Well, somehow I’ve reached the 300 post mark. I believe this to be a triumph of quantity over quality, but thought I’d mark it anyway. And as this blogging lark wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without my small-but-perfectly-formed band of readers and commenters, I thought I’d offer you all an early Christmas present. So, clickity-click the link below for access to a little Christmas music mix. I hope you enjoy it. And thanks for hanging around!
Argh, this is difficult. I haven’t even begun, and I’m having trouble. The whole Top Two concept kind of counters any concerns that lists are arbitrary, or crude, or an excuse for me to just be plain lazy with my blogging. Yet I’m now worrying about methodology and definitions and suchlike. I’m pretty sure reading this blog post about how The Wire magazine compiles its end-of-year lists didn’t help. Who knew voting and categorisation and the like could be so complicated? Read the rest of this entry »
I really don’t like End of Year lists. Well, I like reading other people’s, but I really don’t like composing my own. So, don’t worry, I’m not going to veer into some “Art is subjective, lists are objective, so lists of books/albums/cross-stitching are bad”-type argument. Organising stuff into lists can be fun, and for any sort of year-end retrospective seems entirely sensible. Over the years many End of Year lists have pointed me in the direction of a lot of fun and worthwhile stuff. Read the rest of this entry »
I was catching up on my Instapaper reading this morning, working my way through articles I’ve chanced across on the internet and decided to ‘Read Later’. I know I’ve spoken of Instapaper before, but I think it is such a great tool for making the most of longer-form articles on the web. I kind of see it as an attempt to make my internet (where I’ll save it) and mobile phone (where I’ll read it) activity just a little more nourishing and worthwhile. Or to feel a little less like I waste my life staring at daft stuff. Read the rest of this entry »
I only saw Gary Speed play in the flesh once, towards the end of his playing career. He was playing in the Championship for Sheffield United and despite nearing 40 was clearly the best player on the pitch. There was a thoughtfulness and intelligence to his play. He didn’t need to run around like his younger team-mates and opponents as his mind always seemed to be one step ahead. Like all the best players he made playing football look easy. Read the rest of this entry »
Wait until next year 