Banditry

• Halifax UK are the most annoying bank, out of all banks. "Try to transfer money to another UK account from abroad -> suspend account" – garr #
• Delighted that the best film I've seen in the cinema in about five years won at the Hoscars, much as that reflects my cinema-going #
• Coke Zero is following me. Yes, I like Coke Zero. Indeed, I drank it with lunch today. No, I'm not interested in Coke Zero's marketing feed. #
• (yeah, as if there's anyone following me who doesn't already follow @chickyog – BTW, if there is, do) #
• Eurostar's Facebook says "This year has seen the best snow on the alps for the last 10 years, why not take the ski train" *puts hand up* #
• Steve Bell genius, as always: http://bit.ly/9i9cOQ (via @BeauBodOr) #
• CROWDSOURCING: I'm considering flying to Singapore for cut-price laser eye surgery. Is this a really bad idea? #
• This is excellent; I love the PIA/Switzerland poster -> RT @Patrick_Myles Graphic design blog and vintage archive http://grainedit.com/ #
• #ebz A healthy, balanced day: beach, erudite debate, *and* buggering about on the Internet http://fallenlondon.com/c/32097 #
• As far as characters to lead the UK to recovery go, how about http://bit.ly/9vs1Hl ? #
• "It must be a middle class recession – the Job Centre have just launched an iPhone app." http://bit.ly/dCkFe7 (via @touchstoneblog) #
• Even if you *actually see someone carrying a bomb*, you're still a despicable bastard if you call this Stasi-line: http://bit.ly/bftxia #
• Up far too late, #ebz -ing myself to sleep http://fallenlondon.com/c/32774 #
• This crazy screed highlights why many women refuse to identify as feminists: not the philosophy, but the company http://bit.ly/cQwqox #
• The piece being attacked is badly written sub-hipster, but its basic message is Don't Treat Women Like Shit. Taking offence proves insanity #
• I'm not normally on big corporations' side in libel suits, but I hope Facebook CRUSHES THE DAILY MAIL'S LYING ARSE: http://bit.ly/ciw1Fz #
• RT @malbonster New post by me on the moral outrage/panic caused by Chatroulette http://bit.ly/cBZNKX (via @nathanmcdonald) #
• #ebz Christ, I'm hungover. No dinner always a mistake. http://fallenlondon.com/c/33482 #
• This is rubbish: http://bit.ly/9OWROZ – Griffin an odious cunt, but also a major political figure & interviewing him the right thing to do #
• This, on the other hand, is excellent: http://bit.ly/apuHSE #
• I was feeling a bit down (no reason, just late-night-meh); now I'm feeling thoroughly happy: http://www.b3ta.com/links/Boobies_Kittens #
• This is rather delightful: http://www.howdoeshomeopathywork.com/ #
• Advertising policy duly updated, to reflect the fact that @JamesonCultFilmClub is in no way responsible for spamming DG. #
• Stupidest film review EVAH: http://bit.ly/cUqZMJ – claims Hurt Locker a movie which ignores harm Iraq war has unleashed on civilians… #
• Halfwit New York legislator plans to ban the sale of *all food*: http://bit.ly/diNinH #
• I wonder if Mr E really believes the press should face no sanctions at all for lying – http://bit.ly/bQZMnV – or just lying about H Chavez? #
• The only thing that annoys me more than libel law is its idiot defenders. "What if someone called you a paedo" – well, I'd ignore them, duh #
• #ebz The manager of the Hotel offers free rooms to guests of particular note or interest. He irritably… http://fallenlondon.com/c/34008 #
• Not very impressed by @leftfootfwd's report attacking LD plans to raise tax allowance – see my comment at http://bit.ly/bCo4V4 #
• Weird fact: Zimbabwe and Nigeria both have higher Internet penetration than South Africa: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8552410.stm #
• Distasteful sure, but harm done? Really? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8564954.stm #
• Quality, from M Tucker: http://bit.ly/brdNDN #
• #2022 #FindPeopleInMyPostcode (was #N19 until January…) #
• #oddquestions I wonder if you can't hashtag a number or whether you can't hashtag at the beginning of a tweet #2022 #
• I no longer wonder. #
• I hate RTing @iaindale, but this is fair -> Will @denismacshane and leftist bloggers now boycott the Guardian too? http://bit.ly/aXSDYt #
• I guess "only ppl who're cleverer than Nick Griffin shld be allowed to interview Nick Griffin" is a coherent principle that could save us… #
• Semi-literate hipster tool from the other day shows up and makes reasonable points; DMHFHF miss them: http://tinyurl.com/ #
• (when creepy right-wing old men refer to men as "men" and women as "girls", it's bad; Foster v clearly someone who'd refer to men as "boys") #
• Terry & Julie utterly screwed. Well, unless they have watches and/or mobiles: http://tweetphoto.com/14237447 (via @tellingtales) #
• I ought to make clear, I strongly believe Iain Dale's a nasty piece of work. But also that Griffin is legit figure to interview for any mag #
• Good that Toyota US not based in Michigan: in CA there's *some* chance they'll escape crucified for trumped-up charges http://bit.ly/csxQ3T #
• "If Labour won again, bond yields are likely to rise quite quickly by about 0.5% to 1%" http://is.gd/atPag #insaneTorybeliefs #
• Bedtime. Person of the day: Charles Todd – without him, you (non-Aus people) wouldn't be reading this rubbish: http://bit.ly/9SHNYn #
• Time for 1 link: nasty combo of upper-caste Indian puritanism & bien-pensant BBC puritanism, vs India's funnest state: http://bit.ly/baTWJi #
• Just in case you'd forgotten the Tories are a nasty bunch of bastards: http://bit.ly/dA9SCg #
• #ebz or shopping? Hmm, tough one… http://fallenlondon.com/c/34546 #

