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a journal of the stone ages year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel, University life, Wines with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 19, 2026 by xi'an

Read—in French—The Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓), written by Nosaka Akiyuki in 1967, and which inspired the eponimous Ghibli Studio anime by Takahata. A very vivid reporting on the slow deaths of the young narrator and of his sister, in the final days of WW II that left them to try to cope by themselves from the lack of food. I was quite surprised by the style, raw and oral, with hardly any punctuation, that reminded me of the early Céline. The book contained a second short story, Amerika Hijiki (or American weeds), also related to the WW II trauma suffered by the author. Recommended, if not for young readers. I also read The Wrong Unit, by Rob Dircks, a science-fiction novel set in the 2800’s, which follows a humanoïd robot caring after a child with a particular destiny. Not as fun as Murderbot, and not particularly deep in its human-AI-robot relationship, even less in its scenario and its creation of a 2800’s environment where everything sounds 2020’s, except for teleportation (!), but definitely readable.

Just as during my previous, private, visit to Venezia, I cooked there a large dish of (spinach) gnoccheti with anchovies that lasted the week, plus had the possibly best-ever squid dish I ever tasted at Da’a Marisa. Where else?!

Watched Jo Nesbo‘s Harry Hole’s Devil Star series on Netflix. With mixed feelings. On the one hand, the rendering of a gritty, harsh, unromantic, fantastic, Olso and of a unequal, corrupted, crumbling, society far from the usual postcards is riveting. With the actor playing Harry Hole fitting the role brilliantly. (Maybe not the most adequate adjective for an alcoholic, Camels chain smoking, (hyper)violent, insubordinated, police officer!) On the other hand, the scenario is very weak and with too many red herrings and convenient coïncidences and global conspiracies. Given the last scene, there may be another season in the near future…

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a journal of the no-end-war year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel, University life, Wines with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 15, 2026 by xi'an

Read Braking Day, an archi-classic space opera of a spaceship travelling for generations to a substitute planet. With the archi-classic reproduction of earthy behaviours and habits (how on,,, Earth!, one could imagine smoking being allowed on a spaceship? commercial goodies on sale when approaching destination? shopping malls?) Archi-classic heroes as well, standing just on the wrong side of the rules as a shipbound form of smuggling… The no-so-classic is a class A spoiler that emerges half of the book, non-too-soon, and turns the charactera and then some into actual heroes. Very very light and not recommended!

In-between two weeks in Venice, I cooked a veg curry with (old) butternut, leeks, (new) onions and a yellow species of beetroot I had never seen before, Eaten with my freshly made kimlchi that was somewhat too fresh. The second pot is still burping! And had the worst ramen dish in my culinary experience, in Strasbourg, obviously not the centre of the ramen universe!, where half the ingredients were freezer cold (and the other half just marginaly warmer). (But tasted a new and nice category of curly pasta while in Venice (2), the week before, the Napolitean riccioli!) Also cooked a second sweet potato and cocoa cake for Venice (3), which led to a lengthy security check at the CDG airport!

Watched Undercover Miss Hong, a Korean drama set in the 1990’s, with vintage computers, clothes, and (just emerging) mobilephones. Beyond that plunge in the past… The scenario is paper-thin and is spread over too many episodes, with a soapy ending, but the duo of (female) central characters is enticing (if not for their borderline ethics). The series’ soundtrack is original, if not particularly striking. Slightly funny but not particularly recommended!

 

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under wraps, if not enough for Nature

Posted in Books, Mountains, pictures, Travel, University life with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 21, 2026 by xi'an

In its 01 January 2026 issue, Nature covers a current exhibit at the Musée de l’Homme, Paris, on mummies (or momies in French), incl. an Assassin’s Creed interactive device! With a complaint that the exhibit discloses too much about the individuals behind (or before?) the mummies, incl. age, cause of death and sometimes a scan… I find the complaint rather weird in that the individuals have been mummified for hundreds or thousands of years, mostly from cultures that have themselves vanished. (Note: As an atheist, I do not believe in an absolute “sanctity” of corpses and hope my dead body will be put to use for organ donations and medical student practice. The more so because people often have less concern for the living, just like anti-abortion activists rarely care about the children born from mothers denied a right to abortion.) Part of the article message is actually about de-colonising museums, even though transferring mummies back to where they were found does not include time travel to recreate the conditions the (hopefully) dead individuals were processed. (Note: As a universalist, I do not see much rationale in deeming multiple generation descendants (which ones?) or related ethnic groups having more say about handling these remains.) Which also bring to mind a puzzling, caricatural, “Perspective” Nature article in the 07 January 2026 issue arguing that conservation (towards protecting endangered species) is driven by “Western science”, colonialist, racist and marginalizing indigenous communities. Acknowledged as inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and submitted in 2021, I am surprised the article ever got accepted given its focus on ideology rather than (universal) science, e.g., when referring to Michel Foucault’s theories as essential to conservation theory and practice or in opposing trophy hunting bans as providing income for communities. The nadir being the play on RACE (for rights, agency, challenge, and education) as the acronym for the supported model for conservation. (Note: As a frequent traveller, I do realise the tension between conservation of endangered animal populations and the survival needs of local communities. During our last trip to India, we had a hugely educative conversation with a Kerala farmer family, where they complained about the damages from and the dangers of local elephants on crops, as well as monkeys on their cocoa plantation, to the point they were considering giving up that crop.)

