Every National Security Overreach Hearing

Briefly, on Tuesday, San Francisco's air quality was worse than Shanghai

San Francisco reached a PM 2.5 peak of 158. The worst it was when I was in Shanghai was 171 (I think). I noticed how bad the air was that day, but I did not notice it here yesterday.

Hammering at Lenin

Happy 10th Birthday to my iPod

We all know that we should upgrade our Apple devices every two to three years. Obviously then these products don't have to be designed to last. But my third generation iPod is celebrating its tenth birthday. This was the first model that could use USB, which is fortunate as my new PC does not have FireWire. It has had about 4 new batteries, and the (Apple) holster is being held together with glue and sealing wax. A young person of my acquaintance was amused to find that it twisted gyroscopically in her hand when she turned it, for this primitive device actually contains a hard disk. I still use it nearly every day.

British jazz pianist Stan Tracey has died aged 86

My first ever jazz concert was seeing Stan Tracey at Chester Town Hall in 1976, featuring a very young Clark Tracey on drums.

The Cann table makes the Premership race clearer

See the Cann table here.

Lady Gaga Elle Cover China

I bought this in Shanghai

Dilbert can still be funny

PHB: I see myself as a leader in the mold of Steve Jobs

Alice: Try rinsing your entire body with vinegar. That might remove his mold.

Prince Charles at 65

Against google+ comments on YouTube

░░░░███████ ]▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Bob is building an army.
▂▄▅█████████▅▄▃▂ ☻/︻╦╤─ This tank & Bob are against google+
Il███████████████████]. /▌ Copy and Paste this all over
◥⊙▲⊙▲⊙▲⊙▲⊙▲⊙▲⊙◤.. / \ YouTube if you are with us

Doctor Who in the New Yorker

This overview by Jill Lepore seems to avoid any serious mistakes, and contains this nice summary.

“Doctor Who” is the most original science-fiction television series ever made. It is also one of the longest-running television shows of all time. (Virtually every other marathoner is a soap opera.) It was first broadcast in 1963, three years before “Star Trek,” and, with apologies to Gene Roddenberry, is smarter and, better yet, sillier. The U.S.S. Enterprise, for all its talking computers and swooshing doors, is a crabbed and pious Puritan village; Doctor Who tumbles through time and space in the Tardis, a ship that from the outside looks like an early-twentieth-century British police box, painted blue and bearing a sign on its door that reads “POLICE TELEPHONE. FREE FOR USE OF PUBLIC. ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE OBTAINABLE IMMEDIATELY.” Inside (it’s bigger on the inside), the Tardis has something of the character of the reading room of the British Library, if the British Library had a swimming pool and were a pub designed by someone who adored Frank Gehry, Lewis Carroll, and typewriters with missing keys.

The article is here but it is gated for subscribers only.

NME 500

Records that should be significantly higher are blue, those  that should be significantly lower are red, and those I have not heard are struck through.

