LugRadio is a fortnightly British radio show that takes a relaxed, humorous look at Linux and open source.
posted by finite
on Mar 11, 2008 -
2 comments
Garth Marenghi (
previously), horror writer, director, and actor. Star of the popular 80's series
Darkplace which chronicles the trials a hospital staff must endure when working on the gates of Hell, now available for your viewing pleasure. Or pain. Gripping. Terrifying. Bloody. With bits of sick. (See more episodes on
Google )
posted by kindle
on Jul 28, 2007 -
25 comments
Our shameless culture, by David Cox (The Guardian): Iran has shown the British what kind of people we really are: without honour and without shame. The Sun, the now
officially approved disseminator of British military information, notes that navigator Arthur Batchelor was "tormented" by being called "Mr Bean". Understandably,
he had to cry himself to sleep. Perhaps President Ahmadinejad feared that the goody bags might just prove a step too far. But no, they were gratefully received, in a response that aptly captures the infantilisation of a people that once ruled much of the world. Navigator Batchelor has however since
complained that the quality of his own bag's contents was not what he had hoped.
posted by hoder
on Apr 10, 2007 -
94 comments
Releaed British navy commander: We were gathering intelligence on Iran (
Watch the interview)
Tony Blair: The sailors were on a legitimate UN mandate
The Observer: The MoD confirmed last night that the Iranians had made the claim that they had become interested in Cornwall's activities after learning about it on British television, but denied the decision to allow the ship's crew to be interviewed while on active duty had jeopardised the mission.
posted by hoder
on Apr 8, 2007 -
30 comments
BBC News: "Gee, I just love your accent." The American nation may be more wary of crossing borders, but their love affair with the British accent continues unabated. Despite the fact that there are multiple variants therein, and what may be considered a "low-class" accent in the UK is still considered a "high-class" posh accent in the US.
Naturally, the Brits will play this up to the hilt - and it may help in getting them jobs, credibility, Oscars and Emmys, by no less an authority than
Stephen Fry.
posted by badlydubbedboy
on Mar 21, 2007 -
178 comments
The Open Secret. "They were a light in the dark ... This is who and what I am; this is my tribe — and, look, I’m famous and life is fun". Matthew Parris sings the praises of those old British poofs, the camp, safe, funny gays that your mum liked. All together now
I'm Free! more more
posted by grahamwell
on Mar 18, 2007 -
35 comments
...Historians teach that they are mostly descended from different peoples: the Irish from the Celts and the English from the Anglo-Saxons who invaded from northern Europe and drove the Celts to the country’s western and northern fringes. But geneticists who have tested DNA throughout the British Isles are edging toward a different conclusion. Many are struck by the overall genetic similarities, leading some to claim that both Britain and Ireland have been inhabited for thousands of years by a single people that have remained in the majority, with only minor additions from later invaders like Celts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, Vikings and Normans. The implication that the Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh have a great deal in common with each other, at least from the geneticist’s point of view, seems likely to please no one.
A United Kingdom? Maybe
See also
Myths of British ancestry
In the words of one well known Basque cultural
icon:
HA Ha!
posted by y2karl
on Mar 9, 2007 -
40 comments
Keep Burberry British. The 150 years old
very british brand is now under a new management that decided to ...*surprise* move production to China closing Treorchy plant, firing 310 workers , despite a 25% increase in profits ! Celebrities from Prince Charles to Tom Jones are supporting the protest.
