When Saint Barry gets this kind of response to one of his lofty pronouncements:
…it is, as they say, to LOL.
Month: September 2025
New York Story
You may want to watch this video first, for context…
Back in the mid-90s, I was living in North Joizee, and one Sunday we decided to to take the family over to Manhattan for some window-shopping, food and just breathe in the atmosphere of the City. I’d been there many times before, and Connie had actually lived in Chinatown for a while, several years earlier.
Anyway, we were walking through Greenwich Village after lunch at some diner or other, when I spotted from some distance away a young guy walking towards us, showing the same kind of attitude as The Verve’s Richard Ashcroft in the video, bumping carelessly into people and in general acting like a total asshole.
So I quietly told Connie to get behind me and shepherd the kids towards the shop window and away from the street. She could tell from my attitude that something was about to happen, but as a one-time New Yorker she had street smarts and didn’t argue the point.
I watched this guy getting closer, and adjusted my position slightly towards the middle of the sidewalk, more or less in line with his approach. Then about two steps before he got close, I looked to my right as though window-shopping, and braced myself. Actually, I didn’t just brace myself: I leaned forward and hardened my stance. I might even have pushed forward a little.
So we collided. But instead of Mr. Attitude carrying on like nothing had happened, he bounced off me and flew off the sidewalk, smashing into a parked car and falling heavily to the ground.
I didn’t even look round, just carried on walking, but I heard Connie giggle, “Whoa… well, he had that coming.”
I fucking hate antisocial self-centered punks. My only regret after all these years is that I wasn’t in that video to dole out the same treatment to Richard Ashcroft.
Always loved the song, though.
Current Wallpaper
From the brilliant brush of artist Alan Fearnley:
I don’t even fish, never have, and yet I find this picture quite captivating.
Not Gonna Do It
This headline gave me the giggles:
Well, yes he should — except that BritPM Starmer is actually a rent poster boy for the “Britain-hating left”, so it’s unlikely to happen.
I’m just astonished that the article was published by the normally-astute TCW…
Anyway, while this is all very interesting, we Over Here should be worrying about our own Left, whose best descriptor would be “America-hating” — kindred spirits, as it were.
…and if I have to identify these foul bastards for you, you just haven’t been paying attention.
I’d go on, but I’ve inflicted enough punishment on your eyeballs today.
Caption Competition #411
Your suggestions in Comments.
Dept. Of Righteous Shootings
…in which we debate the use of the word “alleged”.
But first, the salient details of the case:
An alleged armed intruder died around 1:45 a.m. Sunday on the back porch of a Pierce County, Washington, home after a homeowner shot him.
KOMO News reported the homeowner called 911 to inform them he had shot an alleged intruder. Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputies arrived on scene to find a 36-year-old suspect “with a single gunshot wound on the back porch.”
[cue applause for excellent shot placement]
Now I understand that everyone has to use the word “alleged” in matters like this, because the “alleged” dead guy had not been proven to be an intruder in a court of law.
In this case, however, the Corpus Delicti isn’t ever going to court, unless they rename cemeteries as such. And then there’s this:
KING5 quoted Sheriff’s Office PIO officer Carly Cappetto saying, “In the surveillance video, it does show that suspect had a gun in his hand and was actively banging on [the] back door of that homeowner in a fully fenced backyard.”
Seems like pretty conclusive evidence that said “suspect” was indeed intruding — unless Our Hero had given him permission to climb over the backyard fence, which seems unlikely; and similarly, the soon-to-be-dead asshole was carrying a gun, which in any place not named Boston or London might seem to indicate that he was dangerous, and therefore worthy of shooting — unless he simply wanted Our Hero to help him clean the thing, which also seems unlikely.
I should point out that when I report on Righteous Shootings, I often edit the headlines or text to remove these silly little qualifiers (like “suspected” or “alleged”) because they’re pointless and are there only to appease the Powdered Wig types in the public defenders’ office.
In situations like the above Blessed Event, however, such qualifiers are just unnecessary.