Tahiti

In 2008 I saw a double bill in Trieste but first a bit about the city. It has one of the finest squares in Europe, one side of which opens onto the Adriatic. The architecture reflects the history of the city as the main port for the Austro-Hungarian empire. In its heyday it was the… Continue reading Tahiti

Published
Categorised as Music

Democracy or Dominant Minority?

I am going, metaphorically, to skate on thin ice. I don’t know much about Obama’s health care legislation or Trump’s proposed but rejected reforms.

Published
Categorised as Politics

Rum Doodle

Today I’m going for a little-longer-than-usual walk; a fourteen-miler in Cambridgeshire to raise money for the Royal Marsden Hospital. It will be a doddle in comparison with The Ascent of Rum Doodle.

Published
Categorised as Literature

Tringle Time

In the Lyttelton, Hart-Davis letters, which I continue to relish, Rupert H-D reveals that he is a crossword fiend and wins many a prize. I have twice (non-swank) won the top prize from The Spectator.

Published
Categorised as Family

A Very Great Man

In his letter dated 13th November 1960, Rupert Hart-Davis challenges George Lyttelton: “here is a one-question exam-paper. Who wrote this and when?”

Game Without Rules

Game Without Rules by Michael Gilbert will appeal if you like short stories with a spy/thriller theme. It’s a genre I enjoy and I wolfed them down.

Published
Categorised as Literature

More About Molly

This year’s biography of Molly Keane by her daughter, Sally Phipps, is a good read. As I read it I wondered how she knew so much about her mother’s childhood.

Published
Categorised as Literature

Infinite Turbos

David Stevenson’s Adventurous Investor column in FT Money is always interesting and often useful. Last weekend he was worrying that equities might be getting over-valued.

Published
Categorised as Business

Bitters

I often ask for a Pink Gin in other people’s houses. Recently my host instantly flourished a new bottle of Angostura bitters but more often there is faffing around.