wankers

there is a similarity between being the author (i know it is a grand word) of a blog and a newspaper columnist. in both cases the writer is trying to get an idea across to the reader, trying to inform and entertain. in both cases 99% of the authors are shit (i include myself in that 99%) and only a few are any good.

the main difference is that newspaper columnists get read by many more people and boy there are times when they can’t stop themselves but point out that they are much better than anything that appears on the internet.

nirpal dhaliwal has recently fallen into that trap with his evening standard column (july 18th edition). he makes the point that the internet was supposed to enable our species to share meaningful ideas, but most people use it to watch porn…
now nirpal can get on his high horse because he is a published author, his “bad-boy” lit book “tourism” made waves when it was published. (though it could be argued that his book was only published because of the long-term publicity he received because of the coverage his marriage to liz jones received in national newspapers).

but it is only his column in the evening standard that i am familiar with. he tries to be witty and confrontational, dishing it to the establishment from a youthful asian perspective. only problem is (like me) he is not funny and not interesting.
but that alone doesn’t single him out when the world of the columns is filled with people like mark steel, nick curtis, david mellor and many others who think that they are funnier and cleverer than they are.

but the reason nirpal gets a mention today (and i have to say that i have no sympathy for his ex, who is also a bore) is for the following “my marriage hit the rocks when my wife found text messages between me and another women”. now i am making a leap here and would guess that messages were of a rude nature.
it might be me but it seems there were already problems with the marriage long before his missus found the text messages. so it only hit the the rocks when she caught him!
though what can you expect from a bloke whose book “tourism” seems to be about someone who shags around.

i give you nirpal dhaliwal: wanker.