01. The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead
02. The Beatles – Revolver
03. David Bowie – Hunky Dory
04. The Strokes – Is This It
05. The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico
06. Pulp – Different Class
07. The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
08. Pixies – Doolittle
09. The Beatles – The Beatles
10. Oasis – Definitely Maybe
11. Nirvana – Nevermind
12. Patti Smith – Horses
13. Arcade Fire – Funeral
14. David Bowie – Low
15. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
16. Joy Division – Closer
17. Public Enemy – It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
18. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
19. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
20. Radiohead – OK Computer
21. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
22. Blur – Parklife
23. David Bowie – The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
24. The Rolling Stones – Exile On Main St. Street
25. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On
26. The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
27. Primal Scream – Screamadelica
28. Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
29. Television – Marquee Moon
30. Wu-Tang Clan – Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
31. Suede – Dog Man Star
32. Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique
33. Blur – Modern Life Is Rubbish
34. The Beatles – Abbey Road
35. Nirvana – In Utero
36. Bob Dylan – Blood On The Tracks
37. Love – Forever Changes
38. Sex Pistols – Never Mind The Bollocks… Here’s The Sex Pistols
39. The Clash – London Calling
40. Joy Division – Unknown Pleasure
41. Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
42. Stevie Wonder – Innervisions
43. The Beatles – Rubber Soul
44. Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible
45. Blondie – Parallel Lines
46. Björk – Debut
47. The Smiths – Strangeways, Here We Come
48. Kate Bush – Hounds Of Love
49. LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver
50. Dusty Springfield – Dusty In Memphis
51. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
52. The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed
53. David Bowie – Station To Station
54. Talking Heads – Remain In Light
55. The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers
56. Neil Young – After The Gold Rush
57. Kraftwerk – The Man Machine
58. Pixies – Surfer Rosa
59. Radiohead – In Rainbows
60. Massive Attack – Blue Lines
61. The Clash – The Clash
62. Bob Dylan – Blonde On Blonde
63. Joni Mitchell – Blue
64. Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited
65. REM – Automatic For The People
66. Radiohead – The Bends
67. Oasis – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory
68. Van Morrison – Astral Weeks
69. REM – Murmur
70. The Libertines – Up The Bracket
71. Neil Young – Harvest
72. Lou Reed – Transformer
73. Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home
74. Nas – IIImatic
75. Green Day – Dookie
76. Daft Punk – Discovery
77. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
78. Suede – Suede
79. Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue
80. Iggy And The Stooges  Raw Power
81. Kraftwerk – Trans-Europe Express
82. Carole King – Tapestry
83. The Band – The Band
84. Hole – Live Through This
85. Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
86. Jeff Buckley – Grace
87. The Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
88. Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure
89. Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill
90. The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come For Free
91. Prince And The Revolution – Purple Rain
92. Super Furry Animals – Radiator
93. Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf
94. The Rolling Stone – Beggars Banquet
95. Talk Talk – Spirit Of Eden
96. Public Enemy – Fear Of A Black Planet
97. The Smiths – The Smiths
98. Neutral Milk Hotel – In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
99. The Libertines – The Libertines
100. The Smiths – Hatful Of Hollow
101. Kraftwerk – Computer World
102. The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin
103. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland
104. The Stooges – Funhouse
105. Tom Waits – Rain Dogs
106. Led Zeppelin – IV
107. Rage Against the Machine – Rage Against the Machine
108. Weezer – Pinkerton
109. Bruce Springsteen – Darkness on the Edge of Town
110. Fairport Convention – Liege and Lief
111. The Human League – Dare
112. GZA – Liquid Swords
113. Belle and Sebastian – If You’re Feeling Sinister
114. Radiohead – Kid A
115. Teenage Fanclub – Bandwagonesque
116. The White Stripes – Elephant
117. ABC – The Lexicon of Love
118. Dexys Midnight Runners – Searching or the Young Soul Rebels
119. Pulp – His ‘N’ Hers
120. De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising
121. Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92
122. New Order – Technique
123. Blur – 13
124. Paul Simon – Graceland
125. James Brown – Live at the Apollo
126. Beastie Boys – Ill Communication
127. Ramones – Ramones
128. The Verve – Urban Hymns
129. Neil Young – On the Beach
130. Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights
131. Michael Jackson – Thriller
132. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
133. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
134. PJ Harvey – Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea
135. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP
136. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell
137. Blur – Blur
138. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
139. The Cure – Disintegration
140. Nick Drake – Bryter Layter
141. Bob Marley and the Wailers – Natty Dread
142. Serge Gainsbourg – Histoire De Melody Nelson
143. Bob Dylan – Desire
144. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced
145. The Zombies – Odessey and Oracle
146. At the Drive-In – Relationship of Command
147. Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
148. Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska
149. Elliot Smith – Either/Or
150. The Streets – Original Pirate Material
151. PJ Harvey – Dry
152. Mercury Rev – Deserter’s Songs
153. The La’s – The La’s
154. PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love
155. The Prodigy – Music For the Jilted Generation
156. Spiritualized – Ladies and Gentlemen We’re Floating In Space
157. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy
158. Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
