Karsa Orlong

Cats always need feeding Pixie's got this thing where I'll feed her, she'll go out, come back a minute later and sit by her dish, hoping I've forgotten she'd just eaten and give her some more She's so greedy

Blimey, it's getting into Law & Order territory now I'm amazed it's gone on this long. I remember watching the first episode on ITV2(?) one Sunday evening and thinking it was fun. Didn't think it'd last 11 seasons, though Must be the longest running cult tv series by now, surely? I can only think of The X-Files' nine seasons coming close

They're in for life by the sounds of it. It was originally planned for five seasons wasn't it? I thought season 5 would've been a brilliant ending. The price of success I guess

Boosting their pension funds

It was his refusal to anchor after the battle, as Nelson had ordered, and then his indecision on so many fronts thereafter, costing so many lives, not to mention losing most of the prizes and thereby denying the survivors the money they would've been due. The authors seemed to think he was a bit jealous of Nelson so wanted to prove himself to be better.

Okay, so it sounds like I haven't missed too much, then. How come they had the convention in Toronto? Don't they film it in Vancouver?

Quotes added to the Trafalgar: The Men, the Battle, the Storm review I've only really looked at the two-part John Sugden biography. When I'm feeling a bit braver I'll probably give it a try. It's only about 2,000 pages long

Your friend was very wise - I got absolutely drowned on the Maid of the Mist, even wearing one of the ponchos they hand out I hope you got to meet Jensen and Jared. Must admit, I've fallen out of touch with Supernatural. I think the last season I saw was season 7. Season 9's just cropped up on E4 and I tried to start watching it but, not having seen season 8, I didn't have a clue what was going on

Yeah, I love Toronto. Went there in 2007 and 2008 (both times to see Rush, of course It's their home town, after all ). Niagara's a funny one. The ride on the Maid of the Mist is awesome, but the town itself is such a horrid tourist trap. Did you take the helicopter ride over the Falls? That was quite an experience

Trafalgar: The Men, the Battle, the Storm by Tim Clayton and Phil Craig 2005 - Hodder & Stoughten ebook (New Edition 2012) - 480 pages Two hundred years ago, Napoleon Bonaparte dominated Europe and threatened Britain with invasion. Against him stood the Royal Navy and the already legendary Admiral Horatio Nelson. In October 1805, a massive naval battle off the coast of Spain decided mastery of the seas, and over the following days and nights, the battleships and their exhausted crews endured a gale of awesome fury. The authors tell this story through the diaries, letters, and memoirs of the men involved, as well as through the eyes of their wives and children. I liked: I don't often read non-fiction as I tend to find it dry and uninvolving, something that I would rather dip in and out of than read in one go. This book, though, managed to (mostly) hold my attention with its lively writing style. It has the feel of a novel without being one. I loved the way the authors used letters, journals etc to give the people involved a voice and bring them alive. This worked really, really well. I loved that they told the story from all sides - British, French, Spanish - from many different points of view, from Nelson and the Admiralty down to the lowest seaman. The build up to the battle, potentially the slowest part of the book, sees an incredible ratcheting up of the tension. It actually turned out to be the best part, for me. The authors do a good job of conveying the horrors of the battle and the scale of the death and destruction. When I say a 'good job' they make it a place no-one in their right mind would want to be. Some of the things those people went through for their countries beggars belief. The final two chapters, regarding the aftermath of the storm, are very affecting. I disliked: I spent much of the latter stages wanting to give Cuthbert Collingwood a slap. The fool. Despite all its best intentions, it ends up overstaying its welcome a little. The section on the storm goes on far too long. Despite all its best intentions, it inevitably slides towards list-mania at times: names of people, names of ships, names of places, facts and figures. For the most part they deal with it admirably but towards the end it was beginning to drown me like the storm itself. I can't remember the last time I found a non-fiction book exciting - probably never - but this one manages it quite a bit. It could have done with being a bit shorter, but the narrative is compelling and the terror during the battle and subsequent storm are extremely well conveyed. Barring a couple of caveats, I thought this book was very good indeed and would recommend it to anyone interested in this period. Memorable Quotes: It shouldn't have, but this made me laugh, more in horror and disbelief than anything . . . Proof that celebrity was alive and well at the time . . . Patrick O'Brian must've nicked this bit, regarding Nelson, for Jack Aubrey . . .

On to Patrick O'Brian's 12th 'Aubrey/Maturin' novel, The Letter of Marque. It's only been a few days since I finished the previous one and yet it feels like coming home to long lost friends

The Toronto trip would probably cost around £1,500 to £2,000, if I went on the Tuesday, stayed for the gigs on Wednesday and Friday, then came home on Saturday. And I've just found out that there was a pre-sale last Friday, so loads of tickets have gone already. Meh. I hate pre-sales.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/18/entertainment/feat-x-files-revival/index.html

Nah, I can't stand them I'm filled with apathy for the tour at the moment. It's short notice (tickets go on sale on Friday) so not much time for making a plan and getting decent seats (can't see the point in travelling all that way to be a mile away from the stage), it's phenomenally expensive ($300 for the first ten rows ), and - in the words of Roger Mutaugh - I'm getting too old for this s*** I'm kind of tempted by the two dates in Toronto in June, but I'm thinking I may just wait and see if they tour Europe. But then I'll regret it if they don't

Oh hell. Rush tour dates announced. Looks like another trip across The Pond is in the works . . .

Hope you enjoy it, bobbly! I've got about four chapters left to go in Trafalgar: the Men, the Battle, the Storm. Mind you, they're long chapters, and I find non-fiction a bit of a slog, so it might take me a while to finish . . .

I remember that Great book, glad you enjoyed it

And having said the Daily Deals have been rubbish, they actually have one on there today that I was looking at the other day and quite fancied - In the Hour of Victory: The Royal Navy at War in the Age of Nelson by Sam Willis - for 99p

I'm sure there must be a couple of people in the world who don't know yet

All is Lost. Robert Redford lost at sea all on his own. 'Tis a cure for insomnia.

Glad you enjoyed the book, Laura It's a shame that the tv series has spoiled all the surprises. Reading the books without that knowledge was a real thrill - but I guess the reverse is also true. I remember saying to a friend that it's one of those cases where you're best making a choice: either read the books or watch the tv show, because doing both will spoil it one way or the other. Must admit, I'm pretty much done with the series, both in book form and tv form. I was really into the books until A Dance with Dragons and then the tv series came along, but now I'm bored with all the hype, bored with the last two books, bored with waiting, bored with people who never read fantasy saying it's the 'best thing evah!' . . . just bored with it, basically, if you hadn't guessed

Continuum 2x06. That was what they call a 'game-changer', I think ETA: started watching the first episode of Extant but turned it off after about 15 mins. Utter tripe.

Yes, the Daily Deals have been rubbish lately. Other deals seem to be cropping up, though - I just picked up the next few of Scott Mariani's 'Ben Hope' series for £1.99 each

You must be easily shocked

I don't know if it'd be your kind of thing, Laura, but it's true about Jack. He's completely at home when he's at sea but completely at sea when he's on land Yeah, I'm kind of missing it at the moment . . .