A Hundred Years Young

I went to a very enjoyable lunch party at the Turf Club last week. My host encouragingly said that it would not be a short one and this proved correct. After some sluicing and slurping in an outer room at lunch I sat between two strangers.

Percy Jeeves

In the middle of July I went on a day trip to Cheltenham to watch Gloucester play Essex. As I am not especially fond of cricket (I was a Wet Bob) there was another reason.

Why Showers Leak

I mentioned that the Courtaulds installed a cold shower at Eltham Palace when they made their home there in the 1930s. It took the rest of us in the UK a long time to catch on.

Tumbril Talk – Part One

Six political parties in the UK are led by women (pedantically five 1/2); none so far as I know in the US. However, there have been women who have carried considerable influence in American politics and none more so than Alice Roosevelt Longworth.

The Beaufort Portcullis

As the Palace of Westminster is likely to close for a substantial refurb it is a good moment at look back at its origins and Caroline Shenton has done just that in The Day Parliament Burned Down and Mr Barry’s War.

Under Par

To play a round of golf below par is one thing but to feel below par is another and it is the latter that has dried up my creative juices today. With a bit of luck I will feel better tomorrow. I did want to tell you about Tumbril Talk but my heart isn’t in… Continue reading Under Par

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Categorised as Psychology

In Vogue

You wait ages for a fashion documentary and then two come along. Valentino: The Last Emperor came out in 2008 and the following year The September Issue; both cracking good films.

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Categorised as Fashion

Moor about LAMDA

The new theatre and rehearsal rooms at LAMDA are still a work in progress. For big productions they hire theatres around London and for smaller shows use their existing studio theatre that seats about seventy-five.

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Categorised as Theatre

Design Deficit

Last time Quinlan Terry cropped up here (Palladio in the Park) I called him Terry Quinlan until a better informed reader in Dublin put me right. (Thank you, Margaret.) As far as I can remember he got quite a good write-up from me for his Palladian villas in Regent’s Park. Today he is going to… Continue reading Design Deficit