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In which the sun stands still (and the snowman brings the snow)
- Happy solstice! ::waits for midwinter sun to renew:: And today's photos postulate the following questions.... (1) Robin or penguin? (2) How can a plastic sheep look so much like Tom Baker playing the fourth Doctor?
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In which Our Heroine is haunted by the ghost of Tolkien's car
- I saw a late 1920s Morris Cowley car parked in a Cotswold village on the only occasion I've set foot in the Cotswolds between Oxford and the Vale of Evesham for many years. The car is, of course, a very similar model to the one Tolkien used to drive through the area on visits to his family. At least I'm not being haunted by CS Lewis or Charles ( Read more... ) -
In which there are sacred cows (or hooved animals of your choice), Bigots by God, and The Innocents
- St John the Baptist church, Beckford, has some unusual C12th stone carvings including a centaur with a spear (another view for context) apparently intended to resemble King Stephen's coat of arms. A depiction of the "Ransom Theory" better known in English lore as the Harrowing of Hell represented by an image of Jesus stabbing a wolf's head with a ( Read more... ) -
In which there are ill-intentioned government snoopers and well-intentioned do-gooders
- Disability rights, UK, reminder: if you receive disability benefits from the UK government (e.g. the DWP) then from 29 Nov 2016, i.e. last week, you will probably be safer from snooping by using a VPN connection for ALL your internet browsing: at home or via a mobile device. Also remember that no library internet connection has any security from ( Read more... ) -
In which there is a Flowering Thorn and her bff Edina Monsoon
- Reading, books 2016, 185
164. The Flowering Thorn, by Margery Sharp, 1933, is a bildungsroman for a late developer in her mid-twenties, who rusticates herself and discovers that sexual sophistication =/= personal maturity. This revolves around another of Ms Sharp's trademark unlikeable heroines but this time I couldn't manage to empathise with ( Read more... ) -
In which there is Vanguard to Venus, 1957, by Jeffery Lloyd Castle, aka Mr Margery Sharp
I'm posting this out of order, a dozen books early, because I'm so proud of actually finishing it and I want it to go away now.
- Reading, books 2016, 177
177. Vanguard to Venus, by Jeffery Lloyd Castle is a terrible science fiction novel but not in an Eye of Argon or Vogon poetry way. This is a terrible novel because the author hasn't ( Read more... ) -
In which there is Margery Sharp's husband (he wrote it but....)
Imagine my GLEE when I deduced that Margery Sharp's husband was not only the aeronautical engineer Geoffrey Castle listed in all the biographies of her (that a casual online/offline search revealed anyway), and to whom she persistently dedicated her books after their marriage, but her husband was also... Jeffery Lloyd Castle the minor English ( Read more... )
