Head On A Stick

This seems appropriate to the title of my LJ:



(From this strip.)

Describe me in one word- just one single word. Positive or negative.

Leave your word in a comment, before looking at what words others have used.

Copy and paste the meme to your journal to find out how people describe you when limited to one word.

Thanks to gauroth for this one.

As she hasn't mentioned it on LJ (and for that matter I haven't heard the delicate steam-whistle sound of Othen Affrontata) I'm prepared to bet that Gillian O has not yet read of this planned film.

But what would you call the sequel? "Fear Of The Darcy"? "Never Say Netherfield Again"? Or perhaps a sideways move to "Concussion" (tagline  'All the privilege I claim for my own sex...is that of screaming loudest, when stomach or when head is gone" ).

I think I'm going to enjoy this......

Genre fiction book meme (gakked from intertext)

1) Look at the list, copy and paste it into your own journal.
2) Mark those you have read however you want.
3) Feel free to tell your friends what you thought of them.

I've bolded the ones I've read, put a star beside particular favourites, and put in italics ones I've started but never finished or have only read one of.

1. *The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien Well, duh,
2. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
3. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien Got bored and abandoned it.
4. Foundation series, Isaac Asimov
5. *Robot series, Isaac Asimov For all their "Three Laws" cleverness these stories are as much about Susan Calvin as about the robots. Asimov at the top of his game.
6. Dune, Frank Herbert
7. *Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein
8. *The Earthsea series, Ursula le Guin
9. Neuromancer, William Gibson
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Day of the Triffids, John Wyndham Like Intertext, I liked Chocky better (and not just because my copy was a Christmas present from one of my LJ readers[g])
12. A Book of the New Sun series, Gene Wolfe
13. Discworld series, Terry Pratchett Yes, but I've never gone overboard for them like some of my friends.
14. Sandman series, Neil Gaiman
15. *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams Loved the books but loved the radio series even more.
16. Dragonriders of Pern series, Anne McCaffrey
17. Interview with the Vampire series, Anne Rice .
18. The Shining, Stephen King
19. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula le Guin
20. The Chronicles of Amber, Roger Zelazny . Read three of them and keep meaning to finish the set. My favourite RZ is Lord of Light though.
21. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke
22. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke Found it rather disappointing.
23. *Ringworld, Larry Niven. I liked the sequels as well.
24. Elric of Melnibone series, Michael Moorcock
25. The Dying Earth series, Jack Vance
26. Lyonesse series, Jack Vance
27. *The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever, Stephen Donaldson. I really liked the first series though they are over-written, I thought the way the second series was linked to the first via the Staff of Law was very clever, though I didn't much care for Linden Avery. Second series good in parts. Best Donaldson by a mile is the Mordant's Need series, though I keep waiting for someone to make a film of Animal Lover (short from Daughter of Regals)
28. A Song of Ice and Fire series, George R.R. Martin
29. The Worm Ourobouros, E.R. Eddison
30. Conan series, Robert E. Howard
31. Lankhmar series, Fritz Leiber
32. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick. Great film though.
33. The Time Machine, H.G. Wells
34. The Invisible Man, H.G. Wells
35. The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells
36. Eon, Greg Bear
37. Book of the First Law series, Joe Abercrombie
38. Miss Marple stories, Agatha Christie
39. Hercule Poirot stories, Agatha Christie
40. Lord Peter Wimsey stories, Dorothy L. Sayers . I've read one and can't remember which it was. Saw quite a fw on TV though.
41. The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett
42. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
43. Sherlock Holmes stories, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Valley Of Fear is best.
44. *Cthulhu Mythos, H.P. Lovecraft. Best horror ever.
45. Inspector Wexford stories, Ruth Rendell
46. Adam Dalgliesh stories, P.D. James
47. Philip Marlowe stories, Raymond Chandler
48. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
49. The Day of the Jackal, Frederick Forsyth. Good fun, though the famous method of obtaining a false passport had been done years earlier in Adam Diment's The Great Spy Race
50. The Fourth Protocol, Frederick Forsyth
51. Smiley series, John le Carre The first one was OK though the plot wasn't as confusing as I''d been led to expect. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold: now that's a complicated plot.
52. Gentleman Bastard series, Scott Lynch
53. The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Steven Erikson
54. Watchmen series, Alan Moore
55. Maus, Art Spiegelman
56. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Alan Miller
57. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
58. *Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling. I didn't actually cry during the last one but it was a close thing. And I'm prepared to forgive any number of infelicities from the author of Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow/Turn this stupid fat rat yellow.
59. Chrestomanci series, Diana Wynne-Jones
60. Ryhope Wood series, Robert Holdstock
61. Wilt series, Tom Sharpe. Funny-ish. Couldn't read his Porterhouse Blue without thinking of my old Durham college (and college bedder!)
62. Riftwar Cycle, Raymond E. Feist
63. Temeraire series, Naomi Novik .
64. *Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis. Duh, again.
65. His Dark Materials series, Phillip Pullman
66. Dragonlance series, Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
67. Twilight saga, Stephanie Meyer
68. The Night's Dawn trilogy, Peter F. Hamilton
69. Artemis Fowl series, Eoin Colfer. I like the idea of the high-tech fairies.
70. Honor Harrington series, David Weber
71. Hannibal Lecter series, Thomas Harris The first one especially chills the blood more by what he leaves unsaid than by the words on the page.
72. The Dark Tower series, Stephen King
73. It, Stephen King
74. The Rats series, James Herbert
75. Dirk Gently series, Douglas Adams Liked the first much more than the second, though Catastrophic Structural Exasperation Syndrome is a great coinage.
76. Jeeves and Wooster stories, P.G. Wodehouse Read What Ho, Jeeves! Loved the Fry & Laurie TV versions..
77. The da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
78. The Culture Series, Iain M. Banks
79. The Duncton series, William Horwood
80. *The Illuminatus! trilogy, Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson Utter genius.
81. The Aberystwyth series, Malcom Pryce. A new word for surreal, and irrestistible.
82. Morse stories, Colin Dexter
83. Navajo Tribal Police stories, Tony Hillerman
84. The Ipcress File, Len Deighton
85. Enigma, Robert Harris
86. Fatherland, Robert Harris
87. The Constant Gardener, John le Carre
88. The House of Cards trilogy, Michael Dobbs
89. The Dark is Rising saga, Susan Cooper
90. Psychotechnic League and Polesotechnic League series, Poul Anderson
91. Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton
92. Star Wars: Thrawn trilogy, Timothy Zahn
93. Ender's Game series, Orson Scott Card
94. *Gormenghast series, Meryvn Peake I did cry when reading Gormenghast, twice. (Fuchsia's death and Flay hearing the Twins' cries but not being able to find them.) Never got into Titus Alone though.
95. Miles Vorkosigan saga, Lois McMaster Bujold
96. The Once and Future King, T.H. White . Odd-numbered books great, even-numbered, meh. Lancelot fighting his way out of Guinevere's bedroom is still vivid after more than 30 years.
97. Fighting Fantasy books, Ian Livingston & Steve Jackson . Who needs computer games?
98. The Stainless Steel Rat series, Harry Harrison . Hilarious. Moreover, I have a Fighting Fantasy-type book based on these! And Harrison's Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers is simply the funniest SF ever: even better then HHGG.
99. The Lensman series, E.E. 'Doc' Smith
100. The Cadfael stories, Ellis Peters

