tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39508762128941573982024-03-05T10:56:07.044+00:00The Amnesiac Re(AR)viewUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1089125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-16719542852496496032010-04-13T17:06:00.002+01:002010-04-13T17:09:05.423+01:00CNN caught using Onion headlines!<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/04/13/nuclear.terrorists/index.html"><span style="font-size:180%;">Official: Al Qaeda hasn't gotten far in getting nuclear weapons</span> </a><br />04/13/10 04:02 AM, EDT<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The president's top counterterrorism adviser says there is indisputable evidence that dozens of terrorist groups have sought weapons of mass destruction. But a U.S. intelligence official who is not authorized to speak for attribution said although al Qaeda clearly wants a nuclear weapons capability, it hasn't gotten very far.</span>ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-16604534924976708392010-04-06T13:58:00.002+01:002010-04-06T14:00:06.240+01:00Small talk<strong>Me:</strong> I don't drink white wine.<br /><strong>KR:</strong> You're sitting in front of a painting writing a classical music review.ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-63773387561281842332010-04-06T13:42:00.002+01:002010-04-06T13:46:41.700+01:00Copyright (for Mother)Contra <a href="http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1045:theartsdesk-in-galle-beer-and-roving-on-the-literary-circuit&Itemid=29">my own literary blunders</a>, Wendy Cope's views on copyright are actually <a href="http://www.justcutters.co.uk/9.html">a matter of record</a>. Oops.ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-54091096475822167082010-04-06T13:37:00.002+01:002010-04-06T13:39:46.262+01:00Intriguing copy, just in(CNN) -- Outside court a few blacks watched nervously, one of them telling CNN they are scared.<br /><br />Outside court a few blacks watched nervously, one of them telling CNN they are scared.<br /><br />Outside court a few blacks watched nervously, one of them telling CNN they are scared.<br /><br />Outside court a few blacks in South Africa watched nervously, one of them telling CNN they are scared.<br /><br />Video: The promise of black gold <br /><br />Outside court a few blacks watched nervously, one of them telling CNN they are scared.<br /><br />Outside court a few blacks watched nervously, one of them telling CNN they are scared.<br /><br /><em>Anita Davis contributed to this report.</em><br /><br />--<br />Sent out at 6pm, Sri Lankan time: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/04/06/test/index.htmlASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-67859715026910218912010-04-06T12:31:00.003+01:002010-04-06T12:37:31.713+01:00Found on the internet today<strong>Got a question about Smyth?</strong><br />Get your answer with Help.com<br /><a href="http://www.help.com/">www.help.com</a>ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-86436781894819049492010-04-06T12:24:00.006+01:002010-04-06T14:01:15.866+01:00Carl (F.) Orff (in context)"si puer cum puellula... then her father will come after him. So to speak."ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-53996471348851250422010-03-28T09:00:00.002+01:002010-03-28T09:03:38.930+01:00Best of Bowra<blockquote>"I expect to pass through this world but once and therefore if there is anybody I want to kick in the crotch I had better kick them in the crotch now, for I do not expect to pass this way again."</blockquote>- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Bowra">Maurice Bowra</a>, Professor of Poetry, University of OxfordASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-37145323782634204542010-03-28T08:05:00.003+01:002010-03-28T08:08:13.673+01:00Articles of faith (= you can't make it up)<a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7065824.ece">Vienna Boys' Choir caught up in sex abuse scandals</a><br /><br />by <strong><span style="font-size:180%;">Roger Boyes</span></strong>ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-60876414121505774932010-03-23T09:57:00.003+00:002010-03-23T10:01:27.880+00:00Amnesiac Texts - IX<strong>Dom:</strong> Our newspapers are beyond a joke. Jermaine Defoe has a column. We don't.ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-48100467023176211752010-03-16T11:18:00.004+00:002010-03-16T11:25:51.819+00:00Dictionary.com - bizarre stats<strong>Common Misspellings of 'dictionary'*</strong><br /><em>* in order of decreasing regularity/idiocy, apparently. </em><br /><br /><blockquote>dictionar<br />dict<br />dic<br />dictonary<br />diction<br />dictionnary<br />dictionery<br />dictinary<br />dicionary<br />dicitionary</blockquote>I'm sorry, but I feel I <em>have</em> to ask: who's looking up 'dictionary'? And when someone types in 'diction', how do They know it's a typo?ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-26652834625544239662010-03-16T11:14:00.004+00:002010-03-16T11:17:56.564+00:00InDefinition - 14<strong>ohmigod</strong>, <em>n</em>. unit of measurement for adolescent enthusiasm (<em>rare</em>)ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-33890726890557096162010-03-16T11:08:00.003+00:002010-03-16T11:12:41.048+00:00Leather Fair Draws International Community<blockquote>The three-day long All African Leather Fair (AALF), organised by the Ethiopian Leather Industries Association (ELIF), ended on a note of satisfaction.</blockquote>- <em>Ethiopian News</em>, February 2010ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-70775601886564625212010-03-15T14:38:00.000+00:002010-03-15T14:39:37.686+00:00My new photoblogis <a href="http://amnesiacsrearview.blogspot.com/">here</a>.<br /><br />amnesiacsrearview.blogspot.comDominic Hiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09244244325995847586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-38881163581726950902010-03-15T13:52:00.002+00:002010-03-15T13:52:55.771+00:00The wise man asks many questions... as I'd tell my class if the buggers'd put their hands down for just a second.ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-44783358280381448462010-03-03T03:36:00.004+00:002010-03-03T03:38:17.133+00:00Rationalisation<blockquote>"The BBC has stated that it plans to do fewer things better"</blockquote>- BBC announcement, BBC news.ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-55437555313707760912010-02-01T21:05:00.000+00:002010-02-01T21:07:24.828+00:00Here's hoping...<blockquote>The older and crankier he got, the more convinced he was that in the end all writers get pretty much what’s coming to them: the destructive praise and flattery, the killing attention and appreciation.</blockquote>(<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2010/02/08/100208ta_talk_ross#ixzz0eJvqaMZB">New Yorker</a>)Dominic Hiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09244244325995847586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-73756156619677586722010-02-01T16:18:00.001+00:002010-02-01T16:20:44.682+00:00From the horse's face<blockquote>"It’s a funny thing about life that, when you put it in a novel, it’s dead."</blockquote>- Martin Amis, in <a href="http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2010/02/martin-amis/"><em>Prospect</em></a>ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-33779219100364657322010-01-20T11:31:00.006+00:002010-01-20T12:17:55.609+00:00Indefinition - 13<strong>slowlights</strong>,<em> n</em>. Real-time test-match footage, as shown on Day 5, to fill broadcast schedule in light of humiliating defeat.ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-18983586041123218232010-01-20T11:25:00.003+00:002010-01-20T11:30:03.479+00:00Boswell vs Johnson - LIVE!<blockquote><strong>ASH:</strong> Diary idea a cracker. My biographer (i.e. I) will be so gutted when I reach 70 and have never got round to it.<br /><br /><strong>Dom:</strong> You'll have to busy yourself editing mine... X<br /><br /><strong>ASH:</strong> You are a total Johnson x</blockquote>ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-53521877249080754042010-01-19T13:57:00.000+00:002010-01-19T13:58:22.041+00:00Slanket<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h05ZQ7WHw8Y&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h05ZQ7WHw8Y&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />(Thanks to RL)Dominic Hiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09244244325995847586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-75201225477406901122010-01-19T13:37:00.004+00:002010-01-20T11:40:20.115+00:00From Cairo<blockquote>Pretty sure that, while I'm trying to finish my book over some lunch, there is a woman in a burkha breast-feeding a baby.</blockquote>- <span style="font-style:italic;">JRHS, brother and A-rabist</span>ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-17691195091271977672010-01-17T12:33:00.002+00:002010-01-17T12:41:15.776+00:00The death of humourDear all,<br /><br />It pains me to admit that I have just deleted an Amnesiac post(-it), at the request of a lawyer.<br /><br />The lawyer in question (you may or may not recall) had, last April 1st, executed a superb prank on his colleagues, prompting an increasingly absurd correspondence between him and several office juniors about a non-existent all-expenses trip to the Caribbean and the young French counterpart they might have to share a room with.<br /><br />Alas, he writes to tell me that killjoy types have given him shit about it, so would I take it down? Since I didn't get the FWD'd e-mails from him in the first place, this seemed fair. The only thing worse than seeing this splendid joke deleted would be seeing the joker fired.<br /><br />Grimly,<br /><br />AASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-61120035529300130212010-01-17T12:03:00.004+00:002010-01-19T13:52:37.553+00:00Incoming!<strong>Best of the weekend's texts</strong><br /><br /><blockquote>[Radio] interview went well except that I told everyone I was lookin fwd to meeting Ian Banks instead of Ian Rankin.</blockquote>- <em>DB, novelist on the <a href="http://www.galleliteraryfestival.com">Galle Literary Festival</a></em><br /><br /><br /><blockquote>This new digital bathroom scale(s?) i have is (are?) great. I now know that I can produce roughly 1.5kg of piss and shit after a night out.</blockquote>- <em>JM, teacher and generally responsible person, on the scale of things</em><br /><br /><br /><blockquote>www.slutload.com*<br />www.sex.lk*<br />www.tamilpower.com<br />... are just a few of the regularly viewed sites from where I am sitting in this internet cafe.</blockquote>- KJW, (web-)surfer and architect<br /><br />--<br />* Find the links yourself!ASH Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16736415008307640067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-47622165189763625452010-01-16T16:34:00.000+00:002010-01-16T16:35:16.060+00:00Booty Poppppppp<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/d4EvVErNhVE&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/d4EvVErNhVE&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />(Thanks to RL)Dominic Hiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09244244325995847586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950876212894157398.post-43361238180191312572010-01-08T16:11:00.003+00:002010-01-08T16:24:41.421+00:00Pour mon camarade<blockquote>How did they command such deference - English teachers? Compared to the men who taught physics or biology, what did they really know of the world? It seemed to me, and not only to me, that they knew exactly what was most worth knowing. Unlike our math and science teachers, who modestly stuck to their subjects, they tended to be polymaths. Adept as they were at dissection, they would never leave a poem or a novel strewn about in pieces like some butchered frog reeking of formaldehyde. They'd stitch it back together with history and psychology, philosophy, religion, and even, on occasion, science. Without pandering to your presumed desire to identify with the hero of a story, they made you feel that what mattered to the writer had consequence for you, too.</blockquote>- Tobias Wolff, <span style="font-style:italic;">Old School</span>Dominic Hiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09244244325995847586noreply@blogger.com1