Top Five Current Literary Protagonists

1. Pechorin
2. The Underground Man
3. Harry Haller
4. Meursault
5. Maurice Bendrix

Another link

to a video. Enjoy.

Misha Glenny

is rueing the pseudo-Anglicisation of the world’s languages in a report From Our Own Correspondent, whilst over at Westfordcomp, there are newly found photos from lost and discarded cameras for your delectation.

This evening I have mainly been listening to

Northern Soul. For those of you born after 1970 or with no obsessive interest in black music 1896-2005, the following links will give you an overview of the scene in the UK and a list of Northern Soul Allnighters in Berlin.

The latest diet fad

will also give you excellent nightvision. And make you look like David Caruso, no doubt.

Fashion news from Jamaica

Hair is the Hat.

All this talk about Eurovision

has reminded me of the bliss that is Father Ted. His and Dougal’s (in)famous Eurovision entry can be found here.

Over at

Broke in Berlin, our dear friend Dezik is excited by the double Eurovision Song Contest this year. This will be the fiftieth year of the competition, and although there have been many great (!) songs, including the Israeli entries our Berlin-based co-blogger is so fond of, my particular favourite has to be Jahn Teigen’s Mil Etter Mil from 1978, the first year Norway received ‘Nul point’. Jahn is quite a trouper, though, and has repeatedly entered the Norwegian version of ‘A Song for Europe‘, and, as you will see, has reached the final again this year.

Big news

in the UK… Phil and Grant are back in Eastenders.

"Ultimate" nazis

http://www.whitecivilrights.com/