What's that? A Device for the Apprehension of Ne'er-do-wells?

The good Professor Elemental has a task: the execution of the United Kingdom's new spying-on-absolutely-everyone-for-ever law:



Brought to you, of course, by the two parties elected on a strong platform of Civil Liberties and an end to New Labour's authoritarianism. In a hilarious twist worthy of Kafka, the government has refused to reveal some of the details of the law… i.e. the ones inhabited by the Devil. Clearly surveillance is only for the likes of us, not those who rule us.

Friday. Time to kick back

I don't know about you, but it's been a difficult and dispiriting week and I need something frivolous to end the week. Actually, I do know about you: if you're reading my blog then you're in sore need of relaxation.

Here's Mr B's banjolele-led compressed history of hip-hop. The good Mr B is – alongside Professor Elemental – the musical section of the Chap movement. Chaps tend to be urban sophisticates who have ironically (I hope) reclaimed tweed, waxed moustaches and all the accoutrements of the flaneur. It's so postmodern and self-regarding that I'm incapable of working out whether they're reactionaries or progressives, but I do know that the juxtaposition of Oxford Bags and Run DMC makes me smile. 

Here's Professor Elemental's 'diss' of Mr B: 'Fighting Trousers'. 

And as we're in an arch mood, let's finish with the Puppini Sisters murdering the Smiths. I was informed recently that there's a surprisingly large female barber-shop competition scene - it's crying out for a fly-on-the-wall documentary.