...which put me in mind of a piece by one of my favorite cartoonists, Rupert Fawcett.
Monday, 26 January 2015
The Poo Fairy
When the dog took me out this afternoon we spotted this for the first time...
...which put me in mind of a piece by one of my favorite cartoonists, Rupert Fawcett.
...which put me in mind of a piece by one of my favorite cartoonists, Rupert Fawcett.
News from Diplomatist Books #8
Not here anyway...
In order to have a better link to the actual storefront and to distance Diplomatist Books from the wilder meanderings that go on here, I have revamped the website. I've dumped the old wix.com one (though not through any problem with wix - I'd recommend them to anyone wanting a free site) and gone with an old familiar blogger.com set-up. The new site is
Any updates or Diplomatist Books related stuff will go on that blog.
The History of Wargaming Project
The first update there, and already announced to our FaceBook followers, is that I have decided to stock publications of the History of Wargaming Project.
The first order has gone in and I will give full details once the books arrive.
Friday, 16 January 2015
Lost Beagle Found
Great news, Beagle-2 did manage to land safely after all. At the time, you may remember, the method of using airbags to bounce on landing was widely blamed for the failure.
The European Space Agency has announced that the probe, which was due to land on Christmas Day 2003 has been spotted by the hi-res camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. That in itself is a remarkable achievement as Beagle-2 would only have been two metres wide if fully deployed.
The initial analysis of the photos is that Beagle landed successful and managed to deploy solar panels - crucially, however, these weren't all deployed and so not enough power was generated for the probe to operate.
A damn'd near thing!
The European Space Agency has announced that the probe, which was due to land on Christmas Day 2003 has been spotted by the hi-res camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. That in itself is a remarkable achievement as Beagle-2 would only have been two metres wide if fully deployed.
The initial analysis of the photos is that Beagle landed successful and managed to deploy solar panels - crucially, however, these weren't all deployed and so not enough power was generated for the probe to operate.
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| What should have happened |
Tuesday, 13 January 2015
Buck McIntosh
Yesterday I complained that I hadn't come up with any back story for my PBB character. I must have been worrying about it, because last night as I lay awake at 3am it came to me
Buck McIntosh was born to a family of Virginia sharecroppers. The ninth of twelve surviving children, there was never much left for him when it came to his turn. He didn't stay on the farm long, joining mining and forestry camps.
After the war he drifted West where he spent time as a prospector, broke horses and worked in a saloon. He find his true calling with the railway company, He was 'foreman' to Chinese labourers and found he had a skill as an enforcer - driving Indians and other 'squatters' from their land.
He terminated his employment with the railway company the week he was entrusted with delivering the payroll to the rail-head camp...
Monday, 12 January 2015
All Quiet on the Home Front
Nice is't it? It's a figure RoyW has supplied to represent my character in his Old West play-by-blog game. Unusually for me ('a fluffy kinda guy'), I've not been able to come up for any back-story for him other than his name. I'm going to have to put my head together for it. Any suggestions chaps?
It's down to a lack of mojo - I had a very difficult few weeks on that side of late. I've not done anything hobbywise since finishing my Daleks before Christmas. This isn't a tragedy in the big scheme of things of course, but I am supposed to be in a painting challenge! It means that I've missed two bonus rounds, despite having the figures and plans for them.
Today I had a little victory then, in that I put the Meeples and Miniatures podcast on. It went on so long, that no only had I finished the book work I was doing and tidied the room, but in the end I sat at the painting table and did an hour's prep. [They're still at it as I type!]
So that's a good thing.
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Charity Shop Haul
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| Might this make my buildings stand up? |
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| Nice variety |
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| They scale nicely with 28mm |
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| The official guide to the most beautiful ship |
And how could I resist a book featuring the adventures of the head of Cairo's Political CID, given that I'd created my own? Apparently there are 18 novels in the series.
Sunday, 4 January 2015
This Week's Obits of Interest
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Sonia d'Artois (d. 21 Dec 2014)
SOE Agent
Daily Telegraph obit 29 Dec 2014
Scotsman obit 2 Jan 2015
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Arthur, 8th Duke of Wellington (d. 31 Dec 2014)
Aristocrat and Soldier
Daily Telegraph obit 31 Dec 2014
Guardian obit 31 Dec 2014
Independent obit 31 Dec 2014
Scotsman obit 1 Jan 2015
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Thursday, 1 January 2015
News from Diplomatist Books #7
Happy New Year to our readers and customers!
A Reminder
Diplomatist Books' stock can be accessed through our AbeBooks Storefront. Once there you can either search the entire inventory or browse the different catalogues.
Not all our stock is yet on AbeBooks - if you have any enquiries about specific books or areas, drop me an e-mail at diplomatist2<AT>gmail<DOT>com.
Everyone Loves Pie!
Since we signed on to AbeBooks in November, I've been recording where we've been sending books to. Here's a graphic:-
And remember, it's often just as cheap to send two books as it is to send one!
New Stock
By popular demand here are some more detailed photos of the new stock. Open in a new window for large photos.
They'll be added to the AbeBooks inventory in the next week, but in the meantime, if you've any questions, e-mail me.
