Book of the month Book of the month: "Voltaire Almighty" In which I praise Roger Pearson's most readable Voltaire biography.
Books Through a "River of Ink" "River of Ink", the debut novel of Brit Paul M.M. Cooper, is a marvel. I'd not heard of the man until he did his Reddit AMA a few months back,
History von Korncrake And here’s something for you, when all you want to do is kill time while reading elaborate satire. Korncrake – The Website of Herr Professor Dokto Boethius P. von Korncrake
History Uncle So here I am, joining the ranks of millions and millions of bloggers posting cute baby photos. Only that this time it might well be the best picture ever posted. Say hello to
History Tuition or bust As a follow up to yesterday’s post, and answering the comment by “eigenschaft”, I will now write a bit about the watered down compromise I mentioned yesterday: the one about the tuition
austria An unholy marriage People would think that people learn from mistakes. People are mistaken. About an hour ago, the Socialist Party’s head Gusenbauer announced the finalization of coalition talks with the People’s Party. Even
austria BREAKING NEWS - sort of Well, here’s to me, and all the other people whose final votes brought the Greens to third place. Read all about it here (if you know German…if you don’t, look
History BREAKING NEWS - Limbo reviewed Rejoice, Christians, for the concept of the infant limbo is expected to be renounced by the Vatican, according to a reputable source from the small Island. In case you’re not familiar with
austria In which I return to my newfound love of coming up with descriptive titles, totally breaking the layout of my site, and write about the outcome of yes So, here we are. The hegemony of the People’s Party is finally over. Yesterday more people voted for the social democrats than for Chancellor Schüssel and his unrelenting neo-liberal stooges. Which is
elections Time to vote It’s time to vote again, and the girlfriend and I will be on our way shortly. We held an election party four years ago, with red and green pasta, but unfortunately, the
austria Dubya (final) So Dubya’s gone, and I won’t even pretend I was any good at covering it. The relevant things about the visit have been said by others who are more articulate than
History Carinthia, medieval I’m back from the excursion, and I brought a shitload of pictures. Click here to see the batch on my site’s own gallery, or click here to admire them from within
academia Wibald's curse I’ve been trying for the last half hour to print out the article on Wibald of Stablo/Corvey from the online version of the International Encyclopaedia for the Middle Ages. Somehow Firefox
art Porno Viennese Well, Austria’s made international headlines again. In the course of a government sponsored art project which lasted all year, posters were put up all over Vienna depicting the lower torso of a
austria Irving arrested David Irving, self-proclaimed historian and Holocaust denier was arrested on the 11th of September November (of course) here in Austria. Read all about it here. Well, it’s great they got him. Especially
austria On the intricacies of high finance Tomorrow is Austria’s national holiday. In case you don’t know how that came about, it’s the day when we’re supposed to commemorate the signing of a treaty including the
History R.I.P. Critter Dear old critter, dignified head of my parent’s cat household, found his early demise yesterday. He’s been a good sport through all of the twelve years of his existence, and although
History How to become an Austrian Although many people here in Austria beg to differ, it’s actually quite a nice country to live in. Especially if you’re a fugitive, or emigrated to Austria in search of better
History The big 25 Well, today marks my completion of a quarter of a century on this very soil called earth. Not that I had to do much to complete it. It’s more of a completion
History Everything's going to be just the way it used to be A new pope has been elected, and I would really like to write something witty about the fact that the Catholic Church still thinks using condoms will send you straight to hell, but
History New far-right party in Austria Well, now it’s official. Freedom party, notorious for being the most obnoxious party in the whole of the political landscape of Austria, has now been split into another movement, the BZÖ, which
History Of Elvis and chemistry sets Upon listening to a mashup which included an Elvis Presley song called “Crying in the Chapel”, I suddenly was reminded of little ampules filled with powders and a little instrument with which to
History Macaronic Poetry In the course of my research for a paper I am writing, I stumbled upon this great definition of a kind of poetry dating back to the medieval and early modern period of
History Austrian politics - a sad story Well, another minister has decided to simply leave office in favour of the much more attractive “private economy” as they call it. Federal Minister of the Interior, Ernst Strasser, stepped back from office,
History Ukraine election chaos - part 2 Since The Insider has made it into the mainstream Internet media already, I’ll quickly post his update on the situation now: Candidate of the opposition, Juschtschenko, has called for a national strike,