Facebook is evil. It’s killing blogging, and I watch the updates from my friends and colleagues which I used to love reading for their amusing content and detail, slowing in frequency and even dying out. I miss them.

Facebook is good. It aggregates a lot of short, quick, updates from my friends and colleagues together along with a mass of trivia and fun.

Facebook is a necessary evil?



...What does that make Twitter?

In my heart, I believe deeply in the parliamentary processes that we have in the UK. So, whilst part of me feels a visceral thrill as MPs left, right and centre are outed as having lost their moral compasses, another part of me winces at the hurt that it is doing to the processes and the reputation of our representatives.

Trust is a difficult thing to recover once it is lost, and I have yet to see a proposal that gives a route to regain it anytime quickly. It’s clear the stables need a good clean, but the stench will last for a long time. Those that weren’t at the trough have been stained by those who were. As our society has increasingly moved to one which seeks divorce rather than reconciliation, I don’t think the reputation of our elected representatives will recover any time soon, as people will be hungry for them to go rather than make amends.



Anyway, if you are interested in what is actually happening in parliament, rather than what the media feels is important about what is happening, then I commend TheyWorkForYou.com to you. It is a website run by a charity – mysociety.org – which seeks to promote democracy. You may be aware of the petition system at the Number 10 website; this was one of their projects. Anyway, TheyWorkForYou.com allows you to find your local MP, examine their voting record, see the speeches that they’ve made, and generally be more informed about what they do against what they say they do.

As an example, I know that my local MP (Colin Burgon, to retire at next election) asked questions on Cuba and other topics most recently. I also know his voting record:

How Colin Burgon voted on key issues since 2001:

• Voted moderately against a transparent Parliament. votes, speeches
• Voted moderately for introducing a smoking ban. votes, speeches
• Voted strongly for introducing ID cards. votes, speeches
• Voted moderately against introducing foundation hospitals. votes, speeches
• Voted moderately against introducing student top-up fees. votes, speeches
• Voted strongly for Labour's anti-terrorism laws. votes, speeches
• Voted very strongly for the Iraq war. votes, speeches
• Voted very strongly against an investigation into the Iraq war. votes, speeches
• Voted very strongly against replacing Trident. votes, speeches
• Voted very strongly for the hunting ban. votes, speeches
• Voted very strongly for qual gay rights. votes, speeches
• Voted moderately for laws to stop climate change. votes, speeches
• Sometimes rebels against their party in this parliament.

The actual figures are there as well. And the summary of their expenses, albeit not as detailed as the Telegraph has been presenting.

Visit this site and understand what your representative is doing!

A final note; earlier this week, I heard a government minister doing something that I feel is unforgivable on Today, Radio 4’s news programme. When challenged on whether the UK Parliament should dissolve itself and hold a general election as members across all sides of the house had been dishonourable, she replied that this wasn’t necessary, as there was an election at the start of June.

But that election has nothing to do with MP’s expenses; it is about our local services and about how we are represented in Europe. Nothing you do at that election will change Westminster or punish those who have their snouts in the trough. Bear that in mind when you chose who to vote for; what is the best for you and your family? This isn’t the time to punish the MPs who have erred; that will come sometime in the next 12 months. Don’t let them divert the blame!

I came across this via an astronomy website, and just can’t stop returning to it. I posted it on my Facebook account a while ago, but thought I’d link it here as well.

The sense of scale just leaves me in awe; and this is small! Once you start to consider the scale of the galaxy itself, and then the clusters of galaxies you realise just how small we are...

Not to mention the music from “The Black Hole” which is pretty much perfect for this.

Marillion at Leeds

Well, I went to see my favouritest band in the whole wide world on Thursday, and really enjoyed myself. Thanks to a scheduling snafu, and some confusion, Jill couldn't make it and my friend who I'd hoped could come couldn't either. So it was pretty strange, going out on my own for the first time in years. Even stranger going to a gig on my own for the first time ever!

