Interesting Links for 13-02-2016

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The World Isn’t Less Free Than It Used To Be
@fivethirtyeight summarises @FreedomHouseDC.
(tags: politics democracy )
We Are Hopelessly Hooked
Why we can’t stop being online.
(tags: internet psychology )
The Onion on Jeb Bush
Cruel but hilarious.
(tags: uspolitics )
Independent and Independent on Sunday print closures confirmed
Not very surprising.
(tags: ukpolitics media )
Why I Just Dropped The Harassment Charges [against] The Man Who Started GamerGate
A tough read.
(tags: sexandgenderandsexuality games )
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My tweets

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Friday reading

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Current
Watership Down, by Richard Adams (a chapter a week)
Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver
The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin

Last books finished
The Sword of Forever, by Jim Mortimore
The Sinn Féin Rebellion As I Saw It, by Mrs Hamilton Norway

Next books
Alif the Unseen, by G. Willow Wilson
The Magic Cup, by Andrew M. Greeley

Books acquired in last week
Gentleman Jolie and the Red Queen, by Lois McMaster Bujold – special signed limited edition, gloat gloat
Mother of Eden, by Chris Beckett
The Legends of Ashildr, by James Goss, David Llewellyn, Jenny T. Colgan and Justin Richards

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Tik-Tok by John Sladek

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BSFA Award winner from 1983. I thought I'd read this before, but in fact the robot book by John Sladek I'd previously read was Roderick, his take on Candide. Tik-Tok is about a robot who decides to subvert the Asimovian laws of robotics (which any sensible person must cheer) and manages to secretly wage a campaign of crime and murder across the country before, in a Being There sort of moment, becoming Vice-President of the United States. There's a lot of dark humour, gratuitous violence, and not terribly well drawn analogies with slavery and racism.

I don't really think the BSFA covered itself in glory that year. The other shortlisted novels were Cat Karina, by Michael Coney; Golden Witchbreed, by Mary Gentle; Helliconia Summer, by Brian Aldiss; and The Citadel of the Autarch, by Gene Wolfe. I haven't read Cat KarinaTik-Tok, and while I would have voted for Aldiss I think the BSFA award would have most respectably gone to Wolfe. The Hugo and Nebula for Best Novel that year both went to Startide Rising. (The BSFA short form award went to Malcolm Edwards' one and only published fiction, "After-Images".)

This came to the top of my TBR pile because it won the BSFA award for 1983. The next two winners of that award were Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock and Helliconia Winter by Brian Aldiss, both of which I have reviewed here not too long ago. So my next from that particular list will be The Ragged Astronauts by Bob Shaw.

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A People’s Peace for Cyprus, by Alexander Lordos, Erol Kaymak and Nathalie Tocci

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I got this from the authors (all three of whom are friends of mine) back in 2009 when it was published. At that stage there seemed to be an opportunity for a breakthrough in the Cyprus problem; the Turkish Cypriot president, Mehmet Ali Talat (full disclosure: I was advising him from 2007 to 2010) had been elected in 2005 on a platform of securing a solution, and the newly elected Greek Cypriot president, Demetris Christofias, was ostensibly committed to doing the same.

A People's Peace for Cyprus, published by the Centre for European Policy Studies (where I worked from 1999 to 2002), gives the results of extensive public opinion polling on both sides of the island about what might or might not be acceptable elements of a new peace agreement to reunify the island. It's actually quite an encouraging read; the gaps exist, of course, but even on difficult issues such as the constitutional arrangements for a power-sharing government, the arrangements for property owned by Greek Cypriots in Turkish Cypriot-controlled territory, and the future security guarantees and responsibilities of Greek, Turkey and the UK, a bridgeable gap could be envisaged. I suspect that opinion has not moved very far in the seven years since the research was done – iof anything there may have been a further drift towards finding accommodation.

I'm afraid there is one very silly idea in the book, which I pointed out at the time. It is that as part of the settlement, there should be agreement on a kind of playbook for what external interventions should be appropriate in case one or other side should block implementation of any part of the agreement. Quite apart from the Chekhov's gun point that agreeing in advance on what disagreements can be envisaged more or less guarantees that those disagreements will happen, the fact is that offering a new set of rules to play with to two sides who are already over-equipped with lawyers is simply asking for trouble. Much better to get a commitment to full implementation, and nothing else, up front, and for international mediators to be ready to come and bang heads together when sticking points are reached.

Apart from that, all of the rest of the findings are pretty sound, and indicated that there was (and I think still is) room to find agreement on a settlement plan for both sides on Cyprus.

