What I'm Reading
Finished The Good Terrorist by Doris Lessing. Set in London in the Eighties, a group of young communists move into a squat and start preparing for terrorism. Told from the point of view of Alice, a seemingly competent but unstable woman who acts as a surrogate mother for the group.

This time, Lessing reminds me a little bit of John Updike in the fascinating details of setting up the house, how to clear a concreted-up toilet bowl, and the claustrophobic relationships between the characters.

Acutely observed. A compelling read despite the lack of action, as the tension builds, and the consquences of Alice's actions unfold.

Seems to have become a minor classic: well worth reading.

Revisited review.

ODGF
Odd. Felt like I'd was getting wobblier around the middle, as usually happens after a while without a weigh-in, and was psyching up for a couple of weeks of dieting, but according to the scales I haven't put on weight. Hmmm.

What I'm Watching
Saw John Woo's Chinese historical epic Red Cliff at the cinema. Fun movie despite its length: great battle scenes, swashbuckling derring-do and inspiring speeches, which I'm going to assume are less cheesy in the original. Definitely worth seeing, deserves the big screen too.

Apparently there's a sequel too: will have to look out for that.

What I'm Watching 2
Saw action movie remake Death Race on DVD. Annoyed that I missed this at the cinema now. My big complaint about modern action movies is the weightless and unrealistic CGI. Death Race makes a point of doing old-school real world stunts, including a superb armoured truck crash that I've never seen before.

As well as classic stunts has a fast and silly plot. Unmissable if you like action movies.

Annoyed at the way mainstream reviewers never tell you whether an action movie has good action scenes or not: just giving uniformly bad reviews to everything.

Web
Pics. Space alphabet. World War III propaganda posters. Pink gundam. Tattoo locations diagram.

Video. Stupid but funny: Boing, extreme rice, crashes with Team Fortress sound effects. Trailer for cat ladies documentary. 5 seconds: Irresponsible Tio. Grey Bloke on Christianity again. Eagle buzzes model plane.

Sociology. Talibe beggars of Senegal.Parents keep child's sex a secret (MeFi). Is migration responsible for Europe's turn to right-wing? Rowntree report on inequality, (Full PDF) Guardian, Times:

All parties assume that the financial crisis has focused people's fury on the unjustified salaries paid to the very rich; that the recession will mean there's much more sympathy for the unemployed; and that there is a new concern about bridging the gap between the top and bottom...

Well, it's not so. Rowntree's research, among more than 1,000 adults of all income groups, shows that more than two thirds of them admire the rich, and assume that their high salaries are a proper reward for ability, effort and performance. On the other hand, they are largely contemptuous of the poor, especially those who live on benefits. Those people are routinely described as scroungers.

The research group are sublimely unconcerned about social mobility, because they think it exists. It's now harder to move class in Britain than in any other developed country except the United States, and yet 69% believe that there are enough opportunities for anyone to get on in life if they really want to. And though most people described themselves as very concerned about inequality, it wasn't the gap between rich and poor they cared about. It was the gap between the top and themselves that they wanted to see narrowed.

Economics. Is the ECB taking bigger risks than the Fed and the Bank of England? Proposal: incentive accounts for executive pay:

Existing schemes have two main problems. First, stock and options typically have short vesting periods, allowing executives to "cash out" early... This encourages managers to pump up the short-term stock price at the expense of long-run value... because they can liquidate their holdings before the long-run damage appears.
...
Second, current schemes fail to keep pace with a firm's changing conditions. If a company's stock price plummets, stock options are close to worthless and have little incentive effect -- precisely at the time when managerial effort is particularly critical.

Sci/Tech. Twitter's twarchitecture. Is dolphin-safe tuna an ecological disaster? Gulls attack whales.

Misc. UK restaurant chain clamps down on cash tips. Interview with capybara owner. History: Treasure hunt riots (MeFi). Artist tries to make toaster from scratch, angers libertarians (MeFi).