Oh the irony. My contribution to the first (test) Levy & Counsell podcast as token friendly Lefty at online US conservative community Ricochet.com was marred by technical problems. Even I find it hard to follow the thread as I listen to this because my audio breaks up and I speak even more slowly and haltingly than I […]
Read MoreFriends
08Jul09 — 0
Tough Audience
On being shown Michael Jackson moonwalking to Billie Jean, a friend’s seven-year-old son shrugged his shoulders and commented, unimpressed: “Ahh… He’s got wheels in his shoes.” [Anecdote and title stolen wholesale from JL.]
Read More23Mar09 — 4
Where Are They Now?—Taff Trot / Brummie Schoolboy Edition
Back in the 80s, I used to be in a band with a guy called Martyn Hope—indeed, we went to school together. Back in the 90s, having read that, surreally, Elvis revivalist Shakin’ Stevens was a closet Red1, I went searching online to find out if he was a member of a late 70s cohort […]
Read More11Mar09 — 0
The Squeaky Wheelchair
Paul Evans worked for a company that built Websites for political organizations long before the current crop of johnny-come-latelys started twittering about “digital engagement” and “campaigning 2.0”. This post of his about the kinds of people who use the Net to harass politicians and the kind of people politicians should listen to—two groups that, in […]
Read More25Jan09 — 3
Jew Do You Think You Are?
Whenever someone implies that anti-Semitism isn’t racism, I point out that it’s one of the few examples of discrimination that really is racism (unlike, for example, the invented thoughtcrime “Islamophobia”1 ) because the Ashkenazi Jewish population is as close as you can get scientifically to the common (and deeply flawed) notion of what a “race” […]
Read More25Nov08 — 3
Let’s Saint George!
While I’m on a Radio 4 kick, I heard Mark Lawson interviewing the soon-to-be-stepping-down Andrew Motion and Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on Front Row yesterday evening about the appointment of the next Poet Laureate. Apparently, although they were quick to say it wouldn’t be a TV talent contest, there’s going […]
Read More12Nov08 — 0
Geek At Work
And now, like a page from Where’s Wally / Where’s Waldo?, see if you can spot the wedding photographer in this [large!] image. He’s cunningly camouflaged by being the same colour as the furniture. (The camera to my left has a 50mm f/1.4 lens on it and the one in my hands a 100mm f/2.8. […]
Read More31Aug08 — 7
John The Savage and Bela Emerson
This week, I saw John The Savage and Bela Emerson at Komedia. John The Savage is an experimental post-something-or-other band featuring my friend Richard Brincklow on piano. Don’t be put off by my arty-sounding and vague description. They have tunes and they can play. They groove and they rawk. But they’re also very unusual indeed. […]
Read More18Aug08 — 2
Jewish Comedy Timing
INTERIOR. KITCHEN. JEWISH MEDIA FRIEND L IS PREPARING DINNER FOR POOTERGEEK. POOTERGEEK: Like I said to [JEWISH WRITER FRIEND C] and [JEWISH WRITER FRIEND J] about [UNFUNNY JEWISH WRITER], being a Jewish writer who isn’t funny is like being black and having no sense of rhythm. JEWISH MEDIA FRIEND L: Were they offended? POOTERGEEK: Why should they be? [PAUSE] JEWISH […]
Read More09Aug08 — 4
I LOVE THE BLACK MUSIC
Recently, I was listening to a Marvin Gaye track via last.fm—is it just me or has their sound quality improved lately?—and I noticed this at the top of its user comments: white person wearing chinos on cruise ship LOVES THE BLACK MUSIC Which immediately made me think of Stuff White People Like, a blog that’s […]
Read More30Jul08 — 3
Cliquey Back-Slapping
One of the nicest things about blogging is being able to congratulate other bloggers on (what you believe to be) good blogging, so it’s unfortunate in a way when you are seen as part of a gang because, if you congratulate another supposed gang member, then doing so looks like cliquey back-slapping. Worse, if the […]
Read More28Jun08 — 0
Merrit
Do you remember Wei? Well, Wei… …wed… …Bobby… …in Edinburgh earlier this month, and I was hired to shoot the event. It wasn’t my first tri-lingual wedding, but it was my first Cantonese/Mandarin/Scottish one. And it was the first one from which the happy couple excused me in the small hours because the tea ceremony […]
Read More06Jun08 — 0
Freshening The Blogroll
I have to accept that the fine blogs “Let’s Be Sensible” and “The British Bullshit Foundation” are never coming back. In their respective market niches, PooterGeek now links to “Right Next Time” and “Sadie’s Tavern“. Don’t let me down, people. I’ve also made the following long-overdue additions: Paul Anderson’s blog Gauche, David Thompson’s, er, David […]
Read More19May08 — 1
Jonathan Derbyshire
I’ve converted the archives of Jonathan Derbyshire’s old Typepad blog and built a new WordPress site for him at jonathanderbyshire.com. Update your bookmarks and blogrolls accordingly. (You can email him at that new domain as well.)