The 2009 opening proved to be illusory. Talat, who is one of the nicest and best politicians I have ever worked with, appeared to be a lame duck after his party lost the 2009 parliamentary elections in northern Cyprus – though my own view is that he could have still sold an agreement to his own electorate, but that unfortunately Christofias had never been serious about negotiating with him. Christofias went on to preside over the disastrous July 2011 Mari explosion and the even more disastrous collapse of the economy, both of which happened directly because of decisions that he took (or rather didn't take). He was indolent and incompetent, and those of us (including me) who hoped in 2009 that he might negotiate a settlement as he had promised were engaging in wishful thinking.

Things have now, thank heavens, moved in a positive direction again. The two current Cypriot leaders, Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akıncı, seem to have found a new dynamic – witness this charming video from December of them valiantly attempting to read seasonal greetings in each other's languages:

Apart from the encouraging dynamic between the leaders, I also want to point out that the two chief negotiators, Özdil Nami and Andrea Mavroyannis, are really seriously committed to finding a solution. The findings of the 2009 CEPS survey may soon become relevant once more.

This came to the top of my TBR pile as the shortest book of those I had bought in 2009 and not yet read. Next on that list – having polished off On The Way to Diplomacy – is A History of Anthropology by Thomas Hylland Eriksen.

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Interesting Links for 11-02-2016

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Angouleme comics festival screws up *again*
If you’re in a hole, stop digging!
(tags: comics sexandgenderandsexuality )
The Top 12 PR Crises Of 2015: Part 1
Volkswagen tops the list.
(tags: publicrelations )
Life in the Grey Zones
@ecfr brings news from nowhere (Abkhazia, Crimea, etc).
(tags: transdniestria nagornokarabakh war )
Pro-Europeans shouldn’t big up Cameron’s deal
@HugoDixon’s nuanced approach.
(tags: eu ukpolitics )
Ignore the Brexit press. Cameron has got more than he expected from Europe
(tags: eu ukpolitics )
Nearly 14,000 disabled people have mobility cars taken away
UK war on disabled continues.
(tags: ukpolitics disability )
Three and a half degrees of separation
My number is 2.90 – less than Sheryl Sandberg.
(tags: facebook )
Transatlantic Tech: Privacy Shield Edition
Analysis from my colleagues.
(tags: internet )
How the Refugee Crisis Will Reshape the EU
@StefanLehne, wise as ever.
(tags: eu migration )
‘Facilitating Coexistence’: the endgame for Brexit
@AndrewDuffEU is pessimistic.
(tags: eu ukpolitics )
How did the UN get it so wrong on Julian Assange?
Good question.
(tags: wikileaks law )
Apollo 14 astronaut Captain Edgar Dean “Ed” Mitchell dies at age 85
Fewer and fewer left now.
(tags: space death )
If You Think Europe Has a Refugee Crisis, You’re Not Looking Hard Enough
Much worse elsewhere.
(tags: migration )
Anne Frank’s Stepsister: ‘Donald Trump Is Acting Like Hitler’
And she knows what she’s talking about.
(tags: uspolitics migration )
The New Jersey-raised, bow tie-loving president of Estonia gave the best speech on the refugee crisis
Go @IlvesToomas!
(tags: uspolitics ukpolitics migration )
An old-school reply to an advertiser’s retro threat
Hooray!
(tags: media pr )
Seven steps to winning a referendum
My @EurActiv piece. @APCOWorldwide @UlsterUni
(tags: ukpolitics eu )
Yanis Varoufakis, Peddler of Snake Oil
Tell us what you *really* think, @Jan_Techau!
(tags: eu greece )
Why Didn’t They Talk To You Privately? On “Call Out Culture” and Power Differentials
(tags: psychology )
We’re the Only Animals With Chins, and No One Knows Why
Fascinating!
(tags: biology )
John McCain on torture
Sad that this needs to be said.
(tags: uspolitics waronterror )
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On The Way To Diplomacy, by Costas Constantinou

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I picked this up aaaages ago about a year after I started working for Independent Diplomat, and did not get around to reading it until about a year after I stopped working for Independent Diplomat. I don’t think the lack of having read it impacted my work; it’s a rather philosophical book, analysing diplomacy as communication from the point of view of aesthetics and political theory – it begins with a long analysis of Holbein’s The Ambassadors, drawing attention to the controversy over its attribution and subjects, which is all very well but only marginally connected to diplomacy as it is practiced these days. I find myself once again confirmed in my view that anthropology is much more useful to me in my daily life as a political actor than any amount of political theory or philosophy.

