Commenting on Frank Key's bedtime story about the glib hatter, Adelephant recommends the story of The Hobyahs as suitable follow-up reading matter. This remarkable folk story was collected in Joseph Jacobs' 1890 work 'English Fairy Tales'. I offer no analysis or comment - it really does speak for itself... Once there was ... Read More...
Month: June 2011
Inhabitants of the inner city have to take their country pleasures where they find them. So my sons' going to a supervised birthday in Stoke Newington provided an opportunity for a stroll around the more bucolic parts of the district. The party was held at Pirates Playhouse, a many-storied soft-play centre ... Read More...
As in literature, the musical out-tray is full of talented men, and a few women who, for one reason or another (sometimes just lack of talent) never broke through to dine at top table. Perhaps the inspiration fell a little short; perhaps the perspiration was lacking, or even the desire; ... Read More...
What better way to mark Father’s Day tomorrow, than with a celebration of man’s essential style, as observed via the curiously natural habitat of the men’s locker room. Left to their own devices, men seem to survive happily in spartan surroundings, exchanging pleasantries in communal bathing quarters, whilst politely ignoring the ... Read More...
It must be six months now since my first post on The Dabbler. Since then I have posted quite regularly and have enjoy participating in the wise, lively and good-natured banter that is daily Dabber life. So I like to think I am part of The Dabbler community; that I am ... Read More...
In the Old Testament Book of Haggai we learn that “he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes”(1:6). I have always felt a pang of sympathy for that man, whoever he may be. As far as I am aware, he is the only person in ... Read More...
Father's Day next Sunday and does slang care? Not really. But we've done mother so let's take a look at her partner in crime. It seems to start with Sanskrit pitr which forks soon afterwards, giving a choice between the Teutonic fader/father group and the pater of Greek, Latin and ... Read More...
The Noseybonk saga has been interrupted by lengthy intermission, so today’s ‘Story so far’ is an especially comprehensive one, and is brought to you by Adam Curtis. Curtis’ recent BBC series, All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace, explained how the world has gone to hell in a handcart because ... Read More...
John Arlott called him 'the most variously gifted Englishman of any age,' and Arlott, conjuring his musty magic from an old typewriter set next a glass of something good and red, was probably right. The sheer unlikeliness of CB Fry continues to astonish, more than half a century after his ... Read More...
Daniel Kalder reflects on the fate of world leaders, from cock of the walk one minute to feather duster the next. All is vanity! Recently I acquired a collection of LIFE magazines from 1971, and was curious to see what was making the news back then. You can probably guess some ... Read More...
