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The Peacock ButterflyThursday, December 11. 2014
Thursday 11th December, brilliant china blue sky and gentle cloud outside my window, no sign of any Weather Bomb around here. Yesterday I was ill in bed, and plagued by cats, galloping over me and racing each other up and down the stairs: behaviour I tried to ignore until suddenly I heard Milo, under the bed, making his ferocious, unmistakeable, I'll kill you if you touch my prey noises. I investigated. Something dark fluttered furiously in his jaws; it escaped, it was a peacock butterfly. I caught the gallant creature in my cupped hands, and transferred it to a small box. It's looking fine this morning, alert and composed: I'm just about to take it outdoors, to a safe hibernating spot. You cut a vertical slit in the box, so the butterfly can get out, leave it some where unheated and out of the light and in the Spring, if all goes well, you find the box empty. Amazing things, butterflies. A lot tougher and more intelligent than they are given credit for.
There. Butterfly in a box is in the greenhouse, under a rack of seed trays, cool and dark. Up to London on Wednesday for the RSPB/Wildlife Trusts/League Against Cruel Sports Rally For Nature & their allies. Originally a Birders initiative, about the devastation wrought by the Shooting Industry, scope had widened as the thing got organised. "Many people here" said one of those responsible proudly, "have never been involved in a political action before". Hm, I wouldn't be too sure about that. I was sitting nexted to a LACS activist from Bridgwater, who didn't seem scared of the smell of gunpowder, or the crack of a shotgun. You don't have to be, if you're resisting the badger cull. As is often the case, many in the rank and file probably far more radical than most of their leaders. Here's the main points I took away with me: The Government must Protect the European Species and Habitats Directives. More important than ever under the very dubious recent appointments. "No country should secure a competitive advantage by trashing the environment". We don't need new laws, the wildlife and environmental laws we have, in Europe, are very good, balanced, professional. What we need is for the laws to be observed and protected. We call for A Full Public Inquiry into the Shooting Industry's practices, including wildlife crime. Shooting landowners who like to make money out of their rich cronies regard themselves as guardians of their grouse moors and the lowland woodlands (where caged pheasants are released). This is no longer the case. Besides devastating the populations of iconic birds of prey, shooting for sport is an unregulated industry these days, destroying fragile peat uplands, with calamitous effect; releasing staggering masses of caged pheasants every autumn, with a shocking, ever-increasing impact on the survival of our struggling wildbird and small mammal species. Caged pheasant rearing and release has been banned in the Netherlands (2002). Why shouldn't it be banned here? We want to see the landowners who employ the gamekeepers brought to book. We want to see existing laws enforced (the quote was that in a survey, 60% of wild bird hunters admitted they still used toxic lead shot even in protected areas.) We need the Well Being and Nature Act, and we need it to be a good one. "Every political party needs to play a part in rebuilding society's relationship with the Natural World. We need to defend the existing laws but we also need to wake up to the value of nature as the foundation of our quality of life" I was least impressed by the third heading. Yeah, it sounds hopeful, in the sense that an Act like that could be passed, by a new and eager government, I agree. But (unless we get that Green Party/UKIP coalition I'm praying for) they'd pass it knowing they'd got themselves a pretty bit of greenwash, and make sure it had no teeth. . . I've met the European Directives in my activism against proposals to frack for shale gas in West Sussex. They're impressive, I admire them very much. I think the Shooting Industry Practices inquiry could be as important to the public, if they knew the scale of what is happening, as the proposed sell off of the Forestry Commission a few years ago. I have access to "wild nature" within five or ten minutes (in the Brighton and Preston Cemetery) in the centre of Brighton. I've seen rewilding in central Manchester (where I come from). I know these things are possible. So never say die. Always keep trying. Interestingly, the soi-disant "Natural England", our lovely government's alleged "guardian of the natural world" was not represented, and did not get a single mention. And are even the Wildlife Trusts to be trusted? Some doubt about that. Some suggestions that the Trusts accept the guidance of the Shooting Industry and the Farming Industry far, far too readily. Reading The Golem and the Djinni, Helene Wecker. Debut novel. In many ways a lovely book. A well-characterised pair of mediaeval monsters, a golem from Yiddish Poland and a Djinni from the Ottoman Empire's Greater Syria, provide the frame for a big nostalgic travelogue of 1890s New York, with its patchwork of ancient cultures (all of them, including the culture of the ruling WASP caste, fairly inimical to women). Altogether too much starch, or stodge as we call it in my country, and the finale is a long, handwaving, and lumpy blur. But still cosy and enjoyable. And Jessica Cornwell The Serpent Papers. What is Jessica like? "Uber promotable!" it says here. Ouch! But believe me, you cannot judge a book by its cover, or an author by her publicists. More on this later. Signing Read and sign. Please. http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/65627 http://jubileedebt.org.uk/actions/ebola-drop-debt The Season Of Giving Oooh! My fuel allowance arrived. £200! Excellent. Have passed it straight on to Project Antifreeze, as I can afford to do that, unlike many people. & If you are in the same position, I advise you to do the same: but keep it local . . . More festive cheer: The Grasshopper's Child is back on Aamzon Kindle. The POD edition is put to bed, to be published (notional date!) 7th Feb 2015. Many thanks to all my amazingly generous and kind early readers including Kath Langrish. & finally, The Powerhouse, the last Ann Halam giveaway, will be free from amazon kindle on 19th and 20th December. Merry Christmas Ban Neonicotinoid Pesticides NowTuesday, December 2. 2014
I blame my Catholic Socialist, Socialist Catholic upbringing. Sometimes it happens, it even often happens that I set aside the causes that are really dear to my heart, I make them wait: No, it isn't about people. No, it isn't about saving the future, no, you can't place the living world above the people who live in it, and need to eat, and have places to live . . . But then finally I let myself get round to it, so here is my winter of 2014 BAN NEONICOTINOIDS NOW item at last. 'Five neonicotinoid dressed maize seeds, or 32 dressed oilseed rape seeds, are enough to kill a partridge', says the expert. The Soil Association is worried about bees, everyone's worried about the pollinators, but (see the reports linked below), the bees are only part of the problem.I bet you the same neonicotinoids are implicated, silently in the catastrophic decline of many, many native animals, including insectivorous mammals like this Norfolk hedgehog here. I used to see hedgehogs, they're not very elusive if they're around, often enough to know their numbers, in Cumbria, in Sussex, in Norfolk, and even in the centre of Brighton, were good enough, despite our modern world's dangers. No longer. Their disappearence (I nearly typed demise, which is not far off), no doubt has multiple causes, but I bet I'm right about the neonics. Skylarks are insectivorous too . . . The evidence of the pervasive toxicity of these pesticides is damning, at least as strong as the evidence that pesticides in the food chain were killing off our birds of prey, back in the nineteen sixties. And we turned that around, amazingly: so we could do it again. Why aren't we doing it? Because the corporations have grown so mighty that we can't say no?
http://www.soilassociation.org/wildlife/bees/beeresearch http://www.tfsp.info/worldwide-integrated-assessment/ http://www.soilassociation.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=lEFGyyWI1Ws%3d&tabid=439 Watching . . . Not very impressed by the final, sloppy, loose-ends littered episode of House Of Cards,, hardly more entertaining than Ian Richardson smirking off to the Palace . . . until Gabriel kindly pointed out that weasel word Trilogy, on the front page at Netflix. Okay, we're old, we miss things, so now we're waiting in hopes of being enthralled again, and in hopes this isn't another of those cases where a good thing gets squeezed too dry. Not all that madly impressed by Mr Turner, either. Mallard by name, mallard by nature, eh? Clearly this is the way things were, but the great man's habit of routinely grabbing female flesh of suitably inferior status & rogering her as complacently as he would take a bite from a veal and ham pie was not endearing. Interesting to compare with Effie Grey: although you have to sympathise with poor Turner being faces with the lurid colours and hopeless drawing of the Pre-Raphaelites, I kind of began to see how his modernism (the modernism of the age of revolution) could pall, which of course it did. Palled and palled away to mist. Comparing the two John Ruskins, I'm not sure, but I felt Mike Leigh had it wrong with his infantile fop. Although it's a long time since I read anything by Ruskin, I know he had power & I think the twisted bully in Effie Grey was nearer the mark. Very much impressed by Ida. This is SUCH a beautiful film, such clarity, such economy of storytelling images: & absolutely amazing, as many people have said, to know that this is entirely digital. And a story from the past, but timeless as the light on wintery Poland (unfortunately). What do you do, after the genocide? Years after, however long after, it's never going to go away. Good article from the director about the making of the movie here (if a little bit cocky): I have no idea what anyone sees/saw in Interstellar; possibly because although I never demand that the science in science fiction has to make sense, it's sadly impossible for me to get excited about concepts like "time dilation" or "the fifth dimension", whether sense is made of them or (as in this case) not, on their own merits as cool-sounding bizarre science words . . . Or possibly because it was boring, very much too long, & hogwash. But we finally watched Guardians of the Galaxy the other night, and thought it was pretty good. A kind reader of this blog provides a link to the comments of someone more annoyed than I was (or with more time on their hands?) http://www.cinemablend.com/new/4-Big-Reasons-Why-Interstellar-Huge-Disaster-68087.html You can tell this is a real photo of my garden in December, as I have not had the wit or the imagination to make our holly berry display look more impressive. Yes, it's true, I am a pleb, I never had any doubt. On the other hand, a judge who believes police officers lack the ability to lie with flair and conviction really should not be in post. It's Tuesday 2nd of December, by the way, and for a wonder it's almost cold. I've just uploaded what I sincerely hope is the final version of The Grasshopper's Child, and the ebook should be back next week; I'll let you know. Ann Halam giveaway this month, Dismal Weather Anselm Kiefer's Lead Cathedral; My Fracking Round UpSunday, November 23. 2014
