All the world’s a stage – or at least it could be, according to Simon Woodroffe, creator of YO! Sushi and Yotel - and originator of a novel new purpose-built home of the future. His 800 square foot flat utilizes the mechanics of stage scenery to do all sorts of unexpected ... Read More...

To ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Tricky, isn’t it? But it becomes a lot easier when you know the locals shorten it to Den Bosch, pronounced ‘boss’ (‘The Duke’s Wood’ to ‘The Wood’). It’s from this nickname that its most famous son, the painter Hieronymus, took his surname. English speakers are fortunate he didn’t ... Read More...

With his finger as usual on the throbbing pulse of current affairs, Frank responds to some breaking pond news... I suspect all Dabblers are as overexcited as I am by the one million ponds project. This initiative by the charity Pond Conversation aims to double the number of freshwater British ponds ... Read More...

This month all members of the Dabbler Book Club have been in with a chance of winning a copy of Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan, sure to be seen being read everywhere between now and Christmas. If you haven’t already joined the book club, why not sign up now, it’s ... Read More...

Jonathon enjoys a new 'tour d’whorison' by a blogger of historical bawdiness... Emily Brand (or Ms B—d as she signs in that manner created by the immortal Tom Brown see Heroes of Slang) is a young historian who writes the blog The Georgian Bawdyhouse, a thesaurus of choice information subtitled ‘an ... Read More...

Anyone who has suffered writer's block might take consolation from the life of John Ferrar Holms. In the first of two posts, Jonathan Law introduces perhaps the least productive 'writer' in the English language... On a murky day in June, Mark Pack wrote feelingly about the miseries of writers’ block – ... Read More...

  Luke Honey, proprietor of The Greasy Spoon Blog, takes a grand tour to Venice, and one of the world's most famous bars... I'm not sure how many "Harry's Bars" there are in the world. Quite a few, I expect. There's that famous pub in Paris, there's the late Mark Birley's smart ... Read More...

In this bulletin from Norbiton, Toby examines the place of teeth in the art of fifteenth century Italy and Northern Europe... I have come to realise that if I am to make any real progress on my much anticipated, much delayed History of Whistling, I will first have to address the ... Read More...

There are two kinds of beach holiday: nice relaxing ones in hot countries; and British ones, with children. A British beach holiday with children is a series of logistical problems, and if pleasure is to be found for adults it is in the sense of achievement afforded by overcoming them. ... Read More...

This week Mahlerman introduces some final compositions... If death comes out of the blue as it did to George Gershwin at the age of 39 there is, of course, no sign of it in his last composition 'Our Love Is Here To Stay', a perky masterpiece that has become a jazz ... Read More...