Other Things

Concerned parents, culture war tropes and tabloid twattery

bigotry, concerned parents, sex scandal, tabloids 10th July 2023 Musings, Other Things

The latest BBC ‘scandal’ has got the lot, hasn’t it? You’ve got the starting point of a celebrity being accused of inappropriate behaviour towards a minor: well, there’s a lot of it about, isn’t there? Then you’ve got the fact … Continued

Pride: party and protest

#prideinlondon inclusivity, joy. LGBTQ 4th July 2023 Events, Other Things

The first time I danced in the Pride parade was six years ago. There have certainly been some changes in that time and, yes, for many people, things have got a lot worse in a lot of ways. For LGBTQ … Continued

Monarchy and Masochism

Englishness, masochism, monarchy 8th May 2023 Events, Other Things

There is, I think, a school of kink-related thought which regards caning as a particularly English fetish – I certainly haven’t seen much in the American BDSM guides about that subset of the scene which is all about the naughty … Continued

Have you turned it off? #emergencyalert

civil disobedience, emergency alert, phones, privacy 18th April 2023 Other Things

It’s fairly typical of this government to present us with an Innovative New Thing that no one actually asked for, which is genuinely dangerous to quite a few of us. The motivation behind the Emergency Alert which is apparently going … Continued

Culture wars, community and craphounds

activism, community, drag queens, fascists 28th March 2023 Other Things

‘This is what community looks like,’ was shouted at some point towards the end I think it was someone from the pub, or one of the performers but am not entirely sure due to limited view (though I think of … Continued

Ann Summers: achievements and ambivalence

Ann Summers, female sexual pleasure, Jacqueline Gold, sex shops 20th March 2023 Musings, Other Things

Obviously the obituaries for Jaqueline Gold talked a lot about the Ann Summers brand, and how Gold was one of the pioneers of mainstreaming women’s sexual pleasure. While I’ve never actually been to an Ann Summers party, I was certainly … Continued

Censorship or sensitivity?

censorship, roald dahl, sensitivity readers 9th March 2023 Other Things, Rantings

One of the better takes on the recent rewriting-Roald-Dahl fuss was from someone on Twitter who pointed out that their youthful reading had included plenty of Dahl, Enid Blyton and even some JK Rowling… “and I’m woke as fuck!”. I … Continued

2022: Saving The Best Til Last

2022, idiot, Tate, Thunberg 30th December 2022 Musings, Other Things

It’s as well to at least try focussing on the good things when you’re looking back over the year that’s ending. And, yes, I managed to eat my share of delicious pizzas over the past 12 months and not once … Continued

Fair Play for Funsponges?

corporate entertainment, criticism, fun, work environment 27th November 2022 Other Things

Funsponges have always walked among us, of course. Mostly we can laugh at them, disregard them or circumvent them. But a recent court case suggests that they might be, well, probably not organising, but perhaps becoming more of a problem. … Continued