Jon Hotten meets his cricketing hero and finds himself saying exactly the one thing he had been determined not to say... When he went to the ring, he was often smiling. He knew that when the heavyweight champion of the world defended his title, it was a solemn moment, but he ... Read More...
Month: May 2012
Quintessential Mahlerman this week: four exemplary unions of music and film... A few weeks ago I took a sideways look at plagiarism in movie scores, going on to name the guilty men and sit them on the naughty-step. But a much easier route has always been available to film producers when ... Read More...
Judging by the queues at the Saatchi Gallery, and the liberal sprinkling of orange dots already placed on exhibits, crafty customers were out in force on the first day of the Collect craft fair (which runs until Monday). Billed as the ‘international art fair for contemporary objects’, the applied art on ... Read More...
Something to tide you over our epically wet drought. A couple of days a week I wander to work through the back-streets of Chelsea, between the Kings Road and the river. They must be some of the most charming streets to be found in any city; pricey charm though - I ... Read More...
This week Frank's addiction to Scandinavian crime drama leads him to discover a Danish bishop with some highly unusual interests... Like absolutely everybody else throughout the land – with the sole exception of Nige – I have become enamoured of Scandinavian crime fiction. That is why, the other day, I picked ... Read More...
Mr Slang explains why he finds one particular word to be the most offensive in the English language... Occasionally, when I toss some new offering onto the great heap of the unsold that is publishing (for if every birth is a death postponed, so are mint and shiny first editions merely the ... Read More...
The Dabbler's drinks correspondent Henry Jeffreys talks to the philosopher and columnist Roger Scruton about all matters wine-related... For many years Roger Scruton wrote a column for the New Statesman. It was ostensibly about wine but in reality it smuggled subversive views about the family, religion and hunting into a left ... Read More...
Every month we award a bottle of Glengoyne 10 year old single malt - the finest whisky available to humanity – to a commenter who tickles our fancy… Jon Hotten's brilliant post on the sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles, quiet English despair and the game of cricket seemed to strike a chord with many Dabblers. Martin, ... Read More...
...Long time ago. Rita recalls some favourite American Eccentrics... For Americans, an enduring and beloved stereotype is the English Eccentric. Lauded in literature and film, the Eccentric retains his place of privilege in the pantheon of British life adored by Americans. The cast includes the Royals, cheeky Cockney lads, women with ... Read More...
Is this music for pianos but not pianists, or hardly music at all? Ever since I'd been writing music I was dreaming of getting rid of the performers. Conlon Nancarrow It is the centenary of Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997) and in turning our attention to his music we are caught, as so often in ... Read More...
