As a child I would watch my dad make a fire in the morning, kneeling down in his vest, putting paper from old copies of The Guardian underneath the coal (and then quite likely lighting his first cigarette of the day with the flame—he’s been smokeless now for years). Susurration has stolen a lead all […]
Read MoreI seem to have upset the proprietor of Blognor Regis lately. Apparently I “was wetting myself over David Carr’s prehistoric Band Aid rant“. I think the figure of speech he was looking for was “taking the piss out of“. Taking the piss is a traditional British craft that some of the Beavis and Butthead types […]
Read MoreFollowing online discussion with the Anonymous Economist, who is a PC-based iPod addict, I should point out that the main problem I had with the Windows version of the iTunes software that accompanied my sister’s iPod Mini was her not being broadbanded up. It didn’t help that the program kept trying to dial out to […]
Read MoreMy friend Matthew is a token male straight in the world of fashion (but no, Ms Savant, not another metrosexual). Just before Christmas he phoned me from a clothes-shop queue on his mobile. He was so bored he had a half-hour-plus conversation with me at cross-network rates. At one point I told him that The […]
Read MoreI picked up this should-be-surprising-but-isn’t catalogue of a wannabe Tory MP’s experiences via PoliticalBetting.com.
Read MoreNorm notes that natural disasters give believers in a loving God something to chew on. What about the pagans? Irony just isn’t big enough to cover it.
Read MoreChapomatic links to Skippy the Goth Kangaroo. [Requires Flash player.]
Read MoreThe online version of Hello! magazine covers the persecution of Sikh playwrite [sic] Gurpreet Kaur. Why? Because some celebs are supporting her. I wonder how Samuel West will take to having his appearance as Dr Frankenstein in Van Helsing cited as his most noteworthy contribution to the dramatic arts. Meanwhile, over at the Fox News Website, […]
Read MoreSuw Charman describes Asimo the Honda robot’s gait as “cute”. Asimo in motion looks to me a lot like a bloke in astronaut fancy dress, trying to sneak around shared accommodation in the small hours without waking up any of his co-habitants. [Requires Flash player]
Read MoreThe Independent Radio News report on 96.9 Chiltern FM at four o’clock: “11 Britons are among the dead.” [Recording of northern Irish bloke recounting his experience] “—journalist Blahdy Blah on the earthquake in south Asia. In [Thailand] alone, eight Britons died. Others are on their way home to emotional reunions.” Don’t the media just love […]
Read MoreDecember 2004, is turning out to be the sixth consecutive month of falling house prices in the UK. The hysteria has flipped. John Plender in the Financial Times has a word or two to say to those who believe that markets are rational. [Read the article before it becomes subscription only.]
Read MoreChris The Stoat linked to The Brick Testament yesterday, showing the image of the Lego shepherds gathering. He didn’t link to the next frame of Luke, showing them drawing a bead on a messenger of the Lord with a ground-to-air missile launcher. As the angel is joined by reinforcements, the militants run for cover.
Read MoreI used to have reservations about Ute Lemper as a singer, but on Radio 3 this afternoon, performing with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, she was stunning. I’m sad that I missed the Hebrew and Arabic songs she began her show with. Apart from an abortive attempt to read Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone—I gave […]
Read MoreI am having an excellent Christmas. Thank you to the Counsells and Beardsleys for their kindness and generosity and hospitality. And thanks to everyone everywhere who sent me cards and gifts and good wishes. Thanks especially to Maisie for being such a good girl and such good fun.
Read More[Click image for details—via Stupid Evil Bastard]
Read MoreI watched The Incredibles with the Anonymous Economist earlier this week. It is superb. See it. The movie takes a strong philosophical line on the question of unusual excellence and the way contemporary institutions, especially educational ones, do their best to smother it: “When everyone is special, no one is.” This quote encapsulates the underlying […]
Read MoreI am a Wikipedian and link from PooterGeek to the wonderful Wikipedia frequently. This communal project has shown (yet again) the power of distributed collaborative work via the Net—just like the operating system running my PC and the Web server sending this page to you. Further, Wikipedia has proved conclusively that a philosopher can be […]
Read MoreLeasey will only have to read the arithmetic expression “BadgerBadgerBadger + Christmas” to understand what’s at the other end Maoi’s link for the day.
Read MoreHello, loonies of Libertarianism. This is good irony. It is funny, sharp, and original. It has a serious underlying point to make. This is bad irony. It is flat, smug, and tired. Somehow it doesn’t score a hit against crap British celebs making crap records for charidee. David Carr, you win this week’s Prêt-à-Porter Award […]
Read MoreAs I predicted, the pull of Blade: Trinity was too strong and Leasey and I went along to see it last Saturday. It turned out to be both very entertaining and utter rubbish. The plot is thinner than a 15-year-old on a catwalk; Parker Posey couldn’t act her way out of a parking ticket; and […]
Read MoreOh woe, a university chemistry department is closing. “What is to become of British biomedical research?” whine the great and the good of the scientific and medical establishment. Michael Rees, the head of the BMA’s medical academics committee, is a laugh a line as he cries: “If this trend of closures continues, it will cut […]
Read MoreRead all abaht it! I’m fuming,’ said the 21-year-old. ‘I sat there with a fleshcoloured bikini on and they have air-brushed the whole thing out. ‘That’s not my belly button. I’ve got a sticky out belly button and it’s pierced,’ she added. ‘They’re not my boobs either.’ Ellison, currently starring in the film version of […]
Read MoreAs if timed to illustrate my entry two days ago, the Jerusalem Post reports an update in a story Judith has been following from her home within the Zionist Entity. She wrote to me at the end of November expressing her discomfort, even as a very close friend of Israel (and a Jewish one at […]
Read MoreIf the worst came to the worst, you would, of course, stamp on the head of that annoyingly talented and inquisitive Pakistani girl who helps her mother out in the local corner shop, but luckily you don’t have to resort to direct violence to keep the little oik out of those places at Oxbridge you […]
Read MoreIn case anyone was wondering, I did not have sexual relations with that woman.
Read MorexXx: he’s meant to be the USA’s hip-and-happening answer to Britain’s 007. Problem is, you can’t afford Vin Diesel for the sequel and you’ve blown most of the budget on Samuel L Jackson, Willem Defoe, and exploding helicopters. So who do you get to play the last hope of freedom and democracy? A short, fat, […]
Read MoreWhy can’t I get a button for my ‘Blog saying “I’m An Embarrassed Friend Of Israel“? “Yeah, this is that ‘Izzie’ you’ve heard so much about. You must understand that most of the stories just aren’t true. I’m sorry she has to carry the semi-automatic and the bowie knife everywhere. And the thermonuclear handbag. And […]
Read MoreAs you probably know if you are a regular, I live off the Mill Road, Cambridge’s ethnic strip. I do so not out of solidarity with the city’s immigrant population nor as some kind of fashion statement. I would much rather be in one of the areas where the rich white people live, but I […]
Read MoreAt number 15 in the UK singles chart the United Uniting Nations are “Out of Touch”.
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