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Two thoughts:
...I could have happily watched a whole spin-off series with David Savile and Jane Sherwin (and kept hoping, right to the end, that Lady Jennifer would reappear).
..."I thought I'd forgotten something important, but it's nothing." That line is absolutely devastating. |
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Chaff
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Jun. 22nd, 2009 @ 07:16 pm
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Via Greg Rucka
I just picked this up from a friend I had back at Vassar,Mike Solomon, and I reprint here in entirety:
If you're on Twitter, set your location to Tehran & your time zone to GMT +3.30. Iranian security forces are hunting for bloggers using location/timezone searches. The more people at this location, the more of a logjam it creates for forces trying to shut down Iranians' access to the internet. Cut & paste & pass it on. |
| » Potential T Shirt of the Day |
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Courtesy of Robert Hanks' Zoo in the Head:
"He who is not in some measure a pedant, though he may be a wise, cannot be a very happy man."
- William Hazlitt
Apr. 8th, 2009 @ 09:55 pm
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| » Y.A.s and ukuleles |
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I have a summer cold, which is playing havoc with my sleep patterns. Good news is that I've got two terrific proofs to read to wile away the hours. Here's an atmospheric video trailer for the first one, Carrie Ryan's "The Forest of Hands and Teeth". I'm a third of the way through, and it's absolutely first class. I haven't read a 'Young Adults' novel with such a delicious mood of impending dread hanging over it for a long time - probably not since Sabriel.
Philip Reeve has written a prequel to the Mortal Engines quartet. The irresistible opening line of Fever Crumb is "That morning they were making paper boys."
I'm seeing the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain next month, which led me to stumble on the Youtube phenomenon that is Julia Nunes, and her ukulele versions of "Build Me Up Buttercup" and Queen's "You're My Best Friend", amongst many others. Great fun, and, as Queen's very own Brian May has said, "a great communicator... a star in the making."
Mar. 22nd, 2009 @ 04:39 am
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| » Spotify Daisy Chain |
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So I went to see Bolt, which I enjoyed, and I was very taken with the song half way through, "Barking At The Moon". It sounded like one of the Dixie Chicks, but it's a singer new to me, Jenny Lewis.
Spotify has the eclectic and rather wonderful Rilo Kiley album "The Execution of All Things", from 2002; her collaboration with the Watson Twins, "Rabbit Fur Coat", and the very Natalie Merchant-esque Watson Twins album, "Fire Songs". I think these are all very good indeed (the Watson Twins performing the Cure song 'Just Like Heaven' sticks out particularly) and I'll probably buy Fire Songs and Rilo Kiley stuff 'for real' at some point in the future.
Mar. 18th, 2009 @ 01:21 am
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| » 39 and a bit |
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Thanks to everyone who posted birthday wishes on facebook and LJ. The time off from work was pretty relaxing; I caught up on some reading (Tom Rob Smith's Child 44, Michael Connelly's next one, The Scarecrow), a couple of movies (Bolt 3D, Slumdog Millionaire) and even a Who DVD (The Rescue).
I didn't get one of these:
A Paul Ross Canvas Print
..but I loved reading the reviews on Amazon (there are more reviews of this than there are of the final series of the Wire) - for instance:
"Don't buy this picture. It looks fine on the website, but the one they send you is upside-down. My wife hasn't stopped crying for a week. "
Mar. 18th, 2009 @ 12:43 am
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| » Book sleuth |
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One of the minor pleasures of work is that feeling of affirmation when you identify a book from the smalllest of leads. "A book by a woman, about a tattooist, from a couple of years ago" nagged at my brain for a couple of minutes and then I remembered the Booker Prize nominee The Electric Michelangelo.
( Describing the Nondescript )
Feb. 14th, 2009 @ 12:38 am
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| » A new way to waste time on the internet |
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I spent last night exploring Spotify a bit more. As this Guardian article says, the range of tracks available for free is huge. I'm constructing an 80s playlist and the only thing I wanted but couldn't find was Propaganda's sublime 'Duel'.
There's no buffering, the repertoire is so up-to-date that an album that my muso brother wants for his birthday is available, and the back catalogue includes all the XTC, Fairport Convention and, erm, William Shatner that I will ever need.