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• Shocked by the price of books in Australia – UK-published paperbacks with gbp8.99 printed on the back go here for $25, over 2x as much #
• …possibly this explains certain highly unfair local stereotypes about learning / culture…? #
• Reading UK blogs for the first time in several weeks, people seem to be seriously considering the prospect of a Labour win – wow, also WTF? #
• Separately – there is nothing I find more bizarre than the attitude of *anyone* who believes Argentina has a claim to the Falklands #
• They've been British as long as Argentina has existed – and (unlike Argentina) the settlement didn't involve whites slaughtering natives #
• Having had an annoying call with my bank, I'm in need of some #ebz therapy http://fallenlondon.com/c/27151 #
• OBVIOUS -> http://bit.ly/b7BnsU (via @adambienkov) – although I really need to start fretting about my new hometown's transport policy #
• More than I would -> RT @pressgazette Lebedev will pay £1 for the Independent, claims report http://bit.ly/cT0L0G #
• GEEKQUESTION: anyone know a good way to access iPlayer from Oz? I'm guessing a UK-based proxy server, but any other subterfuge would suffice #
• It's pleasant to be job-hunting in a country where the main economic qn is "are we being foolish to think everything's peachy"? (real quote) #
• Banks still annoying. "No, we can't give you a receipt for the large foreign money transfer you've just done, just trust us" – hmm. #
• RT @nauiokaspark: Inside the Excruciatingly Slow Death of Internet Explorer 6 | Popular Science http://bit.ly/d4K7OD (via @felixsalmon) #
• When I left PwC (not the world's ropiest shop) in October 2008 my laptop was still running on IE6, and IE7 broke some internal software… #
• No -> RT @DaveHill Has stop-and-search really reduced knife crime in London? http://bit.ly/aL6s4A #shortanswerstosimplequestions #
• Did touristy things yesterday morning. Internetted this morning. #ebz http://fallenlondon.com/c/28081 #
• Ryanair often gets into trouble w/the ASA for lying. Now Easyjet is in trouble w/the ASA for saying truth about Ryanair http://bit.ly/96Aet0 #
• If Easyjet ran an ad saying "Ryanair are scum and everyone who works for them should be boiled alive", that would still be too moderate #
• Meanwhile, it may be time to boycott Apple for being evil fair-competition-hating, court-abusing bastards: http://bit.ly/9uPEfO #
• Off to (allegedly) collect keys to new flat. Will be either delighted or very pissed off in 90 minutes' time #
• Am very delighted. Hurrah! I've never had a swimming pool before, or a balcony… #
• Shame, I was hoping he'd outlast Mrs T: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8547228.stm #
• #ebz I'm sure it's not been 24 hours, but OK… http://fallenlondon.com/c/28932 #
• A gentleman named Ben is bringing furniture tomorrow. Then we'll have furniture. This will RULE. #
• Glad I'm not in the UK for Jon Venables circus. "Kid does bad thing, is punished, is released; 9 years later does unspecified thing" – and? #
• Off to #ikea – if I don't return, I've probably been arrested for Ikea Rage. #
• Survived IKEA, $800, one slightly scratched car and two slightly traumatised us later. FULLY FURNISHED HOUSE WOO! #
• Damn, it's nice to have my own room. I can stay on the Internet until 0100 and listen to Canadian indie without anyone complaining #
• #ebz Yes, I'll get up shortly and do something useful with my Saturday… http://fallenlondon.com/c/29875 #
• Icelanders opt for arrogant stupidity and failing to face up to their own guilt. Unsurprising; most people generally opt for the same #
• Iceland's a democracy; the people voted for deregulation and supported the boom. They are to blame (unlike 3rd-world debtors) #icesave #
• For background, the Iceland saga up to January 2010 as morality play – time to write the next act… http://bit.ly/5Zv53I #icesave #
• CROWDSOURCING: which of these cables do I need to use to plug in an 18-month-old MacBook Air to a TV: Mini DVI or Mini DisplayPort? #
• Airport/customs docs remarkably addictive. Dunno know why "jobsworths try to ruin people's holidays/lives and usually succeed" so gripping #
• Specific msg from Aus docusoap Air Ways is that Tiger combine operational skills of Aeroflot with customer service of Ryanair. WILL AVOID #
• #ebz Sunday night, 1AM, no job yet, of course I'm on t'Internet http://fallenlondon.com/c/30876 #
• As usual, David Mitchell is right: BBC *is* one of the things the UK does best, and Tories *do* plan to cripple it http://bit.ly/dm6t6V #
• Don't see a problem with VAT on food tho'. This isn't the 1930s; anyone, no matter how poor, can afford to eat, and most eat too much anyway #
• Reading the comments on the Mitchell piece. Some ppl suggesting HBO matches up to BBC. Rubbish: the Wire excellent; everything else shit #
• Oz TV has some half-decent docs & talk shows, but *absolutely all* good drama is either BBC or Scandinavian state TV #
• …although probably as a result, a much better range of movies shown on free-to-air TV. #
• In "utterly terrifying" news – a wholly sensible and excellent Jeremy Clarkson column: http://bit.ly/cLvueA #

