Blog & White

“floral and citrus hops and golden malt, combined with orange peel… citrus and tropical fruit notes”

Just another ale, but quite nice. Contains malted barley, malted wheat and oats.

Fuller, Smith & Turner, London, England. 4.5% alcohol.

Wikipedia

Phil Connors, misanthropic weatherman, goes to Punxsutawney to cover Groundhog Day. A snow stop prevents him and his crew from leaving the town, and he has to spend one more night there. When waking up the next morning, he slowly notices that the events from the previous day are happening again, and finally understands he's trapped in a time loop. He first spends his now infinite time being annoying to other people, then going out with all the cute women around. He then gets depressed and commits multiple time suicide, without succeeding in leaving the time loop. One day he notices that he quite likes his colleague Rita, but he has only one day to seduce her. After many failed attempts, he becomes a better person, using his time to help other people (knowing in advance what will happen to them), learning to play the piano, and becoming known to the whole population. Finally, he manages to seduce Rita within the day, and he finally escapes the time loop.

“citrus aroma of American hops”

Fruity and only slightly bitter. Contains malted barley.

Greene King, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England. 4.0% alcohol.

The Vor Game was published in 1990 by Lois McMaster Bujold.

After graduating from the Imperial Academy, Miles is sent to a remote arctic training camp as the new weather officer. Refusing to obey an illegal order from the camp's commander, General Metzov, Miles is charged with mutiny and treason and, his behaviour having been considered the right one, spends some time in detention in the depths of ImpSec as his career in the Imperial Service is over. He's then transferred to ImpSec and sent by Illyan on a covert mission in the Hegen Hub as an arms dealer to investigate the military preparations in space stations, the Vervani (who have hired Randall's Rangers mercenaries) and Aslunder (protected by former Dendarii Mercenaries, now again under Oser's rule). He's then framed by his customer for murder, fails to flee, separated from his superior officer and made prisoner. In detention, he stumbles upon incognito Emperor Gregor, who, depressed, failed to commit suicide before fleeing from his diplomatic duty on Komarr. Disguised as a worker, Miles accompanies Gregor to Aslund station, where he makes contact with the Dendarii, asking their help for reaching the Barrayaran embassy on Aslund. Instead, they are delivered into the hands of Cavilo the femme fatale commander of Randall's Rangers, seconded by Metzov, now a mercenary. Cavilo keeps Gregor close to her, and sends Miles on a mission to retake command of the Dendarii as Admiral Naismith. Miles succeeds with the help of the his friends among the Dendarii, and guesses Cavilo's plan to marry Gregor and become Empress of Barrayar, abandoning her first plan to let the Cetagandans invade the Hub and loot the planets in the confusion. Luring Cavilo and Gregor to his ship as she is abandoning her mercenaries, Miles recovers his emperor and keeps the Cetagandan invasion at bay by letting Gregor diplomatically unify the forces of the Hub until they are reinforced by Barrayaran ships. In the end, Illyan agrees to make the Dendarii a tool of ImpSec.

“nutty”

Just another ale, quite sweet; I can't say about the nuttyness. Contains barley.

Ridgeway Brewing, South Stoke, Oxfordshire, England. 5.8% alcohol.

Lambic (malt d'orge et froment) adoucie par ajout de sucre candi. Très sucrée et un peu acide, ressemble davantage à une limonade qu'à une bière.

Lindemans, Vlezenbeek, Belgique. 4.5% d'alcool.

