Child's play

Spud's latest enthusiasm: the Pivot Stickfigure Animator which, according to the blurb, "allows you to create stick figure animations easily and without any artistic skills".

Here's an illustration of just some of the possibilities from J13 Productions:-

Current reading

Rereading "Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East" by Michael Oren.

"1914: The Days of Hope" by Lyn Macdonald. An account of the first year of the Great War from Mons to the First Battle of Ypres.

"International Relations in Political Theory" by Howard Williams. From Plato to Marx (via Hobbes, Rousseau, Hegel, Kant and others): an introduction to political thinking on war and international relations.

Blogging USA

The Beaver State

End of the Trail: the Pacific coast and the Cascade Mountains. Mount Hood, Crater Lake and the Willamette Valley. Intel and the Douglas Fir. Blackberry pie, Oregon truffles and trout.

Milk is the official state beverage.

Checking out

After an extended sojourn in Nebraska, the State Tour will be back on the road later today. Expect me in Oregon.

Only 46 states to go!

Checking in

Too busy to blog yesterday and way too tired to blog much now.

So instead I'll just point you towards Nick Cohen's article from the Jewish Chronicle republished at Harry's Place: Jesus! I'm turning into a Jew!

Bad business

Remember I said I was buying a business? Well, that's now looking highly unlikely. The due diligence exercise turned up more than a few snags including an outstanding lawsuit, a highly restrictive lease on the business premises and a number of previously undeclared liabilities.

I've got a meeting with the current owners tomorrow evening. Boy, is that going to be fun! I get to tell them their company isn't worth a tenth of what they're asking for it and, with their current management in place, I don't expect they'll survive the recession.

As things stand, the only way I'd get involved now is if they gave me a controlling interest in the company (for an entirely nominal sum). Unfortunately, I don't think they'll want to proceed on that basis, even though it's most likely their best chance of realizing some money on their shares in the longer term.

Ah well, I probably didn't need the hassle anyway.

Unfreedom of speech

Following reports of the arrest in London of a British diplomat for "inciting religious hatred", Geoffrey Pullum at Language Log has something to say about the constitutional and cultural differences between the US and the UK:-

The thing is that Britain has absolutely no analog of the American guarantee of freedom of speech in its legal system. There is no Bill of Rights saying that one can speak one's opinions freely, even in political matters. The government can directly control what appears in the newspapers if it wants to, and has often done so. The courts can also, quite separately, block news reports of various sorts and do so all the time ("who for legal reasons cannot be named", say the newspapers when mentioning someone who a judge doesn't want identified in news reports). And speech about other racial, ethnic, or religious groups can have serious consequences here. It's not all just golliwogs and white wine. You shout out your opinions of the "fucking Jews" here, and you can face years in prison.

Norm also has some thoughts on the arrest.

Wednesday roundabout

Zoe Brain comments on developments in brain modelling.

Dale at Faith in Honest Doubt: What Blogs Can and Can't Do.

Ophelia Benson on fundamentalism, tolerance and respect.

Armed Liberal at Winds of Change: On The End Of Privacy And Transparency.

And finally,

Britblog Roundup #208 is up at The Wardman Wire.

They love me

Or they love me not.

I just received 30 copies of the same e-mail (titled: Poetry Valentines) from the Academy of American Poets:-

Be Mine: Poems for Sweethearts

Woo your sweetie by pairing the perfect poem with desserts, drinks, and flowers. The irresistible combination is sure to result in wobbly knees, a melting heart, and a thoroughly smitten valentine. From lustful to sacred verse, and classic to contemporary authors, pick up a few ideas from this selection of ten poetic pairings to lure your adored one straight into your arms.

On the web at: www.poets.org/pairings

Tsk! A whole academy of poets and they can't find someone to write better copy than that?

Très chic

Le renouveau de la chanson française est arrivé.



Mac pointed out this video to me. She's been listening to a lot of Nouvelle Vague recently. The song is from their second album "Bande à part"; the video is a scene from Jean-Luc Godard's 1964 film of the same name.

No sympathy

My life would be much easier if I'd learn to keep my mouth shut.

Mac and I were taken out for dinner recently - a rare occurrence and usually a pleasurable one. Not this time.

Half way though the food, the conversation turns to Gaza (I didn't bring up the subject) and our host says: "After Gaza, I have lost all sympathy for the Jews". She meant the Israelis. Of course she meant the Israelis. I quickly corrected her, she accepted it and the conversation moved on. To casualty figures, the number of children killed, the scenes of destruction...

I was in the middle of my dinner. I would have liked to have finished it. But no - we had to have this conversation. Which is a pity, because I had hoped that the tone I'd adopted when correcting our host's initial remark might have been taken as an invitation to change the subject. Unfortunately not.

So I weighed in. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. But, like I said, it's not something I've ever learnt to do.

The thing is, I've come across this formulation before: Because of X [insert action of Israeli government] I have lost all sympathy for the Jews. And, when I hear it I always find myself wondering the same thing: What kind of special sympathy did they have for the Jews anyway?

White DNA

Theo Hobson in the Spectator:-

For whites in post-colonial cultures, racism is a post-religious form of original sin, something we know to be in our DNA and ought to repent of.

Post-colonial genetic repentance?!

Right, and in the meantime, if racism is in white people's DNA maybe we should think about getting it recognized as a sexually transmitted disease. (Though, obviously, I'm not suggesting it could be treated with antibiotics - that would be stupid.)

Isabella

Isabella and the Pot of Basil

Whitehall and the Jews

From a review of Louise London's Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees and the Holocaust at History in Focus:

[B]etween 1933 and 1948 Britain held a consistent line on limiting Jewish immigration. Refugees would be assisted only if it was in the interests of Britain, a concept that holds true today if the attitude taken by many towards the current issue of asylum is considered. Thus, while Britain would 'tolerate' a certain amount of immigration for humanitarian reason, this 'toleration' was limited by several interlinked factors.

