John Prescott and Stephen Fry are not cut from the same cloth. One a Labour politician, former Deputy Prime Minister and trade unionist. The other a bipolar homosexual with a criminal record and a fondness for Oscar Wilde. One known for mangling the English language and the other a sesquipedalian champion of erudition. Each much […]
John Prescott & Stephen Fry: Authenticity is all that Counts Read More »
Overheard in the pub: First Man: Seen that Andrew Lloyd-Webber programme with Graham Norton? Second Man: The Eurovision one? Yeah. Bollocks innit. First Man: Nah. I reckon Lloyd-Webber’s the man. He knows his stuff. He might win it for us. Second Man: Win it? All block-voting these days. Even Ireland can’t win it. All East
Brighton Scenes #6 Read More »
LabourList is warming up in advance of a full launch. Some Tory voices have been pretty disparaging (maybe they’re a bit scared?) but I can see it gathering momentum. One thing that needs a bit of work is the ‘community management’. So here’s my advice to Derek Draper, who’s leading the charge… Hi Derek, Good
To Derek Draper re: LabourList.org Read More »
It is traditional for the outgoing President of the United States to leave a letter on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office for his successor. As the great and the good gather at the Capitol in Washington D.C., this picture has been smuggled out of the White House showing George Bush’s letter to Barack
Bush’s Letter to Obama Read More »
Stephen Robertson Director-General of the British Retail Consortium was the Eeyore of business yesterday as he spread doom and gloom across the media. Offered a chance by interviewers to say something positive, Robertson would effortlessly bridge and make a point even more dire than the one before. Don’t we need some cheerleaders as the downturn
British Retail Consortium doesn’t like good news Read More »
Tom Watson, the member for West Bromwich East and Civil Service Minister, is a rare politician: he gets the web. And I don’t mean just as a campaign broadcast tool (viz Obama). He gets it as a utility and a potential agent of change and engagement. In recent weeks, this has become more important. With
Tom Watson: MP 2.0 Read More »
Shouldn’t eBay be recession-proof? eBay in Germany has been a phenomenal success over the past decade and for much of that time DE was in actual recession or not enjoying growth like the US and UK. (It’s a shame the team that made that happen have been let go because I’m sure there were lessons
eBay in 2009: Boom or Bust? Read More »
We don’t have the wilds of Scotland, the wilderness of the moors in Devon or Yorkshire, Northern Ireland’s moody mountains or deserted beaches like Wales. No brooding hills as you see near Malvern or Manchester. We lack the drama of the Lakes, the chocolate box rolls of the Cotswolds and Dorset. We don’t have a
The Beauty of Sussex is Underrated Read More »
The arrival of a new Doctor is always a bit harrowing. I can remember each regeneration since Tom Baker turned into Peter Davison (admittedly dimly) and as a result can remember occasions when the next Doctor wasn’t equal or better to his predecessor. But Matt Smith seems like an excellent choice and it’s just a
Little Hopes for the Eleventh Doctor Read More »
Sometimes I get contacted by a journalist looking for a view or quote. Here’s a Q&A I did earlier today. Do you agree? How do you think the recession will affect eBay businesses? eBay sellers are retailers and, as we’ve seen in the headlines, retail is one sector that is being affected by the economic
eBay and the Recession Q&A Read More »
Last year I started what I suspect will become a bit of a tradition. I named my 5 favourite new songs of 2007. I was loose in my definition of new. This year, ‘new’ means new: all but one of the songs was published in 2008. So here you go: my top five new songs
2008: My Top Five Favourite Songs Read More »
I’m posting this graph for illustrative purposes only (I’ve stripped off numbers and dates). It’s my blog traffic for the year 2008. What do you notice? The peak is my post on Max Gogarty, which really caused a storm back in March. It was great to be part of that conversation. And then later in
Wilsondan.co.uk: That Was The Year That Was Read More »
A fellow Brightonian read my previous post on Brighton and asked me why I like the old place, in a bit a more detail. We had a long conversation that ranged from the general to the specific and the arcane to the absurd. So, why do I like it in Brighton? Here are some incomplete
Brighton: I like it here Read More »