The came to the top of my TBR pile as the shortest book of those acquired in 2009 that I had not yet read. Actually it was second on that list as I couldn’t lay my hands on the one that actually was the shortest. But then I found that one too and will write it up tomorrow.

Ancillary Mercy, by Ann Leckie

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It’s really a bit frustrating that, having finished the third book of the trilogy (after I voted for both previous books in the BSFA and Hugo ballots last year and the year before) and again hugely enjoyed it, I now find that I can’t really express why I like this book, and these books, so much. I guess a lot of things come together: the fish-out-of-water leadership of Breq, the central character; the interplay between the other established characters from previous books; the humorous social and linguistic malapropisms of the Translator; the completely overt yet subtly done political threads in the plot, and the interplay between wielding power and communication. Others have written at greater length than this about its merits and its few flaws. Me, I’m just going to vote for it.

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My tweets

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No Official Umbrella, by Glyn Jones

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Glyn Jones was an actor, writer and director, who was born in South Africa in 1931 and died in Crete in 2014. This 700-page autobiography recounts the high and low points of his career, somewhat rambling in places, name-dropping of course, but mainly complimenting those who did him favours of various kinds over his long career or noting with satisfaction that he spotted this or that star on his way up (Peter Firth, Paul McGann). The parts about his South African childhood and early acting career are fascinating; the story of his most frustrating failure, a play about the Connaught Rangers' mutiny on 1922, is very moving; the assembling of his letters home from teaching trips to the USA rather less exciting. It is a bit of a shame that he did not run it past a thorough editor – a bit more structure would have done the reader a world of good, and a half day with Google would have filled in some of the frustrating blanks.

Jones hit my personal interests in two respects in particular. He was the script editor for Here Come The Double Deckers in 1969-70, and is credited with writing or co-writing 9 of the 17 episodes of the show – in fact he probably really wrote them all, that being the role of a script editor in those days. I excerpted the pages of the book about Double Deckers here.

But he is also one of the very few people to have both appeared as an actor in Doctor Who, and written a story. (The others were Victor Pemberton in Old Who, Mark Gatiss in New Who, and I would also count Noel Clarke who wrote an episode of Torchwood.) He appeared in the early Tom Baker story The Sontaran Experiment as one of a group of stranded astronauts (who all had South African accents):

But earlier on he wrote the William Hartnell story The Space Museum, a four-part story where the second, third and fourth episodes are about the overthrow of a rather dull despotic regime, but the first is a real work of genius, one of the spookiest Who episodes ever and a good candidate for being one of the best single Hartnell episodes. Here it is:

Glyn Jones reflects on this experience as follows:



There are a few later references to Who in passing, mostly to his novelisation of the story (in which he Tuckerised at least two of his friends). It's a good perspective on how brief his engagement with the show was in a long career. And in general the book is a good read if you skip some of the later chapters.

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Seven steps to winning a referendum

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(This was originally published by EurActiv on 8 February 2016. In February 2025 I requested that it be deleted from the Euractiv site.)

Now that we know the rough outline of the substance of the proposed deal between the UK and the EU, it might be wise to step back and consider what lessons the UK campaigns for this year’s referendum can learn from similar votes, both in the UK and elsewhere.  As I see it, there are seven broad lessons that those campaigning for Britain to either stay in, or leave, the European Union should bear in mind.  

1. Lesson 1: A broad coalition matters

In both previous UK-wide referendums (in 1975 on whether to stay in the European Community and in 2011 on whether to adopt the Alternative Vote system) voters opted for the status quo.  It is striking that in both cases, the larger part of the main party of government, and a significant part of the main party of opposition, were on the winning side.  “Yes” in 1975 and “No” in 2011 were the choices of a broad coalition from the most important parts of the political establishment; their opponents were more marginal figures.

2. Lesson 2: Don’t take anything for granted, including the polls

Moving across the water, Ireland is unique in the EU in putting every new Treaty to a referendum – there have been 9 such votes so far.  The “No” votes in the Irish referendums on both the Nice Treaty in 2001 and the Lisbon Treaty in 2008 demonstrated that a cross-party consensus between the government and opposition leaders is not always sufficient.  In both these referendums, the polls largely predicted a “Yes” vote, but the Irish people ended up voting “No” both times.  

