Englanding #8 : Monolith!

So, going back to Birmingham has actually been fairly reassuring. A few stores have closed down, though not as many as I had feared, and a whole bunch of new ones have opened up. Things have changed a little, but not enormously so my entire world isn't off balance like it was when I returned from University to find that half of Solihull had been converted into a mall.

However there is one new, big, fairly ugly player on the skyline:


THE CUBE.

Probably I don't need to write that in capitals but it seems more apt that way. I love brutalist architecture and buildings that stick out like a sore thumb and, in fact, ugly buildings in general so I'm broadly in favour of them constructing this massive block right next to the canals, but I would guess some people are less so. My photo doesn't place it in its surroundings sadly, but it towers over everything else and effectively dominates the area where they've chosen to place it. I don't know much about what is meant to be inside, but I'm really hoping that it won't be the cyberman processing plant that its name and appearance suggest.

Cats vs. Dogs

Again, I really don't want to be degenerating into a lacklustre, parody of a blogger, but I'm stretched a little thin and I'm determined to keep this ticking.

And a news article like this just begs me to post it:

Cats outsmarted in psychologist's test

Do you like cats more than dogs? Oh? You do? Do you often smirk about how cats are smarter than dogs, those four-legged buffoons? You do that too? Then I strongly recommend you read the article. Upshot?

DOGS ARE SMARTER THAN CATS.

SO FUCK OFF.

If you'll pardon my French.

Two Notable Public Appearances by Japanese Public Figures

This was world news, I even found an ITN piece about it on youtube, the Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa was pretty clearly trolleyed on something at a G7 meeting in Rome, here some of the highlights:

And here's where he falls asleep:

So apparently Aso's approval rating is below 10% and people are wondering if he'll quit. Jesus, please not another Prime Minister quitting - just call an election already.

So, while Nakagawa was making a tit of himself, under the influence of fatigue, jetlag and cold medication or whatever, Murakami Haruki made a fantastic speech collection the Jerusalem prize in Israel:

That's like, balance or something, right?