This Week… Brass monkeys, Michael in Brazil, amazing jumpers & the best thing ever written.

Commentary

"Have you ever realised, the brain named itself?"
"What is stars were just ceiling lights and we're all being lied to." and other reasons why you shouldn't 'blog' at night.

"I am phenomenally stupid. Stupid in every conceivable way except one: I'm dimly aware that I'm stupid. This means I spend much of my time assuming the rest of the world knows better, that everyone else effortlessly comprehends things I struggle to understand. Things like long division, or which mobile phone tariff to go for. In many ways, this is a comforting thought, as it means there's a limitless pool of people more intelligent than myself I can call on for advice. But sometimes I find out my gut assumption was right all along, and it's a deeply unsettling experience… In the cold light, Dubai resembles a mystical Oz that was somehow accidentally wished into existence during an insane decade-long drugs bender. Those psychedelic structures, pictured in a fever by the mad and privileged, physically constructed by the poor and exploited, now look downright embarrassing, like a Facebook photo of a drunken mistake." Charlie Brooker… I only visited the airport and that's exactly how it felt.

"The cover story of this month's Esquire is an interview with Megan Fox by Stephen Marche. And, though I haven't read every single thing that has ever been written, I can say, with confidence, that it is the worst thing that anybody has ever written. Ever."

"…this isn't nu-metal, guys. Bush is out of the White House, you're on the way to getting all sorts of European liberties, you don't need another Woodstock '99 and no one wants to see a bunch of gurning people getting trampled to death in a circle pit. I know getting pilled up and licking each other's ears doesn't fit in with that whole "rugged induvidualism" thing, but give it a try. The kinship you'll feel with your fellow man will come in handy when you're enjoying that socialist future you're all looking forward to so much." Two absolute crackers from Vice this week. Back in the game.

"In ancient Rome, the architectural feature called a vomitorium was the entranceway through which crowds entered and exited a stadium, not a special room used for purging food during meals.[1] Vomiting was not a regular part of Roman dining customs." And other common misconceptions.

Right then, 'holiday' done, 2 weeks away from emails and phone (none of that shit in Burma praise be. See how I dropped in where I'd been? I'm subtle me), pure bliss and returning to what I thought I was hankering for – essentially more emails – now makes me feel empty. Am I an email alcoholic? Still, least I've got the emails down to below 1000 in the last 3 days. Been a massive 3 days I tell ya.

Brrr… it's bloody nippy innit. How cold is it where you are? -2 you say? Yeah well it's 39°C warmer than Yakutsk and 35°C colder than Lagos. Where Yakutsk I hear you say? You don't know? Shame on you. It's the capital city of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located about 450 kilometers (280 mi) south of the Arctic Circle. So there.

Had a great time on the flight back listening to Every UK No. 1 record ever. 1984 – what a year! Speaking of which, what happened the day you were born? I wasn't born in 1984 I hasten to add… I wish I was.

Finally found those jumpers… need em at the moment. What a name of a website too www.smoooothclothing.com

Yeah so this is me and the cat

Good RA beef/winge with Trus Me this week.

ESQUIRE'S INTERVIEW WITH MEGAN FOX IS THE WORST THING EVER WRITTEN
"The symmetry of her face, up close, is genuinely shocking. The lip on the left curves exactly the same way as the lip on the right. The eyes match exactly."
'The symmetry of her face is "genuinely shocking"? I'm imagining the author arriving for the interview, seeing her face for the first time and leaping back, letting out an audible gasp, "God, Megan, I am SO sorry! It's just your face… It's so… "Symmetrical?" Megan will have asked, forlorn, "I get that a lot… *sigh*".

"America,
Your relationship with rave culture is not unlike our relationship with football. You invented it in your post-industrial northern cities, yet it's the rest of the world that has truly learnt to understand it. It's a precocious child that you managed to spawn, only to realise that you were less than competent as parents and had to give it to the rest of the world to provide it with a proper upbringing.
Now it's back in your life and you don't know how to deal with it." Really good article in Vice on explaining rave culture to Americans.

Real DJs use cassettes don't you know… fkkin amazing. Nice one Evans.

"The National Rifle Association (NRA) wants to make a "meaningful contribution" to prevent gun violence? Here's one idea: the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The United Nations is preparing to finalize the treaty, which would help stem the flow of weapons to human rights abusers. And world leaders will negotiate and vote on it in March." Amnesty

Einstein and Neils Bohr having a chat over quantum mechanics… or something.

Franz Ferdinand – day he was assasinated

…and other rare historical pictures. A very interesting little bit historical voyeurism there.

4 Places Google Doesn't Want You To See.

Nice little colour scheme designer. Yeah mate, you know me. Always want to co-ordinate that bathroom.

Right, time for a philosophical interruption…

You know all this New Year resolution gubbins. Well I'm definitely trying to make in-roads into being still. To have a bit of control over my actions, rather than being a lab rat injected with speed all the times. Alexander Technique doesn't sound as hippiefied as I once thought it was.
Dunno what's going on with me… even this seems like a good idea: www.calm.com

Free energy… and other 17 most suppressed inventions ever.

Make it snow, make it snow… I want to build an iiiiglooo…ooh, there it is now…

Rainbow cheesecake… and a whole heap of other cheesecake. Cheesy.

and other reasons why you shouldn't blog in the middle of the night.

WWII in HD

Have you ever watched this? Amazing…

Jesus… does this site even exist? www.meatbeerbabes.com. Yeah mate, I've come up with the best name Meat Beer Babes… cool and as a tagline have "And All Things Real Men Crave". Nice, nice. Like your thinking there. Let's do it.