159. Gang of Four – Entertainment!
160. Primal Scream – XTRMTR
161. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
162. The National – The Boxer
163. Neu – Neu ’75!
164. Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison
165. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Let Love In
166. Pulp – This is Hardcore
167. Aretha Franklin – Lady Soul
168. Portishead – Dummy
169. Dexys Midnight Runners – Don’t Stand Me Down
170. Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream
171. Talking Heads – Fear of Music
172. Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life
173. Led Zeppelin – III
174. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
175. David Bowie – Young Americans
176. Rufus Wainwright – Want One
177. Mogwai – Young Team
178. The Coral – The Coral
179. Missy Elliott – Miss E…So Addictive
180. X-Ray Spex – Germ Free Adolescents
181. Boards of Canada – Music Has the Right to Children
182. Manic Street Preachers – Everything Must Go
183. OutKast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
184. MIA – Kala
185. Eric B and Rakim – Paid in Full
186. Jay-Z – The Blueprint
187. My Bloody Valentine – Isn’t Anything
188. John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
189. Todd Rungren – A Wizard, A True Star
190. Pink Floyd – Piper At the Gates of Dawn
191. Elastica – Elastica
192. Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
193. Ryan Adams – Gold
194. Guns N’ Roses – Appetite For Destruction
195. The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night
196. The Stranglers – Rattus Norvegicus
197. AC/DC – Back in Black
198. Prince – Sign O’ The Times
199. The Boo Radleys – Giant Steps
200. The Breeders – Last Splash
201. The Fall – Hex Enduction Hour
202. Tricky – Maxinquaye
203. Beach House – Teen Dream
204. Michael Jackson – Bad
205. NWA – Straight Outta Compton
206. Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted
207. Janis Joplin – Pearl
208. Chic – Risque
209. Kate Bush – The Kick Inside
210. The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs
211. Grace Jones – Nightclubbing
212. Kings of Leon – Youth and Young Manhood
213. Funkadelic – One Nation Under a Groove
214. Air – Moon Safari
215. Massive Attack – Mezzanine
216. New Order – Power, Corrruption and Lies
217. Iggy Pop – Lust for Life
218. The Horrors – Primary Colours
219. The Jam – All Mod Cons
220. The National – Alligator
221. Marianne Faithful – Broken English
222. Fever Ray – Fever Ray
223. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
224. Echo and the Bunnymen – Heaven Up Here
225. T Rex – Electric Warrior
226. The Doors – The Doors
227. John Lennon – Imagine
228. Pavement – Brighten the Corners
229. Public Image Ltd – Metal Box
230. David Bowie – Aladdin Sane
231. Dr. Dre – The Chronic
232. Leonard Cohen – The Songs of Leonard Cohen
233. Babyshambles – Down In Albion
234. Pet Shop Boys – Behaviour
235. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Murder Ballads
236. Suicide – Suicide
237. The xx – The xx
238. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
239. Dizzee Rascal – Boy In Da Corner
240. Ian Dury – New Boots and Panties!!
241. Madonna – Ray of Light
242. Michael Jackson – Off the Wall
243. Joni Mitchell – The Hissing of Summer Lawns
244. Wild Beasts – Smother
245. Super Furry Animals – Fuzzy Logic
246. Nirvana – MTV Unplugged In New York
247. Glasvegas – Glasvegas
248. Eminem – The Slim Shady LP
249. Prodigy – The Fat of the Land
250. Weezer – Weezer
251. The Beach Boys – Surf’s Up
252. Grimes – Visions
253. Pussy Galore – Exile on Main St
254. The Smiths – Meat is Murder
255. Metronomy – The English Riviera
256. Elvis Costello and the Attractions – This Year’s Model
257. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – The Boatman’s Call
258. Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left
259. Public Enemy – Yo! Bum Rush the Stage
260. The Specials – The Specials
261. Bob Marley and the Wailers – Live!
262. Boogie Down Productions – Criminal Minded
263. Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
264. The Beatles – Please Please Me
265. Hole – Celebrity Skin
266. Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head
267. Dr. Feelgood – Stupidity
268. Todd Rungren – Todd
269. The Horrors – Skying
270. The Kinks – The Village Green Preservation Society
271. The Velvet Underground – Loaded
272. Coldplay – Parachutes
273. Kanye West – The College Dropout
274. R.E.M. – Green
275. The Who – Quadrophenia
276. Echo and the Bunnymen – Ocean Rain
277. The Sundays – Reading, Writing and Arithmetic
278. The Slits – Cut
279. Captain Beefhart and his Magical Band – Trout Mask Replica
280. Aphex Twin – Drukqs
281. Elvis Costello – My Aim is True
282. Teenage Fanclub – Grand Prix
283. Roxy Music – Roxy Music
284. Fugazi – 13 Songs
285. Marvin Gaye – Midnight Love
286. Screaming Trees – Dust
287. Slayer – Reign In Blood
288. Stevie Wonder – Music of My Mind
289. The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers
290. The Bluetones – Expecting to Fly
291. The Byrds – Younger than Yesterday
292. The Cribs – The New Fellas
293. Aztec Camera – High Land Hard Rain
294. Klaxons – Myths of the Near Future
295. Snoop Doggy Dogg – Doggystyle
296. David Bowie – Let’s Dance
297. Can – Ege Bamyasi
298. Malcolm McLaren -
299. The Go-Betweens – 16 Lovers Lane
300. The Who – The Who By Numbers
301. Arthur Russell – World of Echo
302. Daft Punk – Homework
303. Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um
304. The Orb – UFOrb
305. Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells a Story
306. Bob Dyan – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
307. Beck – Midnight Vultures
308. Lemonheads – It’s a Shame About Ray
309. Metallica – Metallica
310. Steely Dan – Countdown to Ecstacy
311. Super Furry Animals – Guerilla
312. Cocteau Twins – Treasure
313. Tom Waits – Frank’s Wild Years
314. Slint – Spiderland
315. Big Brother and the Holding Company – Cheap Thrills
316. Elvis Costello and the Attractions – Imperial Bedroom
317. Gram Parsons – Grievous Angel
318. Ice-T – OG Original Gangster
319. The Who – Who’s Next
320. Tom Waits – Swordfishtrombones
321. Doves – Lost Souls
322. LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
323. Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
324. R.E.M. – Life’s Rich Pageant
325. Beck – Sea Change
326. Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One
327. Beck – Mutations
328. The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
329. David Bowie – Heroes
330. Portishead – Third