3. Lesson 3: Second chances are rare

These two negative Irish votes, and also Denmark’s (very narrow) rejection of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, were all subsequently overturned at second referendums, after further negotiations with the EU.  Similarly, some believe that a “No” vote from the UK would result in better terms being offered by the EU.  But these three cases were exceptional; in all of them the first result was close, the issues needing resolving were easily identified, and all other EU member states had an interest in seeing a multilateral process succeed.  These circumstances are unlikely to be replicated around the UK vote (or even around last December’s unsuccessful Danish referendum on EU opt-outs).  More pertinent, perhaps, is the example of the referendum on the Annan Plan to reunify Cyprus in April 2004.  Voters believed that by voting “No” they would get a better offer.  Greek Cypriots voted “No” by three to one; eleven years on, they are still waiting for that better offer to come.  

4. Lesson 4: Don’t get hung up on the detail

In the Cyprus referendum, voters were asked to ratify a 170 page set of treaties with 9,000 pages of dependent draft legislation, which had been negotiated into its final form less than a month before the vote. The “Yes” campaign therefore had a moving target, and could barely be sure what they were asking voters to endorse. ;The lesson for the UK is that pro-EU campaigners cannot afford to “wait and see” what concessions the government comes back with from its negotiations with EU partners. The argument will likely be won or lost on the big picture, not on the detail. If the pro-EU campaign finds itself compelled to enlarge upon particular elements of the deal rather than the question as a whole, that is a bad sign; if you’re explaining, you’re already losing.

5. Lesson 5: Keep positive

The “Better Together” campaign opposing Scottish independence was widely felt to have won the vote but lost the argument, by concentrating on fear and uncertainty rather than putting forward a positive vision for Scotland’s future.  Scottish pro-independence campaigners successfully portrayed the restoration of an independence which had been given up in 1707 as a step forward.  In Ireland, the 2015 campaign for legalising same-sex marriage focused on the tangible benefits for families and for all of society of a reform which directly affected only a few.  The “no” side unsuccessfully tried to play on uncertainty and fear of change.

6. Lesson 6: use social media

Opinion among campaigners is divided about how much social media really matters in campaigning.  Few, however, would argue that it does not matter at all.  Cyberspace has been a crucial venue for mobilising and encouraging supporters for many years.  But surveys now show that an increasing number of voters – particularly younger voters – rely on Facebook and Twitter, and no other sources, for news and information about politics.  Nobody can win without establishing at least a bridgehead on the online battlefront.

7. Lesson 7: develop your ground game

Traditional door-to-door campaigning still matters as well – if anything, a personal contact with a campaigner, in an increasingly impersonal world, can often be the decisive factor in how a voter chooses to vote.  In Scotland, the “Yes” campaign “delivered more leaflets, put up more posters, set up more stalls and knocked on more doors”.  In Ireland, the equal marriage “Yes” campaign brought together a wide range of civil society organizations into a broad-based coalition that was immensely successful in getting voters to the polls.  By contrast, the UK pro-Alternative Vote campaign in 2011 never got its ground campaign together.  

The difference between winning and losing the coming referendum on the UK’s relationship with the EU will turn on these questions.  Who has the broader coalition? Who is better prepared for unwelcome polling news? Who can more convincingly frame the consequences of a “No” vote? Who can keep the argument broad? Who is perceived to be more positive? Who is more convincing online? And, perhaps most of all, who is better at mobilising volunteers to take their argument to the voters? We have an interesting few months ahead.

Mathematical limericks

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A Dozen, a Gross, and a Score,
plus three times the square root of four,
divided by seven,
plus five times eleven,
is nine squared and not a bit more.

A second one, from (requires "zee" rather than "zed" for the last letter of the alphabet):


Integral z-squared dz
from 1 to the cube root of 3
times the cosine
of three pi over 9
equals log of the cube root of e.

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My tweets

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BSFA shortlisted novels: Goodreads / LibraryThing stats

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And so the awards season starts in earnest. Official BSFA press release here. Congrats to all concerned. In particular, I think the non-fiction short list is a lot better than in previous years.

The Goodreads / LibraryThing stats for the shortlisted novels are as follows. Ranking is consistent between the two (except that there is a tie at the end for LibraryThing). I’ve read three and must now get the other two.

