Faber & Faber

The History Channel. Well, yes. If you love the apocalypse and Nazis, then you probably watch it a lot. Oh, and there’s also Pawn Stars. This weekend however they did something which had nothing to do with Nostradamus or death camps: they broadcast a weird, Beatnik-y concert performance entitled ‘The People Speak’, based on readings [...]

2009 marks the 40th anniversary of many famous things, ranging from the mind-bendingly fatuous (John and Yoko’s bed in) to the truly historic (the moon landings) to the not as good as they used to be (Sesame Street), to the never any good in the first place (Woodstock). But in addition to all of the [...]

I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised by this as humans are capable of doing/believing just about anything. But even so, I was a little caught off guard by this sad tale from Cornwall, one of the most beautiful parts of the British Isles, where the locals even have their own language. I will say [...]

Which modern day martyr do you think Huffington Post contributor and ‘philosopher’ Bernard Henri-Levy is talking about here? “Nothing will repair the days he has spent in prison. Nothing will erase the immense, unbelievable injustice he has been subjected to. Nothing will take away the hysteria of those ones who have never stopped pouring contempt upon [...]

This Thursday the European Union elected its first president- well, sort of. Naturally the peoples of the 27 state bloc were not permitted to vote. They didn’t even know who the candidates were. Leaders decided to spare their electorates the trouble by making the choice for them behind closed doors. After early reports that Tony Blair [...]

“Every thing is what it is, and not another thing.” Bishop Joseph Butler (1692-1752) Like everybody else, when I first heard about the shootings at Fort Hood I immediately rushed to judgment, assuming that anybody opening fire on soldiers on an army base in Texas expected to die. Thus the shooter was either 1) a soldier who [...]

For most non-Teutons the idea of German rock is not very appealing. The fatherland of Bach and Beethoven may well have produced many interesting experimental groups (Kraftwerk, Einstürzende Neubauten etc) but on a global, top 40 level it’s an entirely different matter. Consider: 1) The Scorpions- hair metal popular in the 80s, approximately as good as [...]

Last week I made a rare visit to the cinema, and was immediately reminded precisely why my trips are so few and far between. Although I had successfully evaded the Regal ‘First Look’ at sundry pieces of cinematic ordure sliding down the pipeline, no sooner was I sitting comfortably than I was subjected to one [...]

Is it just me, or has 2009 been exceptionally rich in the deaths of legendary figures? In August, Ted Kennedy was finally reunited in heaven with Mary Jo Kopechne. In July a much more interesting man, Harry Patch, the last veteran of World War I, died aged 111. Only a few days after Kennedy expired, [...]

David Letterman has been much in the news lately due to his fondness for the flesh of young female staffers, and the alleged blackmail plot regarding his exploits in that direction. It seems that old Dave is a bit of a lech who- like many powerful and wealthy individuals– uses his high social status to [...]