The first, was the perceived effect that this process could have on the fabric of British society. The charge that antisemitism would increase if too many Jewish refugees were granted entry was stated throughout the inter-war period, by both by government officials and the already-established Anglo-Jewish community. The second factor that was cited was employment, or more precisely unemployment. For this reason, refugees were landed on condition that they did not seek to enter the labour market without permission from the Ministry of Labour. This stipulation, however, was waived in two cases, firstly for refugees able to leave Europe with their business intact and willing to establish new firms in Britain and secondly for those who were able to enter Britain as domestic servants. Thus, on the one hand, refugees had to be able to either create jobs in Britain or had to demean themselves by working in low-paid, low skilled employment, whatever their former circumstances. A third factor was that of assimilation. Foreign Jews were expected both by the government and by the Anglo-Jewish establishment to conform to the British way of life and to minimise their 'foreignness'. They were inundated with advice to avoid showing their alien nature, such as not speaking German in public. Fourthly, the refugees were landed on a temporary basis, on the understanding that they would in the future leave Britain. Whilst in reality some 40,000 remained in Britain, this had not been the government's intention. Refuge was to be for a limited time, in the hope that most would seek other countries in which to settle permanently. Lastly and of greatest importance, was the issue of finance. From the very beginnings of this movement, the Anglo-Jewish community was expected to find the funds that would be required to support the refugees whilst they were in Britain. Foreign Jews were not to become chargeable to state finance in any shape. Again this situation would change, as by 1939 the Anglo-Jewish community had exhausted its funds and came to rely upon government grants.

Monday roundabout

At Normblog: the FKATWOT count reaches 9.

Michael White hosts Humanist Symposium #32 [via FIHD]

Harry's Place notes the arrest of a British diplomat for "inciting religious hatred" against Jews.

Alert Shado: Lileks spots a UFO.

And finally,

At xkcd: the base metaphor explained.

οἱ πολλοί

Weekend reading

The Edge Annual Question 2009: WHAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING?

Charles Eisenstein at Reality Sandwich: Money and the Crisis of Civilization.

The Economist on the British Army's "lack of soldiers, lack of money and lack of conviction".

Psyche Volume 14 2008 (online journal of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness) on attention and consciousness.

Family life

The Big Fella came running through from the TV room earlier with a big smile on his face. "Dad! Dad! They dissed Loop Quantum Gravity on 'The Big Bang Theory'. They reckon String Theory rocks." He said it in a tone of mock belligerence: "That's one in the eye for you, old man!"

The Big Fella's not a proponent of String Theory but he knows my thoughts on Loop Quantum Gravity: he's was trying to get a rise out of me. I took it in good humor.

And yet, I will have my revenge.

I've printed out a copy of a New Scientist article on Loop Quantum Cosmology. It's waiting for him on the breakfast table.

John Martyn 1948-2009

Wednesday roundabout

The Mother of All Quagmires: Michael Totten reports from Israel.

And Still I Persist has video of Obama’s Al-Arabiya interview.

Geoffrey Pullum at Language Log: "human/machine interface design is in a state of total freaking disaster".

Lileks's bleat: World’s Fairs, scrapbook memories and modern day America.

And finally,

Baroque in Hackney has something to say about Elizabeth Alexander’s inaugural poem.

Red Square

Thanks to Norm, I now have yet another option for displacement activity (as if I didn't have enough distractions already): it's Red Square survival.

I made it to 21.234 21.953 seconds. I'd like to hit 25 seconds (I'm adept at setting myself pointless goals).

Meanwhile, I need to get back to work: I'm in the middle of trying to buy a business. Yes, I know we're in a recession. Best time to buy.

So, back to work. But what to do: continue planning the due diligence exercise or start reviewing the draft contract? Hmmm, let's see, it's 3 a.m. and I'm pretty tired so maybe I'll take a look at the contract. Yep, right after I've had another couple of goes at that Red Square thingy. Is 30 seconds even possible?

Update.
Made it to 26.469 seconds. I doubt 30 seconds is possible - it just gets too fast.

Happy Birthday

Interlude

Happy New Year

Here's hoping you all can keep the wolf from your door over the next twelve months.

Festive spirit

Via Language Log:

Oliver Postgate 1925-2008

OP brought a lot of joy to a lot of children and also, I dare say, to a good number of adults. My favorite character of his is Noggin the Nog (we used to read it to the boys when they were little).


All the stories start the same way:-

In the lands of the North, where the Black Rocks stand guard against the cold sea, in the dark night that is very long the Men of the Northlands sit by their great log fires and they tell a tale...

There are affectionate tributes to Postgate in many of today's papers and Michael Moran at the Times links to examples of his work online.

Ulcers

That's what I've got, according to the consultant surgeon I saw yesterday, post-operative ulcers. Well, that would explain the pain and discomfort I've been experiencing since the operation.

I'm relieved it's only ulcers - I was starting to worry that there might be something seriously wrong with my innards. Thankfully not.

So, I have tablets. I'll take them. I'll get better.

Preparing to give thanks

The Junior household has been a hive of activity this morning.

Mac has been out to the allotment to collect some veg and is now busy preparing the turkey, I've been dashing around the local stores doing some last minute shopping (yams, marshmallows, cream and flour) and the boys are sitting around eating chocolate flavored breakfast cereal. They only get to eat it three days in the year - Christmas, birthdays and Thanksgiving - so they're making the most of it and they're not rushing. They know that once they've finished they'll be on Kitchen Patrol with the rest of us.