Goodreads LibraryThing
owners av rating owners av rating
The House of Shattered Wings, by Aliette de Bodard 6,981 3.49 150 3.84
Luna: New Moon, by Ian McDonald 5,506 4.04 110 3.98
Mother of Eden, by Chris Beckett 1,894 3.77 65 3.59
Glorious Angels, by Justina Robson 633 3.44 31 3.11
Europe at Midnight by Dave Hutchinson 407 4.26 31 3.88
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Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott

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A classic of nineteenth century sf, where the story is told by an inhabitant of a two-dimensional universe who has become aware that a third dimension exists. As a teenager I had read Martin Gardner’s extended review of this book and similar writings, and to be honest it was better than the original source material, which is laden with assumptions about what the reader would find funny which rather grate on today’s sensitivities particularly with regard to gender but also class and race; it has not aged well. But at the same time the core message, challenging the reader to conceive of a conceptual breakthrough where our universe is just one aspect of a higher dimensional reality, is well executed – and of course the concept of other dimensions has become much more operational since 1884.

This came to the top of my TBR pile as the most popular sf book in my LibraryThing that I had not yet read. Next on that list is Walking on Glass, by Iain M. Banks.

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The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro

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Another superb book of short stories by the Canadian Nobel Prize winner. The two that particularly grabbed me were the very first, “The Love of a Good Woman”, about the mysterious death of an optician, and “Before the Change”, about the daughter of a small-town abortionist. But they are all pretty good.

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Happy Haunting: Episode 5 of Here Come The Double Deckers

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No screenshots this time, I'm afraid – my picture quality for this episode is rather poor.

Episode 5: Happy Haunting
First shown: 10 October 1970 (US), 28 January 1971 (UK)
Director: Harry Booth
Writers: Harry Booth and Glyn Jones
Appearing apart from the Double Deckers:
Melvyn Hayes as Albert the Street Cleaner
Clive Dunn as Hodge
Pat Coombs as Doris
Frederick Peisley as The Duke
Ruth Kettlewell as The Duchess

Plot

Albert takes the gang on a trip to a stately home, but Billie and Tiger get locked in; the others' rescue attempts cause chaos to the castle's aristocratic owners and their staff, until all is made good by finding hidden treasure.

Soundtrack

"A Day and a Half", sung by the regulars (with some valiant whistling in the middle). It's by Joan Maitland and Richard Kerr, both well-known musuicians in their own right, who had previously written Blue Eyes, a No 3 hit for Don Partridge in 1968. Maitland co-wrote Oliver! with Lionel Bart, but received no credit for it; she did receive credit for later West End musicals Blitz!, Tom Brown's Schooldays and The Young Visiters. Kerr went on to write hits for the likes of Barry Manilow and Dionne Warwick, most notably "Mandy". This is the opening song on the album of music from the series, and it's a good choice.

While we're on music, note the Laurel and Hardy salute as Clive Dunn's character tells the gang to "Walk this way", and Scooper and the other boys imitate him.

Also NB a musical trailer for next week's episode, Summer Camp (I guess this one was running short).

Glorious moments

Once again, this is sheer farce once we get into the ghostly running around. Billie and Tiger do a good double act as scared little girls in the dungeons, Melvyn Hayes as Albert is on top form for cavorting and gurning, and Clive Dunn towers among the guest cast – possibly the highest profile guest star of the entire 17 episodes – starting off with the business of breaking the valuable bowl that, like Chekhov's gun, has been left in a vulnerable place. Pat Coombs as his colleague is also pretty good. And Doughnut gets some high-class suit of armour antics (though I feel this slightly misfires at the end).

Less glorious moments

Those were innocent times, when a caretaker could just take six young teenagers and a little girl on an unannounced trip in his car; also we are asked to believe that the kids react to the notion of visiting a stately home with nothing but unalloyed enthusiasm, which makes them unusual among teenagers.

Poor old Doughnut is funny because he's fat again and ends up chasing the car with all the others in, still in his suit of armour.

What's all this then?

Here Come The Double Deckers was co-funded by the American Broadcasting Company, and part of its mandate was therefore to provide entertainment by showcasing "traditional" England. And what could be more English than a stately home? (The cast courageously explain this to each other, for the benefit of American viewers, at two minutes in.)

Haunted houses, like invisibility gadgets, again go back to classical times with Pliny the Younger's story of Artemidorus. But you can't have anything too threatening on a kids' programme, so it's made very clear that there is no ghost except in the imaginations of the characters.

Where's that?

The castle is an early screen appearance by Knebworth House, home of Victorian writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and also the exterior of Bruce Wayne's mansion in the 1989 Batman, the location of the stairs for the Yule Ball in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Balmoral Castle in The King's Speech. It's also been the location of a series of music festivals since 1974, most notably the three-day Robbie Williams concert of 2003, reputedly the largest musical event ever staged in the UK.

Who's that?