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• #ebz Melbourne is cloudy, and daytime TV here is unspeakably bad. Hence: http://fallenlondon.com/c/23971 #
• Sydney is awesome, in the "excellent" sense of the word. Sydney rents are awesome, in the "inspiring terror and fear" sense of the word #
• Flat-hunting is rubbish. New area exploring is fun. At least we get to combine the two here. #

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• Wow, Perth is like all of the best aspects of western civilisation combined. #thishappenswhenyouspendamonthinAsia #
• Western Australia features quite astounding amounts of nothing at all. Pretty nothing at all, mind. #
• Internet connection too poor for full-scale review of 8-hour wine tour. Short review: DRINK! Bonzer. #
• Off to see how Perth celebrates Carnival Brazilian-style. Arriba, etc. #
• On a borrowed computer using IE6. Wow, IE6 is rubbish. #
• I wonder if racists (sorry, "profiling advocates") will be adding "middle-aged anti-tax white men" to the no-fly list? http://bit.ly/9FWm4P #
• It's depressing when you realise there's no option but to agree with George Galloway: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8521246.stm #
• #ebz Perth has good Internet, even if it has poor browsers… http://fallenlondon.com/c/22493 #

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• Bali is nice. Just spent 2 hours bodysurfing. Possibly a real board may be called for tomorrow. Now – COCKTAILS! #
• As @TheBuddhaSmiled says, the hotel is pretty dire: there aren't any pellets in the automatic bug-killer, and wifi only works in the bar #
• Also, the bar and massage service in the pool doesn't stay open 24 hours. And the hot tub doesn't have a jacuzzi #
• Excellent temple of thieving monkeys, who successfully removed one friend's glasses and one friend's hairclip #bali #
• Apparently, swimming, drinking beer and taking underwater photos until 3AM, although excellent fun, makes mornings slightly slow #
• Luckily #ebz is helping ease me into normality http://fallenlondon.com/c/18193 #
• Slightly sunburned. Unrelatedly, have almost removed my beard, via various ludicrous styles I wouldn't try if not on holiday #
• Balinese traditional music is pretty awful. Unlike Khmer pop music, which is unimaginably excellent #
• No sympathy for Iraqi grumpiness about US throwing out Blackwater prosecutions – due process infinitely more important than revenge #
• From this, we can conclude Jonathan Mendel is a prat http://ow.ly/168OD – it's PR to get kids into science, not a sodding thesis #
• #ebz Yes, I'll stop buggering about on the computer and get in the pool shortly http://fallenlondon.com/c/18691 #
• Not being at all cultural. Hell, I've been to India and SE Asia, surely Balinese culture is just a blend of the two, right? #
• Last night was this: http://www.cool.asia/?p=98 – about as excellent as anything gets #
• FACT: even if someone runs you a bath of rose petals, it neither turns you into nor allows you to go to bed with Mena Suvari #
• #ebz yes, this again http://fallenlondon.com/c/19232 #
• Based on a study of Balinese monkeys, socialism leads to cuteness and excellence and private enterprise leads to meanness and thieving #
• (subsidised monkeys in govt monkey park well behaved and sweet; free-enterprise monkeys at tourist sites hit people and steal their things) #
• #ebz it may be 35 degree sunshine, but that isn't going to stop me playing silly online games http://fallenlondon.com/c/20065 #

