Category: Misc

I fear that I really may have to start boycotting Tesco if the scheme mentioned here comes to pass. As Jon Snow notes in his ever interesting Snowmail, how much more money do they need to save when they’re recording 1.7bn profits? The idea that people who are ill should only start getting paid after…

Maybe it’s because I always enjoyed the Name of the Rose, but finding the Library of Alexandria really excites me. I don’t seem to be able to find much more about it on the net however. Google News reveals a couple of other stories, but nothing more concrete.

I saw the new West End theatre version of The Shape of Things last night by Neil LaBute. It’s based on his film of the same name, which I must admit I missed. I did see the other two in his “battle of the sexes” trilogy, In The Company of Men and Your Friends and…

If you’re playing Everton and hear everyone singing “Who ate all the pies”, then you know Wayne Rooney’s on the pitch. The talented young striker is doesn’t have the most, um, svelte of bodies (not that I should cast any judgement in this matter), but it’s somewhat ironic that the two products I’ve so far…

Read this and then this, for a truly horrific story of agents, wrestlers and fraudsters.

I do get more than my fare share of strange mobile phone calls. It’s not because I’m being targeted by a stalker (at least I don’t think I am). It’s because my name begins with “A”, and so who do you think is top in mobile phonebooks? It just takes a loose mobile in a…

Random conversations heard on trains recently: #1 A family are travelling into London. The mother’s French, the father English, and the kids seem bilingual. However, the family seems to live in France, and hence they’re doing the touristy thing with some English relatives, and are taking the kids to the British Museum. The mother is…

UGC Cinemas (is that tautology?) have recently changed their telephone system so that instead of tediously pressing “#” and various numbers, you now tediously say things to their voice recognition system, which them proceeds to missunderstand you and prompt you to repeat what you just said. In their infinite wisdom, the system is now set…

I have a habit that’s uncontrollable. I can’t walk past a bookshop without going in. My local town centre has an Ottakers, a WH Smith and a British Bookshops and Sussex Stationers (great name). But there have been some quite noticeable changes in the retailing landscape of bookshops of late. First of all, they all…

I’m torn. As a rule, I quite like Tesco. Yet mum is in vanguard of a campaign to keep Tesco out of Sheringham. The locals want them kept out as Sheringham is one of those few surviving towns without a major supermarket. Therefore, the town centre is thriving with traditional butchers, bakers, and candelstick makers.…

I love the ridiculous copyright notice we get at the front of films these days from FACT. That should put a stop to it. I suppose I really take exception to the fact that they can’t print their own phone number properly – it’s not 0208-xxx-xxxx, it’s 020-8xxx-xxxx. And yes it does make a difference…

Most fun this weekend was attempting to teach dad how to use a DVD player. I bought a 29.99 special from