However, it was great! Marillion always do a great show, and this was no exception. The core of the concert was the new double album, Happiness is the Road, which is only available from their website [if you're interested what they sound like, click the link and go there and they'll send you a free sampler CD or download], with strong elements of the awesome Marbles, and some older bits and pieces. Nothing Fish era, which may disappoint some people, but you can go and see Fish for that!

The album is starting to grow on me, more slowly than I'd have liked. However, that's more a reflection of the 110 minute length, which is much harder to assimilate than a single disc. The gig really showcased the new release, and I left with the anthem-like title-track Happiness is the Road ringing in my ears. If you want to hear the concert, it was recorded and you can get the MP3 download here.

I had a great night, only marred slightly by the fact I wasn't with friends. (How hard can it be to give away a ticket!?)

Currently feeling: Happy
Currently listening to: Woke Up (Happiness is the Road – Marillion (live at LMUSU))
Currently reading: The Second Book of Lankhmar (Fritz Leiber, still!)

On Monday night, Jill and I went to see the new X Files movie, "I Want to Believe" at the Multiplex in York. It was great, much better than the critics would have you believe. It was a low budget film, and really captured the feel of some of the best non-Alien Mythos episodes from the series. They'd carefully focussed away from the massive back-story of the series, making it really approachable.

I recommend getting to see this before The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia! completely swamp it from the cinema. We've been following it up by watching the DVD of the first series.

(We got to see this because Nathan had an extra day's holiday at my parents!)

My favouritest (and yes, I'm aware that isn't a real word, but there should be a campaign to make it one) rock band in the whole world, Marillion, are moving steadily towards giving me a great birthday present. Their latest album, which will be a double album extravaganza, is due in September. It's recently stopping being called 'Album 15' and been called "Happiness in the Road". The disks are subtitled "Essence" and "The Hard Shoulder". They're approaching it in a similar way to Marbles, and self funding it via pre-orders. If you want to know more, here's a link.

The few snippets I've heard are excellent, as ever.

Currently feeling: Chilled
Currently listening to: Blackbird (Marillion, covering the Beatles on 'Unplugged at the Walls'.
Currently reading: Sufficiently Advanced & Mongoose Traveller Core Rules (RPGs).

I've been revisiting a number of books which I originally read in 1992 (gosh, 16 years ago!) written by one of my favourite author's, CJ Cherryh. They are Rusalka, Chernevog and a recently acquired copy of Yvgenie. I've really enjoyed them, but they've been harder work that some of the other books which I've read recently. The books are Cherryh's exploration of her Russian heritage, and quite dark in subject, full of ghosts, magic and dark forests.

I've put a slightly more detailed review here.

Picture swiped from amazon.co.uk, where you can buy a copy!

The last week has seen a number of the great and good pass on, but the one that resonated with me was the news of Sir Arthur C. Clarke's death at the age of 90. Clarke was one of the great visionaries of the 20th Century, and many things that he envisaged have come to pass including geosynchronous satellites, sat-nav, a number of space transport maneuvers, and plenty more – such as the space elevator – sit there in development or as tremendous concepts. Clarke also popularised science, and gave the story that became one of the most acclaimed SF films of all time, 2001 A Space Odyssey. Personally, the latter bored me silly although I admired the imagery.

Anyway, Clarke has great significance to me, along with Andre Norton and Isaac Azimov, as his writings shaped my interest in Science Fiction (especially hard SF) at a young age. I was introduced to him by my Australian second cousin, Kathy Finlay, who bought me a copy of Rendezvous with Rama when I was still a young lad. I loved the tale of scientific exploration, adventure and technology, combined with the shear sense of wonder of first contact with an alien artifact. Sadly, the later sequels didn't match up to the first book, but – like the Highlander films – one can always pretend that the later versions don't exist! This sense of wonder had me reading more of his books, then moving on to other authors and genres. Over Christmas, I re-read a number of his older works and they're still valid today.

