tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:57:36 +0000<a href="http://www.star-dot-star.net/">Books at Star Dot Star</a> is passionate about books, always has been, always will be. We supply other bibliophiles (and other readers in general) with an eclectic mix of rare, used, out-of-print and antiquarian books and ephemera. <P>Specialties include materials on Food, Drink & Cookery, Politics & History, Journalism & Writing, IT & Telecoms and Bus & Transport(not necessarily in that order).http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (tober)Blogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-3486189956231894649Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:05:00 +00002008-01-11T18:19:45.554ZTo borrow a phrase from Edwin Starr, Freeview. What is it good for?! Absofuckinlutely Nothing!Freeview, promotes itself as "free TV land".Well, I guess that's true, if...If you like your TV shows' video to stutter and stop several times per minute.If you like your TV shows' video to be peppered with out of synch picture lines.If you like your TV shows' audio to lose almost half of the total http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2008/01/freeview-what-is-it-good-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-1635351774017994155Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:43:00 +00002007-12-24T17:48:31.697ZJust had the following message in response to my Post Office related posts which I'm posting anonymously for the person for obvious reasons:>Bruce, I own a Post Office and, really, couldn't put it better myself. Can't>name names here... the management keep a very close eye on what we>say I'm afraid....>More power to your pen Sir!D.Thank you. It's good to see some postal employes/owners who don't http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/12/more-power-to-your-pen-sir.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-444279827082933086Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:17:00 +00002007-11-28T22:18:20.083ZThose of you who read my rant about the UK's alleged post office system, known as "Post Office Ltd" will know I'm not its greatest fan.And now more than ever.As if things with the post office system here aren't bad enough, it's been announced that some 2,500 branches (of 14,000 post offices nationwide) will be closed by the powers that be. And that's in addition to the closure already completedhttp://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/11/going-even-postaler-is-that-word.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-640541985981800463Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:20:00 +00002007-11-21T08:26:12.194ZEngland, the UK, Britain, whatever name you use for it, the most appropriate name is Oceania, one of the three countries in the world ofOrwell's "1984".We have more Surveillance cameras in operation in public spaces, private spaces and any other spaces you can name, than any other country in the world.We have the world's largest DNA database.Our government wants every one of us to have a http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/11/1984.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-5387704984892455120Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:09:00 +00002007-10-31T17:26:25.013ZDon't Eat! Don't Drink! Don't Smoke! Just sit there and veg out and you too can live forever.Oh, and don't forget not to breath the air or go outside, or drive a car, or ride in a bus or train.Yes, afraid the latest word from the medical profession's cancer specialists is that eating (especially red meat) or drinking even small amounts of booze, can cause cancer.In my 60+ years on this earth I http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/10/dont-eat-dont-drink-dont-smoke-just-sit.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-6911059423017066103Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:41:00 +00002007-10-25T14:56:38.147ZAs some of you will know, I recently visited my son and family in the States (see here and here). One of the highlights was a day out atTerhune Orchards Farm. And what a day out it was.No glitz and glittery plastic and steel theme-park junk. Just plain old-fashioned fun. The play in and on "toys" and the maze and the trip through the history of corn were all done with great creativity, http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/10/terhune-orchards-farm-what-great-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-6492762538804604352Thu, 18 Oct 2007 06:11:00 +00002007-10-18T06:15:55.298ZOnce upon a time H.L. Mencken said:" . . . all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the manwho can most easily and adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. Thepresidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the officerepresents, more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. Onhttp://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/10/h-l-mencken-got-it-right.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-8746520464874431083Thu, 18 Oct 2007 05:10:00 +00002007-10-18T05:16:58.680ZThat all-time most popular Hide-Under-The-Bed book of teen-aged boys, John Cleland's Fanny Hill : Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure is finally coming to TV. With a screen play by that doyen of classic novels into great TV scripts, Andrew Davies, FH will hit the TV screens on BBC-Four TV with Episode 1 on Monday 22 October from 9pm-10pm and Episode 2 on Monday 29 October 9pm-10pm. See the BBC's http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/10/fanny-hill-coming-to-tv-yep.