The Warrior's Apprentice has been published in 1986 by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Miles Vorkosigan fails his physical entry exam to the Imperial Military Academy. He then goes to Beta Colony to visit his grandmother, accompanied by sergeant Bothari and his daughter Elena. Soon after his arrival, he buys (giving a piece of worthless land on Barrayar as guarantee for later payment) an obsolete freighter to prevent his pilot, Arde Mayhew, from committing suicide and destroying part of the spaceport. Soon after, he meets a Barrayaran deserter, engineer Baz Jezek. Together, they accept a cargo of "agricultural material" to pay back for the freighter. The cargo is actually weapons for the Felicians, one side of a civil war on Tau Verde IV, and they are soon stopped by Oseran Mercenaries who control access to the planet for the Felicians adversairs, the Pelians. Miles and his party manage to take control of the mercenary ship, pretending to be part of the Dendarii Mercenaries. The prisoners are soon turned into the first actual Dendarii Mercenaries, and they deliver together the cargo. On the space station where they land, they are attacked by Pelians and Oser's troops, but manage to beat them and hire the whole of them as Dendarii mercenaries. They then break Oser's trust in their Pelian employer by hijacking the mercenaries' monthly pay, and finally the whole of Oser's troops become Dendarii. Miles is then joined by his cousin Ivan, who was under direct order to find him, but actually unknowingly escaped death by being late as usual. Back on Barrayar, Miles foils an attempt to break a rift between the Emperor and Vorkosigan House by being actually present instead of fomenting a revolution with the help of his private (and illegally owned) army, as the conspirators claim. Miles gives ownership of his mercenaries to the Emperor, who gives it to ImpSec. Having proven his value as a tactician and a commander, Miles is then allowed to join the Academy.

© Amazon.fr

Khany entraîne Yoko dans un voyage vers Mars pour retrouver Tevy, une adolescente vinéenne qui était en hibernation dans une base sous terre mais qui a disparu. Elle porte dans son esprit un programme, conçu par Karpan, destiné à détruire toute vie bactérienne sur Terre pour permettre la colonisation par les vinéens. Sur Mars, Yoko et ses amis sont fait prisonniers par Karpan, qui force Tevy a piloter la fusée-bombe destinée à « purifier » la Terre. Yoko parvient à détruire les installations de Karpan et à sauver Tevy.

© Amazon.fr

La mère de Soda rend une enveloppe à un inconnu dans le métro, qui lui dit de ne pas utiliser le métro dans la semaine à venir. Soda tente de retrouver l'homme, le soupçonnant d'être un terroriste. Aidé de Babs qui utilise le réseau de caméras de surveillance de la ville, il arrive dans une usine abandonnée où on tente de le tuer. Le tueur est son ancien capitaine, présumé mort dans l'attaque du 11 septembre 2001. Ce dernier lui révèle qu'on le fait chanter en menaçant sa fille, afin qu'il participe à un réseau de pseudo-terroristes, effectuant des attaques afin que les gouvernements prennent des lois plus autoritaires.

© Amazon.fr

Amadeus est kidnappé et envoie un numéro à Léo par SMS. Il s'agit d'un numéro de conteneur, qu'il finit par retrouver sur le port, plein d'armes en plus des contrefaçons qu'attendait Amadeus. Ils sont attaqués par les kidnappeurs, mais parviennent à s'enfuire, plongeant la voiture de ces derniers dans le port. La voiture se révèle appartenir à un imam qui a réussi à maintenant la paix dans la cité de Plan Vallon. Le préfet est impatient d'y donner l'assaut mais Léo parvient à l'en empêcher, promettant d'arrêter les trafficants d'armes. Lors de l'échange entre les armes et Amadeus, la police intervient et arrête les criminels. dont le chef est le fils de l'imam.

© Amazon.fr

Fernand poursuit son récit. Jim et Jenna avaient été préparés (de force pour Jim) par l'Invisible afin d'être capables de se transformer l'un en l'autre à l'aide d'un miroir. Lorsque le bureau royal a attaqué et détruit la cité aérienne de l'Invisible, Jim s'est enfuit en ayant perdu la mémoire. Dans le présent, les amis de Jim trouvent la piste de la nouvelle base de l'Invisible, sous-marine cette fois. Ils sont fait prisonniers et l'Invisible, après avoir révélé son plan d'enlèvement du roi par sa technique des miroirs, tente de préparer Marnie et Beltran. Ils sont sauvés in extremis par Jim et Jenna, qui peuvent maintenant exister séparément pendant un temps grâce aux améliorations apportées au système. Le bureau royal attaque la base sous-marine, mais manquent à nouveau d'arrêter l'Invisible. Jim et Jenna se retrouvent cepedant fusionnés en un seul corps, moitié Jim et moitié Jenna.

