He was watching the defectives

Extremely sad to hear about the sudden unexpected death of long-time friend, crony and partner in crime Tom Barry, of BorisWatch and @boriswatch fame. Tom provided exactly the kind of hard-nosed, subject-expert and ruthless research and writing into London's terrible mayor and supine general assembly that nobody in traditional local journalism has (bothered to do / had time for) … Continue reading He was watching the defectives

Meg Williams, a woman of all importance

This is a very sentimental post. My last surviving grandparent died today. She was born in Caerphilly (better than being born carelessly, I guess) as Peggy Jean Jenkins. Not as Margaret Jenkins, that'd be boring. And because Wales, she was never called Peggy Jean by anyone; she was Meg from birth. Her husband, who died last year, was … Continue reading Meg Williams, a woman of all importance

A cock and ball story

For those of you who follow me on Twitter, and/or plough through the Twitter updates that get posted here instead of actual blogging, and/or know me in real life, you might be aware that I've been a bit out of sorts for the last couple of weeks. By "a bit out of sorts", I mean, … Continue reading A cock and ball story

Meme meme meme

Freemania has done tagged me with a meme: 7 things I love. Not in order, and probably not accurate. 1) intelligent girl-pop. c.f. 2) Chris Morris. Explanation required? Go elsewhere. 3) London. Everything about London. Name a thing you don't like about London and I'll like it. Well, apart from fiver-a-mile cab fares. 4) Writing. … Continue reading Meme meme meme

Top 5 Things That Have Made Me Happy Today

Still mblogging, so can't face messing about with links. If anything intrigues and confuses you, google is your friend. 1) Stephen Frears's High Fidelity. Best geeky boy film ever, one of best love stories ever, terrifyingly accurate insight into my past relationships ever, etc. I know Nick Hornby also relevant but I've boycotted praising him … Continue reading Top 5 Things That Have Made Me Happy Today

Just as well they didn’t have t’Internet back then

As one ought, I've been looking up my ancestors (well, people with my not-especially-common surname) on the Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674-1913 website. There's a disappointing lack of criminality among my lot. Only three Bands were prosecuted at the Old Bailey over the whole period, and one of them was acquitted, whereas we seem … Continue reading Just as well they didn’t have t’Internet back then