18th Feb 2016
"Prince
of
Prince"
is
based
on
a
web
cartoon,
and
perhaps
if
I
could
read
Korean
and
had
read
that
cartoon
I
might
understand
it
a
bit
more.
Set
in
the
world
of
a
fantasy
game
developer,
a
rich
guy
forces
his
way
into
the
game
company
to
save
his
younger
otaku
and
cosplay
fixated
younger
sister.
It's
quite
watchable
and
inventive
without
being
readily
comprehensible
to
me.
There's
overt
references
to
the
"Choon
Hyang"
drama
(which
the
"Hong"
Sisters
based
their
first
drama
on).
Appropriately
for
a
drama
based
on
a
web
cartoon
this
was
a
web
drama
-
judging
by
it
they
are
very
fast
paced
to
the
point
of
incoherence.
18th Feb 2016
In
"Akumu
Chan"
a
cold-hearted
school
teacher
finds
herself
enmeshed
with
a
strange
new
pupil
who
has
fantastical
prophetic
dreams.
Try
as
she
may
to
avoid
it
her
life
is
turned
upside
down
and
inside
out.
At
one
level
each
episode
is
the
pupil
"Yuiko
Koto"
has
a
weird
dream,
and
the
teacher
"Ayami
Mutoi"
does
her
best
to
avoid
that
dream
coming
true.
On
that
level
the
drama
is
quite
acceptable
and
involving
and
interesting,
adding
a
twist
to
the
usual
formula.
Where
the
drama
shines
is
the
character
arcs,
particularly
the
teacher
strongly
played
by
"Keiko
Kitagawa".
That
holds
the
whole
drama
together
and
lifts
it
to
greatness.
The
characters
grow
through
the
episodes.
Wonderful
and
fun.
18th Feb 2016
In
"Sweden
Laundry"
the
put
upon
middle
child
of
a
family
gets
given
a
supernatural
power
by
her
dead
grandmother.
The
power
to
tell
from
people's
clothes
what
they're
worried
about.
The
downside
is
she
has
to
help
them.
This
quirky
comedy
of
manners
manages
to
be
fresh,
helped
by
its
starting
premise
being
so
original.
It's
not
dramatic,
but
there
are
a
host
of
interesting
characters
and
twists
and
turns.
A
cat
also
pops
up
here
and
there.
Watching
this
gets
a
sense
of
modern
Korea,
the
way
people
are
-
that's
the
way
it
feels
to
me.
So
it's
country
which
is
very
technological
yet
people
still
consult
psychics.
Parents
seek
to
live
through
their
children.
A
slight
shame
that
the
heroine
doesn't
tie
the
knot
by
the
end
of
the
drama,
but
it's
a
rewarding
watch.
9th Mar 2016
My
efforts
at
game-making
have
become
less
ambitious
over
the
years.
This
current
project
was
to
do
a
present
hunt
for
Virginia,
where
she
followed
a
paper
trail
to
find
where
her
birthday
(it
turned
out
to
be
Christmas)
present
was.
The
twist
being
the
paper
chase
is
in
the
virtual
world
not
the
real
one.
I
used
Google
maps
to
able
to
click
on
locations
to
visit.
Really
kind
of
Google
to
provide
such
a
facility
for
free.
At
each
location
there
are
some
pictures.
The
menu
lets
you
see
a
welcome
page,
the
current
clue,
or
the
map.
Nothing
too
elaborate.
(Update
in
March
2020:
this
game
is
currently
broken,
Google
started
charging
for
use
of
their
Map
API
in
the
way
this
game
uses
it.)
11th Mar 2016
Virginia
and
I
stay
near
Winchester
in
Hampshire,
see
National
Trust
places
like
Uppark
and
Hinton
Ampner,
and
the
Naval
Dockyard
in
Portsmouth.
23rd Mar 2016
Steelheart
(2014)
follows
young
David
Charleston
as
he
seeks
revenge
for
his
father's
death.
He
has
the
slight
problem
his
father
was
killed
by
an
invincible
superpowerful
villain
who's
turned
Chicago
into
steel.
To
some
extent
this
could
have
been
done
as
anime.
The
world
of
the
book
is
one
where
ordinary
people
have
gained
unusual
powers,
a
much
used
device
at
the
moment.
