Mark Carroll's Journal

It occurred to me that mentioning some of the more favored books that I own might be a useful way for me to share about myself and, best of all, inspire recommendations of ones I'd like.

I'll skip some categories for various reasons, including that they may not serve such purposes well, or there were too many CueCat^*-resistant exceptions. Those exceptions include, ( some reference books and other staples. )

( I own books about computer music, etc., )

( about how to approach life, )

( about Christianity, )

( history, )

( food, )

( the paranormal, UFOs, etc., )

( various fiction. )

It's worth noting that many of these are older books that have survived multiple culls, in some cases been replaced. This makes me suspect that I missed out on some worthwhile books in more recent years.

^*A barcode scanner, perfect for ISBNs. The business model may have been justly derided but the device itself is an ongoing boon.

A few years ago, I wrote here that the Brexit vote may have partly been a fearful escape from absorption into an incipient European superstate, a memory of how people voted for the EEC yet ended up with the Maastricht Treaty. In recent days, it has been interesting to read analysis of how the question of Europe has fractured the Conservatives for much of my adult lifetime. It feels related that andrewducker draws our attention to an article that opines how, over recent decades, the UK failed to invest in industry, green or not, then blamed the economic consequences on outsiders.

Boris Johnson, like Donald Trump, feels very much a symptom of divisive populism. The more level-headed Conservatives are largely now gone, certainly from the front benches, mostly rather further still and some time ago. It is difficult not to draw a parallel with the evolution of the Republicans in the US over a similar period as the GOP now alienates all but the psychopaths and sycophants. In neither country does a better-founded successor, a conservative party with intellectual credibility and a foot in reality, seem to be waiting in the wings.

The hollowing out of our governance reminds me of watching a car crash in slow motion. Past administrations long ago also made serious mistakes but they had the excuse of having rather less information than we now wield. There is no excuse for the harm to so many people yet it is so difficult to change course.

At least there is some light relief: Sky News' person-on-the-street coverage pops up a "New Prime Minister" banner together with their interviewee's occupation and name, e.g., singer, single mother, whatever. It appears to be announcing a surprising variety of new prime ministers.

This afternoon, I achieved some goals. I walked to the local Sainsbury's and bought everything on my shopping list, plus some extra bagels, I also thought to look for insect repellent but they don't offer much of a range. I also walked to the beach and dipped my feet into the 13°C water a couple of times. On the way back, I happened upon both the Masjid Alhikmah and the nearby Aberdeen Multicultural Centre so at least I know where those are. I was on my way to a fish and chip shop. I notice that the curry sauce locally is darker and spicier than I am used to from England. I don't know if that reflects changes in time or place or that they have more South than East Asian influence or what. At least in SE Asia I don't think they have the concept of British Chinese curry sauce which I think at least includes five-spice.

This Saturday, I set off back to Taguig, we should hear about the visa applications while I am there. I belong with my wife. Happily, tomorrow I get to take my children to the Japanese Garden at Cowden Castle, it's well over a hundred miles one-way for me but worth it, though I'll be out of the house early as rain may move in later in the afternoon and my eldest will have evening D&D. This Wednesday, I'll take the train back into our Edinburgh office while an electrician replaces some emergency lighting here in the flat, then my goods and effects from Eastern Tennessee should be delivered shortly before I leave the country.

Once back in Taguig, Riza and I may resume our habit of morning walks. Often, we head over toward Arca South and buy some groceries on Maharlika Road on our way back. Not much further is the weekend market, Saturdays being the best for that, it's kind of temporary stalls but mostly covered by tarpaulin. Occasionally, we venture in a different direction to Laguna Lake. I hope that the visa applications are approved, that we get to walk together here too, unfortunately the UK immigration process is even worse than the US'. Naturally, I converted my savings largely into pounds sterling just in time for historic lows, I remember the days when £1 bought over $1.60, though also when gas in Ohio was 99¢/gallon and it made sense for me to own a 5ℓ V8. At the beach today, the cheapest single-scoop cone ice cream I saw was £2.50, I guess the usual beachfront price-doubling applies up here too. So, I didn't achieve the goal of ice cream at the beach but the important one was the feet-dipping.

I came home to mixed doubles snooker on the television, I didn't know that was a thing. Now I am here, I shall catch up on the latest of the new LotR show while treating myself to pista kheer. I have badam halwa for another day.

There are many fluently multilingual people in the world, I have met and worked with plenty myself. One thing that still surprises me is the apparent difficulty of well-resourced organizations in managing to hire any of them.