Anyway, I need to get back to it. Hope you all have a good one.

Me me me

What kind of blogger am I? Well, according to the GenderAnalyzer, I'm 84% male.

And according to the Typalyzer (found via the squiffy folks at DTPW), I'm an ESTP (Extroverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving).

Being labelled ESTP doesn't seem that wide of the mark. I think Mac and the boys would recognize me in the description given of an ESTP, particularly this bit:-

They can sometimes be hurtful to others without being aware of it, as they generally do not know and may not care about the effect their words have on others. It's not that they don't care about people, it's that their decision-making process does not involve taking people's feelings into account.

What can I say? It's the way I am.

A new dawn

A momentous occasion in American politics - for the first time ever the president-elect is younger than I am.

Family life

They're having a charity day at Spud's school today. The kids are all dressing up and Spud said he wanted to go as Uncle Sam, so Mac got out her sewing machine and made him a waistcoat and a top hat.



He thinks he looks cool. I think he looks cute.

Lost in translation

Welsh traffic sign:



The Welsh translates as "I am not in the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated".

Befuddled drudgery

I think I'm building up a resistance to the painkillers - I can now tie my laces without slobbering all over my shoes. That's a plus.

On the down side: I'm still "out of it" most of the time, my sleep pattern's shot to hell and I'm finding it difficult to take much of an interest in anything at all.

Still, I'm here.

Homemade naan

So, while the global financial system teeters on the verge of collapse, the race for the White House turns nasty and the war for God knows what continues in Afghanistan, I'm making naan bread.

Here's the recipe I'm using:

Ingredients

10oz plain flour
1 heaped tsp caraway seeds
1/4 pint hand-hot milk
1 tsp dried active yeast
1 tsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp plain yogurt, beaten
1 egg, lightly beaten

Method

Combine milk, yeast and half the sugar in a bowl, whisk and let stand for 20 minutes until a froth develops on the top. Mix in the egg, yogurt and oil.

Sift flour into a large mixing bowl, add salt, baking powder, the remaining sugar and the caraway seeds. Stir in the milk mixture to make a firm dough (if it's too soft and sticky add some more flour) and knead until smooth. Put the dough in an oiled plastic bag and leave in a warm place for an hour to allow it to rise.

Punch out the dough, knead it again and divide it into three pieces. Roll out each piece into a teardrop shape (about 10" by 5").

Preheat oven and heavy baking tray to 275C, place naan on tray and bake for 3 to 4 minutes (until it puffs up) remove from oven, brush top with a little water to dampen slightly then place under a hot grill for 30 seconds.

Modern Britain

Pupils don't give their teachers apples anymore; these days it's hash cakes, according to the Telegraph:-

A 15-year-old girl has been forced to move schools after she reportedly gave teaching staff cakes laced with drugs.

Two teaching assistants at Wortley High School, in Leeds, suffered from dizziness and headaches after eating the hash cakes which the girl took into school last month.

They pair were taken to hospital for emergency check-ups where doctors said that they had probably been drugged with cannabis.

Probably? For some reason the cakes weren't tested for drugs - so maybe it was just bad cake.

In any case, expect a wave of moral panic.

Bartlet meets Obama

By far the funniest thing I came across last week was a piece from Maureen Dowd in the NYT: Aaron Sorkin Conjures a Meeting of Obama and Bartlet.

Sampler:-

OBAMA They pivoted off the argument that I was inexperienced to the criticism that I’m — wait for it — the Messiah, who, by the way, was a community organizer. When I speak I try to lead with inspiration and aptitude. How is that a liability?

BARTLET Because the idea of American exceptionalism doesn’t extend to Americans being exceptional. If you excelled academically and are able to casually use 690 SAT words then you might as well have the press shoot video of you giving the finger to the Statue of Liberty while the Dixie Chicks sing the University of the Taliban fight song. The people who want English to be the official language of the United States are uncomfortable with their leaders being fluent in it.

Pirate talk

Dang! I missed International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Anyway, I imagine most pirates these days talk Swahili.

Stealth cat

My ten-year-old's favorite YouTube video - he laughs his head off the whole way through (again and again and again):-

Rounding up the carnivals

Jason Rosenhouse hosts the second Carnival of Evolution.

Freethought Fort Wayne has Humanist Symposium #25. [Via FIHD]

OrbitalHub hosts Carnival of Space #70.

Jonathan Calder at Liberal England has Britblog Roundup 187.

Ugh!

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted something here - those seven days have passed in a codeine induced blur. Yep, I'm back on the painkillers: maximum dose! And, just for the record, the op site still hurts like hell.

Don't expect much from me.

Mr Kipling

I feel I should say something after referring to one of Rudyard Kipling's poems in the previous post. Quoting Kipling is considered impolite (not to say offensive) in some circles and, before I'm branded for it, I just wanted to say that I hold with Orwell's assessment of the man:-

"Kipling is a jingo imperialist, he is morally insensitive and aesthetically disgusting".

Of course, that's not all Orwell had to say about Kipling: his article (first published in Horizon in 1942) deserves to be read in full.

Tommy turned away

Echoes of Kipling's Tommy Atkins in this story from the BBC:-

A soldier home on leave after being injured in Afghanistan was refused a room by a hotel when he showed his military ID card at reception.

Corporal Tomos Stringer, 23, from Gwynedd, was visiting a wounded colleague in Surrey when he was turned away from the Metro Hotel in Woking.

He spent the night in his car after being told it was management policy not to accept military personnel.

Cpl Stringer, who has since returned to active service in Afghanistan, is reportedly still angry about what happened and the hotel has now apologized.

