WhatisNews?

Off base

Posts are likely to be severely disrupted this week - but not because of the arrival of some traditional British winter weather. I am on an army base in darkest Hampshire, being trained to survive in a "hostile environment" in advance of a planned filming trip to Iraqi Kurdistan next month with Stu Hughes (see Beyond Northern Iraq for more on Stu...)

Large parts of the course are about first aid, and I'm pleased to say I now know what to do if I stumble across an unconcious person in the middle of the road. Call an ambulance.

Beef or chicken?

Airlinemeals.net is "the World's first site about nothing but airline food." Brought back lots of happy Aeroflot and Jet Airways memories...

This pic

Spasiba!

was taken by Peter Falatyn flying from Moscow to Brussels on 3 February 2003 in economy. Meal type: Dinner - Salmon and mini-shrimp appetizer; green salad with mayonnaise; cream chicken over vegetables w/ rice; soft cheese wedge; Cadbury "Tempo" for dessert. Comments: "Rather uninspired, but Aeroflot always has good salmon" Rating 1-10 (worst-best): 6

And here's a nice Jet meal...

Love those Jet napkins...

Hands up

Some poor journo has to write this rubbish...

Disco Boris

Boris Yeltsin has admitted he was not a healthy man during his two stints as Russia's first post-Soviet leader.

"While I was president, I survived five heart attacks," the 73-year-old told the RIA Novosti news agency.

In true Soviet style, these were hushed up - and officials usually blamed Yeltsin's absences from the Kremlin on a "bad cold."

These days, Yeltsin's health is much better. "Now I feel active, both mentally and physically," he said.

Yeltsin, who helped bring democracy to Russia, is probably best remembered for his dancing at an election campaign rock concert.

And the beat goes on...

I love this picture - mostly for the look on Yeltsin's face. It won a Pulitzer Prize for photographer Alexander Zemlianichenko back in 1997.

John Howard blogs

"When I think back on 2003, one word immediately comes to mind: Democracy. I reckon 2003 was absolutely chockers with democracy. We fully had democracy coming out of our ears. So I'd just like to look back at some of the democratic things that happened this year:

First off, I invented Anti-Terrorist Fridge Magnets. Australian fridges are now so democratic it hurts. And they totally worked, ‘cause Australia hasn’t been attacked once by Terrorists. Plus, fridge-magnets are heaps non-violent, which makes me look good. They reckon that Ghandi guy was some sort of hero of non-violent resistance, but I’ll go down in history as the bloke that single-handedly stopped Terrorism in Australia. I don’t wear a nappy like he did, either, ‘cause Janette reckons that I’m a big boy and I don’t need them."

...from a hilarious blog written by Australian PM John Howard. Or perhaps not.

Weird democrats

I thought British politicians were strange, but these must be difficult times for American Democrats. Howard Dean unexpectedly lost Iowa and revealed what a plonker he is afterwards by shouting and screeching like some sort of autistic chimpanzee. (I understand his howls have already been dubbed onto a porn movie by an enterprising auteur...) Plus, he wears really - and I mean really - cheap looking clothes.

But check out the alternative... the winner in Iowa was John Kerry. This dude looks completely weird. I mean, that's got to be a wig he has on his head... If not, why does he have his hair cut to make it look as though he is sporting a fibreglass toupe?

John Kerry: bad bouffant.

My money's on John Edwards, simply because he's the least freaky.

Sunday night at the movies

Saw Lost in Translation last night (for a very reasonable £3 a ticket, thanks to the cinema price wars going on around here at the moment.) Brilliant film.

OK, I admit, not a great deal happens and it goes a little bit wobbly in the middle when the two main characters "lose" themselves in Tokyo for a night.

So why's it so good?

1. Bill Murray (by no means my favourite actor) is funny and terribly sad at the same time (not easy to pull off).
2. Scarlett Johansson is wonderful (especially when she sings Brass in Pocket in the karaoke bar at the end of the aforementioned lost night).
3. There's no sign of a Neo, a robot or an Orc.

In summary, it's a movie for people who aren't wearing mental short trousers. Go see it!

"For relaxing times, make it Suntory times..."

Saddam in a hole

Realised last night that the bookshop in my local train station is better than the "Books etc" at Heathrow Terminal 4 (which is a really, really crap bookshop.) Anyway, bought a book and they gave me a free copy of "Nuts" - a new weekly magazine for men. It was pretty dismal, but did have one amusing pic...

Brain food

Remind me not to eat out in Indiana, where the dish of the day is deep-fried cow's brain, served in a bun. Please don't anybody tell me that Brits have bad food again.

Yum yum.

Clark on the cheap

Last night's Alan Clark Diaries on BBC 4 was something of a disappointment. Not because the acting or script were inferior - they weren't. But it all looked so cheap and nasty. Watching this you'd think nobody actually worked in Whitehall. Extras were obviously a bit too much for the budget, so every corridor was weirdly empty. The crucial scene, in which Clark made a speech in the House of Commons after drinking several bottles of wine, was a disaster. There was no attempt at a set which resembled Parliament, no wide shots, no cutaways. Just John Hurt with a couple of faces behind him. When Clare Short intervened to point out that Clark was "incapable" we didn't even get to see the actress - just heard her voice.

Meanwhile, an interesting bubble-bursting exercise on Clark the man from Boyd Tonkin in the Independent.