Do you use Microsoft Word? If so you’ll probably remember the hideous “Clippy” who’d pop up to offer entirely unwanted, un-needed, chatty advice every time you tried to write anything . This hideous creation must have been planted in Redmond by Steve Jobs. Or something. Anyway, “Clippy” is, mercifully, no more. All praise to James
Since I’m too young to have seen Dennis Lillee in his absolute prime, Malcolm Marshall is the greatest fast bowler I’ve watched in my lifetime. He would have been 50 this month, but for the colon cancer that killed him. Pat Lynch remembers the great Barbadian here. One fine story that has just a hint
My super-talented wee sister is the latest to succumb to the blogging temptation. Hence the founding of Palette Knife, a daily does of painting, photography and Manchester United. Highly recommended, obviously. Don’t just read, however: buy Claudia’s paintings!
So, this series has so far featured teams skippered by: Armstrong, Benaud, Constantine, Dexter, Edrich, Fry, Gower and Hutton. Now it’s Imran’s turn to stroll onto the field. 1. Frank Iredale (AUS)2. KC Ibrahim (IND)3. Ijaz Ahmed (PAK)4. Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK)5. Asif Iqbal (PAK)6. Imran Khan (PAK) (Capt)7. Imtiaz Ahmed (PAK) (Wkt)8. Ray Illingworth (ENG)9. David
From the BBC: Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who is accused of keeping his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years, refuses to answer further questions, police say. They said he had signed a statement admitting imprisoning and raping his daughter and fathering her seven children, but refuses to explain. Just what the hell
I’m indebted to Rod Dreher for the reminder that Willie Nelson celebrates his 75th birthday today. And there was me thinking he’d been around for longer than that. Here he is with that other great survivor Merle Haggard, singing the classic Pancho and Lefty: In 2003 Reason named Willie one of its 35 Heroes of
Via Norm comes this entertaining, if fairly pointless, parlour game: pick a novelist to represent each letter of the alphabet and a book of theirs you’ve read (and enjoyed!). My list: A: Kingsley Amis, Lucky JimB: John Buchan, GreenmantleC: Albert Camus, L’EtrangerD: Alexandre Dumas: The Three MusketeersE: F: F Scott Fitzgerald, Tender is the NightG:
Heartening news from Ireland: when the government banned smoking in pubs in 2004, 27% of Irish folk smoked. Now 29% consume these little tubes of delight*. True, there’s a long way to go yet but every journey begins with a single smoke… *Dennis Potter’s description, if memory serves. [Hat-tip: Taking Liberties.]
If you’re voting in London tomorrow, you are going to be given three ballot papers—one for the mayoralty, one for the constituency section of the London assembly and one for the proportional vote. In the mayoral vote, you can vote for a first preference—we’d recommend putting a tick next to Boris—and a second preference. If
Yesterday, I visited the Southern Israeli town of Sderot. Being perched on the border with Gaza, it’s subjected to a constant barrage of rockets from Hamas and their associates. A few stream-of-consciousness observations and thoughts below – all lifted from my notebook and from conversations with Sderot locals – as well as some photographs and
Like Fraser, I thought that David Cameron went on the wrong topic today. But I think the bigger mistake the Tories might be making is in trying to turn 42 days into a trial of Brown’s political strength. Regardless of what one thinks about 42 days, and a good case can be made both ways,
If Livingstone loses on Thursday and the Labour vote slumps elsewhere in the country, the headlines for Gordon Brown will be dire and he’ll be plunged further into the mire. But in this crisis there will be a brief window of opportunity for him. The press will be in full ‘government in crisis mode’ and
In a not-very-hotly contested category, this was perhaps Gordon Brown’s best PMQs performance. His content wasn’t any more accurate, but sounding confident is half the battle. And he did. He didn’t stutter or garble his words and looked much more relaxed. As ever, there’s a bit of Dr Johnson’s dog about this – but Cameron
Gordon Brown gives interviews like he is programming a computer. In his pre-election appearance on Today at 8.10am he fired off statistics, as if they spoke for themselves – sounding passionate, one might argue, and knowledgeable. But on several areas his information was misleading or simply false. Here’s what jumped out at me. 1). “We’re
Over at the Red Box, Sam Coates has a very handy guide to what the parties are claiming would constitute success for them in Thursday’s elections.
The American Scene The British Museum Coming of Age: American Art, 1850s to 1950s Dulwich Picture Gallery Although the potent influence of all things American has had a pernicious not to say deleterious influence on street culture and social attitudes in Britain, American art of the last century has offered a stimulus to many and
Gone With the Wind New London Theatre How did they get it so wrong? Turning chicklit’s greatest story into a hit musical should have been a doddle. Just put the characters on stage and let the warm romantic breeze of the narrative carry you safely home. And that’s exactly what Trevor Nunn has done and
Josef Fritzl’s unspeakable crimes against his daughter not only sicken us, says Rod Liddle. They sharpen our confusion about day-to-day parenting in the modern world You may, by now, be losing track of Austrian nutters who lock women in basements. The latest is Josef Fritzl, who kept his daughter Elisabeth imprisoned in a dungeon for
Christian Sylt and Caroline Reid say the motorsport industry is in turmoil — and could lose millions in sponsorship — as a result of Max Mosley’s tabloid embarrassment Few sports have a sexier brand image than Formula One. Race-cars snaking through the streets of Monaco past grandstands full of the world’s most glamorous women; grid
Ever since social arrangements became complex enough to write into laws, we have regulated the behaviours that have the potential to mess up our common lives. Look at the Book of Deuteronomy. It’s all there: health and safety (diet and hygiene), taxation, bankruptcy, neighbourly envy, sexual conduct… and finance too. The Old Testament is pretty