Mutterings - 28 Dec

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Binge :: Drinker
2. Static :: Variable (a computer language connection!)
3. Pivotal :: Moment
4. Single :: Mum
5. Awakens :: (Christmas?) Morning
6. Cute? :: Pet
7. Theme song :: Raucous
8. Resolution :: New Year
9. Kitten :: Tea (I hadn't seen the next word on writing this, I was thinking of this site
10. Coffee :: Bean

Teaser Tuesday - Dec 22

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Lenin gave up his post at the doorway, placed himself between his father's knees and picked his nose.
'What about a poem from you, young man?' Chacko said to him.

Another teaser from Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things - I last teased it here this book has lurked well down my reading pile for rather too long and alas I've rather lost the narrative thread or it's just too confusing? Last time I seemed to be rather enjoying it..now I'm just confused. When I've finished I will take myself to wikipedia and see if any light dawns!

Mountain scene

Just to redress this warm weather here's a snowy terragen scene, snow and some nice (IMHO) erosion.



Mountain looks a bit too much like a frog though?

And another shot from elsewhere in the landscape:

Mutterings - Dec 21

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Fair :: Weather (friends?)
2. Skull :: Crossbones
3. Expertise :: Delicate
4. Lines :: Parallel
5. Breasts :: Turkey (need to get some...)
6. Cabinet :: Pudding (I shan't comment about the one ruling the UK)
7. Robe :: Purple (a hymn..)
8. Bob :: Doubles (bell ringing!)
9. Knees :: Week
10. Shelves :: Filing

Teaser Tuesday - Dec 15

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

This might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it seemed an hour. The bells ceased as they had begun together. They were succeeded by a clanking noise, deep down below; as if some person were dragging a heavy chain over the casks in the wine-merchants cellar.

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, I thought the 3rd sentence continued the teaser nicely. Well enough known for the passage I've quoted to be identified easily? Seasonal reading for our book group, it's been many years since I read this, a vivid description of social conditions in the 1800s but sometimes over-flowery!

Mutterings - Dec 14

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Upstairs :: Downstairs (a UK TV series - not sure I've ever seen it!)
2. Blouse :: Lace
3. Curls :: Forehead (there was a little girl...)
4. Face :: Clock
5. Ultimate :: Challenge
6. Hole :: in One
7. Theater :: Seating (I'm on the committee of a local cinema club and the state of the seating is a frequent discussion topic!)
8. Polished :: French
9. Freak :: of Nature
10. Griddle :: Crumpet

Teaser Tuesday - Dec 8

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

We didn't speak for some time.
'There's a couple of details here might interest you,' I said and pointed to the falling man.

From J L Carr's A Month in the Country- a novella short but very thought provoking. Telling of a WWI survivor who goes to a country village to restore a medieval wall painting. A slow tale of 80 pages wonderful details - the organ buying trip and other quotes like this:

If I’d stayed there, would I always have been happy? No, I suppose not. People move away, grow older, die, and the bright belief that there will be another marvellous thing around each corner fades. It is now or never; we must snatch at happiness as it flies.

There's a review here with lots of insights. I've read it at a rate of about 2 pages an evening slow but enjoying and savouring the details! The author grew up in Castleford which was of some interest to this household!

Mutterings - Dec 8

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Mistake :: Simple
2. Lights :: Out!
3. Holiday :: Summer
4. Hi :: There
5. Giving :: Receiving (more blessed to...)
6. Bottle :: Bank
7. Understand :: Analyse
8. Red :: Alert (missed a trick there it should have been wine!)
9. Bracing :: Skegness - the power of ancient advertising!
10. Stop! :: Thief!

Teaser Tuesday - Dec 1

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

A saddler in Eyup assumed the leadership of the throng. He preached that the Jews and the Christians were People of the Book and, though in error, they were not evil.

Another teaser from Elif Shafak's 'The Architect's Apprentice, I'm still enjoying this but am finding it a bit episodic. And then there's the moments when I think that instead of being in the medieval Middle East this book is really based in Yorkshire - based on the place name in the above extract! Sorry I'll get my coat.

Mutterings - Nov 30

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. That’s awesome! :: Fist bump
2. Moldy :: Cheese
3. Cloth :: Damp (probably goes with the above!)
4. Boys :: will be....
5. Chains :: Slaves
6. Tennis :: Elbow
7. Chart :: Pi
8. Band :: Aid
9. Clinking :: Ice cubes
10. Pores :: Examines (closely)

Teaser Tuesday - Nov 24

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

'Yes, your Highness. Chota fought well,' said Jahan. He did not tell her how the animal had gored soldiers, and how he still felt guilty about having taught him to do so.

From Elif Shafak's 'The Architect's Apprentice' - our book group book of the month. Here's the review from the Spectator. So far, an easy read which I'm quite enjoying, lots of derring-do and holds the attention, as that review says there's a simplicity which might almost suggest a children's book apart from some uncompromising scenes. Shafak is a Turkish author who conjours up 16th century Istanbul well and in the plot I'm about to get to Rome and Michelangelo!

Prayer

This poem by Carol Ann Duffy seems appropriate with the debate about an advert containing the Lord's prayer

Some days, although we cannot pray, a prayer
utters itself. So, a woman will lift
her head from the sieve of her hands and stare
at the minims sung by a tree, a sudden gift.

Some nights, although we are faithless, the truth
enters our hearts, a small familiar pain;
then a man will stand stock still, hearing his youth
in the distant Latin chanting of a train.

Pray for us now. Grade 1 piano scales
console the lodger looking out across
a Midlands town. Then dusk, and someone calls
a child's name as though they named their loss.

Darkness outside. Inside, a radio's prayer —
Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre.

It was quoted in a piece for Remembrance in a Guardian earlier this month.