Clive Dunn (Hodge) needs no introduction, though it's interesting to see him playing a character of roughly his own age rather than the much older roles that he was better known for. By the time this was made, he was already a couple of seasons into his nine years as the elderly Corporal Jones on Dad's Army, followed up by the sitcom Grandad. Born in 1920, he retired to Portugal in 1984 and died in 2012.

Pat Coombs (Doris) was born in 1926 and by this stage was a recognisable sidekick to Irene Handl in the 1965-66 sitcom Barney Is My Darling and to Barbara Windsor in the 1968-9 series Wild Wild Women (Coombs bumped a young Penelope Keith out of that one), as well as being a foil to Dick Emery. She continued working until the turn of the century, including a 1989-90 spell on East Enders and as Kim Wilde's fairy godmother in the 1984 video for The Touch.

Frederick Peisley (The Duke) was born in 1904 and had been acting for almost half a century. His career possibly peaked some time earlier with top billing in the 1935 film Gentleman's Agreement. though he was also one of the leads in the 1960-62 Carry On TV spinoff Our House. He died in 1975.

Ruth Kettlewell (The Duchess) was born in 1913 and played numerous small roles, including in Room At The Top, Cathy Come Home (as the judge), Oh, What a Lovely War and No Blade of Grass, tending towards landladies and mothers-in-law. The biggest before Double Deckers was as Mrs Pugh-Critchley i the fiorst series of All Gas and Gaiters (later replaced by Joan Sanderson). Immediately after Double Deckers she got another visible regular comedy spot as Mrs Grapple, the cook in Hope And Keen's Crazy House. She died in 2007. We shall see her again in a few weeks.

See you next week…

…for Summer Camp, as advertised in the trailer

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2016 Read Harder Challenge List

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Not quite sure where this came from, but it’s an interesting list of books to aim to read this year.

The 2016 Read Harder Challenge List
(annotated where I’ve read books in the relevant category in January 2016)

  • Read a horror book
  • Read a nonfiction book about science
  • Read a collection of essays
         Baptism of Fire: The Birth of the Modern British Fantastic in World War I, ed. Janet Brennan Croft
         Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J. R. R. Tolkien, eds. Janet Brennan Croft and Leslie A. Donovan
  • Read a book aloud to someone else
  • Read a middle grade novel [ie aimed at 8-12]
  • Read a biography (not memoir or autobiography)
  • Read a dystopian and post-apocalyptic novel
         Streetlethal, by Steven Barnes
  • Read a book originally published in decade you were born [the 1960s]
  • Listen to an audiobook that has won an Audie Award
  • Read a book over 500 pages long
         No Official Umbrella, by Glyn Jones (710)
  • Read a book under 100 pages
         The Story of Ireland, by Brendan O’Brien (96)
         Flatland, by Edwin A. Abbott (96)
         Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef, by Cassandra Khaw (95)
         A Day In Deep Freeze, by Lisa Shapter (74)
         Bételgeuse v 3: L’Expédition, by Leo (48)
  • Read a book by or about a person that identifies as transgender
  • Read a book that is set in the Middle East
  • Read a book that is by an author from Southeast Asia
         Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef, by Cassandra Khaw (from Malaysia)
         Sorcerer to the Crown, by Zen Cho (also from Malaysia)
  • Read a book of historical fiction set before 1900
  • Read the first book in a series by a person of colour
         again, Streetlethal, by Steven Barnes
         again, Sorcerer to the Crown, by Zen Cho
  • Read a non-superhero comic that debuted in the last three years
         I think Saga counts? Though perhaps the spirit of the challenge is to find a new one. Thanks to for clarification.
  • Read a book that was adapted into a movie, then watch the movie and discuss which is better
  • Read a nonfiction book about feminism or dealing with feminist themes
         again, Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J. R. R. Tolkien, eds. Janet Brennan Croft and Leslie A. Donovan
  • Read a book about religion (fiction or nonfiction
         possibly Jews vs Aliens, ed. Lavie Tidhar and Rebecca Levene
  • Read a book about politics, in your country or another (fiction or nonfiction)
  • Read a food memoir
  • Read a play
  • Read a book with a main character with a mental illness

Most of these are represented on my reading list already. I would not have thought to look at the Audie awards, but a quick skim of their website looks very encouraging. The biggest challenge will be finding someone who is willing for me to read an entire book to them. I may have to borrow a small child.

