Some links and a video
Here’s a round-up of some of the blogging that’s caught my eye lately…
I’ve known Merrick for about 15 years now (a fact that makes me feel terribly old… were the St. Rock’s Day Parties really that long ago!?) He’s a good enough friend that I’ve been able to overlook his psychotic hatred of donkeys. A hatred I brought to public attention here, and which may well merit a blog-post of its own some day. His sustained attacks upon one of the few champions that these poor, downtrodden animals have in their cold world of suffering, are essentially the equivalent of eating donkey steaks every day, washed down with a nice warm mug of donkey blood. Vegan? Schmeegan!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending Chris de Burgh as an artist. He’s really not very good, but the first couple of albums have nice tunes on, which is more than you can say for Huey Lewis. Am I right?
Anyhoo, Merrick’s writing (except on the subject of donkeys) is wonderful. And his blog really is one of the best out there. I want more people to visit it as his posts deserve nice long chunky comments threads. While most British bloggers have been having a pop at the British National Party and their leaflet campaign, Merrick’s post on the subject is the one you need to read (British jobs for Polish workers). His post on the MPs expenses brouhaha — Levelling the expenses playing field — is also excellent (and I’m not just saying that because it quotes me a couple of times) and contains the best solution I’ve heard yet regarding the controversial Second Homes Allowance. Just make MPs eligible for housing benefit in London. It is, after all, enough. Isn’t it?
JG Ballard. 1930-2009
Although it was a wee while ago, I’d like to take a moment to mark the passing of JG Ballard. He had a huge influence on my intellectual development. The Atrocity Exhibition hit me like a freight train in my first year at university. I went on an all-Ballard diet for a while and, having read pretty much everything he’d written up until that point, emerged somewhat freaked out… my dreams, ever-after, have often taken me to landscapes that could only be described as Ballardian. Or would “Ballardesque” be better? Have we established that yet? Anyway, another person who was profoundly touched by Ballard’s work is my friend Gyrus. His short piece, Ballard dies, is worth a clickthrough.
Other thoughts
Also worth your clicks are David Byrne’s musing posts on the internet, resource depletion and socialised medicine (Senigallia — You Get What You Pay For) as well as his latest post… on… well… buildings and food (The Best). OK, so it’s mostly just “food” but the line was too good to pass.
Oh, and in the spirit of my recent, Where’s Scully when you need her? post, check out Sellafield robots stealing nuclear waste. Is this the end for humanity? over at Nuclear Reaction. Run for the hills!
And here’s something for the weekend. Enjoy…