Over nearly 20 years I’ve stopped off countless times on the way out of town back to Hackney at Wing Lee Loi in the Essex Road. It used to do Polynesian as well as Chinese, and when I was very first there it had a plaque on the wall about the c[…]

David Sentis is one of the best techincal painters to come along in recent memory. His skill as a draughtsman combines a concern with object and a worry about humanism, his colour sense sneaks quietly into the viewer and he refuses to allow form to t[…]

Hokusai in Two Art Contests
(a footnote to my comments about Hokusai below) Art was often treated as a competitive spectator sport in Japan two hundred years ago. Hokusai often took an astoundingly original approach.
In one he commandeered an open sp[…]

Mojitos are the first stereotype drink of the noughties. FACT. And how do I know? From reading chick-lit. And, admittedly, by attending local west-London ponce bars.
Every chick-lit book EVER has a scene concerned with cooking or drinking something t[…]

A thread on ILE about videogames as spectator sport prompted this ramble through the International Superstar Soccer (or as it should now be, the International Superstar Soccer Pro Evolution Deluxe experience. No matter. Same shit, more syllables, bet[…]

Music industry saved by ringtones!: another arrow in the quiver of the pro-filesharing lobby, this – if the music biz is able to exploit new revenue streams so well, can it really be hurting as bad as the RIAA etc. suggest? Ringtones work as a […]

In a vague attempt to reclaim the pub element of this blog, I present a diverting link to one of the songs from MJ Hibbett‘s GRATE (obv.) new album, which is based around the idea that the pub is the true symbol of englishness. There are also […]

Tigers and Cockerels and Lobsters
I’m a big fan of Japanese arts, and I hadn’t been to the British Museum in a few months. I was disappointed that the regular Japanese room was closed, but there was something in one of the print rooms (4t[…]

Last Thursday evening I saw the trailer for the five-part Matthew Barney art flick The Cremaster Cycle. I’d heard a little bit about this series, caught the few last words at the end of one or two conversations. Little Adam said, “like […]

702 – “I Still Love You”
Pharrell,
“I Still Love You” still makes me float after at least 100 plays. It’s like Kool & the Gang’s “Summer Madness” that way – it’s a romantic song […]