Leonard Cohen - morose master

Leonard Cohen (for it is he, the morose 'singer'):

"But I can't sing..."

Cohen's NYC lawyer:

"None of you boys can sing. If I wanna hear singing, I'll go to the Met (Opera)."

Poetry and singing collided in Cohen's hauntingly beautiful music from my last years at school (1967/8). Neil Young's After The Goldrush also made a big impression on me in 1970. Guess who's at Glastonbury Festival this year? Neil Young, along with Ray Davies (The Kinks), Madness, Status Quo, Tom Jones, Roger McGuinn (The Byrds), with Bruce Springsteen headlining on Saturday night - all old-timers. Even Ben Taylor, son of the great James Taylor, is on this year's line-up.

My son's last days at school this month - who will he remember? The Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand, Jack Johnson, Ben Folds, Paulo Nutini? One thing seems apparent: a career in rock'n'roll can last a long, long time these days, but only if you get to the very top.

* Cohen's discography from Rolling Stone magazine.

* The first Glastonbury Festival was held in 1970, the day after Jimi Hendrix died.

PG Pinecoffin - gone but not forgotten

Apologies to anyone who may take offence, but the death notice in today's The Times for Peter Geoffrey Pinecoffin raised a smile.

"There is more logic in humour than in anything else. Because, you see, humour is truth. Victor Borge, The Times, 3 January 1984.

Find 'em with Foundem

Another day, another search engine, again. This time, a new vertical-search and price comparison engine. Traditional search engines are broad but superficial (shallow), while vertical search engines tend to be deep but narrow (highly specialised).

Foundem's patented WebSentient™ technology supposedly provides the world's first general-purpose vertical search platform. Their 'revolutionary' WebSentient technology can provide accurate, timely, and highly-detailed parametric search within any domain.

Indeed, it does seem to do exactly that.

View partial source: The One Who Should Be Obeyed (and keeps the Diary)

Marmite v Vegemite: Poms v Aussies

Following Pakistan's well-deserved victory over Sri lanka in the bish-bash 20-20 Cricket World Cup and the England women team's glorious victory over New Zealand, our cricketing attentions turn to the more serious matter of The Ashes (of which, of course, our women's team are currently the holders and our men's team are, ingloriously, not).

To celebrate this summer's primary cricketing attraction (and in the footsteps of Lover's Marmite, which included champagne, and Guinness Marmite), Marston's Pedigree Marmite is the newest limited edition of love-it-or-hate-it Marmite.

Marston's Pedigree, being the 'official beer of the England cricket team', suitably provides the yeast for this new Marmite. Vegemite doesn't stand a chance against it, just like the Aussies don't stand a chance against our English boys, who are all on top form (apart from bish-bashing, of course).

The Sun & The Times headlines - to Fri Jun 19 2009

from The Times

Fri 19 Jun: Freedom of Information - the MPs' expenses debate rolls on.

Thu 18 Jun: The silent rebellion - Iran's green 100,000-strong protest turns black in mourning for seven young men killed on Monday night protests.

Wed 17 Jun: Telephone tax to fund Britain's digital future - the government's White Paper Digital Britain aims to overhaul telecoms and reshape the media landscape.

Tue 16 Jun: Hardliners open fire on defiant protesters - In Tehran, government paramilitaries open fire on a huge public protest against disputed re-election of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Members of the Nasij, a force of young Islamic hardliners killed a demonstrator.

Mon 15 Jun: Iran reform hopes crushed - Basiji volunteers engaged in battles with opposition supporters, following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election as leader and his hailing Iran as a 'new model democracy'.

from The Sun

Thu 18 Jun: Loo Goes There? - Afghan illegal immigrant smuggles himself into Sandhurst hidden behind coach toilet.

Wed 17 Jun: They just don't get it, do they? - Attorney general decides not to seek tougher sentences for the killers of 'Baby P'.