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• Trying to find things to do in Siem Reap that don't involve drinking or going to Angkor Wat is surprisingly tricky… #
• #ebz yup, more of the same http://fallenlondon.com/c/14140 #
• Angkor Wat is an amazing feat of art and engineering. However, I now entirely understand the meaning of the phrase "templed out" #
• Waiting for a bus to more or less nowhere. Hurrah! #
• #ebz …and while waiting for a buss, one plays EBZ http://fallenlondon.com/c/15084 #
• Wow, Pnomh Penh is DARK. In an "absence of visible light" sense rather than a metaphorical sense, although perhaps the metaphor fits #
• For all its darkness, Pnomh Penh is quite a fun place to go out, in a nice-food-and-cocktails kinda way. Can't speak for ropier sorts of fun #
• #ebz wherever there's good wifi, I'm playing this. The Jockey Hotel in PP has good wifi http://fallenlondon.com/c/16183 #
• Killing fields were, erm, intense. Unsurprisingly. Now intend to drink enough that we don't think about them too much. #
• FCC at Phnom Penh is proper excellent – @antonvowl is a correct man. Londoners: lobby your FCC to be more like the Cambodian one #
• Young Tory makes inept comment; dickheads get offended: http://bit.ly/bsNEzJ – he needs slated for his beliefs, not WWII-era PC nonsense #
• I hate the way that, even though I'm logged in as me, Google defaults to the homepage of whatever country I'm in. No, I don't speak Khmer… #
• KL is OK. Staying in soulless airport hotel, but oddly it's surrounded by fun plastic seat bar-restaurants solely frequented by locals #

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• Saigon seems clean and orderly. I think I've spent too much time in India. #
• Comedically, Facebook is blocked in Vietnam (for Subversive Activity reasons), but Twitter isn't #
• So I can incite the toiling masses to twevolution, but I can't post my holiday snaps for my mates to see #
• Current trending topics include #Haiti, #NowThatsGhetto – yes, correct. #
• Aha, my skills triumph: Vietnam's evil genius censors have blocked http://www.facebook.com, but not lite.facebook.com #
• RT @libcon: Constituent harassed by Telegraph readers after sending email to Tory PPC http://bit.ly/8XFTTW #
• #ebz obligatory Echo Bazaar plug. It's a really good game, honest http://fallenlondon.com/c/12001 #
• Massage for $4, laundry for $2, entry to the world's worst museum for $1. Prices reflect value. #
• Vietnam, S-S-Saigon. Vietnam, S-S-Saigon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3LdMAqUMnM #
• Needed that as respite from the Americans Are Bad museum. Which was harrowing, and surprisingly accurate for a totalitarian regime's museum #
• …but didn't quite get the point that the people who need hanged are Kissinger, Nixon, Schlesinger, not the poor buggers in the trenches #
• #ebz yes, I'm an addict http://fallenlondon.com/c/12530 #
• A day of hangover. Nothing achieved. Expecting early bed. Quite fun afternoon of lazing over recovery beers, after the AAGH subsided #
• Tomorrow, a riverboat to the coast, should we manage successfully to get up in the morning… #
• #ebz and again, sorry http://fallenlondon.com/c/12941 #
• 90-minute river trip on Soviet hydrofoil, 2 hours of pretty seaside, and 150-minute return on slightly buggered Soviet hydrofoil. A good day #
• Unrelatedly, this – http://bit.ly/bhcgbK – on why opponents of public sector targets are probably wrong #
• #ebz I really am enjoying travelling the world, but I can't stop playing this blimmin' game http://fallenlondon.com/c/13354 #