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a journal of the warmongering year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel, University life, Wines with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 14, 2026 by xi'an


Read the highly original Die Wand (The Invisible Wall) by Austrian writer Marlen Haushofer. A dystopia where a sole (?) woman find herself isolated from the rest of the World (and its fossilised beings) by a transparent wall. And learns bit by bit how to survive with an Austrian hunting lodge, a cow, a dog and a cat. This is a fantastic book in all senses of the term. From the survivalist aspects, which are always engaging!—and reasonably realistic, albeit I would have used the cow for carrying heavy loads, smoked the meat of the deer shot by the woman, made cheese out of the milk, rather than butter, and turned hazelnuts into flour—, to the psychological damage of loosing human contacts, to the erasure of the wall between this survivor and the animals (with a paradox that is the top spoiler of the book!).

Cooked a sweet potatoes and cocoa cake in preparation for my trail race on La Sainte-Baume, near Marseille. With cocoa made from the beans I had brought back from Guadeloupe last summer. Not particularly tasty, despite a large input of melted cocoa, since I only added a few eggs, no sugar, and no flour, but at least definitely healthy. And, no, it did not impact my speed in the least! And keeping up with cocoa I visited a chocolaterie in Marseille that solely uses Madagascar cocoa beans and offers workshops for making one own’s bars. As well as superlative pure, unsweetened, chocolate drinks.

Watched The Million-Follower Detective, a Taiwanese detective story combined with a superficial reflection on the impact and excesses of influencers. Very heavy going, with an omniscient villain and a cascade of convenient coïncidences.

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a journal of the cha(ca)os (and fig) year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Travel, Wines with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 1, 2025 by xi'an

 Read the last part of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell, which still  takes place in the early 1800’s at the Dutch East India Company trading post Dejima in Nagasaki, as the historical aspects—like the attempt by a British ship to take over the outpost—beat the weakest features of the story. The end does feel rushed.

I made my first attempt at a chocolate tablet by mixing the cocoa—cacao in French—paste (kako in Créole) I brought back from Guadeloupe—made from the cocoa seeds I had bought at the market, roasting and crushing them—with crushed biscuits and a tiny bit of butter. The result was keeping with the bitter chocolate flavour I enjoy in 100% cocoa tablets, if presumably richer in fat and sugar, and more on the chocolate biscuit side! As the fig tree is now delivering at full speed, I am making compotes and office deliveries on most days, along with picking great tomatoes (which survived the heat waves) and the second chili pepper that grew from the chili tree this summer—sadly so low on the Scoville scale that it didn’t much differ from the peppers that also grew there—. In a bountiful year, the only failure was the buckwheat attempt, since no single flower came to deliver. Expert advice is thus sought for next year! This did not prevent me from resuming cooking whey (from skyr) and buckwheat, rye, or chestnut crêpes (on the Amazon iron griddle that no longer sticks!).

Watched and enjoyed the series Dept. Q, a gritty, depressing, and engrossing detective story that mixes cold cases, domestic violence, PTSD, sexism, several levels of guilt, and a variety of Scottish accents, from Edinburgh to the Western Isles. Despite the captivity thread in the scenario that I always dislike as a weak option in this kind of story, albeit making more sense as the episodes unfold. The grey areas surrounding most characters keeps the series at quite an acceptable level of engagement, as does the range of personalities thus displayed. This includes most victims that could have fallen into the poor-dear trap, but remain ambiguous and equally guilty to maintain the balance. Looking forward new seasons (not in the Scottish sense, where most days usually cover all four of them!). Also watched the second season of Wednesday, enjoyable enough if on the light and repetitive side. With Jenna Ortega still running the show, along with a stronger presence of Catherine Zeta-Jones. Just missing the Cramps moment of Season 1!

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