pootling

This book is a collection of Douglas Adams’ writing, some of which has been seen in newspapers or magazines, some of which is an incomplete Dirk Gently story and some of which is about rather than by Adams.
The journalism on technology is remarkably prescient, as well as being warm and often extremely funny. The beginnings [...]

The gigstravaganza that I’m on at the moment continued on Friday with Iron and Wine. They were supported by the sublime Bon Iver, but due to problems beyond my control (and one bringing-ticket-with-me-related woe that was within my control) I missed all but the last few bars of his last song. It was, if you’re [...]

You are 62% hippie.

You’re near the middle of the spectrum, but you’ve got an open mind. Society needs more people like you.
Are you a hippie?

They’re right though, society does need more people like me…

You Are 92% Open Minded

You are so open minded that your brain may have fallen out!Well, not really. But you may be confused on where you stand.You don’t have a judgemental bone in your body, and you’re very accepting.You enjoy the best of every life philosophy, even if you sometimes contradict yourself.

How Open Minded Are [...]

OK, so you’ve almost certainly seen this sketch before. Probably many, many times. But I saw this again today, and it made me laugh again just as much as the very first time I saw it. If one person who’s not seen this before sees it here then I feel I’ve done a pretty important [...]

I haven’t yet seen The Simpsons Movie, but I’ve been impressed with their marketing. They’ve converted a load of 7-Eleven’s into Kwik-E-Marts in the US and with much whinging from local pagans, painted a huge Homer Simpson next to the Cerne Abbas Giant:I was even briefly mentioned on Boing Boing suggesting a puerile version from [...]

Sunday
The Holloways: Other Stage
OK, so they weren’t exactly amazing, but the Holloways started our day well with a solid performance on the Other Stage. They certainly attracted a pretty hefty crowd for an early spot. They’re an endearing little band, and I particularly liked the fact that the lead singer brought his flatmate onstage for [...]

There are a couple of quotes from this Time article about Albert Einstein and religion that I wholeheartedly agree with:
“Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible laws and connections, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything [...]

Original link here.

Here’s Michel Gondry, the fantastic film director, solving a Rubik Cube with his feet:
And for those of you who like their magic explained, here’s how he did it:
(via Kottke)

I always love it when there’s a new section added to the wonderful Brick Testament - this time it’s the story of David and Goliath, amongst a few other things.

It’s weird the way that music seems to have to need the right moment to get into your head. Months and months ago, I downloaded this song by Iron and Wine, thinking that it didn’t sound bad. Then, last weekend, I listened to it again, and it was like a revelation.
I think one of the [...]

It’s a mean blogger that just steals another’s work and republishes it, but I thought this quote on Histomat today was great:
‘The most extravagant idea that can be born in the head of a political thinker is to believe that it suffices for people to enter, weapons in hand, among a foreign people and expect [...]