Having attempted to unload a spare ticket to the Oval to see Day Three of the test against India on Sunday, a day that was ultimately the final one of the English test cricket summer, I travelled to the ground alone. I live about twenty odd minutes walk away, so this was less daunting than […]
Archives for August 2014
Was the 2005 Lib Dem “Wolf” Party Political Broadcast actually remarkably prescient?
During the 2005 general election campaign, the Liberal Democrats put out a broadcast about the Iraq War. No great surprise considering this was the party’s leading populist issue of the time, but it took a rather odd slant on events. It tried to reframe Blair taking the country into the Iraq War as the Boy […]
One of my favourite Parisian tourist attractions: the Rue Morgue Windows
Robert Berthune came to Paris in 1890, moving from his hometown of Cassel in the Pays Du Nord in hopes of becoming a world famous magician. His first year in Paris was a difficult one; he approached the Moulin Rouge as a showcase for his talents but was roundly rebuffed, literally kicked out the door. […]
Jandek: the world’s most obscure artist that you might have heard of
In 1978, a young man in Texas named Sterling Smith thought he’d start a band called the Units. Only he decided to make it a band of one. Whether this was ultimately out of choice or circumstances remains undocumented. He brought out an album entitled Ready for the House to widespread apathy. Apparently, in three […]
The death of Robin Williams and the role of sociology in suicide
Yesterday, Robin Williams committed suicide. We don’t have all the details yet, at least at the time of writing. But I’ll say this now: I hope we find out as little as possible going forward. Because all of the evidence points to suicide being contagious, in the broadest sense of the term, meaning that a […]
Was George Lucas ever any good?
Anyone who has sat through all of the Star Wars prequels and knows a little bit about cinema will be able to tell you that not only are they all terrible films, they are all extremely poorly directed. Furthermore, that each subsequent prequel is notably more badly directed than the one that preceded it. At […]
The Red Panda: the technological age we supposedly live in
Yesterday, I was with my family at the Longlade Animal Safari in Wiltshire. Yes, for those of you unaware, there is a brown sign attraction on the Wiltshire-Somerset border where you can drive around amongst lions, tigers, giraffes, elephants. There is a monkey sanctuary in which little primates jump on your car and tear it […]
Community Shield preview: Gooners v Home of the Goat
Tomorrow is the event which unofficially (or is it officially?) kicks off the football season, the Community Shield. It used to be called the Charity Shield, which made a lot more sense. For a few years after it stopped being called the Charity Shield, it was entitled the Poulan Weed Eater Garden Shield, before settling […]
Louis Walsh, Cher Lloyd and forces for good and evil in the world
“She’s a little bit late,” Louis said to the press, and I’m not sure whether he intentionally meant to reference Cher Lloyd’s song or whether he just got lucky. “She was just a bit rude on the show when she was on. No-one on the show has been as rude as Cher Lloyd. I don’t […]
The ticket that might explode: cutting up Boris Johnson’s bid for Westminster
BoJo has finally come clean and admitted what we all knew a long time ago, namely he’s going to become an MP again in 2015. It’s worth noting that he did so in the context of the most Eurosceptic speech he’s ever delivered, so he’s clearly eying up the leadership of the Conservative Party, and […]