I know that this blog has been relatively serious since I restarted posting, so as a reward for sticking with it, here’s some music. The theme is body parts (though I restrained myself to only one “heart” reference to stop it being too easy)
Music posted on this thread is intended to create interest in the featured artist. Should copyright holders object to the use of material on this blog, please contact me and the links will be removed ASAP. (more…)
It’s well known that one way you know you’ve made it to the super rich is to be able to buy yourself an uninhabited island in the Caribbean or even the Aegean. But it’s surely indicative of the ridiculous salaries in modern day football that a player can not just buy an island with a population of 65,000 people, but then give it away.
Although my memories of traveling round Europe are beginning to fade into a vague mixture of pleasant snapshots, some bits do remain very clear, notably how lovely Granada was. While I’d love to transform British cities to resemble it more closely by reducing the size of the roads, recreating the Alhambra, transferring the climate and so son, I realise that might present some practical difficulties. However, I think that copying their tradition of offering free tapas in bars is one that can be achieved and that would genuinely help deal with some of the problems people have with excessive drinking leading to anti-social behaviour in the UK. (more…)
Last night saw one of the most horrible sights ever to appear on British TV, one that made me recoil each time it appeared on screen. I am, of course, talking about David Dimbleby’s tie.
There was also the equally horrible sight of an unreformed racist and general throwback to the 1930s appearing on the BBC’s flagship political programme. Overall, I thought that the BBC had no choice but to give the BNP an opportunity to appear on the show and it can only be right for any party that achieves electoral representation to get a chance to put their case, however abhorrent or stupid their views. But I feared that after 10 minutes ritual denunciation Griffin might be able to spend the rest of the show spouting “man on the street” Daily Express style “common sense”. That said, while I think it was great that there were protests against the BNP at Television Centre if they had prevented him from appearing that would have been (to borrow Peter Hain’s phrase) a real Christmas present to the BNP, pandering to their conspiracy theories and paranoia and enhancing their appeal to those who want to register disgust at the political spectrum. It might have been better for him not to have been invited, once he was the only hope was that he appeared and made a fool of himself. (more…)
Another quiz:
Biggest Beer Drinkers (per capita)
Biggest Wine Drinkers (per capita)
Discussion below for anyone who wants to try the quiz before reading it! (more…)
Using the rather marvellous Sporcle site, I’m going to try and keep a semi-regular quiz going here. Though I think weekly may be a bit ambitious:
Which countries in the world have the highest number of immigrants as a percentage of the population (and yes, the editorial slant is gosh, look how low Britain is despite all the scare stories), with “immigrants” being defined as people born outside the country.
Source: Wikipedia (I know…)
I’m going to ease back into this blog with the current internet issue de jour, the vile article written by Jan Moir in the Daily Mail about the circumstances of the death of Stephen Gately. The mean-minded idiocy of the article has already been illustrated by a plethora of other people – you can see it demolished by Charlie Brooker or satirised by the Quietus amongst many others. There was also a twitter campaign sparked by Derren Brown and Stephen Fry, asking people to complain to the Press Complaints Commission about the article, which had such a response that the PCC website crashed for a few hours. In response, Moir and the Mail responded with a fairly weak “clarification” that basically said everyone had horribly misunderstood the article. You can see that clarification neatly dissected by The Third Estate.
Naturally, whenever there is an explosion of indignation at anything that appears in the media then other voices come in and mutter about freedom of expression and censorship. For instance, from the Daily Telegraph (which neatly avoids mentioning that Moir has been a columnist for them). And, of course, there is a real point here – that something expresses a view offensive to some people should not, in itself, prohibit its publication. However, I do think there was one part of the Moir diatribe that was so stupid, so wrong that it should not have been published. And as that part was the basis for the rest of the tawdry innuendo and insinuation that filled the rest of the piece, perhaps that would have fallen by the wayside. I’m sure Western civilisation would have struggled on somehow.
The hook to Moir’s article was that Gately could not have died a “natural” death, because “Healthy and fit 33-year-old men do not just climb into their pyjamas and go to sleep on the sofa, never to wake up again.” The point is correctly rubbished by Brooker, but surely the vast majority of the population don’t need to have it pointed out to them, it’s hardly arcane knowledge that its far from unknown for seemingly healthy young people to die for no apparent reason. As someone who has an interest in football, I could quote the tragic deaths of Daniel Jarque, Marc-Vivien Foe and Antonio Puerta in the last 5 or so years.
Now this sort of idiocy kind I of comes with the territory of the opinion pages of modern newspapers, where regular columnists offer their ill-informed opinion on a different issue each week, while people who actually know something about the subject are sidelined. But surely, even in a newspaper as egregiously ignorant of science as the Mail must have someone in place to edit or sub the piece who could point out the howler. That they don’t, I believe, renders the piece not fit for publication.
If Gately’s death was “natural”, and Moir has no grounds for challenging the coroner’s version that it was not, then all the speculation about his lifestyle evidences nothing beyond Moir’s prejudices. Ultimately, she is (as pointed out by the Daily Quail) simply alleging that he died of a fatal case of the gay.
Heading towards Krakow and Poland, I break my trip in Olomouc (pronounced Ola-moats), the former capital of Moravia, hoping for the charm of Prague without the bustle. And charm is what Olomouc will have to rely on, as it lacks the grandeur of the capital. Its annual festival is taking place the weekend I’m there, so that should be a good start. (more…)
First evening productively spent on the computer following England’s exit from the cricket world cup and catching up on this journal’s backlog. The latter appears to be a recurring theme and I’m wondering if “blog” is actually a shortened form of “backlog”. Out into the city the next morning and immediately accosted by a drunken (maybe 17) who is on a school trip from the provinces. Clearly looking to improve his English he barraged me with questions – most problematically = where did you finish school – to the great amusement of his friend and increasingly passers-by on the tram. Sadly my knowledge of Czech doesn’t extend to “performance art, ladies and gentlemen, please give generously.” Actually my Czech doesn’t even extend to “yes” and “no”. Another thing about Prague trams, particularly the older ones is that when pulling away they make a sound just like the opening notes to Piece of Me by Britney Spears, before making a screeching sound for most of the rest of the time. I’m sure you can all think of your own punchline here, but I think Piece of Me is awesome. (more…)
Unlike the rest of this trip where I’ve been walking round by myself most of the time, in Vienna I had a full-time guide. Alert readers may remember mention of a couple of Austrian girls who I met in Valencia who offered to show me round Vienna, and although unfortunately Ally couldn’t make it, Sabina generously sacrificed her weekend to show me the sights. While this was great for me, it meant that I told her any jokes I thought of, so I haven’t got (m)any left for you.
Before I arrived, my ideas about Vienna were almost entirely derived from Before Sunrise, one of my favourite films, which showed a lot of the city as a backdrop to the plot. And it looked a beautiful city. However, in 3 days here, I barely recognised a single scene from the movie – but still saw a lot of lovely stuff. So I guess there’s a lot of prettiness in Vienna. (more…)
