Pakistan is doing well on the coronavirus front, much to the befuddlement of all. Hard to say if it will last, but for now. In the meantime, I happened to be at the birth of a meme. One of the people I follow on Twitter lives in Karachi and with the devastating monsoon rain there […]
Job not done
After yesterday, today I signally failed to send off the documents back to Pakistan, as well as to do any work. Instead, I joined the GF (whp had the day off) on a trip to the other side of the Golden Horn. First was lunch in the Grand Bazaar, where I went for a grilled […]
Fool’s errand
This morning I had to go to the Pakistani consulate to get a legal document attested, needed urgently back home. Knowing that there would be red tape I called in advance to ask what was needed, wrote down the list, collected everything, and left. I took the metro, my first foray onto public transport, and […]
Great disaster
Eid began with leftovers as I ate the daal from a few days ago for breakfast. Rather pitiful, since it was stale and old and not at all Eid fare, but it was what I had that felt like home. Also, two cups of tea instead of my usual rigidly rationed one. When the GF […]
Bean counters
Taiwan appears to have a surprisingly large number of people for whom a major part of their job description is to sift dust out of coffee beans, pick through them (in extreme cases with chopsticks), roast them in batches of about a half cup each, empty them into a little jug covered with a loose […]
A new star
It was not turning 40 that has brought home to me how old I am but the fact that is the third time in my lifetime that the revelation of Ophiuchus as a constellation displacing Sagittarius has rocked the world. Truly there is nothing new under the sun. Speaking of which – this was a […]
Earning their keep
Pakistan’s maulvis are hard at work. Mufti Muneeb says charity no substitute for animal sacrifice Mufti Muneeb Says Online Buying Of Sacrificial Animals Is ‘Un-Islamic’ CDA stops construction of boundary wall at temple’s site in Islamabad
Ultras
The article for today is this short piece about Moroccan ultras. Football fans are hardly the most inspiring of people, but I do wonder why there is not more effort in modern societies to create such spaces for solidarity, carefully overseen, except by armies and fascists. And Scouts, I suppose, though it is hard to […]
Actual weekend
Today is the start of the actual weekend; yesterday’s idle day was a bank holiday for the GF and a day without work for me. In the morning, the four of us went back to Serenity for another excellent meal. I must say, they have the best fried rice I’ve ever had, I would dearly […]
Eid everywhere
Today was Eid. For once it was Eid everywhere in the world, including in Pakistan where the usual farce around the sighting of the moon reached new heights. The science minister, Fawwad Chaudhry, was previously the information minister in which he characterised himself by a particularly jahil enthusiasm, like a gormless and corrupt Chemical Ali. […]