• Sun, 12:56: On the Lib Dem leadership. https://t.co/N6PRiemX6E
• Sun, 14:20: RT @joncstone: Brits buying halloumi is 6% of all Cyprus’s trade https://t.co/wvbuUQQNx8
• Sun, 14:48: Don’t bet there’ll be a third vote on Theresa May’s deal https://t.co/dLocrDVuKZ Gawdddd.....
• Sun, 16:05: Wow. https://t.co/mEHYzk3wtE
• Mon, 09:55: RT @MichaelAodhan: @pmdfoster @SamuelMarcLowe We, NIRC, @Freight_NI and @ManufacturingNI, did the figures and under the backstop if we are…
• Mon, 10:10: RT @davidallengreen: One key to understanding Brexit so far is that EU27 has not dumped on Ireland in the way the UK would have done had th…
• Mon, 10:19: Awful news. https://t.co/7mphwAdOZw
• Mon, 10:24: RT @Usherwood: Let's not forget where we are right now: 1/
• Mon, 10:45: Lou Reed & John Cale dressed as Batman & Robin https://t.co/3LXloGpZA3 In the early days of The Velvet Underground,… https://t.co/cH2cvXBfhs
• Mon, 10:46: RT @tconnellyRTE: https://t.co/Bam2UJE39o

( Read more...Collapse )

• Sat, 12:05: RT @pmdfoster: “ It’s not where we wanted to be, but it still leaves us with cards to play.” ⁦@CitySamuel⁩ selling the backstop... and rath…
• Sat, 12:06: RT @DPhinnemore: Once again, the Saturday morning read from @tconnellyRTE is a must. Capriciousness and Cox On Cox: 'when he [first] ar…
• Sat, 15:57: RT @GoodwinVianna: While you're still horrified by the mosque shooting, I'm going to share something I don't normally share. Because tomor…
• Sat, 16:05: ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ at Fifty https://t.co/0MDF1SglT7 @CharlieJane writes.
• Sat, 17:50: RT @bricksilk: In this just-published further Opinion on the PM’s #Brexit deal, we take a dim view of new legal arguments attributed to the…
• Sat, 19:39: RT @NCOILorg: @NCOIL Keynote Luncheon speaker Nicholas Whyte @nwbrux Senior Director, Global Solutions @APCOWorldwide shares his thoughts o…
• Sat, 20:00: My week on Twitter 🎉: 38 Mentions, 39.5K Mention Reach, 161 Likes, 77 Retweets, 181K Retweet Reach. See yours with… https://t.co/c8ofxJezNo
• Sat, 20:36: Saw this extraordinary John Gable portrait of Alice Roosevelt Longworth in the @WillardHotel yesterday. There are m… https://t.co/YUkA53JbGp
• Sat, 20:48: RT @peterjukes: Let’s name them. Rod Liddle. Douglas Murray. Katy Hopkins. Trevor Kavanagh. Alison Pearson. Melanie Philips https://t.co/Km…
• Sat, 22:16: RT @CarolineGruyter: "Since we joined the EU in 1973, we have held up mirrors to other Europeans in Brussels. We loved showing them what we…

( Read more...Collapse )

• Fri, 12:19: RT @Dublin2019: In case you haven't heard... Today is the deadline for nominating @TheHugoAwards. So if you haven't done so yet it's time t…
• Fri, 12:23: RT @DmitryOpines: 1/ - Dmitry's Guide To Writing A No-Deal Is Project Fear Article - Are you a Tory Lord who once had to share a cab with…
• Fri, 12:28: Public Prosecution Service spells out in detail Bloody Sunday decisions via @irish_news https://t.co/FJbJVBE7nh Useful detail.
• Fri, 12:29: RT @drewharwell: The New Zealand massacre was livestreamed on Facebook, announced on 8chan, reposted on YouTube, commentated about on Reddi…
• Fri, 12:56: An Irish pub born in the Dark Ages https://t.co/3xaP6X9cyJ 1100 years of serving drinks in Athlone!
• Fri, 13:08: RT @JP_Biz: Silver Hill Foods, the cross-border duck business which featured in the @tconnellyRTE book, has been bought by Fane Valley, the…
• Fri, 13:39: RT @ChrisGiles_: 🚨 PUBLIC SERVICE KLAXON 🚨 Thread below linked to this column provides all the information you might want (and probably mo…
• Fri, 13:59: RT @TheScepticIsle: I set out a vision for & argued for a “Liberal Brexit” & was openly supportive of free movement & the Single Market. My…
• Fri, 15:13: RT @jonworth: Making sense of the week - #Brexit diagram V18 ‼ UK requests long extension: 84% ‼ No Deal 15% ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Gen Election 33% ⬆️ M…
• Fri, 16:05: The power of one country to influence treaty ratification https://t.co/x7A82KP0bk Interesting!

( Read more...Collapse )

• Thu, 12:47: RT @jonworth: #Brexit Diagram V17, after yesterday's votes. 👎 No Deal was already priced in, so little change on that. No Deal 32% ↔️ Gen…
• Thu, 12:56: Fintan O’Toole: ‘Yeats Test’ criteria reveal we are doomed https://t.co/kXZqZXD6gq If Heaney is fashionable, the ti… https://t.co/DnKX0gJDnH
• Thu, 14:57: RT @LBC: Eddie: “What about people who have changed their minds on Brexit?” Liz Truss: “I don’t think people have changed their minds”…
• Thu, 15:08: RT @Dublin2019: Tomorrow, the 15th of March, is the deadline for nominating @TheHugoAwards. So if you haven't done so yet it's time to star…
• Thu, 15:46: RT @Billbrowder: BREAKING: European Parliament passes resolution calling for an EU Magnitsky Act with Sergei Magnitsky’s name on it. The vo…
• Thu, 15:50: RT @HeaneyDaily: On a Wednesday morning early I took the road to Derry Along Glenshane and Foreglen and the cold woods of Hillhead: A wet w…
• Thu, 16:00: 40 hours to go to make your Hugo nominations! https://t.co/nFTRHRtVbA
• Thu, 16:05: That’s really lovely. https://t.co/XEgV4kGCuM
• Thu, 16:30: RT @ConorCradden: @nwbrux I nominate David Cameron and Theresa May for 'Brexit' (Fantasy category)
• Thu, 17:11: How I Would Cover the College-Admissions Scandal as a Foreign Correspondent https://t.co/FaD5JOIkAf The USA’s “enti… https://t.co/tjV9S2AGHR

