Yearly Archives: 2005

Social Studies

Posted on December 11, 2005 by acb

On Friday I found myself in a rather grand country house hotel, lunching with a widowed duchess. countess. This was the sort of place where, if you’re cold, you put on another rope of pearls, made even more enjoyable because … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Net stories | Comments Off on Social Studies

Notes from a literary party

Posted on December 6, 2005 by acb

I talked with a woman whom I had not seen for years about the profile business. She told me about interviewing a hero of mine (and hers, perhaps even yours, oh cultured readers), who told her that his deepest romantic … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism | 18 Comments

The house troll

Posted on December 4, 2005 by acb

Is ready here. I mean to go back and turn it into much better English, but at least this is a draft, which shows the storyline. Continue reading →

Posted in Literature | 4 Comments

Miscellanea

Posted on December 4, 2005 by acb

Jeremy Ahouse points me to a small reason for pride in our profession: an interview in the New Yorker wth the woman who wrote their (print-only) piece on the Dover trial, in which she points out that the real predictor … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 4 Comments

Ethical Christmas presents

Posted on December 3, 2005 by acb

Some people are upset about the craze for giving charity goats to Africa. In Africa, the real goats gnaw at everything they can reach, still further deforesting a fragile ecosystem; in this country the certificate gnaws at the recipient’s self-esteem, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Net stories | 3 Comments

Longer Andrew Brown

Posted on December 1, 2005 by acb

Perhaps I should just change my name to Biggles and get over it. Two people have asked me to day if I wrote a biography of JD Bernal which has just come out. No, I didn’t. That was some other … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 3 Comments

Shorter Tori Amos

Posted on November 30, 2005 by acb

She seems to have two songs: “Oh God, oh God, I can’t find my vibrator!” and “Oh God, Oh God, I’ve found it!” UPDATE: in the interests of balancing misanthropy, a story. My impression of TA comes from the (otherwise) … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 3 Comments

Horrors of war

Posted on November 28, 2005 by acb

There is a video going around (I’ll not link to it) apparently made by British mercenaries in Iraq. It’s shot out of the back of a moving truck/SUV which is driving down the fast lane of a dust-coloured concrete dual … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in War | 3 Comments

Been all around the world.

Posted on November 28, 2005 by acb

I was wandering around net and found this map of Swedish bloggers. Clicking on the smallest red pimple in the heart of nowhere I was whisked to Sorsele (see photo above) where the first snow has just fallen. However, the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Net stories | 3 Comments

A silly question deserves

Posted on November 25, 2005 by acb

A silly answering machine. I will at some stage put together a feed for the Troll blog. For the moment I am happy to have it looking fairly OK. Continue reading →

Posted in Net stories | Comments Off on A silly question deserves