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Sunset strolls

We have taken to daily sunset strolls. All of Lebanon faces the west, the sun rises from behind the eastern mountains, Mount Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon mountains. In Byblos, and perhaps all along the coast, people gather along the seashore to watch the sun sink into the sea and the cool evening breezes pick up. […]

80 people

Jbeil, Byblos, has been a human settlement for 8,000 years. This is, at the far extreme of the human lifetime, only about 80 lifetimes old or, on the other hand, 650 or so generations. It feels more dramatic in some ways than Egypt because of the feeling of continuity. Whereas ancient Egypt feels like the […]

Blackadder, Pakistan

The Gentleman Friend has pitched a comedy series modelled after Blackadder about the Pakistani Supreme Court. I think it would be hilarious though the comedy might be very black indeed. We could have all kinds of shenanigans. The Chief Justice’s dam fund. chaapas and honey pots will provide very good material, particularly in contrast to […]

A disappointing sequel

I listened to a fascinating podcast yesterday, an episode of the New Books Network. It was so interesting I listened to it a second time. It was an interview with an anthropologist in Australia who has recently published a book on difference and perceptions of difference, between Aborigines and white settlers. One of the most […]

The end of this world

I keep thinking that these are the end times. This does not really distinguish them from other times, since I don’t really have any kind of progressive vision of the world. But I think we are moving, inexorably, towards the end of a phase, the deterioration of global lipservice, at least, to a rules-based world […]

Six fish

This was a day in three parts. First came a couple of requests for quotes, which is always nice as it gives me hope that work will continue and I won’t starve, a perpetual fear for a freelancer. One of these was from an organisation in Kenya, so I was especially pleased as I do […]

By the sea

Byblos reminds me a bit of being in Karachi. The flat is airy and pleasant, like those in Karachi, and the balcony is sunny and has a constant breeze under hot sun. We can’t see the sea, but nor could I growing up in Karachi. Generally, though, I have enjoyed pottering around a quiet, well […]

Newcomers in an ancient land

Here we are, the newest of newcomers to the oldest of cities, Byblos, the mother of books. We have a little flat just on the edge of the old city – I say the edge, but running along our street is a sort of wide ditch between two roads and in it are the remains […]