© Amazon.fr

Moriarty est mort, Holmes prétend l'être. Blackstone vient d'être nommé à la Special Branch et compte utiliser son noveau pouvoir pour se débarasser de Holmes. Il essaye d'arrêter le trio de francs-tireurs de Holmes afin de forcer ce dernier à se montrer; prévenus à temps par Lestrade, ils se réfugient dans la Rookery de Dead End. Kilburn fait donner l'assaut, mais les 3 enfants parviennent à s'échapper. Avec Holmes, ils forcent Blackstone à révéler l'endroit où il a caché son dossier sur ses relations avec Moriarty et le lui prennent. Blackstone se suicide, mais le colonel Moran court toujours.

© Amazon.fr

À la veille de l'exposition universelle de 1889, de la dynamite est volée à Paris. Un indice désigne les Fenians irlandais, et la Special Branch est appelée en renfort. Un fabricant de bombes meurt dans une explosion accidentelle, et les agents trouvent chez lui un photo aérienne qui les mêne chez un photographe récemment décédé dans un accident. Ce dernier conservait un dossier sur J.H. Cooper, contenant entre autres un photo de la guerre civile américaine. Les inspecteurs rencontrent ensuite le canadien Percy Tyrell qui les invite dans son bar américain au premier étage de la tour Eiffel où ils reconnaissent la photo, exposée sur le mur. Tyrell les fait prisonnier dans sa réserve, remplie de dymanite; ils parviennent à empêcher l'explosion, mais Cooper/Tyrell s'enfuit.

Barrayar has been published in 1991 by Lois McMaster Bujold.

At the emperor's death, Aral Vorkosigan becomes Regent of prince Gregor. But many would like to take his place by force, or at least replace him with a more traditionalist head of state. Aral is attacked twice; the second time Cordelia is a victim as well and the antidote to the combat gas used in the attack affects he baby she is bearing. He is surgically removed and placed in a uterine replicator, and follows an experimental treatment to repair the damage made to his developing bones. Several weeks later, the head of imperial security arrives to Vorkosigan House with prince Gregor; the imperial residence has been attacked by Vordarrian's partisans, Gregor's mother Kareen has been taken hostage. Cordelia, Gregor and a few trusted men flee to the mountains to hide Gregor. Cordelia then joins her Aral in his headquarter. When she learns that the laboratory where her baby was treated was attacked and that the uterine replicator was taken hostage without anyone able to service it, she decides to lead, against Aral's will, a commando attack to the imperial residence, using Kareen's former bodyguards knowledge of secret escape routes. She manages to recover the uterne replicator, killing Vordarrian (and Kareen) in the process. This leads to the defeat of the rebellion. Some time later, Miles Vorkosigan is born, with extremely brittle bones.

Shards of Honor has been published in 1986 by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Cordelia Naismith and her crew are exploring a new planet. They are attacked by Barrayaran forces and all survivors except her manage to escape. She is taken prisoner by Aral Vorkosigan, a Barrayaran captain, who is trying to determine which faction of his crew has attacked the explorers in an attempt to kill him and blame it on Cordelia's crew. With Cordelia's help, he manages to retake control of his men, and Cordelia is sent back home to Beta Colony. Some months later, she is on a secret mission to send weapons to Escobar, a planet under siege by Barrayaran cruisers. She is made prisoner and taken by admiral Vorrutyer who wants his batman to rape and torture her. Vorrutyer is killed by the batman, mentally unstable sergeant Bothari whom she had met among Vorkosigan's men earlier. She is then rescued hand hidden by Vorkosigan who is also aboard the cruiser. Crown Prince Serg then leads the assault on Escobar and is killed by the weapons delivered by Cordelia. He explains that the emperor wanted to get rid of his perverted son, and that the whole invasion was a plan to get Serg assassinated. Following the Barrayaran's retreat, Cordelia is then sent back to Beta Colony; there she is suspected to have been brainwashed by the Barrayarans, and she flees to Barrayar, where she finally accepts Vorkosigan's earlier marriage proposal. With him, she meets the dying emperor who convinces Aral to become Regent to Serg's son, four-year old Gregor.

