BBC NEWS | England | Derbyshire | Piglet saved from loo roll peril
Aw, bless.
Let's all hope that little Andrex will be safe and warm and happy tonight, and taste great in the morning, maple-cured and served with a couple of poached duck eggs.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Andorian Over Fist
While it is supremely difficult to either (a) understand or (b) care about the Northern Rock affair (I actually thought it was a type of beer), it does give a handy excuse to post this.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Not Naked; The Other Thing
Norman Mailer was once rhymed with Maxwell Taylor by Simon & Garfunkel. Maxwell Taylor was played by Paul Maxwell in the 1977 movie "A Bridge Too Far". You might remember Paul Maxwell as "Panama Hat Man" in "Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade", which also starred River Phoenix, whose first big break had come in Rob Reiner's "Stand By Me". Regular Reiner collaborator Christopher Guest is the son-in-law of Janet Leigh, who, in 1966, starred in a rather poorly-received movie adaptation of the novel "An American Dream", by Norman Mailer.
I've read it. It's rubbish.
I've read it. It's rubbish.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
More Stars For Your Buck
Delocator.org.uk
I say, this is jolly. Fancy a coffee? Fancy keeping your soul?
They really need a mobile interface, I suggest.
I say, this is jolly. Fancy a coffee? Fancy keeping your soul?
They really need a mobile interface, I suggest.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Good Ol' Little Boy
Hiroshima bomb pilot dies aged 92
Another one to file under "He Was Still Alive?". Paul Tibbets - best known as the answer to the world's fifteenth most popular pub quiz question - has belatedly joined the celestial squadron.
Contrary to myth, Tibbets never expressed any regret at his role in history. His subsequent 62 years of happy life would seem to suggest that someone upstairs concurs. It's certainly true that hardly anyone remembers Charles Sweeney, who dropped Fat Man on Nagasaki - an act far harder to justify in any military context. I guess that just shows the value of being first. Ask Buzz Aldrin.
Another one to file under "He Was Still Alive?". Paul Tibbets - best known as the answer to the world's fifteenth most popular pub quiz question - has belatedly joined the celestial squadron.
Contrary to myth, Tibbets never expressed any regret at his role in history. His subsequent 62 years of happy life would seem to suggest that someone upstairs concurs. It's certainly true that hardly anyone remembers Charles Sweeney, who dropped Fat Man on Nagasaki - an act far harder to justify in any military context. I guess that just shows the value of being first. Ask Buzz Aldrin.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Purest Green
I never really "got" Eva before. But then, I never got Dior perfume, either. Hereafter, I might just try harder.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Best Foot Backwards
BBC NEWS | UK | Menezes police: 'We did our best'
Mr. McDowell might want to read that line back to himself, and reflect that "doing their best" involved shooting an entirley innocent man seven times. One shudders to imagine the consequences of their worst. In light of this revelation, perhaps we should be thankful that they were - apparently - on top of their game?
Mr. McDowell might want to read that line back to himself, and reflect that "doing their best" involved shooting an entirley innocent man seven times. One shudders to imagine the consequences of their worst. In light of this revelation, perhaps we should be thankful that they were - apparently - on top of their game?
Social Unfocus
Swansea's Regenerations con went by perfectly (i.e. no need to ever leave the bar) and so it's a big hello to my new chums from Tachyon TV, John and Daymon. The cheque's in the post, chaps.
Guez, bless him, was the usual good value. I shall refrain from enlightening him fully on the events of Saturday night, as their currency can surely only increase. Before embarkation I took the aforementioned and the charmingly Philadelphian Ms. Karen Baldwin on a whirlwind location tour, hence the snap.
There was much curry, significant volumes of precious-metal priced lager, and a concommitant expansion of Facebookage, of course. Splendid.
Guez, bless him, was the usual good value. I shall refrain from enlightening him fully on the events of Saturday night, as their currency can surely only increase. Before embarkation I took the aforementioned and the charmingly Philadelphian Ms. Karen Baldwin on a whirlwind location tour, hence the snap.
There was much curry, significant volumes of precious-metal priced lager, and a concommitant expansion of Facebookage, of course. Splendid.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Cuppage
Australia, Canada & Fiji all visited the mothership, and there was much enflickration. I made ginger biscuits, which didn't last long enough to get flickred. I bought a little model of Red Dwarf that looks like a sex toy. And tonight I had beer in the bay with Rob F. That'll do for now.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Tales & Ballads
Sunday's inherent, inescapable Sundayness meant a curtailed final day of the Big Weekend for us, but we got our £0.00's worth for sure. Pictured is Dai Smith of Swansea's The Storys (sic.), a kind of celtic Eagles with touches of other Californian influences like The Doors, and the occasional Floydesque twang. Super stuff.
