In my highly acclaimed Motorbiking I – written last year, also from Vietnam – I told of fishing boats and traffic chaos, towering Buddhas and downing beers, curving alleyways and writhing sea snakes. I’ll return to snakes another time; this … Read More »
Listen here. Gorecki’s choral 3rd, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, could hardly be less typical of a Polish composer outspokenly avant garde; a Stockhausen admirer whose declared mission was “not to entertain but to educate”. Symphony No 3, piercing in its … Read More »
The medium is the message, said Marshall McLuhan. Silly to judge screenplay by ‘fidelity’ to book. The latter may be as well crafted (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), better crafted (Bridget Jones) or just ill advised (Gormenghast) but fidelity … Read More »
Carpenters use plane and saw to shape wood and not-wood to requirement. Photographers use shutter, aperture and studio kit or off-camera flash to shape light and not-light. Which is why two painters hold special significance for shutterbugs. Rembrandt was four when Caravaggio … Read More »
Had another of those calls yesterday: Hello sir. My name is Charles and I am calling from the Technical Department of Windows. Charles has an Indian accent. WindowsTechnical Department is employer of choice for his ilk. I know this from the four … Read More »
For those who remember the seventies period piece, When the Boat Comes In, BBC 2’s Peaky Blinders – series two starting on Thursday – will have a familiar ring. Both are set in the turbulent aftermath of WW1. Both give … Read More »
Arguably the most important film release this year, Snakes on a Plane rests on the rock solid premise that for any self respecting criminal mastermind, called upon to neutralise a threat from the witness box, the method of choice is … Read More »
Most drugs harm their users and some harm the wider community through antisocial behaviour. These reasons are commonly given for outlawing recreational use of many substances. Oddly enough, the two leisure drugs most countries do permit are alcohol, a frequent … Read More »