Kester Brewin

Tag: Culture

  • ID Cards | Data Protection | Education/Legislation

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    The Customs and Revenue department announced today that it had somehow ‘mislaid’ discs containing all of the details of 25 million people in Britain claiming Child Benefit. Personal details, bank details, National Insurance numbers and addresses were all part of the records that went missing in an internal mail delivery. And this is within a…

  • In Praise of Eccentricity

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    Just back from a wonderful weekend in the depths of Wales. I didn’t find RS Thomas, or any great rural epiphany, but, in keeping with the joys of weekends in other people’s houses, had a great time dipping into some books. The most enjoyable was Edith Sitwell’s English Eccentrics*. It’s an eccentric volume itself, but…

  • Digital Obesity | Personal Bandwidth

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    Apologies for those of you who’ve been waiting on tenterhooks for the Facebook article I blogged about a while ago (it’s OK – I don’t really believe that 😉 It got bumped to December’s issue, so will be out shortly. I’ve led two discussion groups recently, one in a crypt, one in a library –…

  • Howies: Tales of the City

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    OK, so Howies opened a store in Carnaby Street – their first in London. Which is great. I hope they do well. But I have to admit their attitude to the city – and to London in particular – has been mostly negative. Indeed, their catalogues in the past have regularly been virtual tracts for…

  • Storyquest | Lara Croft is no Wise Guide | Antisocial Behaviour

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    Storyquest is the national festival of story-telling and the spoken word, and runs for the whole of November. Alongside many keynote events, the organizers – the Prince of Wales’ Foundation for Children & the Arts – are simply encouraging families to ‘fill their homes with stories, capturing the moment when a story gets inside you…

  • ‘Does Your Soul Have a Cold?’ | Wholphin | IFC Monday 9pm EDT

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    KB

    Out of the same stable as The Believer, Wholphin is a short-story mag for short films. They mailed me today about a great-looking film, showing on IFC this Monday at 9pm EDT. (I’d love someone to record it for me 😉 The spiel goes: Back in 2000, western pharmaceutical companies began a massive marketing campaign…