January, 2020

I’m still immobile from my operation. Watched Apocalypse Cow, George Monbiot’s recent documentary about the impact of livestock farming on the planet. Monbiot’s excellent at stripping away the falsehoods and misconceptions surrounding agriculture. At the start he presents a model in which he shows how livestock dominates Britain (something like…

Recovering from surgery at home. While I’m not in pain, I’m far more sore than I was yesterday. I think I was lulled into a false sense of being mobile yesterday. It’s quite difficult to get up and hobble about the house and uncomfortable sitting on the sofa. There’s a…

During my stay overnight in hospital I watchd Martin’s Close, the BBC adaptation of M.R. James’ ghost story. It captures the tone of the short story, the trial of a young country squire who had murdered an “innocent” woman excellently. The layers of narrative: the story-teller, the trial, the flashbacks…

I’m having surgery today on my abdomen. Nothing major: just a little operation to keep my lower intestines in ship shape! This is a before and after blog post. Before. Hungry. I haven’t eaten or had anything to drink since yesterday. I don’t usually eat very much in the mornings…

Just read Drive by S.A. Corey. It’s a SF short story set in The Expanse universe (I’m intending to read all the stories, novellas and novels over the next month). It’s a straightforward story – about Solomon Epstein, the inventor of an engine that allows fast spaceflight and his first…

I’ve successfully avoided seeing Rise of Skywalker at the cinema. After the mediocre Force Awakens and the positively insulting Last Jedi, I know it’s not for me and I count Episodes VII-IX is an Elseworlds in my personal Star Wars universe. It sounds ridiculous (and trivial). And, of course, it…

Appropriately, during “Veganuary”, ethical veganism has been recognised by British courts as a philosophical belief and is protected under law against discrimination. Hopefully, this ruling will help Jordi Casamitjana’s unfair dismissal legal action. I’m not sure what I think of the term ethical vegan, though. As a vegan without the…

Fairly productive day overshadowed by the killing of Qassem Suleimani. Much brighter day. The local council seem to have abandoned their responsibility in cleaning streets and the pavement outside out how has been carpeted with wet, decomposing leaves for months. Of course, we pay taxes for the council to encourage…

Today’s been a comic-reading day mostly. Over the Christmas break I’ve been re-reading comics that tie into the recent Doomsday Clock by Johns and Frank. As I always do – it’s a curse – I go back too far, really and also spend too much time reading criticism and interviews….