As told here. (Hat-tip to .)

Here. (Hat-tip to .) Includes “Common People” and “Wish You Were Here”.

If this link works, it will show you how to find the English-language children’s bookshop, Treasure Trove, at Moorselstraat 294a in Moorsel (near Tervuren). Great place, though I suspect difficult to reach without a car.

Here.

Have signed up to AIM as nhw1967.

I tried out TrustFlow II for LiveJournal. The following people not on the friends list for are close by:

• , (400 – 450)
• , , , (600 – 650)
• , , , , , , (650 – 700)

• , , (700 – 750)
• , , , , (750 – 800)
• , , , , (800 – 850)
• , , (850 – 900)
• , , (900 – 950)
• , , , , , , , (950 – 1000)
• , , , (1000 – 1050)
• , , , , , , , , (1050 – 1100)
• , , , , , , , , , (1100 – 1150)
• , , , , , (1150 – 1200)
• , , (1200 – 1250)
• , , , (1250 – 1300)
• , , , , , , , (1300 – 1350)
• , , , , , (1350 – 1400)
• , , , , , , , , , (1400 – 1450)

Created by ciphergoth; hosted by LShift.

TrustFlow II: Who is closest to your friends
list?

Hmm, this is easily thrown off-kilter, I fear. The two at the top of this list are (separately) the only accounts friended by someone else who is already on my f-list (respectively and . And two of those in the third line are likewise the only two accounts friended by . Meanwhile my own sock-puppet account, , turns up only halfway down. And the few lj’s I sometimes drop in on without friending (such as , ) don’t feature at all.

The LJ feature (on the portal page) for people popular on my friends’ f-lists who are not on mine lists , , , , , , , , , and

I was here at half past eight. The main course is only now being served…

I have been trying Yahoo Messenger (thanks, , for relieving me of that particular virginity) and I know I haven’t managed to add everyone I wanted to as it took me a while to work out the system. I am nwhyte, if you are interested. (And even if you are not.)

As seen from Tbilisi.

Science-Fiction Novel Posits Future Where Characters Are Hastily Sketched

March 29, 2006

OREGON CITY, OR—Science-fiction author Morgan Richards announced Monday completion of his long-awaited novel, Zeppelins Of Phobos. The swashbuckling tale of the battle for control of the solar system depicts a terrifying future filled with virtually indistinguishable characters who only communicate through stilted and shallow dialogue. “I’ve always been intrigued by the concept of the two-dimensional, almost caricatured human race spreading to nearby planets,” said Richards in the April/May issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction. “I wanted to capture the sense of adventure, lust, and peril that these characters would feel, along with their utter lack of social context or emotional complexity.” Richards said the very nature of his characters demanded that they live in the unlikely, unrealistic, and overly cinematic society he painstakingly details in the book.

A friend of mine who runs a very small organisation based in New York and London is eager to develop “relations with experienced IT professionals or companies who can help us develop our IT infrastructure, including secure file on-line file storage and secure email.” If you think you might be able to help, let me know and I’ll pass your details on to him.

Well, doesn’t look like the partial eclipse is going to appear from behind the clouds any time soon; and it’s more than halfway over by now. Oh well, there’s always a next time.

The two astronauts currently on the International Space Station are aged 54 and 53. The astronauts going to join them on Friday are 52, 48, 47 and 43.

When and why did the average age of astronauts increase? In the early years of spaceflight most astronauts seem to have been in their thirties (or even twenties).

I was supposed to have lunch with a Swedish MEP today, but she’s just emailed to say that her little twins have a tummy bug so she is staying in Stockholm. Quite right too.

And it gives me a better chance of catching some of the eclipse (from 1145 to 1330 here).

Well, I’ve just appointed my next intern, I hope – my current assistant works with me until the end of June, and normally I leave it until six to eight weeks before, but the right candidate popped up – someone I’d actually offered the position to last year, but it didn’t suit then. So let’s hope it works out. Hiring – even for unpaid positions – is the most difficult part of my job. (The most tedious part of my job is disposing of irregularly acquired vehicles. But let’s not go into that.)

Wow, thunder and lightning, very impressive.

And it was such a nice day earlier.

Doctor Who/A-Team.

Long queues, but moving quickly.

We (ie F and I) watched episodes 17-20 of the Thunderbirds DVD collection. I see one on-line source that claims these are actually episodes 20, 21, 22 and 9, but there you go…

The Man from MI5 – ought really to be MI6, surely, as its overseas? But never mind. A great episode for Lady Penelope who gets most of the action, plus a welcome appearance from Thunderbird 4 in full swing. Also the Andersons’ somewhat cheeky gesture to James Bond – the British secret agent who gets in trouble is called Bondson. Why he would call in the Tracys rather than get his own government to try and sort it out (and what the French authorities think of all this going on on the Riviera) – probably better not to ask.

Cry Wolf – a rather moral but good little story from Dennis Spooner: two little boys call in the Tracys as a hoax, and then it turns out that their father is in fact a secret agent under attack from The Hood with his mesmeric gaze. I am sure every viewer wanted to be Tony and Bob, given a personal tour of Tracy Island. Definitely a top episode. The Hood of course escapes to fight another day.

Danger At Ocean Deep – Crumbs, you couldn’t make this today. I was tallying the various elements which would be treated entirely differently now – Parker’s unashamed drink-driving, the dog food manufacturers casually dumping vast amounts of fungus in the Mediterranean, every single character (apart from the clean-livin’ Tracys) appears to smoke. Having said that, it was good to see Thunderbird 3 put through its paces for once (poor old John actually gets to do something for a change), and the scientific gimmick – the two chemicals which cause radio interference at medium range and a big explosion at short range – was pretty original. And the effect of the sinister clouds of OD-60 bubbling from the depths and then swirling over a (rather North Sea-looking) Mediterranean was well done. Though I would not fancy manoeuvring not one but two large rocket-powered craft (Thunderbirds 1 and 2) in the vicinity of so much explosive substances. A classic episode, but not in the sense of one that has aged well.

Move – And You’re Dead – not wildly convinced by this one. Alan Tracy turns out to have had a motor racing career. His attempt to return to it (portrayed, rather bizarrely, in crayon drawings) is resented by a rival, who rather than just shooting him on the spot, maroons him on a bridge with his grandmother and a bomb whose timer is set just in time for the family to arrive and rescue him (and despite the fact that the bomb’s ultrasonic mechanism will detect any noise, they seem able to move around a bit, faint, engage in long conversations etc without setting it off). Though I was interested by the hint of romance between Alan and Tin-Tin – does that fit into a wider story arc, I wonder?

Official shortlist. I know I am several days behind the curve here. Anyway, congratulations to , , , Ken, Paul and Cheryl all of whom I think do read me here from time to time (and apologies as well as congratulations to anyone else seeing this who I missed).

I don’t think he reads this, but in case he does, an extra shouted “Congrats” to Dominic Green, who I haven’t seen since student days in Cambridge, though we were in touch a few years ago, er, in 2000 now that I look at it.

Novels: Am stunned and surprised that Anansi Boys didn’t make it to the short list. Perhaps it came out too late in the year? Perhaps the reason I particularly liked it – that it marked a move onto slightly different territory for Gaiman – worked against it for most fans? Will obviously have to get hold of Old Man’s War and Spinthe other three.