Nothing like a nice bit of British folk at this time of year.
Union Jack
Gizmodo has a pretty detailed look at what the Union Jack may look like if the Scottish vote for indpendence. Which might happen.
Last Photo – London
Ivan Cash, filmmaker, walked around London asking strangers to share the last photo on their phone and tell its story.
Latest Whisky Reviews
In the name of science, I have been reviewing many whiskies. The latest was actually disappointing, which is a shame given the hooded figure on the front of the bottle – as pictured. It’s the Highland Park Dark Origins, and wasn’t that good.
I’ve recently joined the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and wrote about an ‘unboxing’ of their welcome pack. It’s pretty pricey to join, but you get some good stuff – including access to private members’ bars in London and Scotland. Henceforth the one in London will become my offices when I’m in the city.
More reviews: the Auchentoshan Cooper’s Reserve, which I picked up in duty free. The Dalmore Valour is another duty free gem.
Finally, whilst at Worldcon I attended the Iain Banks memorial whisky tasting, which was good fun. Given I knew the guy who ran it, there were some tasty extra drams. It’s who you know…
Allotment Updates
I’ve not been down for a couple of weeks, what with Worldcon and being on holiday, so today was pretty much about tidying up – weeding, strimming the grass and so on. Harvested a load of raspberries (these are most of them, but I ate the rest), as well as cucumbers (those weird-looking yellow things) and sweet peas. The next wave of sweetcorn is coming, as is the fennel, and the young leeks are settling in ready for winter. I was amazed to note how tall a couple of the sunflowers had grown.
Whilst there today I realised just how much I had missed it – there’s something reassuring about the slow nature of the allotment – but now it’s all about waiting for autumn, my favourite season.
Hout
“Hout (Wood) tells the story of a retired woodcrafter living his remaining days in a snow coated forest, fulfilling his passion: constructing wooden animals.”
Sketches of Spain
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- Street in Tarragona
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- Antique shop
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- Oranges and cathedral
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- Shop in Tarragona
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- Cathedral in Tarragona
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- Beach
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- Tarragona
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- Poetry takeaway, Barceloa
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- Wine tasting at Bodegas Torres
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- Ice cream
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- Vineyard building
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- Inside an old house
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- Sagrada FamÃlia
The Messenger
Back from holiday (photos to come later this week, once I’ve caught up with chores). But a quick note to say that the Lucan Drakenfeld short story, “The Messenger”, is now up for sale on Amazon Kindle and other ebook shops. If you’ve never read the Drakenfeld books it’s a good chance to see what they’re about. If you have read the first one, then this adds a fraction more depth
Sensory: BBC Wildlife Director John Downer & the technology of ‘spy-cam’ filmmaking
Sublime footage, this.
I’ll be without Internet access for a few days. Look after yourselves!