331. MC5 – Kick out the Jams
332. Shack – HMS Fable
333. Paul McCartney and Wings – Band on the Run
334. The Avalanches – Since I Left You
335. Queens of the Stoneage – …Like Clockwork
336. Neneh Cherry – Raw Like Sushi
337. Danger Mouse – The Grey Album
338. Notorious BIG – Ready to Die
339. Pearl Jam – Ten
340. Sister Sledge – We Are Family
341. Tom Waits – Closing Time
342. Spritualized – Lazer Guided Melodies
343. Bob Dylan – John Wesley Harding
344. Eels – Beautiful Freak
345. Elvis Costello – Punch the Clock
346. New Order – Low Life
347. Sonic Youth – Dirty
348. Whitney Houston – Whitney
349. Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
350. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – BRMC
351. The Byrds – Sweetheart of the Rodeo
352. The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat
353. Mclusky – Mclusky Do Dallas
354. Isaac Hayes – Hot Buttered Soul
355. New York Dolls – New York Dolls
356. Pixies – Bossanova
357. Sugar – Copper Blue
358. Robert Wyatt – Rock Bottom
359. The Mothers of Invention – We’re Only In it for the Money
360. The Strokes – Room on Fire
361. The Faces – A Nod is as Good as a Wink…the a Bliind Horse
362. Beastie Boys – Hello Nasty
363. Black Flag – Damaged
364. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
365. Dead Kennedys – Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegatables
366. Leonard Cohen – Songs of Love and Hate
367. Metronomy – Nights Out
368. Radiohead – Hail to the Thief
369. St Vincent – Strange Mercy
370. The Cribs – Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever
371. Beck – Odelay
372. Big Black – Atomizer
373. Curtis Mayfield – There’s No Place Like America Today
374. Frank Sinatra – In the Wee Small Hours
375. Morrissey – Vauxhall and I
376. Sam Cooke – Live At The Harlem Square Club
377. Roy Harper – Stormcock
378. Wire – Pink Flag
379. Belle & Sebastian – The Boy With The Arab Strap
380. Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
381. David Bowie – Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
382. Simon and Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
383. The Long Blondes – Someone To Drive You Home
384. Elvis Presley – Elvis Presley
385. The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan
386. Gillian Welch – Revival
387. The Clash – Combat Rock
388. Tim Buckley – Happy Sad
389. Le Tigre – Le Tigre
390. The Verve – A Northern Soul
391. Burial – Burial
392. Edan – Beauty and the Beat
393. Prince – Dirty Mind
394. Wire – Chairs Missing
395. The White Stripes – De Stijl
396. Heartbreakers – L.A.M.F.
397. Jay-Z – Reasonable Doubt
398. Neil Young – Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
399. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – The Lyre of Orpheus/Abattoir Blues
400. The Fall – This Nation’s Saving Grace
401. Throbbing Gristle – 20 Jazz Funk Greats
402. Mystery Jets – Twenty One
403. Bjork – Vespertine
404. Gene Clark – No Other
405. Otis Redding – Otis Blue
406. Queens of the Stone Age – Rated R
407. Ride – Going Blank Again
408. Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
409. Can- Tago Mago
410. Interpol – Antics
411. Madvillain – Madvillainy
412. DJ Shadow – Entroducing…
413. Happy Mondays – Pills N Thrills and Bellyaches
414. The Chemical Brothers – Dig Your Own Hole
415. Chet Baker – Chet Baker Sings
416. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion
417. Ash – 1977
418. Eels – Electro-Shock Blues
419. Spiritualized – Let It Come Down
420. A Tribe Called Quest – People’s Instinctive Travels…
421. Big Star – Radio City
422. Dexys Midnight Runners – Too-Rye-Ay
423. The Who – Live at Leeds
424. U2 – The Joshua Tree
425. Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood – Nancy and Lee
426. Sonic Youth – Goo
427. Brian Eno – Here Comes the Warm Jets
428. Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA
429. Jimmy Eat World – Bleed America
430. Scott Walker – Scott 4
431. Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger
432. Tindersticks – Tindersticks
433. Dr. Dre – 2001
434. Prefab Sprout – Steve McQueen
435. Patti Smith – Easter
436. Battles – Mirrored
437. TV on the Radio – Dear Science
438. Kings of Leon – Aha Shake Heartbreak
439. The Futureheads – The Futureheads
440. Billy Bragg – Life’s a Riot with Spy vs. Spy
441. ABBA – Arrival
442. Al Green – Al Green is Love
443. Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
444. Depeche Mode – Violator
445. Fleetwood Mac – Tusk
446. Hot Chip – The Warning
447. David Bowie – Diamond Dogs
448. Suede – Sci-Fi Lullabies
449. Arctic Monkeys – AM
450. PJ Harvey – Rid of Me
451. Big Star – Third/Sister Lovers
452. The B-52′s – The B-52′s
453. The House of Love- The House of Love
454. Destiny’s Child – The Writing on the Wall
455. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
456. Frank Sinatra – September of My Years
457. Goldfrapp – Black Cherry
458. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
459. Jay-Z – The Black Album
460. Nirvana – Bleach
461. Manic Street Preachers – Generation Terrorists
462. Metallica – Master of Puppets
463. The Breeders – Pod
464. Kings of Leon – Because of the Times
465. The National – High Violet
466. Wu-Tang Clan – The W
467. Iggy Pop – The Idiot
468. The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow
469. The Beach Boys – Holland
470. Kanye West – Graduation
471. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
472. Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
473. The Verve – A Storm in Heaven
474. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
475. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo
476. Foo Fighters- Foo Fighters
477. Crystal Castles- Crystal Castles
478. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
479. Throwing Muses – The Real Ramona
480. Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
481. Brian Wilson – Smile
482. Billie Holiday – Lady in Satin
483. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Blood and Chocolate
484. Bruce Springsteen – The River
485. Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
486. Bjork – Homogenic
487. The Jam – Sound Affects
488. Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man
489. The Wedding Present – George Best
490. MC5 – Back in the USA
491. Pet Shop Boys – Actually
492. These New Puritans – Hidden
493. This Mortal Coil – Blood
494. The Cure – The Head on the Door
495. The Killers – Hot Fuss
496. Girls – Album
497. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
498. Lou Reed – Berlin
499. Belly – Star
500. OutKast – Stankonia

