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Categories
Meta
Monthly Archives: December 2021
My 2021 books in review
I read 296 books in 2021, the fourth highest of the eighteen years that I have been keeping track, and the highest since 2011. I was less distracted by real-life politics and by Hugos this year, and also I admit … Continue reading
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Friday and December reading
Roundup for 2021 coming shortly. Current Animal Dreams, by Barbara Kingsolver Calvin, by F. Bruce Gordon A Radical Romance, by Alison Light Books finished last week The 48 Laws Of Power, by Robert Greene (Did not finish) The Martian Chronicles, … Continue reading
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My tweets
Thu, 12:56: RT @DPhinnemore: ‘The UK government’s repeated threats… “are an enormously disruptive element in negotiations… You try to achieve somet… Thu, 13:04: Taken by an uncle on (roughly) this day in 1990. https://t.co/YdPEmXfoMK Thu, 15:27: “Est-ce que madame a … Continue reading
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The Mind Robber, by Andrew Hickey (and Peter Ling)
Working through the Black Archive monographs on Doctor Who, I've now reached the seventh, on the 1968 story The Mind Robber, which features the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie transported to a Land of Fiction, and includes one episode where Fraser … Continue reading
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July 2014 books
This is the latest post in a series I started in late 2019, anticipating the twentieth anniversary of my bookblogging which will fall in 2023. Every six-ish days, I've been revisiting a month from my recent past, noting work and … Continue reading
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My tweets
Wed, 12:56: UEFA boss Aleksander Čeferin’s fight for future of football – POLITICO https://t.co/feOX9E1J9V Wed, 16:33: “Blood Music”, by Greg Bear; Startide Rising, by David Brin https://t.co/L8eJbjjRrl Wed, 16:42: RT @cmioffice: President Martti Ahtisaari has been diagnosed with new Covid-19 … Continue reading
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“Blood Music”, by Greg Bear; Startide Rising, by David Brin
My slow progress through the list of works which won both Hugo and Nebula has now taken me to the awards made in 1984 for work of 1983; two winners, both of which are based on humanity's manipulation of genetics, … Continue reading
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My tweets
Tue, 12:56: RT @FHeisbourg: May turn out to be a big misjudgment. Before this warning, there was no serious prospect of & joining NATO. For decad… Tue, 15:12: RT @k8_lister: Apparently, the average person has sex around 51 times a … Continue reading
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Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Seascapes #4; Daughter of the Gods; Ninth Doctor v2
I'm going to try and be more diligent about writing up my Big Finish listening next year, but for today here are notes on five audios that I have recently enjoyed. First up is Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Seascapes … Continue reading
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The Wonderful Doctor of Oz, by Jacqueline Rayner
Second paragraph of third chapter: Theodore hadn't stopped apologising for the last mile, even though Yaz kept insisting it was unnecessary – if she hadn't clicked that, outside the protection of the TARDIS, any update to K9's systems would overwrite … Continue reading
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My tweets
Mon, 12:56: Yep. I’ve been saying this for years. https://t.co/OMSOo9jZXB Mon, 16:15: 2022 according to science fiction, in novels and films https://t.co/R7Mrr2Q6Np Mon, 18:35: 650 days of plague https://t.co/X77sRq7fQJ Mon, 20:48: RT @alranson: fascinating fact: JM Barrie who wrote Peter … Continue reading
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650 days of plague
So. Enjoying a much quieter Christmas than usual; though still a bit more convivial than last year; for Christmas dinner, we invited our old Cambridge friend P, who normally goes to his family in England but couldn’t this year. I’m … Continue reading
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2022 according to science fiction, in novels and films
For the last couple of years, I did a roundup of science fiction set in the year to come – 2020 and 2021. This year I have not looked into TV shows or games, but can present you with three … Continue reading
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My tweets
Sun, 15:36: The Republic: The Fight for Irish Independence, 1918-1923, by Charles Townshend https://t.co/qHeAQH1RGf Sun, 20:48: RT @alexstubb: This should not come as a surprise to anyone and unfortunately it will get worse before it will get…well, worse. Do not … Continue reading
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The Republic: The Fight for Irish Independence, 1918-1923, by Charles Townshend
