Just Finished Reading: Authoritarianism – A Very Short Introduction by James Loxton (FP: 2024) [89pp] 

This certainly seemed to be a timely read – especially with the recent and long hoped for fall of Viktor Orban and the growing threat of authoritarian regimes across the world. Despite its somewhat disappointing length (although to be honest the average VSI book is around 120 pages) this was a very impressive look at the different types of authoritarianism, in the past and today, how they emerge, how they operate once up and running, how they die (and most do die), why some are far more durable than others and what their legacies are once thrown off. It was ALL very interesting especially, as we know, there is a push in some places to transition from more a democratic style to a more authoritarian one.  

Of course, authoritarianism does have its attractions to some – most especially those who struggle with being told NO by people they don’t respect (or indeed anyone). Naturally I suspect that such people have family histories that need looking at. One comment did make me smile/laugh when the author defined democracy – a system where parties loose elections. So, in a country where a party (even if they at least technically have an ‘opposition’) normally wins with 97% of the vote year after year after year, you’re probably NOT looking at a democracy – despite some of the trappings! 

Authoritarians HATE the possibility of legitimate opposition and usually go out of their way to eliminate them – up to and including prison or execution. Of course, pushing any opposition underground – as there’s no other way to oppose the regime and keep your liberty/life - is just sowing the seeds of overthrow or revolution (which all too often brings into existence a different type of authoritarian rule) which is why in some countries their politics cycles through regime after regime with, possible, brief periods of actual democracy. 

Drawing on examples across the world (I’m really looking forward to reading more about Portugal now) and from the last 100 years or so this was a great entry point to an important political philosophy of our time. Definitely recommended reading. 

Do you know the quote... and what movie its from?

Just Finished Reading: Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte (FP: 1996) [248pp] 

Madrid, 1620’s Spain. On his recent release from prison Captain Alatriste (played by Viggo Mortensen in the 2006 Spanish language adaptation) needs three things – a bath, his clothes fumigated and, most importantly, a way to earn a living. With Spain technically at peace the captain, along with many of his fellow soldiers, is out of work and hungry. So, when he hears of a well-paid assignment from a well-placed friend he puts his name forward. The desire of his potential employers to meet in secret behind masks was all the warning he needed. The task was to waylay a pair of foreigners and remove any documentation they carried. Simple enough, except that one of the potential employers wanted the extraction to take place from their dead bodies. It became abundantly clear that Alatriste was fast becoming ensnared in the machinations of political rivals and Holy Mother Church herself. Few, even with the captain’s hard-won skills fared well under such circumstances, especially when he decided to not co-operate.  

I first came across the character of Captain Alatriste by accident. I had been browsing through some foreign language DVD’s (as I do) and came across an odd one starring Viggo Mortensen playing a 17th century Spanish soldier. On watching it, in Spanish naturally, I was totally intrigued and delighted to discover it was based on an entire series of books. Fast forward 20 years and here we are. Obviously whenever the captain appeared in the novel I saw him as Viggo, so I didn’t have to use my imagination overly much. His character was very down at heel, scraping to get by between conflicts and unwilling to become a simple bandit or thief. Driven by his own sense of honour (which gets him into a lot more trouble than some of the other more ‘flexible’ characters) he decides to set himself against the plans of powerful people by disobeying orders at a critical moment. This drives the second half of the novel and, presumably, the future books.  

The feeling for early 17th century Madrid is handled well as is the almost Machiavellian political intrigue of the age (more on THAT later). Alatriste was a great character both simple in some ways and nicely complex in others. The other very good character – and almost a mirror image of the captain – was the Italian swordsman/assassin Gualterio Malatesta who crosses swords with Alatriste more than once. There are several very nice set pieces and some very good dialogue which I enjoyed greatly. The only criticism I had was with the pacing which stuttered on occasion. Overall though this was a good solid read and most certainly both entertained me and made me want to know more about that period of European/Spanish history. I shall be looking out for the other books in the sequence. Recommended (as is the movie if you can track down a copy).  

Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden 

Welcome to June. We made it! As this is the first day of meteorological summer its time for a Summer Theme here @ SaLT. Last year was the Summer of Gaming which wasn't quite as successful as I'd hoped. This year, prompted by something Marian H said, is going to be the Summer of Pop Culture. The aim (challenge?) is to post at least ONE Pop Culture reference each day for the next THREE months (June, July & August) - so movies, TV shows, music (as above) and even books & stuff. The only real problem I can see will be my Pix posts and Serious Sunday.... MOST of the references will be as obvious as I am myself. But if anything confuses you and is too old or too British please let me know. Please note: Not ALL my posts for the next 12-13 weeks will be themed. If you're struggling over a particular reference it might be because there isn't one.... and yes, I've overexplained this, but that's me! Hopefully this will be fun with a mix of nostalgia and competition.... I'll stop typing now.....    

The Last 10 Books (I added to my Wish List) - May 2026 

I TRY to be good, I really do... But there are SO many books in the world. I mean a LOT. So, from time to time I add a few, so few, to my Wish List. I have been good lately though... I was going through the cheap section and actually DELETED three (or four?) books that I’d already bought elsewhere or where hardbacks that had already been replaced by paperbacks. So, I felt pretty good about adding only 10, 15, or maybe 20 more.... But here are the last 10... 

The Searchers: Five Rebels, Their Dream of a Different Britain, and Their Many Enemies by Andy Beckett 

How to Kill a Language:  Power, Resistance and the Race to Save Our Words by Sophia Smith Galer 

Heatwave: The Summer of 1976 – Britain at Boiling Point by John L Williams 

Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941 by Richard Hargreaves 

Castles: A Fortified History of the World by Dan Jones 

Plunder: The Last of the War in Europe, 1945 by Max Hastings 

The Visionaries: The Making of the Post World War II Order in the West by James Holland 

Athens and Sparta: The Rivalry that Shaped Ancient Greece by Adrian Goldsworthy 

How to Win a Trade War: A Friendly Guide to an Unfriendly World by Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown 

If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: The Case Against Superintelligent AI by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares 

Quite a nice mix there, I think! My butterfly mind is alive and VERY well...!

Happy Birthday: Harry Clement Stubbs (May 30, 1922 – October 29, 2003), better known by the pen name Hal Clement, was an American science fiction writer and a leader of the hard science fiction subgenre. He also painted astronomically oriented artworks under the name George Richard.

In 1998, Clement was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. He was named the 17th SFWA Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1999.

Harry Clement Stubbs was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, on May 30, 1922.

He went to Harvard, graduating with a B.S. in astronomy in 1943. While there he wrote his first published story, "Proof", which appeared in the June 1942 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, edited by John W. Campbell; three more appeared in later 1942 numbers. His further educational background includes an M.Ed. (Boston University 1946) and M.S. in chemistry (Simmons College 1963).

During World War II Clement was a pilot and copilot of a B-24 Liberator and flew 35 combat missions over Europe with the 68th Bomb Squadron, 44th Bomb Group, based in England with 8th Air Force. After the war, he served in the United States Air Force Reserve, and retired with the rank of colonel. He taught chemistry and astronomy for many years at Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts.

From 1949 to 1953, Clement's first three novels were two-, three-, and four-part Astounding serials under Campbell: Needle (Doubleday, 1950), Iceworld (Gnome Press, 1953), and Mission of Gravity (1954), his best-known novel, published by Doubleday's Science Fiction Book Club (established 1953). The latter novel features a land and sea expedition across the superjovian planet Mesklin to recover a stranded scientific probe. The natives of Mesklin are centipede-like intelligent beings about 50 centimeters long. Various episodes hinge on the fact that Mesklin's fast rotational speed causes it to be considerably deformed from the spherical, with effective surface gravity that varies from approximately 3G at the equator to approximately 700G at the poles.

Clement has been honored several times for his cumulative contributions including 1998 Hall of Fame induction, when Clement and Frederik Pohl were the fifth and sixth living persons honored, and the 1999 SFWA Grand Master Award.

For the 1945 short story "Uncommon Sense" he received a 50-year Retro Hugo Award at the 1996 World Science Fiction Convention. Mission of Gravity, first published as a serial during 1953, was named best foreign novel by the Spanish Science Fiction Association in 1994 and it was a finalist for a 50-year Retro Hugo Award in 2004.

The Hal Clement Award for Young Adults for Excellence in Children's Science Fiction Literature was presented in Clement's name from 1992 to 2016.

