As explained here in an earlier posting, I recently decided to blog more at Samizdata and less here, and I am very happy to report that this is exactly what has been happening.  (It is one thing to “make a decision”, quite another to actually do what you merely “decided”.) But if postings here do still make their way into your life, may I wish you a very Happy Christmas, and assure you that it is at least my present intention that, from time to time (and perhaps if the mood takes me more often than that), things will keep appearing here.  In this connection I particularly like the words at the top of one of my favourite blogs, this one, which say: “Here’s a bunch of thoughts that won’t go anywhere else”.  Although with me it’s more likely to be photographs.

In that photographic trivia spirit, here is a picture I really like, which I took in 2004, which I found when rootling through my photo-archives looking for suitable photos to enliven Christmas at Samizdata:

Like so many of the more enjoyable things in life generally, and communication in particular, this is a modified cliché.  The usual picture taken from this spot, in front of Tate Modern and looking over the Millenium Bridge to St Paul’s Cathedral, is take from the bridge, leaning against that glass barrier at the back.  Quite right too, it’s a fine snap, the only problem with it being that you will have seen it already a dozen times.  So there is a slightly different version of the same splendid view.  Hope you like it, or at least what it is of, and as I say, Happy Christmas.

And how:

It’s one of of these.

There’s a definite hint there of somewhat excessive Photoshopping.  But I forgive it.

Further to my effort to keep this blog ticking over, on account that one day it might come in handy, here is a piece of kitten blogging, on account of it being Friday which is my day for kitten blogging.

I seem to recall, a long time ago, Smith and Jones, or Hale and Pace, somebody, doing a sketch where one of them threatened to microwave a kitten.  I forget why.  I don’t recall them actually doing this, but the mere thought of such an atrocity caused several sacks of outrage correspondence from the nothing-better-to-do-than-bitch-about-the-telly tendency.

It was going to happen eventually.  Now, somebody has gone the whole hog and actually done this:

Callous Gina Robins put the helpless ten-week-old pet in the 770-watt oven and turned it on.

Owner Sarah Knutton heard a loud noise “like a crisp packet being popped” followed by an “horrendous screech” as it died in agony.

Revenge because Sarah stole Gina’s boyfriend.  Or something.

Horrible.

Cheer yourself up with the bear who waved back.

On Saturday I went to St Paul’s Cathedral, front of, to hear Kevin Dowd and Gordon Kerr address the Occupy St Paul’s people.  In the event I head very little of what they said, Kerr having been and gone before I even got there.  But I was very impressed that they did it.

If my time at Occupy St Paul’s was anything to go by, it has all been thoroughly domesticated.  Somebody is definitely in charge of this thing, and with a combination of threats and negotiation, a stand-off agreeable to all has been achieved.  There is no sense of impending violence.  Nobody yelled at me when I wondered about in among the tents, taking photos.  Nobody yelled at Kevin or Gordon for spouting Austrian Economics.

Click at will for the big pictures.

My usual preoccupations are in evidence.  There are many signs.  There are, of course, digital photographers, because I was not the only one taking photos.  Many were just photo-ing St Paul’s.

The bloke in the cap taking photos is Nigel Meek, the Editorial and Membership Director of the Libertarian Alliance, who apparently showed up as a result of that Samizdata posting (already linked to above) that I did flagging this up.  Afterwards (he told me later) he went out drinking with Kevin and Gordon and had a great afternoon of it.

If this demo is anything to go by, the tent makers have done a good trade.

Things have been very quite around here, apart form the fucking spam commenters.  So here, just to keep things alive, is a picture of what could turn into the biggest airplane yet:

Found the picture here.  Samizdata and Instapundit are also excited.

The thing about conspicuous consumption is that in the end, it has to be truly impressive, and all these space rocket ventures really are impressive.

What I want is a world where the ultimate multi-billionaire purchase of choice is a new country. Imagine half a dozen of them competing to have the best one of those.  Hey, I think I just came up with another Samizdata posting there.  (But, I promise nothing.)

Once upon a time, I used to have a Culture Blog, now ruined of course.  But be that as it may, one of the semi-cultural things I found I really liked was stuff that wasn’t Modern Art, but which looked like it was Modern Art.  So, for instance, I love this:

Found it here.  Apparently it proves that all that “hide the decline” stuff was worse than we thought.

Which is the general effect that Climategate 2 seems to be having.  Worse than we thought.