On a train last week, the young man opposite me ( he looked about twelve, but obviously had a full time job in advertising, as was confirmed by his full-volume conversation with a friend across the aisle) concluded his talk, not with “good bye”, “see ya” or any of those variants, but a new one… Continue reading In a bit
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Man used electric underpants ‘to fake heart attack’ You couldn’t make this up, could you? One of the best headlines I’ve read for years.
EWM: Letter from ManchesterFurther to yesterday’s post about Manchester in art, this site is absolutely the best place to go for images of contemporary Manchester. Aidan O’Rourke (who also features in the Urbis centre) has done a great job of documenting the ever changing face of the city. To see how it was, take a… Continue reading Eye Witness Manchester
BBC – Manchester – In pictures – Picture of Manchester: galleryThis intrigued me, as a Mancunian. I’m not sure I’m completely won over by these paintings, but they certainly beat the inexplicably lauded Lowry, and offer a more contemporary view of Manchester than the Victorian visions of Pierre Adolphe Valette, e.g. this one
Guardian Unlimited | Arts special reports | Salgado Antarctica 1It really is an extraordinary planet (compared to what? I hear you ask) – look at these photos to prove it. The elephant seal looks disconcertingly like me in the morning.
Thursday evening saw your correspondent in Birmingham, staying overnight so as to be present on time at a morning meeting. I stayed in a pleasant hotel, but its situation – at the intersection of two dual carriageways on the ring round – left something to be desired. I decided that I (or rather, the institution… Continue reading Mexican wave of nausea
I took my car for an MOT this morning. The woman who runs the garage is very efficient, but she has a really irritating vocal tic. Her answer to virtually any inquiry is “not a problem.” It’s a variant of the increasingly common “no problem” spoken, for example, when you are given change in the… Continue reading No problems
Stephen’s Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~ Welcome Here’s someone with lots to offer those of us exploring online and distance education. A fascinating site, and I’ve only just scratched the surface.
The Observer | Review | Observer review: Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew by Bernard Hare According to this book, there is an underclass of feral children in Britain. I trained as a teacher in Leeds nearly thirty years ago, and in the tough secondary modern where I did my teaching practice, I could have… Continue reading Feral Children again
Normblog on the Name gameThe very great and good Norman Geras – an honorary Mancunian – has the excellent Roosevelt Brighton as his West Indian cricketer name, and the very exotic Lambretta Metformin as his Star wars name. Actually, I’m a bit in the dark on Star Wars as I am one of the three… Continue reading Normblog on the name game