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Friday reading

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Current
Watership Down, by Richard Adams (a chapter a week)
Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver

Last books finished
No Official Umbrella, by Glyn Jones
Ancillary Mercy, by Ann Leckie
On The Way To Diplomacy, by Costas Constantinou
A People’s Peace for Cyprus, by Alexander Lordos, Erol Kaymak and Nathalie Tocci 
Tik-Tok by John Sladek
Short Trips: The Muses, ed. Jacqueline Rayner
Europe at Midnight, by Dave Hutchinson
Citadel of Dreams by Dave Stone

Next books
Alif the Unseen, by G. Willow Wilson
The Magic Cup, by Andrew M. Greeley
The Sword of Forever by Jim Mortimore

Books acquired in last week
A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara
The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin

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Dinner in London on Monday, John Dee on Tuesday?

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I will be in London next Monday (8 February) for work meetings, and wondered if anyone might be up for dinner that evening? Unfortunately my favourite Georgian restaurant is closed on Mondays, but I’m open to other suggestions. I’m staying on Lincoln’s Inn Fields and would prefer to eat somewhere moderately convenient to there, without too much background noise given my middle-aged ears.

Also I’m going to take a couple of hours off on Tuesday morning, 9 February, and go see the Lost Library of Dr John Dee in the Royal College of Physicians (off Albany St, near Great Portland St and Regent’s Park tube stations). I would want to get there promptly for 9 am, and probably stay for a couple of hours before going back to work. Company very welcome.

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Interesting Links for 01-02-2016

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Economics in the Age of Abundance
Now that we can all eat, what’s next?
(tags: economics )
The Abdication of Moral Responsibility
What happened to human rights?
(tags: middleeast syria egypt )
Seizing valuables from asylum seekers – Denmark has lost the plot, and its heart
(tags: eu migration denmark )
People who are late
No simple answer.
(tags: lifehacking )
A Very Nearly Successful Coup (PDF)
How Clegg wasn’t forced out in May 2014.
(tags: libdems )
Boneheaded aphorisms from Davos’s windy summit
Terrific takedown by @LucyKellaway.
(tags: economics politics funny )
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January Books

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Non-fiction: 6
Lois McMaster Bujold, by Edward James
Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J. R. R. Tolkien, eds. Janet Brennan Croft and Leslie A. Donovan
Baptism of Fire: The Birth of the Modern British Fantastic in World War I, ed. Janet Brennan Croft
The Story of Ireland by Brendan O'Brien
No Official Umbrella, by Glyn Jones
On The Way To Diplomacy, by Costas Constantinou
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Fiction (non-sf): 2
Travelling Light, by Tove Jansson
The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
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SF (non-Who): 12
Jews vs Aliens, eds Lavie Tidhar and Rebecca Levene
A Day In Deep Freeze, by Lisa Shapter
Rupert Wong: Cannibal Chef, by Cassandra Khaw
The Philosopher Kings, by Jo Walton
Wylding Hall, by Elizabeth Hand
Uprooted, by Naomi Novik
Touch, by Claire North
Streetlethal, by Steven Barnes
Sorcerer to the Crown, by Zen Cho
House of Shattered Wings, by Aliette de Bodard
Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott
Ancillary Mercy, by Ann Leckie
B00TQT6L4U.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpgB00VMHH3IC.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpgB014RK5E0E.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg0765332671.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpgB00UA1KO82.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg1447298306.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg0356504565.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpge4c94b681b89a0e59774a534e414346414c3441.jpg1447299450.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg1473212553.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg048627263X.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg0316246689.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Doctor Who, etc: 4
Zodiac ed Jacqueline Rayner
Relative Dementias, by Mark Michalowski
Dry Pilgrimage, by Paul Leonard and Nick Walters
Royal Blood, by Una McCormack
3c4f84daf0169e55936784652414346414c3441.jpg0563538449.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg0426205251.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg184990992X.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Comics: 5
Saga vol 5, by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Ms. Marvel Volume 2: Generation Why, by G. Willow Wilson
Sex Criminals, Vol. 2: Two Worlds, One Cop, by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
Bételgeuse, tome 3 : L'Expédition by Leo
Thor Volume 1: Goddess of Thunder, by Jason Aaron
1632154382.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg0785190228.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg1632151936.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg2affd17f4b80bef5972534e67514346414c3441.jpg0785192387.01._SX133_SY190_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

7,300 pages
18/29 by women (Brennan Croft, Donovan Janssen, Monro, Levene, Shapter, Khaw, Walton, Hand, Novik, North, Cho, de Bordard, Leckie, Rayner, McCormack, Staples, Wilson)
5/29 by PoC (Barnes, Khaw, Cho, de Bodard, Staples)
Reread: 0