We also caught Ben Taylor, who I'd been looking forward to. He's the son of James Taylor and Carly Simon, which is a fairly tough pedigree to live up to. He's doing just fine, it seems - mellow acoustic crooning with a touch of whimsy. Not quite his father's gorgeous voice but good enough, with an edgier, sometimes satirical lyric style.
And so to bed for another year. At least I'll have something to hum.
We also caught Ben Taylor, who I'd been looking forward to. He's the son of James Taylor and Carly Simon, which is a fairly tough pedigree to live up to. He's doing just fine, it seems - mellow acoustic crooning with a touch of whimsy. Not quite his father's gorgeous voice but good enough, with an edgier, sometimes satirical lyric style.
And so to bed for another year. At least I'll have something to hum.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Blue's Guitar
He may be a busker, but he was a darn sight better than some of the stuff on stage at The Big Weekend today. Still, it was hot and sticky and the beer flowed nicely.
Nice of the Wales Ladies Third XV to cheer us all up at Twickenham, too. Berks.
Nice of the Wales Ladies Third XV to cheer us all up at Twickenham, too. Berks.
Souled Out
Soul II Soul were a big hit, but we snuck out before the end. Wimps... Before them, Bobby Kray was the perfect wind-down for a muggy summer's evening. The kid's got quite a set of lungs on him. Check him out @ bobbykray.com
The camera did quite well on its first serious low-light challenge, although it isn't too happy auto-focussing at long range in the gloom. Hurrah for manual focus, then!
The camera did quite well on its first serious low-light challenge, although it isn't too happy auto-focussing at long range in the gloom. Hurrah for manual focus, then!
Friday, August 03, 2007
Back To Life
It's that time of year again, so I'm off to hijack a bus, kidnap a girl, and take her on a journey beyond sight and sound. Or at least, for a bit of a bop to Soul II Soul. I've got a better camera this year, so watch out for evidence later.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Home: Run!
NY baseball fan killed mother as team lost
I've never subscribed to "it's only a game" - sport is much more important than that. Perhaps not more important than Life & Death, as Bill Shankly famously opined, but as the extension of a collective ego and a means of non-lethal warfare, it clearly matters.
I'm supposed to be a New York Mets fan - although my loyalty barely extends beyond checking if they're winning or losing. When they lose - if I notice at all - my reaction is usually limited to "Oh, pooh!" Contrasted with this guy, I could be said to lack passion.
But I'm not sure it's fair, or wise, to report what is clearly an incidental fact of the case - that he was watching baseball - in a way that implies some culpability by the sport. I don't believe that Reuters seriously intends to float the notion that watching one's team lose can spontaneously transform any random individual into a matricidal maniac. Nevertheless, that's what comes across. There must have been other contributing factors heard in court, but we aren't told them. The fact that he was 25 and still living at home surely says more, for a start? It's lazy, sensationalist reporting, especially troubling as it comes from Reuters.
Meanwhile, the Rugby World Cup approaches, so perhaps I'd better stay away from my parents, just in case...
I've never subscribed to "it's only a game" - sport is much more important than that. Perhaps not more important than Life & Death, as Bill Shankly famously opined, but as the extension of a collective ego and a means of non-lethal warfare, it clearly matters.
I'm supposed to be a New York Mets fan - although my loyalty barely extends beyond checking if they're winning or losing. When they lose - if I notice at all - my reaction is usually limited to "Oh, pooh!" Contrasted with this guy, I could be said to lack passion.
But I'm not sure it's fair, or wise, to report what is clearly an incidental fact of the case - that he was watching baseball - in a way that implies some culpability by the sport. I don't believe that Reuters seriously intends to float the notion that watching one's team lose can spontaneously transform any random individual into a matricidal maniac. Nevertheless, that's what comes across. There must have been other contributing factors heard in court, but we aren't told them. The fact that he was 25 and still living at home surely says more, for a start? It's lazy, sensationalist reporting, especially troubling as it comes from Reuters.
Meanwhile, the Rugby World Cup approaches, so perhaps I'd better stay away from my parents, just in case...