"Steelheart"
and
its
sequels
deepen
the
experience
by
first
exploring
the
powers
of
the
Epics
(those
with
the
powers)
-
and
their
weaknesses.
There
is
real
world-building
and
magic
system
building
here.
There
is
also
exploration
of
what
power
does
to
people.
If
you
had
power
like
"Steelheart"
does
could
you
stay
sane?
All
power
corrupts,
absolute
power
corrupts
absolutely
as
the
man
said.
And
can
an
Epic
be
redeemed?
This
theme
runs
through
the
series.
Ignoring
all
that
I'd
just
like
to
say
this
book
is
a
well-written
imaginative
romp
where
the
underdog
humans
take
on
supervillains.
7th May 2016
I
visit
South
Korea,
seeing
Buddha's
birthday
celebrated
at
a
nun
run
temple
and
visiting
a
Baduk
(Go)
school.
10th Jun 2016
Our
long
weekend
in
Stratford
started
with
another
telephone
call
from
a
carer
about
Dad
managing
to
fall
out
of
bed
despite
having
a
bar
fitted
by
Phillip
last
night
(who
I
envy
being
so
good
at
practical
things).
I
went
to
Milton
Tesco
after
seeing
Mum's
grave
on
the
anniversary
of
her
death
four
years
ago,
and
got
some
supplies
for
Dad
and
us
on
our
holiday.
A
little
bit
of
a
rush
to
get
Tabitha
and
Amelia
to
the
Cattery
so
Phyllis
can
look
after
them
til
Monday
(we
forgot
the
tablets
for
Tabitha!)
and
then
off
on
our
weekend
break.
And
right
into
a
traffic
tailback
from
a
fire
on
the
A14...
26th Jun 2016
The
cake
Virginia
did
for
my
60th
birthday.
26th Jun 2016
A
quiet
and
pleasant
Sunday
afternoon,
with
family
and
fellow
Church
members
and
friends
I
hadn't
seen
for
a
while,
in
commiseration
for
my
upcoming
60th
birthday.
We
held
the
celebration
at
the
Cambridge
Holiday
Inn
hotel
in
Histon
where
we
live,
they
provided
the
nicely
laid
out
Trinity
Room,
a
more
than
ample
buffet,
and
water
and
orange
juice
on
the
five
tables
-
and
we
added
balloons
and
a
banner.
The
balloons
hung
upside
so
they
read
"09"
rather
than
"60",
but
I
didn't
mind.
We
didn't
have
helium
or
hydrogen
to
fill
them.
Virginia
did
one
of
her
cakes,
combining
my
fondnesses
for
the
Peanuts
cartoons
and
classic
Dr
Who.
I
didn't
manage
to
have
any
of
it
-
I
was
too
full
on
the
day
itself
and
it
got
thrown
away
as
too
dry
afterwards.
There
was
plenty
of
food
left
over,
we
ordered
a
buffet
from
the
hotel
without
realising
how
much
of
it
there
was
going
to
be.
Had
to
check
which
dishes
were
vegetarian
for
my
friend
and
old
work
colleague
Simon,
something
to
remember
next
time
around.
I
did
gain
cards
and
a
few
presents
to
be
opened
on
the
day
itself.
We
also
gained
some
lilies
which
we'll
have
to
be
careful
with
as
lilies
are
poisonous
to
cats.
13th Aug 2016
The
cake
Virginia
did
for
Sandra's
60th
birthday.
4th Sep 2016
One
of
these
days
I'm
going
to
lose
this.
I've
left
it
behind
in
so
many
places,
and
thought
I
would
never
see
it
again.
I
left
it
behind
at
the
Light
Cinema
Cambridge
last
time
we
went
to
see
the
new
"Star
Trek"
film
-
and
had
to
return
to
the
theatre.
I've
left
it
at
the
University
Centre
where
we
play
Go
on
Thursday
evenings
-
and
was
lucky
they
had
in
lost
property
a
week
later.
I've
left
it
behind
at
Girton
Baptist
Church
and
had
to
reclaim
it
at
the
next
service.
And
they
are
just
a
few
times...
