I’ve never doubted it’s possible to speak of personal things in an impersonal way, though I’m equally sure there are those who can’t tell the difference. Four years ago a cancer scare coincided with looming redundancy at Sheffield Hallam Uni. … Read More »
The Jordan: 17th century and formed by the western edge of a hemisphere of concentric canals: Herengracht, Keisersgracht, Prinsengracht. Its houses, their foundations reclaimed by the finest Dutch engineers – world masters at cheating the seas and taming the polder … Read More »
My super-smart former colleague and pal Mick and the lovely Mags – they spend their days wandering Britain’s waterways on a narrow boat, Rose of Arden – took three months out on the Costa Brava. I joined them for a … Read More »
Photo essay – making noodles on the Mekong, January 2013. Emails from Vietnam, March 2014. Emails from Vietnam, March 2015. Photo-essay around Kon Tum, March 2015. Photo essay around Buon Ma Thuot, March 2015. Photo essay around Da Lat, March … Read More »
I smile when I’m angryI cheat and I lieI do what I have to doTo get byBut I know what is wrongAnd I know what is rightAnd I’d die for the truthIn my secret life Leonard Cohen Here’s Janet Street … Read More »
Is nothing sacred? It seems not even 007 is immune to the new trend of releasing movies on a Monday. So too with Suffragette, but any day of the week the latter was bound to disappoint. Yes, it conveys the … Read More »
Cleaner Katy Rojas from Ecuador worked until very recently for Interserve, which has the Foreign & Commonwealth Office cleaning contract. She began in 2010 on £6 per hour but this year had her first rise, to £7.05. Now she’s laid … Read More »
See also, Bob Dylan: one killer of a poet Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son” Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on” God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?” God say, “You can do what you … Read More »
A fairly decent response from Obama here on the dreadful news from Oregon. In thinking about weapons of death, let’s for a moment set aside the USA’s trillions of dollars spent on “keeping Americans safe” – a project whose side … Read More »
Today at the Labour Conference: (a) Corbyn would never press the button, (b) Burnham, Eagles et al fear Russian aggression (though not NATO’s recklessly menacing eastward expansion) and (c) the press is having a field day. Why, oh why muddy the waters of … Read More »