David Thomson says it might be a fault of his that he can’t find too much enthusiasm for Ken Loach, despite his obvious merits, and the same no doubt extends to the Great British public at large, or certainly to me. In a certain pessimistic per[…]

RIP Michael Donaghy. Far far too soon.[…]

Go! Go! Go! to Enthusiastic But Mediocre where you will find me getting into a FITE with some European pop music from the land of the Moomins.[…]

The Chatwin Hotel
Bruce Chatwin’s name has cropped up a couple of times among the travel posts. This pleases me. I’ve been a devotee for years and once formed part of the clich’d Chatwin Traveller set, hitchhiking around South Ameri[…]

Best Quiz Machine In World Found
It’s in well-known Freaky Trigger stamping ground the Blue Posts on Newman Street, never in general an exciting pub but a very robust one that has played host to all sorts of shenanigans. In the corner stands it[…]

In the fullness of time (ie after I’ve finished reading the whole book) I will write a (probably very favourable) review of Planet Simpson. However, possibly in the style of Comic Book Guy, I have to Report Back straight away on a howler of an[…]

But can Noam Chomsky play jazz flute?[…]

Fear of Flying
As the aircraft lifted into the afternoon skies, I craned my neck to see Miami below. I had bagsied the window seat ahead of my sister. She sulked as a ten-year-old does. At two years her senior I was entitled to the privilege. Despite[…]

Moominvalley In November
Have you ever been on your own in a hotel? A big hotel, a hundred rooms – and no other guests but you?
We arrived in Bialowieza on a Tuesday, to stay four nights. It was early November, the night came on early and the v[…]

Tiny Lives
Do you remember autobiographical comics? What – they’re still going? I wouldn’t know. I stopped reading them, oh, four, five years ago. Weirdly enough it was around the time I started reading weblogs – now isn&#8217[…]