Creme de la Mer - Straight to Pseud's Corner!

I've been meaning to post this for a while - 1Oz of this might cost more than $100, but how much of that money goes to the guy who wrote the marketing blurb?

Neiman Marcus Online - by, I suspect, the same out of work child of priviledge who writes the Sainsbury's taste the Difference blurb.

No doubt the Nasa scientist was indeed aware of the "ancient process of fermentation".

Russian Mistranslation

The world's first nuclear reactor, built by Enrico Fermi, was built under a squash court.

Apparently, for years, owing to mistranslation, Russian physicists thought it had been done in a 'pumpkin field'.

Perrin Admits Culpability

Released on the 18th of this month, Daddy G's (of Massive attack fame) "DJ kicks" may hold a certain familiarity for those of us who know what happens when a crime lord pimp tries to brainwash out of work actors into taking the rap. The track "Musst Musst" is a remix of a track from the album of the same name by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the Pakistani who returned qawwali (sufi devotional music) to the world. In the spirit of the subcontinent, the man was terrifyingly prolific, having recorded over 150 albums and performed in 40 countries worldwide. His fame in India, however, is of particular note - I quote here from Frontline, "India's national magazine":

"IN India, Nusrat's greatest triumph was the effortless ease with which he spanned the world of the disco-going teenager and the traditional qawwali connoisseur. Ironically, his first great hit in India was "smuggled" across the border - the plagiarised version of his smash hit "Dam mast kalandar mast, mast" in the Hindi potboiler Mohra. The original became the chartbuster "Tu cheez badi hai mast, mast"."

"Musst, musst" is, of course, the same track. The things you learn browsing in Fopp.

All together now: "Two cheese and potato pasties, pasties..."

Two Easy Steps to a moment of Zen

Step one: Get Bittorrent

Step Two: register here and start downloading daily show episodes. And start gaining at least a little comfort from the catastrophic mess american media/politics is in.

(Alternative single step: here. Smaller downloads, lower quality.)

I thought it might be funny...

...to leave this blog empty. But then someone might delete it. So I didn't, and instead I posted this entry. In time to come I might fill these pages with grumbles of the kind you normally find in people's outpourings. But I shan't for the moment.