The Last Ditch

The face he deserves?

Brown to grey: Portrait of a Prime Minister feeling the strain | Mail Online.

It's obvious Brown himself has lost the will to live, but what were his advisors thinking about in permitting this undead photo to be published? Surely they had approval rights before publication? Any decent undertaker could have made him look better. Did worm-tongue Mandelson tell him it looked dignified?

Good for her age?

The entertainment at our gala dinner in Berlin last night was provided by "Marlene Dietrich". She seems to be in remarkably good condition for a woman who died, aged 90, 17 years ago.

Any views on this lady's resemblance to the famous original?

An elegy in an Aston Martin

This film perfectly captures how I feel. Not just about cars you understand, but about my life and my country's future. Our islands are now in the hands of people who don't "get" this sublime physical expression of the human spirit. A spirit of striving, of freedom, of adventure and of exploration. A restless spirit that will never be satisfied with mediocrity.

People who don't "get" that will not "get" much more. They will not just be limited in their motoring experiences (sad though that would be for them), they will build a Lada society, which will be sad for all of us.

Even if you don't care (shame on you) about automotive artistry, please give this short film one viewing. Just let the scenery, the tone, the sentiment wash over you.

h/t (nsfw) Theo Spark

Wordle

Link: Wordle - Clarke.

"Wordle" is a web toy by Jonathan Feinberg, which turns any text into a strangely beautiful word cloud. Here is a recent post of mine wordled (click to see it full size at the wordle site)

h/t Ted

In England, this weekend

Today I am visiting my daughter at her school in Gloucestershire (the picture is the view from my hotel window) and attending a lecture by philosopher/arch-Guardianista, Professor AC Grayling. I am still digesting what he had to say. I am sure I will have something to say about it in due course.

The Paine Christmas Table

A door in England

I am still looking for something Christmassy to write about. Here's a picture of the front door of Paine Towers to be getting on with...

Warsaw by night

I visited my old home town this week. I lived in Warsaw for 11 years and my children grew up there. It is delightfully provincial, even cute, compared to Moscow. Here are some night shots.

007 in Moscow

Casino Royale, playing today at a cinema on Novy Arbat in Moscow. What would Rosa Klebb think?

I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot