A S H Smyth

Category Archives: correspondence

Tripping hither, tripping thither

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

When I went to the bar as a very young man, it was often enough in the company of the Oxford University Gilbert & Sullivan Society. My relationship with G&S had started early, specifically the argument in Three Men in a Boat over which song Harris is trying to sing (I remain confused to this […]

Also filed in Journalism | Tagged All Souls College, Arcadia, Bletchingdon, Brexit, clowns, comedy, Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act 1907, donkeys, drink, English National Opera, fairies, food, French, G Schirmer, Greek, Grenadier Guards, Holywell Music Room, Iolanthe, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Jerome K Jerome, Kazakhstan, ketamine, Latin, law, librettos, Mount Ararat, music, opera, Oxford University, Oxford University Gilbert & Sullivan Society, plebs, politics, Richard D'Oyly Carte, Savoy Theatre, sex, shepherds, Sir Arthur Sullivan, Sir William Schwenk Gilbert, the Conservative Party, the House of Lords, the Liberal Party, The Oldie, The West Wing, voice, women | Comments (0)

On ranting

Thursday, February 1, 2018

If there’s one thing I just can’t abide, it’s ranters. Not the C17th religious nonconformists. Folk who can’t shut up about things. You know the type. The workplace philosophers; the shouters at the TV; people in whose eyes you see the glint of socialist dictatorship. They come in every walk of life. Stupid boxers (*tautology […]

Also filed in Journalism | Tagged Adolf Hitler, Alex Ferguson, Bangalore, Basil Fawlty, boxers, British Rail, Charlie Sheen, comedians, customer services, Denmark, dictatorship, Donald Trump, fathers, Geoffrey Boycott, Hamlet, humour, Jeremy Clarkson, John McEnroe, Mel Gibson, memoirs, men, Michael Richards, Naomi Campbell, philosophy, phones, pubs, ranting, religion, Samuel Johnson, socialism, The Daily Mail, the Labour Party, The Oldie, TV, Will Self | Comments (0)

Fun run

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Or; how to raise money for charity and feel bad doing it. — For The Oldie

Also filed in Journalism | Tagged Adidas, Bilal Hassen, Borussia Dortmund, cappuccino, charity, Colombo, Hilton Residences, Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, Manchester City, Mount Lavinia, Nigel Havers, rugby, running, Sri Lanka, Thaabit Ahmed, Thaabit Ahmed Football Academy, The Oldie, Valencia CF | Comments (0)

A hero’s welcome

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Dunkirk – THE UNTOLD STORY!! — For The Oldie

Also filed in Journalism | Tagged 11th Armoured Division, 51st Highland Division, 97th (Kent Yeomanry) Field Regiment, army, British Expeditionary Force, Canterbury, champagne, Channel Islands, cricket, Croix de Guerre, D-Day, Dunkirk, Elsie Adeline Cockersell, film, France, Germans, incarceration, James Kingford Carson, Kent, livery companies, love, moustaches, Nazis, Normandy, Royal Artillery, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, sea-faring, St Valery-en-Caux, The Oldie, war, women, Yorkshire | Comments (0)

The Kings and I

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

A festive gripe about Cornelius’s lovely ‘Three Kings‘ – and the solo I have never got to sing in it. — For The Oldie

Also filed in Journalism | Tagged Alexandra Coghlan, All Saints Maidstone, baritones, barristers, Bayreuth, BBC Books, carols, cellos, Christmas, Christmas Badger Singers, English, Franz Liszt, Gerald Finley, German, Germans, girlfriends, Hampton Court, HN Bate, Ivor Atkins, King's College London, Knightsbridge, men, music, Oxford University, Peter Cornelius, Radio 3, silk, singing, Smarden, Southwark Cathedral, Sri Lanka, The Judd School, The Oldie, translation, University of St Andrews, YouTube | Comments (0)

Summoning Pearl Harbor

Thursday, December 7, 2017

A commemoration of Pearl Harbor, through Alexander Nemerov’s ekphrastic explorations. — For The Oldie

Also filed in Journalism | Tagged air travel, Aleutian Islands, Alexander Nemerov, America, art, Congress, David Zwirner Books, ekphrasis, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Hawaii, history, Japan, Jimmy Roosevelt, navy, Stanford, The Oldie, USMC, war | Comments (0)

I ink, therefore I am

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

On the choice and acquisition of my one and only tattoo. — For The Oldie

Also filed in Journalism | Tagged Afghanistan, Anthony McGowan, army, Asterix, buffalos, Classics, Cleopatra, Egyptology, Elizabeth Taylor, gladiators, Greek, Latin, men, mothers, opera, Oxford, Rome, Russell Crowe, Samoan, sewerage, South Africa, SPQR, tattoos, The Oldie, war | Comments (0)

Veterans of modern wars

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

In a mid-September interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Baron Richards of Herstmonceux (GCB, CBE, DSO, DL – better known as General David Richards, former Chief of the Defence Staff) made a comment to the effect that “a part-time soldier cannot be as effective as someone who’s devoted his life to it and puts on a […]

Also filed in Journalism | Tagged Afghanistan, army, Baron Richards of Herstmonceux, Brigadier James Roddis, Bruce Dickinson, children, David Dickinson, death, Ed Drummond-Baxter, employment, food, Honourable Artillery Company, Iraq, Iron Maiden, Jack Sadler, Ted Heath, The Oldie, war | Comments (0)

Two birds, one stone

Friday, October 6, 2017

Dear Amorist, I recently made a joke about my pregnant wife – and found myself receiving several pointers. ‘Have lots of sex before the baby’s born,’ said one. ‘Watch loads of movies,’ said another. Couldn’t we just watch porn, and kill two birds with one stone? Yours, &c. ASH Smyth, by email

Also filed in Journalism | Tagged advice, babies, birds, film, letters, pornography, pregnancy, sex, The Amorist, women | Comments (0)

‘Understanded of the people’?

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

The Prayer Book Society helps trainee priests with the ‘Shakespearey’ language. — For The Oldie

Also filed in Journalism | Tagged (il)literacy, Book of Common Prayer, Daily Telegraph, Prayer Book Society, religion, The Oldie, words | Comments (0)

Category Archives: correspondence

Tripping hither, tripping thither

On ranting

Fun run

A hero’s welcome

The Kings and I

Summoning Pearl Harbor

I ink, therefore I am

Veterans of modern wars

Two birds, one stone

‘Understanded of the people’?

‹ Home

Search

Contents

Categories

Archives

Blogroll

RSS Feeds

Meta

Category Archives: correspondence

Search

Contents

Categories

Tags

Archives

Blogroll

RSS Feeds

Meta