Mutterings - Nov 22

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Plenty of :: questions (but no answers?)
2. Peanut :: Farmer
3. Gulp :: Gaping (I think I had Gaping Ghyll in mind)
4. Framed! :: You've been
5. Caged :: Animal
6. Chilly :: Morning
7. Instrument :: Solo
8. Officer :: Krupke
9. Solution :: Purple (going back many years all chemistry lesson solutions seemed to be purple, maybe the teacher could keep better tabs on what was happening if they were vivid?!)
10. Dolphin :: School (or is that porpoises?)

Tarn again

I've done a bit more on that terragen mountain scene and have installed the new erosion shader. I think I need to limit the erosion a bit!

And from a slightly different viewpoint having sorted out some more things:

From the same file having moved the camera and added a few more things, maybe I need to calm down those stones in the foreground a bit?

(I had to recover this post there appears to be some sort of blogger bug where changing tabs while editing ends up with a different post in the edit window and if you save it it overwrites the original!)

Getting boulder

After working my way through Neuspadrin's
fake stones shader tutorial here's my boulder.
Just lying on the ground with the default background - with some added shaders. Base of the boulder looks a bit as if it has been wrapped in clingfilm maybe that's the redirect shader altitude?

Teaser Tuesday -Nov 17

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

It is now William who is stepping into the sunset and Dorothy who has lost direction, looking behind her as she goes. She writes up the honeymoon as is she were feeling her way back into herself.

A final teaser from The Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth' by Frances Wilson. I said last time I teased from this book that I was finding it very hard going. I found the final 3 chapters a lot easier. Maybe I was getting into the style but it did feel as if there were more of a narrative thread I could get a handle on towards the end. The honeymoon was that of William and Mary Wordsworth, Dorothy was 'just' an onlooker. I was reading in parallel with this the short stories of Somerset Maugham and it was spooky to be reading his tale the Bookbag alongside this (totally coincidentally!) which deals with a tale of brother sister incest told in the light of the probable relationship between Lord Byron and his sister!

Mutterings - Nov 16

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Polish :: Solidarity! (or maybe French)
2. Reshare :: Social media
3. Quality :: Street
4. Ordeal :: Fiery
5. Raindrop :: Prelude (Piano work by Chopin)
6. Cute! :: Kitten!
7. Soil :: Compost
8. Ice cream :: Freezer
9. Suffering :: Silently
10. Pressure :: Cooker

Mutterings - Nov 9

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Wired :: Ethernet
2. Whine :: Threaten
3. Umbrella :: Company
4. Wing :: Right
5. Corrupt :: Organization (trying not to name names!)
6. Symbolize :: View
7. Week :: Hours (as in working)
8. Wine :: Red!
9. Submit :: Button
10. Weird :: Atmosphere

Mutterings - Nov 2

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Habitually :: Check List
2. Generational :: Gap
3. Proudly :: Stance
4. Determined :: Look
5. Consoled :: Sympathy
6. Hosted :: Web
7. Creepy :: Spectral
8. Yelled :: in pain
9. Inept :: Broken
10. Success story :: Agile (software development, though whether agile(tm) is a success story is another matter!)

Mountain scene

I've made the plunge and upgraded to Terragen 3 here's a render where I rather like the outcrops. I was trying to get some stones in the foreground but seem to be failing, there are though some nice tutorials with the new release I will have to dive into! I commented a few weeks ago at the slowness when running this windows app under linux with wine, this slowdown isn't quite so bad when running on a 64 bit Ubuntu installation, I'm not sure whether this is the 64 bit terragen, wine or the base operating system that's responsible for the better performance!
As a later comment it would appear that most of the slowdown was due to a PassThruSvr.exe process - investigation revealed this .exe had nothing to do with the ordinary running of wine but was something I must have installed when I was trying to configure my old HTC phone. I renamed the file and renders ran rather more quickly!

Teaser Tuesday - Oct 27

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

There is also, Liveing says, a form of migraine 'trance' in which the sufferer feels a drowsiness so extreme that he falls into a waking sleep or a living death. Dorothy described to Jane back in her Forncett days how she was unable to deal with the tiredness that came on with her headaches, being 'less able to support any fatigue and ... more troubled with headache than I ever remember to have been'.

From our BATS (book group) book of the month - The Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth' by Frances Wilson. It's described as a biography of Dorothy, there's an awful lot of digging into the psyche, and I'm currently finding it hard going (and I'm not alone!). Here's an extract, she quotes this -

Ernest de Selincourt's describes Dorothy as 'probably the most remarkable and the most distinguished of English prose writers who never wrote a line for the general public'.

and the Guardian review.

Mutterings - Oct 26

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. your point :: get to it!
2. scarf :: Readers (a Church link - I'm a reader and a blue scarf comes with the office)
3. termite :: nest
4. willing :: God
5. silk :: worm (nearly got scarf again!)
6. center :: earth (I saw the film based on Jules Verne back in the 50s)
7. flash :: in the pan
8. warehouse :: pallett
9. costume :: drama
10. candy corn? :: no idea! - I guess it's an Americanism

Mutterings - Oct 19

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Frustration :: Frequent!
2. Ordered :: Set (Maths and computing...)
3. Imagination :: Vivid
4. Horizon :: Flat - Ringed by the Flat Horizon (a TS Eliot quote and used as the title of a musical work by George Benjamin)
5. Flu :: Spanish
6. System :: Operating
7. Bombastic :: Bullying
8. Windows :: Microsoft :-(
9. Pumping :: IO - Pump IO an open micro blogging platform
10. Scorched :: Earth

Alps - virtual ones

Here's the latest terragen render:

About 7 hours of rendering. I quite like this and am currently deciding whether to indulge in the planetside sale and upgrade to Terragen 3 more features, a version that gets bug fixes, but I think I'm still wandering around in the shallows of the application. But enjoying myself!

