One of the more misleading headlines of recent times was the one that suggested, for readers, there was no difference between the trashy romance porn of Fifty Shades of Grey and such established classics as Ulysses, War and Peace or Metamorphosis. This led into a report of a research study that found that all novels…
Despite the zillions of words that issue forth from those who believe they can teach us how to write, it is often the old-timers who said it best … and most succinctly. Take George Orwell, for example.
There can be no argument. Lean, likeable and voluble Mo “I’ve got four children I miss so much” Farah is sheer poetry in motion. For once, the use of the word “awesome” is fully justified. So graceful, so strong and seemingly so effortless in his ability to shift up a gear and find the extra…
Excitement! There’s a package awaiting me in the mailroom. What can it be? Such a substantial object yet so light. Couldn’t recall any online orders of recent date and of such a size. Then memory clicks in; there was a purchase of a small item a couple of days back. From Amazon – where else?…
“I’m assuming that if she buys a £1000 dress, she’ll probably want a butterfly marbled armchair to sit on and some parrots on her wall,” says Manchester designer Matthew Williamson of his typical customer. Fair assumption, I suppose, if you inhabit a world of freaks, cranks and show ponies.
It seems I was right on the money when, a few weeks ago, I adversely commented on the work of the theatre world’s would-be wunderkind, Emma Rice. Since then there has been a steady flow of mostly adverse comments about the work of La Rice, especially her treatment of one of the stagings of A…
Among the more puzzling posts to my Facebook page was the recent clearly admonitory “Why is it all about you?” My immediate reaction was a Simpsoneque “Doh!” Was it really necessary to explain that the millions of FB users worldwide are there to let others know what they are thinking, doing, feeling, planning and even…
One for family historians: a journey of surprising discoveries across six generations of my ancestors in the UK and much further afield.
What is happening to parental responsibility? Indeed, what is happening to taking responsibility for one’s own actions? A mother found her 19-month-old daughter ripping open a packet of Ibuprofen tablets while they were waiting in a queue in a branch of WH Smith. Does she upbraid the child – teach her that such behaviour is not…