September 11th 2026

September 11, 2026 by Leave a comment

We marked this date back in 2021 with a post musing on the interrelation of personal experience and history, and how one’s perspective on that changes as one grows older, while lamenting the modern-day tendency to view historical events through a contemporary lens, without a long-term perspective.

I still mostly hold the opinion that ahistorical analysis is problematic, but, remembering the tragedy of September 11th 2001, and reflecting on what I recall of the emotion of the time, and how that resonates to this day, it is clear that there are some things that touch upon our common humanity in a way that transcends temporal boundaries. One might think that such a bond would prevent us reenacting the disasters of the past, and while the last quarter-century would seem to belie this notion, it does give me some hope for the future.

Filed under Culture Tagged with ,

Super Bowl LXI prediction

September 10, 2026 by Leave a comment

It’s been evident for a few months that the Giants were not going to win the World Series, but now that they have been definitively eliminated I guess it’s time to turn my attention to the NFL, and put my reputation on the line with a forecast of who will come out on top when the football season concludes in Inglewood next February.

I’m going to stick with the team from San Francisco, despite their less-than-ideal preseason, featuring catastrophic injuries, a literal car wreck, and that tawdry incident in Ohio, and notwithstanding the fact that actual professional sports writers have more or less dismissed their chances of even reaching the playoffs.

They’ve had to travel 12,000 kilometres to Melbourne for their opening fixture tonight, so I’m not sure how much we’ll be able to read into the result, but a victory might go some way towards restoring my confidence in my powers of sporting prognostication…

Filed under Culture Tagged with ,

Gloria Steinem RIP

September 4, 2026 by Leave a comment

Looking back at the numerous obituary-themed posts we have featured over the years, I see that only three have had a female subject – Elizabeth Windsor, Margaret Thatcher, and Ruth Ginsburg – and none of them were even really about the woman herself, but rather used her demise as a jumping-off point for some other observations.

This is of course shameful, for a blog that links to think of itself as progressive, especially at a time when the struggles championed by Gloria Steinem are more relevant than they have been for years, as reactionary forces seek to roll back the gains won by the women’s movement in the last half-century.

Perhaps a relevant observation on Steinem’s life and work is to note that she was always aware of her own relative privilege, and leveraged that in support of those more marginalised. Certainly an example we could benefit from following…

Filed under Culture, Politics Tagged with ,

Final eclipse

August 13, 2026 by Leave a comment

We’ve enjoyed clear skies for most of this month, so I had hoped to have a good view of yesterday’s solar eclipse, but as the day went on the clouds rolled in, and by the evening the horizon was entirely obscured.

I can’t say that I was terribly disappointed, but I did experience some sadness as I contemplated the fact that I’m not likely to be around to witness the next performance of this cosmic dance, due in 2081.

Of course I could just get off my ass and travel the non-cosmic distance to Spain, where I’d be able to catch a total eclipse as soon as next year. Iberia has been getting uncomfortably hot of late though, so I’ll probably stick to watching it on the TV…

Filed under Culture Tagged with ,

Change at the top

July 20, 2026 by Leave a comment

So, Spain emerged triumphant at the World Cup, as we predicted (more or less), though their victory over reigning champions Argentina was one of the less thrilling games of the tournament. The winning goal was pretty impressive though.

There’s a new top dog here in the UK too. It’s still not entirely clear how Andy Burnham plans to steer the nation back towards the sunlit uplands, but he is making some vaguely promising noises, so I guess we should give him the benefit of the doubt, for a while at least…

Filed under Culture, Politics Tagged with , ,

Only halfway through the summer

July 14, 2026 by Leave a comment

Having patted myself on the back for the success of my bold prediction that three of the best teams on the planet would do quite well in the World Cup, I guess I should acknowledge that another of my sporting forecasts – that San Francisco would win the World Series – is looking rather less accurate.

I’ll admit that my confidence in the Giants’ shot at glory was based more on sentiment than cold calculation, but I was expecting that the All-Star break would see them still in contention for the playoffs, rather than sitting with the fifth-worst record in the big leagues.

Fortunately, baseball has the attractive feature of lots of games in a season, so even a terrible team will win once or twice most weeks, and there are certain to be some highlights for fans to cheer, like rounding off an unlikely late-inning comeback with a walk-off grand slam.

So I’ll keep on tuning in late at night, in the hope that the Giants will rally for a thrilling run to the postseason, or, failing that, at least beat the Dodgers a few more times…

Filed under Culture Tagged with ,

World Cup 2026 prediction update

July 12, 2026 by Leave a comment

So we’re at the semifinal stage, and 3 out of my 4 picks are still standing, which is actually the best possible outcome for my forecast, since I had misread the bracket and missed that France and Germany couldn’t both make it this far.

The surprise package are England, but I can’t see them getting past Argentina. France versus Spain looks likely to be close, but I’ll stick with my prediction that the French will make the final, and lift the trophy.

Filed under Culture Tagged with ,

July 4th 2026

July 4, 2026 by Leave a comment

I have vague memories of the events marking the bicentennial of the American Revolution back in 1976. I was quite young, so the only clear image that I recall is a photo of an aircraft carrier with sailors lined up on the deck in the shape of “1776-1976”, but I also remember that, in the wake of disappointments like Watergate, the fall of Saigon, and the Ford administration generally, the prevailing mood was rather downbeat.

Fast-forward 46 years, and I found myself sitting on a beach in California, pleasantly baked, watching the fireworks and feeling that the US, after a few rough years, was back on a broadly progressive course. No doubt my optimistic outlook was influenced by the summer warmth and the agreeable company, but it’s still disheartening that just four years later it looks like everything is going to hell again.

My American friends are actually considerably more relaxed about the situation than I am, reassuring me that good sense will reassert itself in November, and I guess they have the advantage of being in the country, rather than residing an ocean away, so perhaps I should just chill out, and start planning another trip to see them for the 251st.

Filed under Culture, Politics Tagged with , , ,

World Cup 2026 prediction

June 15, 2026 by Leave a comment

I’ve been out of the country for the last few weeks; not so remote that I was completely unaware of developments at home, alas, but sufficiently distant that the news I did catch didn’t impinge on my sense of wellbeing too much.

I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to maintain that contented detachment now that I’ve returned, but I’ve been trying to ease myself back into the alarming reality of contemporary life by contemplating the possible outcomes of the World Cup.

Of course I can’t be bothered doing the research into the recent form of the 48 teams in the tournament that would be required for any sort of informed forecast for the 72 group stage games, and I don’t really understand how the seeding works for the knockout rounds, so I have no clue when the favourites are likely to meet up.

Nevertheless I’ll confidently go for a last four of France, Spain, Germany and Argentina, and France to win.

Filed under Culture Tagged with ,

For the birds

May 9, 2026 by Leave a comment

Today is World Migratory Bird Day, which seems like a good time to check in on how my feather-based sports betting strategy is working out.

I had more or less written off New Orleans and Atlanta in the NBA, and sure enough the Pelicans missed the playoffs, while the Hawks fell in the first round.

I had higher hopes for Anaheim and Pittsburg in the NHL, which has turned out to be about half-right; the Ducks are still in the postseason mix, though they’ll have to pick up a bit to make it to the Conference Final.

It’s still early season in the MLB, so I guess I should reserve judgement, but it’s not looking good, with the Orioles and the Blue Jays struggling, and only the Cardinals over .500.

So overall fairly disappointing. Maybe it only works for the NFL…

Filed under Culture Tagged with ,

← Older posts