Teaser Tuesday - Oct 13

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

But beside the missionary the only white man who lived on Baru was Ginger Ted, and he, of course, was a disgrace to civilization. There was not a single thing to be said in his favour.

I'm continuing with volume 2 of Somerset Maugham's short stories, this is from The Vessel of Wrath. Lots of stories of white Englishmen bringing civilisation (or not!) to the colonies.

Mutterings - Oct 12

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Walmart :: Mall
2. Submarine :: Yellow
3. Cub :: Scout
4. Department :: Aquitaine (ummm Bordeaux!)
5. Back :: Pain
6. Third :: Minor
7. Straight :: Flush
8. Sofa :: Bed
9. Editor :: Emacs!
10. Typing :: RSI - I was at a piano group on Saturday where a teacher present was having problems with RSI so not just typing!

Teaser Tuesday - Oct 6

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

The odour of this island would never change for her now. She smelled dust, rat droppings, decay, blood and bitterness.

A final teaser from Victoria Hislop's The Sunrise. We had the discussion last night - I still have a few chapters to go - it was an ok read but I wouldn't give it too high a score. I felt that it wasn't sure whether it was a novel, a travelogue or a history with great chunks of various styles sitting next to each other. Hislop's style tended to the melodramatic

The expression of demonic greed was unmistakeable..

and the way Aphroditi morphs from a bimbo into someone you're meant to identify with without any apparent reason. I think some of my misgivings were held by others in the group. Here's the goodreads discussion. The book caused me to read up on the history of Cyprus but for decaying hotels inhabited by refugees - I think JG Ballard does it a lot better!

Mutterings - Oct 4

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Housing :: Ladder
2. Bumps :: Pregnancy
3. Humming :: Bird
4. Bright :: Star
5. Cloudy :: Outlook
6. Temporary :: Failure (a web based error!)
7. Ladder :: Snakes
8. October? :: Red
9. Wagon :: Wheel (not sure I ever had these?)
10. Cunning :: Little Vixen (a Janacek Opera)

Teaser Tuesday - Sept 29

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

With the mark-up in the club, he would make thousands of pounds from reselling it. Yes, it had been a good day, but he knew the best of it was to come.

Another teaser from Victoria Hislop's The Sunrise, after what I felt was a stilted start I'm getting on rather better with it!

Mutterings - Sept 28

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Well :: Spring
2. Validation :: Field
3. Robert :: Marshall(!)
4. Host :: ssh (software for getting login sessions on remote hosts)
5. Stage :: Landing
6. Bulky :: Rucksack
7. Exclamation! :: Point!
8. Fluffy :: Kitten (or there's Karajan allegedly)
9. Left :: Wing
10. Inspire :: Prophet

Teaser Tuesday - Sep 22

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

'Look at our father, Christos! He's crippled .. Who gained from that?'

From Victoria Hislops Sunrise a story of Cyprus in the 1960-70s. At the moment it's reading like a travel guide and the characters don't feel real - you may gather I'm not enjoying it but I hope it will improve! This is our book group book of the month.

Mutterings - Sep 21

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Resist :: Useless (bad scifi or was it hitchhikers guide?)
2. Procrastinate :: thief (of time)
3. Stimulate :: Economy
4. Secretary :: Bird
5. Buffering :: Double
6. Overcast :: Sky
7. Grinder :: Angle
8. Amateur :: Pornographer (probably from the Amateur Photographer magazine)
9. Flaw :: Crucial
10. Aloof :: Haughty

Cake and Bell

We've been away (well we've already been back a week!) down to Cornwall to some friend's 50th anniversary party - of their first meeting in Kampala - the relationship and eventual civil partnership came a lot later. A bit of a circular tour staying in Mevagissey for a few days either side of the party. On the way there *and* back a visit to a cathedral choral evensong(!) - it wasn't planned. Unfortunately there aren't any pictures of Gloucester - but alas our Friday afternoon in the city seemed to be dominated by drunks (not us!). There's a full album here with pictures of the rest of the week and other pictures of the party at Trebah gardens.

Mutterings - sept 14

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Annoyance :: Niggle
2. Vague :: Nouvelle (!)
3. Styrofoam :: Cup
4. Hold up :: Highwayman
5. Cards :: Pack
6. Thread :: Life
7. Manhattan :: Project
8. Calories :: Count
9. Fuzzy :: Thinking
10. Supervisor :: Project (again!)

Mutterings - sept 8

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutteringsare

1. Personal :: computer
2. Altruistic :: motive
3. Human :: league
4. Nude :: model
5. Online :: security
6. Oh oh :: beware
7. P@ssw0rd :: dictionary (avoids temptation to insert a similar dictionary search avoiding password here!!)
8. Sunbathe :: lounger
9. Waste of time :: trolls
10. Management :: evasive

Teaser Tuesday - Sept 1

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

In anticipation of this consultation we busied ourselves, in the final weeks before Christmas 1997, with setting up an expert working group to engage with what we thought would be a detailed consultation process with the civil service. Up until this point we had no formal dealings with government and so could only guess how it might unfold.

from Christine Burns Pressing Matters (vol 2) the tale of Press for Change's campaign for recognition of the rights of trans people. A story of setbacks and triumph written by someone closely involved in Press for Change. From her wikipedia page

I realised something had changed in 1997, when I realised it was more embarrassing to admit to being a conservative than to being a trans woman.

Her website is here complete with podcasts - I think she's retired from doing them but the archive remains!

