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PC of Theseus
About four years ago I built my first PC. I wanted really quiet components and I was about as technical as the people I'd paid to build previous PCs so thought I'd give it a go. The only really hairy bit was screwing on the heatsink; there's a backplate that falls off and I didn't know this so I was pressing too hard trying to screw the heatsink ( Read more... ) -
Human nature
I got a train back from London this week. It was the 7pm, the last possible train on Thursday, and fares go up on Friday. I knew it would be busy but I had no option, and when I tried to reserve a ticket they were all gone. The last thing you want at the end of a hard trip is to stand for more than four hours, or try to get comfortable on the floor ( Read more... ) -
Wide appeal
Staggered out of bed ridiculously early to get down to the Usher Hall to queue for John Carpenter tickets (the director/composer of Halloween and Escape From New York fame). As I rounded the building I was startled to see the queue was about twenty deep; many races and cultures were represented; and indeed it was mostly women, wearing the kind of ( Read more... ) -
Gaga
So I went to see Lady Gaga live. I’m not a super fan but I like some of the songs and maleficent is well keen on her. I also like the fact that she seems to deal with the music industry and the media on her own terms rather than being pushed around by them.
In some ways it was what you might expect from a big stadium gig: lots of dancers, set that looked ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
Tonight I went to an event called Insane Championship Wrestling. I had quite a bit to drink. Then I got home and listened to the Euro election results.
One of the events was full of polite and friendly people looking after others in their community. One was characterised by shocking public scenes and incomprehensible behaviour. -
(Untitled)
Just seen a woman cycling in traffic, not touching the handlebars. No helmet. Smoking.
Doing her bit for the gene pool right there.
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Phantom Horse: the end
Awwwwwright. This seems the right time to wind up the Phantom Horse story when it turns out that the entire nation has been eating horse all along (zenithed called it).
Our “heroes” spend time duffing around the police station while the clock inexorably ticks forward. Jean says things like “Meanwhile our horses die.” and the coppers say stuff like “I don’t ( Read more... ) -
Penultimate Phantom Horse
So they chank it to the abattoir. They go in among the corpses and the white-coated men slicing them into joints. Jean faints. She revives in the car to hear that indeed, a palomino was in and slaughtered recently. Angus however has ascertained that Killarney has not been in. He stops and is sick by the side of the road.
They go to Geoff Craig’s ( Read more... ) -
Ph-ph-ph-pha--
Remember, this is a book for kids:
I ate most of it and then sat watching television without seeing anything, imagining instead the inside of the abattoir, full of carcasses dripping blood, horses’ heads, and among them Phantom’s, pale gold, severed, but still beautiful.
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Phantom Horse: the return
Long-term readers of this sadly neglected journal may recall that five years ago I was reading a children’s book called Phantom Horse In Danger. At that point I had to stop because the story was just too psychologically damaging for me. However over the holidays I have resolved to complete the book and finally end the dreadful suspense.
All you ( Read more... )