July 2008
37 posts
Starbucks posts first ever quarterly loss →
Truly a recession of global proportions is nigh. We can’t even afford a Grande Caramel Macchiato any more. Woe, woe, woe.
“There is a thing called reader’s block. It is not the same as...”
– Lost for words
Sleeping In on Weekends a No-No →
This story is an example of why, of late, I am finding Lifehacker to be the singular most irritating site on the entire web. It’s all about ‘save time here, speed up this task there, do something more quickly and more efficiently’ and, above all, an insidious belief that everything - absolutely everything - must come second to the remorseless grind of the nine to five. Perish the...
“And then maybe one day you just snap a little. You sit down to write a cover...”
– Overqualified
How not to do an American accent →
Not that I would ever resort to the depths of doing the sort of American accent that wouldn’t even pass muster in a comedy Western. Oh no. Definitely not.
"I am building a rocket ship ..." →
“Someone has even compounded a helpful term to use when you call the record...”
– Does the world need another indie band?
Lost tapes of the Dr Who composer →
Urban Dictionary: Empty a Leg →
“Expression used by rough older British blokes to describe taking a really big piss when they’ve not been to the bathroom for a while.” Yes, but what about if you’ve got a prosthetic leg, and this colloquialism therefore describes something you do every evening before going to bed? I bet the Urban Dictionary folks didn’t think of that, did they?
Report reveals bbc.co.uk is £36m over annual... →
This story had somehow passed me by. Until this morning. Note to self: must read The Guardian more.
The Penguin Collectors’ Society →
“Actually collecting Penguin Books is not, of course, a prerequisite for membership.” That’s a relief, since I have no more space for books. So I’ll just use it for my occasional fix of book design pornographic lust.
Apple's iPhone 3G: 1m sold in three days →
Now, I love Apple products as much as the next geek with a fetish for beautifully designed technology. But if I read one more post about the sodding iPhone, my thoughts about what sort of internal damage these handsets could inflict if shoved forcibly up an iPhone devotee’s rear end may, in fact, become an all too painful reality.
Lucida Hybrid: The ‘Grande’ Alternative →
Even for a font obsessive myself, who is regularly irked that his chosen font never looks quite the same between different operating systems or even different computers, this thread seems like overkill.
French law thwarts My Bloody Valentine →
It’s been exactly three weeks since I saw the reunited MBV in concert - and resolutely refused to insert the free earplugs during the sheer unadulterated noise of You Made Me Realise. To be honest, I’m still not sure that my hearing has entirely recovered from the experience. But I would rather that than have to endure the French health & safety farce described in this post.
70 Signs of Intelligent Life at YouTube →
You thought it was just about kitten videos and old clips of 1980s one hit wonders with embarrassing hairstyles. But no. There is, apparently, intellectual content on Youtube. Mostly, though, there are kitten videos and old clips of 1980s one hit wonders with embarrassing hair. Which is as it should be.
“When you read a book like Atonement - a very popular literary fiction - its form...”
– Tracy Chevalier, quoted in How do you win a Booker prize? [BBC News]
Self helpless →
Um. Yeah. Right. Thanks. I’ll hide now.
Geeks - look away now ... →
Beauty salon bans disabled girls 'who scared the... →
Yes, I know. It’s a link from the Daily Mail. May God have mercy on my soul. However, it’s a shocking story that deserves a wider audience, and you have to show some support even to the biggest bunch of reactionary right-wing tossers when they suddenly wake up to the reality of disability discrimination.
“… the cloistered author - holed up in some wooded cabin to perfect his or...”
– The 21st Century Writer [via]
Type Trumps →
My Palatino and Helvetica beats your American Typewriter and Arete hands down.
WatchOne song. One take. One cab. The Black Cab Sessions is a simple yet brilliant idea. I wish I had thought of it first. This isn’t the best of their short films, to be honest. But it’s The National, and the sound of Mat Berninger’s voice never fails to turn my mind into so much treacle.
Hello! You There! →
I guess the important thing is that if you’re going to take the time and trouble to send someone an anonymous letter telling them that they’re wrong about something, or politely inform them that they have an off-putting personal hygiene problem, you should at least do it in a beautiful font.
Punk-loving robots pogo for science →
“Right now I only want two things - you and time to write. These people out here...”
– Hunter S. Thompson [via]
