Day 300: Update on Goals

We've now reached day 300 of the year, so here's the latest update:

• Books: By day 300 I should have read 49.18 books. After having fallen behind by the last update, I'm pleased to say that I have caught up - I'm almost exactly bang on target. I'm also up-to-date on all the sublists, with only one book from the "New Books" sublist to finish by the end of this month to be there.
• Weight: This isn't happening.
• Blogging: I'm some way behind target on this blog and well behind on the Imaginarium. I now think it's unlikely that either blog will reach the targets set by the end of the year.
• Work: There has been something of a setback, such that even for next year this goal seems unlikely. Which is desperately frustrating, but can't be helped. Since it's not a goal I was going to carry over, I've decided not to worry about it too much.

So, that's one back on target, one heading for failure, and two definite failures. Given the mess that has been 2020 generally that's a fairly small matter, but it's still an annoyance.

#47: "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator" by Roald Dahl (a book for Funsize)

#48: "The Lies of Locke Lamora", by Scott Lynch

#49: "Fifth Business", by Robertson Davies (a book from The List)

Experimental Cookery 2020: Lamb Chops

This one was a recipe passed to LC shortly before our wedding. I don't know the original providence. It would perhaps be more accurate to describe it as shredded lamb with salad and a chilli and mint dressing.

Once again, this was a nice easy meal to put together, and was very nice indeed. The dressing was extremely hot, so that has to be factored in - this isn't one for the faint-hearted!

I think we're more likely to have this again than the previous entry, though I'd be inclined to make use of some leftover roast lamb rather than chops. Additionally, it is worth noting that this meal wasn't really enough for us - we ended up ordering a pizza later in the evening. It could do with some sort of carbohydrate to bulk it out, in addition to the recommended rolls.

Experimental Cookery 2020: Chicken and Tomato Stew

This one came from the Tesco magazine of a few months ago, and was pretty much exactly what the name implies. It was easy, and surprisingly quick, to put together. The only thing to note was that the cooking time for the chicken was wildly, and even dangerously, short. Otherwise, I have no complaints there.

Unfortunately, while it was okay it was rather bland. This isn't a meal I think we'll have again. A shame.

#46: "The Last Wish", by Andrzej Sapkowski (the first volume in "The Witcher" series)

Astonishing

I find it extremely surprising that Scotland can play as badly as they did last night and still win a game of football. Pretty much the only positive from the experience was that we somehow have a perfect record on penalty shoot-outs - not only have we never lost one, we've never failed to score a penalty in a shoot-out. Granted, that's out of a sample size of one, and five penalties taken.

Bluntly, Scotland did not deserve to win that match. But then, Israel didn't deserve to win either - frankly, if that's the standard, the fairest result was just to eliminate both teams. But since there had to be a winner.

The final playoff match is against Serbia next month, to be played somewhere in Serbia (probably Belgrade). Based on the performance last night, and the comparitive performance of Norway and Serbia, we're looking at a thrashing. However, given that this is Scotland and we specialise in losing in the most heartbreaking way possible, that match will no doubt be the one where we finally put in a great performance, score early one, then desperately defend for the rest of the match... only to lose two goals in injury time. Or something like that.

Alas, I'm afraid I don't really hold out much hope of us actually getting through. And not just because of my prediction that we would never qualify this side of independence - that held a caveat that it wouldn't apply if they changed the rules to just let anyone in, and adding a route to the playoffs for the winner of the lowest-ranked Nations League group does pretty much do that. But based on performances under the current and previous manager, and given the performance of the opposition... I'm sorry, I just can't see it.

But it would be nice to be wrong. Maybe 2020 can surprise us?

Sickened

The revelations from the Alex Salmond inquiry have become something of a deluge in the last few days, and frankly have left me sickened. It's really starting to look like there really was a conspiracy to stitch him up, and further that people right at the top of the SNP were heavily involved.

Which is horrifying, for a few reasons. The first, and most important, outcome of all of this is that we really need to find out the actual truth of this urgently, and find out exactly where the trails lead. It remains just about possible, though almost incredible now, that there's nothing to see here. But the hope of that is rapidly shrinking - the lack of transparency about it all leaves me extremely concerned.

If the outcome of all of this is indeed damning, then those involved have to go, whoever they may be. If they do not, and especially if this whole thing is dragged out, then the consequences could be disastrous.

But the unltimate reason I find this so sickening is this: if there was indeed a conspiracy led by key SNP people and they don't clear them out urgently, then the net effect of that is that the SNP government will have to be replaced.

