One day I will sit down and read a novel that was written a) for adults b) in the last few years but today is not that day, today I sat down with The Once And Future King by TH White, the first book of which of course is The Sword In The Stone, which[…]

Yes yes I know commuting is irritating by definition pretty much, although Mr Popkins might like to post his bus-ride reading idylls by way of balance. But since the end of my commuting is in sight I can confess how horrific the thought of any more t[…]

The creation of consumer segments is one of the big market research cash cows – lots of money and generally happy customers who have seen the people who buy their stuff nicely put into little boxes. Truth be told, these resulting segments are p[…]

[testing testing][…]

I’ve a petty irritation entirely of my own making, which makes it as vile to me as it is feeble: I seem to have an unyielding inability to discard fine packaging. Not any old thing – cellophane wrappers go straight in the bin, of course, […]

Acoustic cover versions are often as annoying as 80s-pop/00s-rap mashups (yes I’m looking at you Frente), but I couldn’t but help to go O WOW OMG!!!eleven at an ad (for a telly and on telly) that had an acoustic cover of The Knife’s[…]

Guardian’s article on the report about the study of electrical fields on health, which predicatably came up with “there’s nothing in it, really”, has a quote from a suitably fed up prof: “This is yet another example of […]

Out this week is the 2000AD Winter Special, which has not one but two stories by Vic Fluro (in his secret identity name). 2000AD used to have a convention whereby it printed the price across the rest of solar system, and this is where most of the cop[…]

Some proper real actual PUB SEXISM on show last night in the Head Of Steam, Euston. I go to the bar and order a pint of Holt, 3 assorted halves, a glass of white wine, a bottle of Leffe Blond and…an pint of LIME AND SODA.
Cue gales of laughter […]

I have volunteered to do The Washing Up in my shared house For Ever, in exchange for Never Having To Do The Bathroom Or Hoovering. What madness, you may say!
The Washing Up is a chore reknowned for wrecking marriages and accelerating the deterioratio[…]