Starring Gandalf the Grey. It’s probably best thought of as a sound collage, and one that I find strangely relaxing. | Continue reading
For one reason and another, I just couldn’t gather the family to watch this one. After the attempts had dragged out long past the end of the series’ broadcast run, I eventually gave up … | Continue reading
Back in March, I and my eldest son Dan both got Lepin STAR PLAN kits — from the same Lego-alike manufacturer that made my STAR WNRS Super Star Destroyer. I got a Tantive IV blockade runner, a kit I… | Continue reading
It’s been a while since I did some experimental baking. This evening, the mood took me, and I made six small pies which made just about enough food for the four of us to have a light meal. He… | Continue reading
As noted in the previous post, my MP, Mark Harper, responded to my three recent letters about Brexit. Here is the letter I have sent in reply. Dear Mark Harper, I’m writing to thank you for y… | Continue reading
It took a long time coming, but now that I have written three times to my MP about Brexit [first one, second one, third one], I have a reply — and I’m pleased to say it’s pretty good, a… | Continue reading
Sigh … Third try … Dear Mark Harper, This is the third time in three weeks that I have written to you about Brexit, and I have yet to receive a reply to my first message of three weeks … | Continue reading
If I’ve given the impression of not having enjoyed this series of Doctor Who very much, that’s not too far wrong. Here we are now, after eight of the ten episodes, and time is fast runn… | Continue reading
I just sent this to my MP, Mark Harper, via the WriteToThem web-site. It is a follow-up to my letter of two weeks ago, which has not received a reply. Dear Mark Harper, Two weeks ago, I wrote to yo… | Continue reading
Another nearly-but-not-quite episode this week. I feel like we’re edging closer to a really good story without quite having got there yet. A novel setting, an interesting mystery, and some fi… | Continue reading
There’s a lot to like about this one. But, paradoxically, the strengths of the episode have the side-effect of laying bare its weaknesses. It all leaves me still struggling to summon up the l… | Continue reading
When this series of Doctor Who started, the big hook was a female Doctor. Was it just stunt casting? Would it explore genuinely new territory? Would she actually be any good? And I think peopleR… | Continue reading
I just sent this to my MP, Mark Harper, via the WriteToThem web-site. Dear Mark Harper, As I write, the broad outlines of the withdrawal agreement reached between UK and EU negotiators are apparent… | Continue reading
OK, so a slightly clever title, though only people fifty years old will get what it’s punning on. A decent set-up, exploiting one of the most widespread phobias. A truly nasty bad-guy, who is… | Continue reading
There are some programming books that I’ve read from cover to cover repeatedly; there are others that I have dipped into many times, reading a chapter or so at a time. Jon Bentley’s 19… | Continue reading
As always, I’ve been avoiding reviews until I’ve got my own thoughts down, but I know from last week that a lot of people were looking ahead to Rosa with some trepidation. Elizabeth San… | Continue reading
I’m not particularly planning to blog my way through this whole series of Doctor Who, but you never know. (I didn’t intend to do it with series 5, either, but I ended up doing all of se… | Continue reading
I just found time to watch Jodie Whittaker’s debut episode as the new Doctor. It would seem churlish not to put down a few thoughts about it while it’s fresh in my mind, and before read… | Continue reading
I’m working late, so I treated myself to this small plate: The cheeses: Parmesan (Italian) Manchego (Spanish) Saint Agur (French) Wensleydale with cranberries (English) The meats: Parma ham (… | Continue reading
We’re fortunate to have a lot of green space out the back of our house — it came about because we moved out of London to rural Gloucestershire, and the prices of property vary wildly be… | Continue reading
The Telegraph today reports that “Chris Grayling has no credible plan for ‘no-deal’ Brexit, road hauliers warn”. In a series of tweets commenting on this, the article’… | Continue reading
On the whole, the discussion surrounding the Brexit process seems now to be about damage limitation, and earlier talk of it offering us new opportunities has evaporated. I am genuinely interested t… | Continue reading
You Had Me At Hello — Mhairi McFarlane I can’t remember now what made me read this, as it’s in a genre that I never bother with in the usual run of things: a romantic comedy, or I… | Continue reading
Late last year, I spotted a treble clef, growing naturally, in the wisteria on the front of our house: | Continue reading
On the 13th of last month, having just got back from a fattening week in the USA, I weighed myself after my morning shower, and registered 105.4 kg. Today is the 13th, exactly one month on, and I w… | Continue reading
A few years ago, I leaned a couple of wooden pallets up against the side of our woodshed, and forgot all about them. In the mean time, some clematis has self-seeded and started climbing up them. No… | Continue reading
I’ve been eating sushi a lot recently, as part of a (very successful) diet where I don’t each much, but everything I do eat is something I really enjoy. Then this morning, I smelled the… | Continue reading
Usually, I tend to fill most of my spare moments with work of one kind or another. But this weekend, exhausted, I made a policy decision to ignore the manuscript awaiting my peer-review, my own man… | Continue reading
A few years ago, I wrote about the heavy metal band, Anne Heap of Frogs, that I was the guitarist for in my late teens; and then about Crossfire, the band that come out of that, and some other bits… | Continue reading
Last time, we looked at the first six Genesis albums, with Peter Gabriel in the lead singer role. When he left the band at the end of the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour, things did not look good f… | Continue reading
Years ago, I was a member of the Z39.50 Implementers’ Group. We’d gather from all around the world, maybe 30 or 40 of us, and meet for several days to discuss and vote on possible exten… | Continue reading
About a year ago, for reasons that escaped me then and still do now, I found myself writing a whole-career retrospective review of Whitesnake’s albums. They’re a band that I like, but w… | Continue reading
Everyone knows how to make spaghetti bolognese … after a fashion. It’s classic student cookery, isn’t it? Onions, minced beef and tomatoes into a pot, simmer for a while — b… | Continue reading
Deep Space Accountant — Mjke Wood This was a BookBub freebie, which I picked up because it was free and I found the conceit amusing. I’m glad I did. It’s much better than it neede… | Continue reading
This recipe is my homebrew attempt at synthesising my favourite restaurant/takeaway curry in a quick-to-make form, since all the dhansak recipes I’ve seen are very involved and don’t re… | Continue reading
Here is a YouTube playlist of my now-traditional top-ten list of the albums I’ve listened to the most in the previous calendar year. (See this list of previous entries.) I listen much more to whole… | Continue reading
Paul Simon’s fourth post-Garfunkel solo album, One Trick Pony, is the soundtrack to the movie of the same name. The film was pretty much ignored on release, both by audiences and by critics &… | Continue reading