One of the most fun and interesting little sites I’ve seen in ages, whatsbetter.com allows you to rate things in pairs, constructing by association a hierarchy of the best things in the universe. At the moment all your contributions are only added together, so you can see the world’s favourite things – but there are a huge number of interesting things you could do with this kind of interface which tie into some ideas I had about a year ago. I really need to talk to Cal.
There’s a hell of a lot of simmering resentment pouring out of America at the moment towards Europe and Europeans. Large portions of the right-wing media are full of it, but it’s not only there. There seems to be resentment about the temerity of ‘Europeans’ to dare to comment on US politics or US foreign policy. I’m not going to comment on any of those things except to say that this idea of a one-nation Europe which shares an ideological position is complete bunk. Scandinavia have some of the most highly taxed and yet progressively left-wing politics in the world. Some European countries are incredibly poor comparatively. Some seem naturally right-wing, some left-wing. Many wounds still exist from hundreds and hundreds of years of co-existence. My mother still refers to the French as ‘our natural enemy’ (however much I beg her to stop). All the national stereotypes still exist. All the old enmities and alliances remain. All the individual national prides and ways of doing things – all the different senses of what is ‘naturally right’ as well. Referring to ‘Europeans’ as an unqualified mass is like referring to ‘Americans’ in the true sense – and intimating that the USA, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and all the other Central and South American states share a clear and unified view of what their continents should be moving towards. The difference is that Europe is gradually moving together, as the Americas move apart… For good or ill, only time can tell…
Oh no love! you’re not alone
You’re watching yourself but you’re too unfair
You got your head all tangled up but if I could only make you care
Oh no love! you’re not alone
No matter what or who you’ve been
No matter when or where you’ve seen
All the knives seem to lacerate your brain
I’ve had my share, I’ll help you with the pain
You’re not alone
Just turn on with me and you’re not alone
Let’s turn on with me and you’re not alone
Let’s turn on and be not alone
Gimme your hands cause you’re wonderful
Gimme your hands cause you’re wonderful
Oh gimme your hands.
Another day, another piece of gloriously creative work. You know how it is. You’ve been there. We’ve all seen the creative trenches. I love the smell of Adobe Photoshop 7 for Mac OSX in the morning.
And several days after sending the e-mails to Blogger, my mail-to-blog entries finally appear. And have to immediately deleted. Of course.
There’s lots of new dumb stuff around the site today that I assembled last night and ‘made live’ this morning. I’m not going to actually point you towards any of it though. I’m not sure some of it is very good or appropriate reading. So I thought maybe you people could just wander around the place and read stuff and mail me with your comments, bug reports and the like. In order to pre-empt some of your criticisms, the new plasticbag.org now comes with slightly frustrating permalinks that don’t quite work right and are a bit of a fuck-up on Macs, which is depressing. But still. Permalinks. See how cutting-edge I am. Sigh.
I can’t imagine why anyone would be even vaguely interested in reading this again, but I found it online in an old rather badly transcribed form and decided to make it all plasticbag.org style sparky: Matthew Ford writes Read my diary.
Soul-searching question of the day: Look into your heart. Would you shag the Sven Snooker Streaker?
Rather than call someone a wanker, why not…?
1) Have a long, slow, luxurious bath! Perhaps buy some expensive body lotions or bubble bath. Make sure it’s nice and hot and just sink into it!
2) Why not get a back-rub? If you’re that stressed, a calming back-rub can bring the smile right back to your face for a very reasonable fee.
3) Treat yourself to something small that you’ve never been able to justify buying before. Something like a CD or maybe some expensive hair products. It’s ok to be good to yourself. It really is…
4) Book a holiday! Aggression just slips away when you know you’ve got a holiday coming up. Think of the beaches, or the nightlife, or the food! Don’t you feel calmer already?
5) Why not go for lunch with an old friend? Old friends always like to catch up with each other – and all that chat will bring you right back to what’s really important! Don’t your problems seem small and insignificant now?
6) And if you can’t go out – why not get some wonderful food brought in! There are many glorious places to order food from in London. Just because you don’t have time to appreciate them, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have time to appreciate yourself!
7) Just take the afternoon off. Work’s not everything. Perhaps you’d feel better about things if you just got away from everything for a few hours.
8) A walk in a park is a wonderful way of valuing yourself more and might help you slow down. Smell the flowers! Look at the view! It’s not quite a holiday, but it’s a good thing to do every now and then…
9) Or perhaps you could have a picnic with friends? That’s several ideas all mixed together. And it’s bound to make you feel more content and relaxed….
10) And the easiest and simple way to make yourself feel better, and calmer and happier with the world? Just drink a few glasses of water, find somewhere peaceful and have a glorious relaxing afternoon nap…
Three things about Mulholland Drive, seen last night with Mr Webb, Mrs Webb, Mr Henderson and some bloke called Tom from UMS. Firstly (of course) The Barbelith Thread. Then the (I fear superior) Metafilter thread. And finally the medium-cool Salon investigation.