“roasted organic chocolate malt and organic cocoa extract”

Very chocolatey and very sweet. It's more like drinking liquid chocolate than actual stout. I love it, but it barely qualifies as a beer. Contains malted barley.

Samuel Smith, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England. 5% alcohol

Wikipedia

Bruce Banner's father experimented on himeself in the 60s with cell regeneration. He transmitted a mutation to his newborn Bruce, and, imagining the monster his son would become, tried to kill him, but accidentally killed his wife instead. Bruce nowadays works in a genetics research lab, unaware of his real father's background; his father however reveals himself and tells him why he's special and that Bruce should help him complete the experiments that he was conducting in the past before the Army stopped him. After surviving an accidentally exposure to lethal levels of radiation, Bruce transforms under stress into a green giant with an incredible strength and ability to quickly heal. He's eventually captured by the Army, with the help of Bruce's kinda girlfriend (who's the general's daugther). Being experimented on in a secret lab in the desert, Bruce escapes and is chased by the Army and eventually surrenders when he notices the amount of damage he does when out of control as the Hulk. Meanwhile, Bruce's father is also arrested. The general decides they are too dangerous and must be executed. Father and son however start to fight during their last talk before their execution. The father, trying to absorb the Hulk's energy but discovering he cannot handle it, is killed by the army. Bruce is presumed dead as well, but is actually hiding in South America.

“malted barley, roasted malt”

Sweet, roasted, a bit coffee-ish. Quite nice. Contains malted barley.

Samuel Smith, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England. 5% alcohol

Wikipedia

Seen many times, needs no summary.

“Maris Otter barley and wheat… hint of honey as an aftertaste”

Quite sweet and fruity, very nice. Contains barley and wheat.

Arkell's Brewery, Swindon, Wiltshire, England. 4.5% alcohol.

“spicy citrus aroma… Maris Otter barley malt, wheat malt, orange peel, coriander”

Just another ale, maybe sligthly orange-y, but not my favourite. Contains barley malt and wheat malt.

Stroud Brewery, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England. 3.8% alcohol.

“Sussex grown malt and hops”

Just another ale. Contains barley.

Hepworth & Company, Horsham, Sussex, England. 4.2% alcohol.

Wikipedia

The two youngest children are back in Narnia, accidentally followed by their younger cousin Eustace. The arrive in the middle of the ocean and are rescued by Narnia's ship the Dawn Treader, where they meet Caspian, on a voyage to rescue the seven lords of Narnia. They learn about a strange green mist that makes ships and people disappear. They meet a magician who tells them they need to find the seven magical swords of the Lords to defeat the green mist. They find several of the swords on different islands. On the last one, Eustace is transformed into a dragon after wanting to loot a dragon's cursed treasure. They eventually arrive to an island where sits Aslan's table, where they must place all seven swords; three Lords are already there, magically asleep holding their swords, but one is still missing. A fairy appears and leads them the the Dark Island where they find the last sword fighting the evil (the White Queen) in the form of a sea serpent. Eustace as a dragon fight the serpen and is wounded with the seventh sword. He flies back to Aslans's table where Aslans transforms him into a boy again and heals him. Eustace places the sword on the table and all evil suddenly disappears, the disappeard people reappearing again. In the end, they go the the shore facing Aslan's world; he tells them they are too old to visit Narnia again, but that Eustace may come back some day.

© Amazon.fr

Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde are going to Dunmanifestin to “take the fire back to the gods”, as a vengeance for the latter letting the heroes getting old instead of getting killed heroically in battle. When they learn about that, the Patrician and the Wizards of Ankh-Morpork send a team to prevent this from happening, since the very powerful explosive the heroes are carrying would destroy the gods and thereby destroy all magic on the Disc, with catastrophical consequences. The team is composed of Carrot, Rincewind and Leonard of Quirm, who built the dragon-powered vehicle that is thrown off the edge of the Disc, travels below it between the Elephant's legs, and is supposed to circle back above the Disc and land on the top of Cori Celesti. Because of the unexpected presence aboard of the Librarian, they are forced to land on the Moon to refill their air tanks and find fuel for the dragons. They eventually arrive and manage to convince Cohen that if they destroy the gods, and therefore the Disc, nobody would remember the dead Heroes (which is what being a Hero is all about). The Horde leaves running with the soon-to-detonate explosive and die heroically. Or maybe actually not?

