Tally Ho!

Let’s take a break but not a Kit-Kat; let’s go to the movies. Here are a few of my favourite films: The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), The African Queen (1951),  The List of Adrian Messenger (1963), The Night of the Iguana (1964) and The Dead (1987).

The Peasants’ Revolt

I give you a daily blast of hot air and you respond with cogent comments, so it’s good that there are more comments than posts. I’d like to remind you of a prescient comment made by reader, John.

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Categorised as Politics

£48.79

We are going to hear a lot about trade tariffs. For now,  I just have this contribution to the debate.

Tristan und Isolde

It’s Sunday morning and I’m reflecting on Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.

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Categorised as Music

Black Hole

I confess, I was in shock on Friday morning. Now I can see clearly at least one consequence of Brexit which is unavoidable.

A Win-Winn Situation

In the ’80s I discovered from a friend that a few artists living along the river in Chiswick opened their studios one weekend a year. I got to know Mary Fedden and Anthea Craigmyle this way and bought some of their work.

Bonjour Tristesse

The title of Françoise Sagan’s debut 1954 novel seems appropriate today.

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Categorised as Politics

Three in a Canoe

In museums I find that I’m often looking at the exhibits through a prism of my family history. There was no question of this today.

Animal Art

This morning’s entertainment was to go to a complex of limestone caves. There is an electric train which carried us a kilometre into the hillside.

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Categorised as Art, Travel

Un Déjeuner Sérieux

This week I’m a guest in an old farmhouse rented by friends. It’s in the Dordogne, favoured destination for the English since the 14th century when for a time it was under English rule. My first visit to this part of France. The country is more heavily wooded than the Gers and the contours much… Continue reading Un Déjeuner Sérieux