Monthly Archives: January 2011

Everyone writes bad stories on occasion, and sometimes they get published and win awards. Other times they get posted on blogs for everybody to laugh at. I need to do this quickly while the farce is still with me. Strike … Continue reading →

Yeah, yeah, I know GM foods are the work of the Devil and will completely destroy the balance of nature if unchecked, but all the same if there are any scientists reading this who feel inclined to engineer an ‘easy … Continue reading →

Well, my television. I’ve been saying I’ll do it for years now, and this time I am finally going to follow through, though technically the license doesn’t expire until Monday, so I could still lose my nerve and dash down … Continue reading →

ITEM: It seems that when you go to the government’s jobseekers’ direct website and do a search for vacancies within 30 miles of Norwich using the term ‘gambling worker’ among the results thrown up are ‘Personal Banker’ and ‘Post Office … Continue reading →

This morning, as a favour to a friend who doesn’t have an internet connection (that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it), I looked up P. S. I Love You and was surprised to find on HMV that they considered … Continue reading →

Better than sex. I’ve heard this phrase used many times over the years, and shook my head in quiet disbelief. This week a chance discovery in one of the village shops has finally convinced me that there are moments when … Continue reading →

An emergent philosophy in the business world is that if you can’t find new customers then you just have to sell more stuff to your existing customers, and so the other day a salesman from Talk Talk, with whom I … Continue reading →

My story “The Choices You Make” has just been published in the tenth anniversary edition of the Spanish anthology series El Problema de Yorick, which I’m guessing means The Problem of Yorick. “Choices” first appeared in Nasty Piece of Work … Continue reading →

An observation made, I believe, by Nietzsche. I can’t remember the exact quote, but it was something to the effect that writers who wish to be thought intelligent will make their work as obscure and inaccessible as possible, and are … Continue reading →

Bono A few years ago, the U2 front man was urging us all to fight against poverty. The good news is that he appears to be winning. I don’t know what annoys me more about this news – the fact … Continue reading →