Shooting Parrots

Justice Denied

Sunday, 17 July 2011

The murder of Anni Dewani came up in conversation a few times when we were in Cape Town in February as it was about the time that the South African authorities were trying to bring her husband back to the country to face charges.

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Media Moguls

Saturday, 16 July 2011

Love the new Dan and Dan video on the News Corp debacle on how the vacuum left by the News of the World might be filled. Meanwhile. it was a momentous day in the history of the media industry yesterday. Rupert Murdoch, the 13th most powerful man in the world according to Forbes, the man [...]

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Random Delusions of Identity

Friday, 15 July 2011

You may (or may not) have noticed that I’ve changed the tag line of Shooting Parrots, dropping the Random Thoughts in a Random World in favour of Pick a delusion that helps get you through the day.

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Marriage Guidance Domestic Appliance

Thursday, 14 July 2011

Oh the joys of lawn mowing. There mus be some, but I just can’t think of one off hand. Possibly standing back at the end to admire a perfectly striped pattern like the one on the left. But any satisfaction is short-lived because you know that within a few days the stripes will have faded, [...]

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Z is for Zetland Street

Wednesday, 13 July 2011

I have very fond memories of this house on Zetland Street in Dukinfield. It was the home of my Grand-aunt Alice, sister of my maternal grandmother, and her husband, Uncle Charlie. We were regular visitors when I was young and could look forward to some of the best home baking prepared by Auntie Alice in [...]

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Fraud or Blagging?

Tuesday, 12 July 2011

Things keep on wriggling from under the upturned News Corp rock. Obtaining people’s financial and property details by deception according to the reports. The journos would ring up building societies and others pretending to be someone else so they could wheedle the information out of an unsuspecting employee. In the trade they call it “blagging“.

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Dead Lock

Monday, 11 July 2011

Yet another review of a book that I haven’t even finished yet for the simple reason that I have no intention of doing any such thing. I enjoy an escapist thriller, but it does have to be vaguely grounded in reality. Even if it isn’t, I’ll stick with it as long as the author has [...]

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Car Crash Management

Sunday, 10 July 2011

I left it late to buy the Sunday papers today, going to the shop about lunchtime. All the way there I wondered: would I or wouldn’t I? Would I buy a copy of the News of the World or not? One part of me figured I would be tainted by it and yet another voice [...]

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Thirteen Hours

Saturday, 9 July 2011

Most of the books I buy are impulse purchases based on the publisher’s blurb on the back cover, but Thirteen Hours was the first book I’ve bought simply because it was based in place that I’ve been to. Actually, a slight correction — I bought it because I happened to be with my daughter who [...]

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