Devil in the Detail

I have just finished the last of the three books by Frank Gardner that I was given for my birthday: Crisis. The first two are autobiographical and this is a thriller with an unimaginative title.

My Perfect Summer

FTWeekend has lost some of its appeal, so many articles are advertisements in disguise (advertorial). So it was refreshing to read Jonathan Heaf’s piece on men’s smells.

Empty Flats

Who is buying all the new flats being built all over London? The story was that they were being sold at around 10% below the offer price.

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Categorised as Business

I Told You So

Two years ago I told you so. Read Yellow Menace, one of my favourite posts from July 2016. A bit of Barmeath, a bit of Barons Court and a great number filmed on the Thames at the end.

I’m a Boy

Take a good look at that photograph. There’s a lot going on there.

Published
Categorised as Technology

Longborough

You can teach an old dog new tricks. What I discovered on Sunday evening is Longborough Opera.

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Categorised as Music

Altyn-Arashan

30th September 2002. For an hour and a half the truck crawls up a rough track alongside a fast flowing river up the Altyn-Arashan valley. The sides are steep and interspersed with conifers and pasture. At last we drive over a crest and the valley suddenly broadens out. The river sparkles as it flows through… Continue reading Altyn-Arashan

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Categorised as Travel

Karakol

27th September 2002. The centre of Karakol looks like a frontier town in a Western film. Long, low wooden buildings with covered walkways in front line one dusty street but turn around and there is a massive shopping mall faced with brown stone and topped with metallic silver decorations that catch the sun. We roam… Continue reading Karakol

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Categorised as Travel

Look at Glaxo

There are two ways of looking at GSK (Glaxo Smith Kline) shares. If you are a glass-half-empty type you lament that the price has been going sideways between £12 and £16 for the last ten years. On the other hand …

The English Philanthropist

At lunch last month with three readers, one mentioned Christopher Ondaatje. I had heard that rich Christopher has not got over his not-so-rich brother winning the Booker prize. But I was told that Christopher has another skill besides making a shedload of money as a stockbroker and publisher.