Who does the internet think I am? Why have I been bombarded for weeks with an ad for bunk beds? and one for a military-grade torch? (Should it be banned? the ad asks.) and today, $99 sports shoes. I think the internet thinks I'm running a kids adventure camp, with exciting night activities, which I'm so not ( Read more... )

I'm envious of those Australians who will be at home this week to see the first episodes of the new show Cleverman. It does look like it could be a bit tough, i.e. with depictions of violence - I usually steer away from such. (Here's the youtube trailer - it's a bit over two minutes long ( Read more... )

So... War and Peace! Volume Three opens with a stunning and sobering meditation on War, where does it come from?He's just spinning out in public thoughts that have been implicit all along, or at least since Prince-andrei-looks-into-the-sky in Volume One, but now he's really hitting stride with them and they are - well, arresting, to say the least ( Read more... )

Half-way through War and Peace, and finding it pretty fascinating - not just in itself (oh, but the flaws!) but as a major and influential nineteenth-century artefact.  ( Reaction to W&P, so far )