where angels fear and other oddities

What I've been doing the last while

2011-05-05T00:46:00.000+01:00

3.1 Reflect upon your own past and current learning experiences. How were you taught, which theoretical perspectives have you experienced? (750 words) I was born in the 1950s and my educational experiences were typical for someone from my class and background from that time. I went to a working class primary school, which I loved, and then to a grammar school, which I hated. The former gave me

Mr Hicks, Me Arse

2010-10-06T08:28:00.000+01:00

It's a shame this arrived so late in the day, but it still brought a lump to my throat at 7.15am this morning. But maybe Hicks & Gillette will see it, do the right thing and let the proposed sale to New England Sports Ventures, who own the Boston Red Sox, go through.

Hurricane Higgins: Wasted talent hangs up his cue

2010-07-25T02:24:00.001+01:00

I met this git half a dozen times in the 1990s. He, in combination with his entourage of lowlife mates, acted the maggot on every occasion. I hated him and I'm glad the woman-beating twat is dead. He was a sad and pathetic bastard who would have done better to top himself after he came back against Jimmy White in 1982. Then at least the 'people's champion' legend might have meant something in

Anyone got any travel sickness tablets?

2010-07-16T14:15:00.000+01:00

At last, a band named after me The Beasts of Bourbon, Aussie bastard offspring of an orgy involving Nick Cave, Tom Waits and the New York Dolls by the look/sound of it. De-lovely!

He just smiled and gave me a caviare sandwich

2010-07-15T08:42:00.001+01:00

Red Army Choir do Aussie National Anthem HOSTED FREE AT MYDATANEST.COM

'Intoxicated with liberty and enthusiasm'

2010-07-14T08:25:00.000+01:00

Allons enfants de la Patrie..... The deputies retired, the people rushed against the place, and almost in an instant were in possession of a fortification, defended by 100 men, of infinite strength, which in other times had stood several regular sieges and had never been taken. How they got in, has as yet been impossible to discover.Thomas Jefferson, 14th July 1789 Storming the Bastille

Mad songs on the ukele: No 2 in an occasional series

2010-07-13T07:46:00.001+01:00

These odd young people live here and those of you who prefer the original,have a lookee here

Modern Times: The Great Inventions

2010-07-12T16:33:00.000+01:00

Personal grooming aids for real men From Hyperbole and a half (via Sociological Images)

Homophobia and racism: 2 Birds 1 Stone; Only in the Daily Express

2010-07-08T14:49:00.001+01:00

In its self-appointed role of holding back the hordes of queer immigrants, it's nice to see that the 'Ryanair of Fleet Street' is maintaining its usual high standards when it comes to equality issues. Expect a 'Gay asylum seekers in Diana assassination plot' headline any day now. Still, at least when this camp tsunami of huddled masses washes over the nation's threshold they won't be stealing

Some days you just wake up feeling like this

2010-07-08T11:54:00.001+01:00

He's C.W. Stoneking. He's Australian (tho' you'd never guess it), he lives here and he sounds like this: HOSTED FREE AT MYDATANEST.COMPublish Post

Skies turned gray, no clean underpants, prospect of cuts getting you down? Try this for size

2010-07-07T10:34:00.000+01:00

Western Psychology is Shite - Official

2010-07-07T09:56:00.000+01:00

Behavioral scientists routinely publish broad claims about human psychology and behavior in the world's top journals based on samples drawn entirely from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies. Researchers – often implicitly – assume that either there is little variation across human populations, or that these “standard subjects” are as representative of

Purple popster calls time out on t'internet

2010-07-05T21:43:00.002+01:00

cHis Madnesty. the Royal Badness, the purple pope of Paisley Park, the artist formerly known as little Prince Rogers Nelson appears finally to have formally disconnected from the contemporary world of music distribution. In an interview with Peter Willis in today's on-line Daily Mirror, His Purpleness demonstrates the very same obdurate unwillingness to embrace (or even acknowledge) music's

Happy Birthday, America

2010-07-04T13:16:00.000+01:00

I want young people to understand that ours is a beautiful country, but it has been taken over by men who have no respect for human rights or constitutional liberties. Our people are basically decent and caring, and our highest ideals are expressed in the Declaration of Independence, which says that all of us have an equal right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The history of

Who's the Daddy? Bambi's mum, that's who

2010-07-02T15:16:00.001+01:00

Warning: Not for the sensitive of heart. Bambi's mum gives Lassie a right pasting. (via Boing Boing)

Recession over. Can I go home now please?

