Ultraconsultancy

Moos, to answer your earlier challenge, I was a discounting kids bookseller; it was a bit like being canadian, no-one hated me, and it rained a lot on my west coast.

Is EDF a secret hideaway for fans of Koyaanisqatsi? I've seen Philip Glass play an accompanied screening twice, and both times were, frankly, life-changing. Hard to appreciate what a revolutionary film it was in 82. Did you know director G Reggio is a trappist monk [and he was then too]?

Is there a link - was it today?

hi bob - it's called 'going up the country' by the fantastic canned heat. they were the real mccoy by the way, blues fans who found urban life too much to bear and went to live in the woods. that was in the sixties, god only knows what they would have made of modern life now. and they recorded a fantastic version of 'lets work together' covered by roxy music.

...cracking a spine on a new book, PGC? ...wicked child! UC

I've just left the book trade after twenty years of hard graft that have left me with virtually nothing. God bless anyone who self-publishes, self-markets, and self-retails their literary scribbles. And God bless you for buying one, witch.

Like Jah above, I'll come, I'll buy, and I'll hope for success, but I think it's what Sir Humphrey Appleby would call "a courageous proposal, Minister".

I've never really objected to well-soused souls on busses; maybe because it's something I remember of my youth, regretting its passing. but I do get a bit itchy about people drinking on the same busses; and when people do behave badly I have to remind myself it's the behaviour that rankles, not the drink. the law reflects this; being drunk isn't an offence, drunk and disorderly is.

My family had that great presbyterian tradition of giving all the men the same name, and all of them were officers in the Royal Scots, so even their career doesn't differentiate them. BTW I completely broke the tradition. I did know four people called either Cameron Angus, or Angus Cameron; since we were all at military school where Angus Cameron would usually be listed as "Cameron, Angus" this added to the confusion, with hilarious consequences, as they say in west end farces.

I spent four years in a philosophy department arguing about lying jailers, one sided dogs, left handed universes, killing vs letting die, and builders working on infinite hotels. The answer, i think, is simply to tread gently, and protect one another.

Beagle, I stand truly and cheerfully corrected. Chapeau!

Quite right too moos - I recently offended a friend of mine who was complaining about the closure of our last local bookshop, simply by asking her if she spent more than a hundred pounds a year in there. An amount equal to a paperback per fortnight and a couple of kids birthday gifts, not a huge commitment. but it's that level of spending that your charming local indie needs, just to pay its bills. No point bemoaning it after it's gone...

I've always worked on the assumption the a real job is one that has a pub named after it;so artillerymen, shepherds, and librarians good, though admittedly so is the prince of wales; human resources administarator bad.

BB I'd say with the crunch on the way [real or imaginary] it's a bad time to start a top end homewares business. There is a priority scale of businesses that show recessionary cracks first and it goes something like homewares, menswear, ladiesware, food. however as fourquid rightly says the biggest cost is the lease, and the big issue in commercial leases at the moment is the withdrawal of empty shop rebates by local councils.essentislly, landlords who decide to keep shops empty [because their capital value grows faster while empty] now have to pay full price rates. so on a shop with a rates payable of 10k, the landlord will find his bill has just gone up from 2k to the full whack. he might therefore be happy to negotiate a lower rent in order to cut his losses.

crikey this is the second time in five minutes i've agreed with louisiana - i've had propaganda's a secret wish on my ipod almost continually for some weeks now. please dont miss out on our own electronica originators - the sheffield sound - early human league, heaven 17, and the fantastically influential cabaret voltaire. and fourquid, the trick to enjoying kraftwerk is to get their lps in german; no longer odd german blokes singing in karaoke english, but deadly serious teutonic social commentary. of a sort... uc