Read More07May08 — 1
“Unpleasant thuglike looking Jew” Also Jungle Bunny
Like me, Clive Davis is a product of one of those godless unions of black and white, but, because I am an expert on the conspiracy of sinister media Jews, when I took his byline photo I offered to make him look more Jewish in order to help his career. Now see what’s happened. I […]
Read More09Jan08 — 12
The Last Single Man On Earth
One of the things that came up over Christmas was, as usual, my continuing unmarried status as the big four-oh looms. Three different members of the family interrogated me about my non-existent love life. Yesterday, I was offered an opportunity to do something about this as I was invited to a singles event: a Website […]
Read More13Sep07 — 0
Art Prog
I’ve taken my time getting around to this because the original email I was sent read like “benign spam” (which, in a way, it was) so it went to the bottom of my in-tray. [Sorry, Paul.] The legendary Paul Wixon is promoting a Japanese band called “Sollers” with a view to getting them some gigs […]
Read More24Aug07 — 1
Unbudgeable Turkeys
Further to my post about remaindered books, Claire reminds me of Clive James’s poem on the subject.
Read More09Aug07 — 20
Lightly Worn
Beachy Head[click image to enlarge it] I was eating breakfast in an hotel in Cambridge the Saturday morning after I shot that college ball. A tall, intense-looking man with a beard sat down at a table nearby. He pulled a hardback book out of his briefcase and began underlining paragraphs heavily with a soft pencil. […]
Read More14Jul07 — 1
Dialectical Minimalism
Damian: [T]he impression I get is that Norm is more forgiving of Eagleton’s errors of reasoning than he should be Norm: Damian leaves an impression about my viewpoints that I feel I have a right to comment on. Damian: I’d happily place a bet with Norm on which of the two of them will be […]
Read More10Jul07 — 4
Bald Eagleton
I write short posts. Much goes unsaid. I often write ironically. Some subjects are better approached that way; or it’s just more fun for me to tackle them sideways. What I do say, I say in plain English in the hope that my words at least are clear to everyone who reads them. Reading Norm […]
Read More07Jul07 — 2
Passenger Ships
Also at that party the other day, one of the Young People told me that Passenger, featuring Richard Brincklow on keyboards, are high up on BBC Radio 2’s playlist. The next day, one of my spies inside the Passenger camp also passed on to me a delicious factoid. Whenever Richard and I write or perform any music […]
Read More06Jul07 — 0
Victorian Values
Some new blogs on the roll here: Vic, Brighton & Hove resident and occasional PooterGeek commenter, has her own place now, called The Stopping Service. On the political side of things, I’ve mentioned Conservative Home here before and both Political Betting and Polling Report are also well worth dipping into. Lastly, I have added Martin […]
Read More26Jun07 — 1
The Harsh Truth
Hot Wheels Helena is back from Glastonbury with a message for post-modernists, fundamentalists, and plain mentalists everywhere: More info here. [Thanks to Caroline for the pic.]
Read More27Apr07 — 0
And It’s Goodnight From Them
[This post should have gone up as Private. It is now.]
Read More24Apr07 — 4
Stabbity-Stab
YESTERDAY EVENING: I’m outside the House of Commons with Bloggers4Labour supremo Andrew Regan, his sister, and another friend. We’re on our way to Andrew’s [very successful as it happened] Labour blogging meeting in one of the Commons committee rooms. As you’d expect in these Times Of Terror, every visitor gets scanned and searched. Naturally, I […]
Read More05Apr07 — 7
Snapshots From My Glamorous Life
Last week, I noticed a registered Brighton & Hove taxi parked outside the Muslim community centre. Prominent on the dashboard was a hardback copy of Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. A couple of days later I saw the car (and the book) again. This time the vehicle was being attended to by two of B&H’s […]
Read More09Mar07 — 2
It’s All In The Hanging
Jogging from the bank yesterday evening to catch Richard Brincklow‘s in-store performance at Passenger‘s launch of their new single [buy it now!*], I stopped to photograph this: Regulars will know that I am not an admirer of Banksy’s work, but circumstances and the shrewd planning of the staff at artrepublic temporarily turned the 2006 effort […]
Read More20Feb07 — 7
Yet Another Test Post
If this entry also appears at Bloggers4Labour then thanks to Andrew Regan, the evil genius behind that site, and to the cunning Andrew Skudder for restoring PooterGeek’s feed to the collective. UPDATE: I’m boring, I’m beige, I’m back, and my pants are as tight as a Scissor Sisters track.
Read More18Feb07 — 6
A PooterGeek Appeal
I’ve been staying at my parents’ this weekend—thanks, folks—while I’ve been attending the National Wedding Show [of which more soon at the Wedding Photography Blog]. The show was on at the National Exhibition Centre, round the corner from their place. As a boy I never imagined that I’d grow up to spend working Saturdays, for […]
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