Nothing new in politics

Two brothers [illegible] one kingdom. One dreamed of peace for his country, the other fought valiantly for his ideals: This photo (scroll to no 25) is from the University of Hawaii’s brilliant Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands collection. Sfida al re di Castiglia (“The Tyrant of Castile”), a 1963 Hispano-Italian, helmet-clattering, bodice-busting epic featuring…

Fertility, creativity, and the rising spirit of hip

It is held in some ovoids that the only way to understand what you wrote when drunk is to repeat the experience. Although fixed habits ill become a man without a fixed income, I have knocked back the odd glass of phylloxera blood from the Priorat and will now endeavour to explain to you, dear…

Osama for pres!

… is what the Guardian seems to be saying this morning, noting that in Pakistan only 7% support Bush while 65% think Osama is … well … groovy. Americans should, it is suggested, listen to the citizens of states traditionally resentful of the success of the American revolution and vote for a candidate said citizens…

Clouseau to head up European justice system

This eez Chief Inspector Clouseau speaking on the phön. No, sorry, this is a malevolent interpretation of a notion dreamt up by Maurice Druon, distinguished member of l’Académie française, who claimed the other day that French “reduced the risks of differing interpretations to a minimum” compared to other languages… He presented a declaration of the…

More pussy pics

Despite the fact my language of choice is that of a far better empire, Kaleboel comes in at no 839 on the list of “more than 10,000” participants in la blogosfera hispana, as calculated by Bitacoras.com. The infinitely superior Puerta del Sol–also in English–is down at 843, presumably because Jonathan doesn’t include as many pictures…

Plan crash

There’s a good opinion piece by Rainer Soller over at Deutsche Welle on the extradition to Turkey of Muslim extremist Metin Kaplan on terrorism charges. This para in particular caught my eye: Kaplan on Wednesday already appeared before a judge in Istanbul to face treason charges over his alleged involvement in a 1998 failed attempt…

Darfur … what?

OK, The Onion is not always a killer, but this is not at all bad: U.N. To Look For Genocide In Darfur“So this might have been a genocide after all, and not a civil war in which only one side was fighting.”—Harold Mercer, Systems Analyst

Retrench, lads

A South African friend told me the other day that she had been retrenched. This means that the buggers have made her redundant, binned her, killed her, arranged to see her down the pub in half an hour, matie. The word was devised, not by a corporal during a particularly torrid morning on the outskirts…