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Having allowed Monday’s adventures to slip my mind momentarily, I worried about myself when I heard scratching from the corner of my office. I didn’t check it out. But when it recurred I thought I’d better look into it. Moving the sofa, I spotted one of our small, furry, rodent friends. The sofa movement naturally scared said rodent away. The posse was called in and we chased it around the office, eventually ending with it running into the skirting board. This animal knows how to outsmart us. ...

It all began when i went to look for a hole punch. I wanted to file some notes from exec training. my hole punch has disappeared, and I thought Colin might have one. He didn’t. So we went to sophie’s office to search for one. She normally has two, and Colin needed to get in there to feed the gerbils since Sophie is away till Thursday. Not only did we not find a hole punch, but…. the gerbils had chewed their way through their platic enclosure and were running free in the office. ...

This play looks like quite the must-see production. And when I started reading I’d dared to hope that Iranian director Kiarostami’s (Ten, A Taste Of Cherry) might just be being staged in London. Sadly not. Not yet, at least. But regardless of that his comments are worth a look, if all too brief here. The use of the story of Hussein (Mohammed’s grandson, revered by the Shi’ite faithful) to explore the gulf between the prevailing culture in the west and Islam sounds to me like an experiment that has to be witnessed, and he appears to articulate the political feelings we heard from so many. ...

When a country tries this hard to avoid even the possibility of prosecution in the International Criminal Court, it’s easy to be left wondering what it is they have to hide. Surely if we are to believe the standard image of our glorious defenders here and in our closest ally, the people of Britain wouldn’t expect any of our allies’ troops to ever commit acts which would land them in the ICC. So what’s the problem? ...

So to concede to those who have been clamouring for photos of my trip last week, Chicago images can be found here [credit goes to Aaron for those] and Grand Rapids/Holland photos can be found here. Happy viewing.

[with thanks to Ry Cooder] No more books and studies And I can stay out late with my buddies I can do the things that I wanna do ‘Cause all my cares are through I can root for the Yankees from the bleachers And don’t have to worry ‘bout teachers And I’m so glad that school is out Well, I’m gonna sing and shout! CHORUS: (School is out) Everybody’s gonna have some fun (School is out) Everybody’s gonna jump and run (School is out) Come on, people, don’t you be late (School is out) I just got time to take my girl out on a date School is out at last And I’m so glad I passed Everybody come and go with me We’re gonna have a night with Daddy G ...

With one Delicatessen, two exams, and some packing to do in the next 24 hours now might not be the right time to say more on the unfolding Iranian situation. There is a lot more to say, but now is not the time. Instead, I will briefly note what a good distraction blogs can be, and what a bad idea broadband (or any unmetered access) is around exam time. Ah well. Nearly done. ...

I’m not sure it’s worth commenting in much detail on Rumsfeld’s warnings to Iran not to interfere with Iraq, and the utter irony of such a statement. It probably wouldn’t make any difference to point out to Donald that his troops accidentally bombed Iran during the recent conflict. Or that Iran is the only shi’ite regime in the area and so whether they like it or not, the shi’ite majority in Iraq will feel some affinity with their neighbours. ...

So the talk is back to Iran. Bush and his junta are meeting in DC amidst mutterings of ‘regime change’ and sadly they still haven’t realised it begins at home. Nor, it would seem, do they have any understanding whatsoever of the situation in Iran. While sitting in my uncle and aunt’s apartment in Tehran I remember getting quite a chuckle from reports that Bush had been saying he supported “the voices on the streets of Iran”. You couldn’t help but laugh. The previous story had been of the massive anti-Bush rally in the city earlier that day. Certainly the news media can manipulate such images and it’s difficult to believe that they didn’t realise the power of putting those two stories in such close proximity. But the point was neatly made. Bush is oblivious to the voices on the streets. ...

revision is going slowly