Words Dept.: category

There’s nothing especially unusual about the Daily Express producing an entirely confusing and off-beam front-page. This, after all, is the paper that splashed with Princess Diana for the best part of a decade after she died. However, I couldn’t help noticing this morning’s effort, which manages to juggle tragedy, absurdity, bad taste and utter irrelevance [...]

I’m becoming moderately obsessed by vintage Penguin paperbacks, mainly for the covers. Like these: Penguin Crime – a set on Flickr Penguin Books – a set on Flickr Penguin & Pelican Collection – a set on Flickr

For some reason I got annoyed about the ITV ad break during injury time goal mess-up last night although in retrospect I’m not sure why. It actually spared me the horror of seeing Everton score. Everyone has surely suspected for a while that ITV was going to do something like that. Everything about its footy coverage is [...]

Ofcom has ruled that an advert about the congestion charge shown on ITV earlier this month directed viewers to a website that “contained material that was almost exclusively in support of the congestion charge” and, as such, broke the Television Advertising Code rules on political impartiality. You might think this is quite a serious indictment. [...]

I went to see the Le Corbusier exhibition in Liverpool yesterday. It was pretty good, although I found the layout a bit confusing – I prefer a chronological approach rather than a thematic one if it’s not a subject I’m especially familiar with. I’d also have liked a bit more of a focus on the [...]

If you’ve been following me on Twitter (that’s about three people then), you’ll have noticed that on Saturday I went on “holiday” up the M1. Starting at the Ace Cafe bikers’ hangout on the North Circular – a prototype for the modern service station that reopened in 1994 after a 25-year closure – we travelled [...]

One of a series designed by Tristan Eaton, with quotes from real voters. If you ask me, and I’m aware you probably aren’t, this has every chance of becoming a future design classic. More here.

I’m thoroughly enjoying Journey to the East, Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn’s animated title sequence for the BBC’s Olympics coverage. Much better than some of the dross that’s actually taking place in Beijing – I mean, really, who wants to watch the Czech Republic win gold in shooting, let alone watch it in high definition, [...]

I went to the closing down sale of Danish furniture shop Ilva in Manchester today. Predictably, the place was a lot busier than the two previous times I’ve been there. When Ilva opened its three UK stores a couple of years ago – in Thurrock, Gateshead and Piccadilly – it was supposed to be the [...]

Coldplay have started dressing like extras from Les Miserables. I saw them on Jonathan Ross last night; they were wearing vaguely military garb and seemed to have bits of flag tied around their arms. At least one of them was wearing a stupid hat. I suppose it ties in with the artwork for their new [...]