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-4544993802498271077Mon, 15 Oct 2007 03:00:00 +00002007-10-15T03:11:42.214ZOh, and one more thing, positive rather than negative (see blog item from yesterday):As those of you who have (or will now) read my commentary on Chip 'n' Pin "technology" will know, I'm not at all fond of it. Actually I see only one reason for the banks making it mandatory for us consumers to use it and that is so the banks can further distance themselves from any responsibility for the http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/10/oh-and-one-more-thing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-2736462224387322348Sun, 14 Oct 2007 08:54:00 +00002007-10-14T20:31:34.948ZWhile on holiday earlier this month, visiting my son, my grand-daughter, and my son's new partner (Liz), I found to my delight that Liz is ashonestly outspoken as I like to think I am. And thank heavens for that. I determined this fact by listening to her comments about me being toonegative. I therefore decided to try to be a bit more vocal about the things I like.So here, for your edification, http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/10/me-too-negative-of-course-not.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-3366960771935208693Sun, 14 Oct 2007 08:43:00 +00002007-10-14T08:54:28.755ZThank heavens there's no such thing as Global Warming.I've just returned from a visit to the USA. I chose October to make the trip to visit my son, his new partner and his daughter, my grand-daughter, in expectation of wonderfully cool weather. I HATE hot weather.So what did I experience? The bloody hottest early October weather in recorded history, in the 90s (Fahrenheit) and hugely humid http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/10/thank-heavens-theres-no-such-thiing-as.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-8277518355178059408Wed, 19 Sep 2007 12:00:00 +00002007-09-19T12:39:35.643ZDamn! It's a good thing I get such enormous amounts of SPAM. How else would I be able to increase my vocabulary?You can't imagine (if you don't get much SPAM) just how many terms there are for "penis" or "girl" or "woman" or "sex" etc.I was going to draw up a list of them all, but it grew too long (the list, not my penis, or at least I don't think so, I've not measured it lately).And that's not http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/09/damn-its-good-thing-i-get-such-enormous.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-6325469104049434743Fri, 31 Aug 2007 17:54:00 +00002007-08-31T18:23:11.321ZOnce upon a time there was a female (allegedly) scientist who was part of the team (though to hear her psyco-fants tell it, she did it herself) which developed the first soft frozen ice cream. The process involved "doubling the amount of air in ice cream, which allowed manufacturers to use less of the actual ingredients, thereby reducing costs," according to Wikipedia. That, of course, means thathttp://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/08/is-it-my-imagination-or-are-our-young.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-2881055587977740780Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:34:00 +00002007-08-27T15:52:06.145ZWell, I've now researched and listed almost 50 of the couple of hundred Theatre Programmes I acquired recently. Usually I can list five or six books in an hour or so. These have taken me more like an hour or so to research and list just one of these programmes. But what fun it's been. And for men and women of a certain age (like me at 61 years old) to find the debut  stage performances of those http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/08/more-on-theatre-programmes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-7527772804685980957Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:30:00 +00002007-08-27T15:33:53.386ZJust a brief note:I just finished an early dinner. Went for my tobacco and rolling machine. Grabbed a filter, opened the roller, only to find I already had a cigarette prepared from earlier.I love it when that happens!It's not as good when I roll a dozen or more at a time, because then there's no surprise.http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/08/i-love-it-when-that-happens.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-9121803770015185805Sat, 25 Aug 2007 18:54:00 +00002007-08-25T19:08:37.748ZIt's nearly the end of the Proms Season here. I've only caught a few, but they're leaving me amazed.A few days ago it was The Venezuelan National Youth Orchestra. What a totally spectacular performance they gave. Enthusiastic, joyful, and such talent.Tonight it's the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Bernard Haitink. I missed the music by Wagner but was on time to catch that by Debussy.http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/08/its-amazing-miraculous-words-just-cant.