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Music Mucus

Posted: July 14th, 2009, 8:31am BST by Dean

6. Re-Grading Music. Music is a bright jewel in the fabric of life, yet in the developed world, the business is in widespread disarray, teetering on its economic base and still reacting to the arrival of computers. Rampant commercialism and the widespread failure of business to understand the true value of music – indeed all culture [...]
Amphibian Species “Born to Strike”

Posted: July 9th, 2009, 10:38pm BST by Dean

A new species of lungless salamanders has been found in the foothills of the Appalachians which has the unique ability to “switch off” activity in protest at its lot. When rewards are not sufficient, it goes “on strike”, doing nothing for weeks at a time until conditions have improved before it carries on salamandering. Researchers from [...]
London, City of Envy

Posted: July 7th, 2009, 8:21am BST by Dean

London is a mad place in general. That quote “If you’re tired of London, you’re tired of life” should be seen in context. It’s for the person in the insane hospital who does not dare to leave, in case his or her world is challenged by realities far more comfortable and humane. What do we have [...]
Falsetto

Posted: July 5th, 2009, 9:50am BST by Dean

5. Falsetto. Most voice experts divide the voice into four registers: modal (normal) voice, vocal fry, falsetto, and whistle. Falsetto is a register capable of use by both men and women. However, such is the strength of conditioning against femininity in men of all cultures, that it is rarely used by men in in everyday speech, except [...]
An Education In Corruption

Posted: July 4th, 2009, 7:26am BST by Dean

4. An Education In Corruption. The ongoing overhaul of British MP’s expenses has caused widespread outrage, but it has been little more than an exercise in printing money by the Telegraph, the newspaper which expertly “leaked” the details over many weeks, thus maximising their profits, and at the same time managing to focus as much bile [...]
National Identity And Public Ritual

Posted: July 3rd, 2009, 9:20am BST by Dean

3. National Identity And Public Ritual Nations are defined and maintained by their public rituals. On July 3rd 2008, I proposed that the world’s wealthiest nation, the United States of America, initiate a public holiday to be held on July 4th to lift itself out of the gloom of their financially-collapsed country. Despite the fact that [...]
Carry On Swearing

Posted: July 2nd, 2009, 10:11am BST by Dean

2. Carry On Swearing. Freaking, freakin’, frak, frakkin’, feck, feckin’ - all these emasculated, Bowdlerised words mean but one thing: the craven cowardice and hypocrisy of the user. Fuck is a good, honest word. It has lasted well over a thousand years, and it is rich with usages and subtlety. English is an excellent language, with its [...]
The Use of U

Posted: July 1st, 2009, 8:40am BST by Dean

1. The Use of U. The English language has become the second most spoken in the world because of its flexibility. It absorbs and accomodates, it does not exclude. Nonetheless, efficiencies could be made in spelling, especially where confusions arise. For example the use of “U”. In the UK we spell “neighbour” and in the [...]