Category Archives: Uncategorized

Piqued by our upcoming transiberian trip I’ve been doing a lot of reading around the subject, and about Kolchak, the civil war, the allied intervention and more. Even Chekhov. And in the course of this, purely by happenstance, I happened … Continue reading →

Mary Beard recently had a piece on her blog complaining about the rise of the e-christmas card. And it’s undoubtedly true that as the postal service declines more and more people are turning to sending seasonal greetings by email. I … Continue reading →

Yesterday I received a letter, yes, a genuine letter printed on nice paper from a local hospital inviting me to apply for an eHealth record. (eHealth is an Australian government initiative to link up individual medical practice records and aggregate … Continue reading →

Well the answer’s no. Readers of one of my other blogs will recall that I experimented on myself with Amazon’s self publishing suite back in January. No surprisingly I’m not amazingly rich as a consequence, sales have been trickling along … Continue reading →

Last Friday, I watched a documentary on Semphill and Rutland, two British airforce officers who, at the end of the first world war went to Japan to render the Japanese military and technical assistance. That they became spies for the … Continue reading →

Originally posted on Gyrovague's Raves:
Robert Fulford: Chekhov at 150 and the Russian writer’s longest roadRobert Fulford, National Post   Published: Monday, March 22, 2010 “I have seen Ceylon, which is paradise, and Sakhalin, which is hell,” said Chekhov of…

Over the weekend I read a short compilation of some of Chekhov’s letters home during his overland journey to Sakahalin in 1890 – before the Trans Siberian railway was built. Chekhov is an amusing and candid letter writer. As well … Continue reading →

Lost, one poem. it was about ethernet cables. No, I didn’t write it, but thought it charming and saved it to a hard drive somewhere. Saved it in the days before evernote, before dropbox. My guess is that it’s on … Continue reading →

As part of planning for our Trans Siberian trip I’ve been doing a little background reading. Now you would expect the opening of the rail line to the far east and Siberia to have an impact in Russia, but it … Continue reading →