Recently updated blogs

As a US-based flyer, when I think of the big Middle Eastern airlines I think of epic long-haul flights on 777s, A380s, and other big planes. But can those airlines deliver a great experience on smaller single-aisle aircraft? We got to find out on an A320 flight from Doha to Zanzibar on Qatar Airways, Skytrax’s best airline in the world for 2024. Over the course of the six-hour flight we …

What is it to desire or value something? Is it to feel a certain way? Is it instead to have a certain sort of representational architecture (a stored representation of "X is good" or a representation of X in one's "desire box")? Is it to have a certain type of neurological structure associated with reward and learning? I hold, instead, that to desire or value something is a matter or …

I’m certainly not above government criticism nor do I think lying for political gain is a new trick. I am bummed that a website needs to exist called Hurricane Rumor Response from FEMA in order to combat a barrage of lies accusing them of everything stealing donations to literally preventing aid. Hey, I’m not on the ground in these hurricane zones so what do I know? But do you really …

• 5-star hikes • 6 to 7 mile options • Moderate | Gain 1,920 to 2,570 feet • Lyme, NH | Sunapee Region . NHFT 52WAV One of the few NH fire towers with an accessible cabin. Smarts Mountain is located twelve miles north of Hanover, close to the neighboring state of Vermont. Offering spectacular views and a fire tower with an accessible cabin, this peak is a satisfying destination …

Erin Kissane has started a new research studio with the most punk URL I’ve ever seen: wrecka.ge. Get out of here! That’s fantastic. But also everything about this project is, as Erin writes: We need new networks that genuinely work better, not only for indie-web people or tech people or other outliers, but for all of us working toward collective survival. And I don't think we'll get them by just …

Some of the half-frame 35mm photographs from the French ‘Randonneur Round The Year’ rides will be included in a Brighton Photo Fringe exhibition between 16 and 20 October. The show is at Regency Town House in Hove, open between 11am and 5pm. Further details on the Photo Fringe website. Copies of the photo book 2704 will be for sale at the exhibition but can also be ordered from my Etsy …

My book Gobsmacked: The British Invasion of American of American English–which is of course based on this blog–has gotten a lot of nice attention in the couple of weeks since it’s been out. I plan to do a post with some of the links to articles, reviews, and podcasts soon. But the piece by The Economist‘s “Johnson” columnist–Lane Greene–deserves a post of its own. The title is “Americans Are Chuffed …

The Supreme Court is keeping busy on gun matters! It just granted S&W's petition for certiorari. The government of Mexico had sued a large group of gun companies over guns being smuggled in, the companies pled the Lawful Commerce etc. Act, but the First Circuit upheld the suit on the grounds that the Act doesn't protect aiding and abetting of crimes. The companies point out that aiding and abetting requires …

Even when the legal arguments in such lawfare cases are weak or absurd, the litigation itself can be of value to litigants who seek to utilise the court hearings to air a litany of real or imagined grievances. In the wake of a decision by the Council of Stellenbosch University to close its Wilgenhof Men’s Residence for one year in an attempt to bring an end to humiliating and exclusionary …

Dancer - Man Of Distinction/R.AGGS - Uncertainty Bloody hell, Dancer, they've only just on Friday released their split LP with Whisper Hiss and now here comes another split, this time a limited 7" with Ray Aggs of so, so many great things that's included in the price of their 30th November gig at Glasgow's The Old Hairdressers, though there will we're assured be a limited number otherwise available. Dancer's half …

Did you know that the entire meal is American. That’s the dirty secret of Canadian Thanksgiving. It’s not even ours. Roast Turkey. Mashed Potatoes. Stuffing and cranberry sauce. Pumpkin pie. Food as seen on cable TV. At least I will have my own damn carrots like those up there. And my own beets. Hmm… if the menu was really Canadian what would it be? I dunno. A big ass butter …

Say yes to everything, shirk nothing, don’t try to lie to yourself. You are not a solid citizen, you are not a Greek, you are not harmonious, or the master of yourself, you are a bird in the storm. Let it storm! —Hermann Hesse The day’s light is fading. The silence is palpable. So are the doubts and the anxiety. But not the questions. They buzz loudly, incessantly, urgently. The …

The book we should have written. Source

September was an interesting month, because I logged over 30k words.However, there is the fact that most of the words logged for this month were from edits and revisions. And speaking of edits...forty chapters in total, for This Hole Was Made For (You And) Me. Keep in mind that I later condensed these chapters into 25.A graph depicting 34,765 words for September. The highest was 2k on Sept 15.8k of …

I don’t know who this guy is or where I found the quote, but it was staring up at me from my notebook this afternoon. Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth: People say that what we are all seeking is a meaning for life. I don-t think this is what we’re really seeking. I think what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive. I think that’s very true. “The …