BNP vs BBC

Posted on November 11, 2006 by blogmywiki

So, the BNP two have been acquitted of inciting racial hatred.

Some commentators have drawn comparisons between this and the case of Mizanur Rahman, who was recently found guilty of inciting racial hatred at a rally against the Danish cartoons. (The link here is from The Times – can’t find the verdict on the BBC News website, perhaps it’s been removed due to the possibility of a retrial… I was starting to think I’d imagined the verdict).

Anyway, I think the parallel is false one. There is a difference between some odious David Shayler lookalike (are they related? They both make me want to vomit) spouting racist views in a private gathering (well it was private until someone secretly filmed and broadcast it), and someone at a public rally (allegedly) calling for more 9/11s all over Europe and asking for France to be nuked. (You can have Antoine de Caunes, but nuclear war is pushing it a bit, mate).

Mentioning David Shayler reminds me of a wonderful moment when he appeared on Have I Got News For You, on a TV set down the line from Paris. He pointed out how ridiculous it is that cleaners in MI5 have to sign the Official Secrets Act. Stephen Fry said “Yes. And they respect it” to wild applause and cheers from the studio audience.

Posted in internet, TV | 2 Comments

Wikipedia: Written By Morons Like You ™

Posted on November 9, 2006 by blogmywiki

Finally someone has come up with a solution to the chief problem with Wikipedia – namely, that anyone, any stupid moronic fool (like you, like me) can edit stuff. And hence, just as people cannot resist scratching windows on public transport or spraying tags on walls, people vandalise Wikipedia articles. Just for the hell of it.

The answer is simple. Vandalise the chicken article. And the chicken article alone.

Not a bad idea. I just skim-read (well, this is Wikipedia – I wouldn’t want to actually pay too much attention) the chicken article, and I’d say that far from knowing enough about chickens, we actually Know Too Much.

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I am the Prince of Wales! I am the Prince of Wales!

Posted on November 3, 2006 by blogmywiki

Am totally hooked on ‘The Decision’ by a band called The Young Knives. Can’t get its pleasingly bonkers riff and lyrics out of my head.

I wore the blue with the green
I wore the blue with the green
I mixed the matt with the sheen,
It’s not the way to be seen
That decision was mine,
that decision was mine

I’ve grown to hate all the music on my iPod (familiarity breeds contempt) and this song has got me happily bopping down the Strand for the first time in… months. Check out the wonderful video on their web site. Bliss.

(If, like me, you’re having touble playing all of the Decision video on that site, try their MySpace page instead. And if you’re wondering what they sound like, I’m going to hazard a guess at “The Small Faces meet XTC”).

Posted in music | 1 Comment

Game on!

Posted on October 30, 2006 by blogmywiki


game on!

Originally uploaded by gilesbooth.

We went to the Game On exhibition at the London Science Museum this weekend.
It was pretty good – a bit busy on a half term Saturday, though!

Pictured are Daisy and William playing Tweenies on a PS1 (though William, 4, also amazed everyone with his skill at original sit-down vector-graphic Star Wars – but he’s had lots of practice at home on MacMAME!)

We were told we had an hour and 15 minutes in the exhibition, and we left after that time but no-one chased us out. Most people were good-natured and didn’t hog the games, but there were a few hard-core nutters who must have decided they were going to spend all their time playing one game. My friend asked someone if he could pop on a driving game just so his young daughter could have a go, crash the car, would be no longer than 5 minutes, and he was told to take a hike!

Couple of the games had stopped working, some were just pretty impenetrable. Enjoyed classing Space Invaders and Asteroid, but sadly didn’t spot Battlezone which is my personal favourite.

But then that’s why we have MAME…

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Great un-taken photographs – No.2 in an occasional series

Posted on October 25, 2006 by blogmywiki
  • On the train this morning. Tanned, clean-cut young businessman (looked a bit like Alan Hansen/Captain Scarlet), wearing expensive-looking suit and watch, reading a thriller. Slogan on back:
    JACK REACHER. MEN WANT TO BE HIM. WOMEN WANT TO BE WITH HIM.
  • Sign on the side of the road in Cornwall:
    EDEN IS FULL.
    Abandon hope all ye who may not enter here.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment