Tuesday, December 17, 2002

Blogger ate my last three posts, so I'm not going to write much. Just to say that if anyone is feeling particularly flush, I'd like an 10GB iPod for Christmas, please. Or a lovely Pure Evoke 1, which my mother is getting for christmas and with which I have fallen in love.

My xmas bonus this year will be going towards the purchase of an eMac- then I will be able to BLOG FROM HOME. Look on my works, ye mighty, and P|-|34r me!

Monday, October 28, 2002

It is the 28th October and I can go and buy The Little Friend! Happy Birthday Me!
I don't think my one man protest will have made much difference. At least the embargo-breaking seems to have been universal, so no-one will have gained extra market share- which means that breaking it has achieved very little. You could also question the wisdom of publishing a big novel at the end of October, when budget-chasing retailers are pretty unlikely to leave it sitting in the stock cupboard because a publisher tells them to.

Friday, October 25, 2002

I am halfway through Genome. This morning I find myself idly searching for popular science books on 4m4zon. Reader, it is an affliction. I am consumed by these puffed up popinjays and their simplified explanations of the challenging scientific issues of the day. A cure might be to read a novel, but I am refusing to buy The Little Friend in W4t3r5t0|\|35 because they have broken the 28th October embargo and are therefore very bad people indeed. Luckily all this frantic adding of the dread popsci to my wishlist comes too late for my birthday, which, I feel it is my duty to point out, is nigh.

Tuesday, October 22, 2002

I had a superb rest in Dundee. Of course I didn't read any of the books I suggested I might, (apart from The Code Book, which I did indeed race through in one sitting on the way back) but I did gain many fantastic records from C____. Highlights include Why Me (Daniel Johnston Live in Berlin); an excellent Johnathan Richman album from 1985 (All through baseball he was loved and respected/Was there bitterness in Walter Johnson? Well, it was never detected); and The Man by Bill Drummond. Coincidentally he was in Dundee, and though I couldn't get a ticket, C____ went. The great man was talking about a piece of art mentalism that he has been concocting. A link when I find one. Suffice to say that I bought a piece of a $20,000 Richard Long photograph that had sheep excrement on it. And I was delighted.

Wednesday, October 09, 2002

On holiday in Scotland next week, to visit A____ in Edinburgh and C____ in Dundee (I like underscoring like that, it makes me feel like Thomas DeQuincey- or James Hogg, even). Long train journeys await, so I am whittling down my lists of books and records to take. Here are the options:


The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Abridged version) by Edward 'do do do the funky' Gibbon. Pros: It is very long; I have read the introduction and it looks very interesting; it will fill a horrible gap in my knowledge of ancient history. Cons: It is very long; it is very heavy; I have slight doubts about its readability, depite what the introduction says; it is abridged.


The Code Book by Simon Singh. Bought in a remainder shoppe on impulse because it was cheap and because I enjoyed his book about Fermat's last theorem (which I stole from Jody. Sorry.) This would be a good read on the train I think- I would probably race through it.


Genome by Matt Ridley. Bought in the same remainder shoppe as the above, probably inadvisedly, because it was cheap. I'm sure I won't understand a single word, so the chances of this one making my travel bag are slim.



Records (I'll probably take all of these):


The Young Gods The Young Gods: Bought yesterday in Selectadisc ostensibly as a present for C____, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he already has it, and I want it anyway.


The Action Packed Mentalist Brings You the Fucking Jams Kid 606: Title of the decade! Brief listen to this this morning suggests that it is fab.


The Parker Tapes Cassetteboy: I might need a giggle if there's a delay or summat.


Straight Outta Compton NWA: Quoth Eazy E: 'With a gat it don't matter if you're smaller or you're bigger.' Which is just as well for Eazy, bless his soul, who stood about 2' 3" in his gangsta socks.



Other records I'll probably take to dazzle A___ with:


2 Many DJs

The Eminem Show

The Lost Weekend EP

Also in White

Friday, October 04, 2002

Went to see Små Ulykker last night. I do love the Danish language, with its mad sounds and bizarre inflections. It's like German gargled through sponge.

