Category Archives: Blather

Filthy synod blogging

Posted on February 13, 2008 by acb

There is something about the extreme boredom of a routine synod meeting which fires up the erotic imagination, and yesterday afternoon, as I sat in the press room trying to summon up the will to live, or at least to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather, God | 4 Comments

Emergency Sanity blogging

Posted on February 11, 2008 by acb

Before I go into London. I just want to record that spring has arrived in the countryside. I was struggling with a filthy cold for most of the weekend, and turned down an invitiation to go on the Sunday programme … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Scraps at the end of a long silly day

Posted on January 30, 2008 by acb

These quiz things seem popular on the internet, so here is a one question personality test, without any typing, to try: what is the word you see here? Damian Thompson has now admitted his story was nonsense, but what I … Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 7 Comments

uncelebrity gossip

Posted on January 16, 2008 by acb

So to a party to celebrate Granta’s 100th issue. I arrive late, having started at the wrong tube station and walked from Queensway to the Portobello Road in pouring rain. On the stairs up to the auditorium is Martin Amis, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 2 Comments

Unity sees the bright side

Posted on December 28, 2007 by acb

There is more to the story I told in the previous entry about the SS man who found he was a Jew. Here is how it ended, in Unity’s telling to Diana. Of course poor Heinz was completely erledigt [shattered] … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 8 Comments

Nazis stole my Christmas

Posted on December 27, 2007 by acb

I was given a copy of the Mitford sisters’ collected letters, and have sunk, enthralled, into its currents, occasionally surfacing, sputtering and expostulating, to read whole chunks out loud to the nearest victim. The nicknames and the silliness no longer … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 7 Comments

Life in the South

Posted on December 11, 2007 by acb

So, to a party in London, where the first person I talk to is Fay Weldon. It is incredibly noisy and cramped, and when I tell her that my latest work is really a sort of time-travel book about Sweden … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 4 Comments

The end of civilisation, again

Posted on December 1, 2007 by acb

I have just come across a reference to a recipe for stir-fried lutfisk. The Swedish for stir-fried, incidentally, is wokad — “wokked”. I tried to find this recipe, and failed, which is perhaps for the best. On the other hand, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather, Sweden | 1 Comment

After the drugs ran out

Posted on December 1, 2007 by acb

It turns out the Quicksilver Messenger Service still sounded great. The last three and a half songs1 on this concert vault recording are a treasure for anyone who likes inventive hippie music. Much better than almost everything on Happy Trails, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Apologies for delayed posting

Posted on December 1, 2007 by acb

I have been doing last-minute book edits, and catching up on all the stuff I haven’t been doing while doing last-minute book edits. It occurs to me that I haven’t had a proper holiday all year. No wonder I am … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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