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Cosmopolit... ahh.
We're not quite there yet. Every now and then my beloved city can still embarrass me. Last night everything seemed to be closing early, just as I was trying to impress Rob F. and Ian A. with the urban delights of a Cardiffian night.
We did finally manage to get a bottle of wine and some nice tapas down before everything went pumpkin, but it was close. Come on, 24-hour society - get your act together, eh?
We did finally manage to get a bottle of wine and some nice tapas down before everything went pumpkin, but it was close. Come on, 24-hour society - get your act together, eh?
Friday, July 27, 2007
Spirit of '68... (1568)
Red Mosque disturbances - Reuters
In days of yore, it was a pretty fair bet that if students were being tear-gassed, it was for protesting that the regime under which they lived was too restrictive. Not any more, not in the New World Order. Now we can have students rioting because their country's government is not oppressive enough.
File that one under "Fear for the Future".
In days of yore, it was a pretty fair bet that if students were being tear-gassed, it was for protesting that the regime under which they lived was too restrictive. Not any more, not in the New World Order. Now we can have students rioting because their country's government is not oppressive enough.
File that one under "Fear for the Future".
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Driven to Distraction
Debora zu sexy f�r den Bus - Bild.T-Online.de
No, I can't read German either. But the jist of it is this; Lady with impressive rack sits down on bus, directly in driver's line-of-sight in his mirror. Driver asks lady to move as her attributes are distracting him and causing a safety hazard. Lady complies, but of course has a nice moan about being "humiliated" - though not humiliated enough to withold her name from the press, or to refuse to have a glamour shot taken for the website, of course.
Kudos to the driver for his honesty and presence of mind, sez I. Even more Ks to his employer, who supported his actions. It couldn't happen here, I fear.
No, I can't read German either. But the jist of it is this; Lady with impressive rack sits down on bus, directly in driver's line-of-sight in his mirror. Driver asks lady to move as her attributes are distracting him and causing a safety hazard. Lady complies, but of course has a nice moan about being "humiliated" - though not humiliated enough to withold her name from the press, or to refuse to have a glamour shot taken for the website, of course.
Kudos to the driver for his honesty and presence of mind, sez I. Even more Ks to his employer, who supported his actions. It couldn't happen here, I fear.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
And how are Wii feeling today...?
Like many before me, I surrendered my Wii virginity with little or no thought to the consequences. I didn't need to take precautions; bad things happen to other folks...
Well that was Saturday night, and I've only just regained the ability to walk properly. It's not just the gameplay of Nintendo's little monster that's counter-intuitive - you'd be simply amazed how punishing a few rounds of virtual bowling can be. I mean, I've bowled for real enough times, and the real balls are way heavier than one of those little nunchuck thingies. So I'll admit I didn't think a few ends of 10-pin required much in the way of preparation or caution, even for a spud like me.
Limping around like a lemon for a few days has disabused me of my naivety. Poking around online to find such gems as "Wii Have A Problem" and "Wii Injury Dot Com" shows me I am not alone, or even unusual. You have made me feel OLD, Nintendo. BAD Iconic Gaming Brand! NO cookie!
Well that was Saturday night, and I've only just regained the ability to walk properly. It's not just the gameplay of Nintendo's little monster that's counter-intuitive - you'd be simply amazed how punishing a few rounds of virtual bowling can be. I mean, I've bowled for real enough times, and the real balls are way heavier than one of those little nunchuck thingies. So I'll admit I didn't think a few ends of 10-pin required much in the way of preparation or caution, even for a spud like me.
Limping around like a lemon for a few days has disabused me of my naivety. Poking around online to find such gems as "Wii Have A Problem" and "Wii Injury Dot Com" shows me I am not alone, or even unusual. You have made me feel OLD, Nintendo. BAD Iconic Gaming Brand! NO cookie!
Sunday, July 08, 2007
The 80-yr-old fanzine
A Handwritten Daily Paper in India Faces the Digital Future
I must admit, halfway through I was thinking; good riddance to another retrograde religious rag. But read on and you learn about its fascinating history and, more importantly, its enlightened attitudes. You learn something new every day, but it isn't always this much worth learning.
I must admit, halfway through I was thinking; good riddance to another retrograde religious rag. But read on and you learn about its fascinating history and, more importantly, its enlightened attitudes. You learn something new every day, but it isn't always this much worth learning.
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