PooterGeek

Brilliant!

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 […]

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Toonophilia 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 […]

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The 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 […]

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Norm 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 […]

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A 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 […]

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Marconi 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, […]

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For 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 […]

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Middling 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 […]

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That 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 […]

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Comedy 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 […]

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Man-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 […]

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Bracing!

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 […]

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Who 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 […]

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The 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 […]

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Oldie 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… […]

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Happy 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.

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Frontpage 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.

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Pistons 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 […]

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Still 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 […]

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Post 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 […]

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