Alastair Reynolds's Blog, page 5

Day 3 of RED January

 A two for one this time as I'm uploading yesterday's run as well as today's. 

This is my fourth consecutive run as I ended 2024 by running in the Nos Galan road races in Mountain Ash on New Year's Eve. Nos Galan is a wonderful community event which celebrates the life of the legendarily fast Welsh runner Guto Nyth Brân, who lived between 1700 and 1737. Here I am plodding around the course a few evenings ago. I think you can get an idea of the amazing atmosphere of Nos Galan, which is always bril...

RED January

 I'm going to beg your patience by mentioning another fundraising initiative I'm doing, although I've set a somewhat more modest a target than I did for the Cardiff Half.

The RED in RED January stands for "rise every day", or, for some of us, "run every day". The RED January movement is about boosting mental health during what can be a challenging time of year, at least in this hemisphere. A little bit of activity, especially done outdoors, can make a massive difference to mood and well-being. I ...

End of year update

 As we approach the end of 2024 I'd like to send good wishes to all my readers and hope you have a relaxed and enjoyable conclusion to the year however you choose to celebrate it, and the very best of times in the New Year. I'd also like to give particular thanks to all those who supported me during my Cardiff Half Marathon challenge with Alzheimer's UK. Every pound was appreciated and it will all make a difference in the fight against this awful disease.

Looking on, I've registered for next year...

It ain't me, babe

 Thanks to my friends Paul and Malcolm for alerting me to a fake Bluesky social media account which is purporting to be me - it isn't. There is also at least one Stephen Baxter impersonator on Bluesky. 

For the record, I'm not on any social media platforms. I used to be able to at least monitor the content of Twitter and Facebook without logging in, but I can't even do that anymore.

White Foxes - Susanne Sundfør

I've gone completely ga-ga for this song and video. It's an old one but Susanne Sundfør wasn't on my radar at all until I heard a collaborative piece by her on the soundtrack to the new Day of the Jackal series. That led me to this piece, which I adore. It's always great to discover a brilliant artist.

The Saints!

 Nice article on the reformed Saints in The Guardian today:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/nov/11/punk-pioneers-the-saints-im-stranded

Galactic Vinyl Memories #13

 I needed to cheer myself up on Wednesday morning, so - thanks to a pre-arranged visit to Cardiff - I did a bit of retail therapy in HMV.

I really like Michael Kiwanuka's music, although this is the first record of his I've bought. I was surprised by how much of it I've recognised on first play. He did a great set at Glastonbury in the summer, and has a new album out now as well.

This is a Khruangbin album. I love Khruangbin! I came to them via a live set that was shown on BBC Wales a couple of ye...

Galactic Vinyl Memories #12

 A two-for-one this time! No connection to the previous record that I can think of, although they certainly stem from a similar period in my listening.

These two records, both of which I'd suggest are now considered "seminal", were bought from a small independent record shop called Rock City in St Andrews, Scotland in October 1989. "Sensual World" was Kate Bush's first significant new release since "Hounds of Love" four years earlier (quite a long time in them there days), while The Blue Nile's s...

Galactic Vinyl Memories #11

 I've been having fun with these vinyl posts, so I thought I'd carry on with them for a bit. There's only the most tenuous of links between this record and the preceding one, though: they're both on the Geffen label! Beyond that, you'd be hard-pressed to find an LP that sounds less like Asia than this one.

I bought this album by The Chameleons on the strength of hearing a single on Radio 1 in the early summer of 1986. It was on one of those "juke-box jury" type programs. I don't think anyone like...

Cardiff Half-Marathon update

 The Cardiff Half-Marathon took place on Sunday, with an estimated 29,000 participants. My wife and I stayed overnight so as to make our morning as stress-free as possible, but even so, we were caught out by the crowds around the start area, and it was a bit of a struggle to get to the right position for my allocated start time. All came good in the end, though, and I was able to settle down and enjoy the extremely positive and welcoming atmosphere generated by the other runners and their suppor...