http://johngushue.typepad.com/photo...

Here's a <diamantine syllogism> drawn from Captain Beefheart, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and me.

<A carrot is as close as a rabbit gets to a diamond.

The diamond [is] as big as the Ritz.

Filets de Lapereau Pique (Studded Fillets of Bunny) is a close as a Rabbit gets to the Ritz.>

- Payin' attention, Bugs? Check into some motel instead. A vegetarian motel would be doubleplusgood.

<Irish like Van Morrison> Huh, so are millions of people. But how many got a whole album writ about 'em? May I suggest you listen to <Saint Dom's Preview>?

Weirdly, he also happened to be in Prague in 1968 when the Soviet tanks arrived. Coincidence, of course.

I don't think Mrs T consciously modelled herself on Mrs G -- there weren't that many female leaders with real power -- only Golda Meir comes to mind. Other countries (Sri Lanka, Iceland, Ireland, Argentina, Bangladesh, New Zealand, etc) have had women presidents or PMs -- but either the role is ceremonial (last two Irish presidents) or the job is inherited from a man (Aquino, Bandanaraike) or the country is a bit-player (Iceland would not claim to be a world power despite its heroic gift of citizenship to Fischer -- which, come to think of it, can be ranked among the best things any nation state has ever done).

Not much competition there really, among nation states. "Don't cry for me Argentina/ Women of Ireland, Mna na h-Eireann/ Tomorrow belongs to ... the world bank. Terms and conditions apply."

Helen Clark did okay in NZ, mind.

One key difference between Thatch and the Widow is the dynastic thing. Rajiv, despite being no.2 son all along, was ready to take over. That did not turn out well, but the saga continues in some form with Sonia.

I don't think Mark Thatcher was ever going to be anything much. A failed businessman up to his neck in mercenary plots, maybe ... but he seemingly wasn't even that involved. His co-plotters, in every gig he played, gave him the job of saying "Mummy would like it if you do X" even when Mummy would've been appalled.

His twin, Carole, would *still* make a fine leader -- if they had the guts to oust Gordon Brown and install her on a cross-party platform. Like Winnie in the War.

Apparently Margaret has advanced dementia - Carole has had to tell her several times that her husband Denis is dead. Seemingly Maggie stopped, looked blank, then quietly said "Oh. Were we all there?"

Some years ago, there was a sense in which Peter Greenaway was in Canada. This was after <The Draughtsman's Contract> but before <ZOO>. He was contacted by David Cronenberg, who had heard that PG was in preproduction work on a film about twins. So was he. Perhaps they could meet?

They did, and Cronenberg was relieved to find they were on different wavelengths. PG had known this anyway, and was merely curious. At this stage, the Cronenberg project - based on the true story of the Mantel Twins - had a working title of <Twins>.

Both carried on. Each made a brilliant film, as you know - two of my alltime favorites by anyone. But in the meantime Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito appeared in <Twins>, so Cronenberg changed his title to <Dead Ringers>. A lucky break, I think.

There was never any danger of some Hollywood types coming up with a title like <A Zed and Two Noughts> -- they'd need a special numeracy dialect coach to explain what a Zed was. Didn't Connery play one in Zardoz? And look what happened to poor John Boorman, went half crazy and moved to a forest in Ireland ... stick to those period dramas, Pete ...

Thankfully, he didn't.

Welcome to <Frogspawn>.

I've been following the arguments about <ELO inflation> and the <new time controls- scoring system>, and I've recently read many of your posts.

Here is my favorite of your posts so far:

<Chess base says a lot of things>

heh...

I laughed out loud at that one.

Nooo!

"tony Broads"-- as in sophisticated and high class.

Not "Tory Broads"--

Although I suppose there is a link.

<Thatched Hut> was in a "tony hotel" in Brighton when the IRA almost succeeded in blowing her up.

Oh, that they had only heeded the advice of <Professor Calculus>:

"A little to the West, I think".

Thanks for the great "inside scoop" on <Chrome Ice Berg> and <PG 13>!!

What a great story.

More inside info on <Green Dayaway> please!!

Check out my last post in <Boomie's> forum, as I think they make good thematic "bookends."

Seems we are on the same "Wavelength" again.

And that's the name of a <Van Morrison> song!!

I don't think this can be explained by science.

dumm de deeee

"As we grazed out on,
As we grazed out on,

St. Dom's Pastures.."

I think the great <St. Dom's Prevue> was secretly about Medieval English Agricultural History.

What a great record. Do you remember the song about the boy who tries to find his lost dog on it?

Here is an acoustic version of the title track.

Recent, I believe, as <Van> looks to be a couple of hundred years old

http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=3l0ND...

"It's a long way, a long way to buffalo

It's a looong way to Belfast City too

Hoping that Joyce won't blow the hoist,

These were planned as places where people could say stuff like "I play the King's Indian" over and over.

That plan really worked out well.

I don't care for it, and I don't care for people who do.

It's chilling. And it's not new either, by now.

Did you see the movie <Kids>?

Your quote there would suffice as a plot summary.

Also, very strange things afoot here in Korea.

This is a "law and order" society with no guns, and virutally no drug trade, no break and enters, etc.

Here in <Hyunpoong> people leave their bicycles around unlocked.

I leave my <Samsung 300000 super laptop> on my desk all day.

In Canada it would have been "whisked away" by some enterprising student in half an hour.

However....

There was a strange and grotesque scandal here last year.

Simultaenously, at several Primary schools in different locations, apparently the Grade 7 kids were forcing the younger ones to play "sex games".

This involved "forcible posing, pictures, and actual rape."

When questioned, the kids said they were simply copying the activities of a popular pornography film they got wind of on the Internet.

Needless to say, this hit the country like a bomb, given that it is not supposed to be Babylon here.

Even though grown men parade about in Donald Duck and Snoopy T-shirts.

I'm pretty sure that kids can be socialized to behave ethically.

So why/how the phenomenon?

Apart from the "bad in and of itself" angle, this kind of thing is fodder for odius "family values" politicians as well.

don't be fooled by <Dom's> self-deprecatory demurrementology.

He has an arts pedigree that goes back to the Cave Painters at <Lausanne>.

One more thing-- on a more serious note--

I'm very glad you are finally ignoring the posts of that Red haired Harridan.

She is jealous of me and <Deffi> because we are "popular with the boys" and she isn't.