( Read more...Collapse )

• Wed, 12:10: RT @AlbertoNardelli: NEW: The EU thinks that delaying Brexit makes sense only in three scenarios: 1) prepare for no deal 2) to ratify the…
• Wed, 12:29: RT @dannyctkemp: ‘I have drawn you a unicorn’. Tusk’s Instagram scores again 🦄 https://t.co/erA3UxbQvz
• Wed, 12:56: RT @michael_deforge: Mark Twain didn’t learn to read until he was 63 Stanley Kubrick was only 41 when he faked the moon landing Paul McCart…
• Wed, 15:29: RT @RTENewsPaulC: Lots of head scratching at the European Parliament on UK border proposals - MEPs wondering why British Govt treating NI d…
• Wed, 15:29: RT @hayward_katy: The UK has published its approach to cross-border movement of goods in N.Ireland under a No Deal scenario, as the PM prom…
• Wed, 15:43: RT @NinaDSchick: Meanwhile, @JamesCleverly, Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, says No Deal Brexit shouldn’t be taken off the table…
• Wed, 16:05: RT @MavenOfMayhem: Hello, and welcome to Canada, where we eat poutine and have been sharing bathrooms and change rooms with self-ID’d trans…
• Wed, 16:26: RT @leonardocarella: The belief that Italy, Hungary or Poland may veto an A50 extension is inversely proportional to the believer's command…
• Wed, 16:29: #TakingBackControl https://t.co/Al2q2gsSff
• Wed, 16:51: I get quoted by @aoifewhite101 on @vestager: https://t.co/TwloS8ykoe

( Read more...Collapse )

• Tue, 12:30: RT @tconnellyRTE: Key points from Geoffrey Cox: The legally binding provisions of the Joint Instrument + the content of the Unilateral Dec…
• Tue, 12:56: The Great Star Wars Heist | Carl Cunningham and Rancho Obi-Wan https://t.co/1OPzQ0ItpB Extraordinary and rather sad story.
• Tue, 15:24: RT @NigelDoddsDUP: Sufficient progress has NOT been achieved at this time. https://t.co/tZpLQ5giUy
• Tue, 16:05: John Bolton: Trump’s Shrewd National Security Adviser https://t.co/QY1zgqIY7M ‘“He could have risen faster if he ha… https://t.co/Afg9gI1gxz
• Tue, 17:11: Jeremy Corbyn and the truth about Tom Bower's book https://t.co/fXw4fYdHqZ A thorough and damning demolition by… https://t.co/kqRNaJmtQ8
• Tue, 18:13: RT @amcunningham: Thanks for sharing this @nwbrux - it's important for what it says about the quality of political discourse in the media t…
• Tue, 18:35: RT @GeorginaEWright: Really though, if you are confused about what changes the Prime Minister brought back, and what they actually mean for…
• Tue, 18:39: RT @Mij_Europe: If May's deal is defeated tonight, as seems likely, I suspect it will impact - and complicate - the debate in the European…
• Tue, 18:49: #TakingBackControl https://t.co/Mo0YpIcGFO
• Tue, 19:21: RT @pmdfoster: Of all the Brexiteer beliefs, this has been the hardest to squash. Confusing mitigation measures - even more generous ones…

( Read more...Collapse )

• Mon, 12:56: Lying. https://t.co/SfqE0QIAho
• Mon, 13:25: Good discussion at end of last week. Who knows how things will look by the end of this week??? https://t.co/7OrxLPyhC1
• Mon, 13:54: RT @asabenn: "To borrow Donald Tusk’s terms: there is a special place in hell for MPs who voted for Article 50 yet now refuse to endorse th…
• Mon, 16:05: James Meek on Brexit and the myth of St. George https://t.co/x19GC6rXn2 Good thoughtful piece.
• Mon, 17:11: Kevin Barry: The belligerence and brilliance of Flann O’Brien https://t.co/medfJ8IpmO Great piece about a great biography of a great writer.
• Mon, 18:46: Thread. https://t.co/Vo51m1T2Iy
• Mon, 19:10: RT @Lennardvot: @JGForsyth This is clutching at straws and the opinion of some lawyer is irrelevant. There are three ways to end the backst…
• Mon, 19:52: RT @pmdfoster: So it appear there are to be two statements - a joint one and a unilateral UK one setting out the conditions on which the UK…
• Mon, 20:48: In 1969, someone sent Robert Fink a telegram. It was finally delivered last month. https://t.co/RhzCIFmTST Nice little story.
• Mon, 21:07: RT @gossjam: Oh no. https://t.co/6bY80tMaSC

( Read more...Collapse )

