Alex Harries's diary

I've just started reading Alex Scarrow's "Last Light", a work of fiction* which looks at what might happen to the UK if the country's oil supplies - the majority of which are imported - were suddenly halted. The process from normality to a complete breakdown of the country - the "we're only three meals from civil war" theory I guess - takes less than a week.

* I say "fiction*", but BBC News is running the latest updates on the oil tankers' strike behind me. While I'm gullible enough to believe more than I should in a work of fiction, the vast majority of the book's story is based on fact, and the oil tankers' strike is predicted to last four days, so I can't help wondering if Scarrow's postulated figure of one week will turn out to have a degree of accuracy...?

Still, not to panic, buuuuut.... This afternoon, between my flat and North End - about 2 miles at a push - I saw no less than 9 marked police cars and riot vans, as well as an unmarked vehicle in Fratton High Street which would usually be more commonly seen stalking the motorways, and all except two of which were engaged in some kind of stop-and-search.

So. If, as the newsreaders tell us, there's nothing to panic about, and everything's going to be "Alright", why does this sudden increase in the number of officers on the streets make me feel wary?

On the plus side, if my evil and cunning plans work out, I'll be off to Ibiza tomorrow for a few days' break. By the time I come back, no doubt the country will have either descended into complete civil unrest... Actually, hang on, how would that be any different to a normal day in Portsmouth...? ;o)

Have fun, take care, yada yada. And go buy the book (but only so I don't feel like the only numpty in the country reading it).

/al :o) 

I am, anti-climactically, referring to my Christmas reading I'm afraid...

I've just opened "Passing For Normal" by Amy Wilensky, a story of her life coping with Tourette's and OCD (for those of you who watch Shameless or Father Ted, apparently Tourette's doesn't just manifest itself as random outbursts of Father Jack-style blasphemy - I've been told...). It's a fascinating insight into this amazing woman's life (to date), and I'm reading with amazement. Find out more on Amazon.

QI's "Book of General Ignorance" is another bit of reading I've done this Crimbo. Until now I never knew Hippopotamus skin weighed about a tonne (a quarter of their total body weight, apparently). Nor did I know the Universe was beige (how boring). Or that Henry VIII had only two (or, arguably, four) wives. Or... Oh just go and buy it - it's great.

The creator of Dilbert has written a less well-known book and released it under the Creative Commons license. Entitled "God's Debris", it bills itself as "a 132-page thought experiment wrapped in a fictional story", and warns that it's not for people with set views on religion. For the rest of us, I think ("hope" maybe?) it's going to turn out to be something of an eye-opener. Another one I'm looking forward to finishing. You can download it below...

•  God's Debris 329.55 Kb
  

I also picked up "Ever Dated A Psycho?", a tongue-in-cheek (and occasionally flashback-inducing) book on how to go about finding that special, psychotic someone. Or something like that... Well worth a look I think :o)

Another Waterstones special was Chris Ryan's (y'know, author of "The One That Got Away") latest tome, "Ultimate Weapon". I gave up playing "spot the spelling mistake" after I reached twenty, but the story was a fairly absorbing - if predictable - read. If nothing else, I now know the mountains to the north of Iraq are somewhat chilly...

Other things I've read this holiday include About 345 more words in this entry