Pepys' Diary (Free subscription) | 16/11/2009
This [morning] come Mr. Shepley (newly out of the country) to see me; after a little discourse with him, I to the office , where we sat all the morning, and at noon home , and there dined, Shepley with me, and after dinner I did pay him 70 l. , which he had paid my father for my use in the country. He being gone, I took coach and to Mrs. Pierce's, where I find her as fine as possible, and himself...
Avoiding the Muse (Free subscription) | 30/10/2009
"Today in London, a collection of letters from British poet Lord George Byron sold at auction for $459,110.67, exceeding the highest pre-sale estimates by more than $160,000 and selling for more than any other letters or manuscript by a British Romantic poet. Although the letters were written to a clergyman, they were -- in keeping with Lord Byron's reputation -- somewhat scandalous."(via...
Jacket Copy (Free subscription) | 29/10/2009
Today in London, a collection of letters from British poet Lord George Byron sold at auction for $459,110.67, exceeding the highest pre-sale estimates by more than $160,000 and selling for more than any other letters or manuscript by a British...
Labourlist (Free subscription) | 29/10/2009
By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982 On Septmeber 2, 2006, 14 servicemen died in Afghanistan on an RAF Nimrod. The results of the inquiry into that tragedy, released yesterday, reveal that the MoD is largely culpable. The report describes a: "PowerPoint culture in government that glosses over hard questions and detailed evidence, and sacrifices safety to incompotence, sloppiness, complacency and cynism."...
The Ben Lomond Free Press (Free subscription) | 28/10/2009
The lookalike in Private Eye today was Lord George Fou (as) wulks and WC Fields. Can’t see it myself. It seems I anticipated their front cover with the Nick Griffin mask too. (Both Griffin mask photo and Private Eye cover courtesy of The Lakelander)
SCOT goes POP! (Free subscription) | 08/10/2009
Over at Jeff's blog, one poster has rather unkindly suggested that Lord George Foulkes ought to be sectioned, as a means to "cut public spending and help reduce the deficit at a stroke". This is presumably a reference to the Labour peer's two sets of parliamentary expenses claims (from the Scottish Parliament and from the House of Lords) and to his hard-earned reputation for submitting an...
SNP Tactical Voting (Free subscription) | 07/10/2009
Labour's Lord George Foulkes has launched another astonishing attack on General Dannatt. Not content with raking through the ex-Head of the Army's expenses, the regional MSP for Lothian has called Dannatt a Tory stooge. Courtesy of (the very impressive) Deadline Scotland : Speaking from Edinburgh, Lord Foulkes said: “All this time it has been understood that anytime he has given comment on Government...
SNP Tactical Voting (Free subscription) | 04/10/2009
How much is Lord George Foulkes worth to you? A few grand a year? Tens of thousands? How about half a million over the lifetime of a parliamentary term? Yes, that's what Lord George Foulkes is on track to cost you, me and every other taxpayer out there in a remarkable news story from the Sunday Herald . (And as such stories are no longer online, it's yet another reason to buy the excellent publication...
The Greenwich Phantom (Free subscription) | 30/09/2009
I've been meaning to talk about these gates for bloomin' ever. They're the entrance most tourists use these days (though if I was bringing someone for the first time, I'd be tempted to nip up along the five foot walk to the King's Steps for the sheer grandeur of it all) and they look so solid, it's almost impossible to imagine that they haven't been there forever. But the whole lot - the heavy rustication,...
Scottish Politics (Free subscription) | 29/09/2009
I note from the Labour Party Conference that efforts are belatedly being made by senior Scottish Labour figures to wrap themselves in the Saltire. Given that Lord George Foulkes thought the rebranding of Scotland's trains with stylised Saltires was part of "Independence by creep", will we now see him foaming at the mouth on TV and blaming the SNP for his Scottish Labour colleagues wrapping...
dapper kid (Free subscription) | 18/09/2009
Ultimate Dandies Numero Homme by Karl Lagerfeld "One should either be a work of Art, or wear a work of Art" - Oscar Wilde I have always found it rather regrettable that the Dandy movement of the Regency period seems doomed to stay within the confines of historical caricature. The movement is today most commonly associated with the effeminate and self-absorbed male ranks of comedic creation....
Blog Town, PDX (Free subscription) | 18/09/2009
Backspace (115 NW 5th) really, truly loves me! No doubt knowing that my birthday is Monday, September 21, the boys from Backspace recently emailed me about a Left 4 Dead tournament they're hosting that very night. Ezra Hardman Click for embiggening Actually, like so many things in my life, the tournament has nothing to do with people loving me, and everything to do with good, old fashioned inter-business...
The Telegraph (Free subscription) | 15/09/2009
You could cry "steady Eddie" when the late Lord George was the Governor of the Bank of England. His successor Mervyn King should heed the call: what business and consumers need over the coming months is steady interest rates.
Sue Wilkes (Free subscription) | 13/09/2009
I had no end of problems with Microsoft Word crashing last week, so I hope it is better behaved this week. One might think that writers such as Jane Austen and Lord Byron would have found it much easier to preserve their work, as they wrote on good old pen and paper. But of course once they were gone, their work was at the mercy of their relatives. Cassandra Austen’s ruthless bonfire of her sister’s...
SNP Tactical Voting (Free subscription) | 13/09/2009
Ipsos MORI poll result for Holyrood Magazine : Sample size - 1,000 Westminster: SNP - 33% (25 seats) Labour - 27% (21 seats) Tory - 18% (4 seats) Lib Dem - 14% (9 seats) Appropriate really that the poll is released on the same day that news reaches us of Des Browne looking for a Holyrood seat . But even then the former Defence Secretary might not have much joy there either after losing his Kilmarnock...
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