fourth edition

.. are condemned to repeat it.
Or, in other words, try reading this news article about Switzerland banning minarets, replace the words “minaret” with “synagogue” and “Muslim” with “Jewish” and then ask yourself what it reminds you of? A simple semantic trick, but a very useful one.
Meanwhile, I have become slightly addicted to Galaxy Zoo. When [...]

Borders has gone into administration here in the UK. Its Glasgow flagship store is covered in huge EVERYTHING MUST GO!!! STOCK LIQUIDATION!!! posters. It makes me very sad. I am an independent retailer sort of consumer, but Borders holds a special place in my heart. For years it was the only place I could find [...]

Meet Percy post-dyejob. That safety vest orange shawl turned into deep, vibrant Wollmeise-esque red shawl. I am very, very, very happy with it.
Some of you have asked how I dyed the shawl. I had a big ovenproof dish into which I poured half my dye solution. I put my shawl (which had been soaking in [...]

As I’m typing this, my Percy shawl is in the oven covered in four satchels worth of Kool Aid Black Cherry and added food colouring from the local supermarket. Wish Percy good luck. You may also be amused to know that I’m typing this with very pink hands. Clearly my latex gloves are not dye-proof.
On [...]

I do not know how many of you have read Alasdair Gray’s excellent dystopian novel, Lanark: a Life in Four Books? It takes place partly in Glasgow and partly in an imaginary Glasgow, known as Unthank. In Unthank the characters are forever chasing sunlight whilst seemingly dying of a symbolic disease known as ‘dragonhide’ (Yes, [...]

I was looking for some gift ideas when I found the Adopt A Polar Bear Gift Pack:
The Adopt A Polar Bear is the perfect gift for those who have always wanted a pet polar bear, but are scared of getting mauled to death
(..)
What a fantastic feeling to know that you have done a little bit [...]

We have a pile of wrapped presents in our living room. David is celebrating his birthday this week and I finished wrapping his presents yesterday whilst he was out looking at naked ladies at his art class. I also made a head start on wrapping the Christmas presents. Now I’m all antsy because we have [...]

The Percy Shawl,or as I prefer to call it: The “Mad, Bad and Orange To Know” Shawl (apologies to Lady Caroline Lamb). Colour is most accurate in the first photo.
I tried knitting this earlier this year but Chart B left me a broken woman. This time I was stuck in bed with bad cold/mild flu [...]

I do not know much about gods; but I think that the river
Is a strong brown god—sullen, untamed and intractable,
Patient to some degree, at first recognised as a frontier;
Useful, untrustworthy, as a conveyor of commerce;
Then only a problem confronting the builder of bridges.
The problem once solved, the brown god is almost forgotten
By the dwellers in [...]

Oh dear, we are going to be inundated with “The Best XYZ of This Decade!” lists, aren’t we? One of the first Best Books of the Decade list comes from the Times (thank you, kimfobo) and is an eclectic mix of high- and low-culture, fiction and non-fiction, and Anglophone and translated works. I am not [...]