JFK was assassinated on 22 November 1963 at 12:30 and pronounced dead at 13:00 CST. That makes his time of death probably about 18:32 GMT. On the very same day Aldous Huxley died at 17:21 and CS Lewis died at 17:32. So they all died within roughly an hour of each other. According to Wikipedia, Huxley had two large doses of LSD that morning. No shit.
Author Archive for Jon
OK, now I’m worried. We were talking about cilices last night at work. According to www.cilice.co.uk, motto How Luminous is Darkness, a cilice is a spiked metal belt or chain worn strapped tight around the upper thigh. It hardly needs saying that this is a Catholic thing, in particular they are worn by members of Opus Dei. The idea is, I think, that the discomfort caused is a penance for your sinfulness. The thing that’s worrying me, though, is that I find the idea of a woman wearing one so very intriguing! The concept of someone thinking she’s so sinful that she needs to atone for it by wearing a spiky metal garter-belt, it’s so weird, so revealing. That was what I always used to find so attractive about Catholic girls; they knew so much about sin it was always at the front of their minds. And let’s face it, the upper-thigh, strapped tightly, contrasting with the delicate metal-work wrought by Italian nuns, it’s a compelling image. Mama Mia, Agent Provocateur should be selling them!
I just found out that a band I really like, The Books, wrote the music in a TV advertisement for a car I quite dislike, the Hummer H3. In the advert a nasty, anti-social SUV (capable of driving just over 4 miles on a litre of petrol) is crashing its way through a formerly pristine jungle. The Books’ subtle meanderings drown out the cries of mangled monkeys and squashed snakes as well as the chuckling and dry hand-rubbing of the evil car makers. Such a shame.
Ratan Tata, the head of Tata Motors who today launched the world’s cheapest car, is obviously quite a fan of the German motor industry: He described the new Tata Nano as a people’s car, an obvious reference to the Volkswagen, the car costs 100,000 rupees, similar to Hitler’s target for the VW which was 1000 Reich Marks, and the Tata site talks about the company’s blitzkrieg of new products at the New Delhi Auto Show. Still, they played a predictable Strauss track at the launch rather than Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries so maybe there’s nothing to worry about.
I was just looking my bike over before going to bed in anticipation of tomorrow’s ride in to work. I gave the brakes a squeeze and the back ones felt a bit weird. Gave them another one and snick the cable snapped, just like that. So now I’ll have to go on the train, with the suits and squares. Still, at least I’m not DEAD!
Craig Stephens look-alike Mark Speight, presenter of kids art show sMarT, has been arrested and released on bail after his girlfriend was found dead in the bath of their North London home. Mark had just finished a successful run in Cinderella at the Watersmeet in Rickmansworth, he was playing Buttons. He has been developing a new character for the next series of SmaRT.
We’ve made it more of an entertainment show. It’s a bit more upbeat and I dress up and play a loud brashy northern woman, who’s a bit like Les Dawson in drag. I’m thinking I might go for the dame next year. I’m very comfortable in that role.
I don’t know why I’m writing about this really. It’s sad. She was an out-of-work actress, he’d just finished doing panto, on the way back to his TV show. I feel really sorry for him, for both of them.
Fairytale of New York is pretty much my favourite Christmas song and so when I read that Radio 1 has censored the lyrics because they include the word faggot I thought they were pretty daft. On reflection though I think they are probably right. If you’re going to criticise homophobic rappers for their vile outpourings then it would be hypocritical to be letting Kirsty MacColl use a similar vocabulary, whatever the context.
I’ve finally found something I actually really crave. It’s a book. The site it’s on also happens to be the best site I’ve seen for ages. Damm I love typographers. Check it out. Lineto.com
In the seasonal song Twelve Days of Christmas people usually sing “Four calling birds” but the correct words are actually “Four Colley birds” an old name for blackbirds. Also, according to my Encyclopaedia of Superstition, anyone who eats a mince pie on every day of the twelve days of Christmas (26 December - 6 January) will enjoy twelve months of good fortune in the following year.
Have a listen to this puzzling clip of Nelson Mandela that I heard on the World Service last night.
He says: Together we have the power to change the course of destiny. Big ambitious blondes are needed to deal with the pandemic. But what truly matters are the Small Eggs of Kindness and caring that come from a place of real love and commercial.I’m all for big ambitious blondes, we could all use their help, but what are the Small Eggs of Kindness? Kinder eggs? They do come from the place of real love, Italy, and the brand is owned by Ferrero, undoubtedly a commercially successful company. The ‘rainbow’ mix of dark and white chocolate that the eggs are made from is a lovely metaphor for today’s South Africa and maybe what Nelson means is that the answer to the problems caused by the HIV pandemic in Africa may already be inside the ‘egg’, if we can just figure out how to put it together properly.By the way, did you know that Kinder Eggs are illegal in the USA? Yeah, they are, really.
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