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-4416497175388875478Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:18:00 +00002007-08-19T13:44:15.852ZI recently acquired 200-300 theatre souvenir programmes from the 1930s through the early 2000s from theatres throughout the UK. The collection was lovingly put together by H. W. Roxburgh of Liverpool. I'm currently going through the uniquly enjoyable (well in my youth I wanted to be a stage actor, the closest I came was in school productions and in the chorus of my local Summer Stock theatre), http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/08/theatre-programmes-galore.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-4383830226487935441Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:47:00 +00002007-08-13T09:52:12.166ZStuart Manley of Barter Books in the UK has put up a page to rate book search sites. In addition, the page includes some very important, money-saving hints on book buying. The page is here.http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/08/online-booksearch-ratings-and-book.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-6187920300406488808Wed, 08 Aug 2007 11:23:00 +00002007-08-08T11:42:35.390ZAh for the good old days, when "tech support" meant you got to speak to a technician who knew the product inside out and backward and was educated enough to be able to explain the solution to your problem in terms even an idiot could understand.And second best feature of that support was that it was free (no per call or per hour fee and a free 800 number to call). I'm thinking the late, lamented http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/08/technical-non-support.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-3187536905661526605Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:27:00 +00002007-08-08T10:28:26.602ZI can't believe it took me all this time to learn (amongst other things):1. When shaving, you can tap the narrow end of the razor againstthe sink to help clear it of shaved hairs, thus giving a better shave and prolonging the life of therazor. I used to just run it under the tap thinking that cleared most of it, but have now found it camenowhere near clearing as much.2. When using a http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/08/things-it-took-me-till-age-61-to-learn.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-3464879975003951030Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:14:00 +00002007-08-08T10:26:10.813ZWent to see "The Simpsons" movie and now remember why I don't go to the movies. It was the first time I'dbeen to the movie theatre in about six ears. The experience reminded me of the two main reasons I quit going.1. I kept dozing through it like I always did before. (I suffer from sleep apnoea and this dozing is one of the symptoms and is the reason I no longer drive.)2. I paid £5 (http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/08/went-to-see-simpsons-and-now-remember.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-5875979793554318912Wed, 16 May 2007 14:39:00 +00002007-05-16T15:45:41.759Zthe following was just posted to another list:>I just blogged about this,>but wanted to share a reasonably cool bit of bookish lore with this overly>receptive audience:>>On May 16th, 1763, Samuel Johnson and James Boswell first met. To>commemorate this momentous event, on this very day in 1791 Boswell>published his Life of Johnson. Noteworthy trivia, indeed.>>On the "the universe can be http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/05/happy-sam-johnson-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-5741560638053703083Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:02:00 +00002007-04-02T15:10:05.770Z"Going Postal". The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition, 2000 defines the term as, "Slang To become extremely angry or deranged, especially in an outburst of violence." The term came into use in about the 1980s as a reference to the many postal workers and former postal workers who rather suddenly began shooting up their offices and co-workers (and often http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/04/going-postal-uk-style-copyright-2007.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-249082578863306061Wed, 28 Feb 2007 15:28:00 +00002007-02-28T16:24:31.061Z"I thank God there are no free schools nor printing [in Virginia] and I hope we shall not have these hundred years; for learning has brought disobedience, and heresy and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them, ... God keep us from both!" "Rock", at Back Creek Books, Annapolis, MD found the following statement while reading A History of Printing in Colonial Maryland, 1686-1776 by http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/02/minutes-of-yesterdays-white-house.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31946885.post-227203108056443247Tue, 06 Feb 2007 16:10:00 +00002007-02-06T17:29:20.361ZThis volume from 1892 is proving a treasure trove of fascinating information. The following titbits may appeal to me simply because of my 45 years as a journalist or my 54 years as a political animal.In its series on "The Great London Dailies", the one I've just come to is about The Daily Telegraph. The Telegraph today is rather commonly known as "The Torygraph", being very much a supporter of http://stardotstarbooks.blogspot.com/2007/02/and-still-more-from-leisure-hour-1892.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tober)