The Pompatus of Love

This bugged me as a teenager, and now thanks to the wonders of Wikipedia, today's Wikiworm performs a valuable public service in answering that age old question - "What the hell is a pompatus?" The word pompatus, also spelled pompitous, is a neologism used in the lyrics of Steve Miller’s 1973 ... Read More...

The Last Set Of Brief Lives For The Time Being

Today Frank concludes his series for now...but never fear, Brief Lives will return next year! Atherton, Gertrude (American writer, 1857 – 1948). Atherton declined an invitation to meet Oscar Wilde, having been shown his photograph. “His mouth covered half his face, the most lascivious, coarse, repulsive mouth I had ever seen. ... Read More...

Desiderata Revisited

It has inspired countless cheesy posters and a few alarming records. But, finds Nige, the poem Desiderata is worth a second look... Born on this day in 1872 was the American writer and attorney Max Ehrmann, one of those cases - like Joseph Blanco White - of a writer remembered for just ... Read More...

Trains in the Night

Continuing our fortnightly poetry feature, Stephen Pentz takes the train... It is a commonplace that travelling by train is more conducive to observation and to contemplation than travelling by, say, car or airplane. Not surprisingly, therefore, a great store of poetry exists that has its origins in someone gazing out of ... Read More...

The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement

When I stumbled across this Wikipedia article I though this sounds like a brilliant idea! Who wants to join? The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT) is an environmental movement that calls for all people to abstain from reproduction in order to bring about the gradual voluntary extinction of humankind. VHEMT was founded in ... Read More...