Peter

...adrift at sea, nothing but ocean all the way to the horizon in every direction, no supplies, no hope of rescue, not even a proper lifeboat, just some driftwood lashed together, and only a distinctly taciturn Protoss for company.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring you Stark Raft.

(or maybe not, actually writing the story would be too much like effort)

Woman repels bear armed only with a courgette - you know you're a geek when you think "thank $DEITY the bear only had a courgette. If it was armed with a chainsaw there'd be real trouble"

Happy birthday emperor!

Which reminds me, equinox tomorrow. I looked it up, it's at 03:09 UTC, which I guess is when the sun checks into the southern hemisphere, somewhere to the east of Indonesia, I think. Or in less anthropomorphic, geocentric terms, when the equator crosses the line from the centre of the sun to the centre of the Earth, with the intersection being somewhere to the east of Indonesia.

Anyway, the rate at which the days (in the (shrinking regions of the) northern hemisphere (where they still have days)) will be getting shorter will start slowing down, so we have that to celebrate. Or if you like darkness, it's soon going to be the dark half of the year. Either way, it's good news.

BBC News: Pontiff in pontificating shock!

What gets me is the intellecutal level of the whole Nazi insinuation thing. Things like that are the kind of low-grade tedious nonsense you expect from Christian Unions[1] and debating societies[2], you would have thought that a big hitter like, you know, the Pope, especially one with a reputation for being a bit of a bookworm, would have some fresh and original way to insult us, but no. The Muslims get quotes carefully recovered from dusty old books by obscure Byzantine emperors[3], we get tired old Nazi jibes. Talk about a lack of respect.

Of course, this being the BBC News website, it is possible that the Pope had been grossly misrepresented and he actually did say something subtle and profound. But I doubt it somehow.

[1] I've heard this line myself when I was dragged along to a CICCU mission once, and I've heard other people report that when they went along to one years later.
[2] I'm making this up. I don't actually have that much experience of debating societies, I'm speaking from pure prejudice here.
[3] It suddenly occurs to me that I'm implying that this is "fresh and original".

Co-operative Starcraft II, with friends. Just like the old days, but with shinier graphics, and some different units.

I'd been missing that for a long time.

From a BBC News story on book burning

On a personal level, we are forever being asked to name our favourite book, and the answer is considered a guide to someone's identity, as reliable as knowing their favourite colour or their star-sign. This might work if the answer is Mein Kampf or Lord of the Rings, but otherwise is pretty sketchy.

Cambridge (UK): Fine in summer, but miserably damp and cold in winter says the BBC.

I've been having some tooth woes lately, which I hope to solve finally with a tooth extraction on Tuesday. When talking about my woes, I've heard some surprising comparisons be made. So, a poll which very few of you can answer:

My main project is taking a long time, so I thought I'd do a side project or two to remind myself what a finish feels like.

( Photo behind cut )

Hmmm, I guess the next thing is for me to design something.