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On Commonwealth Day

Monday, March 14, 2022

… my diaries relate a (very positive) diplomatic incident from 15 years ago. — For The Emigre

Filed in correspondence, Journalism | Also tagged Afghanistan, America, Australia, Basildon, Burundi, China, diplomacy, drink, finance, Gary Busey, Guinness, Ireland, London, Malaysia, marijuana, Myanmar, oaths, Queen Elizabeth II, Red Bull, Russia, Rwanda, school, Soho, Somaliland, South Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, The Commonwealth of Nations, The Emigre, the Falklands, Zimbabwe | Comments (0)

She’s a lumberjack – and she’s not OK

Friday, May 21, 2021

Review of Finding the Mother Tree: Uncovering the Wisdom and Intelligence of the Forest, by Suzanne Simard. — For Geographical

Filed in Journalism, review | Also tagged British Columbia, ecology, forestry, Geographical, mycorrhiza, non-fiction, Royal Geographical Society, Suzanne Simard, trees | Comments (0)

Zooming windows

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Interview with members of the George Formby Society, as they attempt to break an online ukulele-playing record. — For The Critic

Filed in feature, interview, Journalism | Also tagged Alastair Cook, America, army, Australia, banjos, Batley, BBC, Bette Davis, bingo, Blackpool, Covid-19, cricket, Cyprus, dating, Ed Balls, Facebook, Falkland Islands Radio Service, France, Frank Skinner, friends, George Formby, German, Germany, grandmothers, Guinness, Gyles Brandreth, Harry HIll, Hawaii, Humphrey Bogart, Italy, jellyfish, lyrics, mental health, music, naturism, nuclear power, proletarians, Queen Elizabeth II, records, Royal Albert Hall, Russia, Simon Rose, smut, Swahili, The Critic, The Daily Telegraph, the George Formby Society, the Queen Mother, the RAF, Tottenham, ukuleles, Warrington Museum, Welsh, windows, WWII, Yorkshire, Zoom | Comments (0)

NEWS AT A GLANCE

Monday, November 4, 2019

. The Government of India collects about £7,000,000 from the sale of opium. — The Nelson Evening Mail, Thursday, July 19 1906 . Jacob Zuma is the only black South African president never to lift the rugby world cup. At Morrisons, your opinion gets rewarded with a £500 voucher. Vegetarianism, which is based on false hypotheses and ideas, […]

Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE | Also tagged basketball, blindness, CENS, children, construction, cookies, death, democracy, drugs, Dublin Zoo, fathers, fruit, government, India, Jacob Zuma, lions, Mahler, money, Morrisons, Necessity, Nelson Evening Mail, news, philosophy, property, Rugby World Cup 2019, satire, sex, South Africa, the Soviet Union, trees, vegetarianism, Yudhanjaya Wijeratne | Comments (0)

Did The English Patient send me to Afghanistan?

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Two nights from now, by way of (ahem) a birthday present, I will be attending a live-orchestra screening of The English Patient at the Albert Hall. I had invited an old friend, a raven-haired young lady (named in Debrett’s) of impossibly romantic tendency, who first exposed me to the film in, I’d say, about 1998 […]

Filed in correspondence, Journalism | Also tagged Academy Awards, Afghanistan, Ahmed Hassanein, air travel, American University in Cairo, anatomy, Anthony Minghella, Arabic, army, Banana Republic, bedouin, Benny Goodman, Booker Prize, books, bookshops, Brighton, Bruce Chatwin, Byron, Charing Cross Road, Christopher Hitchens, clothing, Debrett's, deserts, Dorset, Egypt, Egyptology, exploration, film, French Foreign Legion, Gabriel Yared, Geoff Dyer, Geographical, Geographical Journal, Herodotus, Hungarian, Hungary, JM Coetzee, John Ball, John Hare, Joseph Conrad, Justin Marozzi, Kensington Gore, Kristen Scott Thomas, László Almásy, London, Long Range Desert Group, Lorenz Hart, love, Michael Ondaatje, mountains, music, novels, Orientalism, Oscar Wilde, Oxford, Picador, plums, Ralph Bagnold, Ralph Fiennes, Ranulph Fiennes, Richard Bermann, Robert Twigger, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Geographical Society, Saul Kelly, Sinai, SOE, song, South Africa, the Himalayas, the Nile, The Oldie, the Sahara, the Western Desert, war, WG Sebald, William Golding, wind, women, WW2, YouTube, Zerzura | Comments (0)

NEWS AT A GLANCE

Monday, April 2, 2018

. There are more Jews in New York than there are in Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland put together. They worship in 37 synagogues. Every fifth person belongs to the family of Abraham. — The Nelson Evening Mail, December 1 1906 . Coleraine Blackjack is the cheapest porter in the world. Thomas Nelson […]

Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE | Also tagged anatomy, Australia, Ben Affleck, books, Britain, Bruca Chatwin, Coleraine, Colombo, computers, crime, Cuba, death, Devon, drink, East Africa, emojis, flags, France, Germany, health, hyenas, Italy, Judaism, London, Microsoft, money, Nelson E, New York, Northern Ireland, philosophy, religion, River Dart, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, tattoos, Thomas Nelson, West Africa, West Dart, Wittgenstein | Comments (0)

NEWS AT A GLANCE

Monday, March 26, 2018

. High top boots for dogs are now being sold in the shops of New York. — The Nelson Evening Mail, January 23 1907 . The first pedestrian has been killed by a self-driving car. Starbucks employees do not capitalise their As. The sound of the bagpipe fattens the sheep and lambs of all Arabia. […]

Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE | Also tagged (il)literacy, academia, Adam Smyth, age, America, Arabia, babies, bagpipes, cars, Chile, composition, criticism, death, dermatology, dogs, Donald Trump, Easter Island, education, entertainment, fauna, geography, housewares, Justin Trudeau, Mahler, Moldiv, Mount Everest, music, Nelson Evening Mail, New York, Poetry, politics, shopping, Starbucks, Truth, walking | Comments (0)

NEWS AT A GLANCE

Monday, March 5, 2018

. A blind chameleon cannot change its colour. — The Nelson Evening Mail, July 17 1908 . Nobody ever thinks they’re stupid. All homes bear ethnic odours. Some bags look the same. There’s no point putting shackles on Quinton de Kock. You don’t get many Mini Eggs for a pound no more. The UK is […]

Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE | Also tagged alpacas, André Aciman, bags, blindness, Bruno Mars, Cadbury, chameleons, chocolate, cricket, death, Derbyshire, economics, eggs, ethnicity, farming, finance, French, housing, ironmongery, maple syrup, Michael Jackson, music, Nelson Evening Mail, oaths, oil, oral hygiene, Quinton de Kock, stupidity, the EU, the UK, voice, weather, Yarmouth | Comments (0)

NEWS AT A GLANCE

Monday, September 25, 2017

. The province of Quebec has a wooden railway 20 miles in length. The rails are of maple. This railway is used for hauling timber. — The Nelson Evening Mail, November 1 1906 . The German word for ‘train’ is ‘Schienengefuhrtes Sonderzug mit feststehender Lokomotive’. Bathtime is a good time for kicking. Margaret Atwood’s real name is […]

Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE | Also tagged Allen Ginsberg, bathing, Canaan Banana, Catherine Parr, cricket, dogs, e-mail, finance, German, health, Helpful Books, Henry VIII, humanity, Juliet Stevenson, Marais Erasmus, Margaret Atwood, Methodism, music, Nelson Evening Mail, nomenclature, officialdom, Poetry, politics, rabbits, religion, Scandinavia, tequila, Thomas Tallis, trains, trees, Virginia Military Institute, war, Yakult | Comments (0)

NEWS AT A GLANCE

Monday, March 6, 2017

. Though Russia is fast developing her oil lands, the United States produces more petroleum than all the rest of the world. — The Nelson Evening Mail, June 22 1912 . In English maritime law a ship is not ‘wrecked’ if the cat survives. Ezra Pound heard many performances of the Bellringers’ Guild. Kale is a […]

Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE | Also tagged age, America, artillery, campanology, cars, cats, cell-phones, chameleons, clowns, Disney, drink, Egypt, emotions, Ezra Pound, ice hockey, John Travolta, law, LGBT, marmalade, Napoleon, oil, passports, Russia, sea-faring, statuary, tartan, text, the Welsh, turtles, vegetables, war, winter | Comments (0)