The inevitable Christmas Gifts Post
(to be followed by the inevitable Christmas and New Year post at some point, plus that review of The Orange Box as a whole once I can be bothered to actually finish that section of Episode Two with the Striders in it...)
Books:
Recursion by Tony Ballantyne. (I've been meaning to read something by Ballantyne since he started getting good reviews, but the back blurb never quite convinced me to actually spend money on this or the sequels.)
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. (In the original Middle English, with commentary. Because everyone should at least try to read it.)
Shooting History by Jon Snow. (Non-British people may not recognise the name of the ex-main anchor of Channel Four news, and ex-Washington Correspondent and Diplomatic Editor for ITN. I'm actually almost halfway through this already, and it's an interesting autobiographical tour of World Politics; Snow is genuinely angry about much of the injustice he has had to witness as a world correspondent, and about (sometimes) not being allowed to tell the truth for political reasons. He also blames himself for not killing Idi Amin when he had the chance, which seems a little bit of a responsibility to take on oneself in the context.)
News From No Man's Land: Reporting the World by John Simpson. (Another famous, important British Journalist, on the nature of reporting. Not that I've started reading this yet.)
MacLean's Miscellany of Whisky by Charles MacLean.
and
Malt Whisky Yearbook 2008 (The reasons for these are clear.)
and, finally:
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. (Which wasn't even published in the UK, due to copyright issues, so I'm particularly pleased to have it. Needless to say, I've already finished this, and even managed to spot more than half of the references, although I was a bit slow with Emma Peel... Moore's recent interest in expressing the more sexual interests of his protagonists makes something of an appearance here, by the way, so people who were put off by those bits in LOEG2 might be disappointed. On the other hand, the identity of the "coloured chum and his Dutch girls" who the protagonists spend most of the narrative trying to reach is... awesome. The Shakespeare, Kerouac and Wodehouse pastiches are also particularly good.)
Others:
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 for the Nintendo Wii. (Because part of the future of gaming is a return to "casual gaming" [which is, of course, a misnomer, as Stuart Campbell pointed out in an typically deliberately-controversial article recently], not that I'm giving up The Orange Box any time soon...)
A full Espresso Coffee making set.
Assorted chocolate, Whisky Fudge and Raw Cacao beans (which are surprisingly nice for something so bitter).
A miniature of the 27 Year Old Tomintoul Scotch Whisky
A hand-crocheted penguin scarf from Laura.
A brain cell (from the people who do the Giant Microbes)
Himalayan Rope Incense
Shared with Laura: A set of frosted glass Wine goblets made from recycled glass.
Assorted sundry items, including rooibos tea and shaving oil.
This Threadless t-shirt, which is awesome, and true.
I think that went rather well.
Books:
Recursion by Tony Ballantyne. (I've been meaning to read something by Ballantyne since he started getting good reviews, but the back blurb never quite convinced me to actually spend money on this or the sequels.)
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. (In the original Middle English, with commentary. Because everyone should at least try to read it.)
Shooting History by Jon Snow. (Non-British people may not recognise the name of the ex-main anchor of Channel Four news, and ex-Washington Correspondent and Diplomatic Editor for ITN. I'm actually almost halfway through this already, and it's an interesting autobiographical tour of World Politics; Snow is genuinely angry about much of the injustice he has had to witness as a world correspondent, and about (sometimes) not being allowed to tell the truth for political reasons. He also blames himself for not killing Idi Amin when he had the chance, which seems a little bit of a responsibility to take on oneself in the context.)
News From No Man's Land: Reporting the World by John Simpson. (Another famous, important British Journalist, on the nature of reporting. Not that I've started reading this yet.)
MacLean's Miscellany of Whisky by Charles MacLean.
and
Malt Whisky Yearbook 2008 (The reasons for these are clear.)
and, finally:
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. (Which wasn't even published in the UK, due to copyright issues, so I'm particularly pleased to have it. Needless to say, I've already finished this, and even managed to spot more than half of the references, although I was a bit slow with Emma Peel... Moore's recent interest in expressing the more sexual interests of his protagonists makes something of an appearance here, by the way, so people who were put off by those bits in LOEG2 might be disappointed. On the other hand, the identity of the "coloured chum and his Dutch girls" who the protagonists spend most of the narrative trying to reach is... awesome. The Shakespeare, Kerouac and Wodehouse pastiches are also particularly good.)
Others:
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 for the Nintendo Wii. (Because part of the future of gaming is a return to "casual gaming" [which is, of course, a misnomer, as Stuart Campbell pointed out in an typically deliberately-controversial article recently], not that I'm giving up The Orange Box any time soon...)
A full Espresso Coffee making set.
Assorted chocolate, Whisky Fudge and Raw Cacao beans (which are surprisingly nice for something so bitter).
A miniature of the 27 Year Old Tomintoul Scotch Whisky
A hand-crocheted penguin scarf from Laura.
A brain cell (from the people who do the Giant Microbes)
Himalayan Rope Incense
Shared with Laura: A set of frosted glass Wine goblets made from recycled glass.
Assorted sundry items, including rooibos tea and shaving oil.
This Threadless t-shirt, which is awesome, and true.
I think that went rather well.