• Sat, 12:56: No dealers must dream on: A conversation with Ivan Rogers https://t.co/H70DVLk6o4 Verbatim, so not as well structur… https://t.co/rtwsD5lbMQ
• Sat, 13:08: RT @AlbertoNardelli: A Mysterious Hardline Brexit Group Run By A Young Tory Is Now The Biggest Spending Political Campaign On Facebook. But…
• Sat, 14:24: RT @oliver_daddow: @FabianZuleeg @Cardwell_PJ Calls to mind this from John Major, on Maastricht Treaty negotiations in early 1990s. https:/…
• Sat, 14:44: RT @Freight_NI: 1/5 The @CommonsNIAC report on the backstop and Irish border has just been published. A few things that stand out in initia…
• Sat, 14:48: What do the people of the world die from? https://t.co/PU0Ze3W2j6 Grimly fascinating statistics.
• Sat, 16:05: RT @pollytoynbee: Click on this: needs magnifying glass to find tiny slice we contribute to EU. Red bus utterly misleading - Will any but u…
• Sat, 17:07: RT @SebDance: It wasn’t the EU27 that booted the UK out. It wasn’t the EU27 that likened the UK to a Soviet gulag. It wasn’t the EU27 tha…
• Sat, 17:07: RT @DeborahMeaden: To be fair, we are beginning to look a little unhinged. We propose a backstop position, they agree it, we go back and sa…
• Sat, 20:00: My week on Twitter 🎉: 226 Mentions, 12.2K Mention Reach, 1.75K Likes, 503 Retweets, 125 Replies. See yours with… https://t.co/KKoHVDQuuA
• Sat, 20:48: The endless Brexit lies have left us in an Orwellian nightmare https://t.co/AfCJ9Tz2D3 Fair, from @jonlis1.

( Read more...Collapse )

• Fri, 12:00: RT @GuidoFawkes: Quote of the Day is Karen Bradley on Believing What She Says... https://t.co/51uAgOTgDV https://t.co/4COO7FUjkr
• Fri, 12:56: RT @philipstephens: After Brexit, Britain will be a rule-taker https://t.co/NHEipOJQrC
• Fri, 13:09: RT @KaliaPolitics: Very interesting article by @nwbrux on what to expect from the 2019 European Parliament elections and the role that #Bre…
• Fri, 15:22: Latest APCO Brexit Bites, with comment from me. https://t.co/33mbn9EOyN
• Fri, 15:39: RT @bbcdoctorwho: Happy #InternationalWomensDay! Straight from the set of S12, here's some of our wonderful cast talking about the women th…
• Fri, 16:05: RT @ScottHech: Manafort was sentenced to less than a woman who voted while on probation without knowing she wasn’t allowed to. She was sent…
• Fri, 17:11: RT @arrroberts: "also born" https://t.co/RZjXP7OfGv
• Fri, 17:31: RT @pmdfoster: Shorter @MichelBarnier - We are not talking the blame here. - The UK has clear choices. As this weeks talks show, they c…
• Fri, 17:48: RT @MichelBarnier: 👇 I briefed EU27 Ambassadors and EP today on the ongoing talks with #UK. Following the EU-UK statement of 20 Feb, the EU…
• Fri, 18:19: RT @tconnellyRTE: Quick thread on the Barnier statements: This essentially going back to the NI-specific backstop: ie, if it really wants t…

( Read more...Collapse )

• Thu, 12:41: RT @nick_gutteridge: Loiseau again makes the very important point that's it's absurd to think EU would actively want to trap UK in the back…
• Thu, 12:45: RT @GuitarMoog: A serious contender among many thousands of candidates for the title Peak Brexit. The Consultancy firm hired by DFDM Liam…
• Thu, 12:56: Karen Bradley is speaking to the wrong audience on Northern Ireland https://t.co/yuGhgGbkwX @patrickkmaguire is kin… https://t.co/KLvBuCXtud
• Thu, 14:36: RT @SJAMcBride: The remarkable thing is that when she came back to the Commons to clarify her remarks, Karen Bradley did not have the polit…
• Thu, 14:40: “My position and the position of the government is clear” - no it isn’t, because she still hasn’t said that her sta… https://t.co/G4OHpSB854
• Thu, 17:11: RT @TweetChizone: @Nicole_Cliffe Oh God I can’t even tell this story and not cry. I used to manage an LGBT bookstore, when bookstores were…
• Thu, 18:18: RT @ivanobp: @nwbrux Oh I think it's quite clear, Nicholas! She's not sorry because she can't see that she's said anything wrong, just that…
• Thu, 18:23: RT @georgeeaton: A year ago, Amber Rudd said the new registration scheme for EU migrants would be “as easy as setting up an online account…
• Thu, 19:20: RT @georgeeaton: The facts have always been the same: 1. You need a permanent customs union or the "backstop" to guarantee no hard Irish…
• Thu, 20:48: RT @JamesKanag: I'm not convinced that the political parties understand where "Middle England/Wales" exists. Analysis indicates Ipswich, Se…

( Read more...Collapse )

• Wed, 12:20: RT @nick_gutteridge: Commission spokesman: 'Barnier informed Commissioners that while the talks take place in a constructive atmosphere dis…
• Wed, 12:56: The Making of the Fox News White House https://t.co/ZggcU1Imr4 Grimly fascinating. (Long read from The New Yorker.)
• Wed, 14:36: RT @APCOBXLInsider: The #EU2019 transition raises many questions. Luckily #apcoworldwide provides insights on matters such as #Brexit, #pop…
• Wed, 15:26: Holy shit. https://t.co/1SLRLncE86
• Wed, 16:05: "Parliament is a weird place to be a working class woman. You have to work twice as hard to be heard" https://t.co/1t3Vmr05ej Great piece.
• Wed, 16:18: Oh yeah? https://t.co/a4TIMDdZ4V
• Wed, 17:09: RT @Peter_G_1: @nwbrux So Karen Bradley has shown herself to be a recruitment agent for the dissidents.
• Wed, 17:11: She Slipped Past My Age Filter https://t.co/J0LhniOIsT Awww.
• Thu, 01:22: RT @AlexKane221b: By any yardstick of measurement Karen Bradley is the worst SoS NI has had.
• Thu, 01:23: RT @mikenesbittni: One way or another I have had dealings with the last 13 Secretaries of State for NI. Karen Bradley consistently demonstr…

( Read more...Collapse )