Sadly, the treatment of Cpl Stringer is not an isolated event: The Herald reported in May that the British government is set to outlaw discrimination against service personnel following a number of incidents:-

Discrimination against service personnel wearing military uniform will become a criminal offence under proposals accepted yesterday by the government.

The move towards outlawing any physical, administrative, or verbal abuse of troops quotes one major incident reported exclusively by The Herald in January, which involved 200 soldiers returning from Afghanistan being forced to strip off their desert camouflage uniforms on the open tarmac at Birmingham International Airport and change into civilian clothing before being allowed through the terminal building.

Three other incidents used as a basis for new legislation included verbal intimidation of RAF personnel in Peterborough which led to a local ban on the wearing of uniform in public, the refusal of Harrods to allow a uniformed Army officer into the store after a Remembrance Day parade, and abusive complaints about seriously injured soldiers from the Headley Court rehabilitation centre being allowed to use one lane of the swimming pool at a nearby leisure centre.

Rain rain rain

It just keeps coming - according to the Telegraph, it's the national emblem.

Busy busy busy

No, really, sometimes I am.

I did however manage to catch that speech by the Republican attack doll. She's clearly nobody's fool and evidently she is "ready for primetime" - though, unlike Roger L Simon, I found her somewhat less than Capraesque.

Midweek games fest

On any given Saturday in the Junior household there's a high possibility that we'll be hosting the Big Fella's friends for one of their major gaming sessions: War Hammer, Risk, War on Terror, Diplomacy, Dungeons and Dragons (1st Edition) and video games - the mix varies.

Today isn't a Saturday but it is the last day of the school holidays, so the Big Fella has organized an Xbox games day: he's linked up a couple of games consoles, commandeered two of the televisions and taken over a couple of rooms for a day of virtual armed combat and heavy metal music. As a result, I've been overrun by up to ten 13 year-olds - though thankfully I only had to prepare lunch for eight of them.

I'm not sure how much blogging I'll get done today - Mac's been up in London all day and she has choir this evening, so I'll be on duty until late in the evening. Back later, maybe.

In the meantime you might want to check out one or two of the blogs in my blogroll over in the right hand sidebar, watch some classic performance poetry or just kick back and listen to some sounds.

Fakin' Palin redux

Frank J at IMAO offers a rough summary of a (now deleted) post at Daily Kos:-

Palin faked that she was pregnant with Trig to cover up that her daughter Bristrol was actually pregnant. When the baby was born and they found out he was black, so she bleached his skin to further conceal the truth. When nosy reporters got close to her secret, she killed a hobo, put the corpse in a gorilla suit, and froze it to claim she had bigfoot and cause a big media distraction. The hobo had hobo friends, though, and they started asking questions, so Palin had to murder them too and bury them in the middle of nowhere. But then there was a proposal to build a bridge to nowhere so she had to oppose that to keep people away from her secret.

Actually, I think Frank might have got a few of the particulars wrong. The google cache of the Daily Kos post is currently available here.

Long day

Just got the young'un to bed, finally. The Big Fella is still up and sitting in front of the TV: he's watching "House" - it's his favorite show right now. One of the reasons he likes it is because Hugh Laurie's character (Dr Gregory House) is just like me (supposedly) - apart from the cane and the Vicodin addiction, obviously.

Personally, I don't think I'm that grouchy.

Surprise of the day

Michael van der Galien at Poligazette has converted to Islam.

Monday roundabout

The latest edition of Democratiya is online.

Michael Totten has "The Truth About Russia in Georgia".

Talking to the animals: Language Log on interspecies communication.

Pajamas TV launched today: "still very much in beta" according to Roger Simon.

And finally,

Orac at Respectful Insolence comes up with "Another reason to hate the Yankees!"

Current reading

Jeremy Paxman's "The English: A Portrait of a People".

Chris Stringer "Homo Britannicus: The Incredible Story of Human Life in Britain".

"Over Here" by Raymond Seitz, former US Ambassador to Britain.

The bountiful earth

Mac's allotment is really producing this year. We've had all the corn we can handle, and then some. I handed half a dozen cobs to a neighbor last week. In return, we got a couple of pounds of pollack and some mackerel he'd caught.

We've also had a whole load of blackberries and blackcurrants, purple sprouting broccoli, courgettes (zucchini) and, my personal favorite, pink fir apple potatoes.



They're as ugly as sin but they taste divine.

Family life

No 1 Son will be starting at Exeter University next month. Yesterday, he gave me a guided tour of the place. Of course, seeing as how we're living in the 21st century, I didn't have to leave the house to take a look around - I got the virtual tour. It looks pretty impressive, too.

Holland Hall (student residence)
Typical student room
School of Psychology

LHC rap

My kinda crew: the kids at CERN are gettin' down with the groove:-



The Telegraph has details.

Monday roundabout

Norman Geras writes in defense of democratic socialism.

Uncredible Hallq hosts the 24th Humanist Symposium. [Via FIHD]

Oliver Kamm (now blogging at the Times) has "Ten moments from Tony Benn".

PooterGeek reviews "The Dark Knight".

And finally,

The Debatable Land has the video of Boris Johnson's "Ping Pong is coming home" speech.

Suicide vest girl

The BBC has video of the arrest of "Iraqi 'suicide vest' girl":-

A 13-year-old girl wearing a vest packed with explosives has been arrested in the Iraqi town of Baquba, after turning herself in - according to US officials.

She allegedly surrendered to police in Baquba and they had to remove the vest before detaining her. Iraqi police released a video of the incident.

A US military spokesman said she apparently approached the Iraqi police saying she had the vest on and did not want to go through with it. But it was not clear if she had been forced to wear the vest or had done so voluntarily.

