Category Archives: Blather

One of the things I’m working on is an interview with Larry Trasque, a Bask specialist at the University of Sussex. From his writings, I have learnt that the Basque term for “old maid” is , literally `gray-cunt’. Continue reading →

Older readers will remember a discussion on teaspoons and neutron stars. I’m glad to say that the whole subject has now been exposed to a rigorous scientific examination. Continue reading →

— in your neighbourhood: I had a spam this morning which offered me pictures of “Women bearing all”. Continue reading →

The first computer I ever used had a daisy wheel printer so noisy that I would move to the floor below when it was time to print out a draft of the pamphlet I was writing (for an improbable thinktank … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m back. I caught a lot of trout, and came home to a catastrophe, which I will post about tomorrow. In the meantime, here is something compoletely tasteless, which you hardly need to speak German/Austrian to appreciate (via mefi). Suck … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s panic backup time. There are strange noises coming from the large box on my desk: I imagine a wombat with metallic whiskers sniffing and rustling in the drive cage. If I disappear more than usually, that’s going to be … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Rosie asked me on the train back from Marburg, apropos nothing in particular,how much a piece of neutron star the size of a grain of sand would weigh. Does anyone know? Rupert? Continue reading →

O frabjuous day! Felix has got onto his course in stage management at RADA. Only three people are admitted every year. My son the brain surgeon! Continue reading →

I’m reading the memoirs of Mary Warnock, whom I hope to profile. She’s the nearest thing to an acknowledged moral arbiter this country has: an Oxford philosopher who has been a member of every important committee for years and years. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Not going to post much this weekend: there’s a lot of work on, and we have to go into London tonight for a meal with old friends. But I just found the story of a technological disaster in Rupert’s column … Continue reading → Continue reading →