But the only alternative to an SNP government is some sort of alliance of the Unionist parties, and those parties frankly don't have two brain cells between them to rub together. Damningly, it is a unique selling point of the SNP that they are the only party that are able to offer remotely capable governance (even if even that is just barely). Putting any one of the Unionist parties in charge, never mind a fractious alliance of more than one of them, would be profoundly irresponsible.

But it's worse even than that. Because I'm now of the opinion that Scotland must become independent as soon as possible, and that it is indeed a matter of life and death. Because the only thing protecting us from the UK government's malicious evil is their lethal incompetence.

But only an SNP majority even has a chance of delivering an independence referendum. Albeit an extremely small chance - frankly, I think Nicola Sturgeon has largely given up on that dream.

As I said, it's sickening. We must have an SNP majority, and may well also be in a position where we have to kick out that same SNP government, to replace it with an alternative that we know will be a disaster.

There is a very real possibility that my vote in May will be my last ever vote.

The Testamants

I meant to blog about this at the time, but completely forgot...

A few weeks ago I read "The Testaments" by Margaret Atwood. I must admint that I approached this one with a significant degree of trepidation - "The Handmaid's Tale" is excellent, but my fear is that it could be another "Go Set a Watchman". That is, a novel that undermines the foundations of the original so thoroughly as to actively lessen it. Further, given that the TV series had become increasingly weaker the further it strayed from the source material, I had become concerned that the more that was revealed about Gilead the more the underlying silliness of the premise would appear.

(It also didn't help that this was a case where the reviews were utterly useless - regardless of what was contained within the covers the reviews were inevitably going to be glowing, and of course it was going to win the Booker Prize. The politics of it all demanded that that be the case, and rendered any judgement rendered useless.)

As it turned out, my fears were almost entirely unfounded. "The Testaments" is a great novel - not a classic of the same calibre of "The Handmaid's Tale", but a worthy companion piece. It's extremely well written, it ties in very well both to the original and the TV series, and although all the big revelations are pretty much immediately obvious, there's still a certain amount of tension to be wrung out of them.

I do have one small issue with the novel, though, and it applies to the TV series also. (And, if I'm honest, to most TV series...) But before I get into that, I should warn you that major spoilers follow. If you don't want to know, best skip the next paragraph...

The issue is this: just because a character is prominent within his or her story, and is the protagonist of the book, TV show, movie, or whatever does not mean that they are particularly significant within the world in which they live. Offred is stronger as some random person who happens to leave behind a journal, the Anne Frank of Gilead, than as some legendary freedom fighter who births the two women who ultimately bring Gilead down. That those two daughters also happen to fall into the orbit of Aunt Lydia, who is here transformed from a largely-unknown villain into the heroic double-agent who provides the explosives is... not the best. By trying to make these characters more, they are ultimately made less.

But I've complained about that before (in the context of Firefly/Serenity) and, ultimately, it's a very minor nit to pick. Other than that, I'm happy to give the novel a glowing recommendation - as I noted, I had had some fears, but they proved entirely unfounded. So that's a win.

#45: "Sharpe's Honour", by Bernard Cornwell

Bookends

It looks like Covid-19 has effectively killed the cinema industry. That's not really surprising - to be honest, it has been a struggling medium for some time, given the rise of streaming, the improvements in home TV equipment recently, and the demands of the studios for ever-increasing cuts of the ticket prices. Factor in much reduced capacities, a big hit on their ability to sell popcorn (which was largely keeping them afloat), and the general paranoia that inevitably accompanies the experience, and the writing was on the wall. Then factor in the fact that no new films were being released, and they're screwed.

The upshot of that is that it's quite likely that "The Rise of Skywalker" is the last film I will see in the cinema, joining "Superman III" as the bookend on that experience.

What's perhaps interesting there is that both films have some good material but both films are a very long way from being the best entries in their respective series. (Indeed, in both cases it is either the first or second film released that is the best.) Also, of course, both films have at least some music composed by John Williams, which is fitting given his importance in film music.

(I should perhaps note that "Superman III" would not have been my choice of film - I wanted to see "Return of the Jedi", but it was 1997 before I saw that one in a cinema.)

Anyway, that's all I have to say about that, I think. Except perhaps to note that Cineworld have acted fairly shamefully in their handling of their staff - layoffs at this time were entirely understandable, but for many of the staff to learn via Twitter is frankly outrageous. Meaning that if they do reopen and things go back to normal, I'm afraid I'll now think twice before heading there for a show anyway.