The epitome of twenty-first century cool is finding that your hotel has a vending machine so large that there’s a little robot that scoots around inside to retrieve the drinks or snacks (or cameras, or pants) that you’ve selected. The essence of terror is finding out that the box you selected that you thought contained roast nuts actually contains a tin of smoked scallops. In other news, WWW2005 continues to be excellent.
How many buttons do you need on a toilet? Why do you need a heated toilet seat when the air temperature outside is above 21°?
J’arrive, as they don’t tend to say here. Landed at Narita at 9am this morning after a lengthy but dull flight. Best movie on offer was Hotel Rwanda – very good, but not exactly light-minded pablum to pass a long plane journey. Reread Three Men In A Boat and Our Man In Havana, so am saving the Stross for when I feel really low. Bus to hotel uneventful – ride on motorway gave me my first view of rice paddies. The Japanese drive on the left, so I’ve been trying to force myself to look the right way when crossing… Read More »On the ground
Off to Heathrow and thence to Japan for WWW2005 in about an hour’s time. The ipod’s charged and up-to-date, I’ve got a copy of Iron Sunrise that I’ve not even opened yet (some act of restraint, I can tell you) and a spare book besides. With a bit of luck, I’ll have net access in the hotel…
“Extinct” ivory-billed woodpecker sighted in US Alas, the Dodo is still dead.
A few years ago (six, if I count them correctly), of totl.net fame put together the Absolution Online website as part of a very roundabout way of justifying another slightly less funny website. Strictly speaking, this isn’t actually simony, because no money is changing hands, but more unlicensed absolution, not that that’s any better (he gets mail from grateful genuine users). For reasons related to the papal election, this came up at lunch yesterday. If there’s no pope, then is it really sinful to grant (or sell) pardons? was offering pardons at the very reasonable rate of 10p for twenty… Read More »I am so doomed
As a distraction from the new papal appointment (very disappointed, must try harder in future), accept the following: Google Maps for the UK The Domesday Project online
I was pretty appalled by the whole ana/mia schtick that ranted about in her post last week (and I’m regretting having made the assumption that people were capable of correctly addressing their denunciations). I am therefore extremely pleased to see that there is an ana/mia parody in the form of . Truly inspired.
From Statutory Instrument 2001 No. 341, Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations: 23. – (1) A registration officer may require any person to give information required for the purposes of that officer’s duties in maintaining registers of parliamentary and local government electors. (2) A registration officer is under a duty to require persons to give information required for the purposes of that officer’s duty under section 3(1) of the Juries Act 1974[15]. (3) If any person – (a) fails to comply with, or b) gives false information in pursuance of, any such requisition of the registration officer as… Read More »I WANT MY VOTE! (part 2)
Well, now I’m well and truly fucked off, properly kicking-things-and-swearing-loudly fucked off. And the reason? I’m not going to be able to vote in the coming general election because the fucking University of fucking Bath has removed my entry from the electoral roll for Bath on the assumption that only students could possibly be registered to vote on campus, and they bugger off at the end of each year. went through this last European election, when she found that she’d been removed (I did manage to successfully vote in Bath). We were assured that the problem had been fixed. Well,… Read More »I WANT MY VOTE!