There’s an overlap between my CD collection and Richard‘s, but we do come at music from slightly different angles. He subscribes to The Wire; I subscribe to Sound On Sound. In the most recent edition of The Wire all three of their interviewees had beards—two of them goatees. In the most recent Sound On Sound the main interviewee was 80s pop […]
Read MoreI’m glad I don’t have TV and have to witness the emergence of a strange new media species: the unhealthily thin black woman who isn’t the victim of a poor harvest. Beyoncé watches in horror as Cece Sammy and Thandie Newton walk past her on their way to their tantric nutritionist [via Hak]
Read MoreI hate to find myself on the same side of an argument as a po-faced foodie, but the man’s right: chocolate is a sacred thing; mixing it with orange is a sin.
Read MoreHi. I’m Saddam Hussein. You might remember me from my worldwide hits Massacre At Halabja, Gulf War I, and Gulf War II. I’m here to tell you about custard, Bird’s™ Custard—The Choice of Despots™. [Raises pack to camera stiffly. Walks along featureless metal corridor towards prison kitchen, but slowly because his ankles are chained together.] […]
Read MoreYesterday I treated myself to a lunch of cod and chips from an eat-in/takeaway fish and chip shop in Brighton. I ate in. Having taken my order, the guy serving asked me if I wanted anything else. Nervously I requested mushy peas—a delicacy that only those living north of the Irony Curtain* truly understand. Amazingly, […]
Read MoreA coloured guy, a lesbian, and a Jew settle down to enjoy a game of cricket… Before the great battle begins today I must remind you of what is at stake, not merely a century-old sporting trophy, but the pride of the English-speaking ‘Blogging world. …And the coloured guy says to the lesbian: This is […]
Read MoreI think I might become a Pastafarian, oo-arr! Here be an explanation, me hearties!
Read MoreThere are about fifty seats at the greasy spoon at which I, ahem, partake of brunch of a Saturday morning. When I am there I always dine in the No Smoking Area. This consists in its entirety of my two-seat corner table, the only one with a “No Smoking” sign on it.
Read Morecasualsavant sent me this amusing example of shonky pirate DVD translation, which you might have already seen. The same ‘Blog also reproduces this sign from a Mexican restaurant in China, which you might not have: “Zapata’s Mexican Cantina does not sponsor prostitutes at our establishment. If you are a prostitute please refrain from entering our […]
Read MoreAccording to NHS data, women in lower income groups are fatter everywhere in England, but there is little correlation between the incomes and weights of men in England—except in the North West where rich men are fatter.
Read MoreReading that thing on The Guardian site about Roman soldiers wearing socks and open-toed sandals, I was reminded that this week is the Cambridge Beer Festival. To enjoy the whole event cheaply, two of my happily hetero female friends in town used to pretend to be a couple (for discount Campaign for Real Ale membership) […]
Read MoreUsually I only knock McDonald’s when they are particularly nasty and stupid. It warms my heart to know that a company that beat them in a case you’d have thought McDonald’s would win hands down are, four years later, is still selling East Asian fast food under the cheeky name “McChina“.
Read MoreHere’s a couple from booklover Judith. Firstly, the first line of Amazon’s first editorial review of Robert Crais’s thriller Hostage: “Robert Crais is the real thing: a writer who keeps topping himself…” Secondly, she’s found a celebrity chef who just might displace Nigella in my dreams.
Read MoreI had some superb birthday presents this year. I’d especially like to thank Judith for Keane’s Hopes And Fears, Leasey for Ultraviolet, and the Anonymous Economist for the Pierre Marcolini chocolates. Despite the cliché title, Hopes And Fears is a real delight. It’s indie rock descended from the Radiohead-Coldplay line, but without the guitars. She […]
Read MoreHot Wheels Helena now has her own ‘Blog, but I am not allowed to link to it yet, which is why half of the posts this week are courtesy of her. Because Her Boy had (administrative, not financial) problems with his plastic we had to shop for dinner on Wednesday immediately beforehand. As I wandered […]
Read MoreIf it’s any consolation to you, my last remaining reader, as you vainly reload this page expecting new material, I have at least been getting out a bit more over the last few days, even as far as Wales. There, Auriol and Peter treated me to a superb meal, a browse through a couple of […]
Read MoreThe Tomato Genome Sequencing Project is go. You can keep track of the progress of the international team at this site. The tomato lucky enough to have its genetic code read is Solanum lycopersicum var Heinz 1706. Here’s Nigella Lawson’s recipe for tomato salad. There might also be a picture of Nigella cradling her tomatoes […]
Read MoreCourtesy of the Anonymous Economist and friends I now know more than I want to about competitive eating. The one fact I already knew—that many of the best eaters are thin—has been further explained by this statement from the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE). Yes, they exist; their monthly journal is called The Gurgitator. […]
Read MoreIt is fiddly. It is perverse. Most of all it is sublimely pointless. He doesn’t even like KitKats. Chris Applegate of qwghlm brings us one of the greatest expressions of the geek aesthetic since those guys put a Webserver in a fly. While I’m on the subject of geek culture and food, this from geek […]
Read MoreDespite their claims for its health benefits, I remember it always seemed to be the vegetarians at college that who had the weight problems (either under- or over-) and the interesting skin conditions. The latter could have been caused by all the roll-ups they smoked, I suppose; but one undergraduate female dallied with veganism for […]
Read MoreNorman 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 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 MoreScience fiction nerds might remember Umpty Candy, the confection that tasted so good its sale had to be prohibited and inventor blasted into space where the secret recipe inside his head could no longer be accessed. You probably know that I cannot speak of “organic” foods or “Fairtrade” products without a pair of sneer quotes […]
Read MoreIf Americans really don’t do irony, then this represents the end of civilization as we know it. Or possibly this. Or maybe this.
Read MoreBecause I wanted to experiment with the Amazon developer interface and because I want people I’ve never met before to buy me stuff, I have integrated my US Amazon wishlist into PooterGeek (over to the right and down a bit). A random entry from it should appear each time you reload this page. I also […]
Read MoreDespite being away from the lab, I missed my chance to go to “The Wellbeing Show 2004” at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Halls. According to Time Out, if I had attended I could have tried inversion therapy, had myself screened for allergies, or had my aura photographed. Perhaps next year.
Read MoreI’ve been in bed for the past couple of days with a nasty little dose of food poisoning. On reflection, it was probably the Stilton, bacon, and red onion baguette that did for me. It tasted wonderful at the time. Because of my illness I’ve been listening to lots of radio. On Friday, as the […]
Read MoreI meant to say thank you to Nicholas and Hind for dinner yesterday. In fact it was my discovering that Adam, the latest addition to their family, looks exactly like Nicholas, but smaller and a bit more Arab, that made me post about the Karzai photo. Thanks for the “Death to the Zionist Infidels” shopping […]
Read MoreWonderful, wonderful BBC Radio 4. In how many countries can you come back from a run, stagger into the shower and turn on national radio at 10:30am to hear the scientific history of the year 1907? Almost inevitably the story started in Cambridge, at the British Antarctic Survey. Depending on what you believe, the explorer […]
Read More
Recent Comments