Rain all day, heavy rain, drizzly rain, a dismal mild climate change Sunday as the year draws to an end. We do not yet need the heating, but our new dehumidifier hums all night in the basement. I feel penned up, this was the first weekend in a long time we could have gone walking, but not a chance. Went up to London on Friday to see the Anselm Kiefer Retrospective at the RA; having done our prep by watching the Imagine feature on the artist the night before (the staggering humungous scale of his operations had a somewhat chilling effect on me). Very impressive exhibition however, and not too crowded at all, but I still ended up feeling most moved by the "Attic" pictures, that I first saw in the Liverpool Tate many, many years ago, and immediately co-opted into White Queen, my London-based, Wagnerian alien invasion story. (Interestingly, the "Attic" picture I quoted, a copy of which hangs in Braemar's house, and gives Johnny a premonition of Liebestod, Parsifal I was the only print available on sale when we exited through gift shop. Maybe she bought it here! I didn't: just felt a little spooked, by a ghost of the fictional future.) But also, okay, I admit, the mesmerising Aschenblume, and the Shulamith and Margarethe, and the Black Sunflower ones; and watching people make the alarm go bleep by peering too closely at the embedded diamonds in the leaden dirt (I forget the titles of that series, oddly enough). And Eis und Blut (pictured), which got me wondering, is that deliberately meant to be a leafless Linden tree, directly behind Kiefer in his father's uniform>. Or am I overdoing the references to the masters thing? (Lindenbaum, the Schubert song "that became a folksong" is Thomas Mann's leitmotif for the 1914-8 War, in The Magic Mountain) But move over, I kept thinking. Move over, Holocaust, we are entering uncharted territory now, you are no longer the terrible, absolute, unrepeatable, high water mark you were. Our damnation is not in the past, it's engulfing this new century, and the huge mass of Keifer's evidence weighs against his ethereal promise of hope like a lead catherdral against a feather . . . Installations of piled up paving stones, with a coulis of red grit, did nothing for me, however. My Fracking Round Up Still awaiting the verdict on Balcombe residents' High Court judicial review (held on 6th/7th November) http://www.law-now.com/DirectMail/%7B1ECADDB5-4ED9-4AE0-BF9F-4389D32A6026%7D_shalegasupdatenov14.htm On the other hand, Celtique Energie's appeal against West Sussex County Council (who turned down their application to drill at Wisborough Green, back in July) has now been lodged, and you are cordially invited to send in renewed objections (or to withdraw previous objections) before December 19th by email: firstname.lastname@example.com or by post (3 copies) to: Alan Ridley The Planning Inspectorate 3/26 Hawk Wing Temple Quay House 2 The Square Bristol BS1 6PN Given the government's current leaked plans to drill everywhere! In the whole world!; their support for Ineos's monster raid on Central Scotland (devolved Scotland got anything to say about this??), and determination to remove all forms of regulation or local authority, there is hardly a cat in hell's chance that Greg Davies won't get his way, but weight of numbers is always worth something. You'll probably want to refer to the original application and objections, which you can find here: http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/living/environment_and_planning/oil_gas_exploration_and_frack.aspx Why do I keep banging on about fracking, when there is so much else to complain about? I don't know, maybe because I started? Because I want to save the future? Because the need to halt climate change is real to me, and a passion for extreme energy extraction on the same page as "Climate Change Fund recieves $9.3bn pledge" just sets my teeth on edge? (not as irrational as it sounds, however.The trick is in that word "pledge"). Or possibly even the snake-oil lies being sold to believers, in contrast with the miserable, short-term yield that's even possible from UK shale gas and tight oil reserves? "The government is increasingly indistinguishable from the fracking industry it's supposed to be regulating." Caroline Lucas is dead right. If 75% of fossil fuel reserves need to stay in the ground, there is no question the UK's shale gas and tight oil, derisory in quantity, corruptly financed, brutally destructive of the countryside, of the economics of renewable energy, and of the development of clean alternatives to petroleum based products, belongs near the top of the list. Meanwhile, the skylark and the lapwing are on the Red List, can you imagine that, no more skylarks? And the hedgehogs too, so many humble, familiar commensals of ours, in this land, on this earth, just vanishing, and what is to be done? (there's something to done: on which more later...) But it's dark outside my window, and the cats seem to think I should be heading downstairs. Glad to see another healthy response to my November Ann Halam giveaway, there's one more to come, dates to be announced. And finally, Amazon Anonymous has an action for you, boycott Amazon for your present-buying, this Christmas, and tell them you're doing it, to help them to become a better employer. I felt I could make the pledge without being too much of a hypocrite, as I personally only sell, I don't buy, and it does say Kindle usage at your discretion . But if you join me, spare a thought for those many obligate Amazon partners, the writers (including me) of ebooks and print books, and make sure you do keep buying books and ebooks elsewhere! Happy New YearThursday, November 13. 2014
Marking the change of the year a little late, we were in Durham last week for a squeezed down autumn holiday: a wet, mild couple of days in an apartment right down on the riverside. Mainly to see the cathedral, which Peter had never seen, and I remembered as amazing; glimpsed on a dark and rainy night in November 2000 when I was up here (by train) for a North East Books Festival as Ann Halam, in the middle of the worst floods. My, I had problems getting home, but it was pretty interesting, although very cold and wet, so I didn't really mind. Nothing had changed, the great sacred cavern with its amazing massive thousand year old pillars very thrilling and mysterious to enter on All Souls' Night. Faure's Requiem at Evensong, and then we walked about, recalling our dead; bringing them to mind, (& avoiding a student Pub Run). Durham town centre is relentlessly generic now, and we didn't find much else to do (very poorly researched trip, we hadn't noticed it would be the closed season), except to visit the Durham University Oriental Museum, a perfect gem of a place. I loved the Korean section, ancient and modern; also home of the famous boxwood Servant Girl, maybe the most beautiful single Ancient Eygptian work of art I have ever seen, 18th Dynasty of course; highly unconventional. What a nice face she has.
The Botanic Garden is where I found out about crinoid marble. Durham cathedral is about to cash in its World Heritage Site First Class tokens btw, and explode into huge new shiny visitor's centres and beautifully restored monastic halls and I don't know what, so we got there just in time. Look out for the beautiful crinoid marble, esp in the North aisle, slender black glossy stems, blossoming in white frost flowers of fossilised Northumbrian sea-lilies. Tired out after finishing my talk for Kent Anthropology department last night, I'll leave my latest fracking round up comments etc for next time. Looking Forward to . . . Reading The Goshawk again: in preparation for Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk. The first time I saw H is for Hawk advertised, and learned that goshawks like to play, I thought I'd go straight out and buy it, same as I did when I saw Otter Country. But after a few more double page spreads, all going on about how it's really about someone losing her father, and being devastated, and the mourning process . . . I decided to reserve it from the library instead. I'm 8 of 69 at the moment. I first read The Goshawk (which is interrogated by the modern austringer in H is for Hawk) when I was fifteen; thrilled because I'd loved The Sword In The Stone and Mistress Masham's Repose (not mad about the rest of his Arthur epic, however), and it was rare, and my mother had found it for me: and accepted T H White's foray into austringery (sp?) on his own terms, because what did I know? I now accept, with relief, that it is a bizarre and cruel book, but still I think worth a revisit, for old time's sake Seeing and not-seeing . . . Yesterday I followed the BBC live coverage of the Rosetta mission, what an absolutely amazing fear, that little bug, leaping onto the back of a flying comet; beyond the orbit of Mars . . .Fantastic. & from the sublime to the ridiculous, I have booked tickets to see Interstellar tomorrow night. I didn't plan to go near it (stick to Supercomics, mate), but then I got tempted to read the reviews on IMDb & they were so hilarious, and the negative ones so laugh out loud exasperated funny, I had to give it a whirl, in their honour. Probably won't go to see The Imitation Game though; it's just too familiar, that story. I'll catch it on tv or Netflix later. But tonight, the last episode of Kevin Spacey's House Of Cards. Which is brilliant, despite some slackening of tension in the mid-term. Loved the penultimate two episodes. Loved Robin Wright's implacable Lady Macbeth turn. And how will it end? I am happy to say I do not know. (know how the rather silly Ian Richardson one ended, obviously, but not this, and nobody is allowed to tell me). Grey Skies, Goodbye SummertimeSunday, October 26. 2014
Sunday 26th October, grey skies, goodbye Summertime, the garden put to bed, foxgloves and meadow flowers sown for the spring, the holly tree has fifteen or so redding berries (why so few survivors, must try to find out what I'm doing wrong). Sad beautiful discovery, a silvery, prickly dead stickleback floating in the cup of a red maple leaf. I hope the others are okay. We rarely see them esp not at this season. Autumn has just begun, and should be nearly over . . . Must try to make it out onto the downs or to the woods again soon. Went up to see Electra at the Old Vic last night, excited by passionate reviews, and found the show disappointing. Kristin Scott-Thomas does a good shrieking, stubborn, ageing adolescent, "absolute in grief", but she seemed stripped of gravitas, and the play stripped of tension. Maybe I prefer my Ancient Drama either rewritten, or left as is, not just vaguely tweaked about. Or maybe it was just an off night. Ah, well, caveat emptor. Diana Quick as Clytemnestra took the best part, in my opinion.The best of the evening was walking along the Southbank, watching the crowds mill and drift, taking the uncannily lukewarm October night air. I don't have any use for the London Eye myself, but it does look eerily pretty, inching around up there in the dark.