Some I haven't read stare accusingly at me from the bookshelves.

Ten which were not included but should be:

101. *The Falco series, Lindsey Davis. Best historical detective stories by far, with wonderful detail and characterisation.
102. *Flying Dutch, Tom Holt. A hilarious exploration of the myth of the Flying Dutchman. All his books are great fun though.
103. *The Tarot trilogy, Piers Anthony. Thank heavens for the SF abbreviation: are these fantasy or science fiction? Very clever and unusually for PA, not funny (though there's a caricature of Aleister Crowley in one that had me howling with mirth).
104. *The Brentford trilogy, Robert Rankin. Rankin is a genius in general, but these first efforts are his best.
105. *The Mma Ramotswe stories, Alexander McCall Smith. Laid-back and humorous detective stories written wih real affection. His other (Edinburgh-based) books are great too.
106.*The Restoration trilogy, Neal Stephenson. Best big historical fiction series since Dorothy Dunnett, and just as exciting.
107. *Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson, Probably my favourite SF novel of all time. A writer who can have you on the edge of your seat wih suspense over a pizza delivery: what's not to like?
108. *The Max Curfew novels, John Brunner. Thrillers where the hero is a KGB-trained black man, which makes for some interesting perspectives.
109. *Stand On Zanzibar, John Brunner Cleverly structured dystopia.
110. *The Jerry Cornelius books, Michael Moorcock Indescribable. No, really.

and a happy Dr Who special. (Not to mention Stanley Baxter's emergence from retirement on ITV!)

May you have a happy issue, as they say, out of all your afflictions, whether creditable or crunchy.

Love and kisses to any of you who would appreciate them.

Various people have requested this, so as it's Christmas...

....cast your mind back 34 years.......(yes, really).....

....to a time when Chris and Nel were not yet an item, Dave and Gill were on a break (as they say on "Friends") and I had facial hair only on my upper lip......

...a college ball in Durham Castle, themed around Schloss Colditz....

...oh all, right, here you are:



From left to right, Gill Wilkes (now Othen), me, Nel Wheldon (now Eyre), Steve Osborne, Mary Pude (now Partridge), Dave Partridge.

I have to say, from that picture, you would never guess the memorable (not to say mammary) characteristics of the famous yellow dress. I suppose it was all in the motion. (Like Jello on springs, as Jack Lemmon said of Marilyn Monroe in "Some Like It Hot".)

Enjoy the nostalgia trip.