What kind of person sends a young girl out to commit murderous suicide?

Her mother and husband tricked her into it according to the Kansas City Star which has details along with a picture of the 15 year-old Raina.

Blog under threat

From Brett at Harry's Place:-

Harry’s Place may be removed (or rather have it’s DNS disabled) after a ‘complaint’ to the company that our domain name is registered with.

We assume after threats were made on the weekend that this ‘complaint’ originates from Jenna Delich or her supporters.

Though we have not yet seen the complaint submitted, we assume it runs along the lines that pointing out that Ms Delich linked to the website of a known neo-Nazi figure and former Ku Klux Klan leader is defamatory.

If Harry's Place is down updates will be available from harryblog at gee mail dot com.

Oh, the humanity!

From the Telegraph: BBC reporter Lyse Doucet says the British media is not doing enough to communicate "the humanity of the Taliban".

Some examples of the Taliban's "humanity" (not cited by Ms Doucet):-

The murder of foreign aid workers.

The skinning alive of captured French soldiers.

The beheading of a teacher in front of his family for the "crime" of educating girls.

Sundry other atrocities too numerous to detail here.

David Szondy at Ephemeral Isle says of Lyse Doucet: "How this remarkably silly woman manages to navigate through life without the smallest fraction of common sense or moral judgment is beyond me."

Me too.

Too real

This is impressive: a computer generated performance from Image Metrics.



[Via Dean's World]

Still In the kitchen

I'm not blogging much because I'm cooking loads. And having a great deal of fun.

Tonight's menu: kofta bhoona served with basmati rice, spiced green beans, chapattis and a mint and onion raita. It really is great to be back in the kitchen!

Don't worry, I'll get over it, and then I'll be back to blogging about current affairs, the state of the world and all the other really important things.

In the meantime, excuse me while I go eat.

Update
Almost forgot, as a perfect end to the evening, Mac and I are going to sit down together, share a bottle of wine and watch "I Know Where I'm Going" - they don't make them like that anymore.

Foodfest

Yesterday was Mac's birthday. We had friends round for tea and cakes. Mac baked a chocolate cake, pineapple passion cake and bramble muffins, Spud (age 10) made flapjacks and, for supper, I cooked giant conchiglie stuffed with ricotta and spinach.

Today, Mac made tomato and lentil soup for lunch and, this evening, I'll be cooking chicken korma with pilau rice and saag bhaji.

I'm still in some pain from my botched op but at least I can eat pretty much what I want now - after months of plain baked chicken and boiled vegetables I've got some catching up to do.

So excuse me but I need to get back to the kitchen.

In between

It has not been a good day in the Junior household. I have been mostly in between - in between going in to hospital and not going in to hospital.

Last week, I was led to believe I would be going in as soon as a bed was available. Today, I was informed there are no plans to admit me: I will be treated as an outpatient.

That's fine, except that the uncertainty of it all has had no small impact on the significant others in my life. Questions have arisen. For example: Do I need to arrange childcare? Does Mac need to take time off work? Do I need to put on hold those (admittedly small number of) commitments I have to other people?

All in all, being in between has not been a comfortable experience: I value clarity. Unfortunately, the National Health Service does not seem to hold it in the same high regard.

As I said, it has not been a good day in the Junior household.

Thursday roundabout

In country: Michael Totten reports from Tbilisi.

Dave Price at Dean's World on infrastructure improvements in Iraq.

Zoe Brain takes the Slavoj Test.

Eddie Campbell has brought a fistful of comics back from his book tour.

And finally,

Life and death in Blue Gel City: Science Punk has taken up ant farming.

Current reading

"The Rise of the Greek Epic" by Gilbert Murray.

Actually, I'm rereading it, and enjoying it greatly. I read a lot of Classics at university and Gilbert Murray's works were foremost amongst them.

I don't often link to Wikipedia but the entry on Murray provides a fairly comprehensive picture of the life and works of a remarkable man.

Funding terror

Newsnight, the BBC's flagship news and current affairs program, reports that UK charity Children in Need provided funding to the terrorists responsible for the 7/7 attacks.

According to a report in yesterday's Telegraph:-

Thousands of pounds raised by Britons for the BBC’s Children in Need charity could have been used to recruit and train the homegrown terrorists involved in the 7/7 terror attacks on London.

Some of the cash could also have been used to fund the propaganda activities of the suicide bombers who killed 52 people in July 2005, according to an investigation by BBC 2’s Newsnight.

The programme reported that £20,000 from Children in Need was handed over to the Leeds Community School, in Beeston, Yorkshire between 1999 and 2002.

The school, which also received large sums from other public bodies, was run from premises behind the Iqra Islamic bookshop which the gang used as a meeting place and an opportunity to radicalise others.

Lightning strikes again

Usain Bolt yesterday after winning the 200m final in a new world record time of 19.30 secs.

BBC video of the race here.

Beijing 2008

Most pointless Olympic sport, ever: Men's Beach Volleyball.

Mac doesn't get it either: "They're wearing shirts?!"

Update
Neo-neocon objects to the "pulchritudinous inequities" of the sport.

Misjudging America

The Telegraph reports that British anti-Americanism is "based on misconceptions".

Tell me about it!

Tuesday roundabout

Ophelia Benson: For women "Afghanistan is pretty much one big prison, run by sadistic rapist guards."

Oliver Kamm (now blogging at the Times) draws attention to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament's links with the Communist Party of Britain.

Kings of War examines what motivates the killing of aid workers in Afghanistan.

Jason Rosenhouse at Evolution Blog reports from the Sixth International Conference on Creationism.

And finally,

Orac at Respectful Insolence has a video of all the "Dr Who" episodes compressed into 8 minutes.

