Fenland Virgin (n.): An unattractive girl who can run faster than her brothers.
— Stephen Fry
It’s Christmas in Heaven
It’s September and you’re displaying Advent calendars.
Really Morrison’s?
It’s September.
Advent. Calendars.
Really?
August Reading
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
According to Banned in the USA by Herbert N. Foerstel this is the fourth most banned book in US schools because of its use of the “n word.” It’s a shame, because Twain’s portrait of the pre-Civil War South is a damning satire of the post manumission world in which racism was simply driven underground rather than addressed.
Manifold: Time by Stephen Baxter.
What started off as a pretty dull, sub-Crichton, Space Cowboy type story turned into something much more compelling half way through. You need to persist past the near future 2010 and clunky technobabble but then pay-off is worth it; the same mind-bending stuff that Bear and Simmons regularly trade in.
Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur.
I got this free with Stanza in what I can only imagine is an attempt by the publisher to try and get people to buy the rest of the series – I still feel short changed. I don’t think I’ve come across a published book that reads as much like a bad teenage fantasy as this… and I’ve tried to read the Twilight ‘books’. If you want a bunch of bad deus ex machinae, wooden characters that all have the same voice, and some really bad semi-furry sex then read away. Everyone else, life’s too short
Giving the Schafernaker
Ben and Tom had the idea of getting the phrase giving the Schafernaker into common usage, just like the Santorum (NSFW) and lifting your luggage (NSFHypocrites).
Next time you’re cut up on the motorway, pushed about on the Tube, or just plain fed up with the world consider giving the Schafernaker.
Start spreading the news / I’m leaving today
Roger Ebert might think games can never be considered art, but it seems that as Hollywood gets more two-dimensional and derivative, video games are becoming more interesting and cinematic.
I’d much rather see this trailer made into a movie than Tom Cruise‘s latest effort.
[via Sarcastic Gamer]
July Reading
This Gaming Life: Travels in Three Cities by Jim Rossignol.
A whistle stop tour of gaming culture which avoids the usual clichés of describing gamers as nerds or gaming as an antisocial and harmful habit. Rossignol splits his essay into three parts each dealing with the different types of gaming that have emerged across the world and it’s not only a decent essay about gaming but touches on some exciting developments such as gaming with purpose and games-as-propaganda.
The Vesuvius Club: Graphic Novel by Mark Gatiss.
An adaptation of Gatiss’ novel about an Edwardian James Bond type getting into scrapes around London and Italy, which seemed like the Cliff Notes version of the original novel. The story itself is pretty camp and leaves you unsure whether to give the book on which it’s based a chance. Quite disappointing considering Gatiss’s track record on Doctor Who and Sherlock.
Warning: May contain hand-drawn penis.
The Wheel of Time, Book 12: The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.
Just when I thought I was getting to the end of a very long slog, I found out that this final volume in the twelve book series was to be split into three huge books. From notes left when Robert Jordan passed away, the epic battle between light and dark is being finished by fantasy writer and fan Sanderson. Definitely a commitment, but Sanderson’s input has given the story a sense of urgency that makes the reader know the last battle is only around the corner.
“HE DIDN’T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE.”
You Are Not so Smart is a blog about the many ways we delude ourselves based on psychological and economic research. In a similar manner to the Freakonomics Blog it takes pot-shots at the conventional wisdom such as wine snobbery, the usefulness of meetings, and caffeine buzzes.
The Misconception: You know why you like the things you like and feel the way you feel.
The Truth: The origin of certain emotional states is unavailable to you, and when pressed to explain them, you will just make something up.
(via Kottke.org)
Due to engineering works Platform 9 3/4 is closed
Today’s commute was slightly more exciting this morning due to filming of the final scenes of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II. Network Rail staff were less amused as commuters blocked up platform 3 trying to get photos for their children. ‘Course I only took this for Ang’s sake.
When nine hundred years old you reach…
- Image by SheepGuardingLlama via Flickr
Based on a thread from Stack Overflow, Joey deVilla gives us a new dictionary of technical jargon. Sadly, definitions for Heisenbug and Bohrbug were missed off:
Heisenbug (n.) A computer bug that disappears or alters its characteristics when an attempt is made to study it. (named after the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle)
Bohrbug (n.) A bug that manifests itself consistently under a well-defined (but possibly unknown) set of conditions. (named after the Bohr Atom Model)
(Wikipedia, 2010)
Apparantly, Yoda Conditions are considered best practice.
A tear heals faster than a cut
Even though the terrible acoustics in the Corn Exchange forced him to slow down his trademark fast delivery but Dára Ó Briain managed to squeeze his entire show into two of the funniest hours I’ve ever spent in the company of a fellow countryman.
The set pieces ranged from our obsessions with keeping up with “stuff” to being stalked by the lonliest man in the world (Will Smith in the abominable I am Legend, coming soon to every format imaginable) and managed to keep the laughs going through the uneven audience participation section.
The tour is selling out quickly but it’s definitely worth traveling to get to a show if only to see there’s certainly more to Ó Briain than being the token Paddy on the BBC.