Loads of stuff on chillies. Very good.

The new album from The Flaming Lips has not been released yet but you can hear the whole thing at their website. Thank you metafilter.
The chief lip speaks.

Tennis is not really my cup of tea. This computer game is though.

June Jordan has died.
She had an interesting upbringing as this interview indicates, it also contains samples of her poetry.
Another interview provides greater insight into her motivations.
This stunning article written after September 11 demonstrates her passion beautifully.

That last Jordan article has greater resonance , given that the U.S would appear to have been behaving less than honourably in Afghanistan.

I have been a bit direspectful towards Glastonbury, here and elsewhere. This Times article might counterbalance.

I have a soppy and romantic notion of the U.S railroad. This is both beautiful and sad
Talking of mythical images of America and Americana. Once again, thank you PLEP.

What's your position on the political compass?
I appear to be an anti authoritarian liberal, which my colleagues would dispute, and my kids would definitely disagree with.

Now it looks like summer might have arrived, some Kansas City barbecue recipes.

Some Bukowski poems.

The best place on the radio for cutting edge and innovative music is BBC Radio 3. In particular Late Junction, which is very eclectic, but not too esoteric. There are many other good things on the station. Living halfway up a mountain my F.M reception is terrible, so I hardly listen, my internet connection allows only for a very jerky, irritating stream. Having had to spend the last couple of nights doing actual work based research on the web, rather than arsing about finding stupid things to post on various boards, I arsed about trying to get a decent reception on Radio 3, which for once I managed.
Having only one ear on it I missed the name of some fantastic band or person that was on at about 11.40. Thinking there might be a playlist I went to the site. There is a playlist but its not up yet and I clicked on listen live by mistake. Found that lots of shows are archived, including all this weeks Late Junctions. A brief test suggests that they stream beautifully. This is seriously good news, but I suspect more of my money will be travelling Amazons way.
This was mentioned tonight. It seems a bit more civilised and certainly cheaper than Glastonbury.

It will be a Germany v Brazil world cup final. I should go for Brazil but their behaviour prior to the last final regarding Ronaldo leaves a very sour taste. Now Rivaldo is sullying their previous good name with his odious antics. Moreover we will be subject to countless cliched references to samba and bombarded with pictures of scantily clad babes. Actually, given that at this precise moment I seem unable to summon up any enthusiasm for the football, I have no objection to the babes.

Influence the government.Have your say on battery hens.

What can be said about Germany. As poor as they appeared to be, they have got to another final. It's little use moaning about their easy passage, they can only play against the teams who turn up against them. England could have had an easier time of it had they been a bit more adventurous. For all their faults Germany have looked more threatening in every game than we did, and they had Jancker.
A Turkey v Germany final would be very interesting for all sorts of sociological and political reasons. Turkey has several players who were born in Germany and actually have offices in Germany to encorage those of Turkish descent to opt to play for Turkey. They have clearly never heard of the Tebbit test.

Talking of politics and sociology, we might as well throw a bit of history in. Really good article in the New York Times on relations between Korea and Japan. Registration required.

England are home and as the dust settles and the nation comes to realise we are home early because we are not very good, an almighty squabble has broken out about their shabby return to the country. As ever, David Davies is in the thick of it.Right back as far as Hoddles ill advised France 1998 diary, which was written by Davies, his grubby paw prints have been all over every major embarrassment the national team has endured.
As a general rule, I am against sacking people, even when they are useless, unless they have power over peoples lives. This guy though, has to go. His judgement has been found wanting time after time. He never misses a photo opportunity, forever at Svens shoulder, yet never accepts responsibility when things go wrong. Plus he is ugly and has adopted a jutting jawed air of defiance, even when their is nothing to be defiant about. He affects an air of absolute moral certitude. In short he irritates the shit out of me and I want to see his head in a basket.
I can barely believe that he said there might be a reception in a few weeks, his arrogance is beyond belief; has he not realised that the half of the country that actually thinks about football, rather than reacts to shared national experiences, are not greatly enamoured of our teams performances? He cannot come into proximity of a trick without missing it. The opportunity for bonding with the fans has passed, the opportunity for some spontaneous interaction has passed, but his first thought is damage limitation. How he gets away with it is a source of mystery and wonder.
There is a thoughtful article in The Independent suggesting Sven should have stayed behind to watch Turkey, given we are due to meet them in some important matches quite soon. It also points up some appalling P.R cock ups, not least the wilful ignoring of thousands of Japanese fans who had gathered to bid them farewell. After the welcome and support that was given to the team, this is astonishing. It points up the poor relations between press and team too, it's worth a read.
Need I say that all the points made within the Independent article indicate that Davies is a useless tosser?

