-
End Game
I've now finished the first series of Game of Thrones. Now I just have to pray that my wife doesn't push me into having to watch the second ( Read more... ) -
Game of Throwns
A deeply, deeply annoying episode of Game of Thrones last night. In it, there was a character whose sole functions were to a) teach Arya how to use a sword and b) remind the viewer of Inigo Montoya, from The Princess Bride. Having achieved these two functions, he was then thrown away in a style bad even by the standards of a piece of fiction which ( Read more... ) -
Game of Thrones
I've been watching the first season of Game of Thrones. Yes, I know it's a little late in the day, but what can I say? I live in Japan.
After the first five episodes I've finally found one good thing to say about it:
'At least there aren't any races of elves and dwarfs.' -
Publishing
Just to try to keep some momentum (having done two posts in as many days), I thought I should mention that although I'm going to be trying to include more about my Bao stories on this blog, what I actually spend most of my spare time writing is academic treatises about fandom. This is something of a novelty for me, even though my academic career ( Read more... ) -
Published
Absent Heads, or at least half of it, is now up at Scribd http://www.scribd.com/sleepyscholar/shelf. All comments welcome. -
Publishing
Living up to my name, I have spent much of the last year asleep ( Read more... ) -
The Disaster
I always expected the next big earthquake here to be the one that's due to hit us. The Tokai earthquake is a biggie that has a large chance of striking soon (85% in the next 30 years). So the 9.0 Tohoku quake is truly a surprise: a once in a millennium event ( Read more... ) -
Move
Well, I'm now in a new house. Moving is not an experience I want to repeat in a hurry, but then it's unlikely I will need to. Japan doesn't really have a 'property market' in the same way as the UK, so it's unlikely I'll be able to afford to sell this place and buy another ( Read more... ) -
Am I still here?
I should mention that my identity here is 'Sleepyscholar' because that is the Chinese pseudonym I decided I'd try to adopt if my novel ever got published. It's short for 'The Sleepy Scholar of Zhenfu'. 'Sleepy Scholar' is a nod to the pseudonyms used by famous Chinese poets. Zhenfu is the name of the area I live in, which is actually named after a ( Read more... ) -
Vietnam
Vietnam: a Television History is a US documentary originally broadcast in the 1980s, but which has recently been re-released. I would like to ask any Americans to look at that title, and reflect on why people in other countries might find it offensive. (For reference, the series concerns itself with events from 1945 until 1975, and episode titles ( Read more... )