Recently updated blogs

After playing Kebab Chefs! for a few days, I can honestly say this game is a mix of pure chaos and unexpected fun. It’s a co-op cooking and restaurant management game where up to four players can team up, design their own restaurant, and try to run the biggest kebab place in town. But don’t be fooled—it’s not as simple as flipping meat and serving happy customers. This game throws …

In this instalment of my monthly listening tips, I’d like to share a few podcasts and radio programmes on the subject of Norse mythology. If you don’t know much about it, some of them will serve as a good introduction to the topic, while others go deeper into very specific aspects of the Norse culture.

What do you do when your other half never wears an expensive niche perfume bought extravagantly as an extra birthday present ? Spray it on his sheets. That way you get to reap the benefits, in this case a fresh, nutmeg aldehydic, very clear frankincense fragrance (with some admittedly niche-ish trope-ish citric and coniferous facets that presumably put him off – someone was also coughing next to him in a …

Reviewed by Harriet In the year 1932, Miss Penelope Shadow published a book which instantly became a best seller. It was her fourth book and not, in her opinion, markedly superior to its predecessors. So in the secret recesses of her delighted, amazed and muddled mind, she attributed its success to its attractive title. So begins the latest novel in the British Library Women Writers series, which I’ve been following …

This book is the second book in the Karen Pirie series. Detective Inspector Karen Pirie is in charge of the Cold Case department in Fife, Scotland; she works primarily with Detective Sergeant Phil Parhatka. A woman reports that her father has been missing for over 20 years, from the time of the Miner’s Strike of 1984. At the time they thought he had deserted the family and gone to Nottingham …

Reading this week: The Adventures of Ibn Battuta by Ross E. Dunn The Travels of Ibn Battutah, abridged, annotated, and with a forward by Tim Mackintosh-Smith Sierra Leonean Heroes A little bit ago I once again found myself in Kinshasa, and this time the big adventure was going to Lola ya Bonobo! It was a lot of fun. Lola ya Bonobo is a sanctuary for orphaned bonobos. The name in …

Here are our hand-selected favorites from eBay for this week, plus a heads-up on recommended sales. If you’re a member of the Inside Track, log in with your CrateJoy username and password. If you’re not a member, you can join now for just $5 a month. You’ll get access to one of these members-only lists every week, and your membership supports Put This On! The post Inside Track: November 24th …

In praise of all this and more. Read here.

It’s easy and lazy to bash the press; that’s why President-elect Trump does it. He also has plenty to hide, from his prior business dealings to his predatory sexual behavior. It’s also lazy to talk about the mainstream media and assert they are all the same; they are not. Over the last two decades, we’ve seen local newspapers decimated. While many still exist, they are no longer able to staff …

Amerie album The name Amerie first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 2002: 2006: 110 baby girls named Amerie 2005: 162 baby girls named Amerie 2004: 67 baby girls named Amerie 2003: 111 baby girls named Amerie 2002: 51 baby girls named Amerie [debut] 2001: unlisted 2000: unlisted It was one of the highest-debuting names of the year, in fact. Where did it come from? Mononymous R&B singer …

Some (hopefully) inspirational photos today. Starting with Vauxhall in 1933. How many ways of getting around are there in the picture? I reckon 9 – foot, bicycle, motorcycle (and sidecar) horse and cart, car, lorry, bus, tram and train. Now it’s just SUV. Atmospheric photos – Liverpool Street in 1950, and a London street in 1939. An E3 and a Maunsell diesel shunter at a busy Norwood Junction in 1939 …

Arkham House was founded in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish a memorial volume of the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. Soon afterwards Wandrei's participation diminished, and Arkham House was ruled by Derleth until his death in 1971. Afterwards, others stepped in, and the publisher morphed a number of times. After Derleth's daughter, April Derleth, died in 2011, the firm published

I realised just now that I entirely forgot (it seems) to post about an episode of PBS' show Nova called "Decoding the Universe: Cosmos" which aired back in the Spring. I thought they did a good job of talking about some of the advances in our understanding that have happened over the last 50 years (the idea is that it is the 50th anniversary of the show) in areas of …

Whenever temps start to fall one of three things happen, one we know the shortest day of the year is approaching, two I'll still be wearing shorts and t-shirts to work and three Grayling will be on my mind! Once again I had been invited to fish the river Wylye for Grayling by Mike and I could not pass up the opportunity. I had a sleepless night on Wednesday owing …