posted by elpapacito
on Jan 28, 2007 -
72 comments
The real James Bond —
Sidney George Reilly, the shadowy '
Ace of Spies' and
inspiration for Ian Fleming's
007, was born Shlomo/Sigmund Georgievich Rosenblum in Ukraine/Poland in 1874. Perhaps illegitimate,
dapper Sidney was a tireless self-promoter, patent-medicine
chemist, world traveller, and high-stakes gambler (not only at the tables: he married four women but divorced none.) A Czarist
Okhrana informer as a Parisian student, he was hired as an undercover agent in the late 1890s by
M of Scotland Yard. Reilly worked both sides of the
Russo-Japanese War, influenced
British oil interests in Iran, brokered
World War I arms sales, and volunteered for the
Royal Flying Corps in Canada. Sent to Russia by
C of Britain's
SIS in 1918, he joined a
plot to overthrow the Bolsheviks: it failed, but he escaped to London. Returning to Russia in 1919 to help the
White Army, he was later awarded the
British Military Cross. A staunch anti-Communist, Reilly schemed against them throughout his career.
Lured back to Russia by agents of the '
Trust' — an anti-Bolshevik trap set by the Soviet
OGPU — Sidney was arrested, interrogated, and shot in 1925.
posted by cenoxo
on Oct 18, 2006 -
14 comments
Webcameron. David Cameron, leader of the Conservative party in the UK, reaches out to the Youtube generation.
posted by greycap
on Sep 30, 2006 -
53 comments
Look Around You is an insanely funny BBC parody of 1970's educational programs filled with pure nonsensical lies clothed as facts & pitch perfect mimicry of the style of governmental approved childrens education television. Each of the entire first season's worth of 8 10-minute episodes
can be viewed here and is highly recommended.
posted by jonson
on Aug 30, 2006 -
66 comments
90 years ago today, whistles blew around the river Somme in France as British troops prepared for an attack on German trenches. By the end of the day they had suffered 57,470 casualties. By the battle's end in November, there were over 600,000 Allied casualties, with perhaps the same number of German casualties. The
Imperial War Museum has launched an online exhibition, where you can find out more about
how the battle was planned, personal stories of those involved, and
myths about the attack. Elsewhere you can find copies of
Army reports on the first day, look at
film of the attack,
diaries and letters home from the troops, go on
tours of the
trenches, listen to
contemporary songs and music inspired by the battle, and see some
more modern responses.
posted by greycap
on Jul 1, 2006 -
38 comments
Ever wondered what old amounts of money would be worth today? Or what you could buy with your current salary if you went back 200, 400, or 600 years? Now you can find out with a tool that converts English currency from 1270 onwards into today's prices. Based on Treasury records, it tells you that Mr Darcy's £10,000 a year would now be worth nearly £350,000, or that your house would only have to be worth the equivalent of £500 now to qualify for the vote after 1832.
posted by greycap
on Jun 28, 2006 -
22 comments
Community photography projects abounded during the 1970's, but the most influential was the
Half Moon Community Workshop. Besides the workshop, this group also ran a gallery and a journal,
Camerawork that introduced many British photographers to a theoretical and politically engaged aesthetic practice.
Much of the theory espoused in Camerawork might seem naive or overly polemical for today's jaded post-Marxist intellect, but one thing that came out of the collective that does
stand the test of time is the work of
Jo Spence.
posted by PeterMcDermott
on Mar 24, 2006 -
1 comment
With the growing trend (at least among the porn stars & strippers I sleep with) of complete genital hairlessness, it's refreshing to see that the centuries old tradition of the
Merkin has been
reborn for a new generation.
posted by jonson
on Jan 29, 2006 -
40 comments
BBC News: British unconvinced on evolution "More than half the British population does not accept the theory of evolution, according to a survey.
Furthermore, more than 40% of those questioned believe that creationism or intelligent design should be taught in school science lessons."
Nice to know that the maxim for the UK being five years behind the US still holds true, more or less.
posted by badlydubbedboy
on Jan 26, 2006 -
63 comments
The worst jobs in history. Channel 4 takes you on a journey through 2,000 years of British history and the worst jobs of each era for minions like you and me. If you are curious whether you are best suited to be an Anglo-Saxon guillemot egg collector or a Georgian loblolly boy, take the
career guide quiz.
(via Malbec.
posted by madamjujujive
on Mar 20, 2005 -
21 comments