Insulting friends

A flimsy article on the difficulties of being friends with celebrities by Sathnam Sanghera in today's Times contains a passage that left me scratching my head.

You may have noticed that one of the main ways in which male friends communicate is through the medium of insult. You find someone's weak point - a big bottom, flappy ears, a flappy bottom, big ears - and tease him about it relentlessly.

This may be true of juveniles but I haven't witnessed it much in grown men and it certainly isn't characteristic of any of my friendships.

It beats me why would anyone want to be friends with someone who did that sort of thing, and yet Sanghera seems to think it's normal. I dunno, maybe I'm the odd one out here but I tend to regard such behavior as being indicative of unresolved personal issues.

Or maybe I'm just taking Sanghera's piece more seriously than it deserves.

The Phelps effect

The BBC's Steve Parry is mobbed by fans in Tiananmen Square as he's mistaken for Michael Phelps.

Weekend reading

Philip Bobbitt in the Spectator: "Russia’s aggression in Georgia is a portent of perils to come".

Condoleezza Rice in Foreign Affairs: Rethinking the National Interest - American Realism for a New World.

From last year's March/April issue of Boston Review, Days of Lies and Roses - Sarah Chayes's experiences in Afghanistan. [Via ALD]

At Slate, Christopher Beam looks at "Five ways Internet tricksters could tamper with the 2008 elections".

Family life

No 1 Son has just returned from a week in the South of France. He didn't take a guitar with him, so know he's back he's playing pretty much all the time. I told you he was guitar mad, right? Well, not content with the sound he was getting from either his Strat or the Telecaster clone he built himself (not "fat" enough, seemingly) he's been out and bought yet another guitar.

It's an Ibanez S470 and it's a real beaut.


He tells me he needs it for Technical Rock - I don't even know what that is!

Balaclava of evil

The Independent reports that the "War on Terror" boardgame has been "branded criminal by police":-

Following a series of raids on the climate change camp near Kingsnorth power station, officers displayed an array of supposed weapons snatched from demonstrators: knives, chisels, bolt cutters, a throwing star – and a copy of the satirical game, which lampoons Washington's "war on terror".
[...]
Kent police said they had confiscated the game because the balaclava [which comes packed with the game] "could be used to conceal someone's identity or could be used in the course of a criminal act".

The balaclava in use (from Cockaigne's flikr page):-


Kent police in action:-

Aprocryphal prejudice

Mark Tran at Comment is Free wades into the debate over the controversial pictures of Spanish Olympic athletes and almost immediately goes off beam:-

Should I get offended by pictures of Spanish athletes and sports officials players pulling back the skin on either side of their eyes, in a slit-eyed gesture?

Not really, but the pictures make me think that Spain is stuck in a time warp when it comes to race relations. The incident brings to mind a story a former university professor told me about American attitudes towards the Japanese during the second world war – American pilots were told by their commanders that the Japanese were inferior pilots because they had slitty eyes.

Hmmm. How is it that a story about the attitude of Spanish athletes towards the Chinese reminds Mark Tran of a story involving Americans and Japanese during the Second World War? I struggle to see the relevance myself. But then this is Comment is Free where gratuitous references to the supposed stupidity and racism of Americans are commonplace.

So, did American commanders really tell their pilots that the Japanese were inferior flyers because they had "slitty eyes"? Well, if they did, it's news to me.

Of course, American attitudes to the Japanese were colored by the attack on Pearl Harbor and the widespread inclination at the time for Westerners to regard themselves as superior physical specimens when compared to "Asiatics" - American propaganda routinely depicted the Japanese soldier as a bespectacled, bucktoothed weakling. But is there any evidence to support Tran's specific accusation? Not that I've come across.

It's true American commanders were convinced that Japanese airmen (and soldiers) had poor eyesight but this misapprehension had nothing to do with the shape of their eyes. Rather, the impression was fostered by the prevalence of corrective spectacles amongst members of the Japanese forces and was reinforced by faulty intelligence early in the war. The following quote from Marine pilot (and Medal of Honor recipient) Gregory "Pappy" Boyington is illustrative:-

I suppose you know that the Japanese are renowned for their inability to fly. And they all wear corrective glasses."

"Captain," said Boyington, "it's quite a setup, but how do you know the pilots wear glasses?"

"Our technical staff determines this from the remains after a shoot-down."

In any case, as Peter B. Mersky notes in "Time of the Aces: Marine Pilots in the Solomons" such misconceptions did not survive contact with the enemy:-

The stereotypical picture of a small, emaciated Japanese pilot, wearing glasses whose lenses were the thickness of the bottoms of Coke bottles [...] did not persist for long after the war began. The first American aircrews to return from combat knew that they had faced some of the world's most experienced combat pilots equipped with some pretty impressive airplanes.

On a more general note, this article (from the January 1941 issue of "Flying and Popular Aviation") demonstrates the tendency of American commentators to underestimate enemy air power based in part on a stereotypical characterization of Japanese abilities. Nevertheless, there's no mention of "slitty eyes".

Mark Tran really shouldn't believe every negative story he hears about Americans: some people might think he's prejudiced.

World's fastest man

A while back, I wrote about my favorite gold medal winning performances from past Olympics (Bob Beamon and Dick Fosbury from Mexico City '68 and Olga Korbut at the Munich games in '72) but today's performance by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt in the Men's 100m final eclipsed them all.

Bolt didn't just win the race, he dominated it. After 50 metres the outcome was never in doubt, at 85 metres Bolt eased off and cruised over the finish line grandstanding to the crowd for a new world record of 9.69 secs.

It was a truly phenomenal performance. You can watch it here.

