Who remembers "Earthwatch"?

Was hit with the dreaded insomnia in the wee hours. Lay abed for strange aeons before finally admitting defeat, turning on the light and reaching for my latest prescribed text. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's "One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich" (1962) was an awful journey worth taking, if ye ken what I'm saying (to use an inappropriately Scottish phrasing). The gulags were the worst form of torture - backbreaking labour in mind-numbing, soul-destroying conditions. No, that's too glib a description. Those camps forced humans to become rats. To eke out a pathetic, squalid existence in a state of constant fear and desperation. Every rat for itself. The miracle of the novel is how the protagonist finds moments of happiness amid the uncountable cruelties. Similarly, there's a dark poetry to be found in metaphors like "as tightly packed as seeds in a sunflower" and expressions such as "wolf's sunshine" for moonlight.

Have enrolled in my next adult-education course - a history and analysis of Islamic politics by country/region. Can six Tuesday nights and a quartet of reference works cure me of my ignorance? :-)

Changing topic, I totally don't get the cult of Cliff Bleszinski among videogame journalists and fans. He comes across as a stand-up guy, sure, but worthy of, for instance, today's allegedly humorous segment on "X-Play"? On a scale of 1 to 10, my interest is about -20.

Five possible names for a wireless network
1. Daedalus
2. Setec Astronomy
3. Silver Cord
4. Charlotte
5. Porn Funnel 3000


2+2: Suddenly twigged that Maryann Forrester from "True Blood" is Ensign Ro Laren from "Next Gen", aka actress Michelle Forbes. 15-20 years on, her beauty has hardly diminished.