I can’t say anything other but what James Nicoll already said. This is the mosty geeky thing I ever linked to:
Beta Virginis is 35.5 light years from Earth. It was enveloped by your light cone 2 weeks ago.
a failed Womble
That Rod Liddle bid for the editorship of The Independent in full:
By God, The Guardian is a loathsome newspaper; a local north London morning daily for Stalinist metro libtards, perpetually arrogant, snobbish, self-righteous, humourless, dull, relentlessly middle class, cowardly and cheap.
You can see the sole reason Liddle was refused this position was that the powers that be were afraid of his blunt honesty, not because he’s just another rightwing asshole who thinks he’s entitled to lead a leftleaning paper, or because he has a habit of posting racist comments on Millwall supporter sites (under pseudonym, natch). Title courtesy of Charlie Brooker, who described Liddle a while back as “a failed Womble who’s just been shaken awake in a shop doorway”.
Books read February
Still not up to speed, due to external factors like work and S.’s stay in hospital. Lots of science fiction read this month.
Altered Carbon — Richard Morgan
Morgan’s first novel, a Chandleresque science fiction thriller.
Good Omens — Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
The Apocalypse was never so funny. Reread for the umpteenth time and still funny.
Tiger Force — Michael Sallah & Mitch Weiss
Proof that US joualists could still do investigative reporting, this is the book version of a series of articles the authors had originally written for the Toledo Blade about the specialised recon unit Tiger Force went on a rampage through Vietnam.
The Quiet War — Paul J. McAuley
McAuley’s first proper science fiction novel in years, as good or better than any of his classic works.
Black Man — Richard Morgan
Another Morgan s.f. detective novel set in a future which though only written in 2006 already feels outdated.
The other Log of Phileas Fogg — Philip José Farmer
The real story behind Jule Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days.
Nice Hat
Thought y’all might like a picture of me with the Christmas gift I like the most: the shiny new Nice Hat S. gave me. Wearing it while walking through town makes me feel badass — until I trip over my own shoelaces. Again.
With the weather turning from snow to rain and back in the last two months it’s also been very handy in the not getting me wet area. No need for one of those big fuckoff umbrellas two miles in diameter that block every other fucker’s view, not to mention poke their eyes out…
Bloody hell
Sometimes you just cannot believe what you see. Sven Kramer, the Netherlands’ latest skating giant, on track for gold on the ten kilometres, not to mention a new Olympic Record (as the guy in second place already has broken the record already) and then everything goes horribly wrong. At the point where he has to exchange the inner track for the outer one once again his coach is waiting for him to tell him he’s already almost three seconds ahead of his competitor, Sven changes and changes back again to the wrong track. The upshot? He’s disqualified and the South-Korean Lee Seung-hoon insteads wins gold. You can’t blame him, he did skate an Olympic Record as well after all, but how awful for Sven and his coach. With the television cameras lingering on them as the truth sank in, it was heart wrenching to watch them realise what the error cost Sven — Gerard Kemkers, his coach looked completely down. I’ve think we’ve all had that same sinking feeling when we made one simple mistake that fucked up something important.
Poor guys.