October 9th - 15th 2006
Sunday Night Bus
Saturday Derek Pattinson
Friday Night Bus
Thursday Fight Fraud
Wednesday Night Bus
Tuesday Diary material
Monday Night Bus
Sunday 15th October
Night Bus, Autumn 2006
Saturday 14th October
Obituary Watch: The Rev Sir Derek Pattinson
Speaking in the General Synod when Pattinson retired, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, said: "It is not too much to say that Derek has been married to the Synod, and has loved and cherished it even in its most unpopular moments."
Not long afterwards it was discovered that Pattinson had been sharing his flat near Westminster Abbey with a homosexual activist and former member of the General Synod, Barnaby Miln, JP.
Pattinson quickly mastered the complex procedures of the new Synod and he soon became the central figure at Church House, Westminster...
Some outside commentators were less complimentary, one describing Pattinson as "a pin-striped eminence grise"; it became evident that any proposal which did not carry the imprimatur of the Secretary-General stood little chance of acceptance.
Following his retirement Pattinson went to St Deiniol's Library, Hawarden, to prepare for Holy Orders, and in 1991 became an honorary curate at St Gabriel's Church, Warwick Square, Pimlico.
In his most recent Who's Who entry Derek Pattinson cited Barnaby Miln (three years ago the subject of a tabloid story detailing his taste for rent boys, cocaine and spanking sessions) as his "partner".
Friday 13th October
Night Bus, Autumn 2006
Thursday 12th October
September is the fraud-fight month
Like the rest of you, I'm no fan of spam - especially the recent stock-tip nonsense which papers my in-boxes.
Sometimes though, you just have to stop and marvel at the sheer bare-faced cheek of it all.
I've been especially taken by a recent phishing trip by someone purporting to speak on behalf of Halifax Online:
Dear Client of Halifax Online!
Summer 2006 has been hard for our Bank due to the increasing number of clandestine practices. Sensible information about our clients is of constant interest for swindlers. Lots of people seek protection from the hazard of losing money from their bank accounts.
In this respect, Bank announces that September is the fraud-fight month. Before Octomber 1st all our clients should activate new account protection system...
We do not publish this information in mass media in order that malefactors could not employ it criminally.
Currently you may notice some defects.We are aware of them so you do not have to inform us of these problems, we shall obviate the difficulties on our own.
Best regards,
Fraud Fight Department,
Halifax Online
(I dare say it reads better in Nigerian.)
Wednesday 11th October
Night Bus, Autumn 2006
Tuesday 10th October
For a writer with a limited attention span, the journal is the ideal medium.
An overarching structure, pace, and the deployment of developing themes are unnecessary; all the successful diarist needs is a consistent tone of voice and the ability to be interesting about something, once a day.
The distractions to which Richie succumbed may have wrecked his novels and his marriage, but they gave him all the diary material he needed.
In a life of prolific underachievement, The Japan Journals are the masterpiece.
- a particularly blog-centric extract from the review quoted, at much greater length, below.
Monday 9th October
Night Bus, Autumn 2006
......previous week
