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I just finished reading This Thing of Darkness , by Harry Thompson and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was surprised to find that Robert Fitzroy was a real person! I feel somewhat cheated because my main opinion on the book is that it is a wonderful story, full of adventure, beautifully painted vistas, humour, drama and tragedy. So to find the story is based on fact devalues my enjoyment somewhat. Still, it was definitely worth reading except if you followed the above links before reading the book, shame on you!

"Aces High" by Iron Maiden. It just doesn't get better than this! Someday I'll dig out their "Number of the Beast" album, which basically turned me onto heavy metal in the 80s. Metal!!!!!

This is quite amazing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Armas During open-uterus, fetal surgery, the fetus' hand popped out of the womb and a picture was taken of the event. Urban legend says the fetus grabbed the surgeon's hand but this has been proven false. Either way it's a moving photo and shows the advances in modern science and the fragility of life. The photo is available on Michael Clancy's website (see bottom of the page). Be warned it is graphic.

I hate dealing with realtors. We visited an open house today near where we live. The realtor was like a leech - he was like a second skin until we left the main floor. I'm too polite and shy to tell him to give me room, but maybe that's what I should do. The house itself was very disappointing. From the outside it looks bigger than ours, and that may well be true. But the interior didn't give that impression. The house had four bedrooms; ours has three, but they were all small. The master bedroom was significantly smaller than ours. The house itself was badly in need of a complete redecoration. The info sheet said some windows were new but I didn't spot them. Apart from the carpets and the kitchen, everything else in the house was original; tired looking and badly in need of an update. The basement was finished, with two fully carpeted playrooms, a separate storage room and the laundry room. The whole basement smelled like Tokyo in the middle of summer. I've not bee