Guardian Unlimited | Arts news | ‘They said you’ve a call from the Nobel committee. I said, why?’: Pinter, it seems, is pretty surprised to be awarded the Nobel. And, as might have been expected, he too feels it may be as much to do with his politics as with his plays. He says: “But… Continue reading Pinter’s surprise
I notice that the Marketing Leeds people are shamelessly sticking with their Live It Love It slogan, and have even managed to copyright the word Leeds – how did that happen? Surely that can’t be right? I’ll ask them and report back. In the meantime, I think I’ll copyright, oooh, “Tunbridge Wells”… And has there… Continue reading False Leeds
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Arts | Pinter wins Nobel literary prize I suppose this is not entirely unexpected, though it will cause much harrumphing in certain quarters. I can’t help feeling that this is not so much an award for his literary output – what has he done in the last few years, really?… Continue reading Pinter wins Nobel literary prize
BBC NEWS | England | West Yorkshire | Row over second-hand city slogan This is a hoot (Leeds in-joke). Two things need to be said. First, in answer to the councillors who asked whether the city has got value for £150,000 research and launch costs, the answer is NO. The second thing, leaving aside the… Continue reading Meaningless Slogans No. 5769
BBC NEWS | England | Manchester | Fergie ‘too famous’ for bill banI’m with the judge here – the prospect of a Fergie doll is just too gruesome to contemplate. Presumably it would have auto red face function and special hairdryer effect…
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Arts | Diplomat ‘was real Shakespeare’…to which the most obvious reply is “yeah, right.” I wonder why there is such an industry trying to prove that Shakespeare didn’t write the plays. Jonson, who had an even less privileged background than Shakespeare, has never, to my knowledge, been doubted as the… Continue reading Diplomat ‘was real Shakespeare’
BBC NEWS | Education | Literary greats ‘key to English’ Well – who knew, eh?
Guardian Unlimited | Columnists | The price of unfairnessMore on the Marlborough boy. Mark Lawson points out that the case is symptomatic of a society in which people think money entitles them to anything. I’m reminded of a student who didn’t attend, nor do any work, and didn’t respond to messages asking him to contact… Continue reading The price of unfairness
Girl arrested over Bollocks to Blair shirt – Horse&Hound Online Here’s a first – a link to a story in Horse and Hound, not the urban vegetarian’s journal of choice. But this is ludicrous. No police were present at my workplace today when I was confronted by a trainee primary teacher wearing a tee-shirt with… Continue reading Girl arrested over Bollocks to Blair shirt
BBC NEWS | England | Wiltshire | Schoolboy told Pc he was ‘scum’More on this hilarious case, which I have mentioned before. I wonder if the father has ever stopped to think what he can possibly achieve? In the highly unlikely event of a successful prosecution, is he really going to send his son back… Continue reading Lessons in arrogance