Highlights
Count Binface and electoral theatre
Don’t be a costumed loon — It’s trivially easy to stand for Parliament in the UK. Any loon can do so. You need ten electors to nominate you and £500 for a deposit – and it’s actually been getting easier. The deposit was introduced in 1918 (£150 – quite a lot of money then). Before […]
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 […]
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 […]
Browse by year
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More camphone pics
More pics from one of my regular traverses of the West End, including one of the many electric cars popping up all over the congestion charging zone and a Portuguese…
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Red button finally delivers…
Every now and then I press the red button on the remote – usually to be greeted by some kind of error or a ‘nothing here yet’ message (of course,…
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Domestic disorder
Everyone has their favourite button on the microwave. Here’s mine.
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Making things in a deflationary climate
The economics of making things is all over the place these days. I guess I understand how Argos can sell this really handsome steel barbecue for £9.99 (that’s how much…
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Rembrandt?
Sometimes the crappy little pictures from my Camphone are really gorgeous – like this little Rembrandt from Blacks yesterday (and a few others from the phone).
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Badges? Badgers?
I bought a big bag of 1970s and 80s badges from eBay (click the little pics for bigger ones). “I vote for I.I.C.C. Shooting Stars of Ibadan”?
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Simpson of Piccadilly
Dropped into the lovely Simpson of Piccadilly yesterday – now no longer a classy clothing department store but a giant Waterstones book shop. When I got my first proper job…
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Go Walter!
Listen. I know I can’t vote there (what with being British and living in Hertfordshire and all that) and I know I should probably worry more about the British political…
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Pauperism: 339. Anatomy: 611. Butter: 637. Dancing: 793. Greenland: 998. Mortality: 312
A long time ago, I worked in a library and one of the joys of the job was the Dewey Decimal classification system – a Victorian wonder of such arbitrary…
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Good radio
A couple of outstanding BBC Radio programmes – Lionel Kellaway’s really thought-provoking Nature on the ecological value of so-called ‘brownfield’ land and the risks to the well-being of City dwellers…