Second paragraph of third chapter: Martial law was restricted to the south-west to keep Dublin open for those, in Sturgis’s jokey phrase, ‘as wants to negotiate’. A few on both sides seem to have wanted to. They found a new … Continue reading
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O Christmas Tree
The modest tree has its own story. We got it in 1997 in Banja Luka, our first Christmas abroad, when B was a baby and F and U unthought of. It has cheered us every year since. Here’s the post … Continue reading
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My tweets
Fri, 12:14: Hooray! Such good news. I’ve known @EroComfort since we were @CrisisGroup colleagues fifteen years ago (and more). A great choice to take the organisation forward. https://t.co/IZMCTDOBsS Fri, 16:51: RT @PaddyDuffy: Watching one of my favourite films, Casablanca, so … Continue reading
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The Life of Evans, John Peel; Night of the Intelligence, Andy Frankham-Allan
A novella and a novel in the ongoing spinoff series about the Brigadier from Doctor Who. Second paragraph of third chapter of The Life of Evans, by John Peel: For the first time in his life, Evans actually felt as … Continue reading
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Friday reading
Current The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury Last books finished An Introduction to the Gospel of John, by Raymond E. Brown Doctor Who – Black Orchid, by Terence Dudley Black Orchid, by Ian Millsted Seven Deadly Sins, by Roz Kaveney, … Continue reading
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My tweets
Thu, 14:46: RT @ishansaraf179: How is this so accurate I’ll add a few of my own Rollercoaster: anti-climatic Delightful: forgettable Is back with:… Thu, 18:10: ርሑስ በዓል ልደትን ሓድሽ ዓመትን። Thu, 18:10: June 2014 books https://t.co/deTMA6NHWZ Thu, 19:04: Top tweets … Continue reading
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Top tweets of the year
5) Highest engagement rate: The good thing is that a number of seats will not need much change. (They'll all have to change a bit to reflect new ward boundaries.) This graphic shows those that are currently within the 5% … Continue reading
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June 2014 books
This is the latest post in a series I started in late 2019, anticipating the twentieth anniversary of my bookblogging which will fall in 2023. Every six-ish days, I've been revisiting a month from my recent past, noting work and … Continue reading
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1 Comment
My tweets
Wed, 12:56: RT @IanMoore3000: I’m curious as to whether Nicholas Whyte’s interview with Malka Older was the first time the Irish Senate was discussed a… Wed, 14:34: RT @APCOBXLInsider: @juliavasan A Senior Director in the Global Solutions practice, @nwbrux is … Continue reading
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Top Facebook posts of 2021
Most shares (Slovenian EU presidency books): Most reactions (105 meets 22): Most comments (catching the bug): The FB posts here are embedded into the post and visible on most devices, but not on my MacBook that I use for work; … Continue reading
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This Town Will Never Let Us Go, by Lawrence Miles
Second paragraph of third chapter: Hard to say what they were watching for. Signs of life? A later-than-last-minute reprieve? Having got all enthusiastic about the first of the Faction Paradox books last month, I'm afraid this left me rather cold. … Continue reading
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Doctor Who Annual 2022, by Paul Lang
The third section is a comic, of which these are the second and third frames: I am not one of those who delights to dump on the Whittaker/Chibnall era of Doctor Who. I think it's had its highs and lows, … Continue reading
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My tweets
Tue, 12:56: My career of treating patients has ended https://t.co/qESR3j6KSO A grim, grim account of QAnon and COVID conspiracies. Tue, 16:05: RT @TheAtlantic: With reengineered election rules, Hong Kong’s already limited democratic freedoms have been almost entirely stripped away,… Tue, … Continue reading
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The 2021 overnights meme: a new low
Places where I spent the night away from home this year. As usual, places where I spent more than one non-consecutive night are marked with an asterisk. Durbuy (added in revision) Paris London* Loughbrickland* Dublin The Hague Buxton Six seven … Continue reading
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Lying Under the Apple Tree, by Alice Munro
Second paragraph of third story ("My Mother's Dream"): My mother looked out from a big arched window such as you find in a mansion or an old-fashioned public building. She looked down on lawns and shrubs, hedges, flower gardens, trees, … Continue reading
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