This is the latest post in a series I started in late 2019, anticipating the twentieth anniversary of my bookblogging which will fall in 2023. Every six-ish days, I've been revisiting a month from my recent past, noting work and family developments as well as the books I read in that month. I've found it a pleasantly cathartic process, especially in recent circumstances. If you want to look back at previous entries, they are all tagged under bookblog nostalgia. There were a number of trips that month, starting with a weekend jaunt to the twin towns of Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog, ...
Final ballot stats here, nominations here. Headlines: Four categories saw the total number of votes for finalists other than No Award dip below 30% of the total poll - Best Fan Writer (28.8%), Best Professional Editor (Long Form) (28.2%), Best Fanzine (27.2%), and Best Fancast (26.8%). Best Fancast was within 43 votes of not being awarded at all, due to dropping below the 25% threshold. Close results on the final ballot:The closest results among winners were Best Short Story and the Astounding Award, both decided by margins of nine votes.The winner of Best Fancast was decided by a margin of ...
Sun 19th
14:51
The stucco ceilings of Jan-Christian Hansch, part 4: The Church of St Nicholas at Perk
My little project to see all the remaining work of the 17th-century stucco sculptor Jan-Christian Hansch promises to pose a number of challenges. Very few of the eleven buildings where his magnificent ceilings remain are open to the public on a regular basis. Also, not many of them are all that close to here, as you will see from my map:One of the exceptions is the church of St Nicholas at Perk, a small village in the municipality of Steenokkerzeel, right beside the runways of Zaventem Airport, 20 km from here. I first tried to visit as an excursion to ...
This morning Helen spoke to BBC Midlands politics. * Newshound: bringing you the best Lib Dem commentary published in print or online.
You have to hand it to Ed Davey. The poor man has had Covid since Monday but he hasn't let it stop him contributing to and celebrating our historic by-election victory in North Shropshire. He might have been stuck indoors but he maraphoned like a trooper. Perhaps the only benefit of his self isolation is that he is unlikely now to get a Council Tax Bill from Shropsire Council given how much time he has spent there in the past month. Covid is not much fun, even when you are fully vaccinated and boostered as Ed is, but he has ...
Sat, 15:30: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King https://t.co/mPOPBWveaG Sat, 16:28: RT @deirdresm: Worldcon 2023 will be in Chengdu, China's 6th largest city. We're at the site selection business meeting now. #wsfsbm #Wor... Sat, 16:49: RT @Hugo_Book_Club: Chengdu in 2023 is a well-organized bid whose supporters have done an excellent job of promoting through social media,... Sat, 18:47: RT @IanMoore3000: Fascinating comment from Jo Walton at a panel on the #HugoAwards at #WorldCon2021 about how advances in glue technology d... Sat, 18:47: RT @worldcon2021: Congratulations to Chengdu, China - home of #Worldcon2023! https://t.co/B2Kh5o0mP4 #Worldcon2021 #Worldcon #DisConIII ...
Note: To balance out the motifs presented in the song mentioned here, you may like to visit the websites of The Native American Rights Fund and/or Native Americans in Philantrophy Following up on Andy's great post this morning, readers of a certain age will recall a song called "Three wheels on my wagon" by the New Christy Minstrels. You can listen to it via YouTube below. It's a cracker. The singer, in the persona of an American "pioneer", describes "singing a happy song" as a wheel comes off his wagon, while he is chased by a band of arrow-firing "Cherokees" ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrats once put up a candidate in a by-election in Neath Port Talbot, whose surname was Frost . It was around this time of year and he stormed to victory on the slogan 'vote for Frost in winter'. After yesterday's events I doubt if Boris Johnson will be so enthusiastic about seeing the name Frost ever again. Until now, Lord Frost has been the lynchpin in the Prime Minister's strategy for 'getting Brexit done.' Frost negotiated the exit agreement and he has been instrumental in negotiations to undo his own work in order to keep the Tory ...
Responding to reports Lord Frost has resigned from the government, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Layla Moran said: "This shock resignation is a sign of the chaos and confusion at the heart of this Conservative government. "The rats are fleeing Boris Johnson's sinking ship as he lurches from crisis to crisis. "Even the prime minister's once loyal supporters are now abandoning him, just as lifelong Conservative voters are switching in their droves to the Liberal Democrats. "At a time we need strong leadership to get us through the pandemic, we instead have a weak prime minister who has lost the ...
It has been nine long months since the last general election in the Netherlands, and this week, the Dutch finally got a new government. Once again, the two liberal parties are working together. Mark Rutte, of the classical liberal VVD party, is Prime Minister for a fourth time after four parties finally agreed a deal on Monday (13th) night. The other parties in the coalition are the social liberal D66, the Christian Democrats, and the centre-right Christian Unity. This is the same make-up of the government from 2017-2021. The news of the new coalition agreement was met with muted cheers ...
Is Johnson about to book the removal vans and move out of Downing Street? His stint as prime minister over? Yes please. Bring the vans in and bring the tenure of this increasingly hapless "leader" to an end. At first thought, keeping Boris Johnson is good for us Lib Dems. His incompetence helped deliver the stunning North Shropshire result and get us our 13th MP. But his incompetence is now damaging our country. After Partygate, Peppagate, backbench rebellions and today, the resignation of Lord Frost, he increased looks as though he is up to his neck in Peppa poo. As ...
I have today strongly criticised Dundee City Council's lack of action to suspend parking charges in residential areas of the West End, despite the First Minister's instruction - as a result of the latest COVID situation and the Omicron variant - to work from home if possible. On behalf of residents, I contacted the City Council to suggest that the council suspend car parking charges while the new "work from home" instruction was in force. However the response from the council's Head of Sustainable Transport and Roads indicated : "I can confirm that the Council is not planning to suspend ...
