Sheffield Hallam University Library

There are two copies of my new book on the shelves of Sheffield Hallam University Library!

TUNNELS.. Official Underground music

TUNNELS.. Official Underground music on MySpace Music: saw DJ Ben Langham, aka Ben Phaze on BBC Breakfast this morning. He makes young person's 'dance' music from sounds sampled from London's Underground railway!

100% free

100-free.jpg
Originally uploaded by fred pipes

I was going to be harsher about this packaging, but have since mellowed. People get very confused about percentages. I've seen cleaning products and shampoo for example advertised as 100% free. That doesn't mean you don't have to pay for it at all - it means you'll get twice as much for your money. Or in the case of these stock cubes, two for the price of one. The thinking goes: you're getting 200% for the price of 100% therefore 100% is free. Or, each pack is half price, so you are getting 50% free. Times that by two packs and you arrive at 100% free. Or more accurately, 100% extra free. Some people don't think you can have more than 100% - you can't for example have more than 100% of a cake - that'd be more than one cake. 'He gave 110%' is a jarring phrase used to describe a footballer or an athlete trying a little bit harder. But if you blow up a photo 200%, it's twice the size of the original (well, four times really, but that's another story)! BTW I was rather hoping that Infinity Foods (where I got this) would have had an offer on the salt-reduced versions of these, but alas no.

Wikipedia

Chatting to my coffee chum Adrian the other day over a toasted teacake at Capers got me wondering how many of my mates have Wikipedia entries. Mine was a struggle to establish - and it's not out of the woods yet! I was deemed not notable enough at first and various friends had to find citations here there and everywhere to back it up (you're not allowed to amend your own entry, which is very frustrating)! Well, Adrian Oxaal probably has the biggest entry. He's followed by my social secretary Peter Chrisp. Fellow Brightonian Marek Kohn also has an entry, but after that we're struggling! People you'd expect to have entries don't: no Dan Thompson (it was apparently deleted), Foz? Foster gets a mention both under The Monochrome Set and David Devant and his Spirit Wife but not under his own name! David Bramwell is in there but only as the real name of Dave Spikey! Then we are into the territory of acquaintances: I was at school with Peter Skellern and we both came to London in 1965. I worked with Nick Crane, at a Gomshall architects called Hutton + Rostron in 1977, both of us writing entries for the Barbour Index. My Time Team editor Steve Platt gets the briefest entry. I'm sure there are others - let me know - I'll continue to search.