Wall of Mouths

When you drift away I’m singing: “On my way I’m telling you”

Yes. ‘emotional baggage is fine, but ACTUAL luggage is just wrong…’

For those of you who have sattelite. The channel number for BBC northern ireland is here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/digital_tv/dsat_epg_numbers.shtml

Reverend Savage? wrote:

Nothing could persuade me to spend hard-earned moolah on the Darkness,I’m afraid.

I say it again…

not_that_kind_of_guy wrote:

does anyone know if iain banks’ sci fi stuff is worth reading? i’m going to work my way through his “usual” books regardless if the wasp factory is anything to go by.

They’re darkly comic but tend towards the ‘space opera’. Try starting with ‘the player of games’, which should give you a good feel for what his sci fi’s like - and a scathing parody of capitalism/thatcherism, to boot. If you like it read on, if not stick with his ‘novels’. The Bridge is my favourite of these, but someone mentioned The Crow Road, which is also good. There are a few stinkers - Canal Dreams, Espedair Street and Dead Air really didn’t do it for me. Raw Spirit is non fiction and is a good read if you are a scotch whisky obsessive (like Banks).

I’ve just finished re-reading Stasiland by Anna Funder. It’s a collection of peoples’ experiences in East Germany before reunification. Absolutely heartbreaking stuff. The simultaneous read was ‘How mumbo-jumbo conquered the world’ by Francis Wheen. Equally heartbreaking , in its own way.