I got quite annoyed listening to some of the literary intelligentsia harping on about how he was important, but really 'not very good as a writer'. It seems you have to write turgidly like Atwood's (apparently non-SF) post-apocalyptic novel, Oryx and Crake, to be a good writer. I think that time will prove them wrong, and that his significance will be more recognised as the distance grows.

So, rest well, Sir Arthur, wherever you are.

This is the trailer for the latest of the HP Lovecraft Historical Society's films of Lovecraft's dark horror stories. It's shot in the style of a thirties 'talkie', from the era in which it is set. From the trailer here, it looks like it could be even better than the previous film, The Call of Cthulhu, which was shot in the style of a silent movie.

One of my favourite books of all time is coming to the silver screen. Susan Cooper's 'The Dark is Rising' is to be released in October of this year as 'The Seeker'. There are plot changes, but the trailer suggests that the imagery from the book is mostly intact. I'm really looking forward to this!

The following sites are worth a look if you're interested in the Dark is Rising Sequence:
1) thelostland.com, Susan Cooper's own site.
2) The Dark is Rising Wiki.
3) Wikipedia.
You can also look at my short review of the sequence here.

This was one of the books that really stuck with me when I grew up, and I so hope that they will do it well. The actors look good - Ian MacShane and Chris Ecclestone, so there's hope!

I've added a new book review of the novel Legacies, by Alison Sinclair, on the Media pages.

I've recently managed to start reading again properly and have added a few book reviews in the media section. Enjoy.

I've also stripped out some of the old (non-Flickr) photo albums as they're getting on quite a bit now.

I've added a short post on my thoughts on John le Carré's book 'The Secret Pilgrim' on the Media Page.

I've added reviews of Eragon and At the Edge of Space to the Media Pages.

Yes, Mum, I've finally finished it!

Struggling with reading at the moment due to a number of things - misplaced books, and time being the main ones. I'm juggling between a CJ Cherryh collection...

...which I managed to lose for a fortnight by leaving it in a bag... Secrets of San Francisco....

...an RPG supplement for Call of Cthulhu.... and two others – The Collected Ghost Stories of MR James, and Eragon....

...which is a book I've had for far too long. The James is excellent, and I'm really looking forward to reading it, especially as I ordered it at Christmas. I'm more nervous about Eragon, because it's been so hyped, and I'm hoping that it isn't going to be as disappointing as Harry Potter was. The Cherryh novel is actually two of her earlier books, and both of them focus on people lost from their own culture. Reading the first one has reminded me just how well she does that style of novel, and the way her stories are always so character driven (unlike a lot of SF).

(No picture here for the MR James as there's none on Amazon).

I think that this speaks for itself...
We think we're heroes, we think we're kings
We plan all kinds of fabulous things
Oh look how great we have become

Key in the door, the moment I've been longing for
Before my bag hit the floor
My adorable children rush up screaming for a kiss
And a story they're a gift to this world
My only claim to glory
I surely never knew sweeter days
Blows my mind like munitions
I'm amazed

So much heaven, so much hell
So much love, so much pain
So much more than I thought this world could ever contain
So much war, so much soul
One man's loss, another man's gold
So much more than I thought this world can ever hold

We're just children, we're just dust
We are small and we are lost
And we're nothing, nothing at all

One bomb, the whole block gone
Can't find my children and dust covers the sun
Everywhere is noise, panic and confusion
But to some another fun day in Babylon
I'm gonna bury my wife and dig up my gun
My life is done so now I got to kill someone

So much heaven, so much hell
So much love, so much pain
So much more than I thought this world could ever contain
So much war, so much soul
Moments lost, moments go
So much more than I thought this world could ever hold

So much more than I thought this world could ever hold
So much more than I thought this world could ever hold

So much heaven, so much hell
So much love, so much pain
So much more than I thought this world could ever contain
So much war, so much soul
Moments lost, moments go
So much more than I thought this world could ever hold
__
'Bombs' by Faithless from their recent album 'To All New Arrivals'.