Wikipedia

In the 1930, Carl Frederiksen dreams of adventures and idolizes the explorer Charles Muntz. He meets Ellie who is a fan of Muntz as well and they promis each other to bring her house onto a cliff in South America near a waterfall, depicted in one of Muntz's books. But the couple never got enough money and Ellie died before they could fulfill their dreams. Living alone in the house and soon to be forced to live in a retirement home, Carl attached his house to a large amount of helium-filled balloos and flies to South America, accidentally accompanied by a boy scout who was trying to get his last badge. They land near the waterfall, and fall out of the house; unable to get in again, they pull it towards their destination. On the way, they find a strange, huge bird (first discovered by Muntz who was called a fraud and leaft promising not to come back before he can bring a specimen) who is chased by a a pack of dog who can talk through their electronic collar. The dogs take them to Muntz who still lives nearby in his dirigible. Muntz discovers they have found the bird (that has followed them) and tries to capture it. They manage to escape, but Muntz then manages to capture the bird. They board the dirigible and save it, Muntz getting killed in the process. Eventually they come back home and Carl becomes the boy scout's adoptive grandfather.

“floral aroma”

Just another pale ale. Contains barley malt and wheat malt.

Stroud Brewery, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England. 4.5% alcohol.

“… dark malts [Maris Otter among other]…”

Roasted taste; just another stout. Contains barley malt.

Stroud Brewery, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England. 4.5% alcohol.

Smells a bit like litchi, tastes very bitter with an even more bitter aftertaste, not unlike something burnt. The absence of alcohol is a bit surprising in the beginning.

BrewDog Ltd., Fraserburgh, Scotland. 0.5% alcohol

© Amazon.fr

Deux trames narratives entrelacées. Dans le présent, une manufacture de cigares de luxe dans le Périgord a fait faillite et est reconvertie en usine d'eBooks. Dulcie, l'amie d'Arnaud le propriétaire tombe dans le coma de chagrin. En parallèle, M. Wang, le PDG, ne s'intéresse qu'à ses pigeons voyageurs de compétition et à observer par caméra interposée ses employées dans leur vestiaire, et en particulier à Charlotte. Jalouse, Louise la DRH fait accuser Charlotte de vol, et M. Wang la séquestre dans son bureau, nue, toute la nuit. Le lendemain, Louise retrouve sur la tablette de M. Wang une vidéo des sévices qu'il a infligés à Charlotte. Louise empoisonne alors son patron. Charlotte se réfugie chez Fabrice, un collègue hacker a ses heures, un abandonné par sa mère quand il était petit. Rentrant chez elle, elle apprend que sa voisine a tué son ivrogne de mari avant de se suicider ; en voyant de vieilles lettres appartenant à la femme, elle découvre qu'il s'agissait de la mère de Fabrice.

