Nothing

The Oxford University Press puts out a series of books, each called A Very Short Introduction....to.......  There are about 200 volumes.  Each is the size of a very large cell phone and can easily fit into the back pocket of a pair of jeans.  Spacious jacket is also a bookmark.  Some of the titles I have read include very short introductions to Buddhism, Galaxies, Quantum Physics, Autism, Modern China, Memory, Chaos(that was a good one), Cosmology, The Crusades and Game Theory, to name a few.  I was going to hyper-link all of these but I am too lazy and it is 12:54AM.  The books used to cost $9.95, but with the current economic dyspepsia, they are now $11.95.

Here's the weird thing.  I just bought A Very Short Introduction to Nothing, and it immediately disappeared.  No kidding!  So the question is, was that what was supposed to happen, or should I keep looking, or should I just ask for my money back.  But then I wouldn't get Nothing.  But I might find Nothing too.

G20 Meeting

Watching the coverage of the G20 meeting brought to mind the book Freddy and Fredericka by Mark Helprin. The story revolves around Freddy and Frederika, the Prince and Princess of  Wales, and their quest to reclaim America for Great Britain. Now Freddy is middle aged with big ears and Frederika is beautiful and a ditz. Not hard guessing who the characters are based on. Much of the book is laugh out loud funny, and a welcome relief from the real world. What is concerning is that comparing the events in the book to what is  currently happening in London, the events in the book make more sense.

Pippi Longstocking

Pippi Longstocking's full name is: Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraimsdaughter Longstocking.

On an almost unrelated note, I was surprised to learn how sheep farmers in Lancashire count. It goes like this in their vernacular: "Yan, tan, tethera, methera, pimp, teezar, leezar, cattera, horna, dik, yandik, tandik, tetherdik, bumpit, yan-a-bumpit, tan-a-bumpit, tethera-bumpit, methera-bumpit, jigot."

via TKWKIWDBI via The Guardian.