Anti-Stratfordians Shoot Themselves in the Foot

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article6923734.ece

Good stuff here from David Aaronovitch, attending a conference of all those who think Shakespeare might not have written the plays that bear his name. They might be united in wanting to remove the plays from the Stratford man but they 'cancel each other out' by all supporting different candidates for the authorship and having to refute the evidence required by their fellow conspirators who need those facts to support other candidates. They are Fred Karno's Army and laughable as far as that goes but the most depressing thing about them is their refusal to believe in genius and their apparent need to explain where the language came from. It just happens to be innate in some such rare people.
I wish I'd gone to this conference, it sounds like one big laugh after another.

Unfortunately The Times Books supplement today fails to maintain the high standard. On the back of this piece was their listing of the 100 Best Pop Albums of the Decade. Number 1 is Kid A by Radiohead and that dreary outfit occupy number 3 as well. The Magnetic Fields released two albums in the decade and neither are listed so there's simply no point discussing it. They had Is This It by The Strokes at no. 6 ( ! ). Swagger? No, stylized posturing.