roundup next Tuesday, but it will be for twelve months, not seven days! Current The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey Doctor Who: The Target Storybook, ed. Steve Cole Last books finished Being Human: Bad … Continue reading
My tweets
Mon, 12:56: You know, if the polls had been completely wrong, this might have been a good strategy. But the polls weren’t comp… https://t.co/w445TOULIj Mon, 14:09: RT @DavidJonesSky: I’m so sorry to have spoiled what was such an important discussion … Continue reading
June 2004 books
June 2004 was the month I switched from my old explorers@whyte.com email address, which I'd had since 1997, to my Gmail address, which I've had ever since. Ronald Reagan died; the new European Parliament was elected. Those were more innocent … Continue reading
My tweets
Sun, 12:12: Once again at the windswept, dangerous Perron 14, where @delijn asks us to dodge bikes and remain standing. (@ Perr… https://t.co/zxDWsLi3m6 Sun, 12:56: RT @sciborgue: counterfactuals, what would we do without them Sun, 15:28: My media in 2019 … Continue reading
My top Livejournal posts of 2019
As the deafening noise of tumbleweed grows, here are the three LJ posts that got five or more comments this year. 2 June: a post about objets d’art in Utrecht and Leuven. 5 comments. 1 December: Dr Strangelove, the book … Continue reading
My top tweets of 2019
I’ve been fiddling around with the methodology of rating top tweets using the analytics that Twitter provides, and I’ve finally come up with a solution that satisfies me – rank them all, by all the rankings available; and add together … Continue reading
My top Facebook posts of 2019
I had a couple of Facebook posts that went viral this year. The best performing was one where I didn't actually write the material myself, but shared it from a screenshot, and it got picked up by the two linguistic … Continue reading
My top Instagram posts of 2019
It's not all that easy to measure Instagram impact (and they are going to make it more difficult). These two videos both got between 300 and 400 views. https://instagram.com/p/B5NEMf1gTld https://instagram.com/p/B0lzMlvAUks My top five Instagram photo posts were: https://instagram.com/p/ByvCULPI-AH (A visit … Continue reading
My media in 2019
My biggest media appearances were the BBC election broadcasts for the three elections in Northern Ireland, with my long-term sparring partner Mark Devenport. Not much of it is online, but I am in 2:49-3:35 here: Some viewers' responses were a … Continue reading
My tweets
Sat, 12:56: Paul McGann Doctor Who series would have brought back old Doctors https://t.co/TDZnhVyVS1 Alternate Who. Sat, 20:01: My week on Twitter : 147 Mentions, 53.2K Mention Reach, 455 Likes, 155 Retweets, 574K Retweet Reach. See yours wit… https://t.co/UGWxD7ew0K Sat, … Continue reading
It’s Gauda Prime Day – so here is my write-up of the fourth and final series of Blake’s 7
Today is the anniversary of the last episode of Blake's 7 being first shown on TV, and we hardcore fans refer to 21 December as Gauda Prime Day after the planet on which that last episode was set. It's the … Continue reading
My tweets
Fri, 12:56: The Strange Death of Social-Democratic�England https://t.co/uyWHafGZHt Long read on how far Labour has to travel. Fri, 13:48: RT @hayward_katy: What do people in N.Ireland need to know about the #WithdrawalAgreementBill? (for reasons obvs to folk in NI, I … Continue reading
My tweets
Thu, 12:56: Cats review – a purr-fectly dreadful hairball of woe | Peter Bradshaw’s film of the week https://t.co/FdjpMEarqS Me… https://t.co/dVNyJRyg57 Thu, 16:05: Labour shouldn’t have fought this election, but chose the only strategy it could despite getting its tactics … Continue reading