Eggp > Recent Status Updates

05. The Million Dollar Bond Robbery, 3 stars. Sealed pouches in a locked trunk on a swanky boat, transparent to Poirot.
06. The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb, 3 stars. Men involved in an mummy excavation drop like flies, prompting Poirot to drag his fat sweaty lil body to the desert.
07. The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan, 3 stars. Rich people, sea breeze, and all Poirot can smell in the air is thievery.

01. The Adventure of "The Western Star", 3 stars. Sinister Asian threatens to steal diamond from actress.
02. The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor, 3 stars. Man dies shortly after taking out large insurance policy.
03. The Adventure of the Cheap Flat, 3 stars. Poirot is bored, discerns hinkiness from a low rent.
04. The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge, 3 stars. Bedridden Poirot solves the shooting of a rich uncle via telegram.

08. The Long Arm of Looney Coote, 3 stars. Ukridge campaigns for an old school fellow in a "borrowed" suit, driving in a "borrowed" car.
09. The Exit of Battling Billson, 3 stars. Ukridge replaces Billson in the ring after the boxer finds Jesus in a big way.
10. Ukridge Rounds a Nasty Corner, 3 stars. Head over heels in love, Ukridge kidnaps (then later drugs) a beloved parrot, all to win over his lady love's aunt.

05. The Return of Battling Billson, 2 stars. Smelling a big payout, Ukridge manages another boxing match, with predictable results.
06. Ukridge Sees her Through, 3 stars. Ukridge promises a nice girl a substantial sum that he doesn't have, and has little hope of ever getting.
07. No Wedding Bells for Him, 3 stars. Ukridge's showing off someone else's swanky car leads to an unwanted engagement.

01. Ukridge's Dog College, 3 stars. No one appreciates Ukridge's efforts to start a dog training empire.
02. Ukridge's Accident Syndicate, 4 stars. The gents convince a friend to injure himself for the insurance.
03. The Début of Battling Billson, 2 stars. Ukridge manipulates kind-hearted boxing giant, but his timing is off.
04. First Aid for Dora, 4 stars. Ukridge gets a nice girl fired, feeds Corky to his aunt.

Wiki: "...Cincinnatus would step in such a way as to slip naturally and effortlessly through some chink of the air into its unknown coulisses to disappear there..."

1. A groove or channel in which a sluice-gate or movable partition slides up and down.

2. One of the side scenes of the stage in a theatre; also the space between them, the wings.

Wiki: "Solemn Pauline raised up her face; Diomedon, on the contrary, gazed down at the floor."

Wiki: "The blond brother sat the dark one on his shoulders and in that position they took leave of Cincinnatus and departed, like a live mountain."

Word: "...his coevals would suddenly forsake him..."

1. Of equal antiquity, of contemporaneous origin, going back to the same date.

2. Of the same age, equally old, having existed or lived the same number of years.

3. Living or existing at the same time or in the same age of the world; contemporary.

4. Of coincident duration, lasting to the same age or time.

04. The Singular Speculation of the House-agent, 3 stars. Skint Lieutenant borrows large sum of money to purchase a home, Rupert tags along to see what it's really for.
05. The Noticeable Conduct of Professor Chadd, 4 stars. Dedicated professor nabs a better job, dances around like a fool.
06. The Eccentric Seclusion of the Old Lady, 3 stars. The gents attack young men while attempting to free a captive lady.

01. The Tremendous Adventures of Major Brown, 3 stars. Bewildered major finds himself the target of flower arranging murderers.
02. The Painful Fall of a Great Reputation, 3 stars. The gents stalk a wicked-looking and incredibly witty-seeming guy.
03. The Awful Reason of the Vicar's Visit, 3 stars. Distressed vicar's convoluted tale makes Swinburne miss a dinner party.

Wiki: "...I remembered the mysteries of the Bona Dea and their strange female freemasonry."

12. Bruce Sterling - Goddess of Mercy, 2 stars. Hostage negotiator gets the runaround on a pirate island
13. Tobi Hirotaka - Autogenic Dreaming: Interview with the Columns of Clouds, 4 stars. AI search engine interviews prolific author/serial killer to understand itself.

09. Catherynne M. Valente - One Breath, One Stroke, 1 star. Everyone transforms into something else on the opposite sides of a house.
10. Ekaterina Sedia - Whale Meat, 3 stars. Visiting a fishing village with estranged father, tasting a whale.
11. Hideyuki Kikuchi - Mountain People, Ocean People, 3 stars. Isolated high-flying survivors adapted to dangerous surroundings.

05. Rachel Swirsky - The Sea of Trees, 3 stars. Professional suicide forest looter agrees to help a girl find her dead dad.
06. Tō Enjō - Endoastronomy, 1 star. Old man & some kids try to make sense of the stars.
07. Pat Cadigan - In Plain Sight, 3 stars. Interpol cop is forwarded a case by a comatose colleague.
08. Issui Ogawa - Golden Bread, 2 stars. Foreign pilot crashes into village, whines about their food.

01. Ken Liu - Mono no Aware, 4 stars. [2017]
02. Felicity Savage - The Sound of Breaking Up, 2 stars. Stealing resources from time to enrich the present.
03. David Moles - Chitai Heiki Koronbin, 3 stars. Angsty teens control giant robots and kill aliens.
04. Project Itoh - The Indifference Engine, 3 stars. Americans tinker with the minds of foreign child soldiers to make them more peaceful.

