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  • Cheers vs boos

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    1–2 minutes

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    1 comment on Cheers vs boos

    Something I’ve noticed from watching clips of the rallies held by Bush and Kerry on BBC News is that there is far more booing in Bush’s rallies then there are in Kerry’s. Obviously I’m going with a very unscientific sample here, but when Bush slates Kerry in a speech, his audience often break out into…

  • Al-Gebra

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    1–2 minutes

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    The notorious cult of ‘al gebra’ is a fearsome cult indeed. Says Attorney General John Ashcroft, “The desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on a tangent in a search of absolute value.” The fact that I understand it and find it funny is a true testament to my geek credentials.

  • The ancient art of karaoke

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    Karaoke. The word can provoke extreme emotions in many, from freezing fear to joyous abandon. I tend towards the latter, so when I got an invitation off Lal to go to a karaoke party yesterday, I was pretty pleased. The two previous times I’ve done proper karaoke (SingStar, fun though it may be, is not…

  • Cloud Atlas Sextet

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    2–3 minutes

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    Can this be possible? Is Jeanine Salla alive and well again, living in the UK, commenting on whether Prince Harry should be protected from the media? (scroll down to the sixth comment). I’m going through one of my periodic reading blitzes right now, sustained by a comfortable sofa and a constant drip feed of books…

  • Smoking Stephenson

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    1–2 minutes

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    2 comments on Smoking Stephenson

    I came across two very interesting and very different links today. The first was about Liverpool Council’s decision to ban smoking in public places, punishable by a £1000 fine. Now, I grew up near Liverpool (I usually say that I come from Liverpool, because it scares people more) and apart from it’s admittedly decent nightlife,…

  • Beekeepers

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    A quick look at the I Love Bees game, and how it relates to the public perception of the alternate reality game genre in general.

  • Patently obvious

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    A beautiful example of what our elected representatives get up to in Parliament these days: the proper pronunciation of patent. Paul Flynn: My hon. Friend will remember the outrageous suggestion that I tried to pull the wool over the eyes of the Committee by saying that the 1,000 people in Newport who have to say…

  • Hard-boiled Wonderland

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    3 comments on Hard-boiled Wonderland

    I’ve just finished reading Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. What a beautiful, crazy, sorrowful, funny, poetic book! I’ve been told for some time that I should read some Murakami, but it was only recently that I found myself with a good reason to go and read this particular novel.…

  • 1:42:34

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    1:42:34 – that’s the time in which I completed the half marathon, and represents an average speed of 7.67 mph, which is okay, but not really that great. Granted, it’s about three minutes faster than what I managed last Sunday, but I’m sure I could have run faster. I’m certainly convinced I can break 1:40…

  • Halfway there

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    3–5 minutes

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    1 comment on Halfway there

    There were no toilets, and it was windy. Those are probably the two things that I’ll remember about the half marathon I completed about three hours ago in Liverpool. I arrived at the Albert Dock at about 9:15am for the 10am start, and a few nasty things became apparent to me. Firstly, the aforementioned lack…