• Tue, 12:56: RT @JP_Biz: Jim Harra: 'My main worry for day 1 is there is insufficient time for traders who wish to comply...even if we announced tomorro…
• Tue, 15:13: I cast the first vote here, and it was for Ian Marter. https://t.co/yw0o6UZvHO https://t.co/KmTgqMUEZ1 https://t.co/BTGIML0osQ
• Tue, 16:05: Rembrandt in the Blood: An Obsessive Aristocrat, Rediscovered Paintings and an Art-World Feud https://t.co/tdf3I0Xqa0 Brilliant story.
• Tue, 17:11: Navigating Blackness In Acting https://t.co/Vb9fipjwkB My @APCOWorldwide colleague Chris Allen reflects.
• Tue, 17:33: Very interesting! https://t.co/fUfz2ZhvHx
• Tue, 20:48: RT @DanForys: @HeleneBismarck @davidallengreen This might answer 1 - https://t.co/vgMvsn5fQm
• Tue, 22:00: 250 hours to go to make your Hugo nominations! https://t.co/nFTRHRtVbA
• Tue, 22:47: RT @JP_Biz: The Head of the NI Civil Service has sent an updated no-deal Brexit letter to the local parties warning of "grave" consequences…
• Wed, 00:05: Tuesday reading (a couple of minutes late) https://t.co/Gb3U5w67K2
• Wed, 08:04: RT @Peston: Attached is the official position of the official Brexit campaign. Vote Leave said UK would not even start the legal process to…

( Read more...Collapse )

Current
A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara
Daniel Deronda, by George Eliot
κ1

Last books finished
Present Danger, ed. Eddie Robson
ι1

Next books
Troll Bridge, by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran
The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan

• Mon, 12:12: Best of luck to @spendarovski. https://t.co/VeJWQHJLxj
• Mon, 12:17: RT @Guy_Stallard: Thread to read https://t.co/i3JuhErWfV
• Mon, 12:47: RT @ELarrissy: Thread https://t.co/hdi8FDudj4
• Mon, 12:56: RT @OxfordDiplomat: Marr: In terms of individual deals, how many are now on track? Fox: Em, that is. Marr: You must know the answer? Fox…
• Mon, 13:17: RT @clumperino: Interesting thread from EU27 perspective. https://t.co/8I3g6VRKep
• Mon, 13:47: RT @dduane: Thread. https://t.co/6U0oEZdMQ6
• Mon, 14:00: In case anyone's interested, my write-up of the Savile Inquiry into Bloody Sunday: https://t.co/0gK84UefhC… https://t.co/rIaE0y4EOq
• Mon, 14:17: RT @Roy_Isserlis: Not very hard to outmanoeuvre a bollard. https://t.co/x6UdPazglv
• Mon, 14:47: RT @omminc: Excellent summary of how we got here ! https://t.co/PrgxAWTgPB
• Mon, 15:17: RT @LoeningMarkus: Want to understand the state of #Brexit? Read this brilliant thread by @nwbrux https://t.co/UU8TOCkC8g

( Read more...Collapse )

• Sun, 12:56: RT @BrigidLaffan: This is a brilliant historical dissection of the fork in the road that Britain finds itself. Why no contemporary Cobden?…
• Sun, 13:27: As usual, an excellent thread on the Brexit state of affairs from @PMDFoster, who I rate as the clearest-thinking U… https://t.co/BgNly7y1Qn
• Sun, 14:48: RT @jasonomahony: Why would anyone believe the promise that the UK won’t concede food safety in trade talks from the same people who swore…
• Sun, 16:05: RT @uk_domain_names: Defra has put out a detailed Brexit preparedness notice, explaining exactly how dead the UK fisheries industry will be…
• Sun, 16:10: This is a thread about how Leavers are wrong about EU perceptions of the UK position on “No Deal”, ie leaving the E… https://t.co/KS5k8tJ4tO
• Sun, 17:57: RT @duncan_morrow: Interesting thread, and a perspective seldom understood in the UK press.. Especially this one. https://t.co/kTDhqGs7LV
• Sun, 18:17: RT @davecl42: Recommended thread... https://t.co/5kprkge9aN
• Sun, 18:37: RT @Matthew_Kilburn: Conclusion of a thread from thoughtful observer @nwbrux . https://t.co/AJFVXyl9bn
• Sun, 18:45: Proving one of my earlier points. https://t.co/YQWvyMzPGx
• Sun, 18:57: RT @s13GES: Not much to add, just one point: The effect of no deal may help to sharpen focus on UK side (at the very least it helps to make…

( Read more...Collapse )

• Sat, 12:14: First visit to Brussels for @MichelleGomez at @comicconbxl https://t.co/fo0gzOmhkK
• Sat, 12:56: RT @jonnymorris1973: Here's a thing. It was originally the plan for Mission to the Unknown to feature seven delegates, not six (not includi…
• Sat, 13:08: RT @KeohaneDan: This was unfair of me. @CER_Grant never wanted Ireland “thrown under a bus” - in 2017 (which I was referring to) or since.…
• Sat, 13:55: RT @yesdaddyperalta: michelle gomez laughing is everything tbh https://t.co/dQAQHvvKLv
• Sat, 13:56: When you discover that someone you’ve known online for years is standing ten metres away from you... https://t.co/CtiUfSv275
• Sat, 14:17: RT @SluggerOToole: .@naomi_long "Her claim to the House of Commons that she has approached resolving the impasse with “laser-like focus” is…
• Sat, 14:31: RT @BrigidLaffan: Time for @FineGael to join this list https://t.co/DA1r4i5vHc
• Sat, 14:48: The Electoral College Is the Greatest Threat to Our Democracy https://t.co/Ni0tLGnaPw Good point.
• Sat, 15:23: RT @Peston: The more I think about this implicit attack on Eurotunnel by Chris Grayling, the more extraordinary I think it is - because it…
• Sat, 16:05: Ahead, the infinite darkness of war https://t.co/jKpr8Ilmba @praveenswami’s pessimistic take on Pakistan/India relations.

