Gulliver 2007-06-20
11 May 2011 10:53pm GMT When he washed up, magnificent, we brought in timber, nails and rope to build a frame about his bones; we strapped his arms, his feet, his neck, afraid he might lay out his sex to piss upon our town. By the time we put our trust in him, he was resigned; and when finally released, he lay, dejected, too tired to eat. We shovelled fast food slowly down his giant throat. He grew fat, we despaired as he clogged up. His sad smell spilled like some horse-rotted jungle lily; gulls barged for space on...
Why you should read the Moomin books
21 Feb 2011 9:11pm GMT I never read the Moomin books when I was growing up, though I vaguely remember seeing the TV series when I was a teenager. I suppose the cuddly characters indicated that there was nothing to see there, and I should move along. But recently I have been tracking down and reading various books which are generally "Fantastical", mainly via 100 Must Read Fantasy Novels; Comet in Moominland was one mentioned there. I've just finished reading it to my daughter (7), and we both thoroughly enjoyed...
Mise-en-abîme
25 Jan 2011 9:54pm GMT Mise-en-abîme ("placing into infinity or "placing into the abyss", see Wikipedia) has always fascinated me. I suppose it started with the Quaker Oats man (who I'm sure I've mentioned here before): (from http://www.scripophily.com/) Though I remember this image more vividly, and with reds, and I think from my childhood. Notice how he's holding a box with another Quaker Oats man just like him on it, and he's holding a box, ad infinitum. The laughing cow is another food-related one (see...
Top tracks 2010
2 Jan 2011 11:38pm GMT Continuing my "end of year round up", I like to compile a list of favourite music for the year. Here is my list of top tracks for 2010. My favourite artists of the year in order (pretty much identical to last year's, probably; at least I'm consistent): 1. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - I went to see them live for the first time this year (enjoyable, though Andy McCluskey's dancing is off-putting); I should mention that I pretty much hate their music after The Pacific Age, so the fact...
Books read 2010
2 Jan 2011 11:28pm GMT Last year I did pretty poorly on reading books, so this year I made an effort to read much more. I managed 62 books this year: the first year where I've read at least a book a week. My reading rate dropped off just before Christmas, due to the lure of new DVDs and the minor improvement to TV schedules around Christmas. But I will get back to reading more regularly this year. Here's the list (for completists and myself only); the ones with asterisks are considered "classics" in the SF/fantasy...