You can tell Australia are toying with us. Cricket-wise that is. I am not saying they let us win the second test, that is not in their nature. Nevertheless the nature of that win has not got them running scared. How can I tell that the wind has not b[…]

(1 of a series perhaps? is anyone going up this year, or will this just turn into me moaning about the graun?)
Of course, some of us were doing this sort of thing ten years ago at the fringe luvvie, and just because only 19 people came to see us all[…]

Last night, whilst making an admittedly somewhat unseasonal tea of bangers and mash I seem, without thinking about it, to have made PERFECT MASH!* I am annoyed about this because I have NO IDEA how I did it and thus am unable to recreate it:
1. The […]

La Porchetta is shut. This has caused a massive upset to a FT writer, so much so that he almost lost his job over it (okay, it is more complex than that, but off the point.) The point is, why are they shut? A similar crisis occurred last year when ke[…]

At last we bring you Slim Pret. Its huge, but slim. All weve done is make a little box to suit a freshly made Pret sarnie. Enjoy one with a soup or a salad, or just on its own
I know some people might say things like – why mess with a classic f[…]

Garrincha – Biography by Ruy Castro
Alex Bellos’ book on Brazilian football (Futebol) contains a chapter on Garrincha (The Angel with Bent Legs). The source of the chapter lies in Ruy Castro’s biography, just issued in paperback and[…]

Except for the woman who made it to 122, but is dead now. Even the Dutch supercentenarian who is the current world’s oldest person is five years off Sean William Scott’s life expectancy of around 120? Why do I make this claim about the ac[…]

Continuing today’s Johnny Depp festival, I watched The Ninth Gate the other day. Considered at its time as the fading of a once impressive director, Polanski then went on and won an Oscar with his next film. Which may give us pause to re-evalua[…]

In 1978, Ed Ruscha moved from single words or images to phrases. There has been much written about the koan clairty of the phrases, how much of America and Hollywood they compile in a few cryptic words. (I would recommend this elegant examanation by […]

As A Tim Burton Event and even as a remake, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory feels a little TOO predictable and ‘robotic’ at times (Hollywood/ILM/Elfman etc. TOO well-oiled a machine now!) – the latter criticism ironic perhaps give[…]