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Notes for a young gentleman

A gentleman should arrive at his destination, after however arduous a journey, quite as if he had just taken a turn around the rose garden. A gentleman should never acknowledge a mere fact.

A gentleman should behave no differently in a prison than in a palace – to be affected by place shows lack of character.

A gentleman should never confuse superiority with nobility.

A gentleman – English – should reassure foreigners of his bona fides by appearing to be nothing more than a parody of an English gentleman; this is particularly important with the French.

A gentleman should never be heard to say anything other gentlemen have not said before.

A gentleman should greet physical agony much as if he were greeting his old Latin master.

A gentleman should never pass comment on his latest meal, no more than he would upon his latest evacuation.

A gentleman should smoke, if not for pleasure then to set his companions at their ease.

A gentleman should never condescend to condescend.

A gentleman should, when he is in the country, kill something larger than a squirrel at least once a day.

A gentleman should never evince surprise, except whilst opening Christmas presents from his children.

A gentleman should seem to lack nothing.

A gentleman should never appear utterly entranced by anything other than a horse or his fiancee on the day their engagement is announced.

A gentleman should greet with genuine warmth only the following persons – his sister’s daughters, his maternal aunts and his mortal enemies.

A gentleman should never be seen to handle money, except in a brothel or a casino.

A gentleman should have as deep a familiarity with the great religious texts of the world as is commensurable with not having read them.

A gentleman should never keep a diary – to pay attention to one’s own affairs suggests one may wish to profit thereby.

A gentleman should take domestic politics slightly less seriously than backgammon.

A gentleman should never go beneath ground-level except when, once a year, inspecting the wine cellars.

A gentleman should be as fluent in the little language of love as in le passé composé.

A gentleman should never run, except towards certain death.

A gentleman should walk as if he were being carried and – if ever the circumstance arises – be carried as if he were walking.

A gentleman should quote no one but his nanny, and then only back at her, with fondness, just before she dies.

A gentleman himself should die with an air of mild curiosity.

A gentleman, having once departed, should never return.

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By Toby Litt in Granta: "And if you think Toby's left anything off the list, tweet us @grantamag and tell us what you think makes a proper #gent. Top hats at your indiscretion."

UncategorizedJack Dyson Comment
Building the Eiffel Tower

Built in 1889, tallest building in Paris, most-visited paid monument in the world, millions of people ascend it every year, 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, was tallest man-made structure in the world until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930, second-tallest structure in France after the 2004 Millau Viaduct, the walk to the first level is over 300 steps, it has two restaurants.

UncategorizedJack DysonComment
MSNBC suspends analyst for calling Obama "a dick"

MSNBC has suspended one of its senior political analysts indefinitely after he said he thought President Obama acted like "a dick” at recent press conference.

Mark Halperin, who is also Time magazine’s editor-at-large, made the comments on Thursday’s Morning Joe. At the time he joked that he thought the producers would have bleeped his remarks out. They did not.

Halperin later offered an on-air apology. “Joking aside, this is an absolute apology,” he said. “I shouldn’t have said it. I apologize to the president and the viewers who heard me say that.”

The apology wasn’t enough. A few hours later, MSNBC released a statement announcing Halperin’s suspension, along with a second statement from Halperin that reiterated his apology.

The NBC statement:

Mark Halperin's comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable. We apologize to the President, The White House and all of our viewers. We strive for a high level of discourse and comments like these have no place on our air.  Therefore, Mark will be suspended indefinitely from his role as an analyst.

Halperin’s:

I completely agree with everything in MSNBC’s statement about my remark. I believe that the step they are taking in response is totally appropriate. Again, I want to offer a heartfelt and profound apology to the President, to my MSNBC colleagues, and to the viewers. My remark was unacceptable, and I deeply regret it.

And the original quote that started it all: “"I thought he was kind of a dick yesterday,” Halperin said, referring to Obama's press conference at the White House.

(Via Slate.com)

UncategorizedJack DysonComment
World's Longest Bridge (video tour)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRg_HVXuPCk&w=700] The world's longest bridge over sea water has opened in opened to general traffic on in China's eastern coastal city of Qingdao. Jiaozhou Bay is located on the southern coast of the Shandong Peninsula in East China. It separates Huangdao District from Qingdao City and borders on two other cities, Jiaozhou and Jiaonan. The Qingdao Haiwan Bridge, with a total length of 42.4 kilometres would easily cross the English Channel and is almost three miles longer than the previous record-holder, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in the American state of Louisiana. Built in just four years at a cost of £55.5 billion, the sheer scale of the bridge reveals the advances made by Chinese engineers in recent years.

UncategorizedJack DysonComment