On South Africa’s historic 1995 Rugby World Cup win, its aftermath, and the sad death of James Terence Small . On Sunday morning, the first big international rugby fixture – All Blacks vs the Wallabies – was played since Covid halted the Six Nations back in early March. This will be followed by the other […]
Filed in correspondence, Journalism
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Also tagged Andre Joubert, Andrew Mehrtens, apartheid, Australia, Bledisloe Cup, Butch James, Chester Williams, Chris Hani, death, drugs, Ed Morrison, Eric Cantona, Francois Pienaar, James Small, Joel Stransky, Johannesburg, John Smit, Jonah Lomu, Jonny Wilkinson, Joost van der Westhuizen, Kent, Nelson Mandela, New Zealand, Os du Randt, parents, Paul Gascoigne, Robben Island, Rugby Championship, Rugby World Cup 1995, Sean Fitzpatrick, Six Nations, Siya Kolisi, South Africa, sport, Springboks, The Critic, Tom Hardy, TV
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Inside Story: a novel / How to Write By Martin Amis Jonathan Cape £20 . It is traditionally ‘not done’ to review books in terms of what they’re not. And yet: this book is not a novel. It says it is on the front cover; but it isn’t. And Martin Amis makes it clear it’s […]
Filed in Journalism, review
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Also tagged 9/11, Amazon, autobiography, Brexit, Christopher Hitchens, Clive James, criticism, death, Donald Trump, Elizabeth Jane Howard, food, Germany, James Fenton, Jonathan Cape, Kingsley Amis, Martin Amis, Mystic Meg, Nabokov, nonvels, Philip Larkin, pilates, publishing, Robert Conquest, Salman Rushdie, Saul Bellow, sex, Solzhenitsyn, terrorism, the Gulag, the Holocaust, The New Yorker, The Oldie
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The Sri Lankan sports photographer talks about the greatest shot he never got… and one he did. — For the Sri Lankan Sunday Times
Filed in column, interview, Journalism
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Also tagged advertising, Alex Hales, Australia, Bangladesh, Carlsberg, Chandrishan Perera, cricket, England, Hong Kong, India, Kumar Sangakkara, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, New Zealand, Percy Abeysekera, security, South Africa, sport, Sri Lanka, Sunday Times (SL), Thusith Wijedoru, Tillakaratne Dilshan, United Arab Emirates
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. The King has a collection of 170 curious walking sticks. One is made from one of the piles of old London Bridge. — The Nelson Evening Mail, Wednesday, April 10 1907 . All the best people are born in October. In Moldova (and Czechoslovakia), ‘carp’ is spelled ‘crap’. In 1492 Native Americans discovered Columbus lost […]
Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE
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Also tagged books, buses, Christopher Columbus, clothing, cutlery, Czechoslovakia, democracy, engineering, fish, grandmothers, health, honey, London, Max Hastings, Moldova, monarchy, mountains, Mozart, Native Americans, Nelson Evening Mail, news, October, painting, piles, Rugby World Cup 2019, Russia, satire, Scotland, sex, stupidity, termites, walking sticks, war
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Thursday, November 29, 2018
No alternative facts to see here, people! — For Queen Mob’s Tea House
Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE
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Also tagged anatomy, army, asbestos, Barbara Cartland, bathrooms, books, children, dairy, dancing, death, dreams, England, French, George VI, incarceration, insanity, Kaiser Wilhelm, lions, meteorology, music, Nelson Evening Mail, Norfolk Showground, Queen Mob's Tea House, Royal Norfolk Show, Russians, Saigon, satire, Spinoza, St Leonard, Tacques Tati, the Blitz, the internet, trombone, Tula Province, vodka
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‘If success does not throw the Irishmen off their balance, they may go on winning and winning until the height of a season’s ambition may be attained.’ — Athletic News and Cyclists’ Journal, 3 February 1896 . When it comes to the 6 Nations, in recent years the fixtures guys have done well making sure […]
Filed in correspondence, Journalism
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Also tagged 6 Nations Championship, Australia, barristers, Brian Moore, British and Irish Lions, Cardiff Arms Park, cricket, debuts, Douglas Hyde, Dublin, embroidery, England, France, French Foreign Legion, gloves, golf, Grand Slam, Guinnness, hockey, humour, Ireland, Irish Rugby Football Union, Italy, James Sealy, Journalism, judges, justice, King's Counsel, law, Marylebone Cricket Club in Ireland, Oliver Cromwell, painting, Poetry, politics, religion, Robert Johnstone, Samuel Beckett, Sarah Purser, Saxons, Scotland, Second Boer War, South Africa, sport, St Patrick's Day, tea, The Athletic News and Cyclists' Journal, the Fates, The Times, Tom Crean, Trinity College Dublin, Triple Crown, Ulster, Una Hyde, Victoria Cross, Wales, Yeats
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Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Or; how to raise money for charity and feel bad doing it. — For The Oldie
Filed in correspondence, Journalism
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Also tagged Adidas, Bilal Hassen, Borussia Dortmund, cappuccino, charity, Colombo, Hilton Residences, Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, Manchester City, Mount Lavinia, Nigel Havers, running, Sri Lanka, Thaabit Ahmed, Thaabit Ahmed Football Academy, The Oldie, Valencia CF
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Monday, September 11, 2017
. Miss Mary Elsen, of Chicago, is suing Dr. Charles Weser, a local doctor, for 60 breaches of promise during a four years’ courtship. — The Nelson Evening Mail, June 22 1912 . Soldiers are quite fond of children. Chopsticks are the reason the Chinese never invented custard. The senior members of the House of Commons are not […]
Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE
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Also tagged actors, Americans, army, Belgium, chickens, clothing, custard, dairy, Elton Jantjies, Epicurus, fleas, French, hair care, Karl Marx, Nelson Evening Mail, Penge East, politics, religion, Richard E Grant, romance, sex, shopping, South Africans, statuary, the Chinese, The Erotic Review, Tiberias, vanity, women
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. Fifty-one per cent of the foreigners in England live in London. — The Nelson Evening Mail, July 28 1906 . International rugby union referee Nigel Owens wears Superman pants while he’s officiating. The Iraqi army is about to defeat Islamic State. There’s no playbook for how to be a guy. In 1947 a United States […]
Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE
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Also tagged Alexander Hamilton, America, antiques, Authors CC, BBC, books, Congress, cooking, cricket, Dickens, England, flora, Hong Kong, horse-racing, immigration, insects, Iraq, Islam, Journalism, law, London, men, milk, Nazism, Nelson Evening Mail, Nigel Owens, odds, Portland, Stalin, Superman, underwear, Victoria Derbyshire, Wagner
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When my fiancée went out to her hen-do (the first one) I stayed at home, watched some rugby, wrote a poem, and did the dishes.