Walsingham

It's actually pronounced "Sauth A'Frica".

In protest at political apathy, artist nails his own scrotum to Red Square. I remember being told about a vory who nailed his own scrotum to his bed as a prison protest, and always wrote that off as guards chancing their luck on excuses. Guess I underestimated Russians, for once.

Happy Birthday, Sargie. may your increasing age leave you feeling less like a sunken pudding and more like the noble boulder beside the trail. Living every moment in fear of boyscouts.

William Hope Hodgson, The House on the Borderland, 1907 On PDF - and so far as I know legit open license - http://manybooks.net/_scripts/send.php?tid=hodgsonwother06houseontheborderland&book=1:pdf:.pdf:pdf

I slept through two alarms and got 11 hours sleep. Fortunately working from home today, and quite honestly it would be weird to complain after so many years of insomnia. I feel like I'm both feeling younger, and I'm absolutely positive I'm losing weight. Belts are all down to their tightest notches. EDIT: Logically I could equally just be squeezing myself like a nearly empty tube of toothpaste, and be locked in a cycle of delusional air-loss. It would explain the talking bats.

I was trying to think of a South African game, and the only themes I can think of are avoiding carjacking, and something based on the film Space Mutiny.

I don't think it is self-evident. Far too many supposedly great men are just goddamn weirdos. Kim Jong il is just the creepy dude with rape victims tied up in his basement.

I did not know that. Thanks.

By the way Oby, far be it from me to question your deductive/reading skills, but there are letters making up words on that map, and they say "Svear", "Götar" and "Gotland (Land of the Gutar)". Just for the hell of it, I typed it into wikipedia to see if the english version would recognize it; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svear http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6tar Svear and Swedes are names for the same thing... And it clearly points out sources mentioning Svear/Swedes from way before 800AD. Just thought I'd drop that in your lap and see where you run with it. You mean oby's not a high ranking history professor?

Watching a race car and driving a race car are two very different experiences. Of course the analogy would be better if one were comparing watching a haycart, and being drunk on a haycart.

Be advised that many critics didn't like it. But I honestly don't understand why. The central theme is morality and power and it handles it superbly IMO.

If it was possible to copyright a human skull, then Amazon would have done so already.

If you want to see Donald Sutherland being truly magnificent check out Land of the Blind.

"All you need is love" = "Scrap your nuclear missiles and surrender"

And more importantly, the US Marine Corps! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps

Stopped at the butchers. Am now feasting on a mixed fry-up of venison, lamb chop, lamb kidney (particularly good), pork sausages, and free range eggs, over wholegrain toast. With french mustard and spicy chutney on the side.

If you don't want Georgians to be counted as Russians STOP INVADING GEORGIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee-Enfield Since it's Remembrance Sunday.

Does the JD stand for Jack Daniels? ~~~ I think on this of all days it behooves us to remember the sacrifices made by French men at arms without resort to comedy. As Bruce pointed out, French losses in the Great war were quite incredible. Despite losing the battle for France in WW2, over half a million French forces continued fighting in other theatres, and participated in the liberation. The errors which lead to their lost battles were hardly theirs alone. Britain was fighting alongside them, we picked the same ground, and similar weapons. And when France was losing in the field the United States and Russia were too scared to even take the field.

Remembrance Sunday, so revisiting histories and reading Barefoot Soldier.

You young fellahs just don't understand how lucky you are. Being surrounded by beauty you artificially impose a normal curve.

I knew I should have left the "come at me, prussophiles" comment at the end... I'm at least moderately serious though, I'd actively defend the opinion that historic german military supremacy was more apparent than real- and largely couched in the hero worship of certain individuals; GrossFreddie/ Rommel/ Manstein etc. Whatever criticism you make about their operational nous (which battles they fought) they were tactically way above par (how they fought their battles). And their latter strategic idiocy doesn't come close to marring that. I'd also add that in the last War their procurement could be absolutely amazing. Or basically wherever Hitler, Goering, or Himmler didn't shove a swivel-eyed oar in.

Well done Ros. The highest number I've ever gotten to was 3 in a night, and I didn't even raise any money. I did have a good time with one of them afterwards though. All I've done tonight is have a drink and work on a paper. Does kissing two at the same time counts as one? If so, I only have 2. You are a Smoker, from Left 4 Dead, and I claim my 5 pounds.

Are you deliberately being revisionist?