My Fracking Round Up Predictably, the West Sussex County Council debate on whether to declare themselves a frack free zone, which I did not attend, was a damp squib. How could they take on Cuadrilla? Already ensconced at Balcombe? Just not going to happen. Apparently they have resolved, almost as if this wasn't supposed to be their statutory position, to consider each application on its merits . . . Predictably, Celtique Energie are contesting the WSCC planning committee's July 22nd decision to refuse their application to drill at Wisborough Green, and we'll have to wait and see on that one. Predictably, not only is the change in the trespass law going through, but with enthusiastic additons from Baroness Kramer the Lib-Dem peer with the good fracking connections. Predictably, Nature magazine has discovered that fracking won't help the climate change problem . . . I'm tired of that word. Can't remember when I last saw the qualification used in a positive sense. Yet I still have a feeling we could win this battle, one NO THANKS AND HERE'S WHY at a time, and maybe even more than locally. But the war? No, nothing like. We lose the war, and the next generations live with the consequences. https://news.vice.com/article/the-end-of-fracking-is-closer-than-you-think http://rt.com/business/198880-bp-gdf-northsea-oil/ Reading (My library books) The Abomination, Jonathan Holt. Venice, police procedural with two strong female leads; the political dimension of a stunningly corrupt state, and the evil machinations of the US military. Thriller addict that I am, I thought for a while I was going to like this a lot better than the "Millenium Trilogy" it is supposed to rival, even if the online world element is very irritatingly handled, and the eponymous "abomination" is neither shocking or particularly relevant. Not quite: the last third or so of the book loses all chiaroscuro, and with it all illusion of depth, but still, a good fast read. I'll look out for the next episode. The Girl In The Road Monica Byrne. A travelogue road trip around India and Africa, in a day after tomorrow world where no we didn't get around to doing anything about global warming, but yes the technology did go on getting more and more marvellous. Don't be fooled by the cute Rough Guide details, and pay attention when our free and easy heroine casually tells you, around page two, that she is psychotic. Of course she's psychotic, we're all psychotic, we are brutally murdering our own, literally our own, flesh and blood. NB if you don't like magical realism, walk away now. An impressive debut, full of wonderful invention but perhaps not meeting the criteria for positive, corporate-compliant sf, in territory where older "Western" writers might fear to tread these days. Recommended Nice that quite a few people took me up on the free Ann Halams offer this month. November's giveaway will be Crying In The Dark and The Fear Man, dates to be announced. Did I say that bringing out a POD book all on my own was a breeze? I was wrong about that, but luckily I have had friends to help me along. The Grasshopper's Child print edition is now making real progress, and I should soon have proof copies to send out. NB this means the current ebook will be going off line, but it will be back, same price, with the print version revisions. And Finally Usually I just delete spambot comments before they see the light of day. Poor things, that is their fate, unless and until their humans teach them how to read. But this one was too cute, so here it is, (somewhat redacted): Author: underwear size chart calvin klein: In reply to Home By Christmas It is a clever thought to be cautions with your money when you'll strive a new style of underwear. HSBC The Frackers' BankTuesday, October 14. 2014
Tuesday 14th October, grey skies, feeling chilly. Up to London again on Saturday (sigh, this anti-fracking is a demanding hobby!) for the Global Frackdown action, an early morning trip that involved sitting in Golden Square, staring at the two fine hornbeams I know so well, and the blurred nondescript Georgian monarch (I think) in Roman fancy dress: watching various bods assemble, and guessing before we saw them morph which of them were here to carry a mock-up drilling rig around Central London, and which were just passing by. Time for a coffee at the best place in Soho Soho Grind, along with several officers of the law: confirming we were in the right area. &off we went, working well & feeling welcome, to preach on HSBC occupied street corners. Charles Metcalfe from Balcombe, an impassioned speaker from Romania; a highly articulate Algerian, citing the neo-colonial aspect of Total (French oil company) and Chevron (French oil company), exporting to a previous French colony a dirty, doomladen and destructive activity banned in La Belle France. But who are we after today It's HBSC, the frackers' global goto bank of choice. There was someone recording footage for an Asian station said we were 20,000 strong, Well, I wouldn't go quite that far but we were visible, we snagged a lot of support from the passing populace, and the police were wonderful.
And thence to Parliament Square, where the STOP TTIP rally seemed to hover on the outskirts of a massive and totally peaceful, turn out of London-based Kurdish communities, gathered in grief and fear, and in solidarity with Kobani . . Anti-fracking protest has traction now (not the same as power, good lord no!) Stop TTIP Stop CETA not so much. It'll be a while, another year or so, I'd say, before the protestors manage to wake up the people on the street. Never mind the featherbrained politicians (Vince Cable???) allegedly overseeing these secret treaties. Is there that long? Or will we look around, and find all the horrible implications of those Investor State Dispute Settlement Clauses actual and irreversible? The "Emma Thompson" Effie Gray last night. Came over as a little bit slight in the end because so long, and because John Ruskin (Greg Wise) such a blank that even his (genuine) staggeringly spiteful lines couldn't make him interesting. But very beautiful to look at, and sumptuously coloured. Just wondered slightly, did Effie really have an English accent? Very good news about the Parliament vote on Palestinian Statehood by the way. Not A Rocketship In Sight: An Evening With English PENWednesday, October 8. 2014
Wednesday 8th October, torrential rain in the morning, rolls of thunder, clearing now, I've been staring out of my window watching the trees tossing their branches about, just happy that autumn seems to have arrived at last, though all the leaves I can see are still green (or dark red, in the case of the Maple). Did I mention that the squirrels are back? They vanished, after two-doors-up had a family of the little darlings evicted from their loft. (We have never had the courage to ask by what means). Our crocus corms were unmolested, bird tables were for the birds. Then, at last, a brave outlier or two appeared. The other day our neighbours down the hill came home to find Summer and Buddha (terrier and cat) leaping around the house, beside themselves with pride and joy. Why? Turns out they'd left a liittle furry corpse displayed on the patio. Cue adult consternation, weeping children, shocked, silent teens, a solemn burial. But I bet that'll be the only lesson necessary. Squirrels will now be back to normal levels of insolence and impunity.
Not A Rocketship In Sight Science Fiction the natural home of literary activists? Huh? The only activism I've ever seen at work in sf, unless you count active involvement in nefarious US government warfare and weapon projects, is feminism, and that revolution wasn't a resounding success: more a case of the wiser rebels heading off to found a new colony, and those who stayed behind going underground. Dear PEN, are you perhaps, and understandably, confusing "activism" with "writers expressing common sense opinions"? But my mistake, the discussion wasn't about taking action, it was about ideas; and about generally, helplessly, sharing the problems of Cassandra. You tell people, in the course of your story, something bxxxding obvious (eg, global warming is a real threat to our civilisation, and maybe it's already too late), and they react as if you invented the danger on purpose to annoy them; or even created it, you pinko tree-hugging scare-monger . . . But how refreshing to see what a good, varied crowd had turned up. Almost as if the barrier between science fiction and proper literary activities had become porous at last: as melty as the barriers between all the other genres. Maybe it was the Loncon effect, maybe I've just not been paying attention (except I have) but I felt I was sitting between two boddisattvas (Nick Harkaway and James Smythe), neither of them women, but you can't have everything: who had achieved the impossible quest, succeeding where the New Wave, Feminism, the Cyberpunks, and who knows how many other heroic expeditions, had struggled, left a few footprints and fallen back, defeated. It's not that I don't like rocketship fantasies. I like some of them very much. It's not that I don't take fairytales seriously: I do. It's the exclusiveness/exclusion thing. I don't like it, I never did. Time will tell, but I went away strengthened in my determination not to have SF on the spine of my books ever again (okay, an easy enough rash vow when you're a sixty plus female feminist, and you don't live in the US, but it means something to me). Since Spirit came out, I haven't tried to get another sf contract, and I'm not going to. One day, when I've tied up all my loose ends, and Ifinally have a new book to offer, something that doesn't have to have SF on the spine, I'll take it to market and we'll see. Meanwhile, the DIY route. Publication date for The Grasshopper's Child POD coming soon: there have been a few issues. Ironically, one of them was identifying a publisher, as Create Space doesn't accept that responsibility. Luckily it wasn't hard. Watching House of Cards, the US, Kevin Spacey version. I'm finding it addictive, but gradually getting interference from memories of the 1980s version, which I did not like. Is there more gravitas to the story when the prize is getting to be the ci-devant Leader of the Free World, rather than the PM of the UK? Or do I just like the US actors better? Especially Robin Wright, very cool turn as the Lady Macbeth character. Black farce. Looking Forward To Activism of the active kind: Global Frackdown, 11am Saturday 11th October and Parliament Square 2.00pm Saturday afternoon, opposing the TTIP. Gabriel Jones and Marianne Wright, premiering a new song cycle at St Nicolas Church Dyke Road Brighton, Wednesday 22nd October, lunchtime 12.30pm &Marianne's opera debut is the week after, in Britten's Turn Of The Screw; more on that later And Kristin Scott-Thomas in Electra at the Old Vic, which apparently is the original script, so for my homework I will have to look up Sophocles on line Karlheinz Stockhausen, PEN and the Solar SystemThursday, October 2. 2014
October 2nd, a pleasantly cool morning after a horribly warm, clammy night. Orion and Sirius in the landing window on nights that seem clear, but are hazy. A white anemone tangling in the branches of our giant bonsai pine seems the right keynote for autumn, but really the garden still full of vivid colour: cosmos and verbena, gauzy showers of gaura and the little pearly yellow lotus buds still rising and opening in the goldfish pool. What amazing luck! says the BBC news. The driest September since records began! And almost the warmest. I'm such a curmudgeon, all I can think of is tree disease, the mass-death of the world's non-human animals announced this week, and the floods. I mean, right now, the floods of people, at our gates. (A prison fence around Calais, to keep them out. Just like the Mexican border! How Breaking Bad cool of us).