( Read more...Collapse )

• Fri, 12:56: How the Web Became Unreadable https://t.co/20lkeVzCf2 Amen.
• Fri, 15:17: RT @pmdfoster: Right. It's Friday. A quick #Brexit sitrep, as I understand it, with chats from both sides. Tldr: the tiller of SS Britanni…
• Fri, 15:28: RT @DanielBoffey: NEW: Michel Barnier has told EU ambasssors that there has been no progress. Brits keep on banging on about time limit and…
• Fri, 15:40: RT @AndrewDuffEU: Other views are available, but here’s mine ⁦@FT⁩ https://t.co/2jwOMbBqiS
• Fri, 16:05: RT @snazdoll: THIS on #GreenBook https://t.co/hoK8g2ISqn
• Fri, 17:11: The Unsolved Mystery of the Earth Blobs https://t.co/fQGKuG0eFp This is absolutely fascinating - strange huge blobs… https://t.co/Bi8fI6zE3P
• Fri, 18:19: RT @vincecable: In any normal world Chris Grayling would have been fired long ago. It is incomprehensible that he is still in his role afte…
• Fri, 18:22: RT @FaithNaff: Some guys at the bar were talking to me. It was a nice conversation. One had been reading the paper and eventually said some…
• Fri, 18:38: RT @EU_Commission: Happy Martisor 🇷🇴 & Baba Marta 🇧🇬 day, both welcoming the upcoming spring! Bulgarians wear small yarn dolls called “Mart…
• Fri, 18:57: RT @markdevenport: Birmingham pub bombings: Who were the victims? https://t.co/kHLblYH4r0

( Read more...Collapse )

A day late - have been under the weather this week.

Non-fiction: 5 (YTD 7)
ε1
ζ1
Script Doctor: the Inside Story of Doctor Who 1986-1989, by Andrew Cartmel
Tweaking The Tail, by John Leeson
The Life of Sir Denis Henry, by A.D. McDonnell


Fiction (non-sf): 4 (YTD 7)
Fanny Hill, by John Cleland
Candide, by Voltaire
Expo 58, by Jonathan Coe
The Capital, by Robert Menasse


sf (non-Who): 4 (YTD 12)
The Fire Sermon (sample), by Francesca Haig
η1
Bitter Angels, by C. L. Anderson
θ1


Doctor Who, etc: 1 (YTD 3)
Molten Heart, by Una McCormack


4,400 pages
5/14 (YTD 11/31) by non-male writers (ε1, Haig, η1, Anderson, McCormack)
1/14 (YTD 2/31) by PoC (ζ1)
1/14 (YTD 2/21) reread (Candide)

Reading now
Present Danger, ed. Eddie Robson
A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara
ι1
Daniel Deronda, by George Eliot

Coming soon (perhaps):
Troll Bridge, by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran
The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan
De Terugkeer van de Wespendief, by Aimee de Jongh
Dark Lord of Derkholm, by Diana Wynne Jones
A Sunless Sea, by Anne Perry
Feersum Endjinn, by Iain M Banks
The Ginger Man, by J. P. Donleavy
Bland Ambition, by Steve Tally
Nebula Awards Showcase 2011, ed. Kevin J. Anderson
In Another Light, by Andrew Greig
Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney, by Dennis O'Driscoll
“Goat Song”, by Poul Anderson
The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Graham
1913: The World before the Great War, by Charles Emmerson
The Making and Remaking of the Good Friday Agreement, by Paul Bew
The Paying Guests, by Sarah Waters
Five Women Who Loved Love: Amorous Tales from 17th-Century Japan by Ihara Saikaku
Better Than Sex: Confessions of a Political Junkie by Hunter S. Thompson
The Weather on Versimmon by Matthew Griffiths

• Thu, 12:56: Trump’s Bone Spurs Finally Heal In Time For Vietnam Trip https://t.co/nV4vSgXaTi LOL!
• Thu, 13:09: Robust and clear rebuttal by the European Commission of Hungarian government’s scandalous claims about migration po… https://t.co/AN09J25VfK
• Thu, 13:10: RT @dannyctkemp: @damonwake 'The scenic but flat region bordering Belgium and Germany, but claimed by neither...'
• Thu, 15:51: RT @Usherwood: Right then. Having talked about 'accidental' no-deal outcomes, I realise that I've never tried to map out exactly how this…
• Thu, 16:05: Eight observations on a delay to Brexit https://t.co/4EH0MhgVvR By @davidallengreen.
• Thu, 17:11: RT @yourthiccfriend: I recently saw a tweet claiming Ireland has yet to produce any great female artists and you know what that's a load of…
• Thu, 19:53: RT @douchebagstrat: It's not about post-data curation, it's about post-social media bite-sized content
• Thu, 20:48: North Carolina Operative Indicted in Connection With Absentee Voter Fraud https://t.co/qDg1KLiXyI This is a really shocking story.
• Thu, 23:08: RT @pickwick: hey guys did you know that André Previn was a prolific, diversely talented, Oscar- and Grammy-winning musician as well as the…
• Fri, 10:19: RT @EU_Commission: The Hungarian government campaign distorts the truth and seeks to paint a dark picture of a secret plot to drive more mi…

( Read more...Collapse )

Current
Present Danger, ed. Eddie Robson
A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara
ι1
Daniel Deronda, by George Eliot

Last books finished
θ1
The Capital, by Robert Menasse

Next books
Troll Bridge, by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran
The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan

