Messages

the uk public don't have any "track record" of voting for prime ministers, as the winners of a parliamentary majority only ever have a clear minority of the vote.

not many flags in my neck of the wood (though the few patriotic houses have made up for this by going completely over the top).

lifelong republican here, as i simply cannot understand this servile worship of an accident of birth.
except ... i fear that this country would choose to have a president farage or suchlike.

thank everything for stewart lee.

i cannot, and probably shouldn't, watch father ted or the office any more. this is a shame - because they were two of my favourite comedies ever, and because i know that we should be able to separate the creator from the creation.
but i can't. sorry. the knowledge of the bigoted harm wrought by their creators make laughter near impossible now.
is this 'cancel culture'? aka personal choice?

disturbing to hear a little child on the news saying that the queen "has done a good job".

and macron has just called the queen "a source of great wisdom".

i bear no personal animosity towards this elderly woman (and i obviously have some sympathy towards her regarding the behaviour of her dysfunctional family). but what is this "job" i keep hearing about? hasn't she been paid a salary beyond anyone's dreams for the "job" of merely existing?

also, there have been too many articles in the guardian urging republicans to join in with the festivities.

sorry. i forgot.
i forgot that she was officially chosen by god.
my bad. rule britannia.

[fiends of the eastern front]

fiends of the eastern front

[nikolai dante]

nikolai dante

[pistols]

rediscovering the pistols today, what with the danny boyle series n all - and an extremely reluctant (but interesting) steve jones hitting the interview trail.

starting, obviously, with their timely and touching tribute to the beloved monarchy.

no future.

[luke kirby]

luke kirby, mainly for john ridgway.

[agatha christie]

well, it would have been the battlestar galactica reboot, were it not for that final episode (see the portlandia bg sketch for an entirely accurate depiction of what this wonderful show did to my home). but. that conclusion.

so agatha christie.

with slaine, i feel that we had a few years of excellent (if a little derivative) stories - but we then had three decades of some of the poorest writing seen in the prog. for me, anyway, it's impossible to ignore the latter.

[harke and burr]

harke and burr

[the alienist]

the alienist ...

belardinelli almost sways my vote. almost.

[helium]

everything about helium was stunning.

[the island of missing trees]

the island of missing trees by elif shafak

best book ever narrated by a fig tree.

it's also a shot of transcendent beauty - and therefore so necessary right now.