So I made another new friend on the internets… Continue reading “Further Adventures in Hatred or: Leaving No Tern Unstoned”
Dear John, Alfie the Dog and Big Mama Thornton
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Big Mama Thornton and Alfie.
‘Hound Dog’ stuck on a loop in my head the other day, playing with Alfie – my Mum’s Cocker Spaniel. Turns out that although Elvis has the best known version, the song was first recorded by one Big Mama Thornton. I realise it was stars like Elvis that took the African-American blues to the cracker masses but until recently getting into Lightin’ Hopkins was as far as I crawled out of my lily-white honky box; and I’ve been missing out on so much. Continue reading “Dear John, Alfie the Dog and Big Mama Thornton”
The Squirrels of the Fourteen B’ak’tun
If you’d told me five years ago I’d be spending the last day of planet earth in Gosport I’d have laughed in your face. I’d planned to play it safe and ride out 21st Dec 2012 somewhere up a mountain with a hunting rifle, caring Scandinavian wife and waterfall caves of tinned food. I came to my senses; but when 11.11am passed without global incident I shrugged like everybody else.
Still, there’s always the Rapture to look forward to. That and any number of asteroids. And the whole global warming thing. Another end of the world is always just around the corner, friend. Continue reading “The Squirrels of the Fourteen B’ak’tun”
Poppy is a Cat Who Loves Shoes
My girlfriend has a cat whose name is Poppy.
Poppy likes me. Poppy loves my shoes. Poppy doesn’t care about politics, sex or foreign conflicts. She will only drink water from the tap in the bath.
All hail Poppy.
I wish I had a tail. That’d be great, can you imagine it?
Miaow.
Ten Opinions From Edinburgh Zoo
Back in December, along with several billion pushchairs, I visited Edinburgh’s pandas. Four months later and one mating season already given up on, I decided I didn’t care what everybody’s favourite asexual bamboo aficionados were up to; instead I wondered how all the other animals were feeling.
1. Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)
A Gentle Hogmanay for Edinburgh’s Pandas
Tian Tian (Sweetie) and Yang Guang (Sunshine), Edinburgh Zoo’s latest guests, are “settling in well” and “very happy” according to our well informed and friendly guide during my Christmas visit to the zoo’s new £250,000 panda enclosure. Continue reading “A Gentle Hogmanay for Edinburgh’s Pandas”
Dinosaurs Eat Chips
Mum came up to visit so we drove down to Whitby. It’s a lovely place; part picturesque north-coast fishing village, part Gothic enclave of Dracula, Viking pillage and the best fish and chips in the country.
And you should see the dinosaurs.
CHRIS PARLETT 