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

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