Waldo is at the fair. Can you find him?

The neko is a lucky Japanese cat. Apparently a cat beckoned an emperor into a temple, whereupon lighting struck the spot on which he had been standing.
You can make your own
Found via Plep.

John Gotti laid to rest.

Very good, very long interview with Bjork
Playlist from the programme.
Bjorks website.

It's still Jubilee year, so here are some John Savage articles on the Sex Pistols. I have always considered him to be a bit of an egotistical tosser, interesting stuff though.

Just found this. It's a very good poem by Kim Addonizio. She appears to be a bit of a babe.

England have embarked upon a charmless twat offensive. Several hundred fans chose to spend their Saturday evening awaiting their return so they could welcome them back into the country . Our elegantly coiffured heroes decided to nip out round the back rather than meet their public.
Hearts and Minds. Is it any wonder the public are so quick to turn against them.

Ian Bell a young man with a big future.



Warwickshire won the B&H trophy without too much inconvenience. So easy it was very boring actually. 2 bright spots were the performances of Jamie Troughton and Ian Bell. Troughton (grandson of a Dr Who) in particular looked very exciting, Bell looked as if the hype might be true.

South Korea beat Spain with considerable assistance from a useless linesman. Senegal looked poor in losing to Turkey. Looks like a Germany - Brazil final, although I have demonstrated in the last couple of days that I know nothing.

Which peanuts character are you?
I'm snoopy, it would appear.

Oh dear , what a shame, never mind. Brazil were clearly the better team and won on absolute merit. In a way it was a relief, at least we didn't have to suffer the agonies of extra time and penalties. Two South Koreans, apparently fit and healthy, died of heart attacks during the Korea - Italy game. After my experiences in Cardiff a few weeks ago I can well believe it.
I shall not miss the mass hysteria and mass waving of flags of St George, it really was beginning to grate. As ever as a competition progresses and England stay in the whole world and his wife (particularly his wife) become experts and start pontificating. For some reason the BBC thinks the rantings of these know nothing fools and their children merit time on the nations airwaves. There has also arisen in the last few years a fashion for the BBC to decamp to various locations in host cities and countries. Fair enough. We all like a jolly. Unfortunately they seem to think we, the listeners at home, want to listen to the inane witterings of any fool wearing a flag of St George who happens along. Well, if they exercised any quality control, we might. Unfortunately it ends up with some fool trying to impress his mates with witless inanities. At least now the only people who will be talking about football will be those with an interest in football. The ersatz brigade can concentrate on becoming the worlds biggest tennis experts for the 2 weeks they take an interest. Or until Henman departs, whichever is sooner. I find it all fucking odious really, but I'm in a bit of a bad mood.

Flag stuff

World Cup haircuts

South Park thingy, my nipper and Mrs love it

Fuck me

No matter how hard I try to rationalise it, IT HURTS!

I've been reading "The Rotters Club" by Jonathan Coe, who is a damn fine writer. It has had many fine reviews but the less than complimentary Observer review has it about right I think. The chief interest for me is that it set in a time and place I know very well. Apart from the posh school it could be my time, and his eye for the detail of that time has kept me going, it's really quite extraordinary. Many reviews have alluded to it's broad comedy. Although there are many laugh out loud moments, I don't really see it as comedy, too much tragedy and bathos is contained within it. Perhaps I remember the historical events that are threaded through the narrative too vividly. Nevertheless I would recommend it unreservedly to anyone in their late 30's upwards, particularly if they had an embarrassing liking for prog rock. If you have any knowledge at all of Birmingham, it's a must read.

"What a Carve Up" might be a better introduction,
generally.

Interview with Coe

First chapter of Rotters Club available at New York Times. Registration required and recommended.

I live near this place. It's right in the middle of my patch, which can only be described as a shithole, really. It's where I watched the eclipse, surrounded by morons swigging tennants extra. Where others were remarking upon the eerie silence that descended, I was listenening to the sounds of locals from Trevithin shouting "I've gone blind" and cackling like it was the funniest thing they had ever heard.

Referees have been consistently making headlines for themselves. It always strikes me as odd that the best teams in the world, playing in the the most important and pressured tournament are refereed by nobodies. How officials from places like the Maldives can have the experience and nous to referee in the world cup is beyond me. It's no wonder Italy feels hard done by.

More Joel Veitch Pavarotti Loves Elephants. By Joel Veitch, rathergood.com