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cowellhk.bsky.social
Pete Cowell
@cowellhk.bsky.social
170 followers 160 following 140 posts
Far-flung Scot. Long-term Hong Kong resident. Mainly books and music. All views my own.
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cowellhk.bsky.social
"It's part of me, Scotland. I'm still immersed in it even though I am not there." – Irvine Welsh
December 1, 2025 at 11:52 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
Excited Magpie Dry Irish Stout from the Heart Of Darkness brewery in #Saigon. Nae bad at all.
#HoChiMinh #Vietnam #Beer
November 8, 2025 at 7:16 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
I never thought I'd read a book about a member of the royal family. Yet here we are. Meticulously researched, written with flair and a genuine page-turner; @chinarhyming.bsky.social has done it again. This offers a superb insight into the life of a much-maligned woman. Read it.
#Books #BookSky
November 6, 2025 at 9:10 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
October 31, 2025 at 2:23 PM
cowellhk.bsky.social
Somehow, I've joined a band and we're playing at this tonight:
#HongKong #MacGowansTeeth #LiveMusic
October 30, 2025 at 3:14 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
Well, the first delivery has arrived and it looks fantastic! Need to get a CD player this weekend...
#DickGaughan
October 23, 2025 at 11:21 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
@theguardian.com Wrong country:
September 26, 2025 at 5:48 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
A hard-boiled, black-hearted trip through to Glasgow at the turn of the Millennium. Corruption and vice rule; booze flows like the poisoned River Clyde and horror lurks behind respectable, closed doors. It's a solid yes from me.
#Books #BookSky #Glasgow #ScottishFiction
Louise Welsh's debut novel The Cutting Room.
September 22, 2025 at 2:19 PM
cowellhk.bsky.social
The Natural: one of the greatest, most nostalgic sports movies of all time.
#RobertRedford
Robert Redford in The Natural.
September 17, 2025 at 11:42 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
Well, it's no less terrifying than reading the news and realising we're living in a meaningless nightmare. So why not cut your losses and indulge in some Ligotti instead.
#BookSky #Fiction #Horror
Picture of a book by Thomas Ligotti.
September 10, 2025 at 7:28 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
#Edinburgh at the fag-end of the C17th: black hypocrisy, superstition, fanaticism and judicial cruelty. Juxtapose all that with the city's modern obsession with capturing the tourist dollar. What you're left with is this genuinely engaging, pitch-dark tale.
#Books #BookSky #ScottishFiction
A picture of James Robertson's debut novel The Fanatic. The front cover is brown and depicts a corbie perched on Arthur's Seat overlooking Salisbury Crags and the city of Edinburgh beyond.
September 1, 2025 at 6:24 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
Commuting in #HongKong has its upsides.
August 21, 2025 at 10:26 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
Hong Kong is having a similarly delightful evening. Image courtesy of the Hong Kong Observatory.
August 2, 2025 at 2:33 PM
cowellhk.bsky.social
Magnificent latest Rebus instalment by @ianrankin1.bsky.social. Just so engaging. Also, and maybe this is just me, but is it weird if a novel largely dealing with prison makes me homesick for #Edinburgh (and no, I didn't live in Saughton...)? Make of that what you will. #BookSky #Books
July 17, 2025 at 6:22 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
Not a bad wee sunset tonight in #HongKong.
Warm orange sunset over Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong.
July 8, 2025 at 1:15 PM
cowellhk.bsky.social
There's lyrical prose, and then there's George Mackay Brown. Here are two tales about the end of a way of life and the dawn of a new one.
#Books #Booksky #Orkney #ScottishFiction
July 8, 2025 at 6:37 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
The history and culture of #Orkney have long fascinated me, and this brilliant examination of the 15th to the 19th centuries didn't disappoint. Engagingly written and constantly surprising. Top marks.
#Books #BookSky #History #Scotland
June 22, 2025 at 11:34 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
In 2006, my band supported The Popes in Lincoln, England, on St Patrick's Day. Shane MacGowan, unfortunately, couldn't make it. The guy who took on vocal duties was Paul McGuinness, and he'd just been released from prison. Great bunch of guys and they were incredible.

Here's an old pic of us:
Bottle of Smoke, c. 2001
June 21, 2025 at 12:02 PM
cowellhk.bsky.social
"Now."
#catsofbluesky
A black tomcat gives an imploring stare.
June 14, 2025 at 4:29 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
A painful read at times, but definitely worth the hype.
#BookSky #Books #Australia #Fiction #BookerPrize
A picture of the cover of Richard Flanagan's 2014 novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
May 12, 2025 at 5:51 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
Scenes from Tai O today.
#HongKong
Village houses nestle beneath a mountainside next to water. A hillside with three aspects: bare, burnt and covered with foliage.
May 11, 2025 at 5:55 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
There's some rough weather on the way. #HongKong
Dark rain clouds loom threateningly over steel and glass skyscrapers in Hong Kong's Central district.
May 9, 2025 at 3:12 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
Looking north from Puy de Dôme to other peaks in the Chaîne des Puys, a range of 80 dormant volcanoes in central France. I took this pic in February 2020, just before the pandemic rendered the whole world dormant for a time. My thought often strayed to these hills during those strange years.
A chilly scene from Auvergne in central France. From left: Puy Balmet, Puy de Côme, Grand Suchet and Puy de Clierzou, with other peaks in the Chaîne des Puys visible as they stretch northwards. It is a winter's day. The sky is blue with wispy clouds and the mountainsides are dun-coloured. A forest of larch and pine skirts the foothills. In the far distance, to the north-west, lie the empty lands of La Creuse.
May 7, 2025 at 6:30 AM
cowellhk.bsky.social
A sublime exploration of memory and lived experience. But there's magic realism in there too. Tender, mysterious; it's wonderful stuff altogether. @aonghasphadraig.bsky.social truly is a master storyteller.
#BookSky #Books #ScottishFiction
A picture of the novel Eighth Moon Bridge by the Scottish novelist and poet Angus Peter Campbell. It sits on a brown table.
May 6, 2025 at 2:32 PM
cowellhk.bsky.social
Looking south towards the hills of Glen Tromie in Badenoch.
#Scotland
April 23, 2025 at 11:28 PM