What I am actually in Cape Town for.

Sneaking in right at the end of the first half of the year, my six from six, looking at the best six books I read in 2026, plus a little bonus of the best six /published/ in 2026, and the somewhat-more-than-six I still want to get to. Lists!

Government continues to make the case that my paper about what an ongoing failure by the political branches to meet the expected norms of accountability might mean for what courts are justified in doing really is quite topical. This from yesterday; I'm presenting my paper on Friday.

Update from Table Mountain. (Also; Bird).

Update from Table Mountain. (Also; Bird).

Turns out Cape Town is pretty. (Also; Cat)

Yesssssssss. What a ridiculously good list. Everything I've read is excellent. And absolutely fk yeah @pipadam.bsky.social!!!

Pretty much exactly 24 hours since I left the house & still in transit. Currently cooling my heels in a Joburg gate lounge waiting for the last flight of this trip in a couple hours. Turns out it takes quite a long time to fly literally all the way across the Indian Ocean (w/ the Tasman tacked on).

Honestly absurd from England. A fitting tombstone for Bazball (including if they somehow win tomorrow, heh. Though in that case tombstone as monument).

Our submission against the Legislation (Definition of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill. The bill has no clear benefits and seems to be an attempt to encourage discrimination against trans-gender and non-binary people. nzccl.org.nz/submission-l...

Off to Cape Town for a conference tomorrow. First time in South Africa (first time in *Africa*), and have a day either side to poke around the city and, of course, the surrounding winelands. A city I've seen a lot as a backdrop to cricket & rugby tests, excited to actually get a chance to visit!

Hungarians turn out in thousands for first Pride march since Viktor Orbán was voted out

“How much is a magical world worth?” A beautiful thread about Cabo Verde, the Peace Corps, and the World Cup:

My parents had really eclectic taste in music. The Band, The Beatles, Eurythmics, Manhattan Transfer.

Back to the usual: enjoying the World Cup as a neutral

Honestly not a dreadful performance from the lowest ranked team at the tournament - certainly a bit more traction up front than a number of better teams - but overwhelmed and overmatched in their own third. & Just, Stamenic, and a couple of others should attract some bigger club attention.

Really is remarkable the difference in quality in our own half vs in the attacking half for NZ. Which is a problem when the entire game is played in our own half.

a) Justice for Joey Jay. b) The producers rigging so many elements of recent drag race seasons is very obvious and makes the whole thing less enjoyable to watch.

My gay atheist ass is apparently the current Pope and I will absolutely take that, 100 times out of 100, over Mr Beast.

Pleased to see Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission submitting rightfully in opposition to the Marcroft bill, with an excellent submission publicly available: tikatangata.org.nz/news/definit...

This is a terrible idea that will end badly. The Prime Minister should not owe their home to private donors. Taxpayers absolutely should pay for it. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

I agree this looks like these folks have been left in a terrible situation. But the Council is also right that it's actually required to follow the law as it currently exists. Bit alarming the alleged rule of law fans in the ACT party seem to think that's optional.

Third place teams on 3 points (Korea, Scotland) putting their heads in their hands watching the as they stand scores.

there's something really special about a place in this world where people have been gathering for literal millennia to complain about the seating's lack of upper back support

Boy are the referees favouring the big teams in this tournament. Credit to VAR for correcting that one.

"The streets of Tokyo have transformed into a vibrant sea of rainbow flags, sharp techno beats, and thousands of chanting voices for Tokyo Rainbow Pride this June. This year’s Pride Month is more than a celebratory festival of visibility; the atmosphere feels electrified" #Pride

Korea being on 3 points and -1 GD compared to Scotland on 3 points with -3 GD pretty much does for Scotland getting through to the knockout round, yes? Seems likely Scotland will end up in the bottom 4 3rd places.

South Africa! They were good for that. Korea's been pretty woeful this game.

Korea's central midfielders having absolutely woeful games in the middle third. Constantly giving away possession and being cut out by balls they should intercept. #8 in particular.

Wellington will be consulting on a change to land value ratings. Very happy personally as I have been advocating for this for many years, and happy for our city as this change helps support housing and growth we need for a brighter future. Please have your say in consultation.

Holy shit Haiti. Hell of a strike.

Today's main task. One guess what piece of legislation this is about.

Interesting read. And while DCC is probably the widest selling version of this, it *isn't* necessarily the most all in on left politics. 1 of the most aggressive, yes, but there's a prominent strand of progression fantasy/LitRPG on royalroad & self-pub thats all in on prosocial community building.

Salarian Councilor says Commander Shepard is going to have to patch things up with the Council following upset on Palaven.

Over a decade on from 'The Piketty Phenomenon: New Zealand Perspectives', contributor Max Rashbrooke reflects on a new global report that challenges conventional thinking on economic growth and draws on Thomas Piketty's work to do it. www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...

Notes from a Regicide is $2.99 in all ebook formats through the 26th. Celebrate Pride with a whole family of hot messes raving about oil painting! All the streets in New York are canals in the future, so they can't march; you have to do it for them. us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

Big teams getting some refereeing favours this tournament.

Bookshop.org is having an anti-amazon-prime sale, & you can get THE DEVOURERS slightly discounted there. A mythic realist, queer dark fantasy about love, sex, violence, & shapeshifting set in contemporary India & the Mughal Empire. It won a Lambda Award.

Solaris has an enviable record of putting out consistently top quality SFF and I really do hope that tradition continues under new ownership.

the write ups of the pm's fall never mention his biggest reforms—those that made the uk far, far worse for minorities my latest for @liberalcurrents.com www.liberalcurrents.com/starmer-out/

Happy Father's Day! I pulled together this stack of books featuring fathers and exploring fatherhood: from the dads who are Perfect and Kind to the ones who are... not, mentors & protectors, priests, psychics, soldiers, & kings, good & the bad alike in one of our earliest & strongest relationships.

I’ll be traveling soon, but before I leave, I have to celebrate one more fantastic debut that I don’t think is getting enough attention. The Killing Spell by @shaykauwe.bsky.social is a Hawaiian based fantasy with elements of mystery and romance. Loved the setting and cultural aspects!

I am looking forward to this book more than pretty much any upcoming release in the last 3 or 4 years. Great concept, writer with a mind-bogglingly excellent track record, very likely to be extremely homosexual, and that *cover*. Can has sprayed edges fancy edition plz?

The exact distribution of who gets the most from the income tax changes is interesting. Almost all earners get something but there is a dip above $40k.

As much as much it annoys me, the job of a centre-tending centre-left party, in a multiparty electoral system, is to pull the centrist votes mildly left. It's the job of the parties further to the left to inspire voters disillusioned by that tactic & pull votes off the big party's left flank.

Today in online irritations, coming across a thread which goes on the big rant prompted by something I wrote about a book without having read the book or, it seems, the thread I wrote. To their credit they didn't tag me so I'll return the favour but jeez. Sometimes people are Very Online.

"I don't call him Ronaldo I call him Cristiano here is only one Ronaldo and he wore 9 not 7" Henry just hit the hardest slide tackle of the entire world cup while standing in the studio

And here we are at the end of the exercise. The Queersar Not An Award for excellence in queer SFF and SFF with queers 2024! It's been fun, & I hope you find something new that's slipped between the cracks. The book I spotlight in this list is the most shamefully under-read of the whole exercise.