Couple of changes

I know I’ve been very slack on the posting of late, but I’ve been thinking about the direction I want to take the blog. I still haven’t come to any firm decision but I will be making two changes; well really only one but it’s two bits. The two pages I used to run listing all the books I’ve read and the films I’ve watched each year are gone. They’re cumbersome, and while they may initially look good, most people probably can’t be bothered going through long lists. Instead I’ll be running them as monthly posts, maybe fortnightly for the film ones. I’ve been lacking motivation (and time) recently, so this way I have an excuse for at least two posts a month. Of course, if I start into another Steven Erikson or Peter F Hamilton tome, or similar doorstop volumes, then I might have to skip a month; those monsters can take a while to get through after all.

I won’t be commenting on all the books and films either, but I may do separate comment posts on selected titles (I still won’t go so far as to call them reviews) probably restricting the book ones to recent releases. Of course, if anybody wants my opinion on any of the titles listed in the posts please leave a comment and I’ll try to provide one.

Still here

Yes, I know it’s been very quiet round here of late but it’s not like there’s that many visitors to miss me. Been busy at work this last month but I’ve got a well-deserved week off coming up so there just might be a bit more activity come September.

Image problems

Just in case anybody is wondering why some of the pics in my posts are missing, primarily the reading update book covers, WordPress.com are having a problem with the Amazon S3 service they use for image hosting. I won’t pretend to know what that means but if the images are missing that’s the cause.

2000+

Yay, latest stats show viewings have topped the 2000 mark. Have you lot really got nothing better to do? Banks’ Matter related stuff is still getting the most attention but that will no doubt start to fall away now the book is actually out. Damn, now I have to find something else to attract the same level of attention.

Interestingly, to me anyway, is where people are coming from (WordPress stats shows the sites viewers are linking from) and in the case of Mr Banks there’s some attention coming my way from a French SF forum called CafardCosmique.com. No idea what they discuss there, SF presumably, primarily because when I click on the link it takes me to a log in screen and my knowledge of French is sadly so lacking I can’t even begin to go searching for the relevant thread. But I appreciate the interest they’ve shown and if anybody from that forum wants to leave a comment, including French red wine recommendations (which I’ve become more appreciative of in the last year or so - me, crawling, never), please go ahead.

Blog idea

I’ve been thinking over the last couple of weeks about how to move this blog forward in the new year. One of my plans revolves around the film and book listings. Instead of just providing a list (although lists will be retained for easy reference) of what I’ve been watching and reading I’m giving serious consideration to passing comment on them as well; not reams of critique and plot description, just a paragraph or two of my thoughts, along with links to other source material such as IMDB, author and publisher sites, etc.

I’m trying to get a handle on the type of readership I have so let me know if this approach would be of interest, or if you have any other suggestions (preferably constructive) please feel free to comment.

1000+

Checking my blog stats today and the viewing has passed the 1000 point, less than 3 months after I started this blogging lark on 13 July. This total was helped in no small way by the Iain M Banks Matter cover post back on 8 August, which so far has amassed 495 hits and still being read. Most of these are finding their way over from Ariel’s UK SF Book News, so a big thank you to him for that. He’ll probably also insist that the move to WordPress from Blogger is a major contributory factor. Not sure about that but it certainly is a better platform to work with.

These stats reflect only visits to the site and what people are clicking on within the blog, not those reading the posts via feeds, so the total may well be higher.

I haven’t bothered to analyse the rest of the posts for popularity, to do so might make me start to bias the blog towards what I think people want to read, rather than the “whatever I feel like” approach that was my original intention. So expect more of the same and a thank you to all those who have taken the time to read and post comment.

Hello Again!

Ariel suggested I set up a blog. I did so. But it was on Blogger and he was not amused. So now I’m here.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my new blog. Webmaster Ariel has suggested on several occasions I get involved in this lark so you can all blame him. As mentioned in the header description I intend this to be a completely random place, no individual topic will be covered but expect posts on books, films, beer, links to stuff that pique my interest.
The layout will probably change over the next months and more functionality will no doubt be added as I learn more about how this works, but stick with me and please feel free to pass comment, suggestion or constructive criticism as you desire.