• Mon, 12:21: RT @IanDunt: Have you... have you seen Ghostbusters? https://t.co/7mz6j0kmqU
• Mon, 12:30: RT @Dublin2019: Don't forget, deadline for nominating in @TheHugoAwards is the 15th of March.
• Mon, 12:56: RT @Chris_Auld: A rant about the state of statistical work in (clinical) medical journals: 4/20 "Weed day" edition. Last year @JAMAInterna…
• Mon, 16:05: Neil Gaiman on honouring Terry Pratchett’s last request: ‘You have to do this’ https://t.co/wYQUq2AAyo The story of Good Omens.
• Mon, 16:19: RT @AlbertoNardelli: Britain’s post-Brexit trade conundrum. A short story. I had a meeting this morning with a Japanese diplomat who said…
• Mon, 16:39: Epic thread with pictures of each of the last 18 US Presidents throwing baseballs. https://t.co/WciHscSnQt
• Mon, 17:11: How should Ireland’s MEPs be elected amidst Brexit uncertainty? https://t.co/C7spLezVJi Michael Gallagher argues th… https://t.co/byq5axynTB
• Mon, 18:29: 'Crusader' at Dublin church decapitated https://t.co/IgEoj0X1TJ Very sad and horrible.
• Mon, 18:44: Labour supporting second referendum? Let’s see how this plays out... https://t.co/Y9tnBfRQFu
• Mon, 20:48: RT @RSmythFreelance: Totally normal caveat such as you might find in any normal book review. https://t.co/UhuLhP9BO8

( Read more...Collapse )

I was fortunate enough to be invited to give a lecture in Rome a couple of weeks ago, and made it into a long Valentine's Day weekend with Anne. I was speaking to students of the University of Washington in the Palazzo Pio near Campo de'Fiori. The building itself in 15th century, remodelled in the 17th century, but it incorporates parts of the temple of Venus Victrix built by Pompey as part of his theatre in 55 BC. Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC at the other end of the building complex, ten minutes' walk away. So it was rather thrilling to speak to students in a building that had been in use, off and on, for over two millennia.






We did a number of the usual tourist things, but also went a little off the beaten track. If you want to do the standard attractions, even in February which is not exactly top tourist season, you have to do a bit more forward planning than we did and get your tickets in advance. (Next time, I want to book a guided tour of the Forum.) Even so, we were very lucky with the light and I think we got some good pictures of:


So we made a strategic decision to concentrate on the earlier Christian monuments in Rome; and gosh, there are plenty of them. I should say that we were tremendously helped in this by the Churches of Rome Wiki, which has a very engaging combination of erudition, enthusiasm and snark.
We started with Santa Maria in Trastevere, partly because I had misremembered it as the burial place of the Irish Earls (actually they are ten minutes away up a steep hill in San Pietro in Montorio; next time). But it turns out to have many points of interest of its own - the church as it is now was built in the 12th century on 4th-century foundations, and has beautiful 12th-century mosaics. In a side chapel is the Madonna della Clemenza, one of the oldest known icons in existence, rather worn but believed to date from around 700.

(Just to add some snark of my own - we had gone over to Trastevere for a Valentine's Day dinner, at a mid-range place on Via della Pelleccia. There were two American women at the next table, and from body language and overheard scraps of conversation it became clear to us that one of them thought they were on a romantic date and the other didn't. The less romantic one made her excuses and departed just as their main course arrived, leaving her friend furiously texting. We've all been there.)

Now that we had got into the early Christian vibe, our next stop was Sant'Agata dei Goti, built (or reconstructed) by Ricimer, the power behind the throne in the mid fifth century (as the Western Empire staggered to its end) as an Arian church for his followers. Rather obviously, it was renovated in the 17th century, but the ground plan and the pillars are still those that Ricimer would have known, and the white structure above the altar topped by a pyramid (the baldacchino) is 12th century. The 17th century paintings at the top depict the life of St Agatha, who was gruesomely mutilated for her faith. The little gold roundels just above the pillars depict Irish saints - the church was part of the Irish College of Rome from 1836 to 1926, and in a weird bit of history it is believed to be the final resting place of Daniel O'Connell's heart, though they have unfortunately mislaid it.
One thing in the church that was not mislaid but destroyed in a ceiling collapse in 1589 was Ricimer's original mosaicfor above the altart, showing Christ holding an open book and enthroned on a globe. Fortunately Alphonsus Ciacconius had made a copy of it. Even in the fifth century, the Arian heretic Goths knew that the world was round; don't believe anyone who tries to tell you otherwise.


San Bartolomeo all'Isola, in the middle of the Tiber, was built around 998 - so not quite as palaeochristian as some of the other places we looked at, but it is based on the ruins of the ancient temple of Asclepius, and has always been a place of healing (there is a direct link with Rahere and the founding of Barts in London). The peculiar stone structure on the altar steps is the well-head for the ancient well which would have been used to draw water by the priests of Asclepius. I am struggling to think of another Christian church which actually has a built-in holy well. The Orsini side-chapel was rather lovely.

Going back to the old stuff, the church of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill dates from 432, as the dedicatory inscription implies, and was restored to what was believed to be its original state in the early 20th century. As with Sant'Agata dei Goti, we were almost the only people there - it showed the extent to which Rome concentrates tourists in some places but not others. It is lovely and tranquil, and has one superb and unique asset...The church's wooden doors are the originals, dating from the early fifth century. The top left panel (not very visible in my pictures, unfortunately) is reckoned to be either the oldest or second oldest depiction of the Crucifixion in existence. The single panel detail in my photo is the Exodus - the 19th-century restorer reshaped Pharaoh's head to look like Napoleon. It is thrilling to look at these beautiful panels still where they were first put almost 1600 years ago.

No pictures, but also worth visiting:

Crypta Balbi Museum - brilliant city centre presentation of life in Rome over two millennia, through archaeology and art; however NB we did the upstairs part backwards, which was a mistake caused by our lack of understanding of the signage

Catacombs of San Sebastiano - we had wanted to do the Catacomb of Callixtus, but it was closed; however this was a very acceptable substitute, including many ancient Christian bits and pieces but also three pagan mausolea, the frescos still as sharp as the day their owners were buried; across the road is the country estate of Maxentius. No photos allowed, but very good guided tour.

