Archive for the Wines Category
アサヒ生ビール マルエフ
Posted in pictures, Travel, Wines with tags Asahi Maruev, Hida mountains, Japanese Alps, Japanese beer, Nagano, okonomiyaki, Omachi on July 20, 2026 by xi'an
a journal of the burning year
Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel, University life, Wines with tags big tech, Black Plague, book reviews, Cantonese, chickpea flour, China, COVID-19, Daniel Defoe, fantasy, Hong Kong, Hugo Awards, Journal of the Plague Year, kindle, LAcon V, Macau, nuclear disarmament, rhubarb, Russian invasion, science fiction, Stand Up To Trump, trenches, world building, WW I on July 15, 2026 by xi'an
Read another Hugo “best novel”, The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow, which I could not complete. The story is a time loop scenario when one (academic) character repeatedly travels to the past to impact the destiny of his nation, but too many loops kill the fun! Plus clumsy borrow-ups from the Arthurian cycle and 1984 characters And a short story, Kaiju Agonistes by Scott Lynch. Given my deep admiration for the Gentlemen Bastards series, esp. the first volume (The Lies of Locke Lamora), I was expecting much better than a light-weight science fiction story where an alien finds turning a venture capitalist is the best way for humans to stop the nuclear armament race… And a few pages of [not an Hugo hopeful!] Angel Down by Daniel Kraus. Despite it being set in the trenches of WW I, which is a good premise given my childhood fascination for the “Great War” (and my sapper neighbour who had kept memorabilia from his war actions, including bits of grenade under his arm skin!). But the style of one sentence a paragraph was just too unbearable, while the action did not seem to move in the least.
Prepared almost exclusively cold salads to cope with the heat waves, except for the occasional pissaladière (despite its warmup impact). And even more bowls of rhubarb preserve both from my garden and from the local market. But recycled red lentils dahl into a quite decent humus, which may prove the future choice instead of chickpeas.
Watched few series, with again midstream abandons, like Straight to Hell, on a famous (real character) fortune-teller, despite an interesting rendering of post WW II Japan. And A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, which is set in an idyllic English countryside town but runs way too light to be convincing in any respect. Watched most of Mobius, a Chinese thriller with magical aspects since the main detective regularly finds himself caught in a time loop (coïncidence!). Rather addictive action series, with a criticism of big tech, if a wee bit too sleek (and dreadfully slow moving on the romantic aspects).
a journal of the Hugo year (bis)
Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel, University life, Wines with tags action movie, Black Plague, book reviews, COVID-19, Daniel Defoe, fantasy, FBI, fish liver, Game of Thrones, grilled eel, hitsumabushi, Hugo Awards, Journal of the Plague Year, kindle, LAcon V, locked room mystery, rhubarb, Russian invasion, samosa, science fiction, Stand Up To Trump, tournament, trilogy, Ville de Marseille, world building on July 12, 2026 by xi'an
Read another Hugo best novel contender, A Drop of Corruption, by Robert Jackson Bennett, although I had to buy it since it was not part of the LACon package. (At a negligible price for Kindles on Amazon.) Even had it been out of the shortlist, I would have read this book as soon as I became aware of its existence! At this stage of my reading through the shortlisted novels, it figures at the top. It continues on the highly original construct in volume #1, with enough originality in the structure of the land, the organisation of the Empire, the role of leviathans as providers of drugs and treatments, and the past story of both investigators, Ana and Din. The idea of the Shroud is brilliant and having to wait for hundreds of pages to get an insider’s view so frustrating! The hunt for the central villain runs the entire book and the omniscient character feels a bit over-stretched at times, with much infodump, but the final impressions I got from this fantastic book remain highly positive and I am eagerly looking forward the incoming third volume.
Cooked mostly cold salads to cope with the heat waves, except for a batch of vegetable samosas to make use of leftover filo pastry and ageing potatoes. And repeated bowls of rhubarb preserve since this is the time of year when they are readily available at the local market. On said market, my favourite fishmonger gave me a monkfish liver just to try and it proved quite the delicacy, while easy to prepare.
Watched Season 3 of Night Agent, the Bournesque Secret Service action series, which is as addictive as a bowl of peanuts!, despite the many suspensions of belief required by the convenient coïncidences and the repeated red herrings. Possibly better than Season 2 thanks to the depth of several characters.
Andillian [La Coste de Los Andes]
Posted in Kids, Mountains, Travel, Wines with tags Aix-en-Provence, Andes, Argentina, Château La Coste, Malbec, red wine on June 20, 2026 by xi'an
a journal of the Hugo year
Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel, University life, Wines with tags Black Plague, boarding school, book reviews, COVID-19, Daniel Defoe, fantasy, ghost story, gothic novels, H.G. Wells, haggis, Hugo Awards, Journal of the Plague Year, LAcon V, legal drama, manga, murderbot, olive, olive oil, pissaladière, preserve, raven, Russian invasion, Sabhal Mor Ostaig, science fiction, Scotland, Skye, space opera, Stand Up To Trump, thriller, trilogy, UBC, Ukraine, Ville de Marseille on June 3, 2026 by xi'an
Read (over the past months) books I forgot to record in the Journal series namely, The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain, by Sofia Samatar, a rather terrible take on Wells’ Time Machine where exploited live in the darkest parts of a space-ship and upper classes in the nicest places. With an unconvincing trio of characters and a paper-thin scenario, including an unconvincing pastiche of academic pettiness. Quite the disappointment! The latest Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London novel, Stone & Sky, a rather nice instalment in the series, if only because it is set in Northern Scotland (where I read it!), but with some weaknesses in the plot and a puzzling two-voice narrative that sounds unbalanced (in favour of Peter vs. Abigail). Plus a wee bit caricaturing Scottish people, methinks! And then, being a Hugo voting member for 2026, several books and short stories that I receive as part of the LACon package, like The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson read first because I love ravens! Especially the fantastic Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr. I had trouble beginning the book, but once the setting was established, I could follow the main character more easily. The character is enticing but the universe building is shaky and the scenario weak on many planes, making the central issues of solving a murder and finding a new emperor/ress more of a summer camp challenge than crucial problems. Plus an all-too-common fixation on meals and drinks consumed by the characters… It is getting worse towards the end. Likely my (first and) last volume in the Eternal Path Trilogy! Not high in my Hugo ranking then. And the (Murderbot) novelette “Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy” by Martha Wells. Frankly disappointing. I do love the Murderbot series, but this short story highly disappointed me. Between feelings of déjà vu and annoyance at the constant bickering between the characters that reminded me of the nadir of the relationship between my two kids! Absolutely worth ignoring! Even in the Hugo ranking.
Due to repeated travel, plus a heat wave, I did not cook much besides salads and fruit purées, but enjoyed a haggis pie on Skye. And two (local versions of) pissaladières in Marseille. I also had to transfer my olives of the (2025) year into new jars as some had started to grow mould. Fortunately. most of them remained edible if somewhat sour. Thanks to Omiros’ expert advice, they are now maturing in olive oil.
Watched Sins of Kujo, inspired from a popular manga series, which is quite puzzling for its moral and ethical ambiguities.
