Both sides of the river are full of chicken shops, YESNO? In fact so much so you can barely go two yards without falling over a battered box of bones, YESNO? South London has many chains, independent chicken shops and KFCs. A particular favourite is […]

I have never been on a creative writing course. Though tempting, the MA’s at UEA and elsewhere have always seemed a touch overpriced: and anyway, I think I know what they will tell you. Inbetween the lectures on structure, first vs third person[…]

Not really. I can’t imagine a more inoffensive film than Thumbsucker actually. Its targets (er, drug abuse, hippy psychology, how being a teenager is a bit rubbish) are about as gentle and barndoor shaped as can be selected. Its style, and cast[…]

The original entry for this read simply “the wrecking ball”, a name for a freakish anatomical manifestation that once afflicted a friend of a friend and has fascinated many FT writers since they first heard about it. It describes a partia[…]

I just read that the first ever “op ed page” appeared in the New York Times in 1970 (21 September) — “op ed” as in space handed over to rival blowhards, to counter the editorial pages (which are as old as newspapers the[…]

1978 hits include:
– Youre The One That I Want (& all other Grease)
– Take a Chance on Me
– Wuthering Heights
– 3 Times A Lady
– YMCA
– Rivers Of Babylon
Wed-tastic![…]

Do you know you are famous when
a) They make a comic book of your life?
or
b) Said comicbook is so detailed it depicts your circumcision?[…]

Perfection is a different quality from excellence. I need to make this clear before I start talking about Sky High. What I am talking about, with regards to perfection here, is the idea that there is no conceivable way that the final film could have […]

The Jimmy Castor Bunch – “Troglodyte”
I can’t remember who introduced me to this song – Mike Daddino, most likely! – but it’s been a perennial playlist favourite ever since. It’s outrageously simple &#8[…]

It was a dark, stormy night and as we tried to get home we hit a nasty bump in the road. My girlfriend, who was driving, thought she had run over a dog so stopped the car. We got out, but there was nothing there. However when we got back in the car, […]