01. Time Locker, 2 stars. Criminal lawyer kills bug, loses a suitcase.
02. The World is Mine, 2 stars. Time machine keeps spitting out murdered corpses.
03. The Proud Robot, 2 stars. Home theater is threatened by bootlegged big screen.
04. Gallegher Plus, 2 stars. Three clients, one rainbow dirt eating movie cable machine.
05. Ex Machina, 2 stars. Hunting company wants easy but exciting non-lethal prey.

05. The View, 2 stars. Recovering from an illness, creative type shacks up with a beautiful woman in a beautiful house on a beautiful island.
06. Bind Your Hair, 3 stars. Newly engaged bride wanders around the tiny village where the groom's parents live.

01. The School Friend, 3 stars. Childhood friends return home as adults, one is a snooping cow.
02. Ringing the Changes, 3 stars. Hasty newlyweds go on a disastrous seaside honeymoon.
03. Choice of Weapons, 3 stars. Student pursues woman he stared at in a restaurant.
04. The Waiting Room, 2 stars. Whiny man takes a train, complains constantly, sleeps through his stop.

Wiki: "no, I drank the reviving drop from the Cauldron of Ceridwen."

Ceridwen > Taliesin

B12 - CH07
Henderson opens an art gallery, finally making Mr Deacon a famous painter. Bithel stays in touch, news of Widmerpool's death is shocking, but not unexpected in style.

Volume 4: Winter. Est. 1945-1971.

B10. Books Do Furnish a Room - 10-12 Dec, 5 stars. 1945-1947. 30%

B11. Temporary Kings - 12-16 Dec, 5 stars. 1958-1959. 36%

B12. Hearing Secret Harmonies 16-19 Dec, 5 stars. 1968-1971. 34%

B12 - CH05
Widmerpool hooks up with Scorpio's cult, but can't be tamed. Fiona is sent to tempt Delavacquerie to give away Gwinnett's location, it works. Gwinnett observes a botched ritual involving sex & stabbery.

B12 - CH06
Fiona & Gwinnett marry in secret, the cult crashes Jenkins' nephew's wedding, Widmerpool's antics make his mother-in-law faint. One member defects, Widmerpool is forbidden to leave by Scorpio.

B12 - CH03
The Donners Prize dinner starts off seeming rather unexciting, until bizarro-Widmerpool gives an anti-establishment speech. The Quiggin twins end the night with fireworks and stinkbombs.

B12 - CH04
Nick gabs with an alchemical priest from his uni days, learning more about Scorpio's (Trelawney reborn?) cult. An even scruffier Widmerpool interjects himself, requesting an introduction to the beautiful boy.

B12 - CH01
Niece Fiona & her pagan cult friends park their caravan on the Jenkins' land, inquiries are made by leader Scorpio re: local ruins.

B12 - CH02
Lots of writer friends now work in television, Widmerpool is a pro-youth pro-protest university chancellor, Nick is a judge for the Magnus Donners Memorial Prize. Top contender is Gwinnett's long-awaited biography of X. Trapnel, despite some delicate issues.

B11 - CH05
The Jenkins' attend a musical charity event hosted by Rosie & Odo, directed by ill Hugh, attended by many nostalgic figures, & the newly scot-free Widmerpools. Pam blurts TMI that ends in a violent scene.

B11 - CH06
Pam suicides at Gwinnett's hotel, Glober dies in a car accident, Hugh in the hospital. Gwinnett lives a non-literary life in Spain, a slightly more deranged Widmerpool pushes on with politics.

B11 - CH03
Nick's outing with an ex-friend of his family morphs into a foursome, Widmerpool butts in, breaking it up with his spy BS. Pam has multiple parties' balls in a vice, intent on making a conquest of Gwinnett.

B11 - CH04
Pam hunts down Gwinnett, causing him to move around & naked havoc at the Bagshaw home. Widmerpool is under investigation for his international jiggery-pokery, almost everyone seems thrilled.

B11 - CH01
Nick goes on an intellectual conference in Venice, hangs out with an American Trapnel superfan/biographer. Pam's escapades still raise eyebrows, being internationally reported now.

B11 - CH02
More past friends turn up. Pam appears as if summoned, Widmerpool hot on her heels. Perhaps being too friendly with Gwinnett about his book, she calls out Widmerpool for having dirty pictures of her with other men.

B10 - CH05
Fission gives up the ghost, Gypsy arranges the destruction of a manuscript she disapproves of. X. is afraid to go home alone after a fight, discovers Pam tossed his manuscript in the river and buggered off back to Widmerpool. Seeing about a school for his son, Nick bumps into temp librarian Le Bas, then finds Widmerpool lingering outside while his wife "lunches" privately with a school boy.

B10 - CH03
Jean scopes out Isobel, flaunting her wealth & importance. Nick's publishing job nabs a hot new eccentric author, celebrates first magazine issue. Widmerpool's schmooze game is top notch in any company.

B10 - CH04
Isobel has baby #2, strife is brewing at Fission. X. isn't a bad writer, but is constantly borrowing money. This time he borrows Pam off Widmerpool, Nick witnesses their awkward confrontation.

B10 - CH01
Researching for a book, Nick visits Sillery at his old university. Juicy gossip about Widmerpool's rising star & marriage is teased, but not revealed. Erridge dies unexpectedly.

B10 - CH02
Erry's radical friends turn up at his funeral escorted by Widmerpool. Pam (pregnant?) causes multiple scenes, including barfing in an antique. Dicky doubts her (and fetus') paternity. Nick is offered a publishing job.