Crisis Averted: we’ve found a guest editor for NYLPM. Two guest editors actually, who’ll get a week each. Who are these modern-day Herculi? One of them is American and has a weblog already, and one of them is British and doesn’t (un[…]

Losing your grip on the real world: I’ve done this myself, when you forget that what you (and maybe your social circle) know and understand does not necessarily mean that everyone knows this, but not with such persistence as an old friend of An[…]

The cover of the popular science book The Glass Bathyscaphe (Alan Macfarlane & Gerry Martin) shows a picture of Alexander The Great in what looks like a big bottle under the sea tied to a teeny, tiny boat. It is a striking image which promises m[…]

I saw bits of Shackleton, all Kenneth Branagh posturing, and know what every schoolboy knew about the man. Namely that he was the Brit who didn’t make it to the South Pole, as opposed to the one who did and died. Damn those pesky, dog-eating, i[…]

Condiments I Have Known # 1: Pickapeppa Sauce. A fairly recent discovery this, as there’s only one place in Brighton where you can buy the stuff. It’s imported from Shooter’s Hill in Jamaica and is made from tomatoes, onions, sugar,[…]

People who have known me for some time will remember there was a period about three years ago when I was actively pursuing the purchase of a greyhound. I love dog racing, and unlike the gee-gees I am actually quite good at judging the nick of a greyh[…]

One Minute Record Reviews: featuring my mom.
Freeway feat. Peedi Crakk – “Flipside”: “This sounds like the music from Halloween.”
R. Kelly – “Snake (Remix)”: Mom: “What’s R. Kelly’s fi[…]

THE VAMPYRE by Tom Holland
Aka “The Very Secret Diary of Lord Byron (who is really a VAMPIRE do you see!!!!)”.
Dear diary.
Week 1: England does not have enough wenches. I am getting my grebt platonic chum HOBBHOUSE and going to lands wher[…]

What I’ve Been Listening To[…]

I’m really intrigued by recent comparative studies of music and language processing; it seems that linguistics has more in common with musical rules than was previously thought. There are a lot of links: language and music are both universal; t[…]