In the Lamastre area, everyone is exceptionally friendly and polite. Cycling up to Col de St Genest, everybody I encountered said bonjour. Just before I reached the Col, I heard a disembodied voice hailing me. I looked up and there was a friendly bloke standing on the top ofhis flat …

Successfully asked for 'one of those there' while pointing at a cake in a boulangerie just off the square in Lamastre:

un de ceux-ci-la
une de celles-ci-la

Heard a spotter plane overhead. I sense the net closing in. Will keep sending reports to my superiors for as long as I am able.

Set out from la maison through the forest. Stopped at Saint-Barthelemy-Grozon for a Kronenbourg, and watched Pekin 2008. Here's the house as one sees it …

Today your agent in the field has been playing golf with Charles and Blimp. Charles has constructed a nine-hole course in the grounds of the house. This is hole 5 I think.

If you get the ball in the hoop, it counts as getting it in the hole. This is …

I'm writing from somewhere in France. For obvious reasons my precise location cannot be disclosed. I'll file reports back to you at HQ for as long as I remain undiscovered. After that, the game is up.

Yesterday at the house, the pressure of the water supply lessened. I followed the …

Luminous by Greg Egan is a truly superb collection of sci-fi short stories. Egan confines himself to hard science, and doesn't shy away from giving technical details to his readers. Within that constraint of physics, he is a wellspring of ideas. As Janos said, other writers with such good ideas …

I've made a start with a Wiktionary entry for metaphrast.

Btw, just to let you know, I'm on holiday near Valence, France for about a week, leaving on Wednesday. Have you got any ideas for holiday reading?

I've [really]{style="font-style: italic;"} got to go and pack now...

One of my nephews is about 1 and a half years old. I commented to my brother that by the time the nephew is of driving age, most cars will be driven by robots. He strongly disagreed.

I now put this to everyone I meet:

[By 2023, more cars will …

An old boss of mine described me as donnish in an appraisal at work. I looked it up recently in Wiktionary to check the spelling. It wasn't there, so I've added it. The entry probably needs improving, so please do if you're so inclined.

Listening to Last Word I felt sad to hear Lyall Watson's name mentioned. He died on 25th June this year, aged 69. When I was a teenager in the 80s, LW meant a great deal to me. I read a few of his books at that time: Dreams of …