Michael Blowhard writes:

Dear Blowhards --

* 15,000 Frenchies a year are moving to Britain, and Dr. Madsen Pirie can explain why. He has an especially nice way of posing the question, though:

Now why do people leave a country with better food, more reliable transport, longer lunch breaks, and more generous social security?

* Kirsten ventures a radical thought: that it's OK for a kid to not know what he/she wants to do in life.

* I've been a regular visitor to Dave Taylor's computer-tips site for a long time. Dave's not just supersmart and eager that we non-geeks should be able to enjoy our computers, he's also cheery -- the site is good reading -- and has a rare knack for speaking plain English. Only recently, though, did I send my own first question in to him. To my surprise and delight, Dave sent me a personal email back within days, solving my problem.

* Shouting Thomas thinks that live performances still have a lot to recommend them.

* Just back from BlogHer, Colleen knows what it takes to make a convention a good one: "Food! Food! Food!" Great quote:

I did not walk five feet from a session EVER at BlogHer without there being baskets of fruit or plates of cookies or dishes of something. It improved my mood enormously.

* Here's a smart and funny list of stock characters. I wonder which one I'd be ... Hmm: I don't see an entry for "A lov-air, not a fight-air"...

* Neil thinks that personal bloggers are more important than political bloggers.

Best,

Michael

RE French leaving.
I had a French girlfriend for a number of years. France is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and the neocon hatred of the French is unwarranted as is their alleged cowardice, which is not only insulting, but ignorant to anyone familiar with the napoleonic wars, WWI and the battle of Algiers....
I knew multiculturalism and the views of our so called elite were headed for a crash and burn when i heard my girlfriend say "old ladies are afraid to go out at night" - this was in Nice and these women had grown up there. The same pattern throughout France. The reason? Mass immigration, particularly from east europe and north africa.
I also recall white french students were ATTACKED (this was largely ignored in the news) by algerians and blacks when they protested in Paris a couple of years back.
France has gone from a safe, clean, peaceful country to a near war zone in parts. I am 36, and in my lifetime, I have seen paris go from a relatively safe city to a place where i get that creepy feeling i have to look over my shoulder - a well bred instinct growing up in new york

Posted by: a reader on August 10, 2006 9:48 AM

That awful Mrs. Thatcher. She turned Britain back into a capitalist swamp. The result? A frog invasion!

Posted by: ricpic on August 10, 2006 11:18 AM

That Dave Taylor site is awesome. Like I really need any more time suckage, but this is in the name of productivity, so what the hell...

Posted by: communicatrix on August 10, 2006 1:36 PM

re: A non-premeditated life

Correspondence From The Goals Board

Dear California Blow Dryed,

It has come to our attention that you have never reached your self set goal of moving and dancing like Fred Astaire. Though you have had a lifetime to figure it out, your fox trot looks suspiciously like your Samba, and it has been reported that you still walk into door jambs when entering a room.

We kindly suggest that you pursue something else that will get you going in the right direction.

Sincerely,

The Goals Board
_______

Dear Goals Board,

I think I do move just like Fred Astaire and am doing just fine. Please leave me alone. I'll figure it out how to get through the door jambs later.

Yours,
California Blow Dryed

Posted by: california blow dryed on August 10, 2006 2:48 PM

Thanks for the compliments, but really, are you reeeaalllyyyy wasting your time when you explore my site? :-)

If only you saw the questions that came in every day. THAT"S how to waste time!

Posted by: Dave Taylor on August 16, 2006 2:13 AM






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