It was pretty good all told- not as good as Festen but actually it's difficult to see the central conundrum working without Festen having been made. I can't really explain that fully without giving it away, but suffice to say, any doubt you might have about some of the characters in Små Ulykker can only come from certainties about characters in Festen. This sets up a tension which seems very intentional, and probably is, certainly to non-Danish viewers very likely to have seen Dogme films.

Some amazing performances, in particular Henrik Prip and Jesper Christiansen, too, both marvellously watchable.

Friday, September 13, 2002

The comic book periodic table. Now THIS is what the web is for. Click on the table to see a preposterous Stan Lee/ Stan Lee acolyte usage of any element. Note to self: Must try to post something vaguely serious at some stage in the future.

Monday, September 09, 2002

I will not be linking that ananova story I found on a man who found a Jaffa Cake that looked like David Beckham, oh no. Instead I will link Too Many DJs, which, thanks to an unfortunate ordering mixup, I now have 2 copies of. Tell me why you deserve it most and it's yours.

I have been enjoying it wholeheartedly- particularly Independent Woman/ Dreadlock Holiday and Cannonball/ I Wish. Now, if only my boomselection CDs would arrive. . .

Monday, September 02, 2002

Arrrrgh! I was supposed to be linking this article via Aq. (again). I'm not that fond of Douglas Adams' novels but I larffed like a drane at this.

I know what I did wrong now. Pesky inverted commas.
I have returned from Denmark! I am very fat having eaten the European pastry surplus. I also went to Legoland which was absolutely brilliant. There was a model of Munich airport which I could have looked at for days. Yes we also went on all the rubbish rides and had to endure German moustaches but the miniland was definitely the best bit. Though we did play a computer game (Lego Friends) which was the best computer game I have ever played. You have to make a pop record and then choreograph a dance routine to it. I was obviously supposed to be for 12 year old girls but we enjoyed it anyway. It was also in German which added extra humour. Wir Tanzen Ja Super!

Also thought I'd link

Tuesday, August 20, 2002

Following Johnny Rocket's sterling effort at a minidisc comp which has been on my stereo non-stop, here is my retaliatory strike: I'd get him to swap our places.

Monday, August 12, 2002

Ahem. HTML cock-up part 1(Stay tuned for part two with free binder).
Now, what I meant to say was here's a Political Position Definer via Aquarius. But it obviously went a bit wrong, and now I can't edit it. I am a centrist by the way, because I gave random answers to some pretty vague questions.
Via the mighty Aquarius comes the

Tuesday, August 06, 2002

Everyone with an interest in comics, or at least the state of the comics industry, should read Savant regularly. I was originally attracted to it for its undisguised zeal; over time this has understandably lessened, but there are some wonderful articles in the archives. Particularly if you have any antipathy to j0|-|n Byr|\|3.

Friday, August 02, 2002

Previous post rendered irrelevant by pesky fellow bidder. Curses.


However, I am going to Aarhus in three weeks! I hope the Danish tourist board pay Seamus Heaney. I bet if you did a survey 90% of visitors to Denmark would prove to be English graduates, what with Heaney and a certain bard.


My Danish is still dreadful, however.

Wednesday, July 31, 2002

I am bidding for a slice of my childhood on ebay (isn't this what everyone is doing on ebay?) in the shape of a large number of comics from the years 1983-5. I can still remember some of the stories including some lines verbatim. But, should I win, will they be a disappointment on re-reading (and I do want to read them, rather than sell them on at a profit), or will they, madeleine-like, take me back to my idyllic childhood?


A comparable experience, perhaps, would be re-reading Enid Blyton, which was terrible, though no reflection on her skill as a children's writer. What isn't there (characterisation, emotional depth) is made up by the child. In fact the books I read were by me and Enid Blyton, though sadly the royalties system doesn't take this into account.


Daj, by the way, has forgiven me.

Tuesday, July 30, 2002

Let's hope he doesn't check his referrals, eh?

