Snail mail...

I was impressed to find these stamps on some post we received last week. I think my MP was a bit bemused I'd scanned them in but an envelope with stamps on from 1977 and 1986 surely deserves some attention.

Is this a record? (No, its a blog post...)

Chris Eubank had never seemed so appealing...

Today South Shields, tomorrow Jerusalem.

Egregious George is doing an "event" at the Customs House in South Shields, South Tyneside, on June 23. Apparently its the beginning of the MP for Baathnel Green & Bow's "The Mother of All One-Man Shows" tour. Sounds great.

Tickets are priced at One Oil Barrel each and are available from all good jihadists. Tour merchandise - including car stickers proclaiming 'My other car runs on the oil-for-food programme', and 'Tariq Aziz went to Iraq and all he brought me back was this lousy Mercedes' - will also be sold at the event.

We all know how difficult GG finds it to get his point across, starved as he is of publicity, so it is good to see him given the opportunity to take his case to the people. Thank goodness we live in a democracy, huh?

The man himself says he's "looking forward to a lively Q&A session with theatregoers - who are free to ask me anything". "And I'll answer by calling them wolves, donkeys or drink-soaked popinjays" he didn't add.

Let's hope the "Hitch" can make it to South Shields - perhaps we should start a Mariam Appeal style-campaign to raise the air fare cash? - and make it a truly lively Q&A session. Of course, all this wouldn't have been possible if Chris Eubank hadn't cancelled his show planned for the same night. Its one of those rare occasions when the cancellation of a Chris Eubank gig should be met with mass disappointment.

Without wanting to be a one-trick pony (oh how I dream of attaining such sophistication), I include GG's latest brush with authority. Taken from the Guardian's "backbencher" bulletin:

George Galloway's brotherly charm failed to move one of Labour's more assertive members during the GLA's questioning of the Respect MP this morning. The London assembly member Jennette Arnold, who is black, was pressing George rather hard about his claims of electoral fraud in Bethnal Green and Bow: "Full respect, sister!" he said.
"I am not your sister," she replied.

George was unabashed. "I'm sorry if what I'm saying is making you uncomfortable," he added a few minutes later, after laying into New Labour. "You could never make me uncomfortable," said Jennette.

Cool

From Pootergeek

who got it via the Motley Fool. These are cool! (Note added, for the 'gifted' among you.You will need to click on the bullet pointed titles e.g. "Blair on top".)

2-d chalk, 3-d illusion. I might commission this guy to chalk a big hole with sharks in it for our pathway when the landlady visits to collect the rent...

Ever the charmer...

Fresh from being labelled a "drink-sodden ex-Trotskyist popinjay" the Hitch pitched up at the Hay festival to "discuss sibling rivalry, politics and reconciliation" with his brother Peter (courtesy of the Guardian).

Those of you partial to jokes about the Red Army should enjoy it but its well worth its worth a read. Go to:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1495857,00.html

Would have been good to have been there, with CH sounding as entertaining as usual, but may not be a good idea to question the expression of his nictotine habit...

Female audience member Excuse me. I'm not usually awkward at all but I'm sitting here and we're asked not to smoke. And I don't like being in a room where smoking is going on.
CH (smoking heavily): Well you don't have to stay darling, do you? I'm working here and I'm your guest, OK? And this is what I'm like; nobody has to like it.
IK Would you just stub that one out?
CH No. I cleared it with the festival a long time ago. They let me do it.
FAM We should all be allowed to smoke then.
CH Fair enough. I wouldn't object. It might get pretty nasty though. I have a privileged position here, I'm not just one of the audience, so it would be horrible if everyone was like me. This is my last of five gigs, I've worked very hard for the festival. I'm going from here to Heathrow airport. If anyone doesn't like it they can kiss my ass.
IK Would anyone like to take up that challenge?
(Laughter. Woman walks out)