Highlights
I hate this
But does it matter? I don’t usually say that sort of thing here. I try to be more measured, less personal. I’m talking about the police face recognition vans obviously. This might not surprise you: I mean that I don’t like them. I’m an old git after all, a man who’s written here before about […]
Nearly half a bicycle
The atomic theory in Kilburn This place (on Kilburn High Road) has been morphing steadily from dry cleaner’s to bike shop over the last few years. I remember being surprised one morning to see a few kids’ bikes lined up for sale outside but I’d say the shop is now approaching 50% bike shop. You […]
Where is my patriotism?
Come, love of country, fill my heart… I do love Britain. I guess I love England more. London most of all. I hope that in my life I’ve honoured the place I live and not disgraced it or undermined it (I support England and GB in sporting events – I fly a little flag on […]
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Remembering (trying not to forget) 9/11
At Slate.com they have a 9/11 Flash slideshow with photographs and audio commentary by the Magnum Photographers who were there on the day. It’s a breathtaking thing. You should watch…
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The beards and the purple robes
Mediaeval Clerics need Mediaeval Clerics. Mullahs of the old school need pre-enlightenment Popes. Benedict’s perfect foot-in-mouth intervention into Christian-Muslim harmony is really just getting into character. Not Rome nor Avignon…
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Helping Darfur
While the UN’s member states dither and – almost inevitably, it seems – drastically fail the suffering people of Darfur, it’ll most likely be the UN’s refugee agency that picks…
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Has the music business escaped the denial phase?
Fascinating evidence – in a paid-for supplement to this week’s New Statesman – that the record business has reached the acceptance stage of the grieving process. The Smith Institute, which…
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What do I object to most about DRM?
People object to DRM schemes on the basis of ownership – “it’s my music and I’ll play it where and when I want!” I usually stay out of this argument…
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Things I love…
The Dover Press free samples. Always something useful, always something bonkers. Next time you’re in the West End go into the Dover shop in Earlham Street – a proper goldmine…
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Brown vs Blair links
Charles Clarke’s blistering Telegraph interview and, of course, the interview with The Standard’s Associate Editor Anne MacElvoy that brought his entertainingly incendiary views to light in the first place. The…
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Now that’s not very nice is it?
Visiting the still-in-closed-beta web site of Newmark and Jarvis’ intriguing citizen news startup Day Life today I guess I was expecting the kind of cuddly and informal welcome you get…
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Disconnected thoughts on Blair’s mugging
It’s been too late for Gordon Brown for at least a full parliamentary term. Using his party muscle to secure the leadership now is petulant political vandalism. He is shedding…
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Political unwisdom
There are many reasons to be frustrated if you’re a Labour supporter right now. First, there’s the epic squandering of political capital. In the year-and-a-bit since Labour’s important and unprecedented…
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Joy Division on YouTube
So what is it about this nearly thirty year-old video that makes my spine tingle. Bloody hell…
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OK. I give in
So, I’ve always been suspicious of orchestral music. I’m no musician (no kidding) but I love music and a long time ago I decided that orchestral music was all together…