Terragen and wine - a speed comparison

I commented last week about the difference in speed between running Terragen natively in windows and using wine to run the application under linux. Here's 2 screenshots, the first shows the render output from my Vista installation,
as you'll see from the title bar the render finished in 45m55s. Here's the incomplete render in Kubuntu/wine

so that's 17 hours 57m44s (!). When I've tried before there wasn't quite this disparity between the 2 environments. Most of the time on Ubuntu was overnight - and I was asleep so it wasn't due to system busyness. I haven't used XFrog plants previously maybe this is a cause but wine claims to be of a similar performance to the native app - clearly that's not true here.

Mutterings - Aug 31

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Hell :: Handbasket
2. Time :: Tide
3. Birth :: Trauma
4. Dock :: Criminal
5. Column :: Nelson's
6. Distance :: Runner
7. Text :: Editor
8. Pop up :: Toaster
9. Fear :: Truth
10. Alert :: Police

Terragen scene

I'm trying again with Terragen 2 - I know that version 3 is out so getting my head around the version 2 features is taking a little time...I used the tutorial from here and then fiddled with it a little to get this:

I'm not sure I'm convinced by the foreground but otherwise I'm showing signs of improvement! I ran this on my Vista installation, running on my kubuntu desktop (using Wine to run the windows .exe) is rather slower I don't know whether that is due to the 'emulation' being slower in this case or whether I'm just using the desktop for more things at the same time!

Teaser Tuesday - Aug 26

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

In 2068, thirteen soldiers were killed when a prototype excavating robot malfunctioned, and drove its unit over a checkpoint. This led to a new program where Philosopher William's model of socialised development rose to prominence.

From Bernard Beckett's Genesis. This is our BATS book of the month - a lateral interpretation of the 'a book with a famous first line' choice. Described as young adult reading - reviews are tightlipped about some of the plot developments and I think I'm just getting to the interesting bit...

Mutterings - Aug 24

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Sniffle :: Snuffle
2. Live :: Bait
3. Finally! :: Exception! (a reference to the computer language python)
4. Honor :: Maid (of) - a tart, not eaten one since childhood, must give a recipe a try. I see Delia Smith has curd cheese in the filling which isn't in the first recipe and I don't remember!
5. New :: Broom
6. Cumbersome :: Load
7. Thumbs :: Up
8. Facebook :: Status
9. Cheat :: 5 Queens (must be the card game of that name)
10. Decisive :: Thrust (fencing?)

Mutterings - Aug 17

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Failure :: Hardware (never a software one!!)
2. Extinguish :: Hope
3. Probability :: Dice
4. Lurid :: Tale
5. Hope :: springs eternal (a good counterbalance to no 2!)
6. Supposedly :: Rumour
7. Putrid :: Smell
8. Remarkable :: Story
9. Bunny :: Hop
10. Expectations :: Great

Mutterings - Aug 10

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Games :: Olympic
2. Postage :: Stamp
3. Germs :: Microscope
4. Pump :: Vacuum
5. Mirror :: Wing
6. Slogan :: Election
7. Wagon :: Fall (off the)
8. Treatment :: Emergency
9. Bloody :: Wound
10. Spray :: Nasal

There's a lot of medical conditions in that!

Teaser Tuesday - Aug 4

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

He wondered sometimes if she'd ever done anything wild in her life ansd then he remembered what Jennifer had told hi the doctor had said about the Cadillac in the pond. And maybe the conspiracy around the baby, too, was a piece of wildness.

Another teaser from Anna Quindlen, I found this a difficult book to like, too allusive, nothing happening (but maybe I missed it in those interminable sentences) until you get to the last 80 pages. I see that the back cover blurb has had the language cleaned up in later editions (see my previous teaser) so that the baby's box is no longer so crowded. Some hints in the above but I don't think they amount to a spoiler.

Mutterings - Aug 4

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Survey :: Ordnance
2. Groups :: Abelian (back to the Maths undergrad course! I had to look them up but my approximation was more or less correct)
3. Notes :: Lecture
4. Orientation :: Sexual
5. Interviews :: Second (let's hope)
6. Building :: Site
7. Star Wars :: Film
8. Youth :: Club
9. Details :: Drawing
10. Italics :: Script

Teaser Tuesday - July 28 (wednesday again!)

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

One side of the hut was crammed with garbage. 'Don't sneer at it!' warned David. @there's lots of good meals in there.'

Another teaser from Nicholas Crane's Clear Waters Rising - his account of walking across Europe along the mountain ranges. Things are getting serious, winter has arrived and he's got to the Alps. That teaser is from a diversion(?) up Mont Blanc.

Mutterings - July 28

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Creaking :: Joints
2. Sipping :: Champagne
3. Honeymoon :: Hotel
4. Clang :: -ers (or maybe Die Ferne - an opera by Franz Schrecker - though I see it's Klang rather than Clang)
5. Delight :: Sunny - the power of branding, though I don't think I've ever had any, I should really be trying to think of Turkish
6. Blade :: Knife
7. Key :: Yale
8. Landing :: Knots (arrgh!)
9. Insufficient :: Weight
10. Slam :: Grand (bridge or tennis?)

Teaser Tuesday - Jul 22

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

There was a car up ahead on one side of the road, its front end an accordion pleated around the engine block, and he pulled up behind it, his brights on, and ran to the driver's side to see if anyone was hurt. But the car was empty, empty with the emptiness of an abandoned house, and as he got back to the truck, soaked and shivering, he realised that he was at the Boatwright house, where cars were ranged around the drive and the lawn the way some people planted petunias.

Anna Quindlen's Blessings - our book group book of the month (one set in the summer going by our current set of themes). Nice imagery but those sentences are long (and they're typical or maybe even on the short side). I started off having problems parsing the information on the back cover - 'In a box is a baby and Skip Cuddy, the caretaker who finds her decides secretly to keep her.' my initial image being of Skip being a soft toy kangaroo! Early days yet will see how it progresses! Here's a review. (yes I know it's Wednesday!)

