Category Archives: Blather

Unfortunate google

I can’t remember why I wanted to look up the term “sausage fest” though it certainly wasn’t because I am reading The Line of Beauty. In any case I may have found an instance where someone — in this case … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Blather, Net stories | 1 Comment

Childhood’s End

There is now a site where Swedish children can input their addresses and then be sent texts to tell them when the ice cream van is due. (via) All that is missing is another site where older readers can arranged … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Blather, Sweden | 1 Comment

This has to happen to someone

Google desktop comes with a pop-up notifier for new mail, as does Thunderbird. I assume that other programs do too. These are not like the old-fashioned biff-ish ones, which simply showed you had mail of some sort. They pop up … Continue reading Continue reading

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Catholic bioethics: still crazy

One of the people we had to talk to us at the Templeton seminars was an official Catholic bioethicist, who was put up against two FRSs to defend or at least expound RC teaching on embryos. The session produced some … Continue reading

Posted in Blather, God | 3 Comments

Human spam

The FWB was reading a Travis McGee book, to celebrate the fact that we have at least completed our collection with the latest delivery from Amazon. “What’s an Avon Lady?” she asked. and I, reaching across the generation gap for … Continue reading Continue reading

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Sunday shorts

Thank you mefi. I could spend the whole weekend fooling around at this huge collection of legal streamed music, trying to put together the most perfect possible radio station of concerts promoted by Bill Graham. Language Log shows how to … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Blather | 2 Comments

Miscellany post

I’m in Cambridge for the next ten days or so, working on a Templeton journalism Fellowship, but hoping to socialise in the evenings — hi, Bill! hi John! — with readers. I mean to put some of the little fragments … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Blather, Travel notes | 1 Comment

Dreaming of Sweden and stranger things.

One title liked by Granta for my new book is Dreaming of Sweden. Does this explain why, one recent morning, I said in an authoritative tone, as if soothing a nervous diner, We have boiled Lapps; we have stuffed Lapps … Continue reading Continue reading

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A cultural injunction

The Lives of Others is not only a very good film, though I think it would have been better had it ended with the car accident, but it has inspired a remarkable piece of film criticism from Timothy Garton Ash. … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Blather, Journalism | Comments Off on A cultural injunction

Short sillies

At last, I’ve found where GNER buys their coffee though there’s nothing on that site about the importance of serving it tepid. I suppose that’s self-evident, when you click through. Band names that don’t quite make it: “And you shall … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Blather | 5 Comments