Saturday roundabout

Cobb takes another look at blackness, class, politics and identity in "The Error of My Boohabian Ways".

Savage Minds provides an anthropological take on Olympic competition.

Mr Eugenides is the host for Britblog Roundup #182.

Cryptomundo reports on a marriage made in hell: Creationism and cryptozoology.

And finally,

Pootergeek warns of the dangers of "Genetically Unmodified heads of state".

DVD heaven

Recently, I've been feasting on Frank Capra movies: "It Happened One Night", "Meet John Doe", and most recently the restored print of "Mr Deeds Goes To Town".

"Deeds" is regarded by some as an also ran when compared to "IHON" and "It's a Wonderful Life" but, to my mind, it's Capra's best picture. The cinematography is just stunning and Jean Arthur's performance is a wow! It's hard to believe she had to be practically dragged in front of the camera.

"Kick her in the ass!" Capra laughed when asked how to direct Jean Arthur. "She's a funny combination of things. You can't get her out of the dressing room without using force. You can't get her in front of the camera without her crying, whining, vomiting, all that shit she does. But then when she does get in front of the camera, and you turn on the lights - wow! All of that disappears and out comes a strong-minded woman. Then when she finishes the scene, she runs back to the dressing room and hides."

From Joseph McBride's definitive biography "Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success".

Unheath update

Ok, so I haven't been posting much, lately. Mostly, I've been in hospital (three times in the last two weeks) or lying in bed at home. It's becoming increasingly obvious that the surgical team responsible for removing my gall bladder made a bit of a mess of it.

On the positive side: my liver function is fine and I don't have a hospital acquired infection. On the other hand, I'm still in some pain, my blood pressure keeps dropping away to abnormally low levels, my appetite's gone and I'm experiencing intermittent hot and cold sweats. Altogether most unpleasant.

Still, not to worry, I now have a senior consultant on my case and I'm waiting to be readmitted for tests, scans and (potentially) exploratory surgery. Oh joy!

Random nostalgia

The public swimming baths near my grandparents' home in Liverpool, now demolished.



Mom used to take me and my sister swimming there; she always wore a bathing cap. Years later, those bathing caps became highly prized objects - turned inside out they were perfect for Kojak impressions.

The Russian question

A multiple choice for NATO members.

Which of the following is "a faraway country of which we know little":

A. Georgia
B. Ukraine
C. Lithuania
D. Estonia
E. All of the above

Weekend reading

Via Michael Totten: Joshua Kucera's experiences in South Ossetia published in a May edition of Slate.

In the Independent: Paul Vallely on "the global demographic conundrum".

"Who’s Afraid of Friedrich Hayek?" Jesse Larner in Dissent Magazine assesses Hayek's contribution to political theory.

Nicholas Carr at the Atlantic asks: "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"

Physics exercises

Fancy a brain workout? Forget Sudoku and Brain Gym: checkout the ticklish physics problems at The Feynman Lectures on Physics.

My personal favorite: boat anchor lake.

Family life

In two months time, No 1 Son's gap year will come to an end and he'll be heading off to university. For the last twelve months, rather than traveling the world, getting some degree-related work experience or doing voluntary work overseas, he's been sitting around playing guitar.

Well, that's not entirely true - he's also been working in the local guitar shop to build up his savings (£500 of which he spent on a Fender Stratocaster), he's built himself a guitar (basically a Telecaster clone but with a bigger headstock) and he's been supplementing his shop earnings teaching classical guitar in the evenings. The rest of the time he's either playing guitar, studying music theory or listening to music. He's pretty dedicated.

He recently came back from a week-long residential course at the International Guitar Festival in Bath. He was on a jazz course but he got to meet and mingle with a lot of blues guitarists (including Matt Scofield and Sherman Robertson). Needless to say, he had a time. And he came back buzzing with enthusiasm.

Problem is, he'll be studying psychology at university not music. So now he's saying if he's not enjoying his degree after six months, he's going to pack it in, move to London and concentrate on music.

What's a father to do?

Dirge to Autumn

During National Poetry Month, I signed up for the Academy of American Poets' "Poem-a-Day" service, and as a result they keep mailing me interesting tidbits from the wonderful world of poetry. Though, sometimes, the stuff they highlight isn't all that wonderful. I am, for example, still waiting for someone to fill me in on M. NourbeSe Philip's effort (I'm not even going to call it a poem - I'm not sure what it is).

Anyhow, what got my goat recently was American poet Stanley Plumly reading "Ode to Autumn" by John Keats - he turns it into a dirge. The delivery is so slow and ponderous it makes the poem sound like a lament. It's an ode, FGS! Keats wrote it to praise autumn not to bury it.

What is it with some poets that they feel they have to put on some kind of slow, somber "poetry voice" when they read stuff? It drives me mad. Really, I'm tempted to do a podcast of "Ode to Autumn" myself just to illustrate the joy in Keats' lines.

Mind you, I suppose I should be grateful Plumly didn't attempt "Ode to a Nightingale". Just the thought makes me shudder.

Update
My mistake: I'm informed that Stanley Plumly isn't putting on a special voice to read that poem - that's just the way he speaks. Fine, but my point remains - it's not really the way Keats should be read, (IMHO).

Update
Also from Stanley Plumly: "The Posthumous Keats: A personal biography". Ron Slate's review at On the Seawall quotes from the preface to provide a context (and some justification) for Plumly's presentation of "To Autumn".

Paris for Prez

It seems we have a write-in candidate for the presidency:-

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

[Via Harry's Place]

Wrong hero

A number of papers report the revelation that one of the British Prime Minister's boyhood heroes was Scott of the Antarctic.

That's a shame. A lot of people in the Labour Party rather wish Gordon Brown would follow Captain Oates' example : "I am just going outside and may be some time."