Best rock record not on this list: anything by Hüsker Dü or Black Sabbath

At this moment I should be flying over here

This is a recorded message.

Savages @ The Independent, San Francisco, 27 September 2013

The guitarist sounds like Andy Gill and has a haircut that is precisely half way between Will Sergeant and John McGeoch. The singer sounds like Siouxsie and dresses like Ian Curtis. Like millions of others I like the Savages because they sound like those old bands I used to like. It is possible that they were grown in vats by evil geniuses attempting to create the ideal NME band. For half this gig they are merely good, but a cover of Suicide's Dream Baby Dream gets the crowd to start moving and the band feeds on this to somehow get even more intense. Only a few people broke the ban on using cellphones which helped the atmosphere. All Savages need to do now is write some more songs, and decide whether to be aloof or friendly on stage. I liked the drummer, who seemed to be actually enjoying herself, and even threw in a few rock moves. Overall this was pretty good.

Courtney Love @ The Independent, San Francisco, 25-July-2013

Courtney is happy and enjoying herself, which is a great relief to everyone. She is dressed in a classic Stevie Nicks style with various droopy bits hanging from her arms. She gradually sheds clothes as she warms up. The band are rather diligent and workmanlike. They put me in mind of Morrissey's bands: more likely to overwhelm than seduce. At one point there are four guitarists all strumming away. Courtney's great rock voice is in pretty good shape. What really gets her going is the talking and sparring with the equally happy crowd. Some of the audience are dressed as if for a camp cabaret performance, which they more of less get. The old songs are the best.

Why you should not stick a knife into a toaster

Internet retailers have nice sales graphs as long as Amazon is excluded

All these internet retailers have nice looking graphs of sales. Until you put Amazon in the picture.

The Only 22 Countries in the World Britain Has Not Invaded

See also this collection of entertaining maps.

One Dot Per Person for the Entire United States

Zaatari Refugee Camp

You are not in this diagram

Letters to the Guardian about early encounters with The Rolling Stones

• So, John Whale saw Hendrix at the Isle of Wight in 1970 (Ventilator blues, G2, 4 July)? What a Johnny-come-lately. I saw the Rolling Stones close the first half of the bill (Marty Wilde, the Swinging Blue Jeans, topped by the Ronettes) at the Kettering Granada in January 1964. Granted, it wasn't outdoors.
W Stephen Gilbert
Corsham, Wiltshire


• I remember seeing the Stones about 1964 at the Empress Ballroom in Wigan (Later to become the Wigan Casino, home of Northern Soul). During their performance, Jagger threw his sweaty shirt into the audience. I and another girl caught it. She ended up with one sleeve and I won the rest of it. I stored it carefully in one of my drawers at home, where my mother found it and, seeing it was damaged, tore it up and used it for dusters.
Marie Blundell
Wigan

• Messrs Gilbert and Blundell, prepare to eat dirt (Letters, 6 July). I saw the Stones at the Ken Colyer Jazz Club in Leicester Square in June 1963. Come On was slowly climbing the charts. It was the first date I ever went on. I was 16. The cellar venue was stifling with condensation and we drew CND signs in it on the low ceiling. The Stones looked like cavemen and sang every great rock number, including Poison Ivy, Johnny B Goode and Route 66. My date and I caught the last train back – the 12:42 from Victoria to Bromley South. When we arrived at Shortlands Station, my father was on the platform to meet us. "Just checking," he said and walked off. My boyfriend lasted less than 50 days, but the Stones – well, you all know the rest.
Susan Castles
Wem, Shropshire


