Arts
The Anorexic Blue Line
I have a number of friends who are police officers. Or to be more accurate, former police officers. Which is a bit of a paradox really, as by far the majority of rank and file [more…]
Month: August 2019
Economics
“Sticking to Your Guns” – and Other Failed Strategies
There can be little doubt that tenacity is a great virtue. It means holding on to something important, something you believe in, no matter what. The trouble with tenacity, however, is that it does not [more…]
Mathematics
Two Squares and Four Squares
Diophantus of Alexandria wrote a collection of books called Arithmetica in the 3rd century AD. He noted that natural numbers of the form cannot be expressed as the sum of two square numbers. He also [more…]
Fiction
Némésis – Part 6
Ash Shaddadi, the Syrian Governorate of Al Hasakha, December 2017 They crossed the Kahbur River about five kilometres south of Ash Shaddadi at 08:45 the next morning. Ripley had picked up on the mood of [more…]
America
An Eventful Ride, Part Four
Bestie and I were sat in our booth at the gas station’s restaurant at Lee Vining, looking down over Mono Lake. I was still thinking about Clint’s brilliant film “High Plains Drifter”, for this weird [more…]
Arts
Postcard from Lille, Part 25
Where should an escaped prisoner escape to? You can’t go to the obvious place as, if it’s obvious, that’s where they’ll be looking for you. Some other places spring to mind, Paraguay, Switzerland? On receiving a letter [more…]
Hobbies
Crossword No. 78
First correct entry out of ‘the hat’ wins a GP mug of your choice, or GP beer mats. Email entries to me by 6.00 pm tomorrow subject ‘Crossword’. Contact here on email Last weeks’ winners. [more…]
19th Century
Postcard from Smardale Gill
Retirement, as I’ve mentioned previously, takes some getting used to, especially when you’ve become accustomed to a kind of semi-formalised regimen that has developed over the best part of 50 years. Although not without things [more…]
20th Century
The Malayan Campaign 1941 – 1942. Part One Singapore 1941
On 15th February 1942, a British and Commonwealth Army that had consisted of 140,000 troops, 253 aircraft, 250 armoured fighting vehicles and 864 artillery pieces, surrendered to the Japanese in Singapore. The Japanese force numbered [more…]