IWOOT #1

I Want One Of Those #1

* Ok, Ok, so I'm a family kind of guy. My motoring aspirations may not have the same heady heights as Jeremy Clarkson, but I know what I like. And I like my Toyota RAV4. So, in the US they have this larger version of the RAV4 called the Highlander. Not only is it roomier but it's also a hybrid, so -  bingo - I'd get to green as well. I can dream, can't I?

The Bees win League Two title

I wouldn't call myself a football fan in any true sense of the word, but I have 'supported' our local team, Brentford, since 1966. So, I take great satisfaction in seeing The Bees heading back to League One football next season, after being in the doldrums of the relegation zone of the Coca-Cola Football League Two last season. Brentford manager, Andy Scott, earned his 5-year contract by putting Brentford at the top since mid-February and keeping The Bees well and truly humming. The team are off to Las Vegas to celebrate a job well done.

* The BBC Sport site tells the story here.

Dylan Hears a who - Seuss via Zimmerman

Two years old now, but still a cracker if you grew up with Dylan and Dr Seuss...

A music producer named Kevin Ryan took the text from seven Dr. Seuss classics stories, including The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham, composed original tunes and recorded them, singin in Bob Dylan's mid-'60s style. He registered a domain name, dylanhearsawho.com, in Feb 2007 and posted his seven tracks online, accompanied by suitably Photoshopped album artwork, under the title Dylan Hears A Who. The lawyers of Dr. Seuss's (aka Theodor Geisel) estate couldn't see the humour in it, issued a 'cease and desist' notice for copyright infringement, and the site closed (although it's still there - and if you click on one of the Google AdSense/Words text ads you'll probably earn Kevin a few pence still - I'm sure you're interested in visiting the Dylan Hotel in Dublin, of course). Dylan, if you wondered, didn't give a damn about the whole matter. Parody and satire, whether obvious or subtle, lie at the heart of 'fair use', surely? 

* Thanks to the self-propogating wonders of the internet, you can read the story here on Salon.com and download the tracks here. Oh, or hear them on MySpace.

St George's Day

Wikipedia - that ever-reliable source of accurate information - says:

In the fully-developed Western version (of the legend of George and the Dragon), a dragon makes its nest at the spring that provides water for the city of 'Silene' (perhaps modern Cyrene) in Libya or the city of Lydda. Consequently, the citizens have to dislodge the dragon from its nest for a time, in order to collect water. To do so, each day they offer the dragon at first a sheep, and if no sheep can be found, then a maiden must go instead of the sheep. The victim is chosen by drawing lots. One day, this happens to be the princess. The monarch begs for her life to be spared, but to no avail. She is offered to the dragon, but there appears Saint George on his travels. He faces the dragon, protects himself with the sign of the cross, slays it and rescues the princess. The grateful citizens abandon their ancestral paganism and convert to Christianity.

...and so they named dozens of pubs after Georgie and his fire-breathing protagonist. Especially, the George and the Dragon at Fordwich, Kent. Used to be nice, but not so nice now as it used to be (better to nip round the corner to the Fordwich Arms instead).

* King Edward III made George the Patron Saint of England when he formed the Order of the Garter in St. George's name in 1350, and the cult of the Saint was further advanced by King Henry V, at the battle of Agincourt in northern France. George also has patronage over herpes, leprosy, plague, skin diseases and rashes and syphilis - or so it says here.