Thirty years ago the most commonly found sort of restaurant here in Northeastern Mississippi was the catfish and steak house. A half-dozen in every county, all pretty much identical right down to the menu: burgers and fried shrimp for the kids, four […]

Is it also a school of Rockism? There was always going to be that difficult moment in the film where Jack Black introduces the kids to his pride and joy, RAWK MUSIC. What music do the kids like already? Difficult moment.
Christina Aguleira? Bad momen[…]

The Grifters – Jim Thompson
Thompson understands tragedy. He understands that sometimes entertainment should hurt, should annoy. That truth, for a cynical world, lies in cruelty rather than the easy fix of happy ever after. Why is happy ever af[…]

I was watching the Eurosport coverage of Roma-Juventus tonight. It was a magnificent game, with Emerson and Cassano really terrific for Roma, who won 4-9. You’ll be less than astonished that when things went wrong, Montero got himself sent off.[…]

Taste the Kettle Difference: in point of fact extensive tests appear to prove that the “Kettle Difference” wd be better termed the “Kettle Same” – some of which may relate back to these important results, of course. Anyw[…]

Passing Through: this week’s new Freaky Trigger article is by Jerry The Nipper – a piece on heartbreak, making sense of it, and Baxendale. If you don’t like Baxendale then you should read it anyway – I don’t enjoy Baxend[…]

Very Mild Peril: an entire blog devoted to discussion of the ratings/guidelines you get on videos![…]

Talent In A Previous Life: bubbly pop-blog in a sort of Popjustice/Enthusiastic But Mediocre mould – I like its weekly TOTP review, particularly as I never see that show anymore.[…]

The Guggenheim Museum of Contemporary Art, Bilbao, Spain
In 1997 a strange thing happened to the Basque city of Bilbao. Amid the industrial gloom of its docks, an apparition was reported. The man behind the apparition was Frank Gehry, a Canadian with[…]

Do Not Pass Go: very interesting Guardian article from a while ago about the ‘solvability’ of various boardgames by AI and the tension between human champions and computer opponents. (So interesting in fact that I think I’ve blogged[…]