Walkies

There has been a lot of chat about PG Wodehouse here but, hitherto, Barbara Woodhouse has been given the cold shoulder. She was what we call in England a “national treasure”, you are free to call her barking mad which is appropriate as, like many Britons, she was bonkers about dogs.

Special Escort Group

I first came across the Metropolitan Police Special Escort Group (SO14) in Sherard Cowper-Coles’ 2011 account of his time as our ambassador and, later, special representative to Afghanistan: Cables from Kabul.

Published
Categorised as Politics

Special Guest

To make a change from London, I’d like to introduce Charles Woodruff, writing from Switzerland. The view from the chalet: Eiger, Monch and shoulder of the Schwarze Monck

Get Smart

You’re an occasional visitor to London and you’ve finally got smart. You have an Oyster card to pay for tube and bus journeys. Actually you probably have multiple Oyster cards accumulated when you have forgotten to take one with you.

Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?

  That’s what I think at 1.00 a.m. when my hostess is frantic to get rid of me. It’s also what good-time girl Britannia is thinking about the Euro-bash where she has been partying since 1973.

Black Mischief

Dr Sylvester Nyatsuro, a 45 year old black British GP practicing in Nottingham, has been given a white family’s farm in Zimbabwe by the Zimbabwean government. He has lived in the UK for at least fifteen years but is eligible on two counts: he is, supposedly, an indigenous black African and is a friend of… Continue reading Black Mischief

Indices

Outside my window the index is a mere three but as I was walking along the South Bank last week I noticed that the index there is twenty-one. The index in question is

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Categorised as Business

Nie Yinniang

Hou Hsiao-Hsien is a Taiwanese film director. He is a perfectionist and has spent almost eight years making his latest film, Nie Yinniang. Here it is called The Assassin, although “yinniang” actually means “hiding woman”, and it could be called The Woman in Black.

An Invitation…

St. Valentine’s Day falls on a Sunday this year and I’m inviting you to a Valentine’s Day themed Recital in an especially beautiful location.

More About Books

The pleasure of rootling around in second-hand bookshops has largely been replaced by instant gratification delivered through shopping on the Internet; largely but not entirely.