Some readers  have taken umbrage today at the description of Rage Against The Machine as a ‘little-known’ band in our report on the Great Christmas No 1 Battle. I’m sorry, but what do you expect? The Irish Times has always approached ‘youth culture’ with a certain diffidence. Long may it remain so.

I count myself as one of the younger members of staff, having joined around the time of the Suez Crisis, so wasn’t surprised to be appointed editor of The Ticket when that excellent chronicle of ‘the flicks’ and  ‘beat music’ was launched. In the decades that have passed since, I think we’ve shown that we can be as ‘down with the kids’ as anyone. And it’s most unfair to presume that the writer of the article in question, Brigadier-General (Retd) Brian Boyd (pictured below, right, with unidentified friend), isn’t in touch with modern trends. In fact, he is rarely far from the moshpit, even when confined to his bathchair…

Actually, I do remember having a conversation with a senior editor in here, around 2004, where I encountered great resistance to using the word ‘bling’ in a column about the Fianna Fail tent at the Galway races. Could I put the word in quotes? Could I perhaps explain it? Could I just take it out? No, no and no.

And only a couple of weeks ago, someone in here expressed astonishment that a ‘little-known’ movie called There Will Be Blood had been picked as the newspaper’s best film of the decade. Like, groovy, daddy-o.