One of my favourite bands...

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But there's a rude word in the title so I won't mention it here.

Should have been Hurricane Roger...?

AMERICAblog: Because a great nation deserves the truth

A coach outside Madam Tussauds

And hence across the road from our office. Hilarity ensued.

Hint

Ipod My Baby You know, if anyone wants to buy our impending arrival a gift that matches my favourite toy.

Cricket’s Superpowers

LRB | David Runciman : Cricket’s Superpowers
Typically thoughtful essay on the recent tests from the LRB. Although this has been a great cricketing summer (and I was at the Oval for the magnificent 4th day) there has been an erruption of hyperbole about this.

The first off is that, despite a great Ashes win, this was not a contest between the best two teams in the world. I think this England team is strong, and still young, but it can get better and must if we are to take seriously claims to be best. For a start Bell had a terrible summer on the whole, and, as David Runciman repeatedly points out, Ashley Giles is not a world-beater. On the one hand this shows just how good the rest of the England team is, but it also shows that we don't yet have an all-conquering team. Giles might not be that good, but he is the best spinner we have. And Bell would have been dropped if there was a better batsman waiting to come it. Still, its a young side, and with good prospects among the A team we could be at the start of something good.

The second myth is that this is the best test series ever. Runciman makes a good case for other series being better: I can't comment since I didn't see those. For me, the 1981 series was more exciting, not least because it had a tragic hero - Botham - who screws up horribly but them finds redemption. Add in Mike Brearley, and the wonderful Bob Taylor behind the stumps, and it's magic.

What was noticable about this series is how close it was. After confortably losing the first test, England could have easily won or lost of the remainder. (Probably not the drawn third test, but even then we could have won it right up to the last ball.) I don't remember a series where so many tests were still in the balance at the start of what turned out to be the last day.

I have one minor quibble about Rucinman's article. Channel 4 have done a good job of televising cricket over the last few years, but let's not fool ourselves. They don't show every ball (switching to racing for some of the afternoon is the usual move) and have had to become used to ad breaks. Sky bought the rights in an open process, and while it is possibly a foolish move by the ECB, the deal is done. It was made possible by legislation passed in 1996 by the last Conservative government: hearing them bleat now about government inaction is slightly sickening.

Almost there

Less than a month to go...

Move Over, Doc, the Guests Can't See the Baby - New York Times

Move Over, Doc, the Guests Can't See the Baby - New York Times: "'I've always been really close to my dad, but I don't think he'd seen me without my clothes on since I was 13,' "


So wrong. So very wrong. As I'm about to find out, witnessing a birth can make the stoutest heart tremble: who on earth invites guests?

A postcard home from Mars

Astronomy Picture of the Day

This is a photograph taken on the surface of Mars. Stop and think about that for a minute. I spent my entire childhood reading about space travel. While part of me is disappointed that we haven't colonised the moon by now, I can't help but be amazed by what we have achieved. It is beautful and wonderful.

Flickr: Photos from biffboffco

Flickr: Photos from biffboffco

More photos. A different Flikr account to the other one...

London to Brighton Bike ride with Andy Baxter

Cats in Sinks

It's all you need...

Remastered

It's all too true: its hard to be a first-class music snob (one of my key aims in life) when its so easy for someone to just copy songs!

But seriously,the development of first CDs and then swappable MP3s is akin to the development of the printing press. Just as printing allowed obscure books to become more widely circulated, and thus made it less likely they would be lost forever, we now have access to music from all over the world that might otherwise have slipped beyond our reach. The trouble is finding time to listen to it all. I need a way to listen to music while I sleep.

NEW ORLEANS’ SIN BROUGHT DEVASTATION

It would be tempting to see this as a joke, but...

J. Grant Swank Jr. is, however, a great name for anybody.