It
may
seem
I
don't
want
this
baseball
cap,
that
I
regard
it
as
a
bad
luck
charm
I'm
trying
to
lose
but
which
keeps
coming
back
to
me.
In
fact
it
is
a
precious
souvenir
of
halcyon
times.
Times
when
my
employers
considered
me
worth
sending
off
to
software
engineering
conferences.
Times
when
I
could
combine
a
visit
to
an
Oracle
conference
in
Seattle
with
seeing
the
Olympics
and
Mount
St
Helens
and
the
Boeing
Construction
Building
and
eating
at
a
Benihana
Steakhouse.
Great
times.
The
baseball
cap
was
part
of
the
welcome
pack
to
one
such
Oracle
conference.
Those
days
are
long
gone.
My
current
employers,
a
large
American
multinational,
want
software
engineering
to
be
an
assembly
line.
Constant
desk
moving
even
down
to
every
two
weeks
is
part
of
the
depersonalisation.
The
desks
are
arranged
in
open
plan
typing
pools
with
noise
levels
approaching
those
of
call
centres
and
trading
floors.
Only
people
on
the
management
ladder
travel
or
get
real
training
(in
some
very
desirable
destinations)
instead
of
the
rat
maze
online
training
courses
we
ordinary
plebs
find
imposed
on
us.
I'm
glad
I'm
not
a
manager
-
fear
of
how
one
scores
on
one's
superior
metrics
drives
behaviour,
it's
all
about
how
you
project
yourself
upwards
that
matters,
a
ladder
I
would
fall
off
if
I
were
even
on
it.
9th Sep 2016
Before
our
long
weekend
in
Hunstanton
we
dropped
off
Tabs
and
Amelia
(who
hid
in
my
cupboard
as
the
spare
room
bed
was
shut)
at
"Grange
Cattery".
This
took
longer
than
normal
as
there
were
roadworks
in
Waterbeach
near
the
new
housing
being
built
on
the
old
Army
barracks
there.
It
may
be
even
slower
next
time
as
they're
going
to
resurface
the
road
to
"Grange
Cattery"
-
it
is
much
needed
as
that
track
undulates
beyond
bumpiness.
We
got
supplies
at
Tesco
including
a
Chinese
meal
we
enjoyed
later
in
the
garden
at
the
holiday
cottage
in
Ringstead.
An
easy
drive
there,
the
most
stress
came
when
parking
the
car
in
front
of
the
garage
for
No.
5
as
I
didn't
see
the
number!
The
cottage
was
comfortable
and
well
appointed,
a
cosy
lounge.
We
had
to
enter
a
number
on
a
keypad
to
get
the
keys,
using
the
keys
was
fiddly
and
the
doors
were
a
bit
stiff.
There
was
a
bottle
of
wine
left
for
us
which
we
had
a
glass
of
to
accompany
the
Chinese
meal
in
our
quiet
evening
in.
4th Oct 2016
Virginia
and
I
cruised
to
the
Western
Med
on
the
P&O
Arcadia.
We
saw
Gaudi's
creativity
at
Park
Guell
and
Sagrada
Familia,
and
the
remains
of
Roman
creativity
at
Herculaneum.
2nd Dec 2016
Time
for
the
Thursford
Christmas
Spectacular
again!
This
year
we
almost
didn't
make
it
as
we
both
fell
ill
with
streaming
noses
and
coughs
and
colds.
But
such
is
our
dedication
to
starting
the
Christmas
season
properly
we
forced
ourselves
to
go.
Virginia
drove
(which
I
find
stressful
as
she
drives
rather
differently
to
the
way
I
do)
and
for
once
the
Satnav
didn't
play
us
foul,
and
we
reached
Thursford
in
an
hour
and
a
three
quarters.
We
ate
at
the
cafe
in
Thursford
Fantasy
Land
for
a
change.
Pretty
much
the
same
unmagical
food
as
the
other
venues,
the
soup
had
to
be
microwaved
as
it
wasn't
even
lukewarm.
In
this
venue
they
give
you
a
table
number
and
bring
the
food
to
you.
Santa's
Magical
Journey
looked
pretty
much
like
it
did
last
year,
in
fact
Thursford
as
a
whole
did
though
there
is
a
new
toy
shop
there.