( I experience all manner of unnatural English from major corporations' professional communicators. )

( I don't know why they can't hire better. )

Maybe I am supposed to be more inclusive in some sense, I'd have just thought that people whose English wasn't at all natural wouldn't be getting the major jobs, that they would lose out to the many who, while maybe not being English, at least speak a version of the language comfortably, even if their own accent shows through. Maybe not.

New to me is campaign season here in the Philippines. I had already seen video of outdoor exercise classes and such that were somehow tied to political campaigns. Now I get more time to explore for myself, two aspects strike me, especially in more rural areas. One is the vapidness of the many posters: they feature some candidate, or group thereof, smiling or looking enthused or patriotic or whatever, with a name, a slogan, often some color retouching, and little else. The other is the music: songs play in public that are somehow associated with campaigns, even played from vehicles that drive along the road. I suppose that there is also rather more contentful engagement from or among candidates, admittedly I have made little effort to seek such in local cable news. For day-to-day life, what I do see from the campaigns, I do not learn much from.

Given that I have long-haul travel coming, I realized that one thing that could make it more bearable might be taking the opportunity to watch plenty more of The Expanse (2015) on my Amazon Fire 10. After all, it may be that I can download the remaining episodes now then watch even in airplane mode.

This turned out to not be a quick check. Amazon doesn't easily handle multi-country activity so I must have both US and UK accounts. My Fire 10 was last associated with my UK Amazon account so it couldn't see my Prime subscription. It appears not to be able to switch my Prime Video viewing to my US account without switching the whole tablet, and various other app-related data or whatever seems tied to the account, not simply the tablet. No doubt it makes sense for others somehow but, for me, the sole user of the tablet but with multiple accounts, it's a real pain. Even my ssh client stopped working after the switch.

Apps are now reinstalled, rechecked, etc., my Prime subscription has become visible and, indeed, I can download whole seasons of a show, put the tablet into airplane mode, reboot it, then watch episodes. So, it worked out in the end but, goodness, what a fuss to get there.

Having refreshed my memory on more older Doctor Who (1963), I notice that many of the stories, at least up to the early eighties, have some elements I like: they at least try to explore some science fiction or otherworldly idea and, narratively, they often turn on a battle of wits rather than some new development that wasn't at all anticipated in earlier scenes.

Nonetheless, while my recent entry on this topic was much about drawing contrast, I must give the current Doctor Who (2005) at least some credit: the latest episode did clearly engage with a science fiction idea, albeit one so well-trodden it's become a trope, there was indeed some battle of wits, and the Daleks no longer seemed absurdly powerful. A couple of aspects were less what I would wish but I do try to appreciate silver linings.

For someone who grew up in England, another Christmas living alone in the US during a pandemic will certainly be strange. Listening to BBC Radio online helps. In my grocery shopping today, given what is easily available, I went more for convenience foods than items I would have thought of as being seasonal; I will cook my usual, more healthful, meals on fewer days. Complicating the meal planning are that the coming two weeks include days off work and a rescheduling of the usual Saturday morning shopping.

With today's lunch I am eating a can of Progresso's spicy Italian-style wedding soup. I give them credit: their spicy range does reach a good heat level for me. Further, my usual fallback of non-spicy soups — lentil, garden vegetable, butternut squash, hearty tomato — are all quite good, notable given that I do not usually like canned butternut squash soup.

Stopping in Aldi was a disappointment: I planned to pick up Edam cheese and white chocolate, they appeared to stock neither. Aldi's the only place in the city that I have found Edam, and I had wanted white chocolate in attempting a simple cookie recipe (just an experiment), fortunately Food City had plenty.

Also fortunate was the weather: we had thunder and lightning earlier but the rain was already lighter by the time I finally dragged myself out of the house. Tomorrow is forecast to be sunnier.

During my shopping, I was comfortable in wearing an FFP2 under my cloth mask that has a HEPA filter inserted into its pouch (thanks to mst3kmoxie). Few other shoppers were masked.

I enjoyed a modest and quiet Thanksgiving. I saw family online, I breakfasted on a poblano pepper omelette, and later ate some convenience-food traditional Thanksgiving fare, also some crab rangoon with smoked salmon. Toward the end of the day I had beer and chicken wings with a neighbor. Today, for lunch, I think I may treat myself to tilapia and scallops then a little blueberry pie.

This morning, while I was washing the dishes I'd lazily left from Thanksgiving, I found myself remembering what I had made with each dish. The radio played Beethoven's Sixth which reminded me that, thanks to Soylent Green (1973), this season I can also be thankful that my Thanksgiving meal wasn't made of old people.

I gained several pounds during my visit to Scotland. This week will not much help that but my diet can wait a little longer.