Magic... I almost missed this. Duncan was in the Guardian: Handshake in Helsinki turns into an Ethiopian hug I haven't come across the Letter from... section before. I stopped reading the print version of The Guardian a couple of years back. Weird that they don't provide any background. It'll be a sin if Duncan doesn't get a book out of his time in Ethiopia *. And it's not like his adventures ended when he left Africa. This is from an email he sent: i am a driver of the guests which is a bit tricky being on the wrong side of the road and things all mirrored in the car so i end up doing left-handed karate chops to the door as i reach for the gearstick which is actually on the right of me... and when i go to signal i instead send the windscreen wipers flipping around madly... and then i get given automatic cars and vans to drive... and then of course there are reindeer plunge out of the trees in front of you (and there are only trees either side of the road here) bringing you to a stop till they goof of into the woods or start eating flowerheads... this keeps you alert behind the wheel... at least there is only one road between Sodankyla and Rovaniemi (the airport run) with almost no roads turning from it... That's Duncan just north of the fucking Arctic Circle :) Hard to believe it's the same guy I used to work in a bookstore with. Magic. * Dunc - your old blog is fucking about. I have a LOT of webspace if you want to archive it properly away from that blogspot crap... Mike is writing to Kate Bush