Dreadful article by Rafael Behr in the Grauniad today. You get the gist from its headline: Jihadism a symptom of western policy? That’s mangled history. In a piece whose thrust is to rubbish Jeremy Corbyn – in this instance for … Read More »
Like countless others on Saturday morning I padded bleary-eyed into the kitchen to make coffee and, while I waited, switch on the radio. You know something big has happened by the muted tones of those on the scene, and by … Read More »
I spent last week with friends who’ve ended decades in The Smoke, selling up in South London to buy a sea view in Seaford on the Sussex coast. On Wednesday hardy kite surfers were in the water close to Newhaven … Read More »
do nine men interpret – nine men I nod. Thanks to Pete for this gem: a song by Weird Al Yankovic that’s not only a classy parody of Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues but whose every line is a palindrome.
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 »