Archive for January, 2010

Football Gossip: If In Doubt, Make Something Up

Thursday, January 14, 2010 7:39 2,253 Comments

One of my favourite parts of football gossip is what is known as “the transfer rumour”. This is when your local newspaper links your local football club with at least three or four new players in every week in order to try and shift more copies because to be honest no-one is really interested in [...]

This was posted under category: Newcastle United, Sport

Newcastle Supporters Trust: A lot to swallow

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 7:04 32 Comments

I’m generally in favour of the aims of the Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST). I’m a Newcastle fan, and I think it would be great for fans of the club to own a stake in the club (or even to fully own the club, if possible); I think it would be brilliant for there to [...]

This was posted under category: Newcastle United

Alibhai-Brown: A Dangerous Moderate?

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 11:26 475 Comments

I read an article by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown in yesterday’s independent. I presume she’d describe herself as a moderate as she states she’s against the burkha. But while I found the article she had written to be interesting, and indeed thought-provoking, I found its conclusions to be somewhat dangerous. Basically, her premise is that many Islamic [...]

This was posted under category: Faith & Forteana, Life, Politics

To The Spammer… (SFW)

Sunday, January 10, 2010 10:25 4 Comments

…who has asked me about 80 times in the last week if I know where to get ‘pussy movies’, so here’s two of my favourites. Cat Man Do Ninja Cat

This was posted under category: Funnies, Scams & Spams

Bad Ecclesiastical Hurting

Saturday, January 9, 2010 7:51 12 Comments

I don’t know if any of my readers remember the spoof news show “The Day Today”, which produced a news item (featuring Steve Coogan) as a bullying bishop. It would appear however that this wasn’t quite as much of a “spoof” as previously imagined. Workplace bullying of the clergy has become “rife”, according to the [...]

This was posted under category: Faith & Forteana, Life

Wootton And Co

Friday, January 8, 2010 7:50 14 Comments

Okay, there’s been a lot of things in the media recently about Muslims — it’s just a bit of a shame that the whole “protester” and “terrorist” aspects seem to have been shoved together by some sources who don’t seem to be able to tell the difference between those who want to raise a perfectly [...]

This was posted under category: Faith & Forteana, Media, Politics

Emergency Web Updates Are Snow Joke

Thursday, January 7, 2010 10:00 161 Comments

Right: let’s just get this straight. On Tuesday night, overnight, there was what is known in meteorological circles as a ruddy great lot of snow over North-East England. As this was expected, according to the forecasts, when I’d picked up Bigger Lad from school on Tuesday, I asked his teacher whether I should check the [...]

This was posted under category: Local Interest, Public Sector, Ranting, Technology

ThePickards Awards: Parliamentary Tache Of The Year 2009 Finalists

Thursday, January 7, 2010 7:03 14 Comments

Tom Watson MP made a throwaway comment on twitter yesterday which introduced me to the idea of the Parliamentary Tache of the Year. So, at a time of year when politics seems to be even more back-biting and bitter than usual, and political bloggers are desperate to put the knife into someone on “the dark [...]

This was posted under category: Oddities, Politics

27 Ways To Spot A Scam Lottery Win

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 7:21 58 Comments

…at least, according to this email I received. See if you can spot the cues that made me suspect that it might not be entirely genuine… I reckon there are three clues in the header alone. From: “UK National Lottery” auto@[obscured].com Date: Sun, 3 Jan 2010 16:55:56 +0000 To: Subject: [Spam] Results 2009 First, the [...]

This was posted under category: Scams & Spams

Orrorscowp

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 7:44 3 Comments

I’m not a great believer in astrology. Well, I say that, but that’s not entirely accurate. I actually think it’s a complete load of utter tosh. I’m prepared to accept that, for various seasonal reasons, it might be plausible that you are statistically more likely to have a particular personality trait if you were born [...]

This was posted under category: Faith & Forteana