When is a novel not a novel? When it is actually a loosely connected set of short stories, or novellas. Hanan Al-Shaykh’s Only In London uses this trick, hoping that the resonances between her three tales will add more than the sum of its parts[…]

And is there a good reason whywe don’tIsn’t it nice to have a have a sidebar link to A Nice Cup Of Tea And A Sit Down? Sort it out people with appropriate permissions! (I wonder if I have them, I dunno I am too busy wondering if I am goin[…]

Dudes! A warning to the easily frightened – always remember to store your Tunnocks Caramel Wafers in a safe place AWAY FROM YOUR MINT PRODUCTS. Are you listening Mr Man who sells Tunnocks Caramel Wafers for 35 pence outside Goodge Street tube?![…]

Hey, hey OSCAR!!!! Over here!!! Look at me. I’m a serious film. Look I’ve got Oscar winning Anthony Hopkins in me. Not only that but Oscar winning chart topping Nicole Kidman (and hey, like you’re going to give an Oscar to The Last […]

Clarification: (since I’m being misunderstood in this thread) I have no problem at all with the use of pop hits to soundtrack documentaries – great idea and can be very effective. I have a problem when those pop hits are chosen solely on […]

Strike!: C4’s documentary on the Miners’ Strike was entertaining. I’m not sure if a docu on the strike should have been entertaining, but there you go – as a primer it pretty much worked (I was 11 in 1984 and the strike took p[…]

Very interesting post about machismo and ‘favourite films’. I don’t like those films either, not so much singly but as Kathleen says presented as a group, a way of filmmaking, a canon if you like. I’m not sure it’s the p[…]

Water on Mars is not news, especially… James Lovelock – who worked for NASA developing techniques for testing planetary atmospheres, and comparing Mars with Venus and Earth – argues that you can tell if life exists on a planet by ta[…]

Stephin Merritt–All The Umbrellas in London.
Sometimes I wonder if there is a song for every feeling, like the perfect wine for every meal. I have been feeling so meloncholy of late, so deeply sad about the state of my life and the world at la[…]

I went to see Elizabeth Price‘s new show (it’s at the Jerwood Space in sunny South London) during my lunch hour. It was perfect: much of her work involves a painstakingly producing low-impact items: ‘Boulder’ is a huge, smooth[…]