Saturday 20 December 2008

Punk politics

Brown vs Cameron - the Sex Pistols remix (2 minutes):

Bankrupt the Ministry of Truth


How and why not to pay the TV licence fee. (Far be it from me, &c.)

Sand wit


Hat tip: My salad dressing days

Unforgettable



Neuroscience loses its
best-known amnesiac.

Friday 19 December 2008

Pre-decimal transport

A spontaneous, through-the-car-window interview with a man riding a penny-farthing round the world (90 seconds):



The minimalist version (16 seconds):



Background here: PennyFarthingWorldTour.com

End of the world as we know it

An exuberant musical montage of the Bush Presidency. Don't miss the special guest in the closing moments (3 minutes):

Admiral who fathered a rock god


Bronze Star winner George Morrison wasn't too happy about young Jim.

Bad taste

Click to enlarge:

Who do you think you are - Stirling Moss's granddad?

Five minutes of photos of the first ever car trial, in 1900:

Thursday 11 December 2008

Life skills in Bangladesh

Number One: stacking 22 bricks on your head and walking down a gangplank (45 seconds):

He worked for 93 years



No holidays, either: Dorset landmark Jim Webber dies at 105.

Is your cat a preening narcissist?




Then appease
him/her with
Kitty Wigs.

Carry the wounded


A scorcher from Matthew Norman on the benefit reforms favoured by James Purnell and David "Become-an-expert-in-three-weeks" Freud.

Monday 8 December 2008

Nietzschevision

In 1899, a year before his death and after many years of illness, Friedrich Nietzsche sits in front of a movie camera (1 minute):

Innocent OK



A friend stands up for
Claus von Bülow.

Sunday 7 December 2008

What, like genocide?


Karen Matthews is "pure evil", scream the tabloids. Dave Osler disagrees.

Thursday 4 December 2008

Consider Phlebas

…or "Let him gel an inch thick, to this favour he must come…"

Yup, last week's mystery foetus grew up to be Toby Young of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People infamy.

His serious thoughts on meritocracy and celebrity culture are here.

Monday 1 December 2008

Same streets, different planet

A tram ride through Belfast in 1901; the same route retraced in 2006 (4½ minutes):

Homeless at 89


It's the price you pay if you live on the QE2.

Tower of Power



What can Christians do to increase global warming? How do you cook a Wiccan? Do unsaved kids deserve presents this Christmas?

Give thanks for Landover Baptist Church - never afraid to confront the real issues.

"We'll bleed to death"


Pull out of Afghanistan, urges Peter Hitchens.

Sounds of my childhood, #1

Nancy Sinatra slinks her way through "These Boots Are Made For Walking" (2½ minutes):

Oops


Nick Clegg is overheard slagging off his own front bench.

77 years a priest


And Canon Reginald Fuller's still at it.

Family Christmas cards can kill

Bless them, they meant well. They don't look like unpleasant people. But I mean, seriously


Hat tip: StyleCrunch