A bit of opera this week. Nothing esoteric or of Mahlerman-like unexpected brilliance, just four gorgeous, popular melodies. It’s January and we need comfort. The only gimmick here is that these tunes are a quartet, trio, duet and solo aria respectively, and they’re in reverse order of loveliness (according to ... Read More...
Month: January 2011
When I set about writing this at around ten o’clock last night, I had so much digital material at my disposal that I began to doubt I would complete the post before morning. Then I sat back and realized why steampunk culture has gained such popularity. Described by Wikipedia as ... Read More...
Typographer and book designer Judith Schalansky grew up behind the Iron Curtain in 1980's East Germany. Unable to travel beyond the borders of her own insular country, she spent her childhood poring over maps of unobtainably far off places, "travelling through the atlas by finger . . . conquering distant worlds ... Read More...
Welcome to the new DABBLEHUB antisocial faffing-about network. Please note that access to DABBLEHUB is restricted. Within five seconds a new window will open, in which you should type your access code. If you do not have an access code yet, where have you been? To get an access code, albeit a ... Read More...
There's a common myth among British TV critics that there's a common myth among British TV viewers that British TV comedies are superior to American ones. In fact, we know perfectly well that The Simpsons, Friends, Frasier, South Park, Seinfeld etc are superior in terms of consistency and longevity to ... Read More...
image ©Gabriel Green Jonathon Green - visit his terrific website here - is the English language's leading lexicographer of slang. His Green's Dictionary of Slang is quite simply the most comprehensive and authorative work on slang ever published. In another exclusive for The Dabbler, Jonathon follows up his drunken tour by ... Read More...
Young whippersnappers will have taken down their Christmas tree last week, on the 6th January. But those of us who still aren’t quite sure about the Gregorian calendar changeover will celebrate Twelfth Night on the 17th January with a wassail. Wassailing first appears in records in the 15th century, but as ... Read More...
In our occasional feature we invite guests to select the six cultural links that might sustain them if, by some mischance, they were forced to spend eternity in a succession of airport departure lounges with only an iPad or similar device for company. Today's voyager is Owen Polley, who blogs as ... Read More...
Well done to the inimitable Stan Madeley, who cracked the lastest quiz while Adelephant was down the shops, though she returned in time to get the trickiest bit, drat her. Click continue for the full answers if you've given up... 7797 ... Read More...
Back by popular demand, here's the first Round Blogworld Quiz question of 2011 (see the previous ones and their solutions here). As usual, find the link between these cryptic clues. A point for each item you get, and an imaginary cream bun if you get them all. If somebody (well, Adelephant) guesses the ... Read More...