[I've read a bit by him and have some more to read. I really liked his alien creatures which were actually *alien* rather than funny looking humans. One of my early favourite SF authors.] 

I think ONE reason why Trump etc want to get away from the Iranian tar baby is so that they can bring the fleet back and launch an attack on Cuba... Because that makes SO much sense.... 

Just Finished Reading: Wanderers – A History of Women Walking by Kerri Andrews (2020) [263pp] 

This was an ideal ‘coupling’ with my previous walking book, so I was more than a little pleased to pick it up for a song at my (excellent) local Charity shop. Covering the lives and walks of 10 famous female authors this was often an eye-opening read. The author is both a keen hillwalker and a senior lecturer in English Literature so had (both) feet in each camp.  

Of the 10 authors I’m afraid that I’d only heard of (and read) 3 of them – Virginia Woolf, Anais Nin and Cheryl Strayed. In my ignorance I hadn’t realised that the poet Woodsworth had a sister equally as obsessed in walking their local environment (especially in the Lake District) as he was. The others – Elizabeth Carter, Ellen Weeton, Sarah Stoddart Hazlitt, Harriet Martineau, Nan Shepherd and Linda Cracknell were all completely new to me. 

They were, to say the least, an INTERESTING bunch of women. Not only were many accomplished authors of their time they were also accomplished walkers much to the astonishment and exhaustion of male friends, family and the larger society. Women walking LONG distances, especially on their own, was viewed as quite bizarre – radical even. Despite this (or maybe a little because of it) they managed walking tours or eye-watering length in Scotland, the North of England or (in Cheryl Strayed’s case) the Pacific Crest Trail. 

One woman who particularly interested me was Ellen Weeton, an early 19th century Lancashire governess and hill climber. She was born in Upholland near Wigan which is where my sister presently lives and not too far from where I spent most of my formative years (11-23). Despite not having a private income (like so many of the other early examples in the book) she still managed to ‘bag’ numerous hills shaking off any male guides or company that might slow her down or prevent her from exploring mid-trek. She sounded like quite the formidable character! 

The only (slight) ‘criticism’ that I had with this was the sometimes-over-enthusiastic focus on a few of the listed women to the detriment of narrative flow. It's certainly forgivable but I felt that just a little more restraint would have helped tighten things up a bit. Apart from that (very) minor niggle I found myself liking this very much indeed. If you’re a walker, interested in rather eccentric people (there’s plenty in here for everyone), or want to delve into some of the other aspects of authors/poets lives then this is a book for you. Recommended. 

Happy World Otter Day!

As its the hottest May day since 1944 here...........

Just Finished Reading: In Praise of Walking – The New Science of How We Walk and Why It’s Good For Us by Shane O’Mara (FP: 2019) [183pp] 

I’ve walked everywhere all of my life. I guess that part of that was because neither of my parents had learnt to dive and getting anywhere meant on my own two legs. My father was also a great walker. On weekends he’d take my older brother and I on LONG walks (I have clear memories of us kids both complaining and my dad saying – just around the NEXT corner) just about everywhere we could get to. As I grew up poor (but unaware of how poor we were) it was a very cheap day out. I liked it much more than my brother did which is probably why he did learn to drive as soon as possible and bought a car the moment he could afford one. 

We are an unusual species in the way we get around. Whilst other primates CAN walk for short distances and for particular reasons, we can walk mile after mile almost as efficiently as you can get. Through millennia of human evolution we have been designed to walk with minimal effort, and it shows in almost every facet of the human body. Once we learnt to walk (as a species) there was little that could stop us ultimately populating the planet. Distance certainly wasn’t any object. At a slow family pace of just 5km a day can cover 1500km in less than a year. To walk from the west coast of Liberia to the eastern Pacific coast of China – a distance of around 13,590km – would take a mere 9 year amble. So, it's not surprising that we spread far and fast once we started walking. 

The brain is wired to talk and walk. It is just a matter of time before bum shuffling becomes standing with assistance as nonsense words become language. I’m constantly amused when I see new walkers out in the world. I LOVE how indignant they get when a parent scoops them up or tries to persuade them back into their pushchair. They way they look (and complain) says VERY clearly: I learnt to WALK damn it! I’m going to walk everywhere at a snail's pace until I can RUN away from everyone! One thing that did honestly amaze me about toddlers learning to walk is that, on average, they fall something like 17 times an hour! If I did that today, in any other task, I’d have given up a LONG time ago. Toddlers are committed walkers. They’re tenacious! 

