Rough Guide Directions travel guides

Cool thing: if you buy one of the Rough Guide Directions guidebooks, you can get a free Palm / Microsoft / Adobe ebook copy of the guide. (You need the actual book, or a friend with one, to answer a password question.) Ebooks, of course, have a search function ...

List of their ebooks here

Three Concerts

It has been a good week for Culture. ( Berlioz / Tchaikovsky, Monteverdi, Strauss / Mussorgsky )

2009/04: Anathem -- Neal Stephenson

Anathem -- Neal Stephenson

"But how can you not be fascinated by --"
"I am fascinated ... That's the problem. I'm suffering from fascination burnout. Of all the things that are fascinating, I have to choose just one or two." (p. 733)
( my non-spoilery review )

2009/05: The Bone Key -- Sarah Monette

The Bone Key -- Sarah Monette

I have a colleague who has dreamed of the fall of Troy once a year for the past thirty years. Always on the same date and always the same dream. He doesn't excavate in Troy -- never has -- and he says there isn't a power on Earth that could make him. He dreams, you see, that he is one of the women. (p. 134)
( non-spoilery review )

Snowy night

Snowy night
Originally uploaded by tamaranth

it's white and bright out there.

Ozy just indicated a desire to go out. There was considerable momentum until the door opened: he has excellent brakes, though, and disappeared very quickly in the direction of Further Indoors.

I like snow.