In which Toby at last discovers the acme of museums... I have finally located the Museum of Everything. It is in London, on Malet Place, and it is called the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology. Museums, as we know, are compendiums of objects. But the further you travel – physically or conceptually ... Read More...
Month: August 2012
Thank you for the kind messages; my sight is now fully restored after that unpleasant business. To continue the debate re the NHS and horrors or otherwise thereof, like everyone I've seen the good and bad side of that monolithic institution. The NHS safely and efficiently delivered my two daughters, ... Read More...
Half-listening to Chris de Burgh's Lady in Red the other day I remembered his entry in the Irish Rich List as north of £30 Million a few years ago. From there my mind drifted across the landscape of once-only hits from Eddy Grant's Electric Avenue to, a personal soft-spot, Who ... Read More...
No, I haven’t been on an extended summer break. My father suddenly became unwell and died after just a few weeks, on the day before the Olympics opening ceremony. I’ve not felt up to writing posts, but on this beautifully sunny weekend, I’m feeling a little more like my old ... Read More...
Provence, and as the lady said, "I've talked enough about me. Now, let's talk about you - what do you think about me?" So what do they think of London 2012 down here? Shortly after our arrival we overheard the owner of a bar jovially haranguing a large, pinkish Brit: you ... Read More...
Slang doesn't really do optimism, but as a one-off special to mark the nation's temporary mood of joy, here's Mr Slang's Alphabet of Admirability... I have eschewed what I term the O-word, but it is over now and I am emerging – decrepitude permitting – from behind my canapé, which is, ... Read More...
Photograph: Local_man I like Hertfordshire. If you don't know England, this is an understated county of meagre size, found to the north of the London suburbs. Here the urban sprawl gives way to a rolling landscape: golden wheatfields, red-brick shuttered cottage ornées, church spires and tarred clapboard barns. Very Biedermeier. It ... Read More...
Of course the Olympics were great: a two-week holiday from the Eurozone crisis and interviews with Ed Balls. How could it not be great? Christ, what are we living for anyway? The pre-Games nay-sayers (you know who you are) are scrambling to respond to the shock of how great they ... Read More...
Phew. So we survived. Like being best man at a wedding there were plenty of pre-gig nerves, but just like being at a wedding, everything went by in a brilliant blur, Boris played the embarrassing uncle and there was a party at the end that went on too long and ... Read More...
Our recent celebration of Modness reminded us where we found the title of this feature. Here's a chance to read the first ever Lazy Sunday Afternoon - and to note how much better it is nowadays! Lazy Sunday Afternoon is going to be a weekly feature here at The Dabbler: a ... Read More...