Going in I had assumed that it was obvious (and in obvious ways) that walking was good for your general health – cardio and all that. But it doesn’t stop there. Walking is, apparently, important for improving and maintaining your cognitive skills. One of the experiments that stuck out was were two groups of students (as usual) had been given some puzzles to solve. One group sat at a desk whilst the others took the test standing up. The second group scored consistently higher. Get them to take tests whilst walking – any test – and the scores go up again. The old idea of solving a problem by going for a walk has an increasingly understood scientific basis. 

Oh, I almost forgot... There's some pretty cool stuff in here about how we navigate and how to do it better!

For such a thin book this is PACKED with information and insight into an activity I’m sure that most of us take for granted. If you’re a walker already it’ll confirm many of the positive ideas you already have. If you’re a reluctance pedestrian it might change your mind about this simple pleasure with a built-in health benefit. Definitely recommended. You can thank me later.   

OBVIOUSLY fake....! There are..... BOOKS on that trolly/golf cart thing!

Happy Birthday: Robert Arthur Moog (May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005) was an American electronics engineer and electronic music pioneer. He was the founder of the synthesizer manufacturer Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthesizer, which debuted in 1964. In 1970, Moog released a more portable model, the Minimoog, described as the most famous and influential synthesizer in history. Among Moog's honors are a Technical Grammy Award, received in 2002, and an induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

By 1963, Moog had been designing and selling theremins for several years while working toward a PhD in engineering physics at Cornell University. He developed his synthesizer in response to demand for more practical and affordable electronic-music equipment, guided by suggestions and requests from composers. Moog's principal innovation was the voltage-controlled oscillator, which uses voltage to control pitch. He also introduced fundamental synthesizer concepts such as modularity, envelope generation and the pitch wheel. He is credited with introducing synthesizers to a wider audience and influencing the development of popular music.

Moog pursued his work as a hobby, and he is regarded as a poor businessman. His only patent was on his transistor ladder filter design; commentators have speculated that he would have become extremely wealthy had he patented his other innovations, but that their availability in the public domain helped the synthesizer industry flourish.

In 1971, Moog sold Moog Music to Norlin Musical Instruments, where he remained as a designer until 1977. In 1978, he founded the company Big Briar, and in 2002 he renamed it Moog Music after reacquiring the rights to the name. In later years, Moog taught at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and continued designing instruments for the revived Moog Music. He died at the age of 71 in Asheville from a brain tumor.

Just Finished Reading: The Mysterious Mr Quin by Agatha Christie (FP: 1930) [254pp] 

As my reading of Miss Marple’s books seems to have stalled (temporarily!) I was looking around my stacks for another (non-series) Christie to get my teeth into before actually BUYING the next Marple book. So... my gaze fell on this oddity, and ODD it was too! 

Comprising of 12 short stories this was a Christie that I’d never encountered before or was even aware of. The main protagonist in each tale was a Mr Satterthwaite who prided himself on noticing things that other people either missed or ignored. His great hobby was, therefore, watching people. Ever the outsider he compensated by being a consummate observer of humanity and human foibles. Then Christie added another element that was rather unexpected – the occult (for want of a better word) in the guise of Mr Quin. Mr Quin – indeed Mr Harley Quin – is... strange, other-worldly, mysterious. He shows up out of the blue and, without seeming to expend much energy, helps solve problems. These are not always crimes, although often they are or at least crime related. He doesn’t DIRECTLY solve, or indeed do, anything but restricts himself to asking questions and prompting both thought and action – especially from Mr Satterthwaite. I could help but think of Quin as a Dr Who type character – appearing and disappearing without anyone noticing, always in the right (or wrong) place and the right time and very hard to ignore. He makes a point of leading OTHERS to the right solution and never actually provides the answers others seek. One of the other (relatively) strange themes throughout the dozen stories is romance with Quin either bringing people together (who are fated to be such) or enabling those in bad relationships to find the right one. He’s even handed too with BOTH sides of a relationship eventually finding true (or lost) love as well as preventing people from committing suicide with The World’s End being a prime example of that. 