99.3 Saturday, we finally got round to visiting Shrinking Space's Digital Brighton show : a rare example of Peter and Gwyneth thinking must go and doing nothing, and yet actually getting round to it in time. In a huge dank hangar, graffitied like an underground car park, but which I think used to be a covered market, pairs of stools set by roof pillars dotted the endless grey concrete floor, some far in the distance, some close at hand. We get given headsets and MP4 players, and a quick induction by way of a very sketchy map. We wander. Disappointed at first: I never read the advertising properly, I'd been expecting an update on NASA's "music of the spheres" (sound transcription of the radio emissions of the different planets), and instead I was getting human voices, telling me solar system exploration things, I slowly became hooked. Interestingly, I didn't like Earth, it was too mundane (the Moon was a bit mundane too), and I didn't like the Sun, it was too big. I liked Venus and Mercury best of the planets, and Enceladus best of the moons, because it was most active, but it was difficult to hear Mercury: the Sun kept eating it. I liked Voyager a lot, because it was so thrillingly quiet, so mysterious; and I got confused by Rosetta. Remote embodiment note: All the voices (apart from Earth and Moon) use the second person plural, uniformly, without a second thought. It's not a device out there, it is we. It is the people who are running the experiment, themselves. They have made a transition. How fitting that the vast exhibition space was cold, drab and had no kind of atmosphere. Ash Dieback It's time I updated on this. So, the phony war is over. The real size of the invasion is emerging. There are currently 849 confirmed cases in the mainland UK and Northern Ireland. Do not be afraid, says the forestry commission site, like a doctor telling you what stage your cancer is at (not really, but it's rather the tone). These new figures represent better surveying, not new cases. I'm not afraid, I'm past that, but oh, I hate that horrible big outbreak in Lancashire, where I come from. I knew only God (ie, some level of genetic variant immunity) could save Sussex, the geography says so. But I was hoping . . . Anyway, it's not new bad news, right? Nor is it new bad news that we have more elms succumbing to Dutch Elm Disease this year, here in Fortress Brighton and Hove. It's expected that losses will continue: just the normal noises of the 21st century. A hiss and a sigh, a crackle of disembodied humanity. Reading Fred Vargas and William Ryan, I only just discovered "Fred Vargas", lucky me. I think she's great. William Ryan isn't such a star, but I've just read both his books, police procedurals set in Stalin's Terror, and liked them both. Sounds bizarre, but it works. I also like his website, and the way he lists his sources, like a proper historian indeed; and as if people would like to know, like to find out for themselves. That's always been my attitude too. Plus, and by no means least, James Smythe's The Machine, and Nick Harkaway's Angelmaker; in preparation for my date with them at the Southbank Centre on Monday 6th. I've cast myself as the critic on this panel, but if you are reading this, dear co-panellist writers, don't worry! I'm reaching into my activist-writer and critic past, with a piece from Imagination/Space. Congratulations And finally. . . belated congratulations to Gabriel Jimi Jones, who has handed in his Masters dissertation "Irrational Nuances: Stockhausen and the Performer in Klavierstucke I-XI". Fascinating stuff, almost spooky in a way, but maybe I better just hope he never reads the story I've handed in for Lynne Jamneck and T.S. Joshi's Gothic Lovecraft anthology... I've spent the week wearily fixing the mistakes in my first proof of The Grasshopper's Child in solid form. It's coming along, this project, but now I also have to get Barry back, to fix the cover. Don't hold your breath. For Your Diaries: October 11th . . . Is coming up fast. To TTIP or not TTIP? Me, I think I'll go to London and make it a combo: catch the GLOBAL FRACKDOWN event first. More on this later. The Art of ProtestThursday, September 25. 2014
. . . deserves an entry of its own.
Thursday 25th September, another relentlessly sunny day. Sometimes artists scandalise their public without meaning to. You're just doing your best, trying to get to the heart of things, and suddenly the Salon critics, the very people whose approval is essential for your survival, are absolutely furious! Often, often, at least for the last hundred and fifty years, they've been doing it on purpose: pour épater le bourgeois, a game that went off and began to stink a long time ago, to my mind. I am so tired of hearing that some Turner Prize nominee, artist, or work of art's whole fabulolus claim on my attention is that he, she or it is disturbing, challenging, and so on. To disturb, to challenge is the collateral damage of great art. If it's all you've got, dear, why don't you just put a slug in my sandwich? Sometimes angry, grotesque and rebarbative art is scandalised instead of scandalising; shocked instead of shocking. Picasso's Guernica: the artist's angry, immediate reaction to a Fascist bombing raid on a Basque town was instantly, and remains, a potent anti-war icon, and focus for art-activism. And then there's Protest Art; something different again. Art being put to use by activists (who happen to be artists), as a means of changing the world. There's a lot of it about, more than you'd think. At the Climate March on Sunday, besides admiring the banners and placards, I talked to people who'd been witnesses at bp or not bp's Deepwater Horzion performance (first staged July 2010) in the Great Court at the British Museum. I looked at the photos, and wondered if bp or not bp were in danger of getting themselves shortlisted for the Turner Prize. Why not? A choice that could defintely enhance the Turner's reputation. I've seen plenty of protest material in art museums. And notoriously, candidates for the notorious prize are nominated by the jury members*. They can choose whoever they like, and protest has been judged to be Turner prizeworthy before now (Mark Wallinger, 2007) As I was leaving Westminster, a kind woman carrying a box of fortune cookies, obviously seeing how tired and hungry I looked, stopped and gave me a cookie. I can't show you the cookie, because I ate it, but when I checked the small print, I realised I'd been Protest Art bombed by the Belarus Free Theatre. And that's all about the Climate March. It was an enriching experience, as you can tell. Much to think about, much to follow up, lots of art to seek out. You missed this event? Well, that's a shame but you have nothing to worry about. The one day Climate Summit in NYC** achieved absolutely zilch (I'm sorry, did I say zilch? I meant, non-binding pledges, of course). There'll be plenty more marches. *the public are supposed to be able to nominate, but I wouldn't take that seriously if I was you; the Director of the Tate is rumoured to have a casting vote: wouldn't know about that. **Okay, the Chinese. I grant you the Chinese. I put my faith in them (in Bold As Love) not because I admire their methods, but because they have a history (so to speak) of taking the long view. It's what we need right now. Maybe they'll come through. Eventually. Climate MarchMonday, September 22. 2014
Monday 22nd September, yet another relentlessly sunny day. Remarkable turn out on the Climate March in London yesterday, estimated 40,000; (who's estimate, I don't know. If it was the police that means 80k in real numbers, good grief what must the streets of NYC (est 400,000) have been like? Maybe they do the estimating protesters thing differently over there. Much more about the event I can't really tell you: having obediently gathered in Victoria Embankment Gardens for the pre-show, said a prayer written by Desmond Tutu and tied a label on a tulip tree. We all then spent about an hour and a half kettled by Greenpeace and their polar bear, and the sheer unexpected weight of numbers. By the time my contingent reached Westminster, the rally done and gone, no Vivienne Westwood, no giraffes, no zebras, nothing. Ah, well. Splendid array of placards and banners, anyway. Confess a weakness for the avaaz one with David Cameron awful fetching in a sort of Game of Thrones* fur cloak and broadsword ensemble; also loved the brave philodendron accompanying the There Is No Planet B team, and the very cute baby from Lancashire, who was Fracktose Intolerant. Clean Energy for London now! Why the hell not? It was an outing. It was fun. Effective? Don't ask me. But if the battle to save the future is lost, rather than being another of those damned near run things we specialise in, it won't be because I was too selfish, cynical, or stupid to stand up and be counted.
Progress Report on The Grasshopper's Child POD I finished the cover with Barry over the weekend, and now the grasshopper is green, an important point, for which thank you Gabriel (actually there are five of them all told, but you can only see one here). First proof copy has shipped. The only bad news is that this trade paperback type book will be as expensive for the buyer as mainstream tpbk, whereas I can make my ebooks very cheap. POD has no economy of scale. I wonder what it's going to look like in real life? They warn you it can take several tries to get it just right. I must say, this is far more fun than getting published old style. If you like playing games, that is. *smart dress and repulsive ultra violence (white collar kind) a speciality! 2015!Monday, September 15. 2014
Monday 15th September, a clearing overcast, and yet another day when it isn't going to rain around here. Went to see the last night of Ben Power's Medea at the Duke of York's yesterday (not live: 'encored' from the National Theatre). A great amenity, and you only have to sit through ten minutes of NT fundraising, which is your own fault for turning up early. NB it's a version, not all that close to Euripides!; but I'm fine with that sort of thing. Helen McCrory excellent in the name part, and Jason impressive as the imposing, successful man who's so good at compartmentalising, putting the brutal piracy and all that business in Colchis out of his mind; astonished that the foreign wife he needs to discard is cutting up rough. The type of man I would say, if I was a savage or an Ancient Greek, which I am not, who positively calls down on himself (and others) the unstoppable, black, implacable force of a Medea. Great music too. Not so totally keen on the obligatory 'modern psychoanalytical terms' rationalisation provided in the intro.
