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

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The pleasure of rootling around in second-hand bookshops has largely been replaced by instant gratification delivered through shopping on the Internet; largely but not entirely.

Figaro, Where?

The Metropolitan Opera in New York has been broadcasting Saturday matinees live to cinemas in Europe for ten years. It’s a super way to see tip-top productions with the bonus of watching what’s going on back-stage and hearing the singers being interviewed.  Only been around for ten years but already I have my favourite moment.… Continue reading Figaro, Where?

Rebellion

Have you been watching War and Peace on the BBC? I haven’t either but what I’d like to see is Rebellion on RTE (the Republic of Ireland broadcaster). Just to bring you up to speed, 100 years ago, in 1916, when the rest of the world was concentrating on the First World War, Ireland had… Continue reading Rebellion

Flash for Cash

You’ve probably forgotten but at the end of November I wrote a post, a Flash in the Park. I’d like to continue the theme.

Published
Categorised as Business