My mother always used to say that there was a thin line between cheating and doing what you can legally get away with; and that there will always be people who will exploit a loophole in any system because they have a sense of entitlement.

And she'd always finish off by saying:

"But that's not us, and that's why we'll never be rich."


Should I send her this story?

So.. tomorrow's the big day. For all the kicking and screaming about re-selling tickets on eBay, there still seems to be a fair number available if you know where to look. £495 for a pair seems the going rate. (or, would you believe, £100 for a ticket to the "screening area" - not actually in the park, but you can watch it on one of their big screens... errr, isn't that sort of like being at home?)

There also seems to be plenty available for the 'corporate hospitality' areas, judging by the handouts going on.

There might be a logistical problem downtown, though, since this is due to start at Marble Arch, round the corner from Hyde Park, about the same time.

Police and transport authorities are telling people not to bring their cars, but to travel by tube.

Me? To be honest, apart from U2 there's no-one I'm really desperate to see, so I'll be setting the VCR and going here to see this guy...


(By the way, is it only me that finds the fact that Toby Keith is on the Philadelphia bill just a tad ironic?)

This piece in the latest issue of The Economist is only partly tongue-in-cheek....

Just one more instance where the conduct of politics meets society's new pragmatism head on.

So Time apparently caves in the Valerie Plame case, and agrees to hand over Matthew Cooper's notes.

I don't pretend to know every twist and turn of this case, but could someone maybe explain to me how, exactly, Cooper and Judith Miller found themselves in the dock and Robert Novak didn't?

William Safire has some thoughts.



We've been thinking a lot about public service broadcasting recently, and the more I read of this story, the more it appalls and the less it surprises.




Hmmmmmm.... not really much of a shock, is this?

"Daytime talk show star Ellen DeGeneres has had secret meetings with ABC execs to fill the late-night void that Ted Koppel will create when he retires in December after 25 years as host of Nightline..."

You hear some weird things in the newsroom, and snippets of disconnected phone conversations are often the best.

But tonight's was, by far, the cream of the crop....

One of our production editors walking through the newsroom, deep in serious conversation on his cell, walks past the desk just as he says: "Well, do you want to put your wife on and I'll tell her I'm not sleeping with you?"....

Cue stunned silence/jaws dropping.



And on the subject of weird things... this is a bit of an acquired taste but has been the source of many, many cackles for me during the day.

Do some work, dammit!

You know the truly disturbing thing, though, each of the posts gets comments that are just as strange and occasionally just as funny. Talk about a self-selecting group....



Oh, for goodness sake....

And that's what I like to see - the old team spirit!

This man is my son's consultant surgeon, and an absolute genius.

We had a session at his clinic this morning, and had some new xrays of Tom's hand taken. All seems well, but for a moment it looked like he might want to do one more operation (that would be Tom's sixth). But he decided we should wait for a year and see if there was a real need for it next summer.

Tom was pretty relieved, to say the least. But again, as always, it's good to know that we're in the hands (sorry) of someone who knows completely what he's doing and genuinely has our interests at heart.

And just to prove that consultants have a sense of humour....

The latest edition of Time magazine has an interview with an Iraqi suicide bomber as he prepares for his "mission".

"Since May 1, Iraq has witnessed at least 129 suicide attacks, accounting for several of the estimated 150 U.S. fatalities during this period, including as many as six soldiers killed in an attack of their convoy near Fallujah last week. Most of the 1,200 Iraqis killed by insurgents since May 1 have died in suicide bombings."

Chillingly, the young man says there are "scores" of volunteers his age.

OK - Here's my response to Linda's musical challenge for today.. nice idea!

Like you say, kept it to just the current songs that I'm playing over and over right now. Next week, it'll likely be an entirely different six, which is why music is the most wonderful thing in the world.


1. We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea - Declan O'Rourke (brilliant young Irish singer-songwriter, who supported Paul Brady at his London show a couple of weeks back. His voice has an amazing register - is almost middle eastern the way he uses it as an instrument independent of the guitar - and this song is just a great piece of poetry)

2. Best of You - Foo Fighters (Simply THE best straight ahead rock and roll track of the year)

3. Straight Outta Compton - Nina Gordon (an old song - yes, NWA's foulmouthed ditty - just beautifully revisited. check it out)

4. Galang - MIA (new British rap act - not usually my cup of darjeeling, as you know, but she is going to be huge after what was a phenomenal performance at Glastonbury this weekend)

5. Fix You - Coldplay (aaaagh! earnest Brit whiney-rock at its most infectious. perfect background music for cutting up photographs of old lovers)

6. Long Time Comin' - Bruce Springsteen (yep, could have been literally any track from D&D, but that line "I ain't gonna fuck it up this time" keeps rolling around my head for some reason...)


The hardest part is thinking who I should tag. Still working on that. Most of the folks I'd like to tag don't blog.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and look forward to seeing everyone else's playlist...