A bit of a surprise to walk out of that into the Sunday afternoon sunshine. 2015! And so we're here at last, the Referendum. Let me make this clear: I hope the answer is NO & I still think it probably will be NO; as in the end the voters will do a 'Neil Kinnock', or a 'Bush Second term' on us. On the other hand, why shouldn't Scotland say YES? England is a rotten borough, and I'm not all that convinced by the 'hard economic arguments'. The welfare state is punishingly expensive? So is having an unhealthy number of disgustingly rich people on board, and a 'government' indifferent to anything but their own personal financial advantage. Free University tuition is expensive? Student loans have proved a ridiculous waste of money. I could go on, but I digress. I DO NOT think the Dissolution of the United Kingdom is a good idea. I didn't think it was a good idea back in 1999, when I wrote Bold As Love: I just saw that it was, eventually a likely future outcome. Little did I know how near future it might be; and how bizzare, (you couldn't make it up!), to think that if what I don't want to happen, happens, this week 2015 really might be the Year Of Dissolution. My best wishes, neighbours, and forgive my English cheek (esp in Band of Gypsys). Do what you think best, as your conscience dictates, and good luck for whatever future you choose. Reading Karen Joy Fowler, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves . Excellent. I was completely wrapped up in this book, and devoured it in a sitting. Only thing, I thought the storytelling ended too soon. I wanted the reunion, when the sisters meet again, for the first time, to be part of the story. Just that moment, no need to go further, let the rest be (as it is) righteous and necessary footnotes. (And see, no spoilers! You'd better not follow the link, though). and looking forward to Haruki Murakami Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, but I can't read it until after Gabriel has read it, I can only admire the very beautiful cover. Watching Two Days, One Night Another movie from the Dardennes brothers, author of 'Kid With A Bike', which I also loved, but I liked this one more. So good at passionate drama about ordinary things happening to ordinary people. What I liked best about this movie was the way I spent most of it thinking, oh no, this isn't going to work. It's no use, Sandra isn't coping. If she wins this cruel little game and gets her job back, she won't get her life back, which is what she's really lost. It'll be awful, terrible, she won't last a day . . . But the Dardennes were ahead of me. I can't tell you how or why (even though, after visiting with the Ancient Greeks, i'm cfeeling more annoyed than usual with that 'spoiler' concept). But it totally does work. And the new Scott and Bailey, which has returned with the female trio, via a bit of handwaving, safely unchanged. Still entertaining, but dear me, what a lot of goody goodies they are at GMP these days, it's like a girls' boarding school. And completely blase about their disintegrating role in society. Like, it's perfectly natural and right that just encountering the police, just in passing, (never mind, god forbid, while exercising your legal right to peaceful protest) instantly strips you of all your purely conditional civil rights. Speaking of which . . . The Climate Change March in London next Sunday. Tired of hearing about tipping points? Spotted that Climate Change is the greatest threat around to human rights, including yours? Horrified by the price paid by the most vulnerable, while the rich and heedless carry on regardless? Or just frightened of that fragmented World War Three thing? I know I won't be alone, but hope that this time there will be a lot of people. Come and join me. Something Special About This Place . . .Saturday, September 13. 2014
Sunday 14th September, yet another sunny day emerging from another misty morning, and the garden having a late warm flourish (or maybe the first of the late flourishes, who knows with the weather these days). Bounteous garden foraging this year, plums in jars, a kilo of plums soaking in whisky, stewed plums with everything, and with the dregs Peter made several pots of slightly sticky jam. Masses of pears, still on the tree, and masses of August tomatoes, regrettably enjoyed mostly by the slugs. Another refulgent Super Full Moon last week, rather denting the excitement, but a few nights after TTIP, in a clear sky in the early hours, I saw Orion sneaking into the landing window. The last of summer can't last forever now.
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Well, it was indeed a hard sell on the London Road. Just try saying all that, before your target has vanished beyond the 99p store. But I think I've got a handle on the problem now (NB there's another of these agreements sneaking around in secret, called CETA, with the same toxic issues), and the problem is something called the Investor/State Dispute Settlement clause. Devised to protect companies whose assets have been appropriated or destroyed by some rogue state's latest revolutionary government, the ISDS clause allows an injured company to bypass the laws of the State where the injury has occurred, and take their case to a 'neutral' arbitration panel. The panel is neutral in the sense that when assessing liability, it has no interest in right,wrong, legality or the public good: the only question this panel asks is whether the Investor has suffered financially through the actions of the State. Oh my! cry all the financial and business pages! Why is anybody making a fuss??? How harmless can you get! What could possibly go wrong? What sillies the general public are! If the EU decides that the evidence is overwhelming (which is d**n well is), and ban the pesticides that are destroying the pollinators, the birds, and (I bet!) the insectivorous wildlife of all kinds, the SIDS clause enshrines the right of Syngenta and Bayer to sue the respective governments for reducing their profits. If a Labour government decides to roll back the privatisation of the NHS, and tighten up drug procurement, the pharmaceutical giants have and extra-legal right sue the UK government for reducing their profits. This would never happen? What, you mean the lawyers won't leap on this feast with cries of joy, billions of dollars sparkling in their eyes? You mean the corporations won't just have to mention SIDS, to have a government cave in at once? It's happening already. Read all about it here. http://acta.ffii.org/?p=1942 The next EU day of action is on 11th October. The irony is an actual rogue state would be totally unimpressed. My Fracking News . . . The Fernhurst decision: is not exactly making the front pages. I got my ticket for the Planning Meeting, and went to Midhurst last Thursday (took a photo of H.G.Well's blue plaque, as Midhurst Grammar is right next door). The planning officer had advised that Celtique Energie's application, to do a little bit of exploratory drilling in the South Downs National Park, should be refused. A succession of eloquent locals spoke in favour of the refusal. Celtique Energie's spokeswoman made a statement, (featuring the rather cheeky suggestion that since 83% of visitors are car users, the SDNP should be all in favour of having the park fracked-out), A Celtique Eenergie consultant also spoke in support. The committee 'debated' their decision: or rather, a succession of committee members spoke passionately about their love for this tranquil, untouched, beautiful and secret place, hidden in the depths of the Milland Basin. The decision to refuse was unanimous. Mr Geoff Davies is struck all of a heap! He can't understand why he's been turned down, what's going on with all this emotional, subjective rubbish about beauty and tranquillity, precious treasures of landscape character and food for the soul? I wonder about Mr Davies. Is he quite on the ball? Who did he think was running the South Downs National Park? He gets passionate and emotional enough about money-making. You'd think he'd understand. Read his response here. http://www.celtiqueenergie.com/article.php?id=54 How did I get to the meeting? Public transport, of course. How could I do anything else (hm, learn to ride a bike properly, I suppose). Obviously, If the SDNP is serious (and I think they are) about reducing car use, they need a lot more buses, a least in summer and at weekends. But I did wonder, as I crossed the road to my bus stop, how many of the other passionate opposers of the fracking industry, who had packed the hall, had made the connection, and left their cars at home? The Fernhurst decision is a huge precedent. The first National Park application, and the people said no. The people said, if we're going to frack at all, obviously we Frack the National Parks Last. Not first. No wonder this story didn't last long on the BBC. And that makes two. But the fracking industry will be back. And Finally . . . The Grasshopper's Child: Just a brief note to say the eversion of my new book is now available. Print copies to follow soon, more on this later & if anybody would like a pdf for review purposes, just let me know. Hurricane WeatherThursday, August 28. 2014
Thursday 28th August, cool and bright. Heavy rain last night, and a damp, clammy, gloomy morning, but apparently we're going to have a pause before we get caught by the lashing tail of another storm. Last Friday we went out walking, right over in the west, a classic route we haven't walked for five years: from Harting Down to Hooksway, from East Marden to Up Marden's quiet little church, around to Compton and back up to Harting Down again in twilight; deer barking in the eaves of the wood, and one unearthly owl. Excellent walking weather, splendid foraging of chicken mushroom from the trunk of a dead oak tree (US readers caution: our species is "edible, delicious, and quite unmistakeable". I don't know about yours). Hordes of free range pheasant poults scampering underfoot, in the shadows of the golden rolls of wheatstraw and once a hare, leaping across a vast shorn cornfield, stopped and sat up, looking back at us, very coolly. Handfuls of small sweet blackberries to keep us going and good food at possibly the most picturesque pub in Sussex, the Royal Oak at Hooksway. The harvest is already home down here, and that's probably last of our summer outings.
Was it a good one? It seemed very long, very confused, and full of bad news for the world. It had heatwaves, it had thunder and lightning. It had its great moments, good outings, good trips away (although unfortunately we didn't get to the Green Man festival: that'll have to be next year). Great camping under Dark Skies at Compton Bay, a wonderful walk back from Lewes over the downs, under the Hungry Ghosts "Super" full moon, in the teeth of a warm southwesterly gale. (This year, I noticed, HK and Malaysia decided to spread the festival over a whole month. Was this because the ghosts were thought to be especially lively? Or recognition of an under-exploited commercial attraction?) But all our fun was overshadowed. We have lost our big cat, Milo. He went missing in July, on the night of one of the terrific thunderstorms, and has not come home. It's been six weeks. Maybe he's okay somewhere, I hope so. I expect we'll never know what happened. Many thanks to lostcatsbrighton, for their support My Fracking Round-Up Interesting times for the nascent fracking industry uk . Could go either way, couldn't it? On the one hand, the current government has stuck to its plans, and put vast swathes of the country up for grabs. They're apparently still set on changing that pesky law about having to ask every landowner in your way, for permission before you drill, and their Consultation on the issue provoked a gratifyingly subdued response from the public (but Greenpeace are challenging that) . . . On the other hand, here in Sussex, Celtique Energie's Wisborough Green application got turned down, Balcombe residents really are taking West Sussex County Council to the High Court, for permitting Cuadrilla to renew their operations at Balcombe (if they feel like it; currently they don't), and meanwhile the Labour Party is trying to square the circle, in the run up to a General Election, by promising to "significantly tighten regulations". Not that it matters, election promises are not worth used toilet paper, but this is NOT going to work. As Mr Francis Egan and Mr Geoff Davies have explained to us, ingenuously and often, "environmental and regulatory conditions" and fracking just do not go together. Fracking's going to make a heap big mess, for derisory returns (unless you are a cowboy driller, and you have grabbed the money and run away very quickly). Everybody knows that now. And if people can say no, they will say no. But who can say no? That may be the question. The Keep Kirdford and Wisborough Green people were amazingly well organised, well-heeled and very, very savvy. I was at the meeting, in Horsham on the 22nd July. As a fly on the wall, a head to be counted, I shared the joy. I also couldn't help noticing that the public in the hall, and the members of the planning committee, were absolutely indistinguishable. And I thought, good for you KWG (including me, nb. I don't really look like a dangerous radical at the best of times, and I had left my frack free sussex badge at home). Not a whiff of the culture of protest. So where does that leave us? If the way to fight this blight is to shut up about Climate Change, Rare Bats, and the like, and make a fuss about HGV traffic, cricket games being interrupted, house prices falling, instead; then whatever works, but it's not enough. Nowhere like enough. Anyway, I'll be at the South Downs National Park meeting on 11th September (if I can get a ticket: apply here), to find out what happens about Celtique Energie's application to drill at the so-called "Nine Acres Copse" site: also nestling among tiny, fragile country lanes; also next door to a village; also in the teeth of overwhelming public opposition, and the first attempt to frack in a National Park. So, we'll see. Looking Forward To: TTIP national action day on Saturday 30th August: Pavilion Constiuency, Brighton Er, in a sense. . . I'll be one of the hardy souls, out in the rain, on a stall on the London Road, (bottom of St Ann's Street site, next to Costa, 12.00 to 2.00pm) attempting to explain to passers-by why they should be very afraid of the Transatlantic Trade And Investment Partnership. Luckily I'm going to be prepared & the hard-copy briefing is in the post, but I've a feeling this will be a tough sell. Wish me luck. With more enthusiasm . . . Peter's So Long And Thanks For All The Fish dinner, marking the final day of his teaching contract, tomorrow night. Listening To Arctic Monkeys at Reading. I wasn't there, I'm never going back, but weren't they great. Massimo's New You Tube release. I'm proud to know this guy. Hope he runs another Baroque concert soon. Meanwhile, I'm very pleased that Lightspeed is hosting The Grass Princess, I've just turned in my Lovecraft anthology submission and I'm hoping to get my new book out soon, finally. Last minute issues (got to get together with my cover man next week) More later. The Wacky World of Celtique EnergieMonday, July 21. 2014
Monday 21st July. In Brighton the heatwave continues, blue skies with a sultry overcast, heavy warm air, 29 degrees in our garden this afternoon. The most terrific thunderstorm I've witnessed for many years on the night of Thursday 17th, nothing similar since.