Monday, July 29, 2002

I should perhaps explain that stamp steaming comment lest anyone get the wrong end of the stick. Daj is fond of writing short messages in the stamp boxes of postcards, which are then covered by the stamp before the card is sent. The most memorable of the messages, and one entirely indicative of his fiendish mind, was "Why have you steamed off the stamp?".


Daj was also until recently involved in creating new chemical compounds at C4|\/|br1d93, and is the co-inventor of the Kwik Kwiz, which is in turn the reason why my French AO Level exam result was so disappointing.
This appears to be the homepage of my 9r4t3 fR3|\|d Daj Lit, games inventor, stamp steamer and worrier of chemicals.

Friday, July 26, 2002

The Truth Is Up There: What a fab idea for a game! Not that I'm any good at it.

Thursday, July 25, 2002

I went, I walked, I bought the flag. The eighteen miles of the final day of the Vierdaagse was less of a struggle than I thought, though my Aunt and Uncle, who had walked the previous four days, were rather more tired. I am planning to do all four days next year with min Laererinde- 40km per day for four days.

The time of 55km days is long gone- my grandfather walked this masochist's version the last time it was staged in 1967.

Wednesday, July 24, 2002

I return triumphant! Well quite rested anyway. I shall recount the tales of my Dutch sojourn when I have the time. But for the moment, hop on over to kryogenix where Aquarius reports THE FUNNIEST EMAIL EXCHANGE IN THE WORLD EVER, starring myself and Johnny Rocket!

Wednesday, July 17, 2002

Off to Holland tomorrow, so no more from me for a while. In the meantime, enjoy the new stuff on the UK site for A Series of Unfortunate Events and buy book the sixth!

Tuesday, July 16, 2002

R, a schoolfriend, has just emailed me to say that he has just qualified as a vet. Given that he was told at aged 15 by some cretinous teacher that he would never be one, I think that represents a pretty sterling effort. I remember how disappointed he was at the time; most of the rest of us hasn't a clue what we wanted to do when we left school but R had known since he was about 9. He is obviously chuffed to bits, and I am very pleased for him too. I just can't imagine being that dedicated. Well done R!
The Bookseller Buyers' Guide is in, and the front cover is taken up with one of the most eagerly awaited novels of recent years, Donna Tartt's The Little Friend. I am looking forward to it, but I do have a tiny sense of trepidation- The Secret History was a long time ago, after all, and I was much younger (and dare I say less well-read) than I am now. . .
Jacob the Frog contains some rather lovely and typically impenetrable cartoons by my long-suffering ex-housemate JML. The site is named after a frog bought for her by my mother (don't ask).

Monday, July 15, 2002


After an extremely stressful weekend driving around London with min Laererinde, I am faced with a mountain of work which obscures another mountain of work just behind it. I get extremely tetchy and ring my boss, who is very patient with me, but I still feel aggrieved.

Danish learnt on drive round London: negligable. The tape is useless without the coursebook. All we hear is a man reciting those nine vowels (and let's not forget, the diphthongs) in a faintly bored manner. Other things learnt on drive round London: don't drive in London. Ever. Again.

Anyway, I am going home shortly to listen to music and drink wine, and I am not going to moan anymore.

Oh, you were here for links, were you? Well, whilst I'm in Holland next week, the first issue of the second series of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comes out. What larks!

Friday, July 12, 2002


It's not what you're like, it's what you like.
Except of course that's complete nonsense. But in the spirit of contrariness, and testing my dubious half-remembered HTML skills, here is my amazon wish list.

. . . but I am learning. So far I can say:

1. the words for Sister, Brother, Mother, Father and all composites (eg. Moster)

2. kys og knus

3. hej hej!

So if I want to send hugs and kisses to your Aunt as I'm leaving, I'll be OK. Anything else and I'm stuck.

Danish is a fiendishly difficult language to learn. The first page of my coursebook includes a paragraph beginning with the daunting sentence 'Danish has nine vowels'. Oh well it could be worse I suppose. I could have decided to learn Russian.

Note to all Danes: I am not Danish. I do not speak Danish, or at least not yet.