I don't often cross-post to my main blog, but I thought some of my LiveJournal friends might enjoy my enthusiastic review of Monday night's Bryan Adams concert in Glasgow. And I even managed to get in a couple of video clips of BA duetting with Jean-Jacques Goldman in 1996 (Back in the Summer of '96?) Now there's value for you.

Can't get the code to work properly here for some reason, despite having found it initially on a LiveJournal page, but I eventually got it to display in my blog so here's a link.

And honestly, I didn't cheat, so the answer was rather a surprise. Now I'll have to go back and tweak my answers to come out as Gabriel......

No surprises here:

Your Dominant Intelligence is Musical Intelligence

Every part of your life has a beat, and you're often tapping your fingers or toes. You enjoy sounds of all types, but you also find sound can distract you at the wrong time. You are probably a gifted musician of some sort - even if you haven't realized it. Also a music lover, you tend to appreciate artists of all kinds. You would make a great musician, disc jockey, singer, or composer.

Cross-posted at Eine Kleine Nichtmusik

1. Well you must be a girl with shoes like that

The Fratellis: Chelsea Dagger

2. I know you've deceived me, now here's a surprise The Who: I Can See For Miles (title guessed by Joe, fully guessed by Phil)

3. Shadows are falling and I've been here all day

Bob Dylan: Not Dark Yet

4. On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair The Eagles: Hotel California (guessed by Joe)

5. Daddy, Daddy, come and look, see what I have found Tim Rose: Come Away Melinda (guessed by Phil)

6. I didn't say a word, though I am really hurt

Inge & Anete Humpe: Careless Love

7. When the stone is grown too cold to kneel

Fairport Convention: Now Be Thankful

8. The mob's in town and the guns are out, and Louie knows what it's all about

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band: There's No Lights On The Christmas Tree Mother, They're Burning Big Louie Tonight

9. The saints are crippled on this sinners' night

Lordi: Hard Rock Hallelujah

10. Laid here with the advertising sliding past my eyes Pulp: I'm A Man (guessed by George)

11. We are standing here exposing ourselves

Kraftwerk: Showroom Dummies

12. I am a toreador, I am for sure, I kill bulls by the score, and sometimes more Mike Oldfield (with vocals by David Bedford): Don Alfonso (guessed by Phil)

13. Ever since I was a little boy, dressing up has always been my greatest joy

Richard O'Brien (from Shock Treatment OST): Little Black Dress

14. It was a slow day, and the sun was beating on the soldiers by the side of the road Paul Simon: The Boy In The Bubble (guessed by Udge)

15. If we stand here together and we see the world as one

Kula Shaker: The Great Hosanna

16. Lime and limpid green, a second scene, a fight between the blue you once knew Pink Floyd: Astronomy Domine (guessed by Phil)

17. I look at you all, see the love there that's sleeping The Beatles: While My Guitar Gently Weeps (guessed by Udge)

18. Fell in the street in a drunken heap, there's dark water all around me

The Watersons: Red Wine and Promises

19. And so once again, my dear Johnny, my dear friend Joni Mitchell: The Fiddle And The Drum (guessed by Z)

20. He came in the ballroom, just a crazy old man; his eyes seemed to glaze in the light

Linda Thompson: No Telling

The Harry Potter fans among you have probably already seen this. If not, have fun. I enjoyed it, anyway.

Following on from various threads on LJ regarding DPOW (aka the PP), here are a couple of posts you might have missed at the Daily Mash site:

first this

then this.

After which what more is there to be said?

The other day I was listening to my CD of Mahler's Fifth Symphony through headphones. It must have been the first time I'd done so, because I was highly amused to discover that the conductor (the late Giuseppe Sinopoli) sings along with the orchestra in loud passages (though not, to my relief, during the Adagietto!)

The incident reminded me of another only-through-headphones gaffe, namely the unmistakeable sound of a pencil being knocked off a music stand during the second movemnent of the Tartini-Jacob Concertino on this recording.

And finally, a different kind of headphone anecdote. I once listened to this recording of the 1812 Overture (replete with real 19th century cannon, and terrific fun) through headphones, imagining (correctly) that it wouldn't be nearly as impressive as through decent speakers. However, from the reaction of other people in the room, I realised that the cannon fire sounded absolutely hilarous to those on the outside. Swapping places, I found it sounded like pop guns.

Does anyone else have interesting headphone anecdotes (especially things that only show up when you listen through phones)? Could be rustling, singing, anything really.

(Cross-posted at Eine Kleine Nichtmusik.)

Just to make it plain: if I don't post here very often it isn't that I'm being rude or neglecting you guys on LJ, it's simply that I already have a well-established blog over in the terra incognita (from whose Bourne no Jason is returned, with or without golden fleece) that is Blogger. The puns are no better there, I assure you, but should you wish to drop in you'll be very welcome, and even more so if you comment.

By way of a taster, back on June 13th I published a link to this. Some of you may find it funny.....