Change of plans

I'm not supposed to be here. I should be on a beach somewhere in Pembrokeshire with Mac and the boys. That was the plan. Of course, things didn't turn out that way: recovering from the op took longer than expected so I stayed home. Turns out I didn't miss much, the weather in Pembrokeshire took a turn for the worse in the middle of the week; Mac and the boys came home after only a few days away.

Still, we'll get away later in the year, all being well.

In the meantime, expect some blogging.

Time out

Some good news. They brought forward the date of my op - I'm going in Tuesday and should be out the same day. Then I'm going to take a few weeks out, spend some time in Pembrokeshire with the family and generally go easy on myself.



Have a good summer. I'll be back in September.

Update

Before I go, I just thought I'd let you know about two recent additions to my blogroll. You might want to check them out:

Baroque in Hackney: A blog by poet and writer Katy Evans-Bush. Her Normblog profile can be found here.

Cobb: "Curious, sceptical, analytical" - that's my kind of blogger! Normblog profile here.

Okay, that's it - I'm outa here!

Israel versus Iran

Adam LeBor at Harry's Place links to a disturbing op-ed in yesterday's New York Times:-

Benny Morris, the famed Israeli historian, argues in the New York Times that Israel will ‘almost surely’ attack Iran’s nuclear facilities in the next four to seven months. His scenario of the possible consequences is terrifying. Registration is required, so here is the whole article. It’s grim reading.

It is indeed but I can't fault Morris's analysis of the situation - I've been thinking much the same thing for some time.

Blogging issues

David T at Harry's Place:

"I’m not sure about the new direction Pickled Politics has taken, of late."

Oh good. It's not just me then.

Poetry corner

(From Robert Frost's "West Running Brook", Holt 1928)

Acquainted with the Night

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

Modern Britain

The latest government initiative to defeat knife crime:-

Young people who carry knives will be made to visit hospitals where stabbing victims are treated, in a bid to shock them into changing their behaviour.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said seeing "gruesome" injuries would be a tougher deterrent than sending all knife carriers in England and Wales to jail.

Regardless of the effect it might have on the future behavior of offenders (which I imagine would be negligible), if you're lying in hospital having recently been stabbed, I would have thought the last thing you'd want is a bunch of young offenders on knife crime charges at your bedside. Still, what do I know, I'm not a politician.

Of course, if this idea works out it could usefully be extended to other categories of offenders. So, instead of sending convicted murderers to prison we could just give them a guided tour of the local morgue. And if that doesn't deter them, send them back for another visit. Maybe they'll get the idea, eventually.

Weekend reading

Dale at Faith in Honest Doubt is hosting Humanist Symposium #22.

Clive Davis reviews John McWhorter's latest book "All About the Beat: Why Hiphop Can’t Save Black America".

Spiked has an extract from Kenan Malik's new book "Strange Fruit: Why Both Sides are Wrong in the Race Debate".

The Spectator: British Muslims don’t want sharia law.

It's a cracker

"It's a frackin' cracker!"

Independent reading

Just purchased: "American Scripture: How America Declared its Independence from Britain" by Pauline Maier.

From Richard Ryason's review in the New York Times:-

The most original contribution of "American Scripture" [is] Maier's setting both the congressional decision to break with Britain and the Declaration itself in the context of some 90 other "declarations" of independence issued between April and early July 1776 by Massachusetts towns; New York and Pennsylvania artisan and militia associations; counties in New York, Maryland and Virginia; South Carolina grand juries; and the provincial congresses of nine colonies.
[...]
She is apparently the first historian to accord such attention to these local declarations, and in so doing, she greatly advances her argument that the Declaration of Independence was indeed "an expression of the American mind."

Unhealth update

So, I made it the hospital for my pre-op assessment and promptly collapsed. When I came round, I was linked up to an ECG. Thankfully, my heart's okay but my blood pressure is all over the place - it keeps dropping away to abnormally low levels and when that happens I fall over.

Still, if you're going to collapse then a hospital is the best place to do it. They let me out, eventually, after which I walked home (sometimes I do the dumbest things), got in and collapsed again.

Looking on the bright side, my performance at the hospital today seems to have convinced them to try and bump me up the list. I may not have to wait another five weeks for the op.

In the meantime, I've become acutely aware that my well-being is critically dependent on a bunch of pink tubes and squishy internal machinery, some of which ain't working so good, right now.

Anyway, in case you haven't already guessed, I won't be doing much blogging for a while.

Thursday roundabout

Iraq today: Bruno Mota in a guest post at Harry's Place reviews the state of play in Iraq.

At Normblog: Eve Garrard's letter of resignation from the UCU.

Myth busting at Savage Minds: "Are there ‘uncontacted tribes’? The short answer: No."

Zoe Brain takes a look at developments in brain mapping using diffusion MRI technology.

And finally,

Riverdale Make-Over: The Changing Face of Big Ethel.

Random quote

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

Abraham Lincoln

Random picture

Fantasy food

Last night, if I wasn't on a low fat diet, we'd have had murghi badami for dinner (it's a richer version of chicken korma cooked in yoghurt and single cream), instead we had plain baked chicken with boiled vegetables.

I miss cooking. Really, I do. I miss it so much I spend time each day thinking about what we'd be having if I was well enough to eat the kind of food I usually cook. I've got a whole week's worth of virtual meals all planned out: fajitas, kofta bhoona, kheema mattar, lamb pasanda, beef madras. And then there's the sides: nachos, pakoras, bhajiyas, assorted fried dumplings etc.

I'm really looking forward to eating real food again. The boys are looking forward to it too - they miss my cooking even more than I do.