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To quote CMB “It’s so sad man” I am led to believe this is a book about real events. That makes it all the more sad. Having read The Demon Haunted World as a teen it’s obvious that that this would rile me up. I’d like to have had a premonition to not bother with it. Why didn’t The Bureau let me know, was I not in the (generous) 3% success rate? [Read More]

I finished book 3 of the George Smiley series a week or so ago. It’s not got a lot of George here and I missed him. The broad story was enjoyable but is felt like a drag. It takes a while establishing the key spy shit. Then there’s a large repetition in an interrogation then trial. I had a cheeky peek at the reviews of the next in the series. Might have a little break and have another go at The Culture series. [Read More]

Nearly three years ago I wrote about my ideas on Agile. Those ideas have evolved a little since then. It’s honestly just getting closer to Extreme Programming (XP). I’m back to using Kanban at work and I can’t imagine going back to Scrum. At least for the ongoing maintenance combined with feature work I am doing currently. What do I think now? Just bin sprint reviews. Opt for just talking to people about what you’re working on. [Read More]

A new edition of Warhammer 40,000 is out. To continue the tradition (8th 9th) here’s a post about it. Since WarhammerFest my thoughts have solidified. I just don’t care for GW stuff at the moment[0] and that’s fine. The models in the Leviathan box look nice but I know I’d never paint them. In fact I’ve put all my Warhammer in the loft to make space for 15mm Second World War stuff. [Read More]

Another John le Carré (I’ve started the next one before posting this) and it’s another banger. The Yikes-O-Meter got going a few times but I expect this will be true for all of them. Man, I fucking hate Carne and everyone from the Gown. It’s not difficult for me to dislike such establishments but JlC renders an odious place. It’d be great to know if Smiley ever goes back to pick up the dog. [Read More]

I had the urge to read some John le Carré so I picked up the first book featuring George Smiley. It’s actually great. A breezy 170 odd pages. A nice tight mystery that’s resolved very well. It’s definitely from a different age. At one point Smiley pops into a pub for a whisky and then goes off in his car. I really appreciate that era of technology for a mystery. There’s no need to remove mobile phones arbitrarily. [Read More]

I played guitar for a while as a child and teenager. From 8 to 18 I had classical then contemporary lessons. I was alright at it. Teachers wanted me to practice more. I just wanted to be good enough to play Joe Satriani songs. I didn’t take a guitar to university. When I went back to my parents I’d noodle around but my skill was fading. In the years after I sold my guitars. [Read More]

I’ve been watching a lot of Storm of Steel for TooFatLardies related content. Alex does a lot of First World War scenarios which led me to realise I didn’t actually know much about the period. Secondary school history covered some of the lead up and the aftermath (knowing Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points were definitely worth a few marks in exams) but not a lot else. There’s a lot of chat about Lions Led By Donkeys which is a position I’d been aware of but not held because frankly I didn’t know enough to have a stance. [Read More]