northie

if it's anything like Google translate, you'll be in a job for a long time, glittery! Nuance, inflection, innuendo - all things a program would have a hardtime detecting never mind translating.

Another scribe was bored and wondered what he could get past his supervisor ...

Last autumn I went to see a performance of Euripedes' Hecuba at the RSC. This play about the end of the Trojan wars by a playwright from two and half millennia ago was enthralling, emotionally draining and so relevant. Universal themes which travelled across time: war, genocide, power, revenge, family; and which it was equally wonderful and depressing to realise could be applied to so much that had been going on in the world over the past few years. I think part of the problem is the sheer size of the subject - I've never read any Hugo (my C19 French novelist of choice is Zola) and maybe you've had no experience of Greek tragedies so a converation would be difficult. Perhaps one of those times where individual conversations between members would be more productive?

I've never reviewed poetry before ... I enjoyed both of them - slight preference for Catbird for being more direct. I love the use of language in both: 'gracks'(?) and 'strand' are just two instances. The more romantic ('hightened') language of Discovery suits its subject matter perfectly. The inventive rhymes in Dicovery deserve a speical mention, I think. I am full of admiration at how you manage to produce such poetry within the limits of the form (those which I can recognise, anyway). Does the structure help or hinder, I wonder? I may be off to explore more poetry.

It's not only his energy (he puts me to shame) but his boundless thirst for knowledge, scientific research and exploration. He puts this across in commentaries which explain, inform, never take the viewer for granted, and are a joy to listen to. I hope he has many more years.

It can be all too easy in a modern, developed country to think that Nature, if not tamed, is at least restrained. The unleashing of the primal forces of fire and wind yet again demonstrates Nature's overwhelming power. The speed, ferocity, destructive power and sheer unpredictability of the fires must be terrifying. To have to leave your home (and everything it represents) in a matter of minutes or risk losing your life, must involve emotions and thoughts I can only guess at. Inevitable, I think, in the circumstances. Hopefully those animals which do survive and can be captured, wil be reunited with their owners. I can imagine that the guilt and sorrow from having to abandon loved animals will be part of what those people are suffering. The pictures of the road out of Fort McMurray looked like a Hollywood disaster movie without the necessity for a CGI backdrop. Am I right in thinking that there has been no loss of life so far? That at least is something to be grateful for and is a great credit to the authorities in Fort McMurray and Alberta.

Yes. I even dislike having an image from outside displacing whatever I've come up with in my imagination. To have images of individuals (who may or may not be minors) in close proximity with sexually explicit material would seem to be asking for trouble.The stories they're 'associated' with might not be sexually explicit but there's plenty of other material close by. Plus, those individuals should be able to control the use of their 'image', and their online life (mistakes of all sorts made online have a habit of hanging around for a long time). I agree with this - just because it's easy and everybody else does it, doesn't make it right. A creator should be able to control the use and redistribution of their work; there may be a financial incentive behind but really, it's because it's theirs. I post photos taken on holiday and I wouldn't dream of reposting anyother work - apart from anything else it goes against the spirit of that part of the site. It would only take one punitive fine to cause very serious problems here.

and he forced you to make that post?! Or was it the dolls?!!

Thanks for tonight's nightmare material! I don't remember ever having a doll - just as well really, given all the scientifically proven information hereabouts brought to us as a public service by Zombie

Lemurs on the other hand are well known for their scientific input ... Love this!

Being fairly new I'm still spending a lot of time exploring - finding stories, lots of stories and not a huge amount of time to read them. Of those I have read, A-Z by Parker Owens and Team building by EB Wilson are top of my list. Clueless camping by Timothy M, the Meta series by JohnAR, and My last day without you by QuinnDK look to be heading towards the top of my list as well.

As far I can tell, she's Stella McCartney, the designer and you would have thought she'd be well pleased with her efforts and how everything looks on the 'models'. Maybe she's too cool (or bored) to allow herself to smile.

Another delicious slice of torte (or maybe a flambeed dessert would be more appropriate ...). I love our hero's stream of (self) consciousness. The only thing that jarred slightly was him drinking the beer that he finds revolting rather than aiming it at a suitable target (Logan). Hope you manage to keep both this and My last day going at the same time.

Yep! Both at work (perhaps not much of number 3!) and at home. Still amazes me how many people at work call a tech out at the first sign of trouble and watch them employ step 1 or 2 ...

At school: aged 14-16 Macbeth, 16-18 King Lear. I suspect we only scraped the surface of Lear (unsurprising really!)and as such I didn't get much out of it. As a musician I never cease to be amazed by the amount and variety of music inspired by Shakespeare, whether written for or about the plays, settings of texts from the plays and sonnets, or written in honour of the playwright himself.

I really like how our two heroes complement each other now, taking it in turns to soothe, encourage and restrain the other. The feeding frenzy of a social media / news organisaiton is well depicted - trying to find anything to move the story along (I do hope there wasn't a camera in their favourite elevator ...). Looking forward to what Coach is going to add to the mixture.

Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly. This fly might be willing and eager and the spider might be a decent banker sorry! human being but I feel there are definite echoes there. Maybe the banker is skewing my judgement ... Looking forward to reading the other chapters (to prove me wrong?).

Wow! What a start to the chapter: justice dispensed. Although I'm a little sad to see Michael go - who's going to take his place as someone to hate? I'm really enjoying this story and surprising myself a little because shapeshifters are not my usual fare.

I'm following this story with interest - i can't say that I'm enjoying it exactly because I have too many ambivalent feelings around the main relationship. The domination, control and infantilisation of Noah are things I find unsettling. As the previous reviewer commented, the willing acceptance of a tracking device on your phone is something most people wouldn't countenance in any circumstances. So far, Noah doesn't seem to agree ... See what happens next...?

I'm really enjoying this romcom - yes, it's sexy but also touching, engaging and funny. A real antedote to a working day. I hope the 24 hours stretches out as long as possible!