San Clemente - a 12th century church with much older crypts which we were frustrated from getting into; the opening times for the downstairs bits were not clearly displayed and I think we missed the window by minutes. However, even so there was plenty to see, the schola cantorum and sanctuary screen having been reassembled from the originals bought by Pope John II during his brief reign in the 530s. Again, no photos allowed, and rather grumpy staff.

Food and accommodation:
Hotel Campo de'Fiori, pleasant boutique place and very central.
Tuesday and Friday dinner at Obicà, Campo de'Fiori, recommended by a friend,nice food, grumpier service on Friday than Tuesday for some reason.
Wednesday dinner at Visconti 2.0, looks a bit unprepossessing but really fine dining.
Thursday dinner at La Tavernetta Di Tony E Andrea, not quite as special as I had expected given location and price, but as noted above we had fun people-watching and it was a busy evening.

I hope they'll invite me back.

• Sat, 12:12: Brexit: The narrow precipice to a last-gasp deal https://t.co/vYnU7oRZy7 @TonyConnellyRTE has the latest - a better… https://t.co/YN5MnzIvka
• Sat, 12:36: RT @RobertBohan: Thread: James Gralton (1886-1945) was the only Irishman ever to be deported from independent Ireland. He was a Leitrim-m…
• Sat, 12:56: RT @graemecoleman: Hello, my name is Graeme, I have a PhD in computing, and I am a senior accessibility consultant, but when I want to type…
• Sat, 13:02: RT @Frances_Coppola: @giles_fraser But you did say it.
• Sat, 13:08: RT @mrjamesob: Astonishing to reflect that this is still only the second worst Foreign Secretary appointed by Theresa May. https://t.co/RIF…
• Sat, 13:15: RT @AndrewDuffEU: The one thing I will miss about Brexit is @tconnellyRTE ‘s Saturday morning blasts. https://t.co/vJX1sbB1A9
• Sat, 13:18: RT @Garrodactyl: ME: Hey, Javert, is there like a special on these baguettes or what JAVERT: TWO FOR $6.01
• Sat, 13:42: I am not going to link to the appalling Giles Fraser article, but this is a good rebuttal of the contention (also m… https://t.co/lUYEx5dJEv
• Sat, 13:44: RT @AlitheaP: @nwbrux https://t.co/WTxt9YwJE0 is also excellent on the family need to be carers aspect of it
• Sat, 14:48: Prespa Agreement - Media Guidelines https://t.co/bAxrAwu3mY How to refer to the citizens and language of North Macedonia.

( Read more...Collapse )

On The Waterfront won the Oscar for Best Motion Picture of 1954, and picked up another seven, Best Director (Elia Kazan), Best Actor (Marlon Brando), Best Screenplay (Budd Schulberg), Best Supporting Actress (Eva Marie Saint), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Black-and-White (Richard Day), Best Cinematography Black-and-White (Boris Kaufman) and Best Film Editing (Gene Milford). Three of the cast were nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but lost to Edmond O'Brien in The Barefoot Contessa. Leonard Berstein was nominated for Best Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, but lost to Dimitri Tiomkin for The High and the Mighty. That record of eight Oscars was the same as the previous year's From Here to Eternity, and also Gone With the Wind (though both had thirteen nominations to On The Waterfront's twelve). The other contenders for Best Motion Picture were The Caine Mutiny, The Country Girl, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Three Coins in the Fountain.
Both IMDB rakings, by score and number of votes, put it in 4th place for the year, with Rear Window and Seven Samurai ahead in both tables. The only other 1954 film that I think I have seen is The Belles of St Trinian's. (I am not really a film buff.) It's interesting that this is in black and white, fifteen years after Gone With the Wind. This trailer references Going My Way, which won ten years earlier:
It's a gritty story of corruption on the docks of Hoboken, New Jersey, with Brando's character a naïve young ex-boxer whose brother is the fixer for the local chieftain. The good guys eventually triumph, and the evil mr Friendly's grip is broken. I'm ranking it almost exactly half way down my list of Oscar-winning films (13th out of 26, if you want to know); I think it takes a similar theme to How Green Was My Valley and indeed Going My Way, but does it somewhat better; on the other hand I enjoyed it a bit less than Grand Hotel. I would have put it below Mrs Miniver apart from one redeeming virtue which I'll get to at the end.

All About the Men: Eva Marie Saint is luminous and effective as Edie Doyle, whose brother is killed by the mob in the first scene and who then becomes the love interest and inspiration for Brando's character Terry Molloy. She absolutely deserves her Oscar. (Aged 94, she is still around as of this writing.) But she is the only credited woman actor of the entire film. (There are several uncredited women in minor speaking or non-speaking roles.)

Plot: I'm marking the film down a bit for the actual story. It's pretty clear from early on what's going to happy; the nice characters move along inevitable arcs of redemption at different speeds (apart from those who die trying), and the bad guy is irredeemable. My revolutionary soul is struck by the fact that while the evil unions are clearly portrayed as the problem, there is no corresponding critique of the economic system that keeps the longshoremen trapped in dangerous low-paying jobs. (Also the agents of state coercion are all good guys.) At least collective action does survive to the end. It's a rather right-wing film, and I'm a little surprised to see so little commentary about this aspect of it online.