Reading now
Watership Down, by Richard Adams

Europe at Midnight, by Dave Hutchinson

Coming soon (perhaps):

Tik-Tok by John Sladek
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
The Magic Cup by Andrew M. Greeley
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll
Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey
Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis
A Princess of Roumania by Paul Park
Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch
Legacy: A Collection of Personal Testimonies from People Affected by the Troubles in Northern Ireland by BBC Northern Ireland
Gorgon Child by Steven Barnes
The Folding Star by Alan Hollinghurst
1491 by Charles C. Mann

The Unwritten Vol. 6: Tommy Taylor and the War of Words by Mike Carey
The Quarry by Iain Banks
How Loud Can You Burp? by Glenn Murphy
Het Spaanse spook by Willy Vandersteen
Walking on Glass by Iain Banks
A People's Peace for Cyprus by Alexandros Lordos
See How Much I Love You by Luis Leante
Short Trips: The Muses ed. Jacqueline Rayner
Citadel of Dreams by Dave Stone
The Sword of Forever by Jim Mortimore

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Extracts from the autobiography of Double Deckers script editor, Glyn Jones

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I'm on the road this weekend, so no time to finalise my write-up of Happy Haunting, I'm afraid. Instead, please enjoy these extracts from No Official Umbrella, the 700-page autobiography of Glyn Jones, who was the script editor of Here Come The Double Deckers and also wrote or co-wrote many of the episodes.


(Five pages of anecdotes about auditions before we get back to Double Deckers🙂




And that’s it, I’m afraid, apart from one or two passing references later on.

There is also a little about Doctor Who – along with Mark Gatiss and Victor Pemberton, Jones is one of the few people to have both written a Who story (The Space Museum) and appeared in one (The Sontaran Experiment) – but I’ll save that for when I write the book up properly.

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Friday reading

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Current
Watership Down, by Richard Adams (a chapter a week)
No Official Umbrella, by Glyn Jones
Ancillary Mercy, by Ann Leckie
Europe at Midnight, by Dave Hutchinson

Last books finished
Touch, by Claire North
Streetlethal, by Steven Barnes
Sorcerer to the Crown, by Zen Cho
The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
House of Shattered Wings, by Aliette de Bodard
Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott

Last week’s audios
Hamilton!!!

Next books
On The Way To Diplomacy, by Costas Constantinou
Tik-Tok by John Sladek

Books acquired in last week
Europe at Midnight, by Dave Hutchinson
Faith in Politics, by John Bruton
Les Lumières de l’Amalou, by Claire Wendling
Hardwired, by Walter Jon Williams
A Darker Shade, ed. Jon-Henri Holmberg

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Hamilton

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Encouraged by here and here, I bit the bullet and forked out €15 (the first time I’ve bought a music album for myself for over a decade) for the Broadway cast recording of Hamilton, the musical about the life of Alexander Hamilton, based on the Ron Chernow biography which I read in 2006, and starring a mainly black cast.

Gosh. It hooked me less than two minutes in:

Well, the word got around, they said, “This kid is insane, man”
Took up a collection just to send him to the mainland
“Get your education, don’t forget from whence you came, and
The world is gonna know your name. What’s your name, man?”

[HAMILTON]
Alexander Hamilton
My name is Alexander Hamilton
And there’s a million things I haven’t done
But just you wait, just you wait…

And then I couldn’t stop listening. I’d loaded up the iPod with the album, and casually thought I’d listen to it on a long walk after a day of travel. But I found I just had to get back to the computer and read through the annotated lyrics right through to the end. It is fantastic.

I love the clever wordplay, including the repeated use of “satisfaction” and “time” and “I will not throw away my … shot” hurtling towards the awful conclusion; I loved the many nods to Les Miserables; I loved the Schuyler sisters as Destiny’s Child; I loved the successful attempt to set cabinet meetings to music; I loved the epilogue sung by Eliza about her fifty years of widowhood. This is one of the most amazing musicals I have experienced, and if I get a chance I will try to see it on stage in New York.

Here is Lin-Manuel Miranda performing the opening song at the White House in 2009.

What I find interesting is that the audience, including the President of the United States and the First Lady, think it’s rather funny that anyone should try and write a hip-hop opera about the only one of the Founding Fathers who didn’t become President because he got shot dead by the sitting Vice-President in 1804. I don’t think they’re laughing now.

For more info here’s a short documentary about it.

Go get it, listen to it.