Arts
Across Hubei by HSR
In spring 2013, I travelled by train across China from Guangzhou to Qingdao in the north via Wuhan. This part starts in Wuhan, from where the high-speed rails led northward from Hubei Province and across [more…]
Joe Slater
Arts
Where the river rages
This is NOT about the Wuhan virus, but it is about Wuhan. In spring 2013, I travelled by train across China from Guangzhou to Qingdao in the north. Wuhan was more or less the middle [more…]
Arts
Gastarbeiter
First a caveat. In the following, there are no commando raids, aristocratic murders, medieval siege engines or scenes of hot sex on a Makati pool table. If that’s you want, scroll straight down to the [more…]
Arts
Lausanne in the rain
Lausanne, 2014 Back in the 1980s, I had been in Switzerland mainly to make a bit of money and “have an experience.” I hadn’t really been too concerned with the politics or culture of what [more…]
Hobbies
On Killing Things
The Switzerland I knew in the 1980s was the other side of the country from Vaud, the remote canton of Graubünden (Grisons), home to German-, Italian- and Romansh-speaking farmers and villagers, where Alpine cattle were [more…]
Hobbies
A Night in the Land of the Lucky
Autumn 2014 So this was the plan. I was doing a Eurail circuit of France, and while in Dijon wanted to include a day or two in nearby French-speaking Switzerland. But because I was on [more…]
Arts
The Master-Builder of Brussels
Brussels. Is there any less loveable west European capital? The moment you step out of Bruxelles-Midi station — after all these years, I still forget that Midi means south, not central — your heart sinks. [more…]
Arts
Guilty by Citation
“All the routines of daily life are affected. You choose between being spat on in public places or staying at home. You are completely exposed. It suddenly becomes quiet all around you. Friends you have [more…]
Arts
On Being Doxxed
Fellow Postaliers, imagine that you fire up your computer in the morning, open the Daily Express website to check the headlines and find yourself looking at your own swooningly handsome visage, in a row of [more…]