And Now Tony Blair’s Written a Book
It’s rather entertaining to see a nation full of journalists live-tweeting/live-blogging/live-article-writing a book, as they read it. It’s been everywhere. The most entertaining bit, for us ‘Mercuns, is:
Telegraph Blogs – Will Heaven: Tony Blair thinks George W. Bush was a better president than Barack Obama
[I]ndeed, the only positive references to the US President [...]
Categories: Politics
James May Has Written a Book
It’s called How to Land an A330 Airbus; And Other Vital Skills For the Modern Man, and it’s being excerpted:
Telegraph – James May: how to woo with music Women will swoon at your feet if you play them Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata – and, says James May, it’s surprisingly easy to learn
There is a very [...]
Categories: Art and Literature
Ah Hah, Mark Steyn’s Written a Book
I thought, when he disappeared last summer after his Kangaroo Kourt proceedings were at an end that he’d be back in the fall with a new book on the subject, but it’s this year that he’s come back with a new book on the subject:
Lights Out: Islam, Free Speech And The Twilight Of The West
Peculiarly, [...]
Categories: People and Current Events
Tony Blair’s Lying, War-Mongering, Money-Grubbing GUILTY CONSCIENCE
The Times – Is giving away £5m a reason for such hatred? By David Aaronovitch
Tony Blair announced he’d give the proceeds from sales of his new autobiography to a veterans charity (a quarter of his net worth, apparently), and this sparked a most incredible reaction. Yesterday a letter was published in the Guardian (natch) calling [...]
Categories: War and Peace
High School Reading Lists Explained
WSJ – Curse of the Greedy Copyright Holders, by Tony Woodlief (author of the memoir on fatherhood and marriage, “Somewhere More Holy”)
Further, this editor noted that one reason literary anthologies and college-course syllabi have replaced classics with less edifying sources like newspaper articles and diaries is simply that major artists in the American [...]
Categories: Art and Literature
It’s Spelt Beetle, Stupid
Paul McCartney’s a bit of an ass, apparently.
So, Paul McCartney is in the East Room of the White House, with President and Mrs. Obama. He is being fêted because he has just won an award from the Library of Congress. He caps the evening with this remark – this is his farewell, his [...]
Categories: Politics
Nicholas Kristof’s an Idiot
Andrew Roberts (A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900, amongst others) reviews Nick Kristof’s review of Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s book:
Hirsi Ali denounces Islam with a ferocity that I find strident,” he writes.
She’s the one living it, pal. And he finds it strident.
If one is looking for overheated and overstated rhetoric, [...]
Categories: People and Current Events
And Today, the Metric System
Well, that was fast. Just yesterday I started fominating about ending the French Revolutionary tyranny of measurements, and today I see this:
TLS – Before London went metric A tribute to the city’s lost architectural dignity, and its unregarded lives Lindsay Duguid
The story of Lost London is straightforward: a largely Georgian city with medieval survivals was [...]
Categories: History
Worst Person In the WORLD!
Brett McS has been to PEMBERLEY! PEMBERLEY!
*gnashes teeth*
And reports that they were having international horse trials on the grounds!
/embraces chronic alcoholism**
Permberly – er – Chatsworth
Categories: Art and Literature
Jeremy Irons As Sebastian: SCANDAL
Telegraph – Brideshead Reunited: actors reveal how acclaimed roles nearly never happened
The two men have revealed that before filming began on the 1981 screen adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s most famous novel, each was cast for the other’s role. They both had to battle to overturn decisions by the director and [...]
Categories: Entertainment
Teaching History With… History!
Telegraph – 1930s books revived to teach pupils traditional British history
History books first published in the 1930s have been revived in a bid to tackle schoolchildren’s ignorance of Britain’s past.
Good heavens. They’re tackling the problem of ignorance with …BOOKS! And not by dismantling the grammar schools or whatever.
The series, called [...]
Categories: History
These Brackets Are Tearing Us Apart
RC2 reports that Pride And Prejudice was nearly beaten in their March Madness Tournament of Novels by, of all things, that ridiculous bain upon our public broadcasters, Wuthering Heights (lookit that picture… seriously…)
Now it’s up against Ender’s Game.
ninme girds herself for battle against sci-fi enthusiast Peter
Although in one thing, we can all be agreed: If [...]
Categories: Art and Literature
Biblical Fact o’ the Day:
As I understand it, the Book of Esther is one of only two books in the Hebrew Bible that does not mention God. It is the straightforward story of how Jews were threatened with genocide but were able to turn the tables and kill those who would kill them.
via Powerline. Happy Purim!
I read [...]
Categories: History
How to Print a Book
This is amazing:
How to print a book, with type setters, wax, copper plates, lots of blades and glue and people. Also, why don’t they seem to make videos like this anymore? I love any car ad that shows the robots on the factory floor. Why not make videos showing how cars are made, or [...]
Categories: Art and Literature
A Tale of Two Crappy Vice Presidential Picks
I’ve never thought of it this way:
NY Daily News – Palin vs. Edwards, a case study in media bias
When in 2004 John Kerry picked Edwards, whose entire resume in public life at that point consisted of six years in the U.S. Senate, to be his vice-presidential nominee, few questioned whether Edwards was qualified [...]
Categories: Politics
