Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Apologists among us

normblog: Apologists among us
Norman Geras has some serious things to say about the reaction of some to the London bombings. I share his view, and like him, was appalled at the sentiments expressed in the article in today's Guardian by Dilpazier Aslam, which seems to suggest that the bombs can be excused as an expression of what he winningly calls "sassiness." He's a trainee, apparently. Lots more training to do, it seems.

Monday, July 11, 2005

So, I'm a bear, now, apparently...

I'm described as an "amiable Mancunian bear" here. Well, I suppose there are worse things to be called, but the diet starts here...

In a bit

On a train last week, the young man opposite me ( he looked about twelve, but obviously had a full time job in advertising, as was confirmed by his full-volume conversation with a friend across the aisle) concluded his talk, not with "good bye", "see ya" or any of those variants, but a new one - at least new to me: "in a bit". I suppose it's equivalent to the American "later" as a conversation concluder. He confirmed the usage when he had a phone conversation, of which his half went:
"Hey, it's me. Listen can you bring my sandals to work? Wicked. Cool. OK, in a bit". Don't know what to make of it, except that my extreme old age is now confirmed by my getting irritated by things like this.