Videos

Favourite Videos: Brexit

A truly great thing about having a blog that isn’t monetised (#notonepenny) is this: I can say whatever the hell I please without having to worry about losing revenue by alienating some readers.

If one of my sixteen readers decides to ditch me because of what I have to say about Britain’s recent geopolitical suicide, well, then I suppose I’ll still have fifteen readers left 😉 Which may be fifteen more than I deserve, but let’s not go there.

My views on Brexit are no secret. I think it is the worst idea since that idiot at that ski resort in Italy stole a protective mat from a metal barrier at the bottom of the slope to use as a makeshift sledge, and then got brained when his DYI sledge slammed into the very same barrier that he’d stolen the protective matting from.

I can’t see any non-humiliating ways out of this.

Exit, reason
Enter, Brexit
Take my hand
We’re off to never-never land

– James Hetfield

Oh well.

Favourite Videos: The Unknown Known

I’ve been an admirer of Errol Morris’s particular brand of storytelling for a long time.

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara is one of my favourite films, and so is Thin Blue Line.

The Unknown Known is what I’d call non-essential Errol Morris. Nonetheless, it is a great film, in equal parts fascinating and disturbing, and a good reminder that our villains often lack cloven hoofs and come in shades of grey.

Favourite Videos: AC72

The teams of the 35th America’s Cup, taking place now in Bermuda, are racing ACC (America’s Cup Class) catamarans. Although the top speed of the ACCs is in the 45-50 knot range (about 80-90 km/hr), which is roughly the same as what the AC72s hit in 2013 in San Francisco, what they lack is a massive 72ft wing: the ACCs are limited to just under 50ft.

Oh well. It’s still a spectacular sight, and if you have a chance to catch any of the races on BT Sport, I defy anyone to not get hooked. Here’s the race schedule. In the meantime, below is a tribute to the world’s fastest (and scariest) boat to date – the AS72 class.