My Fracking Round Up What a palavar! First we learn that senior planning officers have advised that Celtique Energie's exploratory drilling at Wisborough Green should be refused, owing to the huge HGV traffic/tiny country lanes issue. (and possibly also to the Celtique Energie persistently, and insultingly, lying about everything issue) Hurrah! Then we learn that Geoff Davies isn't going to let this happen. The planning decision must be deferred again, pending new information he needs the committee to consider. Otherwise, he threatens to withdraw his application and re-apply, thus plunging the people of Wisborough Green and Kirdford into further uncertainty. Hm. "Further uncertainty" for another year or so; or horrible devastation of the villages, the roads, the countryside etc, right now? Tough one! So the planning meeting is on, the planning meeting is off, and then, just now, the planning meeting is on again! I'd like to think that WSCC planning officers viewed Mr Davies' new information, and found that it was rubbish, in about 30 seconds. The downright insulting language employed by Mr Davies helped to confirm their opinion, and the refusal will be delivered as planned. But who can tell, in this strange world we live in? Maybe the committee were told by Big Dave that local opinion and common sense and all that can go to hell. They either approved the fracking bonanza, or it's a short trip to the basement and a bullet in the back of the neck . . . In short, Celtique Energie are fighting tooth and nail the precedent of a single successful NO! From their bewilderment, and their extremely coarse and heavy-handed tactics, they had no plan for how to deal with resistance. They thought they'd greased the right palms, and it was a done deal! (And they could still be right. There are palms, there has been liberal application of grease: this nobody can deny. Meanwhile, bitter revolt against extreme energy extraction gathers strength in the USA. Claims of injury and damage are mounting up, and getting costly, and rumours that Climate Change is a real and present danger seem to be spreading, in the most unlikely quarters. But who can tell? Not me! I just know to keep on saying two and two make four, no matter how often I'm told the answer is five or three. Reading My Real Children Jo Walton, of which more later. And Farthing; same. Which seems like a nice read, except it's a wren, not a robin. I expect Jo Walton has heard that from a lot of people, and I apologise, but there you go, one really can't help noticing! There's a character called Angela Thirkell. Woah, I hope she's dead! Also Waverley, Walter Scott. I don't know where, but I picked up a reference to Waverley from some site recently (maybe something to do with Bonnie Prince Alex's chances), and immediately wanted to read it again. I still love it. I still owe Sir Walter Scott so much. Along with Stevenson, my formative influence, and the reason why (along with the Brontes) many years ago I could not understand why my teachers savaged my use of the colon and semi-colon; and why I am since, enduringly, helpless on the subject. Like a generation brought up on Imperial and forced (without success) to change to Metric, the result is I just can't measure anything. I read the end of Waverley this morning, before dawn. A weary wakening from a wild dream (that's from Redgauntlet, actually) that I've so often tried to capture and cherish; like the Old Master's technique of using real, obscure, minutia of historical incident, reportage and dialogue, to colour my fictional (future) history. But the savagery of what happened to the examplars, tried for High Treason after Culloden. That gives me pause, in a way I never dreamt of long ago. Walter Scott wrote as if he was a world, and an eternity, away from the hideous executions in Carlisle, 1746. To be hung, drawn, and quartered, in a world that had daily newspapers and (approaching) democratic government . . . Awful, unthinkable, but it happened. How far away are we now? Just a click away. Not even that. No, not even that. Summer, summer. Always some kind of hell. There's only one thing to do with summer: run away until September, and after tomorrow's trip over the border, I'm about to do so. So long. In Search Of The Mezentian Fiorinda (rainy day activities)Friday, July 11. 2014
Friday 12th July, rain rain rain. Stuck indoors, for my errands are not the amphibious kind, I have spent half the day messing about, creating a glyph for a new ebook, my first actual new book in this medium (it is a Bold As Love world story, and couldn't possibly interest any
It's an odd choice, if you ask me. El Greco, fine, dead right as to period: but if the Lady Fiorinda is an El Greco you might want her to look like this (the lady in a fur wrap, who may or may not be a portrait of El Greco's long time love Jeronima De Las Cuevas) But no, Eddison seems to have taken great pains to make sure we know she looks like this tough looking bird:who is very difficult to find online, although I'm sure I saw her there just the other day. This detail from the Keith Henderson drawing I stole from the fan-ficcer "fiorinda_chancellor"'s archive of our own site. The Chancellor, btw, is Fiorinda's brother in the story. Make what you will. Eddison. What a problem child! Hard to believe he went to the same school as the so sensible and normal Arthur Ransome. Never mind the undeniably fascist imagery (whatever he called his world view, I'm afraid the truth is obvious): those sentences! Sumptuous prose is one thing, but Lessingham, love, she's gone to sleep two paragraphs ago. I remember thinking, even when delighted with Mistress of Mistresses, many, many years ago, people don't talk like that. Not to each other. They don't even talk like that in Jacbean tragedy, except in soliloque; theatre's internal monologue feature. But I can't claim I'm not attracted, obviously. Eddison's Fiorinda is a case in point, she says everything about the dubious allure of it all for me. She's a goddess, the Demiurge of Eddison-world, the uber-avatar of Aphrodite, but all her powers are bestowed on her by her father (well, of course: name of Eric Eddison, but you know what I mean). She's the top sex-doll in the range, the ultimate uber sex-doll, but that's all she is, for all her smouldering Jacobean periods. And collusive too, as she doesn't even say anything sarcastic about being a puppet, not once, just sits there smugly saying ca, m'amuse; which for years I misremembered as Je m'amuse, subtly much more acceptable. . . Yet I wanted to ask Eddison, was he also thinking, surely, as I was when I borrowed her name, of Blodeuwedd (=Fiorinda, in Italian), the woman made of flowers by her "father" Gwydion the magician, in Welsh mythology. Who broke free, and became a person, kind of like Pinocchio; and got into terrible bother with her dad, over her cunning plan to escape from a forced marriage. All these stories about what men think women are (we can start with owned); images of sensuous fragility, fearful enchantment . . . Which can equally be read (re-visioned) as stories about how women get trapped by looking at themselves in that mirror . . . Why am I looking up Fiorinda? Because I'm planning to ask Bryan Talbot if I can use the "Fiorinda" portrait he did for me, way back then, in my cover design. Interestingly, this portrait was another magic mirror. I was taken aback when I saw it for the first time, far more so than with eg "Aoxomoxoa"). Huh? Is that what she looks like? Admittedly I don't think I ever have a clear idea of what my characters look like, but I'm sure she was much younger, a lot less like a haughty super-model, and far more vulnerable. But you write them, and then somebody else sees them: I'm lucky to have had a glimpse, and I have long accepted that this is the face my character lives behind. It's stopped raining, I'm going out. The keynote picture is a cheat, the most forward of my Lilium Regale (outside the front door in a tall pot, as they are poisonous to cats) looks like this. *Still coming to terms with the idea that if there's a print edition (I mean, a print on demand edition and a few samples), it will have to be with Create Space An Amazon Company. But I've looked into it, and realistically there is no alternative. None that I can see.
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American Standard Version (ASV) | New International Version (NIV) |
4 in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn [upon them]. | 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. |
The American Standard Version is in the public domain. (The American Standard Version Bible Online) | Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |

subset: commoncrawl


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Mitch Moreland leads another bat assault
August, 25, 2012
By Richard Durrett | ESPNDallas.com
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Mitch Moreland admitted that he saw where his three-run home run in the second inning landed. The ball was crushed into the second deck of the Home Run Porch on a line, and Moreland couldn't help but follow the trajectory.
"I saw it. I watched it a little bit," Moreland said. "I knew I hit it pretty good."
The estimated distance was 463 feet (455 by ESPN's HR Tracker), which is the third longest home run hit at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Only Josh Hamilton's 490-foot blast against Houston on June 27, 2010, and Jose Canseco's 480-foot homer on June 13, 1994, were longer.
"It counted," Moreland said. "It went out. I'm good with that. I don't care if it went first row or the 50th."
Plenty of balls are going everywhere these days for the Rangers' hitters. After an offensive malaise in June and July, the Rangers have roared back in August. They have scored an AL-high 147 runs in August (the Angels were second with 121 runs coming into Saturday) and have 39 runs in the last four games. They are getting contributions from all over the lineup.
On Saturday, Ian Kinsler had four RBIs, including a leadoff homer. But the bottom part of the lineup delivered too. Geovany Soto was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored and is 9-for-23 during his six-game hitting streak that includes at least one RBI in each game. Craig Gentry, batting eighth, was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. And Moreland accounted for three RBIs with his second-inning home run.
Moreland was in the lineup because manager Ron Washington wanted to give him a shot againt a lefty. Mike Olt has had a nagging plantar fasciitis issue in his right heel but was available to pinch hit. Moreland took advantage of the opportunity despite being 0-for-6 with three strikeouts against starter Brian Duensing.