Mutterings - July 20

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Scroll :: Herald
2. Mature :: Wine
3. Breakfast? :: Muesli!
4. Wrist :: Action
5. ___ is better ___ :: frustration (I have a song's rhythm going round my head but I can't remember the name - it's not 2 is better than one)
6. Better half :: Spouse
7. Note :: Minim
8. Worrying :: Fake (..concern, you have a worrying something when it just means I don't like it!)
9. Band :: Aid
10. Insipid :: Sauce

Teaser Tuesday - July 14

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

'I'll have the same,' she sighed. She listlessly reached out her hand to take a roll, but Beatrice snatched away the plate. 'No you don't' she said. 'You wait till you get your own.'

Following a re-read of Maugham's Ashenden's stories I've moved on to his other short stories. This is 'The three fat women of Antibes' a lot of the stories are very much of their time but there some good story telling! You can read the whole story here I see it has recently been made into an opera - pass the cream cakes!

Mutterings - July 13

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Stun :: Gun
2. Park :: Keeper (do they still exist?)
3. Five :: High
4. Slice :: of Life
5. Straight :: and narrow!
6. Neil :: Cartwright (boyhood friend of my brother)
7. Benchmark :: Testbed
8. Cilivized :: (or even civilized) Partnership
9. Today :: Redhead (the presenter of the BBC radio 4 programme of that name for many years and also lived near here)
10. Mortal :: Flesh (let all mortal flesh keep silent...)

Mutterings - July 7

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Forgive and :: Forget
2. Midnight :: Chime (is this Bonhoeffer's Night voices from Tegel?)
3. Overcast :: Sky
4. Church :: Steeple
5. Banner :: Ad
6. Hybrid :: Car
7. Immoral :: Action
8. Sugar :: Blood
9. 1800 :: Napoleonic War
10. Futuristic :: Cityscape

Teaser Tuesday - June 30

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

I slept in bosomy clefts overlooking the ocean with my back turned to the mountains. From my sleeping bag I watched day melt into night and the waking eyes of ships' lights being brushed by the sleeping strobes of lighthouses.

From Nicholas Crane 'Clear Waters Rising' (A Mountain Walk across Europe)- a story of the writer's walk across the mountains of Europe from Cape Finisterre to Istanbul. Here's the good reads entry and another review. That teaser is a bit flowery, the next sentence has 'the milky light of dawn' but there's good story telling in this book and good historical snippets on the regions he passes through. I've just reached the Pyrenees with him so there's a little way to go yet and lots of walking to do, the goodreads reviews suggests it gets better. It sounds a wonderful experience to have but the practicalities for most folk would rule it out but here's the experience shared!

Mutterings - June 29

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Peanuts :: Snoopy (or Beethoven!)
2. Fresh :: Figs
3. Don’t care :: Indeterminate (boolean logic attack here!)
4. Staple :: Rice (as in food)
5. Starred :: Answer
6. Aspirin :: One degree under (the old slogans - my dad worked for Aspro Nicholas back in the 1960's - look here's a souvenir!
7. Root :: Square
8. Calculate :: Compute
9. Shave :: Close
10. Bent :: Handlebars

Truth will out!

Maybe this is a good place to put some very public questions to Nigel Tate, Rob Munro and others in the leadership of St Mary's Cheadle about decisions, actions and discussions that were behind my deeply flawed 'redundancy' in 2009?

• What discussions did you have with others (including but not limited to Rob Munro and Sheila Grieve) at St Mary's Cheadle about me before 23rd Nov 2009?
• Were the reasons for the fabrication of a redundancy case - my age and also my holding views that you would regard as liberal on LGBT issues? (though liberal compared with the leadership of St Mary's Cheadle isn't saying a lot!)
• Were you aware (before Nov 2009) that I was on the Chester diocese organising committee for Changing Attitude?
• Did you (Nigel) write the alleged minutes for the redundancy scoring meeting. Were those minutes a lie from start to finish as the meeting never took place on that day - and therefore it never took place in the period stipulated by employment law?
• After the final meeting, my witness and I were left alone for a private conversation. Was our discussion eavesdropped, bugged or did someone 'accidentally' leave the conference call phone on record?
• Was Gary Higham - who was made 'redundant' along with me - employed on the basis that his employment would only be for 12 months? - so that you could feign hurt innocence if accused of age discrimination. (Of course Gary wouldn't have been aware of this!)
• Did Jo Smith's sudden departure in 2008 have anything to do with a desire not to be implicated in the redundancy process?
• Were Siemens offered any inducements (financial or otherwise) to take me on as a contract worker for a very nominal time to make it less likely I'd go to industrial tribunal?
• And most smallminded - was a staff meeting hastily arranged on my afternoon of my last day in the office designed to make it impossible for me to say farewell to my colleagues - at least on company premises?
• And I've not even mentioned the non-existence of the software group which was allegedly used to determine who was at risk of redundancy - oops!
  

The Beast

Last month our book group read W H Davies The Autobiography of a Supertramp. I was reminder of the dangerous train rides and the risks taken by travellers on reading these stories of modern emigrants to the US, powerful photography.

Mutterings - June 23

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Purpose :: Walk (no doubt following a route)
2. Service :: Medal
3. Dill :: Comfrey
4. Pompous :: Buffoon (let a very small number of readers understand)
5. Currently :: Seeking (employment)
6. Water :: Heavy
7. Origins :: Dinosaurs
8. Cycle :: Current
9. License :: Software
10. Believe :: Monkees!

Teaser Tuesday - June 16

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Though it was a warm night and the room was stuffy his hands and feet were icy. What a nuisance it was, he reflected irritably, to have an imagination that conjured up pictures of things that you didn't in the least want to see!

From W Somerset Maugham's The Ashenden Stories (this is from the Hairless Mexican). Our book group book of the month - chosen by me - I had to choose a book with a blue cover - mine published in the 1960's - I bought it new for 3s6d - has that as does at least one edition in print. I've not read the Maugham short stories for years and am thinking of following this up with the rest! These Ashenden stories were the forerunner of Ian Fleming's James Bond the head of MI6 is called 'R' and Maugham puts down some lovely interactions, he's not so much concerned with the spying as the personalities - though the situation is what develops the stories.

Mutterings - June 14

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Windy :: Show Boat (the musical has a character called Windy)
2. Left out :: in the cold
3. Hot dog :: Stand
4. Pop :: Culture
5. Hunger :: Games
6. Square :: Peg
7. Unhinge :: Bracket
8. *!#$ :: Shift (key)
9. Toenail :: Clip
10. Irritation :: Niggle

Mutterings - June 7

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Shack :: Wood
2. Cute :: Kitten
3. Factor :: Max
4. Beach :: Shingle
5. Toddler :: Bucket (a carry over from the last word!)
6. Cups :: Tea
7. Leaning :: Tower (of Pisa)
8. Thailand :: Temple
9. Beanie :: Baby
10. Schools :: Out!

Microsoft and ssh

Richard Smedley tweeted about this msdn page about the coming Microsoft implemented ssh. Those of us using other operating systems have been using ssh for many years and there's putty an implementation of it (not by Microsoft) for windows - ssh enables remote logins with secure authentication, public private keys etc, wonderful for managing systems you're not sitting at! Some quotes from that article (rememeber this is a page on msdn written by the team going to implement ssh):

As Microsoft has shifted towards a more customer-oriented culture.

as opposed to what they have been doing??!!

A follow up question the reader might have is When and How will the SSH support be available? The team is in the early planning phase, and there’re not exact days yet. However the PowerShell team will provide details in the near future on availability dates.
Finally, I'd like to share some background on today’s announcement, because this is the 3rd time the PowerShell team has attempted to support SSH.

If at first you don't succeed?

Christmas Trees

Just to be unseasonal for a moment. I've just completed a read of Geoffrey Hill's Selected poems and wanted to quote this one.“Christmas Trees”

Bonhoeffer in his skylit cell
bleached by the flares’ candescent fall,
pacing out his own citadel,

restores the broken themes of praise,
encourages our borrowed days,
by logic of his sacrifice.

Against wild reasons of the state
his words are quiet but not too quiet.
We hear too late or not too late.

Reminiscent of Bonhoeffer's Night Voices from Tegel, questioning the state...

Teaser Tuesday - June 2

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

On another occasion, Sunday morning, and grandfather being in bed, a detective disguised as a poor working man that was almost dying for a drink, wheedled the old man's daughter to sell him liquor over the back wall - the result being a summons for supplying drink during closed hours, followed by a heavy fine, which was at once paid. The third time was at my trial with five other desperadoes, as described in the preceding chapter.

A final teaser from W H Davies 'The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp' - our BATS (book group) of last month. I generally enjoyed this it had some longeurs and some points where you felt you were reading a tale about a totally different person. I hadn't read this before but I remember a school friend praising it.

Mutterings - June 2

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Summer colds :: Hayfever
2. One direction :: Boy band
3. Hormones :: Age
4. Noteworthy :: Highlight
5. Ice cube :: Clink!
6. Shaved :: Foam
7. Spray :: Ocean
8. Portable :: Computer (I don't think they're called that any more!)
9. County :: Boundary
10. Meeting :: Agenda (structure, structure, structure...

Mutterings - May 26

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Homey :: Cozy
2. Stamp :: Rubber
3. Robotics :: Azimov
4. Ironwill :: Cromwell (Oliver rather than Thomas)
5. Glucose :: Syrup
6. Napkins :: Table
7. Perky :: Pinky (aggrh 60's TV)
8. Broad :: Norfolk
9. Crop top :: No 1
10. Decisive :: Abrupt

Teaser Tuesday - May 19

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Not knowing what to do with ourselves until that time arrived, we continued to drink until we were not in a fit condition for this hazardous undertaking - except we were fortunate to get an empty car, so as to lie down and sleep upon the journey. At last we made our way towards the yards, where we saw the men making up the train.

From W H Davies 'The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp' - our BATS (book group) book of the month - this one was a book from school days for one of our members. The tale of a man from the UK travelling around America in the late 19th century hitching lifts on the railways - the hazardous process he was about to undertake in the teaser.

Mutterings - 18 May

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Waste :: Process
2. Excess :: Pay
3. Play :: Store (an android user here!)
4. Heartbreak :: Hotel
5. Purchase :: Button (websites I guess!)
6. Fear :: Wages of (a film)
7. Ages 2+ :: -5
8. Conform :: Peer-pressure
9. Reduced :: Fare
10. Change :: Attitude (Changing Attitude)

Mutterings - May 11

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Relief :: Road
2. Flutter :: Heart
3. Match :: Paris
4. Viewed :: Http logs
5. Soul :: Music
6. Recognize :: Own
7. Ambitious :: Power
8. Dancing :: Dirty
9. Paths :: Grave (lead but to the...)
10. Joke :: Feed line (Patricia supplies them!)

Teaser Tuesday - May 5

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

To Ammu her twins seemed like a pair of small bewildered frogs engrossed in each other's company, lolloping arm in arm down a highway full of hurtling traffic. Entirely oblivious of what trucks can do to frogs.