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• #ebz The snow that falls in the Neath every December is something of a mystery. Condensation from the … http://fallenlondon.com/c/7853 #
• Bombay wins awards for excellence. Enjoying life far too much to be inspired to poli-blog/tweet… #
• One exception – the cops involved in this, and anyone who defends them, need their skin removed by cheesegrater: http://bit.ly/5COfiB #
• Terrorism isn't a threat; if you think it is, you are an imbecile. Authoritarianism is a threat; if you think it isn't, you are an imbecile. #
• (incidentally, "a threat" here means "causes serious changes to our way of life", not "kills a statistically negligible number of people") #
• …and *breathe*. Wow, all that carefully-dispelled tension's coming back; need to stick to beer, shopping and playing Echo Bazaar #
• In Bombay airport awaiting flight to Goa. It's tough, but I think we'll survive. #
• Who says there are no new ideas left on the Internet? http://cheesesurfer.blogspot.com/ #
• Meanwhile, am about to see if there are good restaurants in Thiruvananthapuram that serve a) meat b) beer c) not solely coconut sauce #
• Yes, there are good restaurants in Trivandrum that meet my criteria, although apparently they're all affiliated to posh-ish hotels #
• Armed police at the London Fire Authority meeting, say @LondonFBU – what, I leave the country for a week and it turns into China? #
• Spiral coffee houses rule: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Coffee_House – inside it looks like a helter-skelter too #

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• #ebz What we have instead of moonlight, down in the Neath: the uncertain glow from phosphorescent thin… http://fallenlondon.com/c/4939 #
• #ebz The Masters of the Bazaar – Mr Wines, Mr Spices, Mr Veils and the rest – speak in high-pitched wh… http://fallenlondon.com/c/5342 #
• #ebz In a city where death can be temporary, lunatic murderers are not treated with especial respect. … http://fallenlondon.com/c/5696 #
• Everything packed or binned. Bills payed; refunds claimed; addresses redirected. now BEER #
• …and as I sit with my beer, it occurs to me for pretty much the first time that this is REALLY HAPPENING. from now, i'm not a UK resident #
• "goan fish curry" sounds more like an offensive imprecation than a lunch menu dish #
• #ebz These little charmers sneak into the bedrooms of sleepers and bite their eyes off. They take them… http://fallenlondon.com/c/6713 #
• UK successfully fled. Hurrah! Mumbai is exactly as sunny, loud, polluted and EXCELLENT as it's supposed to be. #

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• Certain of the Masters of the Bazaar – Mr Stones, Mr Apples and Mr Wines, and possibly others – s… http://fallenlondon.com/c/3522 #
• Longrider is good on Anjem Choudary: http://bit.ly/5CiYsj #
• Icelandic president bottles out, bows to public demand to steal our money: http://bit.ly/4F06ax #
• Remind me not to go on Twitter between 10pm and 11pm weekdays #freakshowtwathouse #
• Never mention the Second City to the Masters of the Bazaar. Mr Wines will look at you narrowly an… http://fallenlondon.com/c/3735 #
• Snow whiners put thoroughly in their place by @tygerland – approved. http://bit.ly/7PnAkl #
• Reading the Gilligantastic river report, I suddenly understand why right-whingers were so upset about taking the Thames off the Tube map #
• Right, it's time to tie Hewitt and Hoon together, put them in a sack of rats, and throw them in the Thames. Treacherous bastards #
• (and no, I'm no Gordon fan, but doing this 4 months pre-election is unforgiveable) #
• (and no, I'm no Gordon fan, or even a Labour supporter, but doing this 4 months pre-election is unforgiveable) #
• Yanks incapable of understanding Not Everyone Is A Yank, with hilarious 'false accusations of racism' consequences: http://bit.ly/7DBUys #
• It must be, in part at least, frozen water: when it melts, it refreezes as black ice. Tiny, despe… http://fallenlondon.com/c/3934 #
• CITV enhanced my life as a child. The ads on CITV didn't blight my life. Therefore, those who'd ban kids TV ads are eejits… #
• I'm not normally a fan of political executions, but I'd make an exception for idiots who claim we've just had "12 years of socialist gov't" #
• I'm not sure the Hitler motif adds much, but I like the revised copy: http://bit.ly/5ULSTR #
• In London's trendy Camden, awaiting London's trendy @devilskitchen, of London's slightly odd LPUK #
• London's trendy Camden is playing London's trendy Cure, preceded by London's trendy TT D'Arby #
• London's trendy bar lady is very attractive, although possibly too young for London's trendy @johnb78 #
• http://fallenlondon.com/c/4184 #
• Shorter Steve Hilton scandal: man doing nothing wrong gets mugged for gbp80 by evil jobsworths; 2 years later people pretend this is news. #
• NHS Constitution includes "right to choose to die at home". Easy one: just don't call an ambulance… #
• #fl With so much business in Fallen London, you can't expect the inhabitants of Hell to go home at th… http://fallenlondon.com/c/4471 #

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