?? Melbourne by Lord David Cecil
?? Marlborough: His Life and Times by Winston Churchill
?? Montrose by John Buchan
5? The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal
8. Byron in Italy by Peter Quennell
9. From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming
10. Scarlet and Black by Stendhal

"Land of my birth, bright sunkissed land,
Florida, my Florida.
Laded by the Gulf and Ocean grand,
Florida, my Florida."

"And they laded their asses with the corn. Gen. xlii. 26."

20/7/03 - Pat Metheny has a real problem with Kenny G: (via largehearted boy)

"[W]hen Kenny G decided that it was appropriate for him to defile the music of the man who is probably the greatest jazz musician that has ever lived by spewing his lame-ass, jive, pseudo bluesy, out-of-tune, noodling, wimped out, fucked up playing all over one of the great Louis's tracks (even one of his lesser ones), he did something that I would not have imagined possible. He, in one move, through his unbelievably pretentious and calloused musical decision to embark on this most cynical of musical paths, shit all over the graves of all the musicians past and present who have risked their lives by going out there on the road for years and years developing their own music inspired by the standards of grace that Louis Armstrong brought to every single note he played over an amazing lifetime as a musician."

20/7/03 - Crime doesn't pay:

"A pensioner found a burglar with his testicles impaled on a broken window in her bathroom. When the man screamed he was dying, Joyce Edwards replied: "Good.""

6/7/03 - Various people nominate their worst book:

"Dr Jonathan Miller: Director, author and broadcaster
Anything by Jacques Derrida
When I plunge into the murky depths of Derrida I feel I am drowning ­ I can deal with difficult topics, but Derrida fails to make them interesting, as his writing is completely impenetrable. He purports to be philosophical, but in fact he's perversely obscure.

John Peel: DJ and radio presenter
Managing my Life: My autobiography by Alex Ferguson
I'm a Liverpool supporter."

Another Sheffield music website.

6/7/03 - Might be a strange way to spend your Sunday:

"The Sheffield Psychogeographical Association was formed in June 2003. The first S.P.A derive will take place on Sunday 27 July. People interested in the derive are asked to meet just inside the entrance of Sheffield Midland Railway Station at 3.00 p.m. A coin will be tossed at the beginning of the journey. Heads will take us right, tails will take us left. We shall walk for ten minutes in the direction dictated by the coin. If we reach a junction, the coin will be tossed again. If we walk without interruption, we shall take the first turning to left or right after ten minutes has elapsed. The exercise will end at 4.00 p.m."

"Quite simply the worst book we've ever chosen. The embossed cover should have been a warning. Unlikely to change anything - least of all your life."

"We decided to put it on the menu at the Riverside Brassiere on Bray marina. The land on which the brasserie sits is owned by Eton College, so it seemed only natural to have the dish on the menu. We tried many ways to make it more gastronomic - by layering the elements in a glass; by serving the meringue as a disc with the strawberries and cream on top; even by rehousing all of the elements in different forms, such as strawberry sorbet, meringue tuile and ice cream. But it soon became apparent that some things should just be left well alone, and Eton mess is most certainly one of them. The name of a dish has never been more apt and set in stone than this one."

"Pre-heat the oven to 245C/475F/gas mark 9. Break the egg and carefully separate the white from the yolk, making sure to keep the yolk whole. Put the knob of butter and a soupspoon of water into the frying pan and heat until foaming (the water helps to stop the butter from getting too hot, which is why the whites brown and toughen). Salt and pepper the pan so that the underside of the white gets seasoned, too. When the butter begins to foam, carefully slide in the white.

Put in the oven and cook for a minute and a half. The top should still be trembling. Now season on top - seasoning the white like this means you won't tarnish the yolk's wonderful golden colour by speckling it with pepper. Put the raw yolk in the centre of the white, and return to the oven for two minutes. Dot with a few drops of balsamic vinegar, and serve."

"Royal Mail is making changes to the collection plates on its 116,000 pillar post boxes across the UK.

Individual collection times are no longer displayed - only the last collection time of the day is given. Collections will be made throughout the day according to how much mail is put in the box and when it needs emptying.

We understand the rationale behind not making collections at set times throughout the day...

However, Royal Mail has also stopped using the little metal tabs, which used to indicate the next collection time, thereby letting customers know whether a particular collection had been made.

Now customers have no way of knowing whether the last collection of the day has taken place or not..."

6/7/03 - They look thrilled at having a £6m painting in their kitchen:

The picture, Canaletto's 'Regatta on the Grand Canal' is normally at the Bowes Museum.

6/7/03 - If only our MPs would take such a principled stance.