Back in December, in our book group, we each had to choose a book for someone and the parcels were randomly chosen. My giftee didn't like my choice so we swapped and I'm now - between books reading Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things and I'm quite enjoying - finding it hard to get a handle on the narrative but then you have teasers like this! I was also tempted by the lines I read last night- but they were nowhere near lines 7-12:

Chacko said that going to see The \sound of Music was an extended exercise in Anglophilia. Ammu said 'Oh come on, the whole world goes to see The Sound of Music. It's a World Hit.' 'Nevertherless, my dear' Chacko said in this Reading Aloud voice. 'Never. The. Less.'

Going on a bit to those little details of interaction. And there's a sing-a-long Sound of Music (or maybe that should be 'Sing. A. Long.') at St Michael's Macclesfield later this month!
But for the actual teaser there's the wonderful 'lolloping' to my mind more associated with rabbits than frogs but a lovely sound. Stripping away the charm I see the Oxford Dictionary has its origin as 'Mid 18th century: probably from loll, associated with trollop.'

Mutterings - May 4

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Button :: Hot
2. Mindset :: Rigid
3. Tart :: and Vicar
4. Very unique :: Arrgh!
5. Hologram :: Illusion
6. Comedy :: of Errors
7. Smartly :: Dressed
8. Posted! :: Nailed! (probably along the lines of proclaiming an opinion)
9. Surge :: Election (we have one of these fast approaching, and various parties always claim that the surge is with them)
10. Introduction :: Spoken (probably to a recital)

Mutterings - Apr 26

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Thank you :: Kindly
2. Pills :: Pop
3. Watch :: Stop
4. Don’t move :: or I shoot
5. Meeting :: Strange (Wilfred Owen)
6. Physical :: Stress
7. Finding :: Trail
8. Dangerous :: Moonlight (I don't think I;ve ever seen it)
9. Closely :: Guarded (secret)
10. 8 days :: Film

GAFCON's contempt for the Church of England

Here's Nick Baines (Bishop of Leeds) on GAFCON's latest conference and communique.

I was once at a meeting of evangelical bishops in England when three English Gafcon men came to meet us. They had stated that this was the case and that bishops were giving their clergy a hard time. We asked for evidence so we could consider it before we met. Bishop Tom Wright and I were just two who were outraged at the misinformation, misrepresentation and selective re-writing of history presented to us. When we began to challenge this, we were told that we shouldn’t get bogged down in the detail and could we move on. And they got away with it. I am not making this up.

But go and read the whole article. Anyone who isn't signed up to their shibboleths is automatically an enemy - if Nick Baines feels this then they need exposing and naming for what they are before they damage more churches with their self serving rhetoric.

Mutterings - Apr 19

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Roller coaster :: Ride
2. Notification :: popup
3. Yellow :: Submarine (I don't think I've ever seen it!)
4. Humor :: Pun
5. Parental :: Control
6. Blow :: Low
7. Duck :: Billed Platypus
8. Height :: Dizzyness
9. Wolf :: Clothing (sheep must be in there somewhere)
10. Troubling :: Memories

Teaser Tuesday - Apr 14

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

She looked imploringly into his eyes, aware that he had paid far too much money for a meal that would leave him hungry in an hour's time. Her own appetite was gone, quite gone.

Anita Brookner's Hotel du Lac - a re-read - it is the Book Group's book for this month. Here's a fairly randomly chosen review! Brookner's study of a single woman staying at a Swiss Hotel in the off season a quiet, gentle study an age away - apparently - from England in the 80s. She loves these plots on reflective single women, I remember the initial read (just) and bits of the TV version but only the atmosphere, so am awaiting events with anticipation!

A teaser up on Tuesday - shocking (and I finally notice the move of the original website!)!

Mutterings - April 13

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Science :: Knowledge
2. Everywhere :: Waves
3. Seed :: Corn
4. Comedian :: Mask
5. Philadelphia :: Cheese
6. Disillusioned :: Angry
7. Rolls :: Bread
8. History :: Personal
9. Eagles :: Dare
10. Disappointed :: in love

Teaser Tuesday - April 7

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Yes it's even later than usual, I blame the bank holiday (possibly!)

Eventually, he too, like Handel, travelled all over Europe, but precious little is know about what he got up to. He spent the last couple of years of his life in Vienna, where sadly, he pulled off the Composers End No 207 - the so called 'Death in Poverty' position - perfectly.

The last years of Antonio Vivaldi from Stephen Fry's 'InComplete & Utter History of Classical Music' - this was a Christmas present and I'm quite enjoying it. Quite a bit of uinformation I didn't know - though my reading the pre 19th century music was a bit lacking. There's some cringeworthy references to Jimmy Savile - the book was published in 2004. It's also sometimes a bit disconnected, reading like bits have been shoved together - - p113 compares the Beethoven Eroica with Haydn and Mozart symphonies saying it's not in the same playing field 'It's EPIC it's AMAZING'; then p118 on the Beethoven 5th 'Up to now the most amazing thing in the world of symphonies has been Mozart or Haydn' - he should make up his mind! I was also surprised last night to get past 1827-8 with no mention of the deaths of Beethoven or Schubert.

Spring

In the current warm spell, many things are blossoming.

