Highlights
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. […]
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 […]
Some bullet-points about regulation
In case you’d got the wrong idea about how the ’regulatory state‘ is supposed to work — UPDATED 23 May 2025. I could update this thing daily. Regulation is always a news story in the UK (Search any news service for ‘regulation‘ right now and you’ll get a long list of current news stories about […]
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A fairytale, a comedy, a fantasy – and a Disney princess 20 years before Snow White
Mary Pickford was famed for playing childlike parts, flighty young women with spirit. In 1917’s The Poor Little Rich Girl, she broke new ground by playing an actual child. —…
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This review turned into a disquisition on underwater storytelling
This adaptation of Jules Verne’s great submarine romance was the top-grossing film of 1916 – and it wasn’t even the first movie version — 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, STUART…
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Technofeudalism, neofeudalism, political capitalism and old-fashioned capitalism
It is possible for geniuses to explain things in ways that non-geniuses can understand but sometimes they need to switch formats to do it. — Microverses: Observations from a Shattered…
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Bus drivers, bus conductors and the spirit of Tobruk in Sloane Square
Loyalty and transgression on the number 10s. — I’ve been reluctant to share this story over the years because I’ve always suspected it’s a bit too perfect and that it…
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A visionary work of art, a hateful apologia for slavery and Jim Crow… and a really bad film
The Birth of a Nation was the top-grossing film of 1915… — THE BIRTH OF A NATION, D.W. GRIFFITHS, DAVID W. GRIFFITH CORP., 1915 So I did it, I watched…
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An organised crime drama with a dramatic police raid and an ultra-modern remote surveillance storyline
It’s called Traffic in Souls and it’s an extraordinarily modern movie – a prototype for a whole new category — TRAFFIC IN SOULS: WHILE NEW YORK SLEEPS, GEORGE LOANE TUCKER,…
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Music that satisfies completely
From music we get all sorts of things. And one of them is completion. — I love jazz but even after decades of exposure to every different genre I’m still…
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Trump’s epic disdain
Trump the innovator is back on the campaign trail, diagnosing and mocking his audiences. And they love it. — I can’t stop watching this video. It’s a random tiny clip…
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I am as a poet, apparently
UPDATE: it’s finished. Here’s the PDF (it should be accessible to screen-readers and so on – let me know if you see any problems with the format). Or is it…
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An endless round of perfectly-formed gotchas
Some people can’t tell the difference between advertising billboards and politics. — What is it that’s so contemptible about these stupid stunts? This shallow, patronising bollocks? For liberals, this kind…