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Do you believe in the West Way?
Note the punctuation: the Westway is the A40 out of London. West Way is a road leaving Oxford; or, from my perspective, leading there ( Read more... ) -
Three lines on a board
This rather lovely tune is 'Scrabble Francophone' by Pape Diouf. (Maybe you worked that out, but I can never get embedded YouTube videos to tell me what they are.)
It's promoting the French-language world championships which finished last week in Senegal [via aldaily]. The only words I can make out are 'Le Sénégal, pays de Scrabble ... champions du monde ( Read more... ) -
Up to 11
Truck Festival 11, 19-20 July 2008
After two years of rain at Glastonbury (that is, two occasions on which it rained, when each time it seemed like two years' worth), I decided not to go this time. Instead I went to Truck. It's nearer, just south of Oxford, so I knew I could pack up and leave if the predicted rain got too much; and it's smaller, ( Read more... ) -
Irresistible forces
The Magnetic Fields, 2008-07-10, Cadogan Hall, LondonI'm never sure how to pigeonhole the Magnetic Fields. Disco torch songs? Tragicomic cabaret? 'Ironic synthpop' seems most accurate, yet at this show they were unplugged and heartbreakingly sincere ( Read more... ) -
Drive on, driver
It wasn't Thatcher, though it should have been, who said that anybody seen in a bus over the age of 30 should consider themselves a failure.
Now, I consider myself a failure twice daily, but public transport has nothing to do with it. In fact, I enjoy being driven, in a taxi or a train, for the feeling of safety without responsibility. j4 used to ( Read more... ) -
Let them all tout
It is clear that many die-hard fans are willing to pay high prices to share the same air as their heroes. The result is that many of the most popular events are selling out more quickly than ever, and, all too often, it is the genuine fans who are being squeezed out.
[The Guardian on touting, 21 June]
Die-hard fans spoiling it for genuine fans there ( Read more... ) -
Faint praise
The Eyewitness guide to Germany appears to be telling the truth about this Black Forest resort:
Todtnau is not only a sports centre and a base for hikers: it is also a major centre of toothbrush production and the birthplace of Karl Ludwig Nessler (1872-1951), who invented the process of hair-perming.
Imagine what it must be like in high season. -
Civilisation
I had the good fortune to attend a charming civil partnership ceremony on Saturday. The invitation came as an encrypted teletype message, for the ceremony was to take place in Bletchley Park. Fortunately the details were repeated in clear.
We were treated to Bernstein and Stevens, a Flanders and Swann tribute act, and though 'Misalliance' was not ( Read more... ) -
Protest songs that we already agree with
The Indelicates (Club Vertigo), 2008-05-27, The Cellar, Oxford
Of course I'd heard of the Indelicates before you. I discovered them in a purely mechanical way by searching for "band of 2006" ten days into 2006. It was some time later that I decided to be shamelessly enthusiastic about them: specifically, as soon as I heard the title of their self ( Read more... )
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