• How about 1962 in the small cellar Studio 51, Great Newport Street, W1? Chatting with all of them every Sunday at the bar during the break. Two sessions, 4pm and 6pm. Signed pre-first record release photo to prove it, with a note from Bill on the back apologising for no news of first "disc". Anybody else who was there?
Gerry Montague
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire


• The first residency of the Stones was in a hall at the rear of the Railway Hotel in Richmond, Surrey. Their first gig was in February 63 and I had the extreme pleasure of being there with about two dozen others, including Mick's mum who stood right at the front obviously enjoying the raw R&B. The audience increased exponentially each week until, after only a month, it greatly exceeded the hall's licensing quota  and the band moved to the Richmond Athletic Ground.
Les Farris
South Petherton, Somerset


• We saw the Stones at Leeds University Union in 64. Because they were booked in 63, they only cost £500 I understand, but still honoured the contract at the 63 price. They were darned good then.
Robert Bracegirdle
Leicester

• My most vivid memory of attending an early Rolling Stones concert (at which they were supported by the long-forgotten Peter and Gordon) is of being hit by a truncheon as the police attempted to maintain order after the concert (Letters, 11 July). This was not long after the Stones first entered the UK charts with (I think) It's All Over Now in 1964. I cannot report what the Stones played, as they were completely drowned out by screaming (presumably) girl fans. I imagine the band had been booked before they became famous, as the unlikely venue was the Essoldo Cinema, Stockport.
Neil Redfern
Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester


• My only sight of the Stones was at Eel Pie Island in September 1963. I missed the last tube back to my bedsit in Islington and arrived around 2.30am. The landlady was waiting with her proverbial rolling pin. She said she'd phoned my parents to tell them that I was in Soho with a prostitute. I didn't know whether she was making it up so I took the precaution of calling home the next day to touch base. My father never mentioned the contents of the call but suggested I might try to find somewhere else to live because he wasn't too keen on being woken up at two in the morning.
Rod White
Uley, Gloucestershire


• On 15 October 1963, I saw the Stones at Hull City Hall for 7/6d. They were third on the bill to Johnny Kidd & the Pirates and Heinz. We all went to see the Stones. I saw them a few more times over the following few years at Hull ABC and Bridlington Spar, where Bill Wyman told us a joke I still occasionally recount. It is not fit for publication involving as it does unspeakable acts with sheep and a slander against the judiciary.
Derek Elton
Todmorden, West Yorkshire


• Dixieland at Ken Colyer's Jazz Club (Letters, 9 July)? Yikes! Jo Russell, don't you know it's the very definition of anathema to speak of Dixieland and the prophet of New Orleans jazz in the same breath?
Maurice Zeegen
Watford, Hertfordshire


• Whether I actually did see Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and the Move on one bill at Portsmouth Guildhall for the equivalent of 50p, I will leave to the fact-checkers. What I do recall is encountering an old school acquaintance in the queue beforehand, who disclosed he was now in the drugs squad, and could get me "the best stuff ever".
Paul Roper
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

• In the Lent term of 1963, I, as editor of the Cambridge student newspaper, went with my friend Karl Sabbagh to a pop concert at the Odeon cinema. There we saw, and interviewed, the star of the show, Cliff Richard (Karl still has a photograph of the event). As we left, we noticed that the poptastic attraction the following week was to be a rock group called the Beatles. We both agreed to give that one a miss.
James Cox
Twickenham, Middlesex


• In the 60s my grandmother worked as a chambermaid in a north-east hotel. She cleaned the rooms of many up and coming rock and roll bands. The person she preferred was not John Lennon, as to be expected, but Mick Jagger.
Ron Winn
Southowram, West Yorkshire


• I saw Mick Taylor, later of the Rolling Stones, in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers at the Saville Theatre in Tottenham Court Road in 1968. Second on the bill was the Jeff Beck band – featuring Rod "the Mod" Stewart - wearing blue shorts and short fur coats. A lowly third was the Jimi Hendrix Experience. And all for 17/6d.
R Davis
London


• I don't know about first dates with the Rolling Stones but I've just come across my ticket to a concert in Manchester on what I recall was billed as their farewell tour. It is dated 5 March 1971. And I paid 65p (13/-) for a balcony seat in the second house, 9.15pm performance that night in the Free Trade Hall. Seems they didn't retire afterwards, after all.
Paul Allin
Newport, Gwent 

Glastonbury's night of the living dead

It's the Summer of Love (Private Eye)

Victories for Gay Marriage

What France thinks the USA is trying to do to it

France threatened on Wednesday to block the start of free trade talks between the European Union and the United States if movies and digital media are not kept out the negotiations.

