Phoul-Mouthing the Phoul-Mouthers Who Phoul-Mouth Etc

I'm very much looking forward to a balanced, impartial, rational presentation of my balanced, impartial and rational - and very much personal - views on behavioural targeting or interest-based advertising at the SCL Information Governance Conference on 12 May.

In the meantime, I would only observe that this site is a nice illustration of the implications I discussed a few months back, of trying to build a brand that is perceived as an institution, rather than trying to build one that is perceived as a facilitator.

Pragmatism Meets Oikonomics

One way to put theories to the test is simply to race them. Literally. On a race track. Let 'em fight it out, see which one wins.

So it was decided after only a small quantity of wine that Will and the folks at DB Max should be asked to make some room for Pragmatist and Oikonomics in the DB Max rowing triathlon on May 4 at Mallory Park.

Thus, by lunchtime Monday you should know whether it is better to base your personal theories about Life on trial, error and bitter experience or by extrapolating from careful, patient, highly-trained observation (trade: "deep hanging out").

Right. I'm off to the gym. But will leave you with Gus Mckechnie's extraordinary contribution to the world of sporting endeavour.

Of Pike Sniggling, Real Wine and Chilli

I was on a farm at the weekend, and narrowly missed going "pike sniggling". Not that I had the slightest clue what that involved. Having served my time in rural Australia, whenever confronted by such alarming expressions, I know very well to conceal my ignorance, lest one ends up the butt of a well-planned practical joke. With the poacher's visit in "Withnail and I" in mind, I merely bade my host the very best of luck. But, today I Googled the expression, and landed upon this helpful tome:

Amongst "Hunting, Dogs, Ferreting, Hawking, Trapping, Shooting, Fishing and Other Miscellaneous Activities" Mr Cameron (no relation, I'm sure) deals with "Wiring jack and pike Sniggling and spearing eels...". My search also revealed this enthralling exchange on Anglers.net. I'm not entirely sure where this fits in the liberal firmament, but doubtless someone will help me out in the comments.

Meanwhile, with summer on the way at last I've finally got round to placing an order for a Prosecco from Serre I tried at a recent quiz night, now available through The Real Wine Company. There are three in the range, with the Valgres winning a Silver at last year's Wine Challenge in London. For a clue as to whether this stuff is worth drinking, Mark Hughes, founder of the Real Wine Co, explains his approach thus:

"I have spent my entire professional life in the Wine Trade as, amongst other things, Wine Controller for Safeway and UK Sales and Marketing Director for Hardy's Australian Wines. The Real Wine Company was the result of a Victor Meldrew-like rant against the impossibility of finding real wines which make you sit up and take notice. Over the years I have discovered gorgeous wines from around the world made by individual wine producers passionate about their wines. We created The Real Wine Company to showcase these wines and winemakers."

Good enough for me. As is the Wine Society, where I also buy a bit. Okay, okay, a lot.

And while I'm on authentic rural pursuits, I note that the Benington Chilli Festival is happening again in August. Now in its fourth year, it's proving something of a magnet for the chilli cognoscenti, with stalls featuring every incarnation of the fiery fruit - from seed to plant to lacing chutneys and other harmless looking concoctions, and cooked in all manner of dishes - all amidst the glorious setting of the Lordship Gardens. Great day trip. See you there.

Poor Gordon's Largesse Knows No Bounds

Oh, yes, it's aaaaall coming out now. All the great golden globs of public money lavished on the public sector over Gordon's twelve glorious years in charge of the nation's purse strings.

Well, after the binge, the hangover. It's Budget time. And this time we'll have to dig deep, folks.

That means paying for all 190 non-government bodies, and the nice juicy salaries that go with them. The Bureaucracy Champion. The cruddy "special advisers". The Bank bail out. The PFI bail-outs. The 13% increase in the public sector workforce from 5.1 in 1997 to 5.8m in 2006. The 76% of public sector workers who have final salary schemes, versus 17% in the private sector. The £500m worth of military helicopters sitting in a shed. The waste on IT projects. An average of £118,000 in MP's expenses revealed in October 2004, rising to £144,176 for 2007-08.

Not to mention a little bit of porn for Jacqui's hubby.

And for their role in all this, the Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury gets a knighthood, and Freddy gets his pension doubled.

Gordon's been told to stop, but he can't.

Poor chap. It's all he knows.

Is This Entertainment?

"The entertainment industry scored a rare victory on Friday," says the FT, reporting the prison sentences and fines handed out in Sweden to the four promoters of Pirate Bay.

Really?

As has been shown in the UK, there is no economic justification for spending public money on special life-support for the so-called "entertainment" industry's antiquated set of business models, let alone on imposing criminal sanctions. And doing so in the case of file-sharing only encourages these laggards to persist in their efforts to slow the development of an open internet to their snail's pace.

When lobbied for more public resources to tighten the entertainment industry's failing grip on consumers' wallets, Ministers should demand instead that the industry delight people to the point where they don't need or want to use the likes of Pirate Bay.

Now that would be a victory for the entertainment industry - and entertaining to boot.