Yearly Archives: 2008

Snippets

Posted on September 11, 2008 by acb

You can induce egglaying in frogs (Not safe for frog lovers) by injecting them with human hormones: I learned this indirectly from a letter this morning about my column on wikigenes, which turned out to appeal to an Oxford researcher … Continue reading →

Posted in Blather, Journalism, Science without worms | Comments Off on Snippets

Why I pay the subscription

Posted on September 10, 2008 by acb

I am sitting in the reading room of the London Library, a place to which I often retreat when I have an afternoon in London. The room where laptops are encouraged is lined with reference works in various languages, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 4 Comments

Longer Rowan Williams

Posted on September 9, 2008 by acb

(run through a scanner, darkly: particularly horribly phrases highlighted. Page references lost in translation. ) Dialogue goes on because of a trust that recognition will be possible. And acknowledging that misrecognition happens is part of the fuel of continuing the … Continue reading →

Posted in God, Literature | 3 Comments

Shorter Rowan Williams

Posted on September 8, 2008 by acb

You are what you waffle

Posted in God, Journalism | Comments Off on Shorter Rowan Williams

Displacement activity

Posted on September 6, 2008 by acb

In the last week I have been trying to start up a potentially important web site; get two, perhaps three, long radio programmes going; write two columns; review Rowan Williams’ book on Dostoevski; organise a page of collected reviews for … Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 2 Comments

Chrome

Posted on September 2, 2008 by acb

I’m obviously going to try the new Google browser, Chrome, when it comes out. But there are two three things to note. The first is that it seems to me a further instance of Norwegian world domination: it is based … Continue reading →

Posted in Net stories, Software | 2 Comments

Lost knowledge

Posted on August 31, 2008 by acb

Of which British 20th Century figure was its said by an American onlooker that his misfortune was that “He was born a Roman and died an Italian”? It could have been Churchill or possibly Keynes, though I think that Keynes … Continue reading →

Posted in Blather, British politics | 1 Comment

Nature notes

Posted on August 31, 2008 by acb

I went out for a long, new walk yesterday — after living here for nearly twelve years there was still a path out of town past the football ground that I had never explored and that I only discovered by … Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | Comments Off on Nature notes

A wonderful tombstone

Posted on August 30, 2008 by acb

I was emptying my camera card today and came across these two pictures: front and back of a gravestone in Strethall Church (which itself is rather wonderful, dating back to around 900AD). Here is the Major-General’s daughter: And this is … Continue reading →

Posted in Blather, Travel notes | 3 Comments

Spectator Review

Posted on August 30, 2008 by acb

An amusing review in this week’s Spectator, with one quote that’s going straight onto the paperback cover: “as perceptive as Bill Bryson—and, often, just as funny” I will make a page of reviews tomorrow.

Posted in Journalism, Literature, Sweden | 3 Comments