Three Children in a Marianas Trench-Coat

Earlier, I was discussing the rule that one shouldn't criticise a solution unless one was prepared to offer an alternative. As I am not the only Lovecraftian in my circle, the discussion swept over whether Yog-Sothothery was an exception, which reminded me of some strange realisations I had as a younger man about the casting …

What Strange Creature Bimbles…?

I often find rewards in computer games slightly puzzling, not merely in what they are but when they are received. For the last couple of weeks, I've been playing Sable, a game about a young woman undertaking her coming-of-age quest on a world that is a blend of many things from hunter-gatherer to high-tech. The …

From That Angle

I recently started playing Pine, which the developers describe as an “open-world action adventure game set in a simulated world that does not belong to humans”. What they don't describe it is a “third-person adventure game with a lot of platform jumping puzzles”. Which stoked my pondering of what people choose to prioritise, both when …

Larry Niven and Ringworld Time

Last month, I had the great pleasure of interviewing Larry Niven for Mythaxis Review. The transcript has just been published on their website. Larry Niven is perhaps best known for Ringworld and The Mote in God’s Eye (co-authored with Jerry Pournelle). Winner of multiple Hugo Awards (for both novels and short stories), the Nebula Award, …

Raising a Cup to Melitta Bentz

As I drink my second mug of coffee today, I am reminded of Melitta Bentz and feel a series of small joys. At the start of the Twentieth Century, coffee in Europe was almost always brewed with the grounds loose in the pot. This method has two main issues: the resulting coffee tends to have …

Chromium Plating Marshmallows

A good mashup, whether food, music, or gases, creates a thing greater than the parts; the sublime added to the technical. And perhaps shows an answer authors struggle to tell. The right mix of the right songs for a particular person speaks to them in several ways: the experience of each of the songs alone; …

Awaken Your Tongues

There is an article in the Telegraph today (another article) rejecting the idea that we shouldn't require correct English from students. As someone who has used English professionally for most of my working life, the argument that language matters resonates strongly with me. And thus the article spoke to me: specifically, it said Χρησιμοποίησα έναν …

Squeed

On of the (few) advantages to the Covid-19 restrictions—apart from the obvious one of reducing spread—is an acceleration in various venues embracing online exhibitions and performances. Rather than being limited to seeing things that come to Bristol and a few things I made an significant effort to travel to another place to see, I can …

Touching Joy

The world is decidedly imperfect but also joyously beautiful. Like most people, I do not exist in constant conscious awareness of that beauty, but reminders surround me, reaching out—sometimes more literally than others. Severed at the wrist yet still reaching toward the audience, echoing the many Classical marble hands exhibited across Europe, this sculpture evoked …

Create Joy in Our Native Server

Many years ago, most of the fridges of friends were accoutered with magnetic poetry kits. I discovered today via a friend that one can now play with several of the kits for free online. Spared both the annoyance of lost words and the conflict with sociability, it provided a pleasant and productive afternoon coffee break. …