Thursday, January 06, 2011
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
A Three-Pipe Problem by Julian Symons (Penguin Crime 1975)
‘But how did you discover it? I mean, the docks?’
‘I read this Observer colour supp. piece, you see, and it said all the obvious piaces are finished, a house in Battersea even costs a fortune, but around the East India Dock area there were still some of these perfect little squares -’
‘Lived in by the peasants, no doubt, with a loo out at the back -’
‘Exactly, and there was this perfectly dreamy little house, just a cottage, and Fabrina said it’d got terrific possibilities -’
‘Possibilities, I should think so.”
He listened gloomily to the exchange taking place between a couple with long flowing hair, both wearing bell bottoms and bright pullovers. Did the absence of make-up indicate their masculinity or the opposite, were their voices male or female? He found it impossible to say. The pub depressed him. It had been done up by the brewers, and in honour of its name they had turned it into a kind of military encampment. Reproductions of battle scenes were around the walls, regimental flags and scrolls took up other bits of vacant space, what had once been public and private bars were now called Sergeants’ Mess and Officers’ Mess. It was certainly not what it had been in Holmes's time, and he would infinitely have preferred a few villainous Lascars to the trendy young creatures who mixed with the tough-looking dockers. Not that the dockers seemed to mind either the desecration of their pub, or its part-occupation by these aliens. From the large central bar which was actually called the Parade Ground, Sher pondered on the superiority of past to present. He was jerked out of this reverie by the words: ‘That’s Joey, just come in.’
‘I read this Observer colour supp. piece, you see, and it said all the obvious piaces are finished, a house in Battersea even costs a fortune, but around the East India Dock area there were still some of these perfect little squares -’
‘Lived in by the peasants, no doubt, with a loo out at the back -’
‘Exactly, and there was this perfectly dreamy little house, just a cottage, and Fabrina said it’d got terrific possibilities -’
‘Possibilities, I should think so.”
He listened gloomily to the exchange taking place between a couple with long flowing hair, both wearing bell bottoms and bright pullovers. Did the absence of make-up indicate their masculinity or the opposite, were their voices male or female? He found it impossible to say. The pub depressed him. It had been done up by the brewers, and in honour of its name they had turned it into a kind of military encampment. Reproductions of battle scenes were around the walls, regimental flags and scrolls took up other bits of vacant space, what had once been public and private bars were now called Sergeants’ Mess and Officers’ Mess. It was certainly not what it had been in Holmes's time, and he would infinitely have preferred a few villainous Lascars to the trendy young creatures who mixed with the tough-looking dockers. Not that the dockers seemed to mind either the desecration of their pub, or its part-occupation by these aliens. From the large central bar which was actually called the Parade Ground, Sher pondered on the superiority of past to present. He was jerked out of this reverie by the words: ‘That’s Joey, just come in.’
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Splits and giggles
Via Facebook
It nearly pains menshevik to write it but a nice line in self-deprecating humour from the SWuppies in response to Laurie 'Chuckles' Penny's recent comment about how, " . . . It is highly likely that even after a nuclear attack, the only remaining life-forms will be cockroaches and sour-faced vendors of the Socialist Worker . . . "
More please.
Monday, January 03, 2011
Sunday, January 02, 2011
A slow dance, some romance and R*ngers didn't stand a chance
Going into the game I thought they'd get walloped and I was so, so happy to be proven wrong.
McCourt answered his doubters and showed that he could perform in a big game. His reverse pass in the first half that created a scoring chance for Forrest was the pass of the game . . . Miller went missing . . . Samaras should have got a hat trick (and deserved it) . . . Mulgrew was good going forward but scares the hell out of the spectator when called upon to defend . . . Ness looks like one for the future for R*ngers . . . . and Forrest still looks like he'd get carded if he tried to get into an over-12's youth disco.
R*ngers are still the favourites for the league, but this win makes it much more interesting.
Saturday, January 01, 2011
The Long Honeymoon
No idea when the January 2011 issue of the Socialist Standard is out so, in the meantime, a blast from the past with this Socialist Standard front cover from July 1979.
I know the front cover is referring specifically to the Tories but who knew thirty plus years on that Thatcher would still be the apple of the eye of so many tens of millions.
The Editorial Committee of the Standard certainly didn't.
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