Tue 16 Jun: Flush Garden - Onion-growing, 73-year-old allotment-fan Grandad scoops £25m Euro Lotto jackpot

Mon 15 Jun: Harry Dumps Telly Babe - Prince Harry's (24) fling with 'TV beauty' Caroline Flack (29) is over, after telling her he still loves his ex, Chelsy Davy.

Love London

Go where we may - rest where we will,

Eternal London haunts us still.

Thomas Moore (1779-1852)

View partial source: London Poems on the Underground

Photo: Sunrise reflection, Ray Wise

Yet another 'inspired' search engine

This one I like, rolling Twitter, Amazon, Yahoo, eBay, MSN into one eye-popping results page. Using a bunch of APIs, it produces much more than just words as search results. Clever use of feeds and previewing of videos in the same window. Once again, I find things that I've never found before for regular searches of Bob James, Joe Sample, James Taylor, Richard Tee and more... Nice one, from Felix and Per in Stockholm, Sweden: www.spezify.com

Size-zero fashion models

I think it is very nice for ladies

to be lithe and lissome,

But not so much that you cut yourself

if you happen to embrace or kissome.

by Ogden Nash

... for many designers the ideal model is a hanger that happens to have a face ...

View partial source: The Times Letters page today

The Sun & The Times headlines - to Sat Jun 14 2009

from The Times

Fri 12 Jun: Swine flu pandemic is threat to school term - baton down the hatches, as the first flu pandemic for 40 years is officially declared and calculated to hit hard in the UK in the autumn.

Thu 11 Jun: Spending cuts start to bite as hospitals lose £500m - Treasury freezes funds for new community hospitals due to recession.

Wed 10 Jun: Met Police are accused of 'waterboarding' suspects - investigation into claims of torture and corruption.

Tue 9 Jun: Humility wins the day for Brown as MPs back down - 'Prime Minister promises to change his ways' on the day that Mrs Obama takes a 'secret' tour of London with her children.

Mon 8 Jun: Labour out for the count - Labour on course for a disastrous outcome in the European elections.

from The Sun

Fri 12 June: Ronaldo has night in Paris - celebrating his £80m transfer deal from Manchester United to Real Madrid, via Paris in Beverly Hills. Cristiano shoots and scores...

Thu 11 Jun: Kid porn was shot inside nursery - a 39-year-old nursery worker was charged with seven serious indecency offences.

Wed 10 Jun: Mum of sice dumps kids for son's pal, 18 - "I can't help who I fall in love with", she said, as she ran away from her responsibilities (aged 15, 10, 8, 6, 5 and 3).

Tue 9 Jun: I Will Survive - says PM Gordon Brown (and he does seem to have the survival instinct, somehow shaking off the showdown at sundown the night before).

Mon 8 Jun: CountBrown - Showdown with MPs tonight will seal PM's destiny.

Bring the noise!

Hot Fuzz, starring Simon Pegg - one stupid, crazy film with a handful of good gags.

IMDB 8.0/10. NEJ 1/10 (but only because my 18-yr-old son says he loves this film).

Nicholas Angel: You don't mind a bit of manpower, do ya Doris?
PC Doris Thatcher: [laughing] Oh, dirty bastard!

Another day, another search engine (or two)

Google gears up to repel boarders ... again.

Scoopler: Real-time data is their USP (Scoopler Blog: http://blog.scoopler.com/). Good luck, guys - hope the first tranche of investor money lasts long enough to get enough traction to sustain you.

Bing: owned by Microsoft is their USP (Maps go to Multimap, Shopping goes to price comparison engine Ciao). Why do we need pretty pictures? Big G and Colliris (Firefox pics) work fine for me.

BTW, don't try to search for Scoopler from Bing - no results. Google, of course, finds it.

Update 15 Jun: yet another search engine launches, this time a 'kosher' one: Koogle, 'for Hebrew-speaking Orthodox Jews'.

Caterpillars for eyebrows...

View partial source: Thanks, Fif, for the heads up.

And there's more...

What the effing crap - that angel guy just felt me up!

