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What stories shaped your ideas about story?
I've been thinking about this a bit recently, having noticed that my ideas about what makes a good story and what doesn't are a bit individual. I The books I read and re-read, in the most distant and foggy memories were mixed, to say the least.
The Swallows and Amazons series, which had been important in my mother's childhood (one of the best ( Read more... ) -
2013 in 100 words
Apple; Discworld; MS-SDL; Negotiation; Green Room; LSB; Aftermath; Getting rid of XP; Geology; Disappointment of 8; Compromise; CIX; Fonts; The Small Folk; Laptops; Snowdon; DrPam; Illnesses; Telephone spam; eBay; Werewolf; Webcomics; PayPal; Wendy; GURPS; Keyboards; Cataracts; Cold Front; Glasses; Annunaki; Ashes held and lost; TORG; Visual Studio ( Read more... ) -
Asterix and the Picts
This book is important to me. I first read Asterix in the early seventies, and it matters to me. In the place in the heart where some people keep Star Trek or Dr Who, as a formative experience that always matters to them, I have Asterix. In the eighties, there was a full set of reprints and I bought the lot. Since then, I have bought the books as ( Read more... ) -
History practical: hardtack
I found a pack of flour in the cupboard that I'd forgotten I'd bought. I'd vaguely wondered what ship's biscuit was like since I was shown one while going round HMS Victory with timill and others years ago, so it seemed like time to try. There are plenty of recipes on the Internet, and they're all about the same:
Preheat the oven to 190C, 375F, with the ( Read more... ) -
Happy Birthday
A very happy birthday to the wonderful dorispossum! -
Legal aid changes as a means of shooting oneself in both feet
There’s a consultation out on changes to legal aid in England and Wales. I don’t like the look of it at all, and here’s what I sent into the consultation this morning:
The courts are vital for maintaining a balance between the power of government, the rights of companies, and the rights of individuals. The difficulties in this balance depend on ( Read more... ) -
Letter to the Guardian
Even if Scotland votes for independence, and manages to keep the pound, there's another problem facing its choice of currency ( Read more... ) -
Opening line of the week
"The hookers were slap-fighting a Hare Krishna up at the intersection when the bullet came through the windshield."
Tim Dorsey, The Riptide Ultra-glide. The rest of the book isn't quite that cool, but it's still a decent example of the Florida Weird genre. -
Fundraising beyond the call of duty
The son of a friend, one Kenneth Dalglish, is planning some slightly excessive fund-raising activity. Here's his pitch ( Read more... ) -
We need to do something about these titles...
Radio 4 has just told me about The Visiting Professor of Money Laundering and Corporate Fraud at the University of Westminster. The chap's own website - he's a Russian corporate lawyer - agrees that's the title.