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“KEEP F***ING THAT CHICKEN!”

Not sure why I find this so funny. Maybe it’s because, with most clangers, you understand what the person intended to say, even if came out a little garbled. In this instance though, I have no earthly idea of what was this man could possibly have been trying to say. Even Will Ferrell would have trouble delivering lines this absurd.

During a routine back-and-forth with his local weather guy last night, veteran New York news anchor Ernie Anastos observed (bizarrely) that, “It takes a tough man to make a tender forecast, Nick.” Read the rest of this entry »

A HARD RAIN’S A-GONNA FALL (1962)

On the evening of September 11th, 2001, as the initial shock of what had happened that day began to abate, my thoughts turned to what would happen next. Events were still very much in flux, but it was already clear that whatever would transpire after the dust settled in New York, it wasn’t going be pretty.

I remember going for a drink in a pub that evening with some friends. It was Slattery’s on Capel Street. In the corner, Sky News was showing night vision pictures of the skyline over Kabul. The Northern Alliance were shelling Taliban positions. No one was quite sure what was going on exactly, but I remember people – punters, barstaff, everyone – staring at the television screen in grim silence. And this ominous refrain began playing over and over in my head… Read the rest of this entry »