"In that first at-bat I saw a three-run home run and I was very happy," said Washington, whose bobblehead was given out to many of the 44,215 in attendance. "Mitch has been swinging the bat well and I gave him an opportunity today to go against a lefty and he came through in a big way."
Moreland has homered in two of his last four games and has hit safely in eight straight games, batting .379 with two doubles, two homers, 11 RBIs and four runs. It's the second longest streak of his career (his nine-game streak was May 30-June 9, 2011). But Moreland acknowledges that he's seeing an entire team effort at the plate right now that is getting results.
"We're swinging the bat real well right now," Moreland said. "As a whole, one through nine, there's really no breaks. It seems like from top to bottom we're getting it done. We're putting up runs and having big innings. It doesn't matter who's up in any situation right now, we're getting the job done."
Moreland and the rest of the Rangers' offense will try to continue the hit parade against the Twins on Sunday, going for a sweep.
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Colby Lewis
BA | A. Beltre | .324 | ||||||||||
HR | A. Beltre | 19 | ||||||||||
RBI | A. Beltre | 77 | ||||||||||
R | A. Beltre | 79 | ||||||||||
OPS | A. Beltre | .879 | ||||||||||
ERA | C. Lewis | 5.18 | ||||||||||
SO | Y. Darvish | 182 |


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Counterfeits, drugs and fence-jumping: There's more than rock 'n' roll at Lolla
Shannon Gorsky has seen it all over four years of attending Lollapalooza--and she's not just talking about headliners Mumford & Sons, the Killers and Florence and the Machine.
The 22-year-old Gold Coast resident also has witnessed pocket-picking, counterfeit wristband sales and stampedes of fence-jumpers.
"I've seen people just run through the front gate and disappear into the crowds," she said. "I've seen people clamber on top of the porta-potties that are backed up to the fences [surrounding Lollapalooza] while people are in them, and then they take off like the wind into the festival."
Gorsky is one of thousands of Lollapalooza's annual attendees who pay hundreds of dollars each year for passes to the city's largest music festival, which takes over much of Grant Park for three days in August.
Buyer says: Beware the counterfeit Lolla ticket
With close to 300,000 attendees each year, Lollapalooza, running from Aug. 1 to 3, is something like a smaller city in Illinois. And like any city, it has its share of crime--chief among them theft, narcotics sales and criminal trespassing.
In 2013, Chicago police officers made 46 felony and misdemeanor arrests at the lakefront music fest, up from 27 in 2011 (2012 numbers were unavailable). CPD spokesman Martin Maloney attributed the rise in crime to more sophisticated policing efforts and the festival's rising attendance rate.
Officials with CPD and the city's Office of Emergency Management declined to comment on how many law enforcement officials are posted at the event each year, but police reports from last year's festival show that CPD sends at least one team of undercover police officers to the festival each year. The teams perform "buy-bust" missions, where they purchase illegal hallucinogens from alleged dealers at the festival and charge them with manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance, which is a felony.
Trespassing on festival grounds is also a crime officials must contend with each year, when would-be festgoers try to scale the rows of fences that block off Lollapalooza along Lake Shore Drive and around Grant Park.
How much does it really cost to eat at Lolla?
Britt Pearce, a spokeswoman for Lollapalooza, said in an email that officials have stepped up measures to keep people without tickets out of the festival since 2011, when they made structural changes to beef up the fence line.
"We monitor everything from social media to suspicious activity outside the festival to ensure the security of fans, artists and staff," she said.
Officials have also used better technology to try to combat the sale of counterfeit tickets and use of counterfeit wristbands. One example is radio-frequency identification (RFID), which wirelessly tracks identification data.
"Counterfeit tickets are an unfortunate fact of any live event, however the implementation of RFID technology prevents phony wristband-holders from entering the festival," she said.
Fest attendees can register their wristbands before the event, she said, which makes them easier to relocate or replace when they are stolen or damaged.
But in recent years, crime reports from Lollapalooza have ranged from the tragic to the bizarre. In 2012 a man was stabbed near the corner of South Michigan Avenue and East Adams Street, just outside the park, and dozens of people stampeded a fence to get into the festival for free, evading security guards by charging the fence at once and outnumbering them. In 2011, Portland, Ore.-based band Portugal. The Man lost much of their music gear after their van and trailer were broken into and stolen while parked in the festival lot.
And in 2009, a man was accused of punching a police horse on East Congress Avenue as the festival was winding down.
Bob O'Neill, president of Grant Park Conservancy, said crime reports from the concert should be viewed in context of the festival's size.
"If you look at it per capita, there aren't a lot of incidents of safety being compromised or anything, there aren't that many arrests," he said. "For the most part, it really works."
Didn't snag a ticket to Lolla? No worries. Here's the webcast schedule.
As a paying festgoer whose music appreciation sets her back several hundred dollars each summer, Gorsky said she wishes Lollapalooza could police its perimeter better.
"It's so frustrating; a lot of people pay a lot of money for these festivals, Lolla passes soar into the high $200s and low $300s," Gorsky said. "It's sad that when you're there to enjoy yourself and you see someone else pass you who is enjoying it for free. You've worked hard to be there, and people are just walking in."
O'Neill said Lollapalooza's security measures have evolved over the years, from chain-link fences that easily give to more sturdy steel fences, which are sometimes erected in double rows.
Breaking into Lollapalooza, "is far more difficult now than in the last two or three years," he said, "because every year you learn those areas where people are doing it."
Copyright © 2015, RedEye


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Degree Programmes
TOLC - Cisia Online Test for first cycle degree programmes with local restricted access
Prior to the publication of the first calls for admission for the programmes with local restricted access for AY 2015/16, expected in late January, find out more about the TOLC and how to sit it.
Published on 23 January 2015
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Incoming exchange students
All the information exchange students need to know before leaving and when they arrive in Italy.
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Study grants for international students, Unibo Action 2 - A. Y. 2015/16
The University of Bologna offers study grants to deserving international students who wish to register for First Cycle, Second Cycle or Single Cycle Degree Programmes at the University of Bologna for A.Y. 2015/2016. Deadline: 31 March 2015.
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Erasmus+ mobility studies: Call for Application 2015/16
Do you want to take part in Erasmus+? Read all the information you need for applying. It is possible to submit the application from the 19th of January 2015 to the 23th of February 2015, 1.00 pm.
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International Professional Masters 2015/2016
Broaden your knowledge and, after graduation, complete your studies, preparing for the job market.
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Living Bologna
Services , places, events: a guide useful to know and live the City.
Published on 30 October 2014
Opportunities for companies
The industrial world has various opportunities of contacting and liaising with the University in terms of research and innovation.
Published on 04 March 2014


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- Green Zone [2010]
- National Amusements Celebrates National Popcorn Day with Free Popcorn [1/16]
- Get Your First Look at the Trailer for "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens" on Friday, Nov 28th [11/25]
- Remembering "The Terminator" on its 30th Anniversary with an Interview with Van Ling and Ian Nathan [10/28]
- "Avengers: Age of Ultron" Teaser Trailer Now Available Ahead of Schedule After It Leaked [10/23]
- The Death of Physical Media is Far From Imminent [10/1]
- Los Angeles, CA: New Beverly Cinema Bucks the Digital Cinema Trend and Goes 35mm Only [9/9]
- Bill Murray Suggests Leads for All-Female "Ghostbusters" Movie [9/9]
- "Toy Story that Time Forgot" Coming to ABC in December 2014 [7/25]
- Bad Robot Tweets IMAX Camera on Star Wars Set [7/11]
- Road and Track Spies Electric Harley Davidson on Set of "Avengers: Age of Ultron" [7/2]
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The saying goes "you can't judge a book by its cover," but can you judge a movie by its trailer? That's what we're here to find out, with the first in what I hope to be a series of such entries.
Our first movie trailer is for Green Zone, directed by The Bourne Ultimatum's Paul Greengrass, which stars Matt Damon as Jason Bourne Roy Miller, a US Army officer assigned to Iraq to find weapons of mass destruction, and instead finds a massive coverup and conspiracy.
Watch the trailer and then leave your comments about what you think of the trailer and the prospects of this movie being worth seeing when it's released on Friday, March 12th!
We also have other videos on the Trailers & Videos page for the movie. Green Zone is rated R for violence and language. For more information about the movie, see the Information Page.
Leave your comments below! Next up... Repo Men
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Damon is definitely channeling Jason Bourne, but hopefully this movie will bring something new to the table, and not be just "Bourne 4" in everything but name.
But above all, let's hope that Greengrass left "shaky-cam" at home!
It looks good and loud - I can't wait!
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What was your best work last year? Was it smart? Effective? Well-crafted? Beautifully executed? Enter your best designs in AIGA's annual design competition and see how your accomplishments measure up!
It's easier than ever to enter with a new, two-round competition system. Simply submit images of your project, provide a brief description and select categories. Works in any format are accepted, as long as they were produced in the last two years.
The "Justified" jury will review the first round entries in February. If your work is "justified," in March you'll be invited to advance to Round 2 by providing details on your project.
See the jury's selections at AIGA.org/justified-2014-selections.
3 Recommendations
Entering AIGA's annual design competition just got a whole lot easier! Learn about changes to the competition structure in 2014, how to prepare your work, and what criteria the jury will use to determine who moves on to the semi-finalist round. The 2015 call for entries will be announced in January.
Section: Events and Competitions - Tags: Competition, Justified
5 Recommendations
AIGA's "Justified" competition recognizes case studies that demonstrate the value of design in a clear, compelling and accessible way. The 2013 "Justified" competition honors 14 exemplary case studies that successfully demonstrate the value of design.
AIGA's national design competitions celebrate exemplary design and demonstrate the power of design.
Section: Events and Competitions - Tags: Competition, awards
AIGA chapters fulfill AIGA's mission at the local level, supporting members through organizing projects and events to educate, inform and connect designers.
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Learn more about AIGA's national conferences and events, and access videos from select conferences and awards events.