Dans un futur indéterminé, Martial Canterel, Shylock Holmes et son domestique Grimod partent à la poursuite du voleur de l'Anankè, un diamant volé à une amie commune, Lady MacRae dont la fille Verity est dans le coma depuis dix ans. Étrangement, trois pieds chaussés de chaussures Anankè (une marque inexistante) ont été retrouvés sur une plage anglaise. Les empreintes superposées des trois chaussures produisent un message caché les guidant vers un magicien qui se produit à Londres. Ce dernier meurt sur scène (chaussé d'Anakè), mais ils trouvent un autre message secrèt indiquant que le diamant partira pour Pékin dans le Transsibérien. Ils attrapent le train de justesse, soupçonnent que le voleur est aussi un assassin notoire qui commet deux meutres dans le train. Le train est ensuite attaqué par des bandits révolutionnaires fanatiques religieux et leur groupe (augmenté du docteur Mardrus, rencontré en chemin, qui décide de s'occupé de Verity) se retrouve divisé. Grâce à l'armée de mercenaires qui vient à leur secours, ils rejoignent leurs amis à Pékin où ils trouvent la photographie d'une chanteuse unijambiste, leur indice suivant. Il s'agit en fait de la soeur jumelle de la chanteuse, prostituée en Australie. Ils s'y rendent en dirigeable (ils font naufrage en cours de route, mais regagnent l'Australie sans explication) où ils trouvent des coordonnées tatouées de manières anamorphiques autour de son anus. Ces coordonnées sont celle du point Némo, le point de l'océan Pacifique le plus éloigné de toute terre. Ils affrètent un navire qui les emmènent au point Némo, où une île faite de particules de plastique agglomérées apparaît brusquement. Abandonnés sur l'île par les marins du navire, ils finissent par découvrir un centre de recherche privé au centre de l'île où travaillent ceux qui veulent améliorer le sort de la planète. Lady MacRae fait partie de cette organisation, dont le chef, Martyrio, ancienne artiste de cirque, se présente comme la fille de Moriarty. Toute l'enquête n'est qu'une mise en scène destinée à les faire rejoindre lîle. Le docteur Mardrus se révèle être l'assassin du Transsibérien et tente de saboter le centre de recherche. Débarassés de lui mais l'île menaçant de couler, tous prennent place dans un nautile géant, le Nautilus, et s'enfoncent sous l'eau. On apprent alors que cette histoire a été inventée par Arnaud et racontée à Dulcie jour après jour (à la manière des lecteurs dans les manufactures de cigare des Caraïbes). Une fois l'histoire terminée, Arnaud met fin à ses jours et à ceux du Dulcie.

Just another lager. Contains barley malt.

BrewDog Ltd., Fraserburgh, Scotland. 4.7% alcohol

© Amazon.fr

Dick Simnel invents the steam locomotive and manages to get into business with Harry King. The Patrician orders Moist von Lipwig to take a closer look at this phenomenon that gets all of Ankh-Morpork excited (even Drumknott). Meanwhile, extremist dwarfs are causing trouble in Uberwald, accusing King Rhys to stray from “true dwarfishness”. Moist helps King and Simenl building the first railroad to Sto Lat and to Quirm, allowing fresh goods to arrive still fresh to Ankh-Morpork. He discovers that goblins are very interested in the train (and even start building an underground railway near Quirm). While a conference between the kings of dwarfs and trolls takes place in Quirm, the Patrician orders Moist to build a railway to Bonk in Uberwald. The task is huge and the time is limited, but Moist eventually understands that with King Rhys away from Uberwald, the extremist dwarfs will try to take power. Rhys is then smuggled quietly out of Quirm and onto the train to Bonk. The journey is long and they are attacked several times by rebel dwarfs. When they finally arrive in Bonk, Rhys reasserts his right to the Scone of Stone and even announces that he is actually female.

“biscuity… qualities of our malts… citrus hop charge of Celeia and Cascade hops”

Just another ale, but a very good one. Contains malted barley.

Hall & Woodhouse Ltd., Blandford, Dorset, England. 4.6% alcohol.

I just switched from using Xterm to using evilvte but then I noticed that evilvte cannot be resize smaller. It can become bigger, but there is no way back. Then I learned that URxvt does everything I want (it even uses the same font as Xterm by default) with a bit of configuration. And it's much more lightweight than evilvte (it doesn't use GTK, that helps).

*VT100*foreground: black
*VT100*background: white
 
URxvt.scrollBar: false
URxvt.secondaryScreen: 1
URxvt.secondaryScroll: 0
URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,matcher
! old keyword
URxvt.urlLauncher: firefox
! new keyword
URxvt.url-launcher: firefox
URxvt.matcher.button: 1
URxvt.keysym.C-Up: \033[1;5A
URxvt.keysym.C-Down: \033[1;5B
URxvt.keysym.C-Left: \033[1;5D
URxvt.keysym.C-Right: \033[1;5C
URxvt.keysym.C-Page_Up: \033[5;5 
URxvt.keysym.C-Page_Down: \033[6;5 

xrdb -merge .Xresources

and then you can run the terminal.

And Firefox just restored the --remote option, so wmnetselect should even work again (until next time, anyway). Let's say it was an opportunity to learn about stuff…