Despite our island nation's belief in ourselves as thoroughly amusing chaps, decent British-made televisual comedy has been a bit thin on the ground recently, so it was with some trepidation that I approached new comedy series The Trip (BBC 2 Mondays 10pm.) In this six part show, comedians Steve Coogan and ... Read More...
Month: November 2010
I had a hammer. I hammered in the morning. I hammered in the evening all over this land. I hammered out danger. I hammered out a warning. I hammered out love between my brothers and my sisters all over this land. They should have seen that coming. As I said, ... Read More...
I recently spent ten days in hospital. One of the non-medical consequences is that I'm now lavishly appreciative of my phone (by the way, the medical consequences were also positive). It's a smartphone that I acquired via an upgrade a couple of months ago. It entertained me beyond my wildest dreams. ... Read More...
Once upon a time - and it wasn't so long ago - Alice Thomas Ellis and Beryl Bainbridge were twin stars in the literary firmament (and close friends and fellow ornaments of the Duckworth list). Since her death five years ago (in fact since rather before then), the former's star ... Read More...
Continuing our series looking at great paintings housed in London's National Gallery... Just as Breugel’s irreverent Adoration of the Kings is an enjoyably startling incongruity amongst the National’s religious scenes, so An Old Woman is a bit of a surprise amongst its numerous portraits of noblewomen and alabaster-skinned beauties. Painted in about 1513 ... Read More...
Time for another guest post from author Alexandra Harris. Alex teaches literature at the University of Liverpool and writes about all kinds of art, from novels and paintings to cookery and gardening. Her book Romantic Moderns (Thames & Hudson) was described by Peter Conrad in last Sunday's Observer 'Book of The ... Read More...
Christmas Foxes are Slightly Foxed’s special seasonal editions. Beautifully-bound and compact, they make an ideal stocking-filler for the book-lover in your family, or a literary alternative to a Christmas card. This year’s edition features a delightful short story by author Linda Leatherbarrow. It costs £6.50 in the UK or £7.50 overseas, and ... Read More...
Under strict instruction from our editor to 'theme' my fortnightly outings on Lazy Sunday [Quite right - Ed] I have held the line over the last few months. Looking back, most of the selections have been related in some way to my personal enthusiasms and the reaction to them, if ... Read More...
Do you remember the ‘old school’ days of the late 1970s when college blazers were worn with pride, and occasionally even customized with unique badges and embellishment? Such fashions were part of a craze for ‘uniform’ dressing that inspired a media-led lifestyle, popularized by The USA’s Official Preppy Handbook, published in ... Read More...
Thank you to all those who entered the competition-within-a-competition to 'improve on Betjeman'. After much deliberation we have decided to award the prize to Jay from the Depp Effect. Her winning entry was: Childhood is measured out by scrapes and sanctions, punishments and tears, before the day that parents dread, when role reversal clouds their ... Read More...