America
Tiger – Back from the Brink?
In July 2010 I was enjoying the company of an old family friend Dan, who as a sports journo was over this side of the Pond to cover the summer events in the UK. His [more…]
DJM
20th Century
The Price of Life is Death
On the morning of June 6th 1924, at a camp perched at 23,000 feet on an ice ledge above the East Rongbuck Glacier, & just below the lip of Mount Everest’s North Col, expedition leader [more…]
19th Century
The Awful Moment
I suppose everyone has either visited, heard of it, or seen pictures of the awesome spectacle. Over the years there have been many attempts by people to go over the Falls, in barrels, balls, & [more…]
Christianity
Will the Grass be Greener?
It’s the question to ponder when considering Death. Some of us will be happy to find the grass just as green as it is on this side of the divide. Some may be hoping to [more…]
20th Century
The stuff that dreams are made of . . .
In an apartment close to the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, Dashiell Hammett wrote perhaps the best structured of all private-eye novels. The Maltese Falcon originally appeared as a five part serial in the [more…]
20th Century
Just another Film
“In the good old days, when the studio factories stretched across Los Angeles under an achingly blue unsullied sky, the end of production of one film was barely distinguishable from the last hours of the [more…]
History
Everyone should have a Hero
“Show me a Hero & I will write you a Tragedy, wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald. Since Harry had joined up in 1914 with the South Wales Borderers, he had seen almost continual action through to [more…]
History
Everyone should have a Hero
“Whilst his Brother Harry remained in the Trenches with his South Wales Borders, George Pike had transferred out of the Army & entered the Senior Service. Far from the heat & dust of the Middle [more…]
History
Everyone should have a Hero
My Great Uncle George Pike took the Kings Shilling in 1914, joining the Gloucestershire Yeomanry as a Trooper in 1914, in the initial surge of jingoistic patriotism that convinced many that having dusted off the [more…]