These block-books, or xylographica, of which upwards of a hundred issues and editions, comprising some thirty separate works, have been recorded, were produced chiefly in the Netherlands and Germany.

Heimito Gerhardt, a fan of gaming by mail, presented Conrad and me with our own play-by-mail kits as he accompanied us to the bus station. It so happened that Heimito corresponded with Rex Douglas (one of Conrad's idols), the great American gamer and star writer for one of the most prestigious of the specialized journals, The General.

Where and what is the Global South? If you ask people on the street, many would probably not have the faintest idea. In everyday parlance and mass media, Global South has hardly become a household term. In academic and (global) policy circles, though, the term is used with much more gusto.

A stranger will smile warmly at you, but there normally won't be any of that strangerly chitchat in waiting areas or checkout lines.