Jimi Hendrix on the Lulu show

I'm not sure I actually saw this but it would explain a lot. Details here.

Daft Punk

Get Lucky creates the feeling of being on a tugboat made of bubbles while Nile Rodgers serves you liquid Valium in flute glasses and Pharrell Williams gives vague but really helpful advice.

Rebekah Brooks

I know I should not like Rebekah Brooks but I do. In any case this is a fantastic photograph.

Risk kickstarter

I am not sure that the artists on this super Risk related kickstarter quite understand the regions of the UK and Ireland.

Genesis: Chapter and verse

This is one of those rock band autobiographies where they all talk about what they think happened. This can make things rather repetitive. Sadly for the book (but happily for them) they all seem to get along quite well, even during all their personnel changes. Drugs and sex are not even mentioned. There is some personal stuff but mostly it is about music and business. The best bits are some great pictures like these of the Trick of the Tail band: on the left with Bill Bruford and on the right in San Francisco.

Esquire (UK) Heroes Covers

All covers from the fantastic coverjunkie blog

UKIP

Agnetha Fältskog

Private Eye Cover (Boris Johnson)

Dr. Who and the Daleks Poster

How to beat the traffic in San Francisco

A Warning

The Day Britain Changed

Sweeping changes to welfare, justice, health and tax. And food stamps.

The Spin Top 100 Alternative Albums of the 1960s

This list is so impossible to navigate that I had to convert it to a simple list:

