The Smith Lectures had already been back on BBC Radio 2 for two weeks and I didn’t notice until yesterday. There isn’t a “listen again” RealPlayer option on the BBC site either—probably because the programme consists mainly of well chosen archive recordings of stand-up comedy from so many different sources that there would be a […]
Read MorePooterGeek
Still No Cure For Genius
PooterGeek is number three hit on Google for “cure for stupidity“. Sadly, number one is James D Watson indulging in that favourite activity of previous Nobel prizewinners: talking cack.
Read MoreFeeling Rejected?
Check out the best “404 File Not Found” error pages on the Web.
Read MoreToonophilia Too Far
There was some discussion here about the sexual allure of Elastigirl—who, in the recent Incredibles film has grown up (and out) to become Elastiwoman-with-three-kids—not to mention that of her cartoon co-star Mirage. From Betty Boop to Scooby Doo‘s Daphne to Jessica Rabbit there are quite a few celluloid celebrities—made of rather than just printed onto […]
Read MoreThe Third Man Got Away With It
I’ve just sat through the whole of the first in the new series of BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz and not one of the so-called comedians on the two teams had a go at Simon Hoggart (over this of course). Worse, it was an episode featuring both Armando Unfunnucci and Alan “my offspring shame […]
Read MoreNorm Is A Top Bloke
Norman Geras bought me dinner this evening. I accepted on condition that he let me do the same for him next time we met. More importantly he was excellent company and even more interesting in real life than he is on his ‘Blog—which is saying something. He is also taller. This very effectively took my […]
Read MoreA Word From Our Sponsors
I have been asked to bless this Webpage with the Google power of PooterGeek, the most “innovative and resourceful” Website in the World. The aforementioned link is surely the best to follow for Philippine biotechnology, enterprise, and investment conference information. I think casualsavant would agree with me in the comments, using further links to illustrate […]
Read MoreNational Portrait Gallery Employee Escapes Shortlisting For PooterGeek’s 2005 Numptie Award
Dear Damian, Thanks for this. Believe it or not, we do have a sense of humour here and your email raised a smile or two in the office (actually – just one!). Please forgive the standard text of the email sent yesterday. We send out dozens of such emails each month as part of our […]
Read MoreMarconi Plays The Mamba
Socialism In An Age Of Waiting links to a story about the legend of “Midgetville” today. It opens by saying that the likeliest candidate is a place called Jefferson Township. I couldn’t concentrate on the rest because all I could think of was a bunch superannuated hippies singing: “Don’t you remem-ber? We built this city, […]
Read MoreFor The Encouragement Of Learning
[UPDATE: Yes, this is a reply to a real email message I received today. It showed every sign of being from the National Portrait Gallery, scoring only 0.8 out of a possible 5.0 on X-Spam’s spam-o-meter. I haven’t emailed my message directly to the original sender yet. I may yet tone it down, but if […]
Read MoreWho’d Have ‘Em?
Happy Birthday, dad, and God help us all.
Read MoreExcluded Again
This is a learned society I’m not going to be joining any time soon.
Read More“I Used To Be The Next President, You Know”
Feeling smug after a compliment someone paid my prose yesterday, I have one more piece of advice for Kerry: if you’re going to run again, John, speak plain English.
Read MoreMiddling Along
My previous boss in London had a Catholic friend who was a dedicated Crystal Palace fan. He used to take his kids along to every match. During a particularly bad patch in their modest history he used to joke that when he was getting one of his sons ready for the game one Saturday the […]
Read MoreThe People’s Wall Clock
With this delightful collector’s timepiece you can count the hours down until the writs fly.
Read MoreThat Time Of The Month Year
Last year I had the unusual and unblogged pleasure of attending a birthday party where the majority of the guests were professional opera singers. It took place in the basement room of a London restaurant. If you try hard you can imagine what the rendition of “Happy Birthday” sounded like. The birthday girl has a […]
Read MoreComedy Divorce
Everything I have read about Team America: World Police makes me more eager to see it. A film in that opens with Thunderbirds-style puppets accidentally destroying Paris as part of an US anti-terror operation and offends Sean Penn to the point of releasing a statement to the press is worth a viewing. This report worries […]
Read MoreMan-Made Disaster
When the first reports came in we had no inkling of how bad things were going to get. Now the full horror can be revealed: “Some of the UK’s biggest musical stars have pledged their support to a new charity single aimed at raising funds for victims of the Asian tsunami disaster. ‘Grief Never Grows […]
Read MoreBracing!
Insert Joke Here is quoting Richard Dawkins on the bracing effects of atheism: “There is deep refreshment in standing up full-face into the keen wind of understanding … Safety and happiness would mean being satisfied with easy answers and cheap comforts, living a warm, comfortable lie. The daemonic alternative urged by my matured Devil’s Chaplain […]
Read MoreWho Guards The Guardian?
While the smelly Lefties sleep off their hangovers, The Graun‘s Middle East desk is taken over by agents of the Zionist Conspiracy: Winners and Losers in Israel It was a good year for … Ariel Sharon Sharon seized the initiative by declaring that Israel would unilaterally pull all Jewish settlers and most soldiers out of […]
Read MoreThe Web
[cliché]As the year draws to a close[/cliché], I’d like to thank the global network of PooterGeek operatives who make this site the nerve centre of international happenings that it is, both the core team of: Special Agent Berlinski: Paris operative and roving European reporter; Special Agent Levy: “the Mossad Mother”, our Middle East observer; Special […]
Read MoreUnelected Leaders Update
Another one bites the dust.
Read MoreOldie But Goody
Better post this one before it’s next year here. From The Guardian in January, children under eight years of age review classic rock: Jimi Hendrix: Crosstown Traffic (1968) What the grown-ups say: “In a sense, Jimi’s Stratocaster is more articulate and speaks with more poetic beauty than he, or almost any other singer, possibly could… […]
Read MoreNot Strictly Accurate
But close enough to the truth to make me laugh [via The Motley Fool].
Read MoreHappy New Year, Maoser!
I’ve just tried ringing you to wish you a prosperous 2005, but all I get is a severe Englishwoman saying, “Sorry. There is a fault. Please try again.” Course, I might have just accidentally speed-dialled Mistress Spank’s Correction Line again.
Read MoreFrontpage Splash
Today, under the headline “WALL SAVES COUPLE AS WAVE HITS THAI RESORT”, the Cambridge Town Crier tells me on its front page that “Several Cambridgeshire residents have escaped death in the Asian tsunami horror”. Realish via boingboing takes the prize, though, for spotting this headline.
Read MorePistons At Noon
Our former colony across The Pond preserves the tradition of duelling suitors in its own special way: “The parking lot of C & W Auto Glass was the scene of a violent automotive encounter Monday, when two Godfrey men repeatedly rammed vehicles in a quarrel that broke out over the affections of a woman… “…The […]
Read MoreStill More Bimbo Fun
[Via Fark] Gawker brings us priceless interview quotes from actress and raconteur Kate Bosworth. My favourites: “There was just a study done actually, I saw it on ‘Regis and Kelly’, I can’t remember how many hours a year a person uses being in their car in L.A., but it’s, like, a lot of time.” “It’s […]
Read MorePost Office Counters
Good morning, Mr McKafka. Mr Counsell, we meet again. Not very often, what with your window only opening for business minutes at a time on days of the week with a “K” in their names. Your ready wit never fails to bring a smile to my routine. What quotidian but essential goal can I divert […]
Read More
Recent Comments