*

Nice posts from Mike Harrison concerning his list of 'some good fantasy' and a later list of 'some interesting science fiction'. More recently he's added to the former with a Swift-like proposal here that the canon of fantasy be rebuilt/extended to include such things as L'Oreal ad campaigns and the life and death of Jade Goody. Funny and bitter. Good stuff in the comments there too.

*

Meanwhile things aren't looking so good for the pirates.

Grass-roots, antipirate militias are forming. Sheiks and government leaders are embarking on a campaign to excommunicate the pirates, telling them to get out of town and preaching at mosques for women not to marry these un-Islamic, thieving “burcad badeed,” which in Somali translates as sea bandit. There is even a new sign at a parking lot in Garoowe, the sun-blasted capital of the semiautonomous region of Puntland, that may be the only one of its kind in the world. The thick red letters say: No pirates allowed.

Whole article here at NYT.