1	The Velvet Underground - White Light\/White Heat (Verve, 1968)
2	The Stooges - The Stooges (Elektra, 1969)
3	The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico (Verve, 1967)
4	Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica (Straight, 1969)
5	The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace of Sin (A&M, 1969)
6	Various Artists - Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era (Elektra, 1972)
7	Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz (Atlantic, 1960)
8	Terry Riley - In C (Columbia, 1968)
9	Sun Ra - The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Vol. 1 & 2 (ESP-Disk, 1965)
10	Can - Monster Movie (United Artists, 1969)
11	Various Artists - Tropicalia ou Panis et Circensis (Phillips, 1968)
12	The 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators (International Artists, 1966)
13	Karlheinz Stockhausen - Kontakte (WERGO, 1964)
14	Nico - The Marble Index (Elektra, 1968)
15	Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen (Columbia, 1967)
16	The Shaggs - Philosophy of the World (Third World, 1969)
17	MC5 - Kick Out the Jams (Elektra, 1969)
18	The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle (CBS, 1968)
19	Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity (ESP-Disk, 1964)
20	The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out! (1966)
21	Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Columbia, 1967)
22	The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground (MGM, 1969)
23	Van Dyke Parks - Song Cycle (Warner Bros., 1968)
24	The Fugs - The Fugs First Album (Folkways, 1965)
25	Silver Apples - Silver Apples (Kapp, 1968)
26	Love - Forever Changes (Elektra, 1967)
27	Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left (Island, 1969)
28	John Fahey - Vol. 3: The Dance of Death & Other Plantation Favorites (Takoma, 1964)
29	Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum (1968)
30	Steve Reich - Early Works (Nonesuch, 1987)
31	John Coltrane - Ascension (Impulse!, 1966)
32	The Meters - The Meters (Josie, 1969)
33	White Noise - An Electric Storm (Island, 1969)
34	The Sonics - Here Are the Sonics (Etiquette, 1965)
35	Fairport Convention - Liege & Lief (Island, 1969)
36	The Peter Brotzmann Octet - Machine Gun (BR\u00d6, 1968)
37	The Holy Modal Rounders - The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders (Elektra, 1968)
38	Desmond Dekker - This Is Desmond Dekkar (Trojan, 1969)
39	Sonny Sharrock - Black Woman (Vortex, 1969)
40	The Godz - Contact High With the Godz (ESP-Disk)
41	Alexander Spence - Oar (Columbia, 1969)
42	Anthony Braxton - For Alto (Delmark, 1969)
43	Nico - Chelsea Girl (Verve, 1967)
44	Townes Van Zandt - For the Sake of the Song (Poppy, 1968)
45	The Monks - Black Monk Time (International Polydor Production, 1965)
46	Ray Barretto - Acid (Fania, 1968)
47	Terry Riley \u2013 A Rainbow in Curved Air (CBS, 1969)
48	The Watts Prophets - The Black Voices: On the Streets in Watts (FFRR, 1969)
49	Rotary Connection - Rotary Connection (Cadet Concept, 1968)
50	Francoise Hardy - Fran\u00e7oise Hardy (Disques Vogue, 1962)
51	The Mothers of Invention - We're Only in It for the Money (Verve, 1968)
52	Scott Walker - Scott 2 (Smash, 1968)
53	The Incredible String Band - The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter (Elektra, 1968)
54	AMM - AMMMusic (Elektra, 1966)
55	Perrey-Kingsley - The In Sound From Way Out! (Vanguard, 1966)
56	Morton Subotnick - Silver Apples of the Moon (Nonesuch, 1967)
57	The Red Crayola - The Parable of Arable Land (International Artists, 1967)
58	The BBC Radiophonic Workshop - BBC Radiophonic Music - (BBC, 1968)
59	Pierre Henry - Messe Pour Le Temps Present (Philips, 1967)
60	Pauline Oliveros - Reverberations: Tape & Electronic Music 1961-1970 (Important, 2012)
61	Pharoah Sanders - Tauhid (Impulse!, 1967)
62	Dick Hyman - MOOG: The Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman (Command, 1969)
63	Moondog - Moondog (Columbia Masterworks, 1969)
64	David Axelrod - Songs of Innocence (Capitol, 1968)
65	Spontaneous Music Ensemble - Karyobin (Island, 1968)
66	Various Artists - The Balinese Gamelan: Music From the Morning of the World (Nonesuch, 1967)
67	Caetano Veloso - Caetano Veloso (Philips, 1969)
68	Karlheinz Stockhausen - Gruppen / Carre (Deutsche Grammophon, 1968)
69	The Roland Kirk Quartet - Rip, Rig & Panic (Limelight, 1965)
70	Karen Dalton - It's So Hard to Tell Who's Going to Love You the Best (Capitol, 1969)
71	Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch! (Blue Note, 1964)
72	The Seeds - The Seeds (GNP Crescendo, 1966)
73	Amon Duul II - Phallus Dei (Liberty, 1969)
74	Pentangle - Basket of Light (Transatlantic, 1969)
75	Brigitte Bardot et Serge Gainsbourg - Bonnie and Clyde (Fontana, 1968)
76	Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band - Gorilla (Liberty, 1967)
77	Various Artists - Back From the Grave Volume One (Crypt, 1983)
78	Nihilist Spasm Band - No Record (Allied Record Corporation, 1968)
79	Tod Dockstader - Eight Electronic Pieces (Folkways, 1961)
80	Cecil Taylor - Unit Structures (Blue Note, 1966)
81	The United States of America - The United States of America (Columbia, 1968)
82	The Electric Prunes - Release of an Oath (Reprise, 1968)
83	The Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble - Congliptious (Nessa, 1968)
84	Kim Fowley - Outrageous (Imperial, 1968)
85	Joe Cuba Sextet - Wanted Dead or Alive (Bang! Bang! Push, Push, Push) (Fania, 1967)
86	Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra - Other Planes of There (Saturn, 1966)
87	John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Unfinished Music No. 2: Life With the Lions (Zapple, 1969)
88	Ornette Coleman - Town Hall 1962 (ESP-Disk, 1965)
89	Babatunde Olatunji - Drums of Passion (Columbia, 1960)
90	Harry Partch - The World of Harry Partch (Columbia, 1969)
91	Os Mutantes - Os Mutantes (Polydor, 1968)
92	The Monkees - Head (Colgems, 1968)
93	Pearls Before Swine - One Nation Underground (ESP-Disk)
94	Parson Sound - Parson Sound (Subliminal Sounds, 2001)
95	Conlon Nancarrow - Studies for Player Piano (Columbia Masterworks, 1969)
96	Alan Watts - OM: The Sound of Hinduism (Warner Bros., 1967)
97	Brigitte Fontaine - Comme a la Radio (Saravah, 1969)
98	Mulatu Astatke - Afro-Latin Soul, Vol. 1 (Worthy, 1966)
99	Cromagnon - Orgasm (ESP-Disk, 1969)
100	Marshall McLuhan - The Medium Is the Massage (Columbia, 1968)

Should we be insulted that San Francisco is not a target for North Korean missiles?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un can be seen in the state-run Rodong newspaper signing the order for North Korea's strategic rocket forces to be on standby to fire at US targets, with large-scale maps and diagrams in the background. The images show a chart marked "US mainland strike plan" and missile trajectories that appear to terminate in Hawaii, Washington DC, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. Here is one of the images which I have altered so that you can see more clearly.

Should we be insulted or pleased that San Francisco is not a target for North Korean missiles?

Kate Moss as the Queen

Compare with Chris Levine's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II with her eyes closed.

The devil is white and is called Cristiano

The front page of rabid Real Madrid supporting Marca which actually has an English language edition (online at least).

iTunes Yes/No screenshot

Nothing could possibly go wrong

Good Morning, Earth! Today we transition the Space Station's main computers to a new software load. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) February 19, 2013

The computers gave us problems today,comms going in and out, but our superb Mission Control team has it all fixed, back, with an upgrade.
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) February 19, 2013

Obama Caption Competition

Anyone else who produces a dangerous product can join Mr. McNerney in the punishment corner.