* Tim Lott at The Guardian complained that modern writers of "literary fiction" no longer interest him because they are bad at plot and basic storytelling. I suspect there is something to that.
* Did you see the story ABC TV news was running over Christmas about the terrible situation with potable water in Jakarta? It was startling how bad the situation was in the city, and now I can't find the link. Must be there somewhere, I would expect. But Googling around shows me that the situation has been bad for a very long time, with the problem being pinned by some on the water utility being privatised 20 years ago. That has now been undone due to litigation, and it's the government's direct problem again. Private companies don't always do it better, it seems...
* Good advice: Don’t listen to Gwyneth Paltrow: keep your coffee well away from your rectum
* Yet another The Guardian link: about a trend to keep bodies of deceased loved ones at home for a period of mourning and how funeral directors help facilitate it. (There's a cold plate the body is put on.) It's a bit of a tribal thing for many, but I think it does make some psychological sense that it would help the mind process the loss.
* I sort of like folk Catholicism for its liveliness and its cultural interest, but does it have to be as dangerous as a photo essay at The Atlantic (showing a massive procession in the Philippines from a couple of weeks ago) indicates? Two examples:
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