Initial thoughts were that the obvious Italian beers are Peroni and Moretti. Initial text-based research suggests that the obvious adjective to describe Italian beer is 'crisp'. New research topic suggests itself: has anybody ever written a sentence containing the words 'Italian' and 'beer' that does not include the word 'crisp'? What does 'crisp' mean exactly? Essentially, it means they're not going for big, complex flavours. They're going for thirst-quenching. But they're also aiming not to be water.

Empirical research involved me trying five beers:

• Peroni Nastro Azzurro
• Peroni Gran Riserva
• Moretti draught
• Moretti bottle
• 'Marks and Spencer's Italian Lager Made With Fresh Spring Water From The Italian Alps' (honestly)

Having tried them all, the one I decided to review was the bottle of Moretti. I ruled out Nastro Azzurro as it's so well known. I ruled out Gran Riserva because it doesn't seem right as an Italian beer representative. I like its darker, chocolatesque flavours but it's not an organic flavour and quite untypical for Italian beer. Moretti draught was ruled out because I wasn't in competition when I drank it, and don't really remember much. And while I really appreciate Ohna sourcing the Marks and Spencer's bottle for me, I can't really review it because I don't know what it is (it was pretty good, actually, light and wet and not identifiable as one of the others in a different label). So the winner is Moretti in a bottle.

What to say? It's got a cute wee bottle with a guy in a hat on it. It's cheap and cheerful. It's not as 'crisp' as Nastro Azzurro. It's 4.4% as opposed to Nastro Azzurro's 5.1%. But it seems to me to do exactly what it's designed for. It's an uncomplicated way to give yourself something wet on a hot day. It's smooth and clear. You could say 'watery' but then water is a pretty good when you're thirsty. But it's not just a bland, insipid water substitute. There's just a little bit of bite to give it an edge as it disappears down your throat.

So there you go: something slightly more interesting than a glass of water to drink on a hot day. And I do mean that as a good thing. How do you think 'not quite water' would work as an advertising slogan?

B-)

Pretty good draw, seeing as Italian beer is easy to get hold of and that Italy tend to be pretty good at football (My task is to post a review of an Italian beer before the end of the tournament. If I do, and if Italy win, I get three cases of interesting beer).

Chris drew Cameroon, which poses a bit of a beer sourcing issue. Yesterday afternoon, I found a source for Cameroonian beer in London for him. Yesterday evening, Cameroon became the first team to be knocked out. Reckon I'd better hurry up and post a review. I'd hate to have to write it, knowing I was already out on the football side. Italy's next game is against New Zealand at 3 o'clock today. No time now, though, as I'm off to see 'Please Give' as a father's day treat. Please, New Zealand, don't do anything rash.

B-)

Paul Grice: Philosopher and Linguist

One thing I love about Grice is that he didn't do any of the things academics were supposed to do back then and 'have' to do now. We're lucky he ever published anything, never mind that he tended to wait until years after everyone had read the photocopies.

I've just been looking again at Siobhan Chapman's brilliant book on him and came across this quote from his first lecture on a course called 'Saying':

'Although the official title of this class is 'Saying', let me say at once that we are unlikely to reach any direct discussion of the notion of saying for several weeks, and in the likely event of our failing to make any substantial inroads on the title topic this term, my present intention is to continue the class into next term'

Wonder what his student feedback forms would have looked like?

B-)

Here's the presentation from a recent workshop at Sir Francis Xavier College in Clapham, which was great fun to do.

Billy

Read this following the story about 3 A's no longer being enough for uni. There's definitely something weird about uni entrance for some courses now. It almost seems now that seventeen year olds need to have already completed a career in medicine to convince medical schools they can start training.

B-}

This is footage of the Cramps' legendary (amongst a few earthlings, at least) gig in a mental hospital in Napa. It was funny to follow Fodor's discussion of the relationship between the internal and the external by reading about the death of Lux Interior.

I enjoyed this post about the 'Twisted Elvis from hell' which begins:

It's hard to think of Lux Interior as dead, despite what reports say. Then again, it was always hard to think of him as alive

and suggests that:

Lux actually wore his interior on the outside

B-)

It's a great article and I think it shows quite clearly that Clark is wrong and there is a difference between my mind and my iPhone (or there would be if I had one).

Linguistically, its got classic Fodor style with jokes about how much philosophers get paid, two uses of 'begging the question' in the old-fashioned 'proper' sense (presupposing the answer to a question rather than just raising it), a nice explanation of the problem with slippery slope arguments, applied in passing to the question of whether abortion is homicide.

Apoa came and sat beside me while I was reading it so I started to explain it to her. Her brain quickly exploded but she also realised right away that she was on Fodor's side.

B-)

'Salient Inferences' - recently submitted paper on inference and stylistics, looking at Golding's 'The Inheritors'

'Blazing a Trail' - festschrift paper on intonation and relevance theory

PALA 2008 presentation - talk on inference and stylistics, looking at a Chekhov story

B-)