Monthly Archives: March 2011

That’s a phrase that will mean more than the sum of its words for Londoners of a certain age. Mike Carrington points out that Viktor Wynd’s Last Tuesday Society now has its own shop of grotesque curiosities in Hackney (parts of which are a grotesque curiosity in themselves). So if you have urgent need of […]

Look, I don’t mean to get all Fotherington-Thomas on you, but the last few days have been a reminder of the surprises that (early) spring can bring to even the scabbiest areas of London. Cherry trees are often planted by the council arboculturalists because they’re hardy and grow fast. You also get great spring displays […]

Which do you prefer? I’m taking a straw poll, because although the Bryant & May novels are standalone they also have a story arc for regular readers. ‘The Memory Of Blood’ is very much a standalone novel, but picks up on a long-running MoD situation that’s reaching critical point. For the tenth Bryant & May […]

Now that more than half of the world’s population lives in a city, I think we should continue looking at our urban surroundings, and I’ve been following the Gaudi comments with interest. One thing that must be taken into account is the fact that cities in Spain represent a unique case in Europe. After decades […]

Culture differences often become most obvious in that most popular of forms, cinema, and I can think of few greater extremes than those from Far Eastern culture, which has resulted in this double bill. The Japanese ‘House’ (1977) and the South Korean ‘Dasepo Naughty Girls’ (2006) were produced three decades apart, and yet share common […]

One last thing; I do have an issue with Barcelona that I’d forgotten about – bloody Gaudi. I traipsed around the Gaudi houses listening to an unctuous audio-tour and while I appreciate he was innovative in his thinking, I still hate that ‘Don’t put Shrek in charge of the icing’ look of his buildings. These […]

I typed ‘Summer in London’ into Google and this is what I got. Then I typed in ‘Summer in Barcelona’ and got this. Last year, I took the cover off the barbecue twice, but wasn’t fast enough to beat the rain. Summer in London lasts for six weeks. The kind of weather we’d call summer […]

My friend Michele draws my attention to an article in the Washington Examiner that talks about DC expanding public surveillance with a network of cameras, to be modelled on the type of system used in London, which has the largest CCTV system in the world. She and the paper both complain about the ‘Big Brother’ […]

It’s true that you remember where you’ve been by what you’ve eaten, so here’s today’s Catalan treats – pinchos prepared to look like tiny iced cakes – in fact everything from crab and tuna to, well, I never did find out what the violet thing was. One was definitely creamed cheese and raspberry coulis, though. […]

Further to ‘Theft Or Genius?’ (below) Willow’s Song from ‘The Wicker Man’ keeps arriving in other versions (this one suggested by Porl Cooper)…I think someone should sample it with ‘I’m not a witch’ from monty Python & The Holy Grail’.