If you want to see the video, it's here on YouTube
If you want to buy the album, it's here on Amazon

'Winning the Peace is harder than Winning the War'

I was fortunate enough to get a copy of 'Yes Minister', the 80s satire on UK politics from Jon for my birthday. Along with 'Blackadder' (which Jill has), this was my favourite comedy show from when I was growing up. We've watched two of the three series now, and it is scary how little things have changed. Similar issues are discussed and debated to those we see in the press today; for example, a national database and ID card scheme!

I've just watched a film that's well worth it for a bit of good old fashioned fun – "Wedding Crashers". The first half is a little cringe-worthy, but it's fun. The second half wraps it up just nicely. Jayne Seymour does just disappear though! I suspect that's just the cut though! Naturally, our two wedding crasher love-able rogues more than meet their matches!

Of course, it doesn't match one of my all time favourites for this style of love romances, the exquisite "Down with Love". If you haven't seen it, you should check it out - Renee Zellwegger and Ewan McGregor are truly excellent! Bittersweet and funny, it always leaves me with a smile.

Okay, so it's a bit of a difference from the usual SF and art-house films I'm usually watching, but the change is worth it some times!

I've added the reading stats under the Books section. It was 85 books at the end of the year!

Nearly two years ago, I looked at my 'to read' pile and realised that it never seemed to go down any further in size. I became pretty curious to work out just how much I was reading so I decided to start to track the books that I was reading on an Excel spreadsheet. The first year saw me (just) break the hundred book barrier, but this year it's looking like the end count will be around the low-mid eighties. I'm guessing that the dropped numbers are a combination of the change in my job at work hitting free time, and the fact that I have read a fair few RPGs this year. For some reason, they always take longer!

I was lucky enough to be given a number of new books for Christmas, with quite a range. Current affairs (Robert Fisk's book on the Middle East) through to history (Atlas of the Year 1000, Persian Fire), Humour/Fantasy (Terry Pratchett and Lynne Truss' "Talk to the Hand") through to SF (Stross' Accelerando and Ken MacLeod's latest). So the reading stockpile is as high as every. On top of that, I've a few RPGs to read like the new Deryni Game, and the new edition of 'The Burning Wheel'.

I've just spent an excellent weekend in London, spending Saturday at Dragonmeet, running Traveller for BITS. However, as we had an abundance of helpers, I got the chance to visit the various stands. The standout material at the show was that produced for Call of Cthulhu by the HPLHS (HP Lovecraft Historical Society). Amongst this was a Region 0 DVD, of their silent 1920s / 1930s style B&W silent film version of The Call of Cthulhu, Lovecraft's classic mythos tale.

Having watched it, I wholeheartedly recommend it. It's never going to be your blockbuster style Hollywood movie, but it's a great way to pass an hour. If you're in the UK, Leisure Games took all the remaining stock.

To add icing to the cake, I also picked up their Props and Fonts CDs. The first one is a collection of PDF files of 1920s artifacts – such as passports, drivers licenses, library cards and newspapers – that can be modified at will. The second is a collection of fonts taken from a 1920s font book. They've been scanned and turned into True Types (which work in Mac OS X and Windows). As a bonus, one of the fonts is a script based on Lovecraft's own hand.

The Crusader Rex playtest review has been posted in the Boardgames section of the site.

When I was building up the Block game Crusader Rex, I noticed that there were some starting position details missing on two of the Kurdish pieces, and another one was misprinted. Because the rules for the game are pretty clear, I soon worked out where the starting position was (Damascus) and wasn't really worried about the glitch.

I was really surprised when yesterday the post arrived, along with a letter of apology and replacement labels from Columbia Games.

Now that is real customer service!