Brando: Being a film ignoramus as I am, I think the only other films I've seen Brando in are Guys and Dolls and The Godfather, which I will get to in eighteen years' time, plus of course Superman. His performance here is pretty electrifying. I complained above that Terry Molloy's character arc is a bit predictable, but Brando is completely magnetic as he portrays a not terribly bright kid who is compelled to raise his game and do the right thing, depite the potential personal cost. I commented earlier on his spark with Eva Marie Saint; I was also struck by the relationship with his screen brother, played by Rod Steiger (playing the older sibling despite being a year younger than Brando in real life). This is probably also the point to say that Steiger, Lee Cobb as the evil Mr Friendly and Karl Malden as the uncertain priest Father Barry all got Best Supporting Actor nominations. The only other film to get three Oscar nominations in this category is, again, The Godfather.
Cinematography: As noted above, Kazan chose to make the film in black and white, and it gives a tremendous sense of atmosphere which perhaps we might not have had in full colour. (A few seconds of colour film survive from filming.) The town of Hoboken, never actually named, is convincingly brought to life in the location shooting. (I don't think any of it was done in studio.) The camera tells the story as much as the acting, and it's the main channel for the Biblical references which reinforce the plot.
Music: This is really impressive. I wish I had been keeping a separate scorecard for the best incidental music in these films; this is up there with William Walton's Hamlet, Hugo Friedhofer's The Best Years of Our Lives, Miklós Rózsa’s The Lost Weekend and the various arrangements in Grand Hotel, and possibly the best of them if you like Bernstein's kind of thing (and I do). Listen for yourself.

So I was generally satisfied with the film, despite some grumbles. You can get it here.


Next up is Marty, of which I know nothing at all.

1920s: Wings (1927-28) | The Broadway Melody (1928-29)
1930s: All Quiet on the Western Front (1929-30) | Cimarron (1930-31) | Grand Hotel (1931-32) | Cavalcade (1932-33) | It Happened One Night (1934) | Mutiny on the Bounty (1935, and books) | The Great Ziegfeld (1936) | The Life of Emile Zola (1937) | You Can't Take It with You (1938) | Gone with the Wind (1939, and book)
1940s: Rebecca (1940) | How Green Was My Valley (1941) | Mrs. Miniver (1942) | Casablanca (1943) | Going My Way (1944) | The Lost Weekend (1945) | The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) | Gentleman's Agreement (1947) | Hamlet (1948) | All the King's Men (1949)
1950s: All About Eve (1950) | An American in Paris (1951) | The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) | From Here to Eternity (1953) | On The Waterfront (1954)
21st century: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

• Fri, 12:17: Final exchange: @USAmbEU : Did you get out of bed on the wrong side today? @Josef_Braml : I’m not a diplomat!!! #CEPSlab19
• Fri, 12:48: RT @MarcoInBxl: ‘@USAmbEU Gordon Sondland: after Trump-Juncker meeting there has been little/no progress on implementation. There is a stro…
• Fri, 12:49: RT @goldthau: U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. comes out strongly on common transatlantic values - but does not move an inch on #trade, #defense…
• Fri, 12:56: Queens of Infamy: Anne Boleyn https://t.co/eKQzRnuXoD A fun profile.
• Fri, 13:30: RT @pernilleru: Gloves off at the Nikkei, Japan's main business newspaper, owner of the FT: Editorial reads: "It is a problem if the UK gov…
• Fri, 14:38: What we can learn from the White Rose siblings https://t.co/3LOBgYXDf8 Fascinating piece on resistance to Nazis and… https://t.co/6dalaCnEYS
• Fri, 16:05: RT @MatGreenfield: Stephen Fry has written a Doctor Who story (though it was never produced). He exists in the Doctor Who universe (River S…
• Fri, 17:11: Using DNA tests, Dwight Manley found his birth father: L.A. politician Mike Antonovich https://t.co/auy8wgzlIZ We w… https://t.co/o97lquirAz
• Fri, 18:29: BSFA Award for Best Artwork, 2018 https://t.co/qPwFYql9LR
• Fri, 19:49: RT @mrjamesob: I blame wheels. Things were great before wheels. https://t.co/9DepF1q9RX

( Read more...Collapse )

As noted earlier, the BSFA final ballot is out!

I'll have to be cautious commenting on anything that is Hugo-eligible, but that doesn't apply to the Best Art category, where there are eight finalists (which appears to be a record, presumably due to a multiple tie for fifth place). My own subjective and very unauthoritative ranking is:

8) Cover for Rosewater by Tade Thompson, Charlotte Stroomer (Orbit)

Geometric, didn't say much to me.

7) Artwork for Sublime Cognition conference, Sing Yun Lee & Morris Wild (London Science Fiction Research Community)
(see pages 3, 8 and 46)

Wasn't sure what I was looking at here!

6) “In the Vanishers’ Palace: Dragon I and II”, Likhain (Inprnt)

I generally like Likhain's work, but unfortunately these two didn't quite do it for me.

5) Wraparound cover for Strange Tales slipcase set, Ben Baldwin (NewCon)

Interesting art, not sure if it was more than the sum of its parts.

4) Artwork for Monster Portraits by Del Samatar & Sofia Samatar, Del Samatar (Rose Metal)

Again, interesting elements but wasn't sure that the whole composition worked.

3) Cover for Concrete Faery by Elizabeth Priest, Bede Rogerson (Luna)

Some great faces. I just liked the other two more.

2) Cover for Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar, Sarah Anne Langton (Tachyon)

Interesting colours and composition.

1) Cover for Paris Adrift by E.J. Swift, Joey Hi-Fi (Solaris)

Love this. Lots to look at, interesting balance of colours, carefully structured. Gets my vote.

Previous votes in this category: 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010, 2009.

I didn't blog my 2012 vote at the time, but for the record it was:
1) Dominic Harman for the cover of Eric Brown’s Helix Wars (Rebellion)
2) Blacksheep for the cover of Adam Roberts’s Jack Glass (Gollancz) - the actual winner
3) Ben Baldwin for the cover of Dark Currents (Newcon Press)
4) Si Scott for the cover artwork for Chris Beckett’s Dark Eden (Corvus)
5) Joey Hi-Fi for the cover of Simon Morden’s Thy Kingdom Come (Jurassic London

I have voted for the winner four times out of nine.