An occasional journal
Uncategorized
Shop Till You Drop
Nov 8th 2016
This is a whizzo new shopping arcade. It sells plain coloured plain knitted bobble hats for £65, and tea leaves and coffee pods at unspecified prices. The floors are so shiny they make you feel airsick.
Admin1 is reading The Caveman by Jorn Lier Horst. Admin2 is reading Europe in Winter by Dave Hutchinson.
Diwali Mubarak
Oct 30th 2016
Our contribution to the celebrations: a TNT Asteroid.
Admin1 is reading Medusa by Torkil Damhaug. Admin2 is reading The Night of Wenceslas by Lionel Davidson, a picaresque spy comedy set in cold-war Prague, which stirred up memories of that city. We scored a contemptible 4.5 on the Guardian Weekend quiz.
Tangled Up in Blue
Oct 13th 2016
Paint in a puddle
Admin1 is reading Wicked Prey by John Sandford. Admin2 is reading Map of the Invisible World by Tash Aw, an interesting book about loss and recovery in Indonesia in the 1960s.
Try to Set the Night on Fire
Oct 7th 2016
It’s Light Night, started early by a big blaze in the distance, marked by an enormous cloud of smoke.
Admin1 is reading Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. Admin2 is reading MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood, a postapocalyptic jamboree.
A Modern Man
Oct 1st 2016
Ecig, iPhone, tats and enormous hunk of cheesecake.
We scored 10 on the Guardian Weekend quiz.
Hole in the Wall
Sep 30th 2016
Nobody knows what happened here.
It’s been our warmest September ever recorded.
Admin1 is reading The Hunting Dogs by Jorn Lier Horst. Admin2 is reading The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood, a hypnotic novel about illusions and delusions, with some wonderful characters.
Crowd of the Day: Carnival
Aug 29th 2016
Sunshine and a massive turnout for the 49th Chapeltown Carnival. It was like a Jeremy Corbyn rally.
Admin1 is watching The Leftovers season 2 and reading Flash Forward by Robert Sawyer. Admin2 is reading Hellfire by Karin Fossum.
High-Rise
Aug 15th 2016
We watched the film of High-Rise tonight. It was block-busting.
Admin2 is reading The Ghosts of Altona by Craig Russell.
When I’m Cleaning Windows
Aug 10th 2016
View from the waiting room of St James’s Hospital where Admin2 was languishing for a day.
Admin2 has been reading The Last Judgement by Iain Pears which was entertaining, and some of Helix by Eric Brown which wasn’t so good.
We are watching Fargo Season 2 with a break for rewatching Fargo Season 1.
On Reflection
Aug 2nd 2016
A big shiny ball by Clarence Dock.
Admin1 is reading The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty. We are watching Follow the Money and drinking Cherry Cherry coffee which tastes of cherries.
Crowd of the Day: Queuing for Corbyn
Jul 30th 2016
Thousands came to see the great man in the Dock. And Pokemon, in yellow in the middle.
Admin1 is reading Cold Hearts by Gunnar Staaleson (too many undifferentiated characters, but reasonably well-written).
Millennium People
Jun 28th 2016
Keep Corbyn demo in the rain in Millennium Square.
Admin1 is rewatching Broadchurch.
The Crystal World
Jun 27th 2016
Admins 1 and 2′s 15th wedding anniversary. Admin1 gave Admin2 a spherical salt crystal lamp. Admin2 gave Admin1 a quartz crystal ball. 2 minds with but a single thought.
In, Out, shake it all about
Jun 23rd 2016
The Sun shows the Sun. The Mirror shows a black hole. Maps of Europe are a popular theme.
Admin1 started reading Death by Water by Torkil Damhaug, but stopped because it was horrible, and is now reading The Running Man by Stephen King.
Crowd of the Day: Save the NHS
Apr 16th 2016
Admin1 is reading Open Grave by Kjell Eriksson (gloomily Swedish) and watching Troll Hunter (amusingly Norwegian). Admin2 was too tired to watch having been up half the night emptying buckets of water pouring through the roof after workpeople had left a tiny gap unsealed.
We scored 9.5 on the Guardian Weekend quiz.
Here Comes a Chopper…
Mar 25th 2016
…which was circling overhead for an hour today.
Admin1 is reading The Chosen by Kristina Ohlsson. Admin2 is reading The Passenger by Lisa Lutz, a “girl”-type saga of changing identities which was lively and readable if a bit downmarket.
Coffee of the day: Mahogany Roast Jampit Hit; woody, treacly and chocolatey.
Magnolias
Mar 24th 2016
What women in hospital have to put up with.
Admin1′s 400th book is When the Devil Holds the Candle by Karin Fossum. Admin2 is reading Calling Out for You, also by Karin Fossum.
Happy Birthday
Feb 17th 2016
Welcome Bobby!
Admin1 is reading Mind’s Eye by Paul McAuley. Admin2 is reading Summer Death by Mons Kallentoft which reads like the work of a pretentious sixth former.
Downtown Where All the Lights Are Bright
Feb 6th 2016
Admin1 is reading Silken Prey by John Sandford, and rewatched Inception, which improves on a second viewing. Admin2 is reading The Disappeared by Kristina Ohlsson (another detective with a baby). We scored 9 on the Guardian weekend quiz.