Jan. 18th, 2009 @ 05:12 pm
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| » Murder One, RIP |
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From the Bookseller Online. Never the same after they lost the SF and moved across the road to pokier premises. I first became aware of them with their splendid press ads in Time Out for signings - "Incident Report - Ian Rankin @ Murder One", that sort of thing. This must have been shortly after they opened, because I only read Time Out with any consistency during lunch breaks from the Tertiary College in '87 and '88.
A day out in the 90s to London had to include Forbidden Planet in New Oxford Street, a film at the Curzon in Shaftesbury Avenue, the Vintage Magazine Shop in Brewer Street, and then, side by side, Comic Showcase and Murder One in Charing Cross Road. I bought most of my Edmund Crispin collection second-hand from the table at the back of the shop, browsed the complete but pricey House of Stratus range of re-issues (mainly for Michael Innes' Inspector Appleby series) and bought American crime imports (Elmore Leonard, Randy Wayne White) as birthday presents for Dad. I could easily wile away an hour contemplating the Sherlockiana, the 'not for resale' proof copies and ponder which US SF import I should take a chance on (Nancy Kress' Beggars in Spain and Connie Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog were the two standouts).
In October 2000 I made a trip up to London specifically to snag an early release copy of The Amber Spyglass; this was a mistake, because I lost my wallet on the train (and somebody found it and used the card inside to buy booze and fags and an Indian takeaway in Brighton.) As it turned out they did indeed have pre-embargo copies on sale - the American hardback edition.
I never spoke to or was served by Maxim at the till, but was usually only a few feet away from him during my visits because his desk at the back was pretty much on top of the second-hand paperback table, which I used to scour for Green Penguin editions of Innes, Crispin and Nicholas Blake.
I'm off this weekend and I'll try and pop in one last time - that second hand copy of Glimpses of the Moon may finally have surfaced in the basement.
Jan. 5th, 2009 @ 06:39 pm
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| » Eleventh's Hour |
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Congratulations to Matt Smith, and kudos to BBC Wales for stage managing the whole thing brilliantly. He looked very good in the bits of 'Party Animals' on Confidential tonight, and the new executive producers have really sold me on his (never to be seen) audition.
Jan. 3rd, 2009 @ 06:21 pm
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| » Blake's 7 - The Early Years 1.2 & 1.3 |
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Courtesy of a work colleague, I've been able to listen to the latest 'officially licenced' Blake's 7 plays a couple of days before release. No spoilers, just general comments. I'm not au fait with the timeline of the rebooted audio series, but both are set in 2230, and in theory Avon, Travis and Anna Grant are in their early to mid 20s.
( Point of No Return )
( Eye of the Machine )
Nov. 27th, 2008 @ 12:06 am
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| » Obamamama |
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A work colleague received her absentee ballot for the US Election through the post today, and I'm afraid I was ridiculously excited at the sight of it. (All those other tickets on the paper not getting any media coverage whatsoever!) She's now trying to track down a US citizen in the town to counter-sign it so that it can get back to Janesville, Wisconsin in time for November 4th.
Oct. 21st, 2008 @ 06:02 pm
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| » Stourbridge Memories I |
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It's been a while since I've been to an archive television event, so I was very happy to get an invitation from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) parrot_knight to join him in a trip into the West Midlands for Kaleidoscope's 20th anniversary get-together.
( The guests. )
Sep. 8th, 2008 @ 09:49 pm
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| » West Wing Season 8, kinda |
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Oh dear, just when I thought my insomnia might ease off a bit, I find myself dipping in and out of the streaming coverage of the DNC courtesy of NBC News/msnbc. Edward Kennedy's probable swan song speech has been the highlight so far. Must resist the urge to stay up past 1 a.m, but I have to say that there's something soothing and easy on the eye about the DNC podium.
As I'm writing this I'm listening/watching the roll call - a bit like the Eurovision voting because the results are a foregone conclusion... New Mexico have yielded to Illinois who have yielded to New York, and, goodness me, Hillary herself is going to be announcing the electoral vote! UPDATE- No, she's moving for selection by acclamation!
...which they've just done, with a hilariously microscopic amount of time given to anyone who opposes the motion to shout "No"...
Aug. 27th, 2008 @ 11:24 pm
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| » The Name of the Game |
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"A shining doorway back to life; wondrous and multidimensional, and its light is so radiant even now that I almost faint in awe of its benevolent genius."
Another outstanding FreakyTrigger analysis which sent me straight on to YouTube.
Jul. 17th, 2008 @ 09:06 pm
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