More Congo reading

Two more for the springboard reading list. Jeff suggested Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone, Memoir of a Boy soldier. There’s an interesting controversy about this. The newspaper The Australian claims that the events described in the book happen two years later than Beah says they did. This would mean he was fifteen, not thirteen. [...]

Read Full Post »

Live and Learn

When I started the Springboard Reading project, I didn’t really expect it to bear fruit so quickly. About 3 weeks into 2008, I know exponentially more about the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That isn’t hard – in honesty, I didn’t know a lot about it before that anyway. Anyway, today I read this:
A [...]

Read Full Post »

Commenting on Blogs

I don’t frequently comment on many blogs – usually only when I read something particularly interesting. The best blog posts I have read have been ones where a lot of discussion has followed the initial post. Very rarely does it stay entirely within the subject of the first post, but for the most part it [...]

Read Full Post »

Springboard Reading II: The River Congo

So we’re off on the 2008 Reading Challenge. I’m off the springboard and it’s juddering in the air behind me as I plunge into the pool for the first length. Following on from The Mission Song dealing with the bloody truth behind geopolitics as it influences the Congo, today I picked up Blood River: A [...]

Read Full Post »

Springboard Reading, or Chain Letters.

While I was reading last night (The Mission Song, John le Carre) I daydreamed my way into a reading project for the year. Springboard reading.
In essence, it goes like this. Once I have read a book, I pick up one of the things touched on in it and follow it up with the next book [...]

Read Full Post »

Learn something new every day

The Guardian can be very educational. Today for example, I found out that
“Vomiting virus closes hospital wards”.
I didn’t even know that viruses could vomit.

Read Full Post »

Snow joke, you know!

Last night, it snowed here in Ireland. Well, I say ’snowed’ – at the minute, there’s a light dusting of powder on the hedges and trees, and about an inch on the ground. I can still see grass in some spots. (If you want to see the kind of snow I’m talking about, have a [...]

Read Full Post »

“Happy New Year!” she expectorated.

Tomorrow will be the fourth day of January, and I’m beginning to wonder when people will stop saying “Happy new year” to me. Still, mustn’t grumble. I’m trying to no longer take a perverse delight in being grumpy, but it ain’t easy!
And as for this New Year’s Resolution business – as good as it is [...]

Read Full Post »