Since my original post on gender-inscribed signage hit the ‘blogwaves’, I’ve found myself closely scrutinising pedestrian crossings (and other sign-heavy areas) for goodies to delight and amuse.

The controlling brotherly hand of the child (seen in the last post) …

Is it just me or is anyone else sick of the sight of those Da Vinci Code publicity shots where a grim-faced Tom Hanks sprints away from danger leading a bewildered/terrified (and occasionally grim-faced herself) Audrey Tautou by the …

Just had the bould Minister for Defence Wilbert O'Dea and his crazy gang call at the door. The 'conversation' went as follows:

Lackey: Hurr…hurr…em…you're a student are you? Hurrr…hurr… [holds out Willie's card]

Myself: Yes, …

In a recent post by Jett Loe, over at the delightful Letter to America, Jett suggested that, due to his frequent bouts of wandering through Belfast's urban landscape, he could …

Spent an hour and a half, yesterday afternoon, sitting - stiff, sore, and deeply bored - in a doctor's waiting room/corridor until I was finally seen (and given a routine prescription).

Not only did my fellow patients and I am seem …

So, we (my darling girl and I) are off on the slow train to Baile Átha Cliath this morn for the inaugural 'Irish Blog Awards' – an event that promises much in the way of drunken chat and …

As a long-time reader of the frequently daft, outrageous, and foam-flecked rhetoric of (that dreadful old windbag) Colonel Kevin Myers, I am happy to announce a new bloggy venture being undertaken by yours truly, 'copernicus', and EWI …

'Guest Post' by Copernicus

Who's that poking their heads over the half door and the twilight as purple in the western sky as the heather on the bog? Come in, come in, musha, and settle ye about the hearth. …

'Guest Post' by Copernicus

Before I go to bed at night, having replenished the horn of nerdom with a couple of Star Trek episodes, I pause before the bookshelves in the hall, pluck from them a random volume and, …

Am currently reading the Raw Vision Outsider Art Sourcebook, a fascinating volume detailing some of the most notable examples of 'Outsider Art' (paintings, drawings, sculpture etc.) and 'Visionary Environments' (such as Ferdinand Cheval's Le Palais Idéal).

Regarding …

Thoroughly intriguing story in yesterday's Guardian about a Mr. Barney Broom (of Gunthorpe, north Norfolk) discovering…well…what can best be described as a pickled model of a baby 'grey alien' in his loft. Yikes!…

In an age of ever more bloated and interminable blockbusters, Red Eye (Wes Craven's foray into the world of the 'thriller') initially impresses the casual DVD renter by clocking in at (an admirably lean) 85 minutes long. Given …

In an idle moment last night I found myself browsing through some of the more neglected and forgotten volumes that adorn my bookcases.

Scanning the shelves, I quickly passed over categories like "Novels I've been meaning to read for years" and …

'Guest Post' by Copernicus

Like the French placard which, Roger Chartier has observed, has been 'long neglected by a history interested only in more noble objects', the broadside is the Cinderella publication of early modern Ireland.Kelly, James. Gallows Speeches from …

Amusing article in yesterday's (English) Independent about a new booklet (written by Anthony Browne for the social policy think tank Civitas) criticising the, allegedly, ubiquitous (and damaging) culture of 'political correctness' in Britain.

Now though there are, obviously …