Parries → Starbucks, Ginger Bastards and Podcasts 

Sitting in Starbucks this time—my excuse is it’s good for the Jews but my reason is it’s close to the house, reliable and with British Telecom I have a deal to use the normally exorbitant T-Mobile wifi there. It’s delightful to see the English barista’s helpful attitude towards an elderly lady. Just the perfect amount of extra care, finding the woman a seat and carrying her drink for her, while balancing the care with respect. No condescension, waiting to be lightly dismissed before returning to the bar. The Queen drove past this very corner around this time yesterday [today is actually Friday and I’m a terrible, terrible Parrymaker] looking more elegant—even sightly disdainful—than my recent media impressions of her. More make-up, and it seemed to go resplendently with her elegant burgundy limousine. Or vice versa.

There’s no need for a memo to tell us that Starbucks is not cool. Back in 1995-6 New York I used to frequent a funky one down in a sidestreet in Soho the morning after crashing at a friend’s house on the same back alley. Not a right angle in the little place except on the high proportion of leggy women. Nowadays Starbucks is one of those businesses you want to keep at the edges of your area to maintain the tone. And yet it’s pleasant enough in here. Clean. How bizarre though, coming from Tel Aviv, that the place closes at 6pm, 7pm on Saturday, big excitement.

Among the top stories here in Britain today (first time I’ve ever written that—a watershed event for me?) is the allegedly racist comments of Tory frontbencher Patrick Mercer. Already the tables seem to be turning to support him though, with the Daily Mail putting it: ‘Is he racist – or just too blunt for his own good?’. He was sacked as a shadow minister by Cameron within two hours, the Mail report. I don’t like David Cameron one bit. He strikes me as smarmy, Clintonian, more a triangulator than a man of ideology. In contrast, Blair got elected as a triangulator but as time went by became a leader increasingly of principle—and not very socialist principle either, seems to me. Mercer is not now a household name, but he’s made a start in becoming one. At least one Black man in his regiment who said he served under him for twelve years and believed nobody could call this fellow racist.

This guy served! And he’s not a hypocrite. Within a day of the scandal, he seems a more serious man than the leader of the party. The third comment on the Dail Mail story, “Patrick Mercer for Conservative leader!” by David Bourke of Rochester, Kent is what I mean.

Yes, it’s new for me to pay much attention to British rather than American media. Right now I subscribe to two only podcasts: the Hugh Hewitt Show and the new Merlin Show. Merlin Mann is a new hero of mine. He’s smart and funny and he’s combining his personality and mind to become a celebrity on his own terms. With The Merlin Show he’s begun making TV that I watch. I like the intro music. I like the set design. He’s still self-effacing but he’s got the raging ego, it seems to me, that powers starmaking.

Hugh Hewitt I don’t think I like very much, as his analytical and moneymaking faculties are so much more developed than his sense of humor. I don’t like how he refers to his wife every time as “the fetching Mrs Hewitt,” as if he’d rather not actually behold her in his mind when he mentions her but has instead found a facile label instead. I also don’t like how he uses his bully pulpit to cross-examine people whom he has detected are full of crap. He’s invariably right, but still, it’s a bit unpleasant to listen to. I also don’t like how he presented his own pledge drive as the most important item on the national agenda when government representatives came on the show. He’s an intimidating figure and people seem to go to jelly when questioned by him. I guess because he prepares for his interviews fully, unlike others, as if entering a courtroom. But his issues are my issues, and his regular guests are my regular reads.