I liked this one too, despite the domestic setting. Feel a little melancholy that there are only two full books remaining in the series though.

Diana on Sophie:

"I dare say you are right about frigidity and jealousy. But I believe you are wrong in calling Sophie frigid. Certainly, when her mother is by, I think she would be a poor companion for a lively, eager man-- indeed, Jack would never have got her into his bed at all if she had not run away in a ship, far from her mother's eye. And then again I have it on the best authority that Jack is no artist in these matters. He can board and carry an enemy frigate with guns roaring and drums beating in a couple of minutes; but that is no way to give a girl much pleasure. In better hands she would, I am sure, have been a very likely young woman; and oh so much happier."

What I'm Watching
Saw Hellboy 2: The Golden Army at the cinema. Pretty good: more emotionally mature than I was expecting, a bit less action but slightly more sensitive than you'd expect from a blockbuster. Nice creature design too. Worth a look.

US politics
On the Palin Pick. Seems like a reasonable choice overall. McCain's weak with the Evangelical base, so her anti-abortion and creationist-friendly policies shore him up there. She's plausibly anti-establishment, and doesn't suffer from an excessively privileged background. The lack of experience is a weakness, but that seems to be a theme of this election: Americans seem to be adopting a more European attitude towards electing leaders who haven't really run anything.

So, have to say I lol'd quite a bit at the MeFi thread, since they seem to have been instantaneously transmogrified into several hundred Rush Limbaugh clones. A woman in a prominent role!? This can only be because politically correct tokenism has ripped the job from the hands of a better-deserving white male. And of course it cripples Biden in the VP debates, since he's too chivalrous to attack a woman, and there's absolutely no way for a man to patronize, condescend, or humiliate a woman in a public meeting.

Web
Pics. London at night. Historical photo blog. Amazing bridges.

Video. Garson Hampfield, Crossword Inker. Lord of the Dancey Dance. Gromit scat. Pingu scat.

Politics. Disturbingly even Theodore Dalrymple is against Titan prisons (via). Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa’s first female head of state, is doing well (MeFi).

How to claim incapacity benefit (via).

Skinner's pigeon missile pilots.