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Brian Groppe
4 Examples of Concrete as Sculpture
January 9, 2015
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Flux 2014 Complete Winners List
January 22, 2015
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January 14, 2015
AIGA Innovates: a bold new program to fund design ideas from the creative community.
January 11, 2015
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December 22, 2014
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Reviewed Bahamas Johnny Cake
Mar 21, 2014 in on Food.com
"This recipe is great. I made a few tweaks of my own. While adding the baking area, I thought it was alot so only used 4 Tbsp instead of 6. Also to add some nice texture and richness to the johnny cake- i mixed white and wheat flour (3 cups white flour, 3 cups wheat flour).
With that said, it turned out great. It was soft and delicious. ..."
Reviewed Light Carrot Cake
Jul 30, 2012 in Food Network Community Toolbox on FoodNetwork.com
"This was a great recipe. I've had carrot cakes turn out bad before, but this recipe was great. I didn't have any pineapple, but the recipe still turned out great even without it. I had to add 1/4 cup more vegetable oil though. It tastes great and has a great consistency. I'll be saving this recipe for sure!!! ""


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Reviewed Meatloaf
Aug 31, 2012 in Food Network Community Toolbox on FoodNetwork.com
"This recipe is just delicious! My mother (ever the critic) even gave me the ultimate compliment & said this meatloaf was BETTER than hers (and it sure is - by far!)!!!! Now my husband drools whenever I even hint at making meatloaf & he even brags so much at work he showed everyone pictures of the meatloaf all dressed up in bacon & ready to slip in""
Reviewed Spaghetti Aglio E Olio
Aug 31, 2012 in Food Network Community Toolbox on FoodNetwork.com
"OMG This was THE.MOST. DELICIOUS. PASTA. I. EVER. MADE. Thank you Ina! I followed the directions exactly & used fresh garlic, fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, good olive oil.... such amazing flavor with a kick on the back end from the red pepper flakes... better than any restaurant & I've been to some good ones. Ina your recipes are always a hit &""


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Reviewed country bread
Aug 3, 2014 on FoodNetwork.com
"I wonder if they meant to write 7 grams....."
Reviewed Chewy Toffee Bars
Jul 28, 2013 in Food Network Community Toolbox on FoodNetwork.com
"I made these today, after watching Jamie make them on his show. Per reviewers remarks, I used a 9 X 13 non-stick but greased metal pan and that worked well. I cut the brown sugar by 1/4 cup and next time I would decrease the amount even more, probably by 1/2 cup. A sweet bar cookie.......
Mine were perfectly done in 28 minutes..."


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Transformers Construct-Bots Elite Class Smokescreen Buildable Action Figure
Where To Buy
Product Description:
Construct! Customize! Convert! The Transformers Construct-Bots come in pieces, and it's up to you to build them in one of their 2 modes! Use the 55 pieces to build your Smokescreen figure as a robot warrior or battle cruiser. Once he's built in one mode, you can either convert to another mode or tear him down and build him again! Build your own Transformers adventures with this 2-in-1 Smokescreen figure!
Includes 55 pieces, storage tray and instructions
Product Features:
·Build this 2-in-1 Smokescreen figure as a robot or battle cruiser
·Includes 55 pieces
·Convert to the other mode or tear him down and build him again
·Includes storage tray
Elite Class E1:06 Smokescreen
Ages 6 and up.
Transformers and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro.


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Type of Truck Driving Job: | Owner Operator Truck Driver |
License Type: | Class A |
Full Time/Part Time: | Full Time |
Frequency of Home Time: | 5 days on, 2 days off |
Truck Driver Residence Area: | Must live within 50 miles of COLUMBIA , MO |
Orientation Location: | CHICAGO , IL |
Operating Area: |
Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma & Arkansas |
Trucking Experience Level: | 6 Months |
Average Yearly Gross: | $165,000 |
Truck Driver Job Description
Ask about our $1,000 sign-on bonus. It's only available for a limited time.
J.B. Hunt's Intermodal group has regional driving opportunities available for owner operators. These truck driving opportunities offer consistent, hassle-free delivery, 99% no-touch freight and an estimated yearly gross of $165,000. Plus, drivers are home frequently, with opportunities to get by the house during the week and two days off each week.
As an owner operator with J.B. Hunt, you will enjoy:
- Discounts on fuel and maintenance
- Paid plates and permits
- Reimbursement for scales and tolls
- Fuel surcharge, adjusted weekly
These limited driving opportunities will fill quickly. Reserve your spot in orientation today, call 1-877-753-2634.
EOE. Previous class A experience required.
Job ID Number:


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You must earn 10,000 points to post other members' whiteboard
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!!
Hi there too! :^) Have a beautiful day! :^)
Congrats on your new orange car! I've let the locals know @ http://www.dallasgasprices.com/Forum_MSG.aspx?category=1088&topic=497044&page_no=1
LanguageMan1 & I both think the gasoline prices are getting ready to take a big jump up again, for a number of reasons. Be forewarned, & Gas up or watch closely.
Enjoy the 4th my friend!
Have a great Memorial Day weekend! GB> Bob
Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever. HAPPY MOTHER's DAY
Today, May 5, is Cinco de Mayo, and there's no shortage of people stumped as to how to one says "Happy Cinco de Mayo" in Spanish. Do you know ?? If so post on my white board!!! AL
Hey Tex, Mothers Day coming up next weekend so wishing you a great day That last all year long. Ps guess what my job was around 5 of the years I was out in Tx. Computer Technician. Has come in handy every since.
"Earth's saddest day and gladdest day were just three days apart!" Wishing you & your loved ones the joy & blessings of Easter. AL


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Hot Naked Grannies Rule Memories of '04
Before wholeheartedly embracing the new year, it's always helpful to look back at the grand moments of recent times.
The best spam I received all year? That's a tough one. The best subject line that I assure you I never opened was Hot Naked Grannies. As a friend said, "That's wrong on so many levels." The best trend in spam? That has to be all the pitches for fake Rolexes. ("As seen on the Weather Channel!") I greatly prefer the watches to the usual crudity and discount-pharmaceutical ones. I have noticed that I rarely get mortgage spam, though, while a friend of mine who already has a mortgage mainly gets those offers. Somehow, the universe is out of balance.
Least-interesting spam? "Meet Christian Singles With Christian Principles." Great. Junk e-mail that promises I won't get laid but will probably still feel guilty afterward. Spam I wish I'd received? Probably "Last warning shit face". Sounds like it might be from the student-loan people, doesn't it?
Hey Dave, what's the dumbest press release from 2004? Well, I must admit I didn't plan ahead and save all of them. So the nod has to go to a recent one from Bell ExpressVu for hyping a really pointless new feature for satellite-TV subscribers. It's an on-line casino you can play on your television using your remote control. And, best of all, according to the news flash, it doesn't involve real money. Well, that's where the pointless part comes in. Irrespective of your views on easy access to gambling, if there's no cash on the line, then why bother? Let me tell you, phony on-line gambling is not the killer app for satellite TV. High-definition video signals are.
Here's some good news. The Federal Court of Appeal ruled that the Copyright Board of Canada did not have the authority to collect a tax on MP3 players. It had been grabbing between $2 and $25 on every one sold.
There's also good news for radio fans. It looks as if we might get legal access to satellite-radio signals, with proposals from both American companies--Sirius and XM--in combination with Canadian partners. Sure, there's a monthly subscription fee (about $13) and you have to buy a specialized receiver for your home, car, or backpack (the portable units are a tad bigger than the devices we've become used to), but the programming is great. Imagine 100 channels of talk, comedy, sports, news, music, or old radio shows (there's almost enough bandwidth for an entire station of Abbott and Costello doing their "Who's on first?" routine), most without commercials. There's also been a bit of a comeback for the role of the noble DJ on these channels, and, since both proposed networks will be required to add some Canadian content, we can all hope that the great John Tanner and JB Shayne can be enticed out of retirement.
How about trends? Anything encouraging? Well, way back in the early 1990s there were attempts to bring portable game play to the masses, but the screens were small, the units were hefty battery-drainers, and they were too expensive. The current wave of portable devices, like Nintendo's nifty dual-screen DS and the forthcoming Sony PlayStation Portable, have a lot more promise. I've already seen SkyTrain-riding gamers play networked DS games together while sitting in different places, which looks like fun.
When the Sony PSP comes out (next March, supposedly) it will also support video playback, provided that the movie companies release films in the small optical-disc format Sony is using. Then again, Sony does own a movie studio and a large library of films, so maybe the company sees this as the ideal proprietary platform for portable video, one of those convergence things. It remains to be seen whether or not consumers will choose that option over the hard drive--based video/MP3 players already out. Of course, those players don't let you play games and most (but not all) require the use of a computer to move programming onto them. Sony might end up sneaking a credible new format for movies into millions of homes by virtue of building it into a desirable gaming device.
What about those Netizens? I understand they have some nutty names for themselves. Let's say I was reading a Web log and wanted to give a couple of bucks to the writer. Who would I send it to?
That's right.
No, who would get the money?
Every penny. And why not? She deserves it. She worked hard to write that blog. Do you want Who to starve?
Well then, pay her. Use PayPal.
Anyone else who deserves a nod for clever names?
You could send cash to John Doh!, or you could pay Happy Lemming, Archie Leach (which is Cary Grant's real name and a clever pun on the Net practice of leeching: downloading without sharing), Chemo Savvy, or Paperbag Writer. But don't send any money to Virile Vixen, because I don't think he/she has completely figured things out yet.


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Hey all,
So I went to the range yesterday w/ my brand new S&W M&P 340 (j-frame revolver I purchased last week) and every shot is about 5 inches to the right of where the gun is actually aimed (all shots at 5 yards --shooting at a silhouette target). Before you start thinking that I'm just a terrible shot and blaming the gun, I was also shooting a S&W 340PD (another j-frame) which is basically the same gun. Now with the 340PD I was able to hit everything I aimed at (typically 2 in. groups). So, I really think that there is something wrong w/ my new M&P 340 and not me. Please let me know what I can do -- I'm so frustrated, I just want it to work!!!