1April
One of m'learned chums wrote,
after six hours of sitting in the airport with a severely sprained ankle, my flight was cancelled.
The moral of the story? Don't go to airports if you have a sprained ankle. Indeed, we expect a missive from John Reid's new Ministry of Headless Chickens banning anyone with a slightly gammy leg from travelling anywhere by aeroplane, as the crutches could be a potential death trap terrorist weapon (cheesy grin, whacky thumbs aloft.)
Laura wrote,
i am okay with who i am,
Huzzah! Readers may also wish to be aware of Laura's newish other blog, Momcore.
Elsewhere, we hear,
Thor is Aphrodite's type.
Dahlink, everyone is Aphrodite's type. This sort of cuteness is something that she encourages. There will be no smiting, only gentle pulling on bows to get them at just the right angle for ultimate cuteness.
Speaking of Aphrodite, there are those who will argue that marriage is a recognition of a remarkable and unusual combination, requiring nothing more than a public declaration by all concerned. Others may wish to take a less inclusive and more bigoted view.
An out-take from Het Grauniad's ovre-by-oevr commentary on England's loss to Ireland. Surely Patrick Kielty is the equivalent of fans tearing up the seats, invading the pitch and forcing an abandonment?, says David Ford. 12 points deduction, £500,000 fine and a two-year ban from European competition.
Scott Somedisco writes about the Interior Ministry's ostrich-like policy towards Zimbabwe (see also: to-day's Obsrevre), and takes the minister to task. John Reid, good lord. you can't doubt his sincerity to combat extremism but he runs a despicable department. Well, we can and do doubt his sincerity in The War Against (Some) Terrorists; there are enough signs to cause us suspicion that his mob are acting to create fear, rather than calm it.
Scott continues, Tory MP John Bercow (Buckingham) deserves a medal by the pinched and miserable and small-spirited standards of some of his Home Office opposites for pointing out what any sane person can see. (you could give him at least the same honours as Mick Jagger, anyway.) Ah yes, Mick Jagger, a man whose commitment to radicalism was so deep that when, in 2002, he was offered a knighthood, he had no choice but to accept.
Tony Blair once called Bercow nasty and ineffectual - now, i don't know any Buckingham constituents (perhaps it was a reference to local issues from the PM, after all) but if Bercow is ineffectual what does that mean for Reid? Clearly, Mister Blair was comparing Mr. Bercow against the last Labour member to hold the Buckingham seat; between 1964 and 1970, the area was represented by Mr. Robert Maxwell, the well-known newspaper magnate, pensions thief, and floatation device.
writing from a UK-centred perspective, are the current adventures of Conrad Black inspiring the biggest mass outbreak of schadenfreude in recent times? We suspect that this could be the Chicagou equivalent of 1999's libel case between Mr. Mohammed Fayed (a grocer from Egypt) and Mr. Neil Hamilton (an oik from Tatton). It's only a shame that there had to be a winner...
PostClassic has a long essay on The Unapproachable Sacredness of Pop. (We assume that the word sanctity would have confused some readers.) My teachers' generation considered pop music beneath serious discussion; my students believe that whenever pop and classical collide, classical must be in the wrong.
Which brings us to the never-knowingly-wrong (except when he's booking the fecking arsehole) Norman Lebrecht's post, Fending off the battering rams, in which our hero discusses music with Tor and Myleene Klass. Why classical, alone among all musical forms, is being urged to reform. I hear no demands for clubs to employ string quartets and rock stations to play sonatas.
In other world comment, Ali Ansari writes on Iran's distorted view of Britain, and vice versa. Alan Watkins, on the Brownite contempt for democracy; Matthew D'Ancona encourages Milliband to run against Brown. Robin Harris, on the importance of the Falklands war (and we're looking forward to BBC Parliament's six-hour special on the topic to-night, almost as much as Election 92
on Easter Monday.)
The April Fish Awards
As it's now just after mid-day, April Fish awards. Livejournal: stunningly unfunny for the fifth year in a row. The Observer: good. Sunday Telegraph: in very poor taste. Sunset Times: wishful thinking. Independent: very good. The BBC didn't bother, at least on their website, though the joke about Steve Wright being a competent DJ is wearing a bit thin now. Dr Vee almost had us there. Buzzerblog's transformation into a cat site is Not Funny.
Gold Fish to the Independent, silver to Doctor Vee. Bronze Fish to Bother's Bar.
