Category Archives: Random thoughts
The house of awesomeness
The early Olympics were intended to have a much wider context than being just a sporting contest. There were contests in the arts alongside the sporting contests, and two of the first Games were held concurrently with international expositions (Paris in 1900 and St Louis in 1904). This year, there’s also been the Cultural Olympiad [...]
Two views, one day
After waking, he checked his portable communication device, which instantly gave him the latest score in the Ashes Test from Sydney, confirming that England were on course to win the match, and with it, the series. He went downstairs and picked up his portable reading device, selecting a book from the list of hundreds it [...]
Back to the Moon
Here’s a question that’s been dwelling on my mind for a while: if it was necessary for human beings to return to the Moon as soon as possible, how long would it take? We know that there are various promises from different national space programmes to go (or return) to the moon in the next [...]
Time travelling thoughts
Looking through the Onion site, I found this interesting article in the AV Club about time travel and when and where you’d choose to go live for a few years if you had the opportunity: Where and when would you most want to live for five years, restricted to a five-mile radius? Everyone says things [...]
A thought on Government
Merely being better at it than Labour is like being funnier than Michael McIntyre – there’s a few people who might think it’s a laudable achievement but it’s really just clearing an extremely low hurdle. Related PostsIt’s time to end the Coalition
Cerebri
Just had an idea for a film that would surely be a massive success, merging two things that are very popular in various media: Gladiators vs Zombies. Tattered corpses lurching through the streets of ancient Rome to confront the serried ranks of gladiators who stand waiting for them as the last line of defence before [...]
Cosy catastrophes
There’s something about the way the volcanic ash story is developing that makes me feel we’re in the opening chapters of one of John Wyndham or John Christopher‘s world-ending novels of the mid-20th century. Not that I’m claiming the eruption of an Icelandic volcano is the beginning of the civilization-ending apocalypse – though that’s exactly [...]
A marriage made in a very restrictive view of heaven
According to her website, Jan Moir has a partner referred to only as ‘S’. Our old friends at Christian Voice have a press release echoing her comments that Stephen Gateley’s death was linked to his being gay. Christian Voice is run by (and possibly composed entirely of) Stephen Green. Just a coincidence, I’m sure.
Sign of the times
When I was out on a walk the other day (more details on Sunday), I noticed this sign: At first glance, I thought it was just another variant on the same sort of sign you see a lot of when you’re walking – and it is, but note who it’s from. Yes, the Homes and [...]
Bank Holiday Classic Gold Blogging
I remembered the Straw Man Institute the other day. Reproduced here, just in case the Sharpener site finally goes blunt and falls off the web. One of the problems of modern newspaper publishing is the question of how to fill the blank pages of the newspaper every day. After all, even though there’s a lot [...]
by John Hodgman
by Drew Westen
by Ian Mortimer
by Jeff Greenfield
by Heather Peace
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