Mutterings - April 5

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. With me :: Be Gentle
2. Goodbye :: I'm leaving you (the curse of the Sound of Music..)
3. Cap :: Peaked
4. Idiotic :: Statement
5. Forever :: Friends
6. Bleeds :: Heart (I'm probably thinking of the computer vulnerability)
7. Expected :: Long (long expected Jesus.. and Advent hymn)
8. Touching :: Place (oh dear that's another hymn!)
9. Shells :: Spiral
10. Awake :: Shake

Mutterings - March 29

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Twins :: Conjoined
2. Seven :: Perfect
3. Canceled :: Meeting
4. Video :: Game
5. Mistress :: Affair
6. Puppy :: Love
7. Sadness :: Grief
8. Cleanse :: Pores
9. Impostor :: Hypocrite
10. Fruitless :: Campaign

On the Canal

Last week was beginning to feel Spring like so we decided a lunch at the Vale Inn Bollington surrounded by a walk would be good. We walked there along the Middlewood way and back via the canal - part of the tow path is closed in Bollington so a diversion through an estate was necessary but on getting back to the canal we saw this: We were convinced, initially, that a barge owner had a very ornate bow decoration but then it moved, caught a fish and ate it in a nearby field.
I've just received the church walk schedule for the summer, I'm leading a walk ending up at the Vale so I think I'll need another reconnoitre!

Teaser Tuesday - March 25

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

And why would you want to be goin' on a diet, Jamie? Sure there's nothing much wrong with the way you are.

From Christina McKenna's The Misremembered Man. Alternating humour and dark tragedy, it's our book group book of the month. Here's a review

Mutterings - March 22

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Ringtone :: Obstrusive
2. Slab :: Marble
3. Harness :: Die in
4. Couple :: Sex
5. Shovel :: Snow
6. Game :: Park
7. Patriotic :: Salute
8. Bleed :: Colour
9. Top :: Monitor
10. Leafy :: Glade

Mutterings - March 16

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Hunt :: Royal (...of the Sun)
2. Spinal :: Tap
3. Groom :: Bride
4. Red light :: District
5. Delayed :: Train
6. Forgetfulness :: Pardon?
7. Tennis :: Elbow
8. Best of luck :: Wish
9. Badge :: of Honour
10. Autograph :: Book

Mutterings - March 8

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Neutral :: Gear
2. Renovation :: Repair
3. Metallic :: Clang
4. Filling :: Tooth
5. Designate :: Bishop
6. Bee sting :: Vinegar
7. Neighbors :: Fences (probably via make good neighbors)
8. Bracket :: Hinge (though I'm thinking of Brackett!)
9. Call me :: Back
10. Pretty :: Young

Teaser Tuesday - Mar 3

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

The arm that had been around Sukey's waist flexed above my head.
'Poke him in the eyes.'

from Emma Healey's Elizabeth is Missing a study of old age and it's indignities and frailties. Our BATS book of the month, it's the meeting tonight and I haven't yet finished it - according to the download from Sainsbury's ereader, I have 346 pages to go - I rather doubt this! I've no idea what's wrong with the page numbering. But I think I intend to finish...

Rather too long since I did one of these.

That's a rather unfair teaser - the final sentence is a punchline!

Mutterings - March 1

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Jude :: Obscure
2. Erased :: Rubbed out
3. Addiction :: Internet
4. Curls :: Electric
5. Hotel :: du Lac (Anita Brookner)
6. Bloomers :: Underwear
7. Membership :: Society
8. Family :: Kith
9. Handle :: Struct - Pimpl
10. Questioning :: Truth

Mutterings - Jan 22

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Fatty :: Lumpkin (Lord of the Rings - I had to look it up though - one of Tom Bombadil's ponies)
2. Injection :: Steroid
3. Fearless :: Brave
4. Overflow :: Saucer (Porgy and Bess)
5. Contract :: Software (anyone want to employ me?)
6. Steal :: Cheat
7. Heartless :: Fraud
8. Flap :: Wings
9. Baseline :: Hypotenuse
10. Merger :: Financial

Mutterings - Jan 15

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Tripple :: 20 (do the Americans spell triple like that, don't they do removal of surplus letters
2. Ownership :: Deed
3. Promising :: Beginning
4. Bonding :: Brotherhood (and blood, Gotterdammerung act 2!)
5. Flurry :: Snow
6. Weather:: Sattelite (or balloon)
7. Conclusion :: Full stop
8. Scolding :: Bridle (I guess mediaeval torture implements to keep women 'in their place')
9. Nipple :: Breast
10. Freezing :: Thermometer (or icicle)

The Wall

Last week Silk Screen showed Julian Polster's The Wall

A film of the novel by Marlen Haushofer from the 1960's and a study of nature and our relationship to it. A wonderful performance by Martina Gedeck ('The Lives of Others'). Nature photography, the animals, the mountains, solitude and focus. There were echoes for me of Winterreise - the crow combining that song and der greise kopf it's a white crow. A solitary tramping though a wilderness. Was the novel written with the Berlin Wall in mind?

The Interrogation

But the financiers will ask
In that day: Is it not better
To leave broken bank balances
Behind than broken heads?

And Christ recognizing the
New warriors will feel breaching
His healed side their terrible
Pencil and the haemorrhage of its figures.

R S Thomas

I'm talking about Thomas in a prayer group tomorrow and this poem seems apposite for the week.

Mutterings - Feb 8

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Tripple :: Metre (or maybe fall!)
2. Rationing :: Book (I had one when I was young!)
3. Wrong :: Right
4. Mother :: Home
5. Lotion :: Calamine
6. Hesitate :: Lost
7. Home :: -ward bound
8. Stumble :: Limp
9. Procedure :: Function
10. Faithless :: Friend

A little late....

Teaser Tuesday - Feb 3

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Genuinestarts of the Cirque d'Hiver," Jenny marvels. "How high up was your trapeze hung?"

from Emma Donoghue's Frog Music. A tale of (ex-)circus folk and a seller of frogs legs in San Francisco in the 19th century. Early days but I'm rather enjoying this! Based on a true story - rather like the woman who gave birth to rabbits and Astray also by Donoghue - both of which I've recently read but rather than a short story this is a full novel, will see if it sustains interest in a longer read.