And Another Thing...

I just finished reading Eoin Colfer's addition to the Hitchhiker's Guide universe, the book entitled And Another Thing.
The book written as an appendix in the Guide to the entry on the Hitchiker's Guide is a welcome addition to the trilogy (of five) even if it cannot be the same if the same author would have finished the series.
Eoin Colfer in my opinion has understood well the dynamics of the story and has come up with a plausible continuation and introducing some interesting new themes.
And Another Thing has a similar kind of language to the H2G2, yet without such memorable phrases as "mindbogglingly", "almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea", and "The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't."
There are, however, many excerpts from the Guide to provide background on some of the developments of the earlier books (which are quite unnecessary for the real Hitchiker's fans) and for comic relief. These replicate the style of Douglas Adams but are a little too numerous and a tad bit weak in some cases.
Still, I would recommend this book as a fun and light read and a nice way to honour the work of a great author.

Paterei Prison

Pictures from Paterei prison that was operational until 2005, and now serves as a "culture park" for tourists, parties and weddings in Tallinn.

Pictures from Helsinki

Just a quick selection of the pictures I like the most from my August trip to Helsinki (including the World Heritage site, Suomenlinna).

Moscow

In October I had made a short trip to Russia visiting St. Petersburg, Moscow and Pskov. The trip was quite fun, but also very tiring -- by the evening I already thought about the morning as something that had happened the previous day.
The Moscow part was probably the most exciting part of the trip as we detached ourselves from an organised bus tour to St. Petersburg and took the night train to the capital. On arrival we were immediatily confronted by the fact that the room we have booked in the hostel has not existed for the last two years...
Anyhow, after a couple of coffees we did a pretty good job of exploring central Moscow. Unfortunately we had limited time, and our attempts to get out of the centre were thwarthed by the powers that be (e.g. a World Heritage member monastery was closed and we were kicked out of Moscow University).
All in all, it was an interesting and feature packed trip with all its excitement and I think I should like to visit Russia again; though, first I have to go to London as the Moscow metro system filled me with nostalgia for all the time I spent in London...

Sunset in Paldiski

Sunset in Paldiski
Originally uploaded by bdamokos

From the town where Lilja 4-ever was filmed. Unfortunately this town is as bleak in real life as was in the film -- even the setting sun over the Baltic Sea cannot help much as the shore is cut off by the railway and the harbour.

Queen's Champion

The office of the Queen's Champion is an important hereditary office in the United Kingdom that apparently dates back to 1066. The duties to be performed in exchange for the 12 km² Manor of Scrivelsby are not manifold, but all the more dangerous. Until the coronation of George VI in 1821 his duty was to challenge to duel those who would not accept the new monarch.

At the coronation banquet he would throw down his gauntlet three times and a herald would issue a challenge among the following lines:

If any person, of whatever degree soever, high or low, shall deny or gainsay our Sovereign Lord George, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, son and next heir unto our Sovereign Lord the last King deceased, to be the right heir to the imperial Crown of this realm of Great Britain and Ireland, or that he ought not to enjoy the same; here is his Champion, who saith that he lieth, and is a false traitor, being ready in person to combat with him, and in this quarrel will adventure his life against him on what day soever he shall be appointed.

The champion was loaned the second best horse in the Royal Mews and an armor which was his for the keeping if anyone took up the challenge and the champion has won; otherwise he would get a cup from which the sovereign has drunk the champion's health.

There are no certain records that would show that anyone accepted the challenge, though there are some rumours about different Jacobites doing so.

After George VI the tradition of holding a coronation banquet in Wetminster Hall (the building of the Houses of Parliament) was abandoned and thus the life of champion became simpler, until the 20th century. In 1902 the then champion petitioned the Court of Claims -- the special court set up at every coronation to decide on who gets to perform what service at the coronation -- and since then his duty is to carry the Royal Standard at the coronation.

Find out more on Wikipedia; the painting comes from this website. A nice way to learn about chivalric traditions and the way a proper challenge was accepted and fought out is to read the Song of Roland from the eleventh century.

British Parliamentary archive as VOD

I just stumbled accross the online video archive of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, where meetings of the last 12 months can be watched. (The written records going back centuries are partially available online, as well.) In theory, this allows everyone who has a vague idea about the British Parliamentary style to experience it with their own eyes -- the only obstacle is to sift through the boring stuff where only one or two members are present and find the good debates between e.g. Gordon Brown and David Cameron.
Among the more interesting videos I found is the motion for a humble address in the Lords (at just before the 2-minute mark) and the state opening of Parliament by the queen.