Today, The Dabbler takes a sidelong look at war starting with Barendina Smedley, who stumbles across a less reported view of a momentous year. A few days ago, a battered copy of the Studio Year Book turned up here. The date on the much-sellotaped cover was 1939. To move beyond that cover is to embark ... Read More...
Month: March 2011
Spring is sprung and the lambs are a-gambolling in the lush green fields, so here are four pieces of an ovine nature. Michael Nyman’s soundtrack to The Draughtsman’s Contract is derived from ‘grounds’ (sort of classical basslines) by Purcell, overlaid by Nyman’s own melodies. The most famous is Chasing sheep is best ... Read More...
The world of fashion never ceases to amaze. There I was thinking it was all air kisses, goody bags and celebrity endorsement, when suddenly things start to get serious. I suggested that fashion was searching for a new identity a while ago, but when I received an ‘alert’ from Kerry ... Read More...
Sunday night on TV is Big Picture night. Professor Niall Ferguson (bottom) takes on the meaty subject of Civilization on Channel 4 at 8pm. However, he's trumped by Professor Brian Cox (top), who in the following slot takes on the biggest subject conceivable in Wonders of the Universe, BBC2, 9pm. They're both impressively ... Read More...
France was convulsed by revolution in 1789, but here in Blighty all sorts of other hullaballoo was taking place. Here are some items from The Times Index 1785-1790. My thanks to Peter Ross for winkling them out. Epping stag hunt ends in mangling of goat - 14th April 1789 Elopements : Dublin ... Read More...
Jonathon Green - visit his 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. Today Jonathon continues his epic survey of the Seven Deadly Sins of Slang by looking at Sloth... As lenten ... Read More...
Historian Dr Craig Fox has just published his first book, Everyday Klansfolk - a study of the extraordinary popularity of the Ku Klux Klan in mainstream midwest American culture in the 1920s. Here, he tells the story of how he came to research this forgotten phenomenon... I was going to try ... Read More...
Mark Pack does his best to avoid thinking about how many blog pieces he writes and how many chocolate pieces he eats. Blogging is usually at his own site and Liberal Democrat Voice, which he co-edits. Chocolate is usually milk, preferably with crunchy bits. When doing neither he used to be ... Read More...
Glengoyne whisky is distilled slower than any other single malt Scotch whisky. This creates a more subtle, complex product in which all of the delicate flavours are freely allowed to express themselves - which description could equally apply to The Dabbler, of course. The Dabbler is teaming up with Glengoyne to offer ... Read More...
A solo (and therefore all the more prized) cream bun for Worm this week. At last I've stumped JL and Adelephant! Click continue below if you give up... Earlier we asked the 14th Round Blogworld questions, namely: What links a 'Mountain Angel' with an expensive farming implement, The Cure, Captain Jack Aubrey ... Read More...
