my place by David Gale
Posted in Reader's Digest, meat, meat rays, rays, vegetarianism on Oct 30th, 2007
The previous post on meat confusionism reminded me of a wedding reception I attended in the days when vegetarianism and some of its attendant pieties were emerging into popular adoption. I was sitting with a friend whom I shall call Joe because he may, I hope, be alive and well. Joe had a lettuce sandwich [...]
Freud was on a train in an overnight sleeper and stepped out into the corridor to enjoy a cigar. He returned to his compartment, opened the door then reeled back in terror. A stooped, bearded man was advancing on him from within the compartment. Freud threw up his hands defensively and in the same instant [...]
Posted in cappuccino, fusspots, iced latte, pamper on Oct 15th, 2007
Saw some fusspots today, in a cafe. The first fusspot said “I’d like an iced latte, please. And can you use milk straight from the fridge?” The barina said “This milk here is cold - I got it out of the fridge a couple of minutes ago. But I’ll be putting ice in it anyway.” [...]
Posted in Britney Spears, cognitive behavioural therapy, impersonation, meltdown on Oct 14th, 2007
Now not everybody with Britney’s background turns out like Britney but, even so, this should not deflect us from an assessment of the grand social experiment in which the popstress has been involved for much of her young life. In a comprehensive Observer piece by Elizabeth Day, we learn that from the age of eight [...]
Posted in Huysmans, Penguin Classics, canon, completism, simulation on Oct 10th, 2007
I like to read, me. If I don’t do it daily I get a rash and if I don’t go to a bookshop (usually a charity shop) every 48 hours I feel unsettled. I have a lot of books on my shelves and I hope I will be able to read them all. I have [...]
Posted in development, re-invention on Oct 5th, 2007
Following the lamentable indulgence and gratuitous abandon of the previous post I feel it is necessary to compensate by furnishing a visit to Pedant’s Corner. I noticed that on more than one occasion in Strength Weekly I have inveighed against the notion of ‘re-invention’, such as here and here. An article by Andy Gill on [...]
While Strength Weekly has never aspired to be confessional the following intimate account contains a cautionary element that justifies its inclusion in a publication that has consistently concerned itself with the higher things. Two weeks ago I was standing beside a curb. I stepped off it, descending five inches to the road below it. I [...]