The most poignant news of the week for me was that of the retirement of James Alexander Gordon. Many Raccoonistas have something of an aversion to sport, but Gordon was a man who rose far above mere sport,
Continue reading →Category Archives: Reflections
Femspot: Sex on Roller Skates
I’m a huge fan of the silliness which can easily find it’s way into over-literal analysis from a feminist viewpoint.
This is what “Joanna Allan”, the blogger at Your Daughters Will Be Next, Continue reading →
Wemmick of the Wolds.
Wemmick was the humble clerk in Great Expectations who desired to turn his humble Elephant and Castle home into a fortress, complete with drawbridge, with the Dickensian version of a Gatling Gun on the buttresses to ward
Continue reading →There is no storm that does not pass
Twitter is a curious phenomenon. Leaving aside all the trolling and general idiocy that can go on, there is wit, there is expression, there is immediacy and there is social contact. I have become personally engaged with quite
Continue reading →Ms Raccoon…and a conundrum.
To say nothing of aggravating people.
A change of scenery is the order of the day.
Accordingly she has fled the coop,
Continue reading →The Sunday Ramble – Come Back My Love, Part 1
I have been watching the rowing at the Olympics. The squad has done Britain proud, and it makes me all emotional. You see, long, long ago in a land far, far, away, your humble scribe had
Continue reading →The Cat With No Name
About three years ago I had the misfortune to run into some financial problems. The details don’t matter. All I would like to say is that it was not a case of me being improvident or
Continue reading →Science Fiction
It seems some commentators on AR have read a little science fiction if the comments on Ray Bradbury’s coda is anything to go by.
So what is it about SF (please don’t use the
Continue reading →Black Swans and Economic Voodoo
Ever behind the curve, I read an article a couple of weeks ago about Nassim Nicholas Taleb. This is a bit late in the day, because he has some very important things to say,
Continue reading →Snide
There are many things to like about living in Britain. The history, scenery, diversity and a largely benign environment are wonderful as are many other things.
Continue reading →Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury who has just died, wrote the famous Fahrenheit 451 book which was about a dystopian future where books were outlawed because the pace of life had become quick and where
Continue reading →Beauty in numbers
Statistics and numbers can be pretty boring. Long lists of numbers or charts showing lots of wavy wiggly lines with no meaning.
But numbers and figures
Continue reading →Manbags and waistcoats
Many apologies for concentrating on male fashion, but I think female fashion gets quite a bit of press already.
Fashion changes to suit the environment and
Continue reading →Different
Everyone is different.
Everyone has a different skill.
Everyone has different limitations.
Everyone thinks differently.
Everyone are not the same.
Some people can hold their breath.
Liar! Liar!
How truthful are you? Have you been brought up by your parents to tell the truth all the time? Do you tell your children to always tell the truth?
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Waste Time
I want you to waste time. Yep, you heard right. You should waste some of your time.
However I don’t want you to just sit on your arse [Sorry Anna, I promise that I won’t use
Continue reading →Maximum happiness
Science tells us that money can buy happiness – up to a point. There comes a time when an increase in income beyond a certain level that happiness doesn’t increase. That level is on average around
Continue reading →The Metropolitan Thought Police
A strange incident, but not unfamiliar.
A policeman goes past an art gallery in Mayfair on a bus, and sees the artwork
Continue reading →Trigger’s Broom
The Cutty Sark is going to be reopened to the public on Thursady after a £50m refit and restoration project. A fire destroyed nearly all of it
Continue reading →Human Achievement Hour
Tonight at half past eight is the start of Earth Hour. This is the hour when the Earth should be given some priority in people’s minds. Or at least that is what the greenies say. Myself,
Continue reading →Diabetics get more Legoff
Latvia has its one-legged lesbians, according to Mr Webcameron.
Bristol has its one-legged diabetics, according to the
Continue reading →Andrew Breitbart, Political Controversialist
At the Raccoon Inn, we covered the death of PC David Rathband.
But there was another sudden
Continue reading →Skunk as a Lord?
Skunk: A person regarded as obnoxious or despicable.
But it was done with considerable input
Continue reading →How do pet!
So bus drivers aren’t allowed to be friendly any more. That seems to be my impression of the news that Brighton and Hove‘s bus drivers have been Continue reading →
What was the best ever British made mini series?
I truly detest television at Christmas. Most of the year I find it merely worthless and annoying, but at Christmas with all its faux bonhomie and general shut down and when there is not much else
Continue reading →Hitchens and Dawkins are completely right. Except that they are completely wrong…
Penning the recent review of the year argument I was prompted to reflect on the death of the late Christopher Hitchens.
Polemicist, wit, writer, commentator and orator,
Continue reading →Too much law, too little evidence?
Vincent Tabak is now behind bars for murder, rather than for manslaughter. That is important. It does not bring back his victim, Joanna Yeates, and it will not end her family’s
Continue reading →How To Be Sectioned, Part 2
A few weeks ago I wrote an inconsequential piece about a strange experience in which I underwent a so called “peak” experience. My conclusion was that this was a real phenomenon which was created
Continue reading →Marat/Sade
I understand from the MSM that hundreds of people have been leaving a Royal Shakespeare Company‘s show early, during the interval
Continue reading →Why create new law
Prompted by a post by LongRider about safe limits and drinking and driving I started thinking about his idea that there shouldn’t be a law against drinking and driving
Continue reading →