KEV67

This book reminds me a little of a book by Michael Crichton called Climate of Fear. They both have environmental terrorist groups. Michael Crichton was not a great believer in climate change.

I am progressing with this. It is written in Old English on one side of the page, modern English on the other. It was translated by John Porter and it is a fairly literal translation. My step-mother gave me a translation by Seamus Heaney once, but I never read it. I suppose the translation was a little more free. I think the story is jolly good. There is quite a lot of preamble. Beowulf does not just turn up and start fighting monsters. There are lots of pleasantries and formalities. You can't just turn up and fight monsters without a by-your-leave, particularly if you turn up in a boat full of armed men.

I rejoined Facebook, but only to get some information on someone. I am very curmudgeonly these days and don't like people. I like the suggestions for friends Facebook keeps sending me. I cannot remember meeting them, but they very good looking.

I learnt something I did not know. Alpha Centauri is a three body system, although, if I understood right, one of the stars is not visible. Edit: Alpha Centauri is not a three body system like in the book. It is a binary star system with a red dwarf somewhere in the vicinity, but still a pretty long way away from the other two, which orbit around each other quite closely. It is not a chaotic system.

I wonder if what Cixin Liu wrote about the sun potentially being able to amplify signals is true. It sounds plausible, but maybe it is the science fiction equivalent of poetic licence.

I quite liked the chapter in which the game players made a computer processor out of soldiers holding white and black flags. I once read a non-fiction book called Alone in the Universe. The writer said the earth was very unusual in that our solar system is stable. There are not many asteroids thrown hither and thither and making nuisances of themselves. The relative stability of the solar system allowed complex life to evolve, along with some other happy happenstances. So I doubt pretty much intelligent life could evolve in a solar system with three stars.

The science and technology is coming a bit more to the fore. I am still in the first half. I have studied some of the technical stuff in the past, computers, radio signals, etc. However, whether I will keep up with the science in the second half, I don't know.

Surprises me this ain't been made into a film yet, but maybe it will be.

Ian Lavender, Private Pike from Dad's Army. Most unwelcome news.

I started reading this. I was a bit surprised. It starts off during the Chinese Cultural Revolution in the 60s and 70s. Intellectuals were being horribly repressed. I am a bit surprised a Chinese author felt he could set a book at this point of Chinese history. The other thing that surprises me is that I thought it would be hard science. Maybe it will be but part 1 was mostly Chinese modern history. A three body problem is a sci-fi pun. It is mathematically very difficult to predict how three bodies in space will interact and revolve around each other. I suspect three bodies are approximately similar masses.

I think Great Expectations is still the most moving book I have read as an adult.

Poor old Barry. An amusing aspect is that although these are supposed to be Barry Lyndon's memoirs, they are edited by a certain G. S. Fitz-Boodle. Every now and again there is a footnote by Fitz-Boodle to imply doubt on the veracity of Barry Lyndon's accounts. Then there are other footnotes saying 'omitted in later editions '. I am not sure whether these were put in by the fictional editor, Fitz-Boodle, or the actual editors, or whether they are intentionally humorous or not.

Was that Laurie Lee?

I tried to find the Anglican congregation again on Sunday. Again I failed. I visited a Georgian Orthodox cathedral today. It was a very imposing building. There were no stain glass windows, but there were many religious paintings. They use metal a lot in their pictures. It looks like they use a lot of gold leaf. Must be worth a bob or two.

I think W. M. Thackeray was a more cynical author than Martin Amis. Barry Lyndon is rather entertaining.

I have not been to any of the Orthodox Church services. However, I am not very happy with them. They put pressure on the Georgian government to change their surrogacy laws, which may make it more difficult to get Adrian home. There are one or two Anglican or episcopal congregations. I was interested in attending one because the vicar could be a referee for his British citizenship application. I don't think the vicar or curate is prepared to be a referee or does not think he can. He is happy to baptise him, however.

I have to do a DNA paternity test. If it is proved I am Adrian's father I have to apply for a paternity order. If not I would have to apply to adopt him. That is if the surrogate signs the release papers. If I have to adopt Adrian I would probably be in the clear as far as my church is concerned. I am pretty sure I am the father. One of his carers says he is a Xerox of me.

I was thinking of concocting a cock and bull story about having impregnated a woman, who would not or could not marry me. She would have aborted the baby but I begged her not to, promising to look after the baby myself. After a bad start I would look like a hero.

I have only seen Tbilisi. Some parts of Tbilisi are nice, cobbled streets, old churches and castles. Other parts of the city are a bit half built, with no pavements. It is a mix of poor and reasonably well off. In general I like the Georgians, but the service is not always great.

What should I tell him?

I have been back a number of times. I have stopped going to other churches. My son was born in Georgia in December so I have been there. I am currently back in Blighty, but I intend to go back soon. It is mostly Georgian Orthodox out there. There are not many Anglican congregations. I have been worrying how to introduce my son to my vicar if I ever manage to get him back. I cannot see him approving of surrogacy. I think he is more likely to excommunicate me.

Hopefully the morning services are a bit better attended.

W. M. Thackeray was a better writer than I gave him credit for. I mean sure, he wrote Vanity Fair, which is commonly regarded as one of the best British novels in history, but that might have been a flash in the pan. I think Thackeray might have had an interest in military history. Captains Dobbin and Osborne from Vanity Fair both fought in the Battle of Waterloo. Barry Lyndon serves in various capacities as a soldier in the European wars of the mid 18th century. He reminds me of Harry Flashman after he was resurrected by George MacDonald Fraser, because he is such a deceitful person, as well as a snob. He is not exactly the same. Harry Flashman knows what he is. He is a coward, a philanderer, and a con artist. Barry Lyndon deceives himself almost as much as he tries to deceive others.

I started reading this. It is the only Thackeray novel I have heard of apart from Vanity Fair. Even then it is more famous as a Stanley Kubrick film, which I have not watched, but is supposed to be very good. The book is pretty good too, so far, although I have only read the first chapter. It is written in a different style to Vanity Fair. I suppose it is still satirical; otherwise it is different. It is written as an old man's Memoires, but it is not like Great Expectations.

Finished the snorefest this morning. Still, some of the TV and film adaptions look interesting, what with all the nudity.