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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Real live card fraud
So this is how those card skimming ATM false fronts work: the device is very simple, made from moulded polystyrene (or similar), engineered to fit one ATM model and spray-painted…
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They’re still screwed
Nothing about the frozen-in-time short-sightedness of today’s Tory party electoral rule change leads me to believe that the Tories can chose an electable leader between now and… ooh… say the…
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Muhammad Ali, boxing links, morality
We watched Michael Mann’s Ali on the TV. We love Muhammad Ali in our house. He’s such a huge figure – an Elvis, a Churchill, a great big, Shakespearean hero/maniac.…
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Tooth note
You’re seven. You lose a tooth and then – uh oh – you lose that tooth. What do you do? Naturally, you write the tooth fairy an explanatory note…
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Slowing down
Don’t get me wrong. I like cars (I think I’ve told you before about my perfect, photographic recollection of every car made anywhere in the world before the Clash’s third…
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The Guardian Again
Speaking of The Guardian, I spent part of Wednesday afternoon in a private room at The Ivy, judging the web site category of the 26th annual Guardian Student Media Awards.…
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Media I have loved
Listen. I don’t want to get all sentimental here but The Guardian has always been pretty important to me. My Mum & Dad – working class lefties and trade unionists…
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Will Self in The Wood Between The Worlds
I’m reading the kids the first three books from The Chronicles of Narnia at the moment and very very brilliant and engrossing they are too (never read them before). From…
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Save these gadgets for the nation
The disbursal of the Steve Bowbrick Media Technology Museum Cemetery continues apace. Charming but obsolete gadgets like this 1980s Sony portable shortwave receiver and this terrific battleship-grade piece of German…
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Is this funny?
It is funny isn’t it? I mean it’s not just me is it? It could be just me…
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Katrina’s consequences
How do you govern a country (and prosecute a costly foreign war) when the complacency and incompetence of your administration has just caused thousands of your citizens to be drowned?…
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I told you they were weird
This suit – not a new one, quite worn in fact, and with a very lairy pink tie over the hanger – spent a while in the hedge over the…