2010-07-02T00:10:00.000+01:00

According to the day's old lady of D'Olier St, the recession in Ireland is officially over. Those of us who beat the rats out of the sinking ship of post Celtic Ireland can now wipe the smirks off our I-told-you-so-gobs and start loading up the auld Hiace for a short hop back across the St George's Channel with a sheepish look on our faces. Or should we? Unfortunately, the trumpeted turnaround

Jesse Malin: Love it to Life Tour

2010-07-01T09:38:00.000+01:00

Jesse Malin and The St. Marks Social "Burning the Bowery" Jesse Malin & The St. Marks Social | MySpace Music Videos I love this guy. He's helped make some hard times bearable with the joys and sadnesses of his music. You can hear more of him here and here. He's a new album out and is touring this side of the pond now. Dublin on the 4th (that should be good), Liverpool on the 5th and London on

Tory sport monkey apologises for Hillsborough slur

2010-06-29T17:41:00.003+01:00

Jeremy Hunt, Tory Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, has been compelled to issue an apology after suggesting that the 1989 Hillsborough disaster was caused by hooliganism rather than the South Yorkshire police force's somewhat laissez-faire approach to crowd control. Apology not withstanding, I suspect that the good people of Liverpool will henceforth exploit the potential of

My success I owe to the little people. Thank you, Thank you, one and all

2010-06-28T15:32:00.001+01:00

Well fuck me old boots, I never thought I'd see the day that this would happen: Who'd have thought that a punctuation error and a dead fictional character could bring this kind of success? Now all I have to do is sit back and wait for the royalty checks to roll in (That is how it works, ain't it?) You can read the post that put me top of the Google dog-pile here

Pete Quaife 1943-2010 RIP

2010-06-27T08:54:00.001+01:00

Pete Quaife, the original bass player with The Kinks passed away this week. There are some really cool pictures of the band in their Mod heyday over to that Yank, hippie publication, The Rolling Stone Via Dangerous Minds

Sid Perks' death: A mystery resolved

2010-06-26T13:06:00.000+01:00

The lack of fanfare surrounding the recent off-air death of actor Alan Devereaux from the long-running BBC Radio 4 rural soap has continued to puzzle Archers' fans across the globe. Both the actor himself and BBC mandarins have remained tight-lipped regarding the reason for his abrupt departure after more than 40 years in the role of Brummie rough diamond Sid Perks. Where Angels Fear, whose

For weeks when the bed's too big and the frying pan's too wide

2010-06-25T23:46:00.004+01:00

In every generation, for any given instrument, there comes a giant. Our instrument is the ukelele, our giant is Sophie-Madeleine. If this tune doesn't touch your heart and make you smile, then it's not a heart you have, it's a swinging brick. Regular readers will know I like this kind of collaborative work. It's what the internet should be for. The original tune is available for download at

Biggest surprise of the World Cup so far

2010-06-25T09:43:00.001+01:00

Forget the fabulous humiliation of the French, ignore the Italians' inglorious exit with a finishing place somewhere south of New Zealand, even put behind you the near miracle of England managing to make it through to the knockout stage on the basis of performances so moribund that the recently deceased were ringing up Gary Linneker to complain. No, by far and away the biggest surprise of the

Songs of the Summer No1: The Japandroids A Younger Us

2010-06-24T09:25:00.001+01:00

I came across these geezers here (via the mighty Hype Machine). They too are Canadian (what is it about me and Canucks lately?) and I suspect they'd be fun guys to go for a Moosehead or a Molson with. You can find them at home here Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Making the nation safe for international capital

2010-06-23T11:56:00.000+01:00

Apart from the fact that the Lib-Dems should be ashamed of themselves, my thoughts on yesterday's budget (or should I say Phase 1 of the Tory plan to turn us into America or Indonesia or something) can be succinctly expressed thus (pay particular attention to the lyrics, kiddiewinks) : And if you want an explanation why budget took the form it did, then look no further than this chap: