Yearly Archives: 2003

My Old School

Posted on October 21, 2003 by acb

I was talking last night to my very county friend Neville about schooldays, a subject which has been much on my mind since going to interview Redmond O’Hanlon, who was at Marlborough about seven years before I was (I was … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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sick geek chic

Posted on October 18, 2003 by acb

I am in bed with a stinking cold, unable to think. So I play with computers instead. I finally put VNC on the big machine, so that I can now — well, I’m not sure what I can now do … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Software | 2 Comments

Perish the Thought (2)

Posted on October 17, 2003 by acb

One difference between PR and news is that in PR you try to put the big lie at the beginning o fthe piece, and in news, you put it at the end. A very fine example of this technique came … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Perish the Thought (1)

Posted on October 17, 2003 by acb

One of the questions asked of any journalist applying for a visa to the USA is this: Have you ever been afflicted with a communicable disease of public health significance or a dangerous physical or mental disorder, or ever been … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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It’s out

Posted on October 10, 2003 by acb

And it’s beautiful. All you American readers, go and buy this book at once. Columbia University Press have done a wonderful job on the worm, including illustrations, which Simon and Schuster never bothered with in the English edition. This is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Worms | 4 Comments

Adverbs to avoid

Posted on October 10, 2003 by acb

Enormously, suddenly, hugely, vaguely. I don’t know about you, but those are all polyfilla words for me. Continue reading →

Posted in Literature | 3 Comments

Notes from the dying room

Posted on October 10, 2003 by acb

My friend’s wife is dying. She has been headed undeviatingly to this end, to this room of her own at the far end of the neurological ward on the seventh floor, for fifteen years at least, ever since she started … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Travel notes | 1 Comment

Not always wrong

Posted on October 5, 2003 by acb

About a year ago, I wrote here that the war planners could not really believe that Saddam had weapons capable of destroying Tel Aviv, because, if he did, the risk of his using them far outweighed any possible benefits from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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An outburst of piety.

Posted on September 27, 2003 by acb

October is shaping up to be phenomenally busy. I have finally finished a troublesome book outline, and can get that off. I have to profile Redmond O’Hanlon, Robert Silvers, and possibly Marvin Minsky for the Guardian. I have promised a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism | 6 Comments

All biologists should eat kippers

Posted on September 27, 2003 by acb

because it is quite impossible to bone one without thinking about development. All those ribs, each one a tiny bit shorter than the one in front, but each one growing through the same double turn, first out, then in to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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