IWOOT #5 Lumix - Like an SLR, only SMLR

The Panasonic Lumix G-1 looks simply awesome. It adopts the Micro Four Thirds System standard for digital camera systems without a mirror box. It's a 12-megapixel digital, interchangeable lens camera that's both extremely compact - 40% smaller than other comparable digital SLR cameras - and very portable. As they say, 'Like an SLR, only SMLR'. iA (Intelligent Auto) and Live View (the 3" LCD screen displays precisely how the exposure compensation and white balance adjustment will affect your photo) modes for idiots like me, too. Only 449 squid at Jessops - certainly good competition for the Nikon D80 and Canon EOS 450D. I really do Want One Of Those.

• View partial source at CNET

The Sun: naughty, naughty...

Well, he was in Hollywood. When in Rome...
Bye, bye Doug Reinhardt. Back to the hills for you.

Last Chance Harvey

Hmm. Truly awful or last-chance-saloon romance? Passed a rainy afternoon, though, spotting the London sites on screen and listening to the sighs from my wife in the next seat. Dustin still does it for some, obviously. I related to the character of a jingle writer who really wanted to be a jazz pianist. Otherwise, I couldn't even begin to think which of my friends might even begin to like this over-sentimental, pleasant-enough film. But twelve squid for a cinema seat in the Curzon Mayfair? Daylight robbery. IMDB 7.1/10.

• Cosmo Landesman in The Sunday Times wrote: In Joel Hopkins's film, Dustin Hoffman plays a New Yorker, Harvey Shine, who comes to London to attend the wedding of his daughter. We're meant to feel sorry for Harvey because his boss fires him, and his daughter is letting her stepdad (James Brolin) giver her away. Frankly, the irritating Harvey deserves what he gets. Into his life comes the equally irritating Kate (Emma Thompson), who has a loveless and lonely existence. Not even these stars can compensate for the relentless, sadistic tedium of this shallow and sentimental drama.

Lazin' down the River Thames

Thanks to Bob Crowe and his militant, striking RMT union buddies (who brought most of the London Underground train system to a grinding halt), I enjoyed a riverboat trip down and back up the Thames - from the City of Westminster to the City of London - as part of my daily commute through the centre of London. There was no cost, apart from having to listen to the cockney banter of the comedian on the tannoy, who did his earnest to earn some post-trip tips by giving us a (mis)guided commentary on the riverbank attractions. Some of his comments at least showed a deal of insight into London-on-Thames and raised a titter:

• Waterloo Bridge was dirty underneath but clean on top because it was self-cleaning, being built from Portland Stone (as are Buckingham Palace and St Paul's)

• The all-glass frontage of the Daily Star and Daily Express building was said to be "the main headquarters and training centre for the London window-cleaners' association".

• The best time to get into St Paul's was on Sunday "because that's when they don't charge and have a Sunday Service..."

• "Tate Modern is on your right. Entrance is free - once you get inside you'll understand why..."

Boarding by The London Eye ("33m passengers since it opened"), we headed down river past the elegant Hungerford footbridges ("opened in 2002") by Charing Cross Station, the South Bank that Prince Charles described in 1984 as a carbuncle (the proposed extension to The National Theatre was never built, but it still looks like a nuclear power station), Cleopatra's needle ("its twin is in NY's Central Park"), the Savoy Hotel (currently closed for refurbishment), Somerset House ("the taxman's former home"), the wobbly bridge leading north to Wren's masterpiece, St Paul's, under London Bridge ("1973 version"), the old Billingsgate fish market building, the thatched-roof Globe Theatre, the shining frontage of the famous Anchor pub in Bankside, the replica Golden Hind boat, and finally past the vast Silver Cloud cruise liner from Nassau moored next to HMS belfast and City Hall, down to Tower Bridge (currently being repainted) and Tower Pier.

Thanks, Bob and your militant RMT mates ,for a very enlightening trip.

"Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." Samuel Johnson, 1777

The Sun & The Times headlines - to Sat Jun 5 2009

from The Times

Mon June 1: Chancellor under pressure as PM prepares fightback - Alastair Darling is 'outed' by the Daily Telegraph with more revelations of MPs' expenses excess. Darling not only charged the taxpayer for his accountants' fees (shock horror), but also was a 'serial flipper' who designated four properties as his second home in four years.

Tue June 2: Shamed MEPs take share of £20m 'farewell' payout' - The European Parliament gravy train rolls on down the tracks with golden parachutes to public servants and generous pay-offs all round. Bringing us backt o more important matters, the Thunderer reminds us that 19.2m viewers , 'a third of the nation', tuned in to BGT last Saturday night. 'The European elections will have about the same turnout, but the messages will be less clear and it will be nowhere near as much fun.'

Wed June 3: Ministers walk away as Brown's authority wanes - Jacqui Smith 'quits to spend more time at her (second) home'. The 'early departures' put the expected Cabinet reshuffle 'in disarray'.

Thu June 4: The plot thickens - as Hazel Blears resigned from the Cabinet, being the fourth minister to jump ship in two days. 

Fri June 5: Dear Gordon, I Quit - and James Purnell tells the Prime Minister to quit as well. At least he waited until just before the election polls closed.

from The Sun

Mon June 1: SuBo In Priory - Britain's Got Talent 'star-in-the-making' is exhausted and has an 'emotional breakdown' after finishing second in the reality TV talent show and heads off to the Priory clinic for a tonic or two. Or, as her neighbours put it, 'Susan your (sic) a super star in our eye's (sic) well done'. Methinks Susan will have the last laugh, as Simon Cowell realises he has to make even more potloads of money from a singer rather than from the winners, boy dance band Diversity.

Tue June 2: Susan's Collapse - SuBo is said to have collapsed after an emotional rant at BGT's chiefs. Perhaps more interesting was the pic of Chancellor Alistair Darling as a Thunderbird lookalike and the sub-headline Thunderbird to Go! We'll see whether he makes it to the end of the week... also promting a chuckle was the strap MPs are on the Take. We're on the Give. This paper costs just 20p. Surely a bargain for white van drivers everywhere?

Wed June 3: Blunderbird is Go! - Blundering Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, 'shamed in the expenses scandal' when it was discovered that 'taxpayers paid for her husband's porn', resigned from the Labour Government along with two other ministers. The Sun pictured Jacqui Smith as another Thunderbird puppet and thought it was a 'black day for Brown'.

Thu June 4: The Big E - Labour MPs' devastating email plot to give the PM the Spanish Archer (el bow - geddit?). Well, he's still there ... but the signs don't look good from today's European Parliament elections.

Fri June 5: I Quit, Now You Quit - Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell dropped a bombshell on Gordon Brown late on Thursday night when he resigned. Not quite the instant 'lethal blow' expected by The Sun, but ripples were starting to turn into waves around the Prime Minister's captaincy of a holed boat.

What value a Michelin star?

There are currently six Indian restaurants in London with Michelin stars: 

Amaya, Benares, Quilon, Rasoi Vineet Bhatia and Tamarind. 

At Tamarind, in Queen Street, Mayfair, typical current prices are: murgh mahni £17.50 (chicken tikka in creamed fresh tomatoes flavoured with ginger, green chillies and crushed fenugreek leaves - a 'signature dish' of chef Alfred Prasad or is it of Executive of Operations, Rajesh Suri?), tarkahir handi £8.95 (broccoli, shiitake mushroom, asparagus, red pepper and baby corn tossed wih cumin, red onions and crushed pepper), pulao rice £3.95 (braised rice wih browned onions, cumin and saffron). That's one of the cheapest options and adds up to £30.40 for a main dish, served Western-style (ie in portions barely sufficient for sharing). If you add in an appetiser (£6.95 to £11.50), poppadom (£3.95), raita (£3.95), plain naan (£3.95) and a dessert (£6.95-£7.95) you're heading for a very, very tasty bill.

However, if you're pushing the boat out in a big way, say with jhinga ajwaini (four giant, kebabed tiger prawns marinated with ginger, yoghurt, paprika, ground spices and ajwain @ £22.50), tender lamb cutlets marinated wih garlic, raw papaya, fennel, sta-anise, paprika and cream @ £24.75), methi paneer (batons of paneer cheese tossed with fresh fenugreek leaves, garlic, red chilli and tomato @ £9.50 or gajjar halwa (carrot fudge with melon seeds and rasins toppend with silver leaf and pistachio @ £7.50) - then you'll pay an astronomic sum for your gastronomic indulgence (not forgetting the 12.5% service added to your bill and a limit of 2 hours for your table). 

So - you pays your money and makes your choice. Service is slickish, the atmosphere is basement Mayfair with fresh flowers, the wine list is expensive, the loos are 5-star and the food is priced at Michelin-star heights. Is it worth it? That's for you to decide. The food's undoubtedly good, but does it justify such high prices? You can't blame all the high prices on sky-high Mayfair rents. It's the way that we traditionally eat Indian food that will push the bill sky-high. Isn't the fun of indulging in shared, familiar dishes with rice, naan and side dishes (not forgetting the lovley gulab jamun for pudding) at a reasonable price the point of Indian food? Scallops, monkfish, shiitake mushrooms, Elwy valley Welsh lamb cutlets are not the normal fare of your local Indian ... but this is hardly in that league - after all, it has a Michelin star.

By the way, you could also nip over the road beforehand to the Curzon Cinema and pay twelve squid to see the latest movie in more Mayfair cinema comfort. Try telling the residents of Mayfair that there's a credit crunch on....

Up The Workers!

'Manchester United have defied the credit crunch to secure the biggest shirt sponsorship deal in football history', writes James Ducker in The Times. 

* The Barclays Premier League champions announced a four-year contract - from the end of next season - worth £80 million with Aon Corporation, the world's leading risk advisor/insurance broker. Guess who's going to pay the best part of that fee? The workers, of course. Aon announced in April that they would be cutting company contributions to the staff pension fund of most of its 5,400 UK workforce; it halved the maximum amount contributed by the employer to 6% of an employee's salary. The move was described by them as 'necessary to cut costs and remain profitable', and now widely seen by the market as 'heralding a clampdown on retirement schemes'. Nice timing, Aon, your employees will be seeing red in more ways than one.

* So, in order not to fuel the flame of Aon's hoped-for publicity, above is a pic of Wayne Rooney doin' a little dance in the current sponsor AIG's shirt. AIG, of course, is another discredited American insurance company (but they only paid £56.5m). 

Pedants and Cavaliers

Richard Morrison, chief music critic and columnist, always writes wittily and thought-provokingly in The Thunderer: 

'I am pedantic to the point of nerdishness about written English, but cavalier verging on insouciant about how people talk the lingo. Similarly, some people (let's call them men) can be mind-numbingly pedantic about, say, sports statistics, yet catastrophically cavalier about doing small but necessary procedures around the home, such as closing the shower door before turning on the water, or inserting one's front-door keys in a pocket before leaving the house.' 

Now that rings a bell...

'In Britain the power struggle between pedants and cavaliers is eternal. It is basically what the English Civil War was all about. But in recent years the cavalier tendency has been very much in the ascendant. In public or private, most of us bend the rules as much as we can get away with — and then feel aggrieved if some nitpicker chastises or punishes us for so doing. Of course, individuality is important and the slimy tentacles of the Nanny State must constantly be checked. “The better the state is organised,” wrote Nietzsche in one of his wiser aphorisms, “the duller will be mankind.” But I sense that the pendulum is swinging the other way. Faced with the spectacle of obscene greed at the top of the country, most of us would welcome a period of puritanical pedantry and ruthless scrutiny.'

View partial source: Times Online & BBC

* The Daily Universal Register's last word:

"The height of cleverness is to be able to conceal it." 

Francois de La Rochefoucauld. More from the wise FdLR here.