Some arithmetical oddbookishness for your Sunday delight:

http://oddbooks.co.uk/oddbooks/ddt-system-place-value-notation

I have been reading The Truth About Demons (see last entry). In one section it refers to this bible passage (Acts 19:13-19:16):

"Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. (One day) the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding."

Woodrow comments: "those seven men went running home minus shirt and trousers!".

He omits to say whether they still had their Y-fronts on or not.

What a bumper postbag today.

1. Lessons in the Art of Acting, by Edmund Shaftesbury. My exceptional copy of this very rare volume, that I'd sent for scanning only to find that the company had ceased trading. A very worrying couple of weeks followed before the former owner contacted me and said they'd be sending back my book. Phew!

2. The Truth About Demons by Ralph Woodrow (pictured). A cool ebay find. "Amazing, timely, scriptural!"

3. A record by Sarandon! Thanks, smakake! What a lovely surprise.

Misery memoirs are last year's thing. Mundanity rules!

I've been able to spend some time writing up odd books again this weekend, which is very agreeable. Today I turned my attention to How the Devil Spread AIDS to Woods Valley. Peachy!

Now I shall get off my fat backside and go and make a cup of tea.

http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/irony

I finally got around to putting the Neville Chamberlain poem up. On a second reading, the book it's from proved to be even more ill-advised than I'd thought. Somehow I'd failed to notice the poem about the Jews. Oh, man.

http://oddbooks.co.uk/unpoetry/rt-hon-neville-chamberlain

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
Cleaner, Library Assistant, Computer Programmer, um that's it.

B) Four FILMS I would watch over and over:
Fargo, A Matter of Life and Death, Blade Runner, The Day of The Jackal

C) Four places I have lived:
Bexleyheath, Worthing, Kensal Green, Bath

D) Four TV shows that I watch:
The Simpsons, Family Guy, Newsnight Review, Damages

E) Four places I have been:
Jersey, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Stuttgart, Belfast

F) People who e-mail me (regularly):
You wouldn't know any of them!

G) Four of my favourite foods:
Thai Green Curry, Pizza, Fish and Chips, Crispy Fried Duck

H) Four places I would rather be right now:
Down the pub, at the cinema, in the South of France, in the Sagor in Bideford

I) Four things that I am looking forward to this year:
Making my business truly profitable, holidays, some great films, who knows what else

J) Four favourite authors:
Philip K Dick, Robert Irwin, Flann O'Brien, Georges Simenon

Since moleintheground is talking about overheard conversations, let me drop these ones I've been carrying for the last 30 years or so. Both from the same pub on different evenings.

[Scene 1. Two young people evidently on a first date.]

He: so, what sort of music do you like?
She: well, all sorts, reely.
He: do you like rock'n'roll?
She: no, not reely.
He: well, what do you like, then?
She: well, all sorts, reely.
He: what about country and western?
She: no, not reely.
He: well, who's your favourite singer, then?
She: I dunno, reely. I like all sorts ...

[The look on his face at this point was priceless. I fear the relationship was doomed.]

[Scene 2. An elderly couple discuss politics]

He: I don't know what the goverment's doin' these days.
She: no ...
He: it's not like it used to be.
She: no ...
He: they should bring back Macmillan!
She: what's that?
He: I said they should bring back Macmillan!
She: Naaaoooow! 'E's TOO OLD!

[Quite right. "Supermac" was about 80 and very doddery, even when this took place.]

I'd forgotten about this site until something the other day brought it to mind. I used to read it years ago, a frequently updated online journal started in 1994 - long before the word blog became a commonplace. I was absolutely delighted to find it's still going strong.

sorabji.com.

Arriving today, a wacky "scientific" treatise on the nature of ghosts, self-published in 1924 by one William Danmar.

For the most part it is a laughable post hoc explanation of the phenomena produced by spiritualist mediums, all of whom Danmar reckons are genuine and much put upon, not only by sceptics on this side of the great divide:

The reactionary ghosts, "jesuit spirits", as the mediums like to call them, also make use of spiritualizations in a manner to hurt spiritism by shamfraud [sic]. It has been established that light garments can be used for apports. Paraphenalia were in that way apported into a mediums [sic] cabinet during the seance to prepare for an expected "exposure" to raise the fraudcry [sic]. There was fraud in this matter but it was on the part of the hostile ghosts and not on the part of the medium who however had to take the blame for it because but few spiritists have been realistic enough to study the real nature of such "exposures".

I feel so dirty, Captain.

I am much enjoying this which plopped through the letter box today. Not as good as the Nuggets set which I also own, but excellent value at £21 for five CDs.

And what can be wrong with a collection which includes primitive gems such as "I'm a Hog for You" by The Groupies or the psychedelic insanity of "The Diamond Mine" by Dave Diamond & The Higher Elevation?

bookhappyblog strongly recommended this one and now I've read it I want to echo her praise of it. This is a tremendous book, one that may well change the way you think about cock-ups, cover-ups and injustices. A carefully assembled thesis that shows why practically all of us are capable of the worst of human behaviour.

"We have met the enemy and he is us", as the authors aptly quote.

Today I finally learned how top pop ensemble Nectarine No. 9 got their name. Thanks, ebay!

No Nectarine No. 9 on Youtube, sadly. Have some Fire Engines instead, old and nearly new.



In other news, I have a cold. No flowers by request.

Many years ago rhodri sent me a tape of Beefheart & the Magic Band playing on a US TV show. The tape was an nth generation copy and the quality was pretty rough. Now some kind person has posted some of the same footage, but with considerably better sound and vision, on Youtube.



Beefheart was at his peak at this time, in my opinion. There's a lower quality version of the entire thing, here, so you can see the missing performance of "Big Joan".

A gay man shamelessly flaunts his orientation.

My MP3 player is now playing the Isley's Twist and Shout while claiming that it is in fact Exterminate by Zillatron.

Perhaps something similar happened in the minds of viewers of last Saturday's X Factor final. Instead of the dreary "Leon" they imagined they were watching a performer of genius such as the late Freddie Garrity of Freddie and the Dreamers fame. It would explain a lot.

Demonic possession is at the root of all such phenomena of course, as the late Rosemary Brown was only telling me the other day.