Nothing is Simple in Wodehouse

“You would probably find that only Shakespeare has inspired an equal amount of critical annotation and scholarship to his equally extensive collected works. It would be difficult to assess which of Shakespeare and Wodehouse wrote the greater number of words in his lifetime – but it would come as no surprise if it turned out… Continue reading Nothing is Simple in Wodehouse

Be Debonair

“You must never confuse genius with a bull market.” (An Englishman’s Commonplace Book, Roger Hudson)

Crossing the Taklamakan

I read Tim Severin’s obituary yesterday. One of his earliest expeditions was crossing the Atlantic in a currach made of wood and animal hides. When he made an unscheduled stop at Iceland almost all his crew deserted him. Severin had a reputation as a less kindly version of Captain Bligh.

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Categorised as Travel

An Expotition

I was in the rear carriage of a District Line train returning from work one evening in 1992. The rear carriage is the fashionable one from which residents living near Gloucester Road and Barons Court debauch. On this occasion I saw the father of my godson. Frankly, I eyed him with some apprehension as I… Continue reading An Expotition

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Does Size Matter?

I have never been to Europe’s largest city, changing ‘planes doesn’t count, but I have visited sixteen out of the twenty largest by population.

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Categorised as Travel

A Delicate Truth

I have two paperbacks by Paul Micou: Rotten Times and The Last Word. You wouldn’t judge a book by its cover, would you?

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Categorised as Literature

Feedback

It’s over to you this morning. It’s a selection of your nostalgic comments in the early days of my website. It was rather Blue Peter; to begin with there were no pictures and then they were upside down, since corrected. 

Zoom Zoom Zoom

Ira Gershwin was prescient when he wrote these lyrics for the 1937 film, Shall We Dance. His brother George supplied the music and Fred Astaire and Dudley Dickerson  (I thought you’d need help with Dudley) did the rest.

Home James

My Jameson grandmother would never say “home James and don’t spare the horses” when I was at the wheel.