Arts
He Who Pays The Piper(rada)
It just wouldn’t do to let Easter weekend pass without an article involving eggs. This dish makes for a useful brunch, lunch or evening supper. Usually we share it with friends, but this year, sadly, [more…]
Culture
19th Century
Film Review: Far From The Madding Crowd
John Schlesinger’s 1967 adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s 1874 novel Far from the Madding Crowd should be a universally recognized cinema classic. Sadly, although it received generally positive reviews and did well in England, today it [more…]
Arts
Gardening In A Pandemic (Who’s Kidding WHO)
The “art” of growing vegetables isn’t all about the act itself. If it were, we’d all be doing it and shops (especially greengrocers) wouldn’t exist. As is probably apparent, I take a somewhat relaxed attitude [more…]
Arts
1984 Part Two
So, We’re a year into the “New Normal” (a/k/a The Totalitarianism Rebrand) and things are still looking ….… well, pretty totalitarian. Most of Western Europe is still in “lockdown,” or “under curfew,” or in some [more…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Forty Eight
Having been indoctrinated into my new task by the Colonel, I wandered into the town centre with his money to suit and boot myself. Jeans, T-shirt, top and trainers made way for a Marks and [more…]
Arts
1984 & All That
The totalitarian novel is a relatively new genre, the most well known of these being (in no particular order) Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength, [more…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Forty Seven
The Colonel toured Sleescale’s backstreet digs in his battered Transit van picking up our colleagues as if they were black economy workers to be delivered to building sites, cockle beeches or docks. Most of us [more…]
Arts
The Year Turns, Part 4
Ēostre My earliest memories of this time of year involve decorating eggs, going to the local park, and rolling them down a hill. Well, more of a small embankment than a hill, but the thought [more…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Forty Six
Davies brought me breakfast in bed. Was it genuine concern or his army humour? I was in a bit of a state. His cooking wasn’t great. The culinary school that he relied upon seemed to [more…]