I think that my favourite story was The Man from the Sea which was a combination of lost love/suicide prevention and rather sweet to boot. Others, like The Sign in the Sky, were more normal detective stories revolving around things in plain sight that had been overlooked for some reason leading to the resolution of a mystery or solving of a crime. Overall, this was a fun read with the added spice of being a slice of Christie’s writing I was previously completely unaware of. Recommended for all Agatha Christie fans – but be warned... it can get a bit STRANGE! 

Just Finished Reading: Immortality – The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilisation by Stephen Cave (FP: 2012) [307pp] 

Here the author makes a rather sweeping proposition – that THE drive to civilisation since its very beginnings has been the unending search for ways to live forever. That’s quite the idea, so I was intrigued to see if he could pull it off.  

Essentially, he split the idea of immortality into four separate threads which each giving rise to different expansions of technology, ideas or beliefs each of which helped shape the world we inhabit. The first, logically, is actual physical immortality with the body and mind you were born with – mostly. This is the process where health is the primary outcome depending on medicine, vaccinations, food security and so on. Clearly such things might enhance longevity somewhat but not enough to live beyond our normal span. This means going further with progressively intrusive medical procedures, technological enhancements etc.. Going further still we have ideas such as transferring the human brain into indestructible robot bodies or ‘uploading’ minds into machines. Each step extends life a little, or a lot, further into the future. 

Then we have bodily reincarnation after death with the hope (dream?) of being brought back by future technical means or within a spiritual belief system. The next link in the chain encompasses various beliefs in ‘souls’ that are the essential you which, after bodily death, migrate into another reality or in some way re-engage with the material world for another round of life. Finally, we have the idea of living in the memories and culture of future generations as an historical figure through stories, icons and monuments left behind. 

Although the author does make some case for his thesis I don’t think he quite brings it off. I’d certainly go so far as saying that the idea of living forever – by whatever means – could be seen as ‘A’ driver behind various scientific endeavours and religious or philosophical belief systems I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to say it is ‘THE’ driver. On top of that I had a problem throughout by how the author defined immortality itself – taking it to the extreme with it meaning essentially outliving the Universe itself trillions of years hence with its predicted heat death. Personally, if someone could live for 10 THOUSAND years never mind 10 TRILLION years, I’d say that they’re as good as immortal at that point. 

But is immortality – ignoring the religious side of things – even possible? I think it's possible (or at least conceivable) that science can extend life a great deal. Even with present technology an average life expectancy of 100 years is achievable. Even something like 125-150 healthy years is probably not beyond us. Going much further will probably demand some radical breakthroughs beyond cloned organs and so on. With complete cloned bodies (or their replacing by – for want of a better term – androids) and an ‘uploaded’ consciousness we should be able to live a great deal longer. The only question would be – is that REALLY you? Is a copy of you – which is what we’re talking about here – really YOU isn’t just a philosophical question. It may look like you and might even feel like you from the inside but it's still a simulacrum. Somehow, I’m not sure if we can even get that far even in the reasonably far future – but who knows? This was an interesting dive into some rather fringe ideas (hopes?) with a scattering of religious belief and philosophy throughout. Reasonable. 

 Just because I can...... 

Not since the last time I went out (which was this morning to pick up some milk) but certainly since Covid. I don't carry cash any more - indeed I hardly use it except to pay my window cleaner. I have a card... what more do I need? Everyone accepts it. Its quick, easy and there's no chunks of metal rattling around in your pockets. Sorted.

Happy Birthday: Mary Debra Winger (born May 16, 1955) is an American actress. She starred in the films An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), Terms of Endearment (1983), and Shadowlands (1993), each of which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Winger won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress for Terms of Endearment, and the Tokyo International Film Festival Award for Best Actress for A Dangerous Woman (1993).

Winger's other films include Urban Cowboy (1980), Legal Eagles (1986), Black Widow (1987), Betrayed (1988), The Sheltering Sky (1990), Forget Paris (1995), and Rachel Getting Married (2008). In 2012, she made her Broadway debut in the original production of David Mamet's play The Anarchist. Winger starred in the Netflix original television series The Ranch from 2016 to 2020. She received a lifetime achievement award at the Transilvania International Film Festival in 2014.

[I LOVED her in Legal Eagles which was one of my fave 80's movies. Such a delight on screen...]