Teaching grammaticians to suck eggs

I struggle terribly with English, so I feel particular sympathy for the people who wrote, “But never before have we experienced as creative a phase in language as we are now in our age of modern media”, even if they are the authors of the Cambridge Grammar.

Trebucheting China from the moon

There’s a ways and means discussion over at MemeFirst. If Spain hadn’t more or less abandoned its space programme–mentioned in the Voz de Galicia edition plugging Franco’s hon doc–we’d have been able to sell Chávez stuff like this. Not.

Honorary doctorates

If Spanish universities are giving honorary degrees to one thug and taking them off another, does that mean there’s a finite supply of funny hats? What is this thing universities have with dictators? (More dodgy awards: Westminster, Sindh, anywhere in China or Korea (1, 2), Michigan State or–worst by far–Long Island.)

Boohbah

Here‘s something (via Lucia@Polifônica) to palliate the onset of spring which, as usual, is turning out to be fairly knackering.

Winners and losers

I didn’t know I even had Premium Bonds, but apparently I’ve just won £50 on Ernie, or Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment for long. Meanwhile Buddha has run away with £500,000. It’s that destiny thing, dammit.

Bovine threat

Is it true that Maoists used to sing of the capitalist military-dairy complex, “Say, it’s only a paper moo”?

The power of cement

On Thursdays, after this, I like to cycle round the buildings of the Industrial School/Can Batlló to the Guastavino chimney. On moonlit nights if you glide the last 50m while staring at the 60m chimney top, it’s like coasting down some baked clay Milky Way. There’s a picture here of his Oyster Bar at New…

Theremin news

Nando’s acquired one, and here’s the video. The world is about to be swept by yet another théremin craze, and I hope to bring you tidings more thrilling yet soon.

Botellón

Kalebeul hopes to avoid the widescale unrest we believe will result from police action against nocturnal street drinks parties by implementing two preventative strategies: 30 years ago three gentlemen in Bar Manolo